The healers got Vexis up.
Not smoothly. His legs didn't cooperate in any meaningful way, his arms didn't help when they tried to position him, and the moment they got him onto the stretcher his whole body seemed to decide that it had been running on borrowed time and was done pretending otherwise. He could feel each individual muscle group giving up separately, calves first, then thighs, then his lower back, like a building shutting off floor by floor.
He stared at the coliseum ceiling. His hands were still blue.
The official announcement came while they were loading him.
"By disqualification of its remaining participant, Class F is eliminated from the third format. Class A is declared the winner by technicality."
The crowd made the sound crowds make when they don't know how they feel about something.
---
Xavier watched the stretcher pass through the tunnel entrance.
