Author: Honestly, I have no idea what possessed me to actually do this. But since I've done it, here it is!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Index/Railgun series or characters.
Academy City a perfectly normal city with perfectly normal people, where extraordinary powers were only a dream. This day starts like every other ordinary day for Mikoto Misaka. Wake up, deal with Kuroko, take a shower, deal with Kuroko, go to school, deal with Kuroko, etc.
These peaceful days were the result of Mikoto's hard work. Or rather, the work of her alter ego. Normally, she would just be like any other girl on every ordinary day. But as soon as trouble arises, she transforms into... Gekota-man!
Chosen by the medal to defend the city, she valiantly fights for these peaceful days.
It was by chance that Mikoto found a shiny medal and mysterious cell phone by the river. Intrigued by the familiar frog face, her curiosity led down a path of justice! Transforming her into... Gekota-man!
Found by the hidden protective agency calling themselves Anti-Skill (though Mikoto wanted a cooler name, like Judgment), she finds her destiny in protecting the city from AXEL, a secret organization that had somehow managed to create super powers.
Anti-Skill were attempting to create their own super powered people, using some data they had managed to take from AXEL. But AXEL found out and eliminated the laboratory with their ITEM special forces. As far as Anti-Skill knows, the medal that Mikoto found is the only one left until they're able to create more, unfortunately it was designed by a scientist with a liking for both Gekota and various kiddie superhero franchises.
She had fought valiantly against the forces of AXEL, finally leading to the climactic battle against their leader, known only as the Accelerator. Though the Accelerator's body was never found after that fight.
Now, it's been weeks since AXEL was finally destroyed. Every now and then Anti-Skill would call about small incidents, but nothing like the battles against AXEL. Peace was restored.
"Sissy!" Kuroko caught up to Mikoto after school. "Where are you going?"
"I'm just going to the convenience store," Mikoto replies.
"Reading those manga from the shelves again Sissy?"
"N-no! I'm just... getting a drink, I'm thirsty for a soda."
"Suspicious... But we need to hurry, today's the day after all."
"Eh? It's today? I must've forgotten."
"How can you forget something like this? Has your love for those manga dulled your interest? It's the great unveiling!"
To tell the truth, this 'great unveiling' was not something Mikoto wanted to see. What was going to be unveiled was as statue, of her, as Gekota-man, in gold colors. It was too embarrassing for her, it's even worse that the statue is located in the middle of an amusement park.
The final battles against AXEL and even against Accelerator himself was somehow made public. It had gotten to the point that Anti-Skill could no longer keep Gekota-man's existence a secret. At first Gekota-man was only a rumour, but now there's all these various merchandise!
"Come on Sissy! Uiharu and Saten are waiting!"
"Eh?! They're there too?"
"Of course, Gekota-man saved too remember?"
She's been in so many fights against AXEL that she couldn't remember everyone that she saved, or every battle that she had.
Suddenly, her cell phone starts ringing.
"Sissy..."
"Please, Kuroko, just let me take this."
"But almost every time you do, you disappear! I worry about you."
"You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself." Mikoto takes out a green, frog themed flip phone and places it to her ear. "Hello?"
"It's Yoshikawa, I'm sorry to have suddenly contacted you like this."
Mikoto looks at Kuroko, who was expressing concern. "It's alright."
"By now you know of that Gekota-man statue unveiling right?"
"Yeah," Mikoto sounded depressed.
"Why do you sound so down? I thought you'd like it."
"I don't like it! It's too embarrassing!"
"Well anyways, we've detected some unusual energy around the city recently, mostly centered around the amusement park."
"Huh?"
"We believe it may be remnants of AXEL, or it could also be some other evil group. Or it could just be nothing, still, you should be there, just in case."
"Alright, bye."
"So, who was it?"
"My dad, one of his friends got him another crazy good luck charm. I didn't want it."
"If that's all it was, then let's go already!"
"Ah! Kuroko!"
