MAGIA

by SeanRomero

A shocking and astonishing technique for acquiring superhuman abilities through a virus. The individuals who possess the virus are dubbed as 'Magicians' and they work under the Japanese organization that made the virus known as MAGIA. For almost a decade, MAGIA dedicated itself in reshaping the world. Fighting wars. Improving economies. Assisting those in need.

MAGIA

VOLUME ONE

Written by:

Sean Romero and Hiroki Ree

Original Concept by:

Hiroki Ree

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE– THE NEW BLOOD

CHAPTER TWO – GUARDIAN

CHAPTER THREE– HAUNT

CHAPTER FOUR – THE STRAYS

CHAPTER FIVE –intervenTion

CHAPTER SIX – PLANS

CHAPTER SEVEN – IDOL

CHAPTER EIGHT – HITMAN

CHAPTER NINE –DEVELOPMENTS

CHAPTER TEN – HIDDEN FORTUNE

CHAPTER ELEVEN – LANDFALL

CHAPTER TWELVE – REUNION

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – COMRADES

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – RESCUE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - CASUALTIES

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – DECEPTION

MAGIA

Prologue

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It was another day of work, a natural way of things - well, for humans, working is a complicated idea; difficult tasks accomplished for relatively simple reasons, or vice versa. Japan, a country known for its rich culture and hardworking people, has entered a period of great economic strides it has not seen in years. Many of the island nation's industries have risen to great fame and prestige: these corporations are exporting more goods than they can make. The country's businesses generate more than enough revenue to satisfy the financial need of the government and its people. Much of this income, the authorities used to further develop the state's technology and infrastructure, the nation's capital, Tokyo, has just underwent an upgrade so massive it appeared like a near-complete overhaul of the cityscape.

The higher-ups must be proud of the country by now…but

…I can't imagine and I'm still wondering…how did all this happen in a span of only eight years? Murakami thought to himself.

Shinichi Murakami is a man of average height and build, mid-thirties, married and expecting his second child…but most of all; he himself is a game-player in the grand scheme of things. He is a scientist, contributing to the advancement of human knowledge through his works. Of course, Murakami knows the answer to that question, and he's headed to it.

"Sensei!" yelled someone from a distance.

Murakami turned to greet a young man wearing a heavy gray coat. He immediately recognized him as his neighbor.

"Oh, Shirou-kun, what's the rush?" asked Murakami.

"I… you…forgot your breakfast and lunch and your wife fetched me for you," said the young man, panting heavily as he blurted out his words.

"Sorry to bother you, Shirou. I usually don't have time to eat breakfast and yet she still prepares a meal for me", replied Murakami.

Shirou scratched his head for a moment.

"Oh, it's nothing, really, just helping one of the men who made our country better!" he said. "So your ride isn't here yet?"

Murakami gazed at the streets, panning his eyes from left to right. A white figure passed by his peripheral vision before stopping.

"Oh, there it is Shirou-kun. Thank you and have a good day!"

A white Mercedes sedan had just stopped in front of them, its driver getting off his seat and opening the door. "Good morning sir", he greeted.

"Oh, I can do it myself, you didn't really need to~" Murakami told the driver as he entered the car and got to his seat.

The car drove off with a faint rumbling noise, disappearing into the distance. Shirou watched on until it was completely out of his view.

"I wonder when I can be tested," mumbled the young man.

"Seriously, Murakami, I kept telling them that we should at least put a limit on the number of individuals to be tested," said Nomuri." I mean, the company is wasting a lot of resources on something that may not even yield significant results, and even if there is, will it be beneficial?"

Murakami looked back at his colleague and opened his bento box. "Nomuri, have you eaten breakfast?"he asked.

"Well, I haven't yet and it's still early, and you're already telling us these complicated things". Murakami passed the box to Nomuri who eagerly took it; he clearly hasn't eaten anything that morning.

"It's already cold…" he mumbled. Oh, Maki-chan, could you warm this up for me please?" Nomuri asked a woman seated in front of them.

"This is the fifth time you asked me to do something for you", replied Maki with a hint of disgust. She held the lunch box and lightly touched the food with the tip of her finger, and as she did it glowed a warm red. In most situations, people would most likely be surprised by such a sight, yet the two men calmly watched as if it was normal to them.

"Here, it's hot, don't eat it too fast too soon or your tongue will burn," said Maki before leaning back on her seat.

"Since when did you know she could control her temperature?" asked Murakami.

"Seriously! I am not an oven guys!" a visibly pissed Maki shouted. "I'm a scientist too and Nomuri here was afraid to test the new strains on the volunteers, so I used it on myself", she blurted.

"It hurt like hell, too."

"I'm sorry Maki", I know there was a deadline on the testing…I just didn't want to end up potentially wasting any more resources." Nomuri began clearly showing genuine concern for his fellow worker. "On the flipside you're now a walking thermostat and you can make our workplace a bit cozier and in the right temperature."

"Hahaha! Yeah, right, but you still owe me dinner!" replied Maki with a smile.

Their ride arrived at a huge complex north of Tokyo's central district, an area as big as a small city with a labyrinthine network of buildings and passageways; from afar it appeared like a part of the capital, inside it appeared more like an advanced military base. Upon getting out of the white sedan they were in, the imposing entrance of the establishment was the first thing Murakami and the others, and pretty much everyone in the immediate vicinity would see. Before them, a large sign stood five or so stories above their heads; on it are five red, glowing letters emblazoned on a plain white background – MAGIA.

For eight years, the Magical Armed Global Initiative Association, better known as MAGIA, developed and performed extensive research on a virus called GEM – Genetically Enhanced Manavirus, a microscopic agent that, upon infecting its host, grants skills and abilities beyond natural human capacity. As there were no proper scientific terms to explain the virus' effects, "Magic" was the term proposed to describe the broad spectrum of otherworldly symptoms manifested, but in a society that values conformity with nature and established norms, it's an abnormality, a strangeness that warrants as much good as bad, a quirk that attracts as much respect as it draws criticism. Japan had been receiving sanctions left and right, and was on the verge of being attacked by numerous groups due to the government's support of virus testing on human subjects, had the organization not taken extra steps to show its good faith to the world. As of the current era, MAGIA is helping the world grow economically by generating economic potential in the developing world and safeguard it with its armed peacekeeping division.

"I think there are two thousand MAGIA operatives in Japan alone – diplomats, doctors, educators, scientists like us, and an infantry division estimated at a thousand and five hundred strong, mumbled Murakami as he walked past the entrance gates along with Maki, Nomuri, and hundreds of other MAGIA scientists, workers and possibly some operatives as well. "Perhaps there are thousands more operating around the planet."

The sight of someone levitating five other people twelve feet aboveground for ten seconds would have certainly amused any ordinary individual, but in the confines of the organization's facilities, seeing these things occur is a regular part of life at the workplace. MAGIA maintains a strict code of discipline that states that the virus' potential effects on its hosts be studied seriously and the infected checked for any further developments. The GEM virus was created by scientists striving to increase the natural capabilities of humans without resorting to costly and cumbersome cybernetic augments or addictive and potentially life-threatening drugs. The virus was claimed to have emerged from extensive experimentations with various pathogens that affect the physiology of living organisms. Yet up until this day they could not explain the bizarre, almost supernatural qualities it has given to its hosts.

"It's not good to call this a miracle", a man by the name of Roger Walters insisted, as he conversed with the officers of MAGIA.

A middle-aged Englishman, Walters, clad in formal attire and wearing a brown derby hat over his ash-blonde hair, gazed at his Japanese audience with a discriminating, critical stare, his steel-gray irises transfixed at the pale faces of the MAGIA officers. With his left hand grasping a pocketwatch, and his right in his suit's pocket, he paced back and forth, disapproving of the outlandish descriptions of the scientists.

"Why…is it not good to call it as such?" a younger man named Masato Ayanami asked, while pouring a cup of tea for them both. His white and gray coat and youthful, almost angelic appearance contrasted with the aged visage of his guest. "Our people, our country, our work…is contributing to the good of the world."

Walters let out a gruff sigh. "In the old days, we used to see the supernatural as an ominous sign. In many religions believing in the bizarre is a heresy in itself. And here we are, making it happen, testing its effects, using these forces we can't comprehend."

Walters turned his attentions at the officers again. "Does this not destroy our ideas, our beliefs, and our faiths to our gods?" he asked in an intimidating tone.

A UN officer sent to Japan to check on MAGIA, he keeps track of the group's activities to see if they consistently perform their humanitarian duties in accordance to the conditions they themselves set years ago, but every time he visits the facility; his conscience can't resist speaking out.

"We are well aware of that," one of the officials spoke. "We always receive a lot of criticism from human rights and religious groups."

"Mr. Walters, the Prime Minister has clearly stated that this organization, regardless of the way others see it, is our way of dealing with the world's problems," Ayanami confidently said while pouring himself another cup of tea.

"The individuals who volunteered for testing are always checked for any anomalies, criminal records, or anything of that sort and, to be on the safe side of things, we've created a suppressive vaccine to handle them should there be any incidents."

"Their families are well-compensated on the event there should be any problems with the volunteers," another official added.

"Well, then, is your observation on us good enough?" asked Masato, smiling ever so politely as any well-disciplined Japanese would.

"I'll be reporting the usual; additionally I shall also report the increase in the number of volunteers over the past three months," Walters uttered as he exited the meeting room. The man did not even drink his tea.

"Thank you, and come again," Masato muttered while adjusting his glasses.

Outside the facility, MAGIA's employees continue to walk in, filling the hallways with crowds of men and women ready to serve. In accordance with MAGIA protocols, all personnel are instructed to go to security checkpoints first, their I.D.s scanned, biometrics verified and belongings checked. Infected individuals, whom the organization dubs "magicians", go to a special checkpoint where they are checked by means of taking blood samples. These processes are extremely swift and precise.

But for every security protocol, there exists a loophole that can be exploited.

"Next," the guard said as he summoned the next man in line, a tall, dashing figure with an intimidating, hardened face. The man had his ID scanned; his black suitcase was checked and went through the metal detector.

"Thank you and have a good day, Mr…Tamura…"

"Have a good day too", the man softly replied.

He moved at a swift but calm pace, making sure not to attract attention, at the same time greeting back at other employees. He came well-prepared to this place, his jet-black hair combed neatly to the back, a casual suit with a black tie, finely polished leather shoes, and finally, glasses he pulled out from his pocket and wore over his eyes, giving him a sharp, professional appearance. He quietly got into an elevator with three other people and pressed the button for Lab Eight. Midway through the ascent two men got out and three more took their place.

"Mission is a go", whispered one of them; the others nodded in reply.

"Is our man in the surveillance room now?" another man asked.

"Yes, and we got one of us covering the vault while the rest of us head to the armory."

Suddenly, they stopped talking. "Hey, where is he?" the lead man asked.

"Oh, you know him, he likes it solo."

The lead man hissed, apparently annoyed by the sudden disappearance of one of their own after they got out of the elevator. "That slippery bastard! If he screws this up, I'll have the boss deal with him."

"I don't think he intends to fail this one, sir," replied the other.

"Shut up."

"Excuse me sir, but only lab personnel are allowed within this area," informed the guard to the man.

"Oh, but here's my I.D."

The guard scanned his I.D. and stared at him again. "You must be a new employee, though it's common sense that you should have a lab coat when you go in."

"I'm sorry, I forgot about that, where can I get one?" Tamura chuckled. The guard was not amused.

"Seriously, are you a trainee? Come with me, since you're late there's no one else there to see your mistake."

Good, Tamura thought.

The guard escorted Tamura to a small room where lab coats can be acquired. He checked the surroundings but it's the security cameras that concerned him; if one of their men hasn't breached the surveillance room, their mission would be a flop. But the clock is ticking and there's hardly any time to think about whether the room has been seized or not.

"Well, have you found a coat your si-"

The guard's words were stopped by the sight of a glinting object plunging down on his chest. The man fell silent. Tamura made sure there was no one around. As he got up he noticed the camera in the room nodding.

That was the signal.

"Proceeding to primary objective", he muttered as he left the room.

"Seriously, Nomuri, how long have you and Maki been going out?" asked Murakami to his workmate. Nomuri was so surprised by the sudden question that he almost spilled the GEM virus sample he's been working on.

"Shit, man! …Don't say those things out of the blue! We still don't know if this stuff could spread in the liquid state!"

"Sorry."

"Four months. Happy?" replied Nomuri while pouring the virus to a canister.

"That's good to know." Murakami sighed. "Relax pal, Maki and I took elaborate precautions to ensure that the virus doesn't spread in solid or liquid form, but when airborne it does, though it doesn't last long because it condenses quickly, and in that state, it has no effect on its hosts."

Murakami assured himself. He knows this well since he was the one who modified the virus' capabilities and tested it.

A few meters from them, the two can see Maki checking on her patients. Like a nurse, she does regular check-ups on the volunteers and informs them of what they can do with the skills they acquired.

"Good morning Orihara-san, how are you today?" she asked a tall man in white clothing worn by in-patients. The patient sat in the chair facing her. The man looked confident; perhaps his "magic" is worth looking at.

"I'm fine, Ms. Ikumi, I no longer feel pain these past few days, and just last night, I learned how to do this." The man tapped at the table beside him and vanished.

"Ta-da."

The skill the man showed was a classic magic trick, though with no gimmicks. She can still feel her hand on the table's hard, polished surface; she just can't see it. The effect slowly disappeared after a few seconds, bringing the table back into full view.

"Wow, for six seconds the table was invisible. With proper training, you can extend that, Orihara-san," said Maki as she wrote on her results paper. "And with that, where would you like to apply?"

"The defense department, ma'am," Orihara replied cheerfully.

"I knew you would say that."

Ikumi stamped the man's records and shook hands. "I'll inform them later on, when they call, report at once. Good luck with your training."

And as time went on, her check-ups revealed numerous individuals with very high intelligence, many others with superior senses, some that displayed sheer physical strength, some that generate various forms of energy, one who can instantly repair broken electronics, and an individual who can conjure fire.

The smart ones appear to be more numerous…

"How's it going Maki? Wanna have lunch with us?" asked Murakami.

"Sure," Maki replied. "Results are promising today, we really are getting a lot of geniuses; they'll probably be working for the government, in industries, overseas, and of course, here too."

"Murakami, you now have more assistants."

"Yeah, Nomuri and I are in need of some lately-"

Suddenly, the alarm sounded in the lab; other alarms went off in the other areas. Over the PA system, one of the security personnel exclaimed:

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL: AN UNKNOWN GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS HAVE BREACHED THIS FACILITY AND ARE CURRENTLY HELD UP AT THE VAULT. WE HAVE DISPATCHED A SECURITY FORCE TO DEAL WITH THEM. WE BELIEVE THEY ARE AFTER THE VIRUS, AND AS A PRECAUTION WE REQUEST AN ORDERLY EVACUATION."

"No," Murakami gasped. "This'll ruin everything we've worked for…"

"There they are!" shouted one of the soldiers, his rifle blazing as he held the trigger hard.

The intruders took cover inside the vault, returning fire with their weapons held by their hips. Soon, the cracking sound of guns being fired and the ping of bullets bouncing off filled the air.

In the ensuing gunfight the intruders can see that the security forces aren't firing just to neutralize them, they are controlling their shots, making sure no stray bullets land on the canisters.

"They're good", said one of them.

"Oh, shut up, Tadashi! It's your fault that you didn't check the guys we shot if they were still alive!" barked a man by the name of Kugo at the latter. For them, the mission was now a mess, but nevertheless, they still got into the vault; the only problem now was getting out of it. He reached for his phone.

"What's the hold up? Take only what we can get!" He yelled on the phone.

"We're done sir; we're on our way out."

Behind them the other two came out carrying large bags filled with canisters of the virus. One man took front while the other at the back, covering their retreat.

"We got hostiles down the hallway. Oh no! We got a magician! Incoming!"

In front of them stood a man in a black uniform worn by MAGIA's enforcers, conjuring a huge fireball and blasting them with it. The intruders dodged, but one of them got taken out.

"Kugo's down!" shouted Reiji.

In his rage and confusion, Tadashi picked up his rifle and fired wildly at the enemy.

"MONSTER!"

The magician had no time to react and was immediately shot down, his body riddled with holes.

"Let's go, move!" The group hurried on.

The control room was in shambles, its staff on the edge of panic. Many were watching blankly at the monitors, showing the intruders escaping. Ayanami entered the room, his hands to his sides, his head down slightly. He wasn't smiling. From the multi-screen display that lay in front of him, he could see all the details of what was currently happening. He took a second to take a breath.

"Sir, our systems have been hacked but I assure you th-"the chief of staff was stopped by Ayanami's right hand. He then gestured the man to sit.

The young commander reached for the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we shall not let those thieves succeed; if they do, our country will face backlash, and we will lose everything we worked so hard for," Ayanami spoke calmly. "Contact every available combat magician and have them block all exits."

"But our personnel won't be able to flee and they might be held hostage to secure the enemy's own escape!" one of the staff interrupted.

"Not on my watch," replied Ayanami. "See if you can contact Mr. Walters and check if he's still in the area."

"What do you mean we can't leave?" a MAGIA employee questioned the magician in front of the evacuees.

"We've been ordered to secure this position. No one leaves!" came the stern reply.

The man didn't listen and in a panic he tried to escape. The magician pointed his finger and blasted the man with a ball of electricity. Two more magicians arrived and dragged the man back in line.

He was still alive only stunned.

One of the magicians came up front and announced to the evacuees that the invaders are expected to head for their location shortly; this of course agitated the already-panicking crowd even more. Troops of soldiers appeared behind the magicians and one of them whispered to the one who stunned the man.

"I see, very well". He nodded, and in a split second, the soldiers took their rifles and got ready for combat.

"Everyone, the intruders have taken a hostage and are now headed your way! Move around too much, and you may get caught in the crossfire," the squad leader commanded.

"This is bullshit! Why the hell did we become bait?" Nomuri thought to himself as he held Maki close to him. He saw Murakami, a grimaced look on his face; he was probably thinking of his family.

"No, it's the aftermath of this incident that worries him," Maki nervously muttered. Nomuri reached out to Murakami, but stopped short.

The crackle of gunfire echoed behind him.

"Alright! Let us go and this man will live to fuck another day!" shouted one of the intruders with a MAGIA employee in tow. The hostage peed himself out of fright and was crying constantly.

"QUIET!" one of the crooks screamed as he held the man at gunpoint, ramming the muzzle into his mouth. "Last call", he warned.

The magician with electric powers walked towards them.

"Stay back! Or we'll shoot everyone!"

"Shoot who?" the magician asked.

And suddenly the intruders were surprised to see that everyone but themselves had vanished. One of them aimed his rifle at his adversary's head, but before he could pull the trigger, a tremendous surge of energy rippled from the muzzle of the gun to his hands and eventually throughout his body. The last thing the man saw were his comrades falling to the ground; the canisters they were carrying rolling on the floor. It was all over in six seconds, and everyone reappeared after that.

"Ta-da! So senpai, how did I do for my first assignment?" Orihara asked the electric magician.

After a brief pause, the latter replied. "You passed."

"Oh, Orihara-san, you saved us all!" a crying Maki exclaimed as she came to him, followed by her colleagues.

"You did well, buddy…that was some ability", Murakami uttered, patting him in the back.

"Thanks," came Orihara's reply.

"Yes sir, we'll be bringing the canisters back to the vault," the electric magician said over the phone. "No, no civilian casualties." He put the phone back to his pant's pocket; at the same time a soldier rushed to him with grave news.

"Sir, there is apparently a fifth enemy unaccounted for!"

"What?" came his shocked reply.

Before he could properly react, several black metal balls tumbled around the area; a faint, high-pitched noise was heard, followed by a bright flash of light.

"Grenade!"

The balls exploded with such great force that everyone in the area was blown across the room by the blast, including the magician. A strange mist soon covered the place.

"Does anyone copy? I repeat-"

"We got no word from the others, sir! The comm's blacked out!" one of the control staff told Ayanami.

"Damn…" The young commander heard Walters' low grumble.

The electric magician got up dazed. He's bleeding on his side; bodies of dead and bloodied, crawling people littered the place. He heard a faint, gruff sound near him. "Ryo-senpai…" came the muffled voice.

"I'm coming, just hold on!"

He saw Harada's limp body bleeding profusely. "Don't die on me, rookie!" Ryo shouted, holding Orihara's pale hand.

"Get me a medical squad on the double! I repeat, requesting a medical squad! We got one of our trainees in terrible shape! Send help ASAP!"

No reply came.

He tried again, but still no reply came as he saw the trainee's hands reach out to him, giving him a thumbs up.

"Senpai…thank you"

Those were Orihara's final words.

"No, no…NO! NO! NO!" Ryo screamed in anguish, tears rolling down his eyes; he used his electric powers to defibrillate the deceased man's heart, but something felt odd – it's as if his powers are gone.

"Ta-da…"

Ryo turned to his six, and saw a terrifying visage. The silhouette of a man in a black trench coat, holding a pistol in his hand…

"Those grenades were made especially for you guys…I hope you like that little…something I put in 'em."

"You son of a…bitch!" Ryo rushed at the man.

An echoing bang was heard, and Ryo's lifeless body dropped to the ground.

"Ta-da."

A crippled Murakami saw everything. He was leaning against a wall, his left hand on his side. He was gasping for air.

"My legs... I can't feel my legs..."

Beside him were Nomuri and Maki, now lifeless, but still holding each other's hands.

"To the very end", he mumbled.

His sights then turned to the man who killed Ryo. Another man approached him. This man was wearing a black coat; Shinichi, however, could not see any other features, his vision blurred from the exhaustion and blood loss. The man leaned towards him.

"SHIT!"

"He didn't see me…he didn't see me…" Murakami blacked out for a second; when his vision returned, he could see the faint silhouette of the man, holding a canister of the GEM virus. The two mysterious men conversed shortly and the one in the trench coat left.

"If you're seeing this Murakami, you are seeing the beginning of a new era, and the end of the old," the man said.

He forcefully took the lid off the canister in his hand, doing the same with the other canisters still scattered on the floor. As he did, shards of the virus slowly formed and began to shatter into tiny slivers until they are but a fine, red mist. The unidentified man rolled up his left sleeve and raised his hand; the virus crystals rapidly growing upwards. The man appeared to be commanding the virus.

N…no way, Murakami thought to himself.

His left arm still raised, the man clenched his fist. A wave of immense force radiated outward, destroying the crystals and sending the resulting mist in all directions.

Murakami started to cough and feel pain; so did the other injured people.

Did he just make the virus airborne? He thought, but as he did he saw the veins on his arms turn black and a terrific rise in pain levels throughout his body accompanied it. He kept thinking to himself…

Oh no…the virus is inside me. I know exposure is painful but this feeling…this feeling of death. The virus has never shown any signs of being fatal. We've worked on it for years, but I feel like I'm dying.

Murakami paused. He didn't have a clue of what will happen next.

The GEM virus can exist as a solid, in a liquid solution, or as free particles in a gaseous medium…but regardless of what form it takes, once it enters the host, it's all a matter of time whether the host will accept it, or resist its influence…

Not all exposures result in success, but those that do show any viable results usually come from samples in the solid or liquid state, and never an airborne one. Yet the man…to be able to do this…could he be a…

Just as it happened, his world faded to darkness.

Japan's capital, Tokyo, had all the appearance of a busy metropolis that would be jammed in traffic, yet the place has all the technology and systems to avert or shorten such incidents. However, it is unusual to see traffic lasting more than an hour, let alone traffic that can bring the entire capital grinding to a halt. There's a reason: people were running and screaming all over the place, trying to outrun the red mist that swept from the west, enveloping the capital in an unsightly haze. Those that got caught in its wake slowly suffocated and died. Law and order was collapsing and the authorities were running for dear life as well.

"Excuse me, I'll be taking this one", said the girl as she laid the ornate red dress on the counter, only to find it completely empty. As she peered outside the clear glass entrance doors she saw all the panic and chaos across the street and the red mist closing on the store. She knew it was a bad sign.

She rushed to the main door, only to find herself totally locked in. "Open!" she screamed, throwing a flurry of kicks and fists at the door.

In desperation, she began throwing things out of the glass panes. The mist wafted inside; soon enough she was breathing in a lot of it. Moments later, she felt a stinging sensation all over her body. Coughing up blood and crawling in pain, she noticed a heavy wooden chair, and with the last ounce of her strength, hurled it at a nearby window. The young woman leapt at the opening and heaved herself out of it.

She was finally free.

But it was all too late, her world was already beginning to fade. Collapsing near the sidewalk, she uttered what would be her last words.

"Mama…Papa…Kaz-"

For all its fury and terror, the GEM virus mist was short-lived. The chaos in Tokyo lasted for only half an hour, but for the people that survived the ordeal, it felt like forever. Authorities have yet to assess the number of casualties and the government has barricaded off half of the capital. In the days to come, MAGIA would have to answer for this incident.

The entire world will remember that day.

MAGIA

Chapter One

The New Blood

The year was 2049. It was the month of May, and as spring began making way for summer, the heat slowly crept in. Tokyo, despite many movements to reduce carbon emissions and create more "green islands" to absorb the pollution, remained an urban "heat island", especially at a time like this. In a month, this could get worse, more so for those leading monotonous lives. The city's student population, in particular, spends most of their school days in rooms with little air conditioning, their sense of comfort completely dependent on what the weather dictates; it's either heaven or hell, and for most, it's the latter. And when it comes down to it, surviving hell could mean doing fairly strange and inappropriate things…

"Miss Sakurai…"a voice called out.

"Miss Sakurai…!"

Her fox-like eyes slowly opened, revealing her shiny dark irises. She moved them around randomly, as if she were dazed. She could see faint outlines of people around her.

"Miss Sakurai!"

She heard the voice that called her earlier…but could now also hear several others. There was the garbled sound of people murmuring, and a strange muffled sound of what sounded to her like faint laughter.

Thump.

Her eyes opened wide. Her body rose quickly from where it was. Her pulse rose for a second. In front of her lay an open book. Someone had just closed it in front of her, and her eyes gazed to find out who it was.

"Asleep in my class again, Miss Sakurai?" the teacher voiced out in a loud, firm voice.

"Oh, no…I'm sorry sensei~!" an embarrassed Sakurai nervously muttered as she quickly rose from her seat. All eyes were on her; the laughter intensified into a cacophony loud enough for the neighboring rooms to hear.

"I…uh…uhm….was…" She was speechless. Unable to find an alibi, her tongue was in knots. She could not find any words to utter out. Her teacher gave her a piercing stare.

"Listen, Miss Sakurai, I understand that you have good grades and have never failed in any of my tests, and pretty much the same goes for your other subjects, but this school has high standards and expectations for its students, and we will definitely not tolerate you sleeping in my class," he said in a firm but collected tone.

"I understand sensei…" Hotaru nodded bashfully.

"Let's get back to the topic, shall we?"

Class went on smoothly without any further interruptions; Sakurai paid attention to her teacher's lesson and answered all his questions with aplomb. Her classmates, who had just made a laughingstock out of her moments ago, were suddenly silenced.

Class ended like it would, though Sakurai remained inside the room. Her teacher talked to her for a moment.

"Sakurai, I really, really hope that incident would be the last I would see from you…well for sure I do understand that you tend to sleep late due to all the studying you do at home, but do make sure that you always make sure to get enough shut-eye, so as not to repeat this mistake."

"Yes sensei, thank you very much for the advice," Sakurai replied. She then picked up her bag, gave her teacher a quick bow, and then promptly left the room.

"Hey, Sakurai!"

A voice called out from the far end of the hallway. Quickly turning around to see who it was, she saw her friend Miyuki waving at her.

"Oh, hi Miyuki…" she replied.

"I heard the laughs from the other rooms and I immediately knew that could only mean one thing: you, miss sleepyhead with the brains," Miyuki heartily joked to Sakurai, the latter claiming that it was the third time this week.

"Classes are over and I'm tired. Wanna walk home together?" asked Sakurai. Miyuki nodded in response.

Hotaru Sakurai is a young woman nearing her twenties. Considered by her peers as an ideal woman, she is indeed a sight to behold for anyone who would see her. Her flowing jet-black hair contrasts her pale, rosy-white skin. At five feet and seven inches tall, she towers over most of her female peers and even some of the young men in her class. Her long, lithe physique gets her more than a few stares from people she encounters. Her face seems to have a perpetual look of shyness and fragility, but on the rare occasions where she smiles, one could see her pearly-white teeth. If she were living in feudal times, she would easily met ideal standards for Japanese beauty, and would have sent airwaves throughout the land for her legendary magnificence.

But more importantly, she is currently studying in Tokyo University. Already in her second year of college, she aspires to become a teacher, a rather plain dream for someone like her. Even so, she is among the university's top students, having aced the entrance exams and having done well in all her subjects. The country sees her as someone with huge potential, considering that she also made it among the nation's best students. Indeed, she would have easily graduated and gotten a job, had it not been for the incident two years ago which stopped school in all of Tokyo. Her sleeping in class wasn't from studying hard late at night, as one might expect; rather, for the past few days, Hotaru had been attentively following the world and recent developments through the eyes of mass media.

Minutes passed since the two young women met after class. The sun still hovering above their heads, they navigated their way through the maze of roads and walkways of Tokyo's central district. Around them, towering buildings, moving vehicles, and fellow pedestrians are all they could see. To her right, Miyuki saw Hotaru looming over her, appearing calm and peaceful.

"Whew, what a day, eh?" asked Miyuki. She stared at the sky, her gaze transfixed towards the sun.

"Easy now, you don't wanna end up blind after staring directly at the sun now, right?" came Hotaru's concerned reply.

"I'll be fine, my hood's on."

Hotaru smirked. "Well, take that off, you look goofy-"

"N-no way woman! Call it goofy, strange or whatever you want, but I'm not taking it off." Miyuki winced at Hotaru, her right hand trying to shove aside her friend's while the other held her hood in place.

The two continued to bicker until they stopped at a crossroads, pedestrians swarming around them in all directions. Hotaru saw Miyuki pull out something from her pocket. "A lollipop?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry. I was gonna eat this earlier, but…uhm…y'know," Miyuki said in response. "You can have it if you want," she added as she took off the wrapping from the candy.

"Thanks, but…I'm good," Hotaru answered. "Uhmm…Miyuki, I think I can go home by myself from here on. Thanks for the walk by the way."

"No problem, and sure. I'm headed home too. I'll take the train," came Miyuki's response.

The two soon went their own separate ways. Hotaru took the path ahead of her, and in no time she reached her home. Meanwhile, Miyuki ran into the crowd headed for the train station, all the while enjoying her lollipop.

"I'm home!" Hotaru hollered as she came in.

It was seven o'clock in the evening and she still had to prepare dinner. She rushed to the kitchen and prepared sukiyaki and half a bowl of rice. After taking her dinner she took a nice, warm bath. Hotaru later on headed for the living room, wearing a black shirt with printed on it and dark red shorts. She sat on the couch and turned on the TV to check on the news. This is a routine she has been doing for a while, however today it was different. On all news channels, there was only one subject of interest: the lifting of sanctions imposed upon the international organization MAGIA with the Japanese Prime Minister taking part in the signing of documents. Moments later, the Prime Minister himself appeared onscreen.

"Tonight…the world has seen that our great country took full responsibility of the tragedy that occurred two years ago, a tragedy caused by our own; the source of it all being MAGIA, the organization responsible for the production of a virus that grants superhuman abilities.

Seeing that these individuals are serving the international community, doing their job of rebuilding the lives and property of those affected by the virus, MAGIA can resume their regular duties, however it will no longer be wholly owned by us; instead the company will now be owned by the world, and starting tomorrow scientists from across the globe, as well as their volunteers will be working with MAGIA.

Before I end this good speech, I regret to say that what follows is most certainly bad news. Our country is now in danger, its security threatened by forces within our borders. They are with us, lurking in every corner. Most of the time, we won't even notice their presence. But they are armed to the teeth…and these beasts will slaughter as they please. We are now dealing with a new threat in the form of 'rogue' magicians.

These troublemakers came from GEM carriers who have awakened and manifested their abilities and instead of using them for good like the others, they do the exact opposite."

Hotaru was stunned by the Prime Minister's report. She could also see the shock in the faces of the people on TV. Seconds later the Prime Minister showed footage of a man throwing rocks that explode on contact at police officers; he was eventually shot down by local law enforcement agents.

"This individual was responsible for multiple counts of robbery and property damage at several convenience stores, where he threatens to blow up the owners and their establishments if they don't heed his demands. Typically he would stuff rocks into the pockets of his victims and blow them up if they decide to call for help.

The Prime Minister resumed his speech.

"I apologize for hiding this from all of you for three weeks, but rest assured, I have ordered MAGIA to hunt down these rogues and bring them to justice; if ever they will continue to misuse their powers, then they are better off dead."

A massive applause followed.

The Prime Minister stood confidently on his pedestal, gazing at the cheering audience. To his left, a lean, handsome young man in white and gray attire characteristic of high-ranking MAGIA officers. He appeared to be a veteran member of the organization, as shown by the numerous medals pinned to his lapel. Beside him were two men wearing darker attire; they appeared to be guards of some sort.

He stepped forward, leaving the two men standing behind him, and shook hands with the Prime Minister.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you…MAGIA's commander-in-chief, Saito Mizuhashi."

The crowd cheered even harder.

Saito Mizuhashi is an exemplar of MAGIA – his professional appearance and pleasing personality coupled with his excellent skills in command and control makes him an exemplar of his organization. It's all in the blood – after all he is the Prime Minister's son, and part of the third generation of a family of diplomats. Father and son share a common vow of serving the Japanese people through their successful implementation of methods and protocols designed to maintain peace and order. Not long ago they were part of the task force that oversaw the restoration efforts after the Red Tokyo Incident, and following the late Kunimitsu Takara's retirement, they served as Japan's ambassadors to the UN, engaging in numerous talks with fellow statesmen to reinforce their trust in Japan's crisis management efforts. Now, two years later, with the threat of rogue magicians now known to the world, father and son vow to share a mission of dealing with the rogues, claiming that it isn't only good for the country, but also for the world.

"More trouble," mumbled Hotaru as she turned off the TV. She went upstairs and took a few minutes to scan her recent study notes, and then she quickly went to bed. To her right was a framed photo of herself, with her mother and father smiling happily and her little brother pulling on her hair.

Mom…Dad…little Taru, I miss you so much…

Her vision quickly faded as she drifted to sleep.

The light at the second floor of the Sakurai house flickered off, neighboring houses followed as the late hours of the night passed. The streets were now devoid of people; stray cats now roamed the area. The moon was full and a light breeze blew past the trees.

In an alley not far from the Sakurai Residence, someone isn't planning on getting some shut-eye yet; she still has reports to accomplish. Leaning against a wall she pulled out a glass tablet from her bag. A few taps and a list of people appeared, showing their names, their faces, and all their known information. She began tapping on the screen, marking them with X's and O's. Those marked with X's test negative for the GEM virus, while those marked with O's test positive.

In the midst of her work, she was interrupted by a mewing sound and a light brushing sensation between her legs. Looking down, she found a stray cat.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any milk or treats for you," she said, caressing the feline's fur. "You must be thirsty, will this do?"

She put her hand out, and in one quick motion, she conjured an icicle and offered it. The cat began to lick at her hand, clearly accepting the frozen treat.

Moments later she felt herself yawning suddenly, apparently out of the exhaustion of staying up late. Taking a quick look at her watch; it read 2:00 AM. After marking a few more on her tablet, she put it back in her bag and left.

The last person marked on her tablet was Hotaru Sakurai; she tested negative.

It was 10:00 AM at Tokyo University. The first half of the morning classes were over and Hotaru is on her way to her next one. Earlier that day, her teachers have noticed that she hasn't been falling asleep in class; she probably took Mr. Tobi's advice seriously. Taking the stairs for her philosophy subject, she noticed a stout young man on his knees, his arms blindly feeling the floor.

"Uhm…is there a problem?" she asked.

"Not really. I just dropped my glasses and they slid somewhere around here…in these corners," replied the young man. "My eyesight isn't really that bad; those glasses are just important to me."

Looking at her watch, there was still fifteen minutes to spare. She put down her bag, and then helped her fellow student find his glasses.

"Urgh, I don't see anything here," he said, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.

Twelve minutes passed. They searched every corner, every spot, and every place where his glasses would most likely be on, within ten meters of their location. They soon found themselves in an empty room, tables and chairs piled up neatly at all sides.

"Found it!"

The young man turned to see the student, his glasses in the latter's hand. "I found it under this stack of tables. The students in this area must have been cleaning this place and then stacked them around these corners. You might have left you glasses on one of these tables."

"Gee, thanks a lot!" replied the young man.

"By the way, I'm Haruyuki Kuchiki, a student of this university, and I'm in my final year. You may call me Haru if you like," said Kuchiki as he wiped his glasses before putting them on. Hotaru was surprised that she ended up helping a senior.

"I'm Hotaru Sakurai and I'm in my second year."

"I…uhm…hope I didn't bother you or anything!" the young man nervously muttered.

"Not at all, oh no, I'm late for my class!" Hotaru freaked out as she remembered that she still had class upstairs. "Bye senpai and…uh…you're welcome!"

Haru witnessed her fleeing figure scramble up the stairs. For him, or for anyone for that matter, the sight of a fine, seemingly refined lady scurrying like a clumsy child would be a surprise, but seeing the situation, it comes as no surprise.

He then went his own way, when he noticed something on the floor, picking it up.

Did she just drop her wallet?

Later that afternoon, Hotaru decided to have a little rest and recreation with Miyuki. Classes have just ended; large crowds of students were leaving Tokyo University after another long and exhausting day at school. Many of them would immediately head home to study, some of them would go out and live the nightlife, and others would be going to their afterschool jobs or other appointments. Certainly, after all her efforts in studying, she would feel the need to reward herself.

"Oh, Miyuki, you're such a lifesaver, for sharing me your lunch. I was able to survive my last class," said Hotaru, praising her friend for her good deed.

"No prob. It's alright, really. I did make a lot. What about you? Will you be fine?" asked Miyuki. "You must've some money in your wallet or any other important stuff.

"I'll be fine, my uncle will cover for me."

As the two neared the university's gates, a stout male student clumsily approached them.

"There you are! Been waiting for a while out here," he said.

He held out Hotaru's wallet; she was so happy to have her wallet found and returned to her by her senior that she literally screamed out her expressions of gratitude to the senior; other students overheard the commotion, wondering what it could be.

"Okay, okay. I get it! I…It's for helping me earlier…" Haru mumbled in embarrassment. "Next time, don't go running off like that or you'll lose something other than your wallet!"

"Yes senpai," Hotaru replied. "How about we treat you for today?"

The young woman still felt indebted to her senior, and Miyuki was visibly getting annoyed by the situation.

"Uhm, sorry guys, I have other stuff to do. See y'all tomorrow!" Miyuki hastily explained. She ran off and disappeared into the crowd.

"Bummer. Well…it's just us then," said Hotaru, gazing intently at Haruyuki. "And don't say you also have other stuff to do. I am treating you and I'm not letting you go until I've paid you back!"

"O…okay…" came Haru's startled reply.

Aoyama, Tokyo
5:13 PM

The capital is certainly what one journalist would describe as "a city of systematic chaos and frenzied order: an advanced modern-day metropolis that marches to the beat of its own drum." Indeed, one would immediately notice the disorienting forest of glowing electronics and the deluge of homebound pedestrians, the jagged skyline of a world-class city and the wall of background noise that has broken many eardrums. Yet all the disarray seems to be in perfect harmony, as if being kept in rhythm by something akin to a conductor in an orchestra. Its many tourist spots are dualities in themselves – they attract many young locals as well as tourists from all over the world. For those who view hanging out as their thing, the lively and colorful districts of Roppongi, Harajuku and Aoyama, located in and near the ward of Shibuya, are the places to go. Known for decades as havens for cosplayers, street performers, fashion models, punks, artists, and visual kei fans, these areas have become so popular among teenagers and young adults that in recent years, the government considered allowing these areas to be reserved for youth gatherings at certain times.

Of these three districts, Aoyama appears to be the place Hotaru Sakurai and Haruyuki Kuchiki chose as their hangout spot for the day. To some people, seeing a young man and woman together in such a popular district can already be interpreted as a date. But Haruyuki doesn't think of the moment as a "date"; he simply wants Hotaru to stop feeling beholden to him.

One of Tokyo University's top students wouldn't really want to be indebted to anyone, he thought.

"So, Sakurai-san, where are we going?" Haruyuki asked. There was no reply from his partner, until they stopped at a large building with a long queue of people waiting outside.

"We're here."

The stout young man looked up at the building's façade, and immediately he noticed the large neon sign mounted three stories above from where they were standing. A feeling of astonishment overcame him as he gazed at the bright glowing letterwork. It spelled out the name of a popular establishment, the luxurious Floating Glass.

"S…Sakurai-san…t…this is a bar and we shouldn't. I mean, uhm…I could come in since I'm older but as college students we shouldn't really…get wasted or spend for something that's too expensive-HEY!"

Hotaru had just ignored Haruyuki's explanation and rushed headlong into the crowd, stopping in front of a large man in a valet uniform, holding a list of guests. Haru immediately figured out that the guy seemed to be a bouncer of sorts, yet he saw Hotaru whisper into his ear.

"S…Sakurai?" the young man mumbled.

Seconds later the big man came walking towards him.

Shit…I'm screwed…thought Haru as the man looked down on him with an unnerving gaze. He grew nervous and his arms were becoming spastic. B…but…I can trust her, right?

"You with her?" the man asked.

"Y…yes…?" came Haru's startled reply.

The man then nudged him towards where Hotaru was standing. Haru was trembling as he awkwardly walked past the queue. All eyes were on him, and it only made him even more uneasy.

The man pushed him lightly towards Hotaru's right. His legs were visibly shaking as the man put his heavy hand on his shoulder. "Ma'am, sir…"

The man paused for a moment.

"Welcome to the Floating Glass! May your veins be enchanted!" bellowed the big man, his booming voice resonating throughout the reception area. He then summoned a man of similar build wearing a corporate suit. Haru and Hotaru were escorted inside by this man and had a few assistants prepare seats for them.

Just who is this sophomore and how did we manage to skip that long line, Haruyuki thought.

Inside, the bar lived up to its name – hundreds of glasses floated in mid-air about fifteen feet from the floor. For the uninitiated, it would seem like a highly elaborate stage trick. In reality, the glasses are controlled and kept afloat by a magician who was working as a bartender. He wasn't the only one working there. A female magician can be seen filling the place with dazzling light shows. Haruyuki noticed the bar's sound system or rather, the lack thereof; normally a place this large would need a powerful sound system, but it didn't need to have one as three men were amplifying the sound by simply holding and standing close to the speaker. One of them appeared to him like a regular disc jockey, but from the way he quickly switched discs he appeared to be one as well. Beside the DJ was a teenage girl wearing a colorful dress skipping and jumping to the beat. Some magicians immersed themselves in the mix of lights, sounds and revelry, dancing and showing off their cool moves and abilities, all the while holding up their light sticks to the performers onstage. A conga line dragged the stout young man into the stirring crowd. Haru now found herself separated from her.

"And the best part is they work here…"

In the confusion of his surroundings, he ended up blacking out.

He later woke up on what appears to be the bar's lounge, a beautiful woman with pink hair tied in twintails sitting very close to him. She was wearing a white collared blouse with the top unbuttoned, exposing her bra, the middle part closed and the lower unbuttoned, revealing her smooth, toned midriff. Over her blouse she wore an unbuttoned black Victorian-style waistcoat with a pocket watch in her left breast pocket. She also wore a short, bell-shaped black skirt, her long, pale legs ending in high-heeled red shoes. She smiled at him, removing her top hat in respect.

"Boy, could you help me put on my tie?" she asked Haruyuki as she handed him a fancy purple tie. "And after that, what would you like to order? A drink, some treats, or…me?"

Haruyuki was at a loss for words at what he had just heard from the woman. His face turned red, his arms were trembling and his mind was overwhelmed by her enchanting image and attitude. He felt something in between his legs; the woman was slowly slithering over him…

"Yukari-sama!" yelled Hotaru.

The woman turned to her back, apparently surprised by Hotaru's interruption.

"That is not how I want to repay him. I said give him something sweet, like a cake or a parfait, not yourself."

Yukari promptly apologized to Haruyuki. "He's all yours, Hotaru-chan. Enjoy your date!"

"We're not on a date! He's a senior who helped me get my wallet back. Sheesh." An embarrassed Hotaru explained as she sat down next to Haruyuki.

"Sorry 'bout that. Uhm…she's the hostess and owner of this place. She's a friend of my… uncle."

"It's fine, I didn't know you were well-known here and I always thought Miss Top Student was always serious in her life," Haru joked. Hotaru's face formed a smile and she chuckled.

"On the house!"

Two parfaits floated to their table. Hotaru quickly grabbed hers, and then she noticed Haru struggling to reach his parfait. The young woman stretched out her right arm over his head, and slowly pulled Haru's parfait down on the table.

"I'm not all that serious senpai…" she replied. "Perhaps this is one of those places, if not the only place, where I can be expressive, let out what I want. Now that I've said it, I want you to know that you gave me more than enough happiness for one day, and I just want to pay you back with just as much."

Haruyuki paused for a moment, taken aback by the sophomore's words. To think that I made her that happy by doing something so simple, to find myself with the person I just helped in a place like this…I kinda understand now…

…Hotaru Sakurai-san doesn't wanna forget the person who helped her, he thought to himself.

The young man nervously moved his hand towards hers. A hint of hesitation was evident on his face; nonetheless he knew what he had to do. He cleared his mind and took a second to catch his breath. His arm was now reaching out to her.

"Uhm…Sakurai-san, i…if it's not bad, uhm…can we be friends?"

The young woman slowly turned towards him.

"I…I'm not taking advantage of being friends with a lower who has a connection to this place."

"Sure," came Hotaru's reply. She then shook hands with the young man.

The moon was already high in the evening sky, yet Hotaru and Haruyuki were still enjoying themselves in the lively, enchanting atmosphere of the Floating Glass. The crowd had mostly fallen silent, their dancing slowed down to a graceful waltz as the smooth sound of classical music played over the dance floor. Soon enough the two realized it was getting late – the clock read nine-thirty, yet they kept going on with their conversation. They stopped by the doorway.

"By the way, senpai, when you said you were not taking advantage of my ties to this place…you don't mean you intend to bring others here?" asked Hotaru, her face showing off a fair bit of seriousness.

"Well, uhm…I," Haru replied, anxiously scratching his head.

"That's good! More customers!" exclaimed Yukari as she popped out of nowhere. "Hotaru-chan what you just brought us tonight will help us have a branch in no time! Now, don't worry about her Haru-kun, bring all your friends here and they'll have the time of their lives!"

"But…Yukari…" the young woman protested, only to be ignored by the hostess.

"Well, I might bring a few of my pals, but don't worry, they're not drunkards or anything of that sort…thanks for the evening anyway," said Haruyuki. He waved goodbye and briskly walked off; moments later the two women saw his short, plump frame disappearing into the distance.

"You don't have to worry about drunken, dazed, and boisterous seniors at your school Hotaru, the man looks honest." The hostess assured her.

"I hope you're right."

The two went back inside; now the music shifted to a lively mix similar to the set that played an hour ago. A group of six girls wearing matching outfits appeared and put on a show; the audience went wild, screaming at the sight before them and waving their lightsticks to the beat. They were singing in Korean.

Hotaru immediately recognized the voices of the singers; her favorite idol group was performing onstage. At this point she thought of staying, but thinking that she still has school tomorrow, she hesitated. Moments later, she made up her mind.

One more hour.

The plump likeness of the young man quickly collapsed into the soft, warm cradle that was his bed. He kept thinking aloud of what had just happened to him today, piecing out all the things that had occurred to him and seeing whether they were interconnected. He had found out why her junior would pay him with so much for one simple deed. "I guess she's still getting over that" he thought.

Then, all of a sudden, he snapped for a moment. He quickly threw himself out of bed, as if something just popped into his head. Indeed, some sort of revelation came to him.

The hostess knew my name…

He continued thinking aloud.

"I don't recall being introduced to her or anything."

His mind blurred. Believing that the place must have enchanted him, he opened the window by his bed and let out a sigh. He then went back to bed, and tried to fall asleep. He couldn't.

Every time he tried to sleep it out, he kept waking up…every second he tried to forget; the same question entered his mind.

How did she know my name?

From somewhere unknown to the young man, a lone figure stood still, apparently watching over his actions. The person observed him closing the window; it was the signal to retreat. A tablet in hand, the figure tapped on his image. There was a large "O" on the screen.

Shinjuku Area, Tokyo
11:40 PM

They moved swiftly in the dark, lurking within the shadows, their motion obscured. Creeping into every nook and cranny, like a pack of rats in a dim, filthy sewer. Not a sound was heard.

The groups were moving from one abandoned building to the next. Their goal: to reach the highest structure they could find, searching for a location that would make a great vantage point.

The Shinjuku Area had become much like Chernobyl in Ukraine, desolate, rotting, lifeless, the pavement on its roads cracked, its infrastructure reduced to nothing but a maze of concrete towers. The building that once housed the Metropolitan Government has fallen into disarray, abandoned when the authorities decided to move the office back to the inner city, Chiyoda. It has become a shell of its former self – much of the area used to be similar to its outlying wards of Minato and Shibuya. Now, it has become nothing but a ghost city, its population fallen from more or less thousands of people to zero.

However, there was no lethal radiation, nor mutated lifeforms prowling the streets. Like the area to its north, Toshima, it was hit very hard during the Red Tokyo Crisis. Unlike it, though, it was among the areas that have been blocked off by MAGIA after the incident occurred. People could still walk in within a certain time and under certain conditions – those who visit here are known to be former contractors of the district's buildings and industry owners who salvage any important equipment the tragedy left lying around. They are, of course, accompanied by armed security convoys and, should the need arise, operatives from MAGIA.

The men arrived at a large steel and concrete structure; gazing upwards they marveled at the sheer scale of the edifice before them. The structure was once the main office of ADIREX, a company that makes sporting goods and protective gear. But there wasn't much time to eyeball the construction itself. They went inside and just as quickly as they came, and set up makeshift barricades along the broken windows to protect themselves from the elements. They were exhausted from all the scuttling, and many needed a good rest. Hunted down for several days by the authorities, they weren't rogue magicians that were ordered to be detained, but rather, drug dealers, arms smugglers and remnants of militant groups.

"We won't last long, sooner or later we'll have to get moving again," one man said as he took a seat on an old couch.

"Those magicians are hunting us down as if they were like dogs." said another. Another, hearing their conversation, intervened, looking at one of the men with cold eyes.

"What? Face the facts my friend, we were no match for them; our operations have been compromised, all our secret bases now belong to them, and shipments had been stopped. But on the bright side we all came together as one."

The man with cold eyes wasn't pleased with the man's explanation. He was reaching deep into his coat, still looking at him with an unnerving stare. He appeared as if he wanted to kill him for making the last statement sarcastic, but to the surprise of the man, he sat down with him.

"You're right, we're all fucked up," he said while moving his hands within his coat pockets, rummaging for something. Moments later he pulled out a fat cigar from his left and a shiny steel lighter from his right. Taking the cigar into his mouth he lit its tip and blew a large puff of smoke.

"My group came all the way from Nicaragua to settle an arms delivery, we landed at Haneda to meet up with a friend who has told us about some Russian gun dealers who had just brought in fresh shipments of arms and ammo. We then met at Odaiba to secure the agreement, but who would've thought that one of my men was 'copied' to infiltrate us on the day of the deal." He took a deep breath, savoring the taste of the cigar, and then let out a much bigger puff of smoke from his mouth. The cloud wafted to the other, and they breathed the same air, giving a soothing feeling to them both.

"This is not the end for us all; we can still turn things around." The other man stood up and ordered a fellow to pass him his bag. From the bag he pulled out a sleek laptop and started it up. Opening a video file, he called forth the remaining men to sit down and watch.

"Over the past few days, before we were like this, one of my couriers has monitored a line of trucks from MAGIA. Apparently these trucks are headed for the country's main ports, and this could only mean one thing."

He paused for a moment, staring at the others' curious faces.

"That damn company is distributing the virus."

Uproar erupted throughout the building's interior. The smugglers and arms dealers were in doubt, the druggies thrown off the edge of their seats. One of them forced his way into the crowd; he wasn't pleased with the news.

"Would this mean that other countries will have magicians of their own? And should that be the case, would that destroy all the world's injustices? I mean, fuck! Look at all the possibilities that may come up if that goddamn company does get the virus out!"

The man's litany was then followed by swearing and insults to the company that made the virus.

Damn them, damn all of them…MONSTERS!

The man closed his laptop and the other with the cigar lit another one; the latter smiled, not because he knew the situation would only be more challenging, but because he knew exactly what the other was thinking.

"Tomorrow, my friends, we attack that convoy of trucks and take the virus for ourselves. And then we'll show those 'magicians' not to fuck up with our business."

The men cheered loudly, raising their fists and whatever they were holding high up into the air. From afar, patrolling security forces could hear a faint sound.

"Did you hear that?" said one.

"Those APCs are probably here," said the other.

"Hmm…that sure didn't sound like-" just as the man was about to reply to his fellow guard, a light shone at him, followed by the hissing sound of air brakes. Three large vehicles stopped in front of them; they were the troop carriers the other man was talking about.

"Okay, you win," came the surprised reaction.

It was a pleasant Sunday and there was no school. Hotaru decided to go out and relax after a few hours of studying. Wearing a faded rose summer dress, a brown summer coat and brown boots, she went out of her home carrying a parasol and her bag. Being casual in appearance is a must; she would not want to attract the attention of unscrupulous thieves along the way.

She took the train to Aoyama, and went on her way to the Floating Glass, but she somehow forgot that the bar was always closed on Sundays. She appeared quite dazed – the concert she attended last night took more than an hour from start to end, and by the time she went home it was close to midnight. She set her sights on the cityscape, carefully deciding where she would like to go next.

One could easily describe Hotaru as unlike the other girls – she would rather enjoy her free time alone or with a few friends in a more orderly environment rather than join other girls and go out shopping. Today, however, was different. Being at last night's festivities somehow made her want to buy records all of a sudden. She knew it was a rather strange thing to do – she could just as easily get songs via paid downloads or listen to album streams online. In an age dominated by the wonders of modern technology, even music has become a commodity traded via virtual means. For many, acquiring songs online was the way to go – disc records were seen as a near-obsolete format, yet many still like them as in the long run, physical copies of recorded music have much greater value for money.

She wasted no time, and took the train to Ikebukuro, one of the city's main entertainment hubs. Upon arriving at her destination, she saw the great white wall in the distance, the barrier set up by the authorities to contain the areas affected the most by the virus. Behind the walls, shrouded in a fairly dense haze, stood a colossal, alien-looking, spire-like structure – MAGIA's headquarters.

Ikebukuro appeared to show no scars caused by the incident. The shops and entertainment enterprises operated as if nothing happened. The cars and trains zipped along its roads and railways. Its glass and steel buildings still glistened in the midday sun. The area once completely disappeared from the map during the Red Tokyo tragedy, smothered by the deadly red mist that claimed an estimated four thousand lives. But due to MAGIA's presence on the city when it occurred, evacuation efforts successfully put people away from the creeping virus clouds. Their task force wiped the area clean over the span of two days, and in a week, it was declared virus-free. Unlike Shinjuku, only one-sixth of the place was walled off. Still, MAGIA's units maintained a fairly strong presence in the area, helping its natural residents in reestablishing themselves and their businesses.

Hotaru continued to walk, marveling at how fresh the cityscape seemed to her. To her right, she could see construction work occurring miles away from her. Behind her, a line of trucks rolled along a busy street. To her left, several stalls lined the walkway. The young woman entered one such store with a large, radio-shaped sign. On its door was a sign, informing customers of a sale on popular albums.

"Good morning!" a tan-skinned, long-haired man in a leather jacket greeted. He took off his sunglasses on the sight of the young woman before her, as a sign of respect for one of his customers.

"Good morning," Hotaru calmly replied.

"We have a sale today, feel free to listen to what you like. Our newest albums are in that aisle, young miss," the storekeeper said with a smile.

Hotaru quietly walked along the aisle. Along the walls, there were a few listening stations with headphones attached to them. She put on a pair of headphones in a similar manner to the other people in the aisle, listening to short clips of each album's songs. After a while, she picked three albums to purchase, then hurriedly went to the register. In her haste, she forgot to remove her headphones from her ears; as she left the last station she accidentally pulled out the headphones for its socket. A tune played on the loudspeakers.

"T…three albums, please."

The shopkeeper smiled at the young woman and asked. "Big fan of K-pop, huh? We haven't seen any customers buying foreign music in days!"

"Y…yes I am,"she replied. Giving the shopkeeper her payment, she ran back to the aisle to return the headphones when she heard the panicked sound of people outside. The people inside the store quickly became uneasy as well. She darted towards the counter to pick up her bag and the records she bought. The shopkeeper tapped her in the back and she turned to see a horrified look on his face. She never had the time to know why.

