"Pant… Pant… Pant…"
"Grraaaaahhh!!"
"Friend!!!"
"COFFEE!!!"
*BANG*
Cafe can be seen running down the hallway while carrying the unconscious young man in her arms. The lab was far too small to fight the frenzied Tachyon. Even when Tachyon couldn't see her friend, Tachyon's speed still allowed her to close the distance in mere seconds as if she could stop time.
"GGGGRRRRRAAAAHHHH!!!"
"Why can't you be like this about coffee? Friend!"
"COFFEE!!!"
*Bump*
"What the?!"
Tachyon might not be able to see Cafe's friend, but she can learn her pattern. And her intuition also helps her sense the invisible being, allowing her to pinpoint where the attack was coming from.
"Gggrrrrrrrrr!!!"
Tachyon might lose her ability to reason, but an Uma Musume's hunger for strength could transcend even the fuzziest of minds. The zombie smiles victoriously as she blocks the friend's attack.
"Congratulation. You block one attack. Friend!!"
"COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!!"
"GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!! GRR!!"
This is going nowhere. Tachyon has completely adapted to my friend's attack pattern. I want to help, but with Mister Heita in my hands, I couldn't risk it. Getting him somewhere safe should be my priority.
And there was nowhere safer for a man to be in Tracen than in the trainer dormitory.
"Friend! Crouching sweep Kick!"
"COFFEE!!"
"Grrh!!"
Tachyon jumps to dodge the friend's attack, in doing so, putting herself in a vulnerable position for Cafe to attack. Cafe swings her own leg above her friend's head, landing a perfect crescent kick on Tachyon.
*THUMP*
Now's my chance!
Cafe immediately bolted off before Tachyon could revive. There was no direct line between her current position and the trainer's dormitory, and she was not confident that she could beat Tachyon in a race with Igo in her arms, so she decided to take the winding path across the entire Tracen Academy. Turning in corners, running between buildings, climbing up stairs, and all.
"Pant… Pant… Pant… Haah!! Friend!!"
Cafe took a sharp turn and had her friend grab the nearest large items and put them in the path.
"Oh! Cafe!"
"Eh?! Cafe carrying a man in her arms!?"
"So she is like us too…"
"Go Cafe! Go! Make him yours!"
The bystanders can't help but root for Cafe as she brings the unconscious man in her arms. To the bystanders, this is a romantic moment where Cafe will finally become an adult, for Cafe, this is the most terrifying moment of her life.
"Oh, hey, Cafe. What's wro–"
"No time to chat, Jungle!!"
"Eh?"
Cafe dashes past the tomboyish Uma with caramel-brown hair and lemon-yellow eyes, Jungle Pocket, in the hallway. Jungle Pocket isn't necessarily what you call a romance expert, so seeing Cafe with a sleeping man on her arms causes her to tilt her head, but ultimately just shrugs it off. She had seen her classmates carry their trainers before, so this was just the usual for her.
"Eeh… You do you, I guess. Oh!! Tachyon!! Why are you—"
"Gggrrrrrraaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!"
"Wait! Why are you running?! Don't tell me!! You guys are racing?!?! And you didn't invite me!!! Screw you guys!! I'm inviting myself!!"
Seeing the Uma that had caused her unending frustration running again, lights up Jungle's spirit, and she then takes off in pursuit of Tachyon. The hallway now echoes the running footsteps of someone who wants to save a defenseless man, someone who wants to devour the defenseless man, and someone who just does it for the love of the game.
"Ggggrrrrraaaaaaahhhhh!!!"
"I'LL WIN THIS TIME!!!"
"Jungle!! You blithering idiot!!!"
Cafe curses that she was surrounded by nothing but idiots. The number of sensible people around her is countable on one hand. She can now only depend on herself and her friend.
"Pant… Pant… Pant… Friend!!"
"COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!! COFFEE!!"
Cafe climbs up another floor and orders her friend to stomp on the stairs to turn them into ruins. Now, even Tachyon would need some time to reach her. Cafe can now finally catch her breath, even though it's at the cost of the academy infrastructure.
"Haaaaahh… Uuuuh…"
*BAM*
"GGGGRRRRAAAAAH!!!"
"What the?!"
Or so Cafe thought. Agnes Tachyon's hands suddenly burst out of the floor, and little by little, she rises to the same level as Cafe.
"OY!! TACHYON!! You think you can beat upstairs by going through the floor?! Well, watch–Who destroyed the stairs?!?!"
Goddesses, please take my miserable existence.
"Grrrr…"
The zombie digs into her coat and brings out a flask. The same flask that had turned her insane. Cafe immediately goes on guard. The logical Tachyon has been turned into a mindless beast. Cafe could only imagine what it would do to her.
"Greeeeehhh…"
"Why are you smiling?"
"GRAAAAH!!!"
*CRASH*
The beast threw the flask to the floor. It seems that the beast has modified the potion as the concoction creates a ridiculous amount of smoke.
"No…"
Cafe knew it would all be over if she were engulfed in the smoke. She looks around for a solution to the problem, and what she finds is the open blue sky.
"Curse you, Tachyon!"
*CRASH*
Cafe takes the easiest way out and jumps through the window. She made sure that she was holding onto the man as tightly as she could before she jumped. Losing him now will make everything she has gone through turn to nothing.
"Ugh!! Pant… Pant…"
Thankfully, all the mountain climbing she did prepared Cafe to take a fall. Her knees spring into action and disperse most of the momentum.
"Pant… Pant… Pant… Thank Goddesses you're safe… Hmm?"
Cafe was looking down at the man on her arms when a large shadow rolled over them. Cafe looked up, expecting to see clouds above her, but to her horror, the shade wasn't created by clouds. It was created by hundreds of Umas, throwing themselves off the windows like mindless titans.
"Why have you forsaken me, Goddesses?"
Manhattan Cafe isn't some ordinary Uma. If it's a race, she is probably one of the top contenders, but this is no ordinary race. She is not facing fellow Uma to reach a goal. No, she has the goal, and for her to win, she needs to make sure no one gets it. One, three, or five Umas are manageable, but a tsunami of Umas? Only the three Goddesses can handle that.
*THUMP*
The progenitor lands between Cafe and the horde of zombies. In her hand is another flask, presumably another 100% concoction. Cafe was on guard again. If Tachyon smashes the flask again, she should be safe since the win will carry it elsewhere.
"Ggrrrhhh…"
"What are you…? Are you offering it to me?"
"Gggrrrrhhhh… Friiiiieeeeeeenndd…"
"...No. You're not Tachyon. Whatever you are! The real Tachyon asked me to save this man, and I will!"
"Gggrrrhh… Fiiiiinnnneeee… Glug…. Glug… Glug…"
"No…"
Cafe watches in horror as the flask's content becomes lesser and lesser until there is nothing. The Uma that started this all had just consumed an entire flask that turned hundreds of Umas into mindless zombies.
"Glug… Glug.. Glug… Aaaaah… Mmmhhh!!! Ahahahaha!! Aaaahhh!!! Finally!!"
"Who… Who are you?"
"Oh~~? Don't you recognize me, my friend? I am Agnes Tachyon."