A/N: This chapter took me forever to write and was extremely frustrating. I don`t even know how many times I rewrote and scrapped it. I`m not entirely sure this version is good enough, but it`s what I`ve come up with. I hope you readers like the result. I have included a song for each of the characters that served as inspiration for this chapter.

[Bleed]

[Songs: There Goes My Head by Razed In Black (Minatsuki), Dead Man by We As Human (Senji), Forfeit by Chevelle (Aodhán)]

[Chapter Three: Icebreaker]

Minatsuki Takami woke up the next day somehow having survived both the vile, unwanted operation and the night afterwards. As she lay in a hospital bed with her eyes closed, her first thoughts were; Of course that sadistic cunt wouldn`t just let me die…Fucking Takashima and that bastard Tamaki! Fighting in the arena I can handle, I even enjoy making those perverts bleed. But the punishment game? How dare that little bitch take something from me? How dare they humiliate me like that?! The girl`s eyes cracked open and were painfully speared by the dim ambient light. Her entire body was one huge ache centered around her left side. Rage flooded her veins along with fear and the poison from her prison-issue collar. Minatsuki tested lifting her head slowly and flexing her hands. Her skin felt too tight, and she realized her arms, legs, and much of her torso was wrapped in gauze bandages. The teen struggled to sit up and didn`t bother to stifle a colorful curse when that brought more pain. When she was able to, Minatsuki looked herself over. Takashima had actually stitched her victim back up rather neatly. As was the case with many of her injuries since the Red Hole, Hummingbird found that the remaining wound was already well on its way to vanishing. Whatever gave Minatsuki her abilities as a 'Deadman' also caused her to heal at an accelerated rate. From the few people she had asked since coming to Deadman Wonderland, she had discovered that this was a common gift amongst Deadmen. It made them even more perfect candidates for the Carnival Corpse. If they didn't die in a match, it usually didn`t take long afterwards for them to recover. Minatsuki frowned as she examined some of her other injuries. All over the parts of her body that had been exposed during her battle with Bloodhawk the other day there were tiny, precise cuts. That they hadn`t yet healed fully spoke for how deep the wounds had originally been. I`m covered in fucking paper cuts. Brilliant.

Takami had to admit, she hadn`t been expecting that one. From what she`d discovered about the other prisoners` Deadman powers they varied greatly. Some were similar to hers; a crude ability to bludgeon or slice with one`s blood. Others, like the armor the Game Foul possessed seemed to be more complex. Those Deadmen had to rely on the physical condition of their body more than their branches of sin. Many were able to change the density of their blood or solidify it in to a certain shape. She had met one man who was able to make droplets of his blood explode once outside of his body. Minatsuki thought she had been fairly well prepared after her efforts at researching the Deadmens` abilities. Considering she had been here less than two weeks, she had been impressed with what she had managed to learn. Still, Takami had been caught off guard. When 'Bloodhawk' hadn`t fought back at first, the younger female lumped her in with what she considered the 'weaker' Deadmen. Minatsuki had thought her opponent to be weak-willed, like her mother had been. The word 'fragile' came to mind. She realized too late that she had fallen for a trap she had herself been hoping to set by underestimating her foe based on appearances. Next time I won`t be so foolish. I`ll tear her apart, and then I`ll watch and laugh while Takashima does too. An obscene, twisted smile touched her lips as her imagination was all too happy to provide images of 'Bloodhawk' writhing helplessly under assault. It would be satisfying to watch. In the end, most of the Deadmen wanted the same thing; to survive. She would keep fighting to do so, Minatsuki knew. Maybe the Hummingbird would even help that end along, until the opportunity to stab her in the back presented itself. A guilty tingling of dark pleasure began in her stomach. Decidedly more cheerful, she bore her loss with anticipatory thoughts of a future Carnival Corpse where she would be the victor. If only my family could see me now. She smiled. What ever would my dear brother think?