A massive force came from behind, throwing her and the other people in the store off balance. She stumbled, dropping her bag and the records she just bought. People were running and screaming all over the place. Shards of broken glass and cases of records littered the floor.

Hotaru was in pain, brushing off the fallen records and the shrapnel around her. To her surprise, and to everyone's for that matter, a large armored truck had crashed into the store. She stood up and walked closer but as soon as she approached it a tan-skinned man wearing a flak jacket and a bandana came out of the back of the truck. He was holding a rifle in his hands and was yelling at the young woman, aiming the muzzle of his gun at her,

She was terrified. She could not think clearly. She could do nothing. The man kept yelling at her while poking her chest with his gun's barrel. She could not make out what he was saying as it sounded Hispanic, but it was clear that he was threatening her.

I've become a hostage, she thought to herself, tears falling from the corners of her eyes.

The man dragged her out of the store. Outside, she saw nine more trucks and more armed men. They were also pulling people out from the store, all the while screaming at them in languages she could not understand. One of the hostages was being held by a team of three tall men; he appeared to be fighting back at his captors. Hotaru, along with several others, were bound and thrown into an adjacent building, where a group of four held all of them at gunpoint. Looking out of the window, the young woman saw a man in full military gear standing on top of the trucks. He was holding a megaphone in his left and a gun in his right. He pointed his rifle upwards and pulled the trigger, spraying bullets into the air above him in jubilation. She clearly understood what he said.

"MAGIA! You have messed with the wrong people! For the past few days you have hunted us all in the belief that you are doing this world good! Well, we are going to show that the bad will never go out, and when there is any profit to be made or reward to be acquired, no one is the better witness, and none would be able to judge!"

The armed man then jumped down and opened the back of the armored truck. Inside were silver canisters, and a lot of them. He ordered the canisters to be brought out.

"Behold as we add up to the problems you have not solved!" he continued.

The situation at the MAGIA headquarters was high. Personnel stormed in and out of the facility's rooms. The alarm was sounding. Groups of men in full combat gear marched through the halls in droves. At the control center, the commander-in-chief stood watch with his lieutenants, carefully monitoring the situation at Ikebukuro through the monitors.

"What's the status of Spectre and the others?" Mizuhashi asked.

"Spectre's in position, sir. He's already making entry points," replied one of the personnel inside the control room.

The screen behind him flashed blue, showing colored blips on a map of the combat zone. A purple dot marked 'Spectre' was nearing ground zero, while green dots, representing troops, were slowly moving in around him. The purported location of the enemy was in orange and the targets appeared as red blips; the hostages they were holding appeared as white circles.

"Spectre's team has them all surrounded and are now awaiting your orders," one of the personnel hollered.

"All units, be advised. Do not damage the trucks. Securing the hostages is our top priority. You have my permission to neutralize all hostile units," Mizuhashi commanded through the microphone.

"Copy," came the faint reply.

"Sir, we've also lost contact with Ayanami and Hojo!" another commander shouted.

"Don't worry about them. They must be busy setting up satellite command," replied Mizuhashi.

Hotaru and the other hostages have gone quiet. The man who fought back against the militants had just been killed in front of her. One of the guards had threatened them to stay silent, or it will rain bullets above their heads. Her eyes were red and swollen from the tears she had been shedding, but she could not cry out. Shivers ran down her body, and her mind was going blank.

She saw the men placing the canisters before them, their commander shuffling back and forth along the walkway, opening the canisters one by one. Two others came in with a heavy suitcase carrying syringes. The young woman started to see things, a vision of the Red Tokyo crisis being repeated.

"This is bad", she mumbled. "To think that these people are going to get themselves infected so they can challenge MAGIA and launch another terror attack…if rogues weren't bad enough, these guys certainly are far worse…"

Beneath her, however, she noticed something peculiar at the ground beneath them. Their shadows were expanding and slowly darkening.

"Isn't that shit deadly?" one of the men asked with a cautious look in his face. "That thing made a mess out of this place two years ago."

"Would you care to try it first?" their leader asked him. Clearly, he wasn't having second thoughts. He was ready to infect himself with the virus to gain the so-called "magic". He screamed out a curse as he raised the syringe above his head, but just as he was about to plunge it into his arm, a very strong force suddenly pulled him down to the ground. He was screaming and flailing his arms in desperation; the other men were visibly terrified at the sight of their leader being dragged down to his own shadow. In desperation, they reached for their guns, but as they turned to attack, five armed men popped out of the darkness and engaged them. The man watching over Hotaru and the other hostages were slowly dragged towards the young woman's shadow.

Gunfire erupted all around them. The hostages were now screaming in panic, making sure to duck and cover so as to protect themselves. A hand popped out of a darkened section of the wall, while the shadows spelled out text that instructed them to run in the opposite direction where a separate team will extract them.

Several blocks away from the crisis zone, near a coffee shop, black vans rolled in and parked in the middle of the road. A mobile operations center was being set up by several MAGIA operatives who were stationed there. Outside the shop a man in white officer's uniform was sitting on a chair beside a young woman in a gray uniform. The woman was holding a tray in her arms, on it was a set of fine porcelain.

"The operation has gone well sir," she said in a relaxed voice. "Spectre and his team followed your instructions well and their timing was impeccable."

Masato Ayanami turned to her and smiled. "Of course, Hojo." Seeing his cup empty, he raised it up to her. "Oh, and, could you get me some tea, please?"

She acknowledged his request and went to the crowd of MAGIA operatives. Masato sat back and saw Hojo's tablet on the table.

"Uhm, hey Misaka! Your tablet!" He called the young woman's attention, but just as he did one of the personnel turned it on and showed him a live newsfeed of the situation.

"Could you link me to Spectre?" he asked the man.

En route to the extraction point, Hotaru and the other hostages were carried away by MAGIA operatives, who were lifting them on their shoulders. They ran as fast as they could, returning fire at any hostiles that shot at them.

Meanwhile, at the crisis zone, a long-haired young man wearing black clothes walked out of the building. He dragged the unconscious leader out of the door, and threw him forward into the pavement, where his lackeys, also unconscious, lay under the scorching sun.

Adjusting his tie, he muttered. "We got one, lone bad guy."

A man crept along the sidewalk to his direction. His leg was bleeding and he was writhing in pain. The man grabbed his ankle and looked at him with teary, yet furious eyes. He began shouting at him, though he could not determine if he's insulting him or pleading for help. He looked at the man and smirked.

"Sorry, but I don't speak gibberish," he replied before dragging him into the pile of unconscious bodies.

Damn, you're heavy.

The situation at Ikebukuro finally ended with only four of the 'terrorists' surviving the ordeal. None of the canisters were damaged or used. Security forces were now double-checking the area. The man in black clothes stood guard outside one of the MAGIA vans when he heard his phone ring.

"This is Spectre reporting, I just cleaned house. Anything else you need, commander?" the man asked, his tone calm and vivid.

"Are the hostages secure Spectre?" Masato asked on the other side of the line.

"Yes sir," came the plain reply.

"Very well, what can you say about our captured terrorists, agent Spectre?" Masato inquired. The young commander has a penchant for requesting information from his operatives whenever they report. Spectre and the other magicians have gotten used to being squeezed for information from him.

"The entire group was composed of drug smugglers and some foreign arms dealers, sir. In some way they got the nerve to steal five of our trucks," replied the young magician. "They knew about one of our trade routes and lay in wait for us. For sure I had expected a much warmer welcome from those foreigners. They sure need to mind their manners."

The two went along with their conversation; meanwhile the captured terrorists have begun waking up from being knocked out cold. Finding themselves bound like the hostages they took, altogether they let out a gruff sigh and leaned forward.

"Hmmm…uh-hum…"

"Yes, Spectre."

A sinister grin formed on Spectre's face as he put down the phone; seconds later he burst into a brief fit of laughter. The detainees overheard his cackling and started swearing at him, but were quickly silenced as he walked into the truck.

"Motherfucker! What the hell are you laughing about?" screamed the captured leader.

Spectre showed them a friendly smile and promptly replied.

"Well, I've got some good news and bad news for you guys. I'll start things off with the bad." The young man pulled his glasses out from his face and gave it a little wipe.

"To put it simply, you guys failed."

Putting his spectacles back on, he continued. "And, as for the good news, I have just been informed that the virus canisters you attempted to steal were…how do I put this lightly? Hmmm… They were duds."

"WHAT?!" The four men could not believe what the young magician just said.

"What's inside those canisters will only make you sick. Terribly sick. You see those canisters didn't contain the virus, rather they were filled with potent neurotoxins. We were originally planning to safely dispose of them somewhere since we really didn't need them until someone from our branch in Sapporo ordered them by the truckload for converting them for possible medicinal purposes."

Spectre then gazed at their leader with a serious look at their face. "Did you think that MAGIA would distribute the virus worldwide?" He briefly burst into laughter, then cleared his throat and continued. "Read the news people! Did we say we have plans of shipping the virus off? None? Good, but if you really do want to test the virus on yourselves, let me tell you that we are now accepting foreigners to work for our organization."

Just as he was about to leave, he heard the captives conversing with each other.

"I did inform you guys that I don't speak or understand gibberish. I don't have a translator with me so if you wanna speak up, do so in a language I can understand," Spectre commanded.

"You're a monster, a freak, an abomination, a disgrace to the human race!" one of the men shouted to him in thickly accented English.

"I am not a monster!" Spectre replied, apparently annoyed at being called as such.

"Oh yes you are and you will die like one…in HELL!"

The man belched out something from the depths of his mouth. Spectre saw it and quickly recognized it as a detonator. He saw him bite down on the device.

Shit.

"Brace yourselves!" Spectre yelled at the people outside the van, but as he did a wave of force rippled from behind him. His words were silenced by the deafening sound of the blast.

Blocks away, Masato dropped his cup of tea upon seeing the massive fireball looming at the distance; his mind going back to the explosion from two years ago that killed many of his men at MAGIA. Behind him, his second-in-command felt the glass windowpanes rattle from the blast, and also watched as the wave of flames and smoke billowed up eight stories into the air. A mix of terror and sorrow overcame her.

The extraction vehicle where the hostages were in was caught in the series of blasts around Ikebukuro. Hotaru once found herself being blown away by the shockwave. She can feel the heat from the surrounding blaze. Fearing the worst, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Just let me burn and die already.

The firestorm blew towards her at great speed, engulfing her in flames. Surprisingly, she felt no pain; when she opened her eyes she found out that she was being covered by someone large and tall. But although her eyes were wide open, she could not identify the hulking visage in front of her. They were blasted with fire and smoke yet the person appeared untouched. The figure knelt down and carried her on its back. Hotaru felt the strength of her savior, and noticed that it had a placid aura.

She was later laid out with the other hostages and the security personnel whom she thought had died from the blast. She looked for her savior, only to find no one else but them.

Feeling thankful for having been saved, Hotaru smiled, and quickly drifted out of consciousness.

Moments after the explosions occurred, Hotaru and the others found themselves unbound and escorted out of the damaged building. To her side she saw the soldiers and the magician who saved them coming out of the rubble. They were cheering.

"We're all alive! Thank you Spectre!" The soldiers were ganging up on the young magician.

"You hid us in your shadows in the nick of time! Thank you! Thank you!"

The soldiers then lifted him up on their shoulders and carried him away.

Hotaru saw the commotion, and felt glad for having survived. It would be nice to go home after this, she thought, though she'll be having to stay for a while to receive treatment.

At the mobile operations center the shadow magician found himself buried in a dogpile of happy soldiers and other personnel. He attempted to crawl out of the heap of bodies above him, but they kept dragging him in.

"Guys, stop it- now would you all just- I get it! HEY!" the young magician protested to no avail. The young woman in the gray uniform approached the tussle and cleared her throat.

"Uhm, ah-hem…"

The group immediately fell in line and saluted. "We are very sorry for our behavior, Second Lieutenant Hojo!"

"No big deal, really, but first, I'd like you men to report to your squad commanders first and rest a bit after that. And then you party," she told the men with a sharp gaze.

"Yes ma'am!" The crowd of soldiers saluted in unison and dispersed until only the shadow magician and she remained.

The young woman appeared uneasy in the magician's presence, her face twitching as she held back the tension that has built up over the course of the mission. The next thing the magician saw was the young woman lunging at him and falling onto his chest.

"You got me worried you know…" said Hojo as tears began to fall from her closed eyes. "…Don't leave me Hiroki-kun…you promised!"

The young man apologized and held her tightly in his embrace.

"I promise."

MAGIA

Chapter Two

Guardian

Two weeks have passed since then; while for many it would already seem like a long time, for the young woman, it felt like yesterday. The scenes that occurred to her played in her mind over and over again, like a broken record. Although she could not remember any of the faces she saw on that day, she did remember the exact moment when she fell into the gentle embrace of an unknown savior.

News reports were still covering the Ikebukuro hostage crisis and attempted robbery of MAGIA trucks by foreign terrorists. The precise and methodical execution of the operation by MAGIA Lieutenants Masato Ayanami and Misaka Hojo attracted a lot of praise from knowledgeable citizens, and the disclosure of the evidence showing the stolen 'duds' did plenty in reinforcing public trust in MAGIA's strategies and tactics. However, the explosions and the mention of terrorists stealing the GEM virus caught everyone by surprise. Today, MAGIA and the Japanese government were to make their statement.

The whole of Japan would be watching.

At the Japanese government's main legislative headquarters, hundreds of press staff – cameramen, news anchors and journalists, were swarming the halls leading to the Prime Minister's private quarters. Several armed guards and a few magicians were holding back the disorderly crowd. In an adjacent hall, the commanders of MAGIA lay in wait for their chief Mizuhashi's orders.

"That spunky brat's gotta be proud of himself by now," one of the sergeants muttered. His fellow commanders overheard his mumbling and gave him a cold stare.

"Watch your words, man! Mizuhashi's just behind this very wall and if he manages to eavesdrop, you could get your ass whooped," an older commander warned.

"Nah, it's not about Mizuhashi. I was talking 'bout that babyface Ayanami," came the calm reply.

"Well, honestly I would say that I was just taking orders and giving the same…" A voice spoke from behind the men.

"…Lieutenant Ayanami! Excuse us!" the startled sergeants exclaimed upon seeing the bespectacled man creep close.

"Don't sweat it. I'll take that earlier statement as a compliment," said Ayanami, a bright smile on his face. "Besides, my protégé here, Hojo, was all eyes on the situation. She helped a whole lot in observing the whole ordeal. You see men, sometimes four eyes isn't enough!" he jokingly added while gesturing at Hojo, who was standing to his right.

"…And all you did was sit down and sip tea while I was giving the commands using crib notes! A…and that tray with all that crockery was damn heavy, too!" Hojo replied, feeling irritated at her superior's remarks.

"Yet you did it anyway and looked so cute while doing so!" his commander remarked. "Anyway, thanks to you and Spectre, the mission was a success; though it wasn't entirely a "clean sweep", we still managed to save those hostages and cargo." He added.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Ayanami asked.

"Uhmm…I gave him a day off so he can find some breathing room. Our units seem to be a bit too…grateful of his assistance," Hojo answered.

"Well, why didn't you join him, then? Certainly, after all the drama you were in and all the hard work you did, it would be natural to spend some quality time with him, eh?" Ayanami suggested.

"B…but…uhmmm," Misaka mumbled as her cheeks turned red.

"Go. You deserve to have a day off, too," came Ayanami's firm reply.

The soldiers and the other commanders were apparently puzzled by the commotion. They began to wonder about Masato Ayanami's closeness to Misaka Hojo and Spectre, discussing among themselves the possibilities.

"Spectre? You gotta be kidding me, Lieutenant Hojo can't possibly-"

"Son, I've worked with the young man and while he may be temperamental, by no means is he a dense bastard." The sergeant faintly shot back at the soldiers. "He's just quiet and focused, like every good agent should be."

"At least those two look good together, eh men?" Ayanami's voice sounded from behind them for the second time.

The sound of a door opening a few meters away from where they are alerted all of them. A man wearing the uniform issued to high-ranking MAGIA officers came out of the room and squeezed his way through the crowd. Behind him was the Prime Minister himself, a stern look on his face.

Saito Mizuhashi raised his right hand to his subordinates and gave them a quick wave.

"Well, it's go time," Ayanami whispered to his men and the others, who then formed two straight lines to Mizuhashi's left and right. Behind them, the press forced their way into the formation, only to be swatted back by Saito's hand.

Despite being held back by the commander, the journalists wormed their way through the pack and into the conference room, where they set up their gear and formed a straight file. On entry the Prime Minister and MAGIA personnel were greeted by the flashing of cameras and the sight of anchormen holding up microphones. The Prime Minister was led into a pedestal on the left of the stage, his son standing to a similar platform to the right.

The broadcast began with a briefing from Commander Mizuhashi.

"Just two weeks ago an attack of unprecedented scale occurred at Ikebukuro; some of our delivery trucks were attacked by a group of Hispanic terrorists and some Russian arms smugglers who sought to acquire the virus for themselves. We from the MAGIA combat division immediately launched an operation to quickly neutralize the threat, though as what many have said, it wasn't exactly a clean sweep."

The Prime Minister continued his son's statement.

"Those rascals managed to take captives with them, which made dealing with them more difficult than we expected. Such a terrorist attack of this magnitude hasn't been seen since the Red Tokyo tragedy of two years past, but thanks to the swift and methodical response by MAGIA's commander-in chief, their troops and our self-defense forces have successfully taken them down and captured the surviving attackers."

"In addition to their failure at disrupting our operations, it was an act of stupidity on their part; as noted many of the stolen canisters were duds. Truly, such an attempt is a laughable folly." the commander added.

"Let this incident be our message to all nations who continue to question our activities; we are doing what it takes to perform our duty of helping the world eliminate or at least lessen all forms of hardship in accordance with MAGIA's cause. And as a warning to all terrorists, dissidents and organized criminals around the world, try as you might to cause strife and discord among our people, MAGIA, as well as we, the government of the great State of Japan, shall do everything we can to maintain the peace and integrity of our nation and our people. You and your warmongering efforts have no place in our proud nation, or any of the world's nations for that matter. We do not know who you people are, but whatever your allegiance or country of origin, we will find you and we will bury you," exclaimed the Prime Minister as he concluded his speech.

The conference ended in only ten minutes; press did not bother to ask any further questions as the father-son pair have already addressed all concerns. The younger Mizuhashi promptly ordered his fellow commanders to follow him back to MAGIA. Ayanami stood to his right, a puzzled look on his face.

Life went on smoothly after the nationwide newsfeed. Workers went back to their jobs and classes in all levels resumed. It was the last thing the Japanese people would hear regarding the Ikebukuro crisis.

Hotaru was still at school when the announcement was made. Just yesterday, she aced all her exams, which made her feel a bit more confident. Yet when the final broadcast was shown, her mind immediately went back to the man who saved her from all the chaos. She was still curious about his identity, yet remained positive that they'll cross paths someday.

"You're daydreaming at lunch again, Hotaru-chan…" Miyuki bluntly said as she looked at Hotaru with concern. "Well the news didn't say anything about anyone involved in the operation other than that Saito guy who was in charge of everything and that shadow dude who took part in the rescue."

Hotaru took Miyuki's words whole; indeed there was a shadow magician who rescued them back then.

"But for sure it wasn't him – the guy who saved me on that day was tall and big, and he was strong enough to carry me effortlessly. He doesn't seem like any of those other, 'professional' magicians…"

The young woman took a deep breath.

"Hmm?"

"I was saved by a rogue," Hotaru muttered as she gazed at Miyuki's deep blue eyes. On them, she saw considerable disbelief. But for Hotaru, it seemed like a natural reaction to a wild conclusion since she knew that rogue magicians have been branded as criminals for their 'abuse of power'.

"Then the one who saved you probably has a chance of being recruited and going pro, and not the other way around," said Miyuki, her response uncharacteristically serious.

"Problem solved Hotaru, now just be thankful that you lived through that and you will live through this semester," she added.

"You're right," Hotaru replied.

Their day ended well and now the two women were joined by Haruyuki, their senior, on the walk home.

"SERIOUSLY?" the two yelled.

"I totally cannot believe the fat senior has a girlfriend!" Miyuki remarked in disbelief.

"Well, now you know. Yeah, and, uhm, she kinda looks like you a bit,Hotaru," Haru said.

"Ohoho, I still cannot believe it but, oh well…pigs are said to be lucky creatu-" Miyuki sarcastically commented but was interrupted by Hotaru's hand covering her mouth.

"Please excuse my friend, Haru-senpai, she just has a lot of snark in her," Hotaru explained.

"No worries. I'm used to getting that all the time!" Haru said with a bright smile on his face.

As they continued walking, they found themselves back in Aoyama where the lights started flashing on as the day slowly drew to a close. The sun was still up in the sky, its light was gradually fading away.

"You see, I wanna treat her today to a night at the Floating Glass, along with some of my friends," Haru told Hotaru.

"Haru-senpai, you don't have to ask for my permission. Yukari's place welcomes anyone and I bet she probably knows you'll be coming. Though her place doesn't really tolerate drunkards and other misfits," Hotaru explained, the last few words being her advice to Haru that should be well-taken.

"Thanks Hotaru!" Haru said in response.

Nearing the train station, the three parted ways; Miyuki went north, running into a crowd of pedestrians and then disappearing. Haru met up with his girlfriend and his clique, who waited with Yukari at the entrance of the Floating Glass. Hotaru, meanwhile, entered the train station, remembering that the area at Ikebukuro where the attacks happened has been completely rebuilt.

I wonder if I can buy my records from there again.

Taking the train as she once did, she dropped off at Ikebukuro, and went back to the same music shop she visited two weeks ago. She opened the new glass doors and came in; as she did the store owner greeted her in surprise, leaving the pizza he was eating at the table.

"Oh, good evening young miss! It's good to see you're all okay!" he called out at Hotaru with his arms wide open. Motioning her to come inside, he could not contain his delight for the young woman.

"Come, come. I have a special offer for you, buy any five albums and you get three more for free!" he insisted, his tone changing in intensity as he did.

"But sir, I can't accept such an offer, your business got in trouble!" Hotaru protested, knowing that the shop may not have gotten any gains during the rebuilding period.

"Nonsense, my dear. Those magicians got me covered and I simply cannot refuse any of my customers the right to buy good music! Consider this a token of my gratitude and a once-in-a-lifetime offer!"

"Okay, okay… I get it, but what exactly happened after things got screwy two weeks ago?" Hotaru inquired.

"Well, just so you know, MAGIA set up satellite command somewhere here in Ikebukuro. Those guys called in some of their magicians and some workers from other construction companies. The magicians with super strength got rid of the rubble without the need for heavy equipment, saving us time. Some guy with heating capabilities and another who had psychic powers helped in the welding process. As for the smart ones, they were in charge of the restructuring plans. Those two weeks were a glorious sight for me and the people from all over this city; magicians and regular people working together like never before!"

"Oh…I truly wish I were here to see that happen…" Hotaru sighed in response. "Guess I'll go pick out some albums, then…"

"Take your time," said the storekeeper.

She went to the aisle where new records were put up for listening, only to find out that some other ones were put up. Must be the new releases.

"There's more at the music library!" the storekeeper hollered, pointing at a large hall lined with hundreds of records arranged in shelves. Electronic displays hung down over each shelf, on them were names of various genres; pop, classical, acoustic, rock, dance, hip-hop, metal, electronic and pretty much everything else. Hotaru walked towards the 'pop' section and immediately picked out four.

"Only one more…"

To her left was an album case with an illustration of five anime girls on the cover. She instantly recognized it as the latest VOCALOID X album and there was only one left. As she was about to pick it up, another hand came from the opposite direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry," a loud, booming voice said.

Startled, Hotaru turned her eyes upwards to see a tall, dark-skinned young man; his curly hair was combed backwards and he was wearing a dark, heavy coat.

"Do you also want this album?" Hotaru asked the man.

"Oh no, no…you saw it first. You can have it," he said smiling with an apologetic tone. "I'll just wait another time".

And with that, he went to the register; purchased the albums he has bought and left. Hotaru followed soon after.

"Five albums, please."

The storekeeper received Hotaru's payment and packaged the albums; as soon as he did he pulled out three albums from his drawer and placed them on the counter.

"These are…" the young woman gasped.

"Well, I'm not sure whether you'll like these, or if these were the same albums you bought last ti-"

"No, no. I'll take them." Hotaru responded.

"By the way, that was Shirou-kun you met back there…" the owner told Hotaru as he gave her the receipt. "A very kind and helpful young man, he volunteered in helping me rebuild this place, along with the other guys. Surprisingly strong for his age, and tireless too – he kept working while the others were having their break."

N…no way. Hotaru was astounded by the owner's description of him.

"Is there a problem, miss?" the man asked.

"No…it's nothing. Anyway, I gotta go! Thank you very much!" Hotaru hurriedly mumbled as she left the shop.

"Come again!"

Walking along the way home, Hotaru could not seem to stop thinking about the feeling when she met the man. Her mind began to stir.

Could it be him?

No, no, no…it can't be, you're imagining things Hotaru…though he was very tall and the owner did say he was stronger than the average man.

No, Hotaru, stop thinking about such nonsensical things.

Augh!

She was clearly speaking her mind; so loudly that she was getting more than a few stares from the people around her, though she didn't mind them at all and went along her way. A churning sensation from her belly disrupted her thought, however.

Great. Just great, Hotaru, all that thinking has made you hungry. She grumbled.

The young woman went to a MagRonald's restaurant near the station and approached the counter to order her meal. "One regular burger and fries…"

In her hunger, she chowed down on her food as soon as she took her seat, completely forgetting to express her gratitude for the meal. While she was at it, she saw the same man from earlier, walking along the other side of the street.

"Shirou-san…"

With her curiosity swelling, she quickly got out of the restaurant and decided to follow him. At that time, the sun had begun to set.

For pretty much anyone, Shirou Harada's dark skin color and rugged features would make it hard to think that he's Japanese, even though he truly is. He is currently in his last year of college and does part-time jobs as an auto mechanic. Occasionally, he is called in by construction workers whenever they need help in fixing their machinery.

Hotaru kept hearing the storekeeper's descriptions of the man inside her head.

"Oh, man! Mafuyu's gonna be mad at me," Shirou complained while looking at the many albums in the bag. "I was so close to getting that last one! But I hope she'll like these, though."

The young man turned to the left side of the street, stopping by a children's playground. With his long, muscular legs, he went over the iron fence, designed to keep kids inside the area, with ease.

This brings back memories, he thought as he looked at the slides and swings where he and his sister used to play on when they were young. He walked towards the slide, seeing the metal ladder badly bent. Looking around to make sure there was no one around, he grasped the ladder.

With a quick tug, Shirou effortlessly bent it upright.

"There, now it will look good to the kids and safer to climb on," he spoke. "I better be on my way then."

He turned around towards the park's exit, only to see a young woman standing directly in front of him, her mouth open in surprise.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhh!"

They both screamed.

"I knew it! It was you all along!" yelled the woman.

"Know what?!" a panicked Shirou questioned as his secret was blown. He was desperately trying to find words for this situation, only to find himself taken aback. "A…and who are you!?"

The young woman stepped forward and held him by the shoulders.

"Don't you remember? I'm that girl from the hostage taking two weeks ago and you saved me from the fire that occurred…" she said to her with a loud, vivid tone.

Shirou looked at her another time. His mind went back to the crisis of two weeks past; he suddenly remembered helping a beautiful young woman with fox-like eyes get out of the firestorm that was quickly engulfing her. After that he drifted back to reality; it had all finally come together.

"You're Hotaru Sakurai?!"

"Yes, Shirou Harada-san," she replied.

The man took her into his arms and hugged her, Hotaru doing the same as tears fell from her eyes. "You were a lifesaver, I thought I was about to get cooked back then. I couldn't move, I couldn't cry out. I was so scared…"

"…and then you came"

"I felt the same way…for a split second I thought you were a goner…!" the young man exclaimed.

"I was just passing by to buy an idol magazine and a few albums for my sister's collection when all of a sudden I saw a lot of people panicking. I immediately knew something was terribly wrong, and though I wanted to run away, my instincts told me to help out and check for those who were trapped in the mayhem."

"Along the way there was this shadow magician who attacked me thinking that I was an enemy. I told him to take it easy and explained that I came to help. He guided me to what looked like a pile of dead and unconscious people beside a large truck. He informed that they were clearing up the crisis zone and that they needed someone to guard some rescued hostages. They guided me towards the extraction point, but suddenly a large explosion blocked the route I was taking. I had to take a detour when I encountered a group of people surrounded by flames. I knew I had to do something," Shirou explained all the details of his involvement.

"I see. You went through all that trouble just to get to me. You're brave, Shirou," Hotaru smiled at the man. "Seriously, though, the metal on that ladder is very strong, even when old."

Shirou kept listening to the young woman.

"The moment I saw you bend it so easily, I knew that it had to be you…"

The young man stood up and turned his head up to gaze at the sunset sky, all the while raising his hands.

"Do you think I'm a freak?' he asked the girl.

"No. Not at all."

"I am a magician, though I don't work for MAGIA. But I'm not like those rogues who are being hunted down," Shirou said, his tone now serious, his large build giving off an intimidating presence. Hotaru, however, wasn't afraid.

"So, after Red Tokyo you were a carrier, then the virus gave you superior strength, right?" Hotaru asked.

Shirou nodded. "But not just that…to show you…punch me as hard as you can"

Hotaru was stunned by Shirou's request.

"S, sorry but I'm not really good at punching," she mumbled.

The man, however, put his arms to his sides, "You can hit me with anything you want, then…" he added.

"Try that branch over there." He said, pointing to his left side.

Hotaru touched up the branch and felt the hardness of the wood. With a gulp, she took it and then checked if there was anyone around the playground; it would be hard for her to explain in a situation where a woman assaulted a maln, she obviously did not want to get into any trouble.

"Here goes…"

She swung the branch at Shirou's head with great force.

The branch shattered with a crack, sending splinters flying away from the young man's head. The impact left no scratch and the man himself simply smiled, apparently looking fine. So aside from great strength, he also has invulnerable skin.

"You really hit me without a second thought, did you?" he asked.

"I somehow know that since the fires never touched you when you carried me," Hotaru said in a fairly curious yet surprised tone.

"I'm glad you know…" spoke Shirou as he approached her with an outstretched hand. She grabbed hold of his hand and shook it.

"It was nice meeting you," said Hotaru.

"Was a pleasure meeting you too, Sakurai-san. I do hope we meet again," replied the man, He then let out a quick sigh, before looking back at the girl's sparkling eyes.

"Oh, and one more thing…I would prefer to keep my abilities a secret. Please do not tell anyone."

"I can promise that," Hotaru said with a bright smile on her face.

Behind her, the sun disappeared into the horizon and the sky went dark. She turned away from the man who was her savior, and happily walked out of the park, feeling pleased to have met her 'guardian' from Ikebukuro.

"Little sis! I'm home!" he hollered at the doorstep of a large, Western-style, three-story house.

From outside, he heard some banging noises, as if something or someone had just fallen down the stairs. Worried that something must be happening inside, he quickly opened the door and stepped in. But as soon as he slammed the door open, a speaker was launched at his direction, hitting him directly at the face and sending him collapsing into the bushes.

"Geez, onii-chan, if you're going to come home this late, at least call me!" barked the young lady as she stood by the door. She appeared to have just gotten out of the bathroom, as he saw her wearing only a towel around her supple, curvaceous body.

"I, I'm really sorry Mafuyu-chan. I totally forgot to call," Shirou apologetically exclaimed, only to have his word cut short by her younger sister's foot colliding with the side of his skull.

"Hmph! Thanks to you, I had to eat by myself again, and I can't make any new songs without references! Hell, in my boredom I had spent a good twenty minutes in the bathtub…now my foot's filthy again…" she angrily said, apparently still agitated.

"You did buy the albums I requested, right?"

A strict look on her face started to appear.

"No albums? Well, you leave me no choice but to bathe me again!"

"Of course, they're here with me!" Shirou said as he got up and hastily gave the bag of albums to his sister.

"Ooooohhh! Yaaaay!" Mafuyu screamed out in jest, her grouchy face vanishing almost instantaneously.

"Thank you, onii-chan!"

She then smiled at her big brother and leapt at him, then gave him a sweet kiss on his right cheek. "Now I can make lots of new songs!" she said while running up to her room, dropping her towel on the steps.

She threw the door open and went into her space, a fairly large cell jam-packed with decorations and instruments. The walls were painted yellow, with small stars and candy shapes adorning every inch. Mounted on her workspace were multiple monitors, a tablet, a keyboard and an elaborate disc jockey setup in bright neon colors. Mounted on the walls were framed posters with her likeness printed on them, as well as colorful illustrations of Vocaloids, idol groups and cute anime girls. On her bed lay large stuffed creatures of different shapes and sizes, beneath it, a white synthesizer and a black mixer with turntables, old equipment that she still uses from time to time. Immediately after entering her room, she opened her closet to pick her evening clothes, then hastily jumped into her cluttered workspace and put on her candy-themed headphones. She had totally forgotten to comb her long, orange-blonde hair and close up her nightgown.

She typed rapidly on her keyboard, completing a few paragraphs in only one minute, then turned her chair to another monitor with a top-mounted camera. Adjusting the device's positioning, she spoke to the camera.

"People of Earth! It's your favorite idol, Mafuyu-chan! It's late evening here at Tokyo and you know what this means! That's right! Party time! Earthlings, get ready for a new and awesome live mix in this super-special broadcast!"

She spun her chair to her left and away from the camera, and reached for the new albums her brother bought for her. Opening the discs' cases, she mounted them into separate drives and hooked them up to the mixer, the first song began playing in the background at once.

Okay…she let out a faint sigh and then turned back to the camera.

Let's do this.

"Alright Earthlings! Better tune in right now and get ready to dance to the beat with this hour-long electropop megamix! And oh, watch out for my new album, Space Fairies, which will be out very, very soon!" Mafuyu hollered through the camera's mic and immediately, the other screens flashed wildly with video feeds of her loyal fans and spectators as the view count rapidly increased to the hundreds of thousands.

Arguably one of the idol fandom's biggest names, the sixteen-year old Mafuyu Enma packs an air of cheerfulness, positivity and childish innocence, which shows in her unique fashion sense; round, doll-like eyes, soft, pale skin and penchant for frilly Lolita dresses and apparel, adding up to her sugary-sweet vibe. For a girl of her age, she is quite well-endowed, with plump breasts, a slender waist, and wide hips that extend down to her lithe legs, a definite looker even for pop idol standards.

Through various social networks, she rose from a random upstart disc jockey to one of Japan's most popular singers, songwriters, recording artists and cultural icons in a very short span of time, all thanks to her attractive image and magnetic personality. Normally, anyone of her status would be living in a luxurious mansion akin to those owned by Hollywood's rock legends and rap moguls, but she decided to ask her manager to let her stay in the safety and comfort of her own abode. With the manager's approval and by her own conditions, her label had to build a recording studio for her upstairs so she can practice for her live performances and produce her own albums without ever leaving home. Undercover security and her closest neighbors were assigned to patrol the neighborhood every now and then for any crazed, rabid fans; while Mafuyu herself has a fair bit of objections to the arrangement, owing to her preference to be very close to her dedicated fanbase, her manager still decided to keep the patrol up in respect for her privacy, as a means of safeguarding her image.

And definitely, she is quite the oddity, always in a world of her own. She is always energetic, even feisty, and doesn't seem to stop at anything. Known to her friends and most loyal fans as an attention-seeker, she revels in the thrill of the performance.

But despite being the eccentric and hyperactive klutz that she is, she still manages to find time to show her deep love for all her fans and those whom she holds close, especially the brother who had been by her side for much of her life, whom as far as she knows is living a normal life and caring for her night and day,

Walking upstairs and into his room, Shirou threw himself to bed and gazed at the empty ceiling. He could hear the faint sound of singing and electronics coming from her sister's room upstairs. The song had an uplifting tone to it, calming him down. His mind was now relaxed and slowly clearing up. He took a deep breath, and then let the air from his lungs flow out. Thinking back to his meeting at the park with the one he saved, Shirou spoke to himself…

I can trust her.

Feeling his eyes close suddenly, he slowly fell asleep,

Forty-thousand feet above the East China Sea, turbulence rocked the Boeing 858 passenger plane, but the aircraft's advanced design and features meant that the crew, as well as the passengers, would only feel very little discomfort, if none at all. As precaution, however, the sign that informs everyone on the plane to KEEP SEATBELTS ON during turbulence flashed on. Moments later, the sign flashed off and everyone resumed their activities.

"Would you like some coffee, sir?" asked the flight attendant to a man wearing a black business suit seated in the middle section of the cabin. He declined and the attendant went on her way. Leaning back to his seat, he continued reading a thriller novel. Beside him was a young girl wrapped in a blanket sleeping soundly, her head rested on the man's shoulder.

Over the plane's PA system, a message was heard:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We will be arriving at Haneda International Airport in Japan in three hours. Recently we are experiencing mild turbulence but rest assured that the remainder of this flight will be to your comfort. Thank you."

And the message was over.

He hasn't slept ever since their flight left Singapore. His eyes have grown bloodshot from the fatigue and his vision was slowly blurring, until he could no longer read the fine print on the novel's pages. He decided to sleep like the girl beside him. Closing the book and crossing his arms, the man finally went to sleep.

MAGIA

Chapter Three

Haunt

Hokkaido, known to many Japanese as the land up north, is one of the island nation's four main landmasses, and the second biggest. For more than half a decade, it has experienced considerable development in the same vein as many of Honshu's megacities, partly due to MAGIA's very strong presence in the region's largest municipality, Sapporo.

Occupying an artificial isle constructed just offshore of the bustling city's coastline, the colossal black nexus built upon it houses the hundreds of operatives and personnel constituting MAGIA's Sapporo branch, known internally by the designation, Sector C. Certainly, compared to the thousands of operatives working in the organization's main branch at Tokyo, Sapporo's branch is but a relatively small task force operating in the region's biggest urban expanse; nonetheless it serves a major role in the development of the GEM virus and training of the group's magicians.

Its command center is without doubt a hive of activity; hundreds of MAGIA personnel, mostly magicians and armed operatives, as well as a sizable number of scientists and other working personnel, tirelessly worked day and night to monitor the facility's operations. Each division of the sector kept an eye on their assigned areas, from the virus production lab, to the testing facilities, medical wards, intelligence hubs, and so on.

Activities were overseen by a control room situated at the end of a free-floating skybridge over the structure's topmost floor. Inside it is a large, tan-skinned young man wearing MAGIA's officer uniform, Sector C's second-in-command, Gino Nozomi, who was sitting in mid-air as his eyes scanned the numerous glass displays surrounding him. He wasn't surprised by the stealing of the 'duds' that just arrived to their base two weeks ago, and agreed with the Prime Minister's statement that called the attackers' failed attempt an act of absolute stupidity which led to the group's end.

Opening a large, black, floating suitcase, he pulled out a file about two American scientists that would be going to work at this branch in five days.

Interesting, he thought as he remembered the notice that the UN issued an order to MAGIA to allow foreign workers and volunteers, who would be doubling as observers, to join their workforce.

"Excuse me sir, an urgent message from Lieutenant Ayanami," A Frenchman interrupted his reading. Nozomi went down and placed the file back in its case before stowing it away.

"Patch me through him," he said in French. The foreigner tapped the screen a few times and Sector D's lieutenant appeared on Nozomi's monitor.

"Good afternoon Lieutenant Ayanami, what is this urgent message and why does it have to be me who got this message and not my superior? And are you doing the same with the other sectors?" Nozomi inquired, wanting to ask a lot of questions at once.

"We've got information about a group of rogues working together at an undisclosed location and First Lieutenant Saya Rukino has assigned you to handle this," Masato replied in a calm and cool manner over the line. "But Miss Rukino is currently In Germany discussing terms with the government regarding the role of magicians in boosting the nation's economy, especially in the business and industrial sectors. As protocol, in the absence of a higher-up, the second-in-command will take responsibility."

"Where did you get this information?" Nozomi asked.

"From our contact codenamed Hostess," replied Ayanami.

"What do you need in handling these rogues?"

"We would like a delivery of at least five crates of vaccine bullets by tomorrow".

"That much?" Nozomi was surprised by Ayanami's demand.

Masato's face turned from relaxed to serious as his likeness appeared in Nozomi's monitor.

"Yes, that much and I want them delivered early. ASAP, preferably," came Ayanami's final reply. The video feed immediately cut off.

Masato closed his sleek, silver laptop and took a sip of his tea. He then swiveled his chair to the left. In front of him, a scantily-clad woman in bondage gear sitting on the couch caught his attention.

"By tomorrow, those rogues better show up on my specified 'time'. I want a clean operation this time, unlike in Ikebukuro."

"I'll give you all the time you need, handsome," replied the woman.

Miyuki and Hotaru were hanging out at one of the areas around Yoyogi Park, a patch of green adjacent to the well-known Harajuku station. It was yet another Sunday and the two had all the time to have a little break as they didn't have any homework or research to worry about. On that day, cosplayers, street performers, Lolita girls and heavy metal fans walked past them as they paced through the crowd around them. On the sides of the walkways dancers and artists set up makeshift booths where they show off their talents and cater to their fans.

"You don't seem awfully serious today Hotaru-chan…" Miyuki began a conversation with her partner. "Did something really cool happen lately that I should know?" she asked.

"Um, nothing really happened…it's just that all my problems and questions have been cleared from my mind," Hotaru replied; meanwhile she began thinking to herself.

I made a promise to someone and I can't break that.

"I see," Miyuki acknowledged her friend's statement, clearly not wanting to pry anymore.

"Oh, have you heard? Haru brought his girlfriend and other buddies to Yukari's place," a joyful Hotaru said as she began a new topic for their conversation.

"You mean that place full of magicians?" Miyuki asked with a smile, curious to hear more.

"Yeah, and from what Haru told me they were whisked away at once and got a special discount on beverages," she replied. "Now they want to come back with us in tow."

"Oh yeah!" Miyuki cheered loudly, attracting the attention of a group of Lolitas who were having a tea party. "We should definitely have a schedule ready soon!" she added, dropping what's left of her popsicle as she spoke.

They continued walking across the park, meeting several cosplayers, street dancers, punks, rockers, foreign tourists and many more people of different cultures along the way. While they were at it, Hotaru noticed her friend looking at her watch constantly.

"Um, if you have another appointment, I can always go ahead Miyuki…" said Hotaru.

"Sorry' bout that. I really have to go somewhere, and it's kinda important," she apologized before looking at her watch again.

"Oh my, I really have to go Hotaru…bye!"

The young woman watched her friend disappear yet again into the crowd. She now found herself alone in the middle of the park. Looking up at the afternoon sky, she let out a faint sigh.

And she says I'm the serious one; she looked more serious than me just then.

Miyuki walked fast, being careful not to bump into other people. Spotting her destination in the distance to her right, she panned her eyes around her surroundings to find out if anyone was following her the entire day. Squeezing her way out of the crowd, she then scrambled into a dark alley.

"Just in time Icy," a voice echoed from the walls of the passage. Miyuki put down her belongings, her face now serious. She pulled up the hood of her summer jacket; as she did a patch of white hair fell down from the crown of her head to her fringe. Her skin turned pale; moments later it became a sickly gray hue.

Gotta stay frosty, she told herself.

Miyuki turned to her right, facing an open door that led to a stairwell. Walking down the flight of steps was a black-haired woman wearing a tight leather catsuit. She carried a whip over her left shoulder and was laughing haughtily.

"I had to make adjustments to your schedule so as not to ruin your Sunday," she said.

"You didn't have to. I always come at the appointed time," replied Miyuki as she passed to the woman her tablet. The latter meticulously scanned the list that flashed on it and she smiled before giving it back to the girl.

"That's a lot of targets, young miss," the woman said, pleased with what she just saw.

"Apparently, these must be recruits to the growing group you've been telling us lately," replied Miyuki. "You sure MAGIA can handle this?"

The woman answered. "Icy, if I can handle my customers then they can, too."

After their conversation, the backway was empty as if no one was there to begin with.

Tokyo's Subways
9:50 PM

For decades, Japan's people have used trains as one of their means of transport, second only to automobiles and other motor vehicles. Unsurprisingly, Tokyo is home to two of the busiest and most well-known stations in the world, and the sprawling metropolis is dissected by multiple tracks that pass through its main regions. Several meters beneath the surface, the numerous subway trains rumble on a massive network of tunnels that continues to expand as the years pass by. Like moles digging below the earth, Tokyo's construction crews bore into the ground below the urban jungle's foundations, further expanding the already-sprawling maze of passageways.

There had been times where delinquent groups and other ruffians would hang out in subway tunnels to escape detection and stay away from the larger crowds that frequently steal their precious territory. These misfits have been known to cause all sorts of trouble to the commuters, from picking their pockets and causing fights, to pushing narcotics and groping women in trains. Only when the authorities took notice did they face stiff adversity; magicians and armed security forces have been dispatched to eliminate them and their hiding places. Over time, they slowly disappeared, and subway operations and maintenance continued uninterrupted, but with the changing of times and changing of construction plans, many of the passages were abandoned and left unfinished. These tunnels are no longer guarded by security forces, and naturally, the rebels, felons and antisocials gradually poured back in to seek refuge, thus making these neglected areas a good haunt for opportunists.

A sizable crowd of individuals were gathering in one such abandoned tunnel. It began with a few individuals, followed by gangs, other groups, and their company until they were a large mob numbering over eighty. Each person in the crowd showed off several 'tricks' known only to themselves – it is evident that these people aren't really delinquents, but rather, rogue magicians.

On a large boulder blocking off a secondary tunnel, an orange-haired, tomboyish girl stood. She had a fierce-looking and charismatic presence; as soon as she walked up to face the crowd, they all fell silent. Her harsh stare met theirs and then she spoke.

"A pleasant evening to you all! You probably know the reason why we've gathered here, right?"

The gangsters began mumbling among themselves. She quickly noticed the flock's reaction, and then continued her speech.

"That's right; we are taking refuge from those who wish to enslave us. I know some of you don't like to hide anymore and would rather face them, but for sure that will be your doom. Alone, we are weak, with partners we are still weak, and being in a group makes absolutely NO difference at all!"

The young woman paused once again to observe the crowd's surprised reaction to her last statement, and then quickly went back to her message.

"But, as a clan…a family working together, we can make a change, which is why…I am standing here before all of you…to invite you all, and join our clan. So, join us. Join the HELLFIRE VENDETTA!"

A massive uproar followed, with everyone in the crowd raising their fists.

The woman got off the boulder and walked along an unstable path to the crowd with no problems. Small cinders flew up into the air with each step she took. The woman then faced the tunnel wall and ran up to it, launching herself up in a somersault as she kicked the wall hard with her right foot, embers billowing from her feet while she flipped in mid-air. Landing perfectly near where the crowd was, the young woman spoke a notice to the rogues.

"In case you're worrying about any patrolling magicians, I've placed several people throughout the subway; they will warn us if they get near our place."

"Now, if you please form five lines and register yourselves to those men…" she added, pointing to a group of five men with the same face; they were wearing the same punkish get-up and looked young, with their youthful faces and the long, disheveled hair falling over their faces and the sides of their heads.

"Write your name and abilities, thank you!" the clones said in unison. For the rogues, this kind of application process seemed awkward, especially considering that the group they will be joining is a rebellious organization, but they complied with the procedures anyway.

The application process went smoothly for nearly all participants, mainly due to the multiple men handling the applicants. A blue-haired woman wearing clothing reminiscent of American stage actresses came after one of the applicants and the man smiled at her sight.

"Well, look who decided to show up! Yukari Izayoi. Tired of being a hostess in that bar? I knew you'd never turn down any invitation, especially from one of your most loyal customers," the man exclaimed before winking at her, his doubles doing the same.

"Not really," she said with a bewitching smile. "I still work there and oh, I'm just doing my part-time job there…Ko-no-e-kun!"

"Well, welcome aboard to the… w-wa-wait. What? What part-time job?" the man asked in surprise.

Seconds later, one of his doubles appeared behind Yukari and restrained her. One of his copies took her whip and wrapped it around her torso. She let out a loud moan, startling the crowd. All eyes were now on them.

"Don't you have any manners, Konoe? It's not time for you to touch this beautiful hostess yet!" Yukari said in a cheerful tone.

"Ohoho…how impatient of me!" Konoe shouted as his double planted his foot on the woman's back.

"Aahhhhh! Ugh…" she moaned at the top of her voice.

"Ooooohhhh!" the crowd cheered.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked the group's representative as she looked at the bound woman before her.

"It appears we have a little trouble maker, Horikawa," said Konoe as he summoned more clones of himself.

"Have all your stunt doubles secure their positons!" she ordered before turning to Yukari. Horikawa then pulled up her chin and yelled.

"Who are you working for? MAGIA?!"

"I…don't exactly work for them," Yukari replied. "Oh, and by the way, tell clone boy over there that his efforts are worthless, they're already here."

"Bitch." Horikawa sneered. Pulling a gun out of her jacket, she then gave the lady a furious stare before sticking the gun's muzzle at her head.

But before she could pull the trigger, several armed soldiers appeared from the shadows behind her. The entire crowd found themselves surrounded by them. A pale young man in black clothes appeared last and spoke.

"This doesn't have to get rough people, surrender quietly and come with us; we'll only be asking a few questions."

"NEVER!" The crowd yelled while preparing themselves to attack.

A faint voice spoke through the young man's earpiece. "Signal's up. Spectre, have all units open fire at hostiles!"

The young man let out a sigh as he gestured the men forward.

"Open fire."

Gunfire erupted all over the place. The rogues began rushing towards the armed men and, one by one, used their abilities against them. Some of them had superior strength and simply whacked away at the soldiers. A few others had elemental magic of different kinds, which they used to blast the gunmen away. A pair had the ability to harden their skin, making them bulletproof as they charged forward and tanked for their fellow rogues. Everyone showed their own abilities in various degrees; they were easily decimating the soldiers' ranks with their sheer numbers and with their powers. Spectre tried to successfully trap some of them in his shadows, but to no avail; he saw his men in a pinch from the rogues.

"Switch to vaccine bullets!"

Altogether, the remaining soldiers switched to fresh magazines at a rate so fast and fluid that it was almost artistically done, firing in unison immediately after. Now, the situation has changed to their favor: rogues that were shot found themselves defenseless as they found themselves butted to the head by the soldiers who were knocking them out. Horikawa saw all the chaos, her fierceness rapidly changing to desperation.

"Scatter!"

The rogues were now running, fleeing from the line of firing soldiers who were surging forward in pursuit.

"Come in Spectre! Report your current situation!" a voice exclaimed in the shadow magician's earpiece.

"Don't ask and just trust me. Give me full control over this mission and I'll be ensuring the success of our operation. Got a pleasant surprise for you all," Spectre muttered as he switched off the link to central command.

He then saw the rogues fleeing in droves, with his squad troops on their tails. He felt a sudden surge of energy from within his mind. He slowly raised his hand towards his earpiece as the situation escalated.

"Miyuki! Have your team cover the tunnels! This'll be a street fight!" ordered Spectre.

On the other side of several passageways connecting to the abandoned one, Miyuki's team stood by. "You guys ready?" she asked.

"Ready!" her team replied before heading out to their positions.

"Stay frosty people!" she hollered.

Miyuki's face was now serious. Her eyes glowed blue and much of her hair has now turned white. Clouds of water vapor came out of her mouth with every breath she took. Pulling out a tactical bow she acquired from her previous mission, she fired a bolt into the adjacent tunnel wall; upon impact large ice crystals sprouted from the wall and formed a solid barrier of frost, blocking off her tunnel.

On the other tunnels, the magicians got to work setting up barricades to counter the fleeing rogues. A magician with the ability to conjure metal rods formed a large iron gate on his tunnel.

"And they said I could only make foundations for buildings," he mumbled.

Another blocked a much larger tunnel with a strong forcefield. One of the team's big guys lifted an old subway train and threw it at his tunnel's entrance. The last tunnel blocked was stuffed full with explosives by a normal demolitions expert, who finished off his barricade with a sign he placed on the rubble, printed on it were the words 'UNDER RENOVATION'

Swarms of rogues trying to escape through the other tunnels never saw it coming; every escape route they could have had used was blocked off, leaving them trapped in the maze of subway tracks, surrounded by soldiers and magicians who engaged, arrested and vaccinated them immediately as they came.

"All remaining hostiles captured!" hollered Miyuki over the comms.

"Nice work everybody, and you too Hostess," Spectre said as he congratulated Yukari, who has now tied up Horikawa with her whip.

"Not at all Kamiya,"he responded, calling Spectre by his surname. "Though I do expect a bonus from this one."

"Of course," Kamiya replied.

Spectre knelt down at the woman representative from the Hellfire Vendetta; she wasn't furious but rather, she was in a state of doubt.

"I don't understand," she said softly. "If you blocked off all those tunnels to prevent us from escaping, wouldn't that cause trouble for the commuters?" She was now showing annoyance when she brought that idea up.

"And shouldn't some trains fucking crash into those tunnels you've blocked by now?"

"We thought it out well and this is why we have Hostess here," Spectre said pleasantly, giggling as he did. "She has the ability to control the flow of time around her surroundings. A powerful ally Hostess is."

Horikawa gazed in astonishment at Yukari, and in response the latter simply flashed a V sign at her.

"T…th…that NEET bastard! He said you have the ability to enchant your customers!" a furious Horikawa screamed.

"Ohhhh, did he really say that? Or was he drunk and dazed when he said that to you?" Yukari heartily exclaimed before laughing. Kamiya, however, had a fairly serious look on his face.

"Uhm, Hostess, where's that rogue with the cloning ability?" he asked.

In the Prime Minister's private office, several military officers and MAGIA personnel watched the operation from beginning to end. Saito Mizuhashi and his father were smiling as they saw long lines of rogues being escorted to their vehicles.

"Oh yeah! We've done it again!" shouted the Major General of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, having been unable to contain his praise for MAGIA's handling of its forces and the bravery of the soldiers who took part in the operation. His fellow officials were also chatting over the success of the mission, all the while making remarks on how the operation appeared to be a clean sweep.

Saito, meanwhile, conversed to Sector D's second-in-command, Hojo, over the phone about the results of her handling of the teams involved.

"Well, well, your guy sure was awesome back there," Saito said to her in a happy tone, remarking on Spectre's skills.

"That's great! And he said he's got a surprise when he comes back!" Misaka replied, obviously looking forward to what the shadow magician promised to bring in.

"Wonder what that would be, my dear."

"Well, I don't know, but whatever it is, it's not for you!" Misaka teasingly replied, cutting Saito's question short, much to his dismay. Her superior, Masato Ayanami, smiled at their petty bickering and gave her a pat on her head, which startled her and prompted her to quickly hang up. She clumsily left his superior's room immediately afterwards.

Seconds later, the Prime Minister stood up and delivered his message to the officers, who promptly formed a straight line along the table's side.

"Ladies and gentlemen I would like to thank you all, as well as my son Saito for MAGIA's role in this operation's success." A smile eroded the Prime Minister's hawkish face as he congratulated his men.

"Tomorrow morning I will make an announcement to the people of Japan. For now, you may take your leave; everyone deserves a good rest after this."

Finishing his message, he dismissed everyone from his office, save for his son.

"Father, Lieutenant Ayanami would like you to hear his report," said Saito as he held out a laptop and placed it on the table.

The Prime Minister sighed, not because there was some bad news Sector D would want to disclose, and even if there was, his reaction to anything from Sector D has become quite a habit. He stared blankly at the screen while a small window showing Ayanami's likeness popped up.

"Good evening, Your Excellency. I see that you've already seen the operation from beginning to end," Masato said through the laptop.

"Yes lieutenant, and, may I ask first if subway functions can continue?" the Prime Minister asked.

"Our demolitions and repair crew as well as magicians are now clearing away the damage and I've established a no-entry zone at the actual area of engagement. Subway operations shall resume in two hours, sir," Masato replied.

"Good," The Prime Minister breathed a sigh of relief.

"Any casualties?"

"No civilian deaths, twenty-three soldiers injured with seventeen dead, fifteen rogues successfully neutralized and the rest captured, but…"

"But what, lieutenant?"

"But one managed to get away…"

"One got away?"

"I believe this rogue has the ability to clone himself since Spectre reported seeing five men sharing the same face, and their bodies rapidly decayed without leaving any traces, indicating that he was never really in the area at all."

"Masato…" the Prime Minister said softly.

"Yes, sir?"

The Prime Minister pushed his chair aside and slammed his hands on the table, shaking the video feed on his screen. He was enraged.

"Masato, you promised me that you'll leave no rogue unchecked and that this would be a clean operation!" growled the elder Mizuhashi to him. "It would appear that you left a spot in your work! Didn't you even think that…that one rogue could lead to even larger problems in the future, or perhaps tomorrow!?"

