Jessie paced the floor of the warm up area. She found herself completely without focus. She couldn't think of anything but that lab. She was always nervous before a fight. Just this was worse tonight. She knew she could do the guy that stabbed her, but Andrew was another story. Andrew was as good as she was, if not a little better. Andrew walked in, giving her a nod, before turning on his stereo. Hunt You Down from Saliva began to blare, as he began stretching. Jessie couldn't help but laugh.

"Trying to tell me something?" She said, laughing.

"No, I just like working out to this." He said, a touch of confusion in his voice. Jessie sat on the bench, trying to focus, letting the music carry her away. Badass was next on the disc. Jessie closed her eyes, focusing on the music and lyrics. She could feel the fog in her head lifting, as the music freed her imagination, which was already working overtime, and turned it in the other direction. Sonya and Andrew laughing brought her back to reality.

"Something funny?" Jessie asked, cracking them both up more.

"Just don't quit your day job." Andrew said, laughing.

"Meaning?" Jessie said, getting annoyed.

"You were screaming the lyrics. Don't quit your day job." Andrew said, winking.

"Whatever." Jessie said, as Stand Alone from Godsmack began playing.

"You've gotta admit, it is funny." Sonya said, laughing.

"Yeah. Hill fucking larious. All the out of work comedians in the world, and you two jackoffs wanna be one. You know what, fuck both of you." Jessie said, storming out. Andrew looked at Sonya, who's expression was as shocked as his was.

"Who pissed in her corn flakes?" Andrew asked, as Sonya shrugged.

"No idea, but she's usually not this uptight." Sonya said, wondering herself.

"She's definatly in bitch mode. Must be that time of the month." Andrew said, going back to the bag.

Jessie watched the doctor numb her leg, before injecting it with cortisone. She hated these shots. She got them at least three times a year. It wasn't the actual shot that bothered her. It's the fifteen minutes in between injections, where the needle is stuck under her kneecap. She couldn't move her knee for the entire fifteen minutes. The doctor had just finished the first injection when Sonya walked in.

"Hey, you having an issue tonight?" She asked, as the doctor walked out.

"No issue. I just really don't like being laughed at." Jessie said, laying back.

"You just sounded so serious about it. We couldn't help but laugh." Sonya explained, sitting next to her.

"I was." She said, plainly, closing her eyes.

"Apparently. You didn't even notice me walk in. What were you thinking about, anyway?"

"Tearing Marcus limb from limb," Jessie's answer caused Sonya to laugh, "What's so funny?"

"You are. Does anyone intimidate you?" She asked, with a chuckle.

"Yeah, you do. Nobody else does." Jessie said, matter of factly, hearing the door open. She opened her eyes, sitting up, seeing the doctor. He had a syringe, moving towards Sonya. Jessie quickly ripped the needle out of her knee, and jumped headfirst at the doctor.

"What the hell?" Sonya said, pulling Jessie off the confused doctor. Jessie kicked the syringe across the room.

"No fucking shots. Come near her with a needle again, and I'll inject it in you first! You fucking hear me?" Jessie screamed, still trying to get at the doctor, who scrambled to the door.

"Crazy bitch." The doctor yelled, quickly closing the door.

"Jessie, calm down."

"Sonya, don't let them inject you with anything."

"He's been injecting me with pain killers since I separated my shoulder, Jess."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, of course I trust you, Jess."

"Don't let them inject you with anything else, please. Tell them you want the pills. Please, Sonya, just don't take them." Jessie said, desperately.

"What's going on, Jess?"

"I can't explain, just don't. Promise me, man. No fucking shots. It's important."

"If it's that important to you, I'll get the pills." Sonya said, scared to push Jessie any farther into a panic than she already was.

"And I got the fights tonight. Give your shoulder a rest." Jessie said, as Sonya frowned.

"I can't talk you out of it, huh?" She said, as Jessie shook her head no.

