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Written
20th, 22nd - 30th November 2015

The Enterprise moved forward first toward a slightly darker patch. Its blue shell shuddered as its saucer section faded away, from tip to stern. The entire ship was nowhere to be seen in a matter of seconds.

Voyager followed its exact path. The mixture of blues reflecting on its hull brightened while its shields battled to protect them. Rays of red tried to break through, the two colours clashed, casting smaller spots of purple.

Everyone's eyes were on the viewscreen. The path ahead of them, a twisted corridor of blood red and sky blue. It didn't even look real.

"We shouldn't be here," Daniel said, echoing most of the Bridge's thoughts at what they were witnessing.

Kathryn rose from the chair, her face tightened. It took some persuading to avert her eyes from the screen, and redirect them to Tactical. "Do it."

The rest of the Bridge breathed in nervously. The order only took a mere panel press to fulfill, it took a few seconds for the hesitant shaking hand to comply.

Tom tightly shut his eyes for only a moment. Until he heard the tell tale beeps he could pretend they were somewhere else, that nothing was happening.

"That's it," Craig tried to say but the lump in his throat tried to stop him.

Harry didn't notice he was pacing from one side of the Bridge to the other. He stopped when he realised people were staring at him. One he turned his attention to. "Do you sense anything yet?"

A very nervous Wesley shook his head. "It's quiet. It's never quiet."

"Didn't you say that was a good thing?" Craig reminded him bluntly.

Wesley trembled. "Even in an unused space, I can still sense a Game or two being prepared. This... it's empty."

"Relax," Tom said, waving his hand the one time. "We entered through a little hole in their huge Game Sphere. Of course there's no cubes in waiting."

"They'll know we're here!" Wesley barked out of fear. "They always know. If they can quickly find a few intruders, they'll find two starships. Especially ones they not only know about, but have two Chosens aboard, and one link they can exploit. So why is there nothing here?"

Harry stared at the screen. He couldn't do it for long, the bright colours quickly began to make his eyes water. "Probably the same reason why they haven't noticed or fixed the glitch in their..."

"Incoming!" Craig shouted over him. Everyone's attention darted toward him. "Three ships on our stern. They're targeting weapons."

Tom ran over to his side so he could see for himself. He instantly recognised the energy signatures coming from the three dots on the sensors. "Evasive maneuvers, pattern..."

"There's no room for a starship to do maneuvers in here," Wesley stammered.

Tom ignored him, "Kim two one. Hold on everyone."

Harry had time to dive into his chair as the starship rolled onto its starboard side. The tiny three ships following them fired a white shot each. They flew by, one grazed the shields before all three detonated far in front of them. The red of the corridor ahead shuddered from the blast, dust of the same shade showered into their path.

"What's tha..." Harry barely had time to ask.

Wesley ran down to the helm, his eyes wide in a panic. "Level us off quick!" No one argued as the sight of the powdered red grew closer. The ship quickly tried to level off. The tip of the port nacelle brushed through the dust. The shields surrounding it sprang up to its defence, it still didn't stop the inside of the ship shuddering so much everyone had to cling on. Wesley had nothing to hold onto, he slammed into the ground.

"Shields in the port stern section down by twenty percent," Craig reported. Tom turned his head to give him an order. "Re-routing to compensate."

"What the hell was that?" Harry asked through his panicked panting. He noticed Wesley struggling to get up, so he rushed over to help him, putting off Faye thinking about it. "Are you all right?"

Wesley couldn't stop shaking but he was relieved that someone came to his aid. "We must be careful. Hitting anything from the corridor at this speed, it would be like running straight into a cube." His words instantly made the helm nervous.

Tom sensed it even with a back on him. "I'll take over then." He hurried forward to take their place. "Computer, activate manual..."

"No," most of the Bridge groaned.

"Fine," Tom huffed.

Craig wasn't one of the people objecting, he watched the sensors carefully. The three unknown ships changed formation to a triangle around one of the Starfleet vessels. He was about to report it when four more appeared behind them. "They've brought re-enforcements. Original three have moved to surround... um, they're scanning..."

"Which ship are they doing this to?" Tom asked.

"Voyager," Craig replied.

"They're not scanning," Tom interrupted ominously.

Lena stumbled forward as the ship rocked at her feet. The Red Alert lights and siren were cut off, quickly replaced by the Intruder Alert signal. Instantly she froze, her body began to shake. Steeling her nerves she continued on toward a wall panel. A few taps brought up a schematic of Voyager. In the lower decks a small light flashed. "Thirteen," she whispered. As she did another appeared in the saucer. Seeing that made her run as fast as she could.

"Where?" Kathryn demanded while hovering behind Opps.

B'Elanna's fingers flew across the console, bringing up the exact image Lena had been looking at. "Deck Thirteen section two. Deck Five section one. They're spreading much more quickly than the previous attacks."

Kathryn firmly ground her teeth together. "If they were going to do this anyway, why fire...?"

"They did the same to the Leda. There was no reason then either," Chakotay replied.

"Those four ships are gunning for the Enterprise, charging the same weapons. The first three are focusing those beams on Voyager," Tactical reported.

Chakotay bit his lip before replying to that, "the Leda was just in the way. That's reason enough I suppose."

Kathryn's eyes rolled up to glare at the viewscreen showing some of the attacking ships. They were no bigger than shuttlecrafts and far less menacing looking. It felt far more insulting to her. "We need to hold them off. Target..."

"More are coming," Tactical cut in, panicked. "I'm detecting a dozen."

"More to pick at," Kathryn said flippantly while turning on her heel. She stood back in the centre of the Bridge. "Phaser beam, full yield. Pick 'em off one by one."

Chakotay walked over to Opps, "keep an eye on Thirteen and Five." B'Elanna nodded. "Do you know if anyone's checked in yet?"

A piercing blue greeted James on arrival, he had to squint his eyes a little to bear it. It filled the whole corridor ahead, which had began to smell like scorched metal. Once his eyes adjusted he noticed the right edge of this light burning its way through the wall.

His right hand reached for a weapon hanging at his back from a sheath, the other tapped his commbadge twice before going for another weapon attached to his leg. All he could do now was wait.

He didn't have to wait very long. Shadows began to emerge from the centre.

"We got confirmation on Deck Thirteen," Faye said. The ship trembled right after her last word, her hands gripped the station. "Two out of the new twelve are on the portal squad. The other ten..."

"Yeah you don't have to tell me," Harry said as he wiped the sweat from his bow. "Return fire."

Craig groaned out of frustration. "They fire and run, they even dart around while directing that portal beam. It's difficult to get a lock. That last hit reduced the stern shields by forty percent. Re-routing won't always be an option."

"Well I'm sorry, but it's not exactly spacious in here. We don't have a lot of dodging options," Tom grunted. He slammed his hand on the console, "that's it, don't care what you think. Computer, manual steering. Transfer all helm controls to it." As soon as the manual control systems emerged he grabbed them tightly, one hand pulled back. The action slowed the ship down so abruptly the attacking ships flew off without them and disappeared out of sight.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kathryn's voice shouted at him.

He still winced despite her not being there with him. His hand returned the control to its previous position. "Just binding time, I know what I'm doing."

Kathryn rolled her eyes. She looked at the nervous wreck at her helm, sweating buckets after that little stunt. A small pat on the shoulder re-assured them. Daniel was her next target, standing in a daze at the back of the Bridge. "Voyager may be fine with two or maybe three portals, but the Enterprise can't sustain this constant barrage..."

Daniel didn't respond immediately, irritating her further.

"One hit disabled the Leda. It's amazing we've lasted this long," Chakotay commented.

Kathryn slammed her hand down next to the watcher to get his attention. When it didn't even make him blink her anger fizzled away, a curious look appeared on her face. "Have you found one?"

"I'd take a left. Keep going and you'll end up back in the Jarsha galaxy," he murmured, barely moving his lips.

"A left? I haven't seen anything other than straight ahead," Chakotay said.

Daniel blinked five times rapidly, he shook his head afterward. "We entered via a Game Sphere power link. We're almost in the main hub, so to speak."

Kathryn looked over her shoulder to check if she needed to tell the helm, they briefly glanced back to show she didn't. "Keep looking, okay."

"It's impossible. I'd take what you can get," Daniel said.

"There will be one. I'm sure," Kathryn said confidently. Still her eyes showed her concern. "We just need to hold them off until we do. Keep firing, any change on Decks Five and Thirteen I want to know immediately."

An arm swung at her head. Lena ducked while swinging a sword out in front of her. It sliced straight through one of her attackers. Three more swarmed around, none of them were willing to wait their turn. She quickly straightened back up with only seconds to figure out what to do. One of the creatures lunged forward to tackle her, he had to be first so she aimed a kick to keep him back. Another tried to claw at her at the same time, her sword holding hand swerved up to deflect it. The claws and metal clashed together. Her kick managed to knock the first attacker back a little. She had no time to stop the one in the middle throwing a punch at her face.

The blow knocked her back, she quickly tried to regain her balance. The claws creature took full advantage and swiped its claws upward. Her weapon flew out of her grip, straining the muscles in her hand as it escaped. She heard it clatter far behind her. The two remaining monsters were far too close for her liking without it. There was no way she could turn her back on them to retrieve it. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to get some space.

While one reached to grab her Lena instinctively threw herself backwards. The room span once, her palms pressed against the ground, pushing her back onto her feet. Her right reached around for the weapon at her back before she landed. All in a space of a few seconds she had gained some ground, while re-arming herself in the process. The new weapon pointed at the closest of her two enemies. She pulled the mechanism back, then let go, freeing the sharp object loaded into it. The pointed edge struck into its ribbed forehead. It let out a curdled growl as it fell to the floor.

The other was still gunning for her. Its claws bared, ready to strike again. She crouched down and dropped to roll away before it could reach her. Her sword lay in arms reach, her spare left quickly grabbed the handle. The creature jumped towards her new position, she pushed the sword forward at the last second. She felt it vibrate as it ran itself through, stopping just before reaching the handle.

There was little time to shake or push it off, not even anytime to toss it aside. The third beast, the one she originally kicked away threw itself at her again, hoping this time since she was distracted it would work. It did, they both slammed hard into the ground.

The light was blinding him, even from the side. James could feel heat coming from it, reminding him of the portal he voluntarily ran into ten years before. He knew he must be close to it, or more accurately it was closer to him. The fumes from the burning walls left him feeling light headed, his eyes began to water. Once more he ducked his head to behind his arm, all while backing away from incoming blows, to take in another deep breathe and hold it.

While his back was on it, another figure leapt out of the bright portal, straight for him. He didn't see it, but he heard it coming. With foes all around him, stepping out of its way wasn't an option. Ducking would leave him vulnerable, easy prey for the others. He waited until the very last second to grab the creature before it could hit him, as it was still airborne it was much easier to fling it straight over his head and shoulders. It was intended to be slammed into the floor in front of him, instead it crashed into one of his front attackers. They both fell into an irritable heap.

Another was still rushing forward, not put off by the last two attacks. Two more on his opposite side. James noticed the new arrival on the ground had brought a nice looking axe with him. He barely had time to snatch it before the one now behind him grabbed him, one arm around his neck, the other holding back his right arm and pulled him backwards. Its small claws scratched at his throat. The pair ahead laughed as they converged on him. James swung his feet up while the demon still had a strong grip on him, slamming the two attackers in the chest.

The one still holding him dug in his claws deep before he could recover. He involuntarily exhaled the last breath he tried to keep going for a while, immediately breathing in the toxic fumes from the burning metal. As he brought his feet back to the safety of the ground, James knew he had to get out of there, at least for a moment. The two on the ground were struggling but they were getting up. Now was the time. He pushed backwards until they both slammed into the wall, hard. It shattered on impact, stunning the demon holding him. Its hold on him loosened.

James was free to swing around and plunge his new axe towards its neck. With a loud thud it dropped to the floor in two pieces. James pulled a face as he stepped over the bigger piece, and in through the new hole in the wall. For the time being the oxygen in this room wasn't compromised, so he took in another deep breath. There wasn't time for anything else, in the corner of his eye one of the two lying in a heap had managed to stand back up. It took one look at him, his face showed it didn't think he was worth the trouble. His latest kill still lay by his feet. He couldn't let this demon escape from him. His leg swung back, then forward at full speed to send the body flying in its direction.

"Oh come on," it complained, making James realise it was the same demon he tossed the last one at. Even if it wasn't intentional that first time, it still made him snigger to himself as it smashed straight into it, knocking him down once more.

From where he stood the light seemed to brighten. The edge of it had began to overlap the edge of the hole. The smile faded from his face. He knew what this meant. It wasn't just his imagination, it was getting bigger. He hurried out through the hole, almost bumping into the last demon in the process. It got a punch to the face for its lack of trouble. James was more concerned about the portal nearby, he squinted his eyes to look at it. He almost missed it, a faint sight of a forcefield flickering weakly.

"The portal shield, it's overloading. There's too much..." B'Elanna reported, her console flickered off and on to illustrate her point. "The amount of power these portals are generating, it's too great."

Kathryn growled impatiently. Her eyes locked on the viewscreen and at two of the ships flying by their own. "Concentrate on one single beam ship. Watch them, look for a pattern. Then fire in the direction they're going."

She expected a confirmation of her order, anything but she got nothing. When Kathryn looked over her shoulder Chakotay ran to the empty Tactical station.

"What? Where is..." Kathryn stuttered. The Commander shook his head, he was as baffled as she was.

The turbolift doors opened, allowing the lone person inside it to dart out into the corridor. Her commbadge chirped as she ran down with a heavy book under her arm.

"Jessie. What are you doing?"

Jessie ignored it, only stopping to check one of the ship maps on the wall panels. Her finger traced the deck she was on until about half way through the ship. It tapped while her head turned to one side. A brief rumble almost threw her off balance, then she jogged off in that direction.

The next time she stopped she dropped to her knees. The book pulled out from under her arm was placed onto the floor in front of her, then opened. It didn't take her long to find the page she was after, the corner of it folded over so she could find it easily.

"Jessie! There's nothing on Deck Eight. What the hell are you doing?"

Jessie tapped her commbadge once to open her side of the channel, then again to cut it off. Once that was done she began to read the book aloud.

The knife plunged into its chest, pinning the creature to the ground. It squirmed, the blow wasn't fatal. Lena saw a heavy arm hurtling toward her, she threw herself down to one side, forcing her into a roll that left her on her back. She had to get up. There were still two more. Before she could one appeared in her line of sight, raising its foot over her stomach. Quickly she aimed the long range weapon at it and fired, the sharp object pierced through its foot and grazed its knee. It cried out as it stumbled backwards.

Lena clambered to one side, away from it, all the while sitting up. Once she did she rushed to her feet. Then a light flickered in the corner of her eye, only it wasn't coming from the portal or the struggling shield. It was coming from the opposite direction. She had little time to wonder what it was when it grew into a wave rushing toward her.

A low rumble in the distance, right behind him. James looked over his shoulder slowly, his eyes kept darting back to the portal just in case. The same glimmer of light got him to focus only on that. He slowly walked toward it, passing a couple of groaning injured demons on the ground. Its growth didn't put him off in the slightest, his eyes sparkled with it as it rushed toward him. The white brushed over and around him gently, like a warm summer breeze. He heard cries of anguish come from the monsters that were still alive, and he knew exactly why.

Still he turned back to see for himself. The wave overwhelmed them, their bodies burned from its touch. It left nothing behind as it flew through the weak forcefield. The portal seemed a lot dimmer from the attack.

James smiled anyway. His eyes drifted above to an unseen deck, "that's my girl."

Jaws had dropped, eyes were wide in astonishment. Tom tried to vocalise it the best he could. "The shield did what?"

Faye was speechless. All she could manage were um's and and ah's. Wesley had decided to hover around her station, he stared at it curiously. What he saw interested him greatly. "That's a protection spell. Very powerful. No demon's getting through that."

"Jessie?" Harry wondered aloud.

Tom found himself sighing despite feeling breathless from the shock. It left him winded. "Will it effect the link to the demon realm or whatever the hell we're calling it?"

"Think of it as a secured door. It's still there, but you're not getting in unless you've already got permission," Wesley said.

"If we can just get rid of our pursuers, we won't have much to worry about," Tom said, typically as the ship trembled. He expected it so he didn't react. "You are keeping an eye out, right Wes?"

"Of course. But as I told your Captain, the chances of finding a suitable one are slim to none," Wesley answered.

Tom silently agreed with him. He turned towards Tactical, hinting for a status report. Thankfully Craig knew what he was after, so answered him, "Enterprise's regular shield strength is at eighteen percent. They haven't touched Voyager's. There's still two attacking ships left. One more hit and..."

"We can't wait," Tom cut in. He made eye contact with Harry to see if he agreed. He swallowed a painful lump in his throat before nodding. "Anything in our galaxy, Wes."

"As you wish," Wesley said.

Kathryn swung around at the sound of the turbolift opening. She still wasn't sure whether to be angry or not as Jessie stepped out of it first. James followed immediately afterward. For the time being she settled on angry. "Maybe you could have told us you were going to do that."

Jessie shrugged as she replaced Chakotay at Tactical. "I didn't know if it would work. Sorry."

"Even with your anti-demon shield, we can't keep this up," Chakotay said reluctantly. His eyes lingered on the other side of the Bridge, briefly catching Kathryn's. "Daniel?"

Daniel kept a transfixed stare toward the viewscreen. He barely reacted to the ship tremor, then rumble quietly beneath their feet.

"Report," Kathryn ordered.

Jessie scanned her console as James walked over to join her. "One of the attacking ships has joined the portal squad. They're targeting Deck Thirteen."

"They badly want that door open. Even still, they're not getting in," James said.

"Not as long as Jess is alive anyway," B'Elanna reminded everyone.

Kathryn felt a smirk tugging on her lips. "Good. One less ship for us to worry about." Chakotay arrived by her side, watching her carefully, which she noticed in the corner of her eye. "Keep targeting that final attacking ship. We'll ride this corridor until it shows us the way out."

