[spoiler]Cell-3=Celle Briggs Student Nazo=Nate Briggs Snowy=Miss Snow HoTh=John Hothman xX_miniatimat_Xx=Mini (Dead) FlyingAdidas=Greg Adler Hammerfist1245=Xavier Mjolnirschpang=Mjol NIL=Ninette MØØSE=Tom "Moose" Martin Artemis=Arty Crowe Verminator=Verm Digsby Zbruh=Zhenya Deatheater200=Jason Darth Turtle=Daniel Turk Ems468=Ems OrangeThirteen=Oran Secondary character: John Watson=Walter "Watts" Hutsen[/spoiler] Arty waited in silence until Xavier had walked behind the curtain again. A million thoughts were swirling through her head as she tried to understand what was happening. Xavier was one of them, and she needed to run, now. She carefully slipped off her boots, tied their laces together, and slung them around her neck. Quiet as a ghost, she slowly lifted the tablecloth and slid out into the open. She stood, and backed out of the room, keeping the pistol trained at the stage. She reached the door and opened it just enough for her to squeeze out. When she was finally in the corridor, she bolted. She ran down hallways in her socks, desperately trying to find Moose's room. When she finally found it, she stumbled through the door to find Moose, Mjol, Ninette, and the twins eating breakfast together, and still studying the piles of paper from the Towhead. "Arty? What's wrong?" Said Moose as she stood panting with a panicked look on her face. "It's Xavier!" She blurted. "Xavier is one of the Gladiators, and him and John are in the ballroom right now!" Celle leapt up from the table. "What are they doing?" "I don't know," she gasped. "but they said they were setting something up" Ninette grabbed Moose's arm. "Oran and Ems have a dance class in an hour. We were just discussing it last night" "Everyone up. We need to go." Said Nate, rising from the table and pulling a revolver from his coat pocket. "Where'd you get that?" Questioned Celle. "May or may not have taken it from Reedy's things after he died. Just a precaution." They all crowded into the hallway. "Celle, why don't you go find everyone else. Do you know where the crew sleeps?" Said Moose. "Yeah I do." Celle sprinted off Nate took a deep breath. "Let's go" ______________________________________________________ Nearly and hour later they reached the ballroom. They listened at the door for a moment before entering. They heard a record player spitting out music and Ems shouting commands at the dancers. They pushed the doors open. They saw four pairs of dancers trotting across the dance floor. Nearby Daniel and Watts stood watching. Daniel was on lookout after Arty, and Watts seemed to just be keeping him company. Oran turned as they entered the room. He took Ems by the hand and pulled her over. "What's wrong?" He asked Moose with a frown. "Listen, we need to get all of you out of here right now." Said Moose in a low voice. "John was in here earlier, and we now who the last Gladiator is" Before they could react they heard the sound of the doors slamming shut behind them. They ran to the door and desperately tried to open it. They could hear the sound of chains being wrapped around the door handles. Mjol furiously tried to kick it down. The dancers had stopped the music and stood, watching confused as the group tried to break the door down. Suddenly, the lights shut off. The dancers yelped in surprise. When they flickered back on, it was much dimmer. They heard a flapping noise, and turned to see the curtain upon the stage being pulled back to reveal a man, crouched on a steel plate suspended high in the air by thick metal wires. He had a huge wooden longbow in hand, and wore a colored mask. The dancers screamed. Everyone stood silent on shock as John sat, motionless, his eyes hidden by the mask. "No games this time!" He said loudly. Quick as a wink he pulled an arrow from his quiver, strung it, and set it loose. The arrow found its mark perfectly, ripping straight through a woman's chest and splattering the checkered dance floor in blood. The dancers screamed in terror and ran towards the door, shoving against it. One by one, John killed them, like animals trapped in a pen, ready for slaughter. Nate, Moose and Mjol had tipped a table and dove for cover the minute the arrows had begun to fly, and were grabbing at the dancers, trying to pull them to safety, but rather than comply, they continued to push against the door. Nate poked his head around the table, and saw Daniel, Watts, Ems and Oran hiding behind four pillars. Nate pulled out his revolver and popped up from behind his cover to fire a few rounds, and retreat to safety. The arrows didn't stop. There were three dancers left, and Ems and Oran. Meanwhile, Arty and Ninette were dodging from table to table, trying to get closer to the stage. Arty still had Celle's pistol. John was focused on killing the helpless dancers. The screams and whimpering suddenly stopped. Six bodies lay in a heap by the door. John looked around for the last two. It only took him a moment to see Orans shiny black shoe poking out from behind a pillar. He strung and arrow and let it loose at his feet. It hit the floor, making him jump. He quickly abandoned the pillar and jumped behind a table. Ems followed him. John sent several more arrows sticking through the wood. In an instant, the heavy curtain dropped, shielding the room from John. He looked down to see Ninette with her hand on the lever. Arty aimed the gun at John and let all hell loose with her bullets. They ricocheted off the metal perch, flying everywhere. Everyone stood from behind their table, trying to find the source of the gunfire. John's voice rang out from the stage. "You should not have done that." They heard him loose an arrow, and a sickening splat as it hit its mark. They heard a thud as a body hit the floor. To be continued