XXX
Just outside the entrance to the park, two girls waited.
"Shirai! Misaka!" Uiharu waved her arm so that their friends could see her.
"Uiharu!" Kuroko called and waved back, dragging Mikoto behind her. "Sorry we're late!"
"It's okay, we just got the tickets!" Uiharu shows them off, two in each hand.
"Huh? Misaka?" Saten leans forward to Mikoto. "Aren't you excited? It's Gekota-man!"
"That's just it," Mikoto speaks stressfully. "'It's Gekota-MAN'! Not a Gekota, just some guy in a costume."
"Well, he saved us," Saten tells her. "This is the least we could do."
"I don't know if he even wants a statue in his honor," Mikoto mutters under her breath.
"Come on, come on," Uiharu urges. "We need to find a nice spot before the park fills up!"
XXX
The four girls manage to get themselves on the outer half of the crowd surrounding the covered statue. A quick look at the time shows it's only a few minutes away. And it's unnaturally hot for some reason.
Soon, a brightly colored business man with some guards walks through the crowds towards the statue. He grabs a microphone
"Everyone!" he calls out to the rowdy crowd. "Everyone! I'm sure you know by now, about this great hero that saved us from the clutches of AXEL. At first, it was a fight that no one knew about, but as AXEL started using more and more drastic measures, our saviour continued to step up to stop them. Through all of his struggle, never giving up even when we, the city, turned against him..."
Mikoto did not want to remember that event, when AXEL had managed to frame her, it was hard to get the city's trust and faith again, even those of her own friends.
"So in honor of our hero, we have erected this statue in his image!"
The drapes covering the statue were pulled down, revealing the gold covered statue of a certain superhero. Much to her extreme shock. Mikoto's mind froze, and cracked, at the sight.
While most of the crowd roared and cheered, there were a few murmurs.
"Say, Uiharu," Saten begins. "I don't remember Gekota-man looking like that."
"It's very hard to find any information on him, being a secret vigilante and all," Uiharu answers. "Even though there were multiple witnesses during his fight against AXEL, barely any of the descriptions matched. So they just went with whatever made sense."
(Made sense? MADE SENSE?) Mikoto's mind erupts. (How can this make any sense? I know I'm supposed to be as secret as possible, and that AXEL forced me to become public, but... how in the world did they get THAT... monstrosity from me?)
Basically, the Gekota-man statue put a lot of emphasis on the 'MAN' part. A male body builder with huge limbs, 6 pack abs, and a chest that's bigger than the real one's... They weren't even close.
Somewhere in the city, various members of Anti-Skill are laughing their asses off. Yoshikawa herself is laughing so hard she can't wipe off the drink she spat at the screen.
"Just so you know, there are reasons why a vigilante like Gekota-man wants to stay secret."
A sudden voice rips through the air, somehow stealing the speakers from the businessman. Everyone in the crowd searches for the source.
"Huh?" Uiharu stands on her toes to get a better look.
"What is it Uiharu?" Saten follows her gaze to someone standing on the top of the rollercoaster track, soon everyone saw him.
Whoever it was, there was an explosion at the very spot he stood, but the body kept ejecting flames, like a rocket, and he flies towards the crowd.
The man lands right next to the statue, and everyone can see clearly that he is wearing black robes and a pumpkin mask, at least, everyone hopes that's a mask. There's some kind of comically long cigarette sticking out the mouth of it. On the upside, the pumpkin's got a cool looking barcode on its cheek.
"Nice statue," the pumpkin speaks to himself in front of the golden figure. "But I'm interested in the real one. Do you think he's here?"
"Who, or what, are you?" the business man nervously asks.
"You can call me..." the robed man raises two hands into the air. "Jack O'Lantern." Two great balls of flame erupt from his hands. He throws one right at the statue, quickly engulfing it in a pillar of fire.
The crowd screams and scatters.
"Sissy, we need to get out of here!" Kuroko tries to grab Mikoto's hand, but she's not there. "Sissy?"
