"I'm serious."

"You're biased."

"I'm not biased!"

"Yes you are."

"How?"

"Er… I donno your just biased."

"How can I be biased against something I'm not biased against?"

"Er… You just are."

"Men are far too easy to judge, my dear Sara."

"One day Alice the man of your dreams will walk into your life and then you will have to watch your tounge."

"Scold me will you?"

"You deserve it."

"Oh hush you."

"Admit it, your still looking for a guy."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are."

"I said I like seeing you two together, I'm not looking for a guy!"

"Every girl does."

"Girl? How would you know? You're a tomboy!"

"Am not! I'm much too feminine."

"You're more of a guy than Jason!"

"Why you little-" Sara was interrupted by Jason's hysterical laughter.

"See?"

"See what?"

"Even Jason knows this!"

"That's a burn." Jason laughed harder.

"Frakker!" Sara shot back at Alice.

"Oh go soak your head." Alice retorted.

"Go grease a tractor!"

Jason was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe, slapping Jawbreaker as he listened to the two bicker. They had been going at this for an hour now, doing more debating than work. Luckily for them, he was doing their work. Or trying.

He turned off his fusion torch, just as the subject changed.

"It's not grease, its lub." Alice retorted.

"Grease."

"Lub."

"Grease!"

"Lub!"

"Both." He chortled, causing them to look at him. A short silence followed before they both spoke together. "What he said."

Alice realized they had agreed, and tried to find something to disagree with. "Grease burns, lub doesn't."

"No it doesn't."

"Ever heard of a grease fire?"

"That's with kitchen stuff."

"WD-40?" Alice shot back, referring to an old greasing product that had survived a Melina.

"That's old stuff; there are many kinds of grease."

"Lub."

"Grease!"

Those two could go on forever, Jason chuckled to himself. Fusing on another armor plate, his mind wandered as the subject changed again.

The late Kaiser Ironsides. Why had he been so mad at Jason? Probably got up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, or he was just seeing his friend's mech in the hands of a late entry.

His last fight had been all over the holonet. It was easily the most reckless stunt he had pulled off. Who ever heard of ejecting your ammunition drum and kicking it at your opponent, then shooting it with an underpowered laser? How had it even worked? That shouldn't have worked. Heck he should be dead by now.

But he wasn't. He had pulled off the craziest stunt he had ever seen. Kicking an ammunition drum with some 75 240mm HE shells at his opponent, then shooting it, setting it off. The resulting explosion had sent his mech flying backwards, and vaporized the other Champion's torso.

He knew that by then Ironsides had been running hot, and his front armor damaged. But it still shouldn't have worked out.

But it did.

Silently he snapped at himself for going over it for the hundredth time. Switching topics in his mind, he thought about Sara entering into the open melee for the assault tournament. He didn't know what she would be driving; she might be driving her old Enforcer, but she might have sold it.

"Ms. Kellings? May I speak with you for a minute?" Tonnage yelled from the floor.

"Coming!" She put her torch down and crawled off the mech, hopping onto the gantry. Jason looked up from his work, watching the conversation ensue. He put the torch down as her face changed to one of worry. She looked up and motioned for him to come down.

Climbing down the mech, he walked over to where they were talking.

"Ms. Kellings is unable to join in the Assault Tournaments, as they are in the final rounds already."

Jason's face changed as he looked at Sara. She wouldn't look at him.

"Sara… I-"

"It's not that." She said, crossing an arm and holding her head with the other.

"But she still has an opportunity to join the Unlimited Tournaments."

So that's what this was about. She didn't want to fight him, but she wanted to pilot mechs again.

"Lemmie talk to her for a minute." Quietly pulling her aside, he took her behind one of the Champion's legs.

"Sara-"

She grabbed his arms, gripping them so tightly they began to lose circulation. "I can't do it again Jason, I can't!" She whispered.

"Sara, its okay. I don't think I'll make it that far anyway." He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

"Darn it you know you will! I don't want to fight you again, I can't!" He remembered well. The last time they fought she had gone under immense trauma. She had avoided it whenever possible.

