"So, you are the Ninth…"

"It should be too early for this…"

"But we have no other choice…"

"The Singularity has passed…"

"And it has awoken the Source…"

*MORNING IS HERE* *MORNING IS HERE* *MORNING IS-*

There was a great smash as Izuku's fist impacted the noisy alarm with a mighty force. With a hiss of pain, he shot open his eyes and looked down at his arm. For some reason his breath was unsteady, and as he calmed himself, he felt the power of One for All slowly leave his limbs.

"What just happened?" Izuku flexed the arm that had smashed his alarm to pieces for the third morning in a row. He felt a bit sore, but thankfully he hadn't used enough power to cause permanent damage. His head was pounding, and he put a hand to it as he thought back. "What the heck was that dream about?"

He couldn't see anything but shadowy figures standing within a dark void. They were muttering something, but he could only catch a few words. Ninth? Singularity? Source? It didn't make any sense. Was it all a part of his overactive imagination, or did it have some other meaning?

Checking his phone, Izuku realized that he had to get ready for classes and decided that there were more important things to be focusing on than some bad dreams. It was probably just a result of the stress, combined with the recent Quirk training. He'll mention it to Nezu if it comes up again.

Really, how bad could some silly dreams be?

He did his morning routine and walked out the door to his dorm. He closed and leaned against it while he waited for Melissa and Eri to appear. Their door eventually swung open, and an excited Eri ran out.

"Izuku, are you ready?" Eri asked excitedly.

"For what?" Izuku asked back, confused but also amused at the child's enthusiasm.

"For Quirk training!" Eri said, looking up at him seriously. "We have to practice a lot if we want to be Hero's, right?"

Izuku I couldn't help but smile at her new-found drive. "You're right. Let's do our best!"

"Look at the two of you with your fancy Quirks. You're going to make a girl feel left out." Melissa said in mock offence from her door.

"Weren't you the one begging not to do anymore exercises in P.E. yesterday?" Izuku pointed out.

"Ugh, don't even remind me. I still feel like I ran a marathon." Melissa complained, stretching out her back. "At least Nezu let me into the support workshop later to cool down. Speaking of…"

Melissa walked over to Izuku and grabbed his right hand. Izuku barely reacted to her sudden proximity, having grown used to her tendency towards crowding him. He was still having trouble looking her in the eyes though, instead looking down at the hand she had grabbed. In it, she had the familiar red gauntlet she had made.

"I checked out the gauntlet, and it seems to be working fine. You haven't done any damage to it yet but remember to be careful with control." She pressed a button on the device, and it wrapped back around his hand and lower arm. Melissa then looked back up at Izuku. "You remember how to take it off, right?"

Izuku rolled his eyes. "You hold the big button down. Don't worry, I wrote it down in my notes."

"Good. That reminds me, I should write a manual for it." Melissa mused. "Anyways, let's get to class."

"Huh?" Izuku suddenly found himself being dragged along by the woman. Not sure what to do, he just held on and walked with her, chatting about the possible topics for today's 'class'.

"Attention class! I have exciting information to announce!" Nezu shouted suddenly as the other three ate their breakfast.

"Arr weh trainin moore?" Eri gargled out, not even bothering to swallow.

"Eri, it's impolite to talk with your mouth full." Melissa chided.

Eri quickly chewed her food and tried again. "Are we training more?"

"Yes, of course we will. But that's not what the important info I planned to declare is. The truth is…" Nezu paused for dramatic effect before continuing. "We'll be getting transfer students in the near future!"

Everyone stared at Nezu in confusion, before Melissa finally spoke up. "… How?"

"Did you manage to find more people with Quirks that were unaffected by the Rapture?" Izuku guessed.

"No, unfortunately. However, as we reviewed the other day, children who have yet to awaken their Quirks didn't vanish, and some of them have already started to develop their Quirks." Nezu explained. "After some talks with the remaining government, we've decided to send any kids below the age of 8 from the surrounding region here for the time being."

"Why would they do that? Is this really the best place for a bunch of kids?" Melissa asked.

"There's plenty of space for them, and this facility can provide everything they could possibly need. It's a great place for young children to stay!" Nezu said cheerfully. "Of course, the primary reason they are moving here of all places is their safety first and foremost."

"Their safety?" Izuku tilted his head in confusion. "It is true that U.A. has some of the best security in the country, second only to Tartarus. But why is it being considered so highly?"

