Deep below Abydos, in a dusty chamber forgotten to time, the interlopers from Gehenna were hiding from their android assailants and their sadistic overlord.

Kayoko was using Haruka's phone to make an urgent call.

"Where are you?"

"Um... I'm deep in the downtown area right now. I'm pretty lost, so I don't think I can make it to the school that quickly!"

"You're not actually in Abydos, are you?"

"...Nope."

"...Fine. Tell Hina I said, 'Go fuck yourself,' for me, okay?"

"...Will do!"

Kayoko hung up the phone, handed it back to Haruka, then scowled.

Haruka furrowed her brows.

"So, does that mean she's not coming?"

"No. Honestly, that girl pisses me off sometimes. She always does this crap."

Haruka looked down at the floor, slightly dejected.

"Oh."

Kayoko walked back to Aru, who was laying on her front side, arms behind her facing up towards the ceiling. Kayoko kneeled down and resumed picking the locks on Aru's arms.

Haruka, meanwhile, stood vigilant against the only entrance to the dark room they were currently hiding in.

This continued on for a minute before Kayoko broke the silence.

"Got it."

She held up Aru's handcuffs, which were notably no longer cuffed to Aru's hands. Kayoko put the cuffs into her bag, just in case.

"That's that. Hey, Aru, wake up."

Aru laid on the ground, still as a rock.

"Aru!"

Still no response. Kayoko flipped her onto her back and started shaking her.

"Wake up!"

Aru's halo materialized over her head, but disappeared just as quickly.

"Nooo," she whispered.

Kayoko bought her hand up, opened it, and swung it across Aru's face.

"OW!"

Aru's halo now popped up in all of its glory, indicating that she was wide awake.

"Ow! Where- where am I? Kayoko? Ow. Man, I'm sore all over."

Kayoko clicked her tongue.

"Yeah, well, we're in some deep shit right now. We're still in Abydos by the way, and Hoshino's coming for us."

"Huh!?"

Aru quickly stood up.

"We're still in Abydos? I thought- I thought that was just a bad dream!"

"Reality check. We're still fucked. We fell in some hole after you got knocked out and now we have no idea where we are."

"Ugh. That is quite the pickle."

Aru covered her eyes with her hand and started gathering her thoughts.

"Okay, you said you don't know where we are? Were we followed?"

Kayoko shook her head.

"For the time being, we seem to be safe. But sometimes a straggler robot drops in from the ceiling. We've taken out two so far."

Aru walked over to her rifle and picked it up.

"Well, let's prioritize our problems. Priority #1 is making sure we don't die. We seem to be-"

Aru looked at her surroundings. Then back down at the ground when she didn't see anything because it's nearly completely dark.

"-We seem to be doing okay on that front. Priority #2 is figuring out how to get out of this hole. Priority #3 is getting away from Hoshino and out of Abydos. And then after that we have to deal with Hina. That's to say nothing of our finances and grades. But I'd rather focus on one issue at a time."

Kayoko cocked her pistol.

"Sounds good to me. If you're feeling okay, we can start exploring."

"I've a little headache, but we can go."

Kayoko nodded.

"Okay. Haruka, you take point. Aru, you go in the center, and I'll light the way with my phone from the back."

The three of them agreed and walked out of the room and into the unknown.

The dim light from Kayoko's phone flashlight bounced around the next room, illuminating a bigger room than the one they were taking shelter in. There was just as much sand and dust covering everything.

"This place sure is creepy," Haruka said.

"Sure is," Kayoko replied. The three girls kept walking forward, making extra sure to look at the ground in front of them with the little light they got from Kayoko's flashlight. Soon enough, they made it to the other side of the chamber where they encountered a door.

Haruka tried pushing it open, but it didn't budge.

"It's locked."

Haruka noticed a monitor embedded into the wall and walked over to it.

"There's something here. A computer, it looks like. Maybe it controls the door?"

Haruka waved her hand in front of the monitor then gasped when the screen flickered.

"It turned on!"

Aru and Kayoko walked right up to Haruka to observe the computer. A calm and soothing, yet unmistakably robotic female voice came out of speakers next to the monitor while it was printing text to its screen.

"WELCOME. I AM SPHINX, THE GUIDE TO THE ABYDOS DUNGEON. IF YOU ARE SEEING THIS SCREEN, YOU HAVE FALLEN INTO THIS TRAP AND ARE NOW STUCK. IF YOU ARE AN ADMINISTRATOR OR CONSTRUCTION WORKER, AND THIS WAS A MISTAKE, PLEASE ENTER THE PASSWORD ON THE NEXT SCREEN TO RECEIVE A LIFT OUT OF HERE."

The computer's monitor changed to display a simple screen with an input box and the text, 'Enter password,' over it.

