===Chihaya Korinsu===

We stormed the stairs, ascending up the floors in a strong haste. Judumai broke off from me at floor three, where I bid farewell with a firm nod. I continued the run up onto floor six, my chest huffing, and emerged onto the hallway, making my way into the intersection of the halls.

I squinted, my vision unable to penetrate the darkness. Giving in, I put my binoculars to my eyes, and focused on the roof of the farthest apartment. Zakū was there; the zoom couldn't combat the darkness, so I couldn't make out his exact features except his eyes, though the glow from his lights gave him away. Not enough to be seen with the bare eye, though. I gave him a wave, though his eyes were fixed on our apartment's roof.

I contemplated making a grander gesture to attract his attention, but didn't want to risk attracting the attention of anyone else. I stole a glance at my sides to make sure no one was seeing me through the sky bridges, and there weren't. So, I kept waving my hand, stretching it out further. With a sigh of relief, Zakū's gaze began traveling down, eventually meeting my own. He gave a curt salute to acknowledge his spotting of me, fortunately visible in the night, before turning his attention towards scouting the floors.

'Well, guess I should just patrol in the meantime.' I concluded. I inspected the hall for any tools I could use as an improvised weapon, but the only thing I found was a pile of cinder blocks, a pile of wooden beams, and some spools of rope.

My gaze traveled down each of the doors, processing each number that the doors showed. I traveled to the seventh floor, my eyes on the apartment Judumai was in, when suddenly one of their doors flashed from a white square to a red square within my interface. I gasped—was this Judumai's doing?

I took my binoculars, stealing a glance at Zakū, who was still perched on the roof, before making my way down the stairs. When I got to the fifth floor, Judumai was making his way down the flight of stairs furthest from us, near apartment B, as two patrollers ascended the stairs adjacent to us. He crossed the first floor hallway, evading the gaze of the base guard, but drew back as the patrollers looked out from behind the railing of the fourth floor.

I held my breath, as Judumai shrunk against the wall beam, a guard on one side and the potential gazes of patrollers on the other. He turned and caught my eye.

"Bushes!" I mouthed, pointing to the foliage. He could sneak back to our apartment through the bushes.

He shook his head, pointing to his ears then the guard. The rustling would make too much noise. I craned my head; the patrollers were still on the fourth floor where Judumai had robbed a room, examining the door, which had been barred.

But I was higher than them. I turned back around, an idea spinning itself into my head. Taking hold of a cinder block, I charged forward, aiming the slab of concrete, and tossed it onto the hallway across from me, into the other building.

I huffed, but the two patrollers didn't notice. If I were to aim directly onto the fourth floor, they'd see that it's a cinder block and know it's a distraction. I ran back once more, grabbing one of the wooden poles. If I could throw this into the stairwell of the fourth floor like a javelin, they would hear it but not see it.

But what was taking them so long anyways? It seemed the two were discussing strategy, both their eyes focused on their glove screen, standing next to one door.

I pulled back, honing in on the stairwell, and threw it. The pole didn't hit the target; it bounced off the outer wall, and fell to the ground five stories below, breaking a wooden planter in the process.

That attracted the attention of not only the two patrollers, but the guard as well. The attention had been diverted, but not to the correct place. I cursed, as the two made their way to the end of the hall, looking over the edge. Their figures became more distinguishable; they were both middle aged women, one wearing glasses, and the other carrying a shovel.

The guard looked up at them, shrugging. They turned their eyes up, and I sank beneath the railing.

"I think someone is up there." One of the women said.

"I'm going to jump across the railings, see who's up there. Might as well steal a few coins in the process." I cursed again, this time louder than I intended. The two made their way onto the fifth floor, and I took the opportunity to peek down back at Judumai, who had crossed the plaza, staying low to the ground, while the guard returned to his post.

I grabbed a nearby brick, preparing for a fight. If I won, perhaps we could take this woman prisoner. A clang sounded, signifying the woman who was carrying the shovel dropped it, meaning she was the one who was jumping over. I braced myself as the sound of her foot hopping onto the stone railing came, and then her leap. I crouched, brick raised, as she landed.

We made eye contact, as she hopped onto her hands and swung her feet–she must've been an acrobat. I yelped, dodging her kick, swinging my brick.

Her balance on her hands faltered as she swerved, gasping as she crashed onto her hips. Her balance became undone, and she toppled back with a shriek of horror.

"No!" I yelled, bursting from my hiding spot. Her face was frozen in terror as she fell through the air, plummeting towards the ground. Her scream carried through the air, ripping through the night, until it was sliced off upon her impact with the ground. I looked over the edge, the guard having rushed in to inspect her body. But no one could survive a five floor fall.

But in the corner of my eye, something was off. I turned to the fire escape of apartment B with my binoculars; Zakū's light was no longer present on the fire escape roof. Gasping, I turned back to the woman, who scowled.

"You!" She snarled, hate spiking her voice. I ran down the stairs, crouching out of her view on the fourth floor, and looked through the binoculars again.

Zakū was on the seventh floor.

