“WHAT!?” yelped both Murayama and Mizusaki at the same time, their jaws dropping wide open. They stood in the main street in the middle of Tokyo military base, their surroundings something akin to have come out of a horror movie – bits and pieces of human bodies were spread all over the entirety of the street, blood soaking both asphalt and walls. One could easily believe that a bomb had exploded in a street filled with people instead of all of those enemy soldiers having been chopped into pieces by a single person in less than five minutes.

“Wait a damn minute,” said Murayama, gesturing one of his open hands forward to request a break on the explanation he and his subordinate were receiving out of nowhere. “We’re still hatchlings when it comes to our knowledge about super soldiers and how you guys operate so, having to say this really annoys me but, explain everything from the start as if we’re really, really stupid.”

“I was already doing that but I guess I was still expecting too much out of your human brains. My apologies,” said Iru, his facial expression completely unbothered by having to start explaining everything from scratch. “You must already be aware that the lab was creating super soldiers to sell them as if a military weapon, correct? Our lab was being exclusively used for the serial M so none of us was sold to whichever country was interested in owning a super soldier, but the same isn’t applied to all the other labs spread across this country. If they were a successful creation, they were sold to whoever offered the bigger bind. If they were deemed a failure, M0 would scrape them out of the list. Is everything clear up until this point?”

Both Murayama and Mizusaki simply offered a small nod with their heads as an answer.

“I don’t possess the exact numbers, however I believe we’re all aware of how many failed super soldiers were scraped out due to the benevolence of my ‘Beatrice’, so we can just leave it up to your imagination how many successful super soldiers, of several different serial and code numbers, were put in the market and are currently being used by the armies of uncountable countries,” continued Iru, crossing his arms over his chest. “Those super soldiers who have been bought were more commonly referred to as ‘pet super soldiers’ by the workers of the lab so that’s the definition we have also adopted between ourselves when speaking about them. Most of the time, at least.”

“So… that means you six are also ‘pet super soldiers’ now?” asked Mizusaki, quickly glancing at both Iru and Azuma.

“I don’t remember joining the Japanese army and I don’t have any plans of doing such throughout my whole life,” coldly answered Iru, his grey eyes releasing a strong bolt of red light. “But I’m only speaking for myself and M0. The others can do whatever pleases them the most.”

“As if…” grumbled Azuma, quickly adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

“I believe that humans have their own traditions and ways of doing things, we super soldiers do something quite similar when dealing with pet super soldiers,” continued Iru, dropping the offensive remark said by the human soldier for the time being. “That’s where the three rules I mentioned earlier come in. If we’re to stand on different, enemy, sides, then we’re to eliminate that super soldier or we’ll be eliminated by that super soldier. Which leads us back to the part where I said that’s what M0’s currently doing.”

“M0 is currently having a fight to the death with another super soldier and you’re just idly standing here as if nothing is happening!?” yelled Murayama, strongly clutching his hands into tight fists. “Back in the lab you were all about slaughtering anyone who even mentioned the possibility of harming M0, but now the fact that he’s in a kill or be killed position doesn’t faze you at all!?”

“If M0 was as weak as you’re implying him to be, then he would have long been killed, or must I remind you that he’s the only one out of the seven of us that has killed a fair share of super soldiers?” pointed out Iru, once again unimpressed by the overdramatic reaction of the human soldier. “And before you say that all of them were super soldiers deemed as a failure, allow me to elucidate you on a little something. M0 needs us. If he didn’t, his killing list would have had six more entries since the moment he stepped outside of his cell. Soon followed by the rest of you.”

“I can’t believe M0 would kill any of you, even if you were to stand on opposite sides of the battlefield,” readily denied Murayama, a deep frown on his features as he stared straight at Iru’s eyes.

“That’s a choice meant for my ‘Beatrice’ to make, not something that is to be decided by your misguided beliefs on what kind of person M0 is,” rebuked Iru, his passive demeanour also changing into a deep frown.

“I may not know M0 as well as you do, but I still don’t think that he’s the type of person that would ever be able to harm those who he cares about, super soldier or not,” continued Murayama, clenching his fists even further, until his nails were digging into his palms. “Even I can see that all six of you are put on that ‘list’, not the one of those meant to be eliminated.”

“Foolish humans…” snorted Azuma, slowly shaking his head in disappointment. “’Love’ and ‘affection’ are words that can be erased just as easily as a human life. Or are you trying to forget about the betraying façade that all humans possess? Trying to forget what state you have made the world become? Don’t try to force on us your beliefs on what we are because you know nothing about us, as you very well said just a while ago. Nothing but hatchlings in matters regarding super soldiers. If you can’t even understand one another, what even makes you think that you can understand us, those who have long stopped being humans? Just stay in your world and let us do as we see fit in our own.”