"The heck?" Aru shouted. "Password? What password? We don't know a password. Do you know a password?"

Kayoko shook her head. "No idea what it could be."

"We could try something simple," Haruka suggested. "Like '1234' or 'password.'"

Aru groaned.

"It's not like we have any clues to go off of... Wait, the rooms! We haven't explored the rest of this place for a hint, have we?"

"Huh? Uh, no, we haven't," Kayoko said.

"Well, let's go! It'll be just like a treasure hunt!"

"What?"

Aru's eyes glowed and her smile exploded.

"We're in a dungeon! What screams hidden treasure more than that? Come on! We have to find a way to get through this door anyways, right? So let's go exploring!"

Kayoko sighed, but couldn't help herself from grinning at Aru's enthusiasm.

"Sure."

"Come on Haruka! Let's go look around."

Haruka nodded and smiled.

"It'll be fun!"

The three girls then started circling around the room with their flashlights out, looking for any sort of clue that woud help them out. They took close looks at the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

"Did you find anything?" Aru asked.

"No, just sand. Lots of it. But we did just walk back to where we came from," Kayoko answered. "Oh, and don't trip over the robot," Kayoko said to Aru.

It was too late for Aru to process that warning though, and she stubbed her foot against a chunk of metal and fell over.

"Oof! You should have said something sooner! It's dark in here!"

"Yeah, I guess. That's one of the robots we blew up while you were out, by the way."

Aru looked back at the piece of metal she tripped over up close. There were bullets embedded in its side, signifying a duel with Haruka and Kayoko. But what stood out to her was a huge logo plastered on its top.

"What's this?"

Aru picked up the robot and held it close to her eyes so she could take a closer look at it.

"It's got a picture of a science flask on it."

Aru turned it around and showed it to Kayoko.

"Yeah," she responded, taking a good look at it. "That's kind of weird, right? Don't know what it could mean. But come on, we have to go."

"Yeah, I know."

Kayoko grabbed Aru's arm and helped her to her feet. Aru shone her flashlight all around the room.

"I have to say, nothing in this room is giving me much hope, though. There really isn't much to go off of here. Just sand everywhere."

"Wanna just say the password is 'password?'"

Aru didn't immediately respond, as she seriously mulled it over. She then decided, "Yes. Not much else we can go off of."

The three of them walked back to the terminal after giving the room one more glance over.

The monitor still displayed the screen that said 'Enter Password'. Aru spoke to it.

"The password is 'password'."

Sphinx responded with, "YOUR GIVEN PASSWORD IS: 'PASSWORD'. ARE YOU SURE?"

"Huh?"

Aru grimaced at the computer.

"Well, when you say it like that, now I'm having second thoughts."

Aru looked back at Haruka and Kayoko.

"Do you have any better suggestions?"

Kayoko looked up at the ceiling and responded, "No."

Haruka said, "What if it's like a riddle? The computer called itself Sphinx, and sphinxes like giving riddles, so maybe the password is something related to Abydos?"

Aru rubbed the top of her head.

"Abydos huh? Do you two know anything about Abydos?"

"What, like it's a school in Kivotos and there are five students enrolled? I mean six," Kayoko responded.

"I meant a little older than that. Something tells me our friends don't know that much about this thing either."

"Well, I know they used to be super rich before everyone left because of the sand, but not much else."

"Sand huh?"

Aru paced back and forth.

"No, I don't think it would be related to sand. Who knows how old this thing is?"

Haruka shuffled in place.

"Wh-what about that oasis Kayoko was talking about?"

Aru raised her eyebrows.

"Oasis? Oh, you mean from that story?"

Kayoko nodded her head.

"That oasis is a real place. We could go off of that."

"Oasis," Aru said. She lowered her head in thought. "I like it."

Turning to Sphinx, she revised her answer.

"Actually, I'd like to change my password to 'oasis'."

Sphinx erased the text on the monitor, then printed back the message, "YOUR GIVEN PASSWORD IS: 'OASIS'. ARE YOU SURE?" onto the screen.

Aru said, "Yes."

Sphinx cleared the screen then said, "INCORRECT PASSWORD GIVEN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN."

"Drat. I knew it wouldn't be that easy."

Kayoko walked up right behind Aru.

"Try 'the Great Abydos Oasis'."

"YOUR GIVEN PASSWORD IS 'THE GREAT ABYDOS OASIS'. ARE YOU SURE?"

Aru answered with, "Yes."

"INCORRECT PASSWORD GIVEN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN."

"This isn't working," Kayoko said.

Aru focused her thoughts. "Maybe it has something to do with those robots we've been fighting? This looks pretty high tech. I mean, it's clearly an AI. Or at least a computer program."

