Malakai finished his water and put the empty bottle on the table. He picked up his earpiece and put it back into his right ear.
"Delilah, let's not tell them what happened", Malakai said. "I'll tell them later".
"Are you sure?" Delilah replied, unsure of Malakai's mood. It looked like he was back to normal.
"Yeah, they'll have different questions anyway", Malakai said, smiling at her.
"Whatever you say", Delilah replied, taking the earpiece out of her pocket and putting it back into her ear. "Before you turn your camera back on, are you sure you're okay?" she asked. "You're not going to start coughing when you start running again, are you?".
"Who knows?" Malakai grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "My head is still hurting, but I'm breathing fine".
"I need a yes or no. I don't wanna lose my teammate", Delilah replied.
"Heh. It didn't sound like you wanted to lose a teammate earlier. I heard I was an idiot, a dumbass, and you called me stupid a couple of times", Malakai joked, listing them with his fingers.
"You are all those things", Delilah said, pointing at him and standing by what she said. "But, now I know you're not going to be stupid, an idiot and a dumbass. You're lucky you escaped not being taken out of the challenge. You're not gonna waste this chance".
Malakai blew air out of his nose and smiled with his teeth out. He knew she was right, and he wasn't planning on wasting it. If he saw Ryan again, he would ignore him. That was what he was telling himself. But who knows? If he happened to walk into a room Ryan was in, he could waste a minute or two to make sure he shot him. But that's only if Ryan was in close proximity. He wasn't going to go on a chase again.
Malakai pressed a button on his camera to turn it on. Delilah did the same.
In the classroom, a loading circle suddenly appeared.
"Connecting", David read out.
A few seconds later, both cameras connected, and both showcased their angles.
"They're back!" William excitedly said, smiling after seeing the screen.
The whole class had a similar reaction. They were getting restless, not knowing what their representatives were doing.
"Malakai", David said into the mic.
"Yo", Malakai casually replied, looking into Delilah's camera. He was still sitting down.
"Why is he smiling?" Lucas asked, seeing his usual smirk.
"It looks like he's back to normal", Ray commented.
"Why did both of you turn off your cameras?" David asked.
"We had sex", Malakai joked.
"Shut up", Delilah tiredly said. She couldn't be bothered with him. Malakai had mentally drained her this challenge.
That joke did get a few laughs from the class. The majority of the laughs were from the boys.
"Yup, he's back to normal", Ray said, seeing Malakai act like he usually does.
"What actually happened?" David asked, unamused by his joke and wanting to know like the rest of the class.
"I'll tell you lot later. I can't be arsed now", Malakai replied, leaning back in his chair and looking away from the camera.
"What do you mean later?" David impatiently asked. "Just say it now. What's stopping you? It can't have been that big of a deal".
"David, just believe him. It was a lot", Delilah replied, defending Malakai. "I understand why he can't be bothered right now".
David's words got paused. If Delilah was telling him to believe Malakai, he had to accept the wait. But hearing 'it was a lot' made him more curious. Malakai kept smiling in his seat.
"Mally, why you smiling?" Benjamin asked, getting on the mic. "You do realise you wasted a round".
"I know", Malakai calmly said, smiling and looking into Delilah's camera again. "It's calm, though. We're gonna win".
His confidence didn't convince the class. They needed actions, not words. His friends, however, grinned to themselves.
"You think he's serious?" Lucas asked, looking at his friends.
"Whenever we doubt him, he proves us wrong", William replied. "He proved us wrong in the third challenge".
"Yeah, if he says he's going to do something, he's going to do it", Ray added. "I think everyone overreacted a little. He did waste one round, but they've still got a lot of plastic balls".
"No, everyone was mad because we could've got more", Lucas replied. "Winning means getting the most points".
Ray had no response to that. He looked back at the screen,
"Well, at least he isn't going to make that mistake again".
Screech!
"The fourth round will begin shortly".
It was time to hear the rules for the fourth round.
