Katniss sat quietly at their table and watched her teammates participate in some sort of role-playing board game that Adam had constructed. She was thankful that the space of a few chairs separated her from the ruckus, because pieces were being thrown. Katniss ducked to the left to dodge a papier-mâché miniature, and took another bite of her orange. Holly approached with a plate of something dark brown and pleasantly aromatic, taking a seat next to the girl.

"Is that one of those things Mikasa kept eating?"

"She's still eating them. I followed her the last time she decided to go get one. They're sort of hidden on the table. You've got to be clever to find it."

"It's a wonder how much that girl can eat and maintain her figure."

"Actually, she's sort-of cheating," explained the elf. "She's got an overclocked metabolism. Her body is operating on all of the latent strength it has all the time, so she has to eat like that to keep it fed and repaired. With what I saw of her house, I'm surprised her family could keep her full."

"Especially if they fed her nothing but cakes."

The two laughed softly at the idea, and Holly passed Katniss her plate so the girl could try some Sachertorte. Katniss took a forkful and grinned as she chewed it.

"That is nice. Reminds me of home."

"Oh- I've been meaning to ask you," said Holly suddenly, "How have you been doing lately? With… this?"

"Oh… better, I suppose. I've come to the realization that it's at least a little better than the Games. Sure, half the people are crazy. But the other half are all right, if you get to know them. And plus, there's that whole coming-back-from-the-dead thing."

"You still haven't needed that, have you?"

"You're right. And neither have you."

"I guess that means we're a pretty functional team."

"We could always improve, though."

"No faaaiiiiiiir," whined Ruby, tossing another miniature away. "Why can't I have my scythe?"

"Because the Rogue uses knives," Ryuko groaned. "You wanted to be the Rogue."

"Yeah, but I didn't know that he would be so lame."

"Do you realize how impractical your weapon would be for a Rogue? You couldn't do anything stealthy!"

"That's why it folds up!"

Twilight slammed a hoof onto the table. "Will you two KNOCK IT OFF? I'm trying to barter with this elf."

"You'll need seventy florins for that phoenix feather," read Adam from his reference sheet in the squealing voice of the elf shopkeeper.

"I'll give you fifty and this enchanted whetstone," continued the unicorn.

"Listen, my Fighter doesn't have my Scissor Blade and you don't see me complaining."

"But if I had Crescent Rose I could totally fight at range and up close."

"The point is so you can't. It's called balance."

"I think I don't like balance!"

Adam shook his head. "I would take fifty and three whetstones. Or I would trade evenly for a dragon scale."

"Well, I don't have a dragon scale, but I have two wyvern talons," offered Twilight.

Alucard raised his hand. "I shoot the shopkeeper."

"WHAT?!" Twilight howled. "I WAS ABOUT TO SEAL THE DEAL!"

"Rolling," grunted Mikasa between bites of wiener schnitzel, before tossing the paper d20 onto the board.

"Five," read Adam. "Critical miss. You take twenty-five damage, which kills our ranger."

"That went better than expected," mused the vampire.

"You little troll," hissed Twilight. "Now you're dead and the shopkeeper is hostile!"

"How do we shave our beards?" asked Kamina. "I don't want my dwarf to have a beard."

"Wait, we're dwarves?" Simon exclaimed. "Bro, I thought we were human miners!"

"No, the Miner class is all dwarves," grumbled Adam.

Ryuko sighed and pushed her chair back from the table.

"Does anybody even want to play anymore?"

"No," answered Mikasa.

"Nope," replied Ruby.

"I don't think so," said Kamina.

"Well, I do!" shouted Twilight.

"Regrettably, I believe there is not enough interest to continue our team-building exercise. Perhaps we should find something else to do," Adam muttered.

"Let's go and play in the simulators!" suggested Ruby excitedly.

"I do not think those are for playing with," he replied.

"Sure they are! They're just big videogames!"

Ryuko nodded. "Ah, what the hell. I'll go check it out with you."

Twilight waved to catch Holly and Katniss' attention. "We're going over by the simulators. Care to join us?"

