Smoker stared at his phone for a few seconds before answering it. He held it up to his ear.

"Smoker here."

"Hello Captain Smoker. This is Dragon." The apparently world famous Tinker? Why did the caller ID say Armsmaster? Maybe PHO was right about their rumored relationship.

"What is it?" Smoker replied bluntly. The Protectorate never called unless they needed something.

"I would like to meet you and Cipher in person as soon as possible." Armsmaster said, taking over from Dragon. That urgent? Smoker looked at his clock. The Protectorate should know that the Marines don't work on their time. Plus, he couldn't afford to miss any training session.

"Marine HQ at Noon."

"Thank you Captain Smoker." The transmission ended soon after that. Smoker took out a second cigar and his room was soon filled with smoke again. He glanced at the clock again.

Perfect, he still had enough time to train before he took Amy to her school. Education was very important after all. Maybe he should have Kazuki signed up for classes? Yeah, that would be for the best.

Smoker couldn't afford to ruin anymore lives.

Blackwell was in her office when she heard her secretary start shouting.

"You can't go in there without an appointment!" Hmm, what was this commotion about? Another gang fight perhaps. Blackwell squeezed the bridge of her nose. That was one of the downsides of being the principal. There was a silence for a few seconds, when someone kicked her door down and an Asian woman woman with short, black hair barged in, with...uniformed men. She had a sheathed sword in her hand which made Blackwell pause for a second.

"Prudence Blackwell, you are under arrest."

What the hell! Blackwell's eyes widened in shock, and she hardened her face, slamming her fist on her desk. She seemed...familiar. Wait, the uniformed men's cap said Marines? Why were capes here?!

"On what charges?!" She demanded. The Asian woman simply pulled out a small folder and slammed it on Blackwell's desk.

"Covering up assault, corruption, embezzling public funds." The Marine lady's face was neutral, barely hiding her disdain. Blackwell stared at the folder blankly and opened it. She lost her breath. Everything was here, the money the PRT sent to the school to keep their Ward here, proof of Hebert being assaulted by said Ward. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Suddenly, her lips felt very dry. Blackwell looked up and glared at the Marine.

"I want my lawyer."

"An attorney will be provided. Take her away." The Marine Lady snapped her fingers, and two of her stooges moved to grab her.

"Wait wait wait!" The two Marines paused for a second. Blackwell glared at both of them, and settled her gaze on their leader. "I'm sure there's...something I can do to avoid this hassle?"

Their leader stared at her dryly. "Are you trying to bribe me?"

Blackwell's heart sank. Oh no…

The Marine leader leaned forward and slammed her fist on the desk, causing a small dent and splinters to fly.

"I'll let this pass if you do me some favors." The Marine lady whispered.

Yes! A way out of this predicament. Blackwell couldn't afford to lose her job, not now.

"What are they?"

The Marine Lady gave her a glare full of hate.

"I want you to transfer Taylor Hebert to Arcadia." That...would take some of Blackwell's connections, but it was doable. Why Hebert though? It would probably be better not to delve into that question. Cape problems never went well for normal people.

"And I want you to report Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes, and Madison Clements to the proper authorities." That was...much harder than the first request. Blackwell would gladly give up Barnes and Clements, but Hess was a Ward. If she reported that-

She could work with this. Blackwell would have to write up a whole story, and blame the whole thing on the social worker assigned to Hess. Nodding slowly, Blackwell extended her hand.

"You have an agreement." This would save her career, and look like she did her job according to those PRT idiots. The Marine Lady looked at her with disgust and walked away. Before she left her office, the Marine paused.

"Keep up your end of the bargain...or next time I won't be knocking." They all left soon after, and Blackwell fell back on her chair. Her secretary walked in a few seconds later.

"I-Is everything alright ma'am?"

Blackwell rubbed her forehead and nodded. "Make arrangements for Taylor Hebert's transfer to Arcadia." The Secretary nodded and Blackwell was soon left alone.

She had a lot of paperwork to fill out in her future.

Tashigi still felt angry when she got into their van. This school was corrupt, its faculty and students. Poor Taylor who had to deal with this nearby every single day. She felt someone tap on her shoulder and was ready to unsheath Shigure when she saw Private Seo's face. He had taken a liking to young Weaver as well. Soon he was going to start training Cipher in handling pistols.

Speaking of Cipher, Tashigi was going to have to thank her when she got the chance. She got this much dirt on Blackwell thanks to her, and she gave advice on how to handle it.

"Are you ok Boss? I haven't seen you this mad since Captain Smoker drank your expensive coffee on accident." Tashigi loosened her grip on Shigure and sighed softly.

"I dont know." At least Taylor would finally have a chance at being happy now. "I think I'm ok."

Seo nodded and went back to talking with the other Marines, leaving Tashigi to her thoughts. Of course she wasn't planning on leaving Principal Blackwell to her devices. Cipher was going to make an anonymous call to the BBPD and the local school board once Taylor was settled in at Arcadia. Tashigi didn't trust Blackwell not to do something like that again.

Days like these, Tashigi felt the most like a real hero.

A/N

I wrote this chapter back to back with the last one. A lot of people keep asking me if I have a job. I say, yeah I'm unemployed.

Ha ha ha

All jokes aside, I've decided I'm going to be a translator for koreans. I can already read the language, I just don't know what it means.

Trilingual gang gang.

These chapters are a bit shorter, but I'm pumping out a chapter a day so deal with it!