"What happens if you violate those rules? Well, none of us knows. At this point, we have all come to understand death, and making rules that put our lives on the line we're no issue."

===Karamu Toshiaki===

– – – – – –

"Ow!" I screamed, crashing to the ground.

The boy behind me laughed, bending down. Tears welled in my eyes, but he grabbed me by the face, pulling my head towards him.

"Hey! Look at me, you baby!"

"Just... Let me go. Please."

"Awww, is little Karamu going to cry?" He asked, leaning into me. "What? Going to cry to your mom? Your dad? Oh wait, I forgot. He left both of you and she killed herself."

I remained silent, rubbing my mouth.

"You're such easy prey." He said, crouching until we were eye-level. "Don't ever fight back. Don't ever—"

I kicked him. He grunted, stumbling backwards. But, in an instant, he regained his balance, and laughed.

"Oh... Haha... You're going to regret that." He said, a sadistic smile spreading on his face. I stuttered, trying to form words as my body shrunk against the ground, but before he could move forward, a rock struck him in the head.

It came from N. She ran up, shoving him to the ground, propping her leg onto his chest. Hanna and Rose followed behind them.

"Harassing people again, Nikira?" Hanna asked, hands in her pockets.

"Try picking on someone your own size for once." N said, grabbing Nikira by the cuff and pulling him up. Rose helped me up, dusting off my shirt.

"Once again, he needs all four of his loser friends to back him up." Nikira spat. "And all five of you make the orphan five."

"Loser friends?" Hanna laughed. "N and Rose can and have beat the shit out of you. You're not worth shit."

"You act like you're a tough bitch, but everyone hates you." Rose said. "Stop letting your insecurities get the better of you and go do something that doesn't waste oxygen."

He remained silent, his chest huffing, before Hideo approached. "Is there a problem here?" He asked.

Nikira looked at him, then back to us. "No... There isn't." He walked away.

"Karamu, got yourself into some trouble again?" Hideo asked.

"It was nothing." I said.

"Stay safe, okay?" He asked, before walking away. "Don't end up getting yourself into something you'll regret later."

"I hate that damn Nikira..." I murmured, turning to them. "But again... You guys came to my defense. Thank you."

"No need." N said, hands in her pockets. "We're all that we have, so we always need to be there for each other, no matter what."

Me and Rose looked at each other, both us nodding.

"Always." I said.

– – – – – –

Time left: 40 min.

Player: 12,000
Ashikaga: 3,300
Chihaya: 4,800
Judumai: 3,700
Aulia: 100
Benkei: 100

Citizen: 34,000
Hideo: 1,750
Karamu: 5,000

Hideo had a gaze that seemed to not focus on anything. I tapped my foot, tracing the tip of my shoes against the concrete. "What... What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"Just remembering some things." He said, putting his hands into his pockets.

"Forty minutes left." Hanna said, bouncing her back against the metal pole of the Base. "As long as we keep this Base guarded, we have a hundred percent chance of winning."

"But still." Rose said. "I doubt they're the type of people to sit idly by, even when they know death is inevitable."

"You're right." Hideo said. "Even though they can't possibly attack our Base when all five of us are guarding it, they're definitely doing something. Karamu–I reckon you're currently the most useful here. Go and scout them out, and report what they're doing."

"Oh... Okay. I'll go and do that." I let go of the Base, and disappeared into the labyrinth.

===Aulia Choi===

I ran through the expansive corridors of the mall, only 100 points to my name. A single Battle, and I was dead.

But I wasn't the only one. Benkei was also sprinting in the midst of the labyrinth, one touch away from death. We had split off four ways, because of one thing only: an Item.

And when one of us did find an Item, I needed to be the one to obtain it, as I was the smallest out of all of us.

Ashikaga's plan was a brilliant yet rough idea, which we refined over the course of several minutes. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and I froze, darting my eyes between both sides of the path.

It was only Ashikaga.

"No luck?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No! Where the hell are these last two Items?"

"I ran into Chihaya earlier, and he cleared the territory north of the citizen's Base." She said. "And I cleared the wing East of their Base, so that leaves the west. Try heading there, perhaps?"

