It was becoming quite clear to Elizabeth that this Rae woman was either the brassiest human in all of Crematoria, very good at bluffing, or completely and totally mad.  Perhaps a little bit of all three.  What could anyone possibly hope to gain by working with Flayer besides having to watch everything about yourself twisted and thrown right back at you, until all that remained was a moldering corpse for the worms?<br/><br/><em>"What an intriguing proposition!"</em>Flayer exclaimed, tapping his voicebox in faux-contemplation.<em>"However, it is not an original one.  You would not be the first to imply that I would ever accept some sort of alliance between myself and another human being.  Pity that is not the case.  However, I do have a proposition for you.  Well, actually, an ultimatum."</em><br/><br/>Flayer turned its head upwards, and though Elizabeth didn't dare peek down at him she could practically feel his eyes boring through steal to study her.  It  rested its hands in the small of its back, in the fashion of so many scientists and researchers and noble folk.  It seemed a particularly disconcerting stance when<em>it</em>took it.<br/><br/><em>"I will allow only one of you the possibility of escape.  Whichever one of you kills the other and makes it to the exit that leads back into the Slam proper will not feel my lash upon them.  The other, well, will be quite dead.  You have sixty seconds to make a decision.  If you attempt to flee without fighting, I will slay both of you.  If you attempt some sort of unified assault against me, I will slay both of you.  If you take too long to make a decision...well, I'm sure you get the idea."</em><br/><br/>Elizabeth swore under her breath.  That was the last thing she needed.  Though she was more than capable in a fight, she had been climbing up and down ladders and walkways for what must have been hours, and the adrenaline that had sustained her was quickly draining away and leaving exhaustion and uncertainty in its wake.  At her best, perhaps, she and Rae could have fought on equal footing.  Now it all came down to the decision.  Attacking Rae likely wouldn't end happily for her, but she wasn't about to just lay down and die.  Sixty seconds.  It all came down to sixty seconds.<br/><br/>With a swiftness that surprised even her she pried herself up from the floor and shot up to the one Rae was standing on, skipping nearly all the rungs of the ladder in the progress.  Crouching in a similar stance as she had before, her hands came to grip a sharpened blade of obsidian that she'd managed to carve in secret over the past months.  The fineness of its point would give her some advantage, but not enough.  She doubted her accuracy with it under such conditions.<br/><br/>"So," she breathed out huskily, shooting Rae a wry smirk.  "What'll it be?  If you've got some plan that doesn't involve entertaining the Beast with his bloodsport and leaving a corpse for him to fuck or whatever the hell he does with 'em, I'm all ears."<br/>