A/N: Welcome to my big Railgun project!

Thank you to Cun for beta!

All reviews will be very gratefully received.

WARNING: Fanfic rated M

A Certain Prideful Demon

PROLOGUE: A Fateful Encounter in the Pits of Hell

"Aargh!"

Kuroko stumbled, stubbing her bare toes on a large rock as her face harshly met the rough, hot earth. The grazes she had earned during her plight felt like they were being tormented with hungry flames. She struggled to push herself up, and finally managed to get onto her aching feet after some strenuous effort.

Auburn eyes scanned over the flat landscape, her heart thudding glumly in dismay. Time didn't seem to flow in this dreary place; there was no sun or moon in the blood-red sky that tinted the world with its sickening shade. Black, skeletal trees protruded out from the burnt soil, remnants of tortured souls rotting between their twisted roots. In the distance, large tornados of roaring fire glowed as they swept through the area. Kuroko had no clue how long she had been running around for, but she certainly hoped she had escaped whoever that… that thing was.

"Hey you, didn't I tell you to stop running away already?"

At the sudden voice behind her, Kuroko froze, her red pigtails frizzing out to the sides in alarm. Without turning around, she began to run once more.

"Just leave me aloooone!" The fleeing girl wailed. The skin on the undersides of her roasting feet felt like they were being cruelly ripped apart. Her form disappeared and reappeared some metres away as she continued to run with gritted teeth. She was simply too exhausted to use her teleportation powers effectively. 'But is running away like this simply enough...?'

"Why should I? This is kinda fun~"

Something suddenly appeared in front of her, causing the running girl to crash into it at top speed. It was like colliding with a giant megacerberbus head-on (not that she knew what a megacerberbus was, but it was apparently some kind of terrifying Hell creature she certainly didn't want to meet).

Kuroko fell backwards, and landed on her butt as multi-coloured stars flashed before her eyes. Everything spun around and around, hazing over and fading out. Kuroko rapidly blinked her eyes and forced herself to focus on the looming, ominous shadow.

Every muscle in her body was paralysed as her eyes widened in terror. She felt like a helpless rabbit finally caught in the lion's clutches.

A slim figure that looked like an ordinary girl at first glance, grinned down at her triumphantly.

"I finally got you~"

The girl leaned in, tantalisingly slow. A black leather jacket had been carelessly tossed over her shoulders, its sleeves swinging down to hang in the air. Kuroko stared as she caught a glimpse down the loose singlet underneath. There was no bra.

'What a flat chest she has,' Kuroko found herself thinking in disappointment.

Staring at Kuroko with curious eyes, the girl's expression brightened after taking a long sniff.

"Hn~ What is this? Are you really a fallen angel?"

Glee lit up in those unearthly eyes. Their original brown hue abruptly shifted into a terrifying shade of electric blue as the grin grew bigger to reveal sharp, glinting fangs.

"Excellent. I'm bored, so you can be my plaything."

All of her frozen muscles suddenly loosened as Kuroko shuddered at those words.

"No thank you," she put as much bite as she could into her trembling voice. "I would rather drown in filthy black mud than be a slave to a dreadful creature like you!"

A long silence ensued. Then a blue spark sizzled from the predator's head.

"… Just who are you calling a 'dreadful creature'…?"

Uh oh…

With just one look, Kuroko could tell she was pissed. The monster's narrowed eyes were now glowing a deep stormy blue, and they glared down at her with the sharpness of icy daggers. The tips of two deadly-looking black horns had already started to protrude out from the top of her head, while the sharp fangs were bared completely in an irritated scowl. The atmosphere increased in density all of a sudden. Black clouds gathered overhead in the background of crimson, the flashing lightning illuminating the very Pits of Hell.

'This is bad….!'

Angering a demon was never a good idea. Even a full-fledged angel took such precautions when dealing with one. There was no doubt that this particular demon was of a very high calibre as well. But Kuroko had already fallen to this level, and there was no backing out now. Taking a deep breath, Kuroko steeled her resolve.

Before the demon could make another move, the pig-tailed angel teleported away, and appeared right above her opponent in mid-air. With every bit of strength she had left, Kuroko swung out her leg into a roundhouse kick, aiming for the girl's head.

CRACK!

The demon crashed to the ground like a stone statue, stunned by the brutal and unexpected attack. Breathing hard, Kuroko fell onto one knee. The leg she had lashed out with burned with agonising fire, as if it had become split in two by the impact. She glanced warily at the fallen monster before her, lying still, prone and quiet. The teleporter wished she wasn't so exhausted; even that single kick had just drained a lot out of her.

'I need to escape while she's down-!'

A steely grip suddenly latched onto her ankle, rudely interrupting her thoughts of flight. Kuroko lost her balance and fell to her side with a yelp. Looking up in horror, she saw the demon slowly stand back up. Blue energy swirled around her horned head like a twisted imitation of a halo and whipped about her shoulder-length brown hair wildly.

"Heh… I really like you now. You'll make the perfect slave."

The demon lifted her head to reveal blazing azure eyes, glowing brightly with excitement over smirking lips. She didn't look fazed at all