“...I see…” Isaac says as he takes in all of this information.

 

“...So…” Jack says with his arms crossed. “...What do you think we should do?”

 

“That, my friend, is a good question.” Isaac asks as he places a gloved hand on his chin. “And you said that both Team Prism and Team IQA said that they were willing to help with this?”

 

“...Yeah…” Love says as she nervously rubs her arm. “...I mean…we were with Team Prism when this happened anyway…”

 

“Fascinating.” Isaac says as he considers all of the information that was presented to him.

 

‘It would be a foolish move for us to get involved in this. With that being said, if we don’t do anything about this then the school would be seen as weak and something like this might happen again.’ Isaac thinks to himself. ‘We cannot just let anyone on campus and have them do as they please. Especially if those people want to harm my students.’

 

“Alright!” Isaac says as he slams his cane against the ground. “I’ve made my decision!”

 

Jack, Love, Candi, and Maka all turn their attention towards him.

 

“Since it seems like we have no other choice, the faculty of SUPER will help you out with this mission.”

 

“Awesome!” Maka said with a big grin that made her sharp teeth visible. “It seems like we might have a chance at doing this after all!”

 

“I wouldn’t make such definitive statements if I were you.” Isaac says as a cup of tea seems to materialize in his hand before he takes a sip. “Elizabella Newton and The Chess Company are a force to be reckoned with. I’m not saying that there is no chance that we’ll end up victorious, but to give ourselves the best odds we should make sure that our counterattack is as secretive as possible.”

 

“We already have a plan that involves being sneaky though.” Candi says as she cocks her head to the side in confusion. “What’s wrong with it?”

 

“You said that you wanted Fang to talk with her because of his past experience, but I don’t think that is a very good idea. Since Mrs Newton already knows that you two go to this school and were first year students in Class A, I’d assume that she is also aware of the roster of that class. Also, I can’t believe I ever have to say this, but sneaking in with cheap disguises that could obviously be seen through is a terrible idea.”

 

“...I thought that it was a good idea…” Love says with a small sad frown on her face.

 

“Anyway, it might take me some time, but I’ll come up with a better plan.” Isaac takes out his pocket watch and checks the time. “It seems like we have a little less than two weeks if everything goes according to schedule.”

 

“I think I know something that we could do.” Jack states as he walks over to Dallas, who was handcuffed and sitting nearby, and leans down next to him. “Hey cowboy.”

 

“What do you want?” Dallas says with an obvious exhaustion in his voice.

 

“How much is she paying you?”

 

“Why should I tell you that?” Dallas says with a roll of his eyes.

 

“Whatever it is, we’ll double it.”

 

“That's a nice offer, but why should I trust you?”

 

Isaac walks over and takes out his checkbook.

 

“How about I give you half of the money upfront and then you get the rest after the mission?” Isaac says with a blank expression on his face. “How does that sound to you?”

 

“...She paid me one hundred thousand dollars…” Dallas says as he leans his head down so that the brim of his hat covers most of his face.

 

“...Fine by me…” Isaac says as he starts writing the check. “...Here is a check for one hundred thousand dollars…”

 

“...Heh…” Dallas says with a smirk on his face. “...I think that you got yourself a deal, old man…”

 

“...Wait?” Candi asks as a concerned look quickly covers her face. “...Why should we work with him? He literally just tried to kill most of us a few minutes ago!”

 

“We ain’t enemies no more though!” Dallas says through a chuckle. “I’m sure ‘her highness’ will understand, her being the CEO of a major corporation and all that. I mean, this is just business after all.”

 

Isaac uses his magic to remove the handcuffs from the outlaw's wrists.

 

“Thank you kindly.” Dallas says as he rubs his wrists. “That feels a lot better!”

 

“Alright then.” Isaac says as he takes another sip of his tea. “For now you will head back and pretend that none of this happened. We can’t let the queen find out about your betrayal after all.”

