Author's Notes: After the five reviews I received on the last chapter, I guess I'm just going to start answering all questions chapter-by-chapter. Please note, in the following chapter, there is about a 4-month time-jump from the first augmentations. No major "changes" have occured, except that the Spartans, by this point, are well aware of and capable of controlling their bodies' new abilities and limits.

REVIEWS:

numaman: Yes, my friend, the last one was just a little shorter than the one before it...but I think you'll find this one much more to your liking if you enjoy longer chapters.

Lord of the Trees: Yes, I apologize. The Master Chief will be mentioned several times, and if you played Halo 3, what he does in it will be going on behind-the-scenes in a lot of cases. Not all, but many.

1 way ticket: Hey, I said I was sorry! lol. Here's your fight, and I put both your favorites in there...forgive me now? Pretty please?

Trueshot159: Well, regardless, I appreciate your reviews and your continued reading, and I hope you'll continue to do both. I enjoy the reviews very much.

The Great Valley Guardian: Thanks very much for your review. I appreciate the compliments, and I hope you find the next chapters to be equally enjoyable.

Now, in regards to the chapter: I know it's very long compared to my normal. Also, it switches viewpoints a LOT, but you should know, it never leaves the Cage. For reference, it'll switch between five Spartans only: Ezekiel, Victoria, Magnus, Blaine, and Jason. I hope this helps.

...Enjoy!

Chapter 13:

– Cage-Match –

1800 Hours - August 14, 2552

Zulu Training Ground - Sparring Cage

Victoria looked over to the two Spartans on her right. Ezekiel's glare was rock solid and cold as ice, as always. Jason was calm, simply waiting for the announcement before the battle would begin.

She glanced to the far end of the cage.

Magnus was there, giving Ezekiel the same death-glare he always gave him when they fought. Christopher, like normal, was standing on edge, his breath coming quickly until he forced it to slow. Blaine's fists were clenched at his sides, and his eyes glanced from Victoria, to Ezekiel, to Jason, and then right back to her.

Victoria took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain completely focused. Three-on-three fights were nothing new. They'd been doing them for months. There was nothing about this fight that was any different.

Except him, she thought, glancing toward Ezekiel once more. She'd been placed on his team only a few dozen times in all the years spent at the Zulu Training Ground. And never, not once, had she been on his team, against Magnus.

She didn't dislike Ezekiel, by any means. Each one of the Spartans was family to the rest, and each of them got along well enough with the others. But the fact was that she would never pick Zeke as her first choice as a partner in battle.

He was arrogant.

He was proud.

Simply put, he was too much like her. She was smart enough to know that their fighting styles and personalities would clash in battle. She was good, and she knew it.

And he was good. Even among the most elite soldiers in history, there were tiers that developed. Ezekiel, Magnus, Victoria, and Blaine were top-tier fist-fighters. Samuel, Jason and Christopher were at the tip-top of armed combat with anything but a long-range rifle. That was one record Ezekiel still held.

"Alright," the Marine outside the cage said finally, snapping her out of her thoughts, "begin!"

Without a second's warning, Zeke took off at full speed, topping better than 50 km/h as he ran for the other end of the cage. Jason was still for a moment, stunned, and then took off as well, moving only slightly slower.

Victoria risked a glance at her opponents at the far end before running behind her teammates. They were unsure. Blaine had braced himself for whatever Jason could throw, and neither Chris nor Magnus knew which one of them Zeke would actually target, since he ran in a line directly toward the space between them.

But she knew the ending. Zeke wouldn't target Chris while Magnus was standing perfectly in his way. No, he'd fight that monster of a Spartan just for the challenge.

Victoria looked Magnus straight in the eye and darted for him, beating Zeke's speed by a few kilometers per hour in less than two seconds. When it came to speed, she was tops, plain and simple.

Magnus watched the two smaller Spartans coming toward him and Chris, each one standing several inches shorter than he was and weighing more than fifty pounds less. Victoria was looking right at him, and Zeke seemed to glance at Chris, even though he wouldn't make any real commitment to his run.

I hope she doesn't think I'll take it easy on her, he thought, focusing entirely on the female Spartan closing in on him with incredible speed. He turned as Ezekiel turned his body slightly to face Christopher, now only a meter away.

Chris braced himself for the strike, but Magnus turned away to focus on his own opponent.

And he paid dearly for it.

