“Cr-Craig!” The Jellyroll Man was the first to break from his stupor. He dashed over to the younger lad, dropping to one knee and looking him over. 

“Whoa…” The musclehead couldn't believe his eyes. “Wh… What just happened…?”

“The wall appears to be covered in soot,” surmised the automaton. “Soot conducts electricity and when Craig punched through the wall, that is where the girl m-m-m-m-m-m…”

“......”

“......”

“......”

“......”

“......”

“......”

The other Monarchs waited in anticipation for the automaton to finish his point. A few static and stutters later…

“...made her move.”

The Monarchs let out a collective gasp. 

“Huh?” Daytona waved her hands in protest, Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. “H-Hold on, that was an accident! I just moved out of the way and used the wall to support myself. I-I never meant to zap the lad!” 

“Hang in there, Craig!” The Jellyroll Man held Craig in his arms. His lips were tightened as if he were trying not to cry. Then Craig, the weaselly lad whose body was now covered in dark burn marks and his messy green hair had taken on more of a permed texture, spoke.

“B-Boss? Did we… Did we get ‘er?” 

The Jellyroll Man sucked air through his teeth.“Nah, kid. Not even close. But you’re gonna be okay, understand? Where does it hurt?”

“I… Mostly feel tingly all over…but…my mitts, I…I can’t feel ‘em…”

“Whoa…”

“How barbaric!”

Daytona rolled her eyes at their comments. “Y’know, that mossed-haired pillock o’ yours would still be feeling his mitts if youse had just buggered off and bothered someone else.”

The Monarchs turned to glare at the blue-haired girl.

“You’ve got some nerve!” 

“He’s only a boy! A good boy!” 

“Now who will conduct my weekly m-m-m-maintenance?” 

“How’re you gonna take responsibility for this, huh?” The Jellyroll Man, who had been the most polite of the bunch, now fixed Daytona with a stony glare. “Ya just shocked a guy here. These burns could be serious!”

Daytona's nostrils flared. She'd had enough. “Oh, no, no, no. You blokes aren't gonna guilt trip me over this! I’ll admit that I lost control the first time. And for that, I apologize—” 

She paused, raising her arms slightly, her right elbow and forearm close to her ribs. As her first line of defense, her left arm was positioned in front of her. Finally, she stepped forward with her left foot, heel raised from the ground, while her right foot remained flat to maintain her balance. A current of electricity flickered around her body as the Monarchs looked on in disbelief. 

“—But make no mistake—I was trained by the greatest electro mage in the world… and he taught me well. I can assure you that the next time will not be an accident. And, based on your reactions, youse don't appear to be overly confident in your magical abilities, so what's to stop me from doing in the rest of you bozos?”

“Ah, to hell wit’ dis…!” The half-oni suddenly stepped past the Jellyroll Man, reaching back and drawing a silver revolver. On closer inspection, it was engraved with the symbol of a salamander, the guardian spirit of Vulcan, Lord of the Inferno. The mark emitted the same glowing red aura that emitted from beneath his visor. He immediately pointed the gun at Daytona's head.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” she yelled, holding her hands in the air. All the gusto she’d displayed earlier dissolved in the blink of an eye. The sight of the barrel sent Daytona's heart racing. Sure, she was fast, but not fast enough to stop a mana bullet from point-blank range.

“Okay, okay, that's a convincing argument!" 

Damn! An Oni mystic gunslinger? And his mana is much stronger than the weasel! Questions began to flood her mind. Just who the hell were these blokes? And were the others hiding their true power as well?

If so, then I’m totally screwed! 

"Yo, Renfrew, stop!” The Jellyroll Man protested. “Yeah, what she did was uncalled for, but is this really necessary?!” 

The red-oni spun around and pointed the gun at his leader. “Shut it, Xilla!” he fumed, making his act of defiance clear. “It’s ‘cuz o’ you why she thinks we’re a bunch of pushovers!” 

Mm. Not quite, Daytona thought. To be honest, if anyone were to be at fault here, it’d be the weasel, not him.

“Ay, t-take it easy, man!!”  Xilla exclaimed as his hands shot in the air also. The others were yelling at Renfrew to stop, but he ignored them and redirected his weapon's barrel back at his original target.

 "And you!"

"Eeep!” Daytona yelped. “Y-Yes?”

“Enough with the games!” Renfrew demanded, “Don’t get cocky ‘cuz you caught one of our rookies off guard! You don’t wanna mess with a seasoned Monarch, kid! Now empty that li’l bag ‘o yours and no one has to be burned to a crisp!"

