September 11th, 2222. "So, we've got a long time to kill until we reach Ouro Preto." Silas says. "So, tell me... what exactly made you decide to work for the cartel and the police? Does the cartel know you're a cop?"
"Ah, fun question." Garcia replies. "No, the cartel doesn't know I'm a cop. But the police know I'm cartel. The police are very powerful when it comes to intelligence and power plays. Cartel beats them out in numbers and territory. However, I first joined the police to protect my family in Rio. The police, if anything happened to me, could come in to move them and protect them. I was to invade the cartel for inside resources, but I still do work with them for general protection around the city. You see, the cartel can be a really effective protection agency when they want. The police can for sure save my family... but the whole neighborhood... Well, they'd need a bigger force to keep them safe if something happened. That's what the cartel excels at. Territory and force."
"Sounds like you put yourself between a rock and a hard place." Dana adds.
"Yeah, that's for sure." Garcia says. "But you gotta do something if you want guarantees in life."
"What about the Hunters?" Carl asks.
"They're tilting the balance." Garcia replies sternly. "I may help the cartel and they may help me... but by no means would I ever want the cartel to have any more power than they already have."
"You know, you seem like a good person." Silas adds. "Cartel business really doesn't suit you."
"You're really naive, aren't you Silas?" Garcia asks.
"You don't know the half of it..." Dana replies.
"Enough bullying the team lead, guys." Carls adds.
"You!?" Garcia asks. "You lead the elite MTRU unit?"
With a disappointed look on his face, Silas replies "Yes. That would be me."
"You know, for the son of a notorious outlaw, you certainly are a big softie." Garcia adds.
"... Thanks." Silas says, annoyed. "Anyways, since we're chasing after rogue Hunters, I'm going to try to get ahold of someone and see if she knows anything about the recent boom in rogue Hunter activity."
"You know someone?" Garcia asks.
"We know someone who is formerly a rogue Hunter." Silas says as he pulls out his phone.
"Well, look at you..." Garcia says, impressed. "You're into much more dangerous shit than you look."
"Shelby!" Silas says as he's on the phone.
"Who is this and how did you get this number?" Shelby asks from the other side of the call.
"Relax, it's Silas." Silas replies.
"A call from special forces is hardly a 'relax' kind of moment, kid." Shelby replies impatiently. "What's going on that had you callin' me?"
"I need to know if there was anything you knew about the sudden rise in rogue Hunter activity?"
"What, you think we all got a finger on each other's pulse or something?" she asks. "They're rogue Hunters, Silas. They operate alone. I don't know why they're coming out all at once. There could be an infinite number of reasons. All I know is they're all happening in the west."
"Wait, for real?" Garcia asks as she hears this.
"Silas, do you have me on speakerphone!?" Shelby yells.
"This is important!" Silas says. "We're all special forces here, working on the same issue at hand. We all need to know this."
"You freakin' kids- alright." she complains. "Whatever!"
"I guess it does seem weird we've only heard about these incidents in the west, now that I think about it." Dana adds.
"And that they seem to be following your footsteps." Silas says. "You know, forming an illegal Hunter group all of a sudden and attacking people seemingly coordinated. You think this is something they'll try to blame on The Six Guns?"
"That seems like a long shot, Silas." Shelby replies. "Though, I guess it's not impossible. Highly unlikely. Besides, the world already knows that before our rogue group helped you during the Black Skies Incident, that we attacked The Six Guns first."
"I guess that's true." Silas says as he thinks. "Dad did include that in his book."
"Look, Silas, I'd love to help you more but that's all I got." Shelby says. "Shit's been busy around here in Pilloa too, what with finding contract work around the city. They've been working on expanding the R&D network, especially after Doc passed away. Wish I knew they'd make a cybernetics center. Probably could've gotten work on helping build that."
"You're a foreman too?" Silas asks.
"Too?" Shelby asks.
"Dad works as a contract foreman in Japan too." Silas adds.
"Cool, great, love to hear it." Shelby interrupts sarcastically. "Anyways, gotta jet. See ya."
After Silas hung up, Garcia was staring at Silas in surprise. "The Siran of The Six Guns... is a foreman?"
"I... probably should've kept my mouth shut about that."
"Too late, now I know."
"Just... do me a favor and... don't go telling people where my dad is hiding."
"You really are naive, Silas..."
"I wonder what Silas is up to..." Laibah says to Asahi and Kei during lunch. "He said his team is gonna be busy. I wonder what's been going on over there?"
"Your brother arrests bad guys, right?" Asahi asks.
"Yeah, he's like special forces something in the military." Laibah adds.
"I wonder what could be happening that would make him busy then." Kei adds.
"Hopefully nothing too dangerous. If my brother stops coming by to visit, I'll be real mad at him!"
"You got his number; can't you call him?" Asahi asks.
"I can try." Laibah answers. "But he can't always answer. If he's busy, he won't pick up. It could put him in danger."
"Then keep trying and see when he does answer. I'm sure he'll be okay. Your brother is strong!" Asahi cheers.
"Yeah... you're right!" Laibah says, seemingly cheering up. As the three of them stand up to go back inside, the hairs on the back of Laibah's neck stand up as a sharp chill goes down her spine. Laibah looks around, as if she felt she was being watched, but she knew there was nobody else around. "What was that... eerie feeling?" she whispers to herself.
"Did you feel that too, kid?" Heinnen asks.
"What is that though?" Kein asks.
"Laibah, is something wrong?" Asahi asks as he looks back and sees Laibah still standing.
"Y-yeah, everything is fine!" Laibah says as she jogs to catch back up.
After the class gathers back in the classroom and everyone takes their seats, the teacher enters the classroom. Shortly after the teacher begins to speak though, an earthquake suddenly begins to start shaking the whole school building. "Alright, class! We've been through the drills! Take cover below your desks! Don't come out until I tell you to, and make sure you hold onto the feet of your desks!" the teacher calls out.
Everyone takes cover under their desks, scared and confused. They had been through drills before and experienced earthquakes, but none strong enough to shake the school this badly. As much as they wanted the worst to have already passed, the earthquake only shook worse and worse. Soon, cracks began to form on the ceiling and the windows cracked and shattered. The kids began to become terrified. Chunks of the ceiling began to fall in the back of the class where no students were, and Laibah took notice of it. Some kids screamed as they heard a loud clash, but Laibah struggled to get up as the ground shook. Her desk fell over as she clumsily climbed up to wall to get on her feet. As she looked up, she noticed a large chunk of the ceiling was slipping just above some of her classmates and was about to fall. As she looked down, she noticed just below it were many of the students that frequently bullied her. She tried to call out to the but nearly fell down and realized they wouldn't be able to move. The sudden fear and images in her mind of her classmates being crushed sent her into a shock as she, along with the help of Kein and Heinnen, used magic to grab the ceiling as it fell and throw it out of the already shattered window. The large chunk of the ceiling broke open a little bit of the wall as it crashed through, and the teacher looked up as the shaking slowly began to recede. As the teacher looked, she saw Laibah alone standing on her feet, using magic without a charm, saving her fellow classmates rather than letting them be harmed. After the shaking stopped, the teacher looked around and let the students know to stay under their desks and be prepared for the aftershock, but Laibah remained on her feet in a state almost like she was ready to cry. Though, the teacher was sure she imagined it, she could've sworn for a split second she had seen the image of a fox when the ceiling was stopped. As for Laibah, she felt terrified and wasn't sure what was happening as she was still in a slight state of shock. The sudden burst of emotions caused her tail to slip out from losing slight control of her shapeshift magic. However, luckily nobody saw the tail behind her, except for Asahi.