Seven leaned against a trunk, clutching his hands to his chest. His breath rattled inside him. Whoever set up that motion sensor system knew of his presence. He pushed the matted strands of hair away from his forehead, his fingers coming away dripping with sweat. Never had he ran so fast in his life.

He leaned away from the trunk, stealing a peek into the barren horizon. This complex in the Northern region was close to Section H's headquarters, stirring both good and bad memories. Who would think of holing up here, of all places?

Only one person came to mind. Thirteen. Since the last battle with Karrel and Section H, Seven hadn't seen the atypical boy since he told them to run away and meet up back in the fortress. While all of them followed, they ended up taking different routes. When the automated announcement blasted through the grounds, Seven was on his way towards one of the sewers' entrances. Like Thirteen, he had grown fond of using the canals' numerous entry and exit points, all ending up in the fortress' backdoor.

He was the first to reach the building, and his journey halted there. If the others were on their way and they decided to start killing, he would put himself into the line of fire by resurfacing. The goal of this season in the Game was to fish out the strongest and the craftiest of them all, and after spending time beating other people, now, they have to beat each other.

It was hard, going against the same people who once have been your comrades, but to Seven, it was only proper. Camaraderie made them forget this place was still a site for whatever the Game was. There weren't any rules, and the counters were abolished. Now, they were free to attack at any time, kill anyone whom they pleased if they were able.

Seven ran a quick inventory of the remaining people in the grounds. Fourteen, he could handle. With her ability reliant on visual stimulation, his ability would be her bane. He could sneak up to her, slit her throat, and be done with it. No hard feelings. Seven had to survive. If he didn't kill first, he would be eliminated before he even made a move.

Two would be harder, but maybe Seven would manage. As long as he maintained a distance from the esper, he could spring any trap, a-la Thirteen. Eighteen would also be an easier target. What in the world was psychometry anyway? It was such a useless ability Thirteen never utilized her as much as he did everyone during the Game's first part. Seven would only need to find her, and it would be over.

Seventeen and Sixteen would also be a challenge. The duo have taken a liking to each other during the Game itself, proving nothing was impossible when it came to love. Seventeen was for long and wide-ranged attacks, while Sixteen was in charge of the nitty-gritty. But both of them also relied on their eyes with their physical attacks. If they couldn't see Seven, he had every opportunity to stab them from behind and call it a day.

Five and Eight...now, they were going to be the hardest. Relying on stealth would be useless, and attacking them head-on would be suicide. Eight could sense disturbances in the airflow, rendering his invisibility useless. And Five...well, let him say she was a force to reckon when she wished to be. Even if Seven attacked her unseen, she would figure out a way to decapitate him. She was smart, that was all.

And that left that girl from what Thirteen called the sleeper unit. During the battle with Karrel and the remaining sections who defected to Section H, Seven glimpsed at least four people who claimed to be taking orders from their ex-leader. Three were eliminated in the same battle, and Seven had never heard from them again. The last one, a girl with deep-blue hair and fair skin, latched on to Five. Soon, they were seen training together in their free time, both with blades and their abilities.

He asked Five about it, and she introduced the girl as Slate. She was from Section J, and agreed to act under Thirteen's orders. He wondered why someone would do that. Five only shrugged. "Something about a deal? I honestly don't know," she replied back then. "Slate didn't elaborate much."

Whatever it was, Seven observed the girl and surmised her ability somewhat involved changing her form and features to resemble another living being. He had never seen her do that to animals—not that there were any in the city—but he had seen her pass by most of their classmates as another person and not get recognized.

Seven had to be wary of the person with the same stealth ability as him. While he could pass undetected by most senses, she literally could vanish inside a familiar person. It was dangerous, adding another layer of uncertainty and suspicion to an already unstable Game.

Finally, Seven came to Thirteen. As the last person on his inventory, the strange boy with a dozen talents none of them understood posed the most threat to Seven's safety. Not only was Thirteen unpredictable and just plain antagonistic, no one knew anything about him. At least, not enough for them to matter. Seven watched Thirteen from time to time, and as if the boy was aware of it, he never let Seven see anything that might implicate himself later on.