Daniel's eyebrows twitched. It brought him partially out of his daze. "I think... I think I found one."

"You think?" Chakotay said.

"It looks like one but..." Daniel mumbled, his voice hoarse. "We won't only have a few ships to worry about if we head for it."

Kathryn made her way over to him, a frown on her face. "What do you see?"

"The destination, it's hazy. There's a vast concentration of Softmicron in the vicinity, it's clouding my sight," Wesley said.

Tom sighed, "if we time it right." Wesley's eyes widened in horror toward him. Tom brushed it off, "which way, and how long?"

"Uh... second left, up two. Only five minutes. You can't be serious," Wesley stammered his answer.

"This is what we're looking for. The Softmicron party just makes it all the more irresistible," Kathryn smiled.

Daniel found it hard to argue with that. He rushed over to the helm to relay the directions.

Kathryn slowly made her way back to the centre of the Bridge, all the while glancing around at everyone. She saved her final one for James, who seemed a little conflicted with it. Jessie had sensed it without even looking, she placed her hand on top of his closest one. Kathryn smiled and nodded at them both before turning her back on them.

"This is it. Everyone to their positions. It's time to take on the final boss," she said.

"Not your best pun, but it will do," Chakotay teased her. A few people behind them scurried from their stations. Daniel passed them on route to the back of the Bridge.

Kathryn laughed discreetly so only Chakotay could see or hear it. "I thought game over was far cheesier." Chakotay laughed as well.

Harry paced by a very nervous Wesley. As he did he tried to stop the Lieutenant, barely having the time to open his mouth and inhale. He grumbled as he kept going down toward the front of the Bridge.

"Status?" Harry said.

Craig bit his lip briefly before answering. "Four remaining, maybe... No they're firing again."

Tom's nerves were beginning to make him feel sick. Staring at the viewscreen wasn't helping. He guided the ship a little to the right, a low rumble told him that it grazed the shields.

"Returning fire," Craig said. Faye looked over her shoulder, watching and waiting for him to give her a sign. He gave her a nod and she began to tap furiously.

"That's odd," Faye said. "I can't establish a lock on the one on Deck Five. The signal's there but..."

Craig's head darted in her direction.

The shield struggled to keep back the expanding light, it flickered and in places started to spark. A commbadge lay discarded nearby, voices poured out of it. Its owner hid around the corner, leaning against the wall with her eyes firmly closed. Her face soaked with tears still falling.

Footsteps quickly approached, drowned out by the noise of the energy smashing against the forcefield. She only noticed when they were within a few metres of her. Eyes flew open in a panic. "No..." she barely had time to mumble before somebody crouched down to put one arm under hers. "No! I'm not..." She pulled her arm away.

"Lena. You can't stay," James desperately tried to plead with her.

The same stubborn glance that her mother always used when doing something no one agreed with, was directed at him. Tears rolled down her cheek. "Watch me."

James stared down at her, unsure what to do. The computer shouted a warning at them both. As far as he was concerned now, there was only one option. He lurched forward and wrapped his arms around her, all the while ordering, "now!"

"No, no!" she sobbed as they were taken over by a transporter beam.

Kathryn reached the Captain's chair and slowly settled herself down into it. Her arms spread onto the rest. A contented smile formed on her face.

"Warning," the computer bellowed. "Self destruct in ten, nine..."

On the eight she reached over to take Chakotay's hand. He smiled warmly at her.

The five her right hand discreetly entered a command on the armrest panel.

As the computer said three he disappeared in a shimmer, leaving her behind.

"One."

Tom wanted to look away, but his head and eyes were locked in place. One second the ship he loved so much flew behind them, surrounded by the five remaining enemy ships. The next a light overwhelmed it. A wave of white spread, slamming into the corridors. Their home for eleven years, all that was left of it was shards of metal and a grey haze.

The entire bridge was silent apart from a few consoles bleeping timidly. It wasn't to last. The ship shuddered, forcing everyone to hold on.

"What..." Harry said, still stunned from what he witnessed.

"I... I don't know. It's not us. It's outside," Craig stuttered.

Tom hadn't managed to tear his eyes away so he saw it before anyone else. The blue's and red's were fading, the corridor looked like it was widening. He swore at one point he could see black in between the two colours. "It worked. The Games Matrix, it's failing."

Lena tried to push her brother away. He however held onto her tightly, so all they did was sway slightly. The fight in her had faded away. Her tears wouldn't stop, she shook so much her body ached. It was getting difficult to breathe in between sobs, making her gasp and wheeze. Instead of trying to push him away, she fell into his shoulder.

"Mum," he heard her whimper. What happened didn't hit him until then, and when it did, it felt like a punch to the gut. Tears quickly welled up in his eyes as well. The idea that they'd never see Kathryn Janeway ever again. Hear her withering insults toward Tom, obsess over coffee. That she'd never do something as impulsive to solve a problem, like she had just done, ever again. It left him feeling cold, whilst at the same time he was proud. This was how Kathryn Janeway wanted to go out. Not used as some revenge attack against him while she slept. She would have wanted to go down with her ship to save everyone. To save them.

He attempted to look down at his little sister, her face buried in his shoulder. The tears were blurring his vision. He hoped that she'd see it the same way.

Showers of reds and blues fell into their path. The starship twisted to one side to avoid it. Shields flickered up as the edge of the saucer had little time to escape it, and brushed straight through. The walls closely surrounding them began to flash a blinding purple, the subtle motion of the two previous colours gently flowing alongside one another froze in place. Cracks travelled along beside the ship, as if they were following it.

The path ahead widened, the unknown black swallowed the vibrant red and blue streams still streaming on a set path. They continued on, straight toward a purple speck lying within the corridor floor. As they approached, it grew and took shape. Straight edged, with four corners. The walls above it twisted, it appeared to be falling, showering the object with an imposing cloud of powdered debris.

As the object itself began to glow a deadly red, the starship dropped down almost vertically before it would reach it, into a still blue and red corridor. What lay ahead of them now dwarfed them, it blocked their path completely. So enormous it was it looked apart of the corridor, a tall and sturdy purple cube. Sitting beneath it a cloud of lavender vapour, churning against the ground.

Behind them the walls continued to brighten and freeze, the cracks ran toward them and the object.

"Well?" Harry said nervously.

Wesley shook his head, he turned to Daniel to see if they were on the same page. They seemingly weren't as Daniel pressed a bulky cigarette to his lips, immediately lighting it somehow without a lighter or setting the alarms off. He noticed the other watcher looking at him. "Nope. The damage must be obscuring everything. I can't see where it goes at all."

"It's the same one we sensed. That much is certain," Wesley said irritably.

Tom took in a deep breath. "No choice. We're going in." He glanced over his shoulder. "Take the portal shield system off-line, Craig. B'Elanna give me full engine power."

B'Elanna gave him a wry smile as she obeyed. Craig however had sweat rolling from his forehead at just the thought of doing it.

"May I remind you Mr Paris, there's still a chance that flying directly into a Game Cube whilst in the Matrix will end the exact same way as..." Wesley stuttered.

Daniel blew smoke in his face, Wesley prepared to cough but he quickly realised it wasn't real. "May I remind you that the shield will trap us in that Game, which will get squished when it tries to come back here as here will be history."

"Hmph. I knew this was a terrible plan," Wesley huffed.

The cube on the viewscreen had taken over the whole thing. "Shield is off-line," Craig reported as the ship tremors increased in strength and number. Anyone standing hurried for the nearest object to hold onto, stumbling on route.

Tom pushed the manual control lever forward as far as it could go. His left hand hovered over another control until just the right moment. "Deploying landing struts."

There was little room left to turn away, no time to run. The cracks were almost on them, breaking shards of purple, leaving behind nothing but black. The cube itself began to move slowly downwards. There was nothing left of the blue and red streams, they had all frozen into the pale purple weakening itself into oblivion.

The Enterprise dove into the lavender waters, hidden from the carnage around them.

Something was different about this game compared to any of the ones they'd been in.

A see through hologram span around in his comfortable chair to face them, with a big showman's grin on his face, bowing to an applauding audience that they could not see. They were his audience, no one were clapping, and sat in a vast array of seats surrounding the huge circular glass podium he was inside.

It was difficult to narrow it down to just one something. Nobody was sure if this area was an over the top upgrade to the waiting room, or a part of the game itself. If it were the latter, it was a completely new type and there was nothing around but the hologram to tell them how to play it.

"Welcome, welcome to Zero Hour. The game that challenges your wits, your integrity, and best of all your winning smile," the hologram laughed. The invisible members of the audience laughed with him.

"Oh crap," B'Elanna groaned.

The hologram climbed out of his chair to pace the stage. "For you do not win Zero Hour with strength and violence alone. No. What's a kill if it isn't done in style? No one wants to see a player cower in the dark. I know I don't." He faked a yawn so patronising most of the crew rolled their eyes in disgust.

"For those of you who are new to the show, the rules are very simple. There are two..." he pointed to the crew, then behind him at what looked like an empty mirror image of where they were. "Sides. Each must send at least twenty volunteers, only twenty will be ultimately chosen by our esteemed AI, to join the hunt. Every volunteer will begin with a random, unknown to them number of starting points. One side must win over the other in order to score more."

His hand gestured to beside him, a screen twice the size of him appeared out of nowhere. On it showed a young woman running, screaming in fear. In the bottom corner the number 6 sat in a square. The image panned to the left to show a group of ten people fighting viciously, then back at the girl. "Boring," he pouted. "Minus two points." The number 6 faded away, with -2 and +1 hovering around it, it was soon replaced by 5. "Oh, someone thought the screams of terror were funny," he chuckled, his finger raised to say one.

Tom shuddered at the coldness of all of this. He looked at the two people sitting on both sides of him. He was thankful one of them was someone he knew well. "Is this a hunt slash death match, or a sick popularity contest at school?"

"Worse, it feels like a mesh of both," Harry said shakily.

"What happens when you reach zero, you ask," the hologram's voice boomed over-dramatically. He wiggled his eyebrows as if it were a big joke. On cue the screen changed to show the same girl walk in the woods carefully, her head jumping around at the slightest noise. Her square now had the number 0 in the middle. She didn't see it coming and neither did the audience. A net flew up from the ground, wrapping itself tightly around her as it flung up into the tree line. Her screams became painful when it quickly grew clear that it was no ordinary net, designed to capture people. It tightened its grip on her until she could no longer draw breath.

Any member of the audience sitting near a child quickly tried to distract them from it before that happened. Some of the kids already were covering their eyes as soon as the screaming started.

The hologram belly laughed at the image. "Oh, ouch!" So many members of the crew were sickened by him now. "If you're boring, we don't want you in our game. Simple as that. It's very important that you keep your opponents audience interest. That's what keeps you alive, and will give you the chance to snag the sole crown. How to win it? I'm glad you asked. Zero Hour is so simple, a child could win it and that I could see happening. Two sides go in, one side comes out. If you're on the losing side, don't worry, you can always switch. That's a sure guaranteed way of getting the opposing audience to like you."

Everyone nearby him turned their heads toward Damien who had found this amusing until then. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "really? Only an idiot would join the Game Sprites and or Softmicron's side, it's instant death if they win."

Meanwhile Annika smiled deviously to herself. The people who had originally been forced into neighbouring seats had already moved to another one, so nobody noticed.

The hologram clapped a few times, grinning like a mad game show host. "Enough talk. It's time to begin the game!" Tiny pieces of the glass dome opened up on the bottom floor level. "If you are interested in joining, step up to the plate. If we do not get twenty, our fabulous AI will select suitable characters on its own. Anymore than that, we will go into the much loved assessment round where you must prove yourself worthy," he said the last sentence in a cheeky tone. "You have ten minutes."

Tom briefly looked around at the taken seats. People were already beginning to rise from their seats to make their way down. He had to be quick, so he climbed up onto his chair. "Wait!" he shouted to get their attention. From what he could see in the vast crowd, it worked, they stopped. "We must have no more than twenty. We can't risk our experts being kicked out by the likely biased AI because we have too many volunteers." He swore he heard a tiny giggle come from the audience.

"Experts?" Harry whispered.

"I didn't want to announce we have S word people to the game, duh," Tom crouched down to whisper back. He rose once more to address everyone. Then he noticed a small screen appearing over the new door to the dome. A number one appeared on it. "What... what does that mean?"

Harry glanced in the same direction to see what he was talking about. "One what?"

They heard a voice from the lower level chairs. "Someone's gone through already." A lot of the crew tried to see who it was, as they must be visible through the glass. Strangely they could see no one other than the hologram.

Tom groaned into his hand. "Okay, so the door keeps count. Hang on." He hurried over to the aisle so he could rush down to the entrance, Harry was right behind him. A few members of the crew already arrived there and stood waiting. "Did anyone see?"

"No, whoever it was must have been close to it and ran while you were talking," James said.

"Great," Harry sighed. He spotted Lena standing behind him with her head down, arms wrapped tightly around her chest. Her face red and blotchy from crying. His chest ached for her as he had a good idea why she was like that. "This isn't a run of a mill Death Match. It's a sick TV show that may find her grief boring, or worse, entertaining."

James glanced over his shoulder toward his sister. She made no gesture to show that she heard that. He turned back, shaking his head. "It's not up to us tho..."

"I'm going," Lena mumbled. "I want to do something, not sit around and watch."

"We can't stop you, but it's likely this game will try to take advantage of you, especially if it finds out who you are," Tom warned.

Lena didn't feel up to saying anything, she merely walked towards the entrance to the dome. James rushed after her to stand in her way for the time being. "Lena, I'm sorry I had to do that."

"Don't," Lena said, shaking her head. "You did the right thing. I was just being a stupid, weak kid, I could have got us both killed."

"You hoped mum would notice and she'd stop the self destruct," James said softly. He reached for her shoulder, she shrugged it away. "You didn't want your mother to die. That's not stupid."

Lena side stepped sharply to get around him, he followed her. She growled, frustrated more at herself than him. "No, it's selfish! If she were here and the game ended, the Tolg would be able to reconnect to her. She'd be a prisoner in her own body again. Disconnecting her before then was far more likely to kill her, she'd been dead too long. She went out on her own terms. It's what she wanted!" her words turned into hysterical shrieks by the time she was done. Tears were streaming down her face. She felt arms wrap around her, which she expected, what she didn't was that they belonged to two different people. None of them seemed to belong to her brother, she could see him standing in the same spot, struggling to keep his emotions in check as well.

She looked around to see who they belonged to. The person on her left, with his arm across her shoulders, bringing her in closer, had his cheek pressed against hers so closely she could see a blurry tattoo on the far edge of her sight. It could only be her father finally coming through for her. On her right, with a hand across her back, standing far enough away so she could see his face clearly. Her best friend, the one always on her side, ready to support her whatever happened. The tears forming in her eyes now seemed warmer as they freely fell to her cheek. The sight of not only them and her brother, but of other people who'd gathered around them, smiling kindly at her, or simply nodding in understanding. A few were crying light tears too. She wasn't alone, not even close. It gave her a warm feeling in her chest.

Tom was one of the ones trying to wipe away a few stray tears. He had a smile on his face as well, determined and a little cocky. "We'll win this game and go home. What better way is there to honour Captain Janeway? Badass crazy woman until the very end. And Voyager, the best damn ship there ever was."

James smiled similarly as Jessie found him to stand by his side, her arm wrapped around his back. "I'm all for it. How many have we got then?" he said.

Harry breathed in to recover from that. He didn't bother to dry his cheek like a few others. "Whoever's going, raise your hand." He looked around as members of the group standing around put up their hands. He quickly counted them. "Twenty two. That's three of you that'll have to bow out."

Lena pulled away reluctantly from her dad's hold on her, she smiled gratefully at him. "James and I are definite. We should go through regardless."

"Good point," James nodded.

"Be careful, I can't lose you again," Chakotay said to his daughter.

Lena finally smiled with some confidence, "dad please. If they want entertaining while I kill them, they're gonna get it."

Chakotay laughed, his eyes beaming with pride. "I had no doubt about that."

James glanced around, his eyes focused primarily on the ground. Jessie reached up to place a hand across his face, stopping him from looking in one direction at least. "The nursery staff and a few volunteers are watching them. My only worry is that Alisha and Michael only have the nappies they're currently wearing."

Tom overheard, his eyes flickering wider. "We must hurry." He got a few smirks and eyebrow raises as a result, making him a bit blustery. "Ten minutes is almost up."

"It seems like the people outside the game have a part as well. At least I hope so. Knowing the Softmicron the only audience that can score points for the other team will be theirs," B'Elanna said.

"Then maybe one of us should stay behind to co-ordinate the votes. It may help keep the more dangerous opponents out of play," Harry suggested.

Lena made her way to the entrance to the dome, someone followed. She looked over her shoulder expecting it to be James. When she realised it wasn't, her journey temporarily halted to stare at her follower quizzically. Craig smiled sheepishly. "I can fight, I can be not boring," he said.

"Better get in line," Lena said, gesturing to Tom and the rest gathered around him. Her eyebrow twitched up, the tiniest hint of a smirk tugged her lips. "You'd better deliver mind."

Craig's smile slipped into a grin for only a second. "It's been a while since I've done both, I'll be a bit rusty."

"I take it you're going in as well in that case," James said, not asked. Jessie still faked a scowl in response.

"Well I was thinking that if we start to slip up on the points front, we can make out a bit," Jessie said. Her eye drifted over in Tom's direction. He had overheard that as well, this time he tried his best not to give it away. His lips trembled as he tried to resist making a comment. "Points double whammy, I say." She groaned as she could hear Danny's far away laughter, right on cue.

"I don't mind leading the voting team if you want to go in," Harry said. "It's what Tom wants to do. Fighting wise he'd be awful, but as entertainment he's the best we have next to Damien and Annika. Right Tom?"

"I dunno, Damien and Annika as the double of the whammy would lose points," Tom mumbled. He noticed Harry, Chakotay and B'Elanna staring at him, equally confused as the other. "What?"

