"There are some things in the universe that you cannot undo. Things you cannot un-see. Things that you want to regret but cannot, for if you do your life becomes a wasteland fit for the creature of hate and malice you have become. There is a poison in the universe, a sickness they call power, and greed snatches it from the very air and will not let it go. I, unfortunately, have both those things. Instead of denying them, fighting them like most beings, I embraced them and used my gifts to my advantage," she laughs sadly. "Look all it's gotten me!" she waves her hands at the air around her, turning to face Madeline. "An empire, a people who will die for me if I kill for them, wealth," she shakes her head. "Some days I am even happy." She turns back to the window, looking down upon the arena hands clasped firmly behind her back reminiscent of the way Spock himself does it. "Most days I look out the window and miss the little girl who wanted a kitten and played with her sister. Most days."

Then Star is gone, taking her silver rifle and red coat with her.

"What the hell?" Jim says and opens his eyes. Madeline rushes to his side, helping him sit up and bracing his back against the cool steel wall.

"She does that," Madeline says cryptically as she hits Jim with a provided hypo, a stimulant. The bruises are already fading from his skin, Star's injections speeding the body's heeling tenfold. Jim blinks once, twice, and then his eyes go bright.

"Woah," he says and sits up straighter, then stands up and begins to pace. "Woah, this is some good shit! What the hell is this stuff?" He asks and looks at her, eyes going from bright to wild. The captain resorts to swearing when mental functions slow but physical functions increase.

"A physical stimulant of some sort provided to us for the coming battle." Madeline intones and stabs her own neck, wincing as the medication is injected into her blood stream. Her own black eyes grow hot. "We will need it, trust me."

One side of the metal wall slams open, filling the small space with the roar of a crowd and the blinding light of near noon day. The pair shields their eyes and enter the arena, Jim jumping when the door slams closed behind them. Madeline has already experienced this, so to her it is nothing new.

The arena itself was the size of a large football stadium back on Earth, the seats soaring up into the sky and massive screens dotting the walls. Through instead of locker room doors there were massive steel walls that slammed open and closed, revealing their contents. The crowd seemed to be choosing which beast they were going to sick on the two star fleet officers in the sand box of hell. For it was hot, really hot. The sun beat down from an angle that said it was not quite eleven. Madeline checked her watch, and then the sun.

"They started earlier than I thought. We need to make it ten minutes. You can do that right?" she looked at Jim, but he wasn't paying attention. He was looking up at the platform that hovered near the back of the arena, where Star sat with her advisors and the head of big Hadron XII corporations. Next to her sat Spock. Well.

Spock was in a clear box, of what seemed to be reinforced plastic. He was wearing his Starfleet uniform again. Fresh blood dripped from a twin slash on his face. The mucky mucks were oohing and ahhing over him, pressing greedy fingers to the walls and pointing out certain features. Star seemed to be doing brisk business in the slave trade.

"LAAAAAAAAAAAADIES AND GENTLLLLLLLLLLLLE MEN MEn Men men!" screamed the announcer into the microphone. His almost plastically perfect face appeared on all the big screens, white hair slicked back in a way reminiscent of Elvis. Actually, the microphone he was using seemed reminiscent of Elvis. "WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLCOME TO THE 89th ANNNNNNNNNNNUAL HUNT HUNt HUnt Hunt hunt!"

That did not sound good. Jim looked at Madeline, who was practically twitching from the drugs. Her pupils were blow all the way to the edges of her irises and on closer inspection, her hands were twitching. She began jogging in place.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She jumped sky high, spinning and opening her mouth and a snarl the likes of which he had only seen on Spock's face. The little bit o' Vulcan was showing through. When she saw who it was her face broke out into a wicked grin.

""I'm fine!" she said in a high decibel in and higher pitch. "Completely fine!"

"Yeah…" Jim said and looked back up towards Spock, his face hardening. He'd kill whatever they through at them with his bare hands if necessary to get back to Spock.