"Here are the rules for the fourth round. Only one person from each team will be allowed out of their safe zone this round. That person will be the person who wasn't chosen in the second round. So, the person chosen in the second round will not be able to leave their safe zone this round. Another rule for this round is that all safe zones are disabled. A player can go into another safe zone, and they will not be penalised for it. Lastly, this round will last 20 minutes. The round will start shortly".
The speaker turned off.
"Damn, looks like I'm staying here", Malakai said, slumping in his seat and getting comfortable.
"No chance for redemption", David told him.
"Nah, don't worry, fifth round redemption arc innit", Malakai replied. "Anyways, you lot should be happy. Our star player is going out".
"Don't call me the star player just because I'm doing better than you", Delilah said, stretching her arms.
"Someone has to be the star player, and you just said you're doing better than me. So, by default, you're the star player", Malakai playfully replied.
Delilah rolled her eyes and sighed. The usual Malakai was back, that was for sure.
"Here, take it".
Delilah turned towards Malakai. Malakai was holding the paintball gun towards her.
"It'll be more useful for you than me", he said.
Delilah looked at the paintball gun and paused. She was a little hesitant to take it, but she slowly outstretched her arm to do so.
Screech!
"Malakai, you cannot give your paintball gun to your teammate. It is your item. You cannot share it", Mr White said.
The speaker turned off. That announcement was only told to their safe zone.
"Damn", Malakai said, pulling back the paintball gun and putting it on the table.
"It's fine. I didn't really want it anyway", Delilah truthfully replied. "Besides you might need it to defend the safe zone. People might come in here".
"Defend the safe zone against who?" Malakai asked, raising an eyebrow. "I swear it's gonna only be the girls that are outside this round. I'm sure all the guys chose themselves for round two. Execpt 1-E, they chose Nada".
"Defending the safe zone doesn't mean shooting them", Delilah told him. "If a girl comes into the room, just scare them like you've been doing this whole challenge", she snuck in a bit of diss.
Malakai smirked and didn't respond. It looked like Delilah was going to slyly diss him here and there for the rest of the challenge. He did deserve it.
"Can the participants get ready. Round four will start shortly".
Delilah let out a deep breath, picked up her basket and walked to the door.
Screech!
"Delilah, you cannot take the basket with you. You can take a basket from another room, use it and bring it to your safe zone, but you cannot take it out of your safe zone once it is inside".
The speaker turned off.
Delilah dropped the basket on the floor next to the door.
"It's fine. I can get another one", she quietly said.
Compared to the previous rounds, she was the most confident right now. One because she knew what to do. From the last round's success, she knew how to be efficient. The other reason was the high likelihood that all the other players running around this round were girls. She knew the guy in 1-E was participating in this round, and she was sure that the girls in 1-A and 1-B would participate. However, she was unsure about 1-D because she didn't know how Dillon's item worked. Did they choose Kayla to participate in round two, and did Dillon use his item to tag along? Or did Dillon get chosen and use his item to make Kayla tag along? Either way, she had bags of confidence right now. She might've rolled her eyes at the star player comment earlier, but knowing that you were doing well for your class and making them happy was an amazing feeling. She wanted that feeling to stay, and the only way to do that was to keep performing. And she knew she could keep performing. She could feel the momentum.
"Yo, good luck", Malakai said from the chair.
"Thanks", Delilah replied, looking behind at him.
BEEP!!
Delilah left the safe zone and went towards the stairs. The eighth and seventh floors had already been searched, so the plan was to go to the sixth floor. The idea that the sixth floor had already been searched crossed her mind, but she still had to check, just in case.
Delilah continued down the stairs. The pace was a little slower than at the start of the challenge. The fatigue was kicking in. She reached the sixth floor and cautiously walked down the corridor. She knew that only one person from each class was out of their safe zones, but she still wanted to be left alone. She quietly made her way down the corridor, and she was met with open doors. Every room's door was open. Delilah quickened her walk because she expected all the room's doors to be open.
