AN: This is a spin-off from the alternate universe that breadsticks created in Psychic Training. But it happens in the fandom of Eyeshield 21, instead of Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Not quite a cross-over, but almost. Thanks, breadsticks. I was blown away the first time I read that fic and here's the ode to that fic and to you as a writer who entertains. Too bad you haven't finished it (cough, cough), but since this story might parallel yours, here's to being pressured to finish it. Yes, it is a competition. What is the use of being siblings, if we did not have sibling rivalry?

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CHAPTER 1: Wherein the decree of Vatikan der Gottes is handed down to the Dӓmon. Wherein the Dӓmon are forced to partner up with the Um der Ritter. And whereby, Hiruma, Dӓmon Oberhaupt, ensures that they get their way, anyway.

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Being a mine-sweeper was dangerous business. But by the same token, it had caught the imagination of the city-states and now shared the glory that Um der Ritter – the white knights, the elite police unit of Abaddon – once held.

Of course, the term "mine-sweeper" was not the term that citizens of Abaddon had created. No, that was coined by their hated upstart raucous neighbors down south in Spiral City.

Misrepresenting and certainly, misleading, said Vatikan der Gottes, the ruling state and church of Abaddon, with icy disdain. According to the records of Vatikan der Gottes (which must be the truth since the Vatikan had said it so), the official name of the mine-sweepers was Schergen des Gottes. But the name they called themselves, their secret name, the name whispered on the streets, was Dӓmon – the demon.

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Sena felt like something was wrong. They had a reliable pattern. If you had a 1-2-1 in the tile grid, it definitely meant that there was a mine in both 1's.

Taki flagged the 1's and was about to press the 2.

"Wait, Taki." His hand came up.

"What is it, monsieur?" His hand hovered. His blond hair fell on his greased face like wisps. They were in front of the puzzle lock of the pretend-Door, the Schilds surrounding them. Above them, stone angels frowned on walls and on pillars of the cavernous cathedral.

"There's a bomb in the 2, not in the 1's."

"Eh? That can't be. Then there would be two bombs beside the 1's."

"I know. That's—" And Sena felt stuck, unable to explain himself.

"Oy, what's the hold up?" The voice sounded tinny, but it was merely the metallic suits of the Schilds in the Dӓmon squad. The codebreakers, the Decoder, could still hear them, though. As now, Sena and Taki could hear Kuroki's irritation.

"Monsieur, I'm pretty sure that I've correctly identified the flags?"

"It's true," Kurita sounded worried, even through the metal suit, "even us Schilds know this pattern."

Sena's hand fell away, "O-okay." He took a deep breath. "Let's go for it."

Taki pressed on the 2 tile. There was a click, and a whirring sound. And Sena and Taki looked at each other.

"Watch OUT!" Juumonji roared.

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Everything exploded.

The blast was hard enough to throw them off their feet. It was the sort that sucked sound from its surroundings and then threw it back out in a roar to rupture eardrums.

Sena was thrown off his feet. About 10 feet into the air. And he landed hard. And smoking. As in smoke was rising from his skin. Like he'd just been broiled.

And that was with the Schilds surrounding them for this codebreaking exercise.

Sena Kobayakawa coughed, a cloud of ashes actually emerging from his mouth. He thought, inanely, that theashes looked pretty against the light. The suspended dust motes seemed to dance in the slanted shafts of light from the broken windows of the cathedral.The contrast of deep shadows and the light certainly recalled to mind the heavens.

The humongous cathedral, where practice was being held, was quiet for a moment before the confused cries erupted from the Dӓmon team.

"What the hell was that?" gasped Kuroki. "We had the right code. There couldn't have been a bomb above 2, with 1's beside it."

A rapid-fire of gunshots filled the air. And when the smoke cleared, their Oberhaupt came out grinning like a demon. "That was to get you guys used to the feel of a blast."

And the Dӓmon sweepers all realized it at the same time. The puzzle had been rigged to explode, and the bombs were all put in the wrong places.

"Huh!"

"HUH!"

"HUUUH!"

Musashi coughed, shaking his mohawked head. "You're pretty fucking nuts." But you could tell he was amused.

Sena whispered to Taki, "He's a pretty scary captain."

The taller blonde man twirled, "Ah, but he is brilliant. Just like me."

"WHAT, IN THE NAME OF GOD, IS HAPPENING HERE?!" The Dӓmon squad all looked off into the far side of the cathedral, where doors had been opened. And standing there was a young woman in the priestly robes of the vater, looking aghast.

The sweepers looked at one another, faces becoming serious. But not because of the vater. They didn't know who the hell she was. It was what was behind her that held their attention.

Beyond her, the Dӓmon could see an orderly column of knights in their metal-plated golems standing soberly in the sun. There was a white banner fluttering in the breeze. They all knew that banner even if they couldn't see the sigil. It was the Um der Ritter. The White Knights.