"Sara, I want you to enter. I want you to pilot again. Everything will be fine."

She looked up at him. "But what if we're put in the same match?"

He scratched her back along her spine, the way she always liked. "We'll fight that battle when it happens."

She looked down, then back up. Jason swore he never saw eyes so beautiful. "But-"

He pulled her closer, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll think of something."

Gently he began to rock her back and forth. "Promise?"

He kissed her cheek. "I Promise."

Slowly they separated and walked out from behind the leg, walking towards Tonnage. "Well?" He said.

"I'll join the unlimited tournaments, sir."

"Very well, I'll make the necessary arrangements. Sara, I assume you want to pilot that… other mech instead of the Longbow."

She nodded.

With that Tonnage walked off.

"You were willing to drive a missile boat to avoid fighting me?"

"Yah."

He let his mind chew on this.

Finally, he walked off and climbed up the gantry, and pulled himself up onto his autocannon. Crawling down through the hole above the cannon, he pulled himself into the inner workings of the mech.

"Jason?"

He turned to see Sara's sillewet against the outside light.

"Yah?"

She crawled over and knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Gently she pulled him into a kiss.

Jason sat down Indian style, pulling Sara into his lap. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling as close as she could.

Great Gods above she felt so good.

Slowly, they separated from a kiss. "You overhear, Alice?" Jason said quietly.

"Yah." Came a soft voice, probably from behind the ammo drum.

Jason felt Sara's hand slide over his back, her fingers tracing the scars. Jason toyed with the rim of her jeans before he ran his hand along Sara's leg.

"Thank you Jason."

His hand moved up and around to her stomach. "For what?"

"Everything." Sara said.

He leaned forwards and pecked the small of her neck. "Anything for you."

She arched her head back to grant him better access to her neck.

"What will we do afterwards?" She asked, her eyes closed.

He kissed the side of her neck, causing it to lean the opposite way. "Everything's planned."

Her hands felt his strong back, running over the scars. "Solaris isn't our home, Jason. Solaris kills it's own. There's nothing for us here."

He kissed her collarbone, his flesh burning against hers. "We'll leave, start everything over."

His hands began to rub her back as she kissed the top of his head. He felt her ribs beneath her skin.

"I like that."

Alice watched them from a different place in the Champion. Her large brown eyes soaking up light, taking in the images in front of her.

"Jason?"

"Yah?"

"Is it okay if you don't watch the fight?"

"Why?"

They stopped talking for a while. Alice smiled, realizing how gentle he was with her.

"I think it's best if we don't see each other fight."

There was a brief pause.

"Alright. We should also stay away from each others mechs."

"Why?"

"We shouldn't see much of each other until the tournament is over."

Alice watched as they pulled closer together, doing something she couldn't see in the dim light.

"Jason, I need to be with you, especially now that this is going to happen."

"I know. Let's just not talk so much."

For a moment, Alice wondered what their long term plans were. But she knew what would happen eventually. Heck they were gonna marry, but it wasn't the right time yet.

"How long will this happen?"

"Eight matches."

She watched as Sara buried her face in his shirt. "Eight matches! I can't stay away from you that long!"

"I know it hurts, but we did it for five years-"

"That was involuntary!"

He cupped her chin and looked into her eyes. "I know it will hurt, Sara. Look, we don't have to be away from each other. We just stay away from each other for the most part." Alice knew Jason's brain was clocking overtime, trying to compensate and compromise for everything.

She nodded and they drew close again. Alice could only imagine the powerful feelings they were having.

"Alright."

Alice slowly slipped into a better place. She knew that Jason knew she was there, so did Sara. As long as she was there, they wouldn't do anything major. Heck, they rarely did anything major. But they didn't mind, they always let her watch. It was only when Alice made it known that she was there when the situation turned comical.

"So who are we gonna talk to if we don't talk to each other that much?" Sara asked, arching her neck back again.

"Alice."

"She's a watcher, not a talker."

"I know, but I think we need to give her more attention anyway."

Alice chuckled lightly, climbing over the drum towards them. She sat down next to them, leaning against the dormant fusion reactor.