"Well I'm sold. Harry stays behind, Tom you're with us," Chakotay smirked.

Tom looked on, a little worried about what he'd missed. "I'm not sure if I want to join the make out team..." He flushed red and started stammering. Everyone in earshot started sniggering. Jessie snorted into laughter. "I meant the game team. God damn Jessie, stop distracting me. One conversation at a time."

"Why, it's not realistic then," Jessie teased.

Harry inhaled through his nose deeply to stop himself from laughing, it only worked during it. "I'll take two of our volunteers, that should simplify this," he said mid snigger.

One member of the original volunteers stepped forward. "I'll do it. Despite James' best efforts, I'm not fighting material. Here I might be useful instead of the usual hindrance," Jach said timidly.

"I wouldn't say best. I've never been good at teaching," James said. He lowered his voice for the next part, "you need patience for that." Jessie shook her head, smiling slightly. "Don't think of yourself as a hindrance, I never did. It takes a lot of guts to go on after what you went through, especially when you think you're not suited for something. Being hard on yourself gets you nowhere, believe me."

Jach looked on with surprise, but he was grateful for it. He gave him a firm nod. Shar, who had been standing beside him before he moved, seemed bemused by the whole thing. "Oh sure, I'm your best student that didn't turn into a demon. Give 'ol Jach the compliment," she said in jest.

"You're very good at annoying me," James said.

Shar faked a gasp, and put a hand by her chest. "Oh really, thanks boss."

James shrugged, trying badly not to smirk back at her, "they're not all winners."

Before she could reach the entrance hurried footsteps approached, then a tug on her arm. Lena barely had time to turn around, whoever it was threw her arms around her. Only then she knew who. The hug was brief, a relieved smile faced her. "I wasn't sure if you made it. Voyager..." Kiara smiled.

Lena felt her heart sink, she tried to hide it with a smile of her own. "I'm all right. Are you?"

The young girl stared at her intently, curious about something. Lena realised it would be obvious she had been crying, it wasn't like she had time to recover from it. "I loved Voyager too, Lena. I know it was our home but it was only a ship. Please don't be so upset," Kiara said softly.

She didn't know, why would she, Lena thought. Now wasn't the time or place to break the news. "It's nothing a little bit of violence won't cure."

"Don't have too much fun without me," Kiara playfully said.

Lena caught sight of James standing ready at the entrance, waiting for her. She turned back toward it, keeping a smile on her face for Kiara's sake until she could no longer see it. Straight faced she reached the glass dome. The pair stepped inside together. As soon as they did the number three appeared above the door.

"All right, that should be seventeen," Chakotay announced.

Tom cleared his throat as a hint, Chakotay waved his palm out to allow him to continue. "Quickly, but one at a time," he told the group. Most branched off to follow James and Lena. Tom didn't look so sure as he watched them. B'Elanna stopped mid way with a curious worry directed at him. "Did I really just swap a Slayer trainee for Neelix?"

She laughed, Neelix wasn't far behind her so he overheard. He huffed, "hey. A Game that rewards entertainment and team work is the kind I shine in." He stomped off, bringing the door number to eighteen.

They all heard the hologram whoop over his microphone, a signal they quickly learned meant they had little time left. "Ten seconds."

"Let's do it," Tom said with confidence. He stepped inside the dome first, B'Elanna was right behind him.

The countdown ended, the doors slammed shut and sealed, re-creating the illusion that there were never any doors at all. The remaining crew glanced around, trying to get a peek inside the dome. Despite twenty of their people being inside it still looked empty. Harry sighed to steady his nerves, all the while stepping up the aisle to get a higher position. Then he realised something else was odd about the dome entrance. The number wasn't what he expected.

"Twenty one," he read aloud. A lump formed in his throat. His head darted toward Tira, she frowned in a similar direction. "We sent in nineteen, we already knew we had one eager volunteer go in first. When did, how did that twenty first one happen?"

Tira placed a hand on his shoulder, noticing immediately how stiff it was. "We'll do a role call. See who's missing."

Harry blinked furiously, "I'd love to, but there's hundreds of us."

"I didn't mean everybody. Just a role call of people who'd sneak in," Tira smiled.

"We don't know if there's time..." Harry stuttered.

"Well well, we have some eager players today," the hologram shouted down the microphone. "I'm afraid one of you will have to be eliminated," he said, breaking into a put on sad voice.

As the invisible audience cheered and even hooted, the majority of the crew voiced their protest. The volume of the angry talking, the shouts of disgust, gave Harry the boost he needed. He kept on going up to the top row, so everyone could see him. His hands slammed together as hard as he could, at one point he was convinced he'd broken a bone or two doing it. "Everyone, settle down! There's nothing we can do now but help our people win this game. I'm going to need everybody here." It worked for the most part, a lot of the crew stopped and looked up to listen to him.

The hologram kept talking, which cut him off temporarily. "We're not interested in a dud. Prove your worth to the AI and you shall be spared." His chillingly unsympathetic laugh echoed around the now quiet audience area.

"Here's how we're going to do this. Engineering staff, convene here!" Harry shouted while pointing to his far right, in an opposite aisle. "Security, the centre seats. Bridge staff with me. You get the idea. Your team leader should be whoever's in charge when a senior staff member isn't around. Your task is to see who you have, who's missing. If you have any, report to me."

"If you have no position on the ship, like I do, meet down near the entrance," Tira added on. She nodded at Harry, then made her way down.

Harry sighed, his voice now sore from raising his voice higher than normal. It was worth it though. He felt like this Game was created for the sole purpose of being cruel. The last thing he wanted was the Softmicron getting one last jab at their expense.

Even though they had walked into the dome together, Lena found herself alone in a small grey room. Ahead of her a large blank screen floating in the air. It sparked to life before she could really do anything. The hologram from earlier sat in the centre of the screen, directly facing her, his face painted with disdain and superiority.

"One must go. Convince us that it shouldn't be you," he said.

"One? How can there be too many?" Lena muttered to herself.

The hologram sat back, his leg lifted to rest his calf on top of his other knee. "All must answer one question carefully or face elimination. If you pass, you will be scanned before entry."

"God, crap like this is why you have nowhere to go after this game," Lena grumbled.

He chuckled quietly while bringing out a card from his inside jacket pocket. Lena thought for a moment that he was staring directly at her, toying with the idea of eliminating her out of spite for her comment. Everyone else who had entered the dome was seeing the exact same thing and in an identical room.

"Here at Zero Hour we celebrate fun and excitement..." he said.

"Could've fooled me," James commented, groaning a little.

The hologram continued as if he hadn't said anything, "over physical prowess. So tell me, in one word what is your biggest skill or asset."

"Wit," Tom answered without hesitation. He only did hesitate after he said it and his body was covered in a blue light shining from the ceiling, he cringed inwardly. "Damn it, imagination. Just one word and you screw that up."

"Revenge," Chakotay answered during a tense stare down with the hologram.

"Evil," Damien cackled.

The next player thought about it carefully. There was so many answers she could use and only one chance. It came to her in a flash, "boobs." The blue light shone on her, setting off the glitter in her outfit, the hologram's face twitched in disgust.

"Punching," B'Elanna smiled a little too nicely.

Jessie rolled her eyes while sighing. She ended up flipping her middle finger at the screen. It was more than enough to convince the hologram. She was in the middle of mouthing a swearword when she was enveloped by the light.

"Morale," Neelix replied quickly.

Lena struggled to think of a one word answer that wouldn't give away her identity. There was a nagging feeling it knew anyway. One came to her that would only pique their suspicions if they had any, and if not would seem defiant enough to get the AI's interest. "Winning."

James had similar trouble. Only one word came to mind and he didn't like it at all. He knew it would tempt them into picking him, regardless of what he was. With a reluctant sigh he decided to say it, using a voice of indifference, "killing."

The hologram folded his arms across his chest while leaning forward, peering into the screen. The volunteers who had been lit up were whisked away by a transporter. The few who had not yet been scanned were left to wonder if they were the one left behind.

Lena grunted irritably, "yes, drag it out for drama. We both know who you've picked, so just..." The light finally shone on her, rendering her speechless. She transported away.

Neelix sighed in relief as the same happened to him.

Damien raised his eyebrows a few times, flashing his eyes and smirked. He shrugged, mouthing duh as he was quickly scanned and spirited away as well.

A few unknown crewmembers gasped in shock as they were picked too.

The last one remaining had no idea that he was, he only had a feeling as it had taken so long for anything to happen. The hologram inhaled through his nose, licking his lips. His body slumped back into the chair while keeping eye contact. "That was a tough one. Two of you, one slot. Rules are rules."

There was no surprise on James' face, he only rolled his eyes. "Right, you always play by them don't you."

"Zero Hour is all about the fun, and we must pick who will entertain our viewers more," the hologram continued. "Maybe next time bring a breakdown or two, a dead parent you give a crap about..."

James gave him a cold, hard stare that normally would leave the victim in a shivering mess or running for their lives. It was the same one his mother prided herself on using. He approached the screen while the hologram sneered at him.

"Good thing I never did like following rules," he muttered. Instead of being tempted to destroy the screen, he stepped around behind it, crudely ripping the panel off the back, exposing the wiring.

Still the hologram kept talking, "you know, something that will make us laugh about until you croak. May as well get it over with here instead."

"Mmm-hmm." A few wires were pulled out, swapped around. His fingers rapidly tapped a few panels that were hidden underneath.

A click, followed by hissing to his left got his attention. Like the dome, the plain wall had a hidden door. This one was a tiny little flap hanging lazily from the wall, behind it a vent spewing what looked like smoke into the room. The faintest tint of gas slipped into his mouth as he took in a deep breath he planned to hold for a while. His throat tingled first before beginning to burn. He couldn't inhale anymore of whatever it was, he kept one arm pressed against his face while he worked.

His only spare hand hurried into a pocket, bringing out a small device concealed in his palm. The cloud lingered near his feet as he pressed the device into the circuitry. It instantly sparked, the hum of power inside the screen grew until the glass cracked. The hologram seemed none of the wiser as his image vanished from it.

Even though his throat felt like it was on fire, and the room was beginning to move on its own, James smiled at his work. A confident glint appeared in his eye. Satisfied, he tapped the panels a few more times, then tore the device from the computer.

The game wasn't at all what they expected, especially with the example they were shown before volunteering. Instead of trees and fields, some of the players were spread out in a huge lab environment, dark and abandoned. High tables filled with equipment lined the way in front of them. One length of the room completely made of glass, not that they could see the other side of it from where they were.

They were blocked by an invisible barrier, like glass but sturdier. One of the unknown crewmembers had gotten over their surprise at not being killed in the question session. They grinned at the person nearest to them. "Now's my chance to prove myself. From now on people will remember the name..." They were cut off by a transporter taking them away. They reappeared in the middle of the chairs outside the dome. Everyone nearby stared at him, flummoxed about what happened. So was he for a moment, until he groaned in disappointment. "Dang it. So close."

"So close to what, being cannon fodder?" another crewmember asked him.

He stared at them blankly for a while. Then he laughed nervously, "so, what's happening here?"

Another pointed toward the glass dome. No longer an empty shell, now a dollhouse view of a tall, imposing building. Their people spread out in different rooms, unmoving, seemingly waiting for the countdown placed on screens dotted around the sky above the building. There were many people inside as well they didn't recognise, each of them anxious to go. All different shapes and sizes.

Inside the original room, the members of the group that witnessed the beam out, looked around for their missing teammate. They were more than surprised when a figure rematerialised in a blue glow in his place. He shook his head, a finger pressed to his lips to hint to keep quiet.

"Let the Zero Hour begin," a voice boomed over them, followed immediately by a buzzer. The barriers lifted into the ceiling, freeing the players from their cages. Not many were eager to take advantage. Without anything to get in the way, the reality of where they were hit them.

Remaining crouched down, James stepped forward to the next bench, using it as cover while inspecting the room they were in. There only seemed to be one way out of it that he could see. One door that could lead to almost anywhere or thing. First things first, a weapon. His hand reached up slowly to the top of the table, searching for anything he could grab. Once he did, it was brought even slower back down to him. He was a little disappointed to see it was merely a see through flask. That wasn't going to earn him many points. He decided to go for the door and find a more interesting weapon elsewhere.

He had barely moved an inch when he spotted the two other people in the lab with him hadn't moved since the buzzer. One woman he didn't recognise frozen in terror behind a large cabinet, staring in the direction of the glass wall. The other he knew well enough, muttering to himself in between teeth chattering. James knew he couldn't leave them. They'd be easy targets, boring in the eyes of the Game's AI. "Hey," he whispered to them. "Just pretend we're in the Holodeck, stay close to me. You'll be fine."

The man's eyes flickered up to him. "What was I thinking? I'm not interesting enough to survive."

"Really?" James' eyebrow shot up. He double checked to see if this was the same trainee that would sing training montage songs while the group did circuit training. The last word James would use to describe Stewart was dull. He edged forward to gently clasp his arm. "What was the name of that undercover game you invented, Mission Not Probable?"

"Duck and Cover," Stewart answered, his shaking had stopped. The smallest of smiles appeared on his face. "Not probable was your name for it. Why?"

"We're not in a Game Cube. We're doing another infiltration exercise. They were always your forte," James answered.

Stewart didn't seem so sure. "You always told me to stop dancing around like a prat on sugar."

"I was a tad grouchy back then. Go nuts," James said.

"Psst," a voice hissed at him from behind. James turned to see another familiar face peering out from the edge of the table he had started at. Now that he had his attention, he pointed behind James, so he looked. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, apart from the woman had begun to backwards crawl in his direction with her gaze fixed ahead. Her action helped him realise something truly was odd about the view ahead. Her hiding place, the cabinet no longer stood next to the wall of windows. The room stretched a lot further than it, with the object sitting in the near centre.

A light scrape across the ground echoed around the lab, James' eyes darted to where he thought the source of it came from. Shadows darted behind the opposite end of the bench to his other teammate. He crept a little closer to it. Now he could hear very light breathing, it didn't sound Human. It reminded him more of a cat's purrs. James assumed it was a gift for him, for his earlier cheat to the system.

For a short time there was nothing, not a sound or any movement. It leapt up onto the bench; claws the length of a hand scraped the surface as it landed. Crouching on only its hind legs, it almost looked humanoid with its hairless skin and long flowing hair behind it. Everything else they could make out about it were feline. Teeth long and sharp. Golden eyes glowing in the dark. Its size gave it more of a lion appearance than a pet cat.

James only noticed it had a tail pointed sharply at the ceiling and fur on its back sticking up on end when it leapt right for him. He panicked, and grabbed the closest object to swing it at the beast. It squeaked as the blow sent it flying backwards into the glass. It smashed on impact, sending the animal tumbling down to unknown depths.

"You want to hope that this thing can't land on its feet," he heard Craig say after a laugh.

"Oh god, yeah," James said, allowing himself to finally shudder the fear off of him. It didn't work. The creature would haunt his nightmares for a while. For now it settled for its image appearing in a holographic window floating outside, with the words Defeated written underneath it.

Stewart's head darted around before doing a dramatic roll to Craig's position. All he achieved was bumping into him, leaving his legs splayed in the air. "Ow. I'm outta practice," he groaned.

"No, you got it," Craig sighed mid wince, rubbing his now sore arm.

Meanwhile the unknown woman felt better enough to discreetly hurry for the exit. She tried to turn the handle, pull it, and then push at the door itself. Nothing could open it. The others stared at her with worry. "We're trapped."

"Good thing you're here," Craig commented, he looked sorry about it.

James shook his head, he kept his head down to go towards the door. He expected one tug would pull the door open, but he had the same trouble as the woman. It left the others with a sense of dread. A light scuttling sound didn't help matters. "Two sides go in, one side comes out," James mumbled.

Craig realised the same thing, he shivered at the sound increasing. "Four of us, four of them."

Ear piercing shrieks forced another room to cover their ears. Not that it would help in the slightest. Another noise would chime in to cause them further pain.

"Come here cutey!" Annika laughed.

A couple of blurs ran by their hiding place. One a simple brown, the second left a trail of glitter behind in its wake.

Tom winced at the giggles and begs for mercy he heard next. A lot of clattering put an end to that, it had the unfortunate side effect of bringing the screaming back.

"Let me pet you, don't be scared of the mean little girl!" Kiara's jaw dropped, she turned to somebody beside her. He shrugged haplessly. "Just a little devil spawn, no need to run. Wait up! Oh, I want to squeeze that fur... brrrr ooooh, how soft it must be!" Annika's voice broke the sound barrier.

They heard glass shattering. In unison the three hiders turned their head towards the window. As they expected there was a new hole and shards of glass falling to the floor. Just when they thought it was over, Annika appeared in front of it, stroking something in her hands. They were thankful her back was to them.

"Wait! You forgot this!" Annika shouted at the hole while waving the fluffy object in the air. Tom dared to take a peep at what it was, he almost threw up. It looked to him like a rabbit's ear. Sure enough the picture that appeared in the sky was of a furry humanoid with tall ears. Kiara had to turn her back away as Annika brought the object to her face and rubbed against it, all while blood dripped from one end.

"Oh god," the unknown man mumbled, repressing a gag. "Is it me, or is she getting worse?"

Tom shrugged with his arms outstretched, defeat all over his face. "It's Annika, it's hard to say."

"Why did you let her in?" Kiara hissed.

Tom's eyes flew open as he stared at her back. "I didn't. She was probably the one who entered first."

"If there were really four people in with us, three now, they're not going to want to reveal themselves with her around," Kiara said.

"Shhh!" Tom panicked when he turned back, noticing Annika was no longer by the window. He mouthed, "go now," while pointing at the door. The trio shuffled slowly toward it. The unknown reached it first. He tried desperately to open it. Like Craig and James' room it refused to budge. The longer it didn't the more desperate he felt and the noisier his attempts got.

"Stop. There must be something..." Kiara tried to intervene.

