Vol 1. Chapter 8 – Gatekeeper of Tuat

"Alright," Ayane called from her position next to the whiteboard, tablet computer in hand. "It's time for our regular Abydos Foreclosure Task Force meeting."

Everyone responded with various affirmations and acknowledgements, along with my own "Very well". Ayane nodded and checked something off on her tablet. "Let's start with the roll call."

Serika sighed as she leaned against the table. "Do we have to? There's only six people here."

"Since Nelson Sensei is in attendance today, I would like for us to have more decorum than usual." Ayane answered with a soft tutting. Serika's faintly muttered "You say that like we didn't take this seriously before" went ignored by everyone as the bespectacled secretary continued. "So, we need to do things properly, which means starting with a roll call. So, president?"

"Hoshino, present~" The pinkette answered with a sleepy wave.

"Good, Treasurer?"

Serika raised her hand with a groan. "Fine. Kuromi Serika, here."

"Field captain?"

"Nn."

Ayane nodded at the abbreviated response, checking off something on the tablet. "That's Shiroko present. With myself as Secretary, that's all the seats present. Regular members?"

"Here!" Nonomi called out with a cheerful wave and smile.

"That's all the regular members." Ayane said as she glanced at me. "And joining us for the first time is the newly appointed Advisor, Nelson Sensei."

"It is my pleasure to attend for the first time." I answered with a smile.

"Everyone's here then, so let's move to our main topic." Ayane pointed at a surreptitiously cleared out section of the white board. "Which is how to settle our school's debt. If anyone would like to share their thoughts, raise your hand!"

"Ooh! Me! Me!" Serika smiled brightly as her hand immediately shot up. When nobody else moved to table a motion, Ayane pointed to the catgirl.

"Yes, Treasurer Kuromi. You have the floor."

Serika's smile twisted into a frown from Ayane's introduction. "Seriously, do we have to do this the entire meeting? I hate it when you do that..."

"Why not? This is our first formal meeting in ages." Ayane answered with a nervous smile as she gave a helpless shrug,

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Hoshino said with a sleepy smile. "It's nice to pull out all the stops once in a while. It's not every day we get to have a meeting with Sensei."

I refrained from pointing out how the tiny president was resting her head on her arms, eyes closed as if she was about to take a nap. It certainly detracted from the formality of the situation.

"This is the only time we've had a meeting with Sensei in attendance, to be precise." Shiroko added.

Nonomi clapped her hands together, beaming. "That's right! It's like we're a proper school club now!"

Everyone else at the table turned to look at me, with a range of expectant expressions. Everyone except Hoshino, she was still lying on the table.

"I will admit, it does lend a bit of decorum to the matters at hand." I finally answered, scratching at my cheek. "It seems it would be appropriate for the formalities, given this will be the first meeting with a Teacher present."

Nonomi and Ayane nodded in agreement, Shiroko smiled, and Hoshino smirked at my vote. Serika looked around, exasperated, before sighing. "Fine, I guess I'm outvoted."

Well, it seemed like the meeting was off to a riotous start. I had to admit that I wasn't quite sure how they were going to pay it off without some drastic measures. I had a few ideas, but nothing reliable. Hopefully, everyone has come up with some ideas in the week on how to tackle this debt.

"Tell me what you have."

Kayoko looked up from where she was kneeling in the wasteland, gazing up at Aru. Her friend looked back down at her with a cool gaze that was almost impressive, were it not for the nervous tapping of her foot that Kayoko could see.

Still… "It's hard to believe this was all from one person." Kayoko admitted as she stood up and looked up at what used to be a parking lot. Now though? It was a ruined battlefield. Even if Abydos had the funds to fix it, she wasn't sure if it was even worth it.

"That's it?" Aru asked. The look on her face and the air about her was cool, collected and annoyed. The increasing speed of her foot's tapping betrayed fraying nerves. "Those weaklings couldn't even give us good intel about this so-called 'monster'."

"No, I've confirmed there was only one person here." Kayoko said as she pulled the evidence from her pocket. A handful of rifle casings in a plastic evidence bag, and a handful of handgun casings in a similar bag. "Those Abydos girls were good at taking most of the usable weapons and the tank wrecks away. But they couldn't get everything."

Aru plucked the bags out of Kayoko's hands, staring at them intently. Her expression said she was deep in thought, but Kayoko could guess that Aru had no idea what she was actually looking at.

"The handgun casings don't match anything in use in Kivotos." She explained, voice even and patient, "And the rifle cartridges aren't in common use."

Aru turned to her, a smug smile settling in on her face before she tossed the bags of casings back to Kayoko. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from a 'monster'. It wouldn't make sense for them to use regular weapons. We'll mark this as a successful reconnaissance job. We need to return to the Captain before she alerts our enemy."