~X~x~X~x~X~

Aodhán awakened with a splitting headache. Her eyes shot open and she bolted up in bed, her heart racing. Her vision swam before her and she abruptly dropped back on to the bed with a muffled thump. After a few moments, her vision cleared to reveal a gray cement ceiling and the vaguely familiar walls of her cell. She hoped, prayed that yesterday had been some kind of awful nightmare. A dull ache around one ankle told her that kind of thinking was far too optimistic. The woman sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. As soon as she did so, she wished she hadn`t. The tile under her bare feet was frigid. The woman hissed and realized her whole body felt chilled. She looked down, realizing she had been stripped of her clothes. She didn`t recall that happening, but now reasoned they had likely been stained with blood and vomit from the previous afternoon. Suddenly Aodhán felt filthy inside and out as she remembered. The Carnival Corpse; Tamaki`s sick idea of entertainment. Minatsuki Takami had looked so young. Even if she wasn`t 'innocent' as she had first claimed, Hummingbird still appeared only about fourteen. In Ireland one would have to be at least eighteen to be given a 'life' sentence in prison. She couldn`t say with certainty that the laws were the same here, but she suspected they weren`t. The gruesome image of Rei Takashima cutting in to Minatsuki with a scalpel invaded her mind again. Hatred roiled in her gut, and she felt her body seem to grow colder. If she had cared to look down she might have realized that the blood staining her bandages had frozen in to stiff crystals. Aodhán didn`t notice though. Instead she was preoccupied with what she had been forced to do the previous day. Guilt twisted inside her mixed with fear. With the fear came anger; she hated being afraid, although not nearly as much as she was learning to hate Tsunenaga Tamaki and his twisted 'Wonderland'.

Something caught her eye on the flimsy nightstand. A thirteen inch tall statue wrought of shiny, silvery metal sat perched atop a thick manila envelope. Next to it was a white paper bag that bulged with smaller, round shapes. The trophy was engraved with the Carnival Corpse insignia, the names of the match participants 'Bloodhawk vs. Hummingbird', and the date of the battle. Looking at it the victor felt only disgust. She examined the bag and found it to contain a number of the antidote Candies. She ate one, knowing it was a necessary evil. Shaking hands opened the envelope and two items fell out; a congratulatory notice in Tsunenaga Tamaki`s handwriting and a Cast Card. Aodhán`s fists clenched and she stood, ignoring the twinge of protest from her ankle. It was nothing compared to what the others here must have endured for who knew how long. She found a fresh, hideous gray-green jumpsuit lain out at the foot of the bed and pulled it on roughly. It was a size too small. There were no undergarments or footwear. Her mind was a blank, and her body trembled with rage and hatred that kept fuelling each other in a vicious cycle. She wasn`t sure what she was going to do; only that she had to do something. Everyone else here might be okay with forcing the inmates to fight each other almost to the death and watch the loser get butchered, but she wasn`t. Aodhán had only ever fought for self defense or it`s practice before, never for anyone`s entertainment. The twenty three year old tore aside the privacy curtain that had been drawn over the bars of her cell. When she tried the door, it wasn`t locked. No one waited for her on the other side this time, and the entire hallway seemed to be empty. She took a left and buttoned the top of the jumpsuit closed as she walked barefoot down the hall, following the signs for a set of stairs. She had made it to the next floor up before a claxon alarm began sounding. An announcement came over the intercom then;

"All prisoners are to return to their cells immediately. The use of Necro Macro has been authorized. You have three minutes. All prisoners found outside of their cells after this time limit will be considered viable targets."

