A/N: So last chapter, I totally forgot to credit my friend, blangyouredead over on tumblr, as the creator of Naeda. You should go check out some of her fics. This chapter also has a friend's OC: eliashaverson's Hollow-4. I'd tell you to check out more of him, but he's a nerd and doesn't write. One last thing! I commissioned the amazing amipiai on tumblr to draw Adeen! (just add a "/" between the "com" and the numbers and remove the spaces)

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Anywho, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

Hollow Victory

Adeen was bored out of her mind. She was currently a week into a self-imposed "vacation" from the Moon, for lack of a better term. After that last trip with Naeda, she had promised Rigel she'd take a break. Now that she was on said break, however, she was bored out of her mind. Going to the Moon and studying the Hive was all she had ever really done as a Guardian.

She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to do something. Maybe Ikora would have something for her on a different planet. Literally anything would be better than what she was doing now. She left the barracks and headed for the Vanguard's room. As she walked down the long hallway that connected it to the rest of the Tower, she heard a voice call out.

"Hey you!"

Adeen paused and looked around. There were only two people in the hallway: a frame and someone who could only be a Titan. He wore fur pauldrons and a horned helmet. Seeing as the voice certainly didn't come from the frame, it must have been him. Adeen pointed at herself, asking an unspoken question.

"Yeah, you. I haven't seen you around, Guardian. You must be new."

Adeen walked over to him. "No, not really," she said. "I've been a Guardian for just over a year."

"And I haven't seen you in the Crucible yet?" the man asked, sounding quite shocked. "What have you been doing for a year?"

That question rubbed her the wrong way. She had heard of the Crucible but had never felt it worth her time. She would never face other Guardians out in the field, so why bother training against them? If he wanted to know what she had been doing, then she'd go ahead and show him. She drew Thorn from its holster and showed it to him.

"Well, I found this."

The man recoiled. "I thought that infernal weapon was gone, banished along with its former owner."

"It's mine now, and I severed its bond with the Darkness," Adeen said. It wasn't quite true, but he didn't need to know that.

"Really now? Well then, Guardian, I must insist that you take part in an upcoming Crucible match. The return of Dredgen Yor's notorious Thorn will cause quite a stir."

"I'm not sure - "

"Just one match. Prove your worth, Guardian."

Adeen narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't like that insinuation. "Fine. One match. When and where?"

"Tonight at 1900, Twilight Gap," he said. "It will be a six person Rumble match; every Guardian for themself."

"I'll be there."

What on Earth had she just gotten herself into?

A few hours later, she was about to find out. Just outside of the actual arena, there was a preparatory building. There, Guardians getting ready to enter a match could take care of their gear, mentally prepare themselves, and scope out the competition. Adeen did none of that. Instead, she had Rigel go over the rules. Again.

"It's live-fire, and in this match, it's a six person free for all. Most kills in 5 minutes wins."

"So we can die in there?" she asked again. It sounded crazy.

"Yes and no," Rigel said. "Yes you can 'die,' but I'll be waiting on the sidelines to revive you after a certain amount of time. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, but it still sounds crazy. Dying is something I tend to avoid."

"I know, but unlike the catacombs, there's actually enough Light here for me to bring you back. So you're not really dying, per say. Just...taking a break from living for a few seconds."

Adeen gave Rigel a Look. "Thanks, Ri," she said. "That makes me feel so much better."

From the other side of the room, Adeen heard an Exo Hunter mumble, just loud enough to hear, "Why's there a damn rookie in here? I thought Shaxx said this would be an interesting match."

Jeez, what was his problem? Whatever. The match was about to start. A small countdown on her HUD ticked to zero, and she was teleported into the arena. She and her five opponents materialized in front of a floating camera, and the Exo from the prep room planted a flag on the ground.

"Rumble!" Lord Shaxx announced, mostly for the audience watching at home. Then she was teleported again, and the match had officially begun. "Leave no enemy standing!"

Adeen had studied the layout of the map earlier that day, but nothing quite matched actually being there. She had no real strategy, so she picked a direction and ran. Her radar showed no enemies nearby, so she sprinted across an open area.

A brief moment of pain in her temple, then blackness.

A few seconds later, her world returned to her, and she found herself at a different place on the map.

"That Exo Hunter sniped you," Rigel muttered. "Be more careful out in the open."

That first life was an omen for the rest of the match. By all accounts, Adeen sucked at the Crucible, or at least Rumble. She was lucky to get one kill for every three lives. Her first one had been against a Human Titan. They had entered the same room from opposite sides, but he had a shotgun out. Before he could switch to something with better range, she put three shots into him. The shots alone didn't kill him, but Thorn's poison finished him off.

The second kill was a panic grenade. She rounded a corner, and an Awoken Hunter was crouching right on the other side. Without even thinking about it, she stuck a Fusion grenade to her head and immediately jumped back. The Hunter had enough time to get one scout rifle shot off before it exploded.

The third was another grenade. A Human Warlock walked through a door she was watching, and she just plopped one right on his chest. She was really proud of that kill.

With 15 seconds left in the match, Adeen was firmly in last place with a score of 3-11. She saw an enemy on the far edges of her radar, so she just flung a hail mary in that general direction. As the clock hit 2 seconds, her HUD pinged with a kill alert. Before she could even react to it, the round ended, and she was teleported back to the pre-game building.

Apparently it was common for Guardians to stick around after a match ended and talk to the media, but Adeen had no desire to do so. She warped back to her ship and returned to the Tower.

Later that night, she had a vid screen on for some background noise while she read some Hive files. She wasn't paying attention to the broadcast, at least not until she heard a specific report.

"Our top Crucible story tonight; Ace Hunter knocked down by rookie. Check out this phenomenal last second grenade kill that happened at tonight's Rumble match at Twilight Gap." That caused Adeen to look up. That couldn't be… Could it?

She caught the screen just as it switched to footage from the match. That definitely was her. She watched herself throw the grenade and followed it through the air. Then the camera switched to show that one Exo Hunter. He was...dancing? As the clock ran down, her grenade flew onto screen, landed right on top of his head, and exploded with two seconds left.

They then proceeded to show it again and again from every conceivable angle. Once they had exhausted the footage, the screen returned to the anchors.

"Quite the buzzer beater kill," one said.

"Oh absolutely," the other said. "I haven't seen a kill like that since Hollow himself had that ricochet throwing knife kill a few months back. I guess now he knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a highlight reel kill." Both anchors laughed.

"Speaking of Hollow, we have interview footage of him from after the match."

The screen switched over to footage of an interviewer and the Exo Hunter, apparently named Hollow.

"So tell me, Hollow, how'd you feel about today's match?" the reporter asked.

Hollow chuckled. "Well, I won, so I feel pretty damn good," he said.

"And what about that grenade kill that cut your celebration short? Any thoughts on that?"

"Well, it was certainly impressive, but it was all luck. I'd like to see them do that again when they're not too busy coming in last place."

The screen returned to the two anchors. "Bold words from Hollow-4, but we wouldn't expect any less."

"We attempted to reach out to Adeen Flanagan, the Warlock who achieved this highlight-reel kill, but she left the arena before we could speak with her."

"Well, hopefully we'll see her back in the Crucible soon."