The man heard footsteps approach, so naturally he continued his panic spree. His latest attempt pulled the handle from the door itself. Kiara and Tom stared in dismay. "It's okay, it's okay," he stuttered.

"What did you do?" Tom asked slowly. He was tempted to ask it again as the unknown tossed the handle away from him, until he heard it hit something. Whatever it was, it growled at the insult. "Really, is this revenge of the red shirts?"

"My shirt's gold," the unknown squeaked, pointing at his collar to prove it.

Kiara divided her attention between the two, getting angrier by the second. She gave them each a slap at the same time before crawling away quickly to hide behind the bench again

His forehead poured with sweat, Tom dabbed it to at least stop it from getting in his eyes. "Okay, to win the game you need to be entertaining, not super strong. So, what..." He slowly turned his head to see what the unknown had angered.

Kiara rolled her eyes, "that's to not get killed by stupid traps. You still need to kill things."

"I know," Tom lied, laughing nervously. Once he finished his head turn it snapped back to where it was, his eyes bugging out. All he saw was a huge shadow standing directly behind them both, that was enough detail for him. "So, Annika's not going to oh my god so cute chase this one out the window, is she?"

"She's crazy, she might," the unknown said hopefully.

"Eeew," they heard Annika groan from afar, dashing their hopes. "I can't stroke that, it's far too spiky and gross."

Tom didn't think his eyes could go wider, yet they did. "Spiky?" he mimed.

Kiara dared to peek over the top of the counter to see it for herself. The figure standing so closely to the pair didn't even look like it was alive. It looked more like a human shaped hairball, only instead of hair it was primarily made of thorns. Sticky liquid dripped from what she assumed was its mouth. One drop landed on Tom's shoulder, his eye looked down at it without moving his head. It took all the restraint he had not to freak out at the glob of goo starting to burn a hole in his uniform.

"First time I'm agreeing with Annika. Eeew," Kiara whispered. A few objects on the bench caught her eye. A flask half filled with clear liquid, what looked like a tap sat nearby. She grabbed the flask to set it up next to the tap. Only the tap wasn't facing downward, it pointed sideways, so she had to tilt the glass. She had to make sure it wouldn't hear her so the tap had to be slightly turned. Instead of water coming from it, a blue light flickered out, setting the contents alight. She almost dropped it in her shock. Realising that it would be far more useful than throwing water at it, she kept a hold of it. The heat rapidly rising forced her to be quick about it. She raised and threw it as hard as she could, then squeezed her eyes shut in case it missed.

The creature reached what was must have been its arm to grab Tom. The flask flew over and slammed into it, setting its entire body ablaze. Tom and the unknown clambered away in a panic.

"Holy cra..." Tom squeaked. The door next to them clicked. He ignored it for now and looked over at Kiara. She wasn't anywhere in sight, he thought she must have quickly hid in case another monster saw her, or worse, Annika.

"The door, it's open," the unknown said, noticing the exit creak as it glided open.

Tom nodded. "Kiara," he whispered, hoping she'd hear him and no one else would. The two men grew a little worried when they got no answer, audio or visual. They crawled over to where they last saw her while the previous beast turned pile of ashes smouldered away. She wasn't hiding there either. They glanced at one another. The image of Lena beating him to a pulp entered Tom's mind, that scared him more than the spiky drool beast. "Kiara," he tried again.

Little did he know Kiara wanted to respond, but her mouth was blocked by a tight hand pressing against it. Another arm wrapped around her middle to keep her from running. The owner of the arms steadily walked over to the now open door, cackling to herself quietly.

The door provided an escape from the claustrophobic, choking environment of the lab. Once they were through it they all felt extremely vulnerable. The door only led to a wide and bare circular room, ten times the size of the Bridge. Jessie glanced upward at the extremely high arched ceiling, multiple floors of pathways and doors lined the walls. The only way to reach them seemed to be one staircase in the dead centre of this room. It had trap written all over it, Jessie saw it more as a target practice range.

Lena kept close to the wall, scanning the rest of their level. She noted nine similar doors to the one they left. Three were open wide. Two more would have seemed closed if it weren't for the subtle cracks between them and their frame. The rest remained firmly shut.

"I thought this was a Death Match with a X Factor Twist, not a Donkey Kong race," Daniel muttered in distaste. He clutched his arm as it hung lazily by his side.

Lena glanced around at her party. Daniel with only one useable arm, and the unknown crewmember who had apparently decided to earn points by doing some audio commentary on the fights so far. At least she hoped for his sake that was what he was doing. Nevertheless, they were in dire need of a weapon or two. Lena didn't fancy dragging a bench or a cabinet around. A beaker or test tube was of no use to her.

"We're not the first ones out. Until we're armed, we should stay out of sight," Jessie said as if she read her mind.

"I don't see anywhere else to go," Lena said, taking one last look around. Her eye fell on the still firmly sealed doors. She noticed a head shake in the far corner of her eye.

"If I understand the rules, we'd be wasting our time," Daniel said behind her.

Jessie frowned at him, while Lena kept her attention in the same place. "If the other rooms are set up like ours, other teams may not be so fortunate. We should help them."

"All we'll achieve is a few laugh pity points, and that's the best case scenario," Daniel said. "Think about it. That door unlocked itself once it decided we were done. We will not be..."

"Why are there ten doors?" Lena cut in curiously. The pair stopped their argument to first focus on her. The unknown used his finger to count the doors while spinning on the spot. Jessie and Daniel both looked around, Jessie's face scrunched up after she counted a sixth. "There's four of us, so it should be five."

Daniel chuckled to himself, "ok I apologise, it wasn't what I thought. It's a classic pick a room booby trap. I'll bet five of these doors are the way forward, we just don't know which."

"Um," the unknown crewmember piped up. He waited for at least one of the group to face him. He only got the girls, Daniel kept darting his eye between doors, trying to figure out which one to pick. "If there's four of us and four of them, where's the other two?" the unknown asked, pointing behind him at the prison they escaped.

The crew felt helpless as the drama played out on the four screens hovering around the dome. Each one showing different things. Harry kept his bottom lip firmly between his teeth while watching one showing a slow motion replay of one of their people running away from a six legged monster. He could hear the other audience screaming with laughter at something, he assumed it was the same thing he was watching. Numbers, mostly minus ones flew across the monitor. The unfortunate crewmember was left with a measly one once he found somewhere to hide.

"I knew it," Harry grumbled. "There's no way for us to vote. That privilege is for the Game only."

Wesley nodded, gritting his teeth. "The Softmicron no longer follow their own rules. That was the only good trait they had. Now they simply do not care. It's disgraceful."

Each of the screens had their images zoom away into a little box, replaced by an image of the hologram sitting in his chair. "Oh how time flies when you're having fun. The first hour is up. Let's tally them up shall we. But first, the loser highlights," he cackled.

"I was wondering about the hour part of the name. I guess we'll find out," Harry said in a disgusted voice.

The image of the hologram slid to the left, dividing the monitor in two. An image of the cat creature appeared first, with a tiny window below its face replaying its death. The poor rabbit creature that preferred to die than be hugged by Annika was next. Most of the crew couldn't help but avert their eyes at the moment it had its ear pulled off while it ran. The ones who didn't saw Annika briefly stop to sniff it. Bemused and disgusted stares were exchanged.

The third face to appear seemed Human enough, which got a lot of people worried that it was one of their own. The replay of its death scene showed her pounce on top of Daniel, slamming him to the ground. His attempt to hit her was countered with her grabbing his arm, then forcing it to lie flat on the floor, twisting it unnaturally out of place. Lena appeared behind her, leaning forward to grab the throat. She was so roughly pulled backwards her neck snapped back. Everyone watching who hadn't seen it cringed. The ones who had, looked away in time.

The hologram belly laughed once more. "That's gotta hurt! I guess all eyes are on our killing machines, just what will they do next to achieve victory? Will the Enterprisers continue to destroy everything in their path, or will the Game Makers pinch the victory right from under them? Stay tuned folks."

"I guess we're not Voyagers anymore," Harry overheard Foster whisper sadly behind him. The harmless comment not meant for him to hear left his chest feeling empty.

"Now, the top scoreboard," the hologram announced, his hand gestured to his left. That side of the screen showed an empty grid, room for sixteen names. As he'd read a name, a large mug shot of the person would float up from the bottom to take up the hologram's side of the window. A number would fade in and hover near their face. Once done their picture and number would slide off screen. Their name and rank would immediately appear in the grid, starting from the bottom.

So far none of the so called people were familiar to the crew, which they expected. What they could see so far they didn't like the look of.

"Coming in fourth we have our deadly flower, a firecracker in the dark," the hologram sniggered. Finally a familiar face appeared. With her eyes slightly narrowed staring straight ahead, and a very slight frown, Kiara looked intimidating for once. Harry wondered if they had to take a picture like that before they went in, or if they were holographic imprints the Game made. "Kiara. Fourteen points. The audience loved her imagination," the hologram's voice said, she then took her place in the table.

"Next in third place we have another tie. It's expected this early in the game," the announcer said. A lot of people noticed his demeanour changed drastically. He seemed disappointed, a little angry. "We may as well give these ladies points just for showing up, it was inevitable." Two images, one overlapping him and the other temporarily blocking the scoreboard. They had identical expressions on their faces as Kiara's picture. A few shuddered as these two girls didn't need the Game to make them look intimidating.

"Jessie, fifteen points," the announcer said neutrally, though his eyebrow twitched. His tone darkened, he spoke quicker to get it out of the way, "Lena fifteen."

Tira glanced at Harry, smirking as he shuddered once more, mainly at Lena's picture. "She's a chip off the old block," he commented. "I think we can guess first and second easily."

"There's room for three there, somebody's tied," Tira noticed once Jessie and Lena's pictures disappeared, and their names filled the grid. As she said, three slots remained open.

"Maybe we'll find out who our second mystery player is. I doubt they're buried in the lower ranks," Harry said. "Our role call didn't really help us too well."

"Second place we have the vicious beauty. Brains and quite the temper," the hologram cackled. B'Elanna's picture flew in, most of her staff jumped at her mug shot. It reminded them all of when they made a mistake on one of her bad days. "B'Elanna. Sixteen points."

Harry was more than intrigued by now, puzzled and growing very worried. "That leaves James. Who the hell is left other than Lena that can tie with him?"

Wesley watched with interest. "Hmm, you don't happen to have any violent types you may have missed in your registration? Brig occupants perhaps?"

"Oh crap," Harry groaned into his hand. "No, I know James has changed but no, nobody in our brig can really match his killing talent."

"So that's a no on checking prisoners, right?" Tira said, wincing slightly.

"In tied first place," the hologram sighed impatiently. "We have our villain of the piece. Without his swift killings, we'd be laughing as well as booing, as he lay at the bottom of the table. Every story must have one." James' picture appeared next in front of the table, confirming to Harry that the players didn't stop to take mug shots as he didn't qualify in the first place. "James, twenty points."

The hologram's face and body language brightened, for some reason he was pleased with whoever was in this tie breaker. Harry worried that this meant he was wrong and that the person who tied was one from the other side, and that could only mean at least one of their crew had been killed already. He hadn't seen it, surely the Game intent on hurting them would have given them a good shot of it and many slow motion replays? The other possibility was that this AI player was so entertaining they had managed to tie with an expert he'd seen kill two in a space of ten minutes.

"Also with twenty points for half the kills. She oozes personality and charm. Everyone was smiling at her presence and grace," the hologram grinned. The next picture sliding next to James' scared the crap out of everyone, a lot of people screamed.

Harry was shocked to see her picture, but not surprised the Game inhabitants loved her so. "Annika," he said, unable to take his burning eyes off the mug shot of Annika trying too hard to look intimidating. Her lips pouting, her eyes more narrowed than anyone elses. Maybe she was the only one who volunteered to do the picture. No, he thought, she'd be blowing a kiss or waving at an imaginary Damien.

"I'm sure, you're all eagerly waiting for the underdogs," the hologram smirked. The grid refreshed, empty once more. "It's easily my favourite part of the hour. So exciting!"

Judging by how many rows were in the first table, and how many were there now, seven had been killed so far. Harry remembered seeing three in the recaps section. "We only got the interesting deaths, I see." Tira nodded. They hoped the ones who they didn't see were not theirs, but as Harry thought before, they would have had those deaths shoved in their faces so they wouldn't miss it.

"Now, as you know when you reach zero your time is immediately up. Apart from that, where's the incentive, hmm? Where's the passion?" he paused for a reaction. "Exactly, forty people are a lot to go through. Nobody wants to watch the ones struggling to keep their starting points. Where's the fun in that?"

Harry's face drained in colour. He wasn't the only one, almost everyone watching felt the same way.

"Ohno, they wouldn't?" Tira stammered.

Wesley's head dropped, "after all I've seen, yes they would, merely for their sheer amusement."

The audience cheering left everyone feeling cold. The hologram stood to face the table, it gradually filled up with names and points from top to bottom. Once the last name appeared a negative buzzer sounded, their block highlighted in red. "Ohhhh! One point. Maybe you shouldn't have ran around so much. Though I'm sure Lielnal, or aaah six legged monster, is grateful for her extra points!" he howled in laughter.

The screens all changed to show the interior of one of the labs.

"No," Harry whispered.

The cabinet rumbled, Chakotay pressed his entire weight against the door. Neelix rummaged through the equipment on the benches, collecting things in the fold of his arm. Shar stumbled a few steps backwards behind him, which he missed, but Chakotay got a good view of.

"Hey, that was my fire axe!" she grumbled. Then she charged back the way she came, and out of Chakotay's line of sight once more.

"Sometime this week, Neelix. Funnily enough a creature with six limbs is quite strong," Chakotay grunted.

"I don't see why you think this will help. Now isn't the time," Neelix said, grabbing a beaker with liquid in. "I don't even know what this is."

"Perfect, put it in," Chakotay said in between being jerked forward by another cabinet tremor.

Neelix looked on in horror. Several seconds later he snapped out of it to shake his head. "Remind me to never let you in my kitchen." He chucked the contents into a larger beaker.

"You have no kitchen anymore," Chakotay said bitterly. He felt a tiny bit better for a short time, "silver linings to everything."

"Mean," Neelix whimpered. The next thing he grabbed looked like a purple piece of chalk. Chakotay nodded rapidly, so he tossed it in as well. The next a syringe.

"Anything in it?" Chakotay asked as Shar passed by in the background again. She muttered something unintelligible. He ignored it for now.

"No, empty," Neelix replied. A head shake forced him to throw it aside. He then decided to rummage through the items in his arm. "What about these little spiky things?" he asked shaking a little tub.

Chakotay had no idea what it was, only that it sounded like a pepper mill. "Neelix, let me put it this way. If you can eat or drink it, it goes in, like all the rest of your meals." He got a blank stare in return, the cabinet occupier slammed into the door a few times, harder than normal. "If you want to put it in, put it in, just do it while you're cooking it!"

"Okay, okay," Neelix huffed. The rest of the objects fell to the floor while he maneuvered himself to one of the taps. The beaker sat next to it. At the last second he chucked the contents of the tub in. Chakotay briefly had time to consider ducking and covering at this point, but he knew he'd never make it. Neelix proved him right as soon as he touched the tap, the contents of the beaker started hissing and bubbling. Green smoke billowed out of it.

"Hurry!" Chakotay shouted.

Neelix used his sleeve to cover his hand to grab the beaker again. He ran over to Chakotay's position. The Commander quickly opened the cabinet door a touch. Neelix attempted to toss it through the gap. Chakotay knew what was going to happen before it did, so he merely groaned as it bounced against the door by his leg and rolled across the floor. Miraculously the contents remained inside. Neelix seemed impressed with himself for some reason. Chakotay tapped the container with his heel to nudge it in the cabinet, all the while holding his breath before the green cloud completely swallowed him.

Once inside he closed the door again. Inhumane shrieks rang out.

Oblivious or not caring about it, Shar walked by once more with the syringe Neelix had tossed aside.

The cabinet rumbled a few more times, each one weaker than the last until it fell silent. Chakotay sighed in relief.

"Phew," another voice sighed. Neelix and Chakotay watched a figure climb out from behind a six foot tall and wide computer screen filled with blackboard writing. "Good job guys."

"You know, you really should be careful. The game penalises boring and fearful players who don't do anything," Chakotay said warily to him.

Another scream echoed around the room, strangely the three men ignored it as if it were nothing. Instead of Shar, a werewolf looking creature ran into Chakotay's view, cradling its eye with something sticking out of it. Moments later Shar followed it out, a red fire axe in hand. Neelix looked over his shoulder just in time to see her swing it at the creature.

"Well erm, I don't think Shar has anything to worry about," Neelix said.

Chakotay nodded, "mmm-hmm. Maybe you should kick the corpse, tell a joke, come up with a plan. Anything."

"Oh, I was thinking up a motivating speech. Maybe..." the crewmember said.

"No," Chakotay and Shar both groaned.

Neelix smiled sympathetically at the man. "I'd like to hear it, perhaps later. Why don't you and I try to get the door open again?"

"Oh, maybe we can use these," the crewmember said eagerly, raising a few tiny looking nails. "You dropped them in that last dash. I was quite the lock picker in my youth."

"How pointless," Shar muttered.

"I agree, but if it's a talent that keeps you alive. Go for it," Chakotay tried to sound encouraging.

The unknown smiled and ran over to the only door, nails at the ready. Neelix followed him. Before they reached the door a red light shone into the lab.

"We should hurry," Neelix stuttered fearfully.

The unknown nodded. With one nail in between his finger and thumb, he crouched down and reached for the handle. A small light sparked from the tip on contact. His body flung backwards, hitting the floor with such a thud it made the floor shudder.

Neelix stood shaking, his eyes and mouth agape, while Chakotay and Shar ran over to the downed man. Shar quickly knelt down next to him despite the smoke rising from his frozen body. "No!" Chakotay shouted to stop her, so her hand hesitated. "He's gone, you would be too if you touched him."

