Heero wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, but the only thing that
really mattered was being there to see if everything was all right. He
didn't get further than three steps before Hiroshi grabbed his collar. The
young player was swung around to meet ancient eyes. The wrinkles did not
hide the awareness and hard sharpness deep in those shining orbs. P
"You're not to go near that other team," he bellowed forcefully. Heero's
head snapped around to his owner. "Don't let the others near them either,"
he growled. His Lost Boy jerked as if to stalk off, but Hiroshi yanked him
back, hanging on tightly. P
"Do you hear me? That other team is a failure, I can smell the stench of
it." P
"They gave us both a draw," said Heero through a clenched jaw. Hiroshi let
a cynical smile spread over his face. P
"They were a failure from the beginning. They're slaves, Heero. They
aren't getting out." Heero stopped casting glances at the fading back of
Relena and focused his full attention on Hiroshi. P
"What do you mean?" he practically growled. P
"Their owner isn't buying again. He's not letting them go. They're as
good as dead. Tell the team to cut away from them." Heero gave a
questioning look and Hiroshi smiled knowingly. "My eyes see more than just
the money you boys make me. I was one of you too you know." P
"You've never been in this position." Heero's sentence was cut off as he
was slammed up against the wall. When his eyes focused, still weak from
the last game, he saw Hiroshi's eyes filled with anger and. pain. P
"I swear if I ever hear you say that again, I'll rip your tongue out!" He
didn't yell, but whispered it menacingly. Heero had to admit, for an old
man, he was still as strong as ever. "You think I haven't been through
everything any Lost Child has? Every slave falls in love, they're human
too. Pain comes with the loss of love and pain is bessential/b to win
this game." PL
"What happened?" asked Heero with coldness trimming his voice. P
"I beat her in the games and won my freedom." Realization ran through
Heero's face. "Win these championships, Heero, and you and the team will
win your freedom. Don't let a year of championships go wasted on the
doomed." P
P
P
Cathy sat at the back of the Ice Cage holding a bag of ice to her bruised
eye. It was turning various shades of purple, blue, and black. The
swelling had at least gone down some. She decided that she was satisfied
with the outcome of the game. It would make it easier to talk to Trowa.
Her spirits lightened at the thought of everything being all right. Speak
of the devil, Trowa was walking straight towards her. She smiled and
lifted her hand holding the ice and waved a little. He glanced at her for
only a second before walking right past her. Cathy sat a moment in shock
and quickly got up after him. She nearly stumbled due to her injuries, but
regained her balance. P
"Trowa! Hey Trowa!" P
Trowa winced when he realized she was coming after him. He had seen her
too late to change his course and had chosen to walk right by instead.
Taking a deep breath he turned around and faced Cathy. She was grinning,
but it quickly faded when she saw his cold demeanor. P
"Are you all right?" she asked with concern. She ran her eyes over him.
She saw he hadn't taken care of his wounds yet. She gasped and took an
involuntary step forward. He cautiously backed away a little. P
"You haven't treated your wound!" She reached out a hand and he pulled
away before she could touch him and she looked as if he had just slapped
her. P
"Don't touch me," he ordered. Her back stiffened and her eyes made a
transition from concern to a blank, hard slate. P
"Fine," she replied shortly and before Trowa could take anything back she
stalked in the direction she came from. P
"Goodbye, Cathy," he whispered. P
P
P
Somehow, all of the girls had ended up in the same spot, a few yards away
from the front of the Ice Cage. All of which, were in foul moods. Every
bit of body language expressed it was freezing, but what was more clear to
anyone else, they wanted to be left alone. All of them had their
experiences like Cathy. Duo refused to even look at Hilde, he acted as if
she wasn't even there. She so much as tried to wrap an arm around his
shoulders and he pulled away as if bitten by a snake. Wufei had not
approached Natria after she called to him several times and when she walked
over to him, he gave her a scathing look and turned around and walked away.
Dorothy walked up to Quatre soon after he had arrived back into the Ice
Cage and offered to help him with his wounds, but he had stuttered for a
moment and walked in the other direction, stating he would take care of it
himself. Relena had seen Heero several times, and in fact she knew that he
had seen her as well, but he refused to approach her. If that was the way
he liked it, then fine. Suddenly, the PA system rang out through the cage.
P
"Team 135, Come to the front gate. Team 135." The girls looked around in
confusion. They hadn't expected to be back in the ring so soon. Natria
shifted nervously from one foot to the other and then quickly started to
make their way over to the front of the Cage. They were pulled out and
taken away to the arena, only 20 minutes since their last game with the
boys. Dorothy and Natria hadn't even seen to their earlier wounds yet.
Relena closed her eyes and made a silent prayer that they would make it
through as the victors and hopefully in once piece. P
P
P
Duo was listening to a bunch of gossiping slaves that stood nearby him.
What they were talking about peaked his interested when he heard the words
Team 135 repeated various times. There was scorn in their voices, but it
was obviously not pointed at the players. It involved their owner. Duo
and the other boys on his team had noticed that the girls were called back
very soon after their game together and were immediately uneasy. Now, only
an hour later, he was hearing what happened. Evidently, the girls had won,
but just barely. They were wounded and bruised from head to foot, but the
game was not the cause to the extra bruises. Apparently, their owner was
upset with them for nearly losing the chance at going to the championships
and had flogged them all in a small back cavern for it, even though they
had come out as the winners. Duo glowered at the thought of Hilde even
more damaged than when he left her at the arena. Heero had told them soon
after the situation and all of them were furious. They saw the impossible
situation they were in and did the only thing they could do. They cut off
anything that would bring out any emotion and those were the girls. P
Duo slowly made his way back to the his teammates and found them all
lounging about, nursing their wounds and cuts. They looked like a ragged
bunch and were about ready to fall into small pieces. It was amazing that
probably only a few muscles and such held them together after that ordeal.
