"You can put him in this one," a decurion said, holding a cage door open for Hercules.

As the demi-god looked around the cell area in an unfocused way, Eponin took his arm and steered him to a bench next to the wall opposite the cage that the guard was motioning them towards, "S'alright, thanks. Heston, doesn't need to be locked up. He won't cause any problems. Fact is he'll sit here good as gold until the fight rolls around."

"He the deaf mute we bin hearing about?" the Roman questioned sneeringly. "Can't see how such a no-account freak of nature has managed t' survive this long when he walks around in a dream world all day."

"Heston can pretty much take care of himself," Poni assured him, wondering if all Roman's were such imbeciles and decided to change the subject before she got angry enough to deck him. She glanced down the wide corridor to where a dozen guards sat outside a heavy metal door. Jerking her chin towards them she asked, "That where you got the she-devil?"

"Yeah. Your retard is gonna get his ass kicked by her. I ain't never seen anyone or anythin' that can match her. That's why she's penned down in the secure cell. They got her chained to the walls by her slave collar and those ankle cuffs we use to hold her ... don't always do much good, mind. She's a double handful and no mistake."

"I know all about her," Eponin told him. "She's death's twin sister ... well seems that way sometime. Why, I saw her tear through our best warriors, cutting down whoever stood in her path, and she didn't even get scratched!"

"Well, she's sure been scratched while we've had her," he grinned, "Damn woman's taken more beatings than the rug at my old Granny's home. She's got guts though!"

"Who? Your granny?" asked the Amazon being deliberately obtuse.

"Nah! The bitch from Hades! Flaccus and Lord Caesar are determined to break her. I hear that she's gonna be taking some rides on the wheel when this fight is over. A few trips to visit the torturers should cause her to start rethinking her attitude. Heard they got one man to swear his mother was cavortin' with a centaur! Ha! I ask ya? Who's ever seen a centaur?"

"Know what ya mean, bub!" answered Eponin grimly, suddenly hoping fervently that everything went safely to plan.

As the penultimate pairing were returned to the holding pens, the decurion nodded to Eponin as he took a bite of apple and mumbled, "Your guy's up. C'mon, I'll show you down to the pit, might as well avoid the crowds when monster woman gets brought along."

Poni touched Hercules' arm and motioned with her head to follow to both him and the two attendant Amazons. She glanced down the corridor and saw a hard faced officer, wearing centurion insignia, approaching the guards from the other direction. Recognising Flaccus, the Weapons Master turned after Hercules and the others and followed them away from the cages.

Xena's keen hearing had picked out Eponin's voice as she talked with the Roman some distance away, although to the watching sentries, their captive looked to be asleep. Using meditation techniques taught to her by Lao Ma, the warrior was able to relax her body and mind to prepare herself for the coming fight with Hercules.

Time passed leaving her cocooned in her solitude, until she finally picked out the unmistakable footsteps of Flaccus. Her eyes flicked open as he entered the cell, followed by the coterie of guards assigned to escort her. She watched silently as Flaccus moved, unspeaking, to unlock the restraints from the ringbolts, making sure each one was firmly in the hands of a soldier before moving to the next.

"Alright, slave. Time to earn your keep," he sneered, nudging her thigh with the toe of his boot.

In one graceful, fluid motion, Xena was on her feet, Well lets be going then," she quirked a half smile at him, "We wouldn't want to keep those jaded sons of bacchii waiting, now would we?" she questioned with an arch of her eyebrow.

Flaccus was not amused, "Keep it up, animal, you're just storing up more pain for when this fight is out of the way with," he promised.

Sparing him a condescending look, Xena said quietly so only the centurion could hear, "Know what your trouble is Flaccus? You think that pain is something to fear. You should welcome it, because it let's you know that you're alive!"

Glaring at her, the officer replied in a gravelly tone, "Oh believe me, animal! You're really gonna know you're alive when we get through with you."

"Can't hardly wait, Flaccus," she grinned impudently. "You wanna stand around here talking, or do you want to get on with this?" she questioned.