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This is the goal: to find the empty squares and avoid the mines. The ultimate goal is to open the Door. But to open the Door, you needed to decode the puzzle-lock. Decoding the puzzle-lock meant flagging all the mines, all the tiles that could detonate the bomb.

This is how the puzzle-lock looks like. Depending on the Automat that created the code, it could be:

-a 9x9 tile grid, hiding 10 mines,

-a 16x16 tile grid, 16 mines,

-a 16x30 tile grid, 99 mines,

-or the rare 21x21 tile grid, 100 mines. This was the hardest puzzle. Reaching mythical proportions.

There are endless patterns that could be arranged. It would take much, much longer to decode if you ran it through probability and statistics. However, if you turned a tile over, and found a group of empty squares, it would give you patterns of numbers. And the numbers told you where the mines were. Of course, that meant you had to turn over a tile that did not have a mine. In the 21x21 puzzle, turning over the first tile almost always, hit a mine.

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Vater Mamori Anezaki laid down her cup of tea with an audible thunk and eyed the Schergen des Gottes Oberhaupt with an unsmiling mouth. "I've seen the way you treat your mine-sweepers, Oberhaupt. Someone could have been killed earlier. You should be thankful that this was the only decree you received from the Vatikan."

The Oberhaupt yawned, and made a poor attempt to disguise it.

Undeterred, she leaned forward, almost nose to nose with the Oberhaupt, "because if it was me, I would have…"

"Would have what? Disbanded us?" The Oberhaupt's voice remained a lazy drawl, as his hand slid into his pocket for a little black book.

She sighed, and leaned back, "No, why would I do that? Your work is important. But I would have certainly suspended your underground license for three months."

The expression on the face of Yoichi Hiruma, Oberhaupt of the Schergen des Gottes, changed a hair, his eyes deepening. But it was gone in almost an instant. Instead, he leaned back, and stuck his pinky in his ear and scratched, looking for all the world like he was...bored.

The Vater's eyes narrowed. It was all she could do not to grit her teeth. She took a deep breath. "The Vatikan only seeks to assist. The knights of Um der Ritter have been assigned to provide assistance to the Schergen des Gottes underneath the city, as you break down the Doors."

"Of course, of course. A 'civil servant' from the Vatikan and those prancing pretty knights just know all about minesweeping. We bow to down to your expertise."

"There is no need for sarcasm, Oberhaupt. I am not about to make judgments without studying the matter at hand," the Vater said crisply, pink spots blooming in a face, contrasting with her black robes.

The Oberhaupt's eyes gleamed, "Would you bet your life on that?"

Vater Mamori eyed him warily, choosing not to answer.

He cackled, "So you don't know anything about it."

Mamori's straightened angrily, "Schergen des Gottes. More popularly known as the minesweepers, or Red Caps, also calling themselves Dӓmon. People call you minesweepers because they think that you're disabling landmines to ensure the safety and security of the city. But of course, that's not really a lie; it's just not the entire truth. Those mines, after all, are the booby traps attached to the Doors in the Old City, underneath Abaddon. What you really are is a specialized intelligence network of the Vatikan, whose primary objective is to gain access to the Quelle, the lost energy source of Abbaddon. You are essentially codebreakers. Keyholders to the locks. It's just, for the Schergen des Gottes, the wrong key means the end."

The Oberhaupt raised an eyebrow, "That's just brilliant. You have all the reference book knowledge the Vatikan has. Of course, you can make all the decisions you want for the Schergen des Gottes." He stood up, finished with the conversation, and walked away.

Vater Mamori stood up, angry, "hold it right there! You don't think I understand? I do. I understand the fear that the future of this whole city, whatever the political posturing, is riding on whether you can make it past the codes of those Doors. I understand that in the end, only the sweepers are left standing to decode and a wrong number can kill them. I understand that. You don't need to carry that burden alone on your shoulders. Which is why you need this. The knights do your bidding underneath the city and can protect you from the blast."

At that, the Oberhaupt stopped in his tracks. "They do our bidding?" he said, without turning around.

And somehow, the Vater knew that he was smiling, even if she could not see his face.

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Below on the practice grounds of the cathedral, the knights had come in from outside and had stepped out of their Golem Suits with the orders to stand down. And on one side, the Dӓmon sweepers were lined up, eyeing the knights and on the other side, the knights were also lined up looking back at the minesweepers.

Sena had dusted himself off, but had kind of wished he just went off to what they laughingly called their clinic. He was shaking in his boots and it certainly wasn't from excitement. One of the knights, who was close to a craggy golem face himself, was particularly watching him closely.

He had an idea, of course, that this might happen. Vatikan der Gottes held the position that any psychic ability was a sign of demonic possession.

And wasn't that ironic? Because the specialized intelligence agency of the Vatikan, Schergen des Gottes, actually had a psychic. And his name was Sena Kobayakawa.

End of Chapter 1