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The hall had a total of 10 passages, including the one they came from. Alex was frustrated. They didn't have the time to play games.

'Let's just pick. The one on the right.'

Alex ran into one of the passages on the right. The route slithered left and right. Along the way, new passages opened up. Alex's gut feeling told him that they were in a maze.

As they were running suddenly, two of the soldiers appeared from the front. Alex dashed into a channel on the left, and Jason went in the right. As they took more turns, they somehow met up but nowhere else but their starting place.

The mercenaries were not far behind. They chose another tunnel on the left this time. The passage gave birth to many more, and the soldiers would appear out of nowhere. They again got separated, but thankfully they returned to the same place they started.

This went on 2 times more.

--How do they keep finding us?

Alex thought.

--Coincidence? But they looked like they were waiting for us. Could they have memorized the entire maze and knows where it goes? But to remember a labyrinth this big isn't easy. How long has it existed? Decades? It doesn't look like it. The walls look new, meaning it couldn't have been made until a few years ago.

Tried as he might, Alex couldn't guess how the soldiers would magically appear before them.

'It's like we're running around Chiba.'

Hikaru was irritated by the colossal size of the maze.

'Chiba?'

--at's it.

Alex understood everything. Alex looked around the walls and saw the markings and tiny words written on the walls. He couldn't understand what they meant before, but now he did. He again entered the hall for the 4th time and saw Jason coming.

'Jason, good news and bad news.'

'Bad first.'

'It's gonna be a long run.'

'That is easy. Good news.'

Alex smiled.

'We can win.'

The entire maze was a model of the roads of Chiba. There were markings there that had building names written on them. This was to tell where they were. The mercenaries hadn't memorized the maze. They had learned the roads of Chiba. The picture of Chiba's prefecture was perfect in Alex's mind.

'You go left, and I'll go right, you turn the second right and then take the first right.'

Alex and Jason began taking down the soldiers. They had scattered in pairs of two that made them easy pickings. Alex kept guiding Jason, and they managed to sneak up behind them.

One by one, Alex and Jason took all of them down. They met in the hall for the last time. Hikaru was so happy he started hugging Alex forgetting all their past.

'We're safe now. We're alive. We get to live.'

Hikaru hopped on one leg.

Meanwhile, someone was sitting behind a monitor, ecstatic to see his test subject develop further. Seeing this, he decided it was time to push the big red buttons beside him that he was dying to press. As he pushed it, something interesting happened.

Alex heard a strange mechanical noise. He saw the walls of the tunnel were leaking. Water was dripping from the walls. It became faster and faster.

'Jason, run.'

Alex grabbed Hikaru carrying him on his back and ran as fast as he could. Jason didn't understand, but after seeing the water, he ran.

They heard a dreadful sound, which made them run faster. The noise which was so frightening to them was water. Lots of water, gushing through here and there.

It was only a matter of minutes before they were knee-deep in the water, and more was coming from behind like a wave. Alex knew where they were going, but unexpectedly, the path split into two. This wasn't supposed to happen.

--There shouldn't be any roads that cut here.

'Alex, where to?'

'Um…left.'

Alex made the decision arbitrarily. The water was rising slowly but indefinitely. They were going through the path when a wall formed from behind.

They ran forward, trying to escape being trapped and reached a room. As they entered it, another wall came from behind and blocked the way. The room was a dead end. There was no way out, and the water kept flooding in.

'Jason, I think I made a mistake.'

'You think?'

'We are going to die.'

Hikaru cried out.

'In these kinds of situations, it is highly recommended to think positive.'

Alex said to Hikaru, who had all lost hope, again.

'We don't have to go to university anymore.'

*At least, he is trying.* Alex thought intensely about what could be done. Only one thing kept coming to his mind.

--I have no choice.

'Alex, do you have a plan?'

Jason asked as a last resort. The water had covered the entire room, making them float.

'Nothing we can do right now.'

Alex shrugged.

'I see.'

There was complete silence. The only noise was of the water filling the room. The three of them were floating, waiting for the water to completely fill the room. Hikaru was unusually calm. He looked like he had reached a Zen-like state. As if he didn't care anymore.

'It's been a fun ride. Thanks, Alex. You're not that bad.'

Hikaru broke the silence saying his find words.

'I wish I could get to know you more. You too, Jason. You both are amazing, unlike me. I am honored to die along with such talented people. I just wish I could have seen…'

Hikaru didn't say anything more. He did have one last wish. To see his love again, to see her smile again. Alex and Jason were shocked by this. Hikaru seemed to have accepted it all. Accepted the fact that they were about to die. The room was almost full.

'Hikaru.'

'Yes, Alex.'

Hikaru gave his best smile.

'Shut up.'