As the balcony settles down again, on the floor three people wearing heavy armor pace around the room. They shrug and stretch as they move, trying to get all of the parts to settle. They are tall and imposing, especially the lone female; a redhead wearing the armor of a Kirkwall guard and carrying a green clover-shaped shield. One man looks to be several decades older than the others, but his dark hair shows no trace of grey. The blond man wearing a crown actually doesn't look all that frighting in comparison, more like a puppy deciding to show his teeth.

"So Mahariel, how are our mages doing?"

"Just fine, Hawke. Wynne is obviously in the best condition at the moment, but Bethany and Anders swear they're doing just fine. They don't seem to want to go anywhere near Wynne though."

"I wonder why. You know, I just saw Anders. He seems... happier, or something."

"I don't know what you mean, he seems the same to me."

"He seems less... conflicted. And he didn't mention evil templars once in our conversation."

"Well, he's lacking a spirit that represents an unyielding concept in his head."

"That's probably it."

"Are we ready to begin?"

"Right then. Up next, Round Two – Warriors Who Like To Hide Behind Dishes of Steel. At one end we have Teyrn Loghain of the Grey Wardens, King Alistair of Ferelden – also of the Grey Wardens – and Aveline; Guard Captain of Kirkwall! May the bes..." Hawke stopped short as the door to the ballroom suddenly slammed open. A figure in full armor with sword and shield drawn strode into the center of the floor. Weapons appeared all over the ballroom, every one trained at the new person. The figure sheathed his sword and lifted a gloved hand to his helm. With a slight twist, he removed the helmet, revealing a decaying corpse underneath. Only Anders set down his staff.

"HELLO. MAY I JOIN THIS BATTLE?" The corpse said. Several spectators put down their weapons, including Mahariel.

"Justice? Is that you? I thought you left." Said Mahariel with a confused look on her face.

"FOR A BIT. I FOUND ANOTHER BODY."

"Clearly. Umm... that's not Kristoff's is it?"

"NO. THIS ONE IS FRESHER. IT IS SIMILAR IN TRAINING HOWEVER."

"Right... okay... Hawke, what do you think?"

Hawke shrugged. "Why not? Justice was a companion, even if he did turn Anders into psycho-terrorist."

"Great. Ladies and gentlemen, a surprising late addition to Round Two; that Spirit from the Fade, inhabitant of dead bodies and crazy mages... JUSTICE!"

"Shale, on your mark!" The warriors' eyes were glued to the golem standing on the stairs. Shale's arm came down decisively and the four combatants moved towards each other, meeting in the center. Clangs rang out as sword met shield, and the fight began in earnest.

"Y'know Zevran, I think know that corpse." The pirate wench said to the long-haired elf on her left.

"I know I do. I killed him. How did you know him?"

"Please don't say," The heavily tattooed elf on her other side begged, "I'd rather not know."

"You're no fun."

Below, the puppy suddenly turned into a full mabari. After offhandedly deflecting a blow from Justice, King Alistair charged the dark-haired man. Their shields met, and the other Grey Warden was driven backwards by the onslaught, away from the other combatants. He kept his footing and attempted to land a blow on Alistair's head, but was blocked by the king's sword. The two men shoved each other, trying to overpower the other with sheer force. After a few moments of neither gaining ground, they separated and went into a defensive pose. They no longer looked at the other combatants, and hatred burned in Alistair's gaze.

"It looks like Alistair's grudge against Loghain still holds, Mahariel. So sad, that your companions don't get along, even after all these years."

"I know." The elf sighed. "I just hope they remember that they aren't supposed to kill each other..."

"At this point, what's one more corpse on the field?"

There now appeared to be two separate battles going on. In the middle, Justice and the lone woman were bashing away at each other, while off to one side Alistair and Loghain were engaged in a very complicated, very deadly dance. The peanut gallery were much louder this round, shouting encouragements or jeering at the warriors below. Some ran around, trying to get a better view of their preferred fight. Four of the mages stood aloof; Anders and Wynne, the witch in rags, and the Dalish woman on the arm of the Vigil's Keep bowman.

"Can you see where Alistair and Loghain went, Hawke?"

"Nope. Can you?"

"Not at all. Oh! Did you just see that blow Aveline landed on Justice?" Somehow Aveline had gotten inside the corpse's defenses and managed to strike his shield arm, causing him to drop it. As he bent to grab it, Aveline brought her own shield up to connect with his chin, sending him stumbling backwards. A cheer went up from Hawke's companions. Aveline went for an overhead strike with her sword that Justice only just managed to parry. One more step put Justice up against one of the pillars underneath the balcony, which he used to regain his balance. He switched his grip to a two-handed one. Without warning, he rushed Aveline, swinging his sword to connect with her shield. The blow sent Aveline into a half-spin, but Justice continued past her towards his shield still on the floor. Without slowing he leaned over and grabbed it, then turned to face Aveline yet again.