Glaring at the raven haired warrior, Flaccus signalled his men to move out. Xena shuffled her feet quickly in the short leg irons, producing a kind of trotting gait that was far from comfortable, but which she had perfected with recent practice.

It was a relatively short distance down a pair of wide corridors to the pit entrance. Already inside, sitting on the sandy floor, Hercules waited for his opponent to arrive. He watched with mild seeming interest as Xena was escorted into the arena, and both of them were aware of the sudden increase in expectant conversation from the spectators above them.

The Warrior Princess looked up and scowled impartially at everyone there, although she reserved a particularly dark and threatening look for Caesar and, of course, Ephiny. The demi-god watched the performance and had to suppress the urge to applaud his friend, although he was well aware, that apart from Ephiny's case, it was not an act.

Flaccus came into the pit last and busied himself with unlocking the shackles that bound the dangerous slave. First he removed the chains and leg irons, before unbuckling the thick leather belt and unfastening the manacles. Finally he removed the chains leashed to her collar, before gathering in guards and leaving the two combatants alone.

Xena regarded Hercules curiously as the demi-god sat unmoving in the centre of the arena, his eyes focused somewhere above them, on a point that was probably located some distance above the roof of the palace. She walked around him slowly, easing the kinks out of her stiff muscles, even practising a few small flips, just to make sure that everything was working right. All the while she could hear the excited chatter and speculation from the packed galleries, and a glance at Caesar's box, revealed not only him there, along with Ephiny, but also some of the more prominent and favoured senators.

When she finally got back to her starting point, Hercules hadn't moved and she was tempted to sit down opposite him and just wait and see what the reaction would be. But then Caesar had stood and using his 'I-am-the-ruler-of-the-Empire' voice, had commanded, "Let the combat begin!" Which left her little choice in the matter when the vision of eight beaten children arose in her minds eye.

Knowing that Hercules was well able to take care of himself, she pivoted with incredible speed, catching the big man with a side on kick as he began to stand to engage in the battle. Her foot connected solidly with his ribs, and that, coupled with his upward momentum, unbalanced him and would have sent the demi-god sprawling if he hadn't converted the force into a forward roll that brought him to his feet some distance from the Warrior Princess. He turned, grinned, and wagged his finger at her.

She returned the grin with a lopsided one of her own, before swinging a right hook, that he easily ducked, followed immediately by a short left to the ribs that the demi-god failed to anticipate, eliciting a startled grunt from him that didn't stop him from delivering a backhand slap that cracked solidly against the raven haired woman's left cheek, spinning her around.

She turned to face him in a fighting crouch, shaking her head a little to stop the bells ringing, - Steady on, Herc! - she thought to herself, - I could do with getting through this without major injury! - A glint sparked in her eyes as she caught the surreptitious rub he gave to his side where she'd caught him with a punch. - Well, maybe I should hold back a bit too if he's gonna feel those! - her mind snickered.

Their eyes locked and a silent message passed between them as they moved forward to engage once more. In a dazzling display of attack and block, using all four limbs each, the pair managed to entertain the watching spectators without once landing a telling blow. Xena feinted with her left, only to find her fist snared by the demi-god's big hand and, before she could compensate, he twisted and threw an elbow at her gut that sent the air rushing from her lungs.

She staggered backwards taking deep breaths as she kept her eyes fixed firmly on her opponent as he moved forward. Screaming out her ululating battlecry, that eerily echoed around the enclosed arena, she did a back flip away from Hercules, bending her knees as her feet came in contact with the pit wall, before springing forward, over his head, landing behind him where she delivered a powerful, thrusting kick that propelled him into the stone wall in front of him.

Hercules had to bite down hard to stifle the groan that threatened to escape from him as he slammed, at some velocity, into the wall. He could swear that he bore the imprint of Xena's foot in the small of his back. Well aware that they needed to make this look as real as possible, he couldn't help wondering if his friend wasn't overdoing the realism just a tad. - Damn it, Xena! - he cursed, as he pushed himself off the wall to one side, just in time to avoid another stomping kick that landed just about where his head had just been. - I kind of thought I was supposed to survive this little shindig so we could get together later. -

Xena used her contact, with the pit wall, to spring back and land in the centre of the small arena. Chucking wickedly, she held her hands out before her and beckoned him on, "C'mon, big guy! Show me what you've got," she invited.