"I'm sorry sir," Masato calmly replied, maintaining his composure even after seeing Mizuhashi's seething anger. The Prime Minister didn't say another word, relaxing himself and wiping the sweat off his forehead. He left the room; as he did his son appeared on Masato's laptop screen

"I think I'll speak for my father, Lieutenant Ayanami," Saito said while seated on his father's chair.

"To make it short just search for that rogue as soon as possible and find this damned rebel group along the way so that you wouldn't have to see my father like that again."

Masato was silent.

"You don't want to be demoted like before, eh?" the commander-in-chief asked.

The screen blinked out and Masato closed his laptop. Hearing the door to his office open, he turned his seat around and saw Misaka Hojo come in, with her was a cup of tea and a bag of treats she just received from Kamiya.

"I thought you might wanna take a late-evening break, sir," Misaka placed the cup on his table and sat down on the couch. Masato picked it up and took a small sip, his mind thinking about the Prime Minister's anger and his son's warning.

"Um, ehhh…sir, I think I'll go now," Misaka shyly told her superior.

"Going out with Kamiya, eh?" he replied.

"Ehh…uhm…n-no!" Misaka exclaimed; the young woman's face turned red upon hearing her superior mention the shadow magician's name. "I-I…um, I was with Hiroki-kun earlier, but he just left that bag of treats and went off somewhere! I don't know where he is now…"

Masato jokingly responded. "Oh, so you're gonna look for him, then?"

"N-no sir! I mean, uhm…I should be looking for him, b…but it's not like I'm after him."

Misaka's erratic speech was cut off by Ayanami placing his hands on her shoulders, the feeling of which quieted her down.

"Silly girl. Give the guy a break every now and then," Masato calmly told his second-in-command before letting her go.

As the young woman left, Masato gazed at his face reflected on the surface of the tea before taking a small sip.

The streetlamps shone brightly along one of the capital's sidewalks as the night slowly grew darker and darker, their light giving off a feeling of warmth and safety for the numerous pedestrians who were still out late at night. On one side of the street, Ikebukuro Station bustled with the presence of crowds of office workers who were moving in and out of the structure; many of them would be heading home for a night of peaceful rest. Some of them, however, have not filled their hungry stomachs with dinner, but thankfully several convenience stores and restaurants offered 24-hour services to accommodate late-diners.

Thirty minutes ago, he dropped off at Ikebukuro to take some time off after a hard day of work, In keeping with an earlier promise, he spent some time in a convenience store, buying goods and treats to be taken home. He was going to carry the goods himself, but coincidentally, a certain someone had unexpectedly seen him and he had the person bring the package back home, an order that she hesitantly obeyed.

With the deed done, Hiroki Kamiya now wanted to take a break.

Entering a MagRonald's restaurant near the station, he fell in line and made his order, The cashier gave him the sundae he ordered, but also told him that the rest of his meal was being prepared and so he went to his seat. By ten minutes, he expected his food to be served to him.

It did not.

Thirty minutes went by with no food being served on his table. In his boredom, he finished his sundae and was now savoring the last bit of fudge left in the cup while playing a rhythm game on his phone.

Many diners had shared the table with him and now he was starting to feel irritated and a bit drowsy. Breathing a sigh of annoyance, he placed a hand on his forehead and stroked his hair while he kept on waiting.

"Is there a problem, miss?" A female voice sounded from in front of him.

Looking forward to see who spoke to him, he saw a woman in a brown jacket sharing a dining spot with him. The woman had long, flowing hair, fair skin and expressive eyes, and was eating a large serving of French fries.

"Huh? Uhm…not at all…" Hiroki spoke to the woman, who gasped in shock as she found out that she was talking to a man.

"S-sorry! I seriously thought you were a…how silly of me!" The woman chuckled in surprise before asking Kamiya. "You must be hungry…well I'm having my dinner right now but I won't mind if we share a meal."

"I get that all the time, and yeah, thanks, but no, I'm still waiting for mine-"

"No, it's okay, I said I won't mind if we share this meal." The girl insisted.

"Okay then, fine," the shadow magician replied and took his share of the meal.

He ate silently, not wanting to waste any time on lengthy conversations with the stranger in front of him. Normally, it would be rude for someone to be ignored by a stranger whom he or she offered special needs to, but the woman didn't feel offended in any way; she guessed that he was a silent, focused type and she respected that.

The man finished eating his share and took a short pause, then stood up, facing the door. Seeing that he was about to leave without warning, the woman hastily called his attention and spoke to him.

"I enjoyed this little meeting of ours, well I know you're a bit on the quiet side, but should you wish to know my name, it's Hotaru Sakurai," she said to Kamiya.

"Good night," Kamiya said promptly.

"I saw you on the news." Hotaru mumbled to him. "You are a magician, aren't you? Please, I want to learn more-"

To her surprise the shadow magician hastily went out of the restaurant and into the dark cityscape outside.

Away from the woman, he sat on a concrete ledge that formed part of a storefront, and thinking back to the woman's last statement, a surge of curiosity overcame him.

So the girl's in the know. I wonder if that's the one Miyuki was observing for the past few days. Interesting.

Masato sat alone in his post, his right hand holding a pen which he repeatedly tapped on his desk. His teacup was nearly empty, but since his second-in-command had not brought in the rest of his crockery; there was nothing to refill his cup with.

Taking a last look at the cup's contents, his mind went back to the Prime Minister's anger and his son's warning to him.

"You don't want to be demoted like before, eh?"

A smirk formed on his face.

Dogs will bark at people they despise, and will no longer do so until they acknowledge them, though that will certainly take a long time, Masato thought as he drank the remainder of his tea.

MAGIA

Chapter Four

Stray Path

The nation was getting ready for a major announcement from the Japanese government through the nation's Prime Minister who had just arrived in his meeting room along with selected MAGIA personnel and the military's top officers. News has announced a resumption of subway functions after a two-hour delay last night, and by then the public has had an idea of what really happened. Everywhere in the nation's capital, workers, students and everyone else temporarily took a pause from their activities and tuned in to national television and radio so that they may hear the government's important announcement.

At Tokyo University, classes were suspended in all departments, and all students were glued in to the live newsfeed on the screens in their classrooms. Hotaru, who had been following last night's news, felt anxious to hear today's broadcast.

On all television screens, Prime Minister Raizo Mizuhashi appeared onstage in his office's conference room; alongside him were all his men, wearing their formal uniforms and their respective organizations' official regalia. Their presence onstage gave off a serious, intimidating aura to the people watching them. Mizuhashi stepped forward to the platform to begin his announcement.

"I would like to announce to you all and to the world of our successful arrest of hundreds of rogue magicians. Last night, they were gathered at one of Tokyo's abandoned subway tunnels but thanks to the combined efforts of MAGIA and the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, the operation went smoothly."

The Prime Minister then flashed a video of the rogues held in their detention cells, as well as a newsfeed from last night showing the group's recruitment process, before continuing his speech.

"The large number of rogues arrested indicated that they were going to join an organized group called the Hellfire Vendetta. As of right now, we do not know anything about this group but judging from their actions and from the huge arrest, the organization in which they were to join is criminal."

His aged face looked tireless as he went along; clearly his deep words were reaching the viewers who watched on.

"Rogue magicians waste their time in this world; they were fortunate to have survived the tragedy that swept our city and left thousands of our people dead, but look at where they stand now. Rather than serve our great nation and the world with the unique talents and abilities they have acquired, they take advantage of these gifts and use them for themselves, unlike our magicians from MAGIA who continue to work hard and offer their services to those in need despite continued criticisms."

"I would also like to send a message to this 'Hellfire Vendetta' group…" the Prime Minister said, a hint of fury in his speech. "You may continue recruiting these stray dogs and feral beasts into your ranks to be able to pursue your selfish goals but do know that MAGIA, our people, and the whole world stands against y-"

The news broadcast from the Prime Minister's office was mysteriously stopped; all television screens around Japan went static, and radios immediately followed.

"What happened?" asked one of the broadcast personnel to the others.

"All broadcasting stations went dark!"

"Sir, look at this!" called one of the staff members to his superior. On his monitor, a skull appeared and mockingly laughed in a childish, feminine voice.

"The fuck?"

"Urgent message, urgent message!" The skull insultingly exclaimed before disappearing. All screens went back to normal, but instead of the Prime Minister appearing on the news feed, a different man appeared. He had spiky, cherry-colored hair and was wearing a blood-red coat. Behind him were several others wearing the same attire. He took a quick breath, and then spoke.

"People of the world, behold! We are the Hellfire Vendetta!"

Viewers and listeners across Japan and the world were completely taken by surprise. Onstage at the Prime Minister's headquarters, the officials were in confusion and the leader himself was irate. The mysterious red-haired man continued with his message, his tone calm and casual.

"I'll make this simple and clear for you all, but first I'd like to ask you people a simple question: why would individuals with superhuman capabilities be obliged to serve the lower kind? Most of you are aware that this act of selfless service is for the greater good and will lead to happiness for us all.

NONSENSE! I am well aware of the virus' history and its effects it had on our neighbors. Over the years, as the effects of the pathogen became public knowledge, our neighbors grew jealous of us. They were jealous of our talents and how we used it. They were jealous of how our country prospered. They were jealous of how the world relied on our country to improve theirs. They were so jealous that as soon as the virus was made, human rights, religious groups and foreign governments threatened Japan with sanctions and armed intervention."

"Cut him off! Stop the broadcast! I've heard enough of this…garbage!" The Prime Minister ordered, but to no avail; all broadcast teams found themselves unable to restore normal broadcasting as they found their systems hacked. The man resumed his speech.

"The government at that time was weak and decided to create MAGIA as a show of good faith to the world. Our countrymen found themselves working in foreign lands, working for those who are jealous of us, working despite being labeled as 'monsters' and 'freaks'. And then the tragedy came; MAGIA and the government took full responsibility for the relief and restoration efforts, yet the sanctions and prejudices still came. When we rogues started to appear our inner instinct told us not to be slaves to the system, but to stand against it.

I am not speaking here as a tyrant, nor are any of us tyrants of any sort. We simply want a world where MAGIA and the injustices it helped worsen do not exist. And we will do what it takes to achieve that dream. That would be all."

The transmission ended with all screens blacking out for a split second, and then the regular nationwide broadcasts resumed.

Citizens and governments worldwide were now raising questions. Prime Minister Mizuhashi felt utterly humiliated on that day and so did the rest of the officials who were with him. His son, MAGIA's commander-in-chief, declared the broadcast over. Activities eventually continued without interruptions, though everyone was now wondering about what the man from the Hellfire Vendetta just said.

It was lunchtime at Tokyo University and Hotaru was eating her lunch together with her friend Miyuki and her senior, Haruyuki. They watched the earlier broadcast from beginning to end; like everyone else they were curious about the sudden appearance of the rogue group and their leader, and were exchanging questions and ideas among themselves.

"So Haru-senpai, what are your thoughts on the Hellfire Vendetta?" Hotaru asked before taking a bite at her yakisoba.

"I think they're just like the other rogues who don't want to work for MAGIA, though the way they appeared calm and disciplined in the video does bother me," Haruyuki answered. He had several opinions running through his head and what he just told her junior was one of them, but when he saw Hotaru's reaction he thought to himself that he may be right at some point.

"When that man in red appeared he spoke in a cool and controlled way, as if he knew very well what he was saying. He wasn't threatening or brash at all. His fellows behind him never spoke but just stood there calmly. It makes me think that these aren't just ordinary rogue magicians."

"I see. I kinda guessed that they aren't just a group of rogues," Hotaru replied as she was finishing off her treat.

"By the way, where's your friend Miyuki?" Haru asked Hotaru, seeing the latter gobble up her lunch.

"She said she had a cold and won't be coming today," Hotaru answered.

"Okay, if she gets better please tell her that we'll be going to the club this Saturday…oh wait, on second thought if she had recovered by then it might stress her out., Haru told her then continued. "Maybe it would be nice if we reschedule our visit, eh?"

"Good thinking Haru-senpai," Hotaru praised his decision.

A few minutes later, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Hotaru and Haruyuki parted ways; they immediately headed to their respective classes. The young woman was mindful of her friend's condition, but a hint of doubt lingered in her head…

It's not like her to catch something since she looked healthy and fine last time…or rather, make that all the time. She thought to herself.

Yoyogi Park in Harajuku was overflowing with people as usual; though it was a school day youngsters continued to flock to the famed recreational area to appreciate the many colors and forms of teenage culture that can be seen on every corner. Several photographers and journalists were making their usual rounds in the area, documenting every single bit of artistry they see, from canvas paintings to dance performances and some well-renowned fashion designers promoting their brands. Meanwhile some cosplayers have been busy taking 'selfies' with many different people, be it one of their kind or individuals from other subcultures.

A black veil hung down from the base of her hat down to the sides of her neck. Her slender legs dangled freely as she sat motionless in the middle of the stirring crowd. The dark ruffled dress she was wearing bulged out from her tiny waist. Her dark eyes appeared like spheres of glass, shimmering under the sunlight that trickled from the canopy above, which was also illuminating her ivory-white skin. Like a wax figure, she sat...limp and motionless, her eyes lifelessly gazing into nothingness, akin to the beautiful dolls carried around by the Lolita girls who were trying to get her attention.

In reality, she was daydreaming. Her mind was seeing things that only she could see. Visions, memories, ideas, experiences…she could see all of them with surprising clarity as if several movies were playing inside her head. With her brain cluttered with so much information, she delved deeper into the darkest corner of her psyche. And she saw a bright crimson cloud slowly eating away the other things she was seeing until only it remained. She saw her own likeness…sitting atop a gravestone that bore her name. Words written in cursive script gradually smothered that image…and then everything went black…

"You were lucky to have lived…no one…not even she…could have survived that…"a male voice spoke.

She could feel a certain warmth in her heart, and could see a small flame flicker in front of her. The voice spoke to her again; it appeared to be telling her something.

"You are but a tiny star…but I'll make you shine brighter than the sun, just do me a favor and live and stand by me…"

The voice disappeared, and so did the image. Blackness engulfed her daydream, and she found herself silently crying. A word slipped out of her mouth…a name.

Vila…

She lapsed back into reality, only to find a young man in casual clothes leaning towards her face. He had a welcoming, friendly aura, and indeed he seemed familiar to her. A pair of headphones hung down from around his neck.

"We've been looking for you all over…you shouldn't really walk off like that," he said, stretching out his hand for the girl to hold.

In response, the girl simply grunted and placed her hand on the young man's. She felt its warmth, and it gave her a pleasant feeling. She got up from her seat and followed the teenager; as they walked she gave the latter a slip of parchment.

The young man slowly unfolded it, being careful not to tear or damage the delicate yellow note. On it was a short quotation, a line that read like part of a fairy tale.

"The mad king shall send his people to the dungeons; none shall escape his wrath"

Another day at school drew to a close as students slowly poured out of Tokyo University's gates. Hotaru had been left behind by her classmates; she had not noticed them walking out of her classroom as she had been busy reading her notes. Packing up her things, she decided that it would be a good time to head home. She picked up her bag and faced the door, only to find her teacher Tobi standing there.

"Miss Sakurai, may I please have a moment with you?" he asked her. It seemed important and thus, Hotaru immediately went to him.

"Since your friend Miyuki didn't come to school today her trigonometry teacher handed these notes to me so I can give them to you," explained the teacher as he passed the papers to Hotaru.

"Oh, thank you Tobi-sensei. I'll make sure these get to Miyuki." Hotaru put all the stuff in her bag and walked towards the hallway but her teacher placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke to her. Concern evident in his eyes, he gave her a reminder.

"The situation in our country is becoming increasingly complex after what we all just saw earlier today in the news. You, Miss Sakurai just experienced and got out of an event that no one could easily survive; now I fear of the dangers that will arrive in the days to come. I want you to be very careful."

"I will sensei…I will," Hotaru replied, and she left the room without a second glance.

Prime Minister's Office
Chiyoda, Tokyo
8:03 PM

It was just as many people expected – the Prime Minister received a lot of calls from foreign leaders after the group known as the Hellfire Vendetta revealed themselves in public television. By now, the Prime Minister was conversing with the last caller, the President of the United States.

"Prime Minister Mizuhashi," the U.S. president began on his end of the line. "We appreciate the efforts of your campaign to capture criminals and rogue magicians over the past few weeks, but this new group raises some concerns."

"Just so you know, President Harris, after what happened today I had our country's intelligence bureau as well as MAGIA use all their time and resources into finding these rogues. I shall say to you what I have told the Emperor and the other leaders: we do not have a full concept of what the Hellfire Vendetta is…what we do know is that rogue activity is increasing and these people are gathering together. Last night's operation was the first to stop them from growing in number and we will do what we can to find more rogues," Mizuhashi replied, his words filled with fury, but making sure that his emotions don't get to him, now that the U.S. President is talking to him.

"We will do any means to crush that group."

"I hope so Prime Minister Mizuhashi because I don't know how much time there is left before the other leaders change their minds," The president then ended the talk with a warning to his counterpart.

It was certainly a horrible day for Raizo Mizuhashi; his administration is under flak, foreign leaders doubt him, and he felt like the Emperor and even his people are questioning him now, too. Nevertheless, he had faith in MAGIA as he knew that the organization was standing strong amidst opposition and he also knew that his son still follows orders without question.

The Prime Minister poured himself a short glass of Scotch whisky and drank it down hard. He felt the liquor course its way down into his body, a warm, stinging sensation moved from the back of his throat all the way to his belly. He hasn't eaten lunch or anything after that, and felt the need to fill his stomach. His secretary, whom he had called moments ago, brought back a platter of tempura, rice, soup, a side dish of boiled vegetables and a cup of tea.

"After this, may I request a call to MAGIA?" he asked to his secretary.

Outside the Prime Minister's room, a commotion was beginning to brew up. Several government officials overheard the diplomatic talks and were trying to decipher the Prime Minister's message.

"Use any means to crush the rogues?" one of the officials asked.

"I don't know. But we gotta understand the fact that the boss is in deep shit now."

"He hasn't got out since those radicals showed up. Maybe he's thinking of ways to deal with them."

"I really do hope this problem is dealt with fast," he said to his partner.

MAGIA Headquarters Main Branch
Arakawa Prefecture
8:30 PM

"The Prime Minister would like to speak to you, sir…"

Commander-in-chief Saito Mizuhashi was signing some important documents when one of his staff announced an incoming message from the Japanese government. MAGIA had been receiving voice and video calls left and right, but none from the administration so far.

I wonder what Father has to say, he thought as he turned on his monitor.

"Commander Mizuhashi, have investigation teams reported anything?" asked his father who had just finished making major talks with other leaders.

"None so far but my top teams are working hard to find any leads towards the Hellfire Vendetta," replied the commander.

From his monitor, Saito saw the Prime Minister close his eyes and take a deep breath before continuing. The commander's face began showing a hint of concern and for his father, who then continued with his message.

"After this group's revelation today, my administration is facing criticism from many leaders and groups and I fear that our efforts may not be enough. Our country could be faced with foreign occupation if the Hellfire Vendetta becomes something that we can no longer handle."

"I understand. Your Excellency, and that-"

"No…you don't understand son!" the Prime Minister boomed at the screen. "I know what these rogues are thinking! They're those people who acquire power and then do as they please with it! As they grow stronger ambitions start to kick in like…recruiting more to their cause, provoking insurgency as they do, making chaos along the way and toppling those in power!"

Saito saw his father pause for a long while, a sinister grin slowly appearing on the aged leader's face.

"Yes….yes…Yes! YES!" he exclaimed.

"They…want to topple me…topple you…topple MAGIA…then rule this damned country and have their way with the rest of the world!"

"I am aware of that, father. I also share your…disdain for those individuals who refuse to follow the rules and waste their potential." MAGIA's commander-in-chief smiled balefully.

"I've told the American president that we will do anything to stop the rogues and the Hellfire Vendetta, and I've thought it out…" his father continued.

"We are going after the source, my son."

"Source? Father, you don't mean…" A puzzled Saito asked.

"Yes, my son, before rogues came to be they were carriers," his father said. "I want suspected carriers conscripted immediately to MAGIA by any means necessary. You have my authorization to use force if needed."

The lengthy conversation between father and son ended with Saito falling silent at his father's order.

"'By any means necessary, huh?"

"Onii-chan!"

"Yes?" Shirou asked her younger sister Mafuyu, whom he saw rushing down the stairs while wearing one of her colorful performance outfits.

"I have a very important meeting with my manager for my next big project. I'll probably be coming home late tonight."

"Hmmm…okay…" came the reply.

"See 'ya later, and good day, onii-chan!" Mafuyu hollered before blowing a kiss towards her brother. She then ran out of the door and slammed it shut.

Shirou then resumed with his chores; it was early in the morning and he still had time to do a little cleaning before going to school. He picked up the floor polisher and started it, and it quickly rolled off by itself to do its job. He then picked up a vacuum cleaner and turned it on, then dragged it around as he cleaned the floor. All the while, he can't help but think of her sister and how she felt towards him.

"To think that I'm sharing my house with one of Japan's biggest popstars…and to think she's my sister, too…it must be a blessing."

Going upstairs to finish cleaning the house, he was stopped by something lying on the way. He picked it up; it was one of his sister's socks. A few feet from where he was, he spotted another one and sighed as he picked up the other.

"Mafuyu, you're no longer a kid, could you please pick up your things and not leave them lying around?" he mumbled to himself.

He then noticed something dangling down from the doorknob of her sister's room, only when he got closer did he realize it was a bra.

"Argh! Sis!" he shouted.

Not too far from where she left, Mafuyu sat comfortably inside a car provided by her manager. She gazed intently at the plush decorations hanging from the back view mirror and mounted on the dashboard. Her eyes sparkled at the sight before her, and she leaned forward to grab one of them, but as she did, a woman called her back to her seat and gave her two folders, the first one had colored scribbles on the cover, while the other was plain. The woman opened the first one and showed it to the girl.

"Well then, Mafuyu, this will be the date and time for your next concert. You'll once again be performing at Shibuya AX with DJ Yahiro, Ellysa and Ami Hiiragi," the woman said to her.

"Cool! I can't wait to promote my new mini-album! Can't wait to practice…can't wait to sing those new songs…yay!" Mafuyu happily shouted.

"Do not worry; all those things shall be taken care of. The details of your project are in the second folder," the woman blankly informed.

"Ooooh…" Mafuyu reacted as she opened the second folder to read about her new 'project'. Taking her time she scanned every line in the plain white document.

"Isn't this a bit…rushed?" she asked the woman.

"We were also…surprised by it; our commander-in-chief said this will take effect tonight."

"What the- B…but I promised onii-chan that I'll be home tonight…" Mafuyu complained, stunned as she could not believe what the paper contained. It was a letter from MAGIA, requesting trackers to scout for and conscript suspected carriers to the organization's ranks before their abilities could fully manifest.

"B…but I thought there was a rule against this!" Mafuyu protested.

"I know. The UN once approved a law by MAGIA which stated that carriers themselves shall be left to freely decide whether to join MAGIA or live their lives normally after being infected with the virus from the Red Tokyo incident two years ago as long as they lives normally and under monitor. Unfortunately those who chose to live normally were…well…they got corrupted and tempted to use their powers for wrong. There had been no estimates on the number of suspected carriers in Tokyo alone since they are hard to detect even with our most advanced equipment," the woman said.

"We've got several hundred suspected carriers all around Tokyo, though at most we shall see a small percentage of them manifesting anything at all," spoke a man wearing a gray MAGIA uniform at her left. The woman continued the discussion to the girl.

"I'm sorry to say this Mafuyu but MAGIA's goals are straying from what you know because that Hellfire Vendetta group appears to be recruiting carriers and rogues and we still don't know why."

"A large and perhaps organized group of powerful rogues could only mean great trouble for our country," the man interrupted, only to be met with a cold stare from the woman. Startled, he fixed himself to his seat.

"Yes, speaking of what he said just now, Mafuyu, since you're siblings with Shirou-san, have you noticed anything strange about him?" The woman asked her.

"Uhm, we did get caught in the chaos two years ago but it was only me who gained abilities, though he doesn't know about it. He does know that I've always wanted to make music and was fairly surprised when he found out I could sing well but I just told him I taught myself how to sing. As for him, I have not seen him show any weird traits," Mafuyu honestly answered.

"I even slipped a detector in his room and installed surveillance cameras everywhere. Two hidden cams in his shower, too. They showed nothing!"

"Well that's good to kno – wait a minute…Cameras? In the shower? His room…?" The woman's face flushed red, a confused look in her eyes, and the man was covering his mouth, trying very hard not to laugh.

They later dropped her off in front of a large building somewhere in Shibuya where her manager and production staff was waiting for her at the building's entrance.

"I can't believe she lectured me along the way while the others kept laughing. I did exactly as told so what did I do wrong?!" She groaned as she walked towards them.

"Commander Mizuhashi this goes against our original cause!" Masato furiously yelled, slamming his hands into his superior's desk. The latter placed his hand on his forehead and shook his head to his left, and then continued explaining.

"Lieutenant, this is a direct order from my father. I'm sorry but orders are orders and they must be followed to the end," Saito grumbled. He then quickly turned his seat away from the lieutenant.

"You are dismissed."

"T…this is an outrage… damn it!" Masato Ayanami growled as he let out a sigh and walked out of the commander's office, enraged at what has become of MAGIA's actions, and disappointed as he knew there was nothing he can do. As he left, a young woman with dark blue eyes came in and approached the commander; he took a last look at them before turning away.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here Miyuki-chan! Your frosty looks and attitude will surely help a stressed man cool off anytime!" Saito warmly welcomed the young girl and motioned her to come near him, his attitude suddenly changing gears from what Ayanami just saw.

"Save your words on someone your age old man. I've brought the papers you requested," Miyuki said coldly.

The commander was bugged by her response; without a doubt he disliked being called 'old'.

"Let me have those…and just so you know frosty…I'm not even thirty yet!" He grumpily took the papers and read them seriously.

"Hmmm…Very promising…indeed these people are…and a lot too." He remarked as he scanned the list of carriers that bore their names and likenesses.

Saito Mizuhashi then stood from his chair and commanded. "Tell every operative and tracker that the recruitment process shall commence in four hours."

"Understood."

Walking along the hallway, Ayanami spotted groups of magicians chatting with one another, and among them was one of his associates, Spectre.

"I can't believe I'll be working in Saudi Arabia!" a nerdy-looking magician complained.

"Hey, at least those Arabs can now build their stuff in safer locations and oh, you can manipulate soil to your will so you can build them some nice sand castles to their liking," a blonde-haired magician told him.

"Maybe you're ri – Oh, Lieutenant Ayanami!"

"Lieutenant!" They all saluted in unison, except for Spectre who was checking some pictures on his mobile phone when Masato approached them.

"Kamiya…can I talk to you?" Masato whispered to his ear.

The shadow magician obliged and they walked towards a quieter place where they conversed, leaving behind the other men who began chatting about them.

"So, you also don't like the conscription order eh?" asked Ayanami to Kamiya, who then showed a look of disapproval on his face.

"Nope sir, not one bit," Kamiya replied.

"You know what, sir, before I became like this, I was just some graphic artist in an animation studio. It's a fun job and I met a lot of friends there but all that changed when Red Tokyo happened. After I survived the tragedy and became a carrier, I voluntarily joined MAGIA when my abilities manifested, seeing how useful it was in helping people, If I hadn't joined, would using my newfound talent at my old work help? Hah, I'd just be some illustrator trying to live normally with a freaky shadow skill. I joined because, you know, I thought it would be right, and it was, but now I worry about those other carriers who would be forced to join our ranks."

"For the purpose of controlling rogues and preventing a political disaster, this is a stupid idea and something better could have been done."

"I'm so glad I'm not the only one." Masato joyfully sighed, relieved that there are others who share the same opinion as his.

"Joining MAGIA at their own free will for the better good…I'm sure there are many others like you, Kamiya." He smirked, placed his hand on Kamiya's shoulder, and gave him one final message before he left.

"Well then…good luck. This will be the night when we stray from what we believed…"

"Yeah, right," The magician replied. "Just don't send me out tonight."

"Misaka's out in the field! Care to join her?" Ayanami shouted back.

What the-

"Oh, come on! Darn, boss, why did you have to send her out this late?" Kamiya complained as he peered down the hallway and saw Ayanami's likeness fading from his view, and then turned back to head to his station where he will be escorting several officials during the conscription.

The doorbell rang numerous times at a household in the outskirts of Nerima, and a woman's voice yelled out from within. "I'm coming! Just hold on!"

Upon opening the door, however, she was surprised to see three men in black uniforms, the word MAGIA highlighted on the IDs they presented to her.

"May I help you?" the woman asked cautiously.

"Are you Haruna Fujioka?" one of the men asked and she nodded. He then handed a letter to her and she read it.

GREETIINGS FROM MAGIA,

IN ACORDANCE WITH OUR BELIEF THAT PEOPLE WITH UNIQUE SKILLS SHOULD WORK FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD, WE, THE PROUD PEOPLE OF MAGIA HAVE CHOSEN YOU, MISS HARUNA FUJIOKA TO WORK WITH US AND BRING CHANGE TO OUR WORLD.

THANK YOU.

The letter she read appeared plain, unusual for a large and well-known company which operates on a global scale. But something felt odd for her; she knows very well that MAGIA never issues any recommendation letters to carriers unless they have manifested abilities.

"Uhm, I'm not exactly sure about this, gentlemen. I mean I wasn't even in Tokyo during the incident," she explained.

"The virus may have been brought westward from the crisis zone by the winds during that time and you may have inhaled some of it," said one man who then pulled out a scanner.

"Hey wait a minute," the woman complained but nonetheless the man scanned her and the device beeped. She was a carrier indeed.

"Just as the file said," the third man calmly mumbled. "Let's go, you're coming with us." He added as he grabbed her by the arm and beckoned the other two to escort her.

"But what about my work at the office? My house? My belongings? I would love to work there but this is just too sudden and I – " Panicking and clueless, she began asking questions, only to be stopped by one of the men who held his hand in front of her, which started to glow a bright yellow.

"All these problems will be taken cared of, ma'am. This is not a threat," the magician said calmly and she walked with them to a black van with eight other people who were also visited by them.

"These people didn't have families, thus they're easy to convince…" the man with the scanner mumbled. "Those other teams and even we would probably run into some difficulties as we go on…"

Aoyama District
Minato, Tokyo
10:45 PM

Business in the Floating Glass went as usual as the young people and magicians on leave partied like there was no tomorrow. Several employees from MAGIA's Sector D as well as Second Lieutenant Hojo were there to meet up with the establishment's proprietress, Yukari Izayoi, only to find themselves stuck in the reception room while she was busy performing her duties.

"And another strawberry parfait for the young lady," said Yukari as she elegantly placed the glass in front of the young girl. She turned her head to the adult seated beside the girl. "Would you like anything else sir?"

"No, thank you," he replied and the hostess left.

Suddenly he felt the table bang again.

" Ugh!" He turned to his right to see the girl demanding another parfait.

"Mwun mow! Pwee! Myomwe pwees…" the girl mumbled through her stuffed mouth.

"You are such a child…" the man grumbled and raised his hand to order again.

MAGIA
Chapter Five

Intervention

It was a Wednesday morning and Hotaru Sakurai went on her way to Tokyo University for another day in class. She had put on her best appearance she had in days, her hair styled in two braids that fell down both sides of her head, and her casual dress and coat flowing in the summer breeze as if they were drapes hanging by an open window. Her face has lit up and her fox-like eyes shone like diamonds. Hotaru knows the reason why and it is a hundred meters from where she's at.

Miyuki, I'm glad you're okay now. I really can't wait to see you. She thought, her heart racing in excitement over seeing her best friend.

Minutes passed, and she could see the university's gates from two blocks away. She thought of running towards it, though a hint of hesitation popped up in her head, knowing that doing so could only attract the attention of her fellow pedestrians.

Gotta keep your cool, Hotaru…you don't want to look like an idiot in front of Miyuki, right?

Moments later, her phone rang, and she quickly picked it up, revealing a text message. Hotaru could not identify the sender as its number was not in her phonebook, but it sounded fairly serious and convincing. The text read:

"I would like to inform you, Miss Sakurai, that all classes will be temporarily suspended for today and that the University will be closed over that time period. Thank you."

The message was a surprise as she can't remember any announcement that the school would close for the whole day and that the sender knew her name. But she headed to school anyway, driven by her curiosity and her desire to see Miyuki.

But by the time she arrived at the campus grounds, a group of black armored vans was parked right outside the campus. The vans were guarded by heavily armed men, soldiers from the Ground Self-Defense Force to be precise, as well as some unarmed personnel in black suits. A huge commotion ensued as teachers and students were forcibly dismissed from the university grounds in lines, kept in check by men and women in matching gray trench coats. She rammed her way into the crowd, accidentally shoving one of the men wearing gray. She promptly apologized for her insolence, only to notice a familiar symbol printed on the man's coat – MAGIA's insignia.

"W…what's going on? And what are these people doing here?" Hotaru asked one student.

"I don't know but these MAGIA guys are calling random students and teachers out. They even ordered the entire school to stop classes."

Hotaru pushed even further into the crowd and saw several students and some teachers being guided into lines by soldiers. In front of the line, a man in his late teens was holding up a device and scanning them. Behind him, she saw the image of a blue-eyed girl with white hair, she was wearing the MAGIA uniform and had a checkered scarf around her neck, covering her mouth. As Hotaru gazed at her, she felt uneasy, startled by the fact that she recognized the white-haired woman.

M…Miyuki…

"Miyuki?!" she gasped in disbelief. Running forward to approach her, she found herself shoved back by two large men wearing MAGIA's security uniforms.

"Off limits young lady…did we even call your name?" said one of them. "Get back in line with the other students."

The other man urged her to fall in line and she hesitantly obliged. She could hear her friend reading out several names from a list.

"Haruyuki Kuchiki."

"Haru-senpai…?" Hotaru mumbled.

The stout young man was confused and nervous when he was called up. The presence of uniformed men from MAGIA and his friend Miyuki only complicated matters.

"Miyuki, what's going on?" Haru asked her but she ordered him to remain quiet, then gave a command to one of his men to scan him. The device beeped.

"Congratulations. You will now be working for MAGIA. You shall also receive your final schooling there as well as a place to stay," Miyuki said in a sharp, cold voice.

"W…what the heck? What about my parents? Do they even know about this? And what about my girlfriend Azusa?" Haruyuki protested, only to see the two guards staring at him with menacing eyes.

Miyuki came to him and glared at his face. "This doesn't have to get ugly senpai, now come with us quietly…or else," Miyuki said as she pulled the scarf down, her frigid breath fogging up the man's glasses.

And with that, Haruyuki unsteadily stepped into one of the vans along with nine other students and two teachers. Moments later the men from MAGIA ordered the crowds to disperse and resume their normal activities. Miyuki looked back at the crowd, and seeing Hotaru charging towards her, she ordered her men to restrain her, but to no avail; in a rush the young woman heaved the men aside and fell hard near her friend's feet, panting heavily.

"Miyuki, what just happened here? And why are you with MAGIA?" Sakurai asked her friend, whom to her appeared different from the one she knew.

"Sakurai, I've been asked a lot of questions today and I'm sick of answering them all…" she coldly replied. "I'll make this brief – we're doing our job so please, don't get in our way."

Hotaru couldn't say another word as Miyuki hopped into the vehicle. Stunned and confused, she walked towards the school's entrance and saw the teacher for her class waiting for her.

Hotaru Sakurai would remain puzzled and speechless the entire day.

"Spectre…what's your status, I repea-" the muffled voice of an incoming transmission spoke through the young man's earpiece.

"Ugh!"

"Hiroki-kun! Hey! Report in-"

"Not now…I'm trying to get some shut-eye,"he grumbled as he turned the tiny device off.

Hiroki Kamiya could not get the image of what happened last night out of his mind. Their team's target, a man named Musashi Kimura, a father of a family of three. Staring blankly at the photo of the man in his tablet, he could vividly perceive the likeness of the young girl, around five years of age, holding her father's hand one last time as he was escorted to their van by MAGIA operatives. He could picture himself handing a letter to the man's wife, stating that they will be well-compensated for her loving husband's service at MAGIA, yet it felt very wrong for him,

This is just wrong, terribly wrong. Both for me and the people with me.

"Care for some coffee, sir?" one of the men offered to him from his seat in the van. Hiroki took it and moved to the back of the vehicle, where he sat down with the man they conscripted last night.

"Here, warm yourself up mister," he said to the man, who slowly took the mug from his hand.

"It's a good thing I'm the only one. I wouldn't want to see my daughter or my wife taken with me, let alone taken away," he said to Kamiya while he drank the coffee. The latter felt uneasy in his seat and was fidgeting around, apparently guilty for the act he had just done.

Orders are orders and they must be followed to the end…

Kamiya calmly apologized to the man. "It was a good thing that your family didn't contract the virus and become carriers. I for one am feeling bad about you being away from them, and to tell you the truth."

"I already know the truth," Kimura cut him off.

"You're forcefully conscripting carriers like me so that before our abilities manifest we would be at MAGIA and not go rogue," said Kimura, picking up from what Kamiya had just mentioned. "Young man, if ever my abilities would appear, I would, without a damn, join you so that I may protect my family and our country from those rogues."

"Then that would be one hell of a wise choice, sir," Hiroki replied.

"Just make sure I won't be working abroad young man."

"That depends on your ability, sir, whether it's for fighting or for helping. You probably won't, I hope," Hiroki Kamiya answered back.

The convoy of black vans rolled from Meguro to Shibuya at a snail's pace, their drivers making sure the conscripts in tow are riding safely and comfortably. The convoy was then joined by several other vans until they totaled fifteen. They were not the only ones roaming around – MAGIA has dispatched dozens of teams around the Greater Tokyo Area and will send dozens more in the outlying zones west of Tokyo and further out into the Kanto region. The initial outbreak lasted for thirty minutes, giving it enough time to spread outward into the surrounding localities before dying down, and for MAGIA, calling forth the carriers outside Tokyo would prove to be another obstacle.

Perched atop a high building near Shibuya's famed pedestrian crossing, a man wearing a red coat was watching the line of vans from afar, viewing them through the scope of a long rifle.

"There they are…"

Meanwhile, a bespectacled young man stood beside him, informing him about the piece of equipment he's using.

"What you're holding now, my friend, is the PGM Hecate II, or you can simply call it the 'Hecate'. It is a 12.7 mm long-range anti-materiel sniper rifle with a skeletal design that keeps the gun at a reasonable weight and an iconic muzzle brake that reduces felt recoil by more than half – essentially making your .50 caliber feel like a regular assault rifle. It's been in service for around four decades already and it's still one of the best big snipers in the market today. Our gun came packaged with armor-piercing and incendiary rounds for even more shooting fun. And speaking of which, have you shot anything ye-"

"Awww, will you just shut the hell up, Mamoru?!" the man angrily barked, interrupted by the babbling of the person beside him,

Behind the two was another young man wearing a black jacket over a red shirt who was listening to music on his headphones.

"My clones are far from being detected by the scanners in their vans. You better make a move now, buddy," Konoe said as he continued looking through his rifle's scope.

The young man didn't hear a thing.

"Hey, I said you better make your move, dammit!" He raised his voice and the young man took off his headphones.

"They're going to be in position any moment Kazuto," Konoe added.

"Sorry about that," came the reply.

Sliding the headphones to his neck, Kazuto picked up his sheathed katana and jumped off the building's roof.

"H…Hey! You forgot your coat!" Konoe shouted from above while one of his clones carried the latter's red coat and ran downstairs. "God damn it! The boss said… Always wear your attire at all times!"

Ten minutes have passed since their van left Shinagawa and Hiroki Kamiya had fallen asleep during the trip, his head turned downwards and his body limp from stress. In his earpiece, a voice called out many times.

"Spectre! Come in Spectre! You with me?"

"Urgh…" he murmured as the voice attempted to make contact with him. Seconds later he was awakened by the sensation of the van suddenly stopping and the noise of the driver's door slamming shut.

" W…what the hell…?"

"Kamiya-san! You gotta see this!"

"Damn it…see what?" grumbled the young man while walking out of the vehicle's back door. He slowly walked forward and observed his surroundings; just as he did Miyuki gave him a slap to the back and shouted at him.

"Hmm, so that was you. What's the problem?" he asked her and the latter pointed to his left.

The young man's eyes opened wide at what he saw: a man was standing in front of the first van, behind him was a wall of fire cutting off all other vehicles. MAGIA operatives were running and taking their positions, ready to engage the man. Miyuki joined them, and so did Kamiya's men. They brought out their gear, as well as several magazine tins containing vaccine bullets.

"What's happening?" Kimura hollered from inside the van.

"Stay inside sir, we've got one hell of a fight coming up," Hiroki replied coolly. Behind him, a teal-eyed magician walked forward.

"Permission to use deadly force, sir!" the magician exclaimed.

"Go ahead, agent Viper."

The shadow magician then walked towards a group of soldiers inching their way towards the rogue's direction, their rifles pointed towards him as they peered through their reflex sights.

"Fire on my command," he ordered and the men took aim.

The swordsman had taken all of them by surprise; he has blocked their route with a massive wall of flames. He had expected an estimated thirty people around the area; magicians included, and saw that there were a lot more.

There could be more inside those vans, he thought. I just have to get rid of this guy first.

Unsheathing his sword and taking his stance, Kazuto's eyes were now focused on the magician standing before him. Mumbling to himself, he attempted to assess his adversary.

Unarmed…he could be a magician, but what kind?

"FIRE!"

The armed personnel blasted away with their rifles, shooting in short, controlled bursts at their target, but the swordsman ran towards them with blinding speed and deflected the bullets with his silver blade. Two MAGIA enforcers were hacked down by his swift slashes as he pushed forward to engage his enemy. Another enforcer blocked his view but was immediately felled by a slash that severed his upper body.

He's gone? Could that guy have a cloaking ability? he thought, seeing his opponent suddenly disappearing.

"What's going on out there?!" Haruyuki yelled inside the van along with the other conscripts when they heard loud noises coming from outside.

"Bring him down!" the teal-eyed magician barked as he threw corrosive spears at the enemy. One of the spears flew very close to Kazuto's right leg, grazing past it and leaving a tiny burn. He could feel the sharp, stinging sensation as he continued his assault, dodging gunfire and magic attacks.

No choice. My enemy's gone, so I'll have to deal with him then, Kazuto thought.

He charged viciously at the spear-thrower, striking down two other gunmen with lightning-quick blade strikes. Spears continued to be thrown at him but none managed to actually hit.

"Shit! He's too fast! I'm done for", the spear-thrower muttered in shock as the man was about to swing the blade towards him.

A sharp sound reminiscent of shattering glass echoed in Kazuto's ears, and he felt something fly past. Seconds later a wall of ice crystals appeared before his eyes, blocking his attack.

"Kaname-san are you alright?!" Miyuki hollered from his six. "Watch yourself, the guy's strong!"

"Quit worrying Icy, as long as there's venom in my veins I'll do just fine."

"Damn", Kazuto grumbled, realizing that his attack had been blocked. His sword was stuck to the ice, and he can't pull it out with his hands.

C'mon Kazuto, you can do this!

He closed his eyes and took a quick breath, and a tiny flame surged from his hand to the sword's blade, turning it a warm red. The searing heat melted the ice around the blade, and Kazuto was able to draw it out with ease. He poised himself for another strike and turned back.

But before he can make another move, two magicians got him cornered. One was extremely powerful, hefting boulders and cars at him with only one hand. The other was a dagger-wielding woman charging at him with blinding speed. Stuck in a defensive stance, Kazuto realized that for all his skills, the two magicians proved to be tough opponents.

"Shit. I'll get pinned down", Kazuto grumbled to himself while fending off the two assailants.

A few blows traded and Kazuto finally managed to get the upper hand, kicking the woman towards the strength-based magician with great force. Having distanced himself away from them, he swung his blade in an upwards arc, firing a wave of fire towards the sky.

"That's the signal!" a voice shouted from a distance.

The MAGIA personnel heard loud footsteps from all around the battlefield, readying themselves in anticipation for a mass attack. And just as they expected, crowds of men rushed out of the buildings and back alleys, pouring into the adjacent streets and running towards the vans containing the conscripts. They were wielding rifles, shotguns and pistols; one of them had a rocket launcher aimed at the convoy.

"Take cover!"

The enforcers and magicians ran away from the battle zone as the rocket zoomed past them and exploded, hitting an empty van and sending the flaming wreck flying several feet into the air before crashing back with a loud thud. Kamiya watched the whole ordeal from beside a van, silently gazing at the men charging at him and at his fellow magicians.

The share the same faces, he thought as the men sprinted towards him.

…They're nothing but replicas of the same guy from last time…

And from around him, numerous shadow trails appeared; creeping very quickly to his attackers' shadows in a move to control them as he slowly vanished into the blackness beneath. Some of the clones turned around and pointed their weapons at the others, sending them running as their doubles launched a hail of friendly fire at them. They made a beeline for the other black vans, but fell into the shadows cast by the billowing smoke clouds and the buildings around them. Kamiya then commenced an attack on the remaining clones, popping up from the shadow trails and knifing them from behind before vanishing into his shadow.

"What the fuck!? Why didn't you tell me it was him all along!?" Konoe yelled at a red-coated man with bluish-gray hair who simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"GOD DAMN IT! I thought I'm gonna score with another lady from MAGIA, but what the hell? She just made my copies play Whack-a-Mole and the worst part is; it's that annoying she-male!"

More clones rushed in and launched their relentless assault, shooting down everyone in their way. The armed operatives were faced with a horde of duplicates before them, and they were running out of ammunition fast. Support teams rushed in and issued fresh magazines to the troops, but the clones were fast and numerous, and immediately picked up the clips as soon as they saw them.

"We gotta get outta here, there's too many!" one of the soldiers screamed as many of his comrades were dispersing in an attempt to find alternate routes so they can flank the mob. From behind them, Miyuki fletched ice shards from her bow to control the enemy's advance, and as she did, she noticed that they were not firing at any of the vans. A thought suddenly popped into the head; it was a realization of their enemy's objective.

"Spectre, they're after the carriers!"

Emerging from a shadow trail, Kamiya saw one of the clones he was following hijacking a van and killing its driver. Before he can get in, the man slammed the door; the shadow magician nearly had his hand crushed as the door flew shut. Seeing a clone hopping into the van through the other door, he controlled it and had it fire wildly on the hijacker, killing it in mere seconds before commanding the copy to shoot itself in the head.

On the other end of the convoy, Kazuto continued to engage the pair of magicians when he received a call from Konoe.

"Kazuto! I'm having a hard time driving these vans! I need help!" said Konoe from the other end.

"Got it pal."

Seeing the vans rolling away from their set route, Kazuto held his position, waiting for an opportunity. Behind him, the dagger-wielding woman rushed to his side, her blades pointed forward.

"Die you Hellfire bastard!" she screamed.

Sensing that victory was now hers for the taking, she surged forward, launching herself towards the swordsman in an attempt to slash his guts. But to her surprise, the man dodged her dagger thrust and grabbed her arm tightly. The man spun her around and threw her at an upwards angle, and then rushed quickly to slash her in mid-air. The woman fought back, throwing daggers while whirling around like a twister. Both combatants dodged and attacked with blinding speed.

The strength magician was confused by what was happening before him but decided to attack anyway, hoping he'd hit the enemy without hurting her. Picking up a burning car, he threw it two meters ahead of their location.

In his peripheral vision, Kazuto could make out the silhouette of the vehicle being thrown at him. In response, he parried the woman's dagger attack, then whacked her side with the scabbard with such great force that she was thrown off balance. The swordsman saw an opportunity to dart away, leaving the woman, dazed and unable to recover, to sit down and watch as the car rapidly fell towards her.

"Omura, you dumb bastard," she grumbled loudly, stating the last thought that she'll ever come up with.

"Oh no…Nene!"

The magician bellowed to her, realizing the missed throw he had made, but it was too late.

A puff of smoke and flame rose into the sky from where the burning vehicle fell. He could only watch in horror as the woman was crushed to death. He blindly rushed to the wreckage and lifted the car up, failing to realize that the swordsman was now behind him, his sword lightly touching the side of his neck.

"You gained strength beyond human capacity, but it has cost you your thinking and now…it has cost you your friend's life," Kazuto softly spoke before cutting the magician's head off with his blade.

The blade hummed, its wielder swinging it down to flick off the blood it picked up from the victim's flesh.

May you find honor in death, the swordsman thought as he wiped the remaining blood off his sword's edge.

"Omura's down!" Kaname yelled from a distance. Quickly, he picked up one of his spears and lunged at the enemy forces. As he did, one of the clones was impaled straight through, the corrosive poison dissolving the man's flesh like melting butter.

More duplicates swarmed the area, clinging onto the vans and causing more trouble as they fired their weapons randomly, hitting bystanders and MAGIA operatives alike.

"We need backup! Send us help now!" the driver of one of the vans yelled over the radio, but there was only static noise.

"Where's the backup!?"

The drivers tried to contact headquarters but the same static noise was heard over the radio, as if signals are being jammed. Outside the wall of flames local law enforcement stood motionless, unable to go through, and despite the fire department's best efforts they cannot put out the flames. News teams have entered the scene's periphery and have begun broadcasting the situation.

MAGIA Headquarters Main Branch
Arakawa, Tokyo
11:00 AM

Five attack helicopters and three armored troop carriers with magicians in tow have been deployed by Mizuhashi when reports of the attack came to them. Personnel watched the news feeds at their monitors, only to see that none of the reinforcements have arrived at the crisis zone.

"I've deployed them ten minutes ago! Where are they?!" Saito roared from his seat at the command room.

"Commander!" Misaka Hojo's voice sounded out to Saito.

"What's the situation there? And where are the reinforcements?"

"I don't know, we're still far from the scene. By any chance Ayanami's group should have been there by now!" the lieutenant answered in a panicked tone.

"Then contact them, you idiots!" the commander yelled.

"I'm sorry, but we can't seem to reach them right now! I'm terribly sorry!"

Misaka was now at the verge of sobbing, she had clearly gotten herself into major trouble and she could only imagine the situation back at the command room, and especially Saito's irritated face which sent fear coursing into her veins.

To her surprise, Mizuhashi didn't berate her, instead he sounded like he had a backup plan, and indeed he had.

"Not to worry, my dear. I'm calling another helicopter squad to launch an airstrike." Mizuhashi said to her.

"Yes, sir!"

An airstrike in the middle of the city? That's too much. Is he serious?

"Ma'am, I don't think we'll make it in time," the driver of their transport said.

"I don't think we will,"Hojo confirmed. Sir Ayanami, what happened to you and your group?

Somewhere in Shinjuku
10:50 AM

A convoy of black vans rumbled along the now-desolate streets of Shinjuku's city proper at a quick yet steady pace. Sector D's lieutenant, Masato Ayanami sat calmly in one of the transport vehicles, listening to the chatter that came out of the radio's speakers. His second-in-command was not with him, Hojo will be on standby.

"Sir, you seem worried, are you thinking of the other teams?" the driver asked.

Ayanami didn't say a word.

"Don't worry about them; they seem to be doing fine. Spectre's with the convoy after all. Though our air units seem to be unable to pinpoint where the others were held up. News only told us about an attack somewhere around Shibuya, no other details were specified."

"They're probably close by; we'll head to the direction of that smoke cloud…maybe it's them," Ayanami softly replied.

"Tell the choppers to fly low and into that smoke cloud."

"Sir, are you trying to get our airmen killed? Visibility is zero and the smoke will just choke their engines!" the driver protested.

"Their rotors are powerful enough to blast away the haze."

The driver and Ayanami continued arguing when all of a sudden a loud bang sounded thirty meters from their location. Ayanami felt the ground shake within his seat.

An explosion?

He checked the van's side mirrors and a fireball rose from where the blast occurred. A huge box-shaped object bounced past them – he immediately recognized it as one of their vans.

"We've fallen into a trap," Ayanami mumbled as he grabbed the radio.

"All units be advised! We have been ambushed! Scatter and perform evasive maneuvers!" he ordered through the comms.

"Yes s-" one of the drivers' replies was cut short by his panicked screams.

Soon enough Ayanami and the others discovered that their vans are being thrown off course and slowly dragged off the ground, as if a strong magnetic force was pulling them upwards. Moments later the vans, along with the other objects floated, were being thrashed around wildly in mid-air. Ayanami managed to leap out in time before the vehicle was flung into a nearby building, killing the others inside. He quickly got up on his feet and swung his left arm back, stretching his shoulder joint.

Steadily walking towards a safer area, he could clearly see the chaos around him – streetside posts were forcibly bent out of shape and ripped off their foundations, glass windows were blasted out of the surrounding buildings, objects were lifted up high, then dropped back down, and debris flew around the vicinity with deadly force. In the middle of a crossing, he saw a girl wearing a black Gothic dress elegantly standing amidst the mayhem, waving her hands in front of her like an orchestra conductor. There was a blank expression on her doll-like face.

Psychic powers, Ayanami thought to himself.

That girl is a rogue magician.

A loud thud sounded from beside the lieutenant, as if someone just fell from a great height. Turning his head up to find out what that was, he saw the attack choppers flying overhead, their rotors making a loud roar as they hovered past.

Exactly as planned, he thought as he saw the helicopters flying low and fast. His eyes quickly turned to his left; a bloodied body of a man wearing a pilot uniform lay beside him.

Wait a second.

There were small figures falling out of the choppers; the people inside were being thrown out; some of the bodies fell straight down towards the pavement, while others were launched into the buildings along with the shrapnel floating around them. However the helicopters still flew straight as if they were still being piloted.

Ayanami swiftly pulled out a pistol from his coat and aimed it at the girl's head. A serious look appeared on the lieutenant's face as he poised his finger on the trigger.

The young lady glared at Masato with lifeless eyes.

A feeling of shock overcame Ayanami, stunning him for a split second, but he pulled the trigger anyway. Just as he did, a blunt force struck him from behind, knocking him out.

Personnel in the MAGIA command room were utterly stunned as they realized why none of the task force arrived on the scene. A news team was being held up and threatened by gun-wielding men showing identical facial features and expressions, matching the description of a magician with a cloning ability. They were led to a wreckage scene that appeared to be the remains of the troop carrier vans that have been deployed earlier. Prevented from broadcasting the situation, the command center was now late to react.

"Argh!"

Kazuto was slammed into a traffic light post by the shadow magician when he popped out from a dark area behind him and planted a kick to the base of his jaw.

More clones appeared from around them, and the shadow magician found himself in an infuriating situation as he was being ganged up by the clones, allowing Kazuto to escape.

The personnel in the first convoy were now down to three magicians, seven soldiers and five support personnel against a still-numerous and ever-growing mob of clones. There was nowhere to go as the flames around them continued burning ferociously, smoke billowing above their heads.

"Out of ammo! Out of ammo!" one of the soldiers screamed at the squad support team while dropping an empty drum magazine from his assault weapon.

Miyuki was pinned down and unable to cast her magic well, and her team's numbers are falling fast. The rogues were now advancing closer with their guns loaded and weapons ready. In a panic, she opened her bloodied hand and from it, a red-stained arrow came out of the wound.

"One last shot. Let's make it count…"

The rogues pulled up their weapons and aimed down their sights, but just as they did, Miyuki quickly drew the bow's string and fired at the rogues. The arrow flew with great speed and force, piercing through her enemies with ease. Crystals of ice spiraled out from the bolt's ruby-red tip as it flew past their ranks, creating a spectacular white trail.

Immediately afterwards, a roaring gust of wind blew over the battle zone, blowing away the unsightly black clouds of smoke that floated over the magicians. A searchlight shone past the haze, then panned left and right before stopping at their location.

"Look! It's MAGIA!" Kaname screamed at the top of his voice, and the beam of light focused on the survivors like a ray of hope.

"We're over here! Shoot the rogues! Shoot the rogues!"

At last. Miyuki's blue eyes lit up at the sight of the choppers closing in on their location.

Behind her, away from the light's reach, Hiroki watched their nose cannons rotating forward and their missile pods deploying. He paid very close attention to where the choppers' noses pointed. A look of sheer terror formed on his face,

They're not aimed at the rogues.

He descended into the shadows beneath him, dragging a startled Miyuki into the darkness as well, and drawing attention from Kaname and the others.

Tracer rounds rained down over the battlefield and missiles flew towards the ground in curved paths before exploding, zipping past the vans by a hair's width and taking out the soldiers and the support crewmen. Stunned in shock, Kaname could not run for cover as a hail of machine gun bullets riddled his body full of holes.

The attack helicopters lowered themselves and cables sprung out from underneath, hanging inches away from the vans. The mob of clones latched the cables to the carriers containing their targets. Kazuto was helped up by one of them and was pulled to one of the choppers.

"All good!" Konoe's clones hollered at the same time while raising their thumbs up. The helicopters then slowly ascended with the vans in tow and began flying away when one of them was momentarily stopped.

"Help get this van off the ground!" a voice yelled over the clones' comms. They rushed into the carrier van's location, kicking its sides and lifting it off the ground, but to no avail. A black, wormlike limb gripped one of the clones' arms, much to his surprise and the others as well.