I nodded. "Yes, sounds good. Thanks, Ashikaga, and stay safe!"

"I should be the one telling you that!" She shouted, breaking away from me.

'West... west. Right now I'm towards the east in the central area between our Bases. So... I'd make these left turns right?'

My legs and stomach burned, but I shook my head and kept running. After another minute, I gave in and rested for two minutes, before continuing onwards.

The walls of the mall provided insight towards my location; as they appeared closer, it was evident I was closer to the far sides of each end, west or east.

'Okay... I'm in the west area. There's got to be an Item here! There has to be!'

I continued running, turning a corner and yelping as I crashed into Chihaya's body. He grunted, absorbing the impact and staying standing, while I stumbled to the ground.

"Chihaya!" I said. "Ashikaga suggested I look in this area!"

"Yeah, I haven't bumped into anyone yet but this was one of the few areas left I hadn't looked. By now I'm starting to have a pretty good understanding of this maze's blueprints.

"Left or right?" I asked, as we approached a fork.

"Run in front of me." Chihaya said, slowing down and allowing me to pass him. "That way I can keep my eye on you and they won't try any funny tricks.

"Thanks."

"Left!" He commanded, and we made the turn. Another series of containers laid before us; we broke apart, testing each door, but none opened.

"We should probably split up again." Chihaya said. "Covers more ground again."

"Yeah, see you." I said, waving and heading to an opposite corner. Chihaya vanished out of view, but from the end of my peripheral emerged another figure: Karamu. I gasped, turning around and hissing Chihaya's name.

He turned around, running back to me, but I covered the other half of the distance, shaking my hands in a cross. "No! Karamu's there!"

"Damn! That's not good! We can't let him get to you, but why would they break their Base formation? Like we said, there's no reason  at this point in time for them to use any other strategy, since they already have victory in the bag."

"We've already established that these people are on a whole other level of thinking, so who knows what their true motives or intentions behind their moves are?"

"Wait, but that's another issue!" He shouted, his face stiffening. "Our Base! Only Judumai who can barely move or speak is wrapped around, if any of the others see the Base, we're screwed!"

"Go, then!" I urged. "Get back to our Base!"

Chihaya turned around into a sprint, as I dove back into the crates, avoiding Karamu's sight. 'Come on. Give me an Item. Give me an Item. Give me an Item.'

I tried another door, and another, and another, all yielding nothing. Turning the corner, I tried the next door, when someone turned into the alley behind me: Karamu.

My body froze for a second, before I regained my sense of motion. As he opened his mouth, I had already begun hurtling down the path. However, he didn't follow, and instead turned back the way he came from.

'He's probably alerting everyone else at the Base that we're out!'

This operation would need to be put on hold; I swerved into another hall and slid to a stop, but Karamu had already been at the other end.

'He knows the layout surrounding his Base much better than me. He's going to corner me! I need to get back to my Base, but that's a what—seven minute run?'

I didn't wait for him to react before I ran again, but the sound of his feet betrayed the fact he was chasing after me. The next series of containers seemed to become linear, only one path for me to sprint down, but after a right turn, it opened up into a clearing.

Karamu had chased me into their Base.

Hanna, Rose, N, and Hideo all perked up. Behind me, Karamu was catching up; his footsteps were growing louder. Again, I didn't wait for anyone to react. I stuck close to the wall, speeding against it as Hideo shouted.

"She has only 100 points, you three go get her!"

His voice cut through the air like a dull blade, and I had reached the closest exit as three of them began tailing me, with Karamu emerging from the path I had come from, taking the lead.

'I can't outrun them forever, I need to lose them.'

I took several left turns, and then a right. But then, the sound of crunching metal caught my ear; Rose had emerged from the top of the crates, to my left on the nearest container.

And she was outrunning me–she sprinted ahead, leaping off where the alley opened up to a turn, cutting off my path. I cursed, my shoes skidding as I halted, turning around once again.

Rose was closing the distance, but behind me, another person emerged—Chihaya.

"Chihaya!" I screamed.

"I got you!" He shouted, himself closing in on Rose as she closed in on me.

