Woo! I did it! I updated three stories in one day! Need. Sleep. Now. (falls over unconscious)

Time Out Box

Rogue Cheney was a gasping, gurgling, and floundering heap of black cloth when his body crawled on all fours towards the finish line. The many arches that made up the coliseum named Thor's Field were filled with cheers and roars of victory, but Rogue could only lay there.

Poison was still running its course through his body from Katja's Death Kiss. The longer he'd stayed with it in his body, the worse it had gotten. The only good thing about it was how he couldn't feel pain or get motion sickness. Now, that it was making its final rounds through his body, Rogue couldn't feel his muscles to the extent that he was unable to use them. Her numbing poison had wound up paralyzing him.

Even so, Rogue let his shadowy hair rest in the dirt. He laid where he'd landed after the stream stopped in front of the entrance to Thor's Field. Through the coliseum he'd ran. His shadows had grabbed people up for them to fall on their faces. Rogue had leaped over bodies aplenty before making it to an impressive eighth place.

His lips curled into a snarl. Eighth place. How degrading. He was a member of Sabertooth, and this was their first rematch against Fairy Tail after their guild had become reunited once more. Rogue didn't deserve eighth place. He deserved first!

Rogue wanted to spit in disgust at the foul taste his eighth place victory left in his mouth, but his lips were too numb for him to be sure he spat instead of drooled. Instead of doing any of that, Rogue just laid there.

When the last of the ten arrived, he listened in total numbness.

"I could not be any prouder," King Isaac proclaimed over the intercom. "The Royal Guard takes first place with Katja Saab, Fairy Tail hung in at a close second with Adamine Terra as their representative, and third place was stolen by the guild Grimm after their Sela punched her competition straight out of the arena! The next guilds are—in order from fourth to tenth—Kindred Spirit, Hidden Mask, Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, Sabertooth, Band of Fallen, and Blue Pegasus. I don't know how you're feeling about your country Mato, but I'm thinking Lancet has this in the bag."

"Don't hold your breath—kabo. The games have just started, and our teams are an even five to five on the Lancet versus Fiore scale."

The two announcers kept going with Jason from Sorcerer Weekly chiming in every now and then with a cool or two. Rogue was only half listening when he heard bare feet crunching against the dirt filled arena. A long shadow crossed over his body, and he blinked at water droplets when they rolled from Katja's stick straight hair.

She was still in her soaking wet ninja suit, and somewhere in the battle she lost her boots and purple scarf. The only new item on her body was a white towel with the Royal Guard's insignia spanning the back of it. In her hands was a white towel with Sabertooth's mark.

"They started playing previews from the battles," she explained, tossing his towel to him. He couldn't feel his fingers well enough to know how to pull the towel off his face, so she helped him as she spoke. "You didn't do half bad for eighth place, Cheney."

His lips had an almost swollen feel to them when he mentioned, "And, you survived the avalanche. Impressive."

"Not half as impressive as you surviving our princess's attacks. She wasn't just twiddling her thumbs while Fairy Tail was disbanded. Adamine was here. Fighting and protesting to get our people their rights. There is no such thing as peaceful protest in this country." Katja adjusted Rogue until his back was rest on her bent leg. The cradle of her thigh was near serenity compared to the hardness of the arena's grounds. Or, Kat suspected as much when Rogue's tired eyes shut.

Confetti was flying around their bodies, and people were releasing fireworks into the sky. It was a chaotic mess of sound and excitement, but Kat was just quietly taking care of Rogue until her brother got down to the arena.

As if on cue, Sven's body leaped from one section of the arena to the next. People gasped when he landed silently on the walls keeping them from falling out of the massive stands. He hopped from corinthian columns to ionic and finally the doric columns. Each column signified importance. Slaves and commoners were to be placed along the dorics. Nobles took the ionic, and Kings held the corinthian. Sven was having to come all the way down from the top.

Sven landed like a silent shadow on the dirt then raced to his sister. He didn't say a word. All the siblings did was exchange a glance before Sven crouched to one knee. He bit down on a small container.