"Uh-oh!" The mob yelled in unison.

Sharp, pitch-black spikes erupted from the ground beneath the horde, brutally impaling their bodies and knocking some of them up. A large shadow tentacle wrapped itself around the grounded van, pulling it down as the helicopter hauled it upwards, resulting in a tug of war that were exhausting its motors. More shadow tentacles burst from around the vans, latching onto them and giving the other choppers a struggle.

One of Konoe's clones threw a flashbang grenade at the churning black mass creeping towards them; after a short delay the device blew up, releasing a flash of light that obliterated the tentacles, freeing the cargo and allowing the choppers to fly away with the vans in tow, though one van was lost.

"Leave it! Our guys back at Chiba are waiting!" Kazuto ordered through the radio as the choppers vanished into the distance, leaving behind a scorched patch of road. Firetrucks rushed into the scene and dumped water onto the remaining flames. Amidst the steam clouds that ensued, two figures emerged beside the van that was left behind and moved closer to the rear hatch, opening it.

"What the hell happened?!" a stout young man exclaimed and the faces of eight other men appeared from inside the van. "There was noise; we were being thrashed around…and now you guys look like shit."

Miyuki grabbed the door and swung it forwards, frightening the man.

"Hey Miyuki, wa-!"

The door slammed shut and Miyuki turned back to her right, only to see Kamiya's limp body slumped over the vehicle's bumper. Miyuki collapsed soon afterward.

The fires around the crisis zone disappeared, allowing medics, news crews, law enforcement and curious onlookers to enter the scene. The area was taped off after a few minutes to prevent more people from crowding and interfering with the investigators. The bodies of dead and unconscious soldiers and MAGIA personnel were laid out in stretchers and hefted into awaiting ambulances.

Hiroki woke up from a soft bed to find himself in a large white tent. The black coat and shirt that formed part of his uniform were hung neatly over one end of the bed, and he found himself wearing an unbuttoned purple top and a loose dark coat. He can see patches of black and blue on his torso, and saw his left hand bandaged. From a distance, he can make out a blurry image of Miyuki with a bandaged waist and arm walking out of the tent along with a few men in MAGIA uniforms. Looking to his side, there was Misaka soundly sleeping on her chair, curled up in a fetal position as a box of brownies lay unopened on the table beside her.

"Glad to see you're awake, Spectre,"a familiar voice spoke.

Hiroki then saw his superior, Masato Ayanami standing on the other side of the tent, holding an ice pack against his head.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"At a makeshift medical station not far from where the attack took place, and don't ask me anymore because I don't have any idea what really happened," Masato said.

The sound of footsteps and the chatter of people conversing echoed all over the place as groups of men and women were brought out in lines; they were blindfolded, thus they can't see where they're headed. Their handlers forcefully guided them down a gentle incline but made sure that they weren't being rough. They were wearing masks of different colors and styles but they all sounded alike.

A few minutes later, the group stopped suddenly and their handlers removed their blindfolds. In front of them was a young man with a sword held on his side; there was a bandage on one of his legs but he walked fine when he inspected them. Kimura and many others were then brought to a cavernous, gray hallway and were told to sit on the chairs provided. They did as they were told; defiance would only result in something undesirable.

A door opened in the far end of the lobby and a man entered, behind him were four escorts who looked alike. The young man with the sword ordered the group to stand up.

The man approached Kimura and the people who were brought in with him; he had red, spiky hair, was of medium height, looked young like the man with the sword and was wearing a rugged red coat. The man bowed respectfully and welcomed them.

"I am Junichiro Saotome, the leader of the Hellfire Vendetta. Enjoy your stay people, for you will find us not to be what you expected."

MAGIA

Chapter Six

Plans

It was a sunny summer afternoon in London, England, but despite the strong sunlight beating down on the city's bustling streets, people still wore heavy clothes as they went along with their daily lives; summers in the British capital are known for clear hot days with cool sea breezes that waft in from the North Atlantic.

Tourists from all over the world flocked to marvel at one of London's most famous landmarks, the Tower Bridge. It has become customary for visitors to take pictures from and near the bridge, whether it is with their friends, families, pets and other loved ones; those who visit the bridge alone usually take self-portraits, or simply capture breathtaking images of the bridge and the city from the photo decks.

Built at the height of the 19th century as a means of establishing a water route connecting the landward and seaward sides of the river Thames, the elegant structure was designed as a bascule so that large ships may easily sail along the river, preventing traffic. Nowadays, the large ships have all but disappeared, smaller and lighter craft taking their place, but in the rare event where large vehicles need to pass through, the bridge's bascule mechanism still functions as it should.

Near the popular tourist destination, many shops, cafes and snack bars cater to tired and hungry tourists, as well as the friendly locals. In keeping with typical British preferences, these establishments maintain a traditional, cottage atmosphere and continue serving fresh homemade products; despite rampant modernization and the proliferation of whiz-bang conveniences, conservative aesthetics still remained popular among Brits.

In one such establishment was a gray-haired man wearing a formal suit underneath a brown longcoat and a top hat on his head. Seated comfortably while sipping his afternoon tea, Roger Walters held up a newspaper to within his eye level and began reading the front page. On it was a headline about the recent attack by rogues on a convoy of armored vans from MAGIA. The news stated that the rogues mentioned were from a rebel group called the Hellfire Vendetta and they stole several vans containing unspecified but allegedly 'valuable' cargo using five hijacked helicopters. As he continued reading, a man approached his table and sat on the chair facing Walters.

"About time you got here." Walters spoke to the man in English as he put down the newspaper and passed it to the man, at the same time gazing at his likeness. He had short hair, Asian features, and mismatched eyes, was wearing a dark business suit and appeared to have a relaxed look on his face.

"Could I interest you to a cup of Earl Grey?" he offered to the man in accented Japanese.

The man nodded in reply. "Why, thank you good sir," he said in fluent English.

"I am Taoka Matsuda, a foreign affairs representative from MAGIA, and I've been sent here to discuss with you about the recent attack." The man introduced himself. "You need not worry too much for I am not a magician."

"Very well," Walters spoke. "Proceed."

"Mr. Walters, the Vendetta's successful attack on the convoy was an event we never foresaw. Our company even had some very powerful combat magicians deployed and yet the result was –"

Matsuda was stopped by Walters' open hand.

"Before you continue, may I please know what was really inside those vans because from what I've heard, Mr. Matsuda, they contained lab equipment and magicians needed to guard those due to an earlier event, correct?" Walters asked seriously.

"I saw the images of said equipment inside the van that was taken back during the scuffle during a previous meeting with one of your fellow MAGIA delegates and we were told that MAGIA was conducting a patrol for rogues."

Walters took a pause, raised his cup to take a small sip of his tea, and then continued.

"But then we realized that there were several more vans patrolling around Honshu. Well, now they sent me here to inquire from you what was missing from the report and I want to know the truth Mr. Matsuda."

Taoka Matsuda gazed at the senior UN observer; Walters cannot be fooled since the man has been to MAGIA numerous times and Matsuda knew that very well; furthermore he was ordered to tell him the truth first and foremost.

"Very well," he sighed.

"Ever since the Hellfire Vendetta revealed themselves to the public, our Prime Minister has taken a drastic step in dealing with the rogues. You may know of the law passed two years ago which states that GEM virus carriers are given absolute freedom to decide whether to join MAGIA's ranks or live their lives normally upon manifesting their abilities? Well, he has ordered us to enlist all carriers to MAGIA before they could decide." the representative said before taking a sip of his tea.

"You just broke a law and I don't think the world will accept your excuses anymore." Walters said to Matsuda who handed him a piece of paper.

He read the paper and Walters felt his gut burn; he was not angry but rather, in denial.

"Compensating their families? Special education? Paying them large salaries? Just so you know Mr. Matsuda, offering them all these privileges won't change the fact that you broke a law concerning human freedom!" Walters barked at the representative, attracting the attention of several customers. Matsuda, however, remained calm in his seat.

"We are at war, Mr. Walters and in every war, some valuable beliefs are thrown out of the window. Look at America; they believed that getting themselves involved in foreign affairs would make them an example that supported "freedom". That was their government speaking, and their people supported them. When the Second Gulf War broke out, they pitched in without the knowledge of the countries involved and everyone thought it was okay. When the administration in Zimbabwe fell to widespread poverty, the U.S.-backed interim government mandated forced labor among the blacks and now that they have left, the country is the most powerful nation in Africa. U.S. agents wiped Central America clean of drugs and crime, American business firms helped bump up economic growth in the Philippines, and so on. But as time passed, governments and rights groups have begun doubting the results of their intervention campaigns." Matsuda replied to Walters, and the atmosphere changed with him in authority.

"Perhaps the Hellfire Vendetta was right about the world being jealous of our progress. Your governments still doubted us when we made our intentions clear. We accepted your terms and now foreigners work at MAGIA yet there was still a fair bit of doubt among our ranks. And after the attack you issued us an ultimatum that threatens to deprive Japan of its sovereignty if the situation gets any worse. We will not allow that Walters and there will be hell to pay if that happened." Matsuda added.

"Are you planning on fighting the world?" Walters asked cautiously.

"I never said that but we will defend our nation's independence if needed Mr. Walters, for now however, all we need is time and the world's patience. Doubt is such a terrible thing; it makes the world we live in insecure since you won't be able to trust anyone in a society ruled by uncertainties. Trust is something that must be brought back and placed permanently into our minds."

Taoka Matsuda stood from his seat and handed out two more papers to Walters.

"These two experts are already in Japan and they'll be helping out soon. Well, I must go now, Mr. Walters for there are other people I must attend to." Matsuda said before bowing to the gentleman and then went out.

Roger Walters sat motionless in disbelief; the descriptions of the 'experts' didn't seem too convincing to him. Both of them are professional killers – one of them is a ruthless mercenary; the other, his child accomplice. But something told Walters to 'trust' what Matsuda had just told him.

Taoka Matsuda wasn't the only representative sent by MAGIA to discuss with the world's officials. There were dozens of MAGIA ambassadors worldwide, conversing with the presidents, Prime Ministers, chiefs of state, monarchs, representatives, statesmen and other politicians and government agents. They all discussed on taking down the ultimatum imposed on the State of Japan, some engaging in long and heated debates. Like Matsuda, they too focused on averting a new world war, and there should be no such thing, now that many developing nations are prospering due to MAGIA's contributions.

In the days that followed, a secret UN meeting concluded with a decision to suspend the implementation of the ultimatum and temporarily lift the law on the freedom of carriers. Human rights groups around the world immediately protested and occupied many government establishments in opposition of the decision, but the demonstrations stopped when the world assured them that the law will return once the rogue group Hellfire Vendetta is dealt with.

Several days before the Hellfire Vendetta's attack on MAGIA's patrol forces, some of the rogue magicians captured in Tokyo's subways were sent to MAGIA's branch in Sapporo. The group had been on standby for nearly a week, awaiting interrogation by the head of MAGIA Sector C, First Lieutenant Saya Rukino.

Walking along a white, brightly-lit hallway, a tall woman wearing a long white and gray coat typical of MAGIA officials was saluted by a queue of soldiers, researchers and other personnel. Many of them were taken aback by her stunning physique and distinct swagger as she made her way down her route with a large notepad in her hands. She later took a left turn and walked briskly down another hallway with a sign that pointed to the building's detention facility.

Lieutenant Rukino had just returned from Germany, coming back upon learning that the situation back home took a turn for the worse. She was tasked with receiving the rogues that were captured in the mass arrest that took place in the Tokyo Underground and was apparently displeased to have been informed that only one rogue was left for her to interview and the individual's name is Natsuko Horikawa. Arriving at the cell where the rogue was detained, she was saluted by her co-commander, Second Lieutenant Gino Nozomi.

"Good to have you back ma'am." The stoic-faced Nozomi coolly said. "I'm sorry if I've already interrogated the others, though I have filed the results for you to read and I've saved the best for last." Nozomi added, referring to the last rogue as he handed her the file on the interrogation's results. She skimmed each page of the file in mere seconds, doing so like a computer scanning bar codes, before handing them back to her partner.

"Sector C's instant analyst…that's what your inferiors usually say of you, and indeed you're living up to that nickname. Honestly I think you'd make a great judge had you not joined MAGIA, but having you here is fine too." Nozomi spoke in reaction to Rukino while guiding her towards the detention cell before leaving.

Peering through the window, Lieutenant Rukino saw the rogue sitting quietly on a white chair and tapping her fingers on the table.

"Guten tag." The lieutenant greeted the rogue in German.

"Come again?" replied the rogue. "Oh, nevermind. Yo, 'sup lady?" she greeted back.

"You must be Natsuko Horikawa. A fine young woman you are, I'm surprised that you're tougher than you look. Anyway, I am Lieutenant Saya Rukino and I'm the head, or if you prefer, the 'big boss' of this facility." She began conversing nicely to the rogue.

"I have carefully analyzed the responses of your fellow rogues and I've drawn out several possible motivations for them to become the way they are. Many of them were driven by selfishness, arrogance and a strong compulsion to abuse their abilities; however some of them are really troubled individuals who have been isolated, treated badly, rejected, and subjected to injustice. These motives usually arise from whatever experience they have had in their lives before exposure and I'm sure you too have a reason to go the other way." Rukino spoke in a professional manner which caught Horikawa's attention.

"You can tell me anything Miss Horikawa."

Horikawa stared down the lieutenant's eyes, seeing that the woman was not hiding anything; she was truth personified.

"Before I begin to speak and tell you the truth and nothing but the truth, may I please know where the others are or what happens to them after this as well as from the main branch?" Horikawa frankly asked.

"Okay. The ones that have been interrogated are moved to cells in the lower levels of this facility and as for what happens to them, that will depend on how you'll begin your explanation."

Horikawa was surprised to see the woman's mood change quickly, though her truthful aura remained.

"I was just a girl who didn't have the money to finish school but I was a hard worker in my family and you magicians inspired me to help as much as I can despite tough times. Before I stopped school, I had a teacher who was envied by his fellow teachers because he was a magician that was super smart and thus could teach any subject. He told us that he was a dropout and that he volunteered for MAGIA so he can have a purpose in life; little did he know that he would become a genius. I could hear the other teachers badmouthing him, angry at the fact that they had to study hard and strive to graduate while he became an instant genius." Horikawa explained, then paused for a moment.

"…Is this really how an interrogation goes? I thought it would be torture at first because I'm kinda telling my life here." She told the lieutenant.

"I said you can tell me anything; the others did so too before I came here. We at MAGIA do not use torture unless you ask for it – that can be arranged."

"No, no no, no! I'll carry on!" Horikawa protested, realizing that she wasn't handcuffed or treated badly during her stay here.

These guys are weird and I'm starting to hate them.

"After I've stopped school and started working, my friends told me that the teacher was murdered and the killer was a jealous colleague. Since that day I've watched other magicians working so hard to make the world a better place, not realizing that some people detest them. After the red mist killed my family and most of my friends, I was left alone and became a roamer. It was during that time that I learned of my ability to walk on anything. I can walk anywhere I want to easily; all the while my hatred for those detesting humans grew. And then I found the Hellfire Vendetta. Those guys saw my potential and made me a representative so I can call on my fellow rogues to join their cause in making a world where no one detests us."

"What's your leader's name?" Rukino asked Horikawa, who had just finished her story.

"To be honest, I'd rather not tell you as I hold him in high respect and you probably won't be happy to know him by name. All I can tell you is the fact that he was already very well-known even before forming the Vendetta." replied Horikawa.

"Eh?" came the lieutenant's reaction.

Rukino then glanced at her eyes and came close, her cheeks flushing pink as she planted her left hand firmly on the table. Every second, she leaned ever closer to Horikawa. Moments later she was already so close to the rogue that their lips would touch, only then did Horikawa back away in sheer embarrassment.

"I…I'm telling the truth! Y…you didn't have to look at me that close!" Natsuko screamed in shock as her face was now a shade of light red.

The lieutenant giggled and moved even closer, propping her foot up on the desk. "Oh, sorry…silly me. I'm very surprised that you didn't have the urge to strangle me, knowing that you don't have any handcuffs or anything binding you."

"Because I know you want to…"

"Shut up, you! I…it's not like I would do it whenever there's a chance!" the rogue protested before asking the lieutenant brashly.

"Now what will happen to me and the others?"

"Come with me and I'll show you." Rukino replied with a smirk as she and the rogue walked out of the room and into a long hallway, the lieutenant telling a curious officer to leave them alone as there was no need to accompany them. Giving her a teasing stare, she gave Horikawa a little smirk and the latter got the note.

The latter simply sighed in response.

More MAGIA personnel looked at them nervously, seeing their unarmed boss and an unrestrained prisoner walking casually towards the elevator together.

The elevator door opened in front of the two women, revealing a large, completely white room located deep underground. MAGIA personnel walked to and fro within the confines of the area, going along with their usual jobs. On one small station, Horikawa witnessed a sight she found impossible to believe: dozens of her fellow rogues lined up to receive an injection of a strange, bright red fluid, then going to another room where they show off their magic abilities to the scientists. Curiously, she asked the lieutenant.

"What the hell is this place and what's going on?"

"Natsuko Horikawa, welcome to Sector C's testing facility!" the lieutenant replied with a bright smile on her face. "For all the government's hatred against rogues, it's simply a blessing to know that the Prime Minister has issued you one final chance."

"I don't understand", Horikawa mumbled.

"Considering the somewhat high uncertainty rate from simply being infected during Red Tokyo, it would be such a waste to imprison or kill off individuals who have successfully bonded with the GEM virus. Thus, the plan: if they don't want to serve the world, then why not make good use of your powers as part of MAGIA's Rogue Division instead? Now that would be a much better idea."

A puzzled Horikawa asked. "So you mean…you're giving our abilities back?"

Rukino nodded. "And you won't be working for us or the people; you will be working with your fellow magicians in hunting down criminals and other rogues. The Rogue Division is like, a special task force where your only objective is to assist your fellow magicians while going on with your daily lives – you aren't technically working for MAGIA but if we need anything, we can ask for your help. Oh, and the best part is, should you wish to, you can ignore any regular humans you encounter in your work regardless of the situation."

"I see…you're trying to make us good, eh? Aren't you? Well, I tell you, old lady, I'm not that easily – !"

Just as Horikawa was going to speak out in rebuttal, Rukino plunged a syringe at Horikawa's neck, a move so swift that she didn't even notice the officer pull out something from her coat. Horikawa fell on her knees in pain, her body shuddering as the virus surged throughout her system. She stood up after a short while, her eyes glaring at the woman beside her, furious at what the lieutenant just did.

"Y…You could have told me! That hurt!"

"I don't like being called 'old', now stop complaining and get to your training. The virus we've just injected to you rogues has a time limit of fifteen hours and oh, the virus in you right now has been modified so that if you feel enraged enough to attack us, it will respond to your stress levels and kill off your cells. In short, if you get any ideas, it'll be your last day on Earth."

Natsuko watched the lieutenant return to the elevator; it rose up and away from her as quickly as they came down. A scientist and an armed guard motioned her inside the training room.

They're actually giving us a purpose that we lost along the way, huh? She thought.

Lieutenant Rukino made her way into Sector C's command center where she found her second-in-command with two fair-skinned individuals who were waiting for her. Hovering like he was floating in outer space, Gino Nozomi went to her side and presented to her the guests.

"Lieutenant, I would like to introduce to you our two new scientists from America, doctors Joe Menard and Laura Williams." Nozomi said to the lieutenant.

Rukino shook hands with them and bowed.

"I was informed that you'd be working here in our branch" said Rukino to them while smiling, showing off her politeness.

"We've heard about your 'terrorist' problem…" Joe Menard began the conversation seriously, with Rukino thinking that describing the Hellfire Vendetta as a group of 'terrorists' doesn't seem to fit.

"…so Laura and I have been working on improving your GEM virus scanning technology which in turn became this."

Menard pointed his hand towards one of the glass screens showing an image of what looks like a modified traffic light, with text below describing the contraption as a GEM detector that can scan for carriers within ten square miles of land.

Laura then came forward and explained how the device functions.

"When the green light is on, there are no active carriers in the area, when the yellow light flashes, registered MAGIA personnel are in the area, and when the red light is on, unregistered magicians or rogues are within its range. And when the device senses their presence, it will transmit the exact number of rogues in the area, as well as show their suspected locations as blips on this map projection."

The two MAGIA officers were impressed; however Nozomi kept wondering about how much the device appeared similar to a traffic light, his superior probably thought the same.

"Won't this cause trouble to drivers and pedestrians? I mean, the device looks so similar to our traffic lights that they would probably confuse our detectors for the real thing…"

Hmm, Menard thought to himself, then suddenly snapped, his body jerking backwards at the sudden realization.

"Ah…silly me. I forgot to tell you that the actual device is that square screen below the traffic light!" the American heartily exclaimed with a giggle.

"Though in this control interface we made for the device, as seen in your monitors, we went with a traffic light gimmick for your convenience." Laura added.

"By tomorrow we will have the detectors installed in several strategic positions around the city, and many more around the country. We'll have the device affixed to your traffic light posts like so…" Menard said proudly, his hand pointed towards the image of the device.

Unknown to him, the two lieutenants have predicted where they will be placed.

"So I've heard that the conscription campaigns have stopped, why is that?" Laura asked Lieutenant Rukino.

"Our teams have finished their route throughout Honshu and came back with a grand total of 472 carriers. We believe there aren't any others left since the mist from two years ago only covered the northwestern part of the capitol."

"Aren't you even curious that the wind may have carried the virus further into the surrounding prefectures and even further away from Honshu?" Menard skeptically asked the lieutenant.

Rukino answered his question. "We are aware of that and several teams have been dispatched throughout the country ever since the event; the past two years yielded no positive results."

"Well Lieutenant, it would be best if these GEM detectors are set up around the country. I know viruses from the back of my head and their nature and means of transmission certainly are unpredictable." Joe Menard insisted further while Laura Williams was continuing her work on the interface.

"Very well then, I'll inform the main branch later on." Rukino responded.

"Really?" Saito Mizuhashi yelled in disbelief through the video call. "Their detectors can cover that much while ours can cover only less than half a square mile, leaving us to patrol a lot with scanners? Those Americans really are up to something."

"I believe these new detectors will detect members of the Vendetta before they can make their move." Rukino responded as she sat in her office, her left hand holding what appears to be a pair of red leather handcuffs.

"The Prime Minister would be so pleased after enduring that sanction we received two days ago!" Mizuhashi said gleefully on his end before ending his call, the chat window on Rukino's monitor closing shortly afterward.

Her eyes then turned to a large projection on her monitor, showing the view of a large, dark room basked in purple light; in the middle was a large capsule affixed firmly to the floor, a tangled mess of tubes and wires surrounding it. The number zero was marked on the capsule. She gripped the handcuffs tightly at the sight of it.

"If things still don't go as planned, I hope they don't resort to this", Rukino mumbled as she turned the monitor off.

MAGIA

Chapter Seven

Idol

Three weeks have passed since the ambush by the Hellfire Vendetta and the imposition of the secret ultimatum on the Japanese government. Life went as usual for Tokyo's denizens, though the presence of law enforcement has seen a noticeable increase due to fears of another attack taking place very soon. MAGIA personnel have been deployed to assist them in handling threats they could not handle by ordinary means, thus giving ordinary civilians a greater sense of security.

The black Volvo rumbled to life at the push of a button, its large headlamps flashing on and parking lights blinking as its driver maneuvered it from where it was parked and drove it along a dimly-lit space lined with many other parked vehicles. There was chatter over the radio about an upstart lieutenant taking command over one of MAGIA's sectors, but the driver simply smiled and switched the radio to FM, tuning into a music station that played popular electronic dance songs. A look of slight surprise formed on his face upon realizing that the current song had just ended when he tuned in, its last few notes leading up to commentary by the station's announcers.

"You just listened to 'Dream Coil' by Mafuyu Enma featuring Ellysa, Gumi and DJ Yahiro, the lead single from the singer's latest mini-album 'Space Fairies'!" the lead announcer hollered over the radio.

"The young superstar has really outdone herself this time, with her voice sounding cuter and better than ever and her composing skills taking a step up from her last album!" another announcer boomed back at his partner, kicking off an exchange of commentary between the two.

"And that's not all, we are proud to announce that Mafuyu will be performing at Shibuya AX with DJ Yahiro, Ellysa, Ami Hiiragi, Shizuha, and the Vocaloids as part of her album tour!"

"Yeah, and speaking of which, that performance will happen at 4:00 PM…today! We're talking thousands of fans in attendance and her best live show to date! So fans, better grab your tickets 'cause they're selling out very fast!"

"Perfect." The driver muttered as he pulled out a colored slip of paper, a ticket for the concert, from the car's dashboard before driving off.

The black, boxy sedan rolled out of the carpark, moving steadily before stopping at a guardpost near the building's exit. A man wearing a gray uniform motioned him to open the car's window, revealing a handsome man with stylish hair and glasses over his gray eyes; he was wearing a casual suit and had a relaxed look on his face. The man handed him a note written on a piece of white card, the guard read it and nodded at the man, who then began to drive off, the low growl of the car's engine slowly fading as the car drove away.

"Enjoy your day off Lieutenant Ayanami!" the guard hollered from his post.

First Lieutenant Masato Ayanami, MAGIA Sector D's head, listened intently to the music on his radio while driving his black sedan along the streets that led west of headquarters. He drove slowly and carefully, the tinted windows of his car raised shut, so as not to draw any attention from the MAGIA personnel whom he had not informed of his absence, as he had been given a day off, not because of his failure during his squad's last operation; rather, he gave himself a day away from work, seeing the need for one after all the chaos.

Earlier that day, he dropped by his post to check on his sector's personnel; he could clearly remember the reaction of his men to his temporary departure. He had appointed Misaka Hojo, his second-in-command, to be in charge of Sector D for the day and he has no problems with her in authority.

That shy but feisty girl has the skills, the attitude, and if needed, she also has Spectre to help her out.

Masato still can't help but think of the recent incidents in the back of his mind – the Vendetta's attack, Saito telling him about the ultimatum on Japan's government, the end of conscription, the recent deployment of counter-rogue forces, the installation of GEM detectors all throughout the country…the train of thought grew longer and longer, until the man had enough.

No, not now…I'm on a day off and I may not get another one in a very long time, so keep your thoughts limited Masato. He sighed.

The car stopped at a small parking lot located somewhere in Toshima, just a few blocks away from a large intersection. Masato Ayanami stepped out of the vehicle and let out a deep breath as he locked the car's door shut with his key. From a distance he could see three workers bolting a black screen below one of the traffic lights; a traffic enforcer was guiding the cars and pedestrians while they did their work.

"Just as planned', he murmured.

…and that's just one of twenty-three…

Rummaging through his pocket, he pulled out the ticket for Mafuyu Enma's live show at Shibuya AX. He looked at his watch while holding the ticket in his hand; the display read 2:00 PM and there was two hours to spare. Plenty of time to just chill and look around, I guess, Masato thought.

Looking plain and casual as he walked down the street, he stopped by a convenience store to buy some treats to eat, and he went to the counter with a rice ball and a bottle of lemon tea in tow. After paying for the items he just purchased, he faced towards the dining area to look for a table where he can eat the treats in peace; the Japanese do not take their meals out, the act of eating is something to be done on its own in Japanese tradition.

To his disappointment, all the seats were taken save for a table for two at the far end of the dining area. He sat down on the only empty chair he could find and raised the rice ball to his mouth, but just as he was about to take a bite, a familiar sight caught his eyes. In front of him was a tall young woman with long hair and fair skin, whom he remembered as Miyuki's friend at Tokyo University. The woman noticed him looking at her, and gazed back with her fox-like eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"Um…you're Sakurai, am I right?" Masato asked shyly.

The woman's eyes were locked at the stranger before her, a serious look appearing on her face. "Who are you and how did you know my name?" she asked him.

"Could we…take this outside? It's complicated…" Masato requested while lightly scratching his head; the young lady agreed and the two went out of the store.

Masato casually began their conversation as they continued walking down the streets towards Ikebukuro. "So I've heard a lot from your friend Miyuki…she told me you were friends ever since you two were freshmen and even though you two belong to different classes and have different schedules, you still manage to meet at least twice a day. I was also told that you are quite the stunner in your school; in fact she has made so many comments about how tall you are and…and your 'sparkly' eyes."

"Well, I do get that all the time, though they don't sound to me like they're saying a lot, and for that matter I really don't care much…" Sakurai humbly replied, though she was still curious as to how the man knew her name and her friendship with Miyuki.

"J…just who exactly are you for Miyuki to tell you so much about me?"

"I'm Lieutenant Masato Ayanami of MAGIA Sector D… I'm okay with being called by just my first name, though. Okay; don't be too alarmed because of my status and the nature of my work. I just want to tell you a lot of things about Miyuki since you're here with me right now."

Hotaru gave the man a sharp gaze upon hearing the last statement; she clearly wants to know about her friend whom she thought had gone missing.

"As commander of my branch at MAGIA, the group's magicians and I help keep the country safe from any major threats, as well as serve the government with our campaigns. Among said magicians is your friend Miyuki, whom I bet you saw last time at Tokyo University with some of her fellow magicians."

Masato continued explaining.

"She was among the personnel I sent to the school to scan for and identify possible carriers like that Kuchiki guy whom she brought in after what happened three weeks ago."

"Will she be going back to school?" Hotaru asked the lieutenant.

Masato turned to her with an unsure look on his face and replied.

"I'm afraid that…due to the threat posed by the Hellfire Vendetta, MAGIA needs all fighting personnel available in case of another skirmish."

"What about Haru-senpai? How's he doing?" she asked another question.

"He's doing fine, the guy can contact his family, friends and girlfriend as well as continue his studying there through our education program."

Hotaru clenched her fists hard until her hands began trembling; there was a feeling she wanted to open up to the man.

"Can't you people judge those who are bad or good by just looking at them? Miyuki and Haru-senpai are my good friends, and…say all you want…but even though it's always the rogues that get all the press, there are many other 'good' magicians out there! Haru might not be in MAGIA, but he's a good guy!" She yelled at the man, referring to the conscription campaigns MAGIA had authorized days ago, though she knows that that was a useless question.

"Miss Sakurai, our work can't just say those people are going to be good or bad through plain judgment alone, but we can't just let them go about and decide for themselves what they will do or which path they would want to take, which is why we had to introduce them at once to what is 'good'. Though I'm going to be honest with you, Miss Sakurai…"

Masato paused for a moment and Hotaru looked at him.

"…I don't like the process at all, it destroys their freedom as well as the bonds they have with those whom they care for, but orders have to be followed so everyone must understand…"

"…you have to understand."

A small tear fell from Hotaru's eye, and she stood in one spot of the sidewalk, facing away from him. Ayanami just stood quietly and intently, not wanting to disturb her moment of silence.

Seeing how lonely Sakurai-san is…kinda makes me want to doubt the steps MAGIA is currently taking right now, though I could do nothing as orders have to be followed. Ayanami thought.

Suddenly, the girl turned back, her look of sadness replaced with a bright smile on her face.

"I understand now sir. Once all this is over, I'm sure things will go back to normal."

"I'm sure it will." Masato replied, only to suddenly remember something. Looking at his watch, he realized that only seven minutes were left before the clock strikes four.

"Shit, I'm late!"

"Late for what? Work?" Hotaru asked curiously.

"I'm late for that Mafuyu Enma concert at Shibuya AX!" the lieutenant screamed at her with an unnaturally panicked face; to his surprise the woman gleefully screamed too.

"I also have tickets for it too! Quick! To the train station!"

Hotaru instinctively grabbed the man's hand and dragged him along as they made a mad dash towards Ikebukuro Station; around them bystanders focused their stares at the two.

Twenty-five miles from the capital's central wards, dozens of vehicles drove steadily along the new expressways built during Japan's recent boom period. The new highways led straight to Tokyo's iconic Shuto Expressway, one of the busiest roads in the country. With the rise in automobile sales and the increased reliance on heavy land transport since the boom years, the government kickstarted the construction of new high-speed roads to lessen congestion on all major highways as well as to establish better links between prefectures.

In one of these new roads, a red, heavily modified, new-generation Toyota was speeding well beyond the established limits, taking many drivers by surprise.

"Whoo! I'm king of the road losers, and nobody can take the city's streets from me now!" An arrogant young man with short, spiky, blonde hair and a thick stubble yelled inside his vehicle as he rapidly shifted gears, the red coupe whizzing past a large billboard that advertised the recent Mafuyu Enma live show.

Earlier that day, the man was stuck in the front of a major traffic jam for two hours, his blood boiling from impatiently waiting for an opportunity to go through. He was a carrier at that time and the sudden manifestation of his abilities was influenced by the stress of being stuck in gridlock. Sensing an opening in the flow of vehicles crossing in front of his car, he stomped on the gas pedal and the car went off like a rocket in only two seconds.

"Let's have a little challenge!" the man roared.

With a flick of his steering wheel and a lightning-fast gear shift, the car lurched forward with its wheels smoking, before making a tight turn to the opposite side of the road and blasting off again, easily dodging the incoming vehicles whose drivers ended up pulling over in surprise.

"Hahahaha!" The driver laughed in excitement, thrilled at being able to perfectly handle his car despite the extreme speed he was moving at.

The car made another narrow turn back to the right side of the road and zoomed further as it headed towards the capital. A grayish-blue Subaru was stopped by the action, its driver stepping out.

"Whoa…" he murmured. "Kazuto's gotta see this!"

The driver then went back into his vehicle and drove to the capital as well, Unknown to the driver and the other man who drove before him, a tiny screen attached to one of the billboard's girders flashed on; a big, red exclamation point appeared on it.

MAGIA Headquarters Main Branch
Tokyo, Japan
3:50 PM

"Sir, the GEM Detector's located something!" one of the personnel informed Mizuhashi while the other staff monitored the movement of the tiny blip on the map which was moving unusually fast.

"We just set that one up and the fish started to bite." Misaka Hojo informed the commander-in-chief in a blunt tone,

"Yeah, we must've missed one carrier who became a rogue along the way."

Saito then turned to Misaka and grinned.

"Can our pursuit vehicles catch up to it, my dear?" the commander asked.

"Maybe…well they're fast enough, but I don't know if they can keep up the chase for long. It's worth a try though…if this fails, I'm sorry." Misaka nervously replied; she was feeling a bit worried that the pursuit team's vehicles may eventually run out of fuel should the chase take longer than expected, but in the back of her mind something was compelling her to go along with the operation.

It's my first assignment as temporary sector head and I don't want to disappoint…

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Misaka Hojo hit the button for the PA system and pulled the mic closer.

"Sector D, be advised. This is your temporary lieutenant, Misaka Hojo speaking. We have identified a possible rogue who was last seen heading east towards the capital. Suspect may be in a high-performance vehicle of sorts and he's moving fast. I want pursuit teams to please go after that rogue and capture him ASAP."

The lieutenant took a pause and briefly turned back to see Hiroki, her current assistant, monitoring the situation.

She turned to the mic again and gave another order.

"Attention Sector D, the rogue we're after may be armed and dangerous. I repeat, suspect may be a possible threat. Thus I want a tactical squad and at least five combat magicians from our assault unit to join the pursuit."

The young lieutenant gasped hard and moved away from the mic, a bead of sweat trickling down her left temple. Saito Mizuhashi stood motionless. Hiroki fidgeted for a moment in his seat.

The command room fell silent.

Moments later, a low, muffled voice spoke over the radio.

"Copy that."

Many other voices spoke through the communications system, all of them expressing their agreement with the order the young lieutenant had just issued. Sector D's personnel focused their attention at Hojo, and began cheering for her as she slowly rose from her chair with her head turned down. Mizuhashi had a bright look on him.

"Alright then…" she sighed.

A smile formed on her face, and she faced the crowd, feeling a sense of success. Turning her sights on her assistant Hiroki, she hollered.

"Spectre, you're up!"

"Got it." The shadow magician brashly grumbled as he briskly walked out of the command room; meanwhile Saito gave him a curious look before turning back to ask the young lieutenant a question.

"I bet you gonna do something about that, my dear. I doubt that his lack of enthusiasm would blow our chances of dealing with the guy."

Misaka confidently replied. "He's fine, just leave him to do his thing and trust him."

I can trust in him…I can trust Hiroki-kun.

Shibuya AX Concert Stage
Shibuya, Tokyo
4:35 PM

"Alright, everybody, it's been a real blast to be with all you guys – Ellysa, Ami, Shizuha, DJ Yahiro…and of course…the thousands of fans who are watching this concert here at Shibuya AX and of course through my official online streaming…'cause without all of you, I won't simply be performing live, right here, RIGHT NOW!..."

The massive crowd's deafening screams filled the air, cutting the popstar's speech short as she stood on a large, elaborately decorated stage filled with dazzling light and vivid colors, its brilliance sharply contrasting with the audience area surrounding it, whose near pitch-blackness is only broken by the tiny specks of light emanating from the audience's glowsticks, cameras, phones and banners, glistening like an ocean of stars.

She paced from one end of the stage to the other, raising an elaborate, lollipop-shaped mic stand up above her head. Her long, amber-blonde hair was styled in a pair of large, curly tails that rose a couple of inches above her head and hung down below her bustline, and bore streaks of different shades and hues. Her eyes appeared large and doll-like; they were a vivid orange. As she walked, her flamboyant, bright blue stage gown fluttered and waved from side to side with each step she took, the brightly colored fairy wings on her back reflecting the light shining on them. Like a glass prism, her likeness projected all the colors of the rainbow.

"So let's get on with it! This next song is a collab with Shizuha and DJ Yahiro and it's called…'Pixelate'!"

The audience's screams intensified with the sounding of the song's first few chords.

At one end of the audience area, on an elevated viewing platform, two figures, a young woman in a summer dress and a bespectacled man in a casual suit held up their candy-colored glowsticks while cheering the popstar on.

"Damn, we missed three songs and that special number with Ami! Seriously though, I didn't figure out that you were also a fan of Mafuyu Enma." Ayanami said to Hotaru, with the young woman immediately responding.

"Likewise! I thought you MAGIA guys only knew work and nothing else."

Masato chuckled at the young woman's statement. "Well, I tell you, young miss, indeed our work at MAGIA can be very tough, but if we really need to, we can convince the management to give us a day off. That's exactly what I did, that's why I can watch Enma-chan's concert right now."

"I see, yeah." Hotaru nodded. "I gotta admit though, it's only recently that I listened to her music, little did I know that I would become a fan but after following her online and watching her podcasts, I knew that she's indeed a talented young girl."

"Indeed she is…" Masato said in response as she saw Hotaru continuing to cheer for the young idol; it appeared that he wanted to tell her something important, but seeing how much of a fan she is, he simply kept it to himself.

I don't know if she had already taken notice, but unknown to all her fans, Mafuyu Enma is a magician who can manipulate and generate sounds, as well as orchestrate dazzling light shows which she can also generate on her own, but the people are seeing things that aren't actually there. They believe that her effects crew is better than the others; in reality she doesn't even need one as she can make light effects on her own.. Before she began her recent tour, I had her practice in MAGIA so that she may not be discovered by other musicians who have worked hard, unlike her whom the virus granted with a better singing voice. Though even from the very start, she has had a thing for music and before becoming a popstar, she's been writing instrumental music and performing as a disc jockey. It was only after her magician skills came out when she actually started singing along to her compositions.

The lieutenant momentarily stopped his monologue to watch Mafuyu happily performing her song onstage, despite being situated far from the action; he could easily see her pouring all her emotions into her performance. His thinking resumed.

She's happier than ever, and for a very good reason; she had never felt this free since two years ago, when she came into MAGIA and tested positive. She trained hard and came out as a fine tracker, and she has helped us many times in many occasions. But at that time I could see that she's been having it tough; the life of a full-time MAGIA operative was wearing her down as she had been away from her hobbies, her musical career, and most importantly, the only family she had left, her 'brother', Shirou. She had always wanted to be by his side, to see him watch her make music for everyone to hear, to show him her love for her biggest and most loyal fan.

Command eventually granted her request, but in times of need, she must report at once.

"Thank you everybody!" a shrill cry sounded out from the concert stage as Mafuyu held the mic high above her for the second time. "It's been a fantastic evening with all of you here at Shibuya AX!"

And with that, the pop idol briskly walked out of the stage, disappearing from the audience's view as the whole concert venue went dark. But the abrupt ending did not make the crowd leave and instead, they chanted at the top of their voice and raised their glowsticks high up in the air.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

"Encore!" yelled Ayanami with his hands high above his head, a bunch of glowsticks held in both hands. Hotaru felt surprised by how a serious man like him can be so enthusiastic in the concert environment they were in, but that surprise faded away as she found herself shouting the same chant the rest of the audience yelled.

Five minutes later, the chants came to an abrupt halt as a voice shouted out throughout the concert grounds.

"Would you like one last song?!"

A massive roar erupted from the audience.

"Yes!" Ayanami cheered along with Hotaru, though their voice had mixed with those of the spectators.

"Alrighty guys, one last song for all of you, and I bet y'all know this one! Let's sing this one together!" the idol yelled out at the top of her voice. And with that, Mafuyu and the guest musicians returned onstage with a grand entrance, and several holograms of Vocaloids appeared beside her as she belted out a charming melody, culminating in a high note that set the massive encore number in full swing.

The concert ended with the opening of the venue's main exit routes as hordes of screaming fans filled the halls, rowdily hounding Mafuyu for autographs and photos before she could even get to the outside of the building. Security staff, event personnel, and the singer's assistants worked together to clear out a path for her by dispersing the mobs and ordering them to remain at the sides of the walkway, though their efforts did nothing to stop the crowds from storming the area. Pulling out a pen from a hidden pocket, Mafuyu signed autographs with random people, some received notes from her. She gleefully took photos with a number of fans, and even butted into some who were taking their selfies, making funny faces as she did.

"Mafuyu, over here!" Hotaru screamed while she waved a rolled-up poster at the idol. The stirring crowd pushed her away, but the singer climbed on top of the barricade and stooped down to write her name on the poster, much to the young woman's delight and the dismay of those who didn't get their autographs or photos with her.

"Ayanami! Look, I got one!" squealed Hotaru to the lieutenant. "Miyuki would have wanted one if she were here!"

"She sure would." Ayanami replied to the young lady.

Hotaru then rolled up the poster and handed it to Ayanami. "Give this to her."

Ayanami was stunned. "But, you were lucky enough to get an autograph. It would be a waste if you just give it to her!"

"I don't mind, it's what friends are for and also, it might give her good luck!" Hotaru aid with a bright smile and the man took it.

Around them, the fans were shrieking at their loudest as their idol was now standing by her car's door.

"Goodbye everyone, it surely was fun singing for all of you! Let's meet again at my next big concert!"

As she finished her farewell to her audience, something in the distance caught her eye. A bright red object was closing in fast with a loud whine; a car was speeding towards them. The crowd began to scatter and her bodyguards took position behind her, ordering the concert-goers to remain calm. With its tires squealing, the car was inching closer towards Mafuyu, but to her surprise and to the shock of the others, the car simply took a sharp turn and drifted past them, sending a gust of wind and smoke that lifted up the pop idol's skirt.

Shocked and embarrassed from what happened, Mafuyu let out a piercing shriek, much to the panicked fans' delight as they quickly took snapshots.

"Best view in the city!" the driver shouted through the window before speeding away in seconds, causing incoming vehicles to immediately grind to a halt and sending their drivers slamming to their dashboards.

Hotaru was shocked at the sudden turn of events and noticed that Ayanami was no longer by her side. Looking to her left she saw the sharp-dressed man running towards sleek, black cars that appeared right after the speeder zoomed away.

"Lieutenant Ayanami from MAGIA!" Masato yelled while raising his ID in front of the driver of one of the cars.

"Lieutenant? Aren't you on a day off?" the driver asked in astonishment of why the lieutenant was in such a place.

"No time to explain; let me in!" Ayanami barked as he opened the car's side door and barged in. He noticed that Hotaru was watching intently at them.

With a quick squeal of their tires and the piercing hum of their engines, the black cars took off, beginning their pursuit, but before his vehicle followed, Ayanami opened the window and waved his right hand while holding the rolled-up poster.

"I promise that I'll give this to Miyuki!"

She then watched the black car where Ayanami was dash forward, disappearing into the busy streets.

"Of course, you will." She murmured.

Activity in the command room was at full blast ; personnel had just mapped the possible route of their rapidly-moving target and are now monitoring the situation over their displays. In one of the monitors, the screen showed that the pursuit cars that were deployed earlier were now closing in on the rogue. The commander-in-chief watched their movement when he was interrupted by the sound of a chair rotating towards him.

"Commander Mizuhashi, we've just been informed by our pursuit team that lieutenant Ayanami has joined them!" Hojo told the commander with an astonished look on her face.

"Good," replied Saito.

"We can use his heightened perception skills to figure out where to cut off that bastard."

"Yeah! Speed! More speed! TOP SPEED!" the rogue magician roared with enthusiasm from within his car, which he skillfully steered through dangerous turns and past incoming vehicles despite moving at high speed. He was powering through busy intersections, in and out of parking lots, and past pedestrian crossings, causing chaos and confusion in Tokyo's streets. Fortunately, no one has been killed or seriously hurt by his car's rampage, but at the speed he's traveling at, it would not take long before someone does. The man continued to yell maniacally inside the car, overjoyed by his ability to increase his vehicle's speed and handling to the extreme.

This is like that street racing sim game I played back in junior high before my teacher took my handheld away, but now I feel so alive that I can drive my vehicle like the pros, for real! The man thought, remembering his delinquent days.

Suddenly, his phone began to ring inside his pocket.

"Who the fuck?" he grumbled before taking out his phone.

"Listen now punk! If you want the car right now, I suggest you pay up for it in double!" the man yelled at his caller, but was shocked that the voice was from someone he didn't know.

"We're not interested in your car but we're interested with what you can do with it." The voice said to him in a calm way.

"Who is this?"

"We're like you and if you come with us to this location I'm about to send, you'll find yourself well-compensated." The voice replied.

"How well?"

"Millions."

The call ended and the coordinates to his destination were sent; it pointed to an area somewhere in Chiba.

He decided to follow the map, steering his car east, and then looked at his fuel line. Despite the tremendous speed his car is traveling at, the engine doesn't seem like it's guzzling a lot of gas, while the backup fuel cells remained full. He then looked at his side mirror and noticed four black cars catching up to him.

"Oh, you want a race, MAGIA? Well then, you asked for it…"

"COME ON!"

The man threw the car into a fast turn at incredible speed, with the black cars doing the same. The man won't allow himself to be captured, now that he has received a huge offer from a mysterious caller.

Several miles ahead from the chase, two figures were standing on top of a high building, the sunset casting a dark silhouette behind them. Next to a large duffel bag, a short hooded figure pulled out a pair of binoculars and peered through them.

"They'll be here soon," the hooded figure said to a taller one wearing a black trench coat.

He sighed in reply. "Time to start."

MAGIA

Chapter Eight

Hitman

Awhite Subaru was parked in a dark, empty alleyway with its driver outside. He was currently conversing with someone over the phone, and a few moments later, put it back into his pocket. Returning to his car, he noticed that the vehicle's fuel line is almost empty.

"That's for trying to get ahead of the road maniac." He thought to himself.

Five miles away, several people have been laid out in stretchers and are in need of immediate treatment. There was a pile of crumpled metal twenty meters to their left; eight vehicles have crashed into one another, critically injuring their drivers and some of the passengers and pedestrians. One of the witnesses in the scene reported seeing a red-and-black racecar driving on the wrong side of the road, followed by four black cars from MAGIA, six police vehicles, and two choppers. The ordeal caused so much confusion on that portion of the road, risking the lives of innocent civilians.

One mile away, the frantic car chase continues with the MAGIA pursuit vehicles receiving assistance from a small law enforcement unit.

"It's getting crowded, sir." The driver said, his voice bearing a concerned tone. "We're gonna have a hard time catching up to this guy."

"We'll get him, as long as we still have sights on the car, he ain't going anywhere" said Ayanami. He checked his watch; the chase has gone on for two hours. They were now heading east and into a maze of narrow roads. He took the built-in radio from the car's dashboard and gave out an order.

"Team, on my command, make a hard left to the next street."

They could still see the speeder's car continuing to move straight ahead at a high speed, its driver apparently unfazed by the other vehicles that have been hounding it. With a quick glance to his left, Ayanami saw the right-angle turn, and gave out the command.

"Now!"

The black cars turned sharply towards their left and flew into the turn with great speed and coordination. Behind them, the police vehicles only saw the blur of the cars' taillights cutting through the clouds of burnt rubber they left in their wake. Overhead, one of the helicopters saw the near-perfect maneuvers of the black vehicles. Through the radio, the impressed pilot let out a bit of commentary for the police squad to hear.

"Delta-two to command, we are in pursuit and – let's hope you saw all that!"

With his vision focused on the road ahead, the rogue magician continued to cheer in his seat as he could no longer see any vehicles trailing behind him.

"Even those MAGIA punks learned not to mess with the king of the road!"

Taking a moment to check his phone, the assigned meeting place is within fifteen minutes from where he was. A message suddenly popped up on the phone's screen and he read it.

Make sure you're not being followed.

The rogue smirked. "No one could follow me anyway; I'm too fast for these losers."

Setting the phone aside, he peered briefly out of the window for the choppers, seeing them lagging behind with their searchlights panning left and right in an attempt to pinpoint his location. He was now entering a highway that led east to his destination.

"Easy as pie." He said proudly. "Now to-"

The rogue's words were cut off by the sight of a sleek, black vehicle appearing by his car's side, which slammed its front end thrice on the Toyota's left door as it tried to slow it down.

"What the hell?" he yelled in his seat and saw the black car's window open to reveal its driver wearing a dark suit.

"Stop the vehicle at once and surrender!" the driver shouted back at him as his car kept ramming the side of the rogue's with no intent of letting him slip past.

Furious of how they managed to reach him, the rogue used his ability even further, sending his car through a series of high-speed turns to try and shake off his pursuers. Several passing vehicles were thrown off course, with their drivers managing to leap out in time, causing a slight distraction for the pursuing vehicles' drivers.

"Lieutenant! That bastard got away!" a filtered voice came through Ayanami's radio. The lieutenant remained calm in his seat, thinking of a possible strategy to disable the speeding vehicle. After a few seconds of deep thought, he turned to his driver.

"Where are we now?" Masato asked.

"Halfway between Urawa and Chiba, sir. The chase took us north and then east of the capital." The driver plainly replied to him as he looked at his vehicle's fuel line. He was astounded by the lieutenant's idea to throw their vehicle into a long turn moments ago to take the rogue by surprise but he was worried that the pursuit may have cost their car and the others precious fuel.

"If the chase continues and we still cannot catch up to that guy, we'll stop dry on the road." He thought as he noticed the lieutenant looking at the gas, concern in his eyes, and then going back into thinking.

The rogue's car was now traveling at a pace that the pursuit team could no longer match and multiple questions on what to do, as well as complaints were pouring out of the radio's speakers.

The lieutenant then turned his sights on the dashboard, and noticed a small bar below the fuel line. There was a small lightning bolt on it and it glowed green.

Masato took the radio and gave an order.

"Team, turn off your engines and switch to electric motors!"

"But sir, our electric motors may not have enough power to make us go faster! We won't be able to catch up to the guy!" the driver protested.

"True, true, these motors may not be powerful, but considering how much fuel we may have left, switching to electric power may help us last longer." came the reply.

His driver began losing patience, clearly wanting to end the chase fast. He furiously asked the lieutenant. "Now how are we going to catch up to the rogue? We're no longer moving as fast as earlier."

Masato took a look through the windshield and saw a sign that pointed to another road.

"See those exit routes on the side of the highway? Our speeder probably took the one ahead of us." The lieutenant advised. "Team, let's make a beeline for the closest exit. If I have guessed it right, we would be able to intercept him."

Just as he ordered, the black cars took a quick right down a spiraling road that led to a grid of smaller streets. The pursuit teams rolled along without making much of a sound.

"The electric motors we're running on aren't making much noise; this will help us maintain the element of surprise." Masato thought as he saw a red blur in the distance, popping out of one of the streets and directly in their line of sight. They were two hundred meters behind target.

"He thinks we're ghosts. He thinks we're off the road. Now's our chance to get him, we'll now close the gap." Masato told the other drivers over the radio.

It's getting dark, the sun is setting…and it's giving me an idea.

"Team, turn off your main headlamps and stick together. And get ready for the next phase of the plan!" Masato ordered.

"Copy that…" the drivers hesitatingly replied.

And with that the cars went closer to each other, with the lieutenant's vehicle in the lead. Their headlamps went off, obscuring the vehicles' front ends. Ayanami looked back at the indicator for the electric supply, it was now orange and will soon flash red.

"Okay now, guys I want you to hit our car!" Masato commanded, with his driver staring blankly at the road with surprised eyes.

"When I give the order, do it one at a time."

Masato tugged his seatbelt, making sure it was tight and asked his driver. "This car's chassis is tough, right?"

"Yes…" the driver gulped. He knew the lieutenant received heightened intelligence and decision-making skills from his virus but he simply cannot believe his ideas.

Whatever his plan is, and whether it'll work or not, it's crazy, he thought to himself.

Masato continued to issue commands as his driver looked on. "We could have used nitrous to catch up with him but that rogue can accelerate his vehicle faster than we can, making our efforts a waste. So I want you all to hit ours and fire up the nitrous to give us a quick boost. Once we reach this guy, I'll blow his tires out. Understood?"

The teams acknowledged the lieutenant's order.

"Can you keep the car steady when they hit us?" Masato asked and the driver nodded in reply, while another man from the back seat handed the lieutenant a battle rifle. Ayanami then picked up the radio and gave the final command.

"Do it!"

Using what's left of its battery power, the first car slammed its nose into their rear with tremendous force but the vehicle remained steady. Its power ran out, but the driver immediately switched to its engine and fired the nitrous, pushing their car further. A second car followed theirs and crashed liked the one before it before firing up the nitrous boost; the remaining cars did the same and the lieutenant's vehicle surged forward, leaving the others behind.

"Keep it steady, don't use it yet…" Masato told the driver, who was holding the wheel tightly. He could now see the speeding car's rear end, but looking back at the dashboard, he noticed that their batteries had run out and their driver hasn't turned on the engine. They were traveling on inertia alone. Masato gave his driver the order.

"Fire up our engines and hit the nitrous, full blast!"

The rogue was shocked to see a black silhouette trailing his car; despite having used his ability to the fullest, he can't seem to outrun the sleek black figure that was hot on his tail. He had no time to react at the sight of a man sticking his body out of the pursuit car's window, holding a black rifle aimed at his six.

With a few pulls of the trigger, Masato fired three shots at the car; the first one punched a hole through its trunk, the second hitting the front left wheel, and the third hitting the rear left. He watched the tires explode instantaneously, sending the Toyota swerving wildly along the road before spinning out.

But in the car's condition, the rogue's car slammed into theirs, the driver's side hitting their car's left door, and Masato watched in horror as the rogue's bruised hand reached into his window, grabbing his rifle before their vehicles crashed into an old building.

Several meters from the crash site, a small team of armed men trudged through a series of dark passageways, their movement unencumbered by the weight of their weapons, though the narrow route slowed down their advance. In the middle of the formation, a black figure led the team into a less cramped space, through a left turn towards another alley where a leaking pipe was dripping water over their heads and down the walls. A brief flash of light shone on the figure, revealing a long-haired young man wearing a dark suit. A large drop of water fell down from above; it landed on the crown of his head and made its way down his sleek, black hair.

"Move faster people, it's raining filth on our heads. For sure, none of you guys counted on walking through a maze of slimy, putrid alleyways." The man complained.

Behind him, four other, unarmed men looked at him with strange eyes, though not a word came from their mouths.

The group stopped at a fairly large space behind a towering concrete wall, a hidden parking lot located well away from the nearest street. A strong light shone at the men as they took their positions around the lot's perimeter.

"So we're waiting here, now what?" one of the armed men mumbled, his gaze turned to the young man in the black suit, who was rubbing his eyes as the light shone down on him.

"Better get those shadows ready or – !"

The man didn't get to finish his complaint as he was quickly pulled down in the darkness beneath him, along with the others who followed one after the other until only the young man remained.

He put his glasses back on and saw the outline of a silenced pistol that one of the other men dropped while they were dragged down into their shadows. Picking it up, he aimed at the lamp and fired a single shot.

The lamp shattered from the bullet hit, its light fading instantaneously.

"Much better." The young man smirked as his likeness slowly faded into the darkness of his surroundings.

MAGIA Headquarters Main Branch
6:55 PM

The command room has been informed that the pursuit team has stopped the rogue and was now searching for him in an abandoned building. Misaka Hojo watched the commander-in-chief, Saito Mizuhashi smiling in his seat as he looked at one of the monitors showing the operation's progress.

"Spectre's team should have arrived there by now." The commander told Hojo. "Though I'm sure Ayanami would have the whole thing wrapped up."

"Do you want the rogue alive, sir?" she asked Mizuhashi calmly, since no order was given on what to do with the rogue.

