Into the Snake-Pit.

I've got no idea where Sylph got that money from.
All I know is, that must have been worth every dime!
Just picture it! Ojou Sama's face distorted into a furious scowl when she watches the match! I bet she planned out her little stunt for months. Down to the last detail. All of that down the drain! Just as her strongest mook slips between her fingers!

That was the most Sylph thing ever!
Like, sure, she'd wanna face her opponent at full strength any day of the week, just to test her mettle. But on her conditions! Not when thats who she was assigned! No. She chose her opponent herself! And the one she chose was Ojou Sama.
Best of luck to her!
She was gonna need it.

Guess I was gonna need it too. I was on my way to confront a ruthless authority figure of my own.
And we had as much intention of yielding as Sylph.

"You really expect her to hand over your friends? Just for asking?"
I slipped the phone from my pocket, pushing the 'play' icon on the screen. The snarky half-whisper of the Die Hard villain started to speak to Bat Girl on my behalf, "Do not trivialize the power of words; it is not to be lightly discarded. Whether or not negotiations break down is not up to a single involved party. No. There must be some possible arrangement at our disposal that satisfies each of our individual interests. It is merely a matter of unravelling it."
"Or... How about this?" Bat Girl raised her finger as she marched through the hallway with me, "How about you face her in the Arena tomorrow, then stomp her to the ground like the Lil Work she is! Then your friends are yours to take back as your rightful prize!"
"No." Hans Gruber's firmly punctuated in is silky voice, "not for matters of this significance. We simply cannot rely on the uncertain outcome of a brawl. Bargaining may well be the preferable option for every party involved. What if we, against all hope, fall short of victory tomorrow? Shall we not regret having discarded the opportunity, when pursuing a diplomatic resolution would have cost nothing?"
"But... But she's the bad guy!" Bat Girl whined, her arms folded , "We can't be on the same side as a bad guy!"
"The 'good guy,' my faithful compatriot, is on everyone's side. Those discriminating on whom to interact with, solely on grounds of their allegiances, are far more worthy the epithet 'bad guy.' "
The Bat Girl sighed, drooping her shoulders as her head hung low, "I guess we're really doing this. But... Maybe don't get your hopes up. All right?"

I stepped in front of the door to Hebi-san's room, rapping my fist on it twice.
"Enter." Her voice boomed from the other side.
I opened the door and stepped inside. A cushiony tower loomed over us, made up of all that was soft and snug in that dimly lit version of my own room. The bed and couch were flipped on their sides and propped against the wall. They had been stripped of their cushions, sheets and mattresses, all in the name of the massive pillow fort occupying nearly the entirety of the room.

There the overlady sat cross legged at the top like a throne. She looked down at the servants kneeling on the floor around her. Uni was there, stripped down and resting on folded legs on the ground. As was Katey, her blank gaze locked on the empty air before her. I thought I saw some remnants of defiant anger in her expression even then.

My eyes swiftly cruised past them, landing on the purple-haired mistress of this debacle. Her front tail slithered out of the purple belts constituting her panties. Its long green tail wound around her torso, resting its head on her palm so as to receive adoring scratches under its chin.
I couldn't help but admire them baby blues of her eyes. Like droplets of sapphire dew. Even as every cell in my body was screaming.

Couldn't keep the eye contact with her though. Not for more than a second, even if I wanted to. My mind swarmed with abject terror. What if I ended up drowned in her hypnotic gaze? What if I lost myself forever in a moment of carelessness? Just entertaining the thought locked up my body. I felt shivers sent down my spine. My gaze swiftly shifted away as if repelled by magnets.
Even so, I wasn't gonna abandon my friends.

"Why have you approacthhed Uth? Thtate your buthinethth at oncthe!"
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. When I opened them again, my face glowed with a confident smile in her general direction, "Why, hey there neighbor! Sup?"
I may have kept my gaze averted, but the slightest flinch in Hebi-san's face made itself conspicuous in its absence, even if only in the corner of my eye.