"Of course!" chirped Holly, rising from her seat. Katniss joined her, and the whole team made their way toward the banks of large, oblong pods that rocked and rotated as they passed. A display screen extended from the side of each one, allowing those nearby to watch the proceedings of the simulation. As they passed, they found a pair of pods that seemed to be rocking a little more violently than the rest.

"What's going on with these?" asked Katniss.

"Well, if these displays are anything to go by, it looks like there's a multi-player training option," the elf noted. She pointed at the screen on the nearest of the two pods, which cycled through several views on a familiar red-white-and blue Mobile Suit, crouching in the burned-out skeleton of a ruined high-rise.

"Have I lost ya?" called Amuro, tugging at his controls. The simulated RX-78-2 clipped its Beam Rifle onto its rear skirt armor and removed one of the short, narrow cylinders from its backpack. The pilot tapped a button on his helmet and flipped up his visor to wipe away a few beads of sweat. He quickly snapped it back down into place and focused on his instruments, keeping a keen eye on his radar.

Holly tilted her head sideways in thought. So who's he talking to?

The answer revealed itself in the form of a great purple hand pressing its way through the ancient building, crumbling the girders in its path as it flew open-palmed toward the Gundam. The Mobile Suit fired its thrusters and performed a short hop upwards, skipping over the massive manipulator and landing cleverly on the arm it was connected to.

The even-more gigantic, sinister-looking machine to which the arm belonged began to retract its hand back through the building. Shinji's typically-unstable voice croaked out, "Got you, Amuro!"

"No, you don't!" grunted the Mobile Suit's pilot, firing his thrusters again the second the arm emerged from the building. The Gundam leapt from the Evangelion's arm, activated its beam saber, and forced the crackling blade of pinkish-purple energy through the tall tower mounted on the Eva's right shoulder before landing behind its target. Shinji yelped in surprise as the simulated Evangelion simply gave him an error message, rather than route the damage report straight into his own nervous system.

"I feel blind in this thing… not like the real EVA," whimpered Shinji as he assessed his losses. By knocking out the shoulder fin, Amuro had cleverly removed one of his weapons- the Progressive Knife stored there. He still had the second knife on his left shoulder, and the oversized pistol he carried off-handedly. He could do this. He was certain.

"Come on, Shinji. Don't just stand there," warned Amuro. "Remember to treat this like a real fight."

"Looks like Amuro's trying to give the kid a few pointers," commented Holly.

"Shinji certainly needs it," Katniss concurred. "Last time those two fought, he couldn't even put a scratch on Amuro."

The Gundam stomped around to face his opponent again, replacing its beam saber and drawing its beam rifle again. This time, the Mobile suit also removed the hexagonal tower shield from its back, using its left arm to bring the defensive weapon across its chest.

Okay, think, Shinji. You know that gun of yours is large enough to punch a hole in my Gundam in one shot. But will you be able to hit me?

The Evangelion carefully placed the pistol in its right hand and aimed it toward the Mobile Suit. A purple finger squeezed the trigger down, and the weapon hurled a round at the Gundam. Amuro shook his head, eased his controls forward, and caused the Gundam to simply step out of the way of the shot, which tore chunks out of the asphalt behind him.

"W-what?" cried Shinji. "H-how did you-"

"As a Newtype, my spatial awareness and reaction times are much higher than most humans. I knew where your bullet would be, and I made sure I wasn't there. Here's your first lesson: study your enemy. If you know what they're capable of, you can find the things you can do that they can't."

Shinji nodded. "I think I understand."

"Good. Then let's continue!"

Amuro pushed his controls forward, raising the beam rifle. A bright pink pulse blasted out from the barrel, ripping toward the Evangelion. Those watching were stunned to see it halt in midair, fizzling away against an ethereal wall of faint orange octagons radiating out from a central point.

"What happened?" asked Adam. "Why did the beam stop?"

"There's some sort of defensive barrier," explained Katniss.

"So all Amuro has to do is take out the shield generator, and this kid's as good as beaten," Holly declared.

Twilight shook her head. "Perhaps if this was an ordinary force field. But this is an AT Field."