Mizuhashi got up from his seat and moved closer to Hojo, and then answered.

"My dear, I would love that rogue dead than given a chance, but I won't mind if the team brought that freak back alive."

Finishing his statement, the commander gave Misaka's head a light touch, which made her feel uneasy.

"S…should I tell them, then?" the young woman timidly asked.

"No, my dear. No." Mizuhashi said with a crisp, cold voice, which made the young lieutenant feel even more unnerved.

Hojo followed her superior's orders without further questions.

In the old building's top floors, the rogue tried to hide in the best possible places he could find. The impact from the crash broke his left arm and he could feel some pain in his torso. He had managed to secure a weapon and would fight hard rather than surrender to his pursuers. He slung the rifle onto his right shoulder and checked the phone with his good hand. Looking at the map, he found himself in unfamiliar territory – the ensuing chaos threw him off course and it would take him all evening to reach his destination if he decides to go there on foot. Despite his situation, money was all he could ever think of, he had swept any thoughts of survival under the rug. He thought about the caller and remembered that he mentioned something about others like him.

"Fellow rogue magicians? Millions at stake? A meeting place in Chiba? Could they be…the Hellfire Vendetta?"

Questions lingered in his mind for a short while, and then he heard footsteps from downstairs. He then went up further, on the way to a large terrace, a small point of light moved along his injured arm. Tracing the light's origins, he saw an armed man with a rifle pointed at him.

"Halt!" the man commanded. "Put your weapon down, NOW!"

The rogue slowly put his rifle on the ground and watched the man intently. He saw him pull his left wrist towards his face and speak.

"This is agent Hayato. I've found him! He's – "

The agent had let down his guard; at the very moment he called on his radio, he had failed to notice the rogue quickly picking up the rifle and shooting him.

The rogue approached his body and looked at the radio, while listening to its caller speaking blankly.

"Come in agent Hayato! I repeat, where is the rogue~?"

He let out an enraged scream as he stomped on the radio, then ran off.

"Lieutenant we've lost him!" the man told Ayanami, who went to the next man with a scanner in hand.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Scanner's picking up a signal somewhere around the third and fourth floors." That's where Hayato was before we lost contact with him." The man with the scanner responded.

"Let's go then." Ayanami told his team and the armed men went upstairs carefully. Hayato requested to search ahead and Ayanami won't let the man's sacrifice be done in vain.

Damn it! Those guys have scanners! The rogue thought as he continued to hear footsteps from below his direction.

No wonder that fool found me. It's no use to keep hiding, then. The man grumbled to himself before he ran up the building's stairs.

As he attempted to escape, an idea came to him.

They arrived by cars, right? Surely they left a couple of people to watch them.

He was now smiling from the idea that came into his mind; the desperate situation he was in only gave him an adrenaline rush which made him even more motivated. Resuming his thinking, he talked to himself.

All I need is to cut them off and find another way down this building.

He pulled out two grenades from his pocket which he looted from the man he killed.

A building this size should have more than a flight of stairs, he thought. And looking to his left, he knew he was right – there was a map on a wall showing three more stairwells that led out of the building.

"Once I get down I'll just kill off those guys guarding the cars and, yes! Hello fortune with the Vendetta!" the rogue cheered confidently.

Nearing a hallway that led to one of the stairwells, he pulled the pin off one of the grenades with his teeth and placed it on his path then ran down the stairs as fast as he could.

BOOM!

Ayanami and his team heard the explosion, the ceiling above and the walls around them shook and the men felt like the structure was going to cave in on them, but to their relief it didn't.

"What was that?" one of the men asked.

"We're about to find out." Ayanami replied and the team headed up to where the blast originated. The group arrived at a large hallway leading to another location. A gaping hole was in the middle; it was as wide as the hallway itself and falling through it would lead them somewhere in the floor they came from.

"We have to go around sir!" one of the suggested. "He could be trying to come out from in other areas."

"No." the lieutenant declined. "You guys go around and surround the perimeter below while I go after him."

"But sir…" they protested. "It's too dangerous!"

Masato turned his head slightly to his team and the group complied. As they left the area, Masato took a few steps back and ran as fast as he could towards the hole.

In a single bound, he jumped high, launching himself into the air and hoped not to fall into the chasm beneath him. He landed perfectly to the other side, with his trailing leg sending a chunk of floor falling into the darkness below.

Masato then resumed his chase all the while thinking about the rogue's motives.

"Hiding in this building is pointless since we have scanners that can sense his movement; this whole goose chase is just a ploy to buy himself more time to get down and steal one of our working cars." Masato thought.

The rogue now stood on the building's rooftop, ready to make his descent down the structure when he spotted something five floors down from where he was. He leaned on one of the emergency stairwell's railings and saw a sleek sports car with a silver paint job below.

"That doesn't look like one of theirs." He said to himself before noticing a shortcut towards him.

If I run towards that end of the building, make a jump for that ledge on the other side, and use that hanging platform to go down, I could escape without running into those fools; they might be waiting below this stairwell by now, so it's worth the risk!

He took another look at the car, making sure no one was around or inside it. He could see very well that there are no people around it, if he hesitates any further the group will catch up to him.

Spotting the ledge, he sprinted across the rooftop and jumped down onto it. The platform was a short distance away from him, he only needed to leap off and he'll fall perfectly towards it, and should he fall short, the cables that held it up will give him a handhold that will help him land safely on the ground. He made a huge jump towards the platform when he felt something hit him.

Ack!

Collapsing onto the platform, he saw that his broken left arm had been shot off. He screamed in pain from what happened; blood was gushing from where the arm was. Shocked and confused, he fell from the platform and landed hard on the ground. He groaned hard from the fall, still alive but in excruciating pain, but despite his condition the rogue managed to crawl, trailing what's left of his bloodied and shot-off left arm on the cold, hard ground.

Falling from that height must have broken some of his bones; but he kept fighting the shock and pain until he can open his eyes wide, and when they did, he noticed that the car was in front of him. Mustering the last bit of strength he has left, he propped up his body on its side and reached for the car's door.

"I…made…it…" he said in gasps. "I – "

A click sounded from behind him.

Turning back, he could see an imposing figure clad in a dark trench coat emerge from one corner; a large, silver revolver was held in one hand and it was pointed at him.

"Not fair…" he screamed at the figure.

"…IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"What's not fair?" the figure replied before pulling the trigger.

A large chunk of the rogue's head was blown off, his blood and brains splattered the car's side with an unsightly mess of red before his lifeless body fell to the ground.

With the deed done, the figure returned the gun back to a holster inside his trench coat. A short, hooded figure hugging a large bodybag appeared by his side and raised its cowl, revealing a young girl's face.

"Eww, please don't make me clean the car!" the girl begged to the man in a childlike manner.

"You won't be cleaning it Chisame, don't worry." The man replied to her with a serious face.

Moments later, a door was violently kicked open, and they heard a man's voice yell at them.

"Freeze!"

The two figures didn't even move or turn around to see the man wearing a black casual suit with a pistol pointed at them. Behind him, armed men were taking their positions. Helicopters flew above with their lights illuminating their vicinity, their rotors blasting a huge downward gust of wind. From the surrounding shadows, soldiers emerged and took their positions around the two.

A long-haired young man was the last to emerge from the shadows and he spoke.

"Put down your weapons and turn around."

The two didn't follow the order and the girl grasped the bodybag she was carrying tightly, its upper end unzipping and revealing a huge sniper rifle. There was huge tension in the air, and it could go off any minute.

The man from the shadows saw the lieutenant gripping his gun and aiming it dead-center at the man wearing the black trench coat, sweat falling over his eyes. Below his feet, the shadows beneath their feet have begun expanding and changing shape. The shadow magician had an intimidating gaze on the two, his eyes slowly glowing with a purple tint as he repeated his earlier command.

"Put down your weapons and turn around!"

This time they both turned around and they saw the face of the man in the trench coat which shocked Kamiya and Ayanami.

"Takamura? Kyosuke Takamura?" Ayanami exclaimed for everyone to hear, but the soldiers barely had an idea to who the lieutenant has identified and their fingers remained at their weapons' triggers.

And they were right to be, even though this was the first time they've heard of the man but to Ayanami and to the few officials back at MAGIA, they knew the man's history and background.

"Why are you here?" Ayanami demanded, not lowering his weapon. His gaze slightly veered to the body of the rogue that had been killed by the man.

Takamura did not reply and the young girl beside him cocked her rifle.

"Answer him!" Kamiya yelled.

He saw the man reach for something under his coat.

The move alerted everyone; the soldiers' fingers dangerously close to pulling their guns' triggers, ready to blow the two people from where they stood. To their surprise, the man pulled out a rolled piece of paper and threw it at the shadow magician who caught it with his right hand.

After opening and reading it, a look of dread and disbelief appeared on Spectre's face.

"Everyone lay down your arms!" he ordered and the soldiers lowered their rifles, astonishment and confusion filling their minds.

"Kamiya, what is it?" Ayanami asked and in reply, the shadow magician handed him the paper. He too could not believe what was written on it.

"Th – This man will be working with us at MAGIA?" Ayanami exclaimed and turned his sights at the pair walking towards them. The young girl lumbered happily with her rifle in tow and gave a bright smile to the shadow magician, while the man placed a hand on Ayanami's shoulder and whispered to his ear.

"I'm back."

He sat in a couch in a dimly-lit room; a strange look was on his face. The TV was turned on as he watched with blank eyes. He hummed a catchy tune, but his emotions stopped him short. In the dining room on the far end of the house, a plate full of food lay untouched; it had been an hour since the meal was prepared, but something kept him from touching it. A large, colorful box was placed in the middle of the dining table, its lid tied off by a large, shiny blue ribbon with a small tag hanging off one end. It had been in the same condition as it was when he placed it on the table when he last checked it, as if no one wanted to touch it too. The man walked towards the dining room and checked if anyone had opened the box; once again it remained unopened.

Walking back to the couch, he could vividly remember the sight he saw earlier that day on his TV's screen. He had just watched the live concert by Mafuyu Enma at home and he felt proud with the pop idol's successful live show. Immediately after the broadcast ended, he had just received a text message from his sister, who told him to get ready with some treats once she comes back home. He got her a cake with a message written on it, and had it placed in a special box decorated with cute motifs. He had expected her to come home with a bright aura around her, but to his surprise she came home fuming, and instead of greeting him, she walked grumpily up the stairs to her room.

He went back to watching the TV; the news was now on. Shirou was about to find out the reason for his sister's terrible mood.

The news broadcaster began the announcement.

"A rogue magician with the capability to increase his vehicle's performance was finally stopped at an abandoned building. It is still unknown where the rogue was headed but the chase ended somewhere en route to Chiba Prefecture. The rogue has now been identified as Takashi Sakimoto, a twenty-four year-old male with a long history of disruptive behavior and violation of public order. His activities today resulted in chaos throughout the capital and in the surrounding areas, damage in property, multiple accidents, and injury to drivers."

Shirou watched the new intently as the reporter went on.

"We are now getting information that the rogue caused an…embarrassing…situation to a popular idol, Mafuyu Enma, just after her concert ended today."

The reporter showed a video of the rogue's car drifting towards the crowd of fans and the force from the vehicle's passing sending a blast of wind that caused the singer's skirt to flip up and expose her underwear. He now realized why his sister was so angry.

Shirou continued to watch the news.

"We still do not know from MAGIA if the rogue has been captured or killed but they have told the public that their efforts will con –"

The television suddenly turned off.

"Hey, what gives?" Shirou suddenly spoke while seated on the couch.

"I can't believe you saw that, onii-chan!" a high-pitched voice exclaimed behind him.

"Look sis…" he turned to meet her. "…people will for – GEEEEEEEET!"

Shirou was screaming at the sight of his sister, completely naked and appearing as if she just got out of the shower.

"G…GET SOME CLOTHES ON, YOU PERVERT!"

"Hmm, isn't that my line, onii-chan?" Mafuyu teased her brother who was now thrashing uncontrollably on the couch while covering his eyes.

At MAGIA's Tokyo headquarters, magician and personnel were now questioning the presence of the mysterious people who helped stop the rogue now dubbed as 'the mad racer'. The pair was held up by several armed men at a security checkpoint; they have surrendered their weapons and were now passing through a metal detector.

"Please young lady, have all your weapons surrendered to us." A guard said to the young girl named Chisame when she passed under the metal detector, the device beeping at her.

"But I already put them back there!" Chisame protested to the guard with teary eyes, and she now tugged the man beside her.

"Kyocchi! Kyocchi! That old man is being mean to me!"

The man named Kyosuke went up to the guard and spoke to him like a gentleman. "I'm sorry about her. She'll give them to you; she just needs a little urging."

Kyosuke turned to face the young girl with a smile and gazed at her eyes. The young girl immediately got the idea and put her hands inside her skirt pockets. When she pulled them back out, she placed four objects on the table: a knife, a small gun, a pack of shotgun shells and a large rifle bullet.

The guard was stunned at what she just placed on the table.

"Will that be all? Yes, then we're on our way in." Kyosuke answered for the guard as he smiled and went ahead.

The surveillance cameras recorded the whole activity, with the command room staff watching through their monitors. Commander Mizuhashi felt shivers down his spine when he was told they would be coming to MAGIA a while ago.

Second Lieutenant Hojo stared at him with a cold eye and beside her was her superior, Ayanami, as well as Kamiya and Miyuki, who also had the same feeling.

"This may come as a surprise to you all but that man and his accomplice have been called back to work here again." The commander began.

"My father just told me that in the negotiations back then, our foreign affairs representative, Taoka Matsuda, suggested to send the guy to help with our Vendetta hunt and my father reluctantly authorized it."

They listened to the commander's explanation without interruption.

"To those who don't know Takamura and to those who already do, he was the former assault ops agent here at MAGIA before we had to discharge him for treacherous actions."

"Assault ops? Him?" asked a curious Kamiya who received a nod from his superiors.

Ayanami came forward after Mizuhashi finished his explanation, he held a file about Kyosuke Takamura.

"Takamura was among the early volunteers and the virus granted him the ability to heighten his vision and even foresee the slightest of actions and movements around him within seconds. He was under my command once and even before I became his commander, Takamura has always had a reputation for involving innocents in order to accomplish his missions. He has total disregard for civilian losses, all to ensure that he comes out successful. Back then, we all thought that would be just his bad side until we found out that he had been secretly aiding a nefarious group that MAGIA has been ordered to handle. After this discovery, he surrendered to us. He was vaccinated and his records were deleted, meaning he's no longer recognized as an employee here."

Masato took a quick pause and then continued.

"Instead of being imprisoned for his betrayal, he was pardoned by many governments for his contributions in destroying a number of high-profile terror networks. Rumors say that he took a Japanese national, a child to be precise, orphaned by one of the conflicts he has participated in and it could be that girl that will be working for us from now on."

"Trained her like a predator…" Miyuki interrupted coldly. It was then Kamiya's turn to tell his opinion to the commander.

"If the Prime Minister did issue a last chance for rogues to change, which I think is great and all, by having them enter a program where they will be able to use their skills for good, then why hire a guy who is known to be ruthless to people? Why hire that guy, of all people?"

"Good question Spectre. Kyosuke Takamura was hired to hunt down rogues affiliated with the Hellfire Vendetta. The man has a lot of knowledge and experience in hunting down terror groups, and we will need his skills and ruthlessness to finish them." The commander replied to Kamiya smoothly.

"Though I regret that you and Ayanami saw the way he does his work on someone who isn't even with the Vendetta yet."

MAGIA

Chapter Nine

Developments

It was a good morning to stroll around in Tokyo's bustling streets, especially for the thousands of young people, both natives as well as foreign tourists, who like to see the many colorful attractions on every block and corner of the capital. Many of them are shops and business establishments that sell clothing, accessories, gadgets, toys and trinkets. There are also many others who serve food and drinks to hungry individuals, and those who offer services of various kinds. A good number of these establishments are specialized shops that cater to people with special and unique interests, those who are commonly referred to as 'otaku'.

These people come from different backgrounds and express their interests for a variety of things such as animated productions, comics, films, music, video games and other elements of Japanese popular culture. Tokyo has several areas that support enterprises that accommodate these individuals; the most well-known of these areas, the Akihabara Strip, has been a mecca for otaku for over five decades, with its many arcades, anime merchandise shops, electronics stores and maid cafes that cater to otaku of all ages, both magicians and regular people, who frequently come to these places for fun.

En route to a maid café at one end of the Akihabara area, a well-dressed young man walked casually along the streetside, passing by many stalls and booths that are manned by proprietors who offer him assorted anime-themed accessories at affordable prices. The man was twenty-four year-old Miki Konoe, a self-professed NEET, an individual who isn't employed or in school despite being of the right age. Japanese culture frowns upon such individuals as they serve no purpose in a society that places talented and hardworking individuals in high regard. To make matters worse, Konoe is a marked man whom the local government and MAGIA had placed their sights on for his involvement in the infamous rogue group, Hellfire Vendetta.

Nevertheless, he remained nonchalant and well-composed, and showed no fear of going out in public. And for good reason: he has disguised himself by applying heavy makeup in addition to a special 'skin' made by their group. He also kept his attire casual as possible, wearing only a black shirt with an anime-styled drawing of the pop icon Mafuyu Enma on it, skinny gray pants and plain sneakers. His hair was styled in a slick, trendy do instead of his usual shabby and disheveled hair. Inside his pants pocket is a small device that jams the scanners of patrolling MAGIA enforcers.

He had finally arrived to his destination, a small shop decorated with elaborate brickwork similar to a Western-style coffee shop. There were several dining tables outside the shop and chairs surrounded them. A large sign with big, expressive lettering printed on it adorned its storefront just above the door. Near the entrance was a list of services the shop offered its clients and beside the sign was a charming young woman wearing a classy maid outfit. The establishment was to his liking, he was already feeling a bit hungry and maid cafes are his thing.

The maid in the storefront greeted him with a smile and beckoned the man to enter.

"Good morning and welcome, master!"

The maids in the café greeted him happily and Konoe felt his heart race upon the sight of young, cute, and beautiful women wearing the same servant's attire.

He was then guided to a table by three maids, who immediately prepared his table and served him some appetizing treats. He summoned one of them, a timid young lady wearing pink contact lenses and cat ears.

"Master…would you like something to eat?" the maid happily asked as she presented a large piece of card showing the café's menu.

Konoe immediately placed his finger on the card and ordered omu rice. The food item is a typical rice omelette sold in maid cafes where the maid finishes the meal's preparation with a message written in ketchup, which expresses the maid's 'love' or appreciation for her customer.

Today, Konoe wanted to have his name written together with the maid's name on his food.

Moments later the same maid he summoned earlier arrive to his table and Konoe was delighted of what was about to come.

"Here you are sir, one omu rice…" the maid said as she placed the food on the table and brought out the ketchup.

"What would you like me to write on your food, master?" she asked with a heavenly smile.

"Could you write your name and my name on the meal?" Konoe said shyly to the maid. "I'm Shinji."

The maid accepted his request and was about to write on the food when he stopped her with another request.

"Could you do it with your eyes closed?"

"V-very well master!" the maid again acknowledged his request and began to write blindly at where the food was. She suddenly felt something wet and warm hitting her face.

"I must have squirted too much on your food, master!" she said as she opened her eyes, but instead of seeing her master pleasantly watching on, she saw sheer horror instead.

The man's head bore a huge hole in its middle and his eyes stared blankly. She screamed hard upon seeing blood on her sides, dress and part of her face. Other customers, as well as the other maids and staff in the café, began screaming wildly and running out of the building, failing to notice that the body slowly decayed as time went on. Panic soon engulfed the section of the strip around the maid café and authorities rushed in to control the situation.

"Aww, damn it!" Chisame grumbled in disappointment as she lay prone with her arms poised around her rifle on top of a building blocks away from the café where she shot the man.

"It was just a clone! The guy is really slippery as they say…"

Beside her was Takamura, taking notes of the operation. They were told earlier that the GEM detector placed in the area had detected a rogue in the area and it was the one named Miki Konoe. Chisame had shot the man as if she could see through his disguise; unfortunately the one she shot wasn't the man's real body.

"You'll get the real one next time." Takamura said to the young girl.

Chisame took her hands off her rifle and gave her limbs a stretch. Her eyes now turned to meet the man's.

"Kyocchi, why do people panic at such things like what I did? Like, we were doing them a favor, right?" Chisame curiously asked in a way similar to an innocent child who knew nothing about killing and asking her parents' ideas on it.

"Well, maybe they don't see the color red all the time." Kyosuke replied to her with a simple answer.

"So, if they see the color red a lot, they'll think that what we do is okay, right?" she asked another question.

The man replied again. "Perhaps, but remember, we're not like them so it may take a lot of time for them to get used to it."

He then stood and went down the building with the girl and their gear in tow, taking the emergency stairs so as not to attract the attention of the people inside. Their car was waiting outside on the side of the road, all clean with no stains whatsoever. Takamura opened the car's doors and hopped in with Chisame immediately following. After buckling up, they drove away, ready to resume patrolling. They roamed their surroundings like a pair of predators prowling their territory.

The MAGIA agents deployed in Akihabara had no idea what just happened.

"These two are ruthless to the bone, going as far as killing their target in public." Ayanami mumbled as he watched the two black dots signaling the pair moving across the city.

"At least it was that clone guy that the GEM detector identified." Miyuki replied to her superior. "I'm sure they won't dare shoot a stray rogue that they come across, especially if it's already being apprehended by other teams."

Doubt came over Ayanami's thoughts as he examined his current knowledge on the hitman who was now helping them.

There was this infamous incident in the Philippines five years ago where an attempted coup against the then-new president by a corrupt senator was horrifically averted. At that time, Kyosuke Takamura brutally executed the senator's family and close associates one at a time, starting with his wife. Each murder was recorded through video and made known to the public without prior notice from the chief of law enforcement and the nation's heads of military. Every attempt by the country's armed forces to reclaim the senator's family was met with bloody results. Only did the carnage stop when the senator's daughter came last in line, forcing the statesman to admit to the public that he was supported by terrorists to oust the incumbent head of state.

Three weeks after the major announcement he killed the senator and left a note to his daughter saying that the one who started the whole mess must also die. He would then hunt down the terrorists and wipe them all out. He was a MAGIA enforcer when that incident happened, and at the same time, the organization was faced with backlash from numerous groups and governments all over the world. His actions heightened the political tensions and gave our group's opponents a greater reason to call us out, but the very same governments that were against him had no choice but to hire his services in dealing with their enemies and pardon him for his past actions.

Takamura's brand of lone justice through fear, cruelty and the precise methods he employs made his skin crawl.

"Are you thinking of him, sir?" Miyuki asked the lieutenant.

"Yes." Ayanami hastily responded after his thinking drifted to the man. He then gave an order to the ice magician who listened intently.

"Could you tell the teams to patrol the area for carriers and rogues just to be sure?"

Miyuki nodded and gave the order as she saw the lieutenant signaling to his second-in-command to hand him a cup of tea.

Hellfire Vendetta…because of you, the world has called for the help of someone who is beyond forgiveness and mercy. Masato thought as he reclined in his seat.

"Keep your eye on the detector's readings." Kyosuke told Chisame, referring to the laptop she was carrying that had a link to MAGIA's detectors; they expected the devices to work and inform them of any rogues within their reach.

Driving the silver Jaguar steadily, Takamura gazed at the cityscape, panning his vision from left to right as he looked on for anything that might give away their cover. He was also on the lookout for the clones that were reported to be strolling around the capital. Twenty five minutes have gone by and the GEM detectors have not found anything within their ten square-mile reach, he had been deciding whether to continue with the search or head back to base. But it was not in his mind to leave his work; a hunter does not simply leave its chosen kill zone after a successful takedown – it continues to explore its surroundings, searching for new trails and new hunting grounds.

"Chisame, could you pass me that file on the Hellfire Vendetta?"

The girl took out the file from its envelope and Takamura pulled over his car to read its contents. The file contained all known information about the group and the identities of some of its members. The first page showed a picture of the presumed leader of the group. He had red, spiky hair, a distinct stubble and looked young, around his age. The man's ability remained unknown.

He flipped to the next page; it showed another young man and his file had plenty of details about him, for he was among those who helped steal the vans containing conscripted carriers. He had the ability to control fire and he's also an expert swordsman, and was able to make short work of two veteran MAGIA enforcers. The next page contained details on the one Chisame shot earlier that morning, the notorious cloning rogue who can effortlessly make hundreds of duplicates of himself and his name was Miki Konoe. Flipping to the next one, the file showed a pale-skinned woman in a black Gothic Lolita dress and according to Ayanami, she is a psychic. Takamura moved on to the next, it showed a slightly blurred image of a man and he was one of those who appeared behind the leader in their announcement. His face is partly obscured but Takamura can make out a man from the Orients, possibly a Korean. The next page showed a fairly young man with white hair, and Takamura could see the face of one of the trainees he mentored in the Self-Defense Force. The last page only showed obscure images of others who appeared in the video their group broadcasted when they revealed themselves.

"Hey Kyocchi, I think this is the swordsman in the picture." Chisame said and showed to him a picture of a teenage man who won the national kendo championship four years ago. She had just been viewing some old news clips in Takamura's laptop.

"His face does resemble the one in the file…" he thought.

"What's his name?" Takamura asked her and Chisame looked through.

"Kazuto Andou…" she replied. "Though it says he died two years ago."

"Family? Friends?"

"Nuh-uh. His family died too. His friends, well, some of them died and those who didn't moved out."

Chisame looked at him with curious eyes and asked him a question.

"You're gonna i…in..intew…ate – "

"Interrogate his friends? No." Takamura replied plainly. He started their car and resumed their patrol. He will be the one to decide when they head back to base.

"I'm telling you my copy had a jammer and if there were any MAGIA enforcers around it should have warned me. But no...my copy took a bullet to the head and scared off the ladies!" Konoe complained to someone seated on a large brown chair facing away from him.

"And what are you trying to say, my friend?" the person asked from his seat.

"The people in MAGIA may have, uhm, built a new detecting thing that we don't know of or has better specs than the old ones." Konoe answered submissively.

"Very well, no one steps foot in the capital until Lee has created something to deal with our problem." The man replied to him.

"Got it, buddy." Konoe agreed with the order and walked out of the room when he was interrupted by his superior calling him.

"By the way, tell Mamoru that I don't like people like that Sakimoto guy joining our group. I want people with skills, not with ego."

At MAGIA's main training facility, the magicians of the organization's armed combat division, Sector D stood in wait for a new batch of recruits to arrive. Hiroki Kamiya, the sector's appointed combat officer, stood in wait at the main testing room as he stared at the cavernous white space beyond the glass windowpane in front of him. Beside him were two MAGIA enforcers: his superior, Second Lieutenant Hojo, and his fellow combat magician Miyuki, and a few other magicians under the latter's leadership.

Inside the large room were an assortment of gadgets to be used by the trainees, from everyday devices such as electronics and hand tools, to firearms, weapons, and other combat gear. The walls of the center were lined with bright lights and ports where various objects and implements designed to handicap the recruits come out. Four steel doors serve as entry points for personnel and magicians.

The door at the far right side of the facility opened, revealing a large group of people who looked different from the ones the magicians of Sector D are familiar with. The people formed a single line along the rear wall of the area and as he passed by them, Hiroki immediately recognized them as the new batch of combat magicians – specifically the ones from abroad.

He stopped at the far left of the queue, in front of a tall, young man with blonde hair and fair skin. He was holding a manual on how to speak Japanese and was scratching his head impulsively.

"Good day, mister." Hiroki greeted the man in perfect English. "Care to introduce yourself?"

"I'm Tom Radford…" the man uneasily replied in Japanese and smiled.

The shadow magician smiled back and spoke to him in his own tongue. "I'm Hiroki Kamiya. Nice to meet you."

He stepped towards the next, a pale-skinned girl with long, flowing red hair. She spoke in a very thick accent that mangled her speech, all the while reading a book on fairies and other creatures of children's folklore. Hiroki could not clearly make out any words from her mouth but he was able to identify the young woman's name.

"So, you're Anne MacMillan, yes?" Hiroki asked.

"Aye, sir. Anne MacMillan, from the land of leprechauns and four-leaf clovers." The girl replied in typical Irish fashion.

"Good day Anne, hope you enjoy your stay." Hiroki replied.

After him came a bald man wearing a saffron-colored robe and standing with his feet apart. His eyes were closed and the lower half of his face was obscured by a dark red scarf. Hiroki greeted the man like the others before, but stopped halfway in surprise.

"Wait, I know you, you're…you're…" he attempted to recognize the familiar face before him, but ended up snapping his fingers as he could not remember his name.

"He's Gan Chanming. You know, the Chinese action star…?" Second Lieutenant Hojo interrupted from her position.

"Yeah, right…" Hiroki sighed as he finally remembered his name, but a puzzled look appeared on his face as he did.

"Wait, what's a highly-paid Chinese action movie star doing in a place like this?" he asked in his curiosity.

"The winds of destiny brought me here, young master. I shall consider it a privilege to be of service in your ranks." Chanming replied and bowed gracefully with his eyes still closed.

Miyuki then introduced him to a tall, tough-looking woman wearing a gray beret, a heavy brown winter coat, a short skirt and knee-high boots. She had the features of a Russian, and Hiroki was certain she could be from there, from Ukraine or any of the Slavic countries.

"I'm Natalya Petrova." She said dryly. "In the name of my beloved motherland and your great state of Japan, I am truly honored to serve MAGIA and the world."

Kamiya's team felt an emotional boost when she ended her introduction. It kinda feels nice to have these foreigners around, he thought.

Miyuki turned her sights at the far right end of the line and saw a tan-skinned man whose legs were shaking. She approached him with a cold expression on her face.

"Your name?" She asked the man.

"I'm…I'm Pedro Martinez from the Philippines!"

Miyuki tapped her finger on the man's forehead, releasing a cool touch. "Relax, Pedro, there's nothing to worry about." Miyuki told the man with a soothing voice and the man's legs stopped shaking.

"Sorry, ma'am!" Pedro replied while bowing.

"It's okay." said Miyuki with a wink as she went back to her team and saw Hiroki looking at her with a curious stare.

With the introductions done, Lieutenant Hojo sent forth two operatives from Miyuki's squad to guide them into the testing stage where they will show their abilities to them and the other MAGIA personnel who were watching.

Tom Radford went in first and he was presented a series of fast-moving targets that whizzed around him. Taking off his rubber gloves, he unleashed bolts of lightning from his fingertips that hit the targets dead-center, blowing them out. He was then followed by a German magician who tore off the fried stumps where the targets once were using his incredible magnetism.

Anne stepped in next and she requested some of the lights to be turned off; the personnel acknowledging her request. With a mid-air twirl, five bright blue wisps came out from beneath her skirt, followed by smaller yellow wisps that filled the testing stage with a dazzling light show. A blue wisp flew past a small shrub she had placed in front of her, setting it ablaze, while three yellow wisps revolved around it many times, putting out the flames and restoring the plant to its former state.

"Those were my sprites you just saw, they do exactly what the stories tell you." She yelled out with a bright smile as the lights came back on.

"T…truly impressive! Thank you very much, Anne!" Misaka hollered over the comms and called for the next volunteer.

An eerie silence followed.

"Mister Gan, uhm, you're up next…"

Not a single individual came out of the main entryway.

"Uhm, Mister Gan, you're up – "

Her word was cut by the sight of the Chinese man entering through another entry point four floors aboveground, stopping by the edge of a free-floating ledge that jutted ten steps from the wall. The cameras zoomed in on his location as he meditated.

"Okay, Mister Gan, let's start with something simple, shall we?" Kamiya spoke through the mic. In a flash, three other doors opened on the floor below, revealing hooded men in martial arts gear. They looked at the Chinese man who didn't flinch from the incoming threat, and began climbing up ladders in an attempt to flank him. But to their surprise, Gan jumped off the platform and landed a kick on one of the men, knocking him out easily. More fighters came out of the doors and tried to mob him, but using his martial arts skills, he pushed them away from him with ease.

"It doesn't seem like he's using his magic, Hiroki-kun. M…maybe we should give him a tougher test." The young lieutenant told Kamiya.

"Look, Misaka, they're no ordinary martial arts fighters…" Kamiya responded, then took a pause as three shots were fired inside the testing stage.

Around him, Gan can see the fighters pull out black objects from inside their sleeves.

"…they're authorized to use deadly force…"

Hiroki resumed from his post while watching the Chinese action star dodge the bullets with very slight but quick movements of his body. He saw the fighters pull out their machine pistols and spray bullets at Gan, but with a quick thrust of the man's palms, he effortlessly caught them as if they were tiny pebbles thrown at him.

With their ammunition spent, Gan countered his assailants with his superior skills in fighting, overwhelming them and sending some retreating.

"The real world is no different from the screen plays I perform in. Thus, what you see on the silver screen would be what you'll expect to see from me every day." Gan spoke to the MAGIA personnel who stood in watch and bowed before leaving the stage.

It was finally Natalya's turn and she stood in the middle of the room with her legs up straight as she sang the Russian national anthem before getting ready. The personnel watched in anticipation of the abilities she was about to show, while Hiroki sat down and analyzed his observations on the new magicians.

"We're seeing some connection between the people and their abilities." He thought.

The personnel at the training facility's control room gave Natalya and the rest of Sector D a thumbs up before turning a large dial situated on their side of the room. Natalya took a deep breath and stood casually on the testing stage as the temperature rapidly rose to unbearable levels. She walked around the stage without dropping a single bead of sweat or stopping for a glass of water. After a few minutes in searing heat, the temperature began to decrease rapidly until the room's temperature hit the negative double digits. She moved around as if the room were warmer. The room was defrosted and Natalya blew very hard, releasing a wave of flames followed by a blast of intense cold.

"Her ability seems to match our common knowledge of women from Eastern Europe…" Kamiya mumbled to Hojo softly.

"Um…yeah, she's a tough cookie...indeed." The young lieutenant agreed.

A man with a huge beard and a cowl over his head came next and showed off his magic as he jumped up high and landed hard on the ground, releasing earthen spikes that reached three stories up from where he was. While he was at it, a light dust storm blew around him before he lowered his hands; dissipating the dust cloud and making the spikes crumble. Another man wearing a heavy winter coat closed his eyes and grunted hard, the hair on his face grew into white fur, and his arms grew in size; they too were covered in fur. He leapt from one end of the stage to another in a single bound, tearing off a gun turret aimed at his head before he knelt and gave a gruff sigh, his features returning to normal. Many others followed the two and the spectators were impressed.

"This foreign batch looks promising." mumbled Kamiya to one of the personnel behind him.

It was finally Pedro's turn and Miyuki escorted him towards the center of the stage. He was carrying a small notebook as he went in. He opened the notebook, revealing colorful illustrations of various mythical creatures from his country. Earlier, Miyuki had him talk with the Irish magician who went ahead of him and it made him feel a lot less unnerved, knowing that he had someone whom he shared interests with. The ice magician left him as he slowly opened the notebook, which gave off a bright glow.

"Come forth!"

Pedro yelled at the top of his voice, and a few moments later he dropped the notebook. A hulking figure came out of it, a giant dressed in faded, muddy clothes with a huge cigar in its mouth. A handsome but scary-looking, sharp-dressed man came out next, followed by a beautiful young woman in white clothes and a mustache-sporting dwarf that gave off an intimidating aura. Pedro stood confidently as the creatures stood around him, he was no longer shaking his legs in fright.

"I do not just summon monsters of legend to aid me; I can also make them do these!" he told the audience as he commanded his familiars.

"Kapre!"

The giant blew a puff of white smoke from his mouth and pulled out the cigar, which he waved around in mid-air as it turned into a large, flaming club.

Pedro looked at the pale-skinned man beside him and gave him a nod.

"Aswang!"

The sharp-dressed man pulled out two butterfly knives and performed tricks with the blades before throwing them into the air. He jumped up to catch them and landed on the ground as a scary, man-sized dog that let out a somber howl.

"Dwende!"

The dwarf showed surprising speed and agility as it tumbled and rolled like a well-trained stuntman, before grabbing a light machine gun from the weapons crate and heaved himself on the giant's palm, which then placed him on his head.

The creatures walked back and surrounded the magician until his figure can't be readily seen, before performing their battle stances as if they were a team of superheroes from a child's comic book. Indeed, in Pedro's home country, the creatures he summoned tend to draw much fascination, fear and awe from countless generations of youngsters who grew up learning about such colorful folk characters. Even his fellow folklore enthusiast, the Irish Anne, could not believe what she just saw, and the same went for nearly everyone in the training room.

For all their astonishment, they suddenly failed to notice the presence of the white lady who came out last.

"Pedro? You still there? And where's that white lady?" Miyuki asked from behind the reinforced glass entrance door where the volunteers entered.

The glass door proved to be too thick for any discernible sound to pass through.

Seeing the lack of response from the magician inside, Miyuki knocked hard on the glass to get his attention. A human figure, one of a beautiful woman in a white gown, appeared in front of Miyuki, which took her by surprise. She was quite spooked by how her face looked; instead of the usual white scleras, her eyeballs were as black as obsidian, and her pale skin showed flashes of gray, as if she had not been out in the sun for a long time. Nonetheless, the ice magician was intrigued by the woman's ability.

"She has a cloaking ability, and to be honest she's quite pretty, too. Good for recon and espionage, I'd say." Miyuki commented.

But as she was about to clap her hands, the woman pulled out a blade and thrust it to her belly before dragging it quickly across, bisecting her body along the navel. But no blood or guts spilled out of the cut, instead the upper half levitated and a huge pair of bat-like wings sprouted from her back as the rest of her body disappeared in a puff of smoke. With only her upper half, the woman flew into the formation and pulled Pedro out and up into the air, carrying him in a tight embrace.

"Good way to travel!" Pedro yelled from above as the woman carried him around the room before dropping him in the middle where the notebook lay. He landed softly on the giant's right fist and slid down it as the creatures slowly returned to the notebook, its light sucking them into the white void in a similar fashion to how an alien spacecraft "beams" its passengers into it.

The viewers cheered and applauded hard at the man, who bowed in response, more than happy from the feedback he received from his fellow volunteers and the MAGIA personnel he will be working for.

With the introduction over, the people began leaving for their respective stations when they were drawn to a stout young man shouting from inside the testing stage. He was flailing wildly as two men in white clothes carried him up like a log.

"Hey, guys, wait! Wait! I want to show my skills!" The young man protested to a scientist who was standing at the door to the training room as he was being escorted out.

"But Mr. Kuchiki, you aren't even scheduled for today."

Haruyuki tried to break free from the grip of his escorts as more security personnel approached him.

"Let him." a voice boomed from the facility's speakers and when they looked up, it was from Kamiya. "I want to see the man's skills."

The security personnel then dropped Haruyuki on the testing stage and left without further ado. All the foreign magicians as well as the rest of Sector D were watching and he could see Miyuki staring by him from behind the glass entrance doors.

Taking a deep breath, Haruyuki raised his arms and concentrated hard. As he did, the entire room rattled, leading many to think that an earthquake just occurred. But the shaking stopped and now bits of metal, tiles and other materials were now being ripped off the facility's walls and the equipment inside was also dragged towards him too. The shatterproof glass window that separated the audience from the testing stage was blown off and pulled towards the man, and to Hiroki's astonishment, his cruciform pendant was ripped off from his neck as if a very strong magnetic force was tugging it from him.

The shadow magician exclaimed. "Hey!"

Around Haruyuki, the materials floated and, bit by bit, disintegrated into tiny particles until they formed a halo of matter surrounding the man. Waving his hands upward, he threw the particles into the air where they transformed into a gray, crystalline blob. A machine gun was disassembled in a flash and its parts, save for the trigger and grip, turned into the same gray matter as the blob before it. The mass formed into a large cylinder and steadily grew longer in size. More tiles and shards of broken glass stuck to the slowly-transforming hunk of matter, forming several bits and pieces that formed a frame-like structure around the cylinder. To everyone's surprise, the nonmetallic pieces of matter changed into some sort of metal, something which the scientists present found quite impossible to believe.

With its weight and size encumbering the short, stout man, Haruyuki attempted to heft the resulting creation; he was holding what seems to be a large rocket launcher. Several square tiles around the muzzle moved back and bonded to the main barrel before taking on the color and properties of the rest of the weapon.

"Alrighty, let's see how this thing works!" Kuchiki told the audience before aiming the launcher to the far end of the room.

Emitting a powerful blast of hot smoke from its rear, the projectile whooshed out of the launcher's firing tube and the resulting backblast threw the man off his feet. A loud bang sounded from the wall below the viewing window and the personnel of Sector D saw a huge hunk of hard metal buried halfway into the hard concrete. Haruyuki got up as soon as the smoke cleared, dropping the launcher due to the heat from the firing chamber radiating out into his palms.

"Ta-da…?" a puzzled Haruyuki muttered.

The audience fell silent after his show ended, except for Hiroki Kamiya who shared his thoughts on Haruyuki's magic.

"Impressive talent, impressive contraption, but aren't shoulder-fired rockets supposed to go boo-"

A delayed explosion interrupted his comment, and left the other viewers stunned by the man's magic show. The audience erupted into a huge cheer and Kamiya felt a sense of pride for the young man, though the suddenness of the blast left him unable to speak for a while.

"Uhm…Miyuki, I think I'll speak for Hiroki-kun. Your friend's…awesome and you know that! He'd make a great addition to our team, n-no doubt about that!" Lieutenant Hojo told the ice magician to her right.

Miyuki coldly replied. "Yeah, that fatass is not someone to look down on."

In Sector A's command room, Saito Mizuhashi sat alone behind a wall of glass displays that showed a few running computer programs. In front of his field of vision, the likeness of his father, the Prime Minister, appeared on the glass monitor.

"Do not be too worried about the pair's actions this morning; we'll be explaining that to the public soon. The man is a professional and so is the child. In no time, those two might stumble upon their hideout and inform us, though to be honest, I am worried about his methods." the Prime Minister told his son with a pale face, as if he were in shock of what Takamura did.

"But just like what you said, Father, we will do anything to crush the Vendetta and this guy is a perfect example of that ideology." Saito told his father in response before bringing up a new topic.

"Anyway, we have made significant strides in GEM research thanks to our foreign volunteers." The commander began.

"The new GEM virus strain we've injected to them seems to be manifesting itself in forms that reflect their place of origin and give them abilities suited to their preferences and innate skills."

The Prime Minister's face appeared puzzled after what his son had just announced to him, and immediately asked questions to the young commander.

"You mean that the virus is giving them unique abilities based on where they came from or what they're good at? This might seem bizarre but judging from the findings the virus may be evolving and now you're saying that the new strains are showing signs of synergizing with its hosts, unlike the randomness we've seen in the past. You didn't discover that until it manifested on those foreigners?"

"Yes and yes" Saito apologetically replied. "I'm sorry but even our scientists cannot explain what's happening. All we know is that the new strains seem to be unlocking our volunteers' superhuman potentials. This might be a new development but I believe it may not be a serious issue and in fact that's what I believe the virus was made to do all along."

"What do you mean it's not a serious issue?" the Prime Minister asked with a raised eyebrow on his aged face.

"This is serious Saito, what if that virus has the capacity to influence and alter their minds? Behavior? It will lead to our ruin!"

The Prime Minister was now furious, and could only think of the worst as Saito was at a loss for words.

"I am ordering you to temporarily stop the testing on our foreign volunteers! Sort this thing out first. I'll handle talks with the world's leaders soon." The Prime Minister ordered forcefully with Saito listening obediently, before giving another one.

"No, make that on all volunteers just to be sure. I'm sure we already have a sizable force of combat magicians along with the Self-Defense Force ready to be deployed anytime around the country."

MAGIA

Chapter Ten

Hidden Fortune

Two months have passed without incident, and it appeared that the placement of GEM carrier detectors throughout the country gave the Hellfire Vendetta a major scare and a challenge to overcome. Even though their full intentions weren't revealed other than standing in opposition to MAGIA and stating that they weren't tyrants, their kidnapping of dozens of carriers was a crime the government won't tolerate. MAGIA has received pleas left and right from families and concerned loved ones to have them taken away from the rebel group's clutches, and some vocal ones even brought out their demands through national television, but sadly no response came. MAGIA has dispatched elite tracking teams throughout the country to look for any possible hideouts and their search yielded negative results for a very long time. Compensating the losses of the affected made the people who conscripted their loved ones feel guilty; likewise the affected families regretted surrendering their nearest and dearest to MAGIA now that they have been taken away as captives by the rogues. Society still seemed to function as usual although the people have become more wary, wary that the peace may be broken any time.

He didn't look like a great inventor. He didn't even look brainy. He wore a black long-sleeved body shirt underneath an oil-stained gray jumpsuit, and sat in a room cluttered with a mangled mess of metal parts and pieces. The thing he had been working on overnight appeared like a professional's job, a daunting task that seemed difficult for a mere garage mechanic like him, but the simple truth is that his unassuming appearance hides the mind and the skills of a genius.

The procedure was time-consuming, and required a lot of energy, equipment and effort to get done. For the past two months, he had been working on a device that disrupts any detecting equipment that could locate their position. He has no idea of what kind of detector MAGIA has set up, but whatever it was, it has stopped them dead in their tracks ever since Konoe reported having one of his clones discovered and killed despite possessing a jamming device. This new device he had been working on was the best solution to come up with, but there was another problem for him to worry about. One of their collaborators reported the presence of a pair of feared agents. They weren't magicians, or so the reports said, but to see through the artificial skin disguises he made got him anxious. They had to deal with the killers somehow.

In his thought, he shoved a heap of junk from the top of his crafting table, their impact creating a hard, metallic sound as the failed prototypes tumbled along the floor. With the table clear, he resumed working on the device, adding some final touches to it that he deemed appropriate.

"Done, and done." He said as he took his invention and left his area, ready to unveil his new creation to the group.

Now, with this in place, our plans can go ahead.

The rattling of chains and the grinding of gears filled the air with a wall of harsh noise as heavy machines did their work at a large assembly line located deep underground, its thick steel and concrete walls reflecting the cacophony back as faint echoes that could be heard outside the facility. Beside the hulking machines, several men in orange jumpsuits supervised the whole line's operation, performing checks and doing quick fixes to ensure its smooth operation. Other men in prototype mechanical suits walked to and fro, transporting heavy crates of goods and raw materials to several drop-off points located along the line, as well as performing other heavy work that the other workers could not. The equipment appeared dated, but worked perfectly fine despite their apparent obsolescence, as if they received major overhauls.

Some of the factory workers were alerted by the presence of a man in messy work clothes walking along an elevated catwalk, who looked back at them as he held a small contraption in his right hand. He gave them a thumbs up, and the workers immediately got the point.

They got up from their seats and followed the man, who now took a left turn into another elevated catwalk before heading down a flight of steel stairs. The man now walked in front of them and after a short distance, made a right turn to a smaller production line where several guards raised their closed fists to his sides. In reply, he bumped fists with them and they let him in. There was a young man on the planning table, tinkering with a blueprint for a piece of equipment, and when the men walked behind him he turned to see the man in front, who gave him a memory drive

"All the details are in here and I want five of them to be built by tomorrow." The man told the worker while handing him the drive, the young man took it without any further questions.

"Guys, I'll leave you with him to supervise the device's production. Assist whenever you can." He added as he left the production area.

He walked along a long hallway that led to another facility. To his right, he could see several armored vehicles parked at a large hangar, and on the other side he could see groups of people doing their business inside a control room, their eyes and hands glued to the computers. At the end of the hallway, he walked across a large space where several large vehicles were parked. Their hulking frameworks towered twenty feet above the ground, the main chassis propped up by stilt-like legs with giant pistons on their front and back sides.

They sure did a good job with the Ripsaws, he mumbled to himself, referring to the new prototype mechs he had produced.

Moving across the facility, he went into a dimly-lit hallway and in its far end was a large steel door guarded by two men with the same face.

The guards opened the door for him and he could now see a large, well-kept room; in its middle was a large wooden desk and a swiveling chair. A tablet was mounted on a bracket in the desk and he could glimpse complicated subjects projected on its screen.

"Glad to see you here, Junji Lee." A voice spoke from the chair and it swiveled towards him.

Seated on it was a man in his late twenties. He was of average height and build, and had red-tipped hair styled in an arcing row of spikes that were tilted slightly to his right, with a light fringe falling over his thin eyebrows. He also had bright, brown eyes, a light stubble on his chin and exhibited a youthful aura. As customary for members of the Vendetta, he wore a dark red coat over his outfit, and there were several patches crudely sewn on his left sleeve.

Lee immediately recognized him as their leader.

"Is your device ready, and when can we deploy it?" the man asked before Lee could even utter a word.

"I already have the device under production and we're expecting five units to come out by tomorrow." Junji Lee replied to the man and held out the first production model to give to the leader.

The man held the device, carefully looking at it and pressed a button on its underside. It opened to reveal a small round screen which began to show pulse lines.

"It can attach to any surface and once it does, it will pick up signals from detectors, scanners and sensors within fifty square miles and scramble them so they won't pick up anything. The same operating principle will also interfere with the enemy's communications and alert us to any incoming MAGIA personnel within its reach. However it consumes a lot of power so it has to recharge its battery every two hours." Junji explained the full capabilities of the device to his boss.

"That's good enough." The leader told him. "Placing one or two in the capital will do the job."

"Once the devices roll out, I'll have one of our personnel to deploy one in Tokyo." Junji responded before adding another statement.

"That person is a regular and shall be given orders on where to place it."

His boss then turned the device off and placed it on his desk. A serious aura permeated the room though Junji remained calm from where he stood.

"Very good. Very, very good. Our cause will now bear fruit after two months of silence." The Vendetta's leader mumbled with his hands positioned under his chin.

The leader stood from his seat and motioned him to follow.

Several minutes later, they arrived at a large facility and lined up over a steel railing overlooking the deck below. Before them, a large army of rogues stood in rows and Junji can count five squadrons, though a majority of them were largely composed of people with the same face, Konoe's clones to be precise.

Beside him, Kazuto and Naomi appeared, and he could feel where this is headed.

"Care to go first, Naomi?" their leader whispered to the young girl in the black dress, who grunted faintly before stepping forward to read some lines from her book.

"Madness has spread all throughout the land, and our people have been cursed into believing a lie and living in a false paradise. Only the good king can lift this curse, by cleansing the world with his purifying flames. There will be great battles he and his champions will face, and they will be very hard battles."

Naomi stared blankly at the army beneath before walking back to her seat, a slight look of fright and anxiety was evident on her seemingly lifeless face.

Their leader stood up to face the crowd, ready to make his announcement. He noticed Naomi's expression and gave her a warm touch on her exposed shoulder, which made her feel a bit more comfortable.

He stood at the edge of the catwalk and grabbed the railing with one hand. He then began his speech.

"Members of the Vendetta! For too long, the government has profited with their heinous ways, feeding lies to our people and playing other countries into their hands! They must be stopped and the group we know as MAGIA will be our most difficult obstacle. In the coming days, we will give them a taste of the flames that have been burning inside us!"

He raised his left fist high into the air.

"I, Junichiro Saotome will lead you, the Hellfire Vendetta!"

The army below cheered and shouted along.

"VENDETTA! VENDETTA! VENDETTA!"

Junji, and Kazuto yelled along, while Naomi's skull shouted their warcry for her as she stood silently with a faint smile forming on her face.

MAGIA will not be prepared for what is to come, Saotome thought as he saw all the people who supported him.

"It will be a hard battle but this will be the battle that will end the injustices of the world."

"Are you sure you can't summon these?" the Irish magician asked Martinez as she held out an open book in front of him, which showed images of mythical creatures such as a sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, a faun, a unicorn, a giant butterfly and a dragon.

"I've tried so many times and I really can't." Martinez replied in an earnest manner. "No matter what I can only summon creatures from my country's folklore.

Second Lieutenant Hojo watched their conversation on one of the monitors and then turned her sights on another one showing Natalya in a sparring room, fighting against humanoid robots in hand-to-hand combat while the room's conditions changed over time, from hot, to cold, to humid, dry, and finally swampy. She appeared fine with no sign of fatigue and she blasted each robot with the stored energy from the conditions she has endured.

"The human AK-47; whatever the environmental condition is, she'll do okay with no problems at all", mumbled Ayanami from his seat, holding a cup of tea as he usually does. "Maybe we should refer to her by that callsign from now on."

Misaka Hojo smiled from her superior's suggestion, as it fit the magician's traits well.

"Um, sir, aren't you curious that the virus gave these people abilities based on where they came from or what they're good at?" Hojo asked her superior.

"Well who wouldn't be?" Ayanami replied.

"To think command made such a big fuss about this new development, going as far as stopping the volunteer tests out of concern." He added.

"The scientists could be right…they told me that, um, the virus was being abnormal and it could be bad for the hosts' body conditions or their behavior or worse. Magical or not, um, up until now we don't have an exact idea of where the virus really came from or, uhm, how it came to be…" Hojo told Ayanami softly; she had been a witness to the developments and she suddenly felt the urge to spill out what she saw.

"Yes and the randomness we saw in past tests no longer occur on our own volunteers." He replied to the lieutenant.

Misaka had noted that even before the order to stop testing was issued, Japanese volunteers were also showing abilities that matched their skills and interests, further improving themselves. She had wanted to keep the findings secret, but for whatever reason she had to disclose the information even if it meant that it will raise additional concerns. The thought of her unexpected findings becoming common knowledge and leading to the suspension of volunteer testing made her feel uneasy.

"I, I'm sorry! I know research on the virus is continuing…but I have no idea- I mean, I don't know… I was so afraid to tell, but I had to anyway! I'm terribly so~"

"Viruses, no matter how many times scientists have studied them and found cures for them, will always remain unpredictable." Hiroki Kamiya interrupted in a loud and clear voice as he placed a hand on Misaka's head, calming her down.

A lone figure stood by the side of a blank door in another area of MAGIA's headquarters. The figure loosened its scarf to take a deep breath, revealing a woman's face, and it was Miyuki's.

Taking a quick peek through the door's glass viewpane, she could see Haruyuki along with other young MAGIA personnel as they sat straight while listening intently to an older man in front of them. Behind him were a few screens showing windows that he moved around as he explained the images shown to his audience.

"They seem to be wrapping up their class right now." She mumbled to herself.

"Haru will be out soon."

As she waited, she could faintly hear the teacher's voice, and he was educating the group about some topics in economics as well as some roles that MAGIA's personnel perform in the world's economy.

A few moments passed and Miyuki sensed the presence of another individual walking along the hallway. Turning back, she could make out the figure of a well-endowed woman passing by; she wore a classy outfit and carried a feather boa over her shoulders.

"Fatty's not out yet?" she asked Miyuki in a haughty tone.

"He'll be out sooner or later Hostess. Any minute now…" Miyuki answered.

"Wait, Aren't you supposed to be on duty, Yukari-sama?"

"I am. Is all the pressure of being a combat magician making you forget? Remember, I'm just a tracker and therefore my schedule's a lot more relaxed than yours. Oh, and yeah, it just happened that I had to ask Boss for my extra pay." Yukari spoke in response, her voice shifting in tone.

"I'd be on my way then, Icy. Tell Fatty to drop by at my place whenever he's free, okay?" she added while blowing a kiss from her lips.

"O…okay." Miyuki gulped.

Ten minutes after the woman left, Miyuki heard the door creak open, and with that a line of young MAGIA personnel went out of the room and walked in all directions. Among the last to come out was Haruyuki and he barely noticed that the ice magician was waiting for him outside.

"Did your class feel different from the classes you receive in Tokyo University?" she asked Haru as he went out.

"Not really, they just added specific roles that magicians perform in our society today." came the young man's reply.

"Though I miss my girlfriend Azusa and my parents, too."

"Sorry about our policies these days." Miyuki softly replied as she tried to comfort Haru. "Though you do call them right?"

Haru turned back in reply. "I do and my parents always tell me to be careful at all times and as for Azusa, our long-distance relationship is doing very well."

Miyuki smiled from the young man's answer and now it was his turn to ask questions.

"How are you doing with Hotaru? Do you even call her at all?"

The smile on Miyuki's face instantly vanished upon hearing his question, and her eyes gazed coldly into his.

"No."

"What? Why? Aren't the two of you the best of friends?" Haru exclaimed from the young woman's reply.

"She might not be paying you any visits or anything but Hotaru still holds you close to her! She still sees you as her friend and I bet nothing will change that!"

Miyuki was now stunned by what the man just said, and while she wanted to respond to him, she couldn't find the right thing to say.

"Don't just sit around and wait for her to get fed up and tired of you constantly ignoring her! No wonder my colleagues call you a cold agent."

"Well, it's just that I don't want to worry her anymore. That's all." She replied softly before reaching deep into the inside of her uniform's coat. She brought her hand back out again and she now held a poster which she unrolled in front of the man.

"Ayanami gave me this; he said it was from Hotaru."

Haruyuki's eyes glistened at the sight before him. It was a poster of Mafuyu Enma with the idol's signature and a short message scribbled on the left-hand corner.

"Seriously?! She gave you that? Hotaru actually watched her big concert and got that for you?" Haru yelled out to Miyuki in disbelief.