As expected, all the doors were opened until Delilah found a closed door. She looked at the room opposite it, and that room looked like it had been searched. She looked to the room to the left, and that room's door was open.
"I've either gotten really lucky or this is a safe zone", Delilah said, standing in front of the door.
"I reckon it's a safe zone", David replied.
"Me too, but there's no harm in checking", Delilah said.
She grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door. Delilah took a small step inside and noticed the colour of the flooring. It was green. This was a safe zone. However, Delilah still wanted to see who was inside. She fully opened the door, and her eyes met with someone. Someone she was a little familiar with.
"There's no point in trying", Alexander arrogantly said, staying in his seat.
Delilah found 1-A’s safe zone. Like Nada, she was also on Alexander's team for the second challenge, and again, I'm not sure if Alexander remembers that piece of information.
"Are you going to stop me if I try?" Delilah asked, keeping eye contact.
Alexander gave her a bored look. He didn't want to entertain that question.
Delilah took a slow, cautious step into the room to see Alexander's reaction. Alexander didn't flinch. He continued to look at her like she was stupid. Delilah took a quick look around the room. It was the exact same as her safe zone. The same table and vertical locker. The locker was behind the table, so it was a way away from the door. Alexander was also in between her and the locker. There were a couple of plastic balls on the floor near the locker, but they obviously had more than that. The rest of their plastic balls were stashed in their locker.
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Delilah took another step to test the waters. Alexander didn't flinch. Whatever Delilah was doing, Alexander didn't mind it happening.
"Delilah, just leave", David told her. "You're wasting time. He'll obviously stop you when you get too close".
"Shit, you're right", Delilah realised.
She wanted to get closer and closer to see when Alexander would move. She wanted to make him budge a little. This was her first time in another team's safe zone, so she got a little ahead of herself. She forgot that she was wasting time. That was why Alexander didn't mind her cautiously taking little steps into the room. He knew she wouldn't come too close. She was too scared. Alexander watched her as she wasted precious seconds.
Delilah shook her head to get her head back in the game. She turned around and left the room, leaving the door open behind her.
Alexander tutted and shook his head,
"Why does no one know how to close a door?" he thought, not wanting to get up from his seat.
"Delilah, try the fifth floor. In the last round, I remember seeing a few closed doors when Malakai was running through that floor", David told her.
"Okay", Delilah replied, darting to the stairs. "Are there any floors with a lot of dots?"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if it's worth searching those floors", David said. "The majority of rooms have probably been searched".
"Yeah", Delilah replied. "Are there any dots for the fifth floor?"
"Like three", David said, dissatisfied.
"Sounds good enough", Delilah replied. "I might as well search them".
Malakai was sitting in their safe zone, bored. He wasn't only bored. He was in a little pain. The sharp pain headaches were back. An ice pick headache. He tried resting his head on the table, but that didn't work. He finished the water bottle, so he had nothing to drink. There was nothing he could do except firm the pain. He was restlessly swaying back and forth in his chair to try and forget about the pain. It didn't work. The pain was coming and going. It wasn't constantly there. As soon as the sharp pain went for a few seconds, and Malakai thought he was safe, the pain would strike back. He knew Mr White was watching him, so he didn't want to make it obvious he was experiencing some pain. That was why he was avoiding to put a hand on his head. David was preoccupied with whatever Delilah was doing, so he didn't have to focus on what David was saying.
Malakai just wanted the pain to go away. He was getting annoyed. If the pain was constant, he could find a way to get used to it. But the pain would randomly jab him. He couldn't get used to that. The pain was gone entirely before the round started, but it appeared out of nowhere after it began.
"fuck this", Malakai mumbled.
He put his head down on the table again and closed his eyes. He thought maybe he could go to sleep, and the pain would go. He wasn't that worried that someone would come into their safe zone. He didn't think anyone would bother checking this room. If he went to sleep now, Delilah would wake him up at the end of the round, and the pain should be gone. It sounded like a good idea. An idea that Malakai wanted to work.
