Two blue eyes were in the darkness, silently watching. He was used to hide and observe. It was a bit part of his job, after all. Plus, the colour of his scales was really helping him for that. But, here, it wasn't for his job. No, here, it was personal. And it wasn't to do what he does while working.

No, it wasn't to kill…

The opposite.

Then, he heard noises coming from the left. And he saw them. He saw them and knew which road they were going to take. So he followed them, still in the shadows, slow and steady.

And he let them do what they had to do once they were in front of the door...

Qualt couldn't sleep and was thinking, alone. He was almost ashamed to be here just by vengeance. He was ashamed of what he could have done to the kid at the end of the fight. But he wanted to kill this fucking darker! It was an obsession, to avenge his sister and the rest of his team. He even was curious about this one. Especially after what Doug Harmot told him, for this dragon in the castle that the darker, Usvork, if he correctly remember the name, seemed to not attack. But why? He wanted to know that too. But he wanted to kill the darker in priority.

"Kill... Kill... Kill..."

He opened his eyes and almost screamed! He looked all around him before realising...

He was the one who whispered that, just like if he was becoming what he wanted to destroy.

"Fuck..."

He was doubting about himself, his two front paws on his forehead. He didn't want to be a murderer. He didn't want to become a monster like Usvork.

But, at the same time, it almost was one of the lonely solution to finally come back and kill this darker: to become a murderer, to become like him.

"Fucking Bourgoistic... I didn't sign up for this fucking shit!"

Yes, it all was his fault. That fucking crocodile just fucked all of them by adding this surprise condition. And for what? Entertainment? Fuck him! He had the impression that this crocodile was more terrible than Usvork. He so wanted to take him at the neck and to strangle him, to make him see his death into the eyes! Oh! He didn't want to become a monster... but, for him, even the most violent and disgusting serial killers wouldn't dare to do what he wanted to do to him!

And something interrupted his thoughts.

He heard something behind his door.

He hear someone.

A groan. A groan of pain. He could recognize it without any doubt.

He ran at his door and then heard quick footsteps. He opened it and, in front of him...

Œl was on the ground.

He was alive but... but he had a knife planted in the chest. And the knife was also going through a piece of paper on which was written this:

Don't mess with Bourgoistic

Or you will be

next.

Œl was looking at him, suffering. Tears could be seen on his jaw because of the pain just. Moans of lamentation came out from his mouth.

"Ssssh..." whispered Qualt to the young cheetah. "You'll be okay... You'll be okay..."

He looked all around him... but it was in vain. He knew it. Who would possibly help him...

Then, he looked at the wound. And he checked the pulse. It was still continuing but it was really fast.

Œl's breath was more and more jerky.

And Ironhorns sighed: there was still a chance... but he would...

"Need some help?"

It was coming from behind him.

He turned the head...

And saw Milhrio Oster in front of him.

"What the fuck are you doing he..."

"No time to explain. They are searching his mother to bring her here, in front of her son."

He went right in front of Œl to look closely at the wound and smiled.

"Excuse me... but it's gonna sting a little."

And he brutally took the knife off. The young cheetah yelled. Then the dark blue dragon put his free paw on the wound.

"Now, stop moving. You, iron horns, hold him."

"But why... what..."

"Later."

The cheetah began to wiggle and, after a moment, Oster putted his paw off from him. And the surprising thing was that blood wasn't coming from the wound.

"Now. I did what I could. They approach, I feel it. The mother will take her son to go out. You will whisper to her, when she will take him, to go at the Doug Harmot's house."

"Him?"

"He has the skills to save this boy. And tell her that I am the sender."

He turned his head and...

"Shit! They're almost here. Kiddo, time for you to play the dead. And time for me to disappear!"

And he went back into the shadows, letting Qualt and Œl alone. This last, so, did what Oster told him to do.

Then, he saw Bourgoistic's men coming with the mother of the child. They threw her while saying that he was now dead and she screamed when she saw Œl. She ran into his direction, threatening Qualt with many names (too many, to be honest), and when she was close to the cheetah and the dragon, he whispered to go see Doug Harmot because he was able save him and to say that the senders were Oster and Ironhorns.

"Oh! And cover the wound. They will find it weird that it doesn't bleed."

She nodded and took his son before going out, greeted by a message from Bourgoistic when she took the exit door: "We hope that you enjoyed the show."

And Qualt was alone, once again. He looked around him and sighed.

What the fuck just happened? He thought.

Then...

"So you know Douggy too."

He jumped because the voice was right behind him.

"Geez! Fuck man, stop doing that! I almost got a heart attack..."

He expired and added right after:

"Yeah. I know the mole too."

"I see."

"But... how and why the fuck you went here?"

"Being sneaky is part of my job."

"Ah?"

"Yeah. I'm an assassin."

"Ah! But, don't you think it will be useless for the cheetah after that crocodile will find out he is still alive?"

"Nah! That's not messing with him, to survive to that kind of attack. He will more applaud than anything."

"You seem to know a lot about him."

"I have worked for him one or two times."

"Oh, that explains some things. But, wait... what did you do to that kid?"

"That? Oh, I stabilized him temporary, until he arrives at Douggy's house."

"Yeah but how? You just put your paw on the wound and, poof! stabilized!"

"From what I know of you, you should be able to guess."

Qualt thought about it and one detail jumped in his head: the wound wasn't bleeding anymore.

"Oh... I think I know, yeah."

"So, since we are going to fight each other in finale..."

"You seem really confident in that sentence."

"I do, indeed. I even bet that Bourgoistic and Money Bag are also betting on us. So, since we will fight each other in finale, how about just knowing a bit each other? Would be fun."

"I don't like the idea of befriending someone that will probably kill you or that you will probably kill... Plus, it will give you more chances to be killed by me if I know lots of things about y..."