He paused to take a good look at the poster and couldn't help but gasp in awe at the sight of it. Facing Miyuki to speak to her again, he gave her a reminder.

"You see? She hasn't given up on you yet! You should treasure that, and oh, I happen to be a big fan of her myself."

"I will. Oh, and, well, drop by at Yukari's place when you're free, okay?" Miyuki said with a cool voice.

"Of course I will, and yeah."

It felt like a dream, or rather, a sequence of memories of the past. He could barely visualize a dark, hazy scene from five years ago and an ominous figure that stood before him. A shady-looking man sounded like he was talking to him from behind a barrier of sorts and he found himself hardly able to utter a word.

They were in a small, dimly-lit room, though he couldn't tell exactly how large or small the cellar was as much of it was bathed in darkness. Leaking, rusty pipes lined the upper walls and hung from the ceiling, and he could feel the water from those pipes dripping down and trickling down his skin. All around him, he could hear faint squeaking noises – rats.

He could see their furry, black bodies crawling up on him, ready to gnaw on his toes and fingers, and crawling over the newly-stitched wounds on his torso, until the grating sound of a large steel door opening sent them scurrying for cover, frightened by the dark, menacing figure that slowly walked in and approached him. Opening his eyes, he attempted to make out the strange figure's features but it was too dim to even make out any clear details on his face. Only when the man stooped down to glare at his eyes did he noticed that he had mismatched irises, a cigarette in his mouth and a glowing, red scar over his left face.

"You're lucky to be alive," the man hoarsely whispered to him before turning his head to his left.

There was a bed on the far end of the room and on it was a heavily bandaged young girl, sleeping soundly while resting her head on a large stuffed doll. Laid out below her bed were various pieces of military equipment, ranging from small arms to utility tools and explosive packs.

"She'll make it too, though your condition is worse. Much, much worse. Far worse than I expected." The man told him as he walked to a table with a briefcase placed on it. Opening the case, he pulled out a small object from it.

He turned back to the man with the strange object in his fingers' grasp and spoke to him.

"I think it was lucky for someone who did atrocious and unforgivable things for the sake of finishing the job to get pardoned for all his actions. But some people just can't accept that and the nasty thing is, they made a request to your workplace to finish you off for good."

The man blew a last puff of white smoke from his cigarette before dropping it to the floor. He then turned back to the man who lay on the cold, hard floor, resuming his speech.

"Yes, your own people…betrayed you! The very same people who gave you a greater purpose in life, they broke your will and shattered all that you ever believed in! You will certainly want revenge after that, eh?"

The man crouched in front of him again, and held the object in his hand closer to him. At that point, he could see its bright crimson color and its elongated, cone-like shape. It was a large crimson bullet, and the strange man lightly touched his forehead and face with it.

"When you get better, I'll teach you everything I know starting with this bullet. After that, I want you to make a dramatic return while you're working for new people and do it as I've planned it."

The man placed the bullet on his limp hand and closed it for him.

"Remember them well…Kyosuke."

He suddenly woke up from his couch, cold sweat dripping from his face. He felt like it was more than a dream – it wasn't a nightmare, and it wasn't exactly a memory of the past.

A reality that continued to haunt him? Or a figment of his imagination?

No. It was a reminder for his mission.

Takamura looked at the clock beside the couch, it was ten in the morning and he realized that he woke up late. He then stood and walked to the dining table and noticed that there was food served for him.

That girl. He thought before hearing a loud gunshot from outside.

He went out of the cabin and, following the sound, he walked towards a large clearing in the woods. There he saw Chisame doing target practice with her enormous sniper rifle; she gripped the firearm with her dainty hands as it rested on a heavy wooden table. She fired another shot and the force from the gun's recoil shook her rifle and pushed it back on her tiny shoulders; despite her outwardly fragile frame she seemed unaffected by it. The shot hit an apple 500 yards away from where she was and Kyosuke could see two more apples from that distance.

"Shooting apples?" Takamura asked her as he made his approach.

"Oh, good morning Kyocchi! Yep, I thought you won't see them from that far since you just woke up. I ate the last watermelon we had last night so I just used apples for target practice instead!" Chisame said in surprise, and then rested the rifle to a nearby tree.

"Are we going back to base?" She asked Takamura seriously.

The two haven't reported in to MAGIA for the past two months about their whereabouts or the results of their patrols. Instead, they stayed in a small cabin in the woodlands north of Tokyo, doing some technical and strategic work in addition to continuing their patrols. This whole time, Takamura had been trying to pinpoint several possible locations for the Hellfire Vendetta's base.

He had Chisame take trips to the abandoned subway areas where the captured Vendetta recruits were found, the area near Shinjuku where the attacks on the MAGIA carrier convoy took place and finally the place where they killed Takashi Sakimoto, the rogue known as 'the mad racer'. While most of the evidence of any Vendetta presence was cleared up or already taken by the authorities in earlier investigations, he deduced that the incidents occurred within and near Tokyo. Chisame had informed him that the group may be operating in places around the capital.

Takamura went back to the cabin with Chisame following him and while he ate, he gazed at the map she laid out at the table beside the food she served for him. Grabbing a pen with his free hand, he drew X marks on eight cities and they were Tokyo, Yokohama, Urawa, Mito, Chiba, Kimitsu, Nagoya and Hiroshima. He made a few more guesses and marked the cities of Kyoto, Osaka and Sendai with question marks.

The previous incidents happened within very short time periods and as soon as one happened, another one would follow in weeks. He thought.

"The bad guys may have a lot of secret bases or at least some c…collab…cobl-" Chisame stuttered as she was trying to clearly speak to her mentor.

"Collaborators? Maybe," Kyosuke corrected her words for her.

"No criminal organization, let alone their hideouts or collaborators, would last long in a country with a strong presence of magicians." He muttered in thought as his mind took note of the foreign thugs who stole the virus duds; he knew that they were remnants of criminal groups who were forced into hiding by MAGIA enforcers. It somehow made sense for him that the Vendetta may not risk having a lot of bases fall into the hands of the authorities as it made it easier for MAGIA to disperse them and erode their cohesiveness as a group.

Another thing came into his mind.

These past two months, the GEM detectors placed all over the country have not detected anything which meant two things for Takamura; either they may have the technology to jam MAGIA's detectors or their location is too deep for the detectors to reach.

Or both.

Takamura smirked.

Pests always know how and where to hide from a toxic gas' reach, he thought and he made another deduction.

He knew that before the placement of GEM detectors, MAGIA did huge patrols with their old scanners in an attempt to search for rogues and carriers, and came back with only a few hundred. He hypothesized that the Vendetta may have recruited some regular humans and had them do the work of convincing rogues to join the Vendetta to minimize their presence.

"Hey Chisame, wanna hunt people? Just the suspicious-looking ones," Takamura told her as he finished his meal and a bright smile appeared on the young girl's face.

"Yay! Let's go Kyocchi! Let's go!" the girl yelled, cheering like a child who wanted to go to the amusement park.

"Okay, let me contact headquarters first. I'm sure they want to hear from us after two months." Kyosuke replied as he pulled out his phone and dialed.

Staff at MAGIA's command room in Sector A were all eyes and ears on their commander; Saito Mizuhashi appeared like he was talking to a killer over the phone.

He was.

"Agent Takamura how did you know my number?" Mizuhashi began and he noticed that his speech patterns were drawing attention from nearly all of his personnel.

"Didn't we tell you to call us through our official line and why make a call after two months? We thought you were dead."

"My apologies, commander. I just want to ask you a favor." Takamura told him on his end of the phone line.

The man was straight to the point; he didn't want to waste time on lengthy explanations,

"What do you want?" Saito asked with a raised voice.

"I'll be doing a little hunting and it would be nice if you don't interfere with my work."

"Hunt for what? GEM detectors have not found anything!" Mizuhashi inquired his caller, only to find that the man had ended the call.

Just do what you must and finish it. But don't you dare put blood on my hands or on MAGIA's. He thought to himself furiously.

It was a busy day as hundreds of people crowded the famous Shibuya Scramble, one of the most iconic spots in the ward and the capital in general. Large crowds were walking and crossing from one side of the road to another. News of the popular idol Ami Hiiragi taking a stroll near the area with a group of fashion junkies and Lolita girls was merely only one of the reasons for the crowding. Aside from the idol's fans, there were many people in the area who were hurrying to get to work. For the Japanese working class, every moment feels like rush hour. The people of Japan are known to value time and their work, thus giving them a reason to rush to their jobs. Tourists, meanwhile, may find themselves lost and confused in the systematic chaos that characterizes Japanese pedestrian behavior. This very fact serves as an advantage for those who are trying to stay unseen. One such person has a job to do, and getting found isn't in her agenda at all.

Her name is Tsumiki and she was once a member of an all-female delinquent gang that broke up after an effort by magicians and local law enforcement agents to bust them. After her group's breakup, she had nowhere to go until the Hellfire Vendetta hired her to monitor the schedule of MAGIA enforcers. She was well-paid and this new assignment would land her an even bigger reward.

She hastily made her way through the crowd, passing by a few MAGIA enforcers from Sector D who barely noticed her presence. Her petite frame and casual appearance was helping her blend in, and should she be discovered, she could easily trick the authorities into believing she was someone else thanks to her boyish features.

Inside her bag was a small device disguised as a makeup kit and it wasn't made of metal, thus making it safe from metal detectors whenever she enters a public area. On her phone was an assigned location of where she must go. The coordinates shown pointed to the NHK Broadcasting Center and she followed the onscreen map.

On her way to the target area, Tsumiki bumped into someone, causing the contents of her bag to fall out.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" a female voice spoke to her.

Tsumiki turned to see a beautiful young woman around the age of twenty; she had long black hair, expressive, fox-like eyes and dainty lips, and she was much taller than her.

"I'm so sorry, let me help you pick those up." The woman spoke and began to help her pick up the scattered contents of her bag. As she did her hand grabbed hold of a cute-looking silver makeup kit but the owner immediately swiped it from her grasp.

"This is important to me, sorry." Tsumiki told the woman. "Thanks for the help and, oh I gotta go now."

The young woman watched the other run off into the distance.

"You're welcome." Sakurai mumbled to herself.

Tsumiki had ran three blocks from where she tripped and nearly lost the device, and turning to her left she saw the large building that was the NHK Broadcasting Center. She arrived to the scene panting heavily, but she arrived in the nick of time. Walking closer to the building's entrance, she casually stood in watch, looking left and right and making sure she wasn't attracting any attention.

She waited for the crowd to disperse, a chance to plant the device without being detected. Failure to do so would mean getting kicked out of the Vendetta or worse.

A large gap in the crowd drew her attention; it was her chance and she's got one shot at it.

With one quick motion of her arm, she pulled the device from her bag and threw it at the adjacent wall. It immediately latched on and opened, revealing a small green screen in its middle. The device then activated its camouflage feature, making it blend into the wall.

"Whoa, didn't know it could do that." Tsumiki said softly before making her way out of the area and into an extraction point to receive her reward.

She smiled as she walked past the people whom she met along the way. They were unaware of what she has done.

Tsumiki then whistled a tune and slowed down her walking, feeling a sense of relief from not having been discovered. While on her way to the extraction point, she walked past a silver car parked on a street near the NHK headquarters.

The car's window slowly opened.

Thousands of miles away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a heavy cargo ship sailed through the night on its way to Japan. It had left San Francisco port a day and several hours ago and was cruising smoothly at a generous speed. The ship was expected to arrive in Japan in three days or so if weather conditions would not hamper their progress.

The vessel carried large shipping crates filled with various shipments that ranged from food to expensive equipment manufactured in the United States and other countries. Outside, it appeared like any other shipping vessel sailing in the open seas, but this ship had a magician on board, along with several soldiers from the U.S. military.

The magician on board has the ability to discharge ultrasonic pulses using only his mind, and he wielded two gun-shaped channeling devices that can weaponize his discharges. The presence of such a strong magician and his armed escorts could only mean that whatever is on the ship must be of very high value. The magician was ordered to stand by on the ship's bridge while the soldiers patrolled the area alongside the crewmen who continued their work.

"Hey new guy! Get a forklift over here and have this moved below deck!" a senior crewman ordered a tan-skinned young man wearing work glasses as he pointed to a small shipping crate at one end of the deck.

"Yes sir, right away!" the young man replied and walked towards the forklift, but before he stepped into the vehicle, he took a detour into a maze of crates, mindful of the strolling crewmen and soldiers on patrol.

He took a short flight of stairs that led to a small room below deck and put a communications device on his head.

"Mamoru here, commence operation in thirty-six hours."

After giving the signal, he placed a small device into the wall and it quickly disappeared from view.

It was graduation day for the new recruits at MAGIA's Sapporo branch and crowds of personnel gathered at the branch's main conference hall. Graduation rites in MAGIA would normally be held for all magicians who have finished their four weeks of basic magical training in addition to specialized education under MAGIA's schooling program; but this one was for the combat magicians of the new Rogue Division.

Natsuko Horikawa stood alongside twenty of her fellow female rogues along with dozens of others in a long line as they were approached by Sector C's two commanding officers. Second Lieutenant Gino Nozomi held a tray containing badges that bore the emblem of the new task force, while his superior, First Lieutenant Saya Rukino pinned them one at a time onto the rogues.

Horikawa stood with her limbs turning stiff as the sector's head pinned her badge gently onto her left collar, her face blushing faintly while the rogue looked at her with surprised eyes.

But despite feeling uncomfortable in her presence, Horikawa felt pleased – two months of intense training and apprenticeship had reinforced the bond she had with the rogues who initially knew nothing about her, as well as the regular personnel who worked at the facility, though it has not completely eliminated her distrust.

She wasn't alone in bearing this sentiment; despite having been exposed to life as MAGIA cadets, meeting all sorts of people from regulars to magicians, and getting to do all sorts of tasks that would require their abilities, they still expected to face heavy criticism and discrimination that the people will throw at them – they knew very well that although they are now helping MAGIA out in performing their functions, it doesn't change the fact that they were still rogues to the very core, and many MAGIA personnel have grown distrustful of their presence in their workplace.

"Congratulations to you all!" Saya Rukino spoke to the graduates and the rogues listened well. "Your efforts bore fruit to the Prime Minister's belief that you can still walk a better path. I put my trust in you, that you will serve the country and your fellow magicians well as part of MAGIA's Rogue Division."

After her speech ended, scientists with syringes approached them from behind and injected the GEM virus into their left forearms before returning to their positions.

"We now give back the magic that you lost and this time, the virus isn't a temporary dose. I know you may feel very confident to attack us at any moment but I trust that you won't do such a thing." Lieutenant Rukino continued and she glanced at the rogues' eyes. Tensions between the rogues and Rukino heightened, but to Nozomi's relief nothing happened.

Horikawa stepped forward to the lieutenant and spoke. "I'll speak for these guys. We just want to make things clear for everyone here, once we begin working as part of this rogue squad, we really can totally ignore any regulars who might get dragged into our operations regardless of the situation, and we won't be punished or anything for not giving a fuck about them, correct?"

"Yes." Nozomi replied. "You have nothing to worry about. Any civilian losses will be treated as an outcome of the operation's errors."

A large door started to open in front of the rogues, revealing a landing pad with a transport helicopter waiting outside.

"Now then, members of the Rogue Division, your ride is waiting and our men back at Tokyo will be expecting your arrival." Nozomi gestured to the vehicle and the rogues fell in line as they hopped into the chopper, save for Horikawa who looked on at her fellow rogues as they entered the vehicle. Afterwards, the sub-commander of Sector C floated away, leaving Rukino and Horikawa behind.

The latter was about to run towards the chopper when Lieutenant Rukino grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Anything else you wanna add?" Horikawa brashly asked the lieutenant. In response, Rukino leaned very close to her face, causing her to blush.

"Good luck. I know you'll do the right thing…" she whispered to the rogue's ear as she nibbled lightly on it, making her feel even more uneasy.

A few more words from Rukino and Natsuko hurriedly jumped onto the slowly-ascending chopper and made her way inside. As the vehicle gradually flew away, she gazed upon the people below and saw Lieutenant Rukino still looking at them. Fidgeting in her seat, she can't help but think about what the lieutenant just told her.

A piece of paper fell from her grasp, and a fellow rogue took notice and handed it back to her.

Natsuko flipped the sheet over, revealing a photograph dated four years ago. The image showed her seated beside a fierce-looking young woman with long, dyed hair, and another young woman in boys' clothing with a spray can in her hands.

A miserable look on her face slowly formed as she continued to gaze at the photo.

Sacchan…

The cool evening sea breeze made him feel relaxed, the waves lightly splashing on the ship's hull gave him a slight feeling of drowsiness as the massive vessel rocked ever so slightly back and forth, and the full moon in the distance illuminated the night sky, creating a peaceful scenery. He and his buddy were on a late-night break and decided to take a little smoke at the ship's rear. Smoking was not allowed on the ship, though the back was the best place since few people go there, and by the time someone does, they could just flick them away into the waters below.

"What a beautiful night, eh?" he asked his companion who inhaled the cigar's smoke deeply before blowing it out as a thin mist.

"Yeah, and it would be nice to have my girlfriend beside me right now." He replied to the other.

They suddenly heard footsteps from behind them and they were getting closer. A slight feeling of dread coursed through their veins as they feared being caught.

"Well buddy, either we throw them, get ourselves thrown, or throw ourselves overboard" He jokingly asked the man beside him as they threw their cigars into the open sea.

"Dude…w-what the hell is that?" the other man peered over the ship's guardrail and glimpsed back to see his partner with an annoyed look on his face.

"Look man, there's nothing in those cigars we smoked, so stop acting like you're baked and let's get back to wo-"

He was stunned at what his friend was looking at.

Dark figures were climbing up the ship, and they were climbing up faster than they imagined.

Panic struck the two and they ran off to warn the ship's crew.

"I have to warn the others!" one of the men shouted but a strong grip came from behind him and he felt a sharp edge slide past his throat as he watched his friend stare in horror.

Seeing the other man die, he started to run but was stopped by a figure in combat gear who held his face. A toxic green gas came out of the figure's hand and the hapless man inhaled it. Pain struck his body and he collapsed to the steel floors. More figures in combat gear began killing off the crewmen one by one around the vessel without drawing much attention.

By the time the other crewmen noticed that some of their fellow men weren't reporting to their stations, it was too late.

"This is Itsuki Hiraga onboard the cargo vessel Maersk Casper! We are under attack! I repeat we are under attack! Requesting immediate assistance from nearby military positions!" the magician shouted though the bridge radio as two U.S. soldiers returned fire at the targets below.

"I repeat, this is Itsuki Hiraga, an operative from MAGIA, onboard the Maersk Casper! Requesting immediate assistance!" the magician shouted but to no avail.

Finding that no one was responding to his calls, he slammed the radio hard.

"Our communications are dead. I get a feeling that they have a jammer with them!" Itsuki boomed at the soldiers then removed his sonic emitters from their holsters.

"Would a shortwave radio work?" A second soldier suggested while he reloaded.

"Worth a try. Does this ship have any?" the magician asked.

The soldier replied. "I believe I saw one below deck, at one of the cargo areas."

"We'll have the remaining soldiers rendezvous with us! We're going down!" Itsuki ordered but was interrupted by one soldier shouting.

"Sir! The door!" the soldier pointed at the exit door. Green clouds of gas were slowly entering through and the magician immediately thought of it as toxic.

"Hold your breath and stand back!" Itsuki barked and then pointed his blasters at the door while activating his skill. Psychically, he channeled his magic through the blasters. A bar in each device rapidly filled and once it did, he fired.

The air rippled out from the emitters with great force, pushing away objects in its path including the gas, and knocking down the door from its hinges, crushing whoever was releasing the gas.

"Let's go!"

It was chaos on the top deck as bodies and bullet holes littered the crates. Only thirty soldiers managed to meet up with Hiraga and all the crewmen were dead. They battled their way down deck against an ever-increasing mob of enemy troops. Hiraga realize that they were dealing with the notorious cloner from the Hellfire Vendetta.

Firing another pulse from his blasters, he sent a large group flying off an elevated steel catwalk and down into the ship's hull. The soldiers continued to provide cover fire but the enemy's overwhelming numbers and heavy bombardment was depleting the American troops' ammo and numbers.

"We got another rogue!" one soldier screamed and in front of him was a rogue who conjured saw blades and threw them at his direction. A soldier beside him was bisected in half and another followed.

With their situation only getting worse, Itsuki looked at the soldiers with worry, then pointed his emitters down at the metal platform. They knew what was about to happen.

"No matter what, we must establish contact! They must know what happened, understood?"

The soldiers nodded in reply and Itsuki fired.

The blast blew a large hole in the metal platform, sending them falling all the way down. Landing hard, Hiraga stood up and noticed that the enemy has not reached his area yet. Their special cargo was also stored where he was and he wanted to have it destroyed instead of having it fall into the wrong hands.

"Grab some C4s and place it on our cargo!" the magician ordered.

The remaining soldiers unpacked explosive charges and began to deploy them on numerous crates and containers.

"And get the radio as well!"

"Sir, they don't seem to be following us from where we fell!" a soldier told Hiraga as he pointed to the gaping hole above.

They heard booming sounds from the door that led to their location.

Hiraga gave another order. "Get ready men, and arm those charges, too!"

"Where's the radio?" he asked the soldiers who now looked at each other in doubt.

"Err…one of us went ahead." One of them replied.

"Oh, you mean this radio?" a voice sounded from the speakers above as a black box was thrown down at their direction before it hit the floor hard and shattered into pieces.

The radio they were looking for was now broken and beyond repair.

Suddenly, Hiraga and his team were surrounded by the vessel's crewmen whom he thought were dead. Then they peeled off their faces, each individual sharing the same face.

"YOU LOSE!" they all said at the same time.

"MEN! BLOW IT!" Hiraga shouted in defiance, but nothing happened.

The soldiers then started to point their guns at him; they too peeled off their faces to reveal the same face. He then heard the door being punched open by a rogue with superior strength and the rest of the mob started to storm in.

"C4s are fake sir!" the soldiers spoke to Hiraga with a smile.

Defeated and with nothing else to do, Hiraga charged the blasters one more time and pointed them to his head,

FWOOM!

Half of the man's body was blown into bits, and the resulting shockwave sent some of the clones flying and crashing into the cargo.

"Now that was a splendid show!" a red-coated man with glasses spoke as he entered and met with the group of rogues who raised their fists up in response.

"Mr. Lee, shall we begin opening the shipping crates?" a female rogue asked him before passing a file about the crates' contents.

"Go ahead!" he replied and then he was approached by a young man who also wore glasses.

"Oh, Mamoru, how was America?" Junji Lee asked the man.

"It was nice, many great places and the food was awesome, but not as nice as what I'm about to show you!" Mamoru happily said and directed him to a large space within the ship's hull.

A smile formed on Lee's face, and looking up he fell to his knees at the sight of the gray figures that stood before him.

He could not believe what he saw.

"I present to you the M5A2 Rumbler, the world's first known walking main battle tank. Here, you can see that the tank can shift into a four-legged mode using its treads that transform into jointed legs so it could move across unstable terrain and further improve its mobility. Firepower has been greatly improved from previous main battle tank models thanks to a massive six-inch rail cannon that can fire explosive and armor-piercing shells, and its armor is made from a newly-developed alloy that proves resistant to even the heaviest bombardment from almost all tank models in service today." Mamoru explained to Lee and then asked.

"What do you think boss?"

"What do I think?" Lee gasped at the latter's question and laughed.

"We won, of course!"

MAGIA

Chapter Eleven

Landfall

The last thing she could remember was walking to the assigned meeting place to claim her reward. But by the time she got there, the rogue that would pay her was lying lifeless in a dark alley, his bloodied body disfigured by multiple stab marks and gunshot wounds and his severed head hanging loosely from a tiny piece of flesh stuck to the base of his neck. The man's wallet had been looted and its contents replaced with torn sheets of scrap paper and bills of various sorts.

She could not move her body or utter a word in horror as a hammer-like force struck her from the back, knocking her out.

She woke up in a dark, empty room, her hands and feet tied to an old wooden chair. Tsumiki struggled to loosen the ropes but they were too tight for her to shake off. She began to panic and thrash about in her seat in an attempt to free herself, but no matter how hard she tried, the ropes won't come off.

A door in front of her started to open, and she saw a man and a young girl enter the room.

"I'll tell you everything! Please don't kill me!" Tsumiki yelled at the pair who now walked in and began moving closer.

The man pulled a chair from one corner of the room and placed it in front of her, and then sat straight. The girl, meanwhile, stood by the door, observing them with curious, innocent eyes.

"Let us begin, shall we?" The man introduced himself to Tsumiki casually. "My name is Kyosuke Takamura and I'm an agent from MAGIA."

"H-how did you know I was working with the Vendetta?" she asked Takamura. "I made sure that nobody was looking…and I did my job too fast for anyone to notice!"

"Nothing can escape my eyes." Kyosuke replied proudly. "I am just curious of what you threw at that building."

A smile formed on the man's face and then he reached for a gun under his coat. The move startled Tsumiki and she felt fear coursing through her body.

"I…see that you're not the type who would be very loyal to your group. Start telling me about the thing you attached to that building earlier and I won't be cleaning the floor." Kyosuke calmly said while brandishing the huge revolver in his hand.

"Tell Kyocchi now and he'll be very good to you!" Chisame interrupted from her position.

The two were serious and if she were to lie, then she'll take a bullet to the skull. Tsumiki hadn't counted on being caught and she wasn't prepared to die. The MAGIA personnel she monitored were easy to deceive and she evaded them without any trouble at all but now she was caught by the pair who was staring at her with malevolent eyes. She could sense an aura of death shrouded by the man's professionalism and the girl's innocence.

Tsumiki began to spill out information.

"T-the device I placed at the NHK Broadcasting Center is a state-of-the-art technological piece made by the Vendetta to counter signals coming from scanners, detectors, and radio comms. It can also weaken or block other signals other than our own. The device can only operate for two hours before it shuts down to charge and after that all affected devices will work like normal…"

She finished her explanation and was breathing heavily.

Takamura returned the gun to its holster and asked her. "How long is the charging time?"

"I… I dunno…but I'm guessing it's around two hours as well..?" Tsumiki answered at once. "The device will cloak itself when charging, too."

Takamura coldly grumbled. "Well, that's…annoying…"

He pulled out a utility knife and leaned close to her.

"Please! I know nothing else! Don't kill me!" Tsumiki pleaded for her life and thrashed around in her seat.

The man didn't say a word as he gripped one of her bound hands tightly and placed the knife close to it.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

She screamed loudly with her closed eyes overflowing with tears when she felt something being cut forcefully.

To her surprise, she felt her hands and feet come free as the ropes loosened and broke. She opened her eyes to see the man putting his knife away and the girl laughing heartily by the door.

"You should have seen your face! What a crybaby!" Chisame giggled hard at Tsumiki.

"You…you're freeing me?" Tsumiki asked the man as tears continued to flow out of her eyes. Takamura turned to her and answered.

"I only kill rogues from your group, and not normal people unless it's really necessary."

"You don't look like you're worth killing." He added.

"S-so you're going to tell MAGIA now and have me locked up?" she asked again, utterly confused.

"No, I won't tell." Takamura replied. "You can go back to the Vendetta."

Tsumiki grew even more puzzled. The agent who captured her refused to kill her or have her locked up, and now he wasn't planning on reporting to his group.

"W-who are you really?" She outspokenly asked her captor. "You're just gonna let me go and not tell?"

"Exactly…" came the reply "…because headquarters ordered us to only apprehend rogues and besides, I tend to work based on my decisions."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud knocking on the door and Chisame immediately tugged on Kyosuke's sleeve; the man got the note and faced the girl.

"He's here Kyocchi!"

"Perfect…" the man mumbled. Takamura's face lost its seriousness and he now looked as if he were expecting a guest. He lightly smiled at Tsumiki.

"Could you not leave at once? Someone would like to entertain you."

"Entertain…me?" Tsumiki muttered and she saw the door open, revealing a well-groomed man in a corporate suit.

Kyosuke and Chisame greeted him quietly and left the room. Tsumiki was now alone with the stranger.

"No need for alarm. I'm not an interrogator from MAGIA, nor am I doing some other jobs for them." The man pleasantly told Tsumiki and sat in the chair facing her. "Those two, they…work for me and I'm sorry for the methods they used to bring you here. Those two can be quite pushy sometimes!"

"Work for you?" Tsumiki asked the man but the latter simply showed her a lovely smile.

Tsumiki was now even more puzzled; there was an air of mystery surrounding the people she just met and their actions did nothing to help her comprehend. They decided to not kill her…but for what reason? They set her free and were not planning to tell MAGIA…but for what reason? And now the man in front of him has been tasked to entertain her…for what reason?

She continued to think hard about their actions, but her mind couldn't find an answer.

Seeing her stressed and disturbed face, the man pulled out a deck of cards from his suit pocket.

"I know that they're letting you go now and I bet your feet are itching to leave this place, but before you do, would you like to see a magic trick?"

"Magic? So you're a magician?" Tsumiki asked the man.

"Um, well I am a 'magician' in a sense but my magic isn't any of those flashy superpowers that most other magicians use. It's all natural talent." The man replied.

She can sense sincerity from the man's words and thinking back to what Takamura told her, they were going to set her free for real.

"A-after this, I'm really free, and nothing bad will happen?" Tsumiki asked the stranger again who simply nodded in reply. He then spread the deck of cards out in his hands.

"Pick a card. Any card," The man ordered.

Tsumiki did as told and pulled out a four of diamonds from the deck.

"Now you're going to put the card back on the top of my deck and I will shuffle the cards thoroughly." The man instructed and again, Tsumiki did as told, and the man shuffled the cards quickly while performing elaborate card stunts as the young woman watched on.

After he had finished performing several difficult card tricks and throws, he placed the deck of cards on one side of the chair and informed Tsumiki.

"To show you that I'm not cheating, I'll remove my gloves and roll up my sleeves so you can see that I'm not hiding anything underneath." The man did as he said and Tsumiki indeed saw that there was nothing at all on his arms.

"Now I'll be pulling the four of diamonds from the shuffled deck with my eyes closed shut and you must hold my left hand as tight as you can." He said to her confidently.

"B-but how will you pull it with both of your hands full?" Tsumiki asked as her logic kicked in.

"Oh wait…silly me! What I meant was, you will be turning the whole deck face-up and place it back on my right hand while you're gripping my left and I'm sure that the card on top will be the one you picked." The man corrected himself and Tsumiki thought of what a weird guy he is.

The stranger closed his eyes and asked. "You ready?"

She held the man's left hand in a tight grip and flipped the deck over, revealing the four of diamonds she had picked earlier. She could not see the connection of why she had to hold the man's hand but she was visibly astounded by the man's performance.

"T-that was a fun show! But I guess I have to go now", Tsumiki shyly muttered to the man as she let go of him and stood up from her seat.

But suddenly, Tsumiki felt intense pain from her right hand that rapidly made its way up her arm and coursed throughout her body. She collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony as blood gushed out from her mouth and nose. Her complexion turned gray, veins popped out all over her body, and wounds started to appear on her skin; small, crystalline, red outgrowths sprouted from the larger lesions. Her head felt like it was going to explode and her body was shuddering wildly.

She made one last look at the man; he wasn't smiling nicely anymore – a sinister grin took its place and then blackness slowly took her vision away.

The man looked at the young woman's convulsing body which then stopped moving; blood was pooling on the floor around her and her face stared blankly with her mouth open as if it had paused to the last scream she let out.

The man chuckled and slowly walked out of the room.

"You can go now…"

Kyosuke and Chisame were waiting for the man outside, apparently unfazed by the disturbing noise that came out of the room earlier.

"Will we not tell MAGIA about the device?" Takamura asked him and Chisame looked curiously as if she was going to ask the same.

"No my friend, let's see how things develop," he replied and then scratched his left eyebrow.

A thin piece of skin drifted near Chisame's feet.

"Eww!" the girl mumbled as she looked at the man's face which now showed a distinct scar over his left eye.

"Kyosuke, can you get me a new makeup?" He requested to Takamura. "I don't like this itchy one you got me."

It was late in the afternoon and as the day neared its end, people were now beginning to flock into the capital's prime getaways. At the Aoyama district customers were lining up along the entrance to the Floating Glass and its all-magician staff would be having their hands full in serving their clientele, who are mostly fellow magicians who had just got our from their work.

Hotaru, one of the few non-magicians who frequent the place, sat on a tall chair while eating her parfait, taking one small spoonful at a time and savoring its sweet taste. This time around, no one she knew was with her, save for the club's proprietress who gleefully approached her.

"Hey, Hotaru-chan! Glad you dropped by today! How's school lately?"

"Fine, I guess." Hotaru replied softly and went on with her parfait.

Yukari had a concerned look for her friend.

"I'm sorry about your friends Haruyuki-kun and Miyuki-chan being not by your side." Yukari regretfully told the young woman. "I should have told you long ago that Miyuki was working as a combat magician for MAGIA. It's just that the rogue group proved so much of a problem that they had to take away all magicians and carriers."

Hotaru placed her hand on Yukari's and let out a faint sigh.

"You're still here, Yukari-sama. It's a good thing that you and your employees aren't combat magicians…"

The comment stunned the hostess who muttered in reply. "Well, y-yeah…"

The sound of shattering glass distracted the two and Yukari turned to see where it came from. The bartender lost balance of a liquor bottle and dropped it hard on the floor.

"I'll pay for that boss!" he yelled out.

A quick pause, and the two women laughed at the sight, realizing that there were still some enjoyable moments in their lives even after most of them had been lost to the confusion caused by the recent wave of crimes committed by rogues, especially those from the Vendetta.

The hostess then picked up from where she left off and spoke to Hotaru.

"But you see, young lady, every magician has a special role to perform in society. The combat types like Miyuki must do their part in safeguarding our country and people, while those like me who are not fit for fighting shall use our skills to do well in our duties, whatever they may be. At any time, we may be called to aid MAGIA should the need arise; that's why you must be ready to see your loved ones leave instead of sulking around."

"I'm not sulking!" Hotaru protested but she was suddenly embraced by the hostess.

"You say you don't, but inside you are…" Yukari whispered to her friend's ear while lightly stroking her sides and back, and she felt the latter hug her back.

"And if you have to fight Yukari-sama, what're you gonna do? Allure the rogues to submission?" Hotaru joked to her.

The hostess released her and she felt that some truth must come out.

"Err, Hotaru-chan? My ability, uhm…it's not exactly what you describe it to be! I'm all natural talent."

Hotaru's eyes widened in curiosity.

"Are you saying you're a combat-type?" she asked

"N-no…" the hostess immediately replied. "I'm not but my magic is very useful in case they need me…"

"What is it then?" Hotaru demanded answers, her face began to harden.

"You see~" Yukari answered back but just as she was about to admit the truth, a group of hooded young men wearing white Guy Fawkes masks stormed into the bar's lobby and forced their way through the guests, their reckless movement knocked Hotaru off her chair, causing her to fall hard on the floor. The customers and the bar's magicians immediately stopped what they were doing and Yukari helped her friend up.

"Young lady, are you okay?" Yukari asked, and the latter nodded.

"Hey! You scoundrels can't do that to my friend! What's your business anyway?" she yelled at the men who tumbled Hotaru.

"Our business?" one of the men smirked as they pulled off their hoods and took off their masks, revealing a mob of men sharing a face that was familiar to Yukari, the face of the infamous cloner Miki Konoe.

"Our business is with you."

Yukari gasped in shock while her friend stared in confusion.

"Why the face, Yukari?" Konoe asked menacingly. "Aren't you glad that your number one customer is back?"

Not one word came out of Yukari's lips, just silence.

"It's payback time bitch!"

Port of Tokyo
Odaiba, Tokyo
7:00 PM

As the sun started to set in the horizon, fleets of seafaring craft continued to sail in and out of one of Japan's largest seaports, from freight ships to fishing vessels and the occasional cruise liners. At the port's many drop-off points, more than a thousand tireless workers managed the flow of tons and tons of incoming and outgoing goods with the efficiency of a well-oiled industrial machine. The passage of time is a challenge for logistics crews who constantly fight against the clock to ensure the on-time arrival of valuable shipments distributed from the port to other locations around the country. Buyers eager to purchase other goods at relatively cheaper prices competed with one another to acquire only the best pieces of merchandise; some were willing to risk all they can in one of the many auctions held at the port. The Port of Tokyo, like the rest of the nation, was in full swing, as it had always been for a very long time.

All that was about to change.

Half an hour has passed since the clock hit five, and as the port's operations continued without interruption, the entire port shook violently with the force of a massive earthquake, an occurrence of great magnitude Japan had not experienced in decades. The quake shook the area down to its foundations, causing damage to its structures and disarray among the people still in the vicinity. Many ran away from the port and into safer ground, fearing that the tremor may have caused an upheaval of the waters, a tsunami that could easily swallow the entirety of the port and drench some areas further inland in gallons of seawater. To their surprise the water didn't recede as they expected, but the shaking continued and gradually intensified. The sheer force of the quake instead made the ocean churn, and, unbelievably, rise into what they could only describe as great mountains of water.

What followed left the people in complete and utter disbelief.

The people that were still in the ships reported the emergence of a monstrous, gray, branch-like mass that slowly but violently shot out of the water and crashed into the docks, hitting the shipping crates that were neatly stacked in piles. The hideous mass had a texture resembling wood and appeared as if it were alive; indeed to the people's astonishment, leafy branches sprouted out of its sides as it slowly rose up into the air.

Many similar masses sprang out of the water and smashed into the port with great force, their sweeping, violent motions flung the large and heavy cargo ships onto the docks and even farther inland, crushing everything and everyone within where they landed. More people were swept off their feet by rapidly creeping vines that emerged from the murky depths, dragging them to their watery graves.

Chaos engulfed the entire port and the people in it, who were now running for dear life, attempted to evade the massive plantlike organism that was clambering out of the water, the churning sea, the ships tossed in mid-air and the now-collapsing structures of the port.

The organism was now growing exponentially larger and beginning to spread beyond the port. Cars and people were flattened and tossed as its limbs kept on developing. Ten stories above ground, a separate branch shot up into the sky, from it unfurled a massive canopy of branches and leaves that kept on growing upward

Atop the canopy stood a young man with bright red hair and a blood-colored jacket; he watched the mayhem that occurred several dozen feet below him, then turned back to see hundreds of red-suited men waiting for his order.

"VENDETTA!"

He screamed at the top of his voice, the warcry of his affiliation and the mission they were to fulfill, and everyone with him shouted with him until their voices became a mighty roar.

"Tonight, we attack for all the world to see the enemy burn until only ashes remain. We will set them alight with the flames that shall purify the world of all its blights and scourges! MAGIA shall fall!" Saotome yelled out and gave the order to attack.

Hundreds of rogue magicians rappelled down vines and descended onto the ground, there they attacked buildings, scared off innocent people who were in their way, looted valuables, vandalized public property and blew up random places and objects.

Dozens of four-legged robots, each standing around fifteen feet tall, soon followed and deployed their weapons; some had pods that fired missiles at police vehicles, many were equipped with high-caliber machine guns that pelted the streets with hot bullets, many were also equipped with unconventional weaponry such as large chainsaws, pincers and flamethrowers. The relentless display of firepower by the rampaging machines caused more damage than the rogues themselves.

Authorities were now scrambling to control the situation and signs pointed to an immediate retaliation from the government.

"Do you see me as a tyrant?" Saotome asked Kazuto beside him.

"No, my lord. This is all necessary for your plans." replied the young swordsman to him.

"Naomi-chan's calling you a good king! Her good king!" the skull cradled in Naomi's arms spoke for her in a loud but cutesy voice, which immediately made the 'original' Miki Konoe turn his head.

"Look pal, the girl's right! Now's not the time to be thinking badly about yourself! This is all part of your plan to screw MAGIA up and save the world." He brashly spoke to his superior and then added. "Then after all this we can celebrate our epic win with nice drinks and hot chicks, if we do get any or both of those!"

"Sure know how to think ahead, my friend." Their leader replied with a smile.

Saotome then turned his gaze back to where the massive plant grew out and ordered the creature to stop growing. A bud slowly grew out near where he stood and from it emerged a man.

"That will be enough Hajime." He ordered the man, who had bushy green hair and was responsible for creating the massive plant. "Get plenty of rest; I'm sure you spent a lot of energy for this."

"Yes my lord, indeed I shall." The man replied softly and went his way to the group.

Saotome then turned back to Kazuto and the others with a bright smile.

"I hope you're ready for those magicians!"

People in the MAGIA Headquarters' command center could not find the words to describe the situation at the Port of Tokyo which was now making major news headlines. Video footage of the Hellfire Vendetta's rogue magicians as well as their new mechanized forces arriving through an enormous plant were shown in the personnel's monitors and the command interface; while no signals appeared on their radar screens, the footage showed them making a push towards the capital.

"Saito Mizuhashi!" The Prime Minister's enraged voice boomed out from the command room's speakers as a transmission from his office came in.

"Why haven't your detectors prevented this outrage!?"

MAGIA's commander-in-chief could not find any statements to respond to his visibly irate father, but he nonetheless attempted to say what he could.

"We do not know, Father but as of right now we are gathering all our magicians back to base so we can organize a counterattack!" Saito anxiously replied while watching the other monitors, which showed MAGIA's personnel and magical enforcers preparing themselves.

"Do what you can and repel those monsters!" The Prime Minister barked before his transmission abruptly ended. Raizo Mizuhashi has bunkered himself in and Saito does not know how long the Ground Self-Defense Force can hold out in the capital.

"Sir, the U.S. is sending its Pacific flagship carrier the U.S.S. Barack Obama along with its support fleet to aid us!" One of the staff reported to him.

Another one followed. "The rogues are now advancing towards Rainbow Bridge!"

"We have lost contact with some of our personnel near the crisis zone!"

"Officials have begun evacuating civilians to underground shelters!"

"Sir, the enemy's rogue squads are taking out law enforcement and – what the hell are these things!?" A JGSDF soldier screamed at the sight of one of the Vendetta's robots before being trampled by its massive legs.

The bombardment of news hit the commander hard; he couldn't even find the opportunity to answer all the reports that were coming in. He feared that the sheer volume of information would overload their systems, but the techs were pouring all their capabilities into maintaining the mainframe to avoid data overloads. Turning his back he saw Sector D's lieutenants, Masato Ayanami and Misaka Hojo, entering the command room, they too had surprised faces.

"Uhm…Commander Mizuhashi, I, no…we…uh, I mean~" Lieutenant Hojo nervously attempted to converse with her absolute superior, all the while twiddling her fingers and blushing heavily.

"If you have bad news to tell say it now." Mizuhashi told his subordinates in a firm but exhausted tone, sweat falling from his forehead and down his temples.

"N-not bad news sir." Lieutenant Hojo said shyly.

"Questions." Ayanami confidently answered for her.

Konoe's clones fought furiously against the Floating Glass' magician employees, who were using their abilities defensively to hold their ground. Bodies were being hurled off and blown away as the magicians and rogues battled it out on the dining tables, counters, lounges, and the dance floor, to the horror of the panicked customers who almost immediately fled after the conflict began. It was a bar fight to the death with the clones mercilessly gunning and subduing the employees, who were easily overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers and sheer firepower.

On one end of the dining area, several of Konoe's clones shot wildly at the magicians and personnel taking cover behind a large wooden table. Hotaru covered her ears as she saw some of the bar's hosts shooting back with their pistols; meanwhile the bartender continued to rain shards of broken glass at the enemy. The two bouncers hurled heavy objects to crush the clones and the magicians who provided the light shows illuminated the areas where the enemies took cover.

"Keep your head down!" Yukari shouted to her as she shoved down Hotaru's head. She then armed herself with a musket-styled shotgun. A clone that rushed at her was immediately eviscerated by a powerful shot to the gut, its blood splattering the tidy white tablecloth as the rest of its body rapidly decayed.

Hotaru saw the magicians who were in charge of the sound system dead on the bar's upper floors, their lifeless bodies hefted over the railings like rag dolls.

More of the clones swarmed the entrance, packing even more firepower than the first wave. The large table they were taking cover in began to erode from the heavy volume of gunfire directed at them.

"Everyone get to the back!" Yukari ordered her employees to rush for the building's storage room and she pulled Hotaru hard with her, all the while returning fire. Amidst the confusion, Hotaru then noticed one of the clones firing a rocket at them, the projectile was about to hit the group when suddenly the world around her slowed.

She saw bullets, splinters, shards of broken glass, the panicking customers and the rocket moving at a snail's pace, but to her surprise, she and everyone she was with moved at normal speed as they made their way into the storage room.

When everyone finally got in, the two bouncers closed the room's heavy steel doors before the rocket could hit them. The sound of the rocket's warhead exploding upon hitting the door and the rattling of the wine cellar that ensued shook them inside.

"Goddamn it, the hell?" A clone said in surprise. "I swear, I got the entire group with the rocket!"

"Hey me, I think that was her ability. She messed up time to her advantage." A fellow clone said to him.

The mob of duplicates then inspected the steel door and felt that it would take a large amount of explosives to breach it.

"That Yukari is one slippery bitch." They all said at the same time.

"You can control time?" Hotaru asked in surprise to the hostess

"Well, yeah, though I can only control the time within my immediate surroundings and that's all there is to it." She replied, and then leaned back to the wine shelves.

The bartender passed her a glass of tough vodka which she drank down in one shot.

"That hit the spot."

"Will we be safe here?" Hotaru asked, and the hostess nodded in reply.

"These steel doors are military-spec blast doors, young miss. We'll be fine." One of the bar's bouncers assured her. Beside him the magicians who did the light tricks attempted to get any form of communication from outside, and things don't seem to be going well.

Half a minute later, the bartender approached his boss and handed to her a tablet. "I don't see any notifications on my device boss. GEM detectors should have informed us of the rogues' presence." He told Yukari with a hint of worry.

"They must have done something, or rather, made something to block our detectors." She replied. "It took them a while to come up with it."

"Boss, we can't get in contact with MAGIA." A bouncer said from behind and one of the light magicians approached the hostess to show her something from his tablet.

Hotaru leaned forward and took a closer look.

"This is what's happening outside?" Hotaru asked, shocked at what she just saw through the device. A colossal tree, more than a hundred meters tall, was rising out of the capital's port and was slowly, but steadily growing, its enormous limbs sprawling out of the now-wrecked docks and structures of the port, an unsightly wall of living, monstrous plant matter. Out of the dense forest of roots and branches, a large crowd of rogues emerged and made their advance into the capital, the horde flanked by a dozen or so robots that wreaked havoc in the city's streets.

"We can't stay here for long."

"Hotaru-chan's right." Yukari spoke as she stood. "We have to get to MAGIA Headquarters as soon as possible…"

"…and you're coming with us missy."

Hotaru gulped at the order; she expected to be led to an evacuation center, or somewhere safe at the very least, but then thought that she would be seeing Miyuki and Haruyuki at MAGIA.

Clenching her right hand, she made her decision.

"Fine by me." Hotaru said with confidence.

Yukari smirked at her response, then turned to the two bouncers and the bartender who were giving orders to their fellow workers.

"Gin, Barnaby, You guys done issuing orders? Yes? Then you're coming with us." She ordered the two bouncers and then tossed a small device to the bartender.

"Amuro, do it!"

The bartender then pressed a button on the device and pointed it at the floor. Seconds later they felt a rumble and then the floor parted, revealing a passage that led to a secret garage below.

Jumping down the secret passage and into the garage, they landed on a large object covered with a large sheet of cloth. They all jumped off and the bouncers pulled the cloth away, revealing a large, heavily armored transport van from MAGIA. A magician then passed her the keys and they all went inside the vehicle. With a few presses of the buttons on his device, Amuro mounted it on the van's dashboard, and it showed a projected map that showed them the quickest route to their destination. Another input and powerful hydraulics lifted the vehicle from below; the platform on which they stood replaced the floor where then dropped down from earlier.

The vehicle rumbled to life with a few inputs from Yukari.

"Get ready guys, this is gonna get wild!" Yukari yelled in excitement as she revved up the van's motor.

"Uh-oh." Hotaru murmured in her seat.

At about the same time, multiple Konoe clones with rocket launchers lined themselves up in front of the blast doors, taking aim.

"One, two, thr-"

A hulking mass of metal crashed through the doors and into them with tremendous force, running them over before speeding out of the ruined Floating Glass.

The van now made its way to MAGIA Headquarters, carrying Hotaru, Yukari, and her personnel in it. Meanwhile, more clones ambushed them from behind and tried to shoot the vehicle down.

"Yukari! I'll get you, you decadent slut!" One of the clones screamed behind the van's windshield, all the while laughing maniacally at the people inside.

"I have no idea why or how he became my number one customer." The hostess grumbled as she tried to shake him off, throwing the van into an alleyway that led to a dead end.

"He's got a gun!" Hotaru yelled at the sight of Konoe's clone pulling out a machine pistol and aiming it at them. But as he was about to spray bullets at them, Yukari crashed the van into a concrete wall that cut off their route.

With a loud splat and the crunching sound of broken bones, the clone's dead, disfigured likeness slid down and under the vehicle.

"Sorry guys, there was a huge, annoying fly in front of me." Yukari jokingly said as the wipers cleared the windshield of bloodstains, with Hotaru backing away in disgust. She then smirked and gripped the steering wheel hard.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now on the highway to hell. I suggest buckling up for maximum safety and comfort, for this will be a rollercoaster ride you will never forget!"

With a swift turn of the steering wheel, Yukari sent the van into the first of many high-speed turns as they now coursed their way towards MAGIA's Headquarters.

MAGIA Sapporo Branch
6:25 PM

"That's strange…" Staff in the communications room mumbled and the person assigned to oversee them asked.

"What's strange?"

"Comms are dead. No radio frequency received from the main branch." A female member of the staff replied curiously.

"Must be the weather." Her senior asked. "Weather forecast did say that Hokkaido will be experiencing some strong winds and possible thunderstorms. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll get through."

The two then resumed their work and the same went for the other staff in the room, performing their tasks as the clock kept ticking.

Unknown to them, a small metallic device in the far end of the room flashed on.

Along the streets of Sapporo, a long line of heavy trucks were on the move. Residents thought it must be another big delivery to the city's MAGIA branch. Meanwhile, every attempt they make to use their phones and other communication devices is met with a weakening of signals and they think it is because of the impending weather.

The trucks then passed by a traffic light with a GEM detector affixed to it, and it picked up nothing while the post did its regular function.

"Just drive casually Mamoru." A stout, bespectacled Korean man in his early thirties told the man in the driver's seat. "You're gonna bug the others behind who are driving normally."

"I'm trying Lee, it's just that, I'm thinking of the time we have left to get to their base before they find us." a nervous reply came from Mamoru.

"Just relax."

Reaching into his coat, Junji Lee pulled out a communicator and gave an order.

"We will be approaching the main gate soon. Everyone, activate your synthetic covers."

Both he and Mamoru tapped their left hands lightly to activate the synthetic covers, technology the Korean invented months ago. For him, it was the ultimate disguise; it can change their faces and match the fingerprints of any individual using nanomachines that bond into their skin. The moment the cargo ship arrived at Sapporo's harbor, they had killed the people who would be making the delivery and programmed the synthetic covers to duplicate their appearance. Should their irises be scanned, Junji distributed high-quality contact lenses to everyone, helping them match the eyes of those who were killed.

He was confident that nothing will go wrong.

"Didn't this skin-cover thing fail you once?" Mamoru asked Junji, who got annoyed by the sudden question.

"Don't bring up that topic boy, just drive!" He said with a raised voice.

Junji remembered the pair of agents who could see through his invention, and checking his watch to see how much time is left for them to successfully perform their task, he went into a state of thought.

"I hope they're not there."

MAGIA

Chapter Twelve

Reunion

The advancing rogues were now faced with a defensive line that spanned from Asakusa to Ebisu, and both sides were now locked in a major clash; troops from the Self-Defense Force were engaging their numerically inferior ranks and neutralizing them one at a time, yet the rogues proved to be a major threat to them with their advanced weaponry and fearless tactics. For the soldiers, holding them off was of utmost importance –the Prime Minister has shut himself in his heavily-guarded residence, and the rogues are a threat to his security.

Atop one of the Vendetta's four-legged war machines, Kazuto wondered what could be holding back their advance.

"What's the holdup!?" he asked his fellow rogues

"Young master, our enemy's defenses are tough! Our push towards the capital is being slowed!" One rogue replied.

Kazuto then turned his eyes towards a shaggy-haired man who was watching the battle excitedly and called his attention.

"Hey, Konoe, can't you make more clones!?" he brashly asked the man.

"Oh, come on, pal! I'm at my limit here!" the original Miki Konoe replied to him in a high voice. "I thought you swordsmen knew patience."

Kazuto did not speak any further as he turned away from him. Konoe's reply had struck him and left him to rethink his decisions.

He's right. Forcing him to make more would probably be too much for him and that would make him too exhausted to fight alongside us, he thought. At least he can make a few dozen reserve clones just in case things turn for the worse.

"I can sense…a large force coming from the eastern sea." Naomi interrupted the two, before she herself got interrupted by the skull she cradled in her arms.

"Watch your six, watch your six!"

"Sea beasts. Ironclad sea beasts." She cried out softly, a worried look appearing on her face.

The skull interrupted again. "We got ships! Battleships! A lot of battleships! Enemy reinforcements are coming, watch your asses guys!"

"Don't worry, Hajime will take care of them." Kazuto replied as he gazed at the intense firefight in the distance.

Naomi then left them without uttering another word, and made her way to the back of the crowd, her elegant black dress appearing out-of-place in the environment they were in now. Below him, Miki showed him a hand gesture and the swordsman immediately got the note.

Kazuto jumped off the robot's back and ran as fast as he could towards an alley blocked off by a pile of sandbags. He stepped up to it and, using his sword, launched himself up the makeshift wall, his momentum catapulting him over it and at the same time enabling him to pull his weapon out.

In the alley was their leader and a few other people and he bowed at them.

"Permission to enter the fray, my lord." Kazuto requested to Saotome.

"Very well." Saotome consented and from his hand a small flame appeared. He stood in front of the swordsman and placed the flame over Kazuto's chest, where it was absorbed by the man's body.

"Bring victory to the Vendetta."

"How do you suppose the rogues manage to bypass the GEM detectors?" Ayanami asked his commander; all the while his subordinates glanced at the monitors displaying the battle raging in Tokyo's southeast areas, and on the other monitors, the troops and personnel from MAGIA holding their ground against the attacking rogues.

"I have absolutely no idea but for the group to invent something that would counter what the two Americans back at Sapporo worked hard to develop, and for them to do it in such a very short time, it's almost unbelievable." Mizuhashi answered in disbelief, and then continued. "Right now, our priority is to ensure the Prime Minister's safety. The troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force have now established a defensive line but that may not last very long."

"We know and I would want to know if you have a backup plan if the rogues do make a push towards his location." Ayanami shot back at the commander, who now looked visibly stressed.

"All patrolling magicians have now been ordered to provide support to our ground troops-"

"Our patrol forces won't be enough to stop their advance. At this point, a breach in the defenses would be unavoidable. " Ayanami asked the commander in a straightforward tone.

"Besides, with these things running loose, I'm betting that those magicians you've sent must have been trampled by now." Hiroki suddenly appeared behind Saito and brashly informed him as he pointed to a monitor showing the Vendetta's war robots effortlessly walking over the soldiers' barricades.

"Think about it boss."

Saito was now pissed, his train of thought derailed by the string of questions he just received from Ayanami. He desperately tried to come up with a plan, thinking fast before his lieutenant can throw another one at him, all the while trying to resist the pressure put on him by the situation.

Mizuhashi was a diplomat, a spokesman and negotiator for MAGIA to the world. Over the years, he had honed his skills in rhetoric, which allowed him to speak on the corporation's behalf to the country's people. Like his father, the Prime Minister, he is a born orator, always outspoken and charismatic, and thus earning him the respect and obedience of the masses. But most importantly, he is a peacekeeper, and with his skills in legislation and law enforcement, he always makes sure peace and order is maintained, both in MAGIA, the country, and in countries where MAGIA's presence has taken hold.

Today, however, wasn't a time of peace.

Masato Ayanami, on the other hand, is a leader who could be best described as a master of war. The laid-back façade he often displays belies his ability to strategize and address threats with a whim of a thought. His fellow MAGIA officers have been witnesses to his swift and methodical protocol executions, though he had gained a fair bit of infamy for his unorthodox ideas and strategies. He has no qualms with making great risks; he always knew what he was doing. Quick-witted and battle-hardened, his extensive knowledge of combat tactics and conflict resolution makes him a leader who could effortlessly deal with any crisis, all the while being mostly unaffected by the pressure and the trauma of battle.

Tension now got the better of Saito, but if he could resist the pressure put on him, he would be able to come back at Masato and give a reply that he thought would at least partially satisfy the lieutenant.

"Fine. If that would be the case, we might be forced to move the prime minster to a safer location."

