The office was in complete disarray. Light fixtures hang by their wires from the ceiling and swung like strobe light piƱatas. Across the floor were countless papers strewn about without care to their regard as documents. Bits of ceiling tile, bodies, and gore littered the floor too, dozens of empty, black abysses filled the ceiling, now. A woman under her desk covered her mouth, runny mascara and tears covering the ball of her thumb as she did her best to stifle her breathing. The buzzing lights only added to her anxiety, unable to hear where her assailants were over them. As the buzzing ceased with the flickering as well, the tall, bald girl appeared in her cubicle, the woman doing her damnedest to prevent herself from shrieking as terror made her facade tremble. The tall girl looked from one side of the cubicle to the other, the woman beneath the cubicle hugging her knees to her chest even more tightly to conceal herself even better. Finding no sign of anything, the girl turned and silently walked out of the cubicle. The woman breathed a sigh of relief as the lights flickered once more. In that instant, the bald girl appeared atop the desk with a scowl, throwing her fist down into the wood. Her hand broke through and seized the squealing woman by the hair. She hosted her head through the jagged hole, slicing her cheeks and brow as she pleaded for her life. Paying no heed to her cries, the girl suddenly released her as she drew her leg up, stomping against the back of her skull and spraying her brains across the desk on onto the floor like a popped can of ravioli. Her attention to the trickling blood was broken as a new sound entered the mix: a ding of the elevators.

As the doors parted ways, a cacophony of cocking guns filled the room before an eight-man SWAT team piled into the foyer, submachine guns aimed ahead and flashlights illuminating the dimly lit office. One of the masked men at the front said in a hushed tone to his comrades, "Alright, spread out and search for any of the survivors you can. But shoot them on sight. And don't let them get Murphy out of here alive."

Just as he had finished his talk, the lights flickered once more. Each time it flashed was like an image flashing in a rapid power point presentation. The men were looking from one direction to the next. The cyan-haired girl was then inexplicably in the middle of them all. Their shouts of surprise and screams of agony entered the mix as they met grizzly ends, one-by-one, captured only by the brief illumination of lights and gunfire. The first was run through the chest on her fist. Another had her hooked fingers rammed through his forehead. The next was decapitated by a backhanded swing of her flat hand. The following ended by a stomp crushing his helmet and skull like an over-ripened watermelon. Two men were her next simultaneous victims, one on his knees and attempting to scoop up his intestines while the other lie on his back, his heart beating in her hand. The last had her cling to him like a bear cub, tearing his throat out with her teeth. Finally, the lights once more continued a steady stream of light and illuminated the grizzly remains of the men, the cyan girl still in their midst. The other two girl reconvened with her, she and the bald girl staring at the brunette girl. With a nod, the two girls waded through the papers, bodies, and body parts to the holding cells. In another flash of light, they stopped in their tracks, finding Monika leaning on her back against the precipice of the hallway, one arm crossed against her chest and the other elbow on her opposite forearm as she checked her nails. "You girls have been VERY naughty," she chastised, side-eying them as she continued, "Can you go five minutes without blowing your cover?"

The girls only returned their dead, emotionless glares to her words. Monika sighed as she stood up straight, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration as she muttered, "Great, I guess we're doing it the stereotypical, no talking way."

A roar made the silent girls' heads snap to the source behind them, finding an immensely muscular Natsuki lifting a desk over her head. She heaved it at the duo, the bald girl spinning at the projectile on her heel and extending her leg straight up, splitting it in two with an axe kick. The two halves crashed against the cubicles and shattered them as well, Natsuki charging at the two like a gorilla. The cyan-haired girl spread her right hand as wide as it would go, five long, crimson, cone-shaped nails shot out from them. As she was readying to impale Natsuki, a noose shot out from the first holding cell in the hallway and ensnared her wrist. Before she could react, she was pulled back and slammed the back of her head against the bars, denting three of them in. The air left her throat as another slipped over her head and around her neck, trying to pry it free with her free hand as Sayori stood behind her. The short-haired girl leaned back with all her might, putting her foot against the bars for extra leverage, the nooses emanating from her sleeves.

