Everything felt great that week. Even mundane tasks and bland foods couldn't ruin Victor's mood. Sure his scores had taken a beating from his time in the vents, but it had been worth it. Roger was destroyed. He had made too many enemies. Whenever he was seen in the hallways he looked nervous, fearful. Victor, however, had a spring in his step and smile on his face.

When it was Victor's turn on the Combat Arena roster, he whistled in the locker room and fought the match with gusto. The match was light swords vs light swords. The light sword was basically a hilt. The 'sword' was projected onto the hilt in real time within the arena much like the gun shots from the light guns. Gravity was enabled, but only at eighty percent from Victor's estimation. This time there was no cover, It was a lucky break, but both Lucas and Miguel were on Victor's team.

"Gravity's a bit light, Vic," Lucas said, swinging his light sword and watching the trail. All five of their team members, including a boy named Charles with an overbite and another named Tony, waited within the red circle for the match to start. On the other team was Fumio and his four teammates. Victor wondered vaguely if the A.I. had put them all in the same match on purpose and if so, what its reasoning was.

"Prepare for battle. Today's rules: Defeat enemy team."

"A straight battle," Miguel said, smiling. "Easy peasy."

Victor hadn't expected much from Fumio. Then the boy came flipping onto the field, his short black hair whipping in every direction as he and his sword danced in perfect unison toward Victor's team. He had sensed the gravity and taken advantage of it immediately.

"He looks pretty proficient. Don't underestimate him," Victor said. Tony, a high Physical stat student, laughed.

"This is no problem. Watch how a pro operates."

Tony charged Fumio, his sword readied for a swing. His vertical swipe was flawless and clean, hurtling through the air with such speed that the hologram blade turned to a blur of light in sweeping through the air, but Fumio had anticipated this move and leaped over his head, landing on the other side. Fumio didn't turn around to engage Tony, however. Instead he charged straight for Victor and his team.

"Split into pairs. Fumio wouldn't try this unless he was sure he could win,"

Charles made a forward thrust at an upward angle to try to catch Fumio in another jump, but to no avail. Fumio rolled this time, swiping at Charles' legs and disqualifying him. Miguel wasted no time bringing his light sword down on Fumio's back, but Fumio had his sword up in time to block the strike.

Victor saw his chance. He dashed with a thrust to Fumio's front. Fumio rolled to the side. His teammates were catching up. Tony was keeping them back, but hadn't taken any down.

They converged on Fumio.

"Nowhere to run now, Tanaka," Lucas said with a smile. Fumio smiled back. His leap was twice as high as before, soaring over their heads. He landed lightly in a spin onto his feet and charged at Charles Madoff's turned back.

"Madoff!" Miguel cried, but it was too late. Charles was so busy keeping the enemy team at bay that he never suspected that Fumio would come from behind him. A thrust of Fumio's light sword into Charles' back disqualified him and sent him to the red ring.

"Damn. Three versus two. We're in trouble now," Victor said. He was smiling, however. Compared to fear of death, sleeping in vents, and stale food, this was no problem.

The group approached, spreading.

"Don't let them flank us!" Lucas said. There was nothing they could do without pulling apart, however.

"I've got an idea," Victor said, as the enemy team began to surround their group.

"Make it fast, Vic," Miguel said nervously. The enemy team, lead by Fumio, was circling the group. They would be ready for any attempt to leap over them. At least, Fumio would.

"Miguel. By my side. Lucas, watch the rear.," Victor said. Miguel and Lucas moved swiftly into position. "Charge!"

Victor and Lucas charged forward at the boy in front of them. When the enemy team members on either side moved in, Victor and Lucas split and caught them both by surprise with a slash of their light swords. They floated to their red circle, disqualified. Before the remaining member that they had originally charged at could respond Miguel filled the gap the two created with a surprise thrust, finishing the enemy combatant with ease. The light swords made a satisfying 'zing' sound when they hit an opponent.

"Damn." Lucas and Victor turned around to find that Miguel had been caught by Fumio before he could get clear. Lucas was now dodging Fumio as best he could as the other boy fell upon him in a flurry of expert thrusts and swings. Victor still had the other member to deal with, a high Social stat student named Max.

"Let's see what you've got, Vance." Max thrust his sword at Victor but when Victor dodged to the side he brought the blade around to catch him. Victor barely brought his own sword up in time to block.

"Not bad," Max said.

Victor kicked Max off of him and dashed for Miguel's sword. He caught it and threw it at Fumio, hoping that he was too distracted by Lucas. Fumio looked over his shoulder, but before he could dodge Lucas hugged him, stepping into Fumio's sword. This froze him into place around Fumio so that the airborne sword pierced him with ease. Fumio was out. Just Victor and Max, now.

Max was already on Victor. He struck at his back seconds after Victor threw the sword. Victor managed to dodge, but only barely. he'd bent down to the ground for the sword and now Max wasn't giving him a chance to get back up. Victor had to block and roll a few times before he managed to roll to his feet. Then he remembered the low gravity.

A low rumble shook the station. Max looked around worriedly. Victor took his chance plunging his light sword into the boy. When the victory announcement didn't sound, Victor and Max exchanged a glance.

"What's going on?" Miguel said from his spot in the red circle. The lights began to flicker, the holograms in the room to blink in and out of existence.

Then, for the first time since any student had been on board, the lights went out completely. Nexus was dark.