"You took two, it's only fair I take two." Before Sonya could protest, Jessie walked out. Sonya sat on the bench, her mind working overtime on what could be freaking Jessie out this much.

Jessie stepped anxiously into the ring, and waited to see which fighter she had first. A shocked Andrew stepped in across from her. As the bell rang, he tied up with her, to boos.

"I can't lay down this time." He said, sadly.

"I didn't tell you to lay down the first time." Jessie said, shoving him off. They traded blow for blow for twenty minutes, before Andrew got the upper hand, mounting her. He began raining down blows to her head and body. She blocked most, but the ones that did connect had her ears ringing. She managed to reverse it, locking in a rear naked choke. Unfortunately, with the knee still weakened. Andrew was able to power out. He locked her left arm up, her injury screaming in protest. She fought blacking out, as the pain increased. In desperation, she used the only move in her arsenal she had never tried before: Marcus, her Marcus taught it to her in case she was ever unarmed and in a life or death situation. With her right hand, she grabbed the side of his neck, and squeezed, hitting a nerve and an artery. He screamed, releasing her arm, and she quickly used it to pin him down. He tapped, and she immediately released, "I'm sorry, Andrew. I really am, man." Jessie said, almost crying, as she walked back to the corner.

"What in the hell was that?" Sonya asked, standing outside in her corner.

"Nerve hold." Jessie explained, watching the doctor help Andrew out of the ring, "Go check on him, please. If I hit it wrong, he could really be hurt."

"You got it." Sonya said, quickly following them. No rest for the wicked was all Jessie could think to herself, as the man who stabbed her stepped into the ring. Jessie began rolling her shoulders, trying to loosen the stiffness in her left arm. She was ten steps beyond pissed. And if there was anybody she really wanted to release the built up frustration on, it was this guy. Jessie closed her eyes, concentrating on controlling the rage permeating it. That was her first mistake.

The man didn't wait for the bell. The second her eyes closed, he moved in with a hard kick to the stomach, driving her back first into the corner. Using the advantage, he began to land punches. Just as suddenly as he had, she grabbed one of his arms mid punch, and took the shot to pull him into her shoulder. She suddenly drove out of the corner, screaming at the top of her lungs, before driving him into the other corner. He slumped over, and she unloaded on him. Shot after shot after shot on his head and upper body. She landed a kick to the side of his knee. Before he could slump down, she jerked him up by the hair, and buried her knee repeatedly into his stomach, using the corner to make sure he didn't end up on the mat. She locked his head in a headlock, walking his limp body out of the corner. She lifted him up, suplex style, and turned a full circle in the ring, panning to the crowd, before driving him into the mat face first, her weight landing directly on top of him. Getting up, she let the referee count ten. He could've counted a hundred and the man wouldn't have moved. She quickly rolled out, heading to the doctor's room. The doctor looked at her nervously, as she walked in, finding Andrew and Sonya talking.

"You OK?" Jessie asked him, as he shrugged, rubbing his neck.

"As OK as I can be. I've never felt anything like that before. What in the hell did you do to me?"

"It's a two pronged weapon. I hit a nerve in your neck, sending searing pain, and the artery, slowing down blood flow to the brain. Add too much pressure, and you'll block the artery completely. Hold it for more than two minutes, and you'll kill someone." Jessie explained, demonstrating on her own neck.

"I'm going to have to remember that one. Good fight." Andrew said, extending his hand. Jessie shook it.

"I'm sorry, man. I can't afford to loose." Jessie said, as Andrew nodded.

"I'm coming to the finals tomorrow night. Can't wait to see you two tie up." Andrew said, as Jessie shrugged.

"She's gonna kick my teeth in." Jessie said, nervously, as Sonya rolled her eyes. Before she could respond, Marcus stuck his head in the door.

"Jessie, come with me." Marcus called in. Jessie followed him out.

"Good enough?"

"Good enough for what?" Marcus asked, as they walked into the office.

"Take me instead. I don't have a life or a family. Nobody would miss me." Jessie said, as Marcus laughed.

