I was six years old.

I was also running for my life in the middle of the night from men in an unfamiliar city armed with guns and throwing red burning liquid at me. I didn't know who they were, but I just knew that if I was caught I'd be hurt, killed, or worse.

I ran around every dark corner, rolled trash cans at them, ran past moving cars, but nothing I did seemed to be able to shake them. I knew I had been running for hours, and I was running out of steam. Much to my horror I eventually ran into an alleyway with no way out, a dead end.

"No where left to run you little monster!" exclaimed the leader of my pursuers with the smug smirk of a predator who has cornered his prey.

I must have looked shocked, since he replied, "Oh don't tell me you haven't realized it, Hercules! Just look at your hands!"

I did as I was told and found myself ready to scream, my hands had turned into grotesque, fingered-talons that grew out of a twisted mass of black and red tendrils.

"That's right you fucking brat, you're a monster. One that deserves to be put down. So just give up and die!" As he said those words he and his men opened fire, filling me with nothing but excruciating agony as the lead rounds tore through my body. My next sensation was my head hitting the cold asphalt as I felt a warm, sticky liquid cover me all over.

Is this it? Is this where it ends for me?

"No. I don't want to die. I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" I screamed as I felt dozens of tendrils shoot out of my body, wracking it with even more pain. My pursuers were caught by surprise as the tendrils went through their bodies just as their bullets went through mine. Just as I had screamed, so did they as they were in the same terrible pain as I. I saw them being reduced to a mass of black organic... things as I absorbed them into my body, which I immediately regretted as I was forced to relive their memories in an instant, including those when they struggled to take in their final, agonizing breaths.

I was panting, sweating, tired, and bloody from the ordeal. But I managed to crawl out onto the street. Finally I had run out of strength, and I collapsed, managing to squeak, "Help, please..." as my eyes began to flutter into unconsciousness, my last sight being the concerned-looking face of an old man in a doctor's coat.


My Room - Heaven Canceller's Hospital


I looked in the mirror as I straightened my red tie and white shirt. I sighed as I tried to comb my unruly black hair as it would never become neat, especially that ahoge that always stuck up slightly curved in the middle. Still I managed to comb it down enough so that it only curled around the edges. I'm around 5'4" now (or about 162 centimeters for those who use metrics). I guess I haven't really outgrown my boyish looks yet, but Jii-chan said that I'll grow up eventually.

Okay, I'm in uniform, so it's almost time to go.

I checked my bag for the last time before I headed out the door. Textbooks check. Stationery check. Calculators check. Yup, I'm completely ready for school. Today is going to be my first day at a new school, Sakugawa to be exact. I want to make a good first impression, so forgetting anything would be embarrassing.

"Jii-chan, I'm heading out!" I yelled as I headed out the door.

"Enjoy your day at school, my boy!" replied the frog-faced doctor.


Streets of Academy City


It's been seven years since the kindly doctor Heaven Canceller took me in. I call him Jii-chan because that's pretty much exactly what he is to me now, a grandfather. Anyway I'm thirteen now and turning fourteen this year. I recently underwent the Power Curriculum Program who declared me a Gemstone, which is noted be rather rare, but they have no idea what my esper power is. Long story short I'm registered as a powerless Level 0 now, which isn't too much of an issue for me considering my other powers...

Anyway my mind shifted back to the present as I arrived at the train station. The train ride would only be about ten minutes along before another ten minute walk to school, so commuting today wasn't going to be a problem as far as I was concerned.

Of course, fate loves to prove me wrong.

"I'm sorry everyone, but due to a freak power surge yesterday the train can't run today." said the announcer with disappointment in her voice.

Well, my easy commute just turned into a nightmare. Sakugawa was at least fifty miles from here. A normal person would get there in a couple of hours at best, meaning that I'm screwed when it comes to getting there on time.

Luckily for me, I'm not exactly "normal", even by Academy City standards.

I shifted my biomass (as Jii-chan calls it) to my legs to increase my speed as I sprinted as fast as I could towards school. Today is my first day and Jii-chan would kill me if I was late.

"Excuse me! Sorry! In a hurry!" I exclaimed as I ran through the crowds around the station, leaving dust clouds and wind in my wake. I could hear them muttering about what just ran past them as they tried to find buses to take them to work.

At this point I'm already a third of the way there, trying to remember directions as I continued to run. As I dashed past an alleyway I stopped as I heard "Bzzzzzzzzzzzt!" before I heard a crash and moaning coming from that same alleyway. Did somewhat get struck by lightning? That's strange, the skies are clear today. I looked into the alley and I saw a girl in a light brown uniform with a white shirt underneath and a gray skirt with a bunch of comatose gangsters and delinquents lying around her, electricity crackling around her hair. I was just about to ask what happened when another girl with curly pink ponytails wearing the same outfit burst from the adjacent alleyway and exclaimed in a rather high-pitched and haughty voice,

"I'm from Judgment! I've received reports of crime in the area."

"Cease resistance and-" the voice stopped.

"Oh, Kuroko." said a somewhat relaxed voice the first girl.

"Onee-sama!" the girl called Kuroko exclaimed.

"Whatever happened here was settled in a flash. Wait, what am I doing?" I thought to myself, "I have to get to class!" as I ran back down the street.

"Hey Kuroko, I think you've got another one." said the first girl.

"Right away, Onee-sama! I'll catch him in no time flat!" said Kuroko with a salute.

Wait, did they think I was part of the group of crooks that the first girl knocked out? I got my answer as I found myself suddenly pinned to the pavement by iron nails through my clothes and my arm being pulled on by Kuroko.

"You didn't think that a single one of you scum could escape me did you?" she said with a smug look on her face.

