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content warning: blood, violence, medical exploration, & death themes authored by @QuakeRoc ([[Twitter|https://twitter.com/QuakeRoc]] / [[itch|https://quakeroc.itch.io/]]) css and styling by @datastains ([[Twitter|https://twitter.com/datastains]]) @BlackRosettes ([[Twitter|https://twitter.com/BlackRosettes]])

<<set $section_title = "Snow as a Motif">> <<if $current_line gte 1>>They say that people never learn.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Thus a child, thus a man. Like Jesus.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You and I know better, of course.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Jesus was a shit kid and a good man.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> You fought as a kid, and you still do;<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> except now you’re good at it.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to false>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>It was a dark February day, the last grasp of winter digging at your skin through your too-thin jeans and poor-fitting sneakers.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> You always had to scrunch your toes to stay balanced.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You’ll grow into it, your mom always said, inevitably throwing them out when they got too ratty, well before you ever did.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You couldn’t feel your toes, but you could feel your fingers, even without gloves on.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> You felt every sharp sting of sub-zero snow lashing across your bleeding knuckles, the cold yet still numbing the throbbing through your doughy fist.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> The accruing white ran red.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to false>> <<scrolldown>>

<<print $section_title>>

<<if $current_line eq $line_count>> <<if $next_is_final_passage eq true>> <<set $show_final_button = true>> <<set $button_text = "End">> <<else>> <<set $show_final_button = false>> <<if $current_section eq 0>> <<set $button_text = "Begin ⇓">> <<else>> <<set $button_text = "Next ⇓">> <</if>> <</if>> <<else>> <<set $show_button = true>> <<set $button_text to "Next ⇒">> <</if>> <<if not $show_final_button>> <<button $button_text>> <<if $current_line eq $line_count>> <<if $last_passage_of_section eq true>> <<set $current_section++>> <<set $current_passage to 0>> <<set $current_line to 1>> <<else>> <<set $current_passage++>> <<set $current_line to 1>> <</if>> <<else>> <<set $current_line++>> <</if>> <<replace "#shell-body">><<include "Shell Body">><</replace>> <<replace "#shell-title">><<include "Shell Title">><</replace>> <<replace "#shell-button">><<include "Shell Button">><</replace>> <</button>> <<else>> <<button "Next ⇓" "7 0">><</button>> <</if>>

<> <<set $passage_to_show = $current_section + " " + $current_passage>> <><<include $passage_to_show>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Across from you lay a kid twice your mass, sobbing and blubbering meat juice and bloody snot across his face, his mittens, and his five-minutes-ago new winter jacket.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> He sounded like a dying cat as filtered through jello and crooked teeth.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> On the way into school that day he called you a f****t.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> That burned in you all day, from your first class to lunch and through to goddamn last bell.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> A fire that helped you stand tall, lip bleeding, as that winter’s last blizzard whipped your hair atop your head.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>It was only the blizzard that let you get away with it. <</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> As the students shuffled out into the dark, you’d pushed on his back, separated him in the parking lot from everyone else, across the street to the dilapidated playground no-one was using.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You don’t remember what he said. You just know that the moment his posh-ass mother fucking homophobic attitude shitsucking voice rose in its cracking pubescent heights to be heard above the wind, your arm was already in motion.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You had punched people before. He hadn’t.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> He went down. You didn’t.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>If there was any sun, you’d have cast a long shadow over him, blubbering as he did in a puddle that dripped down the incline toward you, to meet your own fists’ leavings.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> That was one punch. One punch and you could see his teeth twisted inward, even with his arm held out.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You stepped forward to make it two. He begged you to stop.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Three.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Four.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Five.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> Strong arms pulled you away. The rest is a blur.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>ring ring<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> The shouts of a crowd drunk on blood rise above even the brass clangs of the bell.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> The blood on your knuckles isn’t yours.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Class is over. It’s round two.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 4>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to true>> <<scrolldown>>

<<set $section_title = "Eyes Ablaze">> <<set $last_passage_of_section to false>> <<if $current_line gte 1>>There’s a specific kind of hatred one has when competing.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Strong feelings that transcend truth for those moments, minutes, hours.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> The kind of hatred that lets you look a person you share nearly everything in common with in the eyes with the intent of making him bleed.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Blood’s already caked against his nose, stopped for the moment by adrenaline chloride. It’s only the opening of the second round, and there’s stray drops landing at his feet.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> It doesn’t stop you from seeing that hate in his eyes.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> There hasn’t been enough time for the swelling to set in to hide them.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The sounds of your fists are much duller than a professional fight; the padded gloves squeak and piff, louder, but less impactful.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> For their safety, of course.