THE KING OF BAST*RDS part 2

"Nanami! Herbert! We will leave it to you 2!" said Franz, leaving with the other instructors on jeeps.

"One final piece of admin," announced Herbert. "Currently there are around 1000 such cadets like you which will rotate among 8 camps all over the world and in space. You are strictly forbidden to ask each other personal information beyond names, as now all these are classified information! The washout rate for this selection course is over 90%! And there is risk of death!"

He folded his arms. "Now, anyone wants to back out when you still have the chance?"

"SIR! WE ARE NEVER BACKING OUT!" a cadet numbered 100 yelled proudly, prompting the rest of the cadets to follow suit.

"Very good," commended Nanami

"Though let's see if you can still keep this up by the end of the course," said Nanami as she stepped into the jeep and started the engine. Herbert then climbed onto the back, holding a loudspeaker.

"Last one to reach is eliminated!" he said as the jeep drove off into a jungle.

"RUN!" Sean screamed, and all the cadets immediately sprang after the jeep, not wanting to end up last.

"HURRY UP!" roared Herbert

"PICK UP THE PACE!"

Sean led the cadets, dashing quickly behind the jeep while throwing the rest of the cadets behind him by a small margin. Louis and Ariel trailed behind in the centre cluster. While not at his peak anymore, Sean still found the running manageable.

"Geez, how is he so fast?" Louis muttered to Ariel.

"I'd advice we stop talking for now to conserve our energy and stay focused," replied Ariel with a shrug.

Louis nodded, as he and Ariel fastened their pace together, gradually overtaking the others and closed their gap with Sean.

The jeep soon passed a section with bags laid at the sides of the jungle.

"See those bags? Take one each!" ordered Herbert.

Sean slowed down, grabbing a bag and quickly strapping it on, then resuming his run at top speed. Ariel and Louis did the same.

"Don't block my way slowpoke!" a cadet numbered 23 pushed Ariel, causing her to fall face first onto a rock. Louis attempted to help her up, only for the rush of cadets to separate them and he is pushed forward by the crowd. Sean also noticed what happened and tried to head back to help, but he was also pushed forward by the crowd.

Ariel grunted and stood up. Suddenly, she felt lighter and he realised that a Chryso cadet labelled 17 is holding onto her bag while extending a hand to her.

"Thanks," she said as she helped her up.

"Vera Makarova," she introduced herself. "You good to go?"

Ariel nodded, and she resumed her pace with Vera, quickly catching up to Louis and Sean, who had slowed down to wait for them, and the 4 then continued running together.

Very soon, the day cleared and the sun was up, and they have exited the jungle and is now running across an open field. This has not made the run any easier however, quite the contrary, the combined fatigue from running intensively, starvation and muddy terrain bogging them down had made the cadets more tired.

"Those at the back hurry up!" roared Herbert. "IF THIS IS THE BEST YOU HAVE THIS PLANET IS SCREWED!"

"JUST LOOKING AT HOW PATHETIC YOU PLEBS ARE, I'D SUGGEST YOU QUIT NOW!"

The jeep travelled up a small, steep hill and the cadets climbed behind arduously.

"Let me say this again, quit when you can!" taunted Nanami, stepping on the accelerator. The jeep charged forward, quickly passing through a ditch. The cadets ran into the ditch.

"Oh shoot…" Sean muttered, nudging his peers to put on their goggles as they entered the ditch, already figuring what will happen.

"Why- "before Vera can finish her sentence, a huge jet of high-pressured water came crashing into her face, causing her to scream in pain as water flooded her eyes. Multiple fire-fighting robots armed with high pressured hoses have rolled up above the ditch, indiscriminately spraying their payloads at the defenceless cadets below, the sudden high pressured water streams catching many cadets off guard and they fell. Ariel stopped, coughing out the water that had entered her mouth and nostrils.

"Look at you dirty rats!" yelled an instructor above. "Can't let you enter the base all dirty!"

Sean, who had braced himself, managed to escape unscathed beyond being wet. Louis is not so lucky, falling and bruising his knee, ending up being completely covered in mud. Sean immediately slapped Louis' goggles on while Ariel did the same to Vera after she recovered.

"Hey comrade!" Ariel called out to the instructors above. "Mind if you throw down a bottle of shampoo to make us even cleaner?" she jeered.

"Soap too!" Louis laughed, following along. "Towels too please!" Vera taunted.

Sean laughed. "You can't make us clean with just water!" he grinned.

The angered instructors directed 3 robots to fire directly at the 4 of them, prompting them to run forward.

"DID YOU MORONS SERIOUSLY THINK THIS IS A BATHHOUSE? F*** OFF!"

"Aww, you are no fun," said Ariel in a girlish taunting voice while giving them the finger.

"Comedy gold…" laughed Franz, who is watching drone feed of the cadets in his office with the other instructors.

Soon, the cadets made it out of the ditch, though as a result of being sprayed with icy cold water, they are now heavier and colder, with sneezes reverberating throughout the crowd. Sean shivered, hugging his body to keep himself warm. The 4 of them are now situated in the front of the group, leading everyone else, with number 23 and number 100 close behind them.

"Hurry up! Even my grandma runs faster than you!" yelled Herbert.

"Alright kids, I have good news!" shouted Nanami. "There is food ahead, fresh out of the kitchen, warm and nice! It's in a camp right up ahead! No bites if you are slow!"

Hearing that there is food, the hungry cadets all picked up their pace, hungrily dashing forward and pumping out all the energy they have.

"Let's hurry up, I am starving!" said Vera.

Sean shook his head. "You think we can trust their bullsh*t?"

"C'mon, it can't be that bad," remarked Ariel.

"I agree," replied Louis. "As long as it is edible, I am good."

Sean rolled his eyes, "you really trust someone called the King of Bast*rds?"

"No way they will be nice to us," said Sean. "The less the expectations, the less the disappointment."