"Keep an eye out for four more students who shouldn't be here, two boys and two girls. Boss said that they're with one of the boys that was brought in."

"Right. What do they look like?"

"Here." The first bouncer handed over photos of Mia, Mikhail, Vanessa and Kageto obtained from the CCTVs.

"We'll keep an eye out for them."

As the bouncers descended the catwalk, the four students hiding under there pressed closer to the walls. They waited until the footsteps faded and collectively let out a breath of relief. But it was too early for them to relax. Mia peered out and when she was certain that no one was around, she waved for them to come out.

"We need to save Muraku." Vanessa growled, punching a fist into her palm. She was about to storm off to the main office but Mia pulled her back by the arm.

"I know. But we need to be careful and smart. The bouncers know what we look like and the main office is probably guarded."

"What do you have in mind?" Mikhail asked while keeping an eye out for anyone approaching their hiding spot.

Mia tapped her finger on her thigh with her face scrunched up in thought. Suddenly, she perked up and turned to Kageto, "If you find a breaker, can you rig it to go off?"

Kageto blinked at that. "Of course."

"I think I saw one earlier at the other end of the warehouse." Vanessa pipped in.

"Ok. You need to get Kageto to the breaker. Once the electricity goes off, get out of here. But leave your LBX here and create a distraction with it." Mia directed. The two nodded and made their way to the breaker while attempting blending in with the crowd and avoiding the bouncers. Mia then turned to Mikhail.

"We're going to sneak over to the main office and wait for Kageto's signal. Then we'll use out LBX to lure the guards away and bust Muraku out. I'll take care of whoever is inside."

"Are you sure?" Mikhail shot her a worried look.

"I'll be fine." Mia waved it off. "I have two black belts, remember?"

"Ok." Mikhail nodded but was still reluctant to let his friend's sister get hurt.

They then made their way to the main office, using the crowd as a cover. But Mia saw a bouncer turn and did not turn away in time to avoid being recognized. The bouncer yelled and pointed at their direction. But before the other bouncers could react, the lights went off.

Many students were groaning and complaining about it while the bouncers rushed to the breaker to turn the lights back on. But Mia and Mikhail took this as their cue to hasten the pace before the first bouncer tried to find them. Along the way, they heard yells and the sound of an LBX rifle going off at the other side of the warehouse.

"I hope Vanessa and Kageto are safe."

"They will be. We need to get Muraku out, meet up with them, and get the headmaster here. I don't care about getting more info on the battling ring anymore and I will drag Muraku out whether he likes it or not."

Mikhail sweatdropped at her declaration but knew that she will carry out her threat. When they got to the main office, they used their LBX's night vision to survey the security.

"Four guards and who knows how many inside. Let's get them away before the lights come back on." Mia and Mikhail shared nods. They sent their LBX further down the hall and had them shoot at the pipes to create a loud clang.

"What was that?!"

"Go check it out!"

The two teens peered out of their hiding spot and hissed frustratedly when only two of the guards left their post. They needed to get the remaining two away from the door.

A loud bang resonated through the hall that came from the inside of the room that sounded like flesh hitting the door. Mia and Mikhail tensed while the guards exchanged wary glances.

"Should we check it out?"

"Boss didn't call us in." His companion shook his head.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Mikhail wondered out loud, face contorted in apprehension.

"Nothing good." Mia replied grimly.

XXXXXXXXXX

10 Minutes Earlier

"For the record, it's your fault we're in this mess." Arata hissed at Muraku. They were forced to sit and wait on the chairs in the office for the boss of the operation to show up. Muraku threw back an equally unamused glare.

"I don't see how it is my fault when you are the one who confronted me."

"You've messed up my entire plan to take down this ring by showing up. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Director Houjou now."

The purple eyed boy's face tightened at the mention of his father and snapped, "Excuse me for wanting to deal with this matter myself since my father never gave me any assurance that this was being taken care of. And why is the NLA even involved with this?"

Arata threw him an annoyed look. "The battling ring is a nation-wide operation and Kamui Island is only one of its many sites, that's why. I was sent to track down as many sites as I can and find the main base of the operations."

Muraku's eyes became wide at this revelation. But before he could prod further, the door swung open and a large greasy man strutted in and Arata recognized him as the head of the battling ring.

"So, these are the two boys causing the commotion?"

"Yes." The bouncers that brought them here nodded.

"Any record of them in our guest list?"

