The two teams got into position, each one forming a line behind an obstacle course track. There were two identical ones right next to each other, meaning Jim had planned for them to race against one another anyway, even without Pang Zi's arrogant remarks.
"Alright, looks like both teams are set," Jim chuckled, standing between the two lines. "In that case… 3, 2-"
"Hold on," Finn cut in. "Before we begin… I just want to make sure of something."
Jim looked at the face of the kid that had defeated him, a wry grin on his face. "What is it?"
"Are Angelicas allowed?"
"Hm…" Jim turned to the other team. "Hey, ya heard his question. Do ya think letting Angelicas be used is fair?"
"I believe not…" Yun Xin, or rather, Claire, murmured quietly. "They have a Daredevil Angelica on their side…"
"Well, yeah, but we also have a blind person and someone who can't even walk!" Octane shot back. "Why don't you mention that?!"
"E-Erm…" Yun Xin averted her gaze awkwardly, unsure of how to respond.
"No problem," Finn said, making Octane back down. "Prohibiting Angelicas is perfectly fine."
"Well, looks like it's bloody decided," Jim said with a shrug. "In which case, I'd recommend gettin' ready. 3… 2… 1… Go!"
Immediately, the first pair took off from the starting point — Octane and Tian Long. Even without the help of his Angelica, Octane was still much faster than the average young man. He sped through the first section of the obstacle course with ease — a straight path of running with bars set at different heights.
Without losing any momentum, he jumped over the first few hurdles and slid underneath the ones he couldn't jump over, making it to the next stage in the matter of a few seconds — monkey bars. Naturally, if he fell, he had to go back and try again.
Luckily, being an extremely active person, Octane's arm strength was quite good as well, meaning he was able to make it past this section with relative ease just like the previous one.
Unfortunately, there was just one problem.
He may be in lead right now, but his stamina was pretty horrible, given his asthma. Sooner or later, Tian Long would start turning the tides. It was just a matter of whether Octane could hold out or not.
The next phase was a parkour jumping puzzle that featured tall and skinny pillars to stand on, meaning the timing for jumps had to be near perfect. Octane skidded to a stop briefly, glancing around to mark the best route to take.
After some hesitation, he jumped onto the one closest to him on the left, then took a moment to destabilize himself. Next, he hopped onto one a little further away, wobbling slightly as if about to fall over. By this point, he was about halfway across, but the gleam in his eyes said he wanted to take a risk.
There was no room for a running headstart, but Octane wanted to try this anyway. Crouching down, he stored all of his momentum in his legs, before using his powerful leg muscles to push himself upwards and forward with a great leap of faith.
He brought his arms up and swung them as he jumped, utilizing all the clips of athletes he had seen in the past.
"C'mon…!" He gritted his teeth, praying to god this worked.
And that it did.
Whether it was the prayer, luck, or just pure skill, no one knew. But whatever it was, he felt his fingers hit a hard surface. Immediately, he tightened his grip and attached his other hand as well, pulling himself up to the ledge before continuing without wasting any time.
But slowly, his breathing became ragged and heavy. He felt a bit lightheaded and dizzy, but he wasn't done just yet.
By now, Tian Long had reached the beginning of the parkour section. He had observed Octane's method of passing it and copied it. His athletic abilities, while not quite on par with Octane's, were still quite good. He was also able to make the leap by using his weapon (a sword) to lodge into the solid ledge, making up for the distance his actual jump couldn't reach.
While Octane appeared to be visibly slowing down, Tian Long kept a steady pace and wasn't even panting.
The next stage was a straight pathway with swinging punching bags back and forth to knock off whoever tries passing through them. Octane took it easy and just waited before passing through each one, but on the other side-
"… Heh."
Tian Long used his sword to cut straight through the punching bags, getting rid of them altogether for both him and his teammates. This helped him catch up to Octane, who by this point could barely still stand.
"Ngh…"
The final part of the obstacle course was just a straight 100 meter dash, which Octane normally would've taken with ease. But due to his current state, Tian Long actually managed to outspeed him. Octane, not wanting to lose, gritted his teeth and ran the final section with everything he had.
But in the end, Tian Long managed to arrive at the finish point first, striking the cymbal so that his second teammate could begin going through. Octane finished shortly after, about 20 seconds behind.
The next pair to go was Pang Zi and Fanatic. The two have been at odds with one another since the day they met, so this was a good opportunity to settle things. Unfortunately, Pang Zi started off with an advantage, which didn't look good. Moreover, Fanatic never was the athletic, so it was no surprise that the gap between the two teams was widened even further by the time this rotation was over.
The next two to go were Reaper and a quiet boy whose alias was just 'Death'. They were quite the fitting duo, but Reaper could fly — it was hardly even a competition. While he was at it, he also sliced the punching bags in the final section apart just like Tian Long had done to make it easier for the remaining teammates of Squadron 154.
After Reaper managed to completely close the gap with his flying abilities, the next pair to go was Iris and Yun Xin. The former simply used her armor's wings to fly across the obstacle course just like Reaper, which surprised the Big Five quite a bit.
"What?! Those wings aren't decoration?!" Pang Zi roared. "Damn it… at this rate, we might actually…"
"Heh." Iris smirked and winked playfully before hitting the cymbal so that Finn — the last one to go — could start, then slowly sat down on the platform, resting her aching back muscles a bit. The whole journey from start to finish took about 15 seconds at most.
In comparison, Yun Xin was incredibly slow. By the time she was finally finished, Finn was already at the monkey bar section with the help of call-outs from his teammates since he was blind.
But even so… the final member of the Big Five wasn't concerned at all.
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