"Our conversation ends here, Rikuhachima. For your failure in capturing one small annex, despite your so-called reputation, we have no choice but to terminate your mission."

  "E-Eh!? I-I mean, Please give us another chance! The st attempt was a probe attack! To see their defenses!"

  "A probe attack doesn't involve an army of part-time mercenaries, st time I checked. And once again, our conversation ends here."

  The call dropped, and Aru shakily put the telephone's handset down to the hook switch, before looking at her staff who listened to everything within the phone call.

  "It really is a shame." Kayoko sighed.

  "That would mean we have to live in tents again, Aru-Chan!"

  "P-please don't remind me of that! W-we need to find a pce to stay, after this office is done with!"

  "A-Aru-Sama is right! W-We need somewhere to stay!" Haruka fidgeted, before she stood still as she remembered something.

  "Haruka? What's wrong?" Kayoko asked.

  "I-I know! L-let's call Sensei!"

  The entire office, even Mutsuki, raised their brows in surprise at Haruka's suggestion. Kayoko was about to object but couldn't as she can't make Haruka to cause another scene, Mutsuki starts whistling a tune as she finds the idea interesting, and Aru herself doesn't know what to do, as she can't possibly come and beg Tendou for help so that she can keep her image as being a dauntless, hard-boiled outw.

  "T-The truth is... That time at the ramen shop... It wasn't the first time I met Tendou-Sensei..."

  "Why are you holding this out on us, Haruka?" Kayoko asked again.

  "B-Because... when I first saw him, h-he did what Aru-Sama would describe as an outw's doing..."

  Aru calmed down upon hearing that, and a look of interest painted her face.

  "N-Nice work, Haruka! Tell us more! What kind of outw thing did he do in your first meeting?!"

  "H-he saved me, a fellow outw, o-or more like, a piece of trash that nobody wants... and sped away without saying a word, even after I called out to him."

  "...That's it!?" Kayoko asked, breaking her cool at Haruka's story.

  "From what I listened, it seems that Sensei is pying hard-to-get~"

  "I think I may have found a solution, everyone!" Aru shouted, smming both of her palms against the desk.

  "I know that we need more students to help us pay the debt, Sensei..." Serika's ears twitched in anger, before she finally shouted out "BUT WHY IN THE WORLD SHOULD WE LET THEM IN!?" as she pointed to the Problem Solvers, her outburst causing Haruka to hide behind Aru.

  "We talked about it. They were victims of circumstances as well." Tendou answered vaguely.

  "Don't tell me... They're also in debt!?" Nonomi tries to guess.

  "No. We had to abandon our office, since our budget is too low thanks to most of our successful missions only rewarding us the bare minimum. The st straw is after the fiasco that happened between us the other day." Kayoko expined.

  "S-Section chief! Y-you're spouting out too much!"

  "We're under Sensei's guidance for now, boss. We have no other choice."

  "Uhe~ We're finally finished unpacking Problem Solver's belongings-- Owie, this Oji-San's back..."

  "Senpai, you barely carried anything into the empty room." Shiroko, who is accompanying Hoshino, said as she swiped off the dust from her gloves.

  "Where's Ayane?" Tendou asked.

  "She left with a pile of money that we collected this month. The collector arrives today." Nonomi revealed.

  The entire clubroom looked out the window to see Ayane carrying Mutsuki's duffle bag which she borrowed to contain the money that will be used to pay this month's portion of the debt. Not long after, everyone, Tendou included, walked out of the clubroom and went to the annex's front gate. The FTF members and Tendou gathered near Ayane, while the Problem Solvers observed from a tent that they set up in the front yard, so the collector won't see them. After a few minutes of waiting, the armored car from the bank that the school owed money to pulls up in front of the gate.

  "Thank you for your support to Kaiser Loans. You are welcome to use our service again. Total 7.883.250 yen in cash received." The robot teller said as he finished stuffing the huge amount of cash into his seemingly bottomless suitcase, before he turned toward the armored car.

  However, Tendou stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Yo."

  "Yes? What is it?"

  "Your shoes are untied."

  "Wha-- Oh! P-pardon me!"

