The weekend came to an end. The rain continued to fall ever since Saturday, but the clouds started to drift away, letting sun rays peek out. The alarm clock in Chiaki's bedroom went off, groggily waking her up. After lashing our her usual frustrations at it, she went to the living room, where her group of sleepover friends awaited for her arrival. All of them looked at the still sleepy gamer girl when she stepped out of the bedroom.
"Tutturu~! Good morning, Chiaki!" greeted Mayuri, waving at her as Chiaki approached the couch.
"Good morning, guys." Chiaki greeted back before they decided to do their morning routine in order to prepare themselves for the day at Hope's peak academy. After everything was set and done, the gang was ready to finally step in front of the academy once again. Once they stepped outside of their house, Ibuki, Mayuri and Chihiro opened their umbrellas, providing cover against the rain for everyone.
"Alright guys, lets go." said Chiaki before all of them started their journey.
As they walked, they stopped at the crossroad. Chiaki looked multiple times for both ways, just to make sure no overspeeding drivers would give them a nasty surprise when they would cross the road. It was partially because she thought the moped was going to appear. However, much to their fortune, there were barely any cars on the road, so they crossed the road in peace.
Time passed as they walked, but they managed to arrive at Hope's peak undisturbed. The gang was a bit ahead of time, but that benefited them more than it being a setback. Their final stop was the fountain in front of Hope's peak. Mayuri realized it was time to return to the lab. She wanted to spend her time with Chiaki and her friends just for a little bit more, but she couldn't afford making her own friends worry about her well being.
"Well, Mayushii hopes that you guys have a fun day at school. It's time for me to go." noted Mayuri
"Mayuri, when do you think we will be able to meet again?" asked Chiaki about their next potential visit. Rest of her gang were also curious about it, as they wanted to know more about members of Future Gadget Lab.
"Friday and weekend, but we might meet a little sooner, hehehe~." hinted Mayuri with her ever gleaming smile on her face.
"Sooner? That's even better!" chirped Chiaki.
"Now, Mayushii most go. Bye bye!" Mayuri waved at them as a final goodbye for the day.
"Buh-bye!" Ibuki, along with the rest of Chiaki's gang, waved back at her as they went their own ways. All of them decided to sit on a bench as they awaited for their classmates to arrive.
About half an hour after their arrival, students of both classes began with their courses. It was like an average day without once unexpected but dreaded cephalopod interventions. Chisa was being her usual peppy albeit younger than she should be herself, Gundham was spouting dark wizard chunnibyou nonsense in his class, Ibuki was being...well, Ibuki, list goes on.
The time for the lunch break for both classes came to be. All of the students went on their way to the dining room. However, as Chiaki herself was going to have a small meal for the day, she was suddenly stopped by Kyoko, who stopped right in front of the quiet gamer lass.
"You are coming with me right now." demanded Kyoko with a stern, cold look in her eyes. The way she just suddenly appeared in front of her and demanded in a rather bold, adamant way got Chiaki startled.
"Huh? Kyoko?" murmured Chiaki. Even though Kyoko was known for being far more reserved to the point she seemed cold, she didn't expect that the unflinching gaze of hers would be looking directly into her eyes.
"Follow me." requested Kyoko before she started walking away from the dining hall. Chiaki felt like she had no choice in the matter, deciding that it would be best to do obey Kirigiri. Both of them distanced from the rest of the group, being only ones to traverse empty but tranquil hallways of Hope's peak. The silence felt almost strange to Chiaki, since she expected at least some disturbance, whether be it a sudden encounter with another student or a certain marine animal having it a go. The lilac haired gal, without even speaking up as they went through, led the mauve haired girl to the entrance of Hope's peak's own library. Once they entered it, they were greeted by sight of multiple bookcases, filled with content packed books and document folders. The patterned red walls gave the library a sort of antiquated feeling to it, almost like in those detective games. Kyoko offered a seat on a chair that accompanied the table in the middle of the library. Chiaki sat on it, just quietly observing Kyoko. The lilac haired student sat on the chair in front of the gamer girl, as she stared directly into Chiaki's eyes.
"I-is...is there something you need me, Kyoko?" asked Chiaki.
"What were you and Peko doing at Miss Yukizome's flower garden?" Kyoko immediately fired away a question directly for her. She looked quite unamused with what her guest and the swordswoman did previous week. Chiaki started trembling, remaining silent as she worried about what exactly was Kyoko feeling at the moment. She just couldn't truly read her emotions. It was building up within her so much, that she already held onto her hood, just being moments from using it to hide away.
"Don't think of this as an interrogation, I just want to know what were you planting there." clarified Kyoko after noticing that her guest was thinking that she was being prosecuted. She toned down her stare and tone, but Kyoko remained stoic. After Chiaki realized that Kyoko was just curious and nothing else, she became slightly more relaxed to talk to her. She started thinking how to put her words together. With her taking so much time just to speak, Kyoko wondered if Chiaki was going to answer at all.
"...Can't tell." Chiaki suddenly shook her head, keeping her mouth shut about the so-called operation she along with certain others partook in.
"How come? Is the reason perhaps that you are keeping some kind of secret from me?" Kyoko continued questioning her about it. The fact that Chiaki denied telling her made her even more curious about it.
"It is a secret...but not from you." elaborated Chiaki as she started looking at the ceiling. "It's more of that he might hear it."
"That octopus, I assume?" immediately guessed Kyoko, since the cephalopod was quite a hot topic ever since the first time the word "eyeschluss" was uttered inside Hope's peak academy. It quickly became understandable to Kyoko why was Chiaki keeping her mouth shut about it.
