Kagura: What the hell do y-

  Raioten cut his face with a blindingly fast elbow, releasing himself from Kagura's iron grip. Kagura turned and punched Raioten, sending him flying backwards.

  Red: Kagura, stop!

  Kagura took a wobbled step backwards, nearly losing his balance.

  Red: Hey are you alright?

  Kagura: He kicked me. He didn't even bother dodging my punch. What the hell happened to him?

  Raioten rose up and walked past his allies to the final stage. Red asked Kagura how he thought they should go about the competition.

  Red: Teamwork on all three events might be our best option.

  Kagura: I was thinking the same, why not split everything? It'll be so much easier.

  Raioten stepped up, shaking his head in disapproval. He ran in place and pointed to himself. He acted out searching for the key and pointed to himself and Red. For Kagura, he pretended to hold up the massive weight. He also drew a mini diagram on the ground with his nails to show how they should do each task.

  Red: Are you sure this will work?

  Raioten just walked away.

  Kagura: I think we can trust him. According to Jugo, there's not much hope for us anyway.

  Red: Screw that guy!

  Red handed in the team assignments and every team lined up to compete. As the Warden started the event, everyone scattered around to their events. As Kagura put the weight on his back, Raioten sped onto the track. Red went straight to searching for their key, watching the other teams for any sign of their own key. Kagura cleared his event with little trouble and stood in front of the large robot they needed to defeat. As Raioten blitzed off of the track, he tagged out Red. She ran over to where Kagura was standing.

  Kagura: You really don't think we should help?

  Red: I couldn't find it in time anyway, let's trust him.

  All of a sudden, Kagura was hit in the back by an object. He turned to see Raioten being attacked by a few of the other teams. The object that hit him was the team's key, that Raioten threw to get his attention. Kagura wanted to turn around to help, but knew that they couldn't slow themselves down. The two young warriors made quick work of the robot.

  As Kagura prepared to run up the stairs, Raioten snatched the key and ran up to the finish in a blur. In just a couple of minutes, the trio had utterly obliterated the competition. The Warden bragged to his coworkers, but even he was completely shocked at the results.

  He was in the middle of a discussion about a new type of warrior that could replace the work the Futurists were doing when the event ended. The Warden kept up his facade of confidence as he congratulated the young team and allowed them passage to the third floor.

  The team walked together and took in the sight of the all new location. The third floor looked like the most expensive building on the planet to them. It was the only floor that wasn't nigh completely populated by young adults, there were many older adults and elders walking around. It was equipped with the most high tech training, educational and cooking gear money could buy. Their infirmary had a full staff with rows of machines to provide the best care.

  Red: Holy cow! This place is so insane!

  Toshiro: I knew it was only a matter of time before you all made your way here, welcome.

  Red: Hey! You're...... that one guy. We've met I'm pretty sure.

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  Toshiro: Yes, my name is Toshiro, I showed you around the second floor when you first arrived. Although you switched teammates since I last saw you.

  Seeing the somber expression on Red's face told him not to continue on that topic.

  Toshiro: Anyway, I'm also the guide for this floor as well. I'll be keeping track of you guy's progress each day. I'll also help out in any way I can. I'm not very strong physically, but I am pretty smart and I'm sure I'll be of some use. You will need these.

  Raioten looked at Toshiro with confused eyes as he put bracelets on Kagura and Red. The bracelets pierced into their skin.

  Toshiro: Something wrong?

  Raioten scrunched his eyebrows at him until Red pulled him away.

  Red: Don't mind him, he's just hungry or something.

  Toshiro: Of course! The mess hall is right over here.

  Being inside of the new cafeteria was overwhelming for the trio. Kagura nearly fainted feom happiness. They were no longer given plates of preportioned food to eat, this kitchen cooked food for 24 hours straight. Being distracted by the all you can eat buffet, Kagura almost didn't notice Jugo grabbing a bite to eat. He ran over and immediately knocked him down with a strong hook.

