i. Penny

Hands curled at her chest, cold with shock.
Then her arms splayed and she was
ripped apart. In life she'd been full of light
and sparkling joy. Her blood ran warm
and red as anyone else's. How appalling,
to reconcile her loss with the appliance
lying demolished on the stadium floor.
Parts cut and strewn, built from the latest
plastics and alloys. Shreds of metal skin
floating down like paper. Swords scattered,
dull on the ground, like box cutters. And
a head, bearing a face that had once
belonged to a girl.

ii. The Shield

Panic spilled over when the Nevermore landed.
While others screamed and fled, I found myself
heartened as I saw it perched there. I was pleased
at the sight of its talons glowing ice-blue against
the Colosseum barrier. I thrilled in every ripple of
light pulsing from its stabbing beak. I wanted to
witness this force-field carry out its final work,
unfelled by sabotage or infiltration. When it broke,
it went with all of its honour. The rest of us
can only hope to be so lucky.