"Maybe it's related to that symbol on the robot we blew up," Haruka said.

"The flask..." Kayoko said. She rested her chin on her fist and closed her eyes. "Actually, I think I've seen it before. But where?"

Aru raised one eyebrow at her.

"Really? But it's just a normal science thing. It can't be that special."

"No, I've definitely seen that specific design before."

Haruka tilted her head and looked at the ceiling.

"Well, when it comes to science, I think of Millennium."

Kayoko looked at Haruka then down at the floor.

"Millennium... Millennium... Is that their logo?"

Aru closed one eye to think about it.

"No, I think their logo is more of a stylized 'M' than a flask."

"Oh right."

Kayoko started tapping her pistol out of agitation.

"I could have swore it was Millennium's... But if it isn't then..."

Kayoko turned to Aru with her eyes open and lightbulbs in her head.

"Oh! I got it! It's Seminar's logo! That's the student council of Millennium."

Aru scrunched up her eyes.

"Seminar? You're sure?"

"Positive. I remember making fun of it for being boring."

"Okay, I trust you. Still, what is that doing in Abydos?"

The group thought about that question for a few moments, but nobody spoke up.

Aru turned back towards Sphinx and said, "I'll change the password to 'Seminar'."

"YOUR GIVEN PASSWORD IS 'SEMINAR'. ARE YOU SURE?"

Aru looked back at Haruka and Kayoko, who both nodded in approval. Aru turned back and said, "Yes, I am."

Sphinx wiped the screen and said, "INCORRECT PASSWORD GIVEN. YOU HAVE TWO ATTEMPTS LEFT."

Aru balled up her fist.

"Why you! I swear, if the password actually is 'password...'"

Sphinx then asked the group, "WOULD YOU LIKE A HINT?"

Aru's eyes widened.

"Hint? Yes! Yes, we want a hint!"

The monitor froze for a second before being cleared. Sphinx then said, "WHAT IS KOFUMI'S FAVORITE FOOD?"

Aru yelled at the screen, "What!? Who the heck's Kofumi!? What kind of hint is this!? Favorite food! Argh!"

Kayoko snarled.

"Guess it really was just a guessing game after all."

Aru looked at Kayoko.

"Do you know who Kofumi is?"

"Beats me."

Aru then faced Haruka.

"Haruka, do you have any ideas?"

Haruka shook her head.

"N-no. Maybe she was a popular student in Abydos a few years ago?"

Aru groaned.

"That doesn't really help us at all. We really do have to just guess."

Aru sighed.

"Okay, Haruka. What's your favorite food?"

"Huh? Um, I really like the ramen Master Shiba gives us."

"Ramen... That's a safe bet, I think."

Aru turned back to Sphinx.

"Ramen."

"YOUR GIVEN PASSWORD IS 'RAMEN'. ARE YOU SURE?"

Aru grimaced.

"I would like to say, 'yes,' even though I'm really not feeling it."

"BZZT. INCORRRECT. YOU HAVE ONE ATTEMPT REMAINING."

Kayoko asked, "Hey, what even happens when we run out of attempts? Normally you'd just get locked out of answering for a few minutes before being allowed to guess again."

Sphinx asked her back, "WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT?"

Kayoko answered, "Well, yeah."

"INCORRECT PASSWORD GIVEN."

"HUH!?" all three girls shouted.

"YOU HAVE RUN OUT OF ATTEMPTS. ENTERING 'TOMB MODE'. ACTIVATING TRAPS. REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN, AND THANK YOU FOR VISITING ABYDOS!"

A snap and a crack broke Sphinx's monitor. Kayoko's pistol was drawn and smoking.

"Fucking hell. What a waste of time."

Suddenly the room brightened up as lights on the ceiling filled the darkness with white light.

Kayoko's vision blurred as her eyes struggled to adjust, but she noticed a dark blob rapidly approaching Haruka. Without thinking, she sprinted forward, shouted, "HIT THE DECK!" and tackled Haruka to the ground.

A moment later, a giant axe swung directly over Haruka and Kayoko. Enough wind and noise flew right by Aru to spook her into screaming and throwing herself onto the ground.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?"

"STAY DOWN!" Kayoko barked back.

The ground below them started rumbling, and the floor the girls were lying on started moving towards the walls. A pit in the center of the room formed, revealing spikes dotting the base of a large drop. The temperature in the room went from cool, to warm, then to very very hot. Flames flew out from the walls, threatening to engulf the girls as they drifted closer to the edge.

"Waaah!" Aru started screaming.

"We're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna die..." Haruka chanted.

Kayoko slowly stood up, and looked around.

"Trap room. Of course there's a trap room here."