"Mhm." nodded Chiaki, feeling slightly relieved that she didn't really upset Kyoko.
"Daft Capo is a name that's been on your classmates' minds for a while, hasn't it?" assumed Kyoko, considering how worked up they all seemed to be for few days.
"Yeah...especially since how commonly Herman targets us." lamented Chiaki as she looked at the floor.
"Naegi and Fujisaki mentioned to us multiple times that the octopus belongs to that mafia. There was quite a lot of skepticism about it, but I decided to look through the documents here to see if there's anything related to Daft Capo. This library alone hosts documents that are classified even today. Every single document is without any censorship, or so I have heard." revealed Kyoko to her. At first, it still seemed a bit odd for Chiaki that entire class 78th only recently heard about the name of a syndicate that haunted her own class for a much longer time. Then a thought appeared in her head: the only reason why class 77-B even knew about existence of Daft Capo is because Gundham managed to encounter penguins and they told him about it. It was a great thing that penguins actually had some form of physical evidence as well, otherwise all they would hear about that mafia was just hearsay, not exactly the most reliable of all sources.
"We actually have found out a lot about Daft Capo, just that….certain conditions need to be met." answered Chiaki slightly more confidently than before, remembering the combined efforts of her academy, penguins and Future Gadget lab members.
"Such as?" Kyoko raised her eyebrow as her interest became greater.
"Gundham knows more about it. You should ask him about it. It's also an answer to those lost spoons." hinted Chiaki while also remembering the case with Teruteru's lost spoons. Upon hearing that Gundham was involved, Kyoko started doubting legitimacy of claims about Daft Capo's existence.
"I want to question why, but I will take your word." bluntly said Kyoko.
"Anyway, what did you find, Kyoko?" asked Chiaki, switching the topic to something Kyoko mentioned herself. Chiaki felt a bit happy that Kyoko went out of the way to research about the ever talked about syndicate instead of just dismissing its existence.
"I wasn't fortunate enough to find any mentions of Daft Capo as a whole, but I did find something that felt...off for me." answered Kyoko before she went to one of the bookcases, pulling out a large untitled document folder out of it. Then she put the folder on the table, opening it up right in front of Chiaki. "Let me show you."
Kyoko pulled out one of the documents from the folder and gave it to Chiaki in order for her to read it. The file seemed to lack an author or even an organization that had it. However, it still looked quite official. It was simply titled "KUSOMIRAI", with no additional subtitles to boot.
"Kusomirai? What's that?" asked Chiaki before she took a closer look at the file. Kyoko remained silent, letting Chiaki to read at her own pace. After taking a look, the game girl started reading about whatever "Kusomirai" was.
"Kusomirai was once considered to be one of the worst cities in all of Japan. It was equated to a glorified inhabitable crime scene, since criminals of worst kind reigned. Murder, theft, arson and other crimes were an everyday occurrence. Even yakuzas and syndicates considered to be high priority threats to the nation avoided Kusomirai."
"Huh...a city so bad that even yakuzas avoided it? Is this city probably connected to Daft Capo?" wondered Chiaki as she was reading through the document. Multiple cases of criminal activities were written in detail about it. Chiaki couldn't believe how would anyone be willing to perform acts described in the document, let alone acts so horrendous that criminal syndicates thought it was too much.
"Continue reading." advised Kyoko before she moved to another page of it, preventing Chiaki to read more about it by herself instead of spoon feeding her information.
"Even though its status quo was prevalent for decades, the situation within the city with the arrival of [REDACTED]. Under [REDACTED] administration, Kusomirai was transformed from the least revered city to an industrial and commercial powerhouse comparable to Tokyo. It's rankings in popularity drastically rose up within a short period amount of time, with a considerable amount of corporations seeking interest within Kusomirai. It is unknown what policies and reforms were implemented to improve the quality of life within the former criminal zone, but one could not deny its prosperity."
It soon became clear what felt off to Kyoko.
"It's...it's blacked out." murmured Chiaki at the sight of black bars blocking out what she assumed to be a name of someone. Whoever was the name of it must have been quite a significant person, considering that they were capable of turning a haven of worst criminals into the next Tokyo, the prime powerhouse of Japan.
"Exactly. This was one of the first things that felt off for me. Out of all documents present in this library, why was this document the only one that was still censored?" wondered Kyoko, taking in the fact that library of Hope's peak hosted all sorts of uncensored documents even from the most secretive of countries. Students of Hope's peak academy could know documents never meant for public if they desired.
"Could this be Daft Capo's work?" asked Chiaki, trying to connect the dots if the ones behind Kusomirai's transformation were truly them. It seemed unlikely for her, since why would a mafia that's more keen to sending a sentient octopus to provoke students inside the academy and beating up a cat girl maid over the fact that one of their members hates anime not only be able to change an entire city for what it seemed to be for the better, but care about it in the first place.
"I am not sure. There's one more thing you need to read." answered Kyoko before she turned the file to its last page as she pointed at the note on the bottom.
"Whoever is in possession of this document should consider themselves to be unimaginably fortunate. Do not discuss the contents of this document in high risk environments. Do not research further history regarding Kusomirai. Do not inspect the internals of Kusomirai.
Anyone who chooses to ignore these warnings will be found."
Chiaki gulped when she read the last line of the document. She felt pure unrelenting coldness in her body as the fear that her friends will be endangered by whoever was behind Kusomirai's transformation. Judging from the content she has read about it, she imagined that unknown individual could send the most foul criminals to hunt them down.
"K-Kyoko, does that mean…" trembled Chiaki as her imagination went wild, with worst possible scenarios appearing in her mind.