"What... what, how?" Neelix whimpered. To add further insult the door had slid open slightly from the blast. As he looked at it he realised something, horrifying him further. It wasn't locked. They could have all walked out of it without dying. Or anyone could have grabbed the handle to open it and suffered the same.

The red light fizzled away to nothing, leaving them in the dark once more.

"One loser down. Thanks for not playing Zero Hour," the hologram's voice taunted them from unseen speakers.

Chakotay firmly clenched his teeth, his face trembled. His anger ready to spill out in any moment. He knew if let it, the Game would likely reward him for entertaining them. He didn't want to give them that satisfaction. Kathryn's version of his angry warrior story repeated in his mind. The smile she gave him after he originally told her it. It gave him the strength he needed to push the fury aside. It was no use to him or his two remaining companions.

There was no way he would let her down again.

"Let's go. We have a game to win," Chakotay said.

B'Elanna tugged at the handle one more time, sighing impatiently when it still wouldn't budge. The unknown crewmember with her inhaled sharply through her teeth.

"It probably won't open until we've filled a requirement," she said, earning a frustrated glare. The woman laughed quietly to herself, "it is a game. Maybe we gotta fight a boss who drops the key."

"Remind me again, friendly fire earns points right?" B'Elanna said.

The woman seemed oddly calm considering, she looked back at the volatile engineer with a sheepish smile. "Still won't open the door. There's two of us, makes sense there'd be two enemies."

A few benches away someone cackled mutely to not be heard. "I count three," Damien whispered. He kept his back against the bench, watching a shadow fidget around the back wall. A tiny piece of chalk rolled in his hand.

His eye drifted to the right, halting the steps of an approaching figure covered in intimidating scales. Teeth baring, what he assumed was drool dripping from two chin length fangs. His spare hand clenched into a fist, leaving only one finger which he pointed at the fourth and furthest away table right next to him. The creature sharply looked, missing the shadow on the back wall disappear within the blackboard style screen's. It reconsidered going for him again. It didn't hurry, preferring to build some tension for its victim.

Damien wasn't worried though. A smile spread across his lips as his fingers wrapped around the chalk in his hands. He swung his arm in the direction he had been pointing, letting go of the item so it'd go flying. It clattered on the other side of the bench. The creature and him heard a startled gasp and some shuffling around. The beast leapt up onto the table, wasting no time on the new victim that would be more afraid of him than his last choice. Damien tried not to laugh too much in case he was heard when it pounced for whoever was there, a man yelped immediately.

B'Elanna and the woman ran over to at least the third bench, they used it as cover to see what was happening. Damien discreetly slipped around it to remain hidden from them. The most they could see ahead were shadows flailing about. Grunts from both the creature and its victim gave them a good idea what was happening. B'Elanna edged forward, raising her weapon. The woman held out her hand to stop her.

"What, he needs help," she hissed.

"That's a weapon you can only use once," the woman smirked.

B'Elanna glanced down at the metal tray she held. Flat when she first picked it up, now with an interesting face imprint imbedded in the middle. "It'll flat out," she muttered while pressing on both sides of it firmly. When it didn't she shrugged and carried on anyway.

The fourth table shuddered, they heard a loud bang. The grunts ceased, only the sound of snarling remained. The woman checked to the window to see if a Defeated screen would appear. It didn't. Her hand was just reaching for anything on the bench she could use as a weapon, when a painful hiss emanated from ahead. It didn't sound like the same man to her. Armed with a small tablet computer she joined B'Elanna behind the fourth table, ready to pounce.

B'Elanna moved first, catching sight of the scaled beast bleeding from an exposed piece of skin. It stumbled back from that blow or another, growling furiously. B'Elanna noticed the humanoid figure slumped with his back to the table. The woman gestured to her new weapon with a smile, B'Elanna groaned at her own damaged one. "Fine." She tossed the tray, aiming it for the monster's face, then dropped down beside the man to try to lift him up. Unfortunately during that she missed it land square in its eyes, she did hear it whimper from the blow.

The unknown woman quickly ran out to cover their escape, as it stumbled around temporarily blinded. Now that she was closer to it, she realised that the little computer would feel like a tap if she used it on the scaled monster, if it would notice it at all. The screen caught her eye, a smile crept onto her face. She aimed for that instead, hurtling the device at that. It smashed, sending glass and sparks flying. She ran away before it had a chance to burst into flames. The monster didn't realise it was standing too close or what was happening until its back had already been engulfed.

"I hope that was the requirement, or I've just killed us all," she quipped as smoke drifted toward them.

B'Elanna smirked as the woman clutched onto the man's other side, supporting him further. "On the bright side, you'll have a great score for those final seconds."

"True," the woman chuckled once they reached the door. To their relief it was open by a tiny margin. B'Elanna reached out to yank it open. The three hurried outside. Once they were, B'Elanna lowered the man to the ground so she could close it again.

They weren't alone. Chakotay spotted them stumble out from the other side of the vast hall. Keeping to the circular walls, he hurried over to join them. Neelix and Shar followed his lead.

"B'Elanna. Are you all right?" the Commander asked quietly to avoid anything else from hearing.

B'Elanna swung around at the sound of his voice. Relief washed over her. "Of course. You?" she answered, glancing at the other two.

"Of course. Seems you had worse luck than us," Neelix said in surprise, gesturing to the man.

"I suppose," B'Elanna said reluctantly.

Chakotay nodded, "who did you lose?" B'Elanna frowned at his question.

The woman with her's hand raised to check the pulse of the man they rescued, his head still hung down. Only then she realised he wasn't in uniform like them, but in casual clothing. It wouldn't be so unusual if it were not for the hooded jacket he had up, covering his face. As soon as she touched him he bolted to one side, scrambling away muttering, "don't."

All eyes flew to him. He quickly turned his head away and pushed to his feet. Shar's eyes flickered, she lurched forward. He ran away to the nearest wide open door before she could do anything.

"Somebody should..." she said.

"Agreed," Chakotay nodded. He pointed at her and B'Elanna. "Go, bring him back. We'll wait here." They ran while he was still talking, following the man through one of many doors.

"I wouldn't suggest only waiting," the woman said. "We need to be..."

Chakotay groaned, "entertaining, I know. But how?" Neelix sighed, getting his attention and for some reason, a dark smile. Neelix didn't notice. "We should follow them, perhaps we'll find something on the way."

"Um, okay," the woman said, raising her eyebrow at his odd expression.

Chakotay lead the pair along to the door the long way, against the wall. "What should we call you? I'd like you to survive longer than our fourth."

The woman was confused, but for now she covered it with a playful smile. "Ensign Heere, but that's my father. I prefer Aimee, or Aimes for short."

Both Chakotay and Neelix looked behind them at her, their eyebrows raised. "Aim here?" Chakotay stuttered.

The woman laughed, "you senior staff people are so gullible. I bet you believed Kanon too, no one's called Phoder. No, my name's Marlene. Appreciate the thought."

"I like her," Chakotay whispered with a smirk to Neelix. He meanwhile looked a little dismayed at the possibility of getting so many people's names wrong for eleven years.

The trio entered through the same door B'Elanna and Shar ran through. It slammed shut behind them, they heard it click immediately. "Well we wanted to be interesting," Neelix said nervously.

It felt to Craig like the walls were closing in on them. It had been twenty minutes since they last passed a window. The last door they had found lead immediately to another wall, even that was so long ago. At some points the ground seemed to slope upwards, although it didn't look like it did. Every corner turned looked darker than the last, no end in sight.

"This has to be some kind of sick joke," he said, glancing behind him at the rest of his party. "I hope they're having a good laugh at our expense, otherwise we'll be in the minuses if we're not already."

"Not me," Stewart whistled. On the next corner he stopped to hide behind it, humming a low tune, his head darting to one side and then the other. The unknown behind him was forced to stop. She grunted, giving him a shove which sent him flying into a heap. "Ow. That's the spirit."

She shrugged, "I didn't do it for the points. That was a gift for me."

While he passed, James crouched down to lift Stewart back onto his feet. Craig groaned in frustration at yet another bend, so soon after the previous one. The others heard a thud come from him a mere second later. James hurried by the other two to his side to find him rubbing his head. "What?"

Craig put his hand up only so far, barely above his head. The fingertips pressed against the ceiling. As they slid further ahead, it was clear to both of them the ceiling sloped gradually downward. If he didn't hit it, they wouldn't have noticed.

"It is getting narrower. I thought it was just my claustrophobia kicking in," James said as he carefully took a few light steps ahead of Craig. He raised his own hand ahead of him to touch the ceiling. One more step and his head would scrape it as well.

Neither of them could see the end of this current segment of the path. Light struggled to reach them for a while. "This has got to be the end. Any longer and..." Craig said.

James cut him off by slamming a hole into the ceiling ahead of him, showering the path with powdered debris and small pieces of metal. All three members of the team jumped out of their skin. They barely had time to recover before he did it again, expanding the first hole.

"One sec," James said, oblivious to their shock. He reached into the new path above, pulling himself up out of their sight.

Craig watched hopefully. "Well? What do you see?"

"You're not going to like it," James' voice echoed down. It sounded a little muffled as well to Craig.

"Another shrinking corridor?" he guessed.

They were already left a little on edge from the hole punching. A heavy clatter directly above them, followed by thunderous footsteps that shook the ceiling, startled them so much their hearts were trying to leap out of their chests. Craig thought he should back away from the hole, but the noise seemed to him like the activity was above Stewart and the unknown. He hurried forward instead, forgetting about the low ceiling.

The loud thumps followed him along, so his second head bump felt like it was for nothing. Slowly he crept backwards back to his team. He had no sooner done that when the low ceiling ahead collapsed. The roar of metal tearing flew passed them, assaulting their ear drums. Then silence. As the cloud settled a large figure raised upward, slowly turning its attention to them. It was difficult to make out exactly what it was, its skin covered in powdered grey, red oozing from a few cuts, its face swollen. All the trio knew was that it was large and was coming for them in an eery silence.

Craig shakily crouched down to pick up the largest piece of the earlier debris, keeping a close eye on the approaching beast. The silence turned into a low pitched hum. His left arm stretched out beside him, hinting to the other two to stay behind him, while his right hand tightened around the metal.

He saw the thing smile as it licked its lips. Craig raised the new weapon, ready to strike. His body trembled more with every step it took. It towered over him by a foot, easily. If it had been here before, it would have had to crawl to get to them. At the very least it would have smacked more than its head against the ceiling. The thought irritated him a little. Not enough to wipe away the realisation that he'd never be able to hurt this creature. He had no idea what happened to James other than it got him out of the way to get here. If it had done that and judging by its imposing size, it would probably only have to flick its finger to kill them. Running away would definitely lose them what little points they had. He hesitated for a flicker of a second. One option still had a survival chance, that was the one.

"Go," he whispered, briefly turning his head behind him.

The pair seemed to hesitate as well. They backed away, not keen on the idea of turning their back on the monster. A blur from above pounced on it, knocked it clean to the ground. The floor groaned and shook on impact. The new arrival straightened up, raising a thin and sharp object about as long as he was tall. It plunged deep into its throat, twisting it once the beast was pinned. It meekly struggled for a few seconds before succumbing. All of this, still with no sound.

All three were more than relieved when the new arrival turned around, they could see his familiar face, now sporting a bleeding slash on his cheek. He took one step forward, the second brought him to his knees. Craig was the first to run to him. He heard a low mumble over the top of the hum. He used his free hand to rub his ear, regretting it immediately as it ached in protest. Sound and air rushed into it. Then he could hear a voice, "...okay?" was all he got in the end.

"Are you okay?" Craig asked, crouching down beside him.

James looked at him as he leaned back, pushing his legs out so he was sitting instead. "It was a shrinking corridor, to answer your first question."

Craig tried not to laugh, the state of him and the image of the beast in the background helped with that. "And my second."

"Yeah, ankle's just sprained. We should keep moving," James replied, pointing up at the hole. "There's light up there."

"Light at the end of the tunnel? Comforting," Stewart commented.

"I wouldn't call it a tunnel, now," James said. He tried to get back to his feet, as soon as he put any weight on the left one he fell back down. "Great," he grunted, "I'm no use like this."

Anger flushed through Craig as he tried once more. His hand flew out to his shoulder, "no use? You're injured. You're a Human not a fricking weapon. Sit down for five bloody seconds and it may settle down!" The anger faded, he had no idea what came over him. The others didn't either. Stewart and the unknown widened their eyes as they stared at one another. James seemed more bemused than anything else. "I'm sorry."

"Why? You're right," James said with a half smile. He rested his back against the wall, all while bringing his left leg back. "Five bloody seconds."

Craig's head fell, his cheeks burned from shame more than embarrassment. "Did you know it was up there when you opened a door?"

"No, for a big guy he was pretty light footed," James replied, smirking slightly. His hand lightly touched the ankle giving him trouble, he winced a little at the touch. "At first."

"Oh," Craig mumbled as he had a feeling James' at first remark had a double meaning. He grew even more uncomfortable when James looked like he was going to try getting up again. "You weren't picked, were you?" That stopped him for the time being. "Another guy was here, he disappeared and you took his place."

"Tom was right about the Game excluding Slayers. Apparently Lena was more interesting," James said.

Craig nodded, "yeah." He didn't notice he was doing it, he only did when he saw James' eyebrow raising. Eyes widening he forced himself to stop it. "Oh god, dodgy ankle won't stop me getting a beating."

"I'd be more worried if you thought I was more interesting than the girl you like," James lightly laughed at his response. Still Craig looked very nervous, he cleared his throat and turned his head away. The laughter faded quickly, it left James with a sense of sinking dread. "Mum's gone, Lena was showing it more than me. Of course the Game picked her."

A growing lump in Craig's throat tried to stop him from replying. He soldiered through it regardless, leaving his voice a little rough. "Lena's tougher than the Softmicron give her credit for. Us too."

"Speak for yourself. I've always known Lena was the better one out of us two," James smiled while his hand lightly wrapped around his ankle.

"If the Soft think that her being upset is an opportunity to mess with her, then they're going to find out the opposite is true the hard way," Craig said with pride. He grew a little worried when he spotted James' hand sliding back and forth around his ankle. He thought the worst, he shuddered at the image. "Oh don't do that."

"What?" James asked.

"You don't know what's wrong with it, don't mess with it," Craig muttered. Despite his words, James didn't change what he was doing. "How did you get in then?"

Thankfully that stopped him for the moment. "Remember when Lena said that Chosens develop an ability to control the Games?" James said.

"Yeah?" Craig's eyebrow raised with interest.

James couldn't help but laugh, "I cheated."

The trio were all tempted to ask how when he brought out a familiar device in the palm of his hand. One adjustment brought the Doctor shimmering into the field. He smiled smugly. "Please state the nature of the..." Their environment caught his eye, he sighed and glanced toward James. "We can't take you anywhere, can we?"

"What the...?" Stewart stuttered.

Craig nodded, "yeah. How?"

"The Games tend to block out any technology or weapons that can be of use. A hologram with medical expertise for example," James replied.

The Doctor nodded, only then noticing his predicament. He knelt down to inspect his ankle. "Yes, it is rather rude of them to think of me as mere technology. It's to be expected, I suppose," he mumbled.

"But the emitter? That's got to count too," Craig questioned.

"It was a minor risk. Either it would appear or it wouldn't. I suppose the Game had no idea what it was," the Doctor said.

"As long as it wasn't a weapon, I guess," James said.

The Doctor smiled over confidently, "oh I don't know about that. Now, hold still."

Craig grimaced and looked away, just in case. He spotted the unknown sighing, worried about something. "They score you on your actions. Minus points for running away, doing nothing. Get points for killing and with flair."

Stewart wasn't sure why she was reminding them. Craig understood immediately, he groaned quietly. "How many points do you lose for sneaking in and cheating?"

"Oh," Stewart said when he understood. "He's killed three so far. Won't that be enough?"

"Hopefully," Craig sighed.

Back outside in the hall, four people stepped out of a door left ajar. One of which was scrunching up her nose, another waved the air in front of their face.

"Why would that six legged freak stab itself with pins? It doesn't make sense," Jessie asked through her disgust.

Lena stopped hand waving, "two seconds in that room and I was half tempted myself."

Their unknown crewmember coughed and spluttered. "I wish I hadn't chose the moment you opened the cabinet to breathe in."

"Yoohoo!" a familiar voice screeched from far above.

Everyone's heads jerked up to see where it came from. Six floors away they spotted a body dangling over the edge, they desperately kicked their feet against the metal barrier behind them. All that was stopping the person from falling appeared to be an arm wrapped around their shoulders, while the other leaned casually across the surface of the barrier. That hand was raised slightly to press against the dangler's mouth.

"Oh my god..." Jessie could barely get out, her throat closed up immediately after.

"What do you think? Shall I let it go?" a cackle echoed down to them.

Fists clenched so tightly her own nails pierced the skin, her eyes burned with intensity, Daniel worried that they'd turn red any second. Lena stomped forward, her cheek bones flexed from the fury about to erupt from her. "Do it, and I'll toss you from the top floor! Head first, then I may think of throwing the rest of you down you piece of sh..."

"Oh!" Annika faked a gasp, she shook her victim's head. "The perfect girl in quite a bind." The motion made her victim's eyes wider, they glistened from the tears building up. Even six floors up the group could hear her squeak in terror.

"This is between you and me you bimbo!" Lena shouted back in such anger the two men in the group moved a few steps away.

Jessie meanwhile looked to the stairs, then across that floor to find the quickest way up to where Annika was.

"At least I have a character arc that doesn't rely on getting knocked up, like all interesting female characters," Annika laughed.

"What?" Lena snapped.

Jessie's head snapped back up, her face a mix of disbelief and disgust. "Come down here and say that to our faces!" She muttered angrily, "I had more character development in Hunters than she ever had."

"Put her down, on your level. I'm warning you!" Lena growled.

Annika giggled. "Oh you want her around now? It's hard to keep up with your little malfunctions." She gasped, her hand moved from the victim's face to her own. "That is what we're calling retcons, isn't it? From one Mary Sue to another."

