“How did you know so fast?” Asked Love, still trying her best to stick her dagger into Zain’s neck. But the one before her had enough strength to bring down even a concrete wall, so a regular stab – even if it was from a trained professional – was child’s play to keep at bay.

“I’ve had my doubts for a while now,” answered Zain, “about the two of you. On how you can do all of those things you’re rumored to do. And that’s when I realized: they’re nothing but rumors.”

“Rumors can be real too, you know?” Love plunged the knife further down, but it was still a few inches away from grazing Zain’s skin.

“Of course. But for you two, they’re not. The matching outfits to suggest mind reading, the bob-cut hairstyle to hide your communication devices, the remote-controlled whip to give the impression of telekinesis… You’ve been deliberately spreading rumors about yourselves to bring down the prisoners’ morale and make them doubt themselves so that they would think twice about a prison break.”

“Information is the greatest asset, after all,” smiled Love, who then threw her partner a certain black stick the size of her hand. Zain of course noticed it, but the knife he was trying to stop had now become an obstacle for him to move anywhere.

Just as he feared, as Rose caught the stick, a push of the button on its bottom turned the device into another whip exactly the same as the one Zain broke. The whip cracked its way onto his defenseless left side, but worse than the young man had expected, an electric current ran through his body as soon as the whip made contact.

“You would even… electrocute… your own partner?” Both pained and numbed in the head, Zain struggled to form a coherent sentence. However, it was at that moment that he realized the white glove on Love’s hand.

“Insulator gloves. We’re not idiots, you know.” A bewitching smile formed on Love’s lips as she pushed her knife further down. With the kick of electric shock, Zain’s resistance was considerably lowered, but still not to the point of danger, even if the knife was just a hair away from his neck now.

“You’re a lot tougher than you look, huh?” the warden with the knife continued. “And you already look plenty tough.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” Zain grinned in response, but a closer inspection would see the shiver on his facial muscles. Through the numbing electricity, the freezing cold, as well as the burning sensation of his open wound from holding back the blade, Zain was mere minutes away from total collapse.

Damn it, my body! Hold on a bit longer! All of Zain’s neurons had to be put to maximum output just to keep a straight thought. As his vision slowly faded away, the young man had no other choice but to resort to self-inflicting pain to keep himself awake, holding onto the knife as if to crush it with his bare hand.

Blood dripped on the snow, dying the field in a crimson red. Three people stood, pained and tired, but none would back down. The struggle continued, but time was not on Zain’s side.

Three minutes.

Two minutes.

One minute.

In the direst of situations, a flash ran across Zain’s mind.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The third option… is to stop them from drawing in the first place.

He had one chance. One single moment. And in the nick of time, Zain managed to pull it off.

Putting all his strength for one last push, the young man twisted the knife off of Love’s grasp. A cracking sound echoed through the biome, and immediately following suit was a deafening screech of pain from the warden. One opponent was down for a second, but that wasn’t what Zain had in mind.

Rushing towards Rose, Zain stabbed the knife down as hard as he could. The warden was quick to dodge out of the way, but only after she was safe did she realize the terrible mistake she had made.

That knife was never meant for her.

The knife sunk into the Mini-AIDE floating by Rose’s side, causing the machine to short-circuit and explode. A magnificent showing of sparks blinded the wardens while leaving enough time for Zain to turn around and ran away as fast as he could.

“You know, this is still the virtual space,” his own Mini-AIDE sounded as a reminder. “A replacement copy will be issued shortly. Only around fifteen…”

“Timer!” Zain shouted in agony as if to let out the pain he had endured in his entire being.

“Thirty seconds… Twenty-nine… Twenty-eight…”

Zain made it out of the biome in a record time of ten seconds. Even he himself didn’t know how he got that strength, but it was nothing to celebrate about. As he returned to the junction, every fiber and nerve in his system had already given up on him.

The young man fell on his back, forced to gaze upon the chaotic sky of the various climates. A mix of melted snow and blood dripped into his mouth, but for Zain, none of those were as clear as the bitter taste of defeat.

“So… I can only go this far…” the youth tried to let out a laugh, but the injuries he had suffered were more than enough to put a stop to any of his muscles from moving.

The sound of footsteps approached Zain, but he had no strength left to retaliate at this point.

“Zain, draw your cards!”

The voice that called out awoke the injured lion king, giving him the ounce of power he needed for one last hurrah.

“Ace of Spades.”

“Go Fish. Ten of Diamond.”

“Go Fish. Queen of Hearts.”

“Go Fish.”

Zain was down for the count. He didn’t even have the energy to make signals. And yet, in a miraculous turn of events, the two could know exactly what card they had as if they were looking at the same hand. Pair after pair; book after book. In the span of a mere fifteen seconds, Rex and Zain had collected almost every single book of numbered cards in the deck.

“Three…” the Mini-AIDE continued its final countdown.

“Go Fish. Two of Clubs.”

“Two…”

“Go Fish. Three of Hearts.”

“One…”

“Go Fish. King of…”

“Time!” The holographic cards on both players disappeared from the scene, and AIDE’s voice now echoed through the entire virtual arena. “With a final score of 12.5 to 4, Team Evolution wins the second round!”

“Well done, boys,” Rose offered a handshake as the four contestants logged out to the real world again. “Good luck on the next game. You’ll need it.”

“Yeah, just get out,” Zain answered, still not leaving his bed. “Everything is killing me right now.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard, little lion,” a teasing snicker came from Love as the warden waved the two boys goodbye.

“Need a hand, buddy?” Rex offered his assistance when only the two of them remained in the room.

“If I was able to move I’d punch you right now.”

“I know. That’s why I’m offering.”

“… Fine,” grabbing Rex’s hand, Zain tried to pull himself up, the act of which nearly caused the former to fall down along with him. But in the end, Rex still managed to let his partner lean on his shoulder as the two make their way back to the infirmary.

“Tch. If you can’t hold your ground properly then don’t do it in the first place.” Zain complained.

“Better than leaving you here.”

“… How did you get there in time?”

“You never asked me where I was, remember? I figured you’d be running to the wardens to make them stop drawing, so I tried to get out from the start.”

“Then… that call in the middle was…”

“Yup. I was panting because I’d been moving around the whole time. But it’s nothing too serious.”

“And here I thought I’d have to carry the game by myself,” Zain let out a chuckle – a rare genuine chuckle in his life.

“I told you already, didn’t I? That I wouldn’t drag you down.”

“Well, and now I know you mean it. You’re alright after all.”

“Let’s keep it up in the next game too.” Raising his fist to the side, Rex let out a big grin.

“Sure. To our victory.”