"Because those children are incredibly important. As far as everyone knows, these young ones are the only people left on the planet with quirks. You've seen the lengths some have gone to for a rare Quirk like Eri's, but now the mere ability to use a Quirk is considered as miraculous as it was during the Dawn of Quirks." Nezu explained as he narrowed his eyes. "It's best to keep them in a safe and secure place before some… less than desirable individuals try to take advantage of the current crisis."

A scowl quickly grew on Melissa's face as she realized what Nezu was saying. "I wish I could say that people would be above such actions considering the state of the world, but after those thugs that Izuku saved me from, I can see it."

"Exactly how many kids are coming?" Izuku asked.

"About a hundred will be arriving in a week, but more will be coming in by the busload for the foreseeable future." Nezu answered, which raised the eyebrows of both teenagers.

"A hundred?!" Izuku nearly squeaked. "How exactly do you expect us to take care of so many kids!"

Nezu just laughed at his student's panic. "Oh, don't worry, we'll be getting more personnel to handle them, though you might have to help with the work. Everyone's understandably short on manpower lately."

"Isn't that great Eri? You'll get to meet a bunch of other kids your age real soon!" Melissa told the girl.

Eri seemed hesitant at the thought. She shuffled in her seat and looked down nervously. "I don't know. What if they don't like me and think I'm bad, like everyone back there…"

"That's nonsense, you're a great kid!" Melissa insisted, patting the girl on the head. "And I'm sure everyone else will realize that as soon as they meet you, just you wait!"

Just then, a notification sound echoed across the classroom. The students looked around in confusion, but Nezu just pulled out a small phone and squinted at the text displayed on it. "And with that, it is time for your classes. This morning you will be doing math, followed by P.E., as instructed by these fine fellows." Nezu said, gesturing to the door as three small robots entered. Each held a digital screen in its hands, with the face of one of the students on each one.

"Wait, you're going to teach us actual classes?" Melissa asked in disbelief.

"Of course! I am a teacher first and foremost. Unfortunately, I have a meeting right now that couldn't be rescheduled, so these substitute tutor-bots will be doing the teaching for now. Back in a couple hours!"

And with that, Nezu hopped off the desk and strolled out the door, leaving the three students alone with the synthetic schoolteachers.

"Good morning Mrs. Pleione and thank you for taking time out of your assuredly busy schedule to meet with me." Nezu said into his monitor, as he tried to savor his third cup off tea of the day.

"Likewise, Nezu, and drop the formalities. I've got enough people sucking up to me here." An aging voice sighed, as the image of a grey-haired woman appeared nursing an even larger cup of coffee.

"I'd imagine. So, it's been just like the old days, I'd guess?" Nezu replied heartily, producing another weary sigh from the speakers.

"When I mentioned coming out of retirement, I had planned possibly teaching at I-Academy, or possibly doing some private study that I never had the time for. I did not want to become chairwoman of this hellhole again." Pleione stared wistfully past her webcam to some unknown point beyond it. "I wrangled these mad scientists for over 30 years, and now that they're no longer my problem the world goes and collapses. At least none of them are responsible for the mess this time… I think."

Nezu couldn't help but feel for the woman in front of her. Margaret Pleione had been one of the oldest names in Quirk study, and her fame had quickly rose her through the ranks to become a member and the eventual charwoman of I-Island's Board of Directors, a job she quickly came to hate. The Board was in charge of overseeing everything on the island, but most importantly, they observed and approved the research that it had become famous for.

There was an expression that Nezu knew (and that was repeated to him often) that there is no great genius without a touch of madness. Nowhere was such a statement truer than I-Island. From the rumors the rat had heard, he wasn't fully convinced the island wasn't just a dumping ground for the planets criminally insane. Keeping the many masterminds within in check was a job that clearly wore Pleione down, and her retirement only a couple months ago came as no shock to anyone.

Of course, as one of the oldest residents of I-Island, she was one of the few Quirkless individuals on the island. While the R&D present there was a popular career track for those without Quirks, these days the prevalence of people with abilities had shifted the idea closer to those without flashy Quirks. It was truly fortunate that I-Island was the forerunner of automated technology, or they might not have been having this discussion.