"I love watching you two."

Jason scooted closer to Alice and Sara took one of her hands, giving it a friendly squeeze. "You got no idea how much you mean to us, Alice." Sara said.

"Thanks guys." She leaned forwards to hug them, only to have her tiny frame engulfed by her friends.

"Alice, you never told us about yourself. Who's your family?"

She smiled at them, her heart glowing. "You guys."

They pulled her closer again. "Family." Jason said quietly. "I like that."

No one broke the hug or the silence for a while.

"So after this, we leave?" Alice asked.

"We leave."

"Where we gonna go?"

Jason merely winked at her.

"Jason never tells his secrets." Sara said, pulling Alice in between them.

"Aw common guys-"

"Alice sandwich!" Sara giggled.

Alice rolled her eyes, and then found herself having trouble breathing.

"Guys, I can't breathe!"

"Aw common, you can breath just fine."

Alice responded by a surprisingly strong squeeze of her own before letting go.

Time passed as they just sat there.

"Jason, I never got how old you were." Alice said.

He smiled. "23."

She did mental math. That made Sara 22.

"Ho old are you Alice?"

She leaned into Sara. "17."

He nodded.

Finally she got up, returning to her original position by the fusion reactor.

"Ya'll got till tomorrow, don't let me spoil it."

"You ain't spoiling anything."

"You two just have your fun. It's entertaining enough just watching you."

Alice's smile grew as they resumed their activities.

"Jason?"

"Mmm?"

"When… we were separated… did you ever think of me?"

He smiled at her. "All the time."

Each fight would bring him closer to having to fight Sara. A battle he was not prepared to fight. A battle neither was ready to fight.

The scars ran too deep.

The pain was too much.

But it had to be done.

There was no other way.

Jason was oblivious to the other mechs as they marched out to their starting points. He was oblivious to the massive rainstorm thundering overhead. He was oblivious to the rain hammering onto his mechs thick hull.

What would they do?

What would he do?

He shook himself out of the trance, focusing on the matter at hand.

A small light appeared on his dashboard, informing him of the match type. One on one battles for the first two sections. The third would be a three man free for all.

He was given permission to attack the Axeman to his left. Slowly he turned Jawbreaker to face it.

His comm light glowed green, indicating he was being hailed. Dang, he had turned off his comm. Activating it, he flipped a switch.

"This is Osiris, the god of death. Prepare to die."

He rolled his eyes at his opponent's words. Lame…

Jason slipped into a battle trance as his mech became a part of him, stepping to the side slightly to avoid a stream of 240mm shells. The shells sailed by inches away from his cockpit, disturbing the rainfall with their trails.

Jawbreaker burst into a dead run, its massive feet pounding into the thick mud.

"There is no escape." The voice taunted again.

Jawbreaker turned, moving its path to approach the Axeman at an angle. The Axeman began to march, on an opposite parallel path. Jawbreaker shoved down with one foot, then slammed down with the other. Leaning his mech backwards, his mech skidded in the mud. The Axeman opened fire, spraying the area in front of the Champion with lead.

"So you're the god of death, huh? Prepare to meet your maker." This guy was small fish compared to others he would have to face.

Jawbreaker suddenly made a beeline for the Axeman, slashing at it with its medium lasers. Four jade beams sliced into the Axeman's armor, leaving molten trails in their path.

100 meters.

The massive autocannon underneath the Champion belched, spewing out five high explosive rounds at the offending 60 toner, depriving it of its AC-20. The Axeman swung with its axe, and Jawbreaker jinked to the left.

Turning around and skidding to a halt, the autocannon fired again, ripping into the Axeman. Deprived of a leg, the Axeman spun around and crashed to the ground.

Jason glanced at his targeting data. His next target was a Zeus…

…A Gargoyle dropped to the ground, followed by a Templar.

Jason blinked. What had happened?

Where did the Zeus go?

Looking around, he spotted the Zeus on the ground, more than a thousand meters away. It was missing much of its torso.

He looked at his ammo display, reading 100 shells in the ammunition drum. He then looked at his damage readouts, realizing some armor was missing on his left leg.