Aodhán recognized the voice as that of Kiwako Makina, whom she had been introduced to as the warden of the prison upon arrival two days ago. Had it really only been that long? She ignored the alarm and stayed her course, her anger and lust for Tamaki`s blood sharpening her focus instead of dulling it. I will kill that son of a bitch. He wanted violence, he wanted entertainment. We`ll see how entertained he is while I`m strangling him with his own intestines, she thought. Other prisoners were evident on this floor, rushing down the halls and in to rooms where they slammed the doors behind them. If Aodhán had known more about the prison itself, or just what the Necro Macro was, she might have been afraid. But ignorance left her with no room for fear, and she only paused to check one of the maps posted on a wall. She didn`t have a brilliant plan, or really any clear plan at all. Observation told her that G Block was underground, beneath at least two other floors. Instinct told her that Tamaki would most likely be in or near his office from the previous day, which she remembered had been on the highest floor of the huge penitentiary. A king in his castle, as it were. She turned left and continued up another flight of stairs. The sight that greeted her at the top made her stomach clench.

Two guards were lying dead on floor. One appeared to have had his neck snapped, while the other`s head lay decapitated a few feet away. The wound was clean; Aodhán surmised that a normal blade wouldn`t have been able to do that. Her cast points were on a Deadman`s branch of sin having done this. The bodies were still warm, putting Aodhán more on edge. Is this another sick game? Who did this? Her anger dimmed momentarily in favor of caution, and she glanced around but saw no one. Another announcement came over the intercom just then;

"All prisoners are to return to their cells immediately. The use of Necro Macro has been authorized. You have sixty seconds. All prisoners found outside of their cells after this time limit will be considered viable targets."

"What does thateven mean?" Aodhán asked the empty hall, wondering what exactly was going on. Obviously someone had killed these guards, but why? Petty revenge? That seemed unlikely. The prisoners here moved around the complex with a high degree of leniency for their work in the Wonderland. Even the Deadman weren`t restricted as much as she had thought they might be. She had yet to be locked in her cell at all. She questioned what a 'Necro Macro' was too.

Both the floor and the walls to either side of the stairs were spattered by the guards` blood. Bloodhawk turned right and began jogging lightly. She had only a hazy idea of where she was going. All she knew was that she had to find Tamaki and kill him. But coming from ahead down this corridor were the sounds of people yelling. Another passage crossed this one, forming a four way intersection about fifty feet in front of her. Aodhán slowed to a halt and listened. It would be best if she didn`t have to fight too many guards on her way.

"Catch that bastard!"

"Not on your life, asshole!" The sound of a gun firing was followed by a masculine yell of pain, a thud, and a grunt. Aodhán guessed it was a guard that shouted;

"Get back here!"

"Fuck off!" Returned the second voice from before. More thumping, as if someone were being struck. The gunfire returned, somehow slightly muted. Aodhán was frozen to the spot where she stood around the corner, her muscles tense.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Jesus, what`s he doing?!"

"WATCH OUT!" Indistinct screaming and yelling echoed down the hall. The winner of the previous day`s Carnival Corpse listened tensely as the battle seemed to die down. A stream of bright blood spread across the cement floor in to Bloodhawk`s line of sight. A last thump and someone hit the ground a few feet away. The second voice came back, accompanied by panting.

"You fuckers don`t know when to give up, do you? That really hurts, shit." She didn`t recognize the vocal pattern, but Aodhán didn`t think she had a reason to, since she knew next to no one here. She made no move to investigate, instead trying to avoid the conflict. The person who had attacked the guards and presumably been shot began to move away, and Aodhán turned to go back the way she had come. If this guy was in trouble, she wanted no part of it. Her primary goal right now was to find Tamaki. Fortune was not in either of their favors, however. A mechanical grinding noise made itself apparent, also originating from around the corner. Fíochmar was already creeping away as quietly as she could, trying to be stealthy. Her ankle smarted from the previous run, making itself a nuisance. The man spoke again, seeming freaked out.

"Fuck, what the hell are you?!"

"Beep. Target acquired."