"All you proved tonight is you can fight twice in one night. Look at how badly you performed in your first match. If I hadn't taught you that nerve hold . . ."

"My Marcus taught me that nerve hold. Not you." Jessie said, as Marcus shrugged, opening the door to the office.

"Same difference." He said, as Jessie walked in. She gasped, seeing a well beaten Karen slumped over in the chair.

"You sonuvabitch," Jessie walked to Karen, kneeling next to the chair. Karen was blindfolded and gagged, but raised her head at the sound of Jessie's voice. Jessie began working on the tape holding her into the chair, as Marcus laughed, "Yeah, beating her like this is really fucking funny, man." Before Jessie could get the tape off, a sharp pain in her back sent her under.

When Jessie woke up, she found herself handcuffed. She looked around, her vision blurry from whatever knocked her out. She could see an unconscious Sonya suspended by her wrists to her right, and Karen still tied into the other chair on her left. Jessie struggled in her chair, finding there wasn't any room for movement. She kept struggling, as Marcus's men walked in, Marcus following,

'What is this shit?" Jessie asked, groggily, as Marcus laughed.

"Just a little game we're going to play, Jess. You like games, don't you?" Jessie watched them set up two tables a few feet away from Sonya and Karen. They positioned two vices on the table. Jessie jerked at the handcuffs, as they tightened two pistols into the vices. Marcus laughed, seeing Jessie's eyes fill with tears, "Now that, Jessie, is fear."

"You've done enough. Leave them alone." Jessie pleaded, as Marcus laughed, getting a paintball gun from behind her. He took aim from the pistol's height, shooting Sonya, who jerked awake from the impact of the paintball in her stomach. She cried out, her full weight being supported by her wrists, until she got her feet under her. He repeated the process on Karen, who screamed into her gag, as the paintball hit her in the heart. Had it been a bullet, it would've killed her.

"Jess, how long can you stand at attention?" The men unlocked Jessie's wrists. She began to fight back, before Marcus pumped six more paintballs into Sonya's stomach, "Settle down, or it will be a bullet next time." Jessie glared at him, but did as instructed. They locked the handcuffs in place and to each other, allowing some room between her wrists. They hooked it into a rope, and jerked her upright, enough that she could stand on both feet comfortably. His men tied two pieces of fishing twine around her knees. She watched, in horror, as they tied the twine around the triggers of the guns.

"Oh, fuck. Marcus, come on. Don't do this, man."

"You said you wanted to prove how tough you are. This is just a test. As long as you stand at attention, Sonya won't get shot, and neither will Karen. But in you bend your knees or move your legs in any way, really, whichever leg you move, the gun connected to it is going to discharge. See you in an hour, kid. Hopefully these two will still be in one piece." Marcus walked over, ripping the blindfold and gag off Karen, "Feel free to talk amongst yourselves. Maybe you can decide who gets shot." Marcus said, laughing, as he walked off. Jessie closed her eyes, concentrating on keeping her body motionless.

"Jess, listen to me. Those guns are probably loaded with blanks." Sonya said, breathing hard, her stomach still aching from the impact.

"Oh, God, we're both gonna die!" Karen said, laughing hysterically.

"Karen, calm down. Hysterics isn't going to help anyone." Sonya said, calmly, as Karen continued laughing, tears running down her face.

"I knew if I hung around you long enough, you'd get me killed. Danny, it won't be long now, baby." Karen said, laughing like a maniac.

"Knock it the fuck off, both of you. This is hard enough without listening to you two. So, just shut the fuck up." Jessie said, her sore knee beginning to ache.

"Jess, focus. Don't think about standing there. Picture yourself somewhere else. Anywhere else."

"Our lives are hanging in the balance, and you want to teach this chowderhead to daydream." Karen said, laughing.

"What did you just call me?" Jessie asked, angrily.

"She's not here, Jess. Don't pay her any attention." Sonya said, knowingly.

"Chowderhead. You think she gives a shit about you? All she cares about is protecting herself."