Duo stalked over to Heero and leaned against the wall in the same position
that his friend was in. P
"They won the game," he growled. The others looked at him surprised. P
"You don't sound very happy about it," said Quatre. Duo glared at him, but
not meaning it for him. P
"I overheard some other guys talking. Apparently, the owner was not happy
that they almost lost because of their weak state." Quatre's eyes widened
in realization and then in disbelief. P
"No, no owner would beat up his winning team! It isn't logical," he cried
in outrage. Heero was glaring down at the floor and tapping one finger
rapidly on his elbow as his arms were crossed over his chest. His face
looked deadly. His finger was the only sign of his upset state though.
P
"This man is insane and illogical," he growled. All eyes turned back to
their captain. Heero finally looked up at him. His face was hard as stone
and could have been chiseled into, but Heero's eyes were filled with hate.
P
As Heero gazed at his own teammates, he saw the feeling was being reflected
as well. P
"I say we give their owner a little bit of something to whine about,"
snarled Trowa. Now everyone was surprised. Trowa almost never showed his
anger, especially when it affected him the least amount. Oh, but this did
affect him. In more ways then one. He saw the way Cathy looked before she
went out there for the other game. She was bloodied and ready to fall over
with exhaustion. He could only imagine how she was doing now. P
Finally, the others got the meaning to what he suggested and nodded with
fiendish grins on their faces. Duo might have actually sprouted horns.
Not their owner? Well, then. free reign here. Heero had mentioned that
Hiroshi showed disgust for the other owner. There would be no
consequences. P
P
P
Owner sat up in the stands watching as the teams went in and out. He had
gotten quite a bit of money that day and he was very proud of that amount.
It was all because of the girls. His face grew grim when he remembered how
they had almost lost it all for him. He would have to do a little more
discipline with them after the Tournament was over. It was then that he
noticed that the boys that his team had played were coming out into the
arena to play another game. Was it just he, or were they glaring at him?
One of them, he had a long braid going down his back, looked him straight
in the eye, flipped out a knife and licked the edge slightly. It was a
perverse move and Owner looked on him with an arrogant disgust. P
As the game progressed Owner forgot all about the strange attitude of
players before the game. Of course, the boys were winning this one. He
would be sure to push the girls extra hard to win against this team. He
wanted that prize money from the championship, which was almost a sinful
amount. Of course, it went to the person or people who played, but Owner
would have to just make sure that it would not get that far. He smirked to
himself at this thought. It was so good to have power! P
His thoughts were interrupted as a ball came flying straight towards his
head. His eyes widened as he just managed to duck away from the flying
object. His eyes were as large as a fish's and his mouth looked as if it
had been stranded on land. He slowly turned back around to look at the
court. All heads of the opposite team were rather surprised and confused
as in to why the ball had accidentally made its way into the audience. The
boys on the other hand were glaring up at him with a purpose. He saw the
challenge there and his own eyes narrowed in response. He almost expected
the announcers to call in the guard to take away the boys for their
disruptive behavior and have their owner to deal with them, but evidently,
the ball being chucked so hard into the audience looked so much like a
mistake that no one had even thought of it being so. Owner knew though, it
was all a conspiracy against him. Those boys. Well, if he guessed
correctly. He turned to a servant standing nearby and whispered something
to him. The servant nodded and walked away. Owner turned back to the game
below and smiled smugly down at the boys. They immediately looked weary.
What did he have up his sleeve? P
A moment later, Cathy was dragged up from behind by her arms, she was
stumbling and was barely able to keep her consciousness. Owner grabbed her
hair and dragged her down next to him. He made sure that the boys down
there understood very clearly that he had complete control over his team
and they could do nothing to stop him. P
One particular boy let his eyes grow wild with fury. Owner centered his
attention on him and smiled devilishly. Everyone sitting near Owner shot
disgusted looks at Cathy, from her bloodied face, blackened eye, to her
bedraggled state. Cathy seemed absolutely oblivious. She kept on flashing
in and out of consciousness. She had been dragged away by the guards from
her friends, all of them protesting, being she had gotten the worst of the
beating. Now, for some reason, she stood next to Owner, watching the boys
play below. All playing had seemed to stop for a moment as Owner snarled
something to the servant. He was about to take away Cathy, when Owner,
just for good measure stopped him and slapped Cathy mildly across the face.
It was enough to send her sprawling though and a few droplets of blood
flew across the floor. There was a roar from the arena below and all eyes
turned to see that Trowa was making a mad dash for the stands, but Heero
and Wufei had caught him just in time to keep him from doing any damage.
Cathy had gone unconscious at this point. Two servants had to come and
drag her away, her head bobbing, dripping blood from her nose and lip. She
looked like she had been through a war. In a way, she had. P
Finally after a few moments, Trowa was cooled down as Heero spoke a few
quick words to him. He took a visible grip on his emotions and turned back
to the game, almost as if willing himself from going after Cathy's owner
with tooth and claw. P
After the game was over and they had won they were intercepted by Hiroshi.
His eyes were blazing. So much for no consequences. P
"You fools!" he growled. "Did you want him to know you paid extra
attention to them?" He turned on Trowa. "And you! Your behavior out
there was inexcusable! If I didn't need you on this team I would beat you
worse than what he did to your girlfriend! You little idiots! You have
sealed their fate now!" The boys looked rebellious, but shamed at the same
time. "Get out of here, you're making me sick!" growled Hiroshi. The boys
quickly made their way to the Ice Cage, not stopping until they were
inside. They took a deep breath for a moment, gave each other a deciding
nod and went in search of the girls.