Katja and Rogue both watched as his venom leaked into the glass. When he was finished injecting his venom, he stabbed a syringe into it. Once it was filled, he injected that venom into Rogue's bicep. "Thought you'd appreciate this more than me just biting you," he explained when he caught the question in Rogue's eyes.

"Thanks," Rogue breathed. The head that had been trying to lift up fell back down on Katja's thigh. As Sven's antivenom began to flow within his veins, Rogue was beginning to feel more and more of his nerves wake. A strong tingling sensation rolled through him, and he gave himself up to it.

It wasn't until Katja laid his body out on the ground that he raised a brow at her in question. "Your guildmates are coming, and I've gotta dash," she explained. Sven helped her up from the dirt.

Before she could get away, Rogue ripped himself as far from the earth as his tingling arms would take him. "But, what about our meeting? You promised!"

"Midnight," Katja called. Fireworks were crashing loud above her head, and Sven was leading Katja away with the gusto of an angry parent.

"Where?"

"Don't worry about where. I'll find you," she explained. Sven raised his hand before throwing a firework at their feet. Smoke filled up around them. It entirely sheathed their bodies. When it shot off to launch a Royal Guard insignia shaped firework into the sky, Sven and Katja disappeared with the smoke.

Now, how was he going to figure anything out about the captive?

As soon as Katja and Sven reappeared at King Isaac's sides in the stands, Sven, Colin, and Felix all demanded, "Tell me what that guy said to you!"

Her entire body reared back at the emotions displayed on each of the men's faces. Sven looked pissed as hell. Colin looked worried. Isaac and Felix looked ready to rip out a man's throat. At Zac's right a confused Toma and Jason stared.

Putting her gauntlet covered hands in front of her Kat nervously laughed, "Nothing. Nothing. He said that just because we're the Royal Guard that he wasn't going to let us win the games. That's all. I swear!" That's all I'll tell you at least. Hidden Mask is going to get a little visit in the night from a certain assassin. I can admit that much for certain.

Lucian was her problem and a big one at that. He knew who the Royal Guard really was. Did he know who all of them were or just a select few? That kind of knowledge could destroy all the efforts made to make mages have equal rights. If he knew who Kat was, he surely knew who Sven was. Her brother was in danger. Katja couldn't lose another loved one because of what her racist slave master forced her to do.

Tossing her hazel eyes towards her little brother, Katja knew she had to keep Sven safe. He'd been taking care of her for so long. The hand feeding, the hugs, and the encouragement. After Malia had died, Sven had become her parent and she his. They were both father and mother to each other. Katja wouldn't lose her brother because of people she was forced to kill. She'd made it all these years protecting him from Gatlin and Gatlin's father. No one would harm her little brother.

"You're lying," Sven scolded. His dark eyes narrowed on Katja like twin embers. The two of them had raised each other. She couldn't get out of a lie with him around.

Sticking her tongue out, Katja stated, "It's no big deal. We're a big target amongst the other guilds. We're going to receive threats. Adamine already promised to beat my ass if we go up against each other during any of the competitions. You gonna freak out on her too?" Hands got put on Katja's hips, and she frowned towards her big group of brutes.

Felix withdrew his talking and transforming sword Giselle. In unison the blade and master explained, "Just give me a name, Kitten, and I'll make sure that guy gets the closest shave he's ever received."

Colin's hands turned to smoke, and he flashed Katja a wicked grin. "I haven't gotten to fight anyone to the death in a long time. I wouldn't mind some fun and games."

"Oh, will you just shut up and read your porn," Katja grumbled to Colin. Turning to Felix and Giselle, she added, "And, the two of you. Cut that out. I don't need to be protected like some damsel in distress. I'm perfectly fine on my own."

Their skeptic expressions said otherwise. All of the Royal Guard knew of Katja's Time Out Box. Unlike the men who still went out on vicious contracts of man hunts, Katja played it safe. She hadn't even gotten into an actual fight with someone until today with Lyon. Her Time Out Box had gotten a nice, thick, and shiny chain wrapped around it. It hadn't tried to rust until Catori's Soul Shredder move, Rogue's stalking, and Lucian's threat. Now, the chain links that kept her sanity in place were getting rusty.