XXX
"Yoshikawa!" Mikoto yells into her frog phone.
"I know, I saw it," the scientist replies. "Same as before."
"But there's too many people..." Mikoto rushes to a nearby alley, nobody was there and everyone else is running past.
"Whoever this guy is and what organization he works for, is completely different from AXEL," Yoshikawa explains. "Remember, AXEL wanted to take the city from the shadows, avoiding the public whenever possible. What's happening now is clearly to lure you out, this guy doesn't care about secrets."
"I can't fight him in the open."
"We've given up trying to keep you a secret a long time ago, Misaka. Now in order to protect the city, you must fight in front of them, not in the shadows."
"... Alright..." Mikoto hangs up the call and presses a combination of buttons on her phone, 3-3-3, 7-7-7, 6-6-6, 4. A secret slot opens behind the phone and Mikoto takes out the shiny medal that she found a long time ago, the same one that guided her to her path of a hero.
"Gekooo...!" Mikoto places her arms in a cross pose and swings them around before finally inserting the medal into the slot. "TAAAA!"
A spark of electricity exploded from her body, she is then surrounded by lightning bolts. Her clothes were torn from the explosion but her torso is purely shining white. Mikoto lets the energy flow into her body, as well as creating new clothes, such as a blue shirt and white pants, completing the transformation with a long red scarf and frog mask.
XXX
"Now where could he be?" Jack looks over what was left of the panicking crowd, still holding his other fireball. "Perhaps I need to be a little more serious!"
Kuroko rejoins with Uiharu and Saten some distance away from the statue. "I can't find Sissy anywhere!"
"Neither could we!"
"Where could she be?"
Jack spots the three girls. "Those three should do. Hey! Ladies! Catch!" He throws his other fireball at them.
Kuroko, Uiharu and Saten froze in fear as the fireball grew larger and larger...
An explosion.
"May be now he'll show up," Jack talks to himself as he pulls out his comically long cigarette, taps some ash off, and puts it back in the mask's mouth. "Huh?"
From the smoke of the explosion, stood Gekota-man. There was a shield of electricity protecting him and the girls behind him. The hero disperses the shield and walks forward confidently. The three girls and whatever is left of the crowd watch in awe as Gekota-man confronts the stranger.
"Hey, isn't that…?" Saten points nervously.
"It has to be," Uiharu affirms. The remaining crowd all around them are murmuring.
"So you finally show yourself..." Jack speaks to Gekota-man. "You're a lot scrawnier than I thought."
The hero starts to pose. "I am a hero of justice! The emissary of good, Gekota-man!" The scar blows fiercely as Gekota-man starts changing poses. "Servants of the dark power!" She points at Blue. "Return to whence you came!"
"Servants of the dark power?" a powerful flame bursts from where Jack is standing. "We are the Demon Hand, and we serve no one!" Jack unleashes a flurry of fireballs at Gekota-man.
Mikoto rushes in, swiftly dodging the incoming assault and charging up her fist with power. She punches Jack squarely at the chest, igniting her electricity into an electric blast to send the pumpkin man flying.
His body lands on the ground, but he gets up fairly quickly. "Was that really the best you have?"
(How can he stand up so fast from that?)
"Then it's my turn," Jack waves an arm, flames erupted from his hand and forms a sword. There's an explosion where he stood, which he uses to propel himself towards Gekota-man.
"Gigawatt…" Mikoto crosses her arms in front of her. "Blades!" Swinging them back, a large spark engulfs both hands. Some kind of giant swords made of electricity are formed from the electricity on her arms. She uses these to block the pumpkin man's attack.
"That's very creative, for someone that doesn't use magic."
"Magic?" The two combatants push each other away. "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know how you got your powers through science, but magic exists in this world."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"How about a demonstration then?" Jack reaches inside his cloak and pulls out a bunch of strange cards. He lifts them up above his head and they begin to scatter all around the area. "We, the Demon Hand are the strongest group of magicians in the world. Up until recently, we have taken no interest in this city of science. That is, until they started using magic."
