The final words of Head Cipher diminished as a huge 'clank' was heard. It's as if something was being opened.
"Let's get back," Red muttered before he could think of something else. His guts were screaming that the Dome was getting dangerous and he heeded its warnings.
"Why?"
"Just listen to me!" It's as if a switch made Red's persona change. That's because Red was already relying on his instincts.
Red didn't hesitate to push himself away from the other groups. Blond and the rest couldn't comprehend what was happening since Red was acting rather uncharacteristically. "For now, let's just follow him," Blond advised, stepping forward right behind Red. Pretty soon, the workers of Block-16 were walking in a straight line, until they reached the farthest side of the Dome.
Curl caught up to Red and grabbed his hand, making him turn around and face her. To her surprise, Red was wearing a serious face, his eyes turned into slits. "Why? What's going on?"
*poke*
Curl whirled her face as someone tapped her on the back. It was Cat and she was pointing at the floor where the other workers were.
The only difference was, there were no workers there anymore, just a huge gaping hole that seemed to extend deeper to the ground: an abyss.
"Wait... what?! What happened to the others?!" Scar exclaimed, falling butt-first onto the shiny tiles.
Red chuckled lightly, releasing an aura as if to tell them 'do you believe me now?'. "Don't worry about them, I just didn't want to embarrass our group that much."
Blond peered from the edge of the hole. He saw a staircase, littered with the workers who shamefully fell as soon as the floor below them sank.
The staircase that appeared extended a few meters downwards.
A faint light shone a few meters below, probably the end of the staircase. Although Red had enhanced eyesight compared to the rest, he still couldn't see how long the staircase was, that's how dark the underground was.
"FOLLOW ME! SOLDIERS!" Jarxen stood with arrogance as a hint of happiness was shone on his face. The feeling of superiority leaked out of him and affected the other block owners. After all, his was the only group who didn't fall off the yawning chasm.
"That's no fair Jarxen! You told them something didn't you?" Fujimoto spoke up, nudging him on his side.
Jarxen just smiled. "I didn't tell them anything. I mean, that would just ruin the fun. Ahhh~ It's been so long since a group survived that fall, right?"
Fujimoto acquiesced. "Yeah, last time only half of the group didn't fall, and that was because one of them was leaning on the walls and the others gathered 'round him."
"Let's go." Jarxen motioned, leading everyone down the stairs.
"Psst!"
Blond went beside Red once again and asked him. "How did you know about the hidden staircase underneath the Dome? Did you hear it from the earpiece?"
"If I did I would've told you before you could say 'how did you know'," Red responded, patting him on the back. "I just had a gut feeling. For a moment there, I felt something churning in my stomach like it's indirectly telling me what's about to happen. I tend to rely on that gut feeling nowadays. I mean, it saved me from an early grave plenty of times."
Blond let out a laugh. "I know, we'll be relying on that gut feeling of yours on this mock battle as well. I could foretell that one or two groups are going to target us before they get their flags."
"They probably thought that those outclass humanoids were just a fluke, so they'll try to duke it out with you. Best be careful, Red." Gadge came up to them, adjusting his imaginary glasses.
"If we're talking about gut feelings then... " Red's gaze landed on Cat, who was tiptoeing silently a few inches behind him. "Well, never mind."
The group finally reached the end of the 'hole/tunnel staircase'. Jarxen stretched his hands and turned around, a large grin plastered on his face. "Welcome to the Inside! This is a city-like battlefield. Don't underestimate its size. The map that our leader showed you was not a lie. That's why, you better plan out your strategy now, lest you get left behind by the other blocks. Remember Red, you took two outclass humanoids. You'd better live up to your reputation and prove to everyone that it wasn't an over-exaggeration."
"You don't say? We know you just wanted to brag about it to the other block owners." Blond thought as he half-smiled. He didn't dare speak up and ruin the mood.
"Can we go, now?" Red asked.
"What do you mean? It already started!"
Suddenly, an announcement was broadcasted across the whole map. "Block-1, Block-1 just got a flag. They're the first one to secure one, you can find them on the northeastern part of the map."
"I wish you all the best." Jarxen indifferently uttered as he headed back to the staircase.
All their attention turned to Red. "What do we do now, leader?" Blond enthusiastically asked.
To their surprise, Red was frozen in place. It was the first time the group saw him with a frightened look on his face. He just stood there, staring at empty space as if he saw something out of a nightmare
"T-this... !" Red stuttered, taken aback.
A familiar road
The broken-down building
... ...
"RED!!! Are you okay?!" Blond screamed at the top of his lungs. "Get it together!!!"
"I'm sorry." Red shook his head, trying to get a grip of reality. He knew he already encountered this place in the past. After a few seconds of racking his brains, he finally remembered the nightmare he had the night before. It had the same atmosphere, and unusually the same landmarks as well.
"First, we need to scout the area. All of us need to be on the lookout for other scouts and possible ambush. Second, we need to find a base one that's easily... " As Red began explaining, a humanoid came up to them. Red immediately put his fists up on a fighting stance.
To their relief, the humanoid just dropped seven tasers in front of them. Without further ado, the humanoid took three steps back, gave a bow, and ran towards the opposite direction. Red and his party didn't even have the time to react to the humanoid's actions.
"What was that... about?" Freckles asked.
"No idea."
"Anyways, let's distribute the tasers first." Red changed the subject as he handed each of them a taser. "As I was saying, we'd better secure a base before we start stealing some flags. I will leave Freckles, Blond, and Scar in the base. and the rest of us will go and hunt for some flags."
Red turned to Cat, giving her a cunning look. "That's where Cat will come in. In case no one didn't notice, she's the best scout we could ever get. Even at night, her night vision is really out of this world."
"H-h-how did you know, Red?" Cat stammered as she clutched the ends of her shirt. "I-I didn't tell anyone about it."
"Cat, that's not important for now. I'll explain everything once I finish giving my instructions." Red's face turned dark, giving them the chills. "We don't have enough time as it is."
"Guys, let's not talk about it. I can already tell that Red knows everything about us. There's no use hiding anything from him. I mean, I've known this a long time ago but I'm still impressed." Blond put up his arms, signaling them not to interrupt Red.
Instructions first, explanations later.
"Now then, there're reasons why I assigned you some roles. First, Cat is a scout and she's the most agile out of everyone here. Freckles is our doctor and Blond is our brains, meaning, they have to stay in the base the whole time. If there's a sign of an attack, Scar could be a meat-shield and fight the attackers so Freckles and Blond could get to safety. As for Gadge, he will scout with Curl and me. Gadge specializes in gadgets so we're planning to attack a few humanoids and turn them into hand-held weapons that all of us can use for protection."
"I'll g-get going," Cat responded.
Cat crouched really low and sprinted to one corner. A few of them wondered why she was heading straight to a wall but to their surprise, she scaled the wall two times as tall as her in just a second. On the other hand, it didn't come out as a surprise to Red and Blond. After all, they've been observing everyone closely. A few seconds passed and Cat re-emerged on a rooftop, landing on all fours. After that, she didn't waste any time leaping from one rooftop to another. Her movements weren't all that flashy, but she didn't make any noise ever since she started.
"She really moves like a cat, huh," Red muttered.
"Fitting name." Blond returned.