Kayoko nodded silently and fell in behind Aru. She wasn't entirely sure if what they found was useful at all. The handgun cartridges were unique, but they didn't seem functionally unique. And the rifle rounds were rare, but there were still a few users of them. It didn't quite feel like they had found much of anything.

"Say, Section Chief." Aru said as she paused in midstep, looking about. "Where is our employee?"

Kayoko paused, looking around. That was strange, Haruka hadn't been too far away from her when they started.

"Lady Aru!" Haruka's voice called from slightly away, behind a sand dune. "I found something!"

The two of them walked over to where they heard their friend's voice, glancing over the dune to see the gloomy girl digging in the sand. Kayoko could spot the telltale glint of metal and brown wood underneath the sand. As the two of them slid down the hill, Haruka pulled the item out of the sand. The three of them gathered into a circle to look at what she had uncovered.

The item was clearly what was left of a brutalized machine gun. The barrel had warped from the heat of continuous automatic fire, and the shroud was torn open from where a chunk of the barrel had exploded outward. But what stunned them the most was the design. After a moment of stunned silence, Aru finally spoke up. "How did a Gehenna made machine gun end up here?"

While flipping the club room table back upright did help get the piece of heavy furniture back into place; it didn't quite help the fact that Ayane's act of justified violence had also sent the various snacks and refreshments that had been on the table flying. So, without anything else to eat, an executive decision was made to break for lunch.

"I still think my idea made plenty of sense." Hoshino complained as she laid on Shiba Seki's table. "Think of it! We could increase the number of people protecting Abydos and how much money the school earns!"

Ayane sighed as her head sank into her hands again. "Hoshino. Kidnapping students from other schools is a crime. A federal crime."

Hoshino scoffed, waving off Ayane's concerns with a literal wave. "As long as nobody noticed, we'd be fine!"

"Sensei is right there," Ayane replied as she pointed to me. I gave a cheerful wave back. "And in case you forgot, she's the Advisor of the Federal Investigation Club Schale."

Hoshino slowly turned to me, giving me a curious stare, before smiling sleepily and turning her attention back to Ayane. "Yeah, you're right. Sensei would totally snitch."

"It is a part of doing my job, Takanashi."

Hoshino huffed with faux-indignity. "You'd be doing your job of being a buzzkill."

"I don't understand what's wrong with my idea." Shiroko suddenly interjected looking down at the table, her face screwed up in thought. "It's foolproof. I spent all that time preparing everything."

"You'd be robbing a bank! A federal bank!" Ayane ground out. "That's a crime! And Sensei-" "Hello." "Was right there!"

Shiroko frowned as she digested what Ayane said, before looking up to lock eyes with the elven Secretary. "But Sensei agreed to my plan."

"To be clear," I started, even as Shiroko and Ayane both turned to look at me, "My suggestion was not to rob a bank but to authorize a letter of marque to rightfully claim the materiel of the Helmet Gang's backers and prevent their further use against you."

"How is that different from robbing a bank?" Shiroko asked even as Ayane stared daggers at me.

I stared back at the bespectacled girl for a second, before sighing and running my hand through my hair. "It was a joke, Okusora. I have no idea if privateer commissions were ever made illegal, or if I even have the authority to issue one." Ayane continued to stare at me, eyes begging me to explain myself further. "Because I, as a responsible Adult, naval officer, and your Teacher, would not go about commissioning Students to commit crimes. Without reason."

Ayane didn't seem reassured at all by my response.

Radio crackle filled the back of my mind and I heard Arona humming in thought. "Nelson Sensei… I searched it up but… isn't a privateer just a pirate?"

'No, a pirate is a criminal who is acting in defiance of the government.' I radioed back, fingers drumming on the table. 'A privateer is a civilian who has been authorized by the government to seize resources from enemies of the state.'

"That… doesn't sound all that different to me."

'It is, trust me.'

Nonomi laughed softly as she watched the rest of the byplay around her. "Well, if it ever goes wrong, we can all still be idols! We'll be the Swimsuit Girl Gang, and Nelson-Sensei can be our producer!"

"How do you intend for me to be your producer when I hardly understand what the role entails?" I asked. Nonomi laughed at my question, but didn't really explain any further.

"Enough!" The sound of Serika dropping a set of menus on the table broke our discussion. "It's bad enough I got scammed, but we don't need you taking up tablespace in the middle of lunch."

"Serika, don't bother our customers." The Owner grumbled. "If they're paying, they're staying."

"Fine, but everyone better order something!"

"Does it count if Sensei orders enough food for the entire table by herself?" Hoshino asked, a smug sleepy smile on her face.