"What? Why would anyone in Academy City use magic? Better yet, who in this city would believe such nonsense?"
"That medallion that you draw your powers from, is an exact replica of one such magical artifact. We still don't know how science managed to draw magic, but it will be dangerous to the rest of the world if we allow it to continue. That is why we will destroy this city! Be gone!"
Mikoto prepares herself for an attack, but none came. She looks around in anticipation for something to happen, only to see the crowd leaving without a word.
"What I did," Jack interrupts her thoughts while discarding ash from his cigarette. "Was set up a circle that drives away unwanted people and keep them out. For the time being, you're our target, since you defend this city with magic."
Gekota-man turns to face Jack O'Lantern again.
"I imagine you're scowling under that mask," Jack speaks. "But doesn't this work out for you? Now you can go all out!" Jack unleashes a barrage of fireballs.
Mikoto still has her blades and twirls around rapidly, "Crazy Storm!" A wild array of electric slash waves intercept the fireballs, explosions occur all around. Mikoto flies through the smoke, running superhumanly fast while covered in electrical power, "Volt Tackle!"
Gekota-man hits Jack O'Lantern hard, the pumpkin man is sent flying away. Recovering from the pain in mid air, Jack O'Lantern ignites his feet and hands to hover.
"Ride the Lightning!" Mikoto charges from below, again covered in electricity.
Jack is knocked away as Gekota-man flies a bit higher before his attack dissipates. The hero than raises one arm into the air. Bolts of electricy stream out from it.
"Phantom Dive!" Gekota-man dives while swinging the arm down, impacting Jack on the way.
They crash land on the ground, a small storm of sparks fly from the impact zone. Gekota-man hops back a bit as smoke covers the area. Mikoto can just barely make out Jack O'Lantern struggling to get up inside the cloud.
"It's over!"
"Not yet," the cloud begins to clear and Gekota-man can clearly see the pumpkin man take out more cards. "I still have my trump card!"
"You've lost!" Mikoto magnetically calls a lot of anything small and magnetic towards her. She knew all too well not to risk any enemy using any more attacks. "Magnetic Tempest!" Several bits of magnetic debris fly towards the pumpkin man. (Even he wouldn't be able to get up after this!)
A tall and developed woman jumped in front of Jack, she carried a very long sword. She quickly slashed every piece of debris that came close, at unbelievable speed. When it was over, not one of the debris hit either of them. The woman looked up at the surprised hero, this woman wore a while blindfold.
"Jacqueline the Reaper," Jack muttered.
"Your test is over Jack," the woman speaks seriously. "We've seen enough. This so called 'hero' poses no threat to us."
"The Demon Hand," Mikoto mutters under her breath.
She felt a chill down her spine, like someone important is watching her from behind. A slow clap confirms her suspicions. She dares not turn around yet while there are enemies in front of her. The woman called The Reaper seemed very lax, and Jack O'Lantern straightened himself despite all the damage his body had taken.
"Well well well, so this is the hero of Academy City?" that voice sounded like a young man. A cat's meow strangely followed.
Gekota-man decides to turn around, hoping that the other two won't attack her back. What she saw was what appeared to be a high school boy with black spiky hair. On his shoulder was a mostly white cat, there was part of bright blue fur around the top of the face and ears, as if looking like separate set of hair while the white fur was some kind of robe. There was also as a big fish in its mouth.
"You're a lot scrawnier than I thought."
"Who are you?"
"Me? I guess you could call me the leader of the Demon Hand. My name… well, for now let's go with Illusion Breaker."
Mikoto tenses up, letting out electricity around her. She gathers her power into her arms and unleashes a strong stream at the boy. The bolt is stopped… and shattered… without any effort from the leader at all, just a wave of his right hand.