"WEAPONS ONS ONs On sons!" echoed the voice, and two glittering silver spears popped out of the ground. Madeline snatched hers out of the air in sync with Jim. He tested it out on his pinky's fingers pad and watched the single drop of blood make its way across his slightly ridged skin. He wiped it off on his star fleet shirt. It had been gold at one point, now it was stained brown with his blood. "RELEASE EASE EASe EAse Ease ease…" the crowd drew in a breath. Now we get to see what's going to kill us, Jim thought. Joy. "THE KANGAR!" The crowd detonates in a vicious explosion of noise, jumping to their feet and screaming. A door opened, revealing the dark chamber that housed what Jim expected to be a large Kangaroo with fangs. That's not what he got.

A long forked tongue flicked the air like a whip, the black leathery appendage slapping against the metal with a wet smack. Two eyes came next, small and yellow that didn't seem to see much at all. The tongue flickered again and then came the Kangar. It was the size of an elephant but had the body of a grey hound. If gray hounds were top heavy, and hairless, and coated in a thin layer of something that made the gray skin glitter silver. They were obsessed with metallic silver on this planet. It growled, revealing two fangs that matched its vicious claws and spiked tail that whipped back and forth like an angry cats. It's ears were holes in its skull that matched its flaring nostrils which snuffled the dirt . It's head snapped up though, and it was looking right at Jim.

"Damn," he swore in a whisper. Madeline just swore, then jumped forward at a run, spear gripped expertly in her hands. "Damn." He repeated, and charged after her.

o0O0o

After they removed Jim from my presence I was knocked unconscious. For how long I do not know, and it is disconcerting. Normally I know the time to the second, but after three induced sleep cycles over the past twenty four hours; my internal clock is in shambles. This does not allow me to know how much time must pass before we are evacuated from this abominable planet with and ignominy of a ruler.

It was her face I awoke to, even if it was through reinforced plastic. She had smiled and stood after I revealed my state to her. The words she spoke to those around her were garbled, as if underwater. However, I pride myself on my ability to read lips and was able to cognize most of the following conversations.

"The sleeping beauty has awoken," she said with a smirk, and a laze back on her throne.

"You were not exaggerating the depth of his eyes. Intriguing," says a man with eyes the color of radio activity. They must be implants; it is not possible for a human's eyes to be that color. "Too bad he is in this box and I cannot examine him fully." I do not want to follow that train of thought.

"He would kill you quicker than your guards could process the thought to shoot him," says a woman with black hair that seems to extend into the beyond.

"We like fighters back home," says the green eyed man and runs his tongue over his lips. "How much?" he turns to Star. She shrugs.

"How much do you think he's worth?" she asked with a sharp smile. The man was beginning to tread in dangerous territory, with a 73.9% chance of failing. Star was an anomaly, and in another circumstance fascinating to observe. But not today. I converted his focus to that of the arena, and watched with sad eyes as Jim and Roswell were revealed to me. Both were jittering with stimulants and tension. Jim's previously gold uniform was soaked in his blood, though it had dried brown.

"I still don't know what you see in the Vulcan. Yes, he's rare. But the human, now I'd offer up a price for that bod- I mean beauty." I ignored that comment. I did until she said something after that was 43.2% more vulgar than anything Jim had said in my presence. I span on her slamming my hands into the plastic and, I admit to it, snarled.

They all laughed.

At this point they released the beast that would try and digest his coworkers. Not knowing the exact origin of the creature, but making judgments based on its physical attributes the chance of both of them surviving five minutes was 37.8%.

o0O0o

Charging the monster had not been one of her better ideas, but she had lost some precious brain cells to the drug. She had expected the beast to at least be a little surprised and maybe shy back. Instead it tongue whipped out, slamming into Jim and throwing him back maybe ten feet where he crashed to the sand with a skid and a loud shout. He laid there, breath coming in rapid bursts.

"The tongue is poison!" She shouted, maybe a little too late. She had forgotten about that.

"Oh, you think!" Jim shouted as he struggled back to his feet, using the spear as a crutch. It had only touched the skin on his wrist, but that was already turning purple. At least it didn't spread.

Madeline focused back on the beast. It seemed to be ignoring her, going straight for Jim. Why, she didn't know. Yet. She would figure it out. Sooner or later.

