The thing about Danger was that she looked and sounded exactly like Asterion.

[i]Coward[/i], she snarled, pacing fore and behind. [i]You pretend to be so very helpless just because you don't have your pointy crutch.[/i]

Their voices were inextricable - the demon of the labyrinth and the shadow she cast in her best friend's mind. Was Asterion truly as hard and cruel as the voice of Danger? Was Canada too soft-hearted to comprehend the full might of her friend's fury.

[i]That's the legendary hero. The[/i] crusader. [i]Throwing herself beneath the trampling hooves because somebody might feel [b]sorry[/b] for her.[/i]

She clutched her shield like it was her lifeline. It was the only thing she could rely on. She was helpless here. It didn't matter how fast she was - distance meant nothing. Asterion could change distance like she was tilting her head, and on that awful horizon the crimson outline of the minotaur hunted.

[i]But you're weak, Canada. Too weak to say how you feel. Too weak to trust your friends.[/i] Mundane was Asterion too, now. The shadows of the bull's horns closed in on her from all directions, a cage of triangles. [i]You're jealous that it was her and not you to get crippled. What kind of sick mind envies a broken spine?[/i]

[i]Asterion is not your equal any more,[/i] hissed Asterion, Asterion's voice, her own voice, so close her ear felt wet. [i]You failed her. You didn't even suffer with her. She's been through something you haven't.[/i]

A weak voice, as though from far away, [i]How can you call that love?[/i]

[i]It's simple. You can't love her until you're equals again. Until then it's just pity.[/i]

*

Poor Asterion had no idea what she was walking into.

The mental fragmentation of the Labyrinth was usually such a fearsome advantage. It rendered the foe confused, disoriented, unable to work objectively, tilted towards their extremes, rendered easy prey. She underestimated the sheer, violent toxicity of Canada's thought processes, the guilt and pain and rage that was going on inside her friend's head. The last time they'd done this Canada had been rendered almost helpless, easy prey for a terrible monster, struggling to reach her friend.

This time she came at Asterion like a thunderbolt.

They're fighting - they're [i]really[/i] fighting. 

It spills out everywhere in the arena - in the stands, in the prisoner complexes, in the monster pits and in the royal box. Rolling, shattering blows, sharp with the intimate ferocity that comes with the knowledge that the other person can take anything you dish out. 

The bull and the eagle fight until there is nothing left but shattered breath and stone. Canada is clearly the loser in terms of bruises, in terms of position, in terms of willpower... but that she dared to fight Asterion directly at all is shocking to both of them.

[Directly engage: 12-1: 11
- Impress, frighten or surprise my opposition
- Create an opportunity for my allies 

Taking a powerful blow in exchange: 8 - marking [b]Angry[/b] and [b]Guilty[/b]]