"This is my AT Field!" shouted Shinji behind his wall of concentric octagons.

Holly turned from her friend, to the screen, and back again, before sighing wearily.

"Do you want to explain what this is for us laymen?"

"Oh, I was hoping you would ask!" giggled the unicorn. "An AT Field differs from other energy barriers in that it isn't some form of mechanical system- it's a natural ability possessed by certain organisms."

"Organisms?" asked Holly. "So the purple one's alive?"

"Yes. A clone of a giant alien in a suit of mechanical armor."

"You know, I'm starting to understand why that Shinji kid is so weird."

Amuro made his simulated Gundam take a step back.

If it's anything like an I-field I'll have to get through it at close range. But his machine is strongest at close range. That's a predicament. Luckily, I still have a trick or two up my sleeve.

"All right, Shinji. That's a neat ability. But I don't think it can block my next attack."

"No, I'm pretty sure this can hold back just about GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Shinji grabbed his head in agony. The simulation up until this point had done a fine job of separating him from reality, but he was now experiencing a horrible pressure at the base of his skull that was all too real. The colors of the screens in front of him intensified and his teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.

"Sometimes, your opponents won't play fair. They'll have abilities that you simply won't be able to counter," lectured Amuro. "In these situations, you need to learn how to retreat and reassess your situation, and see if your allies can help."

"AAAAAAAGH!" Shinji gurgled in reply. The Evangelion lost its footing and fell backward along the street, severing the pavement like a great purple knife.

"You'll have to up your game if you want to keep up with a Newtype like me," smirked the boy in the Gundam.

"Shinji can't ever catch a break, can he?" asked Katniss. "That's the second time I've seen him lose to Amuro."

"I guess that just says something about his skill as a pilot," sneered Kamina. "If he can't get fired up enough to fight his opponents with MANLY DETERMINATION, I can't see why he'd ever win."

Simon shrugged. "I don't know if it's always that simple, bro. But I agree that he's certainly not getting fired up. I mean, if he really was, he'd- wait a second, who is she?"

Simon directed a finger in the direction of his inquiry, and Holly quickly averted her eyes.

"D'Arvit, not her again," moaned the elf.

The woman was suspended from a cloud of diligently-flapping bats, which she reclined against languidly. She twirled a finger through a green lock, curled it into a tight ball, and let it flop down again as her bats dissipated into nothing and she came to a rest with her feet on the floor.

"Would ye look at that!" she giggled. "Ah don't suppose ye were here t'watch that wee lel boy-toy show off his robot, too?"

"Who?" asked Holly, avoiding eye contact. "Amuro? I didn't know he was your type." She made sure to fill her words with enough callousness that maybe the succubus wouldn't notice how much she was blushing.

"Miss Short, ye fiery wee Eireann, everyone is my type. I thocht ye knew tha', but I'm not 'ere for Amuro."

"Shinji, then? Ew."

"Neither of 'em," smiled Morrigan. "Haruto's a lel different."

"Holly, do you want to tell us who she is?" asked Katniss.

"Trouble," muttered Alucard, who glanced back up at Morrigan and courteously tipped his hat. "How's Maximoff?"

"Ye keep askin', but I wonnae know. He's not 'ere."

"So this Haruto guy is a pilot, too?" asked Simon.

"Aye. 'Is machine's called 'Valvrave'. Cannae think why ye'd name it somesuch like that. Makes as much sense as haggis without neeps an' tatties."

"Is she talking about her breasts?" asked Kamina. "'Cause that's what it sounds like. I'm not complaining."

"Neither am I," said Simon.

"Neither am I," echoed Ryuko, before realizing what she said. "Wait! I mean-"

"Relax," oozed Morrigan. "It's only natr'l to feel a wee bit foggy around me. Most folks realize they like it."

"Oh! Look at that!" interrupted Holly suddenly. "Something's going on in the screen!"

Amuro frowned at the thing that was descending toward him.

Another Mobile Suit? I didn't invite them, but I suppose I could try and entertain them.

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"Hello, there," he said, opening a few hailing frequencies. "I don't believe we've met."