She hefted her spear as the silver creature tore past her. She slammed the tip into its thigh and was rewarded by a spray of black ichor across her arm and legs. The beast turned and snapped at her, its jaws narrowly missing her face. The spear dislodged itself from its flesh, but skittered away on the other side of the monster. It growled, but its head swung back towards where Jim was waiting for it.

Jim through his spear, and it slammed into the things shoulder. Black blood exploded over the sleek skin, but the creature wasn't even phased. The spear remained stuck in the flesh, doing a rapid dance as Jim realized he was suddenly weaponless and ran. The Kangar kept pace easily, toying with him. Dancing in front and behind the Captain of the enterprise. The crowd went wild, stamping their feet and screaming. Finally, the creature got bored. It's tongue snapped out and wrapped around Jim's ankle, tripping him up so he sprawled on the sand. He tried to get away, but two car like paws slammed on either side of his shoulders. The tongue flicked across Jim's torso, and the thing made a slurping sound. Jim looked blatantly terrified, as was human. The tongue came down again, and that is when it hit her. The blood. It was attracted to the dried blood. If it liked the dried blood then…

She looked at the sun, and where Spock was slamming himself against the plastic as the jaws came down on Jim's neck.

"Damn it all," she said and stooped snatching up her spear.

"HEY!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. The teeth didn't snap around Jim's neck. "HEY!" The beast turned to her, growling. She placed the metal on her upper arm, and slashed. Blood burst across her skin and she gasped at the pain as the hot liquid rolled over her arm. The Kangar moved away from Jim, its beady yellow eyes boring into her, long black tongue flicking the air.

She was going to die.

o0O0o

I watched in horror as the beast approached Jim, and when he was nearly to death I forgot my composure and throw myself against the wall, knowing there was a 0.000001% chance of it breaking but trying anyway. Then, Private Roswell does something, and the beast looks at her. Suddenly there is blood, pouring from a wound in her arm, soaking her shirt and dripping from her fingers. It runs red and bright until it hits the sand, going dark. The rate of loss is 7.84 times greater than a human should be able to withstand for longer than two minutes, but she remains conscious even as the Kangar lopes over to her side, poison tongue slithering between ropes of saliva hanging from its maw. Its jaws close around her ankle and she opens her mouth in a scream. Jim is lying on the ground panting, eyes rolling wildly in their sockets as his antibodies fight the poison invading his system at a rate I wish not to elaborate on. I am trapped in a clear box about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Even Jim would say things did not 'look good'.

That is when the buzzing starts in my ears. High and whining it gets louder and louder as my existence thins before my eyes. I watch in awe as my Captain and Private Roswell are surrounded by the glow that means the transporter was working. It was not a smooth transition, the pain immeasurable, but the sight of the landing pad beneath the bone of my cheek and the sprawl of my limbs was the second best thing I've ever seen.

o0O0o

"Get three stretchers in here stat! I don't care who you have to toss out of them, just get them in here or I'll toss you out of the air lock!" he would too. He had never seen a landing party come back so broken."Jim? Can you hear me Jim?" The pointy eared bastard managed to open one eye to see the response. There wasn't one, just the twitch of an eye lid to prove the man was alive at all. McCoy swore and jabbed him with three different hypos, then moved to the private. She was the worst off, nowhere near conscious thought and blood still oozed from multiple wounds. He leg was twisted at an angle that screamed wrong, and where her left eye should be there was just a bloody hole. Hypos weren't going to cut it here, this was more than a poisoning and drug overdose. He slapped the hypos in anyway, and sent the red alert to emergency surgery. She was going in now. He cut off the flow of blood from a massive slash on her arm, different from all the other wounds. The stretcher appeared and she was loaded on, whisked away with only a nod from McCoy. They would stabilize her and then he would deal with the eye. And leg. And Arm. He wouldn't think about losing her.

"Mungh?" said Jim, and McCoy watched the dead come back to life as an extremely battered Spock rose to his feet and stumbled over to his side.

"How the hell do those green blooded elves not die?" Asked McCoy as he joined the pointy eared fiend at his best friends side. "Don't move Jim, I don't know how bad the damage is. Knowing you, you're probably going to have an allergic reaction to the poison. Or the antidote. Or both." Bones turned to Spock. "You shouldn't be moving either," and jabbed the green blooded hobgoblins neck with a hypo. Spock put a hand over the spot, mouth open to say something when his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed to the side. It would have been funny, had this situation left any room for funny.

