"They're coming, Jay!" Sandra shuddered.
"I know!" Jayson shouted back "We're almost there..."
"Yeah.." Ethan added. "Just a few more seconds and..."
They hurried hitting keys on their keyboards and the tab showing their progress is glowing green indicating their pursuit is almost done. Codes ran in their holographic monitor as the great Baboon stepped outside the forest showing its hairy dark scarred face more like a Celt wearing a leather armor wielding a 3 feet old-fashioned double-edged sword, swinging it to ward the baboons in front of them.
"Almost there..." Ethan grit his teeth. Jayson's eyes were filled with urge.
The progress turned 100% and an automaton voice said in the hologram, "Welcome, Mr. Ethan Marx, please enter the key."
Ethan injected his pendant on the port in the hard drive of the bus and a code ran in the monitor for a few seconds.
The baboon took another step closer to their bus which made their vehicle tremble from the outside.
"Isn't it done yet???" Sandra urgently asked.
"Where do you want to go, Sir?" the automaton voice asked as if responding to Sandra's blunt question.
"Just take us outta here!" Jayson responded.
"But, we are surrounded, Jayson. We can't just ram those baboons; the bumper won't hold their number.."
"I know, let's just go straight and let the bus fly.." Jayson said without twitching an eye.
"Ehh?"
...
The blast from the explosion deafened Hachiro's ears that he didn't even flinch when his mates called on the line; shouting their battle cries.
His eyes flare with the lights of the explosion and the fire danced in the street as the chickens ran around waiting for their deaths. He was also mesmerized on the effects of his self-made explosives which left him exhilarated.
"That's what you call street dancing.." He whispered on the line.
"What was that?" Kath laughed. "Lame.."
"That was one hell of a weapon, dude!" Drake enthusiastically replied.
"You did it, Ha--, Haro-san.." Michiyo said.
His smile reached his ear and sense of relief engulf his heart. His blood rise from excitement that he picked his wolf and hugged it tightly.
"Aww!" Shichiro exclaimed.
"Oh, sorry, Shi-chan... but.." Hachiro said. "...we did it!"
Shichiro can't help it but smile. He haven't seen Hachiro smile like a child ever since the last year's incident when the hacker ruined his life. Being in his master's consciousness made him realized how pained and hurt Hachiro is inside out. He can't help but be happy with the sense of accomplishment they achieved in this phase of their battle.
"Of course we did it, Ha-chan!" he exclaimed. "We're the best team ever!"
"You nailed it!" Hachiro got his fist out and reached Shichiro's paws. "Fist bump!"
Shichiro smiled even more but he knew they are not done yet. "This is still the beginning, Ha-chan."
"Ahh.." Hachiro replied. "Everyone, let's commence the attack!"
"Ahh!" the team responded and they ran straight to the entrance of the palace warding off the remaining chickens on their way.
...
"Ran straight? Are you insane?!" Ethan shouted on Jayson's face. "Can't you see there's a cliff in front of us, huh?!?"
Everyone murmured and started to fall in disparity. They thought that the man they chose to trust to get them out of danger has gone mad and is willing to die with them without the slightest shine of hope.
"I can see it and that's our only way out.." Jayson replied wearing his most composed aura. "Trust me and let me handle it..."
The participants doubted what he said. They started to stand and went to where the drivers are.
"But.." Ethan protested but Sandra stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder.
"You can't stop Jay when he has decided something. Just let him do this stuff, okay?" Sandra said. "Just trust our number 1 guy." she faced the rest of the crowd.
It took a few seconds before Ethan said "Okay..." though he's still undecided and wary of the outcome. Everyone fell silent and hesitantly followed Jayson's words. But then, they chose to trust the guys from ORION, someone that most people looked up to. And, Ethan saw the confidence and conviction burning in their eyes.
The baboon is just a few feet from their bus's entrance and his loud foot steps echoed on their ears vibrating from everywhere they look. It swung its sword aiming to cut their bus into two equal parts.
"Full speed, max power, run straight ahead!" Ethan shouted and the automaton voice said in response, "Your wish is my command."
The bus throttled at full speed and rammed the fence in front of them sending them flying straight to the cliff.
"We're flying!!!" Alex exclaimed. He loved the thrills it give to his spine like a it was a simple roller coaster ride though it often made him sick.