"Ah yes, your analysis into what caused this fiasco. I know it's a bit early to jump to conclusions, but something about your previous message caught my eye, and I was wondering if you could go over what you have discovered so far." Nezu explained, as Pleione took another large sip from her cup. "It doesn't feel right for me to sit around and do nothing, so if you could take the time?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to explain what we've found so far. An outside perspective could prove useful." Pleione admitted, setting her cup aside and presenting her screen to show various data points. "As mentioned in our last correspondence, we have determined that everyone did in fact disappear at the same time. It's as baffling as it is annoying."

Nezu hummed thoughtfully. "I had a theory that whatever had affected the world was caused by some wave of unknown source moving at a speed faster than human eye, possibly the speed of light? Is that not the case?"

"No, it's even worse." Pleione said with a shake of her head. "If it was moving at simply the speed of light, we would have noticed the difference. Our level of measurements is precise enough to notice the time needed to affect something on both sides of the planet if it was moving that fast. Even if this hypothetical wave could move through the Earth without resistance, we should still be able to observe something!"

"Mrs. Pleione, are you saying that whatever wave affected everyone was moving faster than light?" Nezu said in almost disbelief. While he didn't doubt her analysis, what she was claiming broke more rules of physics than a genius like him could handle.

"No, I'm not. I'm merely saying whatever transported them away was." Pleione answered cryptically. Nezu only took a moment to understand what she meant.

"You found something else." Nezu stated, receiving a nod.

"Yes. While initial search's focused on trying to find something appearing before that could cause the Rapture, it wasn't until later that I decided to look for what was missing afterwards, besides the people with Quirk's, that we found a clue." Pleione began to explain.

"There was something missing that used to always be there?" Nezu looked at his screen stumped. "Was there some sort of electromagnetic signal? Or maybe a radio wave of some kind? No, that couldn't be right…"

After Nezu mumbled over the quandary for a few moments, Pleione eventually cut in. "I'll save you some trouble. Tell me Nezu, how much do you know about Q-Fields?"

"Q-Fields? I know plenty about the focus of your doctorate. It was originally nothing more than a far-fetched theory back during the Dawn of Quirks to try and explain away the weirdness in the world then. How did these weird powers allow the body to do seemingly impossible things like create any matter from body fat, or create mutations based on purely human creations like pencils. The nigh-conspiratorial idea that there was some other dimension that those with a Quirk Factor unconsciously tapped into to manipulate their powers." Nezu began to explain with encyclopedic knowledge. "It wasn't until your dissertation that an actual discovery was made in the field."

"That's right. And do you remember what exactly that discovery was?" Pleione said, seemingly quite happy to be discussing her own field of research.

"You managed to discover a way to observe and measure the level of a quirk factor in someone. By being able to place a numerical scale to the 'strength' of Quirk, you were able to go on to definitively prove that Quirks were increasing in strength through the generations. It also allowed for the eventual development of other technology like the Quirk-Suppressant cuffs." Nezu took a moment to sip his tea before continuing. "Through a great amount of effort, you created a device that observed that those with Quirks gave off a previously unknown kind of 'frequency', so to put it. This frequency of unknown energy increased with Quirk use of any kind but was mysteriously absent in those that were Quirkless. It was the first definitive proof that Quirks were connected to a previously unseeable force, which was quickly dubbed the true Q-Field."

Nezu was never able to figure out the specifics of what this device was, however. Any mention of it was heavily redacted by the I-Island Board, and all the public seemed to need to know was that it existed. It was also likely why such a creation didn't exist anywhere else in the world. It would prove amazing for testing Quirklessness, or possibly even discovering how one's Quirk is supposed to operate. Yet it had been forever kept under lock and key, only letting certain scientists gather data from the device in order to further specific research.

"That is the broad strokes, yes. Not that I mean to dismiss your intelligence, but a lot of the specifics are likely beyond someone even of your mind without decades of study. Or security clearance." Pleione said, admitting Nezu's suspicions.

"Oh, I take no offense!" Nezu assured her. "I may love to act like I know everything, I'll admit that the world is too vast for me to understand in its entirety… for now. So, how does your research factor into the Rapture?"

