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16 - isolation: preparation.

Plasma and blood were thrown all over the place as Noelle and Klein fought off the Secretives in the electric girl's stead. With only a bit of effort, the last one fell to the ground.

It had been only 2 days since she had been taken away, yet the assault of the Secretives had increased dramatically, leaving tons of damage wherever they went. Because of this, a lot of people were mobilized to take on the attacks, including Arielle, Chizuru, Arizu, and even the President himself. Klein and Noelle weren't off the hook either.

"That should be the last of them," Klein said, clapping off the dust from his hands.

"Thank you for your cooperation," said a government official appearing all of a sudden. With a snap of his fingers, all the Secretive members they defeated disappeared in an instant. "Sir Klein, I know that you are concerned about your two friends that went missing, but the President has good news for you."

"Wait, for real?!" Klein exclaimed as Noelle slowly clapped.

The President appeared through a portal and said, "Indeed, Klein Kaizel."

"Is this the man who fought against Cain Johnson?" Noelle asked.

"Wait, is that the girl who came from another world last week?"

"Yes and yes, Sir," Klein replied. "Chris first introduced me to her."

"I see... Now, unfortunately, we were only able to pinpoint the location of your vigilante friend."

"So Chris just suddenly disappeared, huh... Did you find the base of the Secretives?"

"As a matter of fact, she's being held in one such base. However, the security and location – not to mention the Concealing Barrier they put up – made it hard for us to locate her."

The Concealing Barrier was a device used by the Secretives to hide important locations, mainly their base of operations. One such device was in effect on the base's location.

"How high is their security?"

"Guards are stationed at every corner of the base. It's impossible to be stealthy when heading in, so you'll have to do a raid."

"A raid? But I doubt I can rescue her with just me and Noelle alone..."

"The backup army will assist you in the operation. As for your contribution, don't you have lots of other friends?"

Klein's eyes widened after remembering the most obvious thing to do. Clutching his head, he thought, "How could I forget about that?"

"Yeah, I do," he said. "I can call them. Problem is, I don't know half their phone numbers, and I don't even know where they are."

Looking at his watch, the President said, "Please don't worry about that. I still have time, so I can get you to them."

"Don't you have other places to be, Sir?"

"Those other places are where I'll be bringing you."

"Damn, that's smooth," they all thought.

Opening a portal to another street, the President said, "Arielle should be fighting in that street. Shall we go through?"

Without hesitation, they ran straight to the other side. Arielle was holding her own against a batch of elite Secretives, and she looked like she was going to collapse any moment. Without hesitation, the duo conjured a sword of their respective element and dashed straight in, slashing around without thinking twice. Behind them, the President was manipulating Arielle's energy to heal her quickly.

After they finished, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"We're going around to get my friends to help," said Klein, dusting off his shoulders. "Mr. President knows where the electric girl is, but the only way to get in is through force. Seeing as how your fighting styles can easily be linked with one another, I can't help but feel that you're needed on the team."

"What about the Secretives in the other districts?"

"I've already dispatched some of my men there," the President said.

"Mm... How are we going to find the others, though?"

"The President can create portals," Noelle replied as he created one leading to Fairweather Campus, still under repair from the attacks caused on that day.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving."

Together, the four of them walked through the portal. Chizuru was overseeing the rebuilding of the court, her face looking like she had witnessed her parents getting killed.

"Hello, Chizuru," Klein said.

"...Hello."

"Wh- How did you suddenly change your personality in 2 days?"

"It's not the same with Chris around."

"Wait, where did Chris go?" Arielle asked.

"I was told he disappeared. No one's seen him since the battle here."

"...I have a theory."

"Can we hear it?" asked the President.

"Chris, who just mysteriously disappeared, and the electric girl locked up by the Secretives has to be the same person. Think about it. She got kidnapped, Chris just disappeared. No one's seen him for 2 days, and he isn't the type of person to take on another identity unless he's murdering enemy plans on the streets."

"That's good thinking right there. We probably shouldn't question her about it after getting her out, though."

"Whatever you're going to do," said Chizuru, "I'm going to come along."

"It's dangerous, though. Are you sure?"

"The time I nearly got killed while going out from the mall was way more dangerous."

"Alright, then come along," Klein said with a wave as the President opened yet another portal.



"I'll tag along, Sir, but I still have some business to do before I go," said Adele when the group got to the research facility.

"They will be back, Mom. In the meantime, I can formulate a strategy," Vidya replied.



"Yo, Justin, you sure you wanna go?" one of the teenagers at Chris' apartment asked.

"Yeah," he said, taking a knife from the kitchen, "if not for my neighbor, then who else?"



"Are we qualified for this?" Pointa asked, his left hand holding a pouch of bullets instead of a bottle of beer.

"We'll need ranged attackers at some point in the base," Klein replied.

"I guess we are, then. Daniel, what's your thought on this-"

"I'm going in."

"A-Alright then..."



"Sorry, I don't think I can go," said Arizu when they arrived at her house.

"Well, that's the first person to decline. I mean, it's for a good reason, seeing how Luna is right now."

Luna was holding Arizu's dress, shivering from the thought of just having to face the Secretives again. In the last fight she participated in, she had summoned all her courage to even throw out attacks.

"Yeah... Though, if she changes her mind, I'll be following her."

"How are we gonna know if she does?"

"If she barges into the base."



"Oh yes, I'm in," Alex said, cracking her knuckles.

"You already knew what we were gonna ask you?" Noelle asked, seemingly confused by her prediction ability.

"Well, with a group like that, who's not gonna invite me in?"

"Fair point. You know what we're going to do?"

"Raid a base?"

"How does she know our every move?" she whispered to Klein, who shrugged in response.



"You need me to help you with something?"

Klein had requested their final destination to be the prison where his dad was before they went out to raid the base. He already knew about the plan thanks to Vidya back at the laboratory, but he wanted to get advice from his dad, seeing how he was the only relative he knows that has enough experience with raiding.

"I'd like to know how you usually raid a place."

"I just charge in."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. As for my army, I usually pair up an attacker with a defender so they have each other's backs. That's how I successfully got half of the Brisses."

"Why do you just charge in without a defender?"

"Because I already have offensive and defensive abilities in one."

"Time's up, Rosten," said a guard walking towards him.

"Well, guess I gotta go."

Before the guard could shut the door, Rosten managed to slip out a few words, "By the way, Achdon Yacht is good at fighting."

"Achdon Yacht?" Klein thought as he left the room as well.



"You're back," said Noelle, patiently waiting in front of the prison gates. "How'd the talk go? Did he give you something?"

"No, he just gave me advice... and the name of someone who I think is affiliated with Chris."

"He must've met Achdon Yacht," said the President, approaching him. "He's your friend's dad, arrested for severe violence against LGBT+ groups a couple years ago."

"Goodness. I've never heard of such a man."

"That aside, the preparations are now finished. Are you ready to head out?"

Looking at the shoreline, he took in the air for a moment before saying, "Yes, I am ready."