"No! we're falling!!" Ethan regretted following Jayson's words and got mesmerized by Sandra's charm. He screamed like a girl singing in a falsetto voice.
"Hold on tight and brace yourselves for impact!" Jayson yelled, trying to get his words to his mates despite of the air pressure slamming their systems.
Everyone did not hesitate to do what he's said. They held tight on their seats and tightened their seat belts; others kept saying their prayers and murmuring cusses. They kept falling from a high altitude while wailing in despair.
Sandra heard the growl of the leader baboon echoing the whole forest. She thought that it might have been pissed for not slicing their bus into two equal parts. She grinned on that thought.
Meanwhile, Jayson walked towards driver's seat, started to manipulate the controls by hitting keys. Sandra saw what he's doing so she offered her help.
"Would it be useful as we are now? I mean, we're raising against time." She asked.
"We wont know unless we try. Well, if it won't work, we'll all die so I really hope it will work." Jayson replied.
He inserted a chip they received before the event started, the one Louige gave them, in the hard drive. He continued hitting keys, adding a program to their lift(or fall).
They're almost a hair thin away from the tallest tree below when 2 of the wheels turned into hovers that initialized beneath their bus and slowed their descent. They landed safely on the forest floor with a slight bump.
Silence engulf their midst; their eyes went as blank as a fish until Sandra gave off a big sigh of relief and Jayson giggled on her expression.
"That was the most awesome thing I ever experienced in this shit!" Alex stood from his seat and brought his arm around Jay's neck, laughing his ass out. "Imma kill you one day."
"Ahhum." Ethan raised his hand as if asking a teacher another question.
Jayson and his friends stared at him as he was about to say something.
"I guess we should get going?" he smirked.
"Ahh.. I know. I'm sorry I ahh... got carried away.." Jayson replied. "He went back to the driver's seat and hit keys.
"But... where should we go? I mean, everywhere we go now is dangerous given that we have enemies swarming around the city." Ethan said.
They fell silent. Only the humming of the bus's engine echoed around them.
"I think I have a place in mind." Jay's eyes flicked with hope again. Everyone saw it and gave them a lit of hope.
"Let's go back to where all of these started. Let's head back to the port."
...
"We're going ahead!" Kath exclaimed.
"Ahh. Take care and watch your backs. We'll just have to do this according to plan." Hachiro replied.
They went pass the chickens and reached the big door of the barn. It was like a gate of a palace big enouch to take a 16-wheeler truck inside through the door. They pulled the heavy door and opened a slit to make themselves fit in.
Meanwhile, Hachiro started to hit keys to disintegrate his cannon on the rooftop to pack his things and follow his mates.
"That was really awesome, Ha-chan! Those grenades flying at the same time like footballs hovering the air and the big shell looked like a pearl though it was deadly inside were so amazing!" Shichiro exclaimed. "And when it rained on the chickens, it was like a fireworks display!" he added. He sat on the ground wagging his tail, facing Hachiro. His silver eyes shines on the grim light of the fire around them due to the explosion that had happened.
"Don't give me too much credit, Shi-chan.." Hachiro said. "You did most of the parts of it though..."
"That's true but,,," he was shocked to continue his words when he saw a flying man pointing a machine gun, ready to fire at them.
"Ha-chan!" he yelled and pushed his master away from the firing bullets.
...
"To the port?"
"Back to where we started huh?" Alex asked, crossing his arms in front of his bulky chest.
"What else can we do? That's the best option we have now." Sandra replied. "I think.."
"It's because, Alex, in every survival game, there is always a safe zone for those who wanted to start fresh and escape their imminent deaths. Most of these safe zones are found at the first levels of the starting points." Jayson explained.
The participants started at each other and talked about Jayson's suggestion.
"We also need to tell the others about our plan on meeting at the port. We need to gather all the forces we can get and plan on how to confront our enemy." Jayson added. "It's also to send refuge to those who have gone astray around the city."
"How will we do that?" Ethan asked. "I mean, he hardly hacked this bus, what more if we plan to hack the system and send those signals? Do we even had a chance?"
"I'll try to debug the system and reprogram it before sending the distress signal to every participant." Jayson answered.
"Oi, oi!" Alex spread his arms in disagreement. "That would give away our position to everyone. The GM will know where we are as well as 'that' damn guy!"