"This is so exciting! It's like watching a tournament of old. Perhaps I should compose a ballad. Aveline's Battle with Justice. Hmm, I think that already is a ballad... No! That one's Aveline's Battle for Justice. This will be completely different." The Orlesian woman reached into her pouch and pulled out a pad of paper and pen and started scribbling furiously. The large qunari standing behind her just snorted.

The other pair were still struggling heavily in the corner. Alistair was still on the offensive and raining down blow after blow. Loghain was stuck; he had been able to fend off Alistair so far, but had yet to gain the upper hand. They seemed to be stalemated.

"I really wish I could see what was going on with Alistair and Loghain." Mahariel sighed.

"You could always move."

"What, and risk someone stealing my seat?"

"Now who would do that?"

"Hawke, everyone else is sitting on stools. Who wouldn't?"

"Oh please. If your so worried, I'll watch your seat for you."

"Oh alright." The elf slid off her seat and sprinted around to the other side of the balcony, sidling in next the drunk dwarf.

Hawke grinned at the dark shadow rippling next to her. "Isabela, have a seat."

"Don't mind if I do." The pirate woman stepped out of the shadows. When Mahariel looked up from the battle, both seats were occupied. Isabela waved insolently. The elf pointedly ignored her and turned her attention to the fighting Grey Wardens. Loghain was finally starting to fight back. His swings came less frequent than Alistair's, but he found his mark more often than not. So far nothing vital had been hit, but Alistair was looking worried and clearly favoring his right shoulder. Loghain swept his sword across, and Alistair leapt back, narrowly avoiding a slice to the gut. He went into a crouch, nearly disappearing behind his shield, and waited. Loghain moved towards him, his sword pointed forward. Alistair twisted his shield arm and slammed his shield against Loghain's, trapping the older man's sword in between them in the process. His sword came out and made a low sweep, catching Loghain at the knees and depositing him on his back. Alistair was now practically on top of him, continuing to press. With another twist of his shield, Alistair sent Loghain's sword flying. He brought his sword to the Teyrn's neck and for a moment it looked as if he wasn't going to stop there.

With a leap, one of the mabaris was standing over Loghain's head; glaring at Alistair. The king stood up. The mabari backed up and allowed Loghain to get up. He got to one knee holding his sword point down in front of him. Alistair bowed his head once before turning his attention to the other two fighters. The mabari barked and pushed his head into Loghain's back, guiding him towards the door. Wynne came down the stairs and kept to the wall to exit through the same door, presumably to check for injuries.

There was more movement in the balcony as people returned to their seats, many stopping by a certain dwarf with very full pockets. Mahariel made her way back to Hawke, who was chatting animatedly with Isabela.

"And that's when I ran through the flames to save the kitten in Lothering... oh, hi Mahariel!" Hawke said brightly. "Did something interesting happen?" Mahariel just glared at the woman sitting in her seat.

"Hello Isabela. Didn't expect to see you here."

"Right, that. I told you I'd watch it. I didn't say I wouldn't let anyone take it." At that comment, Mahariel drew one of her daggers, and held it at the pirate woman's throat. "Fine. Isabela, you better scram."

"But..." Isabela pouted, and failed to look innocent.

"Now, please. Before I hand you over to that qunari over there."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Watch me." Hawke smiled wolfishly. Mahariel withdrew her dagger and the Rivaini got up with a huff. The elf slid into the newly vacated seat. Hawke watched her companion go for a minute before turning back to the Warden. "So, what did I miss?"

"Loghain is out of the competition."

"Oh goody. I wondered why Alistair seemed to be doing nothing."

"He's not doing nothing! He's just trying to find an opening!"

"Looks like nothing to me." Indeed, below Alistair was just standing, watching Aveline and Justice go at each other. He seemed conflicted, as though he couldn't decide whether to hang back or try and attack one of them from behind. The decision was soon taken out of his hands. Justice had spotted the lone warrior out of the corner of his eye and began to press Aveline towards him. When the pair got within reach, he swung his sword in a wide arc, attempting to clip both humans at once. It failed to connect with either, and Alistair and Aveline moved shoulder-to-shoulder against their attacker.

"Is it just me, or is it a bit odd that the two people with the most integrity, the most honor, and let's face it, are the goodiest goody-goodies of our respective parties are the ones fighting against Justice?"

"Yes Hawke, I do think it's strange. I wonder what's going through Alistair and Aveline's heads at this very moment."

"My guess is that they probably don't think of him as Justice right now. They're probably thinking of him as a corpse that's trying to kill them."

"That does seem to be the sanest way of thinking about it."

"I'm just glad I'm not in their boots."

"Why is that?"

"We don't have to smell him from here." The aroma of rotting meat did seem to have an adverse affect on Alistair, who had not engaged Justice until now. He avoided closing with the spirit, preferring to let Justice take the offensive against him. Aveline seemed less affected; having spent the entire battle so far in close proximity to the dead man, her sense of smell had likely shut down in protest ages ago.