  As the teller hurriedly tied his shoeces, Ayane's drone silently flew overhead, and took a picture of the car's license pte. As it turns out, during the wait, Tendou told her to prepare her drone as he had a hunch about the incoming debt collector. Meanwhile, Aru's face is pale the moment she heard the amount of cash paid to the teller, Mutsuki breaking off from her pyful persona as she sees the situation as serious, while Kayoko squinted her eyes in suspicion at why the FTF had to pay portions of the debt in cash. After the teller is done tying his shoeces, he ran back into the armored car, and sped away. The Problem Solvers slowly exited the tent, one by one.

  "Goodness, your financial problems are far worse than ours..." Mutsuki commented.

  "I-I never thought I would hear s-such an enormous amount of money like that..." Haruka continued.

  "I guess we understand your situation now, Foreclosure Task Force. Since we are on the same boat, I decided that it is best that we team up for the time being." Aru said after she regained her composure.

  "That's NOT what you said yesterday!" Kayoko whispered.

  "W-what other choice do we have!?"

  As they bicker, Shiroko pondered whether or not she should raid the armored car until Serika stopped her. Nonomi wondered why are the payments always in cash, to which Kayoko gave her a look of disbelief at the FTF's inexperience in this field. After everything is sorted out, everyone returned to the FTF club room.

  "Since we started off in a rocky situation the other day, I think it's time for us to properly introduce ourselves!" Nonomi excimed, before she introduced her name, followed by the other FTF members's names to the Problem Solvers.

  "We are, as you can already remember, Problem Solver 68. I am Rikuhachima Aru, the president of this fixer group."

  Aru then pointed to Mutsuki who waved her hand while having a mischievous smirk on her face. "This is our Chief of Staff, Asagi Mutsuki", before pointing to Kayoko who simply raised a hand in greeting, "And this is Onikata Kayoko, our Section Chief." And walking towards Haruka, who fidgeted in pce as she waited for her name to be introduced.

  "And this is our entry level employee, Igusa Haruka."

  "I-It's a p-p-pleasure to meet you!" Haruka shouted before she bowed before the FTF members.

  "Raise your head, Haruka." Tendou ordered.

  "Eh? B-but should I really--?"

  "We're in this together right now, Haruka. No need to be shy."

  "A-Alright, Sensei."

  Ayane then interjected with a small cough, and briefed on what the FTF have learned from the assaults caused by the Kata Kata helmet gangsters tely. Most of the weaponry that were scavenged from the truck that was used to kidnap Serika, are no longer avaible on the market. Thanks to this the groups quickly figured out that they have been supplied with weapons from the Bck Market by whoever told them to harass the FTF. However, the Bck Market is not a safe pce, as it is teeming with drop outs, burnouts, and unauthorized student groups like Problem Solver 68. However, because this is the only link that everyone has on who sent the helmet gang, they decided to pay the Bck Market district a visit.

  "Before we all go, and not counting you Problem Solvers. You need to wear something other than your school uniforms."

  "Eh? Why, Sensei?" Nonomi asked.

  "So you won't stand out from the other visitors there. You don't want your debtors to instantly recognize you."

  "Nn. He's right." Shiroko nodded.

  "This also meant that I'm not going to go there on the Kabuto Extender. Luckily enough I already called someone to help us."

  Both the FTF and Problem Solver 68 looked at Tendou with curiosity, before the sound of the door being knocked startled everyone in the room. Walking inside, is a blonde haired girl with blue eyes and jagged horns on the sides of her head.

  "Tendou-Sensei~ I have arrived!"

  "Akari. You made it."

  "Oh, where are my manners. Good day everyone, I am Wanibuchi Akari of the Gourmet Research Society."

  "One of Haruna's ckeys..." Aru noted.

  "It's fancy seeing you here too, Problem Solvers. So, Sensei, the van is in front, as you wanted."

  Serika looked out the window, to see a pin-looking silver van parked in the courtyard.

  "What's that, Sensei?"

  "A communications van. Ayane will be communicating with us on the back, while Akari drives."

  "As for the Problem Solvers, you need to enter the district without being seen with us in the van. Use the box truck that you brought here to go there, and put these on." Tendou ordered, giving the Problem Solvers earpieces.

  "After we find something in our investigation, we might need you, so don't be too far. Now, let's move out."