"I know, Alex.." Jayson replied. "But that's out only option we have now. We're on a pinch here. Besides, even if we keep our location a secret, the GM knows where we are already and about 'that' guy, he's among the participants so he got access to our information. Whether or not he knows our position, he'll know it soon enough and we'll have to meet at some point."
"But!" Alex strongly opposed what Jayson said.
"Alex, be rational!" Sandra insisted. "This card is the best thing we can throw on the table. It's our only trump card at hand." She said. "Jayson was right. We'll just have to deal about 'him' soon if we have ways to conquer the game."
Alex turned around and left the conversation. "Do what you like.." He sat on his seat and stared at the forest they're in.
"Ja, take this bus to the port, Ethan." Jayson said. "I'll do the other stuff.."
...
Hachiro crawled beneath the carriage of his cannon, unsure of what is happening. His head is ringing and his vision is slightly fading.
"What's with that guy?!" he complained, catching his breath. He shook the shock and tried to stand from where he is.
Shichiro crawled and sat beside him taking a good spot to scan their enemy. He analyzed the flying man by his networks and a feature on his appearance; it took him a few seconds to do the scan.
"He's human..." he muttered.
"Wai...what?!" Hachiro exclaimed. "There are people besides us here? And on top of that they are being used as tools to be our enemy?" his voice started to get furious.
"I think.. no, I probably sure am. He's like those Androids we've fought before, being controlled unconsciously. I can't see a goggles worn so maybe the device is implanted on them." Shichiro explained.
"Implanted? Seriously? They have stepped on that measure?" Hachiro became infuriated.
"They might have no other choice, Ha-chan. They chose to implant chips on their minions just for this cause..." Shichiro said.
"Chips, huh?!" Hachiro's eyes burned with anger.
"Yeah, a Nano chip perhaps. It can act like me inside a human body if properly installed and if the compatibility was not compromised. It can control most of the body's activities and other stuffs but only limited to the conscious mind." Shichiro replied. "Its the only explanation of their behavior as we cannot see any glasses or anything attached to those guys."
"So, you're saying that an AI took over his body?" Hachiro asked. "And might be the others as well?"
"Pretty much like that... And one more thing.." Shichiro replied.
"What is it now?"
"He's a Scorpio employee..."
"WHAT?!" Hahciro exclaimed that he bumped his head on the carriage. "Aww...."he said brushing off the pain. "So, what Oji-nii said came true. We're up against all of Scorpio now.."
"It can't be helped.."
"How do we get rid of them?" Hachiro asked.
"I've scanned his body but I cannot pin point the chip... it seems like it was well hidden.."
"Huhh.." Hachiro sighed, exasperated. He peeked outside from his place and stared on the flying man. There he realized who their enemy was. The man wore a black tight suit on a jet bag that made him hiver in the air above them. He's still firing bullets every now and then on Hachiro's position.
"Ehh?..." Hachiro was awed for the second he saw the "No..no...no! I need to find his weakness." he said to himself.
He stared at the man again and this time he saw the same watch on his left wrist on the wrist of their attacker.
"That's it!" he exclaimed. "It's the watch, Shi-chan!"
Shichiro knew what Hachiro was thinking and what his master wanted him to do. He crawled outside the carriage and charged towards the flying man without a glimpse of hesitation.
...
"I got through!" Jayson exclaimed.
He throw his hands in the air after a few minutes of tinkering in the hard drive of the bus just to hack the Scorpio system and send a distress signal to the other participants.
Sandra saw the joy in his eyes, the happiness of their accomplishment. She sat on the nearest seat and gave off a deep sigh of relief. "Nice one, Jay!" she whispered.
"Ahh.." Jayson looked at her direction and gave her an honest smile. "I think I really have to say something now.."
"Yeah.. better make it a good one.." Sandra replied.
"Ahh..." He said, looking composed on the web cam of the bus. "This is for all the participants who got this coverage. I Jayson Smart of GSSTI, with the other participants of our group who was sent to the Northeast part of the city, managed to get away from the pursuers on our route. I know you're having the hard time escaping as well, we all did, but we hope you are safe. We are headed to the port, the first stop of this island. We will gather there as one team and try to solve this death game. Anyway, it's the safest site we can think of so... I hope we'll meet there."
And the coverage was suddenly cut.