"Oh boy," Daniel stuttered.

"Let her go safely, and I'll make it a tad quicker!" Lena yelled.

"I stole your daughter," Annika sang and giggled. Her face quickly turned serious, she scowled down. "Who's gonna hold you back? No going back," she still sang, only far more maliciously than before.

Daniel carefully stepped back towards Lena, "she's only trying to get attention."

Annika laughed, "wrong Eye Candy."

"So I should ignore her and she'll go poof?" Lena turned her head to hiss at him.

Daniel winced, stepping back once more. "You getting mad is what she wants. She wants you on her level."

"Oh I'll go to her damn level," Lena grumbled angrily. She ran forward towards the stairs full speed.

"That's it. Come and get her," Annika cackled while dragging her hostage back over the rails. "Your death will be funny to me anyway," she whispered softly to herself.

The others had no choice but to follow Lena up the stairs. Daniel raced ahead until he was at the top of the first level. He looked over his shoulder, grumbling as Jessie and the unknown's pace wasn't to his liking. "Hurry, we have to stop her."

"Why? Kiara's in danger, and Annika..." Jessie said, her eyes rolled. "One of these days it'll stick."

The unknown started skipping steps to get up faster. "Oh, that I'd like to witness."

Daniel ignored him, "Annika's still on our side, technically. We don't know how the Game will score her for this."

Jessie reached the top of the stairs. "You heard the host; switching sides will curry favour with the opposing audience. Annika will be flying up the ranks if she hasn't topped it already."

"You're not helping," Daniel muttered. He ran off to the right without her. He'd stop Lena on his own.

Tom and the unknown stared at what lay before them, their will to live slowly fading away to mulch. They both felt they had it bad when they ran into a hallway filled with many doors. The first one lead them to an identical room to the one they started in. The second to a seemingly never ending flight of stairs into this basement from decision hell.

Everywhere they looked there were glass tubes, each with a platform moving up and back down randomly at different times to each other. Looking up gave the unknown an overwhelming feeling of vertigo. The ceiling so high they could barely see it. The glass tubes didn't remain straight all the way up, they twisted together, going off in different directions. Even when platforms rushed up they still couldn't see where they lead, as so many would be up in the air at the same time and they flew by so fast. Tom wondered if the number painted faintly on the glass doors leading to them were a clue to where they went.

"Shall we dip?" the unknown suggested to lighten the mood.

"Sure, maybe we should split up too," Tom said sarcastically.

They both heard a tap coming from the tube closest to them, just ahead. Tom assumed it was the platform arriving at their floor, so he brought his attention back down to earth. He quickly determined he was wrong. It was clear, something else caused the sound. Movement in the right corner of his eye froze him on the spot. Only his eyes moved to get a better look. His first impression was a giant bat, folding its sharp wings onto its back. Muddy brown, webbed feet. Its head looked like the jaw had been stretched down, its mouth permanently open, locked in place. How deep it was, he figured it'd swallow him whole. His entire being shuddered.

It ran at them both, making him yelp. The unknown had been blissfully unaware until then, only looking when he heard him. Tom pushed him into a run. With the only objects in this basement being see through, there was nowhere to hide.

A platform landed in a nearby tube. Tom grabbed the unknown by the arm, "here!" They ran toward it, it shot away before they could reach the doors. The creature approached them from the other side of the tube. The glass making its form seem even more distorted. It ran straight at them, undeterred by the tube. Tom edged to one side, its course altered slightly. His first impression of a bat flooded back to him. An idea popped into his head. He quickly whispered it to his teammate. They hurried away together.

"This one?" the unknown said, pointing at a different tube while staring upwards. Hurried footsteps squelched behind them, louder and more rapidly. He didn't wait for an answer, he rushed to the closed door and swung around to watch it coming. A squeak escaped from him, its proximity to them both turned his legs to jelly.

Tom ran around behind the tube, stopping directly behind the unknown. He worried that his idea had doomed the crewman as the creature stood a few feet away. It leapt forward, gunning for him. The unknown threw himself to one side when it was almost on him. It kept going, aiming for Tom instead. He cringed, expecting it to smash straight through the glass and grab him. He backed away slowly. A blur from above got in the way.

The unknown looked over his shoulder to see the monster fly through the open door, into the tube. The platform dropped like a stone on top of it. It was too quick to look away in time. The end result left him gagging.

B'Elanna caught her breath. The room she and Shar found herself in looked far too alike it couldn't be a coincidence. It felt like she was trapped in the underground structure all over again. Lining every inch of the wall were pods protruding from the ground, all the way up to the ceiling. Each one with a clouded window head height. A round computer station sat in the centre, black and unresponsive.

"What the hell is this place?" Shar muttered anxiously.

"We should go. He's not here," B'Elanna said, stepping backwards to go back through the door. Instead she slammed into it. Swinging around she realised that it had shut on its own, or someone did it from the other side. She tried to pull it open, to no avail.

"Oh, are you looking for someone?" a familiar voice gloated.

Shar stepped forward, her head darting around looking for the source. "Show yourself creep."

B'Elanna turned back, her face stiffened in anger. "How did you get in here?"

"Like you did," the voice laughed. Movement from one of the pods caught both women's eye. Damien slinked out from behind it, leaning on it with a smug look on his face. "I walked in."

"I meant the Game," B'Elanna grumbled. She tried to compose herself. "Honestly. You pick now of all time to mess around. If we lose, you die."

Damien faked a shocked expression. "Really? How about this? Most of you die trying to win. The one or two left do win. I take the Enterprise as my trophy."

B'Elanna waltsed over so she could laugh in his face despite her anger. "You think whoever can win this Game will let you do that? Also only twenty of us are in here."

"Yes, and most of you are senior staff. What's left outside? Oh, Harry, the EMH. Be still my quaking boots," Damien sniggered.

Shar looked on in disgust, "you're wearing shoes."

"Boots sounds better," Damien said simply.

B'Elanna was so mad at him she shook horribly. "Before I smash your face in, why don't we make a list of possible snags in your plan. Two Slayers, a crazy vampire, one witch, Chakotay who I imagine would love an excuse to kill you..." Shar cleared her throat. "Shar apparently. And me, who you're trapped in the room with."

Damien smacked his lips together, shoulders raising with indifference. "Who do you think closed the door?" The two women scowled at him. "I'm not the one who's trapped in this room." He sidestepped back the way he came, knocking on the pod as he did. Before either could respond it opened, steam poured out obscuring their view of whatever was in there. All they could make out was the contents moving forward.

"I'll distract it, you get the door open," Shar said.

"That's not happening," B'Elanna snapped. They heard Damien yawning mockingly. She snatched the fire axe from Shar's hands, using it immediately to smash the handle from the door. It creaked open slightly to Damien's dismay. The pair hurried out of it, Shar stopped to give him a wave before she slammed it shut once more.

"Why didn't I think of that?" she asked, her hands hinting for the axe back.

B'Elanna ignored the gesture, she slipped the axe instead in through what was left of the handle on the other side. The blade pressed against the wall and the frame. "A few seconds of panic may make all the difference. Let's go." The engineer ran off. Shar sighed, disappointed at being empty handed once more, she soon followed.

Inside Damien remained hidden behind the pod, his face scrunched up in anger, lips mumbling but no sound coming from them. A renewed hatred building in his chest. Footsteps behind him kept him frozen on the spot. All he could do now was wait it out, one way or another.

Fifth floor. Lena reached the top of another set of stairs, swung herself around the corner, determined not to lose any speed doing so. All it got her was a near collision with a four armed beast ready to pounce.

"Out..." Lena snarled, swinging her fist into its chest. "Of my..." Another fist flew up into its chin. "Way!" With both hands she grabbed it by the shoulder and tossed it to her right, sending it flying over the railings. It had barely flew over it when she continued on her way.

Two floors down Jessie saw it flying passed her, flapping its many arms to break its fall. The two men with her didn't even flinch, she assumed they missed it. She peered over the railing to watch it slam onto the floor. Even that high up she heard its bones crunch.

It felt to Neelix like they were walking in the air. The corridor made completely out of glass wasn't as fun for the other two members of his team. Marlene had her head turned to the right, she was treated to a harmless night sky view, taking her out of the Death Match and the strange building. Chakotay kept his attention directly ahead at the exit only a few metres away. There had been no deviations in their path so far, he was certain B'Elanna and Shar would have gone down here too. Still, he remained on guard for anything in this corridor. It was made like this for a reason. He didn't need experience to tell him that.

"Hmm, maybe we should go down there. It looks far safer," Neelix commented.

Chakotay's curiosity got the better of him. He glanced briefly to the left and down. All he could see in that moment were baron walls and a few boxes. "Yes, I'm sure we'll be a big hit with the audience who already hate us if we hide..."

The doors ahead slammed open. A figure emerged from it, staring them down. Compared to everything else they encountered, this one looked Human. What gave it away as not were its penetrating black eyes.

"Great idea Neelix," Chakotay said. His arm swung out to the left, breaking the glass. The figure ran after them so fast, they turned into a blur. "Go, go..." Chakotay stuttered, pulling Marlene first towards the opening, then Neelix. The two didn't need convincing, they weren't put off by the fall waiting for them. It was either that or what was running for them. They leapt from the glass, each aiming for a container beneath them to break their fall slightly.

Chakotay was next to jump when the thing caught up, slamming its body into his, knocking them both to the floor. The glass beneath them cracked. He raised his arms, hoping it would deflect any of its incoming swipes and punches. His right one instead was swiped away during the onslaught, twisting it, leaving shooting pains from his wrist to his neck. It punched, scratched at him. What he managed to block felt insignificant compared to how many times he didn't. He struggled to move, its weight pinned him.

There was only thing left to do.

Everyone that were in the right angle to see the screen, watched in a stunned silence as Chakotay suffered two, sometimes three attacks after another. His left elbow edged out of the way. Harry shook his head, worried that he was giving up. "Don't..." The Commander's elbow lifted then dropped into the already strained glass next to him. There was a collective gasp across the room as the glass gave away, the pair fell through it.

If that wasn't bad enough the image faded away, as well as others on the rest of the screens, to show the hologram sitting on the edge of his chair. "Phew, I dunno about you, but I wanted to see the end of that first," he said.

"We didn't," Foster commented.

The screen split into two. Harry shared an annoyed look with Tira, she bit her lip firmly. It wasn't just him, he thought. It hadn't felt like an hour since the last time it did this. He was starting to think the Game was only doing it to make sure the ones outside the Death Match suffered too. "It was quite the busy hour for our players. Let's take a look at our losers." Silence overwhelmed the crew, the first image to come up was one of their own. The man cruelly electrocuted just for having the lowest amount of points. Many looked away when they replayed it, while many simply bowed their heads afterwards as a mark of respect.

Harry chose to stare with quiet hatred at the host instead. He was helpless, it was the only way he felt he could hurt them. Further images followed, all of them AI mug shots, the replays of their deaths was little comfort after the first one. At least Lena's recent kill helped bring a smile to a few people's faces.

The tables replaced the so called losers side of the screen. "Now that we're in the meat of the competition, we start to see the real competitors rising into the higher ranks." A few noticed the grid was a lot shorter. "In joint tenth..." Two images flew onto the screen. Both of them surprised the audience. "The dark horses of the competition gave us a hilarious chase sequence and a shared kill, so rightfully deserved. Tom and Kristopher, nine points."

"If we knew the starting points everyone gets, we could work out how many points you get for kills," Tira said. She frowned, "though, I forgot about the entertainment element."

"What does it matter? We can't do anything with it, other than eliminating the surprise every hour," Harry said grimly.

Wesley turned to him with a strangely sympathetic look on his face. "They're only doing this segment to hurt us."

Tira nodded, "he's right. I've only see one loss so far, whereas they've lost many. We're winning."

During their conversation the ninth place face appeared on the screen. A lot of the crew were unnerved by its appearance. "Eleven points," the host announced.

"Yes, sure. We have two traitors. Lena's daughter, who I'm sure we denied entry to this thing, has been kidnapped. Our other Slayer looks like he's broken an ankle. Yay team," Harry grumbled.

"We were told we could help out here, it was a lie. You can't beat yourself up over it," Tira whispered to him. She clutched his hand tightly. He looked at her, his eyes glistening. "We've already defeated them. They're just trying at one last chance to break us. Don't let them."

"In joint eighth, well probably not for long, we have our glass breaking high flyer," the host chuckled darkly. Chakotay's picture appeared over the top of the scoreboard beside him. "Hanging there with him, not literally..." Too many people rolled their eyes at his obvious attempts to aggravate the crew. "Is the one you love to hate. We have no idea what he'll do next and that's why we love him." The next mug shot to appear left a bad taste in everyone's mouths. "Damien and Chakotay, twelve points."

Wesley stared at the screen intently, a frown formed on his face. "He survived. Apart from getting in the top ten without kills, what is the endgame here? There's no point."

"Oh there's a point which he's already shared, probably two. He won't get killed for having little or zero points. As usual Damien will do what he has to, to save his own skin. To hell with anyone else," Harry said. The seventh place mug shot appeared. Its striking green eyes, the leathery red skin and its horned head. He remembered it as being quite high up the last time. It was one to keep an eye on, he thought. Then it came to him, "has anyone seen this guy at all?"

"Now that you mention it, no. How do these things earn points when they don't do anything?" Tira asked.

"They probably just earn points for being alive. The Game so far seems heavily skewed in their favour, which we know from the lack of voting influence," Jach replied. Harry and Tira turned to him, expecting more from him. "I'm actually surprised they give James and Lena any points at all."

Wesley agreed, "yes, the points system hasn't been consistently shown throughout the Game. I would bet that they both don't earn as much as anyone else, so they hide it. While anyone hurting them would be greatly rewarded for doing so."

"Explains Annika in the last hour. Should we expect James' latest kill in here too?" Harry said, forcing a laugh out of himself.

Their conversation made them miss the announcement of sixth place all together. The host muttered the fifth place's score with very little interest in his voice. "Still fifteen points. Maybe we should minus one the both of them for being so boring, hmm?"

None of them knew who he was talking about. There were a few claps in the audience, someone blew a raspberry at the host for some reason. Harry thought about who had fifteen points last time. "Jessie and Lena," he said, checking the board to see if he was right. "Couldn't be Lena," he said before spotting only Jessie's name sitting in fifth place. Kiara sat just below her. Hers made sense he thought, being used as a taunt to lure Lena, her fear at being kidnapped. He was more surprised she didn't have extra points just because of that, than less for doing nothing.

"Fourth are a pair of eccentric souls we can't help but root for. Presented as underdogs, almost fodder in the beginning," the host smirked. Shar's picture appeared next to him, the previously unknown girl Marlene faded in next to her. "Shar and Marlene, sixteen points."

Harry felt a little better seeing them there. He wasn't the only one. Three more placements to go, four empty slots remaining. He knew from what he'd seen since the last rankings who they'd be. It was the lower scores he was more concerned about. While he was thinking he partially missed B'Elanna's demotion from second to third place. What he didn't expect was her score only growing by one point since the last time. She deserved more, he thought. "Seventeen? What the..."

"Indeed," Wesley said, not surprised in the slightest. "Helping someone else out, not being the one to kill the scaled demon. I imagine the point was only for her attempt to lock Mr Damien in that pod room."

"Ridiculous, meanwhile the AI are gaining points for not doing a damn thing," Tira grumbled in distaste.

"Skewed in their favour," Jach repeated nervously.

The host grinned directly at his audience, shuffling to the edge of his seat once more. "I can't be the only one who's waiting for the endgame to this." The invisible audience's cheers and claps roared, their approval spurned him on further. "In second we have the rivalry of the century. Two women vying for the title of true heroine."

"I can't believe they're buying this. Lena doesn't give a rat's ass about being the star of anything. Nobody on our side cares about..." Harry groaned. A lot of the crew's voices picked up, excited chatter echoed around. "Okay, I suppose Annika getting a pummeling is what we all want to see."

Lena's picture appeared first. Everyone squinted so the impact of the second picture wouldn't be as bad. Annika's flew in to sit beside her. "Lena and Annika, twenty five points."

"First James, no zero hour deaths. Get on with it," Harry muttered.

Tira chuckled to herself, "if only."

The host sighed as if he heard him. His spirit fallen, like it was painful to read out the next part. "In first. We can't wait to be rid of him. We were so close too. The cheater, the real monster of the game. He's so good at killing we hope he'll kill himself next." As everyone already knew to expect, James' mug shot appeared to temporarily cover the image of the host.

"Yeah you're not biased at all," Danny grumbled as she sat with his children. Three of them clapped anyway despite the rude words from the host. The youngest made another attempt to reach for his picture. Danny smiled as Duncan waited for his dad's picture to turn back to the host before flipping his finger toward it.

"Twenty six points," the host grumbled.

"What a load of crap!" Duncan spat. "Dad's kicked so much more ass, that's not fair."

Jodie, who was sitting closely behind them with a baby in one arm, leaned forward to put a hand on his shoulder. She hoped he'd settle down. "Hey, he's still at the top. Your mum's in the top five. They're fine. That's what matters."

Duncan sat back, folding his arms tightly. "They're cheating. It's not fine."

Harry stared in disbelief as well. He looked to the others with him for an explanation. "One more kill equals one point?"

"He cheated his way in. It makes sense," Tira said softly. "Doesn't matter."

"It's not him I'm angry about," Harry snapped. He emphasised his point by gesturing to the screen when it refreshed. "We've seen AI fly up the board despite never seeing them. How do we know that our people aren't being penalised for little things like getting lost or walking around, so they stay low in the board? We've already lost one to this low score rule. We may lose another."

The host grinned as he swung his chair around to the rankings, the grid quickly filled up. His eyes lit up once it was done. "Oh, please scoreboard, you're too good to me," he cackled. Harry's blood ran cold, that couldn't be good. "Last place we have a tie," the host said, answering his question before he could ask.

