Wednesday morning was Mikayla's introduction to Doctor Fresco, a human woman with frizzy red hair and massive glasses covering her face. For a moment, she'd been pleasantly surprised to see another human at the yaoguai-dominated Cloudscraper.

  But then Doctor Fresco started to talk.

  "So, you need a remedial exercise course, hmm?" she assessed, peering at Mikayla through glasses that gleamed in the light. "Alright, alright, I see what's what. Class, the rest of you just do the same thing you did yesterday! Mikayla here needs all of my attention!"

  What followed was a solid two hours of the worst, most demented physical therapy session that Mikayla could have imagined, including several instances where she was told to hold a yoga-like pose 'until she couldn't any longer'. Throughout it all, Doctor Fresco took meticulous notes and ignored all of Mikayla's pleas for relief or questions as to how much longer this would go on.

  At long last, her body gave out. Her Willpower was exhausted, her Stamina bar empty. Mikayla couldn't even bring herself to lift an arm, collapsed on the ground and staring up at the sky.

  "Mm-hm, mm-hm. And that concludes our test. You lasted longer than I expected, well done!" Doctor Fresco beamed as she leant over her.

  "More points . . to Strength . . for the next . . ten levels," Mikayla wheezed out a resolution.

  "No, no, you want Constitution for this. But if you ask me, Intelligence is the best Stat bar none," Doctor Fresco checked her notes again. "Alright, I think I've got enough data to work with here. Go get some breakfast, class starts in twenty minutes and if you're late you'll get detention!"

  On the one hand, getting detention during her first week, especially for such an unfair circumstance as this, sent horror into Mikayla's scholarly heart. On the other, the ground was so comfortable and her legs were protesting for better pay and a less abusive work environment.

  "Oh, I almost forgot," A small trickle of fluid entered Mikayla's lips, and she gasped, her Stamina Bar returning to half full in a flash. The pain ebbed and her muscles started to work again, and she sat up abruptly, almost headbutting Doctor Fresco. The good doctor was tucking away a draught of what Mikayla could presume was a potent Stamina Potion.

  "There. Now run along! See you in class, my cute little test subject!" Fresco waved her off, walking away.

  Mikayla watched her go, feeling her heart race. ". . I guess we were due for the obligatory insane teacher,"

  <=====}—o

  After stuffing as much bacon and toast into her mouth as she could, Mikayla finally caught up to her class, who were gathered at the largest building in the sprawling complex that was Cloudscraper.

  It was a hulking labyrinth full of cell doors and barred windows. It was endless corridors of snapping teeth and hateful eyes. It was a prison and a graveyard and a mockery of zoos in every universe.

  It was Slaughterhouse One, the place where Cloudscraper kept captive Kaiju for use as teaching aides.

  Mikayla wanted to vomit just thinking about it. Even if her time in this world was making it harder and harder to stick to her principles around the ethical treatment of animals, the brief glimpse she'd had of Slaughterhouse One during her tour of the campus haunted her nightmares.

  And now they were entering it, the Kaiju-size gates parting around them at the hands of the Amber Sentinels tasked with guarding the prison of monsters.

  The class emerged into an antechamber large enough for a squad of Goliath Guardsmen at size ten to fight a monster within, which to twelve normal-sized young adults was large enough that they could barely see the far wall in the distance. Not for the first time, Mikayla marvelled at the construction that went into Cloudscraper's facilities. Were there Goliath quarries that turned whole mountains into bricks and stacked them up to build places like this? Or were there construction Techniques that could create facilities like this one from nothing but Mana?

  "So, Doctor Fresco said to just wait inside the main gates, right? Or did I mishear her?" Lydia fretted.

  "No, that's right," Sendo said as she and Nya both moved to the front of the group to take the lead, and then tried not to let anyone notice they were giving the other a not-so-subtle stinkeye.

  "Then, um. Where is she?"

  Several minutes passed as the group waited for any sign of their teacher.

  "Maybe we should go and look for Doctor Fresco," Irin suggested.

  "And chance being out of place when she arrives? Do try not to be an idiot, no matter how naturally it comes to you," Sendo sneered.

  Keldryn's ears twitched. "Guys, quiet down, I heard something,"

  The two Yevgenia clones ignored him. "If you have something to say to me, then say it to my face, Sendo," Irin demanded.

  "And why would I waste my breath on a failure?"

  "You don't know a single starring thing about me!"

  "Even if everything I could need to know wasn't written all over your body, your crass manner would fill in the gaps,"

  "This is getting a bit intense, how about we all chill out?" Banki interrupted. Mikayla noticed that her own ears were twitching, the same as Keldryn's. "I think we've got bigger problems incoming,"

  By now Mikayla could also hear a distant rumble, like an earthquake, steadily getting louder. "Are those Kaiju footsteps?" she questioned, searching for the source.

  "It's coming from outside," Keldryn wheeled towards the massive, Kaiju-sized doors they'd entered through.

  Sure enough, there was a distant shape on the horizon that was rapidly growing closer.

  "What is that?" Geum frowned.

  "Falcon's Vision," Lydia invoked a crackle of Stamina that flowed into her eyes. "It's a bull Kaiju. It's charging towards us,"

  "Maybe it'll turn away?" Geri hopefully broached.

  They watches for a couple of moments as the Bull drew closer. It did not show any inclination to change direction - if anything, it became all the more obvious that it was charging directly towards Slaughterhouse One.

