Yoko, Sunni and I quickly get dressed in our Enigma Squadron uniforms and make our way to the scene with the guidance of Gege. We make it there in short order, with Akai following not too far behind. Naoya greets us with a wave and a smile.

“Yo. How do you lot like my designing work?”

The Enigma Squadron kit is about the same for all squadrons, trousers for men and knee length skirts for women. The only differences are some minor additions and colour schemes. Naoya chose to add hoods with fur to the jackets, and he went for a grey, blue and purple colour scheme. It looks good to me honestly.

“It gets the job done.”, I say, giving a thumbs up.

“So you decided to have Akane stay after all, Daisuke?”, Akai asks.

I nod. Akane’s still having some issues with bringing it out at will. Although, I’m certain that once she accepts that side of herself, she’ll be able to join us in future missions.

“Can you hear us, everyone?”

Haruhi-chan’s voice comes from our Enigma Phones, looking for a response.

“Loud and clear.”, I reply.

“Okay! You guys are on the roof, right?”

“Right.”

Our destination is a local museum that’s fairly popular. Apparently it’s under siege by some hooligans.

“The police have given us the details that there are about seven perpetrators, all armed with handguns.”, Gege’s voice chimes in.

“Handguns?!”, Naoya yells.

“Are you sure we got the right mission?”, Akai asks, his wry smile appearing on his face.

I’m sort of quick, but I’m almost certain that I can’t dodge gun-fire. 

“Don’t worry, Yoko and I will keep you boys safe.”, Sunni assures.

“That’s right. Handguns don’t really shoot that quickly anyway.”, Yoko says confidently.

That’s good news, but I can’t help feeling a wee bit lame. I doubt that I could protect them if things went south.

“My little sister is going to be keeping me safe. How humiliating.”

Naoya voices my thoughts before Haruhi-chan’s voice cuts in.

“That’s not all. Apparently they have some magic items that work like hand grenades! That’s totes cool!”

So, they have an item version of Mana Bomb at their disposal, too? That sure is reassuring. Diving in head long in this scenario will get Naoya, Akai and I folded like paper. So-

“We most likely will have to go for a sneak attack.”, I surmise. “Yoko, do you think that you could find a way for us to enter undetected?”

“Yes sir, Leader.”, she smirks.

With that she vanishes before our eyes! Whoa! When could she do that? Naoya and Akai look at each other before hanging their heads in defeat.

“Yoko sure has gotten impressive over the years, hasn’t she?”, Sunni chuckles.

Within a few seconds, Yoko informs us of her discovery. It’s a locked window, or it was locked. By the time we get there Yoko already has it picked. We slink inside and, excluding Akai, draw our weapons.

“You still have that collapsible spear, Sunni?”

“You mean Stinger? Of course.”

Stinger, as Sunni calls it, is a collapsible three-part spear that can slightly extend itself. She’s had it since she was eight.

“Govvy has a wooden sword, my little sister has a tanto and Sunni has a spear. Meanwhile I’m stuck with a over-sized stick.”

Naoya quietly grumbles, voicing his dismay. Well, his naginata isn’t ready yet, so he’s stuck with that for now.

"It’ll be fine for now, Naoya-nii.”, Yoko admonishes him.

“Against handguns? I’m sure.”

“Let’s make our move.”, I say. “Akai, are you any good at sneaking about?”

“Not at all, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just stay here, and if any crims come about, knock them flat.”

“Yes sir, Leader.”

With that, we press onward, being as quiet as possible.

“Gege, Haruhi-chan, do you know where they’re located?”, Naoya asks

“No.”, Gege promptly answers.

It’s a good thing that three of us can sense mana, then. Should make things easier.

“Haha! Easy, way too easy!”

What did I say?

We pull up on the scene with relative ease. Saves us some time as least.

“I toldja that these things would be worth the money! Now we get five times what we paid for them in return!”

“Five times? More like fifty times! This is a crazy haul we’ve got!”

“Damn right!”

There’s only five of the perpetrators here. The other two must be at another exhibit, but that’s not important right now. We have to take care of these blokes first. 

I give the signal, and Yoko and Sunni vanish before our eyes. Swiftly and silently, they knock out two of the crims. The other three don’t even notice. Now, Naoya and I make our move.

With a blistering dash, I charge forward and deliver a swift strike to my target’s neck. He soundlessly crumples to the floor as I hastily take the item he was holding before he drops it.

*SNAP*

“Ow! What the-!”

“Are you kidding me?!”

The staff Naoya was wielding breaks in two the moment he strikes the crim, dealing very little damage. Before he can do anything, Naoya slugs him across the face.

“Eat lead, asshole!”

The remaining attempts to raise his gun and shoot Naoya, but before he can even properly get into the motion to do so, Yoko judo throws him onto the hard floor and swiftly strikes him on his jaw, knocking him out instantly.

“Are you alright, Naoya-nii?”, she asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“What happened? You should’ve put him out with that one blow.”

Sunni rushes over to us, clearly both surprised and confused by Naoya’s inefficiency.

“The damn thing broke in half the moment I hit him with it!”, Naoya growls furiously.

“Where did you even get that from?”

Yoko asks her brother this, and immediately his frown transforms into a deep, bitter scowl.

“Yonaguni….!”

We should have figured so.

“I’m guessing he couldn’t find a pair of chopsticks to give you instead, eh?”, I query sardonically.

“Maybe it would be best if you brought your own weapon, Naoya.”, Sunni suggests with a weak smile. “For your own safety.”

“Don’t worry, Naoya-nii. I’ll be sure to biff Master for you when I see him again.”

“Please do.”

Alright, now that that’s all wrapped up. We need to cuff these crims and apprehend the other two.

“Die!”

Huh? 

