Ragnar swung around the destructive hammer, utterly obliterating everything it came in contact with. Raioten was able to dodge most of the strikes, but was occasionally struck by the mighty weapon. No matter his many times he was sent flying away Raioten slowly got back to his feet.

  Ragnar's speed and strength began to wane, but Raioten was still moving quickly. The young fighter concentrated his attacks on one spot to maximize the damage. After a grueling fight, Ragnar and Raioten were worn out. Ragnar dropped to one knee, breathing heavily from his exertion.

  Raioten ran forward to deliver a powerful kick. As he closed the gap, Ragnar threw one last, hail mary swing to take him down. Raioten dodged, and fell over unconscious. Ragnar sat still, with the audience watching in silence. Everyone was completely dumbfounded by what happened.

  Kagura: There's no way... I thought you said Ragnar fought with a style that directly countered Bro's?

  Jugo: When did I say that? It's the exact opposite. That's why I said if they were on the same level of power, this would've been even more one sided.

  Red: It's because of his speed. His speed and the fact that he knows how to get beat up.

  Jugo: Ragnar's never had a fight that lasted in his life. Even though the kid's no match for him physically, just being able to survive was dangerous enough. Add in his ridiculous speed and you've got a pretty annoying guy to fight.

  Kagura: I had no idea. . . Now that I think about it, it was the same when we first met. I was so confident because his kicks weren't hurting me that much, but he just wouldn't stay down.

  Jugo: And a fighter who's exhausted loses nearly all of the advantages they had.

  Toshiro came out of the cafeteria after eating a hearty meal. He was totally awestruck seeing the end of the match.

  Toshiro: What the hell happened? Did you all attack him together?

  Jugo: Nope, sky head over there showed his heart.

  Toshiro: That's impossible, he's nowhere near even you in power.

  Jugo: That's fine, but there isn't anyone here with that kind of fight in them. Believe what you will.

  Jugo went over to Raioten and put the boy on his back.

  Jugo: You better not get lazy old man, these kids are something else.

  Ragnar: They really are. He came up with a flawless plan. The other young man has strength that grows ever closer to my own, and he's only around ten or so years old.

  Jugo: Don't forget about our little redheaded demon. She may not be the fastest or the strongest, but she's got a good, all around skill set.

  Ragnar chuckled softly to himself.

  Ragnar: As soon as we can Jugo, we're getting out of here.

  Toshiro approached Ragnar as Jugo carried Raioten off to his room.

  Toshiro: I know you were holding back, but acting like that boy actually did anything won't help him at all. It'll only give him false confidence moving forward.

  Ragnar: And what would've been better, pretending he didn't accomplish anything?

  Toshiro: You shouldn't have to pretend, just be honest and show him that he's not the same as the rest of you. Don't lie to the kid because he'll think he can fight with you all and that will only get him killed.

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  Ragnar: I hear ya, I hear ya.

  Ragnar waved off Toshiro and walked back to his room. Inside, he went into the bathroom and ducked over the sink. He spit out blood into the rushing water.

  Ragnar: These kids aren't as weak as you might think Toshi.

  Raioten, due to his exhaustion, remained unconscious for a few days. When he finally woke up, he saw Red sleeping by his side. Raioten gently woke her up. When she looked into his conscious eyes, it almost appeared like she had been crying. Before Raioten could move to comfort her, Red karate chopped him right on the head. As he reeled from the impact, she gave him a hug.

  Red: We were worried sick about you y'know? Jugo says you have to stay in here for the time being.

  Red walked over to the corner of the room and lifted a stack of books.

  Red: The adults agreed that you should rest up and focus on simple studies.

  Raioten protested with his body language until Red spoke up once more.

  Red: The Day arrives soon. We're going to need you to be in tip top shape ok? The nurse ladies won't help you so this is the only way.

  Raioten held his head low but nodded in agreement. He began to complete his schoolwork dutifully. As he studied, the others continued their exercises. Toshiro prepared a final data spreadsheet to understand everyone's strengths and weaknesses. With only a few months left,

  Toshiro snuck around the best he could to find out everything he could about the Futurists. He studied how the soldiers stationed in the tower rotated their shifts. The soldiers broke apart into four distinct groups that rotated on four different shifts throughout the day. One group was on active duty, they remained armed and vigilant to prepare to silence any threats.

  The second group of soldiers had to exercise for the entire 6 hour shift. The third group were put on standby for the entire shift. They were to be the backup just in case anything went wrong. The final group was the sleep group. The Futurists kept a smooth rotation schedule year round with no breaks or hiccups. Toshiro found out about the rotation schedule and reported back to Ragnar.

  Ragnar: This is great work Toshi, this will help us out so much!

  Toshiro: There's still one more thing I need to find out.

  Ragnar: Please don't worry yourself, just knowing this is more than enough.

  Toshiro: I will. You guys are all fighting so hard everyday so it's the least I could do. I need to figure out this building's layout. If I could understand how this building is shaped, we can have a tactical advantage.

  Ragnar: . . . Alright, that kind of information would be invaluable. Listen, do what you can but promise me that you'll stop this before it gets dangerous.

  Toshiro: Quit worrying so much man, I'm not a child you know.

  Ragnar: Right, best of luck.

  Toshiro: You as well.

  The men went their separate ways. Toshiro got the times for the shift switch and made plans to break out of the prisoner's quarters. One night, he snuck through the prisoner's quarters to a locked door that he knew led to the worker's section. Toshiro slowly removed the panel to the security check.

  He studied the mechanics and was able to bypass the security for a few seconds. Toshiro had to dive through the door and shut it back quietly to not trip the alarms. He made his way into the room where the soldiers were asleep. Keeping time in his head, Toshiro knew that he had less than 30 minutes before the shift switch and had to make his move.

  He snuck around in the nigh pitch black room, taking note of exactly how many soldiers there were. After getting his total, 428 soldiers, Toshiro choked one of the sleeping men. He picked a man who was nearly his size and wore his clothes in order to infiltrate their ranks. His plan was to try to sneak into each one of the groups in order to get the full number of soldiers in the tower.

  Ragnar kept his eye on Red and Kagura while worrying about Toshiro. Each day that went by made Ragnar worry more about Toshiro's safety. Raioten kept up with his studies while the others worked hard. His broken bones and the damage to his organs took longer to heal than he would've liked.

  The others came by to visit him and goof off every now and then. One day, about two weeks before the big escape, the Warden came down to the third floor with a small group of armed guards. He came to speak to Ragnar personally.

  Warden: You want to tell me what exactly your buddy was doing snooping around outside the prisoner section?

  Ragnar: Oh no! What happened to Toshiro.

  Warden: Relax, he isn't dead, but that won't be true forever. He had been sneaking in and out of the barracks for awhile. My men caught him almost immediately but wanted to find out what he was up to. Since we couldn't find out, he's being tortured as we speak. You all go turn his room upside down, now!

  The guards went through Toshiro's room like a hurricane. They looked high and low for clues and came up short. The Warden sent them back to the barracks and went to look through the room himself. After confirming that Toshiro didn't hide anything in his room. After the Warden left, Ragnar immediately ran off to search Toshiro's room as well. He was confident that Toshiro had to have left them something just in case, and he had to find it.