I sighed as Serika and Hoshino devolved into playful bantering about minimum order sizes. It's not like I was particularly hungry anyways, given the recent resupply that I brought with me.

Even though this morning's meeting was a disaster, everyone seemed to be in a better mood now that lunch was had. Ayane was a bit less moody, and the rest of Abydos had moved past the sting of having their ideas rejected.

Of course, most of them moved past that disappointment by being amazed at my meal.

"Sensei… Why exactly do you need to eat that much?" Ayane asked, staring at the empty bowls next to me.

I shrugged as I finished off the last of the salad. "I wish I had an answer for you, Okusora. I have theories, but they are best summarized as 'high performance demands high cost'."

"And you would be the highest performing Sensei, isn't that right?" Hoshino asked, with a sleepy smile on her face as she watched Shiroko lift one of the empty noodle bowls and compare it to the size of her head.

I laughed, shaking my head at the thought. "As flattering as that assessment is, I am afraid I would need to deny it. I had many peers who were all much more capable than I." I smiled, wistful in my memory of the Navy before the war. "I believe you would also have found some of them to be much more agreeable than I."

"Maybe." Shiroko said as she put the bowl back down. "But they're not here. You are."

I blinked at the simple but assured declaration. So did Hoshino, Ayane, and Serika who was still busy trying to look like she wasn't eavesdropping. Nonomi, however, smiled brightly and clapped her hands together. "Yep! You're our one and only Nelson-Sensei."

"Thank y-" I started to say, before the sound of the door of the restaurant sliding open interrupted me. While the restaurant wasn't exactly empty, the lunch service had been slow enough that the sound of it was notable. All of us, as one, turned to the source of the abrupt noise.

The girl that walked through wore a rather professional looking black military jacket with red trim, silver trimmed black wedge cap, and black boots. An unfamiliar insignia decorated her shoulders. Despite the uniform, she looked as if she would fall over from a stern word. Her purple eyes were constantly glancing back and forth from behind purple tinged black hair as she walked in, as if expecting an attack. Her Halo consisted of three thorny lines arranged into a rough triangle, and she clutched a shotgun to her like a security blanket.

The uniformed girl stood at the entrance, stammering in a fluster as she tried to get somebody's attention. Serika, fortunately, slid right over with a smile. They were close enough that I could overhear their conversation. "Welcome! How many are in your party?"

"Uh… Excuse me." The girl said, her voice wavering and quiet as she shuffled from foot to foot. "How much is the cheapest thing on your menu?"

"That would be the regular Shiba Seki Ramen Bowl for 580 yen! It's our signature item and super tasty too!" There was something fundamentally amusing seeing the normally standoffish Serika be all smiles and cheer in her customer service job. I wasn't the only one who believed that, judging by everybody else's amused expression.

The uniformed girl nodded and bowed with a quiet "OK, uh, thank you!" and quickly slipped back out the door again. The confusion left by her rapid departure had barely settled before she walked back in. Trailing behind her was, perhaps, the most diverse group of characters I've witnessed thus far in Kivotos.

"We finally found something that costs less than 600 yen!" The shortest member of the group exclaimed with an impish grin. She wore a frilly red, black, and plaid gothic dress. The same unfamiliar insignia decorated her shoulders. A large elastic decorated with a flower tied off her long white hair into a side ponytail almost as long as she was tall. She carried a massive duffle bag almost as large as she was, with no firearm in sight. Her red Halo was a multilayered cross hair, with a circle inside it, and a final flower nestled in the center.

"A yen saved is a yen earned. I knew we'd find one." Said the tallest girl, smirking as her orange eyes scanned the restaurant. She was dressed in a white button up shirt with a large thin red ribbon and a mini pencil skirt. She'd almost look like an office administrator were it not for the massive elaborate fur trimmed and buckle laden carmine jacket that she had draped over her shoulders like a cape. Oh, and the gold accented garnet horns that stuck out from beneath her shoulder length pink hair. The pink Halo that hung behind her head was a complex design made of multiple lines and circles that vaguely resembled a crosshair.. A large scoped gold-accented rifle was slung onto her back.

The nervous looking girl gazed up at the tall pinkette, adoration shining in her eyes. "Y-You were right. I guess you really do know everything, Boss..."

One last girl slipped in from behind them with a sigh, a bored look in her red eyes and a tired expression on her face. She was downright plain compared to the rest of the group. A large hooded sweater over a shirt and a plaid miniskirt, paired with regular running shoes. She had a backpack slung over one shoulder along with an underarm holster for her pistol. Her hair was oddly peculiar. It was mostly white, but with a prominent black streak in her bangs, and the ponytail tied up behind her two small horns was also entirely black. I wonder if she dyed them to get that effect. Her Halo was also simple, a small white pentagon encircled by a larger spiked pentagon.

