Umara and I sat against the wall of a building. Across the street from us was the very warehouse we were going to raid. 

Since this was now going to involve both of us, I decided to give her a rundown of how I usually did things. I didn’t have a specific procedure or system or anything, but I needed the two of us to be on the same page. If anything went wrong, it would go wrong fast, and the two of us would need to react properly. 

We discussed things while snacking on some kebabs. Those at the warehouse only a hundred feet away had no way of suspecting that we were there to kill them, even while we were relaxing in plain sight.

“So we’ll just go in and kill anybody who threatens us?”

“Basically, yeah. I’d prefer not to kill any workers, but if they’re strong and hold any sort of hostility toward you, don’t hesitate. As for the ordinary, don’t worry about them. They’ll start running as soon as I start shooting.”

“Mm. This’ll be interesting. Are there any differences between killing Scourge beasts and killing people?”

“In a technical sense, not really. But the process of killing the two is very different.”

I bit off a chunk of meat, trying to explain while chewing. 

“It’s obvious, but if you’re going to kill, go straight for the kill. That means shoot for the head, neck, and chest. The only reason you would aim to injure is if they’re a knight you need to wear down. But besides that, you need to know that people are generally unpredictable. They get pissed and fight on instinct. You’ve had training and you’ll have no problem overpowering them, but making mistakes or getting caught off guard isn’t something you can really defend against.”

“Even with a barrier?”

“... Well, maybe you can. I couldn’t. Since you have a barrier you’ll be much safer in general. As long as you don’t get complacent and keep it powered. And Aura is going to be even more important than with Scourge beasts. It’s the only thing that might let you know how the flow of a battle will go against other people. Trust it and react accordingly.”

“Mm. Now, what about specifics? What do we do once we walk through that door?”

“Focus on the people. As for the machines, that’s what this is for.”

I summoned a bag into my hand, the bag filled with high explosives swinging gently in the breeze.

This was a satchel charge, and it was my main weapon against that earth mage during the tournament. 

“If you need or want to destroy anything, go for it. But focus on eliminating threats before worrying about the machines. They’re not going anywhere.”

“Right.”

“As for the firefight, I want you to stay with me. This is your first time doing anything like this; I just want you to focus on keeping yourself safe while slinging spells from a distance. Most of the enemies we’ll come across will be pretty easy to kill, besides the Authority 6’s of course. We meet one of those, you keep them occupied, I’ll wipe out the lower Authorities, and we’ll take them down together.”

“It’s… like taking down a strong beast.”

“Kind of. You’ll learn as you go… you ready?”

“One second.”

She scarfed down the rest of her kebab, as did I, before the two of us stood up, slipping the masks over our faces.

“Just follow my lead. We’ll breach the garage first, then we just clear the building. You don’t put down your barrier until all threats are dead.”

“Got it.”

“Then let’s go.”

I hoisted the satchel charge onto my shoulder before walking over with Umara’s hand in mine. 

When we approached the large warehouse door, I dropped the satchel right in the middle. I didn’t bother empowering it; it would be more than enough by itself. 

Hooking up a string to the detonator, I scanned the street, meeting the eyes of someone walking out of a side door to the warehouse. I waved.

“Hi!”

“What are you doing?”

“I was bringing over a delivery for Sir Bremman. I need to do something first though. Hang on.”

I put up a finger before walking off with the string and Umara, leaving the bewildered worker behind as we turned the nearby corner of the building. 

I yanked the string.

The ground quaked with the explosion. From around the corner, a wave of dust billowed around our feet. A Tommy Gun appeared in my hands. 

“Start.”

I turned the corner once more, the roiling cloud of dust unable to hide the remains of what was once a door. Hopefully it wouldn’t collapse on us.

I quickly identified several powerful individuals moving hastily and dozens of ordinary people all around the grounds of the warehouse operating magical machinery. 

One of said ordinaries, after recovering from the sudden shock, found me and ran over while yelling. 

He threw a fist, but I responded in kind by simply lifting my leg and kicking him right in the gut. He keeled over without issue, and Umara and I continued on our way. 