...
Creeak!
"Huh? Did the round end already?" Malakai thought, opening his eyes, unsure if he had gone to sleep.
Malakai lifted his head and saw who opened the door.
"Oooouuuu, what a surprise".
"Fuck sake, man. Piss off", Malakai said, annoyed. As soon as he lifted his head, some pain stabbed his head. It didn't help seeing her smiling in front of him.
"Someone's happy to see me", Destiny replied, amused by the sight in front of her.
Malakai picked up his gun from the table, leaned back in his chair and aimed at Destiny.
"Leave, man", Malakai sluggishly told her.
"Why? I just got here", Destiny replied, smiling, taking a step into the room. "I'm sure you have a lot of plastic balls. I just wanna see".
"Tch". Malakai stood up from his chair.
"Move", he coldly told her, keeping his aim on her.
"Ooooo sccaarryy", Destiny mocked. "You wouldn't shoot a lady. You don't have the balls".
A sharp pain stabbed Malakai's head again. He didn't want to deal with Destiny right now. He wanted to close his eyes.
"Keep chatting shit and see what happens", Malakai said, staring at Destiny with his aim still locked on her.
"Hehehehe", Destiny giggled. "You don't need to look at me like that. You're scaring me", she continued to take the piss.
Malakai didn't have a crazy look in his eyes this time. Instead, it was like his eyes were dead. No light in them.
"Malakai, don't do anything stupid", David told him.
"Is Destiny still there?" Delilah asked, hearing David. David had already told her Destiny found their safe zone.
"Yeah, but you don't need to go back. She'll leave soon".
Malakai didn't respond to David. He was too concentrated on the pain and Destiny.
"You should put your arm down, darling. We both know you're not going to shoot", Destiny said.
She could feel that there was something different about Malakai. The vibe around him was different than all the other times. The other times, it was like a warm, annoying, happy vibe around him, but this vibe she couldn't put a finger on it. It was different, that's it. She thought nothing of it, though. She thought this was him trying to scare her. She found it cute, like a child trying to intimidate an adult.
"Destiny, I think you should leave him alone", Frank told her. "Just leave the room".
Destiny smiled at the suggestion.
"Now, if you don't mind me. I'm going to collect some plastic balls", Destiny said, taking another step forward.
BANG!
"AAHH-!"
A gasp quickly escaped Destiny's mouth and stopped halfway through. Destiny fell to her knees. She was short on breath. She forgot how to breathe for a split second. One second, she was fine. The next second, pain struck her stomach and shocked the rest of her body. She was so focused on the pain that her brain forgot about everything else. Like Dillon's shirt, Destiny's green shirt also got a new customisation. A yellow splatter at the centre.
Malakai stared at Destiny malfunctioning, straight-faced. She was handling it worse than Dillon was. Dillon gripped his stomach with one hand, and his body shook a little. Destiny was holding her stomach with both hands, her body was trembling, and she was rapidly breathing. She wasn't on all fours like Dillon, so Malakai could see her face. Her face was a mix of agony and panic.
"Mally shot her..." Ray said, a little shocked. Ray didn't put it past Malakai to shoot her, but seeing him actually do it still shocked him.
"I saw it coming", William replied, unbothered. "He doesn't like her, remember?"
"He kinda had to as well", Benjamin said. "There was no other way he was going to stop her from coming in the room".
"But don't you think shooting a girl is too much?" Lucas asked. "I know he doesn't like her, but she's still a girl".
"How else was he going to get her out of the room?" William asked him.
"I don't know, but.." Lucas didn't have an answer.
"Guess it's another thing we need to ask him when the challenge is over", Benjamin said, leaning back. "Now we know he wasn't lying when he said these bullets are bisexual".
Malakai's reputation in the class was falling deeper and deeper. The girls obviously hated what they saw. Challenge or not. Him shooting a girl was out of order.
"He shot a girl", Tanisha said, still in shock, staring at the screen and seeing Destiny trembling in pain.
