An expansive battling area for one on one, or more, witches to fight to the death in front of hundreds of demons, for entertainment purposes.

::Hekate bursts into the Arena for her impending battle with Justin. She shrieks horribly, her terrible voice filling the Arena with shrill screaming. Her body floats into the air and darts in circles around the stadium before arriving in the middle and growing to some six times her usual size. The Arena is filled with her presence, and she shrieks again, a horrible cry which induces agony to the listener if she wills it. Her body becomes normal size again and she floats in the air, waiting Justin's arrival.::

::The minion roughly shoves Justin into the middle of the Arena, pulling shut the cage doors with a loud slam, locking him into the stadium with Hekate.::

"Good luck, witch. You'll need it."

::With a gleeful grin, the minion rushes off.::

"Here, Justin guy, I forgot these..."

::He tosses through the bars a long sword and a shield.::

"You'll need them as well!"

::Leaves.::

"The fight commences."

::Justin looks up at Hekate and gulps. He hurriedly rushes to pick up the sword and shield, grasping them for dear life. He then looks around at the huge crowd of demons, warlocks and other such baddies. He turns back to Hekate and smiles up at her nervously as Nilim announces that the battle has commenced.::

(Fight?)

"Can't we talk about this?"

::Hekate swells to three times her normal size and fills the Arena with her presence once more. Her face leans towards Justin, mouth agape, two rows of teeth gleaming as she shrieks loudly, sending powerful shockwaves into the witch's hearing. Her body shoots up higher, floating above him, as she waits, looming over his tiny body.::

::Justin falls to his knees, desperately trying to drown out the sound as the shockwaves hit his ears. He then watches as the soars above him and picks his shield and sword, and runs out from under the looming demoness. In a pathetic attempt at an attack, he thrusts the sword into her side.::

(Can you spell deathwish. I'm dead. I'm so dead.)

::Hekate screams in mock-pain as she speeds up into the air, zooming up above Justin's head, spattering his face with blood. She screeches again, before attacking, diving down towards him and slicing a searing hot slash down his front, her sharp claws digging right into his flesh. Her body spins around and a force, presumably a leg although at times it appears she has none, slams into his stomach and sends him careening backwards.::

::Justin flys backwards, careening out of control. He drops his shield and attempts to wipe the demon blood from his eyes. He manages to see clearly enough to swing his sword over his head and release it, weakly aimed at the area where Hekate's heart should be.::

(Good blade be true this day...)

::Hekate bats the sword away like a small fly and soars towards Justin screeching loudly. She grabs him by the air and speeds skywards, taking him with her. At a large height, she dangles him in the air, making sure the audience is completely transfixed by her power, and lets go.::

::Justin hollers as he plummets towards the ground. He tries to think of anything he can do, but before he can even form a concious thought, he hits the ground with force on his back. He hears a crack and is affraid to move, lest he further damage himself.::

(Ow...)

::Rather than dragging this out any longer, Hekate screams down from the air and lands with feet on either side of the broken Justin. She looks down at him darkly before reaching over to pick up his sword. Raising it above her head, she narrows her eyes and plunges it down into his chest.::

::Justin gasps as the sword enters his chest, slicing his flesh, his organs. He coughs, and blood spills from his mouth. He attempts to breathe, but finds it no longer an option. As he "dies", he turns his head towards the crowd, not wanting Hekate to be the last thing he sees. As he does, he notices someone that looks familiar.::

(Chloe?)

::Justin is, for the moment anyway,deader'n a doornail.::

The fight is over. Boy did Hekate cream you Justin!

::Seeing the gate for her to return to her own bay or whatever is open, Hekate slowly glides out of the Arena, not even giving a second glance to Justin.::

[Justin's body disintegrates into the ground, to reappear in the recovery room.]

::The Minion wordlessly points at the ground and the demons throw down the witches, followed by their weapons. All three leave the Arena::

::Paz looks from where he fall to the floor, his axe landing on the ground by his side. He looks at Justin, then up at the crowd. The roaring demonic faces. He swallows hard, his heart pounding in his chest::

(Oh no.)

(Oh God... what do I do?)

::Justin stands, using his staff as a brace, and looks down at Paz, offering his hand.::

"Get up."

::Only cold resolve shows in his eyes as he stands, waiting for the man he loves to take his hand, maybe for the last time.::

::Paz looks up at Justin, looking deeply in his eyes, feeling all the things he had been pretending not to feel. He looks at his outstretched hand, and longs to reach out and hold it, grasp onto it tightly.

Instead he looks away, then picks himself up, disting himself off. He looks around at the crowds and his heart misses a beat, the anxiety and terror too much. He walks over to the sword lying on the floor and picks it up::

(I guess it's time.)

"Make your move."

