"STOP RIGHT THERE!" The man continued shouting, trying to taunt Red and his group. To his surprise, Red really did stop after he shouted for the third time.
The man was as thin as a grasshopper and his beady eyes made him resemble one. Looking back to his teammates with a sneer on his face, he became confident that Red would be easy prey for them.
Suddenly, Red screamed louder than the grasshopper-like man. "WE HAVE TO GO! FOLLOW ME!"
Red's group then darted in a different direction.
Suddenly, the Forest-section changed shape as trees toppled over. It's as if the Forest-section was hit by a severe tornado.
*clank* *clank* *clank*
The jangling of metals got louder and louder as the toppling trees got nearer towards Red's group and the grasshopper guy.
The sources of the metallic sounds finally emerged.
Hundreds of Outclass humanoids charged through the Forest-section, like tanks in the middle of a battlefield. Everywhere they go, trees fell, and the ground tremored.
"Are you kidding me!" Scar exclaimed after seeing the humanoids catching up to them.
Grasshopper guy and his group couldn't help but scream their lungs out upon seeing the horde of humanoids. They also had no choice but to run away from the disastrous scene.
"Red, we can't outrun them, do you have any ideas?" Blond asked. The sudden sprint took a toll on his energy and now he was gasping for air.
"I'll hold them off. Make sure you follow Cat's lead all the way and stay hidden. I'll get there soon." Red said.
"There he goes again, taking all the burdens to himself." Blond thought to himself, getting annoyed at Red's decision. "We can't afford that Red, let's just keep on running and we'll decide what to do by then."
Suddenly, Scar stopped running.
"SCAR! WHAT ARE YOU... " Red shouted but before he could finish, Scar shouted back at him.
"By then, it would be too late, stupid! We can't have you taking all the burdens to yourself!" Scar shouted. He then tackled one outclass humanoid, making a chain reaction and knocking a whole lot of them like dominoes. That single move gave Red and the rest of the group more distance from the outclass humanoids.
"Don't worry about me, just go!" Scar reassured them. "I'll be fine!"
Deep inside, Scar was already regretting his life decisions. Still, he had already thought about it even before this happened.
"If there will come a time when Red had to sacrifice himself, I'll do it in his stead. Man! Even though I already steeled my resolve, I'm still a nervous wreck!" Scar whispered to himself as he blocked another wave of outclass humanoids.
"I'll rejoin you soon... " Scar promised. It was more of a promise to himself since he knows he could die at any moment.
Red and the others took one last look at Scar before turning the other way and running at full speeds. Although they expected someone to buy some time for them, they weren't expecting Scar to do it. Adding to that, the fact that they expected Red to do something about the horde of humanoids made them feel guilty.
"I'll come back for you." Red steeled his resolve as he sprinted even faster, outrunning everyone and urging them to follow him.
Pretty soon, the group reached the border of the Forest-section and the southwesternmost part of the Inside. To their surprise, it was an extension of the Factory-section.
The Factory-section was the farthest section of the Inside, that's why no one ventured in it. It should be mentioned that in the previous years, the mock battles usually last for a week so everyone had plenty of time to disperse and set up bases all over the map. Furthermore, the workers didn't have to go back to the 'staircase' after the mock battle, that's why they don't have to keep in mind where they were located on the final hour of it.
This year, the mock battle almost overlapped with the Runners Survivors that Head Cipher had to make a few adjustments. These few adjustments weren't mentioned to the workers and block owners alike, but somehow, Red knew everything about it.
The southwesternmost part of the map was filled with massive buildings made purely of metal alloys. Ironically, it was the cleanest-looking section of the Inside due to its huge semblance to the Asterisk. It would even be an understatement to say that this section was somehow connected to the Asterisk itself due to its pristine, spotless color amidst its surroundings.
"Here we are." Red broke the silence as he admired the view. "It still didn't change, huh." He muttered underneath his breath.