"That comes down to the nature of the device I used to observe Quirk Factor. It naturally picks up the 'frequency' of those nearby to the device, usually only those a few yards away. In order to measure a specific person's level, I had to develop another device that 'tunes' itself to the person hooked up to it and isolates their readings from the surrounding people with Quirks. While this was never brought up in the released papers, our tests discovered… something." Pleione said with a tone that sent a shiver down Nezu's tiny spine. "While testing, we tried to discover what the exact range of its detection was. We removed everyone but a single person with a Quirk for a good distance, and simply had him walk back. Eventually he disappeared from the readings… but a single frequency still remained. We ran numerous tests afterward. Leaving it in the middle of the ocean, locking it in the most secure vault we could find, away from all human contact. Yet the frequency never dropped for a second, no matter where we brought it. In the end we figured it a fault of the device, and my tuner was programmed to factor it out of future readings."

Taking the final sip of his coffee, Nezu looked at her in realization. "The reading is gone now, isn't it."

"It is." Pleione revealed. "Even if the tuner factors it out, everything recorded from the original device is meticulously tracked. The very instance everyone disappeared, there was a spike higher than our devices could display, and then it finally ceased."

"That's it then! You found the source of the Rapture!" Nezu said in excitement, before suddenly realizing an important fact. "Wait a minute. If your device picked that up, then-"

"That's right." Pleione nodded, knowing where his mind went to immediately. "Whatever had caused this was likely a Quirk. One that has been continuously in effect across the entire planet ever since…"

Mrs. Pleione was suspiciously quiet, and Nezu realized that she nearly let something slip that she likely wasn't allowed to. He looked at her, trying to discover what she was hiding. "Pleione, how long has this device been recording this signature?"

"That's…" Pleione clearly wanted to say classified, but eventually let out a sigh in defeat. "Oh, who's going to stop me. The device has been recording this signature ever since I-Island discovered it."

Nezu's ears twitched in surprise. Found it? Was it not created by I-Island then? Or at least not given over to them willingly? That would certainly explain their hesitance in showing it to the public. But if an outside scientist or government created it, surely, they would have also revealed their own version of the device by now. There was one question that he could think of that might narrow down possible suspects. "And when exactly did I-Island discover this device?"

"… At the same time as the Dawn of Quirks."

"Izuku… Izuku… Izuku!"

"Huh?" Izuku suddenly snapped back to reality, glancing around at his surroundings from the position on his back. He could see Melissa and Eri staring down at him slightly worried. The three tutor-bots stood at the edge of the track silently. "Is something wrong, Melissa?"

"You've been doing sit-ups with this blank look on your face. Are you feeling all right? You've been zoning out all morning." Melissa stated as she brought a hand to pull him up.

"I'm fine, really-" Izuku stated, but winced as he was pulled up. "Well, my muscles are a bit sore, but it's nothing too bad." He tried to assure her that he was fine. And he was, honestly. But he kept getting flashes of weird memories that made no sense throughout the day, and his Quirk kept pulsing through his body randomly. But it was no big deal. He was still getting used to One for All. It was probably just some late growing pains. "Anyways, what's the next exercise?"

"The next set is… 100 Squats!" The robot holding a picture of his face said through its speaker cheerfully.

"A hundred?!" Melissa stared at the robot in horror. "Izuku, you really don't have to go that far if you're not feeling okay."

"I told you, I'm fine. Besides, that's nothing compared to the routine I had for the Entrance Exam." Izuku said confidently, beginning the process of repeatedly squatting down with barely a second thought. The robot in the background began counting up with each motion.

"Y-You can do it Izuku!" Eri cheered, before attempting to mimic him. As she attempted to form a proper squat, Melissa looked over Izuku with a shrewd eye.

"I'm fine!" Izuku couldn't help but say as the woman looked her over.

"Oh really? Then why did you break your alarm clock again?" Melissa asked unimpressed.

Izuku winced as another wave of One for All suddenly shot through him down to his legs, but he tried to keep a straight face as he continued the motions. "Uh, force of habit?" Melissa squinted even further at him, and he eventually sighed. "Okay, fine! I accidentally used my Quirk on it when I woke up."

"You did? Is your arm okay?" Melissa immediately asked, moving to get a look at them, but a quick wave showed no damage.

"Yes, they're fine. I didn't use much more then I can currently handle." Izuku explained, as he shut his eyes nervously and sped up his squats. "I just had a weird dream and woke up in a start is all, honest!"

"Umm…"

"Well, also my Quirk has been acting up a bit, but that's probably growing pains now that I'm using it, right?" He continued rambling as his squats continued.

