Chapter 37

4th Arena, Afternoon

Mikasa wandered through the woods as she heard another canon go off. She hoped it wasn't Armin's but she knew there was nothing much she could do about it now. If the canon belonged to Armin than her purpose in the games were over. She'd failed at the one goal she'd set and now she'd failed again at protecting Armin.

Tightening her grip on her two swords she began to look for signs of tributes. Then again with such a big arena it would be nearly impossible to find anyone in here. Annoyed she kicked a tree stump in anger. Pain shot through her toe and she was sure she'd broken it.

Sitting down on the muddy ground she rested. Instead of moving on she decided to stay here for the rest of the day and night. Using some branches, she constructed a small shelter that would protect her if it rained again. The game makers must've heard her thought as a slow drizzle started. Annoyed with the almost constant rain she used her blanket as a pillow and tried to catch some sleep.

When she awoke, it was dark outside. She must've slept longer than expected. Standing up she surveyed the arena and off to one side of her was an orange glow. Something didn't seem right. There was no way she slept most of the afternoon and all night without waking up once. Now wary, she slowly approached the orange glow.

It was getting bigger and she knew what it was. Suddenly she was knocked over by a raven-haired boy. They both rolled several times and Mikasa quickly drew her swords ready to attack the boy. He held up his hands and she could see where they'd been burnt.

"Not right now. We need to get away from the fire." He yelled as he ran past her. She looked back and she could see what now looked like a wall of flames. The game makers were pushing the tributes together. Taking a deep breath, she sprinted after him. She wouldn't use her 3D gear until it was necessary.

Though they ran as fast as they could they were never more than ten feet in front of the flames. The worst part was the smoke. Mikasa briefly remembered the volcano eruption in the second arena. At least this smoke wasn't poisonous. The fire wall never seemed to catch up to them but they could never quite get away from it.

Eventually the smoke wall slowed down to the point where they could easily walk without having to be afraid of the fire catching up to them. Mikasa's legs ached from running so long but she didn't say anything. Both she and the raven-haired boy were silent. And neither seemed willing to talk.

The sky was still dark overhead and Mikasa wondered what time it was. She remembered Armin telling her that toward the end of the games there would be a finale where either the last two, three or four tributes would fight. She also remembered him mentioning that if the tributes were spread out too much the game makers would use any means to force them together.

In this case their plan seemed to fail since she wasn't attacking the raven-haired boy. Just as she was about to suggest that they stop and take a break the fire seemed to start moving faster again and they had to pick up the pace. She felt like her legs were about to fall off but she knew she couldn't use her 3D gear except in emergencies. Up in front of her she saw a break in the trees and she quickly sped up. Sure enough the game makers had used the flames to drive them back to where the feast had taken place.

Exhausted she immediately leaned against a tree for support before sitting down. She wasn't in the mood for fighting and apparently, the raven-haired boy wasn't either. Though it was only putting off the inevitable she asked "Do you want to wait until the two other tributes get here?" When he nodded Mikasa felt relieved.

She was confident that she could take him any day and she didn't want to waste her energy when it was quite possible that another strong tribute would show up and just finish her off. Sometime during the wait, she dozed off slightly only to be awakened to someone crashing through the trees. Immediately both her and the raven-haired boy were poised ready to attack.

Mikasa was relieved to see Armin burst through the bushes. His hair stuck out in all directions and he was limping. The flames seemed almost on top of him as he collapsed in the clearing. That meant that the last tribute was either the purple haired girl or the boy with wings. Feather's impaling themselves into the wood right above her quickly answered that question.

Drawing her two swords she quickly shot her two hooks into the nearest tree to help get her off the ground. She looked around for her attacker but she couldn't find him. Mikasa made sure to keep an eye on the raven haired boy to make sure he didn't attack her either. Though it looked like he was busy trying to dislodge a feather from his arm.

She looked around for Armin to make sure he was out of danger but he had already disappeared. When the blond haired boy didn't fire his feathers again she started getting nervous. Leaves rustled to the right side of her and she quickly used her gear to pull her over to another branch. Feathers impaled themselves right where she'd been only a moment earlier.

Mikasa looked back for the source of the feather's but couldn't find them. As she landed on another branch she looked around again. Holding both swords tightly she decided to try and draw the blond haired boy out. She shot herself across the arena and just as she thought feathers came at her. She managed to block a few of them but several hit her right arm.

The force knocked her slightly off course but she still managed to land on the branch. She was about to move again when the branch turned to ice. Her feet slipped and she started falling. Her hooks had trouble impaling themselves into the wood because of the ice but she was able to get them in deep enough to keep her from hitting the ground.

Landing safely on the ground she whirled around looking for the raven haired boy. A flash of white caught her attention. The ice must've caused the blond haired boy to slip as well and she could now see him. Shooting herself high into the air she was suddenly knocked out of the way by a giant ball of ice.

She hit one of the trees and but managed to swing herself back up onto a branch. The raven-haired boy came towards her and she heard him yell. A sword made out of ice appeared in his hand and he somehow landed next to her. She was confused as to how he got up here but pushed it out of her mind and turned to attack him.

He was much better than she'd originally thought but she was a lot quicker than he was. She easily avoided his attacks and managed to cut him on the arm with her two swords. She swung her two swords together but he ducked. In a split instant his hands were on the branch and blue circle formed around him.

