Andy was walking through the hallways of the Catastrophe, desperately looking to find a way to enter the restricted area.
Entering door after door, he seemed to always come out at the point where he started, like they had looped the space as a security measure for.the tenth time, he looked around with an annoyed look on his face.
He couldn't do anything about this, either he would have to gain their trust, or he would need to find an opportunity to steal an entrance key.
"Tch."
"What are you doing?"
Andy suddenly heard someone say from behind him, and when he turned around alarmed, he saw Yo glaring at him with his hands in his pocket.
"Only members with an access pass can go past this point. What business would a newbie like you have here?"
Yo inquired, staring straight at Andy with a serious look in his eyes; Momotarou lay lazily on his head, also looking straight at Andy.
Andy looked around trying to find anything he could use as an excuse when suddenly the whole ship started to violently shake.
Everyone was alarmed, and Magi demanded an explanation from the man who was steering the ship.
"What's going on?"
"The camouflage system has been damaged!" The man behind the steering wheel shouted.
"Someone has gotten on board!!"
Yo, now couldn't care about Andy anymore; as he was about to rush to help, everyone heard the intercom shout an announcement.
"Announcement from the bridge. Intruders are heading towards the main block of the ship's rear; find and capture them immediately!"
"Tsk, let's go, newbie!" Yo ordered, turning around to rush toward the intruders.
"Wait!"
Yo and Andy stopped in their tracks when they heard the small mammal's voice echo through their heads.
"You're weak newbie so I'll protect you." After stating that he jumped from Yo's head onto Andy's.
"Gee, thanks..." Andy muttered, feeling the small mammal lying on his head.
While Yo and Andy were rushing toward the rear of the ship to intercept the intruders, Magi, Momiji, and Hyoubu were at the bridge carefully observing everything that was happening.
And what they saw left them stunned; their comrades that were rushing toward the intruders were disappearing one after another.
"Wha!" Momiji shouted, staring at the spot where her comrades had just been standing a moment ago.
"Uah!?" Magi yelped.
"What the hell is going on!? Who are the intruders? Anyone, please give us some info on them!" He shouted, clearly frustrated.
"Hold on, what is this, Magi-chan!?" Momiji suddenly interrupted him, staring at the large monitors they were staring at.
Then they heard an announcement from their monitors that clearly wasn't from them.
"This is Japan's base of backing esper laboratory. Babel!"
"Captain Hyoubu Kyousuke, as well as all other associated crew members. An arrest warrant has been issued under international law. Stop the ship immediately! If you refuse, we won't hesitate to use force to stop you."
"I repeat..."
But Hyoubu had stopped listening at that point and interrupted the announcement with a smirk on his face.
"That speech is way too long, honor student. You're ruining my homecoming spirit," he casually said.
***
Andy and Yo were still rushing toward the rear of the ship when suddenly they saw a silhouette outside of a window just appear out of thin air.
Both of them were alarmed, and Yo immediately got ready to fight.
"That's…?" Andy shouted.
"Cover your ears, newbie!"
He suddenly heard from Yo, and a moment later Yo inhaled and screamed as loudly as he could.
And a beam was shot straight at the silhouette that stood outside the window, but the girl with glasses and black hair wearing a school uniform casually dodged every single beam Yo shot at her.
"As long."
"As you don't hit me."
"Something like that is,"
"No big deal!"
She said while teleporting closer and closer to the two men standing in front of her.
Then the moment she was close enough to Yo, she also teleported him away, to who knows where.
"A high-level teleporter!?" Andy exclaimed, glaring at the young girl.
"It can't be, that's. That's Ao..." But before Momotarou could finish his sentence, Andy grabbed its small body and flung it straight at the young girl standing in front of him.
"Go beast!"
"Eee!?"
"Get out of my way!" the girl shouted, slapping the hamster with a nasty backhand.
But at that point it was already too late; Andy had closed the distance between them too much and was rushing straight at her.
"Hoi!" She shouted, trying to teleport the man away like she had done with all the others.
But instead of him teleporting away, nothing happened.
"Huh?" Her eyes widened upon seeing the man close the distance rapidly, and she tried to brace herself for the impact.
But before she could, Andy tackled her and pressed her whole body to the ground; after that, he put her hands on her back. "Don't move! Whose esper are you?"
He demanded, glaring at the girl he had pinned on the ground.
The girl glared at Andy with a hateful look in her eyes and turned her head slightly.
"I should be the one asking about you! Why are my powers not working?" She countered.
After she said that, Andy was suddenly flung off her, tied in what looked like iron ropes.
"Uooh?!"
He shouted while rolling on the ground.
Then another girl dressed the same way as the black-haired one he had just pinned to the ground entered his sight.
"That's perfect; you can keep struggling like that. That way the nanochip wires will bite into your skin more quickly and tear your body to shreds."
The girl with shoulder-length white hair said with a smirk on her face; her cheeks were also flushed red as if she was enjoying seeing Andy struggle like that.
"T-To shreds?!" Andy's earlier defiant expression vanished without a trace as he started sweating violently.
"Are you alright, Aoi-chan?" The white-haired girl asked.
"About that, Shiho. I don't know why, but my powers didn't work on that guy." Aoi replied, staring at Andy with a disgusted look.
When Andy heard those names and saw the Babel badge on their uniforms, he finally connected the dots.
"Aha, I got it. You're Japan's special espers, the Children!" He shouted, looking at the two girls standing in front of him and the last red-haired girl floating in the sky enveloped in moonlight.