Advancing warily, Hercules was prepared for the sudden attack, but couldn't avoid an elbow in the ribs, before she danced away and stood waiting for him, bouncing on the balls of her feet to bleed off a little of the adrenaline that flooded through her in any combat situation, "Guess I'm too fast for ya!" she teased knowing that he couldn't respond to her playful taunt. She waited until he started moving forward, before she let loose another blood curdling cry and flipped over him in a forward tuck .. only this time he was ready for her. When she landed she was met by a fist the size of a frying pan that slammed in hard under her ribs, doubling her up and allowing him to drop to the ground and swing his lower body to sweep her from her feet. She landed with a heavy grunt, but rolled away before Hercules was able to take advantage of her.

Climbing to her feet, the Warrior Princess smothered the grin that threatened to split her face, producing instead, an intimidating scowl. Not waiting for Hercules to complete his own rise to his feet, Xena launched herself into a handspring that landed a double footed blow to the big man's chest, knocking him back a few steps while she bled of the momentum of the impact in a flip away from him.

Rubbing the spot that he felt certain, once again, had taken an imprint of his friend's booted feet, Hercules watched carefully as the warrior sought to manoeuvre herself into a position to make the winning attack. When she threw a punch at him, he caught her fist in one of his large hands, then snagged the other in the same fashion. Falling into a backwards roll, he pulled the Warrior Princess off balance and catapulted her over his head, to land flat on her back, whilst using the speed of his fall to continue his roll, so that he ended up sitting astride the raven haired woman, with her hands still safely snared in his own.

"You're enjoying this!" she accused him in a hissing breath that disguised her words even though she doubted that anyone would be able to hear her above the roar that was being made in the gallery.

She jerked a knee up, slamming it against the demi-god's back, propelling him forward so that he lay over her and was close enough to her ear to whisper, "No more than you are!" he declared, "This wasn't supposed to be fun, Xena. By the way, Gabrielle sends her love, as do Toris and the others." He felt his control slipping, as the warrior jackknifed her body and then threw him off. He rolled to his feet ready to confront her again. As Xena came in with a crunching right fisted blow to his gut, he swung his arms wide and pulled her into a bear hug, once more giving them the chance to exchange a few words.

"Did Autolycus make it back alright?" she questioned concern clear in her tone.

"Don't worry. He's got more lives than a cat .. took a quarrel in his shoulder, though and didn't get back to us until the third night after," he told her quickly.

Xena groaned as he tightened his grip, "Hey, not so damned hard!" she growled.

"It's supposed to look real," countered Hercules.

Squirming her arms out of his grip, the warrior clapped them over the demi-god's ears, making him release her at the sudden intense pain that accompanied the action. As he bent over shaking his head, trying to clear it of the ringing that had taken up residence, Xena leapt, trapping his neck between her ankles as she used her bodyweight to flip the tawny haired man in a somersault that brought him crashing to the ground once more.

"You sure this plan's gonna work?" she asked receiving a nodded confirmation. "Well I guess it's about time we finished this off then," she told him as she gave a quick glance around to judge their proximity to the wall of the pit. Seeing that they were fairly close to the end beneath Caesar's box, she asked, "You ready?" receiving his nod as she rolled to her feet, allowing the demi-god to rise, somewhat shakily, also.

As Hercules staggered, Xena backed off, obviously preparing to administer the coup-de-grace. She launched herself at the big man, flying through the air, arms outstretched, her intent to plainly carry the demi-god back into a slamming impact with the wall and knock him cold in the process. But then everything seemed to fall apart!

With the Warrior Princess flying towards him, Hercules seemed to lose the contest to retain his balance, and kind of flopped to his knees, leaving Xena to fly over him, crashing head first into the unyielding stone wall, and crumple to the ground as her eyes slowly glazed over. Hercules struggled to his feet to see his friend laying unconscious, giving him the victory!