domine dirige nos | bungou stray dogs |

ʷᵉ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ˢᵒ ᵐᵘᶜʰ ᵗᶦᵐᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ˢᵒ ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ ᵗᵒ ᵈᵒ・ ˢᵗʳᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ, ʳᵉᵛᵉʳˢᵉ ᶦᵗ・

The streets of London wore the same usual stench, which was a concoction of petrol and expensive linen. The skies were their typical grey and the streets were shining with fresh dew rain. Roald hummed softly as he strolled through the streets, into the disused station of City Road. The station itself looked disused and uninteresting to the public, but the tunnels that weaved and entwined under the massive city were a great passage through the street quickly and efficiently.

The Order of the Clock Tower wasn't a government organisation, rather it worked in association with them in order to ensure national security, but for the most part, acted on its own interests. Needless to say, it was interesting to observe. Arthur sat by the window in the Elizabeth Tower, fingers tapping impatiently on the leather as he watched the booming city centre. "Dahl's late." Agatha chuckled over the rim of her cup, but remained wordless as she took another sip of her darjeeling tea. Lewis was playing with his white bunny stuffed toy, indifferent to his colleague's tardiness, and Mary was waiting with a timid rigidness to her jerky gaze. "Do you know something, Shelley?"

She jumped at Arthur's blasé tone, meeting his pointed look. "About what, sir?"

"Let's not get hasty, now shall we?" Agatha spoke, setting down her teacup. "Roald's here, anyway." On cue, Roald stormed into the office, red in the face and grinning like a child.

"Arthur, you won't believe—"

"You're rather late, Dahl. To a meeting you organised." The   latter stiffened at the icy tone. "This better be important."

"Well, our uh Russian contact seems to know where The Book is." Everyone except Arthur seemed surprised by the newfound information.

"Are you sure it's reliable? He's hardly an honest man," Agatha said, and Roald nodded.

"I double checked; he himself seems to be making moves."

"Don't we have bigger fish to fry at this moment?" Lewis asked, setting his doll aside. "We still don't know where the onslaught of attacks are coming from."

"We can keep our eye on Japan for now, the ability attacks should be our main priority." Agatha looked over at Arthur for approval and he shrugged indifferently, clicking his tongue. "Arthur?"

"Three explosions in the span of two weeks that killed eighteen people and injured fifty. MI5 has no intelligence of a terror attack, nor does it seem politically motivated. No bombs were found, no suspects apprehended, no sign of motive or reason. Just serial bombings." He sighed, leaning back on the leather chair. A short silence passes as his eyes scanned over the room. "Carroll, get a list of the ability users in London, citizen or not, Shelley, look into the victims and the places the attacks took place. Dahl and Christie, keep an eye on our contacts." A strange, intrigued grin slipped onto his lips. "Something's brewing."

Agatha remained seated even after everyone else left. She took another sip of her tea. "Have you heard of the Armed Detective Agency?"

"Why?"

She smiled at her boss' mild confusion. "They have a proposal for us." Arthur hummed. "They'll help us with the explosions, which might be useful; they are private investigators after all."

"The catch?"

She took a sip. "We find the missing diplomat. It's not public knowledge yet and it'll strengthen political ties. What do you say, Arthur?" He laced his fingers together, looking out the window, staring down at Central London.

Meanwhile, Lewis and Mary were walking through the streets. Lewis stomped in the puddles in the broken concrete, humming lightheartedly. "The rain seems to have washed away any forensic evidence," Mary sighed.

"You know, you know, Roald was telling me about an extra member the Order used to ha—what's that?" Mary looked over to where Lewis pointed on the ground. It was faint, but there was a small glisten in the concrete amongst the dried blood. With gloved hands, Mary picked up the red crystal, inspecting it. It didn't look like a gem she'd ever seen before and had a strange scent. She put it in her pocket. They continued their way down the road, suddenly aware of the car tailing them. The streets in this particular area were adorned in graffiti as children on bikes and tracksuits watched them suspiciously. A few of them were smoking despite looking like they were under fifteen and the scent of marijuana lingered like a fog.

The car pulled up to them. "Yo, bend down, bend down," the driver ordered to Mary, rolling the window down. A young man in his early twenties sat behind the wheel, looking the two up and down. There were three others in the car and all of them were dressed in street wear. "Where you from?"

Mary blinked. "We're just passing through—"

"Answer the question. What ends you from?" Lewis and Mary exchanged a look. "Rah, look at these fuckers." They began getting out of the car, circling the two like curious sharks. Most people passing by didn't even spare them a look. "The fuck you doin here? You feds or somethin?" One of the other men tugged at Mary's hair.

"I'd advise against that."

"We really aren't looking for trouble. We're just investigating the bombings—" Lewis stopped, noticing the man who pulled Mary's hair continue to touch her, staring at her hungrily. "This is quite troublesome, Mary," he said with a pout, "should we get this over with?"

"I thought you'd never ask." With that, the two activated their abilities. Mary fused a few cars and a pole together, creating a metallic beast that entrapped the man that was touching her while another lunged at them with a knife, cutting across her cheek. Lewis enlarged his switchblade, making it too heavy to swipe, before Mary created another monster, this time out of tarmac, that kicked him straight in the chest, breaking his ribcage and sending him into the building behind. The remaining two simply stared in awe before quickly leaving. Mary frowned, looking around the streets before the two continued on their way. They were going to get an earful from Arthur, that much was certain.