::Justin takes a deep breath and looks at Paz as he pulls back his hand, grasping his staff. He prepares himself in a battle stance, and comes at Paz, spinning the staff in his hands.::

(Please let him know what he's doing. Please, please let him know what he's doing... )

::With a yell, he takes a swing at Paz's mid section.::

::In a swift, easy move Paz knocks away the staff using his sword. Blocking the staff Paz stands unphased, placing one hand on his hip he looks at Justin, lack of expression on his face::

"That wasn't nice."

::Justin takes a step back, looking at Paz angrily.::

"Isn't this what you wanted? What you've been begging for? Well, I'll give it to you. Come on, take your best shot, lover."

::He simply looks at Justin, not moving at all. His jaw moves as he runs his tongue along his teeth in his closed mouth::

(What to do now? Why are we fighting? What would they do if we just, didn't?)

::He looks up at the stands, moving his eyes across, spotting Nilim and glowering::

::Noticing Paz's strange behavior, Justin realizes that he may have misjudged the whole situation.::

"Paz...?"

::Hope and concern in his eyes, tears attempting to fight their way through, Justin waits.::

(What is he going to do?)

::He looks back to Justin when he hears his name called out. He looks into his eyes and shakes his head. Dropping his sword by his feet::

"I don't want to."

::Justin meets Paz's gaze and stands, confused.::

(What if this is just a trick? What if he's just trying to lull you into a false sense of security? Then again, what if he's serious? But, if we don't fight, then nobody gets out of here, and our cause is lost... what do I do?)

::Bursting into tears, Justin throws away his staff and runs over to Paz, grabbing him and holding on tight.::

"I knew you were still in there! I knew it!"

::He steps away from Justin, a blank face.::

"Don't touch me."

::He continues to speak matter of factly::

"One of us needs to get out here and get help. I was building up a group before I stupidly came down here alone. We need to sort this out now."

(Hopefully before Chloe and Andrea have to fight too.)

::Wiping his face and feeling like a six-year-old, Justin bites his lip and looks around at the stands trying to think straight.::

"You're right. But which one of us has a better chance of getting the cavalry? I mean, I do know a couple of witches who owe me a favor or two... some of them relatively powerful. But I'm sure you have your own connections. What do you think we should do?"

::Paz looks up, expecting to see the sky, then realising and remembering where he is::

(I need to get out.)

::He walks over to the other side of the arena and shouts up at the stands, he shouts up at Nilim::

"Hows about we make this more interesting and let us use our powers?"

(Is it worth the risk?)

::Paz hears Nilim shout his reply loud over the stands::

"Ok then."

(Well, that worked. What now?)

"And what if we refuse to fight?"

::He shouts back at Nilim over the stands once more::

::Keeping clam he looks at Nilim as he sends the electricity through Justin's body::

"Yeah, we've seen that trick before. Courtesy of you, if you remember, you dumbass."

::Writhing in pain, Justin falls to the ground, trying not to scream.::

::He sighs at Nilim's reply, knowing that this si his only chance to get out. He walks over to Justin and pulls him up from the floor in a rather cold manner::

"That didn't work. One of us has to get out. We'll have to fight, or one of us will have to give in."

::He kicks the ground, pondering::

"Personally i've never been that big a fan of losing."

::As Paz pulls him to his feet, Justin grabs the fallen sword from the ground. Looking into Paz's eyes, he kisses him... and runs the sword deep into his gut. He continues to look into his eyes as a tear runs down his cheek.::

"Neither have I. I'll come back for you, I promise."

::With that, he pulls the sword upward in a violent motion, nearly cleaving Paz in half before dropping the weapon at his feet.::

"I love you."

::Paz moves away from Justin before their lips can even meet, backing away, not feeling it appropriate to kiss. Watching as Justin gestures with the sword in the air as if he's 'cleaving' him. A look on his face saying 'what the hell are you doing?'.::

"You didn't hesitate much to hurt me."

::He shakes his head as he picks up the now dropped sword and moves further away from Justin.::

::After standing there for a while with much trepidation Paz moves, picking up the staff that Justin selected. He holds it in his hand, his sword gripped firmly in the other.::

"You tried to kill me. You could have at least, I don't know. Told me? Or at least not attempted to kill me in such a brutal manner, that bitch would have taken so long to heal, le sigh."

::He tucks the sword into his belt, the hilt preventing it from slipping out, he then twirls the staff and swings it wildly towards the back of Justin's knees, hoping to trigger a collapsing reflex::

::Justin falls to the ground as the staff sweeps his feet out from under him and looks up at him from the ground.::

"We all have to do what we have to do. Just finish it already... if you think you have the spine."

::Paz takes the staff and places it near Justin's ear, trailing it down to stop on his chest, near his heart.::

"When did you get so...unlike yourself?"

::His face reads expressionless as he looks into Justin's eyes.::

"I never once wanted to hurt you, never. I wanted everything to work out, everything to be great, but it didn't turn out to be like that. We got stuck in a situation where one of us would miss out, lose. Please. Don't hate me."

::He smiles as he raises the staff, and thrusts himself upon it, blood errupting from his lips he splutters his last words.::

"Hurry back."

::Paz is dead.::