His victory music began to pound through the speakers, trying in vain to sound above the rain.

It was then that he realized that the past six matches had passed in a blur. This made match seven.

Unnaturally fast.

Gods above it was so soon. This was far too fast, he thought. He was not ready for the final fight.

Only then did he realize that the Gargoyle pilot had climbed out of her mech, shaking her fist at him.

Slowly a smile crossed his face. He knew exactly what to do.

The smile turned into a grin. Perfect.

Glancing up with his external viewing systems, he zoomed in on the crowd. Everyone was cheering wildly, and from past experience Jason knew he was supposed to show off a little at this point.

He marched over to the nearest wall. Opening fire with his lasers, he slowly carved his initials into the wall. Setting his autocannon to single shot mode, he put periods at the end of each letter.

He allowed his mech to swagger as he entered the hole. That would be the only thing he would leave behind.

His command chair was fully reclined, and his eyes were closed. Music flowed into his ears as his mechs radio played from one of his databases.

On a warm summer's evenin'

On a train bound for nowhere

I met up with the gambler.

We were both too tired to sleep.

So we took turns a-starin'

Out the window at the darkness.

When boredom overtook us,

He began to speak.

He said, "Son, I've made a life

Out of readin' people's faces.

Know-

Suddenly his mouth was parted by a familiar pair of lips, and vanilla scented hair tickled his neck. For a full minute they kept him occupied.

"You win?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

"Yah." There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.

He smiled. "Perfect." Their lips met again.

…And the best you can hope for

Is to die in your sleep."

And when he finished speakin',

he Turned back to the window

Crushed out his cigarette

And faded off to sleep.

And somewhere in that darkness,

The gambler he broke even.

And in his final words I found

An ace that I could keep.

You gotta know when to hold-

"Where do you get that music? I've never heard it before."

He smiled. "That's old music. From the 20th and 21st century."

He knew her eyes flew open. "21st century? Where'd you get it?"

He opened his eyes, winking at her. From his position she appeared upside down, her arms resting on the headrest.

"Common tell me."

He settled into the chair more. "I worked with ComStar for a while, found it in their databanks. Kept it ever since."

"How much you got?"

"All of them."

She let out a low whistle. "Wow. Nice collection."

"It was kind of a parting gift."

"How many songs are there?"

"Millions."

Another low whistle. "Dang."

…Know when to walk away,

Know when to run.

You never count your money

When you're sittin' at the table.

There'll be time enough for countin'

When the dealin's done.

"Who was that?"

He lifted his head, looking at a display screen. "Kenny Rogers."

She nodded, and their thoughts drifted to the final battle. It was going to be heald at the Namless Stadium, a stadium so large and expensive to repair it was only used for special battles. It was going to be one heck of a fight.

"So. What are we gonna do?" She asked, playing with a tuft of brown hair.

"I… have a plan." He replied.

"Oh? You…. Have a plan?" She said, mimicking him.

"Yes, and a good one at that."

"Is it complete?" She said, emphasizing complete.

Jason smiled. "Well… yes… mostly."

"Tell me."

Smiling, he glanced around.

"Alright, here's the plan…"

From her hiding spot in the Warhammer's SRM tube, Alice could see Jason's and Sara's interesting position. She knew what they were talking about, but Alice wasn't going to listen in this time; she wanted it to be a surprise.

Whatever it was, it was going to be good. These two worked extremely well together, and when they put their minds together, it was gonna be a real show.

She shifted her position so that she was lying down, resting her head on her harms behind her.

Slowly her thoughts drifted to her past, to her own shattered memories.

She would leave everything, never looking back.

Sara was right. On Solaris, you were a nobody. It didn't matter if you were a fringer, hillie, rat, Roman, or Solaris champion, you were no one. Someone would replace you. You would just be another name among others.

No. The future was not here. She had no hope here. No one had hope here.

Why leave? There was no cause to live for here. Money? Money was lost faster than it was gained. Fame? Short lived.

It was time to leave this rock, leave the games, leave the treachery, leave everything. Even Pinball Wizards had to find a cause to live for.