My feet were on fire, and I closed my eyes, focusing all my energy on propelling myself forward. Behind me, Rose grunted as she leaped forward, reaching outwards, but so did Chihaya, and he managed to snatch the helm of her shirt. The force of his grab threw Rose backwards, driving both into the ground.

"Battle!"

Player - 4,800 VS 11,417 - Citizen
-500 ↓ +500
Player - 4,300 • 11,917 - Citizen

"There has been an exchange of points between teams."

Player - 11,500 • 34,500 - Citizen
-500 ↑ +500

Chihaya picked Rose up, not having broken contact since the Battle, and started running with her in his arms. "They said nothing about staying in contact after a Battle! I'll take her away, you get away, Aulia!"

"Get off of me!" Rose shrieked, attempting to bite his arm. I took the opportunity to run away, as Chihaya struggled to keep Rose in contact with him, buying me time to run away.

'Our plan is compromised! If we want only two people to need to touch the Base, we'd have to find both remaining Items! We have absolutely no room for leeway now!'

Down the entire alleyway, I continued testing every door handle, but luck refused to win out, as two people–Hanna and Karamu, turned the corner. I cursed, racing away. Just over an hour ago, I was on the brink of freezing to death, and now, I was drenched in sweat, barreling down the halls as two kids chased behind me.

And my luck drained all through, as the next corner I turned, went straight into a dead end. I turned out of the alley, but the two kids had already cornered me. I kept my eyes on them, but scanned the alley. There were three door handles, two on the walls leading to the end, and one at the very end of the dead end. The containers were stacked, and regardless, none of them had bars to climb on top of them.

The two of them had already inched past the first door, so I ran to the second, which was locked. Huffing, I made my way to the end of the hall, which didn't budge.

I was cornered with 100 points. I was dead.

"Hanna..." Karamu murmured. "Maybe we should just spare her. Pretend that we didn't see her."

"Are you kidding? All our lives are on the line, Karamu." She said. "We can't just risk all our lives to save her own. Plus, they're going to die anyway. And worst of all..." Hanna dropped her voice to a whisper.

"If Hideo finds out, he'll be furious."

"Why do you all seem to be so scared of Hideo?" I asked. "Isn't he supposed to be your caregiver? Yet you all are terrified of him!"

"You don't understand!" Hanna shouted. "He cares about us. He does. Everything he says and does is to protect us, so don't act like you know our lives better than ourselves, to the point that you can say if we're being manipulated or not!"

She extended her hand to Karamu. "Come on, you coming or not?"

Karamu looked at her hand, then at me, then gulped. He took her hand, and the two of them charged at me.

'Think think think. Karamu's been the most hesitant all game. Do I beg for mercy?'

The only thing in my vicinity was the door handle; a plan hatched in my mind, but it was desperate. However, something was always better than nothing. As the distance between us closed, I jumped onto the door handle. Karamu's eyes widened, as Hanna flung the two of them at me, and in Karamu's hesitance to Battle me, I leaped off the door handle towards his side, angling my body away from him.

My figure was out of reach, and my feet reached the ground again, as I bolted back down the dead end, towards the final door. Hanna didn't hesitate, racing after me while letting go of Karamu.

My hand clamped around the door, and I pulled.

The door opened.

I stepped inside, peeking outside as Hanna approached closer. As she neared the door, I pulled it in, then slammed it back out, and Hanna wailed, her body thudding as it hit the ground. I pulled the door closed, leaving only a crack of light so I could make out the interior, rushing deep into the chamber and collecting the Item.

I didn't wait for the animation to finish before I ran back out, closing and opening the door several times to knock Karamu away in case he was outside waiting. I stepped out and pressed my body against the wall, staying away from the door and speeding away.

Karamu kneeled beside Hanna, who had a bleeding nose and small crack running down her forehead.

"Sorry!" I yelled, leaving them. I brought my bracelet to my face; I had obtained 2,000 points.

"There has been a change in the player team's points."

Aulia: 100 → 2,100

Player - 13,500 • 34,500 - Citizen
+2,000 ↑  

"Yes!" I shouted, smiling. My part of the plan was set; now, it was all up to someone else to find the 2,500 Item container.