Thirteen was no fool. He studied every ability in Section M. He knew someone would be bound to discover something he didn't want to be discovered if he became too lax. Seven respected the effort, at least. If not for the safeguards Thirteen put on the doors of the command center, Seven wouldn't have figured out who set up the same system scattered around the Northern region.

But if Thirteen knew there was someone out there who tripped his alarms, why wasn't he coming? If not to chase the perpetrator, then, at least, to check? Seven had been hanging out in the shadows of the forest for more than an hour, and no one emerged from any of the buildings. It was almost good to step out of his ability. He had been activating it for hours, and he was getting exhausted.

Seven considered going back to his hideout in the Eastern region. He stopped himself, though. Finally, he had a clue to where Thirteen was. Would he let it slip? With Thirteen gone, no one would be canny enough to stop Seven's plans from coming to fruition. Without Thirteen, Seven would have a direct path towards victory, and ultimately, getting out of this place. He was curious to know if there was a world outside the city, and if there was, what it looked and felt like. The dusty catalogs and musty books in the fortress could barely compare to the experience of the real thing.

He stepped out of the veil. The heaviness nipping at his skin vanished with it. A sigh of relief ripped out of his lips as he braced the trunk.

"So, that's where you are," a voice said behind him.

Heart in throat, Seven activated his ability again and ran sideways. A rock sailed past his cheek before thwacking against a splintering trunk. What the—

That was close. Too close, coming from someone who shouldn't see him.

Sure enough, Thirteen slunk through the thick shadows of the forest, clutching a familiar gadget on his fingers. Realization sunk in. The portable screen. It was the holy grail in the entire game, and if Seven wasn't careful, Thirteen could turn it into their downfall. How did he even triangulate Seven's presence in the forest that fast?

Not good. Seven had to deal with this as fast as he could. He closed the distance between them and swung a fist towards Thirteen's jaw. The boy wasn't a fighter. He couldn't even throw a proper punch. True enough, Thirteen took the hit, stumbling onto the grass with a grunt. The light from his portable screen flitted towards the nearby bushes. Plunged in newfound darkness, Seven kept his ability on. No harm in keeping it safe.

Thirteen staggered up and whipped to where Seven ran around. In the darkness, it was hard to follow where the boy's dark eyes went. Was he watching the air for Seven's location? Did he lose his wit in the days they spent apart? It would be nigh impossible to see something in the dark, much less an invisible foe. Seven snatched the dagger from his belt, the one all of them had courtesy of Five. Then, he lunged.

The blade glinted against the faint moonlight, but it was as silent as death when it slashed for Thirteen's back. A beat passed. Two. His blade took forever to get there, and when it completed the arc, the tip bit air. As if Thirteen wasn't there all along. Seven teetered forward, catching himself at the last second. He whipped to find his enemy when the sound of a gun being cocked rang in the air.

"What are you doing here?" Thirteen asked at the non-threatening side of the gun. "How did you find me?"

Seven raised both hands, palms up. The dagger fit diagonally between two fingers. "Insecure much?" he replied. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to cross into your territory. Is that why you're trying to kill me?"

Thirteen opened his mouth, but a wince overtook his features. The gun wavered a bit. His teeth dug into his lips as he fought some kind of internal struggle to stay upright. His curls bounced over his head as he strived to keep the gun up. "I'm not going to kill you," he answered, running the back of his free hand under his nose. It was too dark to see what the deal was. "Who else knows about this?"

Seven shook his head. "Only me."

A darker glint swallowed the whites in Thirteen's eyes as he seethed, "Liar."

He clicked the trigger, and instead of sending a bullet whizzing across the air, his knees knocked together and his shoulder slammed against a thick trunk. A curse flew out of Thirteen's lips. The gun went back up despite the boy's crooked stance. It fired, sending Seven swerving behind another trunk.

When the world has gone still for the second time, Seven dared a glance past the layer of splinters and lichens. He was alone, as if Thirteen had never been there all along.