"Hold on, I'm not part of that group, I'm just trying to get to class!" I rather feebly cried.

"A likely story, but you're going to have to come with me."

"What? No! I can't be late for my first day!"

"Then you should have thought of that before you joined up with this gang!"

"I told you! I'm not part of it!" as I pulled myself off the floor, tearing my uniform as I went, and broke back into a run.

"He's stronger than he looks," I heard Kuroko say, "but it's no matter." as I was knocked to the floor again as she appeared on top of me once more.

"I'm a Level 4 Teleporter, you can't outrun me, so give up."

"Sorry, but I've have places to go and things to do!" as I got up once again and threw her off. I shifted as much biomass as possible to my legs and dashed off once more turning right into another alleyway.

If I couldn't outrun her on the streets, I'd have to use more unorthodox methods to escape her. I shifted some of the biomass away from my legs and into my arms as I shifted my hands into claws. I really hate using my powers like this, but sometimes it has to be done. I used my transfigured appendages and my strengthened limbs to quickly scale the building wall, shifting them back as I reached the top, to make sure no one saw. To be honest, my powers are just plain freaky and they haven't won me any friends at all, so I don't like to use them more than necessary.

I then made myself a running start as I leaped off the edge of the building. Normally, this would be suicide. But my body is anything but normal. I shifted my biomass so that it was relatively even throughout, something taught to me by Mr. Heller. Soon enough I was gliding through the air much like a paper airplane. I also put out small bursts of biomass from my feet and hands to held control my trajectory. The building wasn't very tall, so I had to make a landing somewhere, which came in the form of a conveniently placed tree only a few blocks from school.

I looked at my watch it was 7:50, only ten minutes left before class starts. Damn, I'll barely make it at best. I ran towards the schoolyard and pulled my ID out of my pocket. I remembered my torn uniform and had some of my biomass move to repair it, as I wouldn't really know how to explain a uniform in tatters on my first day. I maneuver passed the other students, yelling my apologies once more as I slid my ID card through the security scanner. I scrambled up the stairs, I was almost there!

"Uiharu! I think he's gone into your school. I don't know what he's trying to pull, but I need eyes on him!" said a familiar voice. That Kuroko girl is persistent!

"So he's headed up the first stairwell? Thanks Uiharu!" Darn it! Curse you well-placed security cameras!

7:59, only a minute left! I slid open the door as the bell rang and yelled, "Sorry I'm late! A girl from Judgment mistook me for a criminal and-" I was cut off by Kuroko's voice as she grabbed me by the wrist and tripped me, "Sorry everyone for the interruption. I'm from Judgment and I need to apprehend this young man under suspicions of being part of a group of criminals I was persuing today." I found myself suddenly outside in front of an Anti-Skill truck, the volunteer police force dedicated to regulating esper related crimes.

I sighed, "How am I going to explain this to Jii-chan..." I could imagine the disappointment on his face when he finds out that I was not only late for school but accidentally arrested from crimes I didn't do.

"Wait, Shirai-san!" said a young girl's voice. I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young girl with short black hair in Sakugawa's uniform wearing a flower hairband.

"He's a student here, he's wearing the school uniform!" she cried in a rather adorable manner.

"Eh, he is?" said a bemused and surprised Kuroko. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I tried but you turned off the com-link just as I was about to tell you!"

"Oh," she said somewhat embarassed, "well first let's confirm it! Show me your ID card!" commanded Kuroko.

I sighed with relief as I handed her my ID card. Kuroko examined it from all sides to make sure it wasn't a fake. She handed it back and said, "My apologies for mistaking you for being one of them. But why did you run when you saw me?"

"I didn't mean to," as I scratched the back of head sheepishly, "I was just surprised when I heard the commotion when I was trying to get to school and stopped. I then remembered what I was doing and kept running. I think you know the rest."

"Alright then, just try not to do it again. Your ID card says you're in class 7-A, so you better get going."

"Hey that's the same class as me!" said a surprised Uiharu, "Maybe we could, uh, walk to class together."

"Oh, um, sure I guess." I said to my savior as we began to walk to class.


Class 7-A - Sakugawa Middle School


I slid open the door once again, a kind-looking teacher wearing glasses said, "Uiharu-san you're here, Judgment duties again? He looked at me, "Oh, you must be our new student. I'm your homeroom teacher Daigo."

"Sorry again for being late! Like I said earlier I was mistaken for a member of a small criminal group by a member of Judgment!" I said while bowing apologetically.

"That's not a problem, say, shouldn't you introduce yourself to us now?" he asked.

"Right!" I turned to the class and said, "My name is Sieg Mercer, I'm transferring here from another school. I don't really like to use my last name, so you can just call me Sieg. Please take care of me!"

That was the start of my first day at a new school, and the beginning of a whole other list of troubles.


Thus concludes the first chapter of my first fan fiction, a sort of a crossover between the Prototype video games and the To Aru series. To be honest I never actually got to play Prototype, and my knowledge of the To Aru series is sparse at best, but I found both incredibly interesting from what I've seen of them. It just popped into my head one day during class, "What if Alex Mercer had a son who attended school in Academy City?" If you're wondering about my OC Sieg's name, I derived it from the main character from a new manga series called Stealth Symphony that I really enjoy by Narita Ryougo, the author of the Durarara! Series. I've adopted some of his character traits for my OC, including his general appearance and polite demeanor (if you want a good idea of how I imagined Sieg, look at pages 3-5 of Mangahere's copy of Stealth Symphony). I'm going to add some of his more unpleasant traits later on. I hope you've enjoyed reading this. I plan on writing more when I can, but I have finals to study for. Please review and critique!