One of them shook his head. "We reviewed the security tapes. The red head boy got an invitation. But the dark head boy snuck in with his friends thanks to another student. I think they're siblings."

The boss scowled and jabbed his thumb at the door. "What are you waiting for? Find his friends before they report our operation!"

The bouncers immediately straightened. "Yes boss!"

Muraku barely reacted to the boss' orders against his friends and sister except through a slight tremble in his hands. Arata felt it but remained calm and hopefully he can talk themselves out of trouble before things get worse.

The boss eyed them with a sneer. He tried to intimidate the boys by stomping over to them and getting close to their faces. "I just got off the phone with the higher ups. They would like to have a word with the both of you, especially you." He punctuated his words with a glare at Arata.

"What?" Arata blinked while keeping his breath steady.

"Don't play dumb. I know that you are part of the NLA."

"The National LBX Agency?" Arata cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "Last I checked, they only hire adults, and I'm a high schooler."

"But there's the Junior Program that is not public knowledge." The boss smirked as Arata tensed and pressed on. "The higher ups reviewed all the data from the sites that were shut down recently by the NLA and they found that you showed up at 4 sites across the nation which were raided shortly after. And almost immediately after we set this place up, you enrolled in this school."

Arata kept his calm façade but inwardly, he was panicking that his cover was blown. And to make matters worse, Violent was stirring, having sensed his distress. Before Violent could forcefully take over the body and Arata could activate his distress becon, the lights went off, plunging the room into darkness.

"What!?" The boss stammered, taking a few steps back. Arata inhaled sharply as Violent suddenly retreated back and Muraku muttered something about his friends.

Once he regained his bearings, Arata wasted no time in blinking three times in rapid session to activate his night vision contact lenses. His eyes fell on the boss who was attempting to contact the bouncers outside and on his left, Muraku was prepared to get up. He immediately grabbed the purple eye boy's shoulder, pulling him back down.

"Stay here. I'll take care of him." Arata's stern tone left no room for argument. Before the boss knew what was happening, Arata kicked him in the torso. The boss gasped for breath as the air in his lungs were forcefully expelled. He angrily glared at the direction the kick came from and swung his fist there but only met thin air. Arata, having ducked under his arm, quickly grabbed the outstretched arm and twisted it to pin the boss to the wall. With his free hand, he stole the boss' CCM from his pocket.

The boss suddenly broke free and threw Arata into the door. The red head flinched but quickly rolled out of the way as the boss came barreling into the door. With a sharp kick to the head, the boss was knocked out. Arata sighed and turned to address Muraku only to find that he vacated his seat and was now shifting through the boss' computer.

"Didn't you listen to what I said?" Arata groaned as he joined Muraku. The other teen only shot him a bland look and resumed going through the computer...Until the door blew open under the pressure of Mia's kick.

"Let my brother go or..." She trailed off when she nearly stumbled over the boss' unconscious form. Behind her laid the prone bodies of all the guards and Mikhail torn between being in awe and sheepish. Squinting in, she glared at brother who had the decency to look a little guilty.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." She growled, prepared to carry out her threat of dragging her brother out. Arata sighed and shoveled Muraku to the door.

"Go! NLA agents are going to swarm this place in less than a minute. Get out of here before anyone sees you."

Muraku growled but Arata merely raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to put your friends in more danger than they already are?"

That made Muraku tense and after a second, he was out of the room, Mia and Mikhail in tow. Arata shook his head as he zip-tied the boss and the guards. Once done, he threw the boss out of the room and locked it down.

Slipping an earpiece in, he tapped on it. "Director Houjou, I found the battle ring's site on Kamui Island but my cover has been compromised. And I found out that the head of the Kamui Island site is in direct contact with the 'higher ups' of the entire operation."

"Are you in any immediate danger?"

"No."

"Then get out of there. Saito's team is on his way. I will debrief you at the rendezvous point."

"Yes sir." Arata terminated the call and quickly made his grand exit out the window. As he ran to the rendezvous point, he hoped that the Houjou siblings and their friends heeded his warning and stay far away when the raid goes down.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Look at all those agents." Vanessa whistled as the group watched the scene unfold. They were watching the raid on the warehouse from a safe vantage point at Seagull Park thank to the magnifying lenses of their LBX. Once Muraku, Mia and Mikhail got out of the warehouse, they joined up with Vanessa and Kageto who were hiding nearby and got away before the NLA agents arrived.