"Bones?" said Jim, or that is what McCoy thinks he said.

"I'm right here Jim, everything is going to be okay." Then he jabbed him in the neck with another hypo.

o0O0o

The away mission had been a disaster. The message she had sent through about the spies hadn't reached Jim at all, though it didn't matter, Star had killed them anyway. If they had even been spies at all. As it turns out she had been talking to Star with a voice filter. That led her to check up on the video she received, and found it heavily falsified. (Thank God) Spock had been the least beat up, from severe bruising, internal bleeding, lacerations and a microchip implant. Then came Jim with a drug overdose, poisoning from some obscure creature called a Kangar, (which was not in fact a rabid Kangaroo), Three broken ribs, a twisted ankle, lacerations, bruising, bleeding… he looked pretty bad, though he gave orders just fine after the hypos wore off. His first was to get the hell out, which had been done the second they were beamed up. Without Chekov it might not have happened, for the secret message had been sent in some obscure computer code Spock probably didn't know but the private had been discussing it with Madeline the day before she left. Speaking of which, Uhura hadn't seen the private. No one had except McCoy and he wasn't letting anyone else in. She was unconscious though, so that didn't really matter. Uhura had heard tales of what had happened to the poor girl. Eight poisoned puncture wounds, broken leg in three places, four broken ribs, internal bleeding, lacerations, blood loss… She also heard that the poor thing had lost her left eye, which had already been damaged in the transport down. Something had been wrong with her arm too, though no one knew exactly what except Jim, and when you asked him he got this ghostly look in his eye and pretended to fall unconscious.

The crew was still antsy though. All had been affected by Star and her messages, whether personal or the big message of sending back two of the most important members of the crew in near pieces. Trust was missing now, and it saddened her to watch even Chekov look over his shoulder before he got in a lift. She just hoped the crew could get over it.

Even if she was going to have a rather lengthy talk to the acting captain once they got off shift.

o0O0o

"I am so proud of you, Madeline." The girl was alone in the med bay; it was nearly two in the morning standard time. The on shift doctor was asleep in her office, the door shut and the blinds down. Still she had pulled the barrier curtain across her bed and spoke in low tones, the volume of her pad turned way down. She had gotten so far for them to catch her now. "Though I am sorry about your eye, that was never supposed to happen." Madeline touched the silver orb that had replaced her real eye. The vision out of it was still a little foggy, but she'd get used to it. She smiled wanly, responding,

"Now we look even more alike." Star laughed lightly and smiled. "They suspect nothing you know. Not even an inkling of suspicion as to where my loyalties lie."

"Good, good. We worked hard to get it that way didn't we? But I got all the data I needed, and all the raw materials." She smiled. "Do not be surprised if there is suddenly more than one of the Commanding pair of the Enterprise in the universe."

"I'll make sure they don't realize how fast the clones can be made. As you said though, Spock knows what the data was for, even if Jim did not realize. He has already informed the man of this development."

"I expected that. I orchestrated this entire excursion. Soon, I will control them and after, Starfleet itself."

"I have every faith in your abilities Star, though we do make quite a team."

"We do, though now I must go. Live long and prosper, sister dear."

"Live long and prosper sister."

o0O0o

Bum ba da dum bum! Sorry that I took so long to update, but I explained my reasons last chapter so you cannot hate me too much. Right? Right?

Anyway, this arc is over. Or is it? But we won't be seeing star or her sis madeline for a chapter or too, though I have big plans for our commanding pair of the enterprise. Big plans I say, and I'm excited to put them to use.

Thank you to all who have stuck with me and read this fic over the past weeks I've been absent. Thank you to all those who favorited and alerted, and special thanks to

Rain Dancer 2! Hopefully you are less confused….

Ruby Hair! Who is utterly wonderful for reviewing almost every chapter!

Burning Phoenix! You got ur wish!

Magpie 1600! You are still getting praised! Even though star didn't die. Yet…

Sai518! There is more to come to Jim….

Thank you and good night!