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You’re not bare-knuckled, but there are no gloves. Only tape, wound around and around, tight as a snake between your fingers.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> For your safety alone, of course.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> The sound of your left fist grazing his nose is absorbed by bone and fat, little rebound in anything to echo throughout the roaring arena.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Dribbles of blood fall at his toes, a sound imagined through the roar of the crowd.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The referee swings their arms in and shouts.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> You lunge in, left foot sliding in just a little to close.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> He holds out his right arm, half-jabbing, half-distancing you away.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You bend back, but keep your weight on your left foot.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> You think: He has to back up.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> He backs up, right foot, left foot.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> Your face is burning, but extra heat rises up your throat. Like fire.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> Manic lust for more of that blood.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 9>> This isn’t a professional fight - those wouldn’t be as fun.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 9>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>He’s a half a foot taller, but he’s on the defense. Range and power mean little without speed, without experience.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Each step you take, not the shuffle of positioning, but the driving leans of punches left to right.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> Something at your knees whirrs, internally.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Not now.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> There’s a click, loud and distinct, that pauses your heart for a second. Surely someone would hear that.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Your opponent doesn’t take attack, too disoriented from your blows to take advantage of your moment of obvious weakness.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> Your vision goes black around the edges, and your breathing has to fight to catch up to just a second of loss.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“What’s this?” cries out the hokey announcer, his voice cutting above the crowd’s dying roars, “is Steelbane staggering under her own power?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> You want to strangle this guy.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Or could it be she’s taken some blows too fast to be seen?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You take up position with the other fighter, whose shoulders suddenly seem much looser, his posture better.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Clearly, the announcer helped.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> You feel the anger after your action. A step in, with the right, that hooks cleanly around his hands. He barely has time to try to lift his shoulders and duck before your knuckles contact his teeth.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> A strong chin is half of boxing, and he has one. He steps back, staggering with a wobbly knee, but stays standing.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<set $section_title = "Elsewhere, the Truth">> <<set $last_passage_of_section to false>> <<if $current_line gte 1>>A dog, a fox, and a deer rotate together in a void, mixing their emotions in a form past consent.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “Should we really be sharing this much?” the dog asks, fretting its paws over one another.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Would anyone understand the depth?” the fox asks, stroking his cheek with one leg.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “Would anyone care?” the deer asks, black smoke seeping from her nose and lips.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 4>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Blood in the water, hot spray on your fingers. The wrapping is stained.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> You step in with him. The whirring is louder, and your legs are burning.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> A right uppercut to his gut as he’s still defending his face.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> The crowd’s already roaring from the blow to his face. You don’t know if you hear his spit and gasp or pretend to.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> You can feel your legs about to collapse under you. You lift your left arm for a hammering blow down.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Past the puffiness of his face, you can see his eyes as he turns to face you. The hate is gone. He’s lost. He knows it.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> You have to prove it to the people, and you turn his face away with the force of your entire body, shoulders and hips twisting.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> The crack of his skull hides the snap of your legs.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 8>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Crimson spittle sprays off his tongue in an arc across the ring.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> His mouthguard bounces and flies away, somewhere into the crowd.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> He hits the floor with the elastic impact of his slumped body. Ass high, arms spread out.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> His body twitches as if to make itself comfortable there, and then stays unmoving.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Spit filters out through his teeth and into the spreading puddle of blood he lays in.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<set $section_title = "Frostbite">> <<set $last_passage_of_section to false>> <<if $current_line gte 1>>The back room of the locker rooms stinks of sweat and piss and caustic cleaning solutions, all smeared on the skin on your leg, peeled back for the probing fingers of a man thrice your age.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> You try to focus on the tile ceiling, guessing on how long it’s been since they were cleaned of grout.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> The sensation of blood on your opposite leg’s too distracting. You bite down hard as he shoves two fingers into his incision.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 3>> <<scrolldown>>