Most curiously, she had a single bat-like wing sticking out of her skirt. Was it perhaps something akin to Suzumi's singular wing?

The impish girl bantered with Serika for a bit, before the catgirl led them to the stall a few down from ours. By now the rest of Abydos had turned their attention back to their food. However, I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation with Serika.

Well, to be exact, I could hear when the nervous girl suddenly panicked and shouted. "S-sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry that we're broke and we're poor!"

I glanced over and could see the girl seemingly on the verge of tears, her friends trying to get her to calm down, and Serika giving an impassioned speech before walking back towards our table and the counter with the Owner.

I waved at Serika as she drew closer. The catgirl walked over, curiosity etched in her expression. "Yes, Sensei?"

"Is there an issue with the other table?"

"No," Serika said with a sigh. "I think they're just broke and can't afford much."

I smiled at her answer. Guess it must have struck a familiar nerve with her. "Does it, perhaps, sound familiar to you?"

Serika glanced away with a huff, but didn't outright shoot down my suggestion. Still it wouldn't do for someone in my position to ignore when Students were in a position of peril. "Kuromi, if it is not a bother, get them something more substantial and charge it to my receipt."

Serika stared at me, an annoyed look in her eyes. "Are you sticking your nose in places it doesn't belong again, Sensei?"

"When have I not?" I answered with a laugh.

Serika kept her annoyed glare for another second before sighing in defeat. "Hayase-san won't be happy if she finds out. She was complaining about your receipts the entire time I was with her."

"I had a light lunch today anyways." I answered, waving off her concerns with a wave. "I doubt she would notice an additional item or two."

"It's your funeral, Sensei."

"Wow!" Mutsuki gasped, voice dripping with sarcasm, "You're so ambitious, Aru."

"I told you to call me Boss!"

Kayoko chuckled a bit as Mutsuki's latest barb elicited an outburst from their 'leader'. After the waiter had left them, the table had descended into banter. For all that Aru tried to present herself as a cool and composed individual, Mutsuki always seemed to find a way to get under her skin.

Not that it was particularly hard. Of the few things Kayoko would describe Aru with, 'thick-skinned' would not be one.

Still, this restaurant was a much needed respite from their earlier work. They needed this bit of rest after their prep work. She knew that everyone was just a bit on edge from what they found on their recon and intel gathering. If anything, the amount of mercenaries would be overkill if the rumours weren't true.

But, any further discussion was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps and a cheerful cry of "Order up!" On cue, their waitress walked into line of sight and slid a bowl of ramen with a warning of "The bowl's hot, so be careful!"

Kayoko's eyebrow arced in curiosity as she stared at the bowl between them. Aru, likewise, stared at it with confusion etched in her face. Mutsuki even managed to look surprised at the order. And Haruka, well; she was drooling as she stared at the massive bowl of noodles, meat, and braised eggs piled high in the bowl.

"What the…?" Mutsuki muttered as she looked up at the pile of food before her. "This bowl is huge."

"It looks like it could feed ten people…" Kayoko murmured in agreement.

Haruka turned to the waitress and Kayoko could see the hunger in the girl's eyes give way to panic and concern. "Uh, are you sure this is the right order? We don't have the money to pay for something like this…"

Their waitress made a show of looking through her order pad before nodding. "Yep, this is exactly what you ordered. A plain old 580 yen Shiba Seki Ramen. Isn't that right, Boss?"

The owner of the restaurant chuckled before answering. "Well, I might have overfilled a bit, but don't worry about that. Somebody else has offered to cover the difference."

"Well, if Master says it's all good, then don't worry! Enjoy your meal!" Their waitress said with a bright smile before walking away. As she walked away, the four of them turned back to the truly massive bowl of ramen amongst them.

Haruka broke the silence with a quiet "W-wow" even as she began to drool again.

"I say we eat first and ask questions later!" Mutsuki said even as she filled a smaller bowl with a portion of the overfilled bowl.

Aru chuckled, a smug grin firmly glued to her face as she reached for her own set of utensils. "I didn't see this coming, but it'd be rude for us to send it back."

"Let's dig in!" "Let's eat!" "Thanks for the food." "T-thanks!"

With their thanks properly given, all four of them took their first bite.

And all four of them paused as the flavour of the food, the texture of the ingredients, and the richness of the broth hit their tongue.

"I-It's so yummy!" Haruka cried out, Kayoko spotting an actual tear falling from her eye.

"Not bad at all." Mutsuki grinned as she took another bite from her bowl. "Who knew there was such a good ramen shop out here in the boonies?"

"I know, right? Isn't it the best?" A cheerful but, more importantly, unfamiliar voice joined them as somebody suddenly slid into their booth.