"Which is why you want me to direct our combat magicians to the crisis zone and at the same time, secure the Prime Minister's escape, correct?" Masato replied in anticipation of what his commander would say.

"Well, I want you to just stay here and give the necessary orders from the safety of your post, but…" Saito ordered the lieutenant, and then took a quick pause.

Ayanami gave him a curious stare and then he continued their conversation.

"But it would be better if you go there and direct our enforcers and the Self-Defense Force as well." The commander explained as he took a short look at the command room's main monitor.

"I'll inform you of the enemy's movement and location, now that the detectors seem to be showing signs of functioning again."

"I'll go with him as well..." Hojo volunteered to the commander confidently. "Ayanami here would need my assistance as always."

"Well then, First Lieutenant Masato Ayanami and Second Lieutenant Misaka Hojo of MAGIA Sector D, you may go now, and good luck!" Mizuhashi saluted to them and they went out.

He then returned to his post, viewing the battle that raged on at the capital on the monitors. The shadow magician passed by him and spoke as he made his way

"No news from agent Takamura and the girl."

Saito turned his chair around and saw Kamiya walking out of his area and headed for the command room's exit.

"Damn!" Saito slammed his fists on his chair.

"All personnel report to your stations. MAGIA enforcers report to your squadrons." The speaker said out loud as the alarm wailed on and people began rushing in. Haruyuki and Miyuki sprinted towards the hangar where their squad is, and upon arriving at their armored carrier, Haruyuki was panting hard.

"Already tired, pig?" Miyuki teased her stout colleague. "We haven't even gotten outside for your first mission –"

"Freeze your lips frosty." Haruyuki answered while catching his breath.

More magicians arrived at their area, including the batch of foreign recruits, and they saw Lieutenant Ayanami accompanied by his second-in-command and Spectre. A member of Sector D's commanding personnel hollered at the magicians to group themselves while a handful of other personnel escorted them to their vehicles.

Masato, Hiroki, Misaka and Miyuki were the ones who went in last.

As soon as the personnel got into their vehicles, a huge door started to open and the armored carriers hastily drove out in lines.

Overhead, attack helicopters and a few hoverjets flew and watched over the convoy as they made their way towards the besieged areas of the capital.

Along their way, the voice of Masato Ayanami sounded out to everyone through the carriers' radios.

"Listen up, team, we are to assist the Ground Self-Defense Force who are currently protecting the Prime Minister's location. We will also be protecting any civilians who may be caught in the crossfire and escort them to evac centers. But most importantly, we are to neutralize the enemy forces and force their retreat. I know that most of us aren't ready and that this may be your first mission of such grand scale. I trust that if we can work well enough, we can end this without too many people dying. Do you copy?"

"COPY THAT!" A loud reply sounded out from the speaker in Ayanami's carrier. He then grabbed the communicator once again and spoke in a clear voice.

"I will now give the battle plans. We will divide ourselves into three groups, the main assault group composed of the foreign magicians will accompany Spectre. The group will cause confusion in the battlefield and prevent the rogues from advancing any further. The second will be the fast attack team led by Miyuki and they shall consist of both the rookies and several veteran enforcers. They will be leading a rush strike on the enemies stationed at Tokyo Port and taking down the giant plant-thing that has sprouted in the port's waters. And for the third group which will be mine, our mission is to retrieve the Prime Minister and move him to a new location which would be somewhere in Osaka. Good luck to us all."

And with that, the convoy began grouping themselves while the air support flew over the cityscape, monitoring the situation in the areas most affected by the crisis.

"Hey, that's MAGIA's tower over there!" Hotaru yelled from the front seat with her finger pointed at the looming tower in the distance, north of where they were at.

"We're close." Yukari spoke as he eyes remained focused on the road ahead.

The vehicle drove through a maze of burning buildings and empty streets; with its engine rumbling loudly it broke the deathlike silence that filled the atmosphere with dread. They drove steadily at high speed, unhindered, now that no other vehicles were present to cause traffic, and no pedestrians were in danger of being run over. It now became clear that the streets are now almost entirely evacuated when the attack began.

In the skies above them, air squadrons flew through and around the city's skyscrapers as they made their way to their target zones.

"Hey boss, what's that in front of us?" The bartender asked from the back as he pointed to whatever it was on the road in front of them. Yukari saw it too and when they got near, a skull was floating in the middle of the street.

With the high-pitched voice of a little girl, it let out a mocking cackle and shouted at the approaching vehicle.

"Goodbye!"

A wave of very strong force rippled out from the ground around the skull, sending it flipping in mid-air before it crashed down hard on the ground, its armor plates crumpled by the sheer strength of the pressure wave.

Her head hurt and blood trickled down her forehead, and her view of her surroundings blurred from the dizziness she experienced. Hotaru tried to escape from the upturned vehicle, yanking off the bent metal that pressed down on her thighs. She then unlocked the seatbelt and tumbled out.

Out of the van's other occupants, only Yukari and one of the bouncers got out. She could only imagine what happened to the other occupants as the bouncer pulled out the bartender's limp, bloodied body out of the wreckage.

"Move!" The hostess ordered to Hotaru and the bouncer with a hard shove as they got to their feet and took the first steps towards safer ground.

Suddenly, a voice that of a young woman's, sounded out in their minds.

"Attempting to escape is futile, witch."

The group turned to see a young woman in a black funeral dress running up to the skull and cradling it in her arms; as soon as it happened a lamppost was hurled at them and Hotaru could see it headed right for her before something huge blocked her view.

"Gin!" Yukari screamed and as Hotaru's vision cleared, she saw that the bouncer took the hit for her; the lamppost had skewered him through the gut and his blood dripped on the young woman's dress.

"Run with the boss…young…miss –" The bouncer said his final words before he collapsed. From behind them, the girl in the black dress was preparing to launch another heavy attack at them – boulders, cars, shrapnel, and other debris floated around her.

"Hotaru!"

The debris was hurled at them with the force of a powerful hurricane and as the wave rapidly swept closer, Yukari activated her magic, grabbed Hotaru and dodged the objects that now moved slowly around them. Running away, they ended up in a faraway section of the street, safe from the debris, and all that happened in five seconds to the attacker.

"D…did I miss…?" Naomi mumbled to herself, puzzled as she wondered why she failed to hit the two.

"You didn't listen to Konoe's report!" the skull she held in her arms angrily yelled at her. "That hostess can alter time!"

"I'm sorry, Vila." She apologized to it. "I was sure…that I could have hit them,"

Naomi could still sense the two's presence, and she could follow them anywhere as long as she can still perceive them. For the two, there seemed to have no point in running around a besieged, war-torn city; either they run into her again or run into her group and let fate decide on what happens to them.

"Found you!" A girl's voice spoke from behind Naomi.

The young woman was shocked that she couldn't sense that person coming as she turned back to see a woman standing confidently on one side of the street. The situation was puzzling her as there were no civilians around to block her senses, yet she was unable to sense the person coming for her.

"H…how could I…not sense you?" Naomi asked the girl who now stood in front of her. She was tall, curvaceous and well-endowed, had beautiful blonde hair, wore a flashy, heavily decorated outfit, and had a cheerful aura around her which made Naomi feel a bit irritated.

"Yeah! Who are you?" the skull brazenly asked.

The woman smugged at them and replied. "Seriously, am I not popular enough to be known by you guys?"

She then took a stance and, skillfully twirling around a mic stand, made a confident pose which stunned Naomi and Vila.

"I am the pop idol Mafuyu Enma! Remember it!"

Gunfire and explosions rocked throughout the capital as the armed forces fought Hellfire Vendetta rogues who were attempting to reach major government offices. The military's armored vehicles fared poorly against the Vendetta's robots and were easily destroyed by the enemy's heavy machine guns and missiles, crushed like cans as the machines walked over their ruined frames. Faced with powerful magic attacks from the rogues, the soldiers had no choice but to fall back into safer ground, but to no avail as the enemy's ranks continued to storm in, causing much chaos and confusion.

A squad of fighter jets soon appeared overhead and fired a hail of missiles at the Vendetta's ranks, the explosions blowing the robots up into pieces. But from out of the smoke a rogue magician appeared, using his magic he stopped the jets and left them hovering in mid-air as their pilots screamed, trying to resist the force. They fired their missiles at him but his powerful psychic ability threw them off course and sent them hurtling towards the government forces. The jets soon followed, creating a series of huge explosions that destroyed the barricades.

The government forces were now in full rout.

"Come on men!" the rogue who controlled the jets called on. "Let's kill every last one of these pests!"

Screaming their warcry with all of their might, they stormed through and over the defensive barriers with the sunset looming over the horizon, the fading daylight casting shadows over the streets, now littered with rubble and the bodies of those who fell.

News teams were filming it all; the riots, the battles, the destruction that ensued, the captured rogues being beat down and executed, the captured soldiers experiencing the same, and the broken vehicles and robots warped into heaps of metal, sparks flying from the cracks and holes.

The night slowly crept in. Tokyo was now beginning to fall.

An ominous darkness loomed over and around the invaders as they advanced towards the government's facilities which were now only a few miles away. They were now in the streets of the famous Ginza shopping district, known for its bright city lights and stirring pedestrian crowds, but none of those were seen by the rogues as the bright lights mysteriously shorted out, showering sparks over their heads and then bathing them in near-total blackness.

A deafening roar sounded out from the far side of the street and when they turned their attention to where it originated, out came a fat, bearded giant with a large cigar on its mouth. Bringing its fingers to grab it, the giant spat at one of the rogues, the cinders that blew out from the cigar setting his clothes on fire. It then swung the smoldering cigar back and in one sweep, it turned into a flaming club, cleaving the rogues and smashing a robot standing in its path, crushing the pilot within.

"Bring it down! Bring it down!" Multiple rogues fought back at the ten-foot creature who kept on running over their comrades. Strong rogues hurled boulders and debris at the giant, a few pelted the area around it with blasts of fire and other elements, and one let out a powerful scream that shoved it back, allowing the others to concentrate their attacks to throw the giant off-balance.

The creature roared in pain and just as it was about to fall, a small man wielding a pair of heavy guns emerged from its beard and fired at the stunned rogues, decimating their numbers.

From another end of the street, a scary, pale-skinned man wearing a formal suit threw knives at the enemies and, using more knives, hacked and slashed his way towards the giant before transforming into a black, man-sized, rabid dog that helped the creature up.

Loud screaming soon followed and the rogues turned their heads up to see the magician who summoned the creatures being carried by a legless woman with bat-like wings.

More people emerged from the shadows as the ground went from dark to completely black and they wore matching gray coats. The rogues could instantly recognize them.

"It's those fucking magicians from MAGIA!" The rogues were now surprised and began running when a fair-skinned man charged at them with his hands glowing white.

"Eat this!" Tom Radford screamed at the enemies as he whipped the rogues with a chain of lightning, electrocuting them. A robot then appeared and aimed its flamethrower at the magician.

A wave of flame blew out and towards the American while the rogue inside laughed victoriously, watching on his monitors as he cooked him before his very eyes. When he stopped, he was surprised to see the lightning magician alive and standing behind a tall woman who appeared unscathed.

"Thanks Natalya." Tom said to the woman.

"You need more training" she replied to him coldly and rushed at the robot at great speed. Using the machine's legs as a springboard to leap at the cockpit, she launched herself, landed a straight punch at the hatch, and then released the energy she absorbed earlier inside the machine, destroying it.

The team of foreign magicians continued to engage the Vendetta as more magicians emerged from the shadows. The sight of the magicians from MAGIA raised the morale of the retreating, shell-shocked soldiers who then returned to fight alongside them.

Amidst the advancing crowd, a young, effeminate man wearing a black getup emerged from a patch of darkness and stared at his surroundings with a hardened, expressionless face as he walked forward, the shadows around him creeping forward with each step he took.

"This is Spectre, we are now supporting the ground troops as planned." Hiroki Kamiya told his superior, Ayanami, through his earpiece.

"Well done." The head of Sector D replied. "Continue to do so, Spectre."

Hiroki then turned off his earpiece and joined the fight as well.

"What in God's good name is that?" the group operations officer said as his eyes peered at the unspeakable sight ahead of them through his binoculars.

The U.S.S. Barack Obama, America's chosen flagship for its navy's operations in the Pacific, was more or less twenty miles away from the Port of Tokyo and crewmen could see the likeness of an enormous tree-like organism in the night even without binoculars. The small fleet that consisted of the carrier, an accompanying battlecruiser, six destroyers and half a dozen frigates, were stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base and sortied out in response to the attack.

"So much for a goodwill visit." Admiral Chuck Durling said in his seat as he observed the lit silhouette of the huge tree in the distance. The country's Maritime Self-Defense Force have dispatched a fleet of warships to attack the tree before they even launched and now they could see that the Japanese ships were now flaming wrecks.

The fleet had now sailed closer to the tree and they could see multiple lights on the tree's branches, its immense bulk giving an ominous presence to those who would dare attack it at this time.

"So that huge thing is, like, the enemy's base." Rear Admiral Diego Chavez spoke to Durling from his side. The admiral gave a heavy sigh.

"Tell the fleet that we will not make any moves." The admiral ordered to Chavez with a raised eyebrow.

"Not until by morning…"

From the massive tree's canopy stood Hajime, he can see the blinking lights from the American fleet in the distance.

"The ships I destroyed must have scared them." The man said confidently and then turned his head to see the orange lights glowing in the distance, breaking up the darkness of the night.

"None shall interfere."

"Are we really going to attack that!?" Haruyuki asked worriedly, referring to the massive tree in the distance.

Their group had positioned themselves on a high building far from the port, Their leader, Miyuki, looked at her watch, it was ten in the evening and almost four hours had passed since the attack began.

She then sprinted back to the waiting group.

"Alright team, that massive tree seems to be some kind of base as I could see lights on its canopy and several reserves in between its roots." She told the rest of them.

"Shouldn't we call for backup? We could use heavy firepower to bring it down." A MAGIA trooper suggested and the others seem to acknowledge the man's words.

"The military is focusing their defense on the capital's inner areas. We're lucky enough to get this close." She answered.

"Besides…" She then focused her blue eyes on Haruyuki. "We got the firepower through him."

"Me?"

"Yes, there's plenty of stuff down there for you to build something to tear that tree down." Miyuki coldly told Haru as she picked up her bow. She then gestured the people to get ready. "No matter what guys, we must bring it down."

The group silently went down the building's stairs and as Haruyuki followed, Miyuki placed a cold hand on his shoulder.

"I know you may not have much training or experience but when I saw you confidently entering and showing your skills, I knew you had something. Haru-senpai, you wanted to prove something."

He felt something spark in his gut. Miyuki had shown confidence in him and he should try his best.

The two went down, ready to begin their mission.

For my country, my family, friends, and Azusa.

Hotaru and Yukari have been running and hiding all throughout the night, they could hear the echoes of heavy bombardment in the distance, a renewed assault.

The battle was intensifying, and they could only barely get out of the chaos.

"Stop!" Yukari held out her hand to stop and they leaned back on a damaged wall. They could sense heavy movement in a nearby corner and, they could hear several people approaching.

Yukari took a peek.

She saw a white, heavily-armed robot with four legs and eight men in red coats, members of the Vendetta. She also noticed that they had different faces.

Yukari breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is it help?" Hotaru asked curiously.

"Nope, more enemies..." Yukari replied. "…but thank goodness, it's not that cloning guy."

Activating her magic, Yukari slowed down the time around her, and then she tugged at Hotaru, signaling her to escape with her, the altered flow of time allowed them to cross the street in less than a second, too fast for the patrolling enemies to notice. The two women then quietly entered a recently-abandoned building two blocks away from the group.

Inside, Hotaru saw Yukari breathing heavily, her makeup ruined as it mixed with the sweat that flowed from her face and neck.

"You okay?" Hotaru said, kneeling down to her and, using a handkerchief, wiping off the sweat from her friend's face.

"Of course I am, I just need to rest a bit-"she replied in a strained voice as she held a hand near her waist and Hotaru noticed the cause – a shard of glass was embedded in Yukari's side.

"I'm sorry I had to worry you Hotaru-chan, I guess the crash and saving you from that attack from that Goth girl left me with more than a few scratches and a headache." She told the young woman and held her wound tightly. "My ability will keep me from bleeding out too quickly."

"But won't that put a strain on your body?" Hotaru said with a raised voice and covered the wound with her handkerchief. Yukari let out a pained moan as she felt pressure being applied over her wounded side.

"I'm gonna remove that shard and clean your wound. And I'll need some water. Surely this place must have a tap somewhere." Hotaru spoke and then went out of the room.

"Silly girl." Yukari thought as she tried to rest.

After a few minutes of searching, Hotaru managed to find a small kitchen with a functioning sink and quickly filled an empty pitcher with water.

A sudden clattering sound alerted her from her work.

Taking a look around her surroundings, she tried to trace the sound's origin and when she heard the same sound again, she turned her back to see a rat.

She tried not to shriek as the rodent slowly approached her, observing her with curious eyes.

"Oh, it's just you. Now get outta here…" She shooed the rat with a wave of her hand, but the rat appeared to be observing her more, its mouth suddenly opening to speak.

"There's a woman here."

Yukari was alerted by the sound of Hotaru's screaming. She stood up with one of her hands over her wound and went through an open doorway.

"Geez Hotaru, where are you?" Yukari moved around the empty halls, checking every room she passed as she used her ability to slow down the blood flow to a few drops, though her efforts made her breathing more difficult.

As she approached the next corner, a lightning-fast force struck her back and she collapsed to the floor.

The darkness swallowed her vision, but before blacking out totally, the blurred outline of a heavy boot came to her vision.

She was pulled out of the building and heaved to the streetside, her limp body unable to move from the shock and exhaustion, though she could still turn her head around and gaze at the darkness of her surroundings.

Turning to her right, she could see her friend being dragged out from the building where they hid.

Yukari was tossed to her side, unconscious, her wound showing no sign of healing. Red-coated men eyed them from all sides and a white robot approached them, its heavy machine gun pointed at them.

When her vision cleared, Hotaru could recognize the men as those they avoided earlier and she began to wonder how they managed to find their location.

Hotaru then saw the answer to her question.

A tall man with a bushy beard approached the other men, behind him rats followed.

"Your rats just landed us a pair of hotties!" one of the rogues exclaimed to him as the rats quickly turned to dust. Other rogues gasped at the sight of the barely conscious women while they paced around their weakened bodies.

"It's just what the boss said, take those scampers off the streets. Well I'm not exactly sure what he meant but I did what I can." The bearded man replied to them and sighed while focusing his eyes on the captives. "Now what do we do?"

"Play with them, of course! What else are we gonna do?" the rogue beside him suggested, his voice raised in delight.

Hotaru could hear what the men just said; she immediately knew what was about to happen next as the men slowly approached them. Using the strength she currently had, she tried to move away from them, but she only had enough to prop herself up against a damaged wall.

"Hey, hey! Aren't we supposed to be on patrol?" the robot's pilot spoke to them from within his cockpit. "There might be more scampers around here that we haven't caught yet, I suggest we go weed them all out first."

"Shut it. These are ladies we got here and they deserve special treatment!" the bearded rogue shot back at him. "Besides, give us a break, we've been working our asses off for hours already."

The man then summoned two rat familiars and leaned closer to Hotaru.

"Hey there, cutie pie." The captor spoke softly to Hotaru as his hands touched her shoulders and she could feel her coat being tugged off gently.

"Don't be shy, we're all here to give you a good time."

The man then slid one of his legs between hers and placed a warm hand over her right thigh, gently pulling her skirt up as he stroked her smooth skin, while any resistance she did was pinned down with his upper body and left hand. His face was now close to hers, and the smell of burning tobacco now wafted from his cigar to the young woman's nostrils, irritating her and causing her to turn away in disgust.

"Augh, damn! Whatever, sickos. I'm resuming patrol and you should be doing better things than to jack off while the enemy's around our asses." The rogue piloting the robot yelled at them with his head fuming. With a turn, the robot slowly moved away from the group, its joints creaking and grinding as it moved.

Hotaru fought back, flailing her arms and legs wildly at the man, but his weight held her down. Annoyed by her resistance and the pilot's decision to desert them, the captor began treating her roughly, locking her in a tight embrace while his two rats viciously ripped her clothes off. She screamed.

"Please don't! –"

She could see Yukari's lifeless body being propped up on a slab of rock, her legs spread out while a rogue who grew blade-like spines on his forearms slashed her dress open before his fellow rogues loosened their belts and sat around her with sinister smiles on their faces.

"What're you lookin' at, missy?" the man whispered to Hotaru's ear as he grabbed her head and turned it to meet his. "We're almost to the good part and you should be looking at me with those pretty eyes right now."

She screamed and thrashed around as the man licked the skin of her neck, his lower body pressing hard on her groin while more rats appeared and gnawed on her tattered clothes, up to the exposed underclothing.

Closing her eyes, she let out a tear while she awaited her fate.

Please…anyone…save me

The ground shook violently, as if a bomb went off nearby. To the rogues, it appeared as if it was the case; smoke billowed out from where the force came, and debris tumbled around them. They were alerted, almost in a panic, and adjusted themselves as they stood up; readying themselves to face whatever caused it.

When the smoke cleared, they were surprised to find a dark-skinned man wearing a dark hooded coat and heavy pants; he stood and faced the group confidently in the middle of what appeared to be a crater.

"YOU!" The rogue piloting the robot yelled and aimed his machine's heavy cannon at him. He fired three explosive rounds in an attempt to blow him up to pieces, only to be held back in shock as he emerged from the blasts with only a charred set of clothes. The man smirked at him and landed a straight kick to the robot's leg, the sheer force bending it sideways and causing the robot to topple over, disorienting the pilot.

"That's one down…"

"KILL HIM!" A rogue threw several machine pistols into the air and had them fly towards him while firing, but instead of running away he charged headlong into the hail of gunfire, the bullets tearing bits off his coat. Closing in on the enemy, he landed a straight punch and the rogue felt his ribcage imploding from the impact.

"Make that two…"

A pair of rogues came next and they charged at him at great speed, landing several hard strikes at him. When they thought they had the upper hand, he scooped both of them up and threw them to the ground, their spines breaking from the strength of the man's slams.

The rogue with bladed spikes on his arms rushed at him and attempted to do the same thing the previous rogues did. He proved to be more challenging than the pair as he skillfully hacked away at him with great force, targeting his abdomen and neck. But the blades barely even left a scratch on his skin and the man grabbed him by the arms and wrestled him down. After a short tussle, he propped him back up and gave him two jabs before uppercutting him, shattering his jaw.

"Five down, three to go."

The bearded rogue summoned hundreds of his rat familiars and ordered them to gnaw at the man's flesh, and it appeared that he had overwhelmed him when his familiars covered him from head to toe. He laughed victoriously when all of a sudden, the man emerged from the pile of rodents with only holes on his coat.

"Bastard!" He pulled out a gun and fired furiously. "What the hell are you!?"

Bullets bounced off his hardened body and he felt no pain from the shots fired at him, even though they were aimed at where his vitals are. He charged at the shooter and, with his right arm outstretched, gave him a swift blow to the neck, a clothesline.

It hit the man with the force of a runaway train, and he could hear his adversary's vertebrae snapping as the blow appeared to tear his head off.

With the summoner dead, the rats vanished into puffs of dust.

The man shook his arms and bobbed up and down on the soles of his feet, stretching his muscles while the two remaining rogues watched helplessly before he stopped and took a stance.

"Who's next?"

The two men fled screaming, afraid to face the man who would give them a major beating. In their escape they left behind two half-naked women, the sight of which made him feel uncomfortable.

All of a sudden, he felt the ground tremble and turned to see that the robot had regained footing.

"DIE!" The pilot yelled furiously from his cockpit and fired all his weapons at the man.

He was scorched, gunned, blasted with shrapnel, and had two dozen missiles fired at where he stood. The ground burned from all the ordnance laid down upon him, but from the onslaught he managed to leap upwards and throw something at the mech's cockpit that bore a hole in the hatch's metal plating. It flew inside and landed on the pilot's seat, and only then did the occupant realize it was a grenade.

The pilot screamed in despair and a bright yellow flash followed.

The blast from the grenade destroyed the robot and ignited its engine, causing it to explode in a shower of flames and smoke before its legs buckled, sending it crashing towards a car beneath it. He walked away from the scene unfazed, the smoldering remains of the war machine brightly burning in the dark of night.

Hotaru woke up to see it all and Yukari soon followed. Both women had come to their senses as their savior walked towards them with the destroyed robot behind him.

"You're-"

Only when the man got closer did she recognize him as Shirou, the man who rescued her from the crisis at Toshima.

Shirou tugged two red coats from the dead rogues and clothed the two women. Hotaru could not find the right words to say to him but she tried to speak what she could.

"Shirou-san…thank you!" She said to him in a soft voice, feeling that it was the right thing to tell him, but felt the urge to say something more than that. Shirou, however, heard no other words coming out of her lips.

"Yeah, thanks a lot. You saved us from a bunch of sick jerks." Yukari told the man as she held her wound. "Never am I going to sleep with those fucks again!"

"But what are you doing here?" Hotaru asked Shirou while the latter bandaged Yukari, removing the glass shard as well which gave a slight sting to her wound followed by a feeling of relief.

"I'm looking for my sister." Shirou answered. "It's crazy, but yes. I'm looking for my sister."

Hotaru could sense a hint of worry in Shirou's eyes and she immediately got the note.

"She didn't come to the evacuation center."

MAGIA

Chapter Thirteen

Comrades

The situation at the defensive barricades was now going into the favor of the military and MAGIA. Hiroki's group was now advancing and the Hellfire Vendetta was now losing ground, nonetheless the battle is far from over and it seemed like it would continue to rage on. The darkness was the shadow magician's element as there were more shadows for him to utilize his ability, and it was now at its fullest.

A horrifying blackness trailed behind him as he popped up in front of the enemy with a knife. Shadows grew out from around the man's arms and covered the weapon, turning it into a ghastly blade which he rammed straight into the startled rogue's chest, killing him instantly.

He then quietly popped up at another location and more rogues panicked at the sight of the deathlike visage that rushed at them in pursuit. Outstretching his hands, Hiroki made the shadows crawl towards his fingertips, forming claws that ripped off the fleeing rogues' limbs. With the deed done, he adjusted the brooch that held his tie in place and sank back into the darkness, popping up at another location and ready to renew his assault.

He then spotted one of the foreign magicians, a Chinese man engaging twenty rogues. He remembered the fellow as one of the volunteers he met and he was an action film star who was skilled in many martial arts. Due to the virus' effects it enhanced his strength and agility to inhuman levels, further developing his skill.

"What was Baldy's name again?" Hiroki tried to remember for a moment, and recalled it shortly. "Yeah, Gan Chanming, right…"

A robot fired four missiles at Gan but the martial artist tiptoed at them, using them as stepping stones to get close to the robot. He landed near the machine's sensor unit and punched it lightly.

From inside, the pilot could see his action and laughed boisterously in his seat, merely thinking of it as a joke when suddenly, a gaping hole appeared in the robot's front and down its midsection. The last thing that happened was the pilot's bloodied body falling out of the wreckage.

A few more rogues fell under the hands of the martial artist and he sat on an upturned vehicle to meditate while explosions rocked the area around him.

"Darkness has descended upon our world, but we heroes must fight on, until the day the sun gloriously rises, forever bright."

"You don't say…" Hiroki sneeringly spoke to the Chinese as he appeared from a shadow beside him. "I…hate to break it to you, but, the sun won't be rising until three hours from now."

"Huh, what? D-did I just say anything?" Chanming snapped and jumped off from the boulder, bowing respectfully at Hiroki on landing.

The two gazed at the battle raging in the distance.

"It makes you think of what this battle will lead to, eh?" Hiroki asked Gan.

"More battles, young master, though I hope the gods would not allow such things to happen at a time and in a place like this." Gan replied with a tone that sounded like he doesn't want to fight for a long time.

Hiroki noted that Gan Chanming, being a martial arts expert, fights with a style used for defense and not for offense. From what he saw, he seemed to only fight to defend the capital and his fellow magicians as his mission and honorable service as a magician from MAGIA. And he respected that trait of Gan.

A series of fireblasts drew the pair's attention. They saw the soldiers and their group falling back from the sprawling wall of flames. In the middle of the blaze emerged a young man with a sword, behind him several rogues were converging to back him up.

"Tsk, it's him." Hiroki snorted and immediately he spiraled shadow tentacles towards the swordsman in an attempt to skewer him.

The swordsman raised his sword in an arc, causing the flames to grow brighter and dispelling the approaching shadows.

"You're gonna have to do better than that Spectre!" The swordsman shouted to him, calling the shadow magician by his codename.

Hiroki was now agitated, the adversary proved to be someone whom he will have some difficulty fighting and their group may have a hard time holding their ground with him at the frontlines.

"Young master, leave him to me!" Gan stepped up in front of him. "You and your disciples should go forth and battle the rest."

"Gan, he's tough, but if you insist, fine. So be it." Hiroki told him with a cautious look on his hardened, stoic face.

Gan then yanked off two metal bars from the surrounding wreckage and, using his ability, transformed them into two tonfas and took a stance. The swordsman did the same and they gazed at each others' eyes before rushing at each other.

Hiroki's forces and the rogues followed as well.

Another battle waged on in another section of the capital, this time between two young women.

Using her psychokinetic ability, Naomi continued to throw objects and debris at the pop idol who dodged them pretty well.

"Why can't you hit her!?" her skull Vila screamed at her.

"I'm trying…" came the strained reply.

Mafuyu dodged the attacks with grace similar to a ballerina; she appeared to be dancing and strutting as she did.

The woman's movements annoyed her further and Naomi caused a large section of a nearby building to collapse on her opponent.

"Dodge that."

She wasn't even surprised by the sight of a building falling on top of her. Mafuyu closed her eyes for a bit and, planting her microphone stand in front of her, let out a melodic voice; it was so loud that the entire building crumbled into tiny pieces with not a single piece of debris landing on her.

Naomi was astonished by the young woman's move and felt worry in her mind. Without her full knowledge, heavy objects flew at the idol with the force of a powerful storm, only for them to be deflected by strong pulses of sound that radiated from her mic stand as she twirled and pointed it in front of her.

"It's best we finish this with a big encore!" Mafuyu said to the woman in black and raised both her hands to emit a bright shower of dazzling light.

Naomi and her skull companion were blinded by the attack. Her eyes saw only white, her ears bombarded with loud, heavy music, and her mind was clouded.

When she regained her vision, the woman was in front of her, smiling confidently. Behind her appeared what looked like a laser light show, the beams of light forming the silhouette of a large organ while several bright circles appeared around Mafuyu.

"This has been Mafuyu Enma, live from Tokyo. It's been a wonderful night, thank you and…goodbye!"

Mafuyu then sang a high note, the pressure wave casted by the sound threw Naomi off and sent her tumbling to a car's hood. Like a banshee, her deafening wail caused the surrounding glass to shatter.

The music now intensified as Mafuyu sang loudly to the music she generated, creating a dense wall of harmonized, resonating melodies that pummeled Naomi's ears with harsh beats and amplified sounds. Like a conductor, she used her hands to command the music to change in pitch and intensity.

"Make it stop!" Vila yelled as she was thrown towards Naomi, cracks starting to appear on its surface as she attempted in vain to stay afloat. The intensity of the music gave Naomi a hard time moving as she reached out her hand to the skull.

With a grand gesture, Mafuyu played one last chord at an extremely high volume, creating a powerful blast of pressure that sent the skull hurtling towards the girl in black.

"Vila…!"

The skull shattered in front of her eyes and Naomi found out that no words came out from her mouth. She cried out silently before losing consciousness, accepting her defeat.

The light show faded and Mafuyu slowly walked to the car where her opponent lay. The woman in black was not breathing and the broken pieces of her skull she had lay near her side.

Pulling out a marker from between her breasts, she wrote her signature on one of the pieces and gently placed it on the fallen enemy; she then moved her hands over it.

"Now you will remember me."

Mafuyu turned and left, skipping happily as gunfire sounded out from the areas around her. A few blocks away from where she was, she saw three people walking along the way, two women and one man whom she recognized as her brother, Shirou. She immediately rushed to the group and her brother was more than happy to see her.

"Mafuyu! You're alive…!" Shirou exclaimed as he cradled his younger sister in his arms, and the latter rubbed her cheek on his right arm.

Letting go of her, Shirou reprimanded Mafuyu with a concerned tone.

"You have some explaining to do, Mafuyu-chan! I called your manager and he said you were on the way to the evac center. So I went there and waited but hours have gone by and you still haven't showed up there."

Mafuyu remained still in her place, not a word spoken.

"Seeing you here could only mean one thing and the fact that you have kept yourself in one piece for so long with all the chaos happening…" Shirou spoke and then looked at his sister's eyes.

"You're a magician, aren't you!?"

"And you as well, onii-chan?" Mafuyu replied teasingly. "No ordinary man would dare walk in the middle of all this mayhem just to look for his sister."

She then looked at her brother's torn jacket. "It makes me curious as to why my scanners didn't pick up anything on you."

"The virus inside me is different; it lies dormant in the cells throughout my body and only awakens when I use my magic. That is why I have hidden it for this long." Shirou answered in response to his sister's curiosity.

Mafuyu appeared convinced, but a sight at the corner of her field of view drew her attention and she turned to face the two women standing a distance from her brother's side, they were holding on to red coats worn by the Vendetta.

"Changed sides, Hostess?" She asked Yukari jokingly.

"No, no. This man here just saved us from a bunch of pricks and, well, this happened to us." The hostess replied.

Returning her attention to her brother, she began explaining to him.

"If I remember correctly, when the outbreak happened two years ago, we somehow got the virus even though we were far from where it all happened. Since then, I noticed that you aren't showing signs of the virus, while I did and once I found out about what my ability was, I joined MAGIA without telling you. I was hoping that you could live your life without me making you jealous but then, I realized that you would be lonely without me after we lost our parents, and working full-time for them is keeping me away from my music hobby, the only other thing that made me happy. So I asked MAGIA if I can live with you and the music that I write and you enjoy listening to while being an agent when they need me. Call it a pop idol's double life but it's better that way."

The eyes of her brother lost the seriousness from earlier.

"Happy?" Mafuyu asked.

Shirou walked up to his sister and raised his fist to give her a light bonk on the head.

"Ow! Why'd you do that, onii-chan!?" Mafuyu said with a raised voice.

A smile formed on the young man's face.

"Sheesh, we're the only ones who have each other and you still have the guts to hide something from me. Well I'm also at fault for hiding my ability from you."

Mafuyu then happily hugged her brother, and she could feel him hugging back.

"That's so sweet," Hotaru murmured to herself and she noticed Yukari staring at her with strange eyes.

"What?"

"Oh nothing…" replied Yukari.

"So, Shirou-nii, after this, will you be joining me in MAGIA?" Mafuyu excitedly asked her brother. "We're gonna have missions and other epic stuff together and it'll be fun!"

"No." Shirou immediately declined her request. "I'm sorry but it's not my calling…"

The smile on Mafuyu's face vanished upon hearing her brother's answer. In response, Shirou placed his hand over his sibling's shoulder and gave her an assuring stare.

"…Yet."

Mafuyu calmly sighed.

"I…get it now. I'll respect your choice and I know you're not the type who'd abuse your power. Do join when you finally feel like it, I'll be-"

"Waiting. Of course you would." Shirou spoke to her, picking up from what his sister was about to say.

Mafuyu looked at Yukari and asked her. "Ehh, Hostess, would it be okay if we keep this to ourselves?"

Yukari nodded. "He did save us back there and I don't want to look like an ass."

Hotaru then walked up to the siblings and asked them. "So where do we go from here?"

Shirou looked at her sister and spoke. "My sister may have us covered. We certainly can't go back from where I went and who knows who or what we'll run into."

"Don't worry, I have a car hidden somewhere around…here!" the idol said to them as she pointed to a black car in the distance. "I'll drive us all back to base and after that, I'll help out in the fight."

Shirou raised his right hand and spoke. "I'll be coming with you as well."

"Fine. But I'll be dropping you off somewhere so you won't be seen by my buddies. Then I'll come back to pick you up."

The group headed for the idol's vehicle, making their way through the ruined streets amidst heavy shelling in areas not far from where they were.

As they walked, Shirou then remembered something.

"Hey sis, you can't drive. Neither do I and I think none of us can-"

"Yukari can drive…" Hotaru interrupted, but later hesitated, remembering that her friend hasn't recovered from her injury.

Mafuyu turned her face to meet theirs and spoke with a raised voice. "Guys, my car has an autopilot function and it's a vehicle from MAGIA so stop worrying!"

Hotaru and Shirou never thought that out, and Yukari apparently didn't as well, she would have remembered but the ruckus she went through must have made her forget.

A nearby explosion hurried the group into reaching their vehicle as the battle for the capital raged on in the distance.

Port of Tokyo
Odaiba, Tokyo
3:00 AM

The massive tree which served as a base of operations for the Hellfire Vendetta was rife with activity. Masses of entangled branches provided shelter for the invaders, as well as operations platforms where they prepared equipment and weaponry to be used. Several huge vines went down its branches, carrying heavily-armed robots and rogue magicians to its lower areas. They would be deployed to the frontlines to back up their forces in the capital, while a still-large force remained in the port to guard for any possible attacks.

Miyuki's group numbered seventy individuals composed of well-trained regular soldiers and a handful of magicians, among them, a female magician with a cloaking ability covered their entire group as they made a push towards the port.

"Keep it steady, Natsumi…" Miyuki whispered to the cloaking magician through her earpiece.

They moved even closer to the port; Miyuki and her group now realized just how enormous the strange tree is up close. It towered over the tallest structures in the capital, a full hundred and fifty meters taller than Tokyo's famed communications tower, and roughly taller by just as much than the Eiffel Tower in France. Its layered trunk was wide enough to span nine city blocks, and its roots sprawled haphazardly on and around the port's structures and into the bay's waters.

And it was still growing.

The MAGIA soldiers were armed with vaccine-laced bullets instead of the normal ammunition for the mission. Scoring a shot away from vital parts will give the rogues a dose that would cancel out their abilities but a direct hit would kill. The bullets were more expensive to produce than conventional rounds and thus Miyuki thought of whether the soldiers have enough ammunition for an extended shootout.

In between several shipping crates, Miyuki spotted two rogues standing in watch. One was very tall and his hands had a rough, rock-like texture, and the other let out a cloud of frigid breath, an ice magician like her. Grabbing her bow, she conjured two ice arrows, aimed them at the pair, and let them fly.

The rogues barely noticed that something glinted at them, only to find that a solid, freezing-cold projectile was lodged deep into their throats. They both collapsed with a hard thud.

Seizing the right moment, Miyuki gave the order.

"Now!"

Natsumi uncloaked them all and a battle ensued. Doing as planned, Haruyuki activated his power and transformed the surrounding materials into a line of heavy cannons, using the leftover cables to craft a linked firing system for him to control his creations.

"Aim at the tree!" Natsumi yelled to him as she pointed to the branches that slowly descended upon them.

A barrage of heavy cannon fire blasted the huge branches and pelted the tree's massive trunk.

Other magicians joined the attack; one who can create steel rods summoned a line of metal in front of him, impaling the rogues who were charging at them, another created deadly wind attacks that sliced off the smaller branches as well as the defenders, another summoned armored familiars that blocked the enemy attacks and the rest poured in with their abilities, helping their fellows tear down the massive tree.

From his perch above, Hajime was furious as he can feel the tree rumbling, its lower parts chipping away.

"Take them out!" He angrily barked at his fellow rogues and sent them all down to engage the attackers.

"I'm sorry master, but keeping this position is of topmost priority, even it means sending out all the reserves which would have aided you further in your conquest."Hajime thought of his desperate move and knew it was the best way to get rid of the enemy.

"Haru-senpai, watch out!" Miyuki screamed to him and the transmuter looked back to see a small mist appear behind him, which then revealed a raised arm with a knife, ready to plunge down.

The man gasped and closed his eyes.

But nothing hit him and he was surprised to find himself alive and well. He noticed that a force field was projected around him, blocking the attack.

A scary-looking woman tried desperately to stab him through the force field, only to be flung a great distance away.

"You okay?" a fellow magician asked Haruyuki and he realized that he was the one who saved him.

"Name's Subaru Fukui, don't worry we'll cover you, just focus your fire on the tree." The barrier magician told Haruyuki with a smile as he blocked the attacks that were targeted at them. Haruyuki continued his attack and turned the pavement into projectiles which he loaded into the cannons before firing another wave.

The attack tore a large chunk off the tree's midsection, severing a few large branches but the colossal plant still stood tall.

"Keep at it Haru-senpai!" Miyuki's voice boomed out in his earpiece and he felt a boost to continue on.

Firing her frost arrows at the incoming robots, Miyuki disabled the robots by freezing their joints, rendering them stuck and unable to move much. But she then found herself fighting a rogue with the ability to produce a thermal field, rendering her following attacks useless.

The rogue reached out to her with his glowing hands.

"One touch and you're cooked!" Her opponent said as he tried to hit her with several attacks which she dodged.

This guy's tough, Miyuki thought as she continued to evade while firing her arrows of ice. All around her the battle intensified, with both sides fighting for control of the port.

"Bring it!" She taunted her opponent confidently.

The room's walls and ceiling rattled from the battle raging aboveground. The Prime Minister of Japan sat uncomfortably in his underground shelter, surrounded by thirty soldiers. Fear was evident in their eyes and the statesman himself is beginning to lose patience.

Several hours have passed since the surprise attack began and he still hasn't gotten any word about the situation outside. The communications have been cut off and now they might just have to wait for whoever opens the steel blast door, be it their allies or their enemies.

"Your Excellency, I believe there has been a renewed assault, judging from the resumption of the noise outside about two hours ago." A colonel of the JGSDF told the Prime Minister.

"I hope it's our men who are doing the assault!" came the gruff reply from the statesman.

Outside the building where the Prime Minister's bunker is located, a large group from the Hellfire Vendetta have managed to sneak past the defensive lines and are now approaching their target.

"Kazuto's attack has bought us time." A rogue mumbled to his fellow men,

The group now faced a heavy steel door that would lead them inside the building. One rogue broke down a concrete column and several of Konoe's clones used it as a battering ram.

"Coming through!" they yelled at the same time.

They bashed the door thrice and on the final hit, the hinges were torn off, allowing them to break through. They rushed in and readied themselves, only to find out that no one was defending the front.

"Ai, use your bugs to find the old man." One of the clones ordered a skinny, bespectacled female rogue and from her sleeves came out hundreds of flies. They made their way through small crevices and vents throughout the building, flying in and out of closed rooms to search for anyone inside while the rest of the team went ahead of the search party.

"This room's clear!"

"Here too!"

Many hollered to tell the others that almost every location was empty.

"Shouldn't we just blow up the place?" one rogue suggested. "He'll probably die from where he is right now."

"Maybe he's gone now." Another one replied to him.

"Guys, one of our watchers never saw any escape vehicle around these areas!" A Konoe clone interrupted them.

"You're right, Kaito's eyes would never lie to us." Ai said softly as her flies returned. "He'll call us from the hometree if he saw anything."

Just as the group were about to give up with the search, one of Konoe's clones stood in the middle of a large room, his feet tapping the floor.

"Hey guys! What does this sound like to you?" He called the others.

Konoe tapped the floor hard again and a hollow sound followed.

"Yusuke you're up!"

A slim young man appeared, he took off his gloves and his hands grew in bulk before hardening.

"Stand back." Yusuke told the group before punching the floor hard, a web of cracks appeared and grew outward before a large gaping hole caused the group to fall.

"Jackpot!" Konoe's clones screamed in unison as they fell into the chasm with a few others, but just as the rest of the group was about to make their descent, a powerful blast of purple light erased them.

The remaining rogues were stunned and looked up to spot a young woman standing on the far end of the room, behind her were armed soldiers wearing the same gray uniform as she did.

"It's MAGIA!" The rogues shouted.

"This is Sector D's second lieutenant, Misaka Hojo, the Vendetta have found the route towards the Prime Minister's bunker. Moving in to engage the enemy." Hojo spoke through her earpiece.

"Good job lieutenant, now buy us some time while we make our way up." Ayanami replied back from his end. Hours earlier, Masato asked Hiroki if his shadows can reach all the way to the Prime Minister's residence and, if possible, hide Misaka's subgroup until the time is right.

Masato could have gotten the Prime Minister out earlier, but calling in an escape vehicle would make the rogues more cautious and harder to eliminate. He instead opted to wait for them to feel confident and breach the building so that his group can effectively engage them in battle and have his second-in-command Misaka Hojo wipe them out with her deadly plasma streams, cast from the air itself as her magic turns it into a hot, electrified gas that vaporizes everything it touches. She was his trump card, and a fearsome one, too.

Of course, he had not told his commander of his risky plan; he would have been punished badly if he did and face even harsher sanctions should his second-in-command fall in battle, even though it was the best strategy he could come up with and there was no other way.

Only he and Hiroki knew the full extent of Misaka's magic.

The Vendetta are smart, they are not to be underestimated. He thought as their group made their way.

A magician with the ability to spawn tunnels has been leading Ayanami's group towards the bunker. He wore a special steel helmet and thick attire similar to what miners usually wore. In fact he is one, and before the attack he was working in the construction of an undersea subway until Ayanami requested his aid for this mission.

After fifteen minutes of digging, the magician felt something hard.

"Sir, we're here." The magician told them with a filtered voice.

"Very well, Minato. Proceed." Ayanami ordered.

Inside, the Prime Minister's attention was drawn to the soldiers pointing their rifles at a wall. A bright circle formed on it and it crumbled, leaving a cloud of smoke and dust.

Raizo went behind the armed men as they continued to point their guns at the fading cloud.

When the dust settled, the group lowered their weapons as a man wearing MAGIA's uniform appeared and spoke.

"Good morning gentlemen."

"Lieutenant Ayanami?" The prime minster spoke in disbelief.

"Your Excellency, sorry for the delay. I had to make sure the opportunity was right." Masato told the Prime Minister.

"Let's go everyone."

Aboveground and in the halls of the Prime Minister's residence, the rogues hid and fled from bright purple flashes of light that came out from behind them. Nonetheless, Misaka's plasma streams closed in from places and angles they didn't expect, though all her attacks merely grazed her targets, the intense heat and light was enough to vaporize them until only specks of dust remained. The rogues who continued to flee were surprised to find that she could make the blasts bend sharply and change direction, which gave them very little chance to escape.

She gave it her all against the Vendetta's rogues, using her ability to make sure the pathway to the building's rooftop is clear and safe. Before the breach, her team hid in total darkness for hours, yet she felt no fear knowing that they were hiding in Hiroki's shadows.

"Lieutenant Hojo we have the Prime Minister. What's the situation up there?" Ayanami voice asked through her earpiece.

"Just mopping up sir." Misaka replied as she felt success course through her mind. "Should I call the extraction vehicle?"

"Call it, lieutenant!"

"Attention, air support, the Prime Minister is secured and ready. Requesting an extraction heli to pick him up at his place." She ordered.

As she finished her call, a horde of insects rushed at her team and she instinctively launched a barrage of plasma streams that vaporized the flies before casting a larger beam that burned through the swarm.

As her magic vaporized the insects, she could see the rogue's face for a split second, illuminated by the plasma beam inching at her with great speed.

That was all it took for her to recognize her adversary as someone she was familiar with before the blast engulfed her totally.

Ai-chan?

A hint of surprise appeared on Misaka's face

"This is Zulu-03, en route to the Prime Minister's residence. ETA would be 10 minutes, prep the VIP for exfil." The pilot of the escape vehicle spoke in the lieutenant's earpiece.

"C…copy that…" came the reply.

"I know this car has MAGIA-grade features and the autopilot installed is highly advanced but can't this thing go any faster!?" Mafuyu grumpily complained in her seat as their escape vehicle drove steadily along the capital's ravaged streets. Its onboard computer was calculating and analyzing their route to MAGIA's base for them not to run into any enemy fire, but like any typical piloting system, it was optimized for safe handling at mild speeds, so as to avoid putting the vehicle's occupants at risk of road accidents. Mafuyu seemed to dislike that fact, considering that they are stuck in the middle of a war zone and need to get out of the place faster than the speed the autopilot made the vehicle go.

"Aww, seriously? They haven't added some emergency features to my car's system? I'm so gonna report this." The pop idol groaned, knowing that MAGIA's technicians could have made improvements that would have helped them.

"Will you just quit whining and hush?" Yukari retorted, much to the latter's dismay. "It's a good thing we don't have to drive this because right now, none of us can!"

In her disappointment Mafuyu let out a heavy sigh and planted her face on the steering wheel. Hotaru watched on as she butted her head repeatedly on the soft cushion wrapped around it.

She tried to console the young woman. "She's right; at least we're safe here. We're lucky to be alive and lucky that we got ourselves something that will bring us to safe-"

The sound of a rocket flying overhead distracted her, cutting her word short. An explosion was then reflected on the car's rear view mirror, and they felt the ground tremor underneath them. Mafuyu was startled and thrown backward only to be caught by Shirou's arms in the nick of time. Hotaru ducked as the shockwave from the blast rattled the rear window; she feared that it would shatter from the force even though the glass was fairly tough.

"That's it, give me the wheel!" Yukari said, her tone serious with a hint of aggression. She shoved Mafuyu into the back seat, near where her brother was seated, and slid into the driver's seat while ignoring Hotaru's protests. Her wounded side gave a stinging sensation to her, but she ignored that as well.

She hit the button for the manual override, gripped the wheel, and slammed the accelerator. The car squealed as it lurched forward at great speed, throwing Hotaru and the sibling pair backwards.

More rockets flew overhead and exploded around them as they drove and evaded the mayhem occurring in their surroundings. MAGIA's base was still miles away to the north and the battles happening on every street corner would give them a hard time in making it there safely.

On the streets around them, a clash was taking place.

Gan viciously battled with the swordsman as he employed numerous weapons against his opponent in an attempt to overwhelm him. But the swordsman was no pushover and he could easily keep up with the enhanced skills of his opponent.

A white-hot, flaming blade sliced the martial artist's spear in half and Gan immediately conjured a pair of dueling knives. He was amazed at how his young adversary managed to evade his almost inhuman speed as he delivered several kicks and jabs.

Nonetheless, he managed to get his hands around the swordsman's fists and hold him in a tight armbar. The two tussled and rolled along the ground briefly and moments later, Gan backed away with a cut on his right hip.

"Looks like I managed to cut you…" Kazuto said while adjusting the grip of his blade. "Without a sweat, eh?"

"It appears luck intervened on your side." Gan Chanming replied to his opponent. "May I know the name of my challenger in this majestic battle of ours?"

A smirk appeared on the swordsman's face. "Very well, for your honor's sake I am Kazuto Andou."

The Chinese replied. "And I am Gan Chanming!"

With both men taking their stances, they readied themselves for another round.

Haruyuki narrowly evaded the branches crashing down on him as the tree's movements were destroying his cannon deck. Though numerous holes have now appeared on its tangled roots and thick trunk after the shelling he did earlier, the tree still towered high above the cityscape.

"Quickly, quickly, what to do?" Haruyuki panicked, thinking of what to use against the plant when he spotted a damaged robot used by the enemy. It was just a few steps behind him and he quickly ran into its cockpit and closed the hatch.

Inside he noticed that the interior wasn't as cramped as he thought, and he also saw that the main controls were busted. Sifting through his pockets he pulled out several metal balls and using his ability, morphed the balls into parts for the control system to repair and replace the damaged ones.

"Good as new, it seems. Now how do I operate this thing?" He asked as the monitors flashed on and showed numerous rogues approaching his position.

He pressed a random button and immediately, the robot sprang into action; its legs moved around and its two rotary cannons automatically fired, riddling the incoming rogues with holes.

"AUTOPILOT ON." The robot's system immediately signaled to him.

Okay, he thought as he held what appeared like a joystick. I hope this thing's controls are like the video game controls I use back home.

With a turn, the robot pivoted and aimed its cannons at the tree. A heavy stream of tracers flew at the massive trunk, piercing its bark and shredding it off.

Small displays popped up on the cockpit's screen which attracted Haruyuki's attention.

Weapon systems functional. Identifying target…

The holographic image of the massive tree was then projected in front of the matter magician before the system notified him again.

Target confirmed.

FLAMETHROWER: ACTIVATE?

YESNO

"Cool!" He exclaimed while responding yes to the system's suggestions, and immediately a robotic arm with a joystick extended out from behind his seat and positioned itself near his hand. He then grabbed it and pressed the trigger.

A stream of intense fire went out of the robot's mounted flamethrower. Haruyuki gripped the weapon controls hard as he ordered the machine to walk closer to the tree's base, scorching the roots that got in the way with a wave of burning gas.

"Haru-kun, can you still improve that fire cannon? Could you change the gas into something that burns more intensely or put something that will blow the flames farther out?" Subaru yelled from outside.

Remembering that he can also alter materials to his bidding, Haruyuki went out and stretched out his hand to the flamethrower. The parts around the nozzle transformed and immediately afterwards a roaring blaze came out of the weapon.

OH YEAH!

Haru hopped back into the cockpit and cheered while bathing the tree's hulking base with an intense blaze.

"Burn baby! BURN!"

The MAGIA group rooted for Haruyuki as the tree's roots and trunks smoldered under the intense heat of the flames around it.

"Hajime this is bad!" a young man by the name of Kaito freaked out from the tree's top upon seeing the rising fire and the smoke clouds that billowed up to them. He could also see the rogues retreating.

"We must leave!"

"And dishonor Lord Saotome?!" Hajime furiously shot back at Kaito. "Quit whining and do your job! What's the situation at the Prime Minister's residence?"

Fearful of his colleague's rage, Kaito used his eagle-eyed vision to scan the distance and noticed several helicopters approaching the building, as well as their fellow rogues dying in a fight against a magician.

"Helicopters are coming over there! Our brethren are dying, too! It looks like we've failed." Kaito replied.

The comment only made Hajime's hands roll into fists.

He's lost it! Kaito thought as he saw Hajime raise his arms. With that gesture, the massive tree started to sway and uproot itself, the force causing the water to splash around the area which put out the fires around it.

"I'll destroy you all! For the Vendetta!"

The massive tree's roots and branches swept around the port, wreaking havoc on the MAGIA personnel and fellow rogues.

"What's going on?" Miyuki asked as she and her opponent got separated by the chaos. Seeing the rising behemoth, she immediately ordered everyone to fall back.

The robot that shot the flames at the tree's base got trampled by the massive roots flailing wildly across the port. Luckily, Haruyuki got out of the machine in time screaming.

"Run! Run!"

"Hajime control yourself!" Kaito screamed at his partner. "You're getting our comrades involved!"

"I shall not tolerate failure for my Lord Saotome!" Hajime yelled in utter rage as the tree lumbered on, crawling slowly towards the frontlines. He screamed at his loudest until he was out of breath, then screamed while he gasped for air, and continued screaming for as long as he could before something solid struck his chest.

"That thing is headed for the frontlines!" A shocked Miyuki cried out as her group found cover from the plant's advance.

"I can't get our communications up!" A soldier shouted back while he desperately tried to get the radio to work.

"Shit." Miyuki thought of the damage the tree can do in battle.

Their panicking stopped when they felt an eerie silence descend upon them; it sounded like the deafening rumble of the tree's moving limbs had just stopped. And they were right – the tree had ground to a halt. Miyuki and her team wondered what could have caused its sudden pause, and moved closer to the nearest branch.

There, they noticed the roots shriveling and buckling, the plant tissue cracking inexplicably after the first signs of decay appeared. Huge masses of leaves started to fall off the branches and their color was already a dark, dull yellow gray, no longer the vibrant green it had when the creature first grew out.

"What just happened?" Haruyuki murmured as he helped Subaru get up on his feet.

"Hajime's been shot!" Kaito cried out, and he was sure of it as he saw the man on his knees. "But from where? And from this height? Impossible…"

He immediately rushed to the man's side, only to be thrown off.

"Hajime, what's wrong?"

The man couldn't say a word – only pained screams came out of his mouth. Hajime clawed at the area where he was shot and then furiously gripped his neck and face. He soon vomited blood in large quantities, staining the canopy where he stood. Kaito saw him spew out a crimson bullet fragment while he kept on screaming, after a few more minutes, Hajime collapsed.

Going back to his fallen comrade, Kaito felt the massive tree teeter on its base, and he sensed that it would soon fall since no one was controlling it anymore.

"I've got you, brother." He mumbled, carrying the man on his arms. Kaito jumped from the topmost branch and from his backpack, a winged suit of armor was deployed. With the dying man in his grasp, they flew away into safety.

"You'll make it, my friend!"

The massive tree slowly tumbled down, its trunk torn in half by its sheer weight and bulk as gravity pulled all its mass – roots, branches, leaves and all – into the port's waters. Its collapse was visible for miles around where it grew out, a spectacle for all who were within its shadow.

A spectacle best left unseen.

The tree's collapse into the waters sent forth a massive shockwave from the point of impact, spawning a tsunami from the port's waters and blowing away people and objects with winds that struck with the force of a supertyphoon.