It was a mobile weapon of unorthodox design, its features not immediately connecting with the distinct functions Amuro had grown accustomed to looking for. Then again, very few of the mobile weapons he had fought so far had seemed familiar, so he was not particularly surprised. It was a gracile machine; with long slender legs connecting to a simple, blocky waist that descended from an angular, vaguely cylinder-shaped chest covered in fins and vents so numerous that Amuro could only guess at their purpose- intakes? Heat sinks? Its arms were proportionally shorter than the legs, but similarly thin; almost skeletal in their design. The burgundy shoulder armor hung down in segments like some elaborate medieval garb. Amuro didn't like the way it looked. There was something disconcerting about its shriveled-up faceplate and the glowing green bits that extended out from its head like ears. It reminded him of something that he was certain he did not like.

"No, no we have not," replied a fairly-normal sounding boy over the Gundam's radio. "Name's Haruto. And you must be the legendary Amuro Ray."

"Yeah, that's me. I assume you're here to fight?"

"It's always useful to scope out the- ugh- competition," winced the new boy in reply.

"Are you all right?" asked Amuro.

Haruto grunted painfully again before answering. "Oh, yeah. My pelvis is just a little bruised, that's all."

Amuro narrowed his eyes. "And how exactly did that happen?"

"Not telling," smirked Haruto. "But it was totally worth it."

"…Okay, then," Amuro replied, slowly raising his beam rifle. "Well, why don't we see what your machine-"

"Valvrave," corrected Haruto, the machine suddenly a few meters behind the Gundam. It slowly sheathed the thin, straight sword that it had somehow drawn. "Its name is Valvrave."

Amuro blinked, thinking aloud. "What does that even mea-"

The weight of the simulated Gundam shifted, and the beam rifle fell out of his field of vision. Warnings began to flash across his manipulator systems. Amuro had piloted long enough to know what this meant- he had just lost both of his machine's arms.

Incredible. He was able to move fast enough that even I wasn't able to sense his presence… unless he's found some way of hiding his thoughtwaves from Newtypes.

"Okay, kid, you're pretty good. But speed isn't everything. Did you see what I did to Shinji over there?"

Shinji moaned softly, to illustrate the point.

The Valvrave turned in place to face the arm-less Gundam.

"No, I didn't," replied Haruto. "But it must've been pretty impressive."

"It still is," growled Amuro, focusing his thoughtwaves into a psychic assault on the other boy's brain. Haruto shrieked over the radio, and the Valvrave stumbled backwards.

Got him.

"Look at that, Morrigan," smiled Holly. "Looks like Haruto's a one-trick pony."

"Ponies present," noted Twilight.

"Oi, is mah 'Olly a wee bit jealous?" she crooned, pinching Holly's cheeks. "Don't worry. I still love ye, jest the way ye are."

Oh gods she's touching me. I shouldn't like this. D'Arvit. Holly yanked herself away from the succubus' grip.

"The feeling isn't mutual," she gasped, finding herself a little short of breath.

"Ye'll warm up to me soon enough," grinned Morrigan. "Anyhoo, I assure ye that Haruto's got plenty of tricks up his wee sleeve."

"And now she's talking about wee sleeves," murmured Ryuko.

On the screen, the Valvrave took another step backward before planting its feet and drawing its sword again. Instead of cries of pain, laughter began to echo back over the communications channels.

"Nice try," hissed Haruto. "But it'll take more than that to put me down."

"How?" cried Amuro. "A mental attack like that should have put you out of commission for at least ten minutes! No human could recover that quickly!"

Haruto's grin widened. "That's because I'm not human. Haven't been for a long time. I'm a Magius, or in simpler terms for all you laymen, I'm an immortal vampire. I heal real quick."

"So I can't beat your Mobile Suit, and I can't overpower you…" Amuro realized he was out of options.

"That's what you'd call checkmate," boasted Haruto. The Valvrave stepped forward and plunged the sword through the Gundam's chest, resulting in Amuro's simulator pod going dark. Within the simulation, Haruto commanded the Valvrave to place a foot against the Mobile Suit as a brace, and ripped the sword from its unwilling scabbard.