"Nanami, calm down. Its not mentioned that Daft Capo is behind it at all. Could be just a matter of poor timing and Kusomirai being a separate topic from that mafia. It's unlikely that you or anyone else, including me, will even step on Kusomirai's soil." reassured Kyoko with her tone having a slight trace of warmth in her. "It will be fine."
"Still though….that last part…." Chiaki managed to calm down, but a piece of her mind couldn't stop thinking about the warning.
"I'll keep the document to myself. I have to do further research on it." declared Kyoko, expressing her desire to find out more information about the enigmatic city.
"But Kyoko, that sounds incredibly dangerous!" protested Chiaki, with the warning on the document still being fresh in her mind. She didn't want to
"Considering what I've been through before I even enrolled Hope's peak academy, such situations are nothing new to me. I'll be able to handle it." Kyoko spoke to her with glowing confidence, something that Chiaki always lacked. The lilac haired gal even smiled to her. Chiaki was completely surprised from seeing Kyoko, the girl that almost always had a frown on her face, smiling, even if it was just a small one at that. "Do you trust me about it?"
Chiaki wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, her worry about Kyoko's well being and possible danger she could get into was going in full force in her mind. She couldn't afford anyone be harmed, but on other hand, seeing how completely confident was she about investigating and from what she told, it wasn't even the first time she would go into the dangerous waters, made Chiaki trust Kyoko about it. It was another thing that Kyoko had that Chiaki didn't: experience. It did made her worry what her background was, considering that Kyoko apparently saw a lot despite being about as old as the gamer girl herself. Chiaki took some time to express her opinion on it.
"...I do." meekly whispered Chiaki after getting her thoughts together.
"Good. All I have to say is that you shouldn't worry now." comforted Kyoko, reassuring her that no one, not even herself, are going to be harmed. The lilac haired student did feel like warning her about the unknown yet coming events, just so she could prepare her for it. "However, take caution in the future. It's quite uncertain, to say at least."
Suddenly, as they were discussing, doors of the library opened, with a new person coming inside. It was Gundham, who immediately went to the bookcases. Unlike how he was usually, he was completely silent as he observed the bookcase. He had a quite determined look in his eyes, with his scarf covering his mouth.
"Gundham?" Chiaki tilted her head at his sudden appearance.
"Apparently you have answers I've been looking for." Kyoko crossed her arms as she mentioned him, but he was too occupied in his search. When he arrived, he placed the file about Kusomirai back into the folder.
"I see….the book is not here yet." noted Gundham to himself, still facing the bookcase.
"Were you looking for this?" asked Kyoko as she showed him the folder.
"No. That is just a mere document crafted by mortals. What I'm looking for should not be talked to weak minded." elaborated Gundham after he turned his attention towards the accompanied girls.
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Chiaki squinted with her eyes, not sure if she should take an offense or not.
"Do not interpret it as such, The Thoughtful One. What I mean by weak minded is those that the contents would endanger them." clarified Gundham that his elaboration was not calling them stupid or anything, just that the book itself might be too risky for an unprepared person to read it.
"Geez, whats with today and papers that can endanger people's lives?" pouted Chiaki as she thought to herself that having to deal with two dangerous printings within such a short span of time was ridiculous. One was enough for her.
"Endanger them...how? Is it high value data that organizations are looking for?" asked Kyoko while demanding an explanation on his part. She wasn't sure if Gundham was just acting along. The supposed Supreme Overlord crossed his arms, contemplating whether or not he should explain it to them.
"Do either of you believe in higher forces?" piqued Gundham, in a way that was completely devoid of any chunnibyou nonsense. It was silent, yet shockingly sincere. Chiaki was taken a back by Gundham dropping his persona to lay out a question that she didn't see coming at all.
"I...I….I never thought about it that much." faltered Chiaki, since she couldn't answer to a topic she had zero idea about.
"There is no confirmation about existence of higher forces, nor there is confirmation that they do not exist. It's a topic up to debate, but this is not my expertise." Kyoko
"I must admit that you answer is a lot more open-minded than expected, The Seeker of Truth." smirked Gundham before his determined expression returned on his face. "But I must remain silent about it. Anyway, you have mentioned that you have a desire for assistance from the Supreme Overlord himself. What shall it be, The Seeker of Truth?"
"It's Daft Capo. Nanami told me you know more about it." revealed Kyoko to him. Even though usually he would boast about it, his oddly calm demeanor persisted.
"Hmmm….I see. If you desire to find out the truth, you should wait at the entrance of this institution after we have concluded the activities of this Earth's rotation." Gundham gave instructions to the incoming member of his Fellowship of Darkness.
"Very well then. So be it." nodded Kyoko as she deemed Gundham's response to be satisfactory enough. Before she decided that she would remain in the library to further inspect the document about Kusomirai, she noticed that neither Chiaki nor Gundham have eaten anything during that day. "You two should get a meal right now. I'll remain here."
"Shall we return to the room of feasting, the Thoughtful One?" Gundham invited her to go along to the dining hall. Chiaki wanted Kyoko to come as well, but she understood that she would prefer to inspect the document in peace.
Yeah….I forgot that I haven't eaten today. Now that I do….gosh, I actually really need to eat something." Chiaki tapped her tummy when she realized that she was hungry. Both of them bid farewell to the lilac haired girl as they exited the library. As they went, Chiaki couldn't shake her thoughts off about the document and the book the wizard boy was looking for. They both represented two different kind of dangers to her, though the latter one she thought it was potentially a supernatural threat. Even though Gundham often plays it up a lot, it did seem like a genuine possibility that something out of the ordinary could happen. After all, one doesn't see a land based octopus every day.