"What?" Curl asked since she was the nearest to Red and she happened to overhear what he said.
"Nothing, let's go," Red answered as he sprinted forward once again.
Suddenly, a crowd of humanoids came out of the factory, running straight to the group. Red, on the other hand, paid it no mind. He just kept moving forward as if he didn't even notice the humanoids charging towards them.
"Um, Red?" Blond muttered, trying to get his attention but Red didn't even bat an eye at him.
The group couldn't understand what was going on!
In the end, they just swallowed their inquisitiveness and decided to follow Red, no questions asked. They were a bit curious but they knew that Red would just be bothered if they interrogate him right now. After all, he decided not to answer Blond's call the first time albeit hearing it clearly.
The humanoids from the Forest-section finally almost caught up to them, making the group's eyes widened as they trembled in fear. Their adrenaline surged even more as they caught up to Red. By now, Red was already sprinting at his maximum speed, making Blond and the others doubt their ability on whether they could follow Red or not.
"Finally! I thought I should wait a few more days. Well, they're not yet ready... " Red smiled to himself.
"... almost ready."
The group of humanoids in front of them continued to move forward while the outclass humanoids on their rear were beginning to catch up to them. It was like a sandwich with Block-16 in the middle of it. Whether Red noticed it or not, the group was just hoping that it was the former.
"Follow me!" Red commanded once again as he side-stepped and continued running, evading the humanoids charging from the front.
The rest of the group only had a split second to react, if they couldn't, then they would be trampled over by the humanoids from the front and behind them. Without a split second of hesitation, the group simultaneously side-stepped as they followed Red.
"Phew~! That almost gave me a heart attack." Blond said to himself.
The others nodded in agreement, heaving a sigh of relief.
"Quick! To the entrance!" Red shouted.
Blond and the others gaped in disbelief as Red sped up even more. They thought that Red was already running at maximum speeds but to their surprise, he was withholding his strength. After covering the last hundred meters in less than nine seconds, he propped open the entrance towards one of the buildings with his hands— the very same entrance where the humanoids came out of.
It almost felt like a school festival all over again, or so, that's what occurred in the minds of Blond and the others as they exceeded their limits and ran even faster. The outclass humanoids were already right on their tail, one small misstep or a split second of slowing down is all it would take for them to not make it. Fortunately, the sight of the entrance getting closer within reach motivated them to hurry.
One by one, Blond and the others made it towards the entrance. The last one to make it was Blond, who was already running out of air. When he arrived at the entrance, he was already half-conscious. His steady panting filled the area as he fell on the ground and vomited water and half-chewed comestibles.
"Gross~" Red covered his nose as he closed the entrance to the place, propping a humanoid arm on the door handles to keep it close.
To their relief, the humanoids chasing them turned the other way around and began chasing the other workers who were heading to the Staircase. They only had a few minutes before the mock battle ends. Red concluded that the other workers on sight wouldn't have enough time to get to the staircase before it closes. That's why he decided to go to the southwesternmost part of the map— the reason being...
... something that Red only knows.
"What are we doing here, Red? Shouldn't we get to the staircase by now?" Blond asked. He finally got over his vomit.
"We can't make it. If we did risk it, we would only end up in the incinerator. It's not worth the risk." Red said. "Oh, and just in case you didn't know, as soon as the timer ends, all the heaps of trash and workers that got left behind the Inside would be sent to the incinerator."
"Wait, so if we stay here, we would get sent to the incinerator?" Gadge exclaimed, totally forgetting that he just sprinted a couple of miles.
"Technically, yes," Red said. "But... I can assure you that we won't end up in the incinerator if we stay here."
"You sure about that?" Freckles counter-argued. "Tell us that you're one hundred percent sure about it, otherwise, I'll risk going to the staircase."
"Trust me on this one." Red plopped on the floor, a few feet away from where Blond vomited. "But before we rest on our laurels, we have to think of a way to rescue Scar."