"Night Terrors forever!" he howled, before exiting the program.

"Night Terrors? That sounds familiar," whispered Katniss.

Holly nodded. "Yeah. Wasn't that the team that won that last big city round?"

"Aye! That was us!"

Twilight Sparkle looked concerned. "…Us?"

"Ye didn't think the whole team would be jest me an' Haruto, did ye? Oi, Poppy!"

A small, greyish figure materialized next to Morrigan. Holly felt her heart skip a beat when she recognized it.

"It's… that thing," she murmured. She exchanged glances with Twilight and Alucard, who nodded in confirmation.

"What is it this time, Morrigan?" it asked in a voice that sounded exactly like Holly's, if only a little wearier, before it glanced up at the other team.

"I was jest talking to your twin Holly when I thocht ye could show 'em the rest of the team."

"Oh," it said, sounding a little surprised as it noticed the elf whose form it wore. "It's you. And your little friends. That's cute."

"So you're going by my childhood nickname now?" asked Holly.

"It makes things easier when the mortals have something to call you. It gives them something to scream, too," it said with a nasty grin. It raised its left hand and snapped its fingers together, and a host of tough-looking characters appeared alongside Poppy and Morrigan.

"Team Night Terrors is composed of some of the most powerful, well-trained warriors in their fields," explained Poppy. "And Morrigan."

"That's me!" the succubus laughed.

"Morrigan, as I'm certain you're aware, is a succubus. But she is far more than just that. She is one of the most powerful Makai to have ever lived, the first-ever double-S-plus rank noble."

"So that's what they call that size," whispered Ryuko, evidently entranced.

Poppy indicated one of the warriors that had appeared on her command, which was a gritty, unkempt looking man in a spec-ops sneak suit.

"Snake is perhaps the world's finest infiltrator. He is exceedingly capable both with firearms and in hand-to-hand combat."

"Yep," he grunted, drawing from his worn-looking cigarette. Haruto limped out of his simulator pod and joined the group, adjusting his loosely-hanging tie and turquoise jacket.

"You've already seen a demonstration of Haruto's power, but rest assured that he and the Valvrave have many more abilities that makes them one of the most versatile mecha units ever fielded."

The next man in the lineup was clad in light leather armor, baggy pants, and bulky boots. His face seemed unusually youthful on his muscular body. His eyes glowed blue faintly, even in their well-lit environment.

"The most potent sell-sword in Midgar, Cloud Strife," Poppy explained, "gifted in combat both physical and magical."

"Well, you know," he mumbled, blushing. "I try."

"Our high-speed scout, Sonic the Hedgehog," continued Poppy, pointing at the instantly-familiar blue creature, "Widely acknowledged as the Fastest Thing Alive."

Sonic leapt into the air, pointing at Ryuko excitedly.

"Hold on a second, Boss! I ran into these guys before! That one there is Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Ryuko's face sunk into confusion and dismay. "You're still on about that?"

Poppy gritted her teeth and continued. "That leaves us with…"

She paused, looking around for something that wasn't there.

"Where's Bayonetta?" asked Poppy of the succubus.

"I don't know," Morrigan replied. "Pro'lly off combing her hair all stubborn-like. Tha's typical of her."

"Man, this is getting weirder and weirder," whispered Kamina.

"You said it, bro," Simon replied.

"That's the only way things go around here," said Mikasa flatly.

"She can do whatever suits her, I suppose," muttered Poppy. "Anyway, Holly Short, this is most of my team. You should expect to start losing to us regularly."

Holly smirked. "Yeah, right. We've got more team members than you. Advantage, us."

"Quality over quantity."

Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, her face unusually stern.

"What do you want?" she asked, making sure to lower her horn toward Poppy as she spoke.

"Haven't I been over this already?" sighed Poppy. "I have my own plan. All you need to know is that it involves me winning. This is the team I intend to use to further that plan. It's really quite simple- but I can see why a mortal like you would have trouble keeping that in your head. So I'll make sure to give you a little reminder in the next round."

Twilight gritted her teeth and dug at the floor with her hooves. "You sound awful certain that the next round will be a big team battle."

