The Elemental Contestant (Running Man Animation Fanfiction) [Book 4]

Chapter 19: The Red Explosion & The End

The Running Man Team were found resting in the lounge. Popo sighed with slight exhaustion and relief, "Boy, that sure was a rough game, guys." Lonky agreed, "Boy, you said it, Popo. I'm wiped out." Pala agreed next, "Yeah. But, we still won, huh?" Kuga responded, with a level of seriousness that contradicted with their relief, "Yes, but something still didn't seem right."

Miyo then added, "They won't go easy on us in Round 3 either. We need a plan." Pala then agreed with her, but retorted, "Yes, but Liu... uhh..." The other contestants glanced at the said grasshopper, who was found sitting at a corner of the lounge, sitting with his knees up to his chin and looking down solemnly in thought, with concern written in their eyes.

Sabriye knew that Liu was recalling a memory of his beloved sister Shan, a memory of when she first built Mr Suitcase. The rest of the Running Man Team got up from their seats and walked towards Liu. Popo then asked, gaining his attention, "Liu. Are you okay? We uhh... can't think of a plan without your help." The others, except Sabriye, nodded in agreement.

Lonky then explained, albeit rather vexingly, in Sabriye's opinion, "Yeah, you know, when you ramble on and go overboard? Right now, you're a-" He was interrupted when Kuga grabbed him by the neck and threw him across the lounge. The other contestants, except Liu, looked rather unamused by that.

Pala then started off by saying, "Liu, uhh... Is your sister really a DV7? I didn't expect that. Wow, scary, huh?" There was a moment of silence before he continued, "But, didn't you say that you're sister died?" That resulted in Liu turning his head away from Pala, the latter getting a hard, stern look from Sabriye and being thrown across the lounge by Kuga next.

The others, except Liu, looked unamused again. However, Liu said in a feeble tone, "My sister is dead." Kuga, Miyo, Gai and Popo then looked at him in a mixture of shock and confusion. Liu then retold the fateful day of when Shan was kidnapped. Back then, he was screaming out his sister's name, coughing, due to the cloud of the malevolent red smoke.

A weakened Mr Suitcase shutting down was all that remained of her as he screamed in despair. The other contestants looked at him with hurt and sympathy in their eyes. It was then they realised that was the reason why Liu took Shan's position of being in the Running Man Competition, in spite of not being the Tribal Champion, like Shan was.

Liu then got up from his spot and slowly exited the lounge and towards his room, leaving the other players looking at him in sympathy. Soon after they discussed about whether or not they should be by Liu's side, the DV7s and the red smoke, which led to the DV7s' kidnapping. Miyo wondered why Charming Gold needed the DV7s on his side, despite having full control of the Soul Tree.

Gai knew the answer to that question, which was that Charming Gold knew that the Running Man Team could defeat him, maybe even easily. Lonky then responded, "You're right! We can't let him get away with that! We need a plan, guys!" Pala then whined, "I wish Liu were here..."

Sabriye, who was standing right behind Miyo and Gai on the couch, stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Forget the plan to beat Charming Gold for now." The others in the room looked at her with a slightly incredulous look. "We can worry about him later. Right now, Liu needs us more than we need him. We gotta be there for him."

Lonky then protested, "Didn't I say that we should leave him alone at times like these?" Sabriye crossed her arms and replied, "Yes, but we can't leave him alone forever. As his friends, shouldn't we help him back up to his feet when he falls?" Lonky looked confused.

Sabriye noticed this and explained, "It's an expression. Right now he's feeling down. We don't like seeing our friends depressed, do we? That's why we gotta be there to cheer him up, comfort him, bring his mood up. Right now, we need to bring back the Liu we all know and love." Sabriye would know. She had, after all, been in these sort of situations before back home, although they were slightly worse than this.