<<set $section_title = "Snow as a Motif">> <<set $last_passage_of_section to false>> <<if $current_line gte 1>>Strong hands hook a loop around your thumb. Handwrap wound three times around your wrist.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “So, you’re really doing this?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You stare out the window at the blizzard, not able to see past the irregular sheets of blowing snow. Black and white and so much grey.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “No choice at this point.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Your voice is hoarse from lack of use.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Around the base of your thumb. Back over your wrist.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> “Yeah. I’ll miss you.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> You spread your fingers a little. Don’t want to cut off circulation. Kara wraps around your knuckles three times.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 9>> “I’ll miss you too.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 9>> <<scrolldown>>

<<set $section_title = "Blood for Blood">> <<set $last_passage_of_section to false>> <<if $current_line gte 1>>It starts so simple. Jabs, juking, ducking, moving. Little contact. Knuckles bouncing off slick skin.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Sweat can be just as good as grease, and it stains your bindings the same.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> He’s more passive, and grows more so by the moment. Drawing away, backing into the ropes, then sliding away.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Spacing, distancing, letting you come to him.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> You grit your teeth into the silicone. He knows you’re rushing.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> It’s hard to keep your breath. There’s a million pinpricks at the bottom of your lungs.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> Your legs don’t hurt anymore. There’s no nerves, no meat behind the skin.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> The brass rings again with no real blows being dealt. He walks back to his corner, you to yours.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 8>> <<scrolldown>>

<div class="newspaper"> <div class="newspaper-header"> <header class="newspaper-name">Icewater News</header> <div class="newspaper-subheader">Monday February 7, 2039</div> </div> <div class="newspaper-content"> <div class="newspaper-column fake"> <div class="newspaper-column-head"> Nulla venenatis malesuada erat a rutrum by Proin Suscipit </div> Fusce cursus orci metus, nec placerat diam tincidunt id. Suspendisse at pharetra sem, vitae efficitur lacus. Nunc sit amet eleifend nisl, et mattis libero. Donec pellentesque mattis lorem, non congue lacus porta at. Morbi dapibus eget quam vitae feugiat. Ut porta enim nec faucibus ullamcorper. Vivamus lorem nibh, condimentum condimentum sollicitudin eu, ultricies nec sapien. Donec mauris sapien, dictum in metus et, dapibus lacinia felis. Etiam porttitor suscipit lorem, id maximus arcu mollis vitae. In aliquet, velit et interdum volutpat, odio velit tempor mauris, sed consectetur diam lectus porttitor est. Cagi sed neque tincidunt, vulputate purus eget, ornare leo. Sed efficitur, nisi non lobortis porta, eros risus interdum nibh, non aliquam elit nunc eu sapien. </div> <div class="newspaper-column real"> <div class="newspaper-column-head"> Steelbane vs Price by Calamandra Varbouli </div> Ezra Steelbane won a decisive and one-sided fight against her opponent, Caspian Price. Price stayed cool for the first round and half of the second, but began to crumple under the pinpoint onslaught of the metal-bending slugger. He was decisively knocked out by a gigantic blow to the liver, which has sent him to the hospital under observation for serious damage. His opponent likewise collapsed after the count-out, and was spirited away by the medical staff to a different hospital, undisclosed. She and her team could not be reached by Icewater News for comment or update. Ezra closes out with a record of 22 wins and 1 loss as of tonight. We wish her a swift recovery, and powerful showings to come. </div> <div class="newspaper-column fake"> <div class="newspaper-column-head"> Integer vestibulum, Sapien sed Binibus Blandit by Nullam Tincidunt </div> Duis finibus dapibus sagittis. Nunc condimentum tempus luctus. Vestibulum mollis pellentesque leo et porta. In libero mauris, ullamcorper non bibendum in, feugiat non arcu. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Morbi ullamcorper id ex at porta. Mauris interdum magna id leo scelerisque, non porttitor lectus volutpat. Ut fermentum quam non dignissim vehicula. Fusce convallis sodales orci, quis viverra tellus mattis vitae. Suspendisse dapibus ante id ipsum mollis dictum. Nulla venenatis sollicitudin imperdiet. Nulla finibus blandit fermentum. Nulla egestas nisi elit, ac imperdiet felis cursus sed. Praesent ornare in est porttitor faucibus. Cagi sed neque tincidunt, vulputate purus eget, ornare leo. Sed efficitur, nisi non lobortis porta, eros risus interdum nibh, non aliquam elit nunc eu sapien. </div> </div>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>You collapse next to him, hoping to whatever hateful power that watches you spill blood that they don’t see how your ankles are twisting.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 1>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“KNOCKOUT! It’s a knockout! Ezra Steelbane shatters Jous Henge at the end of the second round! Holy shit, what a series of blows!”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 1>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>On your hands and knees, you give yourself a little moral fist-pump, a streak of Jous’ blood smearing under your hand onto the dirty canvas.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 1>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The mat shakes as the medical staff and associated workers rush to the scene of you and your more worryingly downed opponent.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Strong arms grab your shoulders, shaking you.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Are you okay?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “Where does it hurt most?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> “Out of the way.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> The familiar voice of your cornerwoman cuts over the staff, more indistinct shouting as she verbally jockeys with the cutmen and physicians.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> “I’m good, everyone, let Kara help,” you half-shout, practically throwing yourself back to fall into her arms that you know are there.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Her hands wrap around your torso, blood and sweat and vaseline squishing between her fingers and your skin.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> She doesn’t flinch, and embraces you strongly.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “The fighter is exhausted and needs to lay down. Someone get a stretcher.