The screens flickered as they changed to show something else. Wherever it was, was dark and cramped. Wesley recognised it immediately, "the narrowing corridors."

"Two birds one stone comes to mind," the host grinned as the camera focused on the people making their way through the location. One of the figures shimmered out of existence, the object he had on his arm gently placed into another's pocket. The remaining team of four continued climbing through the Jeffries tube like corridors, getting closer to the light in the distance. "Maybe we'll get lucky folks. Cheaters always get what they deserve."

Harry's face was whiter than a sheet by the time he finished talking. He shakily looked at the others, they were frozen, faces similar to him. The feeling of helplessness washed over him once more. If only he could warn them. He knew he couldn't. The feeling he had before that they were definitely not okay, that they could have victory snatched away from them, wasn't mere paranoia. It was about to become very real.

James lead the way down the cramped corridors. The team reduced to hands and knees now. The light they were heading for he could clearly see was coming from a wider area, a small room at least. He picked up the pace to get to it and check if it was safe, dragging his spear-like weapon with him. Once he reached the end he carefully swung his legs forward to lower them to the ground. His ankle tried to give in once more, pain shot up his leg, it wobbled, weakened from the damage. Still he stood defiantly to take a look around.

The light he had seen as far back as the fight with the large beast came from a hatch above him. It had been left partly open. The only other way out of this room was the same narrow tubes on the parallel side.

Stewart joined him, extra eager to get out of the cramped tunnels. Craig sat at the edge, waiting for him to move out the way. The unknown girl lingered right behind him, huffing impatiently.

James reached for the hatch, it was far too high for him to do so. He had to jump, which he knew would aggravate his injury. They had to get out of there, they would be sitting ducks if something attacked them. He was about to jump when Stewart appeared at his side with his hands reached out, at the ready for something. James wasn't sure what he was hinting at. "I'll help you up," he explained.

"Okay," James said uneasily. He raised his good foot, using Stewart's hands as leverage he pushed up to swipe the hatch aside. Poor Stewart groaned, his shoulders trembled in those few seconds. He couldn't hold him, hands slipped and James was forced to drop down onto his feet anyway. Guilt and a little fear slapped Stewart in the face as the sudden weight to his ankle brought James back to his knees.

"I'm sorry," Stewart stuttered.

"It's okay, I'm fine," James mumbled. Stewart and Craig were by his side, offering to help him up. The unknown hurriedly climbed out of the tunnels now that she could. He took both of the offered hands to get back to his feet, albeit a little shakily.

"I thought you had lost weight," Craig said in jest to lighten the tension.

It seemed to work for James at least, he laughed a little, but Stewart was drowning in his own forehead sweat. "Too many cakes stolen from Lena. I need to check to see if it's clear. Wait until I tell you."

"I'll go with you this time," Craig said stubbornly.

James shook his head, "no." Craig's face fell. "I need someone to make sure it's safe here while I'm gone."

"Oh," Craig seemed relieved at the explanation. He smirked afterward, "you're just trying to make me feel useful."

"Don't be stupid, I wouldn't do that," James smirked at him. Red light flooded the passage, setting everyone on edge. James felt the floor lightly tremble, he looked up to the hatch which shone as it did before. "Up, now."

The closest to him, Stewart, he grabbed by the waist, lifting him up through the hole. The man yelped the entire time, caught completely off guard. He scrambled onto the next floor as soon as he could reach.

Craig moved back before he was next, he gestured for the woman first. She reluctantly hurried over, uneasy at being picked before someone else. James didn't give her time to change her mind, he did the same thing to her as he did for Stewart. Before her feet left the ground, all three felt the ground's temperature rapidly rising. Stewart reached over the edge to help pull her up onto his level. They both lingered to do the same for Craig.

"What the hell's happ... does one of us have zero points?" Craig stammered once it was his turn. The temperature of the ground continued to rise, he could feel it scalding his feet. The room began to fill with smoke. James barely had time to place a hand on him when flames roared up beside them, they both stumbled to one side to get away from it. It seemed to follow them, blocking any escape on their level.

"Hurry!" Stewart and the unknown shouted at them, one of their hands hovered over the edge, the other across their mouths.

"Get back!" James shouted back, smoke filled his lungs as he did, sending him into a coughing fit. The pair reluctantly listened, disappearing out of sight. He looked at Craig, his eyes watering, struggling as well to breathe. "Sorry, this'll probably hurt."

Craig tried to get his breath back just to say, "what?"

James grabbed him by his sides, instead of lifting him, he threw him through the hole. Stewart and the unknown were scrambling back against a far away wall when they saw him emerge. His body rolled harshly across the floor, then slammed into the wall. He slumped face first onto the ground. The pair hurried over to his side as the black smoke billowed out from the hole. His eyes closed, but still breathing raggedly. They each took a side, lifting him up by his arms. With only one door they had little choice at where to go, they ran for it.

Back on the previous level the flames had backed James into the wall. He had his back to them, his left arm slammed into the wall. The smoke already draining his energy, his attempts left only cracks. He kept trying, unaware that the cracks were at his feet as well. One last swing helped the floor gave way first, dragging him down. He had no idea how far he fell, landing pushed all of the air left in his lungs out, leaving him gasping. His hands pressed out in front of him, he pushed on them to lift his body up.

Little did he know he wasn't alone. Two figures approached him, both of them armed and smirking maliciously.

The black eyed, unfeeling killing machine screamed hysterically. She ran away so fast she may as well have vanished on the spot.

Chakotay and Marlene sniggered from behind one of the large containers. Neelix was left utterly confused at what just happened. He thought he was a goner. He knew it was terrible timing to do it, but he trusted Chakotay enough to listen anyway. Now he knew he was right he turned to face them. "See, what did I..." he noticed the pair laughing so much tears streamed from their eyes. "What?"

"Oh, I was just whipping some sandwiches up. Would you like one?" Chakotay mimicked his voice badly. Marlene laughed harder. "Oh that went better than I hoped."

Neelix stared at them blankly. "What's so funny about sandwiches? I panicked when I saw her, I wasn't really going to offer her one."

Marlene fell to her knees, trying desperately to stop. "Oh god, even people without souls fear Neelix's cooking." Another thought left her gasping for breath. "And he wasn't even cooking." Chakotay snorted into much louder hysterics.

Neelix huffed, folding his arms. "You know what. You're not getting anything."

At the other side of the large area they were in, the poor girl ran to the huge bay doors. She reached for the panel to open them when a figure lunged out from the shadows, aiming a sharp implement at her chest. She collapsed seconds later with a gaping wound near her heart. The attacker stood, trembling so much his hood fell to his shoulders. He ran from her in a blind panic.

Jessie had to stop at the top of the fifth level to catch her breath. Daniel was already at the base of the next array of stairs on the opposite side of the building. The unknown meanwhile started his jog along the walkway, until he spotted her. He stopped to wait for her.

She took in another deep breath while gesturing for him to go on. He shook his head. "Daniel will be with Lena soon, I'm not leaving anyone alone," he said.

"Don't, I'll just bore you down," she tried to say while taking a few steps forward.

The man chuckled, "it's okay, I'm already preparing my commentary for the big fight. I can't wait."

Jessie smiled, she wanted to see the long overdue Lena and Annika fight as much as anyone. Her only lung ached at her, but she wasn't missing this, so she continued on. The man hadn't noticed, he was too busy thinking of an opening slogan. A door next to him slammed open right in the side of his face. It hit him so hard he stumbled into the barrier. He would have been fine if that hadn't decided to lower into the ground.

Jessie ran forward to try and grab his arm, she just managed to catch his hand as his foot slipped off the edge. He fell, pulling her with him. She slammed hard into the ground, her hand kept a tight hold of his until she was hanging half over the edge herself. Still gravity tried to pull her further. The man stared up at her, his eyes wide with fear. He shook his head as he yanked his hand away. He fell the five steep floors to his death as Jessie looked on in horror.

With only her legs keeping her there, she felt her body slipping still. Her hands grabbed the vertical part of the floor to push her body backwards. Once she was safe she crawled to the side, away from any doors that may open as well. Then she climbed to her feet, all the while gasping for breath and trying to get the image of the man's body splayed on the ground.

"One loser down. Thanks for not playing Zero Hour," the host's voice cackled all around her.

The voice filled her with rage, she clenched her jaw, eyes flashing. "Son of a... bitch!" she yelled the final word. Her exhaustion no longer a fact, her anger drowning it out. She ran for the stairs, hoping that she'd find something to beat on the way up.

After a much shorter corridor than the last, Craig and the rest of his team emerged on one of the walkways above the main hall. Stewart and the unknown woman looked relieved to be in a large open space, they hurried to the barriers to take it all in. Craig remained fixed to the spot. The pair's relief was broken by his shouting and wall kicking. He didn't care that it hurt or that shouting made his smoke charred throat worse. He had to vent.

"Craig?" Stewart approached him carefully.

Craig covered his face with a trembling hand. Tears threatened to fall. "I killed him. If I kept my mouth shut..."

"You don't know that he's dead," the unknown said.

Craig scoffed, turning his back on them. "Of course he is. He had more to live for, kids and a wife. What do I have? The girl I love who's going to hate me for leaving her brother behind."

Stewart placed a hand on his shoulder, which he immediately shrugged off. "That's not true. Everyone's equal in their right to live. Besides I think you're not giving him enough credit." Craig looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes. "If anyone can survive a near death experience it's James. God, he's a pro by now."

"Yes," the unknown nodded. "That's probably why he chose you over himself. Or maybe, he did it for your girl."

Craig turned completely, his watery eyes focused solely on her. "What?"

"Hmm, ok maybe not. Her brother, her boyfriend... right? Losing either would be bad. I dunno," she stuttered.

"I'm not..." Craig mumbled.

Stewart laughed awkwardly, "she's just going off what you said, dude. James's always doing stuff like this. You're not responsible for his stupid bravado acts." Craig's eye drifted away, lost in his thoughts. "Don't tell him I said that, kay?"

"We should..." Craig said quietly, "find something to kill, or what James did will be for nothing." The pair gave him a firm nod of approval. The three headed along the walkway.

James rolled out of the way of a sword slamming down, half of it impaled the ground. The other figure swung a metal beam into his stomach while the owner of the sword pulled its weapon back out. After the hit, the leathery red creature leaned over to grab him by the shoulders, dragging him up only to deliver a punch to the face.

The sword carrier raised it to one side, ready to swing it at his head. Someone behind grabbed its wrist before he got the chance, all while delivering a punch to the back.

James saw none of this as he kicked the other attacker away, forcing it stumbling backwards. He hurried to his feet as it launched itself right back at him, throwing punches. James struggled to dodge them in his weaker state, they flew so fast. He grabbed its right arm mid flight, his knee swung up to strike its ribs. It fell forward slightly, allowing him to reach for its throat with his other hand. It lifted into the air as he raised his hand, then he pushed it while throwing his arm back. His other hand let go at the same time. The creature flew over his head, its collision with the ground caused tremors.

He swung around to deal with the other attacker, only to find it grappling with someone else with its back on him. It was bigger than him or her, so he couldn't see who or what it was. Both of them seemed equal in strength to him. James' head turned to the red demon, which merely brushed itself off as if his attack was nothing. It extended his fingers, claws twice the length shot from its knuckles.

"Ookay," James could only say in response. It didn't move, its eyes daring him to make the first move. James smirked at it, he crouched down to pick up the metal beam it dropped. Its green eyes glowed, anticipating him to advance.

The swordsman backhanded his own attacker to the ground. In that moment James recognised him, his eyes flickered wide open. The man crawled backwards quickly so he had space to get up and evade, the swordsman kept its weapon trained on him, converging far too fast for him to do so. It lunged the sword back, ready to impale him.

James looked back to the clawed one, waiting patiently for him to break the gap. James shrugged meekly, then threw the beam but not towards it. It shot across the room, plunging straight through the swordsman's chest. The man on the ground wasn't expecting it, he stared open mouthed as it collapsed to the floor with blood pooling underneath it.

It took the other creature by surprise too. He quickly recovered, charging forward to take advantage of James' change of focus and lack of weapon. In his peripheral vision he saw him coming anyway. It swiped at him, he ducked down to one side, then rolled away completely avoiding the other hand's claws. The maneuver re-ignited his fall injuries, they pulled him down everytime he tried to get back up. The aches he could handle, the sharp pain pushing into his right side left him gasping for breath once more.

He heard the creature snigger at him, footsteps approached. A glint of metal to his side caught James' eye. The sword he thought, he tried to reach for it. It was out of his reach. He tried to drag himself forward so he could, the creature slammed its foot down on his arm, pinning it to the floor. It crouched down, one arm pressed against his shoulder, knee dug into his back. It raised its right arm, ready to deliver a deadly slash.

It only saw the same glint of metal when it was too late. It blurred into its sight, plunging into its neck leaving him gagging on his own blood. James had no idea, still pinned to the floor he could only hear what was happening. The creature pushed its hand towards its attacker, as it couldn't see too well, its neck unable to move, it almost missed. Only one claw found its target, penetrating his side, bringing a painful yelp out of him.

The demon was the first to fall, it slumped to the left, leaving the bloody sword dripping over James' back. He was free to climb up onto his knees. He turned around just in time to see his rescuer begin his fall. He hurried over to catch him, clasping his shoulders with one arm, the other tried to cover his wound.

"You weren't supposed... to save me," he spluttered.

James shook his head, his eyes went even wider as he stared down at him. "What are you talking about?"

The man smiled weakly, laughing until the pain made him stop. "Idiot. I just wanted... to fulfill my promise. I still owe you."

"No you don't. I don't blame you," James said as firmly as possible. The man's eyes drifted closed for a while. James put further pressure on his wound, bringing him back with a gasp. "Hold on, just one..." He then moved it, reaching for one of his pockets.

"I saw her," the man said.

James' hand stalled, the item he was after lay flat in his palm. "You saw who?"

"She told me, my greatest weapon, against it... was me," he wheezed. The smile on his face was back, it looked almost smug. "It's stuck with me. It'll die with me."

"Nathan," James said, his jaw quivering. His eye fell to the object in his hand. His fingers tightly encircled it.

"Give Jessie my best. Look after her for me," the man said weakly. He chuckled painfully, "you hurt her, I'm haunting you."

James tried to blink the tears in his eyes away, he shook his head stubbornly. "No, you're not dying here." He didn't listen, his eyes shut, never to open again.

B'Elanna and Shar ran, the sound of violence up ahead encouraged them to pick up the pace. They were temporarily stalled by the broken patch of glass in their way. They carefully walked by it and continued to run.

They reached the hall to find Chakotay struggling with a creature on his back, trying to choke hold him to death. On its back was Neelix, whacking it over the head with his boot. Marlene lay on the ground nearby, face down. The two women weren't sure if she was dead, injured or just laughing at the fight nearby. The shaking shoulders told them it was likely the latter.

"Neelix," Chakotay croaked, rolling his eyes. "Not helping. Move."

"I got it Commander!" Neelix shouted just before it swiped him aside with a different arm. Chakotay was free to do what he planned; push himself backwards until he hit the door. It did the trick, the creature loosened its grip and fell to the floor when he stepped forward.

"Now," he ordered.

Marlene looked up, her face bright red, tears streaming down her face. "Oh right," she scrambled up to rush at it. He did the same thing. Neelix was too busy trying to put his boot back on. They managed to push it so far into one of the opening labs. B'Elanna and Shar understood what they were trying to do, they hurried forward to do the same thing before it recovered. It could do nothing but let the four people slam it into the window. It screeched as it fell endlessly into the digital abyss.

"That..." Chakotay breathed. "Would have worked much better without the shoes."

"Boots were better," Shar commented to B'Elanna, she smirked in response. Naturally the others didn't understand the reference.

"Next time Neelix is the bait," Marlene remarked.

Neelix joined them, limping. "That went well, didn't it?" They stared at him blankly.

Harry walked through the aisle, glancing occasionally at the screen behind him. There was an optimistic feeling in the air, he was unable to feel it himself. A lot of the crew watched the screens a little too eagerly, he knew why. After all he'd seen, he doubted he could enjoy it without feeling rotten.

When he reached the top he turned around, opting for watching for a short while before walking along to the other aisle. The camera lingered on a creature hanging limp over a barrier, with a nasty head wound. Its mug shot appeared beside it with the label Defeated. The view followed the back of Stewart running away from it. Something offscreen pushed it over the edge. The unknown girl ran into the shot after Stewart.

The neighbouring screen he could only see the edge of. He just made out Lena darting around, looking around desperately. The one on the opposite side he knew had images of the remaining opponents, as he had walked down that aisle ten minutes earlier. A quick glance told him he was mistaken. What looked like the scoreboard was on it instead, names filled it. He couldn't make any of them out from where he was.

He found himself staring back at the screen directly ahead of him. He just missed Tom and Kristopher stumble out of one of the platforms, which lead to one of the walkways. They looked dizzy, that was as much information he got from the brief image. It changed back to Stewart and the girl running to the other side of the one they were on.

He was surprised by what he could see in the background. Craig had one of the opponents pinned to the wall, his left arm pressed against its neck. The screen focused on them as it pushed back, knocking him into the railing. He moved his arm around to grab its neck instead as it pushed down on him. He rolled his body a little, the right grabbed the railing at the same time. One shove forward, he let go, allowing gravity to take care of the rest.

His two teammates got to him in time to stop him from falling as well. They pulled him to safety.

Harry sighed in relief. He didn't realise how metaphorically on the edge of his seat he was. He made his way to the left to see if he could see the scoreboard. It looked very different. Shorter, with two columns instead of one. He noticed Craig's name near the bottom of the second one highlight blue. Another one at the top of the same one did the same but in a red. It flew off screen while Craig's rose to the top of his table, taking its place.

He recalled four were left when it still displayed the opponents only. He witnessed three in the last few minutes. One remained. "Obviously," he muttered. The Game wasn't over yet.