An Authority 4 knight barged through a door. My reflexes worked as if with their own mind, snapping my gun over and sending a bullet straight through his head. 

As he collapsed, several others emerged from various entrances. Umara sensed them as well, so she started casting spells. I could sense her anxiety while doing so, more power than necessary being infused into her magic. 

I didn’t bother her though. 

“I have the stairs.”

“I’ve got the doorway.”

She responded, the two of us turning to our self-assigned zones and unleashing hell. 

Six knights and five warlocks were all that emerged. All six knights jumped at us from different angles while the warlocks started casting spells. 

Of the six knights, I immediately gunned down the four in front of me. I then moved to the warlocks, sending lead their way and collapsing their barriers. 

That’s when Umara’s spells hit, dense lances of air flying over and skewering all five warlocks through the chest. Even the ones whose barriers I didn’t break were obliterated without mercy. 

I clicked my tongue while killing the last two knights. Umara made this look too easy. 

Once we were done, we watched the rest of the ordinary workers run out. A presence suddenly tried to make itself scarce.

Umara sensed it too, our heads snapping to the back wall of the warehouse. 

“He’s running.”

“Through the wall!”

Umara dashed forward, preparing a spell and sending out a bomb of air. 

It exploded right in front of the back wall, blowing a huge hole so we could jump through. 

I instantly spotted our target, Turner Bremman. The fat warlock could do nothing but throw a gust of air at his feet, launching himself over a building. He had a powerful barrier around him in addition to all those layers of fat. 

“You chase.”

“Got it.”

I gave a word, Umara shooting off. He wasn’t the only one with mobility. 

I just stood where I was, taking out a Garand and taking aim. 

I acquired his huge figure as he made it to the top of a nearby apartment. I didn’t even bother aiming much, simply unloading the en-bloc full of empowered bullets. 

I managed to send four his way before he dipped out of my line of sight. Still, his barrier was left shattered. I started running as Umara rapidly caught up to him. 

Circling around the building at almost a full sprint, I followed them on the ground as they ran, skipped, and bounced on rooftops and pressurized air.

(Try and send him my way.)

(Got it. He’s got a lot of mass though.)

(Do your best. And know that he’s probably calling for help. We need to finish fast.)

As soon as I said that, Umara upped her pace. This Turner had a pampering father from the Clockwork Association. There was no doubt in my mind that there was help nearby for him to call, if not the father himself. 

Thankfully, I didn’t have much to worry about. Umara was able to use a series of concussive shockwaves to blast Turner off-course and into my sights. That’s when I unloaded the rest of my clip, lighting up his barrier and shattering it with Umara’s help. 

Once it broke, it only took a few bullets to shred through his body, ripping straight through his considerable girth.

He fell from the skies and into the streets, hitting the floor before Umara landed right next to him. 

Before I could do anything or he could even beg for his life, a blade of air decapitated him. Just like that, our target was dead. 

Umara looked up to me, earning a nod.

“Good. Anything on his body?”

“Two Spatial rings, a bracelet, and an Aerial is all I can see.”

“Take everything except for the Aerial.”

She didn’t even respond before taking off his arm, ripping the bound spatial storages off his flesh. 

Once she came back to my side, I waved.

“Let’s go.”

We ran, heading right back to the warehouse where I left a well placed satchel charge with some extra Psyka for good measure. Once we’d blown the roof off and let the building collapse, we vanished into the chaos.

We went straight out of the market without a word, taking off our masks before exiting and heading to the Hotel where we found the Key Master. 

He smiled at us on arrival.

“Well done. Your bounty for this job comes out to a total of 240 thousand coin. Shall I split between the two accounts?”

“Please.”

“Understood.”

The deposit was immediate, as our Aerials chimed the moment he finished speaking. Umara had her own account, thankfully, so this wouldn’t earn any attention from her mother. 

Umara sighed. 

“Barely 10 minutes of work for all that money.”

“You made it easy for me. How do you feel?”

“... Fine. It really isn’t much different from killing beasts. A bit bloodier, but otherwise pretty easy.”

“Mm. They aren’t trained as properly as those from the Magisterium, especially the Elites. The part to worry about is the weight on your conscience.”

