"PCKSHHAAAAAAAAAAW! BOOOOOOOOM! Oh, man, that was AWESOME!" Ruby began to mimic the fight scene, using her hands to represent the dueling robots.
"Eh. I've seen cooler," huffed Ryuko, spitting out a lemon seed. Holly was beginning to wonder if that was all the girl ate. Their little group had made a habit of meeting together to observe matches they weren't in, discussing their past victories, and inventing tactics to use in future rounds. Of course, they weren't all business. Adam had been bartering his cards in exchange for paper (some other fighters actually had paper, others offered toiletries. Neither were turned down), and Twilight Sparkle had fashioned some number-puzzles and other little games.
"Cooler than that?" asked the elf.
"Yeah. Definitely," Ryuko replied. "But I'll give them an A for effort."
Holly turned to Twilight Sparkle, who was in the process of spell-checking something that Adam wrote. "Did you happen to see that bit at the end?"
The unicorn glanced up at the elf briefly, then returned to her work. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I swore I saw some of the debris move around at the end there. You always have an explanation for that kind of thing." There was a hint of accusation there.
"Probably just a shockwave, or something. You do realize that the mech was about to blow up, right?"
"But it hadn't blown up. Stuff doesn't just move like that. It almost looked like something picked it up or-"
"That's ridiculous. There were only the two sets of pilots in the match."
"She's right," oiled Alucard, looking up from his game of tic-tac-toe with Katniss. "There wouldn't be anyone else to move it." Katniss scrawled another X, and the vampire crumpled the piece of paper and tossed it away.
"You knew about the room, and the thing in my head," the elf snapped. "Clearly you've got explanations for a lot of odd things. Why can't you explain this?"
"Because I don't know," growled Twilight.
"Okay, I'll take that. Sure. But you have to know how you're not a vamp…ony anymore."
For a moment, fear flashed across the unicorn's face. She composed herself and replaced it with anger.
"Why are you doing this, Holly?"
"That doesn't answer the question."
"I don't care if it does. Why?"
"Because you're hiding something," said Holly firmly. "And I'm not sure I'm willing to do whatever you ask when you can't tell me why I'm doing it. Like that… thing that you made me throw up. You still haven't explained that."
"I'll explain everything exactly when I-"
"HELLO, MY FINE WARRIORS!" interrupted the voice of the Master of Games.
"We'll finish this later," hissed Holly.
"That we will," spat the unicorn.
"Shut up," whispered Katniss. "Everyone else is trying to listen."
The Master of Games was explaining the next round. "You'll need to find and defeat three fighters that I have designated a 'V.I.W.' Anyone care to guess what that stands for?"
A muscular arm raised a broad, worn hand.
The Master of Games sighed. "Yes, Sol?"
"Is it 'Very Important Warrior'?" chuckled the bounty hunter/scientist/bioweapon.
"…Yes. Yes it is."
A cadre of female voices squealed in glee.
"He's so dreamy!" said one.
"And intelligent!" remarked another.
"Fred, I'll tell you about my childhood!" giggled the last.
Ryuko shook her head slowly, and spat out another lemon seed.
"Anyway," continued the Master of Games, "Each of these V.I.W.s will have a base and troops of their own to command. You can try and form a team, or go it solo. Whatever floats your boat. The round will begin in an hour. I'll see you then."
Twilight cursed, which elicited more than a few chortles from those nearby.
"Three bases… with defenders? Has it gone that far?"
"There you go again!" shouted Holly. "What is 'it'?!"
The unicorn gave a nod to her vampire companion, and they both disappeared in a flash of purple energy. Holly drove her knuckles into the table.
"Oh, COME ON!" She noticed the concerned stares her friends were giving her. "What? I'm not crazy. You know she's been as mysterious as a dwarf's chin since we met her."
"First," said Katniss, "I have no idea what you mean by a 'dwarf's chin'. You should really make your jokes more accessible, so that more of us can laugh at them."
"Wh-what?"
"And second, you need to calm down."
The elf scratched her head. "Katniss, when did you become the voice of reason around here?"
"Listen, Holly. Twilight can't be the only person around here who wants to keep their secrets. I got pissed earlier because I was sensitive about people hearing about the things I did."
"But this isn't that. She always has answers to everything and knows about all of this malarkey that happens. She knows more than she's letting on. I'm a cop, Katniss. I know when someone is lying to protect their own interests!"
"And how would you normally respond to that?"
"It depends. Sometimes we have to let it go and investigate other sources. Other times, we can interrogate them."
"In that case, why don't you do one of those things? It can't be that hard."
"Well, we'll have to find her during this round then. It won't be easy."
"Relax," said Ryuko. "I'll lend you a hand. I've got a bone to pick with Twilight anyway. I'll prove to her once and for all that I'm not a sadomasochist!"
"And how do you plan to do that?" asked Holly.
"By turning her into a purple smear on the pavement!" Ryuko roared, before a look of stunned realization came over her face.
Ruby hopped up over the table, snagging together Katniss' and Holly's necks in an embrace. "You had better believe Adam and I will help, too! Any friend of Katniss' is a friend of ours!"
"But Ruby," said Adam, "Twilight could be considered a friend of theirs, too."
"Yeah, but did we fight alongside her, earn her trust in combat, and drench our blades together in the blood of our enemies so that she would become our shield-sister?"
An awkward silence fell over the group after Ruby's speech.
"Just kidding," she said. No one laughed.
Across the room, Alucard watched the discussion unfold. He turned to Twilight, who was careful to stand among a different group of fighters.
"Well?" whispered the unicorn.
"They're plotting to find you and beat the answers out of you."
Twilight let a smile spread over her muzzle. "Perfect."