"Get him!" The Miltras continued screaming, all of them heading towards a single target: Trad.


    "What’s happening?" Trad asked, looking around, trying to get an answer. The creature was smiling.


    "It was a pleasure to meet you, human... Or not."


    "You aren’t serious, are you?"


    "Don’t worry, I’ll stay here, but I won’t help you. If you die, it’s good for me, and if, somehow, you manage to outsmart them... well, I’d continue to help you, but it’s impossible for you to do that. Still, it’s a chance for you to give me some good entertainment!"


    "I could just run into the forest. It’s not like I’m trapped here."


    "Really? Think about it. Do you really think you’d have an advantage in their natural habitat, especially when you don’t know how to navigate here?"


    "... You’re right."


    "Hey, if I were you, I’d focus on other things," the cat pointed toward the Miltras getting closer to Trad.


    "What?" Trad was surprised because they were almost upon him, so he had no choice but to start running.


    The Miltras began charging toward him, but he kept running around the open area near the trees. They were faster than Trad thought, and he was very hungry since he hadn’t eaten anything in almost two days. He was getting exhausted far too quickly.


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    By the time he made his second lap, starting from the place where the cat had been watching him, Trad noticed the cat was laughing.


    "Hey, your..." Trad tried to think of a way to insult the small creature, but he was too busy running. "You really won’t help me, will you?"


    "Of course not... Your bag is yours, not mine!"


    "Is that so? Just wait until I get out of here..."


    The Miltras thought Trad was acting oddly, but they couldn’t hear either Trad or the cat’s voices, as they were drowned out by the noise produced by the Miltras.


    "Humans are that fast?" one of them asked.


    "I don’t know... are they?" another replied.


    "No, see!" a third one pointed at Trad. "His steps are getting shorter, we can catch him!"


    At that point, Trad realized there was no way he could keep running for much longer. Actually, it wasn’t even supposed to be possible for him to still be running, being so hungry. Maybe he was managing it because of his athleticism from when he was a champion in his youth.


    So, on his second lap, Trad looked at the cat again, but the cat was laughing even harder, almost acting like a sadistic maniac now.


    Feeling angry, Trad decided to take a risky action. Instead of continuing to run in a circle, he veered off and started running directly toward the small creature.


    The cat wasn’t paying attention while laughing, so when he realized Trad was getting closer, he was caught off guard and couldn’t react. Trad grabbed him by the arm and started running again.


    "Hey, what do you think you’re doing?" the cat said.


    "We’re going to die together!"


    "What? Why? I don’t want this! Let me go!"


    "Look!" one of the Miltras said. "He’s holding something behind his arm..."


    "You’re right... there’s some small furry thing there..."


    "Small furry thing? Isn’t that Mr. Doop?"


    "What? Wait... is it really him?"


    "Mr. Doop?" Trad asked, then looked at the cat, but the cat looked away and fiddled with the black fabric on his head, as if trying to disguise it.


    "What a dirty creature, using Mr. Doop as a hostage!" they continued talking.


    "Now we really need to get him!"


    "Oh..." Trad said, realizing something, then opened a smile and immediately stopped.


    "What are you doing!?" the cat asked nervously.


    "I just had an idea."