In the outskirts of Mitakihara, small van drove across a dusty, empty street, passing by boarded-up stores, a few pedestrians and some rather-empty restaurants on the way to its determined location. The van was rusty, worn, and poorly-maintained, but in it, an array of advanced equipment such as high-tech detectors, guns, and strange, glowing ammunition were stored in metallic crates with locks on them as they sat in the back of the van.

At the front, two men dressed in casual clothing were listening to a few classic bands like Metallica and Queen on the radio as they drove. The driver was an old man that had a permanent, large scar on his chin and a shaved head, while the passenger beside him was a young adult who had a burnt mark on his cheek and long, golden hair. The younger man had his feet on the dashboard as he tipped his cap and looked out the window to eye the occasional passer-by.

"Corporal Kai sounded quite urgent over the phone yesterday. I wonder what was he so worried about?" the driver spoke up as he navigated through the streets he was unfamiliar with, looking at a map of the city layout on his lap. He rubbed his eyes and groaned, "Goddamit. Ken, hand me my reading glasses."

The one named 'Ken' sitting beside him tossed the driver his spectacles as Ken stopped lying back against his seat and took off his cap, "Whatever it is, it better be worth it. I mean - we came all the way out here from Kyoto over what, a phone call from the Kai?" Ken looked back at the crates stacked behind him, hearing the equipment shake inside their crates, "Wasn't easy bringing those out from storage either. I wonder how those the commander expect all of those to work?"

"An order is an order, Ken," his friend replied sharply, "Also, Kai gave us reports that told of the slight possibility of Sanbey - or even a Warlock - appearing in this city. I'm sure that a good reason already to come here."

Ken gave the old driver a look of disbelief and rolled his eyes, "Come on, Hachiko. We all know that the only 3rd Generation Incubator was destroyed when the Warlocks broke out of the mansio-"

"Yes, yes, and all 350 Warlocks were exterminated by us Warlock Hunters," Hachiko finished his line for him and adjusted his glasses, "That's what the reports from the dead Warlock Hunters and our officers said, but it does not instantly make it true; I suggest we keep our guard up as we're in this city. From what I've heard, there have been reports of people disappearing."

"Could be a Witch doing that instead. Those things always cause trouble no matter what," Ken got up and pulled out one of the strange, bleeping detectors from the crates at back to turn it on. It was a small, square device with a simple layout of a city and a few indicators that measured in distance, "Dude, I doubt a Warlock would come out in broad daylight, anyway. They'd fry like a hot dog on a grill. If Sanbey or a Warlock was really here - in this city - alive and all - this Obscurum detector would go haywire right now."

As if he had predicted what was going to happen, the circular device began to beep loudly and emit a high-pitch sound for a moment that made Ken drop the device onto his lap and clasp his ears. The measurement indicators began to display some numbers and a small blip was visible on the device's screen. Hachiko promptly slammed on the brakes and stopped the car in the middle of the road to look at the device's screen. What made the old man shiver, was the fact that the blip was only a couple meters to their right which, headed into a dark alley.

Ken gulped, "You got to be kidding me."

Immediately, Hachiko got out of the van, headed behind and flipped up the back. He pulled out one of the crates in the back and opened it up to change into a set of dirty fatigues and put on damaged set of Kevlar, "Ken, radio the commander," he ordered, tossing the crate inside and taking out another different one that had a different label on it.

Ken hesitantly got out of the van as well and picked up a radio from one of the crates. He switched it on, but only received the sound of crackling static, "Damn it!" he cursed and looked back at the older soldier, "What now?" he said, tossing the radio back in the crate.

Hachiko cleaned the lenses of his glasses with a tissue and placed it back onto the bridge of his nose. He took out a worn rifle from one of the crates and loaded a magazine into the weapon, slamming it in with a satisfying click. He cocked the rifle and turned off the safety. Looking around in this part of the street, there was nobody around to be seen. There was only the sound of the howling wind and other ambient noises that came and go every few seconds.

"Since we can't radio Kai and the others, we've got to do this ourselves."

Ken found another set of fatigues in the crates and began changing into his gear, "I don't know, man, it's just the two of us here. We don't even have any idea on what Warlock is it," he opened another crate and took out a shotgun, some shells and a few grenades. He clipped the grenades to his belt and loaded the shells into the weapon one by one.

"You can stay behind if you want," Hachiko said, stepping towards the alley entrance, "It's only one Warlock, I can handle-"

"Don't go talking like that all of a sudden, Hachiko. If you're intending on doing this alone, then I'm coming along," Ken fixed the straps of his Kelvar and joined the older man, pumping the shotgun in his hands, "If you're so interested in killing this thing, I'm in. My trigger's been itching anyway."

