Dossoles, Bolívar
8:00AM to 5:00PM

Believe me or not, LUNG wRATh is sort of in a tough spot right now. Why? Well, because of a stupid set of idiots hindering their progress. Jay's been trying to swat them away with his Arts, but it seems that it does little to no effect on their stallers. Quinn tries using his own gravity Arts to push them away from him and his teammates, yet he was interrupted by one of the enemies bumping him, forcing him to instead focus on maintaining his bike's balance, and he shots a glare at the one responsible. We take a look back to D.D.D. and Candela.

D.D.D. : "As we follow the event's progress, the leading team has already passed the cycling checkpoint, and it's now that we're seeing a change in the contest! After the might-and-power LUNG wRATh of Round 1 passed the cycling checkpoint and got to riding, another team's immediately begun to personally deal with them. And moreover, they seem to have changed strategies this time. Lady Candela, can we invite you to explain to everyone, please!

Candela : "Isn't it clear? This bunch know that even attacking all at once doesn't ensure they're an opponent to the team, so they've elected to stall them out, and not to overpower them. Tactics like that put you up very close to those two in the footrace, but plenty of moves get tricky to pull when you're on a vehicle. So here in the cycling segment is where they're opting to do it. It goes without saying, the results aren't bad."

D.D.D. : "Without a doubt. They're gotten just close enough to LUNG wRATh, without moving up to attack. It's been trick after trick to harass them, giving them no way to comfortably pick up the pace. We can see just how far behind the leading team LUNG wRATh is! They're stuck with a handicap on their bikes, and getting off means falling behind! LUNG wRATh face their biggest crisis in the competition yet!"

And now, back to LUNG wRATh themselves. Jay's growing more and more frustrated with the people who are opting to stall them, and Quinn's getting quite irritated that his attempts at getting their little bug problem fixed not working at all.

Jay : "Ugh, these bastards just won't go away."

Yühsia : "They're not trying to defeat us, just stall us."

Quinn : "Same thing."

Ernesto : "What's the plan? We're hard-pressed to try combat cycling. We'll be completely held up at this rate."

Yühsia : (Hushed) "It seems someone wants us to take a shortcut."

Ch'en : (Hushed) "I'm on the same page."

Jay : (Hushed) "He's being very suspicious..."

Quinn : (Hushed) "Aww, come on. What's the harm in making a suggestion?"

Ch'en, Yühsia, Jay, and Quinn all spot an alley ahead. Seems like a nice place to go through, no?

Ch'en : (Hushed) "Go for it?"

Yühsia : (Hushed) "Heh."

Jay : (Hushed) "There!"

Quinn : (Hushed) "Alleyway it is."

The group decide on something; they go through the alleyway to try and get their stallers off of them. There's no way they can deal with the troops stationed at the alleys, so they'll be forced to get off LUNG wRATh and continue on the main road. D.D.D. will explain this.

D.D.D. : "LUNG wRATh have chosen to charge straight through an alley to shake the other teams off them! But just as we saw on another stage, our city's crack troops wait in the alleys! Though I'd love to cover the other teams too, LUNG wRATh has completely captured our attention! Have they brought on their own doom, or will they survive the odds? We're going to find out!"

In a quick succession, Ernesto leads the group through the alley.

Ernesto : "This way! This is a pretty quiet alley, so I reckon nobody..."

Yühsia : "Careful."

The moment Ernesto turns back to look, a crossbow bolt flies out at him from a corner, but is cut down by a chop from Lin Yühsia. Quinn sees more competitors ambush Team LUNG wRATh ahead of them.

Ambush A : "..."

Ambush B : "..."

Jay : "They just won't stop at this, huh?"

Quinn : "Someone's gonna have to stay behind, it seems!"

Ernesto : "Leave this to me, and hurry!"

As Ernesto talks, he throws a key to Ch'en, who grabs it effortlessly.

Ernesto : (Hushed) "Hold onto this key. There's an arms store of mine over there. It should be there the moment you head out. There's a back door in the basement leading to an underground passage. It'll be way faster along that way. I'll hold them off here. Go on ahead."

Jay : "You dumbass! Now's the time you think of doing this?!"

Ernesto : "As long as one of us makes it to the end, that's our win! Go!"

Jay : "But--"

Ernesto : "GO!"

Yühsia : "Alright."

Ch'en : "We break out of here."

It was a very annoying hour for all 5 teammates. Ernesto held back their pursuers for as long as he can, Jay has been trying to hold himself back from going to help Ernesto, Quinn's been trying to prevent that, and Ch'en and Yühsia had their own troubles to worry about. They enter one of the many arms stores Ernesto owned, and there, they take a short breather.

Jay : "Back door, right?"

Ch'en : "Over there."

Ch'en points at the door behind the cashier check, and they all open the door, and find themselves at the backroom leading to the underground passage. Let's head back to D.D.D. and Candela.

D.D.D. : "What now? LUNG wRATh have hit a government-issued ambush blockade. In all the frenzy, Ernesto's decided to take up the rear, and the four heroes have caught his key and left to press forward. Ernesto's combat strength might be as impressive, but with this many enemies, his defeat could only be a matter of time anyway! But as for the four who still stand, they've broken out of the entrapment, but ambushes still lie ahead! Can they really get away without a hitch? Oh? They've opened a door in the street and rushed inside! This store..."

Candela : "Is one of Ernesto's."