Isaac had allowed Katja to become soft. She mourned the many people she murdered. Katja spent her nights in the graveyard on her hands and knees begging forgiveness. The ghosts of her victims haunted her, and she repented each and every day. Every innocent child, elder, and adult. Her hands may not be red now, but there was so much blood on them. She could cry just thinking about it. She knew the survivors of her assassinations did.

How many children had she left orphaned? How many children had she stolen from parents? How many grandchildren couldn't grow old and die happy because of her? Katja was… She was… death.

"You need a guardian. Someone needs to be with you at all times during the games if someone is coming after you," Isaac explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

Katja simply shrugged. "Sven is always with me. That doesn't change anything."

"No, Katja. He won't be. Sven has his own stations to attend during the games. You will need someone not in the guard to become your escort." Isaac's face was a cold mask, and Katja's mouth nearly unhinged. He wasn't suggesting… No! No. No. No. No. No! He wasn't suggesting that Katja actually get a-a-a bodyguard.

She was an assassin for poison's sake. She couldn't be touched because of her poisonous skin. As long as she was in hand to hand combat, Kat was invincible. She, assassins, didn't need bodyguards. They acted alone! It was what made them so useful!

The stern expression on Isaac's face brokered no argument. Katja felt like the gavel had fallen when Isaac stated, "I will have Rogue become your escort—"

"What!" Katja screeched. Her voice was so loud and high pitched that it echoed through the colosseum. People turned around in their seats to stare in her direction. Katja could feel so many eyes on her that her entire body turned a hundred shades of crimson. It was a million times worse than that fantasy romance Juvia wrote titled A Thousand Shades of Gray. People turned scarlet at just the mention of that novella.

Instead of looking embarrassed or bothered by her screeching, Isaac calmly explained, "I've already spoken to Sting about it. He and I both agreed that since you are assigned to find the Norman Slavers and Rogue was one of the Sabertooth members assigned to assist in the investigation that the two of you make the perfect team."

Colin let a slick smirk cross his skin. "Aw. Look at Kitten. She's blushing. Does Kitten wuv the Dragon Slayer? Does she wanna go sit under the stars with him and hold hands? Look at her face! She does! Katja and Rogue sitting in a tree. K-I-L-L-I-N-G."

"First comes love then comes marriage. Then comes an assassin in a baby carriage," a new voice piped up, and Katja swung her head in the direction of Lector walking on the wall separating the stands.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch chimed up, oblivious to whatever Colin and Lector were singing about.

Snarling, Katja ran her gauntlets across Colin's face at the same time Rogue threw Lector at Sting. Colin's entire face seized before he went floundering on the floor of the stands.

"What did you do to him?" Sting asked, backing up a few steps before standing in front of Katja.

"I call it the Harlem Shake. Want a taste test?" She held up her gauntlet and the purple poison that swirled in the reservoirs between each knuckle.

Sting held up one hand at the same time Lector buried his face in Sting's neck. "No thanks. I ate a lot of popcorn. Poison and popcorn don't blend well." He turned to where Isaac was smirking to himself. "I take it she didn't like the news."

"Took it about as well as Rogue seems to be taking it right now," Isaac intoned. His purple eye drifted from Katja's furious face to Rogue's tense quiet. They made a great team. Why were they so bothered about working together?

Curling her lip, Katja snarled, "I don't need a babysitter, Isaac. I can handle myself." When she stood to walk off, Isaac rose with her. His massive hand came down on her shoulder to spin her around.

"I am your king, Katja, and I say you need a bodyguard. It's only for the week until the games end. Get over it." His jaw was firm. His eyes beckoned for her to challenge them, but Katja just couldn't.

She owed everything to King Isaac, Prince Urian, and Princess Adamine. Their words were law to her. With her chin quivering, she held it up. "Fine," Katja spat. "But, don't expect me to like it."