"Screw that! The fight will just be more exciting with that."

"Sooo you don't care about dying...?"

"I do. But I prefer fighting with honour, especially when it's public. I've been killing in the shadows for too long."

"I see..."

"But for that, you'll also need to tell me your story."

"Obviously..."

"I've heard lots of things concerning your case, recently."

"Well, for that, eh eh! It's just that I have been more active those last weeks... But, if you don't mind, enter in my room, we will have more place to sit and we will be more comfortable."

"Okay."

And so they entered. They sat down. Ironhorns was the first to talk about him. Since you already know the principal about him, I will just tell you what you probably didn't know. So, first, he told him that he had a normal childhood, even if he was a bit of a lonely child. Then, he, with his dead sister, went into the Warfang's army because their parents, really old school ones, wanted to (and, talking about them, he thought about what could have been their reaction, if they were alive, about the fact that his new wife was named Gloria... Yeah, they probably would have like spat on him because "it's disgusting to hang out like that with a dragoness with the same name of your sister!"). Then, they stayed in the army because, well, it was their life and their education inked in their mind the idea that "they had to protect Warfang against Evil". At the beginning, it was against the Malefor's army and the Ironhorns' wide, named Siri, was killed during a battle where Gaul was (she even was killed by him), leaving Qualt alone with one egg they had together right after a battle day where they were victorious, one egg that hatched few days after the Siri's death and that Ironhorns educated alone and named Alexandre. After that, you know everything that happened to the world and to Warfang, Qualt lived a normal 2nd Class life, enduring the death of his two parents because the mother caught some serious illness and because the father was killed by... well, he still didn't know. Then came the famous Warfang Attack by the Spyro's army. And you already know what followed that for Qualt.

"Your turn now", then said Ironhorns to Milhrio.

"You respected your part so I'll respect mine."

Well, first of all, I always lived in the District. I worked sometime outside of here, but the 3rd Class Zone is what I always called "home". But things always got a bit... hectic for me.

At first, well, I discovered my elemental power when I was quite young, to be honest. I was, like, twelve years old when I lost my parents.

Quite funny that I don't really remember how they looked, since I'm the one who killed them.

Yes, you heard well, I am the one who killed them. They were violent with me, they were beating me, especially my father and especially when he came back drunk. "It's for your own good", they said, "you'll be stronger later, you'll see." And, you know what? They were quite right.

So, when I was twelve, well, shit happened and I couldn't control myself. I killed them and I took pleasure because, well, it was a true relief when I was doing that, just like if I was those justicemen in the stories my young friends told me. I thought I was doing something good.

So I first crushed the skull of my mother and, after that, I waited for my father to come back. That's when I discovered I could make the spilled blood move on the ground. Passed the surprise, an idea came to my head: writing something with the strain. And so I planed something.

My father, so, had a little surprise when he saw written right next to her wife this: "behind you". Yes, I know, it's not original, but I was young, at that time, and this was still effective because, when he turned his head, I jumped and slashed his throat.

I stood a moment, contemplating what I've done... when I realized what I've done. Indeed, it was the first time I murdered somebody and, well, I had nowhere to go. But I had to run away from my home. And that's what I did. I just fled and ran through the streets in the night. It was dangerous, yes, but I had a chance to survive because, I am not a fool, but, if I stood, it was death for me, one hundred percent!

And so, for the two next years, I lived by myself, stealing my food. I learned the hard life and, one day, I was found stealing the wrong person... even if, now, I don't if the word "wrong" is the good one because the dragon spared me and even began to train me to work for him (because he didn't spare me for free, what did you expect!). I then began my assassin's job, always in the shadow and training little by little my control about my blood's element. To be honest with you, at one moment, I made people think that my assassinations where natural death, like a heart attack or even an intern haemorrhage at the brain part.

Then my boss got killed and I worked for many people. In them was Bourgoistic. And it even was the first time I got out of here for one moment. And because I did my job well, well, I did more things for the crocodile. I even did one or two murders for the bear.

Why didn't I get out of here if I worked for the two of them, you may ask? Because those two bastards didn't pay me enough to really start a new life out of the 3rd Class Zone.

But one day, when I had some free time, I discovered a really injured dragon, wounded after a Gang's battle. He was praying for help so I helped him. I stopped the haemorrhage and sent him to Douggy, because I already knew him. And oh the feeling I had when I saved someone! It was amazing! It was like if I was those justicemen in the stories my young friends told me.

That's why I saved the young cheetah.

So, next to my assassin's job, I healed some victims, in the shadows, in the 3rd Class Zone.

Now, I have enough of being a simple murderer. Of being a vulgar assassin.

Now, I just want to do what really matters for me: saving lives. Being a doctor. And I already have the bases with what Doug taught me!

Now, I just want to start a new life.

And that's why I'm here, to start a new life with the money of the tournament. And I even planed to offer some moneys to Doug for everything he did for me. He didn't know I was fighting here, so I wanted to give him a little surprise.

Too bad the surprise is a young cheetah to save, eh?

"So, yeah, now that we pretty know each other, at least each other's personal, I think it's time for me to go because the night is pretty much advanced. And, if we want to win the tomorrow's fights, well, I think it's better for us to take some sleep. So, yeah, goodbye and see you in finale."

"Even if we are not sure that we both will be in finale, goodbye and see ya in finale, I guess... even if we will be watching each other's fight, I guess."

"True. Anyway, I bid you farewell."

And he got out and came back into the shadows to return to his own chamber.

"What a strange character..." mumbled Qualt when he was alone, feeling some sympathy for Oster at the same time. "Well, I guess he's right. Time for me to sleep!"

And he got to the bed and slept for... four hours before waking up and preparing himself to fight, really needing a coffee at the same time…