 

“I wouldn’t call it a betrayal myself. She knows the price of business.” Dallas says as he starts to make his way back to Chess Castle while giving the group of heroes a small wave. “See you around.”

 

---

 

“You agreed to what?!” Angella shouts at her boss as she slams her hands down against the wood of the table in the teacher’s lounge.

 

“It was the only choice that we had.” Isaac says with a sigh. “I’m not happy about it either, but there is no turning back now.”

 

Jack nods in agreement.

 

Angella grumbles to herself before turning her attention to Zari.

 

“You agree with me that this was a terrible idea, right?”

 

“I don’t know, sounds like fun to me!” Zari says with a laugh.

 

“What about you, Rose?” Angella says with a forced smile that was getting harder and harder to maintain. “You're smart, you have to agree that this is a bad plan.”

 

“...I’m sorry, but I think I’m with Isaac on this one…” The nonbinary fashionista says as they adjust their glasses back into place. “...I don’t really see anything else we could’ve done here…It was either this or let them attack our students, Angie…”

 

“...Bulldog?” Angella says as she starts to realize that nobody was on her side here.

 

“...Uh…What Rose said…” Bulldog says as he scratches his beard.

 

Angella places her hands over her face and places her head down on the desk in front of her.

 

“...You all know that we do not stand a chance here, right?” Angella says with a much more reserved voice than before.

 

“Not with that attitude we won’t!” Zari says with a huge grin as she pats Angella on the back a little too hard and almost knocks her out of her seat.

 

“...If we back down here that would just be admitting that our school is weak…” Bulldog says as he leans forward in his chair. “...Do you really think your students are that weak?”

 

“...Well…” Angella says as she tries to come up with anything else to help with her case before she gives a defeated sigh. “...No…I believe in the strength of my students…”

 

“Wow, big guy!” Rose says with a small smirk. “Didn’t know you knew that many words?”

 

“...I just speak when I need to…” Bulldog says as he scratches the back of his head with a small blush on his face.

 

“I know! I’m just teasing!” Rose says with a giggle.

 

“...Anyways...You know I wouldn’t have agreed to this if there was any other way?” Jack asks Angella with a tired expression on his face. “...You know how much I hate working more than I need to…”

 

“...Yeah…that’s true…” Angella says as a small smile slowly crawls onto her face. “...If you’re willing to do additional work then this must be important to you…”

 

“...Yeah…” Jack says as he places a hand on his cheek and leans his arm down against the table. “...God, there’s going to be so much paperwork…”

 

“Is everyone now on the same page?” Isaac asks as he folds his hands.

 

The rest of the SUPER faculty nod in agreement.

 

“Count me in too!” A loud voice is heard from a door that was just kicked open.

 

“...Were you hiding behind the door, like, this whole time?” Zari asks with a puzzled expression.

 

“Irrelevant!” Wattz exclaims before he makes his way over to the table and takes one spare seat at the table.

 

“...Who is this guy?” Bulldog asks.

 

“He’s our new janitor.” Isaac says as he takes another sip of tea.

 

“I, Wattz the janitor, will help you out on this mission!” He says as he attempts to strike a fearsome pose (which was rather hard to do in a janitor jumpsuit).

 

“Wouldn’t that be against your parole?” Jack asks as he places his hands behind his head and leans back in his chair.

 

“They just said I wasn’t allowed to use my powers for evil. They never said that I wasn’t allowed to use my powers…for good!”

 

“Is that true?” Rose asks as they cock their head to the side.

 

“...Let me see…” Isaac says under his breath as he levitates a book of laws to his desk. He quickly skims the book until he finds what he is looking for. “...It says here that…he’s right…as long as he is fighting with us, legally speaking, he should be fine…that being said, if he were to betray us then we’d be held responsible for him…”

 

“I know that nobody agreed with me earlier, but this guy is a villain.” Angella says as she gestures towards the wizard. “This should be an easy choice!”

 

“Former villain!” Wattz clarifies. “I would also like to remind you that I am on parole with good behavior.”