"What? No. No, no, no…shit!" Crash. Someone landed on the floor near the corner she had just been standing at a moment before. Foolishly, the female Deadman turned to look. A tall man in a black tank top and dark blue jeans was sprawled on the floor; he had thrown himself there to avoid what looked to Aodhán like acid. He wore the standard prison collar and bore a tattoo 'DSMK' above his right eye. Black, spiky hair stood back from his face where it wasn`t spattered with blood. He scrambled to regain his feet and ran towards her, not having seen her yet. As he did so, a large, robotic construction with a cannon mounted on the front of it appeared behind him. It rolled right over the corpse of a guard on thick caterpillar treads. Aodhán`s eyes widened in surprise and she began sprinting back the way she had come. The sound of the man`s footsteps followed her and he caught up fairly quickly, running next to her. This is fucking bullshit! She thought, incensed. It looked like finding Tamaki would have to wait until after she had separated herself from this other prisoner and evaded the machine now chasing both of them.

They passed the bodies of the two guards at the stairwell again, running even with each other. Neither prisoner paid any attention to the dead men. Another intersection was coming up, where two of the hallways met and created an 'X' formation. Suddenly, a second Necro Macro appeared coming from the opposite direction down the corridor, in which the two Deadmen had been running.

"This way!" Senji hissed, and grabbed Aodhán's wrist. She resisted and tried to tug herself free.

"Go your own damn way; I have nothing to do with this!" The midnight-haired woman growled. The stranger stared at her like she was crazy. He asked;

"Do you want to get shot?!"

"Like hell-" Takatakatakatakataka! A hail of bullets fired from the second robot. It was quickly closing in on them. Fíochmar just barely managed to dodge it. Her gray eyes grew large and she stopped trying to pull away. The unidentified man yanked on her arm and dragged them both down the left corridor.

"If you want to live, help me escape."

"You`re trying to escape?!" She asked, panting as they ran. All this and she hadn`t even had a chance to get breakfast or her revenge yet. Who the hell was this lunatic anyways?

"Of course I`m trying to escape! I don`t want to get eviscerated for someone else`s entertainment. I`ve been here for ten months now. I`ve had to fight for my miserable life in six of those Carnival Corpse tournaments, cutting people to ribbons just so I don`t have to go under Takashima`s scalpel! Screw that!" He`d let go of her wrist and they were both sprinting now, aching for air and from exertion. They seemed to have lost the robots temporarily, but a troop of guards had replaced them. Some had guns, while others had batons or tasers. Senji and Aodhán darted around a sharp turn to avoid a barrage of bullets. They`d been lucky so far, but the male was getting frustrated.

"How do they keep tracking us down?!" He gasped, thinking out loud. Aodhán glanced over at him in disbelief as they continued running. She noticed one of his arms had been grazed by a near miss. A quick look at the floor behind them confirmed her suspicions. Her wounds weren`t leaking, but his newer one was.

"There are cameras everywhere. My best guess is that someone`s sitting in a room somewhere directing them and communicating via radio. Or they could just be following your blood trail; you`re bleeding all over the place."

"The bastards shot me. Shit."

"I can try to fix that. It`s not like I have any love for this foul jumpsuit." Aodhán told him as they were both bent over, leaning against a section of wall trying to catch their breath. She tore off part of the offending garment`s left sleeve to use as a makeshift bandage. Kiyomasa stared at her for a moment, his face turning red.

"N-no, that`s fine. You don`t need to r-rip your clothes off!" He told her, stuttering a few words due to rising embarrassment. Why are they so tight, anyways? The pair ducked around another corner and Aodhán saw an opportunity as an area she recognized presented itself. She was too busy trying to avoid getting shot or worse to be self-conscious at the moment.

"If we get up those stairs we should be able to make it to the ground floor."

