"Please, just port me down there!" Emberline cried out as the scenes on the other side of the portals grew more and more desperate.

She looked at her teammate in the eye, but the woman remained stoic and unresponsive. "I don't understand how you're just sitting there watching them suffer!"

Tesseract shrugged, not breaking her focus from the projections in front of them. "They'll be fine."

"Tessie, that's insane!" She threw up her hands in frustration. "We're supposed to look after them. This isn't what we're supposed to be doing!"

Tesseract rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I thought I was the teacher here?"

Emberline glared daggers at the other woman, but it had little effect.

Tesseract was always too relaxed for her own good.

"It's fine. They're doing better than I'd expected, honestly. They've got it handled."

She stared incredulously at her, her eyes flickering back and forth from the scenes of carnage.

"Do you have eyes, woman?! They're going to die!" Emberline pointed at a projection showing a boy in an intricate yellow longcoat, his face and torso covered in blood and gore as the red magical girl with cat ears slung him over her shoulders.

"I can see them just fine. It looks to me like the situation there has been resolved at least, Kat."

Emberline stared, her eyes wide with disbelief and horror at what she was witnessing.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing, or that she was hearing.

"I can't believe you, Tess. This isn't what we signed up for. This isn't what I thought I was doing here," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "How the hell do you think this is going well? You're just sitting here and watching as these kids fight the heavies. I mean, I understand why the Guardians wanted to see how they performed under stress, but that was meant to come later!"

She clenched her fists, shaking her head. "You were supposed to just give them a taste of combat, a warm-up for the next section. But that? This? It's madness!"

Emberline pointed again, her voice breaking. "That's not how you teach. That's not what we're here for. A couple of those fucked up wolf things I can understand. But the centaur things? The bugs? That giant? The one you trapped in your hypercubes tore two teams of Class Four to Class Six knights apart before we arrived that day, Tess! You're dumping the entire horde on them!"

Tesseract frowned, finally looking up at her and crossing her arms over her chest.

Emberline stared into the glowing, purple eyes of the transformed Magical Girl. She was a few centimeters taller, but that was barely noticeable compared to the difference in demeanor.

Tess was normally a relaxed and playful woman. She had an infectious personality and was always willing to help out others. She was kind, caring, and selfless to a fault.

This version of Tess was a different story, a hardened and pragmatic soldier who had seen the worst of the worst.

"Kat, you don't understand what we are here for, and what I'm doing here." Tesseract shook her head. "You can't just teach someone to fight and expect them to win, not when the world's gone to hell. That isn't enough."

Emberline scoffed, shaking her head. "You could have warned me. Or told them. Given them a heads up! How can you justify throwing them to the wolves like this?"

"Because it's my call to make!" Tess shouted back. "And it's my job to teach them how to survive in this world."

Tess pointed at the images in front of her. "They're still alive. All of them, and they've learned more today than they have in years. They're doing better than some of our veterans did when everything went to shit."

She paused for a moment, letting out a deep breath.

"They can do it, and they will do it."

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"But how can you say that?" Emberline cried out, gesturing wildly at the screens. "Look at them, they're getting torn apart!"

Tess rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You underestimate how resilient these kids can be. Hell, we both know that better than most people, Kat."

She gestured to the projections in front of them, showing the various fights that had unfolded over the past half hour or so. "Those monsters? I trapped them, and then I let them loose on those kids, because I wanted to see how they reacted under extreme duress and pressure, and what they do to overcome those odds."

She pointed at the screens. "Too many of these kids have been at each other's throats for petty, stupid bullshit, and that can't continue if we're going to survive. There's only one thing that will help them get over it, and it's being in the trenches together. And they need to know their own limits."

Emberline shook her head. "That doesn't change the fact that you put them in a life and death situation. That doesn't make sense, Tess. What if they die? What if one of those kids doesn't come back? What if they end up crippled and broken because of your test?!"

"They'll have to deal with life or death situations eventually. It's a reality we have to face, and a reality that will be the death of them if we're not prepared," Tess snapped, her eyes hardening as they glowed a dark, deep purple. "And it's a reality I will make damn sure they're prepared for, no matter what."