“Aside from Craig’s hands, you mean,” the automaton chimed in.

Renfrew sighed. “Yes, Phil. Aside from Craig’s hands. He really took one for the team.”

“Awww… you guys…” Craig—’the weasel’, as Daytona preferred—still in the Jellyroll Man’s arms, gazed up at his comrade. His eyes were twinkling, and his cheeks had a slight tinge beneath the burns.

“Shut up, Craig,” Renfrew hissed.

“Okay…” He sighed, as if this was a routine response from his senior thug, before averting his gaze once more.

Renfrew returned his attention to his target. A malicious grin spread across the red man's face as he saw the genuine fear in the girl's eyes. “Last chance to drop your shit, and bounce, short stuff,” the half-oni warned. “Well? What do you say?”

Dammit… What do I do now? 

“Leave her alone!” A deep yet youthful voice called out from behind them.

“““Huh?”””

The gangsters whirled around to find a tall teenage boy glaring back at them. He had a long face, dark bronze skin, slanted brown eyes, a strong jaw, and long black hair braided into cornrows. The boy was dressed in the uniform of Phoenix Military Academy, which Daytona recognized as the school just west of hers. 

The boy proceeded toward them, flanked by two other girls who both appeared to be of Hōjinese descent. Daytona’s eyes lit up as she noticed their familiar purple, black, and grey uniforms. 

Wait, those two are…

Sure enough, the symbol of Requiem was embellished on the right side of their breast pockets, just like Daytona's own blouse. That was before it turned into a charred scrap of fabric, though.

Daytona's gaze flicked to the Requiem student to her left. To describe this girl as "short" would have been an understatement of the century. She could have easily passed for a primary school student if it hadn't been for her uniform. Her long neon pink hair was tied in a single braid, her eyes were as blue as the ocean, and her cheeks were so rosy, that they almost looked like those blush stickers manga artists usually put on their moé characters.

Simply put, the girl was adorable as all get out. 

The Requiem student to the right was quite tall, unlike her bubblegum-haired friend, but not much taller than Daytona. Her long, ashen hair cascaded past her shoulders and down her back. Her skin was fair, almost porcelain-like, and her large hazel-colored eyes shone in the shade cast by the brim of her large witch's hat. 

Daytona's heart skipped a beat as she was taken aback by the beauty of the young witch. In her mind, a girl of her caliber could easily find work as a model for Magia Fashion Weekly or something. Furthermore, this was Daytona's first encounter with a witch in the flesh. Although her home country, New Dragonia, was well-known for being one of the continent's more culturally diverse nations, witches still made up only about 0.5 percent of the population.

As she continued her examination, Daytona's gaze traveled just below the subject’s collarbone and settled on her chest. There she noticed…two ways that the young witch dwarfed both Daytona and the bubblegum-haired girl combined. 

What the…?

Daytona peered down at her own chest... and sighed deeply.

Guess that makes me and pinkie over there kindred spirits…

The students then came to a halt just a few feet away from the thugs. While this trio was dissimilar in many ways, Daytona recognized one thing they all had in common: the intense glare that burned across each of their faces. They had no fear in their eyes as they stared daggers at the thugs in front of them. Daytona wondered what kind of mages these three had to be if standing toe-to-toe with five men didn't bother them in the least.

The bubblegum-haired girl glanced over to Daytona. She smiled and gave her a thumbs up, and an unfamiliar wellspring of heat began to wash over her. Something about these three made her feel hopeful. 

Well, they certainly seem confident, but are young mages in the West really that strong? From the looks of things, she wouldn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“Hoo boy,” the Jellyroll Man sighed, scratching his head. “This may be a problem, fellas.”

“Tch, you can't be serious, Xill. It's just a few more kids.” The musclehead scoffed and folded his arms, clearly unimpressed. “Big whoop!” 

The feline beastkin tugged at his sleeve. “Check out their uniforms, mate!” he muttered, pointing to them. “Clearly they're students from those nearby academies! Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed…one of ‘em’s a bloody witch!!”

“So?” 

“So, that means, if they got accepted into said academies, they've all gotta be packing some serious heat, don’tcha think?” 

The big lad chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "Heh, don't mean a damn thing to me, Collin. Their magic won’t protect them from these hands!"  

“Tch, your funeral, dumbass,” Collin heaved a sigh as he buried his face in his open palm. He was completely beside himself at this point.