Their classes came to an end for the day. Chiaki went a bit earlier to the entrance of the school, so that she would await for Kyoko. Just like she thought, the stoic lilac haired girl arrived to the scene.
"Here you are, Kyoko!" greeted Chiaki.
"So he told me to wait here. What does he plan to do?" asked Kyoko as both of them awaited for the inevitable. Kyoko's question got quickly answered by itself when the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness arrived to the entrance. She was slightly surprised by not only how many people did Gundham (or rather, circumstances themselves) persuade already, but also who was already in. The sight of Fuyuhiko, Peko and Chihiro being a part of Gundham's own secret alliance were the most oddest one for her.
"Oh hey, Kyoko! You're in for it too?" Makoto greeted her with enthusiasm.
"Welcome to the team, Kyoko." smiled Chihiro at another classmate joining the alliance against the threat of Daft Capo. As she observed, Kyoko got more and more curious about what has Gundham cooked up behind the curtains.
"Mwahahaha! Are you all ready?!" Gundham let out a villainous laugh as he faced his so called "minions", making sure they were all prepared for another meeting with penguins.
"HELL YEAH, DUDE!" Nekomaru pumped his fists, approving him in the process. Others, even those who haven't opened their mouths, agreed with him.
"Gwahahaha! Let us proceed!" declared Gundham before they went on their way to their hideout by taking the "secret" path through the flora around Hope's peak.
"What exactly is he planning to do?" asked Kyoko as they crossed through many bushes. She wasn't sure why exactly were they ta
"It's...uh...weird." Makoto attempted to explain, but no matter what would he say, he thought that there is no way she would believe him.
"Gundham says a lot of times that its something one must see it with their own eyes….which is pretty accurate considering what we all saw." added Chihiro while taking the words of his leader into consideration. Kyoko wondered what could be so absurd that no classmate could put it in their words.
After they crossed their secret path to the "hideout", they all went to garage's door. It has opened by itself right
"Mwahahaha! Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, I have brought another member to our Fellowship of Darkness!" boastfully announced Gundham to his fellow bird companions as all of the members of Hope's peak academy took a seat.
"Oh, what's it gonna be now, wizard man?" Skipper turned with their chairs to face their human colleagues, only to lay eyes on the elegant new companion. As cold as might she seem, no one could disagree that she was quite a good looking woman. "Woah, mama! Now THAT is a bombshell you have brought us, my man!"
"Yes, she looks like a woman of refined taste." agreed Kowalski with a satisfied grin on his face.
"Tell everything you know about Daft Capo." Kyoko immediately fired a demand, cutting their talk about her short in order for them to focus on the more relevant subject matter. It came to a surprise to them that she didn't even react to them at all, just went straight to the discussion about their enemy.
"Eh, you ain't gonna even react to seeing talking penguin commandos plotting against-" quipped Skipper, but Kyoko remained with a straight face.
"You seem to have documents behind your back. Hand them over." interrupted Kyoko after noticing that there was a folder near their laptop. The sheer amount of dedication she had in her voice made penguins think that it would be no use in arguing her, admitting defeat instead.
"...Okay then. Quite a bold woman too...I like it." Skipper ordered Rico to give her the documents, but he was soon reminded by Kowalski that he won the bet, earning the money in his jar. "I won the bet, but I'm not sure how to feel about it."
"All of them." reminded Hajime that Rico attempted to remove photos from their expedition in Denmark, specifically in Copenhagen. After obtaining the folder, Kyoko started inspecting every single photo in it, including the one where Fritz kicks Private like a football, looking for anything that she found interesting.
"Did you find anything new here, you...hmmm...what would be a good nickname for her?" wondered Skipper while Kyoko was doing her job.
"I think she's just okay with being called by her real name. She's Kyoko Kirigiri." clarified Makoto, thinking that she wouldn't really like being nicknamed at all. Suddenly, Kyoko put down the folder on the table.
"There's a pattern for their locations of choice." spoke Kyoko after she concluded. It got attention from others, wanting to hear her out about it.
"Speak, Mrs. Kirigiri!" ordered Skipper, pointing his flipper at her.
"In the every single picture where Daft Capo members are present, they tend to reside at ports. Warehouses seem to be a popular choice for them." explained Kyoko as she put pictures where she noticed the pattern on the table, organizing them in such a way that everyone could see it.
"Come to think of it, yeah, we've been fighting those punksters at ports a lot." noted Skipper.
"It would be also safe to say that they're in for the cash, right?" reminded Hajime after remembering how penguins explained the adversary's motives.
"Definitely." nodded Kowalski with an odd sense of prime.
"Considering that everyone present here is at the very least aware of Herman's presence, it would be safe to say that one of their hideouts could be found in the port of this city. We should keep an eye on warehouses as well." continued Kyoko as she laid down a rather noticeable hint for them. At the very least they knew where to look for, even if it took them a while.
"That's great and all, but...that sounds like information needed to make an offensive move on them. Isn't that...kinda too dangerous?" cautioned Makoto after noticing that they were seeming to make a more direct move against Daft Capo, contrary to the defensive planning they have all did for their academy.
"This is a bad idea." immediately alerted Fuyuhiko.
"It's our job to intervene in the filthier parts of that mafia. You guys are gonna stay in academy, no worries about it." reassured Skipper, even though there was a possibility that they might have to do offensive moves against the criminal syndicate in the future. One could only defend for so much before exhaustion kicks in.
"Yeah, but after we're done with that octopus fucker, he's gonna send in his own men against us, right?" Fuyuhiko pointed out the very real possibility he was concerned about.