Quickly turning around, I see the bloke that Naoya socked earlier aiming his gun at me whilst on the ground. That blow must not have been enough! I need to get flat!

*BANG*

Before I can react, the shot is fired, but it never reaches me. Sunni gets in front of me and blocks the bullet with Stinger. 

“GUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”

With a cry of agony, the shooter grabs his wrist in pain. His hand, still tightly grasping the gun, lands a ways away from him with a flop. Yoko cut it off before one could even blink, and is now looming over him. Oh no.

“MY HAND….!”

“Shut up.”, Yoko snaps, her voice low and cold. “Make another sound, and I’ll cut out your tongue.”

The crim’s mouth snaps shut like a trap, or at least it does until Sunni stabs him in the leg. Once again, he yells out in pain.

“Yoko, did you hear that? He made a sound.”, she says in a voice just like Yoko’s.

“He did. I guess those who don’t listen will have to feel.”

“No! Please don’t! NO!”

Like a bat out of hell, I dash over to stop her.

“Woah, woah! That’s enough, you two!”

The hollow looks in their eyes confirm that they’re entirely serious. If I didn’t stop them, they definitely were going to do it.

“Right…”

“Fine..”

I gaze over at Naoya, who nervously gives me the thumbs up. Maybe having two yanderes on my squad isn’t the most practical idea. Nonetheless, we start cuffing the targets.

“Oi. What’s going on?”

Gege’s voice comes from the Enigma Phone, looking for an update.

“Everything’s alright. Only two perpetrators remain, and they’re on the way.”

Sure enough, the other two come bolting from another exhibit. Mana detection sure is useful.

“Shit! I’m outta here!”

“Bastard, come back! Screw this!”

While one crim runs away, the other reaches into his bag and pulls out a relic from the exhibit. It’s a knife…Why not use his gun? Maybe he thinks it won’t work against us.

!!!!

Immediately, I jump back to gain some distance! W-what is that?! What the hell is up with the mana coming from that knife?! It’s making my hair stand on end.

“O-oi, Govvy.. You feel that too, right?”

Naoya’s face breaks out in a cold sweat. Wait. Naoya can feel it too? But he doesn’t even know how to use ‘Detection’!

“Ahaha…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS POWER IT’S WONDERFULLLLLLLLLL!!!! I, I FEEL LIKE A GOD!”

“Aniki, Naoya-nii, please stand back.”

Yoko suddenly is incredibly serious, as is Sunni.

“Yes. Something strange is happening.”

With a burst of speed I wouldn’t have expected from him, the crim rushes forward, swinging the strange knife around hungrily. Yoko effortlessly parries all of his strikes with Petaled Sky. He launches another unrefined assault, but Yoko easily evades it and palm strikes him fiercely in the neck, following up with a sharp knee to the face. 

At this point, his nose is bleeding profusely, but-

“GUAHAHAHA! IS THAT YOUR BEST, BITCH?!”

“Not even remotely.”, Yoko replies in a deadpan voice.

Yoko disappears and reappears behind him, painfully pinning his arm behind his back, causing him to drop the knife.

“⌈Chain⌋.”

With Sunni’s single word Chant, blue-grey chains manifest out of nowhere and bind the crim from head to toe.

“NOOOO! MY POWER! GIVE ME BACK MY POWER!”

He keeps crying out for his ‘power’... Does he mean the knife?

“Hey! Are you guys alright? What was that strange feeling?”

Akai comes lumbering along with the last perpetrator slung over his shoulder. Looks like he got him. Strange feeling? So Akai felt it too.

“Yeah. Good work, Akai.” I say.

“What’s wrong with him?”, Akai asks, horrified

The bloke’s just mumbling wildly to himself now. What’s going on?

“He used that strange knife and went bonkers. It gave off a hella creepy vibe.”, Naoya says.

“Creepy is a mild way of putting it, innit?”, I retort.

Sunni and Yoko blink openly.

“You could sense that too, Naoya-nii? And you, Akai-san?”

Naoya pauses as he comes to realise what he just said.

“Yeah, I did…”, he says slowly. “But how did I sense it? I’ve never sensed mana before in my life.”

There’s something indubitably special about that knife.

!

Oh, come off it. What’s going on now? Yoko, Sunni and I ready ourselves for combat, with Naoya and Akai following suit. Suddenly a flash of light illuminates the building.

“Gah! That’s bright!”, Akai yelps.

What looks like a magic circle appears in front of the knife on the floor, and from out of it comes- knights?

“Good. We’ve found another one.”

“The Spirits are guiding us to their presence. Praise unto The Spirits.”

They’re speaking English? I don’t know who they are, but their mana level seems pretty high. I reach for my Enigma Phone and relay orders to Gege and Haruhi-chan.

“Oi, you may need to get back-up here on the double.”

“What? What’s happening?”

“Has the situation gone south, Daisuke-san?”

The knights seem not to be interested in a fight at all, though.

“Still yourselves, heathens. We have no interest in you.”

“We’ve come for the sake of our religion. Do not pester us.”

“Religion?”, Sunni echoes suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

One of the knights scoffs loudly.

“Of course a heathen like yourself is ignorant. But you’ll know soon enough.”

The other knight throws up a ball into air that explodes in a brilliant flash of light. Blinding the lot of us.

“Damn it! They got us!”, Naoya shouts.

It takes a bit, but our vision returns to us. Once it does, both the knights and the knife are gone.

“What the bloody hell…”, Yoko grumbles.

“Oi, Gege, Haruhi-chan, dismiss those last orders. Our mission is complete.”, I say in a daze.

Gege’s voice rings in my ears again. He sounds slightly annoyed.

“Mind telling us what the hell is happening, Leader?”

Sorry, mate. But I’m not sure if I know that myself.