Touma felt a chill go down his spine. He looked around. He was on one of the more illuminated street of Academy City at night. It was just past 10 o'clock. His cellphone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and opened it. "Hello? Stiyl?" He said into the phone.
"Yeah. This one's going to be interesting." Stiyl said on the other side.
"What do you mean by that?" Touma asked. He had started to run down the street. They already had a place planned for when the next assassin came.
"The assassin announced his presence this time. He's making no move to conceal himself what-so-ever. That probably means that he's pretty confident in his ability to kill you." Stiyl explained. "Get to the area quickly."
"Got it." Touma said, hanging up. He ran down the streets of Academy City. He passes some stores, but not many people. He was trying to stay off of roads that were too crowded. If the assassin could show up at any time, Touma wanted the least amount of people involved as possible.
He ran down a few pathways until he finally reached the site. It was an abandoned construction site. Most of the equipment was gone because they had canceled the project halfway through. He glanced around and spotted the red-haired magician smoking a cigarette, waiting. He ran up to him. "Stiyl!" The man turned around.
"Oh. There you are." Stiyl said calmly. "For a second there, I thought the assassin had caught you on your way here." He didn't look the least bit concerned. He also didn't look relieved to find out that Touma was okay.
"Anyways," Touma started. "Did you manage to contact Accelerator?" Touma had told Stiyl to try to contact the number one esper. He figured that Accelerator was on their side still, so he would probably help.
"Yeah, I managed to contact him." Stiyl said. "I mentioned your name and said that an assassin was after you and that we could use his help. I gave him this location."
"And?"
"He hung up."
Touma sat there, at first thinking he had heard wrong. "Such misfortune." He mumbled. "I guess we'll have to handle this one on our own, Stiyl."
"Yeah." Stiyl's eyes narrowed. "He's coming. He'll be here in a few seconds. I can feel a lot of power from this guy." The two glanced around, looking for the new assassin.
"Ever the perceptive one, Stiyl Magnus." A voice said from above. They looked up to see a man floating in the air. He descended down and landed gracefully on his feet. He had hair silver hair that flowed to his waist. His bangs fell over his eyes, leaving his blue eyes almost invisible. He wore jeans with a gray shirt, long-sleeved shirt. He wore a necklace with a cross on the end around his neck. His shoes were also a dark gray color.
Stiyl's eyes widened. "Damn it." He mumbled.
"What?" Touma asked, looking at him. "You know this guy?"
"I've only ever heard of him." Stiyl said quietly. "People call him the Skill Hunter. He used to hunt down espers and kill them." He looked at Touma. "Be careful. His ability involves creating illusions that seem all too real. Real enough to kill a person."
Touma looked up at the man. "Nice to meet you, Kamijou Touma, wielder of the Imagine Breaker. My name is Akiyama Satoshi." Satoshi spoke with no emotion, a dull monotone. "Now then, let me proceed with killing you." He drew a long sword out of thin air and began to race through the air towards Touma.
Touma, naturally, held out his right hand. "Kamijou!" Stiyl yelled. "That sword is not magic, it'll slice your hand clean off!" Just as he said that, Satoshi reached him. He swung the sword for Touma's head, who ducked and rolled back.
Stiyl summoned a sword of flame in his right hand and swung it at the man. Satoshi merely side stepped the swing and kicked Stiyl in the stomach, sending him flying. "Stiyl!" Touma yelled after the man. Satoshi turned around to look at Touma.
"Let us end this quickly." Satoshi drew a dagger from nowhere. He took aim and threw it. It flew through the air aiming for Touma's head.
Damn it. I can't do anything against something that's not supernatural. My street fighting skills aren't enough to save me when my opponent is trained with weaponry. All he could do was stare in horror at the fast approaching object.
"Hm?" Satoshi looked surprised to see something.
From behind Touma, a hand came in front of his face. Before the dagger hit the hand, it stopped and turned back, flying at high speed back at Satoshi. It made a small cut on his left arm. Satoshi just looked at with no emotion. Touma turned around. "Sorry, I'm late." Accelerator said, stepping up next to him.