Kayoko noted that there were giant axes swinging from the ceiling, and the movies she's watched gave her the worst idea she's ever had. She crouched down to Haruka and began shaking her.

"Haruka! Haruka!"

"We're gonna die we're gonna die!"

"Calm down! Calm down damnit!"

Haruka steeled herself and looked Kayoko in the eye.

Kayoko said, "You see those axes? When one gets close, jump and grab on to it."

Kayoko turned towards Aru and yelled, "Aru! Grab one of the axes!"

Aru shuffled to her feet and yelled back.

"Are you crazy!?"

"I'd rather do that than get burned alive!"

An axe swung back towards Kayoko, and she jumped and grabbed the pole. She climbed up the pole to get her feet to rest on the axe blade, then hung on for dear life as it began swinging back the other direction.

"Oh man, I did not think this through," she started complaining.

Haruka looked left and right for the closest axe and found one swinging her direction. The floor inched ever closer to the flames, and the axe started noticeably getting higher off the ground. Haruka nodded to herself and jumped. She barely managed to grip the safe side of the axe blade as it was swinging down, and she flew across the pit in the room with her legs in the air. Once it reached the other side, she used the momentum of the axe to swing her leg onto the other safe side of the axe blade, allowing her to sit down on the axe.

Aru was a lot slower to react than Kayoko and Haruka. She let an axe fly right by her multiple times, yet made no attempt to jump onto it. Aru looked behind and internally screamed. What looked like a tiny flame was now an inferno, waiting to spread onto her body.

Aru did some quick mental calculations and decided that maybe Kayoko was right, and risking failing the jump was a better alternative than definitely getting set on fire. When the axe came swinging back, Aru jumped high enough to clear the axe blade and grip the handle. Just like Haruka, she didn't have enough time to get a foothold, and she swung back crying, dangling over the pit of spikes. At the end of the swing, the axe slowed down just enough for Aru to scramble to get her feet on the blade, giving her enough space to comfortably hyperventilate.

The three girls held on for an additional minute before floor completely disappeared into the walls and the flame throwers were extinguished.

The axes too, started slowing down before coming to a standstill over the center of the room.

Letting out a deep breath, Kayoko said, "Well shit. What now?"

Aru started whining.

"I want to go home!"

"Ugh."

Kayoko looked around the room for any possible hint of safety, but she saw nothing that would be anywhere near comfortable.

Sphinx's robotic voice bellowed through the room.

"OH. YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?"

Aru shouted at nothing in particular.

"Yeah we're still alive! Is that a problem?"

"NO, I THINK MY MASTER MIGHT ACTUALLY BE GLAD TO SEE YOU ALIVE AND WELL."

"Master? Are you talking about Hoshino?"

"CORRECT."

Kayoko yelled at the broken screen monitor.

"That shit you pulled! That was just mean!"

"THE CORRECT ANSWER WAS 'TACOS', BY THE WAY."

"Tacos. How the hell were we supposed to know that!?"

"EVERY ABYDOS STUDENT KNOWS WHO KOFUMI, THE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT, IS. THIS IS AN EASY FILTER TO WEED OUT INTRUDERS."

Kayoko clenched her right fist and shook her arm in front of her.

"S-student council president!? There is no president in Abydos! And that's not Hoshino's name!"

"...THERE IS NO STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT IN ABYDOS. CONFIRMING. CONFIRMED. MY APOLOGIES FOR GIVING YOU INCORRECT INFORMATION. HOSHINO IS NOT THE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT NOR IS SHE KOFUMI. BUT SHE IS THE ONE WHO ACTIVATED ME. I BELIEVE SHE IS LOOKING FOR YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK TO HER?"

Aru yelled, "Yes! Put Hoshino on the speaker right now!"

Static replaced the ambient noise as Sphinx connected a new audio source to the speakers.

"HOSHINO, I HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH YOUR GUESTS."

Hoshino's lazy voice came through the speakers.

"Thanks. Hey Problem Solver, hope you've been having a good day."

Aru yelled out, "No! This is one of the worst days I've ever had!"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Hey listen, I'm gonna stop beating around the bush now. Tell me where to find those bugs you planted and I'll let you out of that room you're in."

"R-really! Okay! Fine! I'll tell you! Just please let us out of this room first!"

"Well, that's a deal then. Okay Sphinx, you can let them go now."

"AFFIRMATIVE. CUTTING THE WIRE NOW."

Haruka's eyes widened.

"What does that mean?"

In an instant, the axe platforms supporting the three girls dropped from under them and they and the axes started plummeting towards the spiked ground. This was, of course, accompanied by screaming.

A second before they were impaled, the axes stopped moving and the girls' downward momentum transformed into stillness.

"Agh, my knees! Fuck!" Kayoko uttered out.