"Shit." I muttered, about to scramble. But that's when I noticed something else. Zakū was flashing his vest light with his jacket which he had taken off.

Flash, flash. Pause. Flash flash. Pause.

I held up two fingers with a quizzical expression, and he nodded.

Not only was there an intrusion on such a distant floor, but there were two. I braced to run down the stairs, but paused, focusing on a drain gutter.

'I need to get Niko. No way I can fight off two intruders myself. They can't rob my coins, but that doesn't mean they won't give me a beating.'

Not giving it another thought, I leapt forward, taking hold of the pipe, and sliding down it, reaching the ground floor with a tumble. I groaned, rubbing my thigh, and came into view of the corpse and the guard who was next to it.

"Did you do this?" He asked, his face red. I shrunk back on the concrete. "Did you kill our teammate!" He demanded, taking a brick and slamming it dangerously close to my head.

"Chihaya!" Judumai shouted, climbing over the railing, running from the base.

The man pulled a knife from his back pocket, and wielded it, warning Judumai. The latter paused, but I took the opportunity.

"There's someone at your base." I spat.

He turned, and I got up, running off the stun from the tumble, taking hold of Judumai as we ran back to our base. "Niko!" I shouted. "Floor seven, two intruders! Now!"

His eyes flashed with alarm. "Oh, bloody hell, um..." He turned towards Judumai. "Watch the base!"

Without any other words, the two of us made our way up the stairs. "Wait!" I shouted as we ran. "Should we have left Judumai to tend to the base when the very angry man is still going to target us?"

Niko faltered. "Hell no! You get him up here and take his place! I'll cover for the two intruders in the meantime! I've played in an Eight of Spades with him before, and he's not a bad fighter, but only when he's paired up!"

I took his order at once, reversing my sprint and farting down the stairs in a blur, my feet burning from the exertion.

The first floor came into view, and so did Judumai against a wall with the guard towering over him. I grabbed a nearby plant pot, tossing it at the man's back. It shattered, and the man hissed.

"Judumai! With Niko! Now!" I ordered.

"Got it! Be careful!"

He swerved away from the man, and now we stood face to face. He held a bike in his hands. 'Holy crap. That man can use a bike as a weapon?'

My face paled. This was not a battle I could win. He swung, and I dove, as the bike broke a handful of the pots that protected the coins. I landed awkwardly, my knee taking a brutal impact, as I fought to adjust myself to dodge another blow. He pulled out his knife again, and swung. I dropped to the floor, picking up one of the pot shards, and jamming it into his ankle.

He howled, bringing the knife down. I jerked to the side, but not fast enough to avoid a slicing at my hips. I yelled, moving away from the knife as a trail of blood spewed out my wound. Recovering, I staggered back up, as the man turned to charge me once more. I ran into the lobby, taking the bike, driving it between us before ramming it into him.

The impact left him barely struck. I swerved under him, not wanting to be cornered, picking up the bike as an improvised barrier. 'If I can just get another good hit on him, it may be enough to get him to retreat.'

I backed up, my feet landing on an uneven piece of metal: the trowel from earlier. I picked it up, dropping the bike.

He lurched forward. Instead of sliding to the side, I jumped backwards with his movement, falling behind the railing and into the bushes. I hunched down, keeping myself low, preparing to ambush the man as he leapt over.

He leapt over, but jumped right on top of me.

I was immediately crushed by his weight, as he brought his knife up into the air, his body immobilizing all my limbs. The branches shot into my back as I kicked the dirt, thorns penetrating my skin.

I gasped, shutting my eyes, but a strike never came. Instead, the weight loosened, as a clinking sounded beside me.

A throwing knife.

Not wasting any time, I reached out and took it, jamming it forward. The man dodged, his cheek cut by the blade that was thrown. He stared at my face eyes wide, then at the direction where the knife came from, before running away.

I could hear my heartbeat. I got up, looking in the direction where the knife came. But there was no one.

Yet why would someone on an opposing team have helped me in the first place?

===Niko Cheney===

Prior to reaching the seventh floor, four of the doors flashed on my glove screen; they had been robbed. I shook my head, arriving on the floor, and was met with the two robbers.

One was a man in his thirties, wearing a black blazer and brown pants. The other was a younger woman, with flowing brown hair and a white jacket. They each wielded a knife, and had their hands on the next set of knobs, but released their hold when I came into view. Each of their vests were embroidered with an A–the apartment to our right.

'Where did these people find the knives?' I wondered. But there was no time to think—I readied my bat, and took a defensive stance. However, they didn't move either; they wanted me to make the first move. And so I didn't, which was good, as it gave time for Judumai to arrive.

The two of them bristled at the noise of the footsteps, but returned to their former posture when they realized who the second person was, and how he didn't even have a weapon.

"You guys... Going to do anything?" I questioned.

They remained firm, with their feet planted and knives raised. I took in my surroundings. The four rooms they'd already robbed were barred. This hall, compared to the others, was much more bare. Beside the two of us were a wooden broom and a blue mop, with a few buckets stacked into each other. Down the hall were some metal poles, and past the robbers were a tarp, a clothesline hanging on the railing beams, and some washbasins.