"The hero has arrived at the scene, Misaka Misaka says as she cheers for Accelerator." Last Order said from behind him.
Touma looked at him in surprise. Accelerator turned to him. "What? You didn't think I was going to show up?" He asked.
"Well, you did just hang up when Stiyl requested for your help." Touma said nervously.
"I figured that I would waste time if I continued to talk to him, so I hung up and came here immediately. It looks like I got here just in time. You should be grateful." He said, eyeing Touma.
"Of course, I am. Thanks." Touma said, smiling.
Satoshi tilted his head, taking a long look at Accelerator. "You are Academy City's number one level 5 esper, Accelerator. I am surprised. I heard that number 3 was helping him. Of course, I am aware that you are one of the strongest members of the Kamijou Faction. I did not expect to see you here tonight. I guess I will eliminate two threats." He said, his voice keeping monotone. He waved his hand in the air. What appeared to be skeletal soldiers appeared. Five of them. All wielding swords.
"Be careful!" Stiyl yelled from where he lay. He was clutching at a wound in his side where he hit when he landed. "Those are just illusions. The illusion get into your mind and since you believe they're real, they can really hurt you!"
"What the hell's with that?" Accelerator asked, looking at the skeletal warriors. He checked his choker. "I should have around 20 minutes on this thing." He whispered. "Let's get this done and quickly." He ran up to one of the warriors. It swung the sword at him. The sword reflected off of his vector wall. He punched the skull and it shattered to pieces. The skeleton disappeared along with the remnants of the skull.
Touma ran up next to him and hit one with his right hand. It immediately disappeared. "That's a shame." Satoshi said, watching the two quickly eliminate the rest of the skeletal warriors. "I was hoping to not have to do too much work."
Four spiraling vortexes of wind appeared on Accelerator's back, lifting him up to where Satoshi floated. "Now then." Accelerator said coldly. "It's time for you to die!" He yelled, flying towards him.
Satoshi sighed. He flew up extremely fast, then down. His foot hit Accelerator in the back, knocking him onto the ground below. "Accelerator!" Touma yelled, running up to him.
Accelerator stood, wiping blood from his mouth. "My reflection didn't work?"
"Your reflection is nothing in the eyes of God. I have been blessed by God. I am above human now. There is no way that anybody from the science side is going to defeat me." He looked down at them. "Now then…" He waved his hand. Ten swords appeared in a straight line above him. "Die." He said. He swung his hand down, and with it went the swords.
"Don't give me that!" Accelerator yelled. He tapped his foot on the ground. Tocks tore up from the ground, flying into the air to slam against the swords. "Kamijou!" He yelled. They both nodded at each other.
Touma held onto Accelerator with his left hand, holding his right hand as far away from him as possible. Accelerator's black wings appeared. "Let's finish this!" Accelerator yelled. He flew at Satoshi with Touma at his side.
"Futile." Satoshi said in his monotone voice. He formed two spears, one in each hand and threw them at Accelerator.
Accelerator just turned a little and Touma swept his right hand through both of the spears, destroying them. Satoshi raised his eyebrows, showing a little bit of surprise. One of Accelerator's wings turned into a larger swirling vortex of wind. It went above Satoshi and pushed him into the ground.
They landed slowly back down. Satoshi got up slowly and dusted himself off. He looked at them with his emotionless eyes. His face showed nothing. He looked at the ground and tapped it with his foot, similar to the way Accelerator did. Purple flames rose around Touma and Accelerator. Even though the flames were a few feet from them, they could still feel the heat. "Dammit!" Touma yelled. He stuck his Imagine Breaker into the flames, dispersing them. He looked to Satoshi. "Your attacks are nothing more than mere illusion. I'm here to destroy those illusions!" He yelled, holding up his right hand.
Something flew past Touma and Accelerator. They both looked down to see cuts on their sides. "What the hell?" Accelerator asked, clutching the wound. They looked up.