Haruka was gripping the handle of the axe so hard that her knuckles were white.

Aru lost her grip on her axe and her upper body fell over. Her lifeline was her legs crossed around the shaft as she dangled over the spikes, her eyes uncomfortably close to the sharp points. Her head experienced a rush of blood, and her stomach churled. Aru couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't move. That is, until her lunch came out of her mouth and dirtied the almost pristine spikes.

"Uuuuuu..."

Aru coughed to clear her throat then said, "Ack. I want to go home..." She took a deep breath. "You know, this isn't actually the worst I've ever felt. But it's very close."

Sphinx came back online.

"APOLOGIES. I HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED THAT LETTING YOU GO DOES NOT ENTAIL LITERALLY LETTING YOU GO BY CUTTING THE ROPES YOU WERE HANGING ON TO. I HAVE DEPLOYED THE BACKUP ROPES AND WILL NOW ATTEMPT TO BRING YOU BACK UP TO SAFETY. PLEASE HAVE PATIENCE WITH THIS PROCESS."

Hoshino's voice replaced Sphinx's.

"Sorry about that. Sphinx is an old AI that lives in Abydos's computer network. She's really trying her best given her age, you know? She's probably older than your good ol' Uncle Hoshino!"

"I DO NOT APPRECIATE THAT ."

"Ah lighten up! That was a joke!"

The three Problem Solver girls were too shocked to say anything back to Hoshino and Sphinx.

They were raised out of the pit and the floor reassembled beneath them. They each stepped off and collapsed onto the ground.

"Okay so…" Hoshino started. "Those bugs, or wires, or whatever you want to call them. Where are they?"

Aru sat up to talk.

"They're- they're in the first three or four classrooms next to the main entrance! We didn't get the chance to put them anywhere else! I swear!"

"Hmph. Now was that so hard? Okay Sphinx, you can open the door now."

"AFFIRMATIVE," Sphinx replied. "OPENING TOMB DOOR."

Haruka said, "Tomb door? This place really is for killing people!"

Hoshino's disembodied voice responded to Haruka. "Eheheh. You can call this place Uncle Hoshino's Tomb if you want, but the people who built this place were pretty hardcore. If you want a history lesson, Abydos actually built its campus down into the ground instead of expanding outwards or upwards like every other school. Why they did that? Who knows. Old Abydos students were crazy. But there's all sorts of wacky stuff you can find down here."

Aru watched as the door slowly opened.

"So that's it? You're really letting us go?"

"Yup. It's a straight shot to the surface through that door. You can leave once you get out. Although I guess that part goes without saying."

Kayoko and Haruka also got to their feet. The three of them slowly started walking to the door.

Once they got through, the door slammed shut behind them, trapping them in darkness yet again. One light then turned on, then one more, and another, and another, until the room revealed itself to be a what looked like a city with a labyrinthian layout and filled with obstacles and traps.

Hoshino then clarified, "Oh, and by straight shot to the surface, I mean you just have to go through this one room. Which is like a maze. And fairly big."

"You said we could leave!" Kayoko shouted.

"I said you could leave when you got out. Which is technically true. You CAN leave when you get out of here."

"Why!?" Aru cried out. "I upheld my end of the deal!"

"And I let you out of that room. The rest of this is just because I'm in a bad mood. Tell you what? I'll make you another deal. Tell me who sent you and I'll turn off all the traps and personally lead you out of here."

Aru grit her teeth.

"Tsk. If there's ONE thing we can't do, it's give up our clients! Strict client confidentiality!"

"Didn't you give up Kaiser pretty easily before? Ah, no matter. We'll see how confidential that really is. Fine. Get through this maze and you can go. I should tell you that this place used to be like an underground city for the old Abydos students, but now it's haunted by the ghosts of all the students who transferred out. How spoooooky."

"Hmph, we survived your little death pit, what's a maze and a couple ghosts gonna do to us?"

"Getting cocky are we? Just a minute ago you were scared out of your minds. I got it on video too."

Aru scoffed.

"I'm angry that you're such a poor sport!"

Hoshino yelled back, "You're angry? How do you think I feel? You walk into our school without permission, start planting bugs all over the place, and break my stuff! I'm- Okay, whatever. The safe word's 'uncle.' Just holler that if you change your minds. I'll see you guys later."

Kayoko said, "Well that's certainly ominous."

Turning to Aru, she asked her, "Are you sure that was a good idea? After last time I don't think I can stomach any more of this place."

"Well, at least we have options now. This room is a lot bigger than that last one, so we have space to stand on. Come on, let's go."

Grabbing hold of their guns, they faced the labyrinth ahead of them.

"Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!"

"Why!? This place is even worse than the pit!"

