As she prepared to pull her sword free, the samurai's katana burst forth from her stomach, having run her through from behind, so instead of removing her steel from the duelist's torso she used it as leverage to push the man back and pull herself forward off the blade. She turned them both around so she was once again facing the samurai, and she saw Alicia on her knees, clutching at her throat, blood spurting between her fingers.

The samurai stepped forward, his sword raised, and the duelist moved to the side, holding Julie's left-handed blade in his body with Julie's hand still attached. Before she could react the katana slashed furiously downward, completely severing her left arm at the elbow. Looking at the spurting stump that had just recently been a fully functioning appendage, Julie recognized her defeat. The strength went out of her as she slumped to her knees, and she looked up at the looming samurai and awaited his finishing blow.

Her eyebrows raised, her mouth agape, blood spilling over her lips, Julie could only watch as the katana was raised again, in preparation for a final strike. She winced, wondering if her head would be lopped from her body like Debbie's, when suddenly a blade emerged from the samurai's throat. The man gurgled, dropped his weapon, and clutched at his ruined gullet. When he went down Julie saw the skinny little point guard, bloodied sword in hand, and realized Becky had managed to finally slay the chain-wielding giant before back-stabbing the samurai.

Took you long enough, you scrawny bitch, Julie thought hatefully. Not for the first time that day Julie was amazed by her crass self interest. She had never hated Becky. In fact she loved Becky. The girl was free-spirited, fun-loving, and hilarious, but as Becky moved forward and finished off the badly wounded duelist, who was still trying to work Julie's sword free from his innards, Julie seethed with loathing. It just wasn't fair. Julie had fought more bravely than any of them. Julie had done most of the killing in this fucking pit. Julie had charged forward to finish off the archer while Becky hung back in relative safety. Julie had single-handedly won the district championship. Julie was supposed to live. So why was Becky emerging victorious while Julie slumped back on her shoulders, bleeding to death?

Hatred gave way to awe-struck panic as Julie felt her life leaving her. She looked up at the blue sky and watched it turn white, then black. Mozart's Requiem blared away, but Julie no longer heard it. Julie was fading away. I want to live, Julie thought, and then she was no more.