"Yes, absolutely, without a doubt." Skipper didn't even mince his words
"I knew it. I sometimes wonder if it were better if we never knew about Daft Capo and we thought of that fucker as some shithead who's trying to have a laugh." lamented Fuyuhiko while not letting his concern go away. He and Peko knew from experience how can fights between Yakuzas go and it's not exactly pretty.
"In my opinion, it is better that you know about Daft Capo's existence. It would be a bigger shock if he sent his men against you." refuted Kowalski, also speaking from his experience, with the events at Copenhagen coming up in his mind.
"...Yeah, that makes sense." agreed Fuyuhiko, even though the concern within his brain remained.
"I do have a question for all of you." Kyoko suddenly spoke again.
"What is it, Kyoko?" Skipper along with Kowalski and Rico turned their attention to her.
"How did you find out about Daft Capo in the first place?" asked Kyoko, trying to see if she can get to the very beginning to contextualize their presence in Japan.
"...Alright, boys and girls. Now comes the part of this conversation that I call "Mucha Historia de Transfondo". Are you all ready for it?" began Skipper as he leaned towards them with a determined expression on his face.
"As long as it actually provides us some information about Daft Capo, we're good." approved Hajime with others agreeing, since more info they knew, the better.
"It all began in Manhattan, New York. Before that, we had a lot of journey all around the world, fought the bad guys and so on. After dealing with another octopus, whose name was Darrence, I think-" started Skipper, remembering all sorts of adventures he had beforehand, from hijacking a cargo ship meant to go to Kenya, just so that they could reach Antarctica to their encounter with a completely different cephalopod that had a grudge against all penguins for stealing his thunder.
"It was Dave." interjected Kowalski in order to correct his leader about the name of another octopus.
"You still remember him?" perplexed Skipper as he realized that he was speaking from vague memories. The bad guy that remained in his mind the most was a crazy animal hunting french policewoman."Anyway, after we dealt with that guy, we decided to return to Manhattan, just to have some time to relax and chill."
"So what you're saying is...Herman's looking for revenge?" assumed Makoto after hearing the so called prelude to their encounter with Daft Capo.
"Nope, he doesn't know the guy. He directly told me that." denied Skipper. It seemed odd for everyone present that Herman didn't knew about another villainous octopus, but then they realized that it was not a smart idea to assume. "Anyway, for a while, we did chill. Then the inevitable happened when we got eggs thrown right in our faces. You know how the rest of the story goes."
"But we did manage to beat him next time we met him, just that the next day following Herman's defeat, the zoo was taken over by people in white tuxedos." continued Kowalski, giving them a mental image of Central Park Zoo being overrun by gangsters. That seemed like a possibility in the 1930's, not in the modern era, but it was undeniable truth that it happened.
"...Yeah, the tall one was right about knowing whats coming." realized Fuyuhiko on how a sudden takeover of school would shock them far more than anticipating it in the first place.
"That only meant one and only thing: war!" spoke Skipper with an odd fiery passion before he continued his backstory about their encounter. "We were kicking their rears back and forth in New York, but we found out that Manhattan wasn't the whole picture. They were also in Florida!"
"That's the part of America where all wacky things happen, right?" remembered Ibuki as the faint recollections came from her mind about all the stories she heard about that very specific state.
"That's an understatement, Horned Musician, but we did manage to beat them at their own game." said Skipper.
"Then we found out that they have come from Europe." Kowalski decided it was his turn to continue the story."So we flew over the Atlantic and then our journey in the Euro zone began. Since almost everyone here knows about it, I'll just recap it for newcomers."
"So yeah, that's basically it." Skipper
The Hope's peak folk wondered how did penguins even manage to fly across an entire ocean, but they thought it was not a relevant question among with other details. What mattered the most at that moment was they found out more about Daft Capo past and their ire against them grew even more.
"Judging from what you've told me, it seems like they have made first moves. Do you also perhaps know how did they found you out?" further asked Kyoko.
"No can do, miss. They just appeared, like all these bad guys do. I still wonder how did they manage to sniff us out." Skipper shook with his head as he wondered about it.
"Fate often connects adversaries in the most unexpected ways." commented Gundham, crossing his arms for the additional effect of self perceived coolness.
"Uh, Skipper, by the time we were talking about the backstory and such, what does the red triangle mean again?" Private, who was busy observing the Hope's peak through the program that their programmer student made, turned towards them for help. The moment when they heard "red triangle", a feeling of rush overtook them.
It only meant one thing: it was him.
"Herman!" shouted Skipper like a general sending their troops to the battlefield.
"Oh shit!" realized Nekomaru the moment the name of the octopus was uttered.
"Pack up your cases, boys and girls, because we got an octopus to beat!" ordered Skipper as Rico went out of the way to open the door of garage. Some of them, like Gundham, who has eagerly anticipated the moment, were inclined to follow the rush, while others, like Hajime, hesitated. It was finally time to chase that octopus once again.
Suddenly...
"Stop!" yelled Chiaki amid the chaos that happened in the garage. Everyone stopped their movements to look at her. The entire Fellowship of Darkness was looking at her, awaiting for answer. Chiaki was a bit startled by how many people were looking at her, but it didn't stop her from standing by her ground.
"What?" perplexed Skipper at the sudden yell of the gamer girl.
"This is not a good idea. It will end up like it always has." cautioned Chiaki, remembering all the times they, including that one time she was by herself only, went to chase down the octopus, only to fail miserably.
"But there's a chance that one of your amigos at Hope's peak is gonna get bamboozled. Are you willing to let that happen?" argued back Skipper.
"And the duel to determine the fate of this institution shall be wasted!" reminded Gundham as he shook his fist.