The gang was running away from a rolling stone that was large enough to turn an elephant into pancakes all while being shot at from turrets on the side of the hallway.

"This isn't like a treasure hunt at all!" Aru complained.

"To the side!" Kayoko pointed at a small groove in the side of the pathway they could take shelter in.

The three girls dived together into the crevice. Moments later, the boulder passed them by. This gave them an opportunity to catch their breaths.

Panting, Haruka said, "I think this is… just like… treasure hunts… in movies… Haaaaah."

Aru replied, "The only treasure… we'll get… at the end is seeing outside."

Hoshino's voice echoed all throughout the narrow pathway they were on.

"Having second thoughts? I'm right here, you know?"

"Give… us a moment…" Aru said back.

"You'll have one."

A moment later, a loud explosion shattered the building in front of them. Through the dust, a juggernaut wearing heavy body armor stepped forward. Hoshino's pink halo hovered above the humanoid body.

"Time's up," Hoshino said, her voice no longer going through the speakers dotted throughout the school, but muffled by the full-coverage helmet she wore.

She raised her weapon: a revolving grenade launcher, and lobbed an explosive at the group.

The girls scrambled away from each other, but couldn't move fast enough to escape getting hit by the blast.

Hoshino aimed her weapon at Kayoko, deciding it was a good idea to focus on disabling her first. Kayoko tried to get back up on her feet, but a second shell came her way, blasting her away.

In that brief moment, Aru aimed her sniper rifle at Hoshino's head and fired. The bullet bounced right off. Hoshino's faceless mask then turned towards Aru and prepared to launch another shell. Before she could pull the trigger, a large force hit the weapon, knocking it out of her hands.

Haruka stepped forward with her shotgun (actually Hoshino's shotgun) and pumped.

Hoshino stomped. And stomped. And stomped. Right towards Haruka.

Haruka fired another blast at Hoshino, but it did nothing to slow her down.

Haruka stared at her reflection in Hoshino's visor and made no attempt to move back. Weights fell on her feet, and a bead of sweat fell down the back of her neck.

Hoshino grabbed her shotgun by the barrel and yanked it out of Haruka's hands. She raised her other arm behind her back, then sent it forward.

Haruka flew into the building behind her and bounced off the ground to make it through the next wall over before skidding to a halt.

Hoshino calmly walked over to her resting position and produced a pair of handcuffs from her belt. She grabbed Haruka's arms and cuffed them behind her.

"Now be a good girl and stay here while I get your friends too," Hoshino said. She walked back out of the building and into the road where she looked around. To her surprise, she didn't see Aru or Kayoko.

"Hah. Didn't want it to be too easy anyways."

A swarm of flying drones and androids converged on Hoshino's position.

"Sphinx, can you find the other two and bring Haruka up to the club room?"

"YES, CAN DO," Sphinx said through a speaker on one of the androids. The drones flew up and spread out over the labyrinth while the androids started running through the abandoned buildings.

Hoshino walked down the road towards a crossroads and picked a direction to go at random. She didn't have a plan to find the other two Problem Solvers currently in Abydos other than wait for a signal of some kind from Sphinx.

Hoshino didn't have to wait long, for gunshots were loud and echoed all throughout the large indoor city. Hearing the sound of a skirmish, Hoshino picked up her pace to a comfortable jog, but no faster due to all the weight she was carrying.

Hoshino finally arrived at a plaza to the scene of multiple drones and androids broken.

A drone hovered right in front of Hoshino.

"TARGETS LOCATED."

"Yeah, I think I know where they are too."

All of a sudden, Hoshino felt a large force impact her helmet, knocking her back just enough to take one tiny step back.

"Die, you witch!" Aru's voice echoed throughout the plaza.

Hoshino looked in the direction of the voice and found Aru and Kayoko ascending a large staircase. Aru gave Hoshino a mocking salute.

"You'll never catch Problem Solver 68! Except for Haruka, but we'll be back for her! Ahahaha!"

The two of them proceeded to run up the staircase.

Hoshino clenched her fists.

"Sphinx! Give me a boost! Send me straight up through the floor!"

"WE ARE IMMEDIATELY BELOW THE STUDENT COUNCIL ROOM. FLYING STRAIGHT THROUGH THE CEILING WILL DAMAGE IT. ARE YOU SURE?"

"Just do it."

Two drones flew next to Hoshino, allowing her to grab them.

"Okay. Boost me up on three. Three. Two- WAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The thrusters on the drones activated, immediately sending Hoshino flying straight up and towards the ceiling.

"OH CRAP!"

Hoshino collided with the ceiling, where she lost her grip on the drones. She careened off course, ending up on the floor of the student council room.

"Damnit, Sphinx."