"Do you honestly believe that bullshit you're saying? If that were true, Marcus would've eaten my boot by now." Sonya said, dismissively.

"I heard you in that office. You can't stand me, and you couldn't care less because your little disciple can take care of yourself." Karen said, angrily.

"You said that?" Jessie asked, as Sonya nodded.

"Yeah, I did. I know you can take care of yourself, Jess." Sonya said, struggling against the chains holding her. "As for you Karen, you know very well that what I said isn't old news-that doesn't mean I won't try to protect both of you."

"Oh, come on, Sonya. If we're dying tonight, we might as well have it out." Karen said, laughing, as the tears increased.

"Calm down, Karen." Sonya said, her voice soothing.

"Again, will you please either quit bitching or just shut the fuck up?" Jessie said to Karen, her voice straining.

"Concentrate, Jess." Sonya said, hearing the strain before Karen did. Jessie cleared her throat, refocusing herself. She didn't want to shoot Sonya, and as much as Karen was working her nerves, she really didn't want the woman's death on her conscience. She stood stoic and silent, as the hour slowly ticked past. Jessie opened her eyes, her face drenched in sweat and her legs feeling like rubber, watching Marcus walk in.

"Wow. An hour, and neither are dead. I'm impressed. You've got more endurance than I thought." Marcus said, laughing.

"Game over. Get them down." Jessie said, groaning, feeling like her legs would buckle any second.

"You know those guns are loaded with blanks, Marcus. Why put her through this?"

"Are they, Sonya? Lift her up." The two men that came in with him grabbed Sonya's legs, jerking her to the right. Marcus kicked out Jessie's right knee. The gun fired, the bullet hitting the wall behind where Sonya was moments before.

"Those guns are loaded with live hollow point rounds, Jess. If you had slacked in any way, Sonya would've taken a gut shot, or Karen would be dead instantly." Jessie lowered her head, as the words registered.

"Get this string off me. I played your game." Jessie said, feeling her legs beginning to tremble.

"Oh, that was just round one. Round two, we're going to test your pain tolerance along with your endurance." The two men attached electroids to Jessie's outstretched arms, "I don't want them dead yet, so let's take these off you for the demonstration." As soon as Marcus cut the twine, Jessie brought up both feet, kicking him under the chin. She tried to rock herself back, kicking at his head. His men immediately immobilized her, and she found herself eating a gut punch for her effort. She doubled over, coughing, "I love that fire you have. It makes you so much fun." Jessie could only gasp, catching her breath, as the two men hooked up two wires with banana clips. Sonya took a deep breath, watching them turn on the machine. Seconds later, Jessie's upper body jerked in response.

"Ahhh, fuck. Sonuvabitch." She said, leaning her head back, as the electricity coursed through her. Marcus had them turn off the machine, as they retied the twine to her knees.

"The current won't be severe enough to cause muscle retraction. It's just enough to hurt like a sonuvabitch. I'll think I'll make it thirty minutes this time. Double the challenge, half the time. I'm a great gamemaster, aren't I?"

"Marcus, what's the point of this?" Sonya asked, as Marcus laughed.

"No point, it's just entertaining as hell," He answered Sonya, before jerking Jessie's head up by her hair, "And just because you pissed me off, the shocks are going to come at random intervials. Have fun." Marcus said, seconds before he got it in the face with a wad of spit. He laughed, wiping it off, before walking out.

Jessie kept bracing herself in anticipation. Sometimes she was right on, and the current didn't effect her as badly. But when she was wrong, it took incredible effort not to jerk her body. Her breathing was coming in short bursts fifteen minutes in.

"Hang in there, Jess. You can make it. I know you can do this." Sonya said, trying to encourage her. Jessie looked up at her, nodding, as another wave hit her. Jessie lowered her head again, choosing not to speak or move, instead concentrating on her breathing. The last half seemed to crawl by, before Marcus walked back in. He turned off the machine, laughing.

