This bomb was nothing like the cutting-edge devices they'd encountered before.

This time, it was more intricate, more cunning, with an arrangement that was both deceptive and, upon closer inspection, almost childish.

Yes, that was the word-childish.

Atop the delicate balance lay a common spherical dog toy, the kind that shouldn't be nudged in the slightest. A mere touch could set the whole thing off.

But who the heck puts a dog toy on a bomb? Especially one that squeaks.

"Vivienne, what's the situation in there?" Percival could only peer through the crack in the door, unable to see the full picture.

Vivienne held a pair of scissors in her hands, the familiar sight of the wiring giving her a sense of déjà vu.

Percival, getting no response, called out again, "Vivienne?"

Vivienne shook the scissors, "All good."

She got down on her knees, scanning the rainbow of wires before snipping one decisively.

Tick!

The toy fell off the balance, rolling across the floor and ending up under the desk with a soft thunk.

"Come on in," Vivienne said, placing the scissors on the table.

The bomb wasn't inherently difficult; it just appeared dazzlingly complex. In reality, it was still the red wire.

Percival entered, realizing he was sweating bullets. He had defused a thirty-second countdown bomb in his heyday without breaking a sweat, but this had unnerved him.

It wasn't until he heard Vivienne's voice that he understood just how frightened he'd been.

"It's not a new type of bomb, just an ordinary one with a fancy setup. Looks tough, but it's just a smoke and mirrors act."

her arms around Percival's neck, her alluring gaze warming him like the first ray of sun on a winter's day,

into an embrace, burying his

knew Percival

like we haven't been

from Class Eighteen

chill flashed in Percival's

back, "This is the enemy's tactic. I've defused it, and this

knew all too well that Vivienne was the most intelligent woman on earth. And if anyone wanted to take

his belief wavered with fear. This fear was instinctual, an innate dread of

each other tightly,

Tick-tock... tick-tock...

eerie ticking broke the silence in the

narrowed as she

crouched down, eyeing the spherical dog toy beneath the desk. It was

activated a countdown, rapidly ticking

were caught off guard, with no

the

pounded on the door, "Percival, open up,

she knew what

planned to shield the blast with his

Vivienne kicked at

door and lock of the TCL lab were made of top-grade materials, impervious to brute

the far corner, using his body

to buy

breath and kicked

Bang!

of smoke enveloped the office, followed by a sound akin to a popping balloon. Vivienne's mighty

on the floor from the

"Mr. Wolf!"

dust, his shirt torn at the

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