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  "Uh, shield!" Mikayla tried to take charge. "We need a shield! Who can do a big shield?!"

  "Why would I have a shield? Sekki, you're a defence focus!" Geum bellowed, not caring that Mikayla hadn't been addressing him.

  "It's more complicated than that, I can't cover the whole class!"

  "Then just cover me, that's plenty!" Geum rounded on his partner.

  Mikayla, though, was focused on Nya, who was shouting at her, "Why are you asking us? You're the defender!"

  "Yeah but I don't have the strength to stop a charging Kaiju! It's not like I can fix the shield to the ground!" Despite her words, Mikayla was already warming up her Mana, preparing to deploy her Oaken Protector up to its maximum size. Even if it wouldn't do much, it was better than nothing.

  But someone was already stepping out in front of the group. Mikayla suddenly recalled that, on paper at least, they had three defence specialists in the class. It was much too easy to forget the one who was mute.

  Treft struck a pose, right hand tensed in front of his gut with fingers splayed, left hand raised in the air and Core Controller glowing. Mikayla tilted her head. He looked like he was playing air guitar.

  For the first time since they'd met, he spoke. Or, no. It was his Core Controller that was speaking? "High Keytar, tune up!"

  Looking at it more closely, his Core Controller was much more colourful than most. It was made of some yellow metal, shot through with white, its nine slots arranged into an arrow. But Mikayla only looked at it for a second before Treft's weapon of choice appeared in his hands.

  It was, indeed, a keytar.

  Treft didn't waste any time, because the bull was getting closer. He mashed one of the keys, and a shockwave of sound so dense it was visible erupted from his keytar. It washed over the collapsing Kaiju, slowing it. Another shockwave washed out, further slowing the mountain of muscle.

  The keytar fired again and again, each wave of sound slowing the Kaiju until its head hit the ground and it slid to a halt, leaving a mile-wide furrow in the ground behind it.

  Mikayla, noticing a drain on her Mana Bar, realised that she was wearing the Black Knight. When had that happened? The rest of the class was also clad in their Armour Cores, but the rainbow of radiance was fading. Had they all reflexively deployed their Armours?

  The collapsed monster finally slid to a halt, a scant few metres away.

  Treft's keytar remained at the ready, and the rest of the class' miscellaneous weapons joined it. All eyes went to a spot at the back of its neck, which was twitching and swelling.

  The unnatural way the flesh was moving made Mikayla want to retch. It was as though there was something inside the monster's body clawing its way out. She wasn't the only one who pointed their weapons at the swelling lump.

  The skin split open in a shower of blood, and their teacher emerged.

  Doctor Fresco's leather armour was stained all over with blood, despite her body being coated in a glowing white Armour Core. Her hair was similarly drenched where it hung out of her helmet, and a giant scalpel hung loosely from her hands. "What did you kids have to go and knock this guy over for?" she complained, oblivious to the figure she struck.

  "It was charging right at us!" Geum shouted indignantly. "What were we supposed to do? Let it attack?.

  "Of course! Witnessing a Kaiju in action is the best way to learn about it!" Doctor Fresco declared with a wide grin. "But I suppose you wouldn't know that yet, this being your first lesson," their teacher mused to herself, seemingly not caring whether or not her students heard her. "Well, whatever,"

  She cleared her throat and spread her arms. "Good morning, class!" Doctor Fresco beamed at them, ignoring the fact that her glasses and robes were splattered with blood. "Welcome to Kaiju Studies! This is the class where you learn all about how Kaijus do what they do, and as a result how to stop them from doing what they do! And the only way to learn that is by getting hands-on with them!"

  Two massive Core-projected tentacles erupted from her back, one ending in a set of serrated shears come right out of a horror movie, while the other ended in a whirring chainsaw. "Our first specimen is this beautiful beast, the Lesser Hedranging Bison! Its inherent abilities are primarily focused around its head. Watch," Her weapons went to work on the Bison's horn, trimming away chunks of it and exposing what looked like dark veins inside.

  "Can anyone tell me anything about these?"

  Several hands went up, including all three of the Yevgenias, but Doctor Fresco instead pointed at a certain orange-haired boy. "You!"

  Kaizen's answer was, "A thousand small hands make life dance between fingers and engender rage,"

  What?

  "Correct!" Doctor Fresco beamed, slapping the side of the Bison's head in glee.

  As she did, though, the Bison stirred, its legs twitching and shaking as its eyelids flickered.

  "Doctor Fresco, that Kaiju's still alive!" Lydia shrieked.

  "Of course it is. Dead Kaijus can't demonstrate their abilities for us, can they?" Doctor Fresco asked rhetorically as two more tentacles sprouted from her back and anchored her in place on top of the monster's skull. "Now, everyone Armour up. I want you all to pay very close attention to how this Bison tries to kill you. And no retaliating! If you kill my test subject without my permission, it'll be detention for you!"

  The Bison roared, seemingly not noticing the mad scientist on its head as it picked itself up and swung its massive skull at the class. Through the flashes of black and red that were the Black Knight growing to ten times its default size, Mikayla could see the patterns of yellow Mana flowing through its opened horn.

  But then she was too busy summoning up her Shield and trying to protect her classmates to pay all that much attention to what they were supposed to be learning.

  "Yes! Observe, my students! Observe and be educated! Mwahahahahahaaaa!"