He felt a sharp pain run down his back as Ezekiel's foot connected with the top of his spinal cord. He was flung forward, but before he could hit the ground, the younger Spartan was there, sending a piercing uppercut to his stomach before kicking him hard into the side of the cage.

Ezekiel was very pleased with himself. Their plan had worked perfectly. Magnus had instantly suspected that Victoria would make him her target, and he let down his guard long enough for Zeke to plant him right in the bars of the cage, where he belonged. He could only watch as the behemoth slowly stood up, the bars behind him bent at strange angles and a few of them even snapped at the bottom.

"Magnus," Zeke taunted, "I'm disappointed. I thought you'd actually be a challenge, you know, being 'the best' and all."

The older soldier shot him a glare that was the coldest he'd ever seen. A second later, he was on his feet, and he ripped one of the steel bars from the side of the cage and began twirling the six-foot strip of metal like a baton.

"Oh, Hell," Zeke moaned as Magnus closed the gap between them, still spinning the steel rod at untold speeds.

Just as he came within arms-reach, Magnus put both hands above his head and began spinning the bar horizontally. A split-second later, he brought it straight down like a club, aiming right for Ezekiel's head.

In that split-second, Ezekiel managed only barely to shift his weight to his right foot and move out from underneath the strike. Before Magnus could pull the bar up off the floor, Ezekiel stepped lightly on it with his right foot and spun a complete 360, the heel of his left foot catching Magnus in the cheek and sending him into yet another piece of the wall.

Zeke picked the bar up off the ground and began twirling it slowly. "Now-now, Magnus," he said, holding the rod up for him to see, "I could've been killed!"

Magnus' glare grew even darker. "Enough." He said.

"Okay," Zeke taunted, "maybe not 'killed,' but that could've at least left a bruise." His ever-present smirk appeared as Magnus picked himself up angrily.

"One day Zeke," he snapped, "you're gonna get yours."

"Yeah," he admitted. His face was solemn for a moment before his arrogant smirk returned, "But not today."

How the Hell did I end up the guy fighting Blaine? Jason thought as he exchanged blows with the other Spartan. He glanced to his left to see Victoria fighting with Christopher.

SMACK!

Blaine's boot connected with his right thigh, and his hands came down instinctively. In that moment, both of Blaine's fists shot forward and hit him in the abdomen, knocking him flat on the floor.

Before he could stand back up, Blaine was already charging him.

Oh, damn, he thought. Blaine kicked him hard in the ribs, causing him to gain airtime before hitting the bars making up the wall of the cage and falling to the floor.

As Blaine charged again, Jason watched Victoria turn away from Christopher and sprint toward the gap between Blaine and himself. She was a lot faster than he was, and met him halfway…five feet in the air and with her leg outstretched.

Blaine went rolling on the floor and Victoria returned to her fight with Chris, giving Jason enough time to regain his bearings. He looked at Blaine.

My turn, he thought, stepping closer, let's see where your temper gets you this time.

Zeke ducked low as Magnus' fist shot through the air where his head had just been. His first few strikes against the behemoth of a Spartan had been enough to fatigue Magnus, and now the tired super-soldier could barely touch him. Ezekiel threw a hard right-handed punch and felt it connect with Magnus' gut, causing him to double-over.

"Come on Magnus," he said. "I'm bored!"

As if he'd hit a switch, Magnus sprung up and thrust his right foot at Ezekiel's stomach. The younger Spartan simply gripped his opponent's ankle, jumped, and spun off Magnus' leg, kicking him in the kidney in the process.

This is just too easy. Zeke thought, smirking as he watched Magnus bend down and clutch his side. Wow, he thought, he must be slacking. I didn't kick him that hard.

As Magnus stood there, rubbing his side, Zeke ran forward, swinging his right foot out wide in an attempt to catch the other kidney. His leg swung through the air at lightning-speed, covering the distance in less than a second.

And, at that moment, Magnus stood straight up and caught Zeke by his outstretched ankle, the force of the kick not even fazing him.

Oh damn, Zeke thought, too cocky. I got too comfortable.

A half-second later, Magnus spun around threw him by his ankle hard into the side of the cage. Ezekiel felt a sense of irony as four steel bars bent to the shape of his back when he smashed into them. A voice in his head kept saying, "That's what you get for being overconfident."

As he stood up, Zeke decided to take a trick from Magnus' book. He grabbed two of the bent steel bars and ripped them from the rest of the cage, spinning them both in his hands. "You remember this trick, don't you Magnus?" He asked with a smirk, masking the already-fleeting pain in his back.