  The silver van anonymously pulled up beside a fast-food joint's pathway, and one by one, it's passengers walk out from the passenger side door. Nonomi wears a fashionable set of casual clothes, complete with aviator gsses, and a white straw hat. Shiroko wears an outfit that uncannily resembled what Tendou is currently wearing, which are a pair of jeans, and a white shirt underneath a white jacket but forgoes the hat and sungsses. Serika (with her hair down) wears what appears to be an office girl's getup, consisting of a white blouse, bck pencil skirt, and a pair of regur rectangur sungsses.

  Hoshino however, is the one that is prepared the most. She wore a white shirt underneath a bck kevr vest, a pair of white combat boots, a blue skirt, and a pair of knee guards. Her hair is also tied into a ponytail. Only Ayane remained in her school uniform as she doesn't leave the van.

  "This is as far as I can take you. I'm looking forward for some snacks!" Akari announced from the driver's seat, before Tendou opened the front passenger door and left the van.

  "Try not to go overboard with the menu inside, Akari. Buy some food for the others too."

  "Alright Sensei~"

  Tendou then reached to his earpiece, and contacted Ayane inside.

  "Camera, check."

  "Clear." Ayane replied as she tapped into the cameras of the area surrounding the streets where the van is parked.

  "Make sure to keep track of us, Ayane."

  "Got it."

  The group then walk away from the van, and toured the Bck Market district. During their walk, Serika struck a conversation.

  "Did you buy that van or something? It's the first time I see a comms van with that much surveilnce tech."

  "Partly. I caught a couple of hackers trying to stalk me in SCHALE, and I recruited them."

  "Partly? Uhe~ Then whose money was it that got used to buy the van, if the tech inside were the hackers'?"

  "It's not Serika's paycheck again, isn't it?" Nonomi joked.

  "TO HELL IT IS! SHUT UP!"

  Nonomi and Hoshino chuckled at the cat girl's reaction, before Tendou revealed that...

  MEANWHILE, SCHALE OFFICE FLOOR

  "That Sensei... a receipt for a pin silver van...? Just what is he up to?" Yuuka asked as she took the receipt from Tendou's desk.

  Yuuka then blinked her eyes a couple of times as she read the contents of the receipt. The van costs 500 thousand yen. However what caught her attention is the fact that the receipt is not addressed to Tendou, instead, written in rge texts on the recipient section is "HAYASE YUUKA".

  "M-MY MONEY!?"

  The roar of the demonic treasurer is heard all throughout the SCHALE building, in which Wakamo nearly cut off the wrong branch from one of Tendou's bonsai trees.

  BACK IN THE BLACK MARKET DISTRICT

  The group bursts in ughter at the revetion, especially considering Yuuka's feared reputation as the demonic treasurer of Seminar, the student council of Millennium Science School. As they continued to walk through the district, the FTF is awestruck at how huge the district is, as if it is a city in of itself. Hoshino has heard of an aquarium around the area, and always wanted to visit it, much to Serika's doubt that the fishes there are not what Hoshino imagined to be.

  Before they can explore further however...

  "S-Someone, help me!" A voice shouted from behind.

  Tendou turned around first, to see a girl wearing a seemingly pin Trinity sailor-fuku uniform, and an odd backpack that has the theme of a cartoony rge chicken with orange beak and wide eyes.

  "Stop right there!" A Sukeban thug is heard, clearly chasing after the Trinity girl.

  "P-please, stop chasing meee!"

  "And why would we do that, huh?! We want the ransom!"

  Two Sukeban thugs are chasing after the girl, and are running & gunning in a desperate attempt to stop her. Soon enough the FTF members also turned around, but before they can raise their firearms, the Kabuto Zecter appears from the sky, and struck the two Sukeban thugs on the back of their necks with it's horn, knocking them out cold before it then flew into Tendou's grasp.

  "T-that beetle machine... C-could it be... Tendou Sensei of SCHALE!?" The girl widened her eyes in awe.

  "It is I, indeed. And who might you be? What is a Trinity student doing all the way out to this pce?"

  "My name is Ajitani Hifumi. I’m a second-year student... at Trinity, just like what Sensei said."

  "Now to the second question."

  "Ahaha… It’s kind of a long story. I came here looking for something… It’s something that’s out of production, but I heard it shows up in trades every now and then on the bck market,” she expined, scratching her head.