"I suggest you don't start anything else," The boy says calmly. "You can't fight all three of us. We'll let you go for now, only because you didn't realize how powerless you were before. But now you know." The boy turns around and begins walking away, his cat throws away a fish skeleton. "I should warn you though, we won't be so merciful next time."
"Wait!" Mikoto tries to chase after the boy, but is stopped by a sudden wall of flame. She turns around to confront the pumpkin man again, but sees no one, not even the woman. The fire behind her dies down to nothing. "The Demon Hand…"
A new force threatened the peace of Academy City, and this group is much more powerful than AXEL. Also, it seems they know something about her powers, much more than even she knew! This new enemy is a danger of a whole new magnitude, but there must be a way for her to fight!
But the hero won't give up, for she is an ally of justice! GEKOTA-MAN!
XXX
Now for a very SPECIAL preview of the season!
…
Gekota-man: Accelerator? You're alive?
Accelerator: I'm the only real villain around here, don't forget that hero. I'm only helping to reclaim that position.
…
Yoshikawa: From what we can gather, their Nun-bers number at 250! You can't possibly take out that many enemies!
Accelerator: Psh, only 250?
…
?: What's the matter 'hero'? Surprised to see me?
Gekota-man: You can't be a clone of me! Your chest is too big!
Accelerator: WHO THE HELL LET THAT CLONE OUT?!
…
?: GEEEEKOOOOTAAAAA-MAAAAAAAN!
Gekota-man: Mugino?!
Accelerator: Well, it looks like she's still pissed off about the whole blowing up her arm and eye thing.
Gekota-man: YOU THINK?!
…
?: ALRIGHT! I'LL SHOW THEM THE POWER OF MY GUTS!
Gekota-man: Um… who are you?
…
Accelerator: I'll be taking that medallion, and its power, back now.
Kakine: That's what you think. I found it, so just try and take it!
…
?: What are you going to do hero? *sticks out tongue*
Gekota-man: Okay, the face piercings are gross enough, but a chain pierced through the tongue… against someone that can shoot electricity… is just sooo STUPID!
…
Kuroko: SISSY!
Mikoto: Wha-? How'd you-?
Yoshikawa: Since she's already this deeply involved, it was agreed that we give her a power as well.
Mikoto: COULDN'T YOU HAVE PICKED SOMEONE ELSE?
…
Mikoto: Oh come on! How the hell could they get it wrong the second time! There were a ton of witnesses! I mean, WHAT'S WITH THE BREAST SIZE?!
Clone: It looks perfect! Misaka likes this statue.
Mikoto: That's because it looks a lot more like you than it does me!
…
Gekota-man: I am… Gekota-man!
Kuroko: And I am her trusted partner… Warper!
Gekota-man: WHAT? Why the hell does your superpower name sound so much cooler than mine? And what's with that ridiculous outfit?
…
All that and more awaits you at Gekota-man season 2: The Demon Hand!
XXX
Author: Well, what to write about here… First off, thanks for reading this silly idea! Haha… I don't know what came over me when I decided to actually do this thing.
Anyways, some random stuff to take note of…
-This story came to me while I was in the middle of writing 'Tempus951'
-The numbers Mikoto pressed on her phone to open up the secret slot actually spells out something, well, at least on my phone.
-Her 'special' introduction is a mix of Power Rangers, Pretty Cure, and a line from Valkyrie Profile
-I've had Gekota-man use attacks from inFamous, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Pokemon, Guilty Gear, and Sengoku Basara. The battle would've been longer, but I couldn't think of any more electrical references I could use, well that and this is just a preview for the season, can't have her using everything right at the start, right? Hahaha…
-I tried to think of an opening theme song, something like the 60s Spider-man, or some 90s cartoons, but I couldn't.
-Yes, Illusion Breaker has an Index cat.
-Originally meant to be comedy focused, it somehow turned serious, so I decided made the 'special' preview to bring back the comedy. Or at least attempt to.