"Tanisha, why are you his friend?" Rose asked her. This was the girl Malakai said had a nice smile. She wore glasses with clear frames and had fair skin.
"I'm not his friend!" Tanisha quickly replied, turning to her and giving her a desperate expression. She didn't want to be associated with Malakai.
"I've seen you hang around him and his friends, though", Rose said, unconvinced.
"That's because I'm friends with his friends and Delilah. Delilah always hangs around with them", Tanisha replied.
"Maria, are you friends with him?" Nicole asked, noticing Maria's 'not wanting to be involved' expression. Nicole was the girl Malakai said had sick(cool) eyes. They were like what Malakai described: sharp but sleepy. She had pale skin with hair that reached just above her shoulders. She also had a peekaboo hairstyle, so her hair was black, but the underlayer of her hair was dyed platinum. A lot of the girls in the class liked her because she had a cool vibe about her. In reality, she was just laid back.
"Y-yeah", Maria nervously replied, not knowing how they would react.
"Maria's too nice. Of course, she's going to say yes", Rose said. "Maria, you don't have to be friends with him just because he's Delilah's friend. It's okay not to like him. You don't have to be friendly to everyone", she told her.
"But... he's nice to me", Maria replied, sounding sincere.
"He is nice to you because you're Maria Rodriguez. Look how he treats everyone else", Rose said, pointing at the screen.
That answer took Maria by surprise. She'd heard that answer many times from friends during high school.
'He is nice to you because you're Maria Rodriguez'.
When she spoke to guys, that answer always played in her mind. But every time she spoke to Malakai, she forgot she was 'Maria Rodriguez'. She didn't feel unnecessarily famous. She didn't feel like a beautiful model everyone wanted. She felt normal because Malakai didn't give her special treatment. Malakai talked and treated her like a regular girl. She didn't feel any underlying intentions from him, allowing her to drop 'Maria Rodriguez's' guard.
Furthermore, Malakai's earlier talk about not wanting love proved Rose wrong. He wasn't nice to her because she was Maria Rodriguez. He was nice to her because they were friends. She wanted to tell Rose she was wrong, but she wanted to keep this side of Malakai to herself.
"Uhh, well... He was nice to me, too", a voice shyly spoke out.
The girls looked to who spoke.
"We haven't really spoken, but he's not a mean person", Sarena said.
In fact, Malakai and Sarena haven't spoken at all. Their only interaction was when Malakai fist-bumped her and wished her good luck before the third challenge.
"Sarena, didn't you see what he did? He shot a girl", Rose reminded her.
"I know, but he helped us", Sarena replied. "A lot of people already hate him. We're his classmates, and I don't think we should hate him either, especially since he hasn't done anything to us".
"So you want us to be his friend?" Nicole asked.
"He treats his friends nicely, sooo I think it would be a good idea to be friendly with him", Sarena replied, pushing her glasses up. "That girl from 1-E gave him a plastic ball because they were friends. If he wasn't a nice person, she wouldn't have given him that".
"You have a point", Nicole agreed.
"No, she doesn't", Rose disagreed. "Those two are close. I remember that girl hugging him out of nowhere in the minigames. They even came second together. They're probably more than frie-".
"Rose, you can't get past him shooting a girl, can you?" Sarena asked, cutting her off and figuring out her disapproval of Malakai.
"No! It's wrong. He can't do that to a girl. He's dangerous", Rose said.
"Dangerous is a bit of a stretch", Nicole replied, checking her phone. "He is playing the game".
Tanisha and Maria kept quiet. Tanisha wasn't Malakai's friend, but she didn't hate him. She knew Delilah and Maria were his friends, so she knew he wasn't a bad person. But she couldn't get herself to like him. Something was stopping her from considering him her friend.
This conversation was difficult for Maria. She wanted to defend Malakai but couldn't. She didn't want to accidentally expose her feelings or say something that could lead the girls to suspect her of having feelings for him. She had to hold her tongue. However, the thought of every girl not liking him was appealing because that would mean less competition.
