Inside an underground garage, Minamoto and Sakaki prepared for the massive mission ahead.
"That undercover investigator... suddenly he's on our side and offering us information... Just what is he thinking?" Sakaki muttered, staring at Minamoto, hoping for an answer.
Minamoto was putting on all his gear and arming his weapons for the incoming arrests; they needed to be fully prepared to deal with a whole group of powerful espers without The Children there.
"Aah, I have no idea, but for Babel, it's a chance to arrest all of Pandra."
Sakaki was also fully geared up and was holding his helmet in his hand while standing next to a motorcycle.
"But this is fishy, Minamoto. Our superiors ordered us not to deploy The Children for the arrest. Instead, they're sending them after Senzo, who's going somewhere else. Don't you think the U.S. is up to something?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, and while staring at Minamoto, he voiced his concerns.
But Minamoto didn't seem too bothered by it; he put on his jacket and readjusted his glasses with a serious look on his face.
"We won't get this kind of opportunity again. Regardless of what the U.S. thinks, we will stop Hyoubu Kyousuke at any cost. That's our responsibility!"
"To stop that Catastrophe prophecy, right?" Sakaki added, a concerned look on his face.
But before they could continue their conversation, they were suddenly interrupted by a little girl with fiery red hair and crimson eyes.
"Then bring us too! Instead of sending us to stop a single esper!" she demanded, glaring at the two men in front of her.
"Kaoru! You... You know we can't; otherwise this whole operation will fail. I'm sorry," Minamoto said, averting his gaze from her.
But she wasn't deterred in the slightest and countered immediately. "We're catching them for Kyousuke and the others' sake, right? No matter what the other said..."
But before she could finish her sentence, Minamoto stopped her by raising his hand.
"You cannot. You and the other Children have another important mission. Keep Senzo in check the whole time; if he shows up, we will not be able to complete this operation," he sternly ordered.
"Also, arresting Hyoubu and the other members of Pandra is an adult's job; you just do what you're ordered to do. Understood?"
"..."
But Kaoru refused to answer, glaring hatefully at Minamoto and Sakaki, who were now walking away toward the other soldiers who were stationed in the garage.
"Supervisor Minamoto, preparations are complete."
A fully geared soldier holding a machine gun saluted.
"Copy that. Tell everyone we're heading out."
"Mi-Minamoto!" Kaoru suddenly shouted; this was her last chance to convince him, and she would do everything she possibly could to make him take The Children with them.
"We're not children anymore! We understand how much this mission means! And I..."
But before she could finish, Minamoto had entered a black SUV and told the driver to get moving, completely ignoring the pleading Kaoru.
Kaoru looked at the back of the SUV with a glare, but tears were forming at the edges of her eyes as she was left all alone in the garage.
***
In a back alley between warehouses, the members of Pandra had cornered a truck protected by SUVs.
Yo screamed, blasting soundwaves at the SUV driving in front of the truck, bringing the car and truck to a complete stop.
"Make this easy and hand over the cargo," Magi casually demanded.
"If you cooperate, we won't hurt you~" Momiji added, grinning.
"Heh, this is easy!" Yo stated, looking at the truck now fully surrounded.
But a bit farther away, Andy looked miserable as he stared at all the members he had spent the last couple of weeks with after breaking out of that prison.
The truck driver carefully stepped out of the vehicle with his hands raised, and just as he was about to open the back to hand over the cargo, he suddenly heard noise in the sky.
But he wasn't the only one that heard it. As Magi and the others turned their heads, they saw dozens of helicopters flying above them, equipped with state-of-the-art ECMs. Most alarming were the Babel logos visible on every single helicopter.
"Wha?! This is..." Magi sputtered, alarmed as he stared at all the helicopters and cars that had arrived in front of them.
"Tch! ECMS... this whole thing was a trap!" Yo shouted, glaring at the men who jumped out of the cars and started shooting at all of them.
But not a single bullet managed to reach their target, as Hyoubu had appeared in front of all the other members and stopped all the bullets even though his psychic powers should have been completely suppressed by the ECMs.
"Tch!"
Was all Hyoubu could hear before suddenly all kinds of grenades were thrown at them, and they exploded one by one.
But instead of explosions, white gas suddenly flooded the area.
"Uwaah!" Yo and the others shouted as panic began to set in due to their current situation.
"Don't breathe! It's sleeping gas!" Momiji suddenly shouted.
But Hyoubu just stood still in the midst of all this chaos, his eyes glued to a certain individual.
"Pandra and Hyoubu Kyousuke. You're being issued with a warrant for your arrest based on international law," Minamoto declared, while pointing his gun straight at Hyoubu.
"We, Babel, will capture you!"
But Hyoubu didn't even flinch; instead, he just kept staring straight at the young man in front of him with a death glare.
"No matter how many times I see you, you keep spewing that disgusting justice of yours," Hyoubu said casually, as if he was having a normal conversation and not being surrounded by hundreds of armed men.
His hands were casually in his pockets as he stood there proudly.
"It's almost as if you knew about our plans. Are the higher-ups putting pressure on you so the Queen isn't here?"
Minamoto just gritted his teeth and didn't engage with Hyoubu's provocations; instead, he signaled for his men to slowly surround him.
"It seems you're worrying about a lot of things. That's not necessary. I will protect the Catastrophe."
"Hyoubu, you... you know about the prediction!?" Minamoto stammered, sweating bullets now, staring with his mouth agape at Hyoubu.
But before they could continue their conversation, Magi appeared out of nowhere and disarmed Minamoto with ease, slamming his body into the ground in one smooth motion.
"I'll leave this to you, Magi. I'm going back to the ship."
"Yes, Major!"
"Wa- Wait, Hyoubu!"
But before he could finish his sentence, Hyoubu had already snapped his fingers and vanished.
***
Meanwhile, Yugiri was drooling, looking through a glass window of an ice cream shop, urging Senzo and Sophie to hurry up.