Duty to the World by Bladedancer

Chou and Molly at Whateley and they are married. Yay! Chou got into a fight with students by accident, okay, this I have to know. Suited up for a mission and this was a brief stop, who are they working with nowadays? Jimmy, not staring at the hot women like that.

The naive, idealistic look in his eyes reminded her for a moment of Lancer... and simpler times.

Say this doesn't mean anything bad about Lancer, please.

All these years and Chou still has a reflex to go to Poe or Crystal Hall, the student can leave Whateley, but Whateley never really leaves the student. Ooo, dance for Molly to keep quiet about the incident, they are still a cute couple after all these years. Molly using her portals for long-range teleportation is something else. But being redirected and seeing Fubar, I wasn't expecting that.

*blinks* Fubar has a slim feminine appearance now and is dating or married to Erin aka Esoteric, what the heck is going on? Setting up to do their job and something happened, hhm.

“You know Esoteric and I are doing consultation for defensive warding for corporate and government facilities, right?” Louise questioned, looking a bit more comfortable as Chou seemed less likely to attack.

Well, that is certainly a big change from what Fubar used to do. Their barriers accidentally pulled Chou and Molly there, that is something that shouldn't be easily done.

Tea and tiny cakes to distract from the whole mess, nice move, Erin. Oh, so it was the Tao that diverted the gateway because Chou has a job to do here to keep the balance. Dang, I want that cake now.

There were too many memories of what happened to those who tried to get in Bladedancer’s way, and that was just at school. Even more reasons had popped up since then.

Eep, I hope she didn't take out any of her fellow students.

High-end medical research and the work is done on the middle floors, why do I have the feeling they are using unwilling test subjects or worse. Good idea for wards, but I have to wonder why those doing medical research would need such extensive protections. I know corporate espionage is a thing, but this seems a bit much.

*eyes grow wide with glee* Chou and Molly have a baby! Winnie, does that mean Chou and Molly are still with their team from their Whateley Academy days? If so I'm glad they all stuck together. Winnie's compass is a potent thing, never underestimate what it can predict in her hands. Having to play the bad guys to keep the balance, is better than the alternative. Costumes from Molly's imagination, Chou, you're the one who married her.

Blushing and glancing at Erin, oh boy, these outfits aren't going the sexy ninja route, are they? *facepalms* Sexy female MMORPG armor, it figures. Molly in sexy librarian look, seesh, are you trying to distract your foes or your wife? Bwahahaha, 10 years together, and Molly is still her old self, Kiss Ninja, priceless. Ouch, Esoteric is more Ethereal than physical due to her BIT, that sucks.

Louise Geist is a good person and always has been. Of course, the pull is from the floor where they are doing the research. Esoteric sent a text to someone, let me guess, Cyberkitty? If not her, then who? That is a risky plan that Chou has them following. Okay, are the foes using flamethrowers or are we dealing with other mutants as part of security here? Tharnax, a villain in their D&D campaign, nice use of roleplaying for a job.

What is Erin disappointed Fubar isn't? A brick, a striker with a taser rapier, boy, security has gotten strange. Sun Wu Kong went after Chou with tickle attacks, good grief. Molly has gotten a lot more skilled at summoning beings, several fairies at once is impressive. Ouch, letting herself get hit just so she would KO the tech guy by slamming into him. Tiny intelligent crocodiles, I want one!

Collapsible baton strike to the back of the knees, *winces* that one is going to hurt a while. Esoteric's form in this fight is fun, the reaction of the swordsman to her talking is perfect. Ugh, the fight is going well, but the flame user is causing small fires throughout the area, don't use it inside a building if you can't control it better!

Meathead getting cut by Esoteric, this whole fight is a bit chaotic, but most are. The 3 stooges have the files and escape, while Esoteric shifts her team to the astral plane at the last moment.

The astral was funny like that, tending to reflect emotional history and trailing the physical world unless strong context was involved.

Huh, I figured the astral was like that, nice to be confirmed. And suddenly in Winnie's backyard, Molly goes back for more of the cake, hehe. Meditating usually helps with headaches, I hope it does for Chou.

This was a fun short story, it is nice to see so many familiar faces still around. Getting caught up a little on Chou and Molly, married and with a baby now, doing jobs as part of a team with Winnie and others. And still an adorable couple. I didn't expect the change in Fubar, nor for her to be in a relationship with Esoteric of all people. It is nice to learn why Fubar isn't at Whateley Academy anymore, finally able to live a life outside a tank. And the job for the Tao was fun to watch, though I have to wonder what the threat to the balance was. I can't wait to read more stories with Chou, Molly, Fubar, and Esoteric in the future. Plus to see the rest of the team Chou and Molly are in beside Winnie.