"Hello, my fine combatants!" giggled the Master of Games from his throne. "It's just about time for me to announce the next round, so listen close! I think you'll all appreciate what I've got lined up. It'll be a large-scale team battle!"

Poppy tilted its nose up, turned around, and walked away, its team following closely behind.

"Those guys are going to get really annoying, aren't they?" asked Holly.

"I'm afraid so," replied Twilight.

The Master of Games continued his speech. "The arena will feature seven small towns. Each town will have a bank, and each bank will have a vault. Inside that vault will be a single gold coin. Your goal is to be the team that collects the most gold coins possible. And I'd pack a canteen, because things are going to be hot out there!"

Katniss frowned. "Was that supposed to be some sort of clue?"

Twilight nodded. "I assume so. A desert would be my first guess."

"A desert?" Adam's eyes lit up. "Long ago I read a book about the fauna of the desert biome. The creatures sounded fascinating."

"Don't get your hopes up on that," said Holly. "I haven't seen a single animal in a round before."

"What about the titans?" asked Mikasa. "Would they count?"

"That's an interesting question," Twilight cooed. "Perhaps they do. It would indicate a continued increase in the Master of Games' strength for conjuring the arenas. After all, two rounds ago there were Titans, and the last big round had foot soldiers for the VIWs. And there was one after that with a bunch of Xenomorphs."

Ryuko scratched her head. "So, this is all a bad thing, right?"

Twilight laughed in a distressingly insincere way.

"Oh, my, yes."

----------------------------------------

"Let's see. One, two, four, seven…"

Honey Kisaragi had never been very good at Sudoku. Or rather, she had always been a little too good at Sudoku, and had quickly decided that she had to make herself look like she was bad at it. She was quite used to hustling. She didn't train on the dummies, because everyone would see that she could break one in half with a well-aimed kick. She didn't lift weights because her expression would betray the little effort it took to move any of them. It was, in actuality, her favorite game to play. To hide one's self away, to not even give an opponent a glimpse of your potential- until the last possible second, when you demonstrate your full power. The rush of watching their faces fill with fear and shock as they learned that the foe they were prepared to fight was not there, suddenly replaced by something much more deadly.

"Nine? No, no that doesn't work there," she whispered to herself, smiling with mock embarrassment.

They'll just look and see your average Catholic Japanese schoolgirl. But in reality, I am-

"Honey Kisaragi, right?" said a small voice in front of her. She looked up from her little game with genuine surprise.

"Ah- ahm, yes! That's me! Honey Kisaragi."

It was a young boy, maybe ten years old, with slicked back hair and big, bright eyes. He was sitting across from her at the table, and he held in his hands a small piece of paper.

"Hi there!" he said with an awkward smile. "I'm Tobio Tenma." He held out a fat little hand and Honey shook it with a deceptively gentle grasp. His fingers felt odd under hers… cold.

"Nice to meet you, Tobio," she smiled back politely. "And what brings a cute little guy like you over here to me?"

Tobio blushed visibly and pushed his piece of paper across the table. "I-I'm on a team, and our leader thinks you should join us."

Honey took the paper and kept her innocent grin up. "And what does he think a silly girl like me could do for him?"

"He wants you on the team because you're like me," said the boy softly, pulling up his shirt to reveal a retracting panel on his chest. Underneath, a nest of wires coiled around a softly-pulsating reactor. Honey froze.

"H-how did you-"

"We're going to shoot up a flare in the next round with that symbol on it," whispered Tobio as he pulled his shirt back down. "So when you see it, you should head straight there. You don't have to be alone anymore."

And with that, he scampered off. Honey was left staring into empty space.

What? He knew? And somebody else did, too? How many plans did that ruin? And 'I don't have to be alone anymore?' Seriously? That's already two points against this team. If they try anything else that stupid, they can kiss me goodbye.

She looked down at the piece of paper. Neatly drawn in the middle was the symbol. Two long lines joined at a right angle, while two more lines, one perpendicular to each, split off downward. Together, the lines formed a rhombus with short little line-wings.

Okay. Whatever. A team of androids, huh? Maybe this won't be so bad.