Each second was against them, Ganta thought. Three hours ago he spoke to Jurai, briefly about his plan to escape Deadman Wonderland. Apprehensively, she considered the idea of leaving this prison; mulling over the details until she suffered a migraine. Nonchalantly, she laughed it off. Without further deliberation she settled on the idea of going along with his plan. Ganta watched Jurai's actions intently; how she made light of their circumstance. Although her outer shell appeared almost impenetrable, he could sense an overwhelming dread; unmentionable horrors she dared not speak of, the possible repercussions for attempting to escape. He observed her slightest movements as she privately spoke with Senji in the hallway; the way she casually leaned against the wall, her arms promptly folded over her chest and her head cocked at an angle. There was a glimmer of something, though he was uncertain of what, between the two. Jurai gave Senji a playful punch on the shoulder, winking as she smiled warmly. It was only three hours ago, Ganta's conscience reiterated, how could the plan go awry in such a short period of time?

All of Jurai's worldly possessions were cleared out. The twin sized bed, which was placed on the far right, was absent. On the left of that was the wooden dresser with a lamp. Ally feverishly searched every corner, as if expecting Jurai to be safely tucked in a small crevice of the room. Ganta watched her silently as she paced from one end of the room to the other, hungrily chewing at her nails; her conscience squalled in innumerable volumes. With an arm outstretched, he advanced over to the female who stiffly wedged herself in a crook of the room. She lifted her gaze to meet his, a pained expression plastered on her visage.

"You think they skipped out on the Carnival Corpse," she began. "Would they ever go straight to the penalty game? Did they figure it out, maybe overheard us talking…?"

Before he could respond, the bright monitor, embedded in the plain white walls, revealed itself. An ominous glow shined brightly on the duo as their eyes remained glued on the twenty inch screen. The announcer's voice boomed as he gave detail about the Carnival Corpse currently in progress. Ganta's eyes widen in horror as he stood beside Ally, trembling at the scenes. The matchup that was announced earlier became slightly more interesting. As the camera panned out from Jurai's bruised and panting form, two opponents became visible to all viewers; Falcon was one of them, along with an unknown contender.

"Two against one," Ally muttered. "How despicable could they be?"

"This place is hell," Ganta added.

Ally's gaze was transfixed on Ganta, catching a glimpse of somebody she knew; no, not just any person, her younger brother Joshua. The longer she stared at him, the more he appeared to be a spitting image of him. The thought of anyone so young being claimed by this hellhole finally dawned on her. It was a disgusting thought to think this young boy was here, especially since he did not seem the 'type' to massacre an entire class. This was all a game, one they might lose if the right moves are not taken. If neither of them acted, then all hope would be lost. Hope, the possibility of grasping freedom was all they had. Without warning, she grabbed his arm and broke into a full sprint, dragging Ganta along.

"What are you doing," he squeaked, but was ignored as she made a sharp right down a dark hallway.

She released his arm as she darted further down to a dead end, effortlessly scaling up the wall. Her upper body leaned forward as her feet were well planted against opposite walls, nails dug underneath the vent cover as she pried it out of the wall. Ally climbed inside, adjusting herself so that she was able to poke her head out.

"Come on, we got to hurry."

Her body hung halfway out of the vent, arms fully extended as Ganta jumped up a couple of times in order to reach her hands. After a few failed attempts, she leaned forward more, ankles bent at an angle as her feet remained at the edges of the vent. Ganta leapt once more, making contact with her hands. Pulling him up was a difficult feat, her visage was flushed from the act of being upside down and her attempt to use what upper body strength she had.

"I will not fuck up," Ally muttered to herself, eyelids squeezed together as small droplets escaped. "I will not leave you! Not again!"

The Arena

Jurai slammed roughly against the transparent walls of the arena, pain rippling throughout her body as a thick tendril slammed against her abdomen. She couldn't breathe properly. Dropping down to her knees, an arm crossed over her stomach as she glared in defiance.

"This little girl thinks she can win," the unknown man taunted.

"If it was a fair fight, maybe, but I guess the odds are against her. Such a well formed little thing, too bad it'll be her last night in Wonderland." He darted towards her, razor sharp wing tips slashing horizontally.

Boldly catching the wing between her hands, suffering several cuts in the process, and then was quickly brought down when a thick tendril reached out and collided into her forehead. The force pushed her head backwards, slamming roughly against the transparent wall. There was an awful ringing and her vision was impaired from blood getting in her eye.

"How cute, she's still fighting back," Falcon chuckled, withdrawing his wings as he cupped her chin. "I'll go easy on you if you submit to me, girl. You don't have to perish tonight."

"If I bow my head and respond with 'aye sir' or call you 'master' will I get vacation days to? Goody, oh happy day, I'm saved," she said.

"Are you mocking me?"

"If you're going to kill me, then do it. Otherwise," she paused as another tendril stretched out, ready to inflict another blow, but caught it in her left hand. "You'll regret it."