To his surprise, Magnus only smiled in response.

Alright, he thought, time to see how this really works. He took off toward Magnus and swung the bar in his right hand hard into his opponent's arm.

And he took it without flinching.

"What the-"

Before he could finish, Magnus had gripped him by both forearms and thrown him again into another group of cage bars. Oh, he thought, I forgot, he's freakin' Goliath! He felt six more bars bend painfully as his back seemed to bend right along with them. It took all he had to ignore the pain that was now creeping from his back down into his legs.

"You know, you're almost an effective fighter when you're focused." Zeke mocked, his smirk overshadowing any expression of pain he should've worn. "I just hope that's not all you've got."

Magnus grinned coldly, clearly enjoying himself. Zeke wondered if he knew just how much pain he was in.

"You're all talk." The older Spartan said.

Zeke was about to respond when he heard and felt a terrible impact against the cage ten feet to his left. He could hear loud moaning as Jason stood up shakily.

"'Bout time you got here." Zeke joked. "Care to give me a hand?" He motioned toward Magnus.

"Yeah, sure," he said, "If you'll get 'monster-man' over there off my back." Jason pointed directly at Blaine, who was standing twelve feet away, wearing a smirk similar to Zeke's.

Men, Victoria thought coldly as she saw her two partners working to stand up after being smashed into the cage bars. She herself was doing fine, with Christopher working just to keep up.

"You're not bad Chris," she said in a falsely comforting tone, "but you're too slow."

Chris grinned as he crouched into a karate-style fighting stance. "But when I do catch you, you're done." He said calmly. Victoria couldn't help but grin.

"You mean 'if' you catch me."

Chris stopped smiling and charged her, swinging his arms at speeds the Marines outside the cage wouldn't be able to follow in their dreams. But to Victoria, it was a joke. For reasons the scientists hadn't been able to deduce yet, her body had responded exceptionally well to the neurological augmentations, and for it, her reaction time was one that left even the other Spartans in the dust. Zeke was next in line, but he too had to go all-out to land a punch.

She laughed aloud, dodging punches and kicks like they were coming in slow motion. This made Chris angrier, and he lunged with more effort, coming closer every time to hitting her, but still missing his mark.

Suddenly, she heard Magnus yell from behind her, and couldn't stop herself from turning to look. She saw him fall to the ground as a spinning Ezekiel Veron pulled in his outstretched leg and dropped several feet to the ground as well. Somehow, the smaller Spartan had landed another kick, this time on Magnus' head.

Unfortunately, her glance cost her, as Chris took the opportunity to land a punch of his own, hitting her in the jaw and sending her skidding across the floor.

She sat up, tasting the blood from her lip.

He actually hit me, she thought, he actually caught me. Instantly, she was furious not only with him, but with herself. That stupid Magnus, she thought, angry that she, for some reason, had turned around.

When Chris went to kick her as she got up, she quickly balanced on her right hand, effectively cart-wheeling out of his reach. He turned, thrusting his right hand for her jaw once more.

This time, however, she was focused. More so, she was angry. She pulled her head back, out of reach, and used her own right hand to slap his out to the side, leaving him off-balance. As she did it, she spun a half-circle and brought her left foot up, hard, catching him under his chin and leaving him looking at the sky. Before he could even breathe, she jumped and spun a 360, kicking him in the face with her right foot and landing on her feet with her back to him.

She heard a thud and the sound of flesh against concrete behind her. Then she heard a second thud as Chris slammed into the steel cage bars.

And then nothing.

"One down," she said.

"Maybe next time," Zeke said as Magnus fell to the ground, finally unconscious. He was worn out, and his whole body ached.

"Hey, you wanna give me a hand now?" Jason's voice echoed as he fought with Blaine, exchanging punches and blocks. Honestly, Zeke was amused. The two of them were evenly matched.

"No," he said flatly. "When we're fighting Covenant, I'll help you out whenever possible, but this is just sparring. If you can't stand on your own two feet, you don't deserve to stand at all."

"Thanks," Jason said sarcastically without even turning to look at him.

"Anytime," Zeke said.

He froze when he heard footsteps behind them, and then relaxed when he recognized their rhythm.

"Well Victoria, I take it you beat Chris?" He said without turning around.

"Well, yeah." She said coldly, her voice making a point to show how stupid a question it was for him to ask.