 

“...Well…” Isaac says as he considers his options.

 

“I think that we should let him help.” Rose says with a smile. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”

 

“...I’m with Rose on this one…” Bulldog agrees.

 

“You’re always with Rose on everything!” Angella says with a scowl.

 

“...Can’t argue with that…” Bulldog says with a shrug.

 

“Sounds fun! I’m in!” Zari says with a big toothy grin.

 

“...Oh for the love of…” Angella says before she puts her hands together in prayer. “...Don’t say the lord's name in vain, Angella, you’re above that…”

 

“...I say that we need all the help we can get…” Jack adds. “...I mean…it’s less work for me this way at least…”

 

“...Why do I even try…” Angella grumbles to herself. “...Fine…but you better pull your weight, wizard!”

 

“I’ll try my best mam!” Wattz says with a bow.

 

“I mean, you are a member of SUPER faculty now. Besides, you won’t have much to clean if the school is empty anyways.” Isaac says as he reaches out his arm for a handshake.

 

“Thank you, Sir IQ!” Wattz says as he accepts the handshake almost a little too quickly.

 

“...Now with that out of the way…let’s discuss the plan…” Isaac says as he takes another sip of tea.

 

---

 

“Was your mission successful, Wildcard?” Eizabella asks with an emotionless stare.

 

“I’d personally like to say so.” Dallas says with a tip of his hat.

 

“So, you made an example of those insolent children?” Elizabella says as a small sadistic grin crawls onto her face.

 

“...Well, let’s just say that there has been a change of plans…” Dallas says as he rubs the back of his neck.

 

“...Authorized by who?” Elizabella says as a deep scowl quickly covers her face.

 

“...Authorized by me…” Dallas says with a smirk. “...Besides…we’d be in hot water if someone were to track something like this back to you, right?”

 

“...I didn’t pay you to make your own plans though…” Elizabella growls through gritted teeth. “...I paid you to murder those brats…”

 

Dallas sighs and lowers his head.

 

“...Fine…I’ll tell you the truth…”

 

Elizabella’s ears immediately perk up at this statement.

 

“...I was caught…by Isaac Quentin…”

 

“...Then why are you here?”

 

“...He made me an offer to betray you…”

 

“...Are you betraying me?” Elizabella’s scowl deepens again.

 

“...You know how to answer that question…”

 

“...Mr. Wildcard…I thought that you were smarter than this?”

 

“...What?”

 

“...You thought that you could just walk in here and ask me for more money even though you already admitted that you failed me?”

 

“...That’s not exactly…”

 

Elizabella holds her arm out to the side as a twelve foot long black sword flies into her gloved hand.

 

“...You don’t know how this works, do you?” Elizabella asks as she slowly walks towards Dallas as she drags her swords against the ground behind her.

 

“...Hey now…let’s discuss this…” Dallas says as he backs up until he is against the wall.

 

“...No…you listen to me, worm…” Elizabella holds out her hand and Dallas flies towards where she was standing.

 

Dallas’ neck flew right into Elizabella’s free hand as she started to choke him.

 

The outlaw tries to say something to get out of this, but this is something that he can’t talk his way out of.

 

“...You work for me and get paid the original amount…or I kill you right here and now…” Elizabella says with a sadistic grin. “...Make your move, cowboy…”

 

Dallas taps the hand that Elizabella was using to hold him up and she drops him to the ground.

 

After he catches his breath the gunman scrambles to his feet, but keeps his distance from the queen.

 

“...The original price works for me…” He somehow manages to say through his fear.

 

“...Good…” Elizabella says before she gestures towards the entrance of her throne room as the door immediately flies open. “...Now…get out of my sight…”

 

“...Yes, your majesty…” Dallas says with a quick bow before he sprints out of the room as fast as his feet would allow.

 

Elizabella sighs before she slowly makes her way back to her throne and takes a seat.

 

“...How disappointing…” She says as she places a hand onto her forehead. “...Killing him would have been so much fun…”