"Hmph, do as you please," Hachiko said with a smile.

Ken looked back at the van and the crates that were inside it. Among the crates, there was a small titanium container with a digital lock on it that only Hachiko knew what the pass-code was. Whatever stored inside seemed to be small, yet, valuable, "What do we do with the van?" Ken asked, closing the van's back doors and making sure it was locked, "We can't just leave it here."

"Activate the beacon in the driver's seat. It should alert the commander of the van's location and should let them where we are," Hachiko ordered before turning his gaze back into the dark alleyway. Catching a helmet that Ken had tossed him, he placed it on his head and clipped the straps together, "In the meantime, let's kill this thing before it can get away."

The two men crept through the tight, dark spaces of the alley, their muddy boots stepping on dust and bits of trash littered on the floor. There was a horrible stench in the air that barely fazed the two and they could hear the sounds of movement echoing through alley. The alley was barely a few meters wide and with their gloved fingers firmly placed on the triggers of their guns, their eyes were fixed onto the detectors attached to their rifles.

The small, square devices emitted a loud beep each second. The small blip on the radar was getting closer and closer as they walked deeper into the alley, the rays of sunlight slowly fading away with each step. Flashlights attached to their barrels of their guns were switched on to light up the path in front of them and the sounds of movement ahead made the two men hold their breath.

"14 meters," Ken counted, his shotgun ready as he stood in front of Hachiko.

"I still don't see anything..."

Feeling his foot stepping on something, Hachiko shined his light at his feet on a trail of strange, glowing liquid beneath his boot. He knelt down and took a whip of it on his finger. Showing it to his partner, he examined the liquid and rubbed it between his fingers, "Isn't this stuff Dycic energy?"

"Only the Artificial Incubators bleed that kind of that stuff. If that's here, then that means..."

"That 3rd Generation Incubator is here as well," Hachiko stood up and continued walking with Ken in front of him. In this sort of darkness and tight space, enemies could come from anywhere and close combat would be dangerous to them. Their guns trained on anything that moves, the only form of close combat weapons the two had were the knives stored in their boots.

"8 meters..."

Hachiko kept his breathing steady, licking his lips and holding the handle of his gun tight.

"5 meters..."

Ken's trigger finger began to shiver as they closed in on their target's location.

"3 meters...!"

The two shined their flashlights up ahead of them and looking ahead, there was nothing there. The alley had stopped at a dead end as they faced a brick wall that stood right in front of them, much to their confusion. They lowered their guns and scratched their heads, "Maybe the detectors are broken?" Ken theorized, giving the device he had a hard tap on the screen, "Piece of crap. I knew these things were broken."

Brushing the wall with his hand, Hachiko thought long and hard. There has to be something here. These equipment weren't working until moments ago. The trail of Dycic energy had stopped here and bits of it could be seen on the wall. Holstering his weapon, a thought then crossed Hachiko's mind as his ears picked up the faint sound of a familiar, dark chuckle. The Warlock detectors weren't broken. No. It meant one thing: the Warlock was right above them.

There was a hellish screeching noise that came from above as the two men instinctively aimed their guns at a shadowy figure descending upon them like a demon from Hell. They pulled back on the trigger and a second before the guns fired, the shadowy figure swiftly kicked the weapons out of their hands. There was an echo of gunfire throughout the alley and Hachiko heard Kevlar crack loudly from the kick delivered into his abdomen.

Grunts of pain came from the two men as they fell to the floor on their backs with bloodied mouths. Their abdomens twisted in pain from the swift blow that had cracked their armor effortlessly and almost in the blink of an eye. With one hand clutching his abdomen, Ken took out his flashlights and widened his eyes when he got a good look at their attacker, "I-It can't be..."

"Impossible..." Hachiko coughed up blood into his hand, "You should be dead...!"

Donning a black suit, a red tie and fedora that was stained by fresh blood, the attacker wore a white mask that covered his face entirely as the figure emitted a sort of black energy from his body. The attacker stared at the two, the edges of the mask's mouthpiece beginning to shape into a twisted smile as the suited figure then cackled in a smooth, ringing voice, "Oh, why, hello there, Hachiko. Ken. Long time no see..."

Ken had gotten up and wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth, breathing heavily as the blow to his stomach left his insides bleeding, "Warlock 006... Clyde..."

Hachiko reached for his pistol that was holstered on his leg, whispering to his friend, "Ken, on my mark, run. I'll keep him distracted while you get to the commander and warn him," he removed the strap that held the pistol in its holster and grabbed the handle of his weapon and saw the disagreeing look Ken had given him, "I said go!" he barked, looking back at the Warlock that proudly stood in front of them, arms crossed, "I thought I blew that smirk off your face years ago, Clyde, along with your head!"