"It does not matter that my attacks are illusions." Satoshi said. He was holding a dagger with a long string attached to it. "Your minds unconsciously believe that what you see is real. Therefore, the damage you receive from my illusions becomes real." He flicked the dagger out again. Touma smacked it with his right hand.
"Dammit." Touma mumbled, holding his side. "Huh?" He looked down and noticed that their wounds in their sides were gone. I get it!
"Now, let's end this game, shall we?" Satoshi asked. He held his hand up. A bright glow appeared and flashed different colors. When it faded, he held a black metal scythe. He swung it to his side. "Game over." He said as he dashed at them.
"Accelerator." Touma said. Accelerator looked at him. "Get away. Let me do this."
"What the hell are you…?" Accelerator started.
"Just do it!" Touma said loudly.
"Whatever." Accelerator said, walking over to Last Order and Stiyl. "Just don't blame me if you die." He said, looking back.
"Don't worry." Touma said. "I know how it works now."
"The end." Satoshi said as he stood a few feet from Touma. He swung the scythe and cut a huge gash across Touma's chest. "I win." He said simply.
Accelerator, Stiyl, and Last Order looked in shock. "Why the hell did he just let himself get hit?" Accelerator asked, staring at the massive amount of blood pouring from Touma's chest and puddling on the ground beneath him.
"Heh." Touma smiled and started laughing. "Heh heh. Hahaha!" He started laughing crazily. Everybody, including Satoshi, just stared at him.
"What is this?" Satoshi asked. "You do realize that you're going to die, right? And with your death, the Imagine Breaker will be destroyed."
"I get it now." Touma said as he walked towards Satoshi, who took a step back. Touma didn't seem bothered by the huge wound on his chest at all. Suddenly he lunged forward and punched the scythe with his right hand. It broke and Satoshi jumped back.
"You shouldn't be able to move right now." Satoshi said, looking at the boy with a perceptive gaze.
"Are you an idiot?" Touma asked as he walked towards him. "You didn't think that one of us would catch on to your ability. He stood a few feet from Satoshi. "Your illusions directly affect our minds, telling us that they, and the damage we receive, are real. But in reality, we are not affected at all. Since we believe that we are going to die if we're damaged to badly, we die. The reason our wounds on our sides healed is because we both accepted that your dagger was just an illusion when I destroyed it with my Imagine Breaker."
"You are quite the perceptive one." Satoshi commented.
"Now," Touma said as he ran at Satoshi.
Satoshi planted his feet like he was about to jump away.
Accelerator tapped his foot on the ground, breaking the ground under Satoshi's feet, causing him to stumble. That was all the time Touma needed.
"It's over!" Touma yelled as he drew back his fist. Satoshi just stared at him, still showing no emotions. "Now," Touma said, punching forward. "You will now see your own shattered illusions!" Touma yelled as his fist made contact with Satoshi. He flew back a few feet, stood there for a moment, then fell over.
Accelerator, Stiyl, and Last Order approached him. "Looks like it's over." Accelerator said, glancing to Satoshi's unconscious body.
"I'll handle that." Stiyl said, walking over to Satoshi. He turned back to look at Touma. "Good work." He said, before turning back.
"That was amazing! Misaka Misaka says as she shows her excitement about the fight." Last Order said, grabbing Accelerator's arm.
Accelerator reached down and picked up his cane off of the ground. At some point during the fight, he had discarded it. He looked at Touma. "Good work." He said.
"You also did good work." Touma said, smiling. "If it wasn't for you, I would've died near the beginning of the fight." He held out his hand.
Accelerator looked at it for a second before grabbing it with his free hand. He smiled. "Until next time." He said. He turned and walked away with Last Order.
Touma looked up at the night sky. He stared at the shining stars. "There's always going to be a next time, isn't there?" He whispered. "Will I be able to overcome all of them?" He reached up with his right hand. He looked at Stiyl carrying away Satoshi. He looked at Accelerator walking away with Last Order. He smiled as he looked back at his hand against the stars. "I'm sure I'll manage something."