I put down my Aerial, fumbling with the bloodied spatial storages of the dealer.

Umara glanced up at me. 

“Do you have any weight on your conscience?”

“Would you think me a total monster if I said not really?”

“No.”

“Then no. Not necessarily something to be proud of, but I had to get used to it a while ago. I don’t care to have any remorse. But I also pick and choose my targets. Now let’s go rest. Thank you for the job, Key Master.”

We waved, the Key Master bowing a bit. 

“Of course. Come back if you ever want a recommendation.”

“Will do.”

……

…

After a night of rest, the next day came. That was also when we got two pieces of news. 

Feiden had arrived in the Capitol, and Tana had finally woken up.

With that, we all rushed over to the Magisterium’s medical ward as soon as we could.

We joined up with Feiden and entered Tana’s room, finding her with the Puppet Master.

She was wide awake, sitting up in her bed with a few doctors around her. Umara went over for a hug, embracing her while I smiled. 

“How’s our girl?”

“...”

Tana didn’t respond, simply turning and staring at me. 

My smile faded, feeling something different.

Sure enough, the Puppet Master spoke for her. 

“She hasn’t said anything yet, but it’s only been an hour or so. Doctors said she’s physically perfectly healthy.”

“Well, I would say that’s most important. Would they know if she suffered any brain trauma?”

“Not necessarily. But if there was an abnormality anywhere in her body we would've found it.”

“Hm.”

I stood over to the side, giving Umara space to sit next to Tana and give her some company. 

As she tried to get Tana to talk, I turned to Feiden and patted his shoulder.

“How are you, man? Feeling a bit better?”

“A bit, I suppose. Things have changed though…”

He brought up his hand, staring at it as if inspecting a foreign body part. 

I got concerned. 

“How did you handle Anarchy?”

“... I handled it. But it made me realize some things.”

“Like?”

“I haven’t done enough. I’ve obviously been far too relaxed. I’ve realized that if things continued as they were, I would lose everything I hold dear, more than I have. Perhaps you were the only one who did enough, and you even tried to help us keep up. What you did is nothing short of miraculous considering your position.”

“I just did what I had to. I’m not perfect, Feiden.”

I shrugged, feeling a bit of melancholy. He was putting me on a pedestal, and I didn’t want him to do that. 

I was forced into my circumstances. Of course, I didn’t necessarily try to wriggle out of them, instead continuing to push back. But that didn’t mean I was doing that much better than everyone else. I was just doing what I could, and it was just enough to keep my life, as well as the lives of my squad. 

But Feiden just shook his head in response. 

“No, your achievements and the good you’ve done are undeniable. You’re someone who’s going to go far, farther than me. But I’ll be damned if I can’t at least try and keep up. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that I fill out every possible gap in my talent. This recent event, Mira’s death… it taught me that who I was wasn’t enough. If I want something more, then I’ll need to fight harder… smarter... And most importantly, I’ll need to fight by the side of those who will hold me to higher standards. Since Vetsmon is gone, I’ll attempt to fill his role and keep you safe. You… can rest assured that you won’t die so long as I still breathe.”

“...”

I glanced at the side of his face, hiding mixed feelings behind a worried face. I can’t say I’ve ever had someone tell me that they’d lay their life down for me. It was quite the experience. 

I couldn’t really reject that, but I also felt weird about accepting it. So instead, I just decided to meet him on the same level. 

I squeezed his shoulder, looking back toward Tana. 

“You’re not the only one. My job is to watch over all of you. So long as I have anything to say about it, you’ll never be put in the position to lay down your life for my own.”

“Well, you’ve already proven that you’re capable.”

“Not necessarily. One person was put into that position. And it was only because of luck that she managed to survive.”

We both looked at Tana, the girl in question turning toward us. 

Umara muttered. 

“I put her in that position.”

“No, I gave the order to do what we did. I was an idiot for thinking those people had any sense of logic or honor. I’ve learned my lesson, but it was almost at a dear cost. I can only apologize now, and-”

“Stop.”

Tana spoke, stopping my words. 