Her bald comrade could not help her as the behemoth school girl hurled down onto her with her fist raised up, slamming them down onto her and forming a web-like crack in the floor. The bald girl had leapt aside of the attack and, with another twist, caught Natsuki across the cheek with a heel kick. Barely phased, she caught the girl by her leg, earning a surprised look on her face, before Natsuki flung her across the room and through several cubicles. Unrelenting in her assault, Natsuki hunkered down before lunging over the the collapsed girl, stomping her deeper into the linoleum before laying into her with a rhythmic beating of one hammer fist after another. She brought both her arms up and brought them down to crush the bald girl. Instead, both of her fists were stopped by the bald girl's palm. Natsuki grunted and tried with all her might to move her fists closer but to no avail. Instead, her arms were shoved back over her head, catching the giant girl off guard and sending her stumbling back. She was then met with an uppercut that sent her up off her feet, only to be reeled back down by the girl grasping her ankle. She slammed Natsuki chest-first through a desk and cubicle wall, not slowing her offense as she spun Natsuki around by her ankle, shattering the entire cubicle around them before hurling her back towards the precipice of the hallway, sending her face-first into the corner. Grunting and bleeding from her brow, Natsuki tried to push herself back up but was met with a stomp to the back of her head, driving her head into the brick and and leaving her motionless.

As Sayori continued to tried to choke the life out of the cyan-haired girl, the lights flickered once more, the girl disappearing and then reappearing behind a shocked Sayori. As she brought her nails back and drove them towards Sayori as she turned around, the light briefly went out a moment before the splitting of flesh hit the air. The lights once more filled the room and revealed the girl had impaled Yuri just above her left hip. The girl stumbled back and shouted, holding her bleeding side. Yuri advanced to her with a frown of determination on her face, backing the bleeding girl into the wall of the cell. The girls grit of pain turned to a sickening smile as she brought a claw to her throat and, with a slide of her hand, slit it. Yuri was shocked and froze in her tracks, the girl taking the opportunity to lunge at her and slit Yuri's throat in kind. Yuri gasped and choked on her blood, falling to the floor and writhing as she desperately held her opened trachea. The girl next eyed Sayori, who backed up to the cell's bar with fright. Her arm was tugged out of the cell and her own noose was wrapped over her neck, the hand of the brunette, ponytailed girl holding her airway shut. Leaning forward and heaving with all her might, she slammed Sayori's head into the inward-dented bars and dragged her whole body through the bars, shattering the steel like glass. Sayori crumped the ground just before Natsuki, the three attackers reuniting before forming a line behind the ponytailed girl and heading down the hall. They found Lewis Murphy leaning against the bars on his forearms, one foot kicked over the other, and looking at them with boredom. "Well, it's about time you showed up!"

The ponytailed girl reached out and grabbed his left hand, retching him forward and bouncing his head off the bars, Murphy yelping in pain and holding his face as he cursed, "Ow, you bitch!"

The cell's door slid itself open and Murphy stepped out with the girls, still nursing his aching, bleeding nose. The brunette girl turned and the other girls followed her lead, Murphy looking with confusion as he muttered under his breath, "Fuckin' weirdos."

The group made it just past the hallway as they heard a gun cock, Marvin staring down the sights of his pistol at them, shouting, "Don't take another step."

"Ah, well, well, well, if it isn't Marvin Wright." Murphy taunted.

"And if it isn't the most cliched greeting ever." Marvin rebutted.

"Aw, did you not like it? Must not have liked my buddies paying you a visit either. But they didn't hurt a hair on your head, by the looks of it."

"Stick it up your ass, Murphy."

"Only one of us is gonna get fucked tonight, Marvin. Well, not unless..." Murphy paused, eying the girls before him that were glaring at Marvin.

"Look at our asses again and we kill you." the cyan girl said, her voice squeaky and childlike, not taking her gaze off Marvin.

"Jeez, no luck for a man in today's world." Murphy muttered.

"We don't need you alive, we get paid just the same." the brunette girl added, her voice mature and sharp.

"Fair enough but let's keep it together, it's never fun to work alone."

"What are you all planning?" Marvin demanded, raising his gun slightly higher.

"In time, Marvin. Step aside, we might just let you live." Murphy offered.

Marvin only kept his sights on Murphy, slowly tightening his finger on the trigger before a hand rested on his forearm. He ignored the touch but, in that instant of him blinking, the surroundings around them once more changed. He found himself in a dim classroom, the environment outside the windows as amorphous and colorful as a lava lamp. He looked to his side and found a stern Monika resting her hand on his arm. "We need to talk." she simply stated, bringing her hand back to her side.

"I couldn't agree more." Marvin concurred, lowering his gun.

"I'm glad that makes three of us." a gruff voice added, Marvin turning and finding the red-haired, mustached officer sitting in a chair beside the other three girls, his arms crossed.

"How...the hell.." Marvin began to stammer out, the girl unharmed and back in their normal states.