The four of them looked at the newcomer, a blonde student with an oddly familiar uniform, with various expressions of confusion. It was Mutsuki who spoke first. "Wait, where did you come from?"

The blonde newcomer smiled brightly at them, green eyes shining with cheer. "Sorry! I was sitting a few tables away and overheard you talking about the ramen! It's the best, isn't it? People come from all over just for it!"

Aru stared at the newcomer for just a second, before she was all smiles and cheer as well. "I can see why," She said happily, "I've been to my fair share of shops, and ramen this good is hard to find."

The newcomer's friends walked over from their table, and started to chat with Aru. Kayoko, however, was silent as she examined the new girls more closely. The aquamarine accents, the emblem on their student badges...

"That uniform they're wearing..." Kayoko muttered quietly. Nobody else seemed to hear besides Mutsuki, who was right besides her.

Her impish friend stared closely at the group of four before whispering back. "Hey, you're right. Then do you think..."

Both of their attention shifted to the table where the Abydos girl had come from. There was one last person who was still sitting that they missed when they walked in. Now, however, there was no missing the final person as they stood up.

Both Kayoko and Mutsuki stared on mutely as the figure stood up, and up, and up. They towered over the other people in the restaurant, over the furnishing, and even seemed to almost brush against the lights on the ceiling. A long mane of blonde hair trailed behind them like a gold waterfall as the person walked over from their seat to their table. They looked down with curiosity clear in their blue-grey eyes, but a smile on their face. From this angle, it was clear they had no halo. Even without having said or done anything, there was something weighty about their presence.

Gigantic, blonde, and with no halo. An aura that put you on edge. The rumors were true after all.

"Now, now. They are in the middle of their meal. I believe they should enjoy it before it cools." Was the first thing the rumored Monster of Abydos said. Kayoko didn't know why, but the higher, somewhat breathy tone was not what she expected from someone who single handedly demolished a whole gang in a night. However, when they turned their attention to them, she could feel something behind that gaze. "I apologize for the interruption. I do hope you enjoy your visit to Abydos."

Kayoko suddenly felt a lot more thankful that Aru had hired some extra help.

"How'd your talk go?" was the question I received with my receipt.

I looked at the Owner, who was staring at me with a neutral expression. I could hear the clamour outside as Abydos said farewell to their newly met acquaintances, leaving me and the Owner alone in the restaurant.

My answer was simple enough. No reason to lie. "It went well. Did Kuromi tell you?"

The Owner laughed, an odd noise that sounded between a chuckle and a bark. "She didn't have to. Called in with her voice all frazzled saying she needed time off to help someone. Figured it could have only been you."

"How did you determine we talked from there?"

The Owner chuckled as he leaned onto the counter. "It would have been the best time for it. I know Serika, she wouldn't have asked for time off if she didn't need to do something important."

That was actually quite kind of him. "Well, you certainly are an excellent boss. Thank you for your understanding."

"Don't mention it." He replied as he waved off my thanks. Then he looked up at me with a steeled edge in his eyes. "I don't know what you did, but you got her pretty upset. You shouldn't do it again."

"I will try my best to avoid it." I answered.

He nodded, seemingly satisfied. I nodded, feeling unsure if I could keep my word.

All of us walked back into the Abydos Club Room in good cheer. Hoshino leading the way, Shiroko, Serika, and Nonomi chatting, and Ayane taking place beside me. It had been a much-needed break, so hopefully now we could get to an actual plan of action.

"So these hand cannons are… literally hand sized cannons?" Ayane asked, looking at the massive chunk of metal in her hand with clear fascination. She was examining it closely, holding it up with both hands. I never tried to give another person my naval equipment before, and neither of us had realized just how heavy the hand cannon was. Ayane was almost sent tumbling when I dropped it into her hand.

I nodded as she passed the weapon back to me. "They are the only armament of my hull I can access at this moment. It is hard to explain them but they feel more like an extension of myself than a regular firearm."

I let the thread of twisted will maintaining the weapon slacken and it vanished with a quiet *pop*. I could see Ayane and Shiroko watching the process curiously, and Serika trying to pretend she wasn't watching as well.

"My only issue is that it does take some time to generate, and I cannot seem to stow them." I admitted with a sigh. "It makes it rather impractical for sustained use."

Ayane hummed in thought, hand brought up to cup her chin. After a second she asked a rather simple question. "What happens when you try to make two of them?"

"Well," I began before my voice teetered out. Thinking about it, I haven't actually tried to do that before. There wasn't that much time between me discovering the tertiary hand cannon and receiving Abydos's letter; and I hadn't had the time to test it further since my arrival.