He studied the scoreboard to see if he could see where this final enemy stood against his friends. It faded away before he could find it, instead showing Annika standing with Kiara, still with her mouth covered. The drone tortured her with more of her singing, while rocking her side to side.

"Rock-a-bye Slayer's baby, on the top floor," she tried to sound sweet but instead sounded nasally. "When the mummy comes, the Q girl will cry." Kiara whined, trying to mumble something in protest. Annika shushed her like a baby. "The same as her mummy, Lena will fall." Kiara's eyes widened as they drifted over to her. "And timeline will reset, Annika the hero." The drone sighed happily, "what do you think?"

"I think it needs a lot of work," Lena grumbled from afar, now armed with a small metal pole and a knife.

Annika giggled cutely. "Well, we never bother with rhymes around here."

Lena took a few steps closer, not breaking her furious gaze on the ex-drone. "You've got what you wanted. I'm here. Let her go."

"But, she's part of the problem," Annika whined. Lena's right eye twitched, a small symptom of repressed anger. "She's how you're here. Same with that crybaby brother of yours. Hmm."

"If you deal with me, neither will be necessary. You've wanted this for years, Seven. So have I. Let's stop wasting time," Lena said.

Annika chuckled without moving her lips, it sounded so forcefully evil, tough to take seriously. "You're right. Your words are wasteful. Everything you are, you stand for, what you represent, it's..."

"Better," Lena spoke for her, taking a further step forward.

Annika's eyes narrowed. "Such fanfiction. You're nothing more than a pretentious fifteen year old nutcase's vision of me. A child's naive idea of a better character." Lena and Kiara rolled their own eyes in perfect unison. "News flash sweetheart; it didn't work. No one knows who you are. Anyone who does, know that all you are is just another Janeway and Chakotay shipper's fantasy child."

"Can you kill me sometime today?" Kiara's voice mumbled from under her hand.

"Special super hero, perfect in every way, except when she's the teenage drama queen. First choice to take command of the flagship of the Federation, please!" Annika continued ranting. Lena sighed impatiently, absent-mindedly chewing on her cheek. "It's time to set everything back to the way it was. No silly fights to the death, no time travelling, no paradoxes, no shapeshifters, no Slayers, witches and monsters..."

"Oh my," Kiara mumbled.

Annika shook her once more. "No Q hybrid babies and most of all, no Lena Morgan Janeway."

Lena's expression seemed blank. Her shoulders raised and lowered slowly as she loudly sighed, eyes flickering back and forth. Annika scowled at her, waiting for a snappy comeback she could use against her. Instead all the girl did was polish the knife against her trouser leg, then raise the same hand up to inspect her finger nail. She made a little curious hmm sound while her thumb flipped upwards to brush a bit of dried blood from it.

"You... you're the know it all, solution to everything, just like what you accused me of. You're..." Annika hissed at her.

Lena glanced at her in surprise. "I'm sorry, what? I think I dozed off for a sec."

Annika silently fumed, making her body shudder. Kiara felt it though, underneath the hand she smirked. "I said you're the Mary Sue, not me. Just a little brat..."

Lena yawned over the top of her, then pretended to look apologetic about it. "You're sorry too? Well okay, if you insist."

"You... you did..." Annika stuttered, her eyebrow twitching. The last straw was Lena passing the pole to her knife hand, so she could scratch an itch on her back, all while staring at the ceiling. "This was supposed to be my show! My ship, my crew. You all humiliated me!"

Lena passed the weapon back to her other hand. "You haven't seen a demon running around, have you, One of Two... whatever?" she asked with little interest.

"Bitch, I'll kill you!" Annika screeched. She roughly threw Kiara to the floor. Lena's attention flew to her, in those couple of seconds Annika sped toward her. Lena quickly swiped both weapons to put her off. The drone now vampire dove over her head with an over the top somersault. A bemused look on her face as she followed every spin with her eyes. Before she landed, Lena swung her leg toward her, sending her flying to the floor.

"Oooph," Annika complained when she raised to her knees. Her hand pressed against her chest. "Landed right on my boobs."

Lena pulled a disgusted face, while Kiara struggled not to laugh. She dragged herself up to a sitting position. Someone behind her helped lift her up to her feet. She was about to turn to thank them when they threw her across the room, much further than Annika did. The landing forced her into an uncontrollable roll, only stopping when she slammed into the wall.

"Kiara!" Lena shouted after her in a panic. Annika took advantage, charging at her again. Lena had little time to retaliate. The force the drone used pushed them straight through the wall and partially into the next one. Annika's hand reached for her throat, digging her nails into her flesh. Lena responded by plunging the knife into her heart. Remembering Damien's earlier warning that it wouldn't be enough, she followed it up with a foot stamp and a swipe with the pole to the ribs.

Annika stumbled back from the onslaught, giving Lena a bit more room to breathe. She swung her knife holding fist at her, which Annika grabbed easily. She cackled as she swung that arm out toward the wall. Lena made sure to toss the pole at her head before she was flung through the same wall. She landed face down on the floor, her bones aching as much as the ground beneath her.

Kiara scrambled to get up. A pale white and greasy looking monster crept toward her, stroking its pointed teeth with its tongue. She looked around for anything she could use to defend herself, but there was nothing around her.

Lena pushed on her hands to lift herself up, she could see the thing clearly as Kiara slid across the wall. Lena reached her knees when Annika stomped up behind her, grabbing her by the shoulders, only to throw her to one side.

"Look what you did!" Annika snarled while her opponent was still rolling, then landing with her back to her. She pointed at the chest wound closely resembling a chip in a glitterball.

"Hang on," Lena muttered as casually as she could, rolling on to her back. Annika's anger grew, steam rose from her as the girl laughed at her instead.

"You think you're clever? This is my favourite suit," Annika growled. The laughter only got louder. She pointed at her face, which to Lena looked like a crack in an ugly porcelain doll. "This is my favourite face."

"Shocking," Lena sniggered.

While Annika had her tantrum, Lena stretched the arm with the knife away from her. She let go of it, then gave it a hard tap with her toe. It shot over, spinning towards where Kiara was trapped. It lightly tapped the wall on arrival, gliding next to her feet. Her hand reached for it as the creature lunged for her. All she had time to do while she was still stuck on the floor, was stab it in the foot. It screeched, hissed while it stumbled backwards. Kiara quickly scrambled forward to reclaim the knife, then crawled into a crouched run to make her escape.

Its head snapped to the right before giving chase. Despite her head start, it was much faster than her and caught up too quickly. They passed by an opening to a corridor, the creature about to grab her when another figure leapt out from the side. He jumped onto its back, his one good arm wrapped around its neck, pulling it away from her. Kiara didn't notice right away. When she did her eyes widened. "Daniel?"

"Don't worry kid, I've got it," Daniel smirked confidently at her. To prove it his foot slammed into the back of the creature's knee, bringing them both down to the ground.

Lena stood while Annika badly tried to fix her outfit to her liking. She almost gagged as the drone's solution seemed to be ripping the chest part away, showing off her cleavage. Annika sighed happily, "better."

"That's a matter of opinion. All sane ones disagree," Lena said, standing back up.

Annika slowly circled her, all while keeping eye contact. "You're only jealous."

"I'm confused. I thought we were doing this because wah she stole my scenes," Lena mocked her.

"So you admit it!" Annika shouted at her. "You stole everything from me. My family, my dignity, my man." Lena tried desperately not to laugh once more, biting her lip helped a little. "You're not even hot. Look at that hair, it's so boring and lifeless."

"Funny you should mention boring and lifeless," Lena smiled. She ran forward to attack, raising her fist.

Annika pitied her in a way. All muscle and no brains. This would be easy. She raised her own arm to deflect, the other pulled back ready. At the last second Lena ducked down, grabbing her by the waist. Annika had no idea what hit her, until the wall did. One fist flew into her cheek, spreading the open wound further. The other she moved her head to the side to dodge, Lena's hand went straight through the wall instead.

"You look like a plainer version of your mother," Annika spat at her.

Lena's other hand hung, frozen in the air mid punch. Mentioning her mother brought what she'd been keeping in the back of her mind, all back in a rush. It took everything she had not to break down in tears.

Annika knew this, she had a good smirk at her expense. She readied a punch of her own. The knife flew at her, piercing straight through her hand and into the wall, dragging her with it. Annika whimpered as she gently tried to pull away from it. She noticed Kiara standing not far away, her arm lowering to her side. The slightest hint of a smile on her face gave Annika the inspiration to put her second on her to do list.

The distraction gave Lena the time she needed to snap out of it. Her anger renewed. Annika was not a mere annoyance anymore, her recent actions and her condition confirmed to her what she needed to do. Play time was over. She snatched the knife back roughly, making the vampire screech in pain. Instead of blood trickling from an open wound, the knife had left a chiselled hole in her hand, sparkling under the light. The knife itself covered in glitter.

Before she had any time to recover from it, Lena swiped the knife at her face. Tufts of Annika's blonde hair fell to her shoulder, sliced in the second it took to deeply cut through her eyelid and across her eyebrow. Her head recoiled into the wall from the attack, doing so she noticed her precious hair slipping from her shoulder to the floor. She screamed, seeming to Lena like she was more bothered about that than anything else.

Kiara figured that her mother didn't need anymore help, so she looked towards Daniel and the AI. The two struggled on the floor, each trying to pin the other. Daniel momentarily gained the upper hand, he balled his fist to punch it while his injured arm remained limp at his side. The beast noticed the vulnerability, shooting its own hand forward to grab his throat while he couldn't defend himself. He still managed to get the hit in, but it was weakened by the shock of the attack. It kicked upward, all while pushing him away.

"Oh god..." Kiara gasped as she heard the sound of bones cracking while his body tumbled aside.

Annika pushed her opponent away with all the strength she had. Lena stood her ground, only being forced to stumble back a couple steps. Annika's lop sided hair style was the least of her worries, what with her eye forced shut, the ripped catsuit and her chiselled cheek. Lena sniggered at her, she could see the fire burning in her opponent's one eye. "You look fantastic. I hear five year old with scissors Barbie is the new favourite toy with kids this year."

"Just... die," Annika growled in pure fury. She pounced, Lena knew she would. Once she was close enough, Lena grabbed her, using Annika's own momentum against her to toss her, head first, over her shoulder. The ex-drone landed right on her back. She rolled onto her arm, then she noticed the floor had a shiny look to it. Annika could see herself so clearly. Her hand shakily reached for the cheek wound, then the half circle around her eye.

Lena stared, unsure what she was doing. Her face turned into a light grimace as the undead woman began caressing her own reflection.

Kiara shivered as she looked over to where Daniel lay still. The demon turned its attention to her, it slowly climbed back up. It was injured from the fight, it approached her with a limp. She desperately tried to think of a way to prey on that. She couldn't run. There was no way she'd run out on Lena. She thought about ducking, rolling away, knowing that it wouldn't easily be able to follow her. Maybe tripping it over. She stepped backwards while thinking these options over. Everytime she pictured it going wrong.

"I'm..." Annika said softly. "I'm Seven of Nine."

"Okay," Lena muttered.

Kiara decided on the duck option. It made more sense to her, she wasn't a fighter like her mother. It was almost on her, so she threw herself to the floor, ready to roll away. Lena and James had made it look so easy. Hitting the ground hurt more than she expected, her roll didn't last long. She was left in a compromising position, lying on her side a few feet away. It turned around, sniggering at her.

"Hey," another voice snapped. Kiara frowned, it came from above and behind her. She looked up, so did the creature. Black hair tumbling to her shoulders, a fierce scowl on her face, a green glint in her eye Kiara recognised as trouble. The woman held something in her arms, something thick and heavy looking. Typical of Jessie to arm herself with something too big for her, she thought.

"Tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One," Annika mumbled. Lena rolled her eyes, leaning over her while she stared at herself. Annika smiled, "but you may call me Seven of Ni..." her words were cut off by Lena's arm wrapping around her neck. Her other hand pressed against her cheek. Lena pulled with all her strength. She heard something shatter, the resistance she felt snapped away. A cloud of glittery dust flew into her face as she stumbled back.

She sighed in relief, it was over. The body slumped to the ground, parts of it smashing on impact like it was made of glass.

Jessie swung the large object at the creature's face. The blow sent it crashing down, twitching in pain. Kiara watched her walk by, re-aiming it so the thinner side was in front. "Game over," she said, plunging it into the AI's chest.

"Game Over," the computerised voice echoed all around them.

The environment faded away, taken over by a bright light.

Anyone close to a window rushed to it, catching a glimpse of the gigantic purple cube rise up, leaving them behind. They watched as it brushed through the cloud free sky. Its texture fluctuated the further it flew. Its colour faded to a dull grey once it looked no bigger than the moon in the horizon. Some winced while others looked away as light pierced through it, enveloping the cube so they could no longer see it. Seconds later it was gone, leaving no trace behind.

Tom waited with baited breath. Even though it looked calm on the viewscreen, he didn't want to get his hopes up yet.

"No subspace readings. The Game had nowhere to go," B'Elanna reported. "It worked. It's gone."

Harry sensed that his friend wasn't eager to question further, he was curious though. "Where are we?"

Faye quickly checked, she wanted to know too. She checked twice, not believing it. "Alpha Quadrant. Federation Space."

"No way," Craig mumbled, his face blank.

Wesley shook his head, "the odds were ridiculous, but we still found it. My senses, they were clouded so I wasn't sure."

"Um... we didn't land on anyone, did we?" Harry stuttered.

"No. The planet's uninhabited," Faye answered.

Chakotay's head drifted in her direction, "the Games Matrix was failing. I doubt that the cube was working correctly when it picked a landing spot."

Tom looked at him, his face painted with uncertainty. He shook it off for now, there was plenty of time to think about it later. "Helm, take us up." Danny nodded, she immediately got to work. "How long back to Earth?"

"At maximum warp, fifteen days," Faye answered.

Harry and Tom glanced at one another, both sighing in relief. Chakotay stared ahead at the viewscreen, its image lowering as they all felt the ship gently lifted up from the ground.

Lieutenant Commander Paris' Log Supplemental: I don't even know where to begin. Voyager's journey is over, the Softmicron's greatest weapon has been destroyed. The odds were against us, there were times we felt helpless, overwhelmed by a power greater than us. We have survived, we're almost home. Our struggle ends today. Fifteen days remain between insanity and calm.

The Enterprise emerged from the surface, back into the normality of space. The nacelles flashed, it shot away into a blast of light.

We've had longer journey's than this. We'll be fine.

Lena stared glumly ahead of her, chin nestled in the palm of her hand. The computer screen sitting beside her on the sofa filled with text only. A small data chip inserted into its side. Something inside her nagged her to read it once more. Her head turned slowly toward it, her throat throbbed at the thought alone. Nevertheless her eyes fell onto it.

Sometime long ago, in another life I made the decision that lead us here. I was told that I'd make a great sacrifice for the sake of the time space continuum. I agreed, likely knowing it was not my life alone that would be at stake. I couldn't have known what it would be. That much I do know for certain.

They pulled his arms behind his back, restraining his hands together. Damien laughed as fiendishly as possible to unnerve the Security officers surrounding him. Craig shook his head, eyes rolled as he gestured for them to lead him away.

Don't misunderstand. Both of you belong in this universe as much as anybody does. I know personally that I wouldn't have it any other way. If it were merely a choice of bringing you into this world, I'd do it all over again. My regret is the pressure, the weight I placed on your shoulders that day.

Know for the rest of your days how much I love you. How proud I am.

Tom smiled awkwardly, his arm stretched to behind his back. The man standing ahead of him shook his head, a curl in his lips. He patted his other arm approvingly, all while holding his right hand for him to shake. Tom relaxed his shoulders, bringing his arm back down. He accepted the hand shake. The gesture extended to the man pulling him in for a brief hug, the hand on his arm reaching for his back.

"Well done, son," the man whispered to him. His gaze blank. Tom thought for a second that his father had finally changed, the stare told him otherwise. A part of him was relieved though. He couldn't handle anymore change. His father was proud of him, that was enough.

I can only imagine how angry you must feel reading this. My hope is that you'll understand one day. That you'll forgive me.

The skies ahead were a light grey. A warm breeze pushed the smaller clouds away, revealing patches of blue. The sun above tried its best to burn through them. Those brief moments brought out the vast fields of green lying ahead of him.

His hands rested on the old metal rail of the bridge. He remembered being so small he couldn't even look over it. The many days he and his sister would sit over the edge and gaze at the view for hours. The smile on her face he recalled so vividly it was almost like she was here beside him again.

Small footsteps scampered over to his side, he looked down to see his tiny daughter jumping onto her toes to get a better view, just like he used to. James smiled down at her, kneeling down to gather her up in his arms. In her own she held a few little flowers she had recently picked. Now that she could reach, she placed them on top of several bunches already lying on the rail. He gave her forehead a kiss.

Jessie stood by his side, smiling warmly at them both. Duncan and Sasha she kept close, a hand resting on their shoulder or back. Their newest family member cradled protectively in her big brother's arm.

They heard footsteps behind them, scraping hesitantly to a stop. James looked over his shoulder, his smile grew. "You made it," he said to the figure standing in the background.

He smiled hesitantly, one of his hands buried deep in his pockets, the other behind his back, shoulders tense. "My cellmate's got my back. It's cool," he ended up smirking as carefree as he used to.

Jessie looked over as well. Relief was all over her face, she stepped a little closer to him. He still seemed a little uneasy about their proximity, so she stopped at a safe distance. "How long have you got until the Doctor notices you're gone?" she asked.

Nathan smiled back at her, a playful glint appeared in his eye. "Longer than I need, or should have," he said, eyes drifting over to James. "I don't know if I'll ever look at this place the same way again."

James turned back as the wind blew through the trees. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds. A contented sigh drifted over from his far right. He looked over to see his two sisters sitting on the bridge, their legs dangling over the edge. Yasmin seemed very bored by it all, which he expected. The sigh came from Lena. She looked peaceful as she stared out into the valley, a small smile on her face.

Your life begins a new day. Enjoy it. You're free now.

THE END

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