"Ah, right, good times," Clyde sighed, laughing and reminiscing for a moment before the Warlock curled his ebony, long, fingers that looked sharp enough to pierce steel. Cackling to himself, Clyde then took a step towards the two, the twisted smile on his face and his cheerful tone unchanging, "This time, though, it will be me who will be removing your head from your shoulders!"

"I'd like to see you try... Ken, run!" Hachiko whipped out his pistol and fired at the Warlock as Ken broke for the alley entrance on the far side. The bullets hit the Warlock in the chest, but Clyde barely flinched from the impact. Hachiko kept on firing, and Clyde just kept laughing as he just stood there and let the man empty the entire clip into him, "Ken, don't look back! Keep running!"

"Ah, always the self-less one, Hachiko?" Clyde mused, the horrified look on the man's face amusing the Warlock once the pistol's clip had run dry. The bullets he ahd fired were absorbed into Clyde's chest and assimilated in seconds, "My turn," Suddenly, before Hachiko could do anything else, Clyde had dashed towards the man in a second like a flash of lightning. With a powerful right hook, Clyde's fist punched through the cracked Kevlar like paper, ripped into the old man's chest and straight into Hachiko's rib-cage.

The blow had shattered his bones and turned his organs into a fine paste as Clyde crushed the man's heart in his man stuttered, trying to register the pain as shock overcame him. Clyde braced his other fist and cleaved Hachiko's head clean off his shoulders as blood sprayed onto the wall behind him. The severed head fell to the floor and rolled into a corner, the man's expression of horror still present on his face. The body went limp and Clyde pulled his hand out of the man's body before he tossed it aside.

Turning back to Ken who didn't look back as he attempted to escape, Clyde outstretched his arm in Ken's direction and opened his hand. A few holes appeared in his palm and the pistol rounds Clyde had absorbed from Hachiko's desperate attack shot out silently from his hand. The bullets zipped through the air, coated in a black substance, and then struck Ken in the back. The attack had hit spine and left his legs permanently useless as the man fell to the floor.

Screaming in pain, Ken couldn't move his legs anymore, but he still tried to drag his way out of the alley and into the light that was mere inches from him now.

The Warlock calmly strode over to him, tipping his fedora and clicking his tongue, "What's wrong, Ken? What happened to the 'fearless' Warlock Hunters that killed my brothers? What happened to all that boasting, huh?!" Clyde stomped on the man's back and pinned him into the floor with his boot, mocking him, "Goddamn pathetic!" he twisted his foot and Ken screamed in pain from his bones breaking. Then, Clyde grabbed him by the neck and held him up with intentions of gutting him next, "Any last words?"

"Y-Yeah," Ken's reply barely managed to come out of his mouth. Spitting blood onto Clyde's mask to spite him, a cocky grin grew on Ken's face as he then revealed the grenade that was in his hand, "Go to Hell."

The thunderous explosion that followed pushed Clyde meters back into the alley, incinerating his body with hot fire while the pressure wave ripped him apart with thousands of sharp shrapnel digging into his skin. Landing on the floor with a sickening sound, Clyde was now nothing more than a torso with one arm, his limbs strewn everywhere from the explosion and smoke billowing from his body. Clyde's remains were inert, before a dark chuckle escaped the Warlock's mouth as he sighed, "Should've seen that one coming. Clever bastard."

While the grenade managed to do this much damage, this was almost nothing to a Warlock. Balancing himself with his remaining arm, tendrils emitted from his stumps and crawled along the floor to insert themselves into his limbs that were strewn everywhere. Dragging them back to re-attach themselves as his burnt body regenerated, Clyde looked around and saw that he was missing an arm. He looked at the alley entrance and saw that his arm had landed right in the sunlight before burnt into a crisp by the sun's UV rays.

Clyde hissed, his legs reattaching themselves back into his waist, "Hmph, I don't have the time to regenerate a new arm; that would take too long," standing back up, Clyde then prepped his sharp claws and used his only arm to scale up the walls of the building to escape. Surely, the officials would investigate the place after all the noise he had made and Clyde's only goals was to stay hidden and pursue the Artificial Incubator, Sanbey.

That was his only goal, and that was what he was going to do. Clyde had already risked attacking the Puella Magi that Sanbey had been with on that rainy day. While he did find some excellent information from assimilating a bit of her memories, pursuing Sanbey was much more important and besides, once Sanbey was taken care off, he could simply find that girl again, take the rest of her memories, and finish her off. Easy as that. Clyde's ears then picked up the sounds of police sirens in the distance and the Warlock increased his speed in his escape.