The sound of an alarm blaring from Ayane's tablet broke my train of thought. She unlocked and tapped a few icons on the screen. After a few seconds she looked back up at the rest of us, a frown on her face.

"The drone just detected a large armed group passing through the 30-kilometer cordon south of the campus!"

That got everyone's attention but Shiroko was the first to respond. "It can't be the Helmet Gang again. Sensei completely destroyed them."

"No, it's not them." Ayane answered, eyes scrunched up as she stared at her screen. "They look like mercenaries. Someone must have hired them to attack us!"

Hoshino leaned around Ayane to look at the monitoring system. She whistled even as her expression evened out. "Dang, that's a lot of them. Where'd they even find all these mercs? It must have cost a fortune to hire them all."

"We can't allow them to get any closer!" Ayane turned to me, as did everyone else in the room. "Sensei, give us the order to move out!"

"Not yet."

Everyone blinked at my answer. Ayane recovered the fastest, putting down her tablet as she asked "Why not, Nelson Sensei?"

I smiled brightly as I made my way to the door. The girls clued in and followed behind and I spoke as I slid the door open. "We currently enjoy a superiority in information and awareness. I believe we should exploit that and come up with a plan of engagement first."

"Ah, you got us all those fancy toys and now you want us to play with them." Hoshino summarized, a lazy grin on her face.

"In part." I admitted. "But we have been gifted the opportunity to reverse the odds they present to us. I propose we begin by splitting our forces into two lines…"

Aru was the image of cool, calm, and villainous. She kept her well practiced smug grin pasted on her face as she led the mercenaries and her friends towards their target: Abydos. Every step forward was well practiced, the work of countless hours to be the greatest villain Kivotos had ever seen.

It was a good thing she put all that practice into it because that was the only thing keeping her together right now. First, she found out those nice girls who gave her tips were the targets, and the guilt really gnawed at her. Of course, then Kayoko pointed out that the Adult that was with them matched the Helmet Ganger's description of the 'monster'.

She didn't understand it, anyone that was capable of doing what those losers claimed should have pizzazz! An air of lethal danger! An aura that shouted 'I'm a badass, don't mess with me'! A lethal weapon carved into the shape of a person! No, what she got was a very tall, polite blonde who had paid for their meal.

The stress wasn't really helping her stomach. The amount of ramen she ate didn't help either.

Still, a job was a job.

So with that thought in mind and grin cemented on her face, she led her group of mercs to turn the corner into an abandoned street. They just needed to push through Abydos and victory would be at hand!

"It certainly is a surprise to see you again so soon." The familiar airy voice caused everyone to freeze.

Slowly, everyone looked down the street and Aru felt her hopes for an easy job shatter. Three people were waiting for them down the street. Two of them were standing. Their waitress who was staring at them with undisguised venom, while the pinkette regarded them with a bored sleepy gaze.

But most bafflingly was the one who wasn't standing, the Adult. She was, inexplicably, seated on a deck chair. The Adult still wore the same Uniform as in the restaurant, but now dressed down with a wide variety of combat webbing. Several guns hung off her and, in her hand, was a can of coffee. The Adult regarded them cooly, sipping from the can with seeming no care.

"I can't believe Ayane was right!" Their waitress shouted; an accusatory finger pointed at them. "You guys are the ones attacking us?! After I gave you all that extra ramen?! That Sensei paid for?! You ungrateful pricks!"

Aru's stomach twisted a little but she braced herself. They had a job to do.

Mutsuki picked up the slack Aru's silence left them, raising one hand to cover her face as she giggled. The other hand had a firm grasp on her machine gun as she spoke. "I really did appreciate that, but it doesn't matter. This is business, not personal."

"Agreed." Kayoko added, nodding as she drew her pistol. "It's regrettable, but business is business. We have to uphold our contract."

"Contracts, huh?" The pinkette drawled, shotgun sliding from her back into a low grip. "So you're mercenaries?"

"Fixers!" Aru interjected haughtily, before realizing that she had just drawn Abydos's attention. She couldn't let her nerves show. "We're Problem Solver 68, the up-and-coming criminal fixer group."

"Fixers?" The pinkette muttered, face scrunching up as if she just tasted a lemon. "That sounds kinda childish, doesn't it?"

"What?!" Aru shouted, aghast. "I'll have you know we're a real, respectable business! With titles and everything."

"I'm the boss!" She declared, easing into the practiced straight backed haughty pose.

"She's the chief of staff." Aru pointed at Mutsuki who waved at Abydos.

She bounced over to Kayoko, presenting the unimpressed girl to Abydos. "And this here is our department head." She ignored Kayoko's groans of exhaustion and mumbling as she returned to her place in the middle of the group. "We've got a contract to take out Abydos, and we intend to collect."

