"Master isn't a bitch!" Pablo growled.
Pablo's odd remark forced a laugh from the other eight boys, and Pablo flushed at their laughter.
Mad Dog raised his fists into a fighting stance. "Alright, buddy. Let's see what you guys can do."
The Grimm Bros raised their fists, and in Viktor's case, a fist. Joan shot him a concerned look. "Are you going to be able to fight with your arm?"
A blue sling comfortably housed Viktor's arm, and he grinned at her question. "Of course, Master."
"Don't call me that." Joan turned back to face their opponents. "On the count of three," she whispered to the Grimm Bros. "1… 2… 3… Let's run!"
Joan spun around to the unblocked door, picked her bag from the floor, and sprinted out. The Grimm Bros, startled at first, followed her shortly after.
Together, they pushed past the crowded hallways, shimmying through small gaps between people and shoving aside the obnoxious group of girls whose friend groups took up the whole hallway.
"What are you doing?!" Turner hollered.
"Running!"
"You're not going to fight?" Viktor asked in surprise.
"Hell no! I want to go home!"
The Grimm Bros stared at her in silence. Their surprised frowns pulled the corners of their mouths back, and they seemed to fail to comprehend her logic.
Truthfully, Joan wasn't sure how the fight would play out in the small classroom. With 12 people fighting, things were sure to get messy. And to top it off, Joan had little to no experience in a team fight. She was worried she'd end up accidentally slapping the Grimm Bros on the side.
"Ah, yes!" Viktor shouted in realization. "Master, you must've been worried about my arm! I told you, I can fight!"
No.
"Sure," Joan awkwardly laughed. "Let's leave it at that."
"Rem!" Jackal shrieked from behind. His scream sent a slithering chill up each joint of Viktor's spine, and he sped up in response.
He turned to see Jackal rapidly approaching their rendezvoused group. Rage flushed Jackal's cheeks, turning him into a ripe tomato any farmer would shriek in joy at.
"Go, go, go!" Viktor urged his comrades, ignoring the mild stinging pain in his right arm. He pushed his legs harder and harder, trying to widen the closing distance between him and Jackal and decrease the widening distance between him and Rem.
She ran surprisingly fast, agilely slipping through the cracks in the crowd and worming through friend groups that stuck together like blood clots.
When Joan reached the stairs at the end of the hallway, she turned to see the Grimm Bros rather far behind her. Jackal was hot on their heels and farther down the hallway, the rest of his gang ran after him.
Joan held open the door, debating whether to ditch them or wait for them. At the rate they were running at, she wouldn't be surprised if Jackal caught up to them.
"What are you waiting for?" PK asked. "Just ditch them."
Logically, PK's words made sense. Joan let go of the door handle, turned, and began to run down the stairs.
But in a split second, a switch in her heart flipped, letting a wave of guilt crash into her like a tsunami. She immediately turned back around and caught the door before it closed.
"Hurry up," she screamed at the Grimm Bros, ignoring the terrified stares of onlooking students. The three boys looked at her in desperation, pushing their legs as fast as they would go.
They rushed through the door frame with Jackal mere feet behind them. Grunting, Joan pushed the metal door as hard as she could.
"Close, close, close," she whispered like a mantra.
Slam!
The door shut with Jackal's face mere inches from the door. Joan turned and ran down the stairs behind the Grimm Bros as Jackal forced the heavy metal doors open.
As she jumped down flights of stairs, a rare smile flitted across her face. But she caught herself in the act, quickly wiping the wretched deformity from her features.
But the strings that pulled at the corners of her lips refused to be caught. Unknowingly, she found herself giggling in excitement.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she took frequent glances back to check on how close Jackal was.
Viktor, who heard her laugh, turned back to catch her smile. Since he had met her, she hadn't shown such a carefree expression. Startled, he paused his run but snapped out of his daze when Rem slapped his back on her way past him.
Her slap sent an awkward tingle down his fractured right arm, but he couldn't help but laugh as well.
The laughter was contagious, soon spreading to both Turner and Pablo. And as the four raced down the stairwell, escaping from Jackal, they burst into excited laughter.
When they reached the first floor, they rushed out of the stairwell, still uncontrollably laughing.
"Rem, what are you laughing at?" Turner asked with a smile on his face.
"What are you laughing at?" Joan sarcastically shot back.
"Viktor! You're going to regret this!" Jackal screamed from behind.
His furious scream caused a fresh onslaught of giggles erupted from Joan and spread to the Grimm Bros.
Together, the four raced down hallways and out the school, narrowly escaping Jackal.
Panting, the three stood on a random street. The buildings that climbed to the heavens and the popularity of techwear signaled that they had made it to downtown.
Joan looked around, feeling lost. Although she'd once lived in Beijing, she had no recollection of these areas.
Placing a hand over her chest, she breathed out a sigh filled with the pent up adrenaline from being chased. "Where is this?"
Pablo casually looked around. "No clue. I've heard the arcades downtown are awesome. Let's check it out, yeah?"
Viktor's eyes sparkled. "Mortal Combat just came out! Ah, let's go, let's go."
"How are you guys going to pay?" Joan questioned.
"Master… won't you treat us?" Turner begged, his eyes furrowed pitifully. His invisible tail wagged sorrowfully behind him, and Joan nearly had to shield her eyes from his charm.
"Ah, uhuh. Sure," she said reluctantly.
Turner's eyes instantly brightened, and he immediately ran off to find a nearby arcade.
"Here, here, here!" he called, waving to the other three. "They have the new Combat Strike modules!" He pointed at the sign in front of the arcade.
"Hahh? Ten dollars for each person?" Joan shrieked. All her reward money from rescuing Cheng Lei would be flushed down the drain for these fools!
"Yeah, you're right. It's a little expensive. No one from the slums has that kind of money," Pablo said with a frown on his face.
The sad news brought a gloomy aura over the non-biological brothers, and Joan couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"I'll pay. I'll pay," Joan reassured them.
"Really, Master? You're truly the best!" Turner lopsidedly grinned.
Joan awkwardly laughed as they stepped inside the flashy arcade. The inside was dark and lit solely by the neon lights of the retro arcade machines and neon signs that lined the walls. A small service counter sat at the front.
"Combat Strike cards, please," Joan politely asked.
The boy behind the counter nodded dully and held up a face scanner. The green lights flickered over Joan's face, capturing her facial structure, her eyes, and her features.
The scanner dinged, and the counter boy stared at the result. "Rem?"
"Yeah."
"Your total is 41.23. Sign here. And here are your cards. Swipe them in the side of the module."
Face scanners reduced the need for physical ID cards and debit cards. In addition, they reduced the number of stolen debit card cases. Ultimately, it was a beneficial development for the country.
As Joan and the Grimm Bros headed in, the Combat Strike modules immediately caught their eye. They were large massage chair-esque devices with a hood that provided a realistic 3D view of the game.
A VR headset connected to the player, sensing neural signals and transferring these signals to movements in the game.
"Woah!" Turner exclaimed. "It's like real life SAO!"