"Okay." The ex-cop nodded, he was relieved to get away from the awkward subject. That had been his original plan all along, but obstacles in the forms of guards and the Nerco Macro robots had been a huge hindrance. And, admittedly, he may have gotten a little lost…The Deadmen barreled up the stairs, shoving past two other inmates that were hiding there. Hopefully the stairs would pose a hazard to the robotic death machines. The closer they got to the ground floor the more people there were. Some were fleeing back to their cells at the announcement. A scant few didn`t seem to take the threat seriously or care what was happening, and were just ambling about. Aodhán and the nameless man next to her dodged the guards, weaving around the other prisoners and hoping to confuse their pursuers. Another Necro Macro dropped out from a panel in the wall, surprising everyone. This one was equipped with an automatic machine gun. It didn`t discriminate between criminals and allies, and shot both down as it tore after their retreating backs. The Necro Macro`s prey barely managed to pass through a doorway and in to the adjoining room in the chaos.

"Christ, are those things what Makina kept calling 'Necro Macros'? That one just destroyed all of those people without even recognizing the prison staff." Aodhán managed to choke out around the painful stitch forming in her side.

"I guess so. It probably only recognizes a handful of people since they come and go in here all the time. Quick, head for that window." Senji suggested. Aodhán followed his advice. Her chest was burning and her breathing ragged. She knew she couldn`t make it much farther; her body would give out. The spiky-haired guy skidded to a halt near the glass. They were on the main floor now, in what looked like a small lobby. The windows overlooked an open grassy area decorated with flower beds, benches, and a colorful trash can. A pair of oak tree saplings stood in front of a high gate topped with spikes as if they were tiny sentinels. On the other side of the gate was Deadman Wonderland`s theme park. Beyond that lay the ocean, and freedom for anyone crazy or lucky enough to cross it.

"Shit, it`s a dead end. We`ll never get over that fence in time." Senji commented. Aodhán glanced right, from where she was half slumped against the window pane. She spat at him;

"So what, are you chickening out? All of these people just got killed because your crazy ass is trying to break out of here. I was minutes away from finding Tamaki and ending him. You dragged me in to this, and maybe stole my best chance. Now you`re going to give up because of a few bars? That didn`t seem to stop you before."

"Don`t put it like that...I did them a favor if anything. They don`t have to suffer in here anymore. Besides, you wouldn`t have found Tamaki anyway! Weren`t you paying attention to the news this morning? He left to attend a conference on the mainland."

"That wasn`t your call to make!" Aodhán yelled at him hoarsely, her face a mask of anger as she realized her hunt for the prison`s owner had been in vain, and so had the deaths of all those people. They were both in really deep shit now. As much as she hated to admit it though, the only way she could see getting out of this alive was to work with this guy, whoever he was. Grudgingly she tried to think of some sort of solution. An idea occurred to her suddenly and she asked. "Who says we have to go over the fence? I saw those dead guards outside the infirmary. You used a branch of sin to do that, didn`t you? Can you cut through the bars?"

Their debate was interrupted as the Necro Macro appeared in the doorway. As another volley of bullets streaked towards them, Senji tackled Aodhán out of the way and to the floor. Her hair flew back and splayed around her as she bumped her head in the fall. Suddenly, recognition dawned on Kiyomasa`s face. If the match weren`t so recent, Senji wouldn`t have been able to tell it was the same person. She looked different outside of the arena; as if she were more fragile. Perhaps it was because he could actually see her face now, when he`d only caught glimpses during the match because her hair was in the way. Senji noticed that her face, much like her arms, was scarred with minute slashes. Eerie silver eyes regarded him with an angry expression. Then she bared her teeth at him and shoved him to one side. The robotic death machine drew closer and the two Deadmen each dove to one side of it. Senji, who was now closer to the window, broke it with a swift kick before the mechanical monstrosity could turn to face him. It`s turret raised slightly to center on the male Deadman`s chest.