Quickly, Katja turned on her heel. Without a word of goodbye, she leaped down from the colosseum stands. Her body had vanished with the dissipating crowds in a matter of seconds.

She could barely hear them talking about her as she leaped from column to column.

"Should I go after her?" Rogue asked.

"No. Give her some time. She's been through a lot today," Sven assured.

With a scowl on her lips, Katja finally made it to the last ring of the colosseum. Bodies were packed so thick that she could hardly fight the crowd to get to the dressing rooms. After fighting through a sea of bodies, Katja finally found the door to the stairs. She elbowed one particularly pushy bystander in the gut before slipping through the passageway.

As soon as she slammed the door behind her, Kat flattened herself against it. Her body slid slowly down before she sat on her haunches. She was tired. She was embarrassed, and she hadn't had any alone time since meeting up with Sabertooth on introduction day.

Katja rested her forehead against her knees. She was still wet from swimming in the river to Thor's Field. If she didn't change her clothes, she would fall ill.

Instead of letting herself wallow, Katja forced herself up on two tired legs. Now that the excitement was over, the day's soreness was slamming her hard. Her arms and legs felt like jelly. Her abs felt like she'd been hit with a sledge hammer. The majority of her injuries would be healed by tomorrow, but the tiredness in her muscles was going to be there for several days. Today had been a workout.

Trudging towards the showers, Katja opened up her locker, the only one in the entire women's locker room with the Royal Guard insignia on it. By the looks of things most of the other women had come in and gone out. The entire locker was empty aside from one running shower and some absolutely hideous caterwauling.

"I'm a little sun shy when the sun shines on the wrong day," cawed from the showers, and Katja couldn't help it when a little smirk formed on her lips. She had no clue who was wailing, but it was the worst she'd ever heard.

The grin was short lived when Katja looked at her full length locker. Someone had spray painted all over it. Notes like "We know who you really are" and "You can't hide from us, bitch" were scrawled all over the place. Even her lock had been demolished.

Gulping, Katja opened up her locker. She wasn't surprised when she saw her bag shredded, the clothes inside of it as well. Someone had sabotaged her locker high school grudge style.

Instead of getting raging mad, Katja pressed her forehead against her locker door. Her Time Out Box rattled, and Katja felt moisture growing along the bottom of her eyelids. She lifted her head up then let it drop against the metal locker. Over and over again Kat beat her head against the metal door.

She was sure she would have done it until she got a concussion had the woman with the horrible singing voice not entered the dressing room. "Katja?" a voice that was hauntingly familiar asked.

Kat's entire body tensed up when she recognized the voice as Catori Polterom. She was preparing herself mentally for a chewing out until a hand pressed lightly on Katja's shoulder. She swear she jumped ten feet into the air at the sudden contact. When she swung around to see Catori standing buck ass naked with her towel draped around her shoulders, she nearly wished Catori would have let her give herself a concussion first.

"Who did this preppy shit to your locker?" Catori asked. Her eyes surveyed the notes, and she read, "'Your days are numbered, slut!' 'King Isaac can't protect you now!' Sheesh, and I thought being the only pansexual in a women's locker room had been hard. The foreigners actually voted to kick me out until all the straighties were done washing up. Uh, hello, I'm queer, but I have standards. Adamine, Danica, Risley, and all the natives refused to shower without me."

Sighing, Katja turned to rest the back of her head against her locker. Lucian must have sicced his entire guild on her. Live in fear of me like I did of you. Yeah. Yeah. It was kind of working.

"Are they all still here?"

"Oh, no. They left a while ago. That's why my radio's playing. I hooked my sound pods up to speakers," Catori explained. She stepped to a locker with the symbol of crossing scythes on it. Not even worried about her nudity in the slightest, Tori bent over to pluck a gym bag up from her locker. She tossed it on the bench between their lockers. "By the looks of it, I'm assuming you're a thirty two double?"

Blinking a couple of times, Katja had to wait a few moments before realizing Catori was guessing her bra size. Her skin got hot even as she nodded. "Er. Yes. Why?"