"What's the matter, mouthpiece? Got nothing to say?"

"Let . . . Them . . . Go." Jessie said, her breathing still sporadic.

"Yeah, you win." Marcus said, walking behind her. Jessie could see Sonya bracing, and the terrified look in Karen's eyes, and knew what was about to happen.

"NOOOO!" Jessie screamed, feeling Marcus kick her legs out from under her. Time seemed to stand still, as the guns discharged. Jessie closed her eyes, sobbing, not wanting to see either take the shot. Marcus laughed wholeheartedly, as he pushed a button, releasing Sonya's wrists.

"Jess, we're OK. We're OK." Sonya said, pulling Jessie's head into her shoulder.

"Thank you, God." Jessie repeated over and over, as Marcus handed Sonya the keys to release her.

"You are a sick bastard, you know that?" Sonya said, glaring at him like she wanted to kill him.

"But damn, I'm fun." He said, laughing, as Sonya unlocked Jessie's wrists. It took all of Sonya's strength to hold her back.

"I'm gonna kill you! Fucking bastard!" Jessie screamed, still sobbing. Marcus pulled the syringe from his jacket. He held it in Jessie's clear view, sticking the needle into Karen's arm.

"You know what will happen to her if I inject this, don't you, Jess?" Marcus asked, as Jessie lowered her head in frustration, "Settle down, or I'll make her wish you had. I am having entirely too much fun to have you ruin my night," Jessie shrugged Sonya off, her struggling ceasing, "Oh, you are too much fun. Tell you what, let me make it up to you. I'll have the fight doctor check on Karen, and since you and Sonya square off tomorrow anyway, I'll let you bunk together tonight. If she can take all that screaming." Marcus said, laughing. Jessie had finally calmed down, as the doctor was let in, "I've got to bring Kano a copy of this. Now this was funny." He said, removing the fully loaded syringe, before leaving.

Jessie leaned on Sonya, her legs feeling like rubber some twenty minutes after her little endurance session. Sonya helped her one of the two beds now set up in the room. Jessie groaned in relief, the pressure on her knees finally alleviated with a loud creak.

"Oh, man. Crazy bastard." Jessie said, more to herself than Sonya.

"Just stretch it out, Jess. The numbness should wear off in about another hour or so." Sonya said, reassuringly.

"I can't stop shaking." She held her hands out, palms down, as they trembled. Sonya sat next to her, putting her arm around her, comfortingly.

"It's just adrenaline. It'll wear itself out." Sonya said, as Jessie began quietly crying.

"I thought you were both . . ." Jessie couldn't get the words out, her body shaking from the crying. Sonya hugged her tightly, resting Jessie's head on her shoulder.

"Listen, we're both OK. It's done, Jess. Just write it off and let it go." She said, calmly, "You can't afford to loose it. The only advantage we have is thinking on our feet. That's why he wants to get in your head."

"I'm scared, Sonya." Jessie said, crying harder. Sonya rubbed her back soothingly.

"Wanna know a secret? So am I." Sonya said, as Jessie looked up at her.

"No fucking way! You're Sonya Blade. You're not scared of anything." Jessie said, as Sonya laughed.

"Jess, I might be Sonya Blade, but I feel the same things you do. Believe me, when that gun went off, I was scared shitless. You just can't let yourself give into the fear. Like when you attacked Marcus. You were scared, but you acted anyway, trying to protect Karen and me. You showed me real guts tonight. I'm proud of you." Sonya said, as Jessie began crying again.

"I love you, man." Jessie said, hugging her tightly, as Sonya chuckled.

"I know you do. Why I have no idea, but I know you do. Just pull yourself together, Jess. Don't let him get in your head with this. If you do, he wins the game." Sonya said, as Jessie cleared her throat, letting Sonya go.

"I don't fucking loose, I thought you knew that by now." Jessie said, as Sonya laughed, messing up her hair.

"Now that's my badass little sidekick." Sonya said, giving her a wink, before going over to her own bed.