"Sunshine, rainbows, and a child's dream, sit down and listen." Rich jibed, getting up and thumbing Marvin to take a seat.

Marvin complied, seating himself before giving Rich his full attention. The officer sighed before beginning, "You know anything about where these girls came from?"

Marvin shook his head, adding, "All I know is they're exchange student and part of their literature club."

Rich reared back and covered his eyes, moaning, "Oooooooh, shiiiiit, I don't want to have to go through all this."

After regaining his composure, Rich went on, "You know anything about history, Marv?"

"What, am I being interrogated?"

"Knock off being a smartass, Marv."

"I guess, I'm pretty sure I saw you in a book I had on dinosaurs."

"Very funny. Does the year 1945 ring a bell?"

"I mean, a few."

"How about places like Hiroshima and Nagasaki?"

"Yeah, those cities got bombed to end World War 2. Why? What's with the history lesson?"

"If you had any patience or ability to pick up on social queues, you'd be onto something. Those very atomic bombs are what the lesson is about. The nuclear fallout of those bombs killed God knows how many people. But some survived in spite of the insane radiation they endured. And the radiation did incredible things to them, even down to their DNA."

"Like how?"

"Interrupt me again and you'll be wearing your balls as earrings. My apologies for the language, girls."

"Don't worry, we hear worse in class, Mr. Rich." Monika reassured.

"God help this country's students. Anyway, those survivors of the radiation from those bombings were able to tap in to the radiation that permeates everything. They became linked with it, like a symbiotic relationship like three sisters of agriculture."

"Three what?"

"Shut your damn mouth, you uncultured shit. Three sisters was corns, beans, and squash that Natives would grow together. The corn sucks the nitrogen out of the dirt but beans inject it right back in, keeping everything running like a diesel truck that makes diesel while it runs. The radioactive level is the same, every person interacts with it but so little of it affects us. But those few who survive the affects of radiation poison can tap into that vast world and manipulate whatever the subatomic level interacts with. Sunlight, most forms of matter, photosynthetic things like plants, the people themselves or any trait of theirs, you name it. It's generally limited in what you can do but higher levels or repeated levels of radiation can increase their power. Or potentially kill them."

"That doesn't make any damn sense. How come nobody has ever said anything about this?"

"That's it, I'm done, can one of you girls teaching this moron anything? I'm tired of being interrupted." Rich conceded, throwing up his hands and storming across the room.

"So," Monika began, "Mr. Wright. What happened those days in 1945 gave our grandmothers special powers that got stronger with our mothers since all of their husbands were survivors and even moreso with us. If it weren't for that, our powers would diminish if only one of our parents had no exposure genes in them, it's basically a recessive trait now. And he's not wrong about the repeated exposure."

"How do you know this?"

"Look where we are, Mister Wright. This is what the outside of the universe looks like. I made this room so the external force of the expanding universe doesn't blow us apart atom by atom."

"You made this room?!"

Monika nodded, "In 2011, I went to school in Okuma when the nuclear plant melted down. I absorbed a lot of radiation."

"So much we don't know if we can measure the upper limits of her powers." Rich added, coming back to the group as he collected himself.

"Wait, so what powers do you girls all have?" Marv asked, intrigued.

"Well, I can manipulate the fibers in my sleeves to make nooses." Sayori replied.'

"Why nooses? That's kind of dark." Marv questioned.

"If only you knew..." Sayori muttered.

"I can transfer any damage others do to me to them. Though if they damage themselves first, I'm useless." Yuri said quietly.

"How does that make any sense? How come any of you can only do certain things with your powers? You can tap into a radioactive force running through our universe and..."

Marv took notice to how much lower Yuri's head began to sink, the lawyer correcting himself as he corrected himself, "I mean, that's really cool."

"I can make myself big and muscular." Natsuki said, keeping her speech short and arms crossed.

"What about Monika? What do you guys know for certain?"

"Well," Rich interjected, "Not even she is sure of that. As far as we know, she has the ability to perceive anything in the near future that she can perceive with her senses. Anything she sees, hears, smells, tastes, or touches and she gets a glimpse of what will happen."

"How far can she see out?"

"Ask one more stupid ass question, I swear to God."

"It's a legit question, Rich!"

"We don't know! And any question you ask from here on out, that's the answer."

"Do you enjoy having little boys sit on your lap?"

"I'm gonna shoot you, you little fucker."

"Boys, calm down," Monika shouted in frustration, regaining her smile as she said, "I can also manipulate time, space, and matter. And we all can speed up our body's processes so we can do things faster, like reading."