  The FTF members then begin to guess what Hifumi might be looking for, all of which range from cssified documents, contraband equipment, even as far as a bioweapon, all of which were denied by Hifumi until she showed the image of the chicken shaped mascot on her phone. A limited edition Peroro plush, in which this specific plush depicts Peroro the chicken choking on an ice cream. When the FTF members introduced themselves discreetly to Hifumi, they revealed to her that they are also looking for something, and since Hifumi frequented the area, she offered to guide the FTF around.

  After a long walk, they stopped in front of a taiyaki vendor, in which Tendou treated everyone to have a share, except for himself.

  "Who would have thought that the district would be this organized...?" Serika asked, grunting as she chewed on her taiyaki.

  "It's strange that we haven't been able to find any leads about those weapons you're looking for. I mean, I'm sure they're out there, but we haven't tracked down a single clue. No records of transactions, storage logs… nothing! It's like someone's trying to hide the whole operation. Even corporations shouldn't be able to manipute the bck market to this extent", Hifumi hypothesized, as she also took a bite on her taiyaki.

  She then pointed to a tall building across the street from where the vendor is.

  "It is normal for corporations to do illegal dealings here, especially there, in the Stygian Bank. It’s said that about 15 percent of all illicit profits from Kivotos’ criminal activities flow through that bank. The take from extortion, armed robbery, abductions, and so on is then used to fund illegal weapons and arms for additional criminal activities. It's a never-ending cycle."

  "15? Goodness me..." Tendou raised a brow.

  "And because the GSC has no authority here, we can't do anything unless there is incriminating evidence of a conspiracy... Which is what we are possibly seeking." Tendou said, as he leaned against a wall, before noticing a familiar armored car approaching the bank building.

  "Grandmother is right indeed. If I wish for it, fate will always be my ally."

  "Another one of your grandma's quotes, Sensei--" Serika then had her mouth shut by Nonomi's hand, as the tter then turned her head around to face the direction of the bank.

  "Ayane. Did you see the pte of that armored car?" Tendou asked.

  "I-It can't be! It's the same model, and pte number! It's the armored car that was used to collect our debt earlier this morning!"

  "And that's the same teller." Tendou said.

  "S-So you're telling me that all our money that we painstakingly collected to pay off the debt... are being used to attack us!? I've heard enough." Serika then attempted to march toward the bank, before Nonomi stopped her again.

  "It looks like there is no other choice indeed. We need their manifests as proof." Tendou said, however with a look of slight guilt on his face, which Shiroko immediately recognized.

  "So we have to resort to that, despite Sensei's advice the other day..."

  "Resort to what, Shiroko-San?" Hifumi asked.

  "We rob the bank."

  "EHH!?"

  "If there is no choice indeed... I have to join. For the path that we all walk."

  "HENSHIN"

  Tendou then transformed into Kabuto, before immediately pulling the horn of the zecter, and the cast off sequence ensued.

  "CAST OFF - CHANGE BEETLE"

  "And since Hifumi is here and heard of our motive... She is ultimately an accomplice."

  "Eh? W-what do you mean!?"

  "He meant that you're tagging along with us as we rob this pce." Hoshino expined.

  "B-but--"

  "Sorry Hifumi, but we didn't prepare a mask for you in advance." Shiroko said, bowing her head down slightly.

  "Well, there is one way!"

  "N-Nonomi-San, please don't--"

  Nonomi then shoved the taiyaki bag over Hifumi's head, said bag now having two eyeholes, and a number 5 written on it.

  "I-I can't show myself to the Tea Party ever again after this..."

  "Which is why we're getting you out of uniform." Nonomi said, before she pulled Hifumi into a clothing store.

  When she came back out, Hifumi is now wearing a Peroro merch shirt and a blue miniskirt. Her L85A1 assault rifle is now also wrapped with a rag that obscured it's Trinity insignia.

  "Now... we are the Masked Mizugi Gang!" Nonomi announced, as everyone in the FTF put on their masks that Shiroko sewed for them.

  "Aru... You have a job now. Come to the Stygian Bank with a bag of counterfeit money, and make sure it is around 900 million yen inside."

  "NINE HUNDRED-- A-alright, Sensei! O-on it! We'll steal some from a pce we knew!"