Hoshino pushed herself off the floor, grabbed her shotgun, then sprinted out of the room. She quickly ran to the main entrance, where the main staircase was located. She walked right outside a door underneath the stairway and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Hoshino heard footsteps coming from the other side of the door and readied her shotgun. The footsteps came closer until they were right next to the door. The door handle moved, and the door opened, revealing Aru and Kayoko, who were on their knees and panting heavily.

Aru and Kayoko looked up and saw a giant standing over them.

"Why!?" Aru exclaimed.

Hoshino kicked Aru, and she spiraled down the stairs.

Kayoko scrambled to unholster her pistol, but Hoshino was faster in getting a shot off, and Kayoko was knocked onto the wall.

Hoshino turned Kayoko over and cuffed her arms. She pressed a button on her helmet and started speaking.

"Sphinx, I got one more. Put her right by the main exit."

Hoshino took Kayoko's pistol and looked down the stairs. She descended the stairs until she found Aru laying on a large platform that breaked the staircase up. She was groaning in pain, but frankly, Hoshino didn't care at this point. She produced another pair of handcuffs and cuffed Aru.

Hoshino's helmet lay on a bench surrounding the lockers of the Abydos lobby.

Hoshino herself was pacing back and forth in the lobby, still kitted out in her body armor, and surrounded by drones and androids.

A drone flew in from one of the hallways carrying two small objects. Hoshino picked them up and examined it.

"THAT WAS THE LAST ONE," Sphinx said through that drone. "I ALSO RECOVERED THIS UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT."

"Excellent work," Hoshino said with a smile on her face. She patted the flying drone just like Sensei would pat her own head. "You can enter standby mode now. Wanna save on energy after all."

"AS YOU WISH."

The androids and drone swarm behind Hoshino dispersed and went off in separate directions.

The Problem Solver 68 girls gave each other confused looks and uncomfortably shuffled in place from their cross-legged sitting position on the ground.

Hoshino looked back at them and sighed.

"Come on guys. I'm not mad, well, not anymore. Just disappointed."

None of the girls could look Hoshino in the eye.

Hoshino raised up a listening device in one of her hands, "And why do these wires have the Gehenna logo on them? That's a little on the nose, don't you think? You steal these from them or something?"

"That's what I said," Kayoko muttered out.

On her other hand, Hoshino held up a large block of something duct taped together and attached to a flip phone via wires.

"And mind explaining what this is?"

Haruka looked at it and gasped.

"That's- That's a bomb. I planted it."

"H-Haruka!?" Aru looked at Haruka with panic in her eyes. She turned back to Hoshino and started rambling. "P-please don't do anything to us! We didn't have to plant explosives here! I don't know why Haruka would do that! Apologize now! We're sorry!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Haruka said, bowing her head repeatedly.

Hoshino crouched down and gently put the explosive on the ground, then stood back up and did a double face palm.

"Ugh. Why would you do something so stupid? Are you trying to kill us?" Hoshino lowered her hands and stared Haruka down. "I was considering keeping this little debacle a secret from my classmates. I'm sure you had your reasons. But this is going a step too far."

Haruka shuffled to her knees and tried to prostrate herself.

"I'm sorry! Please don't do anything to Aru and Kayoko! That was my idea. and nobody else's! If you have to punish anyone, punish me!"

Haruka's voice started quivering.

"I'll show you where I hid the other ones, just please! Please! Don't hurt my friends!"

Haruka's sobs echoed throughout the hallways.

Aru and Kayoko struggled to watch their friend break down right in front of them.

Hoshino grabbed her shotgun and rested it behind her shoulder.

"Fine. Get up. I'll figure out what to do with you later."

Haruka slowly got up, and "accidentally" kicked Aru in the leg. Aru looked up at Haruka's face and saw that Haruka looked strangely determined. Haruka shook her head in one direction, and Aru's gaze followed it. It landed on Haruka's bag, sitting nicely in the corner.

Use every trick I can! That's what Mutsuki would want me to do!

Haruka started slowly walking, with Hoshino following her. Hoshino looked back at Aru and Kayoko, then focused on Haruka and her frankly glacial pace and continued walking with her. Haruka walked into a classroom, and Hoshino promptly followed.

Aru bumped into Kayoko.

"Unlock my handcuffs. Quickly! I think Haruka has a plan."

"Oh boy. When Haruka comes up with a plan… Okay. Reach into my hoodie pocket."

Aru nodded and turned around. She lifted her arms behind her and tried to reach into Kayoko's pocket. To her surprise, she got it right on the first attempt and fished around for Kayoko's lockpicking set. She grabbed it and held it out behind her.

