Seeing things had gotten awkward between Tsukuru and Layla, Quinn let out a nervous laugh.
"So what's with that bird lady, Tsukuru?" Quinn asked, trying to change the subject. "Is she like that 'Knight' of yours?"
Tsukuru turned from Layla to look at Quinn.
Tsukuru beamed.
"Oh, you like it?" He asked, excitedly. "I just made her!"
The look on Tsukuru's face reminded Quinn of a child who had just gotten a new toy for Christmas.
Layla turned to Tsukuru, eyes narrowed.
The more she learned about this Ability of his, the more she struggled to understand it.
Creation, telekinesis, and even the ability to create Beasts.
It was unlike any Ability she had ever seen or heard about.
Layla sighed, rubbing her neck.
"Well, I guess I'll be off then." She said, starting to walk away. "I'll see you two tomorrow!"
She lifted up her arm, and waved back as she left.
The two boys watched her depart, likely heading towards her own dorm room.
Tsukuru and Quinn exchanged looks.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the school, two injured students who had been found beaten on the roof now laid in separate beds.
These were Fei and Loop, the two boys Quinn had just defeated.
The single doctor, Hayley, was as busy as usual, especially since it was now night.
Night was when the guards would go out and gather beaten students.
"How can the school just let these sorts of things happen?" Hayley muttered. "Surely there has to be a better way."
She was currently working on Loop.
After healing all of the claw marks from Quinn's Blood Swipe onslaught, she didn't see anything unusual.
That was until she looked at his neck.
There were small puncture wounds, similar to a snake bite.
"Not again…" She muttered.
She had seen this before, on Layla's neck.
Just like with Layla, the bite marks were slowly healing.
Layla's words flashed through her mind, about how a stray Beast might have wandered in through a portal.
Maybe she had been right.
Hayley brought her wrist up to her face, and pressed her finger against the screen of her wristwatch.
She opened the "contacts" list, and pressed her finger on a certain name, opening a com link.
In an unused room on the ground level of the school, five individuals sat at a round table.
These individuals were Head General Paul, Sergeant Faye, Sergeant Shizuka, General Duke, and Sergeant Dillon.
The only people missing were General Nathan, who was too buried in paperwork to leave his office, and Sergeant Leo, who couldn't see.
Held in their hands was a set of five cards, with various more cards laid out on the table.
These cards were all white with red backs, and covered with a laminated lining to keep the cards in pristine condition.
In the center of the table was various junk of huge monetary value, including stacks of credit cards, Beast Crystals, Beast Gear, hell, there were even a few Earth Ability Books and Skill Books thrown haphazardly on the pile.
"What is this game called again, Sergeant Shizuka?" General Duke asked, looking down at the cards in his hand.
"Poker." Shizuka replied, looking at her own cards. "It's a classic card game from the old world. Naturally, all the cards from that era are long-since destroyed."
Sergeant Faye raised an eyebrow.
"Then where did these cards come from?" She asked.
Instantly, everyone else looked up from their cards, and looked at her with a look that said "Your a fucking idiot".
Seeing the look, Faye sighed.
"Right, student Hikiko." She replied.
Tsukuru's Ability was well known among the top brass of not only this base, but the other bases, as well.
She sighed, and put her other hand under her chin, a look of envy on her face.
"Must be nice being related to the guy who can make anything."
It was then that Head General Paul's watch began to beep.
Looking down at it, he saw an incoming communication.
He sighed, and laid his hand of cards face-down so nobody could see them, and answered the call.
"Yes?" He asked with a bored tone.
"General, I believe there might be a stray Beast roaming around the school."
Hayley's words made everyone look up from their cards, Paul's conversation now peaking their interest.
"What?" Paul asked, eyebrow raised in confusion. "That's impossible. We have seen no signs indicating the presence of one."
A moment later, Hayley's voice came through the watch again.
"But there have been some strange puncture marks on two students." Hayley replied. "I'm a bit worried."
Hearing Hayley's words, Shizuka raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Hmm…" She thought to herself.
She thought back to earlier in the forest clearing, when Tsukuru had summoned that new Beast of his.
'Nah…That thing looks like it had human teeth.' Shizuka thought, the image of Tsukuru's Harpie appearing in her mind. 'The way Hayley's talking is like it's a kind of snake bite or something…'
Paul looked down at his watch, and let out a sigh.