“Oh, what’s this~? Did someone mention anything about gods and faith in front of you once again, Azuma?”

“So you’ve finally gotten here, Atsumu, Mitaru, Tsugi,” acknowledged Iru with a short nod of his head, turning his body slightly around to fully take in the small group approaching them.

“Mitaru informed us about M0’s big prey, the Russian’s pet super soldier, so we figured it would be quicker to regroup with you rather than search for their location~” explained Atsumu, an ear-to-ear grin once again present on his features.

“Cut M0 some slack, Iru,” said Mitaru, slapping his hand on Iru’s shoulder. “He found a loophole on what you told him to do so he’s just taking advantage of it. Again.”

“I’m already well aware of that,” sighed Iru, pushing Mitaru’s hand off of his shoulder. “Have you and Shouichi already said ‘thank you’ to M0 for having saved you from the Russian soldiers that surrounded you, since you were far too busy talking with each other?”

“Hey! Blame Ikusaki for that, not me!” yelled Mitaru, pointing at Ikusaki while with a deep frown on his features. “He was the one who wouldn’t shut up about basketball! I was just trying to make him shut up so I could focus!”

“So when you said that Mitaru had demolished that wall with your basketball, you really weren’t lying, huh…” said Miue, sideways peering at his squad member.

“Why would I tell such a farfetched lie in the first place!?” yelped Ikusaki, deeply shocked and slightly hurt by the lack of trust that one of his superiors had on his word and reports.

“Because you’re an idiot,” said Miue, Murayama, Mizusaki and Eki at the same time, not holding back the slightest as they blatantly accused Ikusaki of being capable of pulling such feats.

“I expected this answer from those three but even you, Yasuhisa?” almost sobbed Ikusaki, his shoulders slumping down. “Wow… I should consider making a request to change squads…”

Slowly, a gentle vibration started hitting the asphalt underneath the group’s feet. A second later, the ground and all of the buildings in that area shook as if an earthquake had hit that whole area. Multiple explosions resounded in the distance and several columns of dirt and smoke started climbing in the sky’s direction.

“Maybe we didn’t need Iru to lead us there…” pointed out Tsugi, leisurely biting into the tip of his thumb, eyes stuck on the rising smoke columns.

“That just felt like a buttload of damage to our base…” cringed Mizusaki, not even he able to keep a relaxed expression on his face with the monstrous sound that those impacts had caused.

“Let’s go,” instructed Iru, quickly picking up the bloodied katana that he had left stabbed in the asphalt, after he had taken care of his portion of attackers, and sliding it back to its scabbard.

The group readily darted in the direction where constant large impacts and tremors originated, more dirt being lifted into the air as one of the buildings in that area had seemingly been demolished by something – or someone. They were only able to fully take in the total amount of damage when they crossed the corner of the street and their eyes bumped into a scenario usually found in a city close by to a location hit by a nuclear bomb.

In the middle of the destroyed area stood M0, his clothes bloodied and slightly ripped. The same expressionless demeanour on his face.

In front of him was a towering unknown male, with possible African origins due to his dark skin tone. His features were twisted in monumental fury, his breathing slightly laboured as he forcibly put his dislocated shoulder back in place with a loud snap.

“Stop running around and fight me properly, M0!” roared the dark-skinned super soldier, his eyes suddenly releasing a strong red coloured light. “Or is ‘The Union’s’ favourite lap dog just a little boy who can do nothing but dodge?”

“…”

“I’m talking to you, you disgusting Eshu!” roared once again the dark-skinned super soldier after he obtained absolutely no reaction out of M0. He snorted, “Or should I call you, someone who knows nothing but killing, a grim reaper?”

“Don’t call me by that name,” calmly warned M0, popping up right in front of the other super soldier out of the blue. He pulled one of his closed fists backwards and then hit him straight on his stomach, causing the dark-skinned super soldier to fly back with impressive speed and crash against the walls of one of the nearby buildings. Another cloud of dust spread through the whole area when the building caved in on top of the enemy super soldier and crushed him underneath the rubble.

“I-Is it over?” asked Ikusaki, quickly exchanging glances between M0 and the destroyed building.

“If we’re meant to live a long life, it soon will be,” answered Iru, his lips slowly stretching into a mischievous smirk, his grey eyes glowing crimson red in expectation. “But… not yet. Not yet.”

Right, Rei?, inwardly added Iru as his eyes observed the debris of the destroyed building rolling around and a large body emerging from in between them.