"If he wins the challenge and gets the most points for us, you'll be thanking him", Sarena said.
"You're not wrong", Nicole agreed again, putting her phone down. "I mean, I don't mind being friendly to him. He's funny. There's nothing wrong with having a funny guy around".
Everyone's eyes landed on Tanisha.
"I don't hate him, but I'm not going to be his friend", she said, awkwardly looking away.
"Tanisha, I think you're fine because you're friends with Delilah and Maria", Sarena replied.
Everyone's eyes landed on Rose.
Rose looked down at the table,
"If he makes us win the challenge, I'll think about being nice to him".
Destiny was still shaking with her hand over where the bullet hit. She was taking deep breaths and finally controlled herself. She looked up for the first time and saw Malakai staring at her. He had the same expression he did before he shot her. Before, she thought the expression was funny and cute because of his short size, but now, looking up at him after what he did, that same expression was scary. She would never want to admit it, but she felt a little scared.
After one bullet, the same cute expression turned into a scary expression.
Destiny slowly got up, one knee at a time. When she got up, she looked at Malakai's eyes, but Malakai wasn't looking at her eyes. His eyes were looking into her camera.
The students in the 1-A classroom saw Malakai staring at them. Malakai couldn't see them, but he made sure they saw him. A lot of the students didn't like the emotionless death stare they were getting. It was making a few of them uneasy.
Alejandro and Fabio glanced at each other. Fabio got more evidence to avoid messing around with Malakai, and Alejandro got more evidence to show that Malakai was dangerous to Maria.
"That could've been you, Isabella", Eve said.
"No way", Isabella replied, shaking her head. "I wouldn't be in that situation in the first place".
Isabella hasn't really been giving it her all in this challenge. She didn't want to be at the academy. She wanted to be in that building. She was supposed to be in that building. Not Destiny, her. She searched for map pieces in the first and second rounds but didn't find anything. She never tried, so it was expected. She couldn't be bothered. Her time to shine was taken from her. She felt betrayed. Seeing Destiny get shot was a little satisfying, but it wasn't enough. This feeling was going to stay for a while for Isabella as a month-long break was coming.
"Luna, do you think Malakai would've shot Isabella?" Anya asked.
"Hmm. I don't think so", Luna replied. "Malakai doesn't know Isabella. He wouldn't hurt someone he doesn't know".
Meanwhile, sitting near the back of the class.
"I wish he was in our class".
Malakai finally looked into Destiny’s eyes.
"Why're you still here?" he coldly asked, getting another stab of pain to the head, causing him to grip his paintball gun tighter.
Destiny blankly stared at him. Most of the pain had subsided. Her stomach was still feeling weird where the bullet wound was. She looked around the room again, only moving her eyes. The locker and plastic balls were calling out to her. The temptation was still there. She couldn't leave with nothing. She could try and get one ball, at least. Malakai wouldn't shoot her twice.
"Yo!"
Malakai slowly raised his arm and aimed at Destiny's stomach.
"Move, or I'll shoot you in the same place, and this time, I'll make sure the bullet goes through your skin and into your stomach".
Suddenly, the urge to get a plastic ball from this room was gone. Destiny had a different urge.
To get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
Destiny moved. She moved out of the room. ASAP. She didn't waste a second. A wrong move would've been a shot. Destiny liked this challenge. She was having fun, but her fun was ruined.
In the penultimate round, Destiny got shot. Her first encounter with Malakai in this challenge was in the penultimate round, and she lost to him. The only thought in her mind as she walked as fast as she could was revenge.
But how could she take revenge against someone with a paintball gun?
Malakai exhaled, closed the door and walked back to his seat. He sat down, rested his head back and closed his eyes. The only thing he was thinking about was when the pain was going to stab him again.
But oddly enough, the pain wasn't stabbing him anymore.
"Is Destiny still there?" Delilah asked David.
"No", David replied, looking at Malakai's camera angle.
"And I doubt think she'll come back".