Muraku casted the warehouse a sour glare and stormed off. His friends were taken aback by his sullenness while Mia sighed. "I'll go and see what's bothering him."

She caught up with her brother and shoveled him lightly. "Alright Mr. Grumpy Pants, spill. What happened in that office? Did the boss hurt you?"

"No." Muraku gritted his teeth.

"Then what's getting you so worked up?"

Muraku bit his lip, an action that Mia recognized that he did only when he was anxious. "That boy who confronted me, he works for otou-san. He blamed me for ruining their operation to shut down the ring."

Mia groaned loudly and rubbed her face tiredly. "Does this mean that he is on the island?"

"...Yes."

Mia silently cursed and Muraku did not have the heart to reprimand her when he was longing to do the same. When she calmed down, she took a hold of his shoulders. "You know what, this wasn't your fault. It's otou-san's for not communicating with us properly. He should have given us some kind of warning that the NLA was on to the battling ring."

Her hands moved downwards and grasped his hands. "Come on. Swallow Café is having a weekend discount on its parfaits."

Muraku managed a smile at his sister. "Can you even afford discounted parfaits? You were complaining that you were broke."

"Mano returned some silver credits she owed me yesterday." Mia grinned. She whipped out her CCM and sent a text to Vanessa. "I told them that we're going off first. If they want to, they can join us later."

She linked arms with him and pulled him in the direction of the town. Muraku let himself relax in his sister's calm. It was rare that she would have this calm aura since she is normally hot tempered, but when Muraku needed it, she was willing to reign in her temper to act as the voice of reason.

XXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere

Arata made his way down the docks to the rendezvous point without looking back to admire the chaos he unintentionally started at the warehouse. The NLA agents had arrived and was rounding up everyone involved now. The students will be brought before the headmaster to face disciplinary action, though it is likely that they will be expelled. The organizers of the battling ring on the other hand will be brought before the authorities and interrogated for the 'higher ups' whereabouts.

He slowed down as his handler stepped into his path. When he got closer, he handed over the boss' CCM.

"It's likely he used this to contact the ones behind the battling rings, the 'higher ups' he called them. We can use the numbers to track them down and shut down the whole operation."

His handler, Director Houjou Mitsuki of the NLA's junior program, nodded. "Good work. But how was your cover compromised?"

Arata winced at that. "Apparently they were keeping track of everyone that participates in the battling rings at every site. They figured out that I was gathering intelligence on them when I showed up at all the sites that were raided."

Director Houjou slowly nodded and sighed. "I have to officially pull you out of this operation then. We'll let the senior division handle the rest. By the way, this was supposed to be strictly a surveillance mission. How did it go south?"

"There were several students who decided to take matters into their own hands and investigate the battling ring themselves. I got caught trying to get them to leave." He hesitated before continuing. "They are your children."

Director Houjou inhaled sharply and sent a piercing glare at him. "What were they thinking?"

"To be fair, they had no idea that the NLA was investigating them." Arata pointedly.

Director Houjou sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Alright, that is on me. But what possessed Muraku and Mia to put themselves in danger like this?"

Arata kept quiet on that. He had an inkling based on his interactions with Muraku but decided not to voice it out. This was a family matter that Director Houjou needed to sort out with the twins.

"Sir, if there is nothing else, I should take my leave. I will be back at HQ tomorrow."

"No, you won't." Director Houjou suddenly shook his head. "Not for a while at least. You need to remain on the island for your next assignment."

Arata raised an eyebrow at his handler. "But protocol says that I have to return to HQ if my status as a Junior agent is ever exposed."

"Not to anyone relevant to your assignment, except for my children but I will deal with them."

"And what is my assignment?"

"I'll debrief you on it tomorrow. Meet me back here at 8."

"Yes sir." Arata bowed and took his leave.

As he made his way back to the dorms, he noted down anything relevant that Happy should know on a notebook he kept specifically for communicating with his alters. A part of him wonders if he should mention the Houjou twins but decided not to. Happy might not even meet them at school considering that Rossius students generally stayed away from Jenock students except during War Time.

Tucking his notebook in his pocket, he blinked as he let Happy take back control of the body.

Happy grinned and stretched his arms overhead. "Ah, that was a good nap. It was nice of Arata-san to let me sleep longer." The growling of his stomach made him pause and laugh sheepishly. "Better go back to the dorms and get something to eat!"