"You can do that over my dead body!" The waitress shouted, shaking a fist them.

However, it was the pinkette's response that worried her. Rather than say anything back to them, the tiny girl simply rolled her head to the side and asked. "What do you think, Sensei?"

"I well understand the need to fulfill one's duties and promises." The Adult, Sensei, finally spoke. There was a weight behind her breathy voice demanding attention. She got up from her chair, and Aru forced herself to remain unbowed and calm as the sheer magnitude of the Adult made itself present in her attention. Unreadable eyes the colour of stormy skies carefully glanced up and down their line, even as they strolled out to take a spot in front of Abydos. "But I would like to give them the same offer I gave the Helmet Gang."

The move was so smooth, it had to be unconscious. Without even breaking stride, pace or breath, Sensei reached out and ran her left hand through her long blonde hair. She flipped the long tresses to the side with a casual flick of her arm, cascading the long blonde hair like a cape as the desert wind sent it airborne. The same move that sent the blonde hair flying naturally brought her left arm up into the perfect spot to point at them, even as her right hand came up to rest on her hip.

Sensei stood there, pointing at them accusatory with her hair billowing like a cape; the very example of a heroic figure. She smiled confidently even as she stared at them with eyes hard as flint. In the howling silence of the desert, she gave her one offer. "Surrender, and we will let you go unharmed."

Aru was not jealous. She had worked hard to be as villainous as she was, and she was not going to be jealous that someone just casually showed her up.

"Aw man," She heard Mutsuki mutter. "Now there's two of them!"

Aru forced herself to puff up her chest, drawing her hand back to cover her mouth as she faked a haughty laugh. "We paid a lot of money for this extra help! You won't be able to stop us with just the three of you."

"Five." Sensei corrected, hand lowering down to where the hilt of a sword rested.

Aru blinked and looked at them. All three of them. "Five?"

"Five." The pinkette added, nodding seriously.

As if on cue, a bike roared out of the alley behind them. Pedaling furiously atop it was the wolfgirl that she saw in the restaurant. The girl threw something into the group of mercenaries as she zoomed past. The closest part timers only had enough time to look at the full belt of unpinned grenade and then at each other, before the explosives tore through their rank.

Even as the wolfgirl zoomed past them at breakneck pace, the blonde student dashed out of another alley behind them with a minigun in hand. With a cheerful laugh, the girl unleashed a barrage that scythed through even more of the part-timers. The minigun fire was shortly joined by rifle fire as the wolfgirl dismounted.

"Abydos!" Sensei shouted, smoothly drawing her actual sword as she did, "Full ahead!"

Aru grit her teeth even as the tiny pinkette and their catgirl waitress charged ahead of Sensei. This was bad. They got her monologuing and sprung a counter-ambush to their ambush. With forces to their front and sides, it was a textbook encirclement that only let them retreat.

She looked back at where the rest of Problem Solver 68 looked up at her. Haruka patiently waiting for orders, Mutsuki boredly kicking the dirt, and Kayoko glancing about with a frown. She couldn't let them down. So she only had one choice.

"Girls!" She shouted, waving them forward with her right. "Go get 'em!"

Kayoko grit her teeth as a burst of rocket fire forced her into cover. Mutsuki and Aru were busy suppressing the wolfgirl and blonde student along with a quarter of their remaining mercs, trying to keep Abydos from fully encircling them. That left her, Haruka, and three-fourths of their mercenaries to deal with the Abydos force in front of them.

But the Helmet Gang survivors weren't kidding when they called this Adult a monster! She was slower than the two other students that accompanied her, but she made up for it by sheer strength and aggression. The Adult and the Pinkette were currently locked in a duel with Haruka. Normally that should have been enough for the mercenaries to get around them, even with the waitress providing support and picking off the forces advancing towards the fight.

But the sheer violence of the fight in the middle of the street was causing just as much damage to their own mercenaries as the pair were. Kayoko watched as the pinkette sent several mercenaries flying when Haruka juked out of the way of a shield ram, allowing the mercenaries behind her to take the force of the blow. Haruka leveled her shotgun at the tiny girl's exposed back as the girl moved past her and tried to fire, only for Adult to charge forward and shove the shotgun aside. The gun still went off several times as Haruka and the Adult struggled for control of the gun, with at least two of the buckshot blasts knocking out a few mercenaries.

The impromptu grapple ended when Haruka attempted to sweep the Adult's leg, who responded by pulling the shotgun and Haruka in closer to her. Off balance and on one leg, Haruka stumbled forward as the Adult's head reared up for a headbutt. Rather than try to recover, Haruka pushed herself forward and launched herself past the Adult.