"Izuku, y-your legs…"

"And I know I should probably tell you, but there's a lot going on, and I didn't want you to worry about something that's perfectly natural and out of your control so…" Peeking an eye open, he saw Melissa and Eri were both staring at him wide-eyed. Ceasing his movements, Izuku stood at full height as he glanced around himself. "What's wrong you two? Is there something wrong with- Gah?!" Looking down at his legs, he was startled to notice what appeared to be wisp-like clouds of energy wrapped around them. "When did those get there?!"

"They just started forming while you were squatting! They kept getting bigger the longer along you exercised. Is that not One for All?" Melissa asked, staring as the energy coiled around his limbs.

"I don't think so?" Izuku said, lifting one leg and shaking it. "When I use One for All there's this constant feeling of power that pumps through me. But this feels like the power has been, I don't know how to explain, stored up?" Izuku put a hand to his chin. "It seems to be an ability to store up kinetic energy by doing repeated movements, if what you said about me squatting is true. But such a feature of the Quirk was never mentioned by All Might, and it's unlikely he forgot to mention it."

"Maybe it's your original Quirk?" Melissa guessed.

"Then I likely would have noticed it during my training regimen to receive One for All. Besides, if that was true then I wouldn't be here due to the Rapture." Izuku pointed out.

"I think we should be more worried about how much energy you have stored up there." Melissa said, looking down at his legs with worry. "If those wisps really absorbed energy, then you basically have two bombs strapped to your leg. Maybe we should figure out a way to disperse it safely before your legs snap from sudden force."

"I… didn't think about that part yet." Izuku admitted, his face paling. "Eri, why don't you and Melissa stand back a bit while I figure something out."

"Maybe we should wait for Nezu to return?" Melissa suggested as she led Eri away to the other end of the field.

"He's in the middle of an important meeting. I don't want to interrupt him from whatever important business he has." Izuku explained as he stretched his legs experimentally. "Besides, this is my Quirk now. I need to take some responsibility on training it for myself."

After the two girls reached an appropriate distance, Izuku closed his eyes and tried to feel the stored-up energy within his legs. He imagined reaching in himself like when he had first activated Full Cowling (the name he had chosen for spreading One for All throughout his body evenly), and he eventually 'grabbed' onto the energy being stored. He let out a breath and took up a stance.

"SMASH!" Izuku shouted out as he swung his right foot out in a kick, releasing his hold on the stored energy within it at the same time. As the wisps vanished, an explosive burst of strength was released through the swing and a great gust of wind shot forward. Izuku let out a grin as the force of the blow continued travelling down the field, but he froze when he noticed that he had let his test attack loose in the direction of the tutor-bots. "Wait, move!"

The robots, clearly not programmed to respond to threats, proceeded to sit there until they were picked up off their wheels by the kick's shockwave. They flew up in the air as they went hurtling back towards the storage room not far behind them. A moment later, there were three separate crashes as each one blasted through the small structure. The walls of the storage room seemed to shake as the force of the kick reached it, and all three children stared in horror as it creaked ominously.

Unfortunately, Nezu chose this exact moment to return from his meeting with Mrs. Pleione. The small mammal turned the corner just in time for three explosions to ring out and the storage room to go up in a marvelous ball of flames. He stared at the great blaze, and then to the three students also staring at the fire in horror. As they finally noticed him, he couldn't help but smirk gleefully.

"So, class. What exactly have we learned here today?"

"So? Can you get them to wake up yet?"

Kagome paused from her reading of the computer monitor to glance at Nine. The man was pacing around the room impatiently, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the childlike behavior.

"I told you, waking them up now would be pointless. They need to be programmed first to respond to our voices like they were for Dr. Ujiko." Kagome explained. "And before you ask, yes, I am working on it."

"Good. The sooner we have control over these forces, the sooner I can become king." Nine said happily. "That reminds me, have you considered which one you want?"

"Which… what?" Kagome turned around in confusion.

"Which Quirk you want, of course!" Nine said, gesturing around him to the rows of Nomu and artificially preserved Quirks. "That was the deal, wasn't it? You help me with my army, and I'll finally give you what you want. Though I can understand being indecisive. It's not everyday you get the chance to have any Quirk you want."

"And why can't I just get more than one from you?" Kagome asked in a huff.