===Benkei Furetcha===

"Two thousand points?" I asked aloud to myself, upon the scoreboard changing. "That must be Aulia!"

'All we need now is for one of us to get the last Item, the 2,500 Item, and then the next phase of our plan can go underway!'

N and Rose emerged from behind a corner, Rose with blood dripping down her mouth.

"Holy... What the hell happened?" I asked.

"Chihaya carried me even after a Battle to buy Aulia some time." She said between breaths. "Had to bite his arm to free myself. Did what I had to."

No one was behind me, and I backed away, as the two of them inched forward. I still had 100 points, and would die after a single Battle. We still needed the last Item.

I sprinted away, and the two of them followed me. Rose diverged to the side, climbing atop one of the shipping crates along a bar in one swift motion.

'Where is she going?'

I turned right at a fork in the road, but Rose had cut me off from atop the containers, jumping down from the crate with a flip, landing on her feet. I whipped my body around, turning back down the other end. Rose clambered back on top of the containers from a door handle, making her way back towards me.

I sprinted ahead of her, turning down a series of corridors and losing her. However, as I entered another hallway, Ashikaga appeared in the distance.

"Don't come this way!" She shouted. "Hanna is right behind me!"

Hanna soon appeared after her, blood running down her face from her nose and a crack in her forehead.

I turned the other direction, but N blocked the alley, and Rose had appeared on top of the container. The other side of the alley had a bar on the side of the metal wall, and I pointed at that to Ashikaga. She nodded, as I sprinted to the bar, using it as leverage to leap on top of the container. She followed behind me, the two of us coming next to another container stacked on top of the one she was at, but gasped.

When I followed her gaze, it fell upon Karamu on top of the second container.

"Get him!" N barked.

He got out of his crouch, launching himself forward. Ashikaga pulled me aside, the two of us linking hands as we ran down the length of the container, but Rose had emerged from the other end, blocking us off. She pointed to the other side of the crate, and the two of us jumped off.

The fall shook my bones, but I pushed the sensation off and kept sprinting. Rose and Karamu remained on the containers, trailing after us.

"You can't outrun us forever!" Rose shouted.

"She's right." I whispered, as me and Ashikaga continued sprinting. "We can't just keep running, but we're–well, I'm–not in a position to Battle."

"Maybe we can just lose them." Ashikaga replied.

"No shot; these kids are too swift."

"So again, we need to pull some sort of trick."

We turned another corner, but this time, Hanna was at the end of the corridor.

"If I Battle her right now, she'll be inactive!" Ashikaga said, breaking off and preparing to sprint at her. But before she could set herself off, Rose and Karamu emerged from the containers, leaping into the alleyway, as N walked up behind us. Three were on one side, and one on another. But soon, Hanna walked against the wall to N, so that there were two on each side, surrounding us.

Me and Ashikaga turned to the container behind us in sync, but there were no doors, climbing handles, or bars to climb on top of it; it would take an astronomical leap upwards. Likely only Karamu, the seasoned parkourist, could make the leap.

"Crap." Ashikaga murmured. "We're surrounded."

I attempted to climb up the container, but my jump still came a meter short of my hands reaching the top. "What do we do... What do we do?"

All sets of eyes from the kids were turned to Hanna. "...Now!" She shouted.

The four of them came closing in.

"Damn it... I think I have an idea!" Ashikaga said, getting closer to the wall, before crouching down and extending her hands, laying them flat like a platform.

"Oh... I get what you mean." I said, smiling.

"Benkei's going to try to jump!" Hanna ordered. "Hurry!"

"Now!" Ashikaga said.

I backed up, before pulling my body back and sprinting towards Ashikaga's hand as the four kids swiped where I stood a second prior. My foot met her hands, and she lifted her hands up, my body elevating alongside it. My other foot stomped on her head, and she yelped, clamping down on her jaws, as I pushed off of her head, my body launching towards the top of the crate.

Rose tackled Ashikaga, initiating a Battle, as my hands met with the edge of the crate. Karamu arched his back, offering a ramp for N to clamber on top of, throwing herself towards me.

"Battle!"

Player - 3,300 VS 11,917 - Citizen
-500 ↓ +500
Player - 2,800 •