"Hold on to something!" Miyuki yelled as she saw some of her men being swept off their feet by the surging water and the powerful winds.

Haruyuki saved more people from the ensuing wall of wind and water by creating a stretchable net of metal cables; it caught the blown soldiers and some of the retreating rogues.

A mile from the tree's topmost area, what appeared to be a patch of daybreak sky suddenly changed color and shape, and after a few moments, it revealed a stealth hoverjet from MAGIA; its panels were equipped with a camouflage feature that enables it to change color and blend in with its surroundings.

"Nice shot Kyocchi!" Chisame said from the pilot's seat as she eyed the monitor that showed her partner crouching down on the aircraft's open rear hatch.

Kyosuke fired at the rogue with a strange gun that appeared to have features of both a shotgun and a short-barreled rifle; though his target was considerably out of the weapon's effective range, he managed to make a few adjustments to his aim so as to compensate for the bullet dropping and the atmospheric conditions that would affect the shot's accuracy, enabling him to score an accurate hit.

"Thanks for keeping the plane steady" Kyosuke replied to Chisame through the onboard radio before ordering her to close up the hatch.

"Now get us to the frontline."

The hoverjet then soared over the port and back to the capital, where it would join the other air units in their sortie. Its cameras picked up a live feed of the situation hundreds of feet below. The massive shockwave from the felled tree now began to spread further out into the capital. On the ground, the combatants further away from the port felt the ground tremble before a burst of wind stopped them for a short while.

The blast wave was soon making its way to the Prime Minister's building where the lieutenants ushered the statesman into the topmost floor where the escape helicopter hovered outside.

"Blast wave incoming! Misaka! Call for an immediate evacuation at once!" Ayanami ordered to his second-in-command as she continued leading the other government officials to Ayanami.

"But sir-"

"Just do it!" the lieutenant barked at her.

"Yes sir! I'll do my best!" she replied, but just as Misaka and her team were about to leave, the intense pressure from the wave blew out the windows and threw them out.

Ayanami could not do anything but watch his accomplice and the rest of their team's men get thrown off the building's edge.

"Mr. Prime Minister! Get in now!" Ayanami barked to Raizo Mizuhashi as the violent gusts blew at them, causing the helicopter to wobble as it lifted off.

"Command, His Excellency is secure! I repeat, the Prime Minister is secure!" he reported to MAGIA's central command through his earpiece.

Watching through their monitors, staff at MAGIA's command room breathed a sigh of relief as the live feeds showed the extraction vehicle carrying the Prime Minister set off for a new location.

Saito was completely delighted to see his father survive the eleven-hour ordeal.

"Alright everyone, let's get this over with and send those damn rogues running!" Mizuhashi told the personnel with a bright smile.

Kazuto and his troops continued the fight with MAGIA's forces and he in particular was gaining the upper hand over his. He had scored several cuts on Gan's body, though he had also suffered some broken ribs which made his breathing strained and now he felt like the fire magic he was given was soon to run out.

The martial artist attempted a flying heel kick which successfully struck Kazuto's injured midsection.

That must have hurt a lot, he thought then materialized a sabre.

But before he could land a fatal blow, the swordsman held out his hand and blasted Gan with a powerful flame attack. He was thrown backwards by it and suffered large burns all over his upper body.

"Gan!" Hiroki shouted back but couldn't help due to the clones that were still ganging up on him.

Kazuto walked to the incapacitated man, the last of his flames have died down but his sword will finish the job.

Raising his sword to his downed opponent's head, he bid him farewell.

I enjoyed our duel, may you walk peacefully to the other side.

Kazuto swung the sword down and before it could hit Gan's neck, a gunshot broke his blade.

"What?" He gasped and then looked up to see a man in a black coat falling from above, and on his left hand was a submachine gun.

Deflecting the hail of bullets with his broken sword, Kazuto charged at the new enemy, his blade closing in to the man's chest. He then made the lunge.

But to his surprise, the man evaded the attack despite his speed and then pulled out another gun from under his coat.

"Fuck", he grunted as he deflected the incoming fire.

His enemy eventually ran out of ammo and proceeded to reload. That was the moment Kazuto needed to strike the man and he sprinted towards him, blade forward.

What felt like the blade plunging into something was actually the man's coat whom he took off the moment Kazuto struck.

"You're good…" the man softly spoke behind the swordsman and the latter felt a gun's cold barrel nudged to his side.

"…but the good has to fall too."

He then pulled the trigger.

Hanging onto a badly bent metal railing, Misaka narrowly escaped falling to her death. The blast wave threw her out of the shattered glass panes while her team suffered a similar fate – they were now on a badly-damaged section two floors above her, ruined by the stray blasts she cast against the rogues, and further destabilized by the blast wave that knocked them away. She frantically tried to pull herself up and reach safer ground, but her hand was now slipping and she was losing her balance and strength.

"Help! Help us!"

Screams of help filled her ears and Misaka turned to see some of her team also hanging on for dear life on a few square meters of unstable concrete; the more they moved around, the more likely they were to fall.

"Don't move guys, just hold on!" She said the impossible since she too was in great danger of falling off and to say something that will boost their morale seemed wrong.

The railing she was holding on to was now starting to creak.

There was nothing else to hold on to except for the floor's edge several inches above where she held onto. And if she did reach it, she would now have to contend with climbing up to them, which would put more strain on her already weakened body.

"Help us!" The men were now quickly losing hope as the damaged concrete began crumbling away.

"Hold on guys! Just…" Misaka tried to pull herself up and reach the ledge above when the railing snapped.

Her vision blurred as she began to fall.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded out from one of the unbroken windowpanes and a figure ran up to her and grabbed her hand. Misaka looked up to see who it was; with her vision restored, she made out the face of a woman. A woman who, like the insect-manipulating rogue she killed earlier, was someone she knew very well in the past.

"Y – you're…" Misaka tried to remember the familiar face.

The woman smugged at her. "You've forgotten, haven't you?"

She then began pulling her up to safer ground when she noticed that she was standing perfectly with her two feet sticking to one of the building's vertical beams.

As she was hefted back up and laid down to sit, much to her resistance as she panickingly ordered to the woman. "Quickly! Save the others!"

But the rogue did nothing and instead watched the crumbling concrete carrying the trapped men plummet down the sides of the building.

Misaka heard the three men falling down to their deaths, her eyes wide open and shedding a river of tears. The woman then turned to her without much of an expression while her eyes stared deeply at her petrified face.

The lieutenant grabbed the woman by the collar and pounced at her, anger and sadness in her eyes as she furiously asked her savior.

"Wh…why didn't you save them?"

The woman pointed to a badge near her left breast pocket; it was a badge for the members of MAGIA's new Rogue Division.

Misaka knew all about them, though she could not believe that their acts would be allowed for real.

"Now you know." The woman told her.

Misaka felt an urge to punch the rogue hard but since her life was saved by her, she instead asked for her name.

"I'm Natsuko Horikawa of MAGIA's Rogue Division but you could call me Vera if you like."

The familiar name struck the lieutenant like lightning and she finally remembered.

"Horikawa, is that…you?"

The rogue then performed a reversal, pinning the lieutenant down, and then kicked the wall, her foot lightly grazing the MAGIA officer's hair, and Misaka immediately got the note. Horikawa then snarled and spoke to her with a stern tone.

"Took you a while, traitor."

Up in the air and in the safety of his escape vehicle, the Prime Minister peered down to witness the devastation brought about by the attack of the Hellfire Vendetta.

"U.S. fighters from the Obama are now entering the battlefield." The pilot said over the radio. The Prime Minister turned his sights back at the skies to see a dozen fighter jets bombarding the enemy's positions.

"The battlecruiser U.S.S. Leyte Gulf has now begun to deploy ground troops on the Port of Tokyo."

"Good, good." The statesman said as he leaned back on his seat.

"Your flight will be such a blast, Mr. Prime Minister!" The pliot said in jest.

The remark drew the attention of Raizo and the other crew.

"What are you saying, pilot?"

"Your flight will be such a blast!"

The pliot slowly turned to face them with a bright smile and ripped off his face, revealing a different person. He then held something in his left hand, which turned out to be a bomb.

"NO!"

From the rooftop of the Japanese leader's residence, Masato saw the helicopter explode in the distance, his mouth agape from the shock that the Prime Minister was killed. In his earpiece, Saito was yelling uncontrollably but his thought prevented him from hearing what it was.

A short laugh sounded from behind him.

Furious, Masato quickly took his gun and turned back.

"Saotome!"

The man snidely smiled at Ayanami's anger. "Glad to hear that you still remember me, Masato."

"Y-you!" Ayanami pointed the gun madly at him but can't seem to pull the trigger and shoot him.

"Save that shot for later Masato." Saotome chuckled and raised his right hand to release a stream of fire upwards into the early morning sky. "Our job here is done."

A helicopter then landed behind the Vendetta's figurehead and he quickly boarded it before it hovered off, leaving behind an enraged but confused Ayanami.

A stream of purple light streaked near the chopper and Masato looked back to see that Misaka was firing at it. Two more streams of plasma homed in on the chopper but the fire magician sent out two small explosions to counter it, allowing his chopper to evade and go out of range.

"I'm sorry sir, it's too fast!" Misaka said as she came to her superior's side.

She could only hear a faint order come out of his mouth. "Let's go."

Misaka stared at him with puzzled eyes and then saw the man stand up and grab her by the waist.

"Let's go Misaka! We're done here." Ayanami yelled as they begin making their way out of the Prime Minister's residence.

MAGIA

Chapter Fourteen

Rescue

Eleven hours have passed since the first wave of attacks on the capital by the Hellfire Vendetta commenced and both sides have not shown any signs of conceding defeat to the enemy. MAGIA's forces were relentlessly engaging the rogues on all fronts and have successfully bought the authorities and the military enough time to secure vital positions and ensure the safety of Japan's head of government via an extraction strategy which would bring him to a safer location west of the capital, in the city of Osaka. But the Vendetta had a solid gameplan that would help them achieve their goal of rebellion against MAGIA and the government, one that involved causing so much terror and confusion in the battlefield by using their greatest assets; the hot-blooded swordsman Kazuto, the psychic Naomi, the plant summoner Hajime, who was behind the behemoth that engulfed Tokyo's seaport and caused the greatest overall damage in the battle, and MAGIA's most wanted – the infamous cloner Miki Konoe, whose duplicates served as pawns that operated both in the frontlines and behind the mayhem, and played a part in the infiltration game that ultimately led to a terrifying act of terror that would shock the entire country for the times to come – the assassination of the Prime Minister himself.

A long scuffle with a magically-enhanced martial artist has left him with bruises all over his body and several broken ribs that brought him great pain, but he still got the upper hand over his opponent, who now writhed in pain from severe burns he has sustained all over his face and body. But then he was faced with a new threat that he didn't expect and his abilities weren't serving him well as the enemy had greater skill and experience than him, not to mention a whole plethora of ranged weapons at his disposal. Though he managed to close in on him many times, the mysterious attacker narrowly evaded each killing bow he attempted to land, and now, battered, exhausted, and stuck in a perilous situation now that his sword had broken in half, he now found himself held at gunpoint by the attacker.

A shot was fired, however it didn't hit him as he managed to block the bullet with his broken sword and the very last of the flame magic he was given. The heat flowed through the sword's blade and melted the bullet on contact, but the very same heat weakened the blade and caused it to fracture, rendering it useless. Without any other weapons to use, he delivered a kick to keep his distance from the enemy.

Scurrying away in pain, he saw the fountain of bright flames shoot towards the sky from miles away, a signal to retreat.

The remaining forces of the Hellfire Vendetta quickly scrambled to their feet and ran in droves to the capital's south. They flooded the streets, but didn't cause much chaos as before, now that their priority is getting out of the battle zone faster than the military and MAGIA's forces could pursue them.

Hiroki shoved aside the rogues he had killed with a fair bit of difficulty, now that the shadows are being swallowed by the rising sun's radiance. Seeing the fleeing Kazuto among the retreating crowd, he followed the swordsman but a man wearing a dark suit, which he recognized as Kyosuke Takamura, stopped him with a raised arm.

"Don't." he said to the shadow magician in a calm tone.

The robots that immediately followed the scrambling rogues provided heavy cover fire as they shot missiles and large shells at the incoming fighters, though they would themselves prove easy targets due to their sluggish walking pace.

Stray ordnance soon flew over the evacuation centers that MAGIA had set up and sent the civilians and personnel stationed there on high alert.

The news of the Vendetta forces' southward retreat reached the U.S. Navy's Admiral Chuck Durling as the monitors on the U.S.S. Barack Obama's bridge showed the live feed of the event.

"They're trying to escape!" The rear admiral informed his superior. "But to where?"

"Have the fleet ready, double-check all radar and sonar devices." Durling ordered as he stood from his seat.

"Gentlemen, the insurgents may have a means of extraction, do any means to prevent their escape!" he added.

Unknown to the American fleet, three shadowy figures lurked beneath the dark, murky waters of Tokyo bay, far beneath the ships and almost near the seafloor. The light filtering from above cast a glow on their silhouettes, revealing three submarines that appeared like nothing mariners have ever seen in more than a century.

They were relics of the last great war, experimental submersible war machines built at the last days of Japan's Imperial era. Combining the undersea capabilities and stealth of a submarine with the long-range air power of an aircraft carrier and the heavy firepower of a warship, they were the largest underwater vessels of their time, and possibly the largest non-nuclear battle submarines known up to the present day, the Imperial Japanese Navy's famed I-400s, of which only three specimens were known to exist, two of which were known to have appeared in the last days of the war in the Pacific, all three decommissioned after the war came to a close, then promptly sunk. But now, they had a sleeker, more advanced look, as if they were completely rebuilt to contemporary standards with the latest materials and weaponry. They were also equipped with state-of-the-art jamming devices that kept them in near-complete stealth as the U.S. fleet sailed over them.

"I'm so gonna buy Junji a drink for making these babies work again." A Hellfire Vendetta commander said in his command chair; looking into the monitors, he and his fellow commanders counted one carrier and eight escort ships. On the other monitors were their retreating forces shown as red blips, and from the looks of it, they were about to run straight into the U.S. infantry forces at the ruined harbor.

"Launch the first wave of rockets into the port." The commander ordered and an officer pressed a series of buttons that activated the launch sequence. The other two submarines did the same and moments later, hundreds of rockets jetted out of the water.

"Holy shit!" A lookout stationed on the cruiser U.S.S. Leyte Gulf screamed.

"What is it Pat?" its captain asked.

"A hail of missiles just shot out of the water!"

The rest of the fleet also witnessed the event but they didn't have time to take them out, they instead watched as the missiles landed on the port. Multiple explosions pummeled the area as the signals of the U.S. troops disappeared on the fleet's monitors.

"All escorts, I want depth charges deployed to where those rockets were fired!" Admiral Durling's voice boomed out to the officers. Immediately, the fleet's escort ships launched multiple charges into the waters in an attempt to damage the submarines below them.

A series of powerful surges then rocked the ocean beneath, sending out fountains of seawater high into the air, but the fleet had no knowing if they have actually hit anything since they haven't detected any bogeys below.

Suddenly, three large masses emerged from the deep and the sailors could not believe they were seeing. Three submarines from the last war, of which two were known to have set sail, appeared before them like ghosts, and on their decks were huge cannons pointed directly at them.

The Vendetta commander onboard the lead vessel issued an order to engage the enemy fleet.

"Light them up."

The subs fired a heavy barrage of armor-piercing shells at the fleet; the Leyte Gulf and its destroyer escorts taking a heavy beating as huge holes appeared on the sides of their hulls and water rushed in to fill in the void. The aircraft carrier, however, remained afloat, though its flight deck had fallen into disrepair. The bridge was intact.

"All surviving escorts, retreat!" Rear Admiral Chavez ordered and immediately, the U.S.S Leyte Gulf and three damaged destroyers turned away from the point of engagement, but it was too late as rockets pummeled their escape route, sinking the ships.

"Gentlemen, we're pulling out" ordered Durling from his post.

Below the waves, the I-400 attack squad watched as the ships overhead began to move away from their range in retreat.

"Launch a school of fish at the Obama." The lead submarine's commander ordered.

An officer quickly got the note and pressed a button to fire a full torpedo salvo at the enemy's carrier. The warheads rocketed out of the vessel's torpedo tubes and headed straight for the large vessel.

"Sir! Seven o'clock! Fish are coming in fast!" the Obama'sonboard sonar officer yelled out.

"Brace for impact!" A sonar officer yelled out from the bridge of the Obama while the ship's crew frantically ran around the interior of the vessel in a panicked attempt at evacuation.

Seconds later, a wall of water flooded the engine room as the torpedoes found their mark. The hit was seen above the surface as a large column of sea spray that splashed over the burning remains of the Obama's flight deck, extinguishing some of the flames.

The impact left a huge hole that could fit two large planes appeared on the carrier's stern side. Fire and water engulfed the ship's insides as crewmen desperately tried to control the situation.

The Obama and its accompanying fleet were crippled, unable to do anything.

"Shiba, Itami, get us close to the harbor."

The three submarines distanced themselves away from the American fleet's sinking wrecks as they headed to rescue the escaping rogues.

The remaining fighters still flying overhead had no other means of landing safely as the Obama's deck was in a complete state of disrepair and the pilots were rapidly running out of fuel.

At the port, Miyuki's group was helping the surviving U.S. troops from the masses of rogues that were now converging at them.

"Everyone retreat!" she cried out to her teammates.

Subaru formed a barrier around them while they made their way out and a fighter jet crashed near them, apparently having run out of fuel. Haruyuki turned the remaining shipping crates into a giant steel wall to block any further attacks and watched as three submarines beached onto the port and deployed several amphibious craft at where the rogue forces met the water.

Within a few minutes, the rogues rushed in, filling the dozens of amphibious rescue craft with hundreds of people; those who could swim simply dove into the port's waters and swam as fast as they can to reach the vessels. Large doors soon opened and the force of the water flooding the submarines' hulls pulled all of them inside as they slowly sailed away, leaving behind a port that now stood as a run-down, waterlogged expanse of land, a far cry from the bustling area it once was hours earlier.

The last of the robots have also begun breaking down amidst heavy counterattacks by the Ground Self-Defense Forces and their combat machines. The exchange of gunfire and missiles continued on, but not for long as the mechs have also run out of fuel and malfunctioned from the intense conditions of war, their frustrated pilots left with no choice but to surrender and submit to the enemy now that their machines have been compromised.

In the middle of an ongoing shootout between the Japanese artillery teams and a lone Vendetta robot, a ragtag quartet of unlikely individuals made their way north, along the streets that would lead them to MAGIA's headquarters. Their escape vehicle had been wrecked earlier by one of the hulking mechs and they managed to get away by a hair's breadth thanks to a certain time-altering magician in their ranks. Though it would now take hours for them to reach the facility, they were confident that they are going to make it, especially now that nearly all of the enemy forces have withdrawn.

"I can't believe you nearly got me killed for a bunch of plush toys!" Yukari shouted at the pop idol who was cuddling several pillows in her arms while she ran unsteadily in high-heeled shoes.

"Hey, it's not my fault for saving them! After all, it's part of my pop idol image, you know!" Mafuyu angrily hollered back.

"You got your priorities messed up, brat! Here you are, cuddling those useless kiddie toys while I'm in terrible pain from my injury and from running in heels higher than yours, and while your brute of a brother is nearly dying to catch up to us!" the hostess shot back.

"Don't you dare insult onii-chan!" The popstar yelled in response as the comment made her shed a few tears.

"Augh!" Shirou groaned from behind them. "Would you two just please stop bickering and start thinking of how we're going to survive this mess?"

Hotaru stared at the two women and spoke to them in a raised voice. "Shirou's right, we really should stop arguing and head to the safest place we know of, even if everything around us is trying to kill u-"

"Watch out!" Shirou barked at the three ladies as he shielded them from a stray shell that hit the ground behind them, sending them stumbling but unharmed.

More stray shells bombarded their escape route but thanks to Yukari and Shirou, the group managed to evade getting hit, though their magic seemed to be exhausting them.

"We're gonna go boom!" Mafuyu cried at an annoyingly high volume which startled her brother and Hotaru.

"No, Mafuyu, we're gonna get out of here!" Hotaru said to Mafuyu, her tone serious.

"I know, we're afraid to die, I'm afraid to die, but…"

"…we're gonna get out of here no matter what!"

One last explosion occurred behind them and Hotaru could see the likeness of the Vendetta robot collapsing before bursting into a cloud of flames and smoke, sending them stumbling while they kept on running. She then turned her sights quickly ahead of her when a large fast-moving object stopped in front of them with its tires squealing.

"Get in, get in!" a voice hollered as the sound of heavy vehicle doors being opened was heard.

Hotaru looked up to see a serious-faced Ayanami seated at the driver's seat of a black carrier van from MAGIA, the same type of van that Yukari used to secure her initial escape during the early stages of the attack.

She grabbed onto the door as Ayanami hefted her up into the front passenger compartment, directly beside him, while Yukari and the two magician siblings made their way to the vehicle's main compartment. While inside, Hotaru noticed the hardened face of the MAGIA officer who accompanied her to Mafuyu's concert and she glanced at him.

"Thank you sir…" Hotaru expressed her gratitude to Ayanami for saving them.

The man did not utter a reply, much to Hotaru's surprise, and she continued to observe the lieutenant's stern, almost expressionless face, which made her uncomfortable, as she never remembered him having a deathly serious appearance.

"Is there anything wrong, sir?" she asked.

"Save your questions for later, Sakurai-san, we're going home." Ayanami coldly replied to the young woman as he drove the vehicle north to MAGIA's headquarters.

Meanwhile, in the vehicle's main compartment, the three magicians were able to breathe a sigh of relief for having made it safely out of harm's way. Yukari immediately fell asleep when she sat down, and Shirou now cradled his sister Mafuyu in his huge arms. The two siblings then heard a young woman's voice issuing an order.

"All teams, be advised! The enemy has pulled all forces from the battle zone. Combat magicians are to head back to base. Support magicians are to begin recovery operations. Requesting updates whenever possible."

Mafuyu looked up and saw Sector D's second lieutenant letting out a heavy breath as a few MAGIA enforcers and a brutish young woman stared at her with strange eyes.

"Since when did you start giving orders, Misacchi?" The pop idol asked Misaka, calling her by her affectionate nickname.

"Huh? I, uhm…" The lieutenant stuttered in reply.

"So the battle's really over and the men in those machines are just making their last stand, huh?" Shirou curiously butted in.

"Well …yeah." Misaka shyly nodded

Mafuyu, cradling a bunch of plush dolls, now looked at her brother and gave him a firm poke. "So this could only mean that I won't be dropping you off somewhere then, onii-chan!"

"Yeah…" Shirou sighed as he thought of the battle's aftermath and whether the area where they lived was also affected by the attack. "…though where will we go now from here?"

"Uhm…" Misaka muttered while looking at Mafuyu with a nervous stare, with the latter glancing up and twirling her hair. "Hmm…"

The two young women then faced Shirou and spoke in unison.

"Would you like to come with us to the base?"

The suggestion startled Shirou and he felt a hint of embarrassment for he didn't really ask to be brought in with them to MAGIA's headquarters.

"I'm pretty sure they'll just think of you as one of the civilians I rescued." Mafuyu told her brother then turned to the second lieutenant. "Ain't that right, Misacchi?"

"Y-yeah." The young officer nodded. "The others might be bringing some civilians along with them, too."

"Thanks." Shirou muttered as he turned his eyes to the small windows and peered at the devastation wrought by the great battle waged by MAGIA and the military against the rogue magicians of the Hellfire Vendetta.

The hostilities have ended, leaving much of Tokyo in ruins, and its people in a state of horror and despair, wary that the conflicts might only begin from that day on. Despite the valiant efforts of MAGIA and its magicians in countering the rising threat, a great deal of their numbers has been lost, though the Hellfire Vendetta has also suffered severe casualties. It would be the most intense act of war to occur in peaceful times, more profound and more disturbing than any other calamity since the Red Tokyo Crisis, and indeed, it has certainly taken its toll on all those involved, innocent or otherwise, though the greatest loss would be that of the Prime Minister of Japan, and the entire nation was yet to learn about it.

MAGIA

Chapter Fifteen

Aftermath

Four hours have now passed since the armed confrontation between MAGIA and the Hellfire Vendetta ended and Japan's capital of Tokyo has sustained great losses in both lives and property, prompting the nation's humanitarian aid groups to rush in and begin the recovery and restructuring of the crippled metropolis. There they would face the overwhelming challenge of reaching out to all civilian lives affected by the crisis, a daunting task even for a workforce backed by support magicians from MAGIA, as the initial evaluations revealed that several of the evacuation shelters have been compromised as well, a sign that despite prompt response to the event, civilian casualties have occurred and the death toll would be higher than expected. Some of the shelters, especially those underground, were blocked by rubble and junk left in the wake of the hostilities; even though the shelters were well-supplied response teams still needed to move the refugees out and into places with much better facilities.

MAGIA's headquarters has also recalled all full-time personnel and combatants from the war zone after their valiant efforts, and would later employ the aid of their medical teams and demolition crews to further assist the regular workers and other support magicians in the recovery operations.

News teams have now begun setting foot on the heavily-damaged areas and provide valuable reports on the capital's status as well as the ongoing evaluation and recuperation efforts. Footage from the war-torn areas would immediately be broadcast all throughout Japan as well as abroad for the people of the world to hear. The news teams gathered in the city's southeast wards, especially those near the port as those were the areas that suffered the worst damage, but later on they moved to the north of the capital, where the effects of the impact were much less pronounced.

Mere hours after the first news teams arrived, Tokyo's renowned Haneda International Airport saw an unexpected increase in air traffic as foreign media and politicians poured in to witness the Japanese government's humanitarian actions first-hand, and also evaluate the condition of the state itself.

They are to learn the horrible truth.

The first wave of armored carriers have arrived at the entrance gates of MAGIA's main headquarters and the people inside the carriers were amazed at how the base remained untouched compared to the areas down south, where most of them came from.

"Well that's odd…" Mafuyu wondered as she put her head out of the van's window to take a better view of the base's condition. "They didn't even have the slightest urge to attack the base."

"They probably just do what the bad guys are good at, make a complete mess of things." responded Shirou to his younger sibling.

The vehicle then drove into the nearest parking space and its driver hopped out to open its doors, allowing the occupants to go out. MAGIA guards looked at them with stern eyes as Mafuyu and Hotaru were accompanied by Sector D's two lieutenants while Shirou carried the barely conscious Yukari over his broad shoulders.

"Lieutenants Ayanami and Hojo, and agent Enma, who are these two other people with you and agent Izayoi?" the guard squad's leading officer asked them.

"They're civilians and they are to be granted a place to stay at our headquarters." Masato explained to the guard. "The woman whom I'm with and the man carrying agent Izayoi didn't make it to the shelters, and I fear that there are possibly dozens more."

The guard curiously asked. "And on whose authority would that-"

His inquiry was cut short by the loud buzz of helicopter rotors from overhead, they were the heavy-duty transport variants, they began to descend as injured civilians were hoisted down from their passenger bays, while more carrier vans poured out from outside, carrying more injured.

"Theirs?" said Ayanami while glancing at the headquarters' main structure.

"Oh. My apologies, commander." The guard promptly moved out of the way.

They now walked further down a pathway where a second entrance, which had heavier security, would lead them inside the base's main facility. While on their way, Mafuyu wondered where the tough-looking woman who was with them in the van went off to.

There, Hotaru noticed that the people coming in were being scanned by the guards and she saw Yukari being laid out in a stretcher by Shirou before paramedics carried her away to a separate station. Mafuyu would then part with her brother and join Sector D's lieutenants in heading to another station where some of MAGIA's full-time magician workers lined up; the guard on that station was taking very small blood samples from them and motioned them to go on.

The pair now reached their checkpoint and Hotaru stepped up first, she was now wearing a large, tattered jacket over her damaged clothing instead of the red coat she and Yukari used to cover themselves up earlier. Under Mafuyu's recommendation, Shirou had decided to let her wear his jacket before they reached the base so as to avoid raising suspicions from the people they will meet inside. At the moment the man ahead of them had entered, she stepped forward and the guard was about to scan them when Mafuyu, accompanied by Second Lieutenant Hojo, called out to the guard to let them in.

"They're with us!" they said, once again in unison, which startled both of them. They left and then ran back inside to follow Ayanami.

The guard scanned the pair and no anomalies were detected.

"Didn't even notice anything odd with you?" Hotaru asked Shirou as they went in. Mafuyu stopped them momentarily and faced the two with a firm stance.

"Alright you two!" the pop idol told them. "Yukari is now in safe hands, she'll be taken to the medical bay to receive treatment while the two of you will be staying in rooms provided by us." She said assertively.

"And you?" Shirou asked his sister.

"I'll be going to Misacchi and her boss; I'll be providing them my mission report."

The two then watched Mafuyu skip happily into the crowd, still carrying the plush dolls she had since earlier, and enter an elevator which then carried her up to the base's higher floors.

"Okay." Shirou talked to Hotaru. "My sister wasn't lying, this place really is big. We can easily get lost in here, and this is only the main facility, we haven't gotten anywhere near the civilian stations."

"We can check the directory." replied Hotaru to the man. She then turned her sights on a group of individuals in MAGIA uniforms, and gestured to Shirou.

"Or we can ask them for directions-"

Their view of the crowd was now obscured by the sight of civilians being ushered in by more uniformed men and now they were lost in the ever-growing confusion.

Inside a cavernous hangar, a line of heavy battle tanks were towed in by large industrial-grade robots as a horde of men in brown uniforms waved their hands to guide them to a holding bay for inspection. At a separate section, technicians were busy assembling machine parts while a pair of robots carried off the finished products and laid them in large crates to be stored. Meanwhile, a man with the features of a Korean loitered around with a tablet in hand, he appeared to be commanding his fellow workers as he gave out commands through a megaphone.

"Easy does it, okay we're done boys!" he shouted out to the other workers in the area.

"Okay Lee, they're ready for evaluation."

The man known as Junji Lee approached one of the hulking artillery machines up close, carefully staring at its rugged form from every angle. He carefully touched its cold steel body, stroking each plate and rivet with his fingers. As he turned his sights up, his eyes sparkled at the sight of the vehicle's large main cannon.

Well, aren't you a real beauty, Lee thought.

Okay, let's see what Daddy can do for 'ya.

He laid down his tablet on a nearby table and moved his hand over the tank's front end, as he did multiple holographic screens appeared on the inner surface of his glasses – they showed detailed blueprints of the vehicle, its outward features, and the parts that made up its interior. Data flooded his vision but he quickly took in all of it in a few moments.

"Boy, you and the others really do need a major upgrade"

He then instructed a few of his men to come over to him so he can give them his evaluation.

"Alright gentlemen, let's see, we can swap the stock suspension for some softer shocks, tune the fire control, automate the loading system, hmm…maybe we can also beef up the armor a bit."

"Yes boss!" came the loud reply from the men.

"Oh, can you give these bad boys a cool paint job? Probably gray. Gray looks cool on anything. And if you don't mind, give the ace units a nice pink paintjob!"

"Sure thing boss."

At the main headquarters' topmost area, a hundred floors above ground level, tensions slowly heightened as the Emperor of Japan and some of the nation's top government officials gathered inside a large conference room. Politicians from other countries were also present in the area and took their seats with the members of Japan's Diet as well as several high-ranking military officials. Around them were news teams from all over the world, and they were attentive in their documentation of the great assembly that was taking place, they too were in search for answers to complex questions that primarily concerned the state of the Japanese government after the conflict and the efforts they were currently taking in response to the crisis' aftermath.

"Thank you minister Zhang." Japan's minister of foreign relations spoke to his counterpart from mainland China.

"The People's Republic will send its recovery groups within three days." Minister Zhang told the other officials in the room.

Many other conversations took place and a man seated in the far end of the conference table, between the two lines of politicians, sat the incumbent head and overall commander of MAGIA, Saito Mizuhashi. He hasn't spoken a word since the conference began and his face looked pale and lifeless.

His father, the late Prime Minister of Japan, had just died from an apparently successful rescue and he wondered how he will disclose the information to the officials, as only a few people currently know the truth.

"Commander Mizuhashi…"

Saito turned to see the Ground Self-Defense Force's highest-ranking official talking to him. "Sir, it's about time you tell them of His Excellency's status."

Not a response came from the commander until the Emperor himself spoke to him.

"Go ahead commander. Our country's people, they've been eagerly waiting to hear from you."

The commander adjusted his tie, took a deep breath and stood up, drawing the attention of all the people in the hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as much as I would like to acknowledge all our fallen brothers and sisters, including many members of the Diet who have perished along with them, I believe that none of you would be interested in hearing more about them. For the most important of this discussion's topics would be the result of our operation's result in recovering and escorting His Excellency, Raizo Mizuhashi."

He took a pause and bowed his head down.

"It was a failure…the Prime Minister died en route to Osaka from an enemy attack."

The comment only made the majority of the officials' eyes widen from the shock upon the sudden revelation as Saito went on.

"The rogue magician group Hellfire Vendetta, in some way, managed to bypass our warning systems and launched an attack of unprecedented scale on the capital, which appeared to be an attempt to make a push for the building where my father was."

The commander paused for a moment; murmurs now filled the air and the news teams were in complete and utter shock.

"Though our military and MAGIA's combat magicians managed to drive the insurgents away and now they have retreated to God knows where."

Saito then took his seat and waited for the barrage of questions to hit him.

A female official from the House of Representatives started off.

"Commander, I for one would not doubt the capabilities of magicians with regards to their roles in human society but after this grave incident, it will most likely raise awareness of the dangers that magic – and to a great extent – magicians, pose to our nation's security, an issue that MAGIA itself could not escape from, wouldn't it not?

"Sir, we fear that due to this incident, the world will, once again, see magic as a scourge to humanity and threaten to impose heavier sanctions on your nation for disobeying international protocols!" A South Korean delegate told the commander with a sharp voice.

Loud murmuring soon followed as the officials and news crews asked their own questions and gave their personal remarks at the commander's address. In response, Saito raised his hand off the table and silently gestured to them to settle down, but before he could speak, another official, one from MAGIA's foreign relations department, interrupted.

"Excuse me sir, but I think my statement will speak for everyone in this room. If you could remember the ultimatum our nation received a couple of months ago, with the condition that if we cannot handle a situation involving militant rogues, the UN will place peacekeeping forces here to manage the country's security, and by extension, exert its influence over our political activities. Our sovereignty will be affected, temporarily lost, or worse."

No other questions followed, however the ground forces' general immediately retorted to the official.

"Never! We would gladly fight the world if they would dare to take away our county's rights!'

But the others in the room, including the Emperor of Japan himself, didn't seem to agree with his words and only looked at the Defense Force's general with sad eyes.

"Yoshiki…" the Emperor told him in a calm voice. "The man is right, now is not the time for bushido."

Saito signaled to the man who made the statement. "Anything else you may wish to add, Mr. Matsuda?"

MAGIA's foreign affairs representative stood from his seat.

"I remember clearly, when I was sent to discuss with leaders, diplomats, and statesmen from all over the world to convince them to lift the ultimatum, I invoked a little defiance in my attempts at persuading them. And now that the world has given their most sincere thoughts on the battle's aftermath, we surely don't want to be fighting rogues and governments at the same time. So I suggest we let the world manage us until things have been fully resolved."

Heads nodded across the room in response, and MAGIA's commander-in-chief nodded as well.

"We will need a leader to engage in talks with the other governments, and work hand-in-hand with them in handling the country, of course. After the rogue problem has been dealt with, a properly-appointed official shall take his place." Matsuda added before adjusting his glasses.

"Aye." Several people in the room exclaimed.

"But we do not have the time to conduct a nationwide election." One of the Diet's surviving members said. "I say we vote for the new Prime Minister right now."

"A surprising, but wise decision." The Emperor agreed. "Let us begin with the nomination."

Without a hint of hesitation, Saito stood up and faced the audience. "I nominate Taoka Matsuda, MAGIA's foreign representative, for the position of Prime Minister."

"Matsuda has a lot of experience in politics before he became a representative for MAGIA, most notably as a member of the Diet before his tenure in our corporation. The man would do his duties well."

The female representative stood up next. "Raise your hands for those in agreement."

Almost everyone in the conference room raised their hands, with the figurehead of the Defense Force being the last to do so.

"It's decided then." Yoshiki grumbled.

The Japanese Emperor then stood and stepped up to Matsuda before facing the crowd.

"Our proud nation's people have spoken, thus I appoint Taoka Matsuda, MAGIA's foreign representative, as the new Prime Minister of Japan, for the time being. Congratulations, Mr. Matsuda."

The people stood and applauded the man.

"Thank you, now let's get to work."

MAGIA

Chapter Sixteen

Deception

Cleanup and recovery operations have been beginning to take effect in Tokyo ever since the last of the government forces have been recalled. Most of the evacuees, especially those injured and traumatized by the confrontations, have been taken into shelters and recovery facilities set up by the government and MAGIA, though most of them have also been damaged by the chaos. Thus, MAGIA's gates have opened to accommodate these refugees, they are to undergo therapy and reconditioning, so as to further help these regular civilians to readjust to daily life, as well as to be provided opportunities to interact with magicians in their stay, to lessen any traumas or fears of magic that they may still have. In addition, international teams have arrived in the country to provide aid to the evacuees and to help the local agencies in restoring the city to its natural state, in preparation for their return.

Now, a full day after the crisis, foreign organizations aren't the only visitors to the country. Several peacekeeping units from the world's major powers – the United States, China, and the European Union, have also taken foothold in the country, and other governmental agencies have also been sent in from distant lands, in the promise of providing assistance in eradicating the rising insurgency that is the Hellfire Vendetta.

So was the request of the new, transitory Prime Minister, Taoka Matsuda, who had just been recently appointed by the country's ruling body following the late Raizo Mizuhashi's passing. He, along with other government officials and MAGIA's administration, has grown increasingly wary of the enemy's actions following the sudden mass retreat that ended the confrontations at the capital's southern regions. Multiple speculations have arisen, only for those who have raised them to be assured that investigations are continuing and they are soon to find out.

For now, the people of Tokyo have to trust the government, MAGIA, and the world.

Government operations were being conducted in the safety of a large, luxurious building spared by the Vendetta's onslaught, miles to the northwest of the Prime Minister's original office. The country's top officials as well as the new Prime Minister were having talks with foreign leaders on the crisis' aftermath.

"Taoka Matsuda, the United States pledges full support in solving your country's rogue problem." The President of America spoke to Matsuda through a video communicator set up in his office.

"The United Nations will be setting up a small governing faction in your country in a few days and as the new head of your country's government, you will be in touch with them for a while."

"Thank you." Matsuda replied. "Forgive me if I was appointed into office in an unconventional manner."

He turned his attention to his secretary; there was another incoming message.

"Excuse me, Mr. President." Matsuda then switched the conversation line to the incoming one and the monitor showed the likeness of a high-ranking officer from the U.S. Military.

"Prime Minister Matsuda, this is General Luke Irons of the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. My men and I are currently stationed in Okinawa and ready to provide military assistance whenever needed. If those terrorists show their faces again, you know who to call."

"I see, thank you general."

Matsuda turned the interface off and opened a new video feed. It showed live footage of a small protest taking place in Ikebukuro station that criticized the role of magicians in society, and local law enforcement easily quelling the protesters.

More will follow if the situation turns for the worst, Matsuda thought.

"And that would happen now that Japan will be occupied by foreign governments. Right-wing groups could begin rebelling against my proposal, though I'll be explaining that to them soon, but not now since I'm still a nobody." He reflected on his election as the late Raizo Mizuhashi's temporary replacement.

By now the people would know that Raizo is gone, yet they may not be ready to acknowledge me as his successor. Now that's a pain in the ass. I like that.

"Miyuki!"

Hotaru rushed out from the lobby of the base's medical station to give her friend a hug.

"Ow!" Her friend yelped from the pressure on her injured arm that Hotaru touched.

"Sorry about that."

Beside Miyuki, Haruyuki stood surprised to see Hotaru at MAGIA's base.

"Hotaru, what are you doing here?"

"Haru-senpai…" she looked at Haruyuki seriously before smiling. "You've lost a little weight."

"Is that what you should say to someone who's spent two months in service and who nearly died out there?!"

Hotaru quickly apologized to Haruyuki and motioned the two to enter the room where Yukari was recovering.

The hostess turned her head to her left and raised an eyebrow at the group.

"Glad to see you're doing well chubby."

"I knew you were more than a hostess!" Haru replied to her. "We all got into some serious shit down there."

"I know right? I'm still pretty knocked up from all that." She faced away from Haru and went back to sleep, her wound apparently healed but still causing her a fair bit of discomfort.

"Are your friends and your family okay?" Hotaru asked her senior.

"Well yeah, and Azusa too. I just got a call that they were already taking shelter. Headquarters also told me the same."

Hotaru then turned to see Miyuki looking at Shirou seated at the far end of the room..

"Oh, he's my friend, Shirou." She told Miyuki. "He got lost on the way to the evac center-"

"I know him" Miyuki calmly replied. "He's the brother of Mafuyu Enma, you know, the pop idol-"

Upon hearing this, Haruyuki immediately leapt to Shirou's side.

"Really? Can you get me her autograph, man?!"

"Uhm…" a confused Shirou couldn't react to the man's request.

"Kuchiki, give the man some space!" Miyuki said with a raised voice. "He's probably dealing with the fact that his sister is working with MAGIA, which he didn't know, am I correct?"

"Ah, yes." answered Shirou. "It's fine with me though, as long as she's careful."

"Not to worry." A new voice entered the conversation, and Shirou's head turned to where it came from. Hiroki walked inside and patted his back.

"She's in good hands, not to mention being one of our most skilled. I believe you haven't seen her in battle yet."

"Well, yeah." Shirou replied to the shadow magician. "Though there's no need for that, I believe in her and what she can do."

The comment made Hiroki smile at the man. "You better. She'll hate it if you didn't."

He then turned his attention to Hotaru."Sakurai-san."

"You're…" Hotaru tried to recall the face that seemed familiar to her.

"So I've heard…you and Lieutenant Ayanami actually went out. Not everyone gets a chance to see him outside MAGIA, let alone go out with him. Anyway, I'm still puzzled as to why you ended up here instead of going to the evac center."

"It's a long story." Hotaru replied softly. "But I have no worries since I got to find out that my friends are okay."

"Sakurai…" Hiroki continued. "Right now the world is an unsafe place now that the rogues have become more abusive of their magic. The lives of innocents like you are in great danger, thus we magicians are called to do what we can to stop things from getting any worse."

Hotaru listened intently to the young man's words.

"I'm afraid your friends won't always be there for you when you need them, as performing their mission is of utmost priority."

"It's okay…" Hotaru told him. "They're doing their job of keeping us safe, of keeping me safe, and that's what's most important. Thanks for telling me anyway, uhm…"

"Hiroki-kun!"

Heads turned across the room as Sector D's second lieutenant slammed the door open.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's something really important." Misaka told Hotaru and the others in the room before turning her sights at the shadow magician.

"Let's talk outside, Hiroki-kun." She motioned for him to walk out of the room and then closed the door gently.

Hotaru stood facing the door, her face blank and expressionless which drew the attention of Miyuki, Haruyuki and Shirou.

Moments later a smile formed on her face as she pondered on Hiroki's words.

"It's okay, I know now. Thanks, Hiroki-san."

"Okay, what do you want?" Hiroki asked as they walked down a hallway that connected the medical facility with the main building.

"Well, Hiroki-kun, I, uhm…have a favor to ask." Misaka shyly told the shadow magician, her cheeks flushing pink.

She then grabbed his hand and gazed deep into his eyes.

"Is it really that important?" Hiroki told her.

But the young woman didn't immediately respond and instead tightened her grip on Hiroki's hand. "Kinda. You see…err…Hiroki-kun, it's a report…"

"I was supposed to tell Lieutenant Ayanami about it earlier, but he's been, well…"

"Well?" Hiroki was now curious.

"I-I'm sorry!" Misaka nervously screamed.

"What are you so nervous about Misaka?" Hiroki said in a calm voice as Sector D's second lieutenant tugged on his hand.

"Fine." He sighed. "Tell me everything. I'll relay the info to him."

Deep within MAGIA's Sector A, the command room was unusually packed as multiple teams came home from the crisis zone; they brought with them valuable reports for the commander, Saito Mizuhashi, to read and analyze. Already, his eyes were beginning to ache from viewing the multiple live feeds that flashed on the command room's numerous monitors and yet he still has to go through the first wave of reports. It was a task to perform as the reports contained valuable information that may shed light on the events that occurred when the conflict raged on.

Turning his sights back at the monitors, Saito found it strange that ever since the moments leading to the attack, Sector C's information feeds were completely blank.

"Still no contact with our guys at Sapporo?"

"Still negative sir. We've tried everything – voice mail, video, messaging, even our phones and other devices can't seem to reach Sector C for reasons we still don't know." The technicians were now frantically typing away at their keyboards and fiddling with their devices to no avail.

"Sapporo seems to be experiencing strong winds as of late but normally that wouldn't totally kill off our communications to our branch there." One of the personnel added.

Damn! Saito thought as he adjusted himself. He then ordered the first of the investigators to present their findings.

An officer from the corporation's resources department started off. "I believe cleanup and repair operations are taking longer than expected. Ginza and Roppongi, in particular, have been ravaged."

"I believe that's where Ayanami's strike force was stationed during the battle."

Saito listened intently to the news and gave it a thought. The lieutenant's lapdogs must've been in such a pinch considering that no other news reports came from those districts.

"Do everything you can to rebuild those areas. Sector B will take care of putting the businesses back on the map."

Saito then dismissed the investigator and took some time to adjust his seat. Two senior personnel came next and they passed a file to him.

"Reports from the autopsy group sir."

Saito took a moment to read through the numerous pages of the file on the rogue casualties recovered from the battle zone. He took note of the death toll, which numbered about four hundred individuals, and as he carefully analyzed the remaining data in the file, he slammed it shut, to the surprise of the two personnel, and they saw the commander with a puzzled look on his face.

"I don't understand…"

"Sir if you wish, you can view the live feed from our autopsy team." One of the personnel showed a video of several MAGIA personnel in white hazmat suits scanning two lines of bodybags carrying the deceased remains of the rogues, with a small screen showing the number of those who tested positive for the GEM virus.

The commander was shocked to realize that only a fraction of the enemy casualties bore the GEM virus.

"You mean we've been fighting regular people?" Disbelief was in the commander's eyes.

"Our personnel have had difficulty identifying the deceased individuals due to this." The man then pulled out something from his coat, a thin piece of what looked like human skin.

"It matches the description of what Agent Takamura said in his report, though this is the first and only sample we've acquired due to the rogue who had this on merely disappeared when he killed it."

The other man continued the explanation. "You could see here that the skin is made of nanomachines that bond very well with our own skin and these machines can be programmed to change its user's appearance."

"From what the other investigators saw, this skin disguise can also simulate magical attacks-"

"For all this time we have been deceived into believing that only rogue magicians were the enemy?!" A raised voice came out of Saito as he thought of how the enemy was making things even more complicated.

"How does the Vendetta recruit all these people? Law enforcement has almost rid the country of criminal activity with the help of our magicians." He thought and then stared at the two senior officers.

"I want a thorough, nationwide search for any groups that may be seen as Vendetta supporters. Provide reports as soon as possible. You are hereby dismissed!"

The personnel did as told and Saito reclined on his seat. Closing his eyes, he tried to relax himself and empty his mind of useless thoughts, only to feel frustrated by the fact that he could not do so due to the strain the battle and his father's death put on him. Nonetheless, he still quieted himself as the rest of the command room's personnel were glued to their work.

"Sir! We are now receiving signals from Sapporo!"

The announcement made him jump off his seat and rushed to the personnel who were manning the comms.

"Quickly! Establish contact with Sector C!" the commander ordered.

An exquisite porcelain cup was thrown in a dimly-lit room, the impact shattering it to pieces and causing its contents to splatter the wall with a murky liquid. It wasn't the only thing that was broken to pieces; with his hopes of successfully saving the late Prime Minister completely shattered, and the potential consequences of the shocking defeat making him feel guilty, Masato Ayanami's mental state has also showed some falling apart.

Scenes from the conflict filled his mind like a deluge, he could clearly envision himself feeling a sense of victory from giving it his best in achieving his mission, but it all ended in a complete disaster and the worst of his memories was the part where he came very close to the Vendetta's leader, and was petrified by the fact that he can't summon the courage to end him at that very moment.

He can also remember the puzzled look on Hojo's face after the rogue leader escaped.

Saotome, Masato visualized the man's likeness in his mind.

…Why did it have to be you?

A series of knocks came from his room's door. "This is Spectre sir, I was hoping we could have a little talk."

"Come in" he ordered the man.

Hiroki Kamiya stepped into the dimly-lit space that was Ayanami's room, and the lieutenant noticed his roughed-up attire and a small bruise on his left temple, but other than those the young man looked fine.

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked Hiroki as the latter seated in front of him.

"Boss, what I have here is the report the leader of our new Rogue Division. Lieutenant Hojo assigned me to pass these to you." The shadow magician passed the file and opened it for Ayanami.

"As you can see, the leader of the Hellfire Vendetta has been identified by our rogue informant as twenty-nine-year-old Junichiro Saotome." Kamiya began in a low tone.

"He was a professional motorcycle racer in the past and for some unknown reason he disappeared before the Red Tokyo Incident took place."

Kamiya observed his superior, who gazed at him intently. He could see that he was fixed to the topic and would want to hear more.

"Additionally, he has the ability to manifest flames." Kamiya took off his glasses and tucked them away in his uniform.

"That's all we know of based on the information presented by Lieutenant Hojo and the Rogue Division's leader." He took a brief pause, and looked at Ayanami's eyes. "I was hoping I'd learn more from you."

Masato took a moment to breathe and then spoke. "Before I start, did Hojo or the rogue who gave her the report say any other things?"

Hiroki anticipated the man's words. "Misaka only said what she saw, in fact, the rogue who passed the report helped us learn more about the man's background."

"You sure there was nothing else?"

"Nothing else sir, don't worry." Hiroki replied.

Misaka didn't report the part where I could have shot the man. The lieutenant thought to himself.

Hiroki sat quiet as Masato began his side of the conversation.

"Hiroki, that man and I…" he sighed. "That man and I were once friends, and it goes all the way back to our high school days. The two of us were great achievers, very popular, fawned over by the ladies, and a bit on the wild side."

He then pulled out an old photograph and passed it to Hiroki.

The shadow magician saw a pair of men, younger versions of Saotome and Ayanami; they had long, fashionable hair, wore edgy outfits, and appeared like they were enjoying ourselves. Hiroki smiled at how high-spirited the two looked in the image.

"Then came the GEM virus. Times were tough back then as people around us felt strong competition from the first group of magicians to appear in the country. They were darn good at nearly everything, though I first thought of them as a joke until I got to see one for myself, and eventually I was inspired to become one."

Masato took a brief pause and a serious look appeared on his face.

"It was also the time when my friend got mad. You see, he was the type of person who always works hard to be at his very best, and unsurprisingly, he was offended by how magic can grant people superior abilities in an instant. He grew even more hateful at the fact that people preferred magicians over those who worked hard to get the job."

Hiroki listened intently as he made one last glance at the photo.

"I would have wanted to tell him that if I were to become one, I'd help others with the new abilities I'll gain. But at that moment, he just vanished and I never got to tell him anything about magic ever since. Around that time he disappeared and I never heard anything from him again. Our other friends told me that they saw him coaching some aspiring professional bikers in the mountains, and that's the last I could remember of him before the whole Hellfire Vendetta thing."

"So…" Hiroki asked in his curiosity. "…does this Saotome guy have a dislike for magicians?"

"I could say yes, though he doesn't seem to be someone who has a huge hatred for them all."

"I see, do you hate him then? For leading rogues into kidnapping carriers, destroying half the city, killing the Prime Minister and throwing our country into disorder?"

Masato was conflicted by Hiroki's questions, it was apparent that he hated his friend for his actions but on the other hand, he felt like wanting to know about Saotome's motives.

"Well, all I can say is this; if I meet him again, I'll be sure to do the job." He told Hiroki with assurance, though he didn't answer the latter if he hated the man.

"I sure hope you do."

The shadow magician then stood. "I'll be going then sir."

After seeing Kamiya exit the room, he picked up a mirror and took a moment to view his reflection; he then saw himself looking like he badly needs some rest. Realizing this, he threw himself down on the couch and closed his eyes; there was one last thought in his mind before he drifted off to sleep.

Why Jiru? Why?

"We are now linked to Sector C, commander!"

"Now patch us through!" Saito ordered the technicians as the monitors that showed the Sapporo branch's status flashed on, though no new live feeds appeared.

"Sector A to Sector C, can you provide us your status?"

The technicians eagerly waited for minutes, but nothing new appeared onscreen despite the connection having been established.

"Try a voice communication!" One technician told the other, and the screen showed a large black-and-blue interface that glowed brighter, signaling that voice communications have been established.

"Sector A to Sector C, provide us with your status."

There was no reply.

"Sector A to Sector C, please respond. I repeat, Sector C please respond!"

There was still no reply and the personnel were finding their efforts useless.

"May I?" Saito cut through the crowd and pulled the mic closer.

"This is Saito Mizuhashi of the main branch, may I please have contact with the branch head or to whoever is in charge right now?"

Nothing.

"Saya Rukino? Gino Nozomi? Please respond!"

Heads were now turning as the people in the room started to worry.

Did the attack ruin our communications so badly or are we being jammed again? Saito assumed.

"Signal's still up commander."

Mizuhashi tried again. "Lieutenant Rukino and Second Lieutenant Nozomi, please respond!" It felt like he was talking to no one.

"The capital got attacked by the Vendetta and our communications have been tampered with, so anyone…please respond!"

"We know."

A calm voice answered the commander and it didn't sound like anyone he or the main branch's personnel knew.

"Who is this?!" Saito angrily asked.

"You are now speaking to the Hellfire Vendetta's head of technology development, Junji Lee. How can I help you?"

"Sir the voice message is coming straight from Sector C's command room!"

Mizuhashi felt his gut boil, rage was flowing into his mind and it seemed like he was going to have an outburst anytime soon.

"What have you done with the people there?!"Saito asked angrily as he tried to restrain the rage within him.

A moment of silence passed and then the voice answered.

"Well there was a bit of a skirmish here, but the people here are okay, and don't worry about the officials because they're perfectly fine."

The staff was agape from the man's answer as the signal went off.

Saito Mizuhashi rolled his fists, his teeth gnashed together and his face flushed red. No one dared to look at him out of fear, instead they just waited for whatever order the man would give.

"I want all our combat forces ready to move into Sapporo!" The commander yelled and sirens blazed as the mobilization command was issued.

"NOW!"

MAGIA

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Hotaru Sakurai – College Student at Tokyo University

Miyuki Aoyama – Ice Magician, MAGIA Fast Attack Agent "Icy"

Shirou Harada – Tokyo resident, Strength magician, Rogue

Hiroki Kamiya – Shadow magician, MAGIA Assault Agent "Spectre"

Mafuyu Enma – Idol Singer, Wave Magician and MAGIA Tracking Agent "Idol"

Yukari Izayoi – Proprietress of the Floating Glass, Time Magician, MAGIA Tracking Agent "Hostess"

Masato Ayanami – Analytical Magician and MAGIA Sector D First Lieutenant

Saito Mizuhashi – MAGIA Commander-in-chief, son of Prime Minister Raizo Mizuhashi

Saya Rukino – MAGIA Sector C First Lieutenant

Gino Nozomi – Gravity Magician, MAGIA Sector C Second Lieutenant

Misaka Hojo – Plasma Magician, MAGIA Sector D Second Lieutenant

Kyosuke Takamura – Hitman and ex-MAGIA Assault Agent

Chisame Kujio – Sniper Support and Accomplice of Kyosuke Takamura

Junichiro Saotome – Fire Magician, Hellfire Vendetta Leader

Kazuto Andou – Magician and Swordsman, Hellfire Vendetta Member

Miki Konoe – Cloning Magician, Hellfire Vendetta Member

Junji Lee – Mechanical Upgrade Magician, Hellfire Vendetta Technological Head

Natsuko Horikawa – Surface-walking Magician, Hellfire Vendetta Member

Naomi – Psychic Magician, Hellfire Vendetta Member

Tsumiki – Hellfire Vendetta Collaborator

Mamoru – Hellfire Vendetta Collaborator

Tom Radford – Electric Magician, MAGIA Enforcer

Natalya Petrova – Energy-Absorbing Magician, MAGIA Enforcer

Pedro Martinez – Summoning Magician, MAGIA Enforcer

Anne Macmillan – Sprite Magician, MAGIA Enforcer

Gan Chanming – Martial Artist and weapon summoner, MAGIA Enforcer

Raizo Mizuhashi – Prime Minister of Japan

Roger Walters – UN Observer

Taoka Matsuda – Politician, MAGIA Foreign Affairs Representative