"I thought an expert such as you would know the dangers of having more than one Quirk." Nine looked at her impatiently. "The overload would likely leave you as brain-dead as the mindless puppets you are working on. Only someone with my Quirk can have multiple, and I still have limitations. So, what will it be? Super Strength? Fire Breath? You said that the good Doctor had a longevity Quirk, so why not take one of those?"

"Just… let me think about it, okay?!" Kagome eventually said, turning back to the computer. She was truly unsure on what to pick. This was what she wanted for her entire life, but now that the choice was here, she just couldn't choose.

She wanted them all.

If only she could also have All for One. Then it wouldn't have been a problem at all. If only she could figure out how the Doctors replication worked, then she could simply copy the version Nine had. Even a copy of a copy would still allow her to trade Quirks at will, no matter how small the holding limit was. She just needed to find the time to look through the files without her new partner and crime breathing down her back.

"There!" With the flick of a couple more buttons, she twirled around in her chair victoriously. "This should set up the system to allow new voices to be downloaded to them. I was only able to link it to the 'lower Nomu', as they are called though. Seems the Doctor locked up access to the bigger ones behind biometrics, which we can't exactly get right now."

"That's fine. They should be more than enough for now. It'll soon be time to begin the next phase of the plan." Nine said happily, running a hand along one of the tubes containing the abominations.

"There's a plan?" Kagome couldn't help but say in surprise, putting her hands up placatively when Nine glared at her. "You just haven't mentioned much. I mean, you want to be king of the world or something, right? Can't you already do that."

"No. I want more than to simply lord over others. I want to change the world, this one where the weak can rule the strong. Where those with powers that put them above others are stepped on and used for gain of the conniving and cowardly. But even after getting All for One, my goal seemed insurmountable. With the Rapture, an opportunity of a lifetime has arisen." Nine looked down at his hands, balling them into fists. "This broken system was perpetuated by the government, and the strong they had manipulated to serve them. Those Heroes. With all of them gone, all that remain are the old and obsolete, and the next generation…"

"So, since you have the power, you should be allowed to rule over others. I don't mean to assume, but you wouldn't happen to be a fan of the book, Meta Liberation War?" Kagome asked, recognizing his ideology instantly. It seemed to be the only peace of literature that people from her hometown of Deika City talked about. Well, before they ran her out of town, that is. The autobiography seemed to be spreading like wildfire these days, with people carrying it around like a bible, and even a Quirkless nobody couldn't help but check it out. "I wasn't very impressed with it. Seemed like an excuse for anarchy to me."

"You must have read the newer editions. I swear, they're trying to sound more and more like a cult with each reprint. I'm no Liberationist, or whatever those people call themselves these days. I merely agree with Destro's original goal of destroying the status quo. Of living in a world free from restrictions of the scared and ignorant." Nine ranted, beginning his pacing of the room again. "And those that remain after the Rapture would do their best to implement that same system again. They'll round up the children who are soon to awaken their powers and manipulate them into following the old ways. But with so few of the old guard, all I need is these Nomu to deal with them and show those children the way the new world will work!"

"I see…" Kagome nodded along, trying to keep a straight face. She really knew how to pick her evil supervillains. From unknowingly helping a mad scientist to conspiring with a superpowered extreme Darwinist. That said, is plan wasn't too terrible. She pushed her wheeled chair over to a different computer terminal that was connected to the hospital above, pressing a few buttons. "It looks like you're not far off. It seems there is a general announcement for all hospitals to report any children so they can be rounded up and brought to U.A. in about a week."

"U.A.? If the children enter there, then we would be hard pressed to retrieve them. Looks like we really will be moving soon. Make sure you prep as many Nomu as you-" Nine froze as an alarm began to blare from the computer Kagome was sitting in front of, a red light flashing ominously. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Kagome began frantically looking through the computer for the source of the disturbance. Pressing one of the flashing notifications, a window popped up showing a camera feed from the pharmacy. Through the feed, a skinny man with a mohawk and another person in a hoodie dragged a heavily muscled man with a great bruise on his chest behind the counter, before they shattered the glass and began pilfering supplies. Their outfits couldn't scream 'Gang Members' any louder. "Oh, it's just some looters. They probably picked a fight with some other group. We should just ignore them. We've got more than enough supplies down here."

"No."

"No?" Kagome looked back at Nine questioningly.

"They look like the kind of people who wish for more power." Nine said with a sly smile. "And I could always use a few more minions."

Next Chapter: New Private Tutors