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “No, no,” you mutter, weakly waving one arm. You can’t extend your fingers. “It’s fine, I’ll walk.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Your voice is hoarse. Your heartbeat is wrong. She slaps the side of your head.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> “Shut up. You, doctor, get a stretcher and help her out. I’ll hold her arm up.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The lightbulbs flash all around you, confused but enthusiastic cheers capturing the last embers of hate in your eyes, fizzling out as your exasperated trainer holds your arm up, while two overeducated beefcakes in white carry you up the ramp to the locker rooms.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Incidentally, the way up has the announcer’s booth halfway up.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 2>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“A short, stunning bout, hideous and explosive strength on display! Miss!”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> The announcer stops the procession, extending a microphone and practically falling out of his chair.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Miss! Your blows absolutely crippled th-”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You spit on him, no blood, but still frothy and viscous.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> The procession continues, as he struggles to say something.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to true>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“We have very many loved ones, I hope you understand.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> The fox purses his lips, silky fur wavy like corn in the breeze.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “The dog is right. Very many that love us, that we love in return. But! Can they really grasp, without the empathy of experience?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> The deer snorts, the void filling with more black than before, somehow.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 4>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The dog and the fox grew closer to fill the void the deer left, and contemplated long and hard about how all was to end.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 1>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to true>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“Grab some dick, touch some grass. This is an over-indulgent metaphor, and I’ll have no more part in it.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> The deer departs, her antlers shining in the blackness just a breath’s time after she turns away.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 2>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The doctor, good Jacobin, gave you a stick wrapped twice over in cotton and gauze to shove between your teeth a minute ago.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> You’re giving it a lovely new set of marks while he continues his clinical exploration.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Ah, see, it’s creeping further up the leg, now,” he shouts to you, knowing your brain is delirious in pain. “Even now it’s snaking up, squeezing through and exciting the muscles in your groin.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Kara sulks in the corner, in the periphery of your fading sight.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> “Cool. Will you convince her to retire, now?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> “I think we should,” Jacobin returns, standing up. His scrubs are caked in blood. Somehow he’s cleaning his glasses off on his shirt without making it worse.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> “See, her heart rate is perpetually erratic. Some tendrils have clearly gone far enough to reach her heart, though small enough I’d need to be in an actual clinic to see them.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Kara pushes off the wall. Her eyes are directly on you, willing you to stay down and to not resist.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “So you’re saying, next fight, she dies.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “She should be dead now. If you keep her in a wheelchair, she’ll last another five years, maybe.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You spit out the stick, focusing hard not to bite your tongue. Your jaw chatters in sabotage.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> “Fuck you. Stitch that shit back up and ice it, I’ve got a fight next month.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Kara is over you in an instant, one hand pressing mightily on your chest to keep you planted down on the bed.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “Fuck you. I’m not letting you kill yourself.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You grit your teeth to let you hiss out your response.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “You’re not allowing me to have agency.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Kara rolls her eyes and leans down heavier on you, eliciting a cough, and then a wince. Your open examination wound clenches in agony.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> “Ezra, you’re dying. You’ll have more time if you just listen.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> “No, you fucking listen.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>You grab her arm with your left, strength finding you again, somehow.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “Last year. I was diagnosed with that idiopathic shit. Leg shit. Twenty years to live if I hopped in a wheelchair that day.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Too bad Frankenstein over there needed a test subject for his crank nanomachines.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> ”Too bad I fucking agreed.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 4>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Jacobin says nothing. You don’t even know if he’s in the room.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “And now you’re saying I’m dying? Bite me. Fuck me. Pussy shitter. Cunt licker.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You twist her arm, and her body-grip on your torso slackens.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 3>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“A wheelchair is nice. Five years is nice. Twenty years would’ve been better. Having my own say is best.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “Am I laying it on thick enough for you? Get Mengele over there to stitch me up already, I got a bottle to drown in tonight.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 2>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>You fumble around for the stick, knowing you’re going to need it. The needle hook is unpleasant to think about.