"You mean, Scar's still alive?" Blond confirmed. "If so, we have to get him as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, he's stronger than you think. Let's wait for him for a few minutes. If he doesn't arrive here before the timer ends, that's when I head out." Red told them. "I already told him about the exact location of where we're headed so you don't have to worry about him getting lost. If he did get lost, well, it's up to me to rescue him or something."
Blond couldn't believe the tone of Red's voice. They just went through hell and back but Red sound so lackadaisical as if he just went on a stroll at the park. In fact, Red was unusually calm compared to how he was acting a few minutes ago while they were running from the humanoids.
"Can you tell us something, Red?" Blond asked as he sat beside Red. He still reeked of vomit but Red put up with it.
"Yeah?"
"What is this place? How can you be so sure that they won't send us to the incinerator if we stay here? Have you been here before?" Blond bombarded him with questions, making him sit farther from Blond.
"Whoa! Just one at a time. Let me explain slowly." Red shook his hands, trying to calm Blond.
The rest of the group instinctively formed a circle, intently listening to Red's coming explanation.
"First, this is the Humanoid-section of the Inside." Red began. "As for why we won't get sent to the incinerator, the reason is that... they simply can't. You see, this place is not a part of the Inside whatsoever. That's why we can stay here forever and they won't even send us to the incinerator. I guarantee you this because... to answer your third and last question... yes, I've been here before." Red explained in the shortest way possible. "I won't tell you the details but I could vaguely remember the past after getting electrocuted in front of our base. Although the pain of being electrocuted four times at once was hellishly painful, I do think it was heaven sent since it enabled me to recall the recent past. Don't misunderstand, a part of me already decided to head here based on a whim and Cat's second opinion. However, it became clearer after that electrocution... or something like that."
Blond and the rest of the group were shocked after hearing Red's explanation. If what Red said turned out to be true, then that means they already have a better chance of escaping the Asterisk altogether.
"There's one thing that struck me as odd... " Blond finally spoke up as he inspected Red a little bit closer. "You were lying about that part with the electrocution, am I right?"
"What do you mean? What I told you was the truth." Red shrugged as he looked straight into Blond's eyes to assure him that he wasn't lying.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Blond and Red were already in the middle of some sort of lie-detection test as they stared at each other. According to Blond, Red was lying about the electrocution part although he sounded genuine about it. That's why it left Gadge and the others wondering whether Blond was tripping Red up or Blond simply wanted to learn the truth.
"Let me rephrase my question," Blond muttered once again, clearing his throat before he spoke since some vomit was still stuck in it. "You were partially lying about recalling the past during the electrocution, am I right? In fact, you remembered it a little bit earlier... specifically when you had the fever after fighting two Outclass humanoids... wait, earlier than that! That time when you asked me about the Map from my hidden pocket, you already remembered the past?!"
Red continuously stared into Blond's deep blue pools before raising his hands and chuckling lightly. He then stood up and stretched himself before sitting down, back to his original position. "Fine, I give up. You're right. And so what if I did?"
"You're going to tell us that we weren't ready so you couldn't tell us then, right?" Blond interrupted his explanation.
"I was about to say that, yes," Red said, extending his hand.
.
.
"Welcome back, Julius Ventio." Red greeted.
"Come on, you should have given me a sign earlier." Blond laughed out loud as he shook Red's hand. "If you did, I'd have remembered everything earlier than before."
"How many times have I won?" Red asked. "Wait, this counts as my win, right?"
"Not reall... well, alright. That makes it two wins and three losses for me, and as for you... argh! I hate to admit it!"
Red and Blond were talking as if they were two best friends who didn't see each other in a long time. This left Gadge and the rest of the group utterly clueless as to what was happening. They couldn't wrap their minds around the sudden change in Blond and Red's character, let alone their change in mannerisms as they hugged each other like brothers.
"Wait, does anyone have any idea what's going on?" Gadge glanced at the others but he only received multiple head shakes.
"Same here, I have no idea what's going on either." Freckles concurred.
"I have no idea either." Curl shook her head as she stole a glimpse towards Cat.
"M-me neither... " Cat bashfully replied as she lowered her head to avoid Curl's line of sight.
Meanwhile, Red and Blond continued their alien conversation, totally forgetting about the rest of the group. They simply had no idea how much they left the group perplexed.
"This time, you called yourself Red, last time it was Rogue right? Haha! You simply have no taste when it comes to your names." Blond guffawed, patting his stomach as he laughed even harder. It was so uncharacteristically of him that the rest of the group's jaws dropped to the floor in amazement.
"How about you, last time you called yourself Kiiro. Now you call yourself Blond? Next time why don't you just call yourself yellow." Red shot back.
"In any case, glad to meet you here again. This time we're in the same block, aye?"
"Yeah, this should be easier than before."
"That said, where's berserker... er I mean... wait, I can't remember his name." Blond hit his head with his palms as if it would help him remember but it was to no avail.
"Wait! We need to go!" Red grabbed Blond by the shoulders as he shook him. "He blocked all those outclass humanoids so we could escape to this Humanoid-section!"
Blond slapped his forehead. "Oh yeah, we'd better go!"
Before Gadge and the others understood what was happening, Red and Blond removed the humanoid arm from the door handles and rushed outside. The group was hit by a sudden thunderstorm that they had no idea where to start. One moment, Red and Blond were questioning each other whether Red was lying or not, the next moment they were shaking each other's hands, greeting each other, and conversing like they haven't seen each other in a long time. The recent occurrence was a conundrum to the group, that's why they were utterly speechless when Red and Blond exited the place. They didn't even have the notion to stop them and ask for an explanation because their mind simply short-circuited.
"Let's see who could track Berserker first! Wait, this time, his name is Scar, right? I should stop calling him that." Blond chortled.
"Yeah, we'd better find him soon. Otherwise, we'd have a hard time getting out of the Humanoid-section alive." Red explained. "That being said, race you to it! Whoever finds berse... er I mean, Scar first would be the winner! I agree with you, now that I remember his previous names, I couldn't forget how epic that nickname was. I mean, berserker, right? How could it get better than that?"
"Right?" Blond said. "Before we start, Red, give me a headstart. You know I'm a slow runner." Blond pleaded.
"Oh, why didn't you call me by my real name... were you afraid I'll do the same? Julius Ventio hahha~!" Red teased. "Alright, I'll give you a headstart!"
Back to the group, they were still staring at Blond and Red as they got farther and farther from them. The first one to snap back into reality was Gadge. "Did they hit their head on something while we were running or what?"
"I thought they were crazy, turns out, they were even crazier than before." Freckles was the second one to wake up to reality. "Does anyone have any idea what happened to them?"
"I don't have an idea myself. But a part of me tells me that Red is now acting more like himself than he did before. I don't know but... uhh~ this is so confusing." Curl gripped his head, mystified of the recent occurrence.
"I... I thought the same t-thing... too. Blond is a-acting like himself... now." Cat stammered. She still couldn't talk straight when someone's looking at her.
As Blond and Red disappeared into the Forest-section once again, an announcement rang all throughout the Inside, giving the group a fright.
.
Elite Conquest has finally come to an end... I repeat, Elite Conquest has finally come to an end...
... cleaning procedure, zero percent.