apathetic [wec]

[9 - seems like preteens can have super strength now]

It was like [Name] could hear the bewilderment running through everyone's heads as they glanced around the room, silently standing with arms crossed over their chest.

"...And that's that." Pai hummed, as if that was the end of the conversation.

Nyoro decided to speak up, awkwardly coughing. "Wh-What do you mean...?"

"The mastermind who set up this whole game asked me to tell everyone that," She replied, gaining even more looks of confusion.

"...Can I facepalm yet? This is starting to get a little too similar to a certain game I mentioned before..."

"You know who it is?!" Kansai yelled.

"Darn straight!" Pai affirmed, holding up a peace sign. "Get ready to have your socks knocked off...the mastermind..." The girl held her sentence for a dramatic effect, hearing some people hold their breath in anticipation. "...is one of us!"

The group stilled, as [Name] glanced around quickly to see if anyone was acting slightly suspicious from her words. Noting their silence, she continued.

"Ahem. Okay, you all ready? The mastermind is..." Pai briefly paused to spin around and pose, as [Name]'s eyes widened, starting to feel the ground shake below their feet once more. "Drumroll please—!"

She was interrupted as the whole enclosure started to tremble, a few almost falling by the shock. "Ah—what the...?!"

Looking above the girl, they sucked in a breath as the helmet from the scuba diver's suit hanging above them threatened to fall, right on top of Pai.

"Aniki, above her!" They yelled out, startling the preteen for a moment before he quickly took action, inches away from the helmet hitting her. However, the two fell to the ground rather hard in his haste to get her out of a possible concussion.

"Are you okay?!" He panicked, hovering above her body with worried eyes. "Hey! Pai!"

To their amusement, the girl murmured in response, "No, no. Ugh, I'm serious...I can't eat another bite..."

"Ugh..." He sighed, silently picking up the girl bridal-style while shaking his head.

"Falling to the floor and making contact with the ground like that must have knocked her out." Jennu concluded. "That, or just from the shock of almost getting hit by that metal suit..."

"Is it normal to talk when you're unconscious?" Chuko tilted her head.

"She'll be fine." [Name] spoke up, gaining a wary look from the others. "He made sure to support her head and neck enough, so she didn't get a concussion, at least."

"Oh thank god..." Pochi let out a sigh of relief.

Nyoro raised an eyebrow at them, before turning to face the rest of the group. "So, who's the mastermind...?"

No one spoke in reply to her question, so Kansai took the opportunity to break the silence first.

"Well, all we can do is wait for Pai to wake up." He waved off her unimpressed look with a roll of his eyes. "Forget that for now..."

And yet again, the room started to shake, earning groans from the group.

"At this point, it can't be a coincidence...!" [Name] thought, tightly holding on to the railing of the bridge.

"Guys, look!" Tattsun brought their attention to one side of the glass wall, flinching as the cracks from before grew wider at an even faster rate than before.

Panic echoed throughout the group, as everyone suddenly started shouting and crying out at the fear of drowning. Out of all of them, Reycho was the one who turned around and pat his chest with no worry on his face. He ran towards the outside of the group to a swaying submarine hanging in the air, eyeing the fallen helmet at his feet.

"Don't tell me..."

To [Name]'s utter astonishment, the boy picked up the helmet, grunting and aimed at the submarine. The sheer determination in his eyes made them take a small step back, watching as he slowly lifted it above his head and threw it with all of his might at the watercraft.

The wires supporting it snapped, clashing to the ground with a loud bang, as the hatch opened up to reveal many seats inside. At the same time, the glass finally broke, water immediately spewing out of the newly-made gaps.

Some of them made confused remarks or ignored what Reycho did, making [Name] snap out of their surprise to roll their eyes. They wasted no time in getting the submarine, hearing gasps from behind them.

"What are you all doing?" They asked, taking one of the seats in the corner. "You're not all gonna just stand there and drown, are you?"

Flinching at the indifference in their tone, [Name] saw Kansai gulp and recompose himself. "Everyone! Run for it!"

At his words, they made for the submarine, everyone scrambling to find a place to sit or stand. Jennu came to sit next to [Name], holding onto an unconscious Pai with stern eyes.

Closing the hatch, they closed their eyes as they felt the water rush in around the submarine and bring them higher up, making them slightly dizzy.

"Hrrk!"

"Ugh, this feels like one of those teapot rides...!"

"Don't throw up, don't throw up..."

Soon enough, they came to a stop, and they all waited for a few moments before deeming it safe enough to open the hatch. The loud creak echoed in their ears before they had to shield their eyes from the bright light coming in through the opening.

"...Huh?"

What greeted them outside was the smell of salt water hitting their nose as they stepped outside of the submarine onto the sand below them. Everyone else came out of the watercraft and began to look around or stretch, but [Name] saw a few look up at the sky in shock. Specifically, Pochi, Reycho, and a now-awake Pai.

Confused, they turned their gaze to where they were looking. The mountains in the distance were a familiar sight, but there was nothing else of note to see. Just blue skies and clouds.

Pushing their weird behaviors aside, they spotted a newspaper half-buried in the ground and picked it up, dusting off the sand. [Name] blinked and took a double-take at the bold heading.

"Tokyo...destroyed?"