Kayoko also turned around to grab the lockpicking set and grabbed them. She expertly fiddled around with them until they were in an ergonomic position. She inserted the picks into Aru's cuffs and began her work. Lockpicking from this position was also easy for Kayoko- she's had plenty of experience from her career with Problem Solver 68.

Using her memory from earlier when she picked the lock on Aru's cuffs, Kayoko managed to unlock one of Aru's handcuffs in record time.

"Got it."

With one side unlocked, both of Aru's hands were free, and she sprinted over to Haruka's bag. She opened it and found a rudimentary looking control panel.

"Haruka, you devious little girl."

Aru couldn't decide whether she should be proud or concerned for her friend.

Haruka meanwhile, had nothing but the utmost confidence. Her friends have never let her down before, so why should she doubt them now?

Hoshino stood up from her crawling position.

"Not here either. Are you sure it's under here?"

Haruka bowed her head.

"I'm sorry. It must have been in one of the other rooms. I can't think straight right now. I'm sorry. Um, if it's not under one of these desks, I think I put one of them in one of the room's behind a cabinet."

Hoshino scratched her head, then looked at a cabinet in the corner. She pulled the cabinet over and scowled. She reached over and pulled an improvised explosive off from its duct tape holder.

Hoshino sighed and walked back to Haruka.

"Well, that's one down."

Hoshino looked at Haruka in the eyes and did a double take. She didn't see a broken and desperate girl, but one with calm fury in her eyes.

Haruka shouted out, "ARU! HIT NUMBER TWO! NOW!"

Hoshino's ears were ringing and she coughed up blood. She tried to push herself up, but a large force against her back kept her pinned down. Head splitting pain affected her mind. And that ringing! Oh god, that ringing!

She couldn't see clearly in front of her, but she could see three pairs of legs.

"-you-"

Huh?

"-ino!"

Not like this… Senpai… I tried… I really did…

"Hoshino! Oh god! What do we do?"

Hah. Did you really think I would go down this easily? Senpai, you're too soft…

Hoshino slammed her fist on the ground, grit her teeth, and brought herself to look up at the people in front of her. Blood dripped down the side of her mouth, but she didn't notice. She did immediately notice that the figures in front of her were not her old senpai, but of Aru, Haruka, and Kayoko.

Relief filled Aru's face, and she pumped the air in excitement.

"Yes, she's still-"

Aru cleared her throat.

"Kayoko! Put our foe in those handcuffs she's so fond of."

"Rog."

Kayoko walked over to Hoshino and kneeled down.

"Just lay down and put your arms behind your back."

Hoshino sighed and obliged. Kayoko promptly fastened Abydos-branded handcuffs onto Hoshino.

"Now try to lift that rock and help me pull her out," Aru commanded.

Haruka and Kayoko went on both sides of Hoshino and crouched down, putting their hands underneath the piece of floor keeping Hoshino pinned to the ground. Aru stepped in front of Hoshino and grabbed her by the shoulders. They looked at each other and nodded. Haruka and Kayoko both exerted themselves to lift up the rock. Aru pulled Hoshino out just barely enough so that her feet cleared the rock, when Haruka and Kayoko dropped it.

The three of them sat down after blowing through the rest of their strength for the night. All four girls stared outside at the full moon through the massive hole in the wall that was suddenly there.

Hoshino staggered up to her feet. She took a deep breath and smiled.

"Well, looks like my legs still work. Man, body armor does not protect against falling debris. Hey, you couldn't have at least taken it off first? Before you cuffed me? It's hot in here."

The Problem Solvers stood up to match Hoshino. Aru started laughing.

"Haha! Thank goodness you're fine. I mean- This will teach you not to underestimate Problem Solver 68!

Hoshino sighed.

"Well, thanks for helping me out there. It doesn't really make up for the fact that you blew up half of my school, but still, I appreciate it."

Aru flipped her hair over her shoulder, closed her eyes and smiled.

"Naturally. We don't leave damsels in distress when we could help them out. That's just the Problem Solver way."

Hoshino heard a bell ring in the distance. She then cracked her neck.

"Well, I don't know where Mutsuki is, but it was still a three versus one. That's a little unfair, you know? Let's balance the teams with my own secret number two."

All of a sudden, a drone flew in between Hoshino and the Problem Solvers. A rocket ejected out and flew towards Haruka before blowing up. Kayoko immediately turned outside and drew her pistol, but bullets made contact with her body, and then an entire bicycle. Aru too, noticed the new assailant and her bicycle, but the blurry silhouette she could catch jumped and flipped off before she could get a good look. She quickly turned to find it, but something wrapped around her head, cutting off her vision. She felt something grab her head, and then her body got thrown to the ground, and then-

Aru thought of nothing. Aru felt nothing. Aru saw nothing but the image of a wolf howling against a storm with blue lightning.