D.D.D. : "So that's their game! Looks like the key Ernesto left them works for sheltering in a shop of his. But is this truly going to work out? Hold! Director, switch cameras! Alright, that's the REAL game! From another angle it makes all sense. This store has a back door. And we can see, there's a passage from that door through the main street, and it hasn't been discovered by any other team's interference! Is this LUNG wRATh's chance, or is it--"

                 B
                     O
                         O
                             M
                                  !
                                      !
                                           !

The words were still on D.D.D.'s lips when, there on the screen, the sound of a tremendous explosion comes from Ernesto's arms store. In LUNG wRATh's POV, Quinn hears the sound of a bomb tick, and he only manages to shout a 'watch out!' to his teammates before the explosion consumes the store.

D.D.D. : "Wh--Wh-Wh-What in the world is going on here? Lady Candela, is that an obstacle you installed as well?"

Candela : "If it was, it wouldn't be as basic as blowing up this one single shop."

D.D.D. : "This... could it be that another team knew Ernesto had this up his sleeve, and laid a trap?! If so, then we can say LUNG has been completely and utterly outdone! LUNG wRATh, is this what buries you?!"

Back to LUNG wRATh, they're now in a serious situation right now; they've all managed to survive the explosion, albeit with some wounds here and there. Though, Ch'en and Jay's bikes were completely destroyed in the process. They all find themselves buried in the rubble, though none of them have been crushed to death by the concrete that has inflicted themselves a bit too harshly on their bodies.

Yühsia : "Are you all dead?"

Ch'en : *cough*, *cough*. "Like that would kill me."

Jay : "Ouch..."

Quinn : "Well, at least we're all fine. But, shit... I think I might've moved a muscle there."

Yühsia : "You're all alive. Good. Your bikes?"

Quinn : "It's fine."

Jay and Ch'en : (Hushed) "Gone. Yours?"

Yühsia : "Perfectly fine. It seems out opposition didn't want us dead and buried either. But... As luck would have it, the exit is blocked."

Ch'en : "Well, good for luck."

Yühsia : "Your view?"

Ch'en : "We can find a way out. What else?"

Yühsia : "What I'm asking is who did it."

Jay : "Well... The only person I know who has access to these stores is Ernesto..."

Ch'en : "Looks like our intuition was on the mark."

Quinn : "What intuition?"

Yühsia : "Right. Ernesto couldn't hold it in, I'm guessing."

Jay : "He did this?! He could've killed us!"

Ch'en : "If he wanted us dead, then by this point, we'd all be dead."

Yühsia : "But don't you think it's odd? If I were him, this isn't how I'd do it. Only one at the end of his rope would use such self-destructive means."

Quinn : "She's got a point."

Jay : "Honestly, I can see where she's going here."

Ch'en : "Maybe, it wasn't actually him."

Yühsia : "Impossible."

Ch'en : "Maybe, he wants us to think he's desperate."

Jay, Quinn, and Yühsia : "..."

Yühsia raises her eyebrows, Jay's expressions changes to a puzzled one, and Quinn's changes to that of a thinking expression, as if to analyze all the things the girls have said and come up with a hypothesis.

Yühsia : "Right. Have you told Lady Candela about the matter?"

Ch'en : "Of course."

Yühsia : "How did she respond?"

Ch'en begins to narrate her talk with Candela by the beach. To summarize, Ch'en asked Candela if she'll do anything about the terrorist thing. The Mayor says no, and defends her answer by saying that if she sent out people to investigate the bombs, then that would've told the mastermind that their schemes have been discovered, only making things much more worse. From there, she begins to tell Ch'en by saying she and Lin Yühsia could maybe just forget all of this terrorist stuff and focus on winning the competition.

Ch'en : "You can probably imagine it."

Jay : "That's a very Candela thing Lady Candela does."

Yühsia : "Easily."

Ch'en : "Now, how do we get out?"

Yühsia : "I heard a certain Special Inspection Unit Chief could dice apart a whole building in her range. Mind shoe me first-hand?"

Ch'en : "Not every building's so sliceable. This one's clearly built from expectionally sturdy stuff. Can you use your sand ability to transport things?"

Yühsia : "I'm not my dad. A blockage of this level, with my ability, would need some time. Why not ask Jay?"

Jay : "Um, ladies... I don't think my Arts can do the trick to get us out either. Sorry."

Ch'en : "Then I'll have a go."

Yühsia : "No need. I have another method."

Ch'en : "What is it?"

Yühsia : "Can you guess what this is?"

Jay : "Um... Is it small?"

Yühsia : "Sort of."

Quinn : "Is it dangerous."

Yühsia : "I guess you can say that."

Ch'en : "...A bomb?"

Yühsia : "Do you remember the bomb from the first round? There was no way Lady Candela could conduct a wide search, but I had a few of the boys here dress up as thieves and enter the neighborhood to steal as many as they could."

Jay and Quinn : "YOU WHAT?"

Ch'en : "Thieves?"

Yühsia : "Thieves. So long as they gave the guards a bribe, and didn't make too much noise inside, no one would care about them."

Ch'en : "...Lin Yühsia."

Yühsia : "What."

Ch'en : "You might be unalike, but I have always deeply respected you and Mr. Lin. The slums couldn't go on without you, I know that much."

Yühsia : "And?"

Ch'en : "Don't let me catch you enjoying yourself."

Yühsia : "Hui-chieh... nobody would ever assign themselves blame of their own Accord. Out of the way, I'm going to set the bomb."

Jay : "Aww."

Everyone stares at Jay, who was just admiring how adorable that interaction was.

Jay : "What?"

Quinn : "Really? Just... REALLY?"