"I'm afraid we had to let that happen for now. When a boss is too difficult to beat, you need to change up your strategy." Chiaki decided to take a risk, even though she wasn't too pleased with it by herself. "From what I've seen, Herman always had an upper hand when we reacted to him. He was constantly running circles around us."
Chiaki's caution made everyone realize their situation with that octopus. She wasn't exactly wrong that he was always the first one to strike and any attempt at chasing him down ended in his victory. Even penguins were keen to listen to hear, just to integrate anything she said to their overall strategy.
"Alright then, what's your plan, Marshmallow Face?" asked Skipper while still insisting that they should chase him down and beat him up.
"We should observe his movements and patterns. Maybe we'll get something out of it." suggested Chiaki as she raised her finger.
"T-that was...kinda the entire point of the program after all, wasn't it?" reminded Chihiro.
"She's making some sense to me." agreed Fuyuhiko upon hearing her out.
"Not bad. Not bad at all." nodded Kowalski, surprised that he didn't hear some mumbo jumbo from her instead.
"I still insist on getting to action." Skipper's mind on combat remained unchanged.
"It's better to lose a single battle than to lose the entire war." smirked Gundham as he supported Chiaki's statement. Skipper squinted at the wizard man before he decided that it would be best way to decide democratically.
"Alright then, who's with me?" asked Skipper for the members to raise their hands. Only Rico and Private raised their flippers for his support. "Just you two?"
"And who's with her?" further asked Skipper to see who's on Chiaki's side. Everyone else, including Kowalski, raised their hands.
"...Right. Then we will go with whatever she cooked up." sighed Skipper before Chiaki and then everyone else came closer to the laptop to see the octopus action unfold. The red triangle was found in one of the halls, who seemed to approach a green circle at the worrying speed. Judging from the sound that PELN detected, the green circle seemed to represent a girl, who was just humming along her way. Another thing they noted is that despite their classes being over for the day, some students had post-school activities at the academy.
"Do you guys know who is this girl?" asked Private if anyone was familiar with the girl. After hearing her voice, she was quickly recognized as Hiyoko, often referred as one of the most unpleasant students of class 77-B.
"...Oh, we aren't gonna feel sorry for that one." sighed Hajime.
As they continued watching and listening, they head that an object was dropped in front of Hiyoko, judging from a sound that seemed to signify an impact on the floor. The green circle stopped moving forward as the red triangle was observing from behind.
"Ha ha, real funny there, you fucking douche-" sneered Hiyoko, only to be surprised by the appearance of the enemy cephalopod.
"Hello there!" greeted Herman in his own bombastic way.
"Oh, look at you. It's Hope's peak's biggest annoyance. It's just pathetic looking at you, octopus barf!" Hiyoko spared no time to take an opportunity for an insult, trying to act all mighty against the adversary of Hope's peak.
"Hahahaha, what you've just said is low tier garbo among insults! As expected of a banana bush, who sucks at dexterity!" retaliated Herman with a laugh. Those who remembered what a certain rock star had to say to their classmate, they knew they were in for a not good time.
"You better fuck off with calling me that, squid shit!" retorted Hiyoko with a furious yell, not realizing that her reaction was what Herman wanted.
"Can't even get the species right, HAHAHAHA! Your brain is truly a micro peanut!" Herman continued taunting. The observers could hear that Hiyoko was getting genuinely upset, no matter how tough would she play herself to be.
"I don't give a single shit what you call me! Only thing that comes out of your smelly mouth is vomit!" raged Hiyoko, despite the outcome becoming more and more obvious.
"I dunno, Mrs. Banana, you seem to give a lot of shits right now." sassed Herman
"S-shut up! SHUT UP!" shouted Hiyoko in desperation. The bully dancer could triumph against meek nurses, but against experts of taunting, she was a complete amateur.
"Hahahaha, not much of a tough shit, are you? Now get read for….EYESCHLUSS!" Herman carried out the dreaded but at that point heard-so-much attack, spraying Hiyoko's eyes with ink. Everyone who was observing the situation winced upon hearing the attack, knowing all too well by themselves.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hiyoko started bawling like a kid that tripped over a rock.
"Hahahaha, gottem! Now to the next scrub!" said Herman to himself before he went away from Hiyoko, looking for new victims. The triangle moved, but the circle remained in one spot.
"Nevermind, I kinda feel bad for her….even if she was asking for it." Hajime took his words back. No matter how much of a jerk one was at Hope's peak, no one deserved the Hermaning, at least that's what they thought. They continued observing, spotting two green circles in the hallway. The red triangle was approaching them as fast as beforehand
Suddenly, the red triangle pulled off a U-turn, running away from the green circles instead. To say it was a surprise to everyone observing the situation would have been an understatement. It was running even faster than before.
"Wait what?" sputtered Skipper at the sight of their enemy retreating. They all wondered how did two students of Hope's peak academy, the supposed targets of his, just made him run away without even realizing that they were meant to be attacked.
"Select the channel for it." advised Kyoko to Private. The littlest penguin obeyed as he clicked on the PELN located nearby.
"Now, who's gonna be - Adios!" Herman changed his tone from a bombastic to a quiet, concise yet fearful one within a second.
"Sakura, is it just me, or did someone just say Adios?" questioned the first girl after hearing it.
"You are not mistaken, Hina. I've heard it too. Perhaps we should check out." answered the second more gruff girl as both of them started following Herman. The red triangle was speeding up so fast, that it was a matter of seconds when would he leave the academy. The red triangle soon exited the academy, hiding outside. Two green circles patrolled the inside of school, but soon returned to their intended activity: going to the gym.
"Hey, penguin boys! Have you ever seen Herman run away before?" asked Ibuki as they all witnessed the retreat.
"Nnnnope! This is a first timer." Skipper shook his head in disbelief.
