MTE: Evaded // Evade Fanfiction

Chapter 2 // Nextbot

The atmosphere was thick and green. Jard sat under the shades of the tall tree. His fingers curled around his legs as they were folded into his stomach. He rested his head against the rigid, burnt trunks of the robust tree. The slow and gentle breeze bends as it touches his forehead, feeling the coolness of the air. He took a deep breath, smelling the slightly foul odour from the lake near him.

Bobo was beside him, resting his head on his companion's shoulder. His hands were holding a small flower and gently ripping off the bright, yellow petals one by one. He watched the golden-coloured organic paper following into the wind, flying into the distance. What looked like a ten-minute wait felt like an eternity as Bobo let out a huge sigh.

"When will the nextbots spawn?" he asked, impatience hinted in his voice.

"Beats me," Jard responded, looking at his watch, "I think Galf could consider changing his time zone on his tablet for once,"

"How long had we been waiting?" Bobo asked.

"I think about an hour," Jard responded, gently laying his head onto the tree trunk once more.

Suddenly, the sound of teleportation could be heard among the withered grass fields. The noises grew louder and more menacing. Jard's ears rang with panic as he stood tall like the tree behind him.

"Bobo! We got to go!"

"Why?"

Jard grabbed Bobo's arm before tugging him towards him. At that moment, the sound of the tree tearing apart was deafening. Bobo could feel wooden splinters flying past him like throwing knives, nearly hitting him by a centimetre. Jard had the confidence to look behind him. The creature seemed to be on all fours with dagger-like teeth. The trunk of the tree was snapped into the grip of its jaws. Its massive, dark, beady eyes sent chills down Jard's spine. He was unable to move as his body was completely frozen in fear. 

Bobo turns his head around to take a better glimpse at the creature. His face morphed into a shocked and terrified expression. The nextbot smells the child's fear as it picks up speed.

"SHIT, WE GOT TO RUN!" Jard swore, tightly gripping his friend by the wrist.

Both escape artists fled, flinging debris into the air from the soles of their heavy footwear. They were running for their dear life with a vicious creature following their tail. It was like a game of tag, except that the predator can kill. 

Jard pulled out something out of his pocket once again. His trusty friend, the eclipse cola. He flicked the lid off as he drowned himself in the fizzy drink. Eventually, he rapidly gained speed as he made a sharp U-turn. His body was close to a fatal impact the nextbot inches away from being consumed by the terrifying jaws. Determined as it was, it slowly turned around and chased Jard up the stone stairs. 

Bobo slowed his pace, intending to catch his breath. He could feel blood pounding into his head as he turned back to see the tension. Bloodcurdling hisses rang over his ears, the sound that the nextbots emitted. He then sees Jard who is trying to escape his fate. He wanted to scream at him, telling him to be careful, but the strength of his voice had faded from the exhausted sprint.

"JARD, GOD DAMMIT, STOP PLAYING WITH IT. YOU ARE MAKING ME HAVE A PANIC ATTACK," Bobo yelled out so that Jard could hear him from afar. 

Jard looked over at Bobo's face and smiled. Although Bobo still has a menacing smile spread across his face, he can tell he is serious at that time. He reached from the back of his bag before pulling out a complicated device. One minute to run from his fate.

Bobo was impressed. Jard seemed to be running at the same fast pace but endured the exhaustion from the deadly marathon. It was like he wasn't going to slow down at any moment. It was as if he had an inhumanly large amount of energy pumping through his body, regardless of how fast he was running. His friend watched as the college student pulled out another cola from his pocket and chugged it all down. He then threw the soda can onto the grass before he gained much more speed. Sure, it was littering, but was it a thing to care about when you are running from a monster that could rip you apart with one swing?

Surely enough, the countdown reached zero. Jard looked behind him and saw the nextbot slowly fading before its eyes. It screeched in pain as its body matter dissolved into the green breeze. Knowing that the chase was over, Jard slowly decelerated, letting his right foot in front of him kick the robust clay. Bobo ran up to him.

"Are you okay, Jard? You seem to be running like a thousand kilometres an hour!" Bobo said, looking over Jard to see if he heard broken a leg.

"Not a scratch, I'm fine," Jard said.

Depicted by his voice, Bobo could tell Jard's heart was running a massive marathon, even after Jard had stopped. 

"I can get a drink of water when we get back," Jard said, smiling as he got from his feet and looked up at the temple of the hazy forest.

Jard's eyes were locked on a glowing material that was sitting on top of the pedestal at the centre of the temple. It was glowing brightly and the exotic texture had caught Bobo's eyes. Bobo immediately ran up the stairs as Jard was caught off guard.

"Wait up, Bobo!"

Both reached the 'summit'. The view was almost symmetrical on all sides. Both were stunned by the blinding yellow light. Finally, it subsided before it could blind both Jard and Bobo. It seemed to be like a children's drawing kit with everything zipped into a small polyester case. Jard slowly grabbed it from its place.

"I wonder what it is," Bobo said with glee in his eyes.

"Beats me..." Jard answered, putting the exotic material into his heavy-ass backpack, "I bet Galf would know,"

"Welp, should we go back?" Bobo added, peering over Jard's shoulder.

Jard's response was a simple nod before bringing his radio close to his lips...

---

Meanwhile in the depths of a mysterious place. Though its building is printed in bright orange and white stripes, it was well hidden from the government. Three figures looked at each other from the large round table. Defeaning silence echoed through the enclosed room. One of the figures sat in the most important corner of the table, assuming that he was the lead of this incredibly urgent meeting.

"Now, based on the lost reports from Rose..." the leader spoke, with their voice sounding quite wise yet low, "what data had we gathered here, Jack?"

"It seemed that there is something much more exotic than Munci..." his assistant replied, with seriousness in his tone.

"You mean that black blob that killed a lot of the survivors?" The third researcher asked.

"Well whatever this thing is, we better keep an eye out for it..."