The branch they were standing on froze completely but she quickly shot herself upward toward a higher branch. She turned to look back down when she realized that the raven-haired boy had left himself wide open. Releasing her hooks from the higher branch she instead turned toward him.

Just as her blades touched him he turned into ice. Confused she took a step back only to be attacked by more feathers. It must've been a clone. Jumping out of the way she looked around for the raven haired boy. She found him waiting on what looked like a platform made out of ice. She attacked him only to find out that it was another clone.

Another ball of ice hit her in the head and she started feeling dizzy. Just before she stumbled off the branch Armin seemed to appear out of nowhere catching her in time. More feathers flew at them at them and they both headed in different directions. While her attention was focused on the feather a large chunk of ice hit her.

Falling, she shot her hooks into the trunk of a tree but she still it the ground hard. Looking around she saw Armin coming towards her, probably trying to help. He dodged several more feather attacks but he couldn't find a way to get down to her. Disoriented she stood up and looked around for one of her two attackers. Her eyes settled on the raven haired boy.

Using her gear she shot herself towards the boy swords raised. She brought them down just as he yelled. "Ice make: Shield." A shield like structure rose in front of her and she hit it head on. The force of her hitting it caused it to fall backwards knocking both her and the raven haired boy off the branch.

She used her gear to catch herself and the raven haired boy used some sort of grappling hook to pull him to safety. Using the momentum of the fall she swung herself around and tree and flew towards the raven haired boy. She hit him knocking him off the branch and he started plummeting toward the ground. Before she could get away the raven haired boy put both hands on her 3D gear and said "Freeze."

Except for the swords her 3D gear turned to ice. It shattered leaving her with no way to get to safety. Now they were both plummeting towards certain death. But the raven-haired boy had a different idea.

"Ice make: Platform." A slanted platform appeared beneath them. They hit it but because of the slant they rolled off it only to land on another one. After three more they hit the ground the air knocked out of them.

As she lay stunned on the grass a movement in the leaves caught her attention. Out of them sprang the red eyed girl. The girl had several wounds that were bandaged but they didn't make her any less dangerous. Mikasa stood up just as the girl brought her sword down. The girl's movements were sloppy but she was incredibly quick. As they fought Mikasa could see that the other girl was tiring. If she held on she could easily out last the girl.

Glancing over her shoulder she could see Gray fighting the blond-haired boy. Mikasa tried to keep her arms steady as the girl continued to dart around her. She nearly slipped through her guard once but Mikasa recovered. The girl continued to strike harder and managed to knock one of Mikasa's swords out of her hand.

Mikasa turned to look at would be certain death only to find the girl's lifeless eyes staring back at her. Through her chest were Armin's swords. The red eyed girl fell to the ground just as her canon went off. Breathing deeply, she turned to her next opponent. The blond-haired boy who was now flying in the sky above them. She ran towards her second sword as he flew at her. She raised her two swords just as he struck.

His wings hit her and she fell to the ground. But before he could turn his attention to her the raven-haired boy attacked. She heard him say "Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance." She knew the blond haired boy was done for until his wings came in front of him. She watched, shocked as the attack was instead turned against the raven haired boy.

The raven-haired boy flew back hitting a tree. He appeared dazed and the blond haired boy turned his attention back to her. She could tell that the blond haired boy's attack and taken a lot out of him. Using this to her advantage she dodged his next attack and ran towards him. If she could get in close range then it would be hard for him to attack her.

She was right as the blond-haired boy immediately retreated. More feathers flew towards her impaling themselves in her arms and chest but she managed to ignore them. As soon as she reached him she shoved her sword deep into his stomach. The blond haired boy's attacks seemed to increase even more as more feathers impaled themselves into her.

Dizzy from the blood loss she let herself fall to the ground and didn't make a move to get up. If she died maybe Armin would win now. She watched as the raven haired and blond haired boy both fought though she could tell neither was in their prim condition. The blond haired boy had removed her blade and was using a mass amount of feathers to slow the blood loss.

Her other sword was still in her hand, but that meant she could only kill one of them. No, she had to kill both of them so that Armin could win. Taking her sword in her hand she braced it against her knee. Then as hard as she could she bent it over breaking it. She switched it so that the hilt side of her blade was in her left hand and the other was in her right hand. The blade cut through her hand making it bleed.

When they were within range she jumped towards them. They were both taken by surprise and this gave her an advantage. Angling the swords upwards she plunged them into both of the two tributes. All three of them collapsed to the ground, and Mikasa held on as best as she could to make sure that both the tributes died. A canon went off and she knew it belonged to the raven haired boy who was staring lifelessly up at the sky. As her head rested on the grass she saw Armin kneel next to her. He was screaming her name as tears streamed down his cheeks.

He lifted her head so that it rested on his knees. He was tearing his tribute clothes as he tried to make bandages. She felt herself getting weaker but gritted her teeth. Armin had to win. The blond-haired boy continued to hold on and she heard her cannon go off followed by his. At least Armin won. Was the last thought that entered her mind.

The END

Fallen Tributes

24. Apollo

23. Kurome

22. Levy

21. Wendy

20. Leone

19. Gajeel

18. Esdeath

17. Hinata

16. Angel

15. Tatsumi

14. Yuri

13. Wave

12. Eren

11. Natsu

10. Lucy

9. Lubbock

8. Erza

7. Otonashi

6. Yui

5. Akame

4. Gray

3. Mikasa

2. Run

Victor

Armin Arlert