Although it was two-on-one, for the moment Justice seemed to have the upper-hand – Aveline and Alistair had to work hard to get a swing at him and every move they made was met by a counterstrike coming in too fast to block easily. They were also mostly successful in getting in each other's way; they managed to trip each as Justice pushed them backwards and in at least one case, simultaneous strikes meant for the corpse were intercepted by each other instead. Rather than turning on each other, they merely cursed and went back to fighting, never taking their eyes off of Justice. He was the biggest threat at the moment, and neither one was willing to change opponents until he was dealt with.

Once more the dead man attempted to cut both opponents at once. He succeeded only in making them retreat. With the two out of reach temporarily, Justice gathered himself and then raised his sword in the air. A wave of spirit energy seemed to radiate from Justice towards the warriors, leaving them doubled over in pain as it passed through them. Alistair recovered first; with narrowed eyes, he leveled his sword, and let loose a burst of spirit fire. It hit Justice, but did not seem to do much damage. Bright blue lines appeared around the corpse and Justice turned all of his attention to the Ferelden king.

"I'm not sure what Alistair did was such a good idea."

"Why's that?"

"That, my dear Hawke, was a templar spell he just used. And from what you've told me about Justice and templars..."

"Oh shit."

"Indeed."

Justice was on the attack, focused entirely on Alistair. The onslaught forced the poor man backwards, desperately trying to get out of the way. They fought their way to the stairs and up to the first landing. The hounds and the golem were forced to retreat further up the stairs to avoid the combatants. One strike from Justice sent Alistair's sword flying, the next, his shield. He was completely unprotected and a third swing was being aimed at his torso. The king closed his eyes, his lips moving silently.

There was a big whoosh and the sound of metal hitting flesh. There was a large applause from the balcony, and Alistair opened his eyes. Before him was Justice, only without a head. The body stood swaying for a moment, and then a grinning Aveline casually shoved it over. It hit the ground with a thud. Aveline picked up the king's sword and tossed it back to him. He caught it easily and then picked up his shield. The two of them headed back down the stairs to the center of the ballroom. They bowed briefly to each other, and resumed the fight.

From the headless body a stream of blue light flowed out and up the stairs. It passed into Anders and appeared to stop there. Anders shuddered and his eyes glowed blue briefly before returning to normal.

"I didn't think beheading was allowed..."

"Generally not, I should think, but in this particular instance I don't think it matters."

"True... they were dealing with a dead body when the fight began."

"And I don't think Justice is actually dead."

"What do you mean, Hawke?"

"Hey Anders! What do you think about mages?"

"MAGES MUST BE FREE. THE TEMPLARS MUST BE DESTROYED."

"I see. Bollocks."

"I know Mahariel. I was hoping to get to know Anders without a split personality."

"Really? But I thought you liked threesomes."

"Justice is kind of a bore." Down below, Alistair and Aveline seemed tired. There was less power behind their swings, and they could only just manage to get their shields up to block. The lackluster sparring went on for several minutes. Upstairs, the dark Dalish girl's head was on the beardless dwarf's shoulder and a soft snoring sound was coming from her.

"How long do you think this could go on Mahariel?"

"I don't know. I hope something exciting happens soon though. This is really boring."

"We could play a game. How about I-Spy? Or 'What color are my underclothes'?"

"How about, 'Who's got the biggest knives'?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Alistair lunged forward, but rather than blocking, Aveline merely turned aside. Momentum and exhaustion caused the king to continue forward, stumbling slightly. Aveline used her the flat of her blade to hit Alistair in the ass as he went forward. He lost his balance and fell on his face. With a groan, he struggled to get up, but the point of Aveline's sword was at his back.

"Yield."

"Myr hfyird" Alistair mumbled. Aveline looked nonplussed.

"I said, yield!"

"Grlef mr futp!" He waved one hand frantically. Aveline kept the sword at his back.

"Aveline, let Alistair up. I think he's trying to surrender." Hawke commanded the guardswoman. The warrior looked slightly miffed, but withdrew her sword. Alistair slowly stood up, swaying unsteadily on his feet.

"I said 'I yield', you daft woman! Couldn't you understand me?"

"Apparently not when you're eating the floor. Did it taste good?"

"Delicious. Like cheese and sweaty feet." Alistair removed one gauntlet and stuck out his hand. Aveline stared at it for a second before removing her own gauntlet and clasped his hand. The king went down on one knee before her.

"My lady, it was a honor to fight you." With that he stood up and headed out the door, stumbling like a drunk. Anders followed him. Aveline made a slow turn, and then punched the air with her sword; triumphant. More applause broke out from the balcony, the side with Hawke's companions overpowering everyone else. The ginger guard made a deep bow and exited the ballroom, practically skipping. Over on the stairs, the golem was picking up the remains of the corpse formally known as Justice.

"And we have our winner, Hawke!"

"And a completely deserving one at that."

"So what's next?"

"I believe we'll take a short break, and then we'll see some rogues."

"Oh good! Do you think we'll see Justice fight in that round too?"

"Frankly Mahariel, I really hope not."