  The Stygian Bank has seen worse days. The interior is bustling with activity as people of all origins make deals with the staff, whether if they are depositing money, undering money, or taking a loan. It was then, when suddenly one of the guards was hit in the head by the buttstock of a bck colored M4A1, held by a cat eared robber.

  "THIS IS A ROBBERY! HANDS ON THE GROUND, AND NOBODY GETS HURT!" Serika threatened.

  "Th-This is a stick-up... So get down on the ground if you don't want to get hurt!" Hifumi shakily threatened, giving her the expression of an unstable, experienced criminal.

  "This is Faust! Her leadership knows no bounds! If you don't kneel to her demands, then you will suffer greatly~!" Nonomi excimed, clearly having fun with her role as she pointed her M249.

  The lights then turned off before emergency shutters begin to lock down the building, as Kabuto cuts off the power to the building while in clock-up speed, while Shiroko and Hoshino looked for the vault. They opened it just in time as the main power got cut, and the emergency power turns on afterwards.

  "CLOCK OVER"

  "Uncle 1, Wolf 2, find the servers and put this in. It'll transfer the data to Ayane in an instant."

  "Where did you get these, Kabuto?" Hoshino asked.

  "A truth-seeking group of hackers."

  Hoshino then went in first before Shiroko followed behind her, and the former finds the main server computer within the vault. After plugging in the USB like device onto the server, the data inside were copy-pasted in an unbelievably fast speed, before Hoshino unplugged it while Shiroko fills her bag with the money that she found, which amounts up to 900 million yen.

  After the two leaves the vault, Kabuto then went back into clock-up mode, and escaped from the bank firsthand to avoid being exposed for too long. As Shiroko and Hoshino came back to the lobby with the loot bag in hand, the Masked Mizugi Gang, as well as Faust prepare to leave, however a second after they went out, 4 new girls went inside the bank with the bag.

  "Problem Solver 68 has arrived. We have received a contract to stop a potential robbery, and here we are..." Aru smugly said, as she then pointed to the Masked Mizugi gang, being pushed into the back of the comms van by Kayoko in apparent defeat.

  Aru tossed the bag to the floor, and it's content spilled out, causing the scared civilians to stand right back up and pounce onto the counterfeit money, unaware of it's true nature. The Problem Solvers then went back to the van, and inside, Aru tells Akari to hit the gas, and thus, both groups escaped the area, but not before Haruka gave an unhinged ughter.

  "That bank... inconvenienced Sensei..."

  "Haruka?" Kayoko called out to her shy purple haired friend.

  "I secretly pnted bombs all over the foundation before Aru-Sama gave that bag to the bank... That pce... deserves no mercy."

  "What? Haruka, NO--" Aru lunged, trying to wrestle the detonator off from Haruka's hand, but she has already pulled the trigger.

  A huge explosion occurs behind the van, which thankfully sped away far enough to escape it's range. The bank staff and the visitors on the other hand, find themselves moved to the exterior in the blink of an eye.

  "Eh!? W-what just happened!?" One of the tellers asked.

  None noticed Kabuto peeking from a corner, revealing that he is the one who prevented them from being blown up inside the bank building. He then sped off again in clock-up mode, and rendezvoused with the others back in Abydos.

  "Now... What are we going to do with the money? We only agreed to get the manifest and the data." Hoshino asked.

  "Use them to pay off the debt, of course!" Serika suggested.

  "Then we'll be busted. The money needs to be undered." Tendou then looked at Kayoko, and with a nod, she took the bag.

  "I'm entrusting this to you, Problem Solvers. And thank you, Haruka, for that explosion."

  "Y-You're not angry!?"

  "Grandmother said this, People walk on the path of people and that which opens that path up is the path of Heaven. What you did have affected Kaiser Loans for a while from now. Their chosen path has led them to this end."

  "Sensei. We can't ever thank you enough for this... If you ever require our services, then Problem Solver 68 will always be avaible for you!"

  "That's the spirit, Aru-Chan!"

  Despite Aru's boast, however, the Problem Solvers still have to stay in Abydos, as they cannot rent a new office building with the heist money. And thus they had to under most of the money while only keeping a tiny margin of the loot as Tendou's pay for their services. Hifumi went home without incident, with Akari giving her a ride back to Trinity before going back to SCHALE with Tendou.