"Just asking," Zeke answered, still watching Jason's fight.

Then, she surprised him.

"How about you and I spar while we wait for the kids to finish?" She joked.

Zeke thought about it, then shook his head. In theory, they could, since the Spartans weren't really supervised in the Cage anymore, but he really didn't feel up to it. "Sorry," he said, "I just fought your boyfriend, and I'm a little tired."

He heard her scoff behind him, making him smirk. "Spartans don't have relationships." She said.

"Of course not," he said mockingly, still not turning.

Suddenly, pain shot up and down his back as her foot smashed into him, and he was sent face-first onto the concrete. He turned to her, furious.

"You're going to regret that." He growled. She smiled, irritating him further.

She shrugged, "nah."

Blaine felt like the veins in his arms were going to explode as he forced himself to push harder. His hands were locked with Jason's, and they were both pushing forward for all they were worth, their feet actually denting the concrete beneath them. He was shorter than Jason was, but equally strong. Neither of them could gain even an inch of ground.

"Hope-you-can-do…better!" he groaned, trying to move Jason even slightly. The other Spartan refused to budge.

"I...I can!" Jason growled back, and Blaine felt his footing begin to slip. He forced his feet another centimeter deeper into the solid concrete.

Finally, Jason did something he hadn't expected. Blaine felt himself almost fall forward as Jason stopped pushing and fell backwards, thrusting his foot up into the air, sending it crashing into Blaine's stomach and then flipping him clean over his head. Blaine landed several feet away and slid across the floor of the cage.

"Well," he said, brushing the sand off his clothes as he stood up, "you finally hit me."

Jason laughed as he stood up. "There's more where that came from." He said.

Victoria couldn't help but smile as Zeke threw punch after punch without laying a single finger on her. Either he wasn't lying, and he really was tired, or he was just as slow as the rest of her teammates.

She dodged a punch to the face and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Little witch," he snapped, throwing a kick up to her chest. She put her arms behind her and literally fell onto her palms, sending her legs up and kicking him in the stomach with both of them. The shot was enough to send him several feet into the air before falling to the floor.

"Aw," she said with a false pouting look on her face, "did I step on your poor little ego?"

She swore she heard Zeke literally growl as he stood up, shaking either with rage or pain, she wasn't sure. Suddenly, a shocked look overtook his face. "No way," he said, looking passed her, "I knocked him out!"

Victoria immediately thought of Magnus and turned behind her. That instant, she knew she'd made a mistake. He was still lying on the ground, as unconscious as ever.

A split-second later, she felt a knee pressed into her back and Zeke's arms come up under her own, bending at the elbow to put her into a lock. She felt a searing pain as he fell forward, pushing her forward as well and pressing his knee harder into her back as he did so. The pain hit a new level when she finally hit the ground, and it felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her spine.

She felt him stand up and couldn't move in time to stop him from pinning her to the ground by the back of her neck. She struggled to get free, but stopped when the increasing pressure of his boot on the top of her spine became simply unbearable.

"I win." He said cruelly.

Barely, she thought with more than just a little bit of pride. She knew that, even though she lost, she'd done plenty of damage to his ego in those few minutes. What's more, Ezekiel had had to trick her to beat her. That alone made it all worth it.

"Come on, Blaine, stand up you big girl!" Jason mocked as Blaine coughed painfully, spitting blood out onto the concrete. The battle had turned quickly after Jason landed a few shots in a row, but went from bad to worse when he started purposely mocking Blaine and his family. The problem was, Blaine knew exactly why he was doing it. Jason didn't truly mean any of it; he just wanted Blaine angry so that he couldn't focus.

And so far, it had worked.

"Enough!" Blaine growled as he stood up, spitting again.

"Aw, what's wrong?" Jason asked, his tone resembling one used when talking to a toddler. Blaine worked to control his temper.

Come on you idiot, he thought to himself, you're a damn Spartan. You're in control. He's just trying to get a rise out of you. He felt his temper waiver slightly.

"So, you're not gonna fight, are you?" Jason asked. Blaine looked at him curiously. "Well, I'm sure your mom would be proud, but your dad might think you a bit of a wuss."

Blaine felt his control slipping. Enough, he thought, stop letting him get to you. He was both proud of and furious with himself. Seven years previous, that single comment would've gotten Jason's head ripped clean off his shoulders. That, in addition to what he'd already said, would've no doubt been cause for his immediate pummeling. Now, after his training, he still wasn't the cold, emotionless warrior a few Spartans had become, but he was at least maintaining control.