"Just wanted to check in here. You know? See how my next victim is doing. Hahaha! Nah, I'm kidding! So, you're psyched up about the match? I know I am! Sure, both of us had to struggle a bit in our last matches. The audience probably think we're done already. That we've given all that we can offer! Might go there not expecting that much. But, hey! Let's show them up, shall we? Let's go out there tomorrow and give them one hell of a show! They're gonna remember it for the rest of their lives! At least if I've got something to say about it!"

I could make out her scowl from the corner of my eye. The silence she left to linger quickly consumed any effort to lighten the mood.
"Boy, it got real cramped in here, huh? Must be bothersome having so many slaves lying around. Bet you've got no idea what to even do with half of them. Tell you what? Why don't you let me help you out? Let me take one or two off your hands? Maybe the black-haired one with tiny wings. And... sure. The horsey girl too. Give it some thought, won't you? Why not afford yourself some extra space? It is your room after all! And, I suppose I'd be willing to offer as much as, oh... Two thousand gold for those guys. Two thousand! Now, that's one hell of an offer! Not gonna find anything better than that soon! I promise you that."

No response.
The air in the room turned heavier for each word she didn't speak.
"All right... I guess I could go as far up as two-thousand five hundred! Think through that carefully! Cause that's my final offer!"
Still nothing. I had to exert myself not to shudder.
"...Lady, this is your lucky day! Cause I've done some soul-searching, and you know what? After all that, I'm willing to go as high up as two.... Listen closely now, two-thousand eight hundred! Yeah. I know! I guess they'd toss me in the loony bin and throw the key away, but hey! I like you! And I think it'd be worth it! This could really be the offer of the century, you know? Gold doesn't grow on trees!"

"Keep your money." She said with finality, "We have no interetht in it."
"All right... So, on top of that... What if I didn't show up tomorrow? Made you the winner by default! Free trip to the Tournament finals!"
"You mithunderthand." She declared in a voice strained with patience, "We theek not glory in the annalth of human affairth. What We theek ith to facthe Our prey in the Arena... Make them into Our thlave. Delight in the moment when they thubmit to Our might. We do not withh for you to ethcape the faith waiting at Our handth."
"All right! I get it! That's fine!" I chuckled, "So how about this instead: I won't show up tomorrow... Unless you hand over Uni and Katey over there! Do you agree to that?"
"No."
"Lady, you drive a hard bargain!"
"Thith ith not thomething up for bargain, human. We are the Queen of thethe here pitiful thubjectth. They have merely retholved to their rightul placthe at Our feet: ath ith inevitable for all humanth. It ith Our placthe to rule ath We thee fit. And their placthe to adore Uth. To obey, and therve at Our pleathure. You too thall come to thee that in time."

I cocked my head, "...The what now?"
"She says she wants the power to rule over others!" Bat Girl explained all flustered, "Nothing else matters to her."
"Ah, well... I guess I could see that someone would want to have power," I nodded, "Especially when you've got goals that are hard to achieve by themselves. But still, wouldn't you rather want to be the kinda gal people want to be ruled over?"
The Snake Lady snickered, "What a pitiful thought. It ith precthithely becauthe Our will ith above thothe of otherth that We are foremotht! Only other peathantth need permiththion of thothe they rule in order to enact their will. We take what We need. What ith rightly Ourth."
"I dunno." I scratched the back of my head, "That sounds kinda lonely to me. Being by yourself at the top."
"Of courthe not! We are thurrounded by thothe who adore Uth! Who obeyth Uth without quethtion!"
"Listen to me, Hebi-san... Sure, I bet you can think of a couple of things to do with power if you had it. But if all you want is power, at the expense of everything else, then nobody is truly going to stand by you in the end! You know... Back from where I come from, there was this one guy who ruled a huge land with an iron fist. Joseph Stalin, they called him. Everyone was terrified of him. They obeyed his slightest whims for fear of their lives. He purged anyone showing even remote will to stand up against him. This was a ruthless tyrant. He had no quarrels whatsoever starving innocent people like rats to get his way. In the end, Stalin suddenly fell ill. Anyone who could help him had already been imprisoned. There were people around him who could provide him the necessary medical care. But they were all too scared. Scared about what would happen if they messed up. In the end, they did nothing. Just left him be. The most feared tyrant in history never survived the terror of his own reign. The final moments of his existence passed with him lying sickly in bed; scared, helpless and alone."
Sure, I had to look all that up online and read it from my phone... But she didn't need to know that!