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> You can just barely hear Kara sniffling over the rustle of your exam apron.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> The needle sewing you shut wasn’t nearly as bad as his fingers wriggling around his creation inside you.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 3>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>That night you pass out at home, piss-drunk, leaking blood all over your ice pack, burning yourself with the cold. It wasn’t the first time,<</if>><<if $current_line gte 2>> but you knew it was the last.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 2>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to true>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The emotions catch just below your throat, in the fiery pit of bile held back by your gag reflex. She doesn’t hear how you almost cried.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “Do you think there’s a heaven?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> Back down to your wrist. Around again. Kara pauses a moment, both to orient herself and to think.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “No, I don’t think so.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> She continues, lifting and binding between your fingers, one at a time.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> “Then what do you think’s waiting for me once I win?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> Around the wrist. Back up. Around the knuckles once, twice, three times.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> “Worms and dirt, babe.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 9>> It’s her turn to be hoarse.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 10>> Back down to your wrist. Around and around. You lose track counting, both that, and the flakes outside.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 11>> “I’m ready for whatever.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 12>> “Not until you give me your other hand.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 12>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>You take the steep steps up to the ring, lowering your neck to get through the ropes.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Lifting your legs so high, you can feel the horrible machine tickling at your heart.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> Images of a lurid hug through your meat.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Wound around your aorta like a dancer.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Your knuckles throb with your human blood under the skin.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Whole. Good. Yours.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>There’s a slam as the doors to the arena open, letting in a chorus of hungry shouts.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> A wheedle-voice kid shouts at you across the dull tile.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Five minutes to showtime!”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Kara puts a hand under your armpit. You don’t protest. You stand, and you walk with her.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 4>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The venue’s packed, despite the storm. The overpowered studio lights overhead twinkle like the snow on the other side of the steel.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> There’s no heating in the arena, there’s no need. More than thousand bodies, slavering for blood, are packed in like sardines.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “They’ve gotta be over capacity,” you hiss to Kara.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “They never learn,” she mumbles back.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> “Someone’s gonna die, you know.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> A zealous fan, red in the face and shouting above the din, begs you for an autograph.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> Another fan elbows him in the side of the head. Blood runs down his temple.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> “Why do you care?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 9>> You turn away and don’t answer.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 9>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>There’s no introductions.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Everyone knows who the fight is between.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> Ezra Steelbane.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Caspian Price.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Two hundred pounds of densely coiled muscle, nearly a foot taller than you. Hair cut short, curly. Impossible to grab. Skin glistening like olive oil in a heated pan.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> He smiles at you, with no malice.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> Your heart starts throbbing around your teeth.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> Heat. Anger. Hatred.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 8>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“Go low. His abs are steel, but his chin’s a target. Sharp and pointy.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Fingers smear thick grease across your eyebrows, then back across your forehead.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> The familiar sweet scent of petroleum.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “Save some vaseline for later, Kara.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> “You beat this fucker in three rounds or you die in the spotlight.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Your mouth twitches. She shoves your teeth protector in.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The brass is rung. Your fists are in front of your face on their own. Instinct.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> So are his. You can still see his eyes, though.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> Eyes with the fire of the moment’s hate.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Two predators, needing the same thing.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Your hunger is the same as the crowd’s,<</if>><<if $current_line gte 6>> yet so different.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to true>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“One third of the way dead, Ezra.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Kara’s pissed. You’re pissed. Not at her.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “If this piece of shit would try anything, I could capitalize.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You let your mouth hang open, like a dog. It’s roasting in there.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> “Yeah, he’s figured you out. Aggression’s your game. Wearing you down.