"So, why are you girls here? Why were those other ones after Murphy?"

"Those girls are exactly why we're here." Natsuki growled, turning away from Marv and scowling.

"They were former classmates of mine who absorbed even more radiation than me," Monika added, "I can't fight them because they're too powerful. Even here, where my power is at its greatest, any one of them could overpower me and destroy our universe in the process."

"Why are you so powerful here?"

"Think of it like this way, Mister Wright. If the natural laws that govern the universe are like laws in America, it's basically the Wild West outside the universe, I can do whatever I want out here."

"Holy shit."

"Back on task," Rich interrupted, "Those girls and Murphy are up to something. Whatever it is, we don't know. We were trying to keep him on hold so they couldn't get to him but, obviously, that failed."

"No shit." Marv muttered.

"But it seems like that Lewis knows what we told you. Whatever he's gonna do with that knowledge, it can't be good."

"So," Sayori began, pleading, "please don't think of us any differently or hate us with what we tell you, Mister Wright? Promise?"

"I promise, Sayori. To all you girls. Even you, Rich, I'll still hate you."

"Blow it out your ass." Rich replied.

"We have to kill those girls and Murphy. That's why we're here and that's why we've traveled all over the world." Sayori continued.

"Wait, you've done this before?"

"Powers like these go to people's heads. It's been the jobs of our grandparents and parents to take out people like this since people tried to abuse their powers. We just transfer to one school after the next to keep our cover, find our targets, and eliminate them as quickly and with as little notice as possible. And we had a perfect record, until today." Monika said.

"Ah, if you thought the clean up after Chernobyl was fun." Rich threw in.

"So, now what?" Marv asked.

"The girls and the mission has been compromised. We're gonna do what we can to distract people off of what happened today to the point that only conspiracy theorists will remember it." Rich answered.

"Wait, you're gonna use the media to cover this up?"

"Are you surprised?"

"Oh, hell no, I just wanted clarification."

"Well, then, you're exactly right. Girls, you're officially out of school until the mission is complete. We're going to need to relocate you as well, any ideas?" Rich asked, turning to the girls.

All of their hands shot up at once, save for Natsuki, who continued to glower in her chair. "Yes, Yuri?"

"Can we, I mean, we should stay with Mister Wright?" she corrected.

"Wait, what!?" Marv shouted.

"Who's all in favor?" Rich asked, with Yuri, Sayori, and Monika raising their hands.

"All opposed?"

Natsuki and Marv raised their hands, Rich responding, "The yays have it. We'll move you in tomorrow and Marv's house will be your base of operation until we complete the mission. Any questions?"

Marv's hand instantly shot up. "Yes?"

"Why my house? Why me?"

"Because they voted. And I'll be damned if I won't support democracy in and outside our universe. Plus, between you and me, I do whatever the fuck anybody with this level of power tells me to. And I'd do the same if I were you."

Marv through his head back and groaned, Rich saying, "Alright, glad we got this all sorted out. Monika, take us back."


The group appeared before Marv's house, the sun peaking over the horizon and the exhausted lawyer waving them off as he said, "Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going, sunshine?" Rich asked.

"To bed. It has been a hell and a half of a day and I need my rest." Marv replied, barely looking over his shoulder.

"Well they're going with you, we made a deal." Marv yelled, turning to face them with his arms outstretched in disbelief.

"What?! I'm supposed to tomorrow."

"Yeah, well, time's kind of Monika's bitch and now you're all their bitch until I say so, Marv. Check your phone."

Marv dug into his pocket and clicked the home button. Sure enough, the date had changed. "How in the fuck..."

A car came screeching to a stop beside them, a worry-riddled, spectacled, balding man exiting with a large box in his arms. Without a word, he strolled to Marv and shoved it into his arms, turning on his heel and sprinting to his car, barely slamming the door shut before he took off down the road. "Well, that was perfectly on cue, 6 am, sharp," Rich commented, checking his watch, "Well, girls, make yourself at home."

The girls, excluding Natsuki, cheered and rushed at Marv, embracing the shocked and bewildered lawyer. They took the box out of his hand and, as a team, hauled it inside, Natsuki meandering behind them. As she entered the doorway, she turned to a still frozen Marv and stuck her tongue out at him before turning and entering the house.

Marv was met with a firm slap on the back by Rich as the cop walked past, the officer commenting, "Don't get any big ideas, you sick fuck. Also," Rich added, turning and pointing at Marv, "don't worry about getting those documents in to the judge."

Marv merely rolled his eyes, replying sarcastically, "Thanks a lot."