She left the silence to linger while my smile turned harder and harder to keep up. I had no idea what kind of impact my speech had on her. Was she dumbfounded? Contemplating the story in silence? Did she even listen to a word I said?
How should I know?
I only heard silence. Couldn't see anything either, what with me looking away all that time. Then my curiosity got the better of me. I briefly shifted my eyes towards her, looking in her direction for one moment without meeting her glare. Then away again.
She still held that disdainful frown.
"...Very well. We have made up Our mind." She announced, "Your friendth are free to leave..."
A sigh escaped between my lips, the strain on my facial muscles relieved by a genuine smile.
"But in return, the one who thall take their placthe ith you."

I froze in place.
No.
That choice... I couldn't bear to make that choice! My eyes locked at Katey. She kneeled obediently by the side of her mistress, void of personality and free will. I imagined myself sitting there instead. Nothing but an obedient husk. A surge of cold electricity permeated every square inch of my skin.
I felt slimy.
I was sick to my stomach.

My eyes shifted towards Hebi-san, who stared at my uncomfortable writhing with an amused smile. Her eyes locked with mine for a moment. The menace of my very autonomy torn away from me overwhelmed me. I recoiled as I looked away. I didn't know where to look. My head was spinning.
I found my arms tucked closely against my body.
How could I relinquish my own agency? Everything I am... Everything that I could be...
But... Katey... And Uni... I would do anything to set them free...
But that...!
I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to refuse. I couldn't refuse...
But...
But...
But....

"Tho? We are waiting for your anthwer."
My eyes teared up. I opened my mouth to speak, but could only utter the briefest aspirations.
I felt the comforting touch of a hand resting on my shoulder. Estelle Bright stepped between me and her pillow fort, looking up towards Hebi-san.
"Don't worry, boss. I can take their place. That's fine with you, right Lil Worm?"
"...Huh? Wait, hold on!" I cried out.

"Oh, interethting!" Hebi-san cackled, "But it ith not for the thlave to cthoothe another mathter. Tho, human... What thay ye? Do you thacrificthe one friend for two otherth? Whicthh one ith motht dear to you?"
So, this kind of shit... That was exactly what I was afraid of when Estelle became my ****!
If I give her up, it would have been my choice. I reduced her to a commodity to be traded away.
But if I refused, then that meant taking upon myself, as her master, to refuse her dumb stunt.

Which is to say nothing of the burden of choosing between her, and Uni and Katey.
But it's not like that was as hard as before. I knew exactly what to say to that offer.

"I'm not giving up anyone!" I stepped forward towards the fort, "Not my Bat Girl. Not Uni. Not Katey. And certainly not myself! We're gonna settle this at the Arena, baby! And I'm gonna kick your cute cootie!"
"Oh? That wath a new tune. Then tell Uth, what did you hope to accomplithh thowing up here?"
"Uhhh..." I started, but was interrupted by Estelle.
"Hey, we went over this already, right? She came over here to make sure you'll give it your all tomorrow! When you're crawling at her feet like the Lil Worm you are, she doesn't want you to have any excuse for why you lost!"
"Indeed." She clasped her hands together, "Do not worry. You thall get everything that'th coming to you."

"All right!" I declared, "So... I guess that was all. See you tomorrow then, Hebi-san!"
"Yeth." She cackled, "We thall be looking forward to that."

We closed the door behind us on the way out. An exasperated sigh escaped me, and I threw my head back in relief.
"...I suppose we didn't get what we came for," Estelle scratched the back of her head, "But dammit if that wasn't fun... Hah-!?"
I lunged at her, my arms clinging tightly around her neck. I pulled myself towards her in a warm embrace.
Clearly she didn't expect to be interrupted with a hug like that. But she didn't resist. She let my head rest against her chest, stroking my hair slowly.
I could feel her breath on my neck.
So warm.
So soothing.
"...Thank you." I whispered to her in a trembling voice.
She said nothing back. Only gave a smile.

After losing so much in this damn Tournament, I can at least be happy that I've still got my Bat Girl.