Renfrew turned to face the trio, aimed his gun at the boy in the middle, and then paused.

“No friggin’ way…” He muttered as he lowered his gun. 

The boy, however, returned his stare with a puzzled expression.

“You're Rush's boy, aren’t you?” 

“......”

“......”

“......”

“......”

A hush fell over the back alley. Not one soul stirred as if time itself was at a standstill. 

“““HUH?!”””

A few moments later, some of the Monarchs gasped, the weight of Renfrew's words finally sinking in.

Rush? Daytona was confused. She didn’t quite get the importance of the red-oni’s question, but based on the Monarch's reaction, it didn’t bode well.  That name… She’d heard it somewhere before, but where?

Her gaze flicked over to the boy, however, these words didn’t seem to incite a reaction from him. He simply stood there, unmoving. 

The two girls beside him, on the other hand, were the polar opposite. Their eyes widened in surprise, but only for a brief moment. They exchanged glances, engaging in a silent conversation of sorts before finally hardening their expressions and returning their attention to the Monarchs.

“You are, aren't you?” Renfrew pressed, pointing at him vigorously with his free hand.

The Jellyroll Man peeked over his lowered shades. “Renfrew, are you serious?” 

“Wait, Rush? You mean the boss?” the musclehead asked.

“You know any other Rushes, mate?” Collin seethed, baring his fangs. He then locked eyes with the boy. “Yeah, it’s gotta be, Ren. Kid's a spitting image o’ him!”

What?! Daytona’s mouth gaped. Her morning had been crazy enough, and it was showing no signs of slowing down.

“Really?” The musclehead sounded doubtful. “Then why the hell is he going to school with the preppies? Shouldn’t he be one of us?”

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere as those words left the big man’s mouth. Daytona was the first to notice the dark expression that formed on the boy’s face. His jaw tightened, fists clenched. His irises turned dull. That stoic demeanor from just mere seconds ago was nowhere to be found. In its place, an expression akin to that of a cold-blooded killer. A look Daytona has only ever seen from two people in her entire life. As a massive accumulation of purple aura coursed through his body, she felt a chill run down her spine

“I will only say this once,” The boy spoke slowly but clearly enough for everyone to hear as if his voice were being broadcast over a loudspeaker. “Put away your weapon and leave,” he continued, gradually raising his arms and striking his fighting stance. “Otherwise, I will be forced to take action.”

“That aura…” Renfrew grinned. “Yep. No doubt about it. You’re a gyro mage, just like your pops!” 

“......”

“Say… We’d heard about your little…incident a few years, back,” the red-oni went on, clearly enjoying this. “Lost control. Damn near leveled a whole city block. It was all over the news. Your pops hadn’t a clue where your mom was hidin’ you, but when that happened, you can bet he—”

The boy gritted his teeth and his right hand clenched into a fist.  

“Whuhaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

The red-oni screamed in terror as his body was propelled forward into the air in less than a split second. 

“““Renfrew!!!””” The Monarchs shouted as they stared up at their comrade as his body continued to levitate over a hundred feet in the air.

The boy held a fixed gaze on his target. And once the half-oni was close enough, the boy reached upward, palmed the target’s face…

KRAKOOOOON!

 …and with a loud slam, the red-oni was pinned face-first into the ground.

“Aaaaagh!!”

The red-oni cried out, blood erupting from his mouth, but the boy didn’t stop there. The purple aura surrounding him intensified. He squatted to the ground, his hand still gripped over the oni's face. He inhaled deeply, his left hand gripping his right shoulder.

“Mmmph! W-Wait, stop! Please, have…” The half-oni then noticed his gun laying just a few inches away. A sly grin formed on his face. “Damned brat! I’ll…I’ll show you…” He reached out for it, his index finger nearly touching the revolver grip until—

FWOOOM!!

A shock wave came crashing down from above. Renfrew’s body was pressed into the ground, creating a man-sized crater. 

“Gah—!”

The impact caused the red-oni to jerk violently. Seconds later, the gangster was out like a light.

“......”

“““......”””

Daytona's mouth gaped. She couldn't believe her eyes. Wait, was that...gyro magic…?! She'd never come across a gyromancer before. Among the four Celestial Arts, gyro magic was thought to be extremely rare. Besides cosmo and gyro, a mage was more likely to learn healing or summoning. If one knew either of the former, they were considered an enigma. It then occurred to Daytona that she was experiencing a lot of firsts this morning.