Her face looked deadpan as she continued. 

“You saved my life in an impossible situation. We all should’ve died. I was certainly prepared to. I couldn’t see a way out even with the escape we were making. And giving my life up to kill that Heartstopper seemed to be the one thing I could do to at least give you all a chance. But you actually brought me back from that. I’m completely healthy. You gave me another chance at life, and now you’re apologizing for it. Honestly, it’s a bit too humble for my tastes. It doesn’t suit you.”

“... I think I’ve said that before.”

The Puppet Master suddenly mumbled. Tana smirked at him.

“I’m just being honest. Now, what we should be doing is finding those students and killing the rest of them off. The last thing they deserve is to live after abandoning us.”

“They’re all safe at their homes. But the difficulty of killing them right now is secondary to the fact that I can’t let you do something like that.” 

The Puppet Master shot Tana a scolding look, making her roll her eyes. 

“Whatever. Then let’s inform the newspapers. We can drag their names through the mud. Then they’ll at least be branded for the scum-sucking cowards they are.”

“... Please don’t. For your own sakes, I implore you.”

The Puppet Master massaged his temples. Tana was dead serious and we all knew it. 

I just sighed. 

“Seems Anarchy got to you a bit, Tana.”

“It opened my eyes. Nobles are… the most selfish bastards in the world, and those people deserve to be taken full advantage of. We should be stripping them of all they’re good for before ridding this society of their names. It would only benefit. I’ve heard you say things like that. I didn’t realize how right you were.”

“Heh, I see you’ve finally come to the dark side. Welcome”

“Glad I could finally make it.”

The two of us laughed mischievously, causing the Puppet Master to shake his head

“I’m not sure which will bring this Kingdom to its knees first. The Scourge or John Cooper and his band of misfits.”

“Who knows?”

“If it’s you, you rebellious punk, then I want you to promise me job security! I worked too hard for a good paying, easy job like this, and I don’t want to lose it just because you decided to overthrow noble society.”

“Hah, yes sir.”

I gave him a salute before he waved. 

“Then I’m going to leave before getting involved with more treasonous talk. Now, I don't know when I may see you all again… but for what it’s worth, you all are some of the most exceptional students I’ve ever had. Take care of yourselves in the military. If humanity is going to be saved by anybody, it’s going to be people like you.”

“We’re only as good as our teachers, sir.”

Feiden chimed with a small smile, making him shrug as he walked out. 

We were left alone, Umara leaning her head on Tana’s shoulder. 

“I’m glad you’re okay, Tana.”

“Thanks… Question is though, what’s going to happen now? I know we’ll be entering the military, but does that mean we’ll be able to stay together?”

“That’s… probably not going to happen. At least at first.”

Umara explained. 

“Basic training will separate us by class, so you guys will go elsewhere. As for what happens after you get out of that, it all depends on who decides to take you under their wing. That, and their word determines what base you’re assigned to and what Commander you fall under the authority of. We’re quite the special generation, so there will be many hands pulling us different ways. My mother doesn’t even know if she can take control of John, let alone you guys. So if I’m being honest, we probably won’t see each other for a long while, not until our ranks rise a bit and, with some luck, we somehow get put together due to our history and chemistry as a team. I've heard of Magisterium squads being put back together on several occasions.”

“Sounds like we’ll have little control over things.”

“Mm, basically. Though, there is one thing that might increase the chances. If we’re all outstanding enough and catch some eyes, we’ll have a decent shot at entering a division of Special Operations. Get there, and we’d be able to fight to get our squad back together.”

“That’s true…”

Feiden nodded, dipping his head in thought. 

“All the more reason to train harder. In fact, if I don’t get there, then I’ll be doing something wrong.”

“Agreed. I just woke up, but I’m thinking with my recent improvements, I can manage something like that. I’ll need to start getting active again.”

Tana concurred with Feiden, then both of them looked at me. 

Tana grinned. 

“We’ll be expecting you there, John.”

“Indeed. You’re practically built for Special Operations. It should be pretty easy for you to get in.”

“Heh. We’ll see.”

I shrugged and pulled out a cigar.