((An investigator's flashlight beam fell upon another corpse.)) Partially buried in the sands of the flatlands was the former shell of Jacob Rowe, his signal yellow skin marred by a great pool of scarlet, centered on two holes that had been blasted through his chest, right where his heart had been....

((...)) A sputtering car came to a stop just outside a roped-off fence, a building of concrete and glass looming in the far distance. The car door flew open, and a man holding a black mask stepped out onto the desert sands. He didn't close the door behind him, instead removing the keys from the ign...

And in response, the collar began to grind itself apart, slowed in its action by the disturbance of time around Ximena's head.

The metal split, enough that it was no longer bound to Ximena's neck, but it did not fly apart just yet.

Ximena had given herself a second, but only one.

When Javi fell, the man briefly panicked, and moved to try and break the boy's fall, only to stop just as soon as Javi stabilized. He took a step back, looking up at Javi, quietly listening. When he finished speaking, the man grit his teeth, and slammed his fist onto the hood of his car. "That'...

Somewhere far away, a man who wore a mockery of Tamara's face as a disguise watched the fight going down near the outer fence, waiting to see if anyone would slip past it. When Tamara charged Crispin, the other boy dodged out of the way, and Tamara went careening past him. Tamara tried to spin on hi...

Far above Kennedy and Joel, an explosion abruptly rocked the Compound. There was a rumble, and then the ceiling above Kennedy, a particularly worn patch of cracked concrete and rusted steel, gave way under the stress. She didn't have time to respond before the falling debris crushed her to death. S...

The man went quiet as Javi burst into tears. A look of confusion, followed by realization, began to dawn on his face. "Kid," he shouted, "it's okay now. You're not in any danger. I-" He fumbled over his words, clearly unprepared for the situation he found himself in. "I've g...

The man nodded at the acknowledgement, and lowered his arm.

He licked his chapped lips, and glanced back towards his car, then looked once more towards Javi.

"Nothing but desert for miles out here, kid," he shouted. "You lost?"

The man took a step back, pulling his attention away from his trunk. He began to walk around the car, towards the driver's seat, before he abruptly stopped in place. He furrowed his brow, turned back, and looked up. There was a brief moment of hesitation, his head craning back slightly, eyes squinti...

Tiger had long since run out of patience.

When he saw the "028" marker so close to the danger zone boundary, and saw the orb whizzing through the danger zone proper, he knew what to do.

He pointed, and snapped his fingers.

CROCODILE: "I still can't believe we're the ones out here doing this. Did you see what the kid who got the prize did to that other one?" BEAR: "Please don't remind me." CROCODILE: "..." CROCODILE: "Right. Sorry." CROCODILE: "I don't know why I'm here. I d...

The sun rose on a new day. The fence was long gone, out of sight by now, even as Javi was so high up. A black sedan meandered its way across the desert sands, far below. SHARK: "The kid was supposed to be around here before he went out of range, right?" WOLF: "Supposedly." SHARK:...

A voice came over the speakers once more. "Nice job, kid," said the owl-masked woman. "We might've been the ones to push the button there, but you're the one who ringed him out. According to the rules of martial arts tournaments, you get the credit. Congratulations." Then, a burs...

OWL: "Tiger. TIGER. WAKE THE FUCK UP." TIGER: "Wh-what?" OWL: "One of the kiddos is making a run for it." TIGER: "Again?" OWL: "YES, again! Look at the screen!" The sound of shuffling, and a chair being dragged along the floor. TIGER: "Alright, ...