Nazan, Pilsen, Justine, Frenzen, and Axl prepare for battle.
The countdown timer appears, ticking down from 1 hour. As soon as it starts, all teams dash out into the massive metal maze, searching for prey.
Rod and his team are on the hunt ruthless and bloodthirsty looking specifically for the other Big Three.
Elsewhere, chaos breaks loose as teams clash. Nathan, a lightning user, blurs past the corridors like a thunderbolt, striking first. His enemies barely have time to react as he zaps through their defenses.
Andrei, who possesses superhuman strength, becomes separated from his team. Lost but not hesitant, he spots another team trying to hide. Without thinking, Andrei leaps from an overhead platform and crashes into them, landing face-first but unfazed. He grabs one member and hurls him across the room. Then, he releases a series of unpredictable, brutal punches on the remaining four, overwhelming them with raw power.
Meanwhile, Paulo, a speedster nearly as fast as light itself, is scouting alone. His team gets ambushed, but the enemy doesn't notice Paulo due to his speed. In an instant, he dashes forward and lands a devastating punch to one opponent's chest. The impact sends the enemy flying across the maze like a ragdoll.
His team takes advantage of the confusion and defeats the remaining enemies. They move on, confident and efficient.
Nazan's team, on the other hand, chooses to play it safe. They navigate the maze cautiously, sticking together.
A few moments earlier...
Justine and Frenzen gather the team to discuss their strategy. Axl leads the briefing.
"Let's play it safe," Axl says. "If we run into an enemy team, I'll copy Rod's power. Frenzen, keep watch from above. Let's avoid the top 10 teams altogether we don't stand a chance yet."
Frenzen nods. "Got it."
Nazan smirks. "Since when did you become so smart?"
Axl shrugs. "I copied the power of one student whose ability increases intelligence."
Justine crosses her arms, visibly annoyed. "Why would you waste your power already? What if we get ambushed? You'll be useless during the cooldown!"
Five minutes pass.
Already, 36 teams have been eliminated.
Rod's team racks up 50 points, bringing their total to 110. Paulo's team sits at 75 points. Meanwhile, Nazan's team hasn't scored a single point yet.
Justine grows impatient. "We can't make it to the top 50 if we keep playing this safe."
Frenzen, flying overhead, reports, "Enemy team spotted 11 o'clock, running."
Nazan's eyes light up. "Let's go."
They sprint toward the direction Frenzen indicated. Nazan hears the loudspeakers announce another wave of eliminated teams. He clenches his fists.
"I'm going to win this," he says, his expression deadly serious.
He spots one fleeing enemy. Nazan grabs the guy's shirt mid-run.
"Don't trap me!" the enemy shouts.
Nazan gets dragged along briefly but plants his foot on a nearby metal tube, halting the momentum. He yanks the enemy toward him, but his grip slips—they both tumble to the floor. Nazan positions himself to punch—
"Wait, wait! Please, let me pair with you!"
But Nazan hesitates. Is this what the game's really about? Just beating each other senseless? He falters for a moment.
The enemy suddenly punches. Nazan dodges, eyes narrowing.
No... If you're in my way, then you're getting crushed.
Nazan strikes back, hard. Blood sprays as his punches connect.
Out of nowhere, he's ambushed.
Injured, Nazan stumbles away and hides behind a wall of angled steel. He sees who hit him Suzuki.
"Give up already," Suzuki taunts. "Tell us where your team is. Easy way... or hard way?"
"I prefer the hard way," Nazan says, smirking through the pain.
Suzuki and his entire squad attack. Nazan is out numbered a 5 versus 1.
"A 5v1?! Really?!" Nazan yells, gritting his teeth as a sharp blade impales his arm.
Suddenly, bombs rain down from above Frenzen's doing.
His bird swoops in and scoops up Nazan.
"He's escaping! After that bird!" Suzuki shouts.
Back in the air, Frenzen yells at Nazan. "What the hell were you thinking? Axl specifically said to avoid the top 10!"
"I don't care. I came here to beat Suzuki," Nazan mutters, blood dripping from his mouth.
Frenzen drops him back with the team.
"They're probably coming this way," Frenzen warns.
Pilsen panics. "What do we do?!"
Justine groans. "I know exactly what to do run!"
Axl shakes his head. "No. We fight. I'll copy Rod's power. You all use yours. I'll handle them."
Nazan stands, reinvigorated. "Same plan I had in mind. Let's ambush them."
Frenzen nods. "I'll fly up and rain paint bombs."
Pilsen smirks. "Alright. Let's do this."
Justine sighs. "Fine... I'm in."
Meanwhile…
"There are only 50 teams left. We've got to hide. We already have enough points," says Hannes.
Hannes a water power person, can manipulate water. "
"Is 80 even enough?" his teammate asks.
"It might land us in the top 20. Just 35 minutes left."
Back in the maze, Suzuki spots Axl's team waiting for them.
"Well, that's nice of youwaiting for us," Suzuki says, amused.
Axl steps forward. "You're the only prey worth chasing. Beating you gets us top 10."
Marko, a mud manipulator. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be."
"Let's go!" Suzuki shouts.
His team charges. Frenzen drops bombs but gets tackled mid-air. His bird loses control and explodes by crashing.
Justine faces off against Marko, using his rubber ability to stop him from transforming. "You're not turning into mud today."
Marko's teammate rushes in, swinging a metal tube like a knife. Justine releases Marko and dodges the blade but now it's a 2v1.
Pilsen jumps in, encased in bone armor, grabbing the enemy by the neck and slamming him into the ground.
Justine looks around. "Wait where's Marko?!"
He's gone.
Elsewhere, Axl duels another of Suzuki's teammates.
Suzuki and Nazan lock eyes.
Nazan lunges, landing a solid punch to Suzuki's jaw. Suzuki stumbles back.
Nazan shouts, "You're going down today, Suzuki!"
Suzuki grins. "Try it!"
They both charge at each other, fists flying.
To be continued...