"Here. You've got a bigger booty than me, so I can't give you any undies." Without any warning, Katja was hit in the face with a bra. Catori's bra had little puppies all over them. It was so darling compared to the typical black, white, and grey that Katja normally bought. Cute lingerie was for girls who could be touched.

Katja wasn't even able to form words at the kindness Catori was showing the dripping wet assassin as the Seith Mage ruffled through her gym bag. "I hope you don't mind dressing a little punk goth. That's all I got."

Made sense. Catori was the most punk out of all the girls Katja had ever met. The woman had shaved the entire side of her head. Now that it was growing back, she kept it in skin tight braids that were fused to the side of her skull. Most of her outfits consisted of cropped leather jackets, skin tight jeans, and a little piece of fabric to cover her breasts. Catori had a tongue piercing, gauged ears, and a belly button piercing. Spanning across her back was a massive tattoo of skeletal wings attached to a spinal column. Punk? Katja thought yes.

Instead of being tossed any kind of revealing top, Katja got a leopard print tank top and a leather micro mini. The outfit was topped off with a beat up crop vest, sleeves cut out of course.

"I've got the fingerless gloves, metal and leather armlets, thigh highs, and combat boots to go with it, too," Catori explained. She held up the boots, and chains rattled at their presence. "See! Aren't these chains just darling?" She hit one like a cat toying with a feather.

Yes, darling. Chains were apparently darling in Catori's mind.

Beggars couldn't be choosers. Besides, all her clothes were trashed, and Catori was being kind enough to offer something up after their fight. Katja had been ready to rip her throat out for waking up old memories, but she understood. Tori was just doing what she thought she had to do to win the competition. They were apparently fine with each other.

With a shy smile Katja accepted all the goth accessories she was being handed. "Thank you, Catori."

"Ah. It ain't no problem. We sisters gotta look out for each other. S'pecially when someone wants to be a prissy bitch and go high school whore on your locker. Really? Aren't we all adults here?" She gave a short pause as she reached to buckle her bra. "So, who do you think did it?"

Instead of answering, Katja just shook her head. "I don't have a clue. People must think the guard is going to win this, so they're trying to scare us. I hate to see what the guy's lockers look like." Surely, she wasn't the only one on the recieving end of this bull. Or, maybe, she was. Katja was the only one people weren't intimidated by anymore. She and Sven… in appearance weren't all that threatening. They were actually the shiest and most gentle. The other guys like Felix the Giant, Colin the Ghost, and Hollis the Phoenix would pluck the spine of a bully. Kat and Sven… they had been kept from people. They really didn't understand how to deal with bullies because they'd never been around them. Just each other.

Catori offered up her sweetest smile. She'd pulled up a pair of the tiniest undergarments Kat had ever seen then a leather skirt over that. Shredded leggings sheathed her calves and thighs before dipping into beat up boots. Across her upper torso was a collared shirt, tie, and to no one's surprise a leather jacket. Catori dressed nothing like Katja.

"Well, if you figure out who did it, tell me. I'll make sure to use Soul Shredder on them if I go up in tomorrow's battles or event." Before the woman left Katja to herself, she wrapped her arms around Katja's shoulders. She pulled Kat tight, making sure that no skin touched. In her ear Catori whispered, "I can tell you're lying to me. Don't forget. I see souls." Bouncing backwards, Tori snatched up her stuff. She flung it over her shoulder. After a wink and blown kiss, Catori left Katja alone. Perhaps, Tori's Soul Vision told her that Kat wanted some Me Time.

When Catori's footsteps could no longer be heard, Katja angrily pulled her destroyed bag, clothing, and ruined lock out. Once they were in hand, they went straight to the trash. Without any fear of anyone touching her, she peeled her dripping wet one piece off.

Her movements were completely robotic and methodical until she got inside the shower. Once any sound was locked behind the pounding of water droplets against stone, Katja let it out. The chains on her Time Out Box broke, and she let herself cry.