"Whoever these two women are, we must get them on our side." suggested Kowalski, rubbing the underside of his beak.
"They're just our classmates. Aoi and Sakura." clarified Makoto.
"Get them on our side!" immediately commanded Skipper as he pointed his flipper at him, startling him in the process.
"But-" Makoto tried to have a word in it.
"That is an order!" demanded Skipper, shutting down any objections from the tinier ahoge boy.
"Sheesh…" sighed Makoto before they all continued observing. The red triangle remained in its hiding spot for some time, even when it seemed like every student concluded their day at the academy. They all wondered why did he choose to remain at Hope's peak, despite seeming like his job was done.
Suddenly, after much time of waiting, the red triangle moved once again. It went inside the academy, traversing through the halls.
"He's making a movement!" alerted Private, just so that everyone could focus on it. Unlike before, he seemed to follow a path to a place, unlike before where he was just targeting individuals. Private switched floors when he saw that Herman disappeared from the first floor.
"Where is he even going?" wondered Chiaki as they all saw him traverse through their school. The red triangle went to the fourth floor of the academy, where as he spent most of his time residing in the first floor. Not a single person other than the enemy was present there. He stopped at the very specific room on that floor, where he just stood there, not even making a move forward or backwards.
"Huh? What kind of business does he got at...wait, I forgot what room is this." asked Skipper. For a moment, silence followed, since some of them weren't one hundred percent sure of the entire academy's layout.
"...That's principal's office." suddenly revealed Kyoko once she remembered the layout of the fourth floor. With a single sentence, she managed to open the floodgates of questions regarding true nature of Herman's intrusions.
"So that fucker is not only there to piss us off, eh?" denounced Fuyuhiko, realizing that there was far more to Herman than it seemed.
"Could it be…?" wondered Kyoko if he was behind a specific document. She hid the file about Kusomirai, so that no one else could see it. After the red triangle spent some time at principal's office, it disappeared entirely, not even following the same path as before. The observers concluded the sessions with more questions and answers
"So….what can you get out of this, Marshmallow Face?" Skipper turned towards the one who suggested the plan in the first place.
"Hit and run strategy, just like I thought. But he also seems to only attack on the first floor...which makes his venture at the fourth floor even more odd. Halls seem to be his most popular place for his offenses." explained Chiaki while putting pieces of the forsaken puzzle together, taking everything she has experienced and heard in consideration.
"This is something you guys already know, but he also seems to like to attack a single person or two at the same time." reminded Nekomaru about the realization he had with Gundham way earlier than anyone else.
"Yep, that too." concurred Chiaki before she had her own announcement to make. "I think it's time for us to come up with a counterattack."
"Bring the laptop on this table. The floor plan on it is gonna be handy right now." requested Kyoko. Private put the laptop with the program still running on the table, letting them see the floor plan of the academy.
"I, the Supreme Overlord, shall give you advice before we start, my minions: If you want to beat them, you must think like a villain!" added Gundham a piece of his own mind to help them before they truly begun their plan.
"Alright so, I think that since he has been running circles around us, the best option would...either to set up a trap or do an ambush on our own." started Chiaki with giving them two strategies regarding dealing with the cephalopod threat.
"I'm going in for an ambush. They're more dynamic and adaptable for this situation." Hajime stated his own choice. Majority of the Fellowship of Darkness agreed with his choice, with only Rico wanting to set up a trap in his own way, but the rule of majority applied.
"Right, so we said that the halls are his go-to place for attacks. We should probably set up the ambush here." added Makoto as he pointed at the halls. He thought of a possible option to implement in their plan."Would it make sense if we split into multiple groups to cover more areas?"
"We're kinda limited on numbers for this. I think one group would suffice." reminded Skipper that they shouldn't be too lenient with group placements.
"However, I do think that a back up would be necessary for this, in case the ambush fails for the first time." recommended Peko.
"In the name of beating the living shit out of that octopus bastard and not involving my clan, I'm gonna volunteer." declared Fuyuhiko, just so that at least they would provide some help in their fight against Daft Capo without escalating it.
"I may provide back up as well." added Peko as she joined Fuyuhiko as the "back up" part of the plan.
"So, who's gonna be the first line of offense, aside from us, of course?" asked Skipper, facing the Hope's peak folk.
"Mwahahaha! Couldn't it be more obvious? It should be me, The Supreme Overlord GUNDHAM TANAKA! The wait for the fated duel shall be no more!" boasted Gundham, who couldn't hide his enthusiasm for a duel anymore. Not that he hid it in the first place.
"Aw yeah! I want to be the first one to strike as well!" offered Nekomaru some assistance to his wizard colleague as well.
"So, we got that covered. What should come next?" further asked Skipper, demanding that Chiaki should continue with what she was laying out in front of them.
"Now it would be best time to add a "fail-safe" second ambush, in case Herman escapes from the first one. That one should be more likely to knock him out." continued Chiaki before she decided that she's gonna confront the octopus by herself as well."For this one, I'll be the one to volunteer.
"You can fight, Marshmallow Face?" perplexed Skipper, hardly imagining that someone as visibly soft as Chiaki Nanami could throw even something resembling a punch.
"I'm not afraid to put up fists if it means to protect my friends." pouted Chiaki as she put up fists to show that she's willing to go full physical. Skipper was even more flabbergasted by how determined she seemed to be for it, but at least he appreciated
"I'll be the one to be provide back up for her. I'll...improvise." Hajime
"What would happen if Herman escaped from this ambush as well? Do you have a plan for that as well?" questioned Kowalski in regards for a possibility of the second ambush failing.