He smirked at it and laughed as he sliced both of his wrists open again, because his only other option was to scream. The pain was slight as Senji`s blood began to rush down his arms. He`d done this enough times that he could pretty much ignore it by now as he held both hands out straight from his sides, as if offering the automaton a hug. The scarlet fluid seemed to defy gravity, refusing to fall to the floor. Instead it stretched down and curved back towards his sculpted torso. In less than a second the blood had formed twin solid blades resembling something like claws. As the first bullet left the Necro Macro`s gun barrel, Kiyomasa leapt in to the air. The projectile scorched along the bottom of one of his boots, but he didn`t seem to mind as his jump carried him forward and above the contraption. He slammed both bloody blades down on its midsection first, landing hard on his elbows and continuing over in a sort of flip. His second landing saw Senji on his feet with his back to the Necro Macro. Sparks flew from its damaged core. His unwilling companion looked at him with something between envy and surprise. A heavy thump announced the fall of their enemy, and smoke began to rise from its corpse. He cracked a small smile.

"I suppose I could give that a try."

"..."

"If you`re coming, then let`s go." A dazed stare followed by a silent nod was the only response he got his time. Senji raised his eyebrows at her and she jumped out the window first, tumbling on the soft grass when she landed. The drop was about ten feet down, but the female Deadman didn`t hesitate. She didn`t have much of a choice. Killing Tamaki could wait. Surviving another day to do so was imperative. The man she was now accomplice to landed next to her on the ground, throwing one fist out to catch himself as he did so. As one, they rose and ran for the fence. A small explosion came from the lobby they had just left behind; the Necro Macro. Moments later Kiyomasa was hacking away at the bars with his 'Crow Claws'. The bars were holding up to the damage better than expected, although they still appeared to be weakening.

"This was a bad idea." He grunted with the effort of slicing at the bars again. Their wrought iron was much denser than the thin plate armor covering the Necro Macros possessed. The now familiar grinding noise of yet another of the robots approaching could be heard through a locked door leading from where they stood to another part of the building. Crow continued to slash at the bars, but it wasn`t having a quick enough effect. Both Deadmen`s pulses were pounding from adrenaline.

"Trying to escape without causing a distraction first was a bad idea. Move for a minute, I have a better one." She hoped it was a better idea. Aodhán wasn`t sure this would work at all actually. But once again, she didn`t have much of a choice. She knelt and removed the bandage around her still-healing ankle. The scab tore off easily with a sharp pain. Immediately it began oozing blood. She didn`t hesitate to smear both of her hands with it. Bloodied palms rubbed over the metal as a muffled thud emanated from the closed door. Senji`s gaze jerked towards it momentarily before returning to her.

"Whatever you`re going to do, do it quickly!"

"This`ll only take a moment."

"We don`t have a moment-!" Crow told her as the door dented visibly outwards. Their next enemy was about to smash right through it.

"There!" The blood on the bars began to freeze. The liquid penetrated all of the ferrite slag inclusions in the metal and expanded as it cooled rapidly. Tendrils of red frost appeared on the bars and burst outwards under the increasing pressure as Aodhán concentrated on making the blood comprising it as cold as possible. Her partner in crime glanced at her as the door dented outwards again. She told him hoarsely; "Come on!" Two things happened at once then; he turned to see her run back and throw her body weight in to the scratched and frozen bars, which shattered like glass. At the same time, a Necro Macro bigger than any they had previously seen crashed through the courtyard access door.

Crow dove through the bars after her, bumping his shoulder on the remaining fencing as he did. Thirty feet away was a low cement wall. On the other side of that were the colorful banners and booths of the theme park. Carnival music tinkled from a nearby carousel, and the scent of popcorn and elephant ears was strong. The Deadmen had only a moment to marvel that they had made it this far before a hollow sounding thud drew their attention. They had a fraction of a second to see the electrified net the Necro Macro Sentry had launched at them fall. Two minutes of utter agony followed as they were both electrocuted under it and paralyzed by its poisonous barbs. None of the Wonderland patrons heard them scream over the cheerful calliope music.