The momentum of the move combined with the slacked grip from the pull gave Haruka enough leverage to pull the shotgun out of the Adult's hand. She spun about as she cleared some distance, shouldering her shotgun instantly. Before the Adult could turn around, she slamfired the shotgun as quickly as the action could handle it; unloading the rest of her magazine into the Adult. Dust kicked up from the buckshot and Kayoko lost track of both Haruka and the Adult.

Any hope of a clean finish ended when the dust cleared. Kayoko could see the pinkette's shield even from her spot, the smaller girl having dashed in front of the Adult at the last moment.

A total of 30 seconds for that trade. Neither side gave or gained ground. And almost a dozen mercenaries were lying on the ground unconscious. They weren't even being intentionally knocked out, most were just unfortunate casualties from drawing too close to the storm.

But, in this moment, Kayoko saw her chance. Much of this duel was being stabilized by the Adult's presence. She was clearly bullet resistant, given all the grazes and near hits that failed to even draw blood from her. If she could remove the Adult, even for just a few moments, maybe that would be all the advantage Haruka would need to knock them out.

She leaned out of cover, both hands gripping her pistol, and lined up the sights on the back of the Adult. She took a breath, focused her will, and fired. The purple bullet streaked across the street before anyone could react, slamming into the back of the Adult. The Adult lurched forward for a second as a purple pulse swept over them.

But the Adult didn't run. She didn't panic either. Instead, she slowly turned towards where Kayoko was taking cover. Kayoko could swear that, for the briefest moment, there was a glow in the Adult's eye that hungered. Something stirring within that just seemed to briefly notice her.

Then the sound of Abydos's school bell ringing echoed throughout the street. It rang five times, the noise reverberating through the abandoned streets. As soon as the bells finished ringing, all the Mercenaries stopped firing at once.

"Welp, it's quittin' time." One of the Mercenaries said.

"It sure is." Another of the Mercenaries nodded in agreement, slinging their rifle behind them. "Let's go, ladies!"

Kayoko blinked. Haruka Blinked. The waitress and pinkette blinked. Hell, Kayoko swore that even the Adult blinked.

"Wh-what?!" Aru shouted, running up to the two Mercenaries even as the others started packing up and leaving. Some of them even wished Abydos a good evening as they left! "W-wait a second! You can't leave yet!"

The second Mercenary shook their head, a frown on her face. "Sure we can. That's all you get for the money you paid us. You can handle the rest on your own."

With that the two joined the rest of their companions, dragging unconscious mercenaries behind them.

The street was deadly silent in the absence of the Mercenaries, and Kayoko could distinctly feel the stares of Abydos and the Adult upon them. She could feel sweat running down her brow as Haruka, herself, Aru and Mutsuki slowly backed towards each other.

"Welp, we're boned." Mutsuki declared, a nervous stress in her voice. "I kind of thought we would have wrapped up by now." The short girl looked up at Aru, playing with the duffel bag in her hands. "What now, Aru? Should we run for it?"

Aru groaned in frustration before gritting her teeth. She shook a hand at Abydos as she cried out. "Y-you haven't seen the last of us, Abydos!"

Mutsuki laughed even as she reached into her duffel bag. "You sound just like a third-rate villain, Aru!"

"Shut up!" Aru said as she started running towards the intersection. "Get us out of here!"

"Hang on…!" The blonde student shouted, leveling her gun at the group. However, before she could do anything, Mutsuki pulled a massive plastic explosive out of her bag and tossed it at the blonde and wolfgirl blocking their exit. The two dived out of the way as it exploded, kicking up shrapnel and a large dust cloud.

Aru dashed into the dust cloud, waiting for the rest of them to follow. "Come on! Everyone, run… I mean, retreat!"

Kayoko sighed as she got up and dashed through the dust cloud. It looks like this job was going to be a failure. Still, maybe it was a good thing the fight ended where it did. She wasn't quite sure what the Adult was going to do after she hit them with her fear shot, but she wasn't quite in the mood to find out.

AN: And so enters Problem Solver 68. Of the group, I find Aru to be a fun person to write. Not quite as bright as she could be, but she's trying! But boy is she nervous and anxious about what exactly needs to be done.

Amusingly, I've actually imagined Nelson doing dramatic, Homura level hair flips at times. While it's never quite come up before due to perspective or lack of narrative importance, Aru's PoV was the best time to showcase that. After all, what's better than one showman but two?

I've noticed that last chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter are starting to creep up in word count to the 7.5k average territory. I'm not sure how people feel about the chapter length, but I'm considering splitting up chapters more. It means we'll have a bit longer time in Abydos both chronologically and chapters wise, but it might make it easier to read. Please feel free to let me know what you think about that.

Thanks again to my friend for beta reading my work.