"Then…" continued Chiaki before she started thinking about another addition to make their plan foolproof. "There should be the "final option" ambush, the last line of defense. This one should be guaranteed knock out...or else our plan fails."
"Just a reminder that we do not have infinite manpower right now." cautioned Kowalski.
"Oh, oh, Ibuki's gonna be the final line of defense!" Ibuki offered herself to assist in their plan. It wasn't exactly a rap battle as she intended before, but she could have a proper one next time. Chiaki decided that Ibuki's contribution should be the last ambush.
"Now then, what would you guys do after Herman gets to see the stars above his head?" Skipper gave out a question, to which Rico provided his own answer: by bringing out a dynamite and lighting up a match. Everyone bar penguins was in shock for suggesting a rather explosive answer.
"Put that thing away, you maniac!" shouted Hajime at him, but Rico still insisted with his choice.
"Rico, no!" Skipper denied him of feeling stimulation of witnessing the big kabooma.
"Awww…" lamented Rico before he extinguished the flame by eating it. The Fellowship of Darkness discussed about using less extreme measures to deal with Herman after his possible defeat.
"Put him where he belongs: in the trash." suggested Fuyuhiko after coming up for an idea to deal the finishing move against Herman.
"Fill it also with bad manga. Make him feel the karma." added Hajime to Fuyuhiko's idea.
"Uh, isn't that...a little bit too much, even for him?" hesitated Makoto. Even though he was their enemy, karmic irony was perhaps too much.
"Do you want to know what he and his cronies did to that cat girl maid?" countered Hajime, remembering what the Future Gadget Lab told them about their story.
"Umm...sure." Makoto reluctantly agreed to listen. Hajime told him and the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness that they put Faris in a box full of so called "anti anime propaganda" after beating her up and taking over her cafe. Needless to say, everyone thought it was a dick move.
"...Nevermind. This punishment is fair." Makoto changed his stance, going with their plan.
"I like your style, boys and girls. So we have everything set and go?" Skipper put his flippers around his stomach while posing proudly.
"Hold on, Skipper. There is a missing element in our plan." reminded Kowalski about one thing they haven't mentioned about their plane.
"Tell me then, Kowalski." said Skipper.
"Even though we have planned one main ambush and two supplementary ones, our current plan relies on luck. It would be better if we had an awareness about Herman's movements beforehand." explained Kowalski, to which all realized that all of their plan could be foiled by just changing few variables.
"I can cover that!" Chihiro suddenly spoke up as his hair went puffy. Then he got flustered over how determined he seemed to provide help. "..if..uh...wanted."
"Master of Code, I knew I could rely on you!" sincerely praised Skipper before he had to make a deal with him, just to make the plan more smoother. "Say, you come here at six o clock in the morning tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I think I can manage that." approved Chihiro.
"You shall get a visit from the Supreme Overlord as well, fellow avians. After all, we are in the same team." announced Gundham to them.
"Pronto, wizard man!" nodded Skipper.
"I think we should be all set in place. Who's ready to show Herman who's boss around here?" asked Kowalski after concluding their plan. He wanted to hear if his fellow members were ready to execute the plan next day.
"HELL YEAH, DUDE, I AM PUMPED!" shouted Nekomaru as he pumped his fists.
"MWAHAHAHA! The day of decided fate couldn't come any time sooner!" boasted Gundham, striking down a pose worthy of a villain.
"As long as we stop Herman, I'm all for it." quietly declared Chiaki. Everyone else was more than ready to take down that bastardly octopus.
"You guys realize that this is just phase one, right?" Fuyuhiko gave a last reminder regarding that they're dealing with an organization after all.
"Do not worry about it, Fuyuhiko. I'm sure they know, but one can't deny that great satisfaction is coming tomorrow!" boastfully reassured Skipper.
"You better live up to your words, penguin." warned Fuyuhiko before all of them decided to conclude the meeting. All of them went their own way, most of them coming home to get some rest for the next day. It was gonna be a huge one, after all.
However, Kyoko decided to revisit Hope's peak once again. Her mind was occupied with what she witnessed while observing Herman's movements through Chihiro's program.
"Hmmm...out of all criminal syndicates I've seen, this one was...one of the more unique ones. They operate unlike anything else." Kyoko thought to herself as she walked towards her destination, contemplating at full force. "What bothers me is that sudden move of his to go for principal's office. I have to check it to see if there's any traces of his activities."
Once she managed to reach the academy, she went to the fourth floor at her own pace. Only thing that accompanied her were her own footsteps, which echoed through out void halls. Upon reaching the desired floor, she immediately went to the principal's office. She looked through the keyhole to see if anyone was present. It turned out that no one was there. The door wasn't even locked as well.
"Still not occupied. This is an ideal opportunity to inspect." thought Kyoko as she opened the door, stepping right into principal's office. Principal's table was placed in front of a large window with white curtains. They were moved to provide natural light in the office. The lilac haired girl decided to inspect the office, starting with the table. On the table alone, there weren't any disturbances spotted, just office supplies hastily occupying place on it. Kyoko then stepped behind the table, spotting a small cupboard under it. She assumed that the principal probably had some documents placed there, so decided to check out.
When she opened the first drawer, she was that nothing was placed there. Just emptiness. Checking the second, third and fourth drawer got her same results. The complete absence of anything gave her suspicions about possible true reason why Herman and to extent Daft Capo, is aiming for her academy. A thought about Kusomirai's file also came into play, but she wasn't sure if they were after a specific document or were they looking for any kind of files about the school. She took a small notebook out of her pocket and wrote down what she saw. Then she decided to leave the office, heading home. The true motive behind the disappearance of Hope's peak's documents remained a question in her head.