"Fine, fine. Do whatever you want." Paul said, waving his hand dismissively. "How can I say 'no' to my own daughter?"
A moment later, Hayley's voice came through the watch again, her voice noticeably happier.
"Thanks, dad." She replied, ending the call.
Paul sighed, and picked his cards back up, the poker game resuming.
It was then that Paul's watch began to beep again.
Hearing it, Paul's right eye twitched in annoyance.
He slammed his cards face-down on the table, and whipped his arm up to his chest, answering the call without even looking at the caller ID.
"WHAT?!" He asked, annoyance and irritation in his booming voice.
A moment later, a feminine voice came through the other end.
It was Martha, Head General Paul's personal secretary.
"Um…Sergeant Leo requested a meeting for this evening, sir." Martha replied in a somewhat rattled voice. "I…I just wanted to remind you sir, as it's scheduled to take place in a few hours."
Paul looked up, and thought for a moment about her words.
He did recall that Sergeant Leo had requested for a meeting later this evening.
A moment later, the call cut out, Marth obviously having hung up.
Paul looked back down at his watch, and sighed.
He probably could have handled that…better.
Shizuka let out an amused snort.
Back in the doctor's office, Hayley stared down at her wristwatch, which was now in standby.
She had just hung up her call with Head General Paul.
A moment later, two military men came rushing in with another student on their back, soaked in blood.
It seemed that Brandon had finally been found in the clearing that Raten and Shizuka had left him in.
"Hurry!" One of them shouted. "This one is in critical condition!"
They quickly placed Brandon on the bed, and Hayley went to work.
She tried and tried to use her Ability to heal him, but it was useless. Brandon was already too far gone.
He had died.
Hayley's face then showed a somber look, as she tapped her watch, opening up a digital report log.
"First-Year Student Brandon Richardson." She replied into the screen. "Time of death: 9:30 pm."
Elsewhere, Tsukuru and Quinn finally reached their dorm room.
As the two of them entered, they found it completely empty.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
'Peter must still be with Mono.' Tsukuru thought, remembering his Harpie's report.
As Tsukuru was thinking, he saw Quinn walk past.
He walked right up to his corner of the room, and collapsed onto the bed.
Within moments, he was out like a light.
He didn't even bother to change his clothes, looking like an old drunkard who had passed out in the middle of a street.
A few moments later, Tsukuru heard the dorm room open.
Looking over, he saw Peter walk into the room.
Tsukuru watched Peter walk past, him seeming dead to the world.
It didn't even seem like he had noticed him or Quinn.
Tsukuru watched as Peter simply got into his bed and pulled his quilt over his head, Peter slightly shaking.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in confusion.
'Just what did Mono DO to him?' He thought.
It was then that Vorden walked through the door.
Tsukuru turned to him.
Using his System's "Scanner" function, he could see that Vorden was back in control.
Vorden walked over to Quinn.
Seeing that he was perfectly fine and sleeping peacefully, he smiled.
"Looks like you're fine after all." He muttered. "That's good."
He was broken from his musings by Tsukuru's voice.
"Vorden." He replied.
Vorden's smile vanished.
He had a pretty good idea what this was about.
He turned to face Tsukuru, a hardened look on his face.
When he looked at Tsukuru, he saw that he had his arms crossed, with an 'all-business' look on his face.
"We need to talk about that little stunt Raten pulled today." He replied. "Due to him lashing out, I had to do damage control. Layla thinks you're a lunatic. And seeing how she and Quinn are growing close, that's a bad thing."
Vorden's eyes narrowed, as he thought back to Tsukuru's words from earlier.
This was the exact kind of thing Tsukuru was trying to avoid.
Meanwhile, down the hall, the group of Head General Paul, General Duke, Sergeant Shizuka, Sergeant Faye, and Sergeant Dillon had finished their poker game, and were heading towards their regular meeting room.
As they reached General Nathan's room, General Duke walked up to the door.
Rather than knock, he flung the door wide open.
Inside, they saw that General Nathan's desk was covered in stacks of papers.
The stacks reached over a foot in height, and there were at least five stacks on either side of Nathan.
General Nathan looked up at them, looking exhausted with bags under his eyes.
"What now?" He asked in an exhausted tone.
"C'mon, dickhead!" General Duke shouted. "We got a meeting to go to!"
Hearing his words, General Nathan slammed his head into his desk.
"You guys are trying to kill me…" He muttered.