She gestured at the projections once more, her gaze turning cold. "I didn't bring you here to watch by accident, Kat. I wanted to prove that these kids could handle the heat. I needed to know they could survive and fight against something bigger than them, and win. Something stronger than them."

She took a step back, shaking her head. "And so far, I haven't been disappointed. They're still breathing, aren't they? We want these kids trained and ready, but they need to learn how to think on their feet, how to fight against monsters, not each other, and most importantly of all, how to work together."

Emberline glared. She knew what her teammate meant, but still...

She couldn't believe it. Not a single bit.

It was sickening and twisted.

"How the hell is this okay? They're going to be traumatized. That boy over there," she pointed to one of the projections where a boy in green armor was lying unconscious on the ground, with a girl in a blue hoodie trying desperately to shake him awake. "That boy is having his first real fight, Tess. He's not like us, he hasn't had the time we had to prepare for the shit that's out there!"

Tesseract shook her head. "I'm going to say it again. This isn't about being okay or not okay. We are fighting to keep the human race and life as we know it from being snuffed out, Emberline. We're on the back foot now that the System the Guardians established has failed. Our enemies have the initiative. Every single day we spend fighting over who is better than who, or how we should do things is a waste."

Her voice rose in intensity. "Every second of bickering, of squabbling, and of petty backbiting and jabs is another nail in our coffin. So no, it isn't about what's okay, or what should be. You were there with all of us that day when we saw what drove Nox mad."

Tess eyes narrowed, and she took a deep breath. "It's about survival, plain and simple. That's the truth, whether we like it or not."

"Survival is a poor excuse to risk killing them like this," she replied coldly, staring down Tesseract.

"Well, that's why you're here, Emberline. Your Signature Talent will help me keep everyone safe."

"My Arts aren't meant to heal injuries that serious! What am I supposed to do when someone's guts are all over the floor?!" she asked, gesturing at one of the monitors where a student was bleeding out on the grass, a gaping hole in his stomach as others tried desperately to staunch the bleeding with scraps of their clothes. "You know how my abilities work!"

"Yes, I do, which is why I brought you in," Tesseract said, her tone cold. "You have to see it from my side, Kat. If I can't get these kids to work together, to fight together, and learn to trust each other, we are all dead."

Emberline opened her mouth to respond, but Tesseract raised a hand. "No. No, I don't want to hear another word from you right now, Emberline. You're my teammate, and you know me, so don't try and pull that bullshit on me. You know that there's a reason behind this."

Tesseract sighed, shaking her head. "Look. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I just want you to understand where I'm coming from, okay? Please, trust me."

Emberline looked away, her gaze turning toward the projections.

A young girl with shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and red dress desperately struggled to flee from a terrifying, towering centaur creature.

The child was visibly winded and blood stained her dress.

She wasn't fast enough to escape.

"Please... just send me out to help. At least to watch over them," Emberline pleaded quietly.

"No. Not yet. Trust me, I can keep it from going too far. The entire battlefield is a hyperplane of my own creation, and I have a few backup plans ready if necessary."

Emberline's fists trembled as she stared up at the screens, watching the monsters chase after the students.

"I want to keep those kids safe, Tessie! I'm not going to let you hurt them!" Emberline yelled. "They're just children!"

She lowered her head, tears dripping from her eyes.

"Tess... Please."

Emberline looked up at those deep purple eyes as she felt a pair of warm hands gently land on her shoulders.

"Kat... please trust me. The situation is under control. If it truly gets out of hand, I need you here by my side."

Emberline opened her mouth to respond, but a rumbling purr sounded from beside them, causing them to jolt.

The pair looked over to find Bastet sitting cross-legged on the table next to them, her ears perked up and her eyes glowing a deep gold.

"Well, aren't you two just so cute when you're all flustered and upset like that?"

Both girls turned, and Tesseract narrowed her eyes. "What do you want, Bastet?"

The catlike Guardian grinned, flashing sharp fangs. "To watch, mostly."

Then, she glanced back at the portals, swishing her tail back and forth.

"Oh dear... That one's in trouble, isn't she?"