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> She squirts water into your mouth. You swallow it down and open for another.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> “Be even more aggressive. Corner him.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 8>> “Don’t die without throwing a punch.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 9>> Her voice cracks.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 10>> The brass rings.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 11>> “They say people never learn, Kara.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 11>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Your knuckles meet his nose and help him fall back. You fall with him.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> He releases. You roll.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> The canvas rattles like a trampoline as you both get to your feet.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You’re on him again like the blood on his face.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Left foot forward. A fist overhead. He can’t block in time.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Your knuckles ring in pain as they skid off his greasy forehead.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> He staggers.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Round two. You stand up, and the clock begins again.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> He puts his hands up. Stiff guard as you approach. Expecting jabs.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You jab once, with your left. A moment of adjustment after the blow.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Then you lean in with your right foot, and put a punch square to his guard.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> His sweat lets your fist slide right through.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> He lurches back.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> It’s not fast enough.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>A step to the right.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> A hook to his ribs.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> He staggers.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> You step back.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> He’s literally on the ropes.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The bell rings.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> “FUCK!”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You stagger back. Arrhythmia again.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> One foot in front of the other, but they’re limp, and you’re so heavy.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> It’s goddamn Atlas not to fall over.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> You let yourself drop the world when you fall into your chair.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“You’ve got one more shot. Can you stand?”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Kara has tears scarring her face.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> “Yeah. I have to.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Claws dig at your chest. Black rings around your vision.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> She has to pry open your mouth to squirt water in.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>The bell rings. Two dings that signal the end, one way or another.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Kara helps you up again. You stand, with her help, and slump against her for a moment.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> Strength enough finds you to hug her tight.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> “Goodbye.”<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> “Goodbye.”<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>She slides between the ropes. You walk forward.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Hands up at the jump.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> He looks you head to toe to head again. Dry blood around his upper lip.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Hands loose, further down, ready to react to anything.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Metal claws squeeze around your heart.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> You taste blood.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 6>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Step in with your right. He jerks back, arms loose, ready.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Left. He dodges back without you even throwing a punch.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> A step to the side. He corners himself.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> In with the right, deep. A straight to his face again.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> He ducks down. You jab with your left before he even does it.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> It’s all instinct.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> You can’t even hear the crowd.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>Knuckles meet his bones through his skin, which peels open from the force.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Red slime sticks to your hand as you draw it back, as he nearly falls.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> His left arm slaps for the rope. Vulnerable. Open.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Deep step in. Everything you have.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Scream through gritted teeth.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 6>> Your heart stops beating.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 7>> It doesn’t matter.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 7>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>A liver blow. You feel your knuckles hit raw meat just below his ribs.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> Screaming silence through the ringing in your ears.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You can’t breathe. You slap for the rope, fighting not to grab at your throat.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 4>> Clench your fist.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 5>> Hold on for the ten.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 5>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>A whispering roar on the wind, as Caspian’s hateful light goes out of his eyes, as he curls up and nurses come for him.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 1>> <<scrolldown>>

<<if $current_line gte 1>>“Knockout!” at decibels that shatter glass, that you close your eyes to.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 2>> A figure runs to you.<</if>> <<if $current_line gte 3>> You let go, into her arms.<</if>> <<set $line_count to 3>> <<scrolldown>> <<set $last_passage_of_section to true>> <<set $next_is_final_passage to true>>