Judumai made the first move, grabbing the broom and inserting it into the iron railing. After he inserted it between two of the beams, he pushed against it, grunting as the wood splintered, leaving him with a makeshift spear.

Finally, the man must've been tired of waiting, for he charged. I got in front of Judumai, as metal met wood. He ran in front of me, facing the woman with his spear. I gripped one of the nails, which won the battle of force. He stumbled backwards, as I attempted to reach towards his vest button. He brought his knife down, and I retracted.

Judumai dodged past the woman, avoiding her strike by a margin, and reached for the tarp. She laughed. "The tarp? What are you going to do with—"

He pulled it over her, and set the pile of iron poles loose, which clattered to the ground, rolling over in a sea of chaotic tumbling. The man I faced swooped down, grabbing one of the poles, and spun it in his hands; we were now evenly matched in terms of weapon reach. He swung, and I sank to the floor, bringing my bat to his shin. He yelled on impact, but didn't give out, instead bringing the pole end-first into my head.

The collusion sent a dizzying wave of throbbing pain, and as I rolled out of his next hit, the bat released from my grip. Beside me, Judumai unsheathed the tarp, reaching into the inventory of the stunned woman, pulling out a stack of coins. A few remained, and he reached in again, but his hand was caught by her knife.

He hissed, pulling back, the bat rolling out of my reach, as the woman stood up. I grabbed the stack of buckets nearby, hurling it at the man. It hit his shoulders, and he stumbled backwards. I picked it up again, slamming it into his head, and the plastic cracked, fracturing into colorful shards.

The woman turned to him. "We've stolen enough, let's just flee." He nodded in return, and they ducked past us with surprising dexterity, weaving through Judumai's pole swing. The woman tried to strike one last time with the knife, but in combination with her escape, made the attack wonky, so I dodged it with ease.

I ran after him, but was met with them jumping out the open window in the stairwell. I gasped, sticking my head out, but they were pressed against the ledge, hopping from windowsill to windowsill. Climbers.

I sighed, turning back to Judumai. "How much did you steal from her?"

He counted the stack of coins in his hand. "I got an A-50, D-25, and D-10. But from apartment A..." He reached into his inventory. "I was able to get a C-100 from the first door, and two C-25's from a second door I robbed while the guard was preoccupied with the person who fell from high up."

"So... if you exchange the D-50 for the D-10, then we'll have 1,275 points once we get back." I tallied. "Not bad."

"Let's get back to Chihaya, then return to our plan as usual." I said. We walked down the stairs, and I decided to look at the point tallies so far. My jaw dropped.

"What?" Judumai asked. He brought his glove screen up. "What the hell?"

Team B was at 2,085 points already. They dominated the game by a landslide–Team A was runner up at 1,325. Our team was tied with Team C, but would rise to third after dropping off our coins.

"Let's hurry." I said, rushing down. Judumai trailed after me, jumping the last three steps as we arrived on the first floor. Chihaya turned to us, his eyes downcast.

"Have you seen Team B?" He asked, throwing his arms out. "How do they have so many points already?"

Judumai emptied his inventory of everything except the D-10 coin, then scattered it throughout the various pots. The sight of our points increasing helped alleviate some of my anxiety, and I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Any updates from Zakū?" I asked.

Chihaya peered through the binoculars, and shook his head. "Nope. Cheeky bastard, there's not an ounce of worry on his face! He's just sitting there, swinging his legs, not having to do any running around."

I rubbed my hands together, stepping back in position in the lobby. "Alright, let's get back into position, shall we?"

The others nodded. "I'll go to apartment C." Judumai said. "They seem to be easy targets, as they have the most robbed rooms."

I looked over; he was right. Each floor had at least one red door. Our apartment only had those four robbed rooms, and apartment A had seven red. Apartment B had...

"Team B has zero robbed rooms." I said. "Of course."

"Who are they?" Chihaya asked.

"A threat." Judumai said.

"Look, all their entrances are blocked off." I said. "Their base is surrounded by a wall of crates! And their stairwells too, look."

"They were smarter with their planning time..." Chihaya muttered. "We don't have the time or people to do that now."

I sighed. "Let's worry about them when the time comes. For now, we stick to the strategy we've always had."

We shared a mutual nod, splitting away. I leaned against the wall, looking down both hallways. The distance was too great to see the bases of the other teams, but I could make out the hallways of apartments A and C. I snuck a glance towards the corner of my lens view; over an hour still remained. This would be a long game.

I tilted my head back until it bumped into the wall, closing my eyes momentarily, resting for a few minutes, remaining alert for any sounds or intrusions.

With nothing better to do, I took another peek at my screen, zooming out of our building and scrolling to the other doors. I gasped; apartment B had finally been robbed. One room on floor eight, and one room on floor seven. They were both on the right ends—was this Zakū's doing?

Then, an alert. It appeared overhead apartment C, an exclamation mark bursting over it in a zig-zag speech bubble. A bold, red '1' appeared over the cell icon.

Judumai had been taken prisoner.

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