"Oh come on!" Jason jeered, obviously frustrated that his tactics weren't working quite as well as he'd expected. Blaine smiled, feeling his rage rising to the top.

"No," he said, "if you want to fight, do it with your fists, and stop using your mouth."

Jason laughed. "Aw, there's mama's boy!" He said. "Bet your parents are just so proud!" His voice littered with sarcasm.

Finally, Blaine had had all he could stand. All the control in the world wasn't going to shut Jason up, and he was hurting too badly to go over and pummel the other Spartan.

"I concede the match." Blaine said, shocking even himself. Jason nearly fell over.

"What?" He asked, truly puzzled and no doubt wondering if it was some kind of trick.

"I'm not going to fight anymore. I concede the match." Blaine was very pleased with the control he was exercising, even if it was killing him to do it. He knew that, if he fought, he risked actually killing his fellow Spartan in a fit of rage. "Our fight is over."

Zeke couldn't believe what he was hearing. Blaine no doubt was inches from having steam shooting from his ears, and instead of killing Jason, was conceding the match entirely. Truthfully, it was an honorable gesture, but Ezekiel knew that they couldn't allow it.

"Perhaps you've forgotten, my friend," he said coldly, causing Blaine to turn toward him. The other Spartan's face went cold when he saw Victoria still pinned painfully under Zeke's boot.

"Forgotten what?"

"Surrender is not a luxury we as Spartans can afford."

Blaine scoffed. "This is not an all-out battle with those alien bastards," he said, glancing up at the sky. "This is a sparring match in which I'd rather not kill a fellow Spartan."

Zeke smirked. "Practice like you play," he said.

"Yeah, 'practice like you play,' Blaine!" Jason joked.

Ezekiel watched as Blaine glanced at Jason, and then back at him. He shook his head, but wouldn't move. "I'm in no condition to fight." He said calmly.

Zeke was about to give a response when a whistle blew loudly outside the cage. He turned to see Corporal Charles watching them.

"You're both right." He said. Instantly, the three standing Spartans were at attention, but Zeke made a point not to move his boot from Victoria's spine. She was pinned, but still far from harmless. "At ease," he said.

Zeke let his arm drop. "Sir, we were instructed never to surrender, period." He said plainly. He saw Blaine roll his eyes in his peripheral vision.

"That's true." He said. "But this time, we're making an exception." He glanced at Blaine, who looked relieved. "As we all know, Blaine has always had a Hell of a temper, and I think you'd all be wise not to work to provoke it."

Even Jason nodded at this point. Blaine had kept himself well under control, but in truth, even Ezekiel was frightened at the thought of him losing it.

"And," the Corporal continued, "the real reason I'm stopping you is that you three have been at it long enough anyway. If you want to continue this tomorrow, you're welcome to, but for today, it's time to let six more Spartans have their turn."

At this, Zeke finally took his right foot off of Victoria's back, and she coughed as she rolled over and glared at him. He cocked his head and smiled at her wickedly.

"One day," she mumbled, rolling her eyes at him and standing up. As she walked out, Ezekiel grabbed the unconscious Magnus by his ankles and began dragging him.

"Come on, you freakin' monster." He grumbled, pulling harder. As he did so, Blaine grabbed a semi-conscious Christopher Stryker and helped him out, followed quickly by Jason.

"Tomorrow," Corporal Charles said as they left, "it's back to Weapons Training. Make sure you're dressed and ready at 0500."

Zeke nodded irritably, feeling Magnus' weight being drug behind him. "And I get to drag the damned elephant," he scowled, fully aware of the quarter-mile hike to the Recovery Building.

Author's Notes: So everyone knows, the majority of my chapters will not be this long. This was an exception, but I hope you all enjoyed it. I would appreciate reviews on this one and, if you can, please tell me what you all would prefer for me to do next. I have the 'October 20th' chapter written out almost entirely, and can skip right to that one next time, or I can do another chapter for the Weapons Training. It'll just be more examples of the Spartans, this time in the field. I promise to keep it interesting, but if you're all in a hurry to get to the Covenant, then I can skip it and keep going. It's really up to you all. Also, if I skip it, the next chapter can be up in a few days, since it's almost entirely written out.

Just be sure to review and let me know. I write for the readers, so leave me some feedback. Thanks a lot for reading!