Jurai needed all of her bravado coupled with a partner and a miracle. She managed to slip from Falcon's clammy grasp and dodged incoming tendril after another. Pristine white tiles were tainted by crimson red streaks as she tumbled and dashed across the arena, wincing from basic movements that ensured her survival. Everything ached. One of her main concerns became her overall plan. How will she triumph? Deep contemplation during battle proved unbeneficial as a tendril roped around her right leg, harshly yanking it. She flung forward, the side of her face colliding into the hard tiles as blood shot from her mouth. Footsteps echoed loudly in her ears as everything slowed down. This was her fault, she was well aware of that. Whether she agreed with Ganta's plan or did not, it wouldn't have mattered. The promoter was a sadist and couldn't pass up the opportunity of torturing her, viewing her pain live. Her willpower was shot as she recalled being homeschooled and harassed nonstop. Despite her physical strengths, mentally she was not strong enough to fend for herself. At this very moment she felt like history was to repeat itself. That little voice in her head mentioned she could never escape him, a man of such power. Encountering him once in her past sealed her fate. Now, she was in his clutches and forced to follow his rules.

A high pitch squeal echoed along with hands pounding against glass. Jurai's eyes fluttered open as she caught glimpse of Ally and Ganta screaming for her to stand. With the two of them standing together, it seemed like déjà vu. There was a scene that played out in her mind of a summer evening she spent with Joshua and Ally. Ally's parents thought some time away from the city would be best, considering the messages Jurai was receiving from some anonymous individual over the internet. She was free of the burden, for a time. That summer served as a distraction from her problems.

With her willpower restored she stood tall, prepared to fight until her last breath. The back of her hand pressed against her forehead, dragging it diagonally across her face and smearing the sticky crimson substance. The sound of a latch opening briefly caught all three of the contenders' attention as two guards forcefully threw Ally inside, while the others restrained Ganta.

"You desperately wanted to be inside, Alessandra," a voice boomed, "in you go."

Ally stumbled, eyes wide in horror as she fell to her knees. These men appeared more menacing since she was trapped with them. The confidence she had dwindled with each second and she loathed the possible outcome of this fight. She could hear them, judging her and plotting her demise; how they wanted to toy with her, and then finish their game with Jurai. Ally muttered the word 'sorry' several times, until she felt Jurai positioned behind her. Dark olive skin stained with crimson red as Jurai leaned forward, tentatively drawing Ally into an embrace.

"I'm right here," she whispered. "Thank you, for coming."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to help," she sobbed.

Jurai smiled warmly, despite the pain; her eyes drifted over to the large tree on the far left of the arena as Ally released her pint up breath. Without further dialogue, Ally dashed towards the tree at lightning speed, weaving passed incoming tendrils that expelled from the unknown man's body. Jurai trailed behind her, blood from her left arm transforming into a moderate sized shield as she spun around and blocked his attacks.

"Just a few more feet," Ally muttered.

"If need be go faster, I got this!"

Ally nodded in response. Instantly, she reached the tree and clambered up the massive trunk, then threw herself onto one of the branches. She took out a small razor, slashing the back of her arm, creating a Chinese crossbow with her blood.

The unknown man leapt, tendril seeking out the raven haired female, but failed when Jurai formed a long sword in her right hand, slicing through the thick stem. Another tendril shot forth as she blocked it with the shield, being propelled backwards from the blow. Back flipping and landing seamlessly as her shield and sword dispersed; the blood formed around her hands as clawed shaped gauntlets. Falcon lunged at the short haired female, missing completely as she performed a handless cartwheel to avoid the incoming attack. Jurai ducked down, left leg fully extended as she spun a full forty-five degrees clockwise, calf colliding into the back of his ankle and toppling him over.

A blood formed arrow pierced his cranium before reaching the floor. Another shot pierced through the unknown man's arm, causing him to howl in pain. One of his tendrils stretched out, crashing against the branch Ally was stationed, causing her to lose her balance and fall. Jurai darted over to her falling companion; her arms outstretched as she slid across the blood stained floors and caught her. He sent forth several tendrils at the females, forcing them to separate as they rolled in opposite directions in unison. They were startlingly synched, so much that it appeared as if they were one being. Jurai tumbled forward, closing the distance between herself and their attacker. Her right arm thrust forward as she threw a punch that was a couple of inches off; as if she was in desperate need of calibration. The man cackled in response, a tendril coiled around her arm and twisting harshly. Ally fired several arrows, which drained her considerably. Alas, he was able to deflect them.

Finally, his jaw dropped as he felt a searing pain in his chest, eyes widen in disbelief. Jurai was a blur, though her arm still bound by his tendril. His gaze dropped to the woman's hand plunged in his thorax, gauntlet covered hand gripping his innards. The tendril's grip slackened as he dropped to the floor, gasping. Jurai fell down to her knees, head hung and eyelids descended. Her left arm pulsated immensely as she drifted in and out of consciousness; her opponents heart crushed in her fist formed hand.