  Jugo: Yeeowch! What was that for?

  Kagura: You jerk! You told us we stood no chance!

  Jugo: Huh? Oh yeah, I was lying. You kids probably could've each finished on your own before the others.

  Kagura: Why did you lie to us? We put ourselves through hell!

  Jugo: That's why. *whispering* Don't let the appearances fool you, this floor is no picnic. You guys needed to be prepared for this, not the end of the year competition.

  Kagura stepped back from Jugo and helped him up.

  Kagura: Sorry, I didn't know. I thought you were messing with us.

  Jugo: Not at all, I wanted you all to be prepared. If I had told you the truth, that you didn't even need a full team to win easily, would you have trained just as hard?

  Kagura: No. I would've still worked but I would've gotten contemplative.

  Jugo: Complacent, and that's why I did it. Understand that sometimes being nice and being right aren't the same.

  Kagura: I understand. Thank you.

  Jugo: No problem, now you male sure to stay alive and keep your team together, it wont be much longer.

  Kagura: Hm?

  Jugo: Don't worry about it. The less you know now the better. For now, just focus on getting stronger.

  As Jugo made his leave, Kagura turned to see Raioten wandering off on his own.

  Kagura: Wait! We need to stick together!

  Raioten slapped Kagura's hand before bolting off to be alone.

  Red: Leave him be for now. I don't know what happened to him but i recognize that face. He'll only get more aggressive if you chase him.

  Kagura: But it doesn't feel right to leave him in his own.

  Red: I know, but we need to learn about this place ourselves first.

  ?: I can help with that.

  Red and Kagura looked up and saw the largest man they'd ever seen. The man was nearly 8 feet tall and had a muscular build.

  ?: I am sorry that you had to learn this way.

  The large man kicked Kagura full force, and followed that by punching Red. The two children were on death's door in an instant. Having barely seen the action, Raioten sprinted full speed to attack the large man. He wasted no time striking down the young warrior.

  Their entire team was left crushed and bleeding out in a master of seconds. The quick response preservation team got to them quickly and took them into the infirmary. Kagura woke up moments later in a hospital bed.

  Nurse: Alright! You two are good to go!

  Kagura: What happened?

  Nurse: You were nearly killed. Those bracelets are special, they can preserve a body for a few seconds to stave off death in some pretty messy situations. We get alerts whenever the bracelets are activated, and we bring the injured fighter here for a full recovery.

  Red: That's crazy. Wait, do you know where our teammate is? Really really, and I mean REALLY short guy with bright blue hair?

  Nurse: He was left outside, Warden's orders.

  Kagura and Red: What?!

  Nurse: We were told to specifically ignore him no matter what. If you guys need to go find him, I suggest you go now. Everyone here fights until we show up to take someone away. Nothing is off limits, so nobody will hesitate to strike your friend down.

  Red: Let's go Kagura!

  Kagura: Right! Thank you for your help miss, I really appropriated it.

  Red: *sigh* Appreciated.

  The two ran out of the infirmary to find Raioten. He had moved since they woke up, and they searched the area for a clue as to where. They picked up on his blood trail and followed it. Raioten stomping in a man's skull when they found him. Seconds later, the QRPT showed up.

  Nurse: Oh my goodness, we don't have much time at all! Let's go!

  The nurses showed their hands to Raioten, not looking for a fight, and hauled the man away. Before Kagura could step forward to offer a hand to Raioten, Red stopped him.

  Red: The Warden planned this. He knew what kind of effect a place like this would have on Blue. He's trying to turn him into a killing machine.

  Kagura: What do we do?

  Red: I don't know. He's going to have to fight so much and they won't help him at all. The only way for him to survive on his own is to kill anyone who attacks him.

  Kagura: There has to be some other way.

  Red: There is. We can protect him. If we can stop anyone from even getting to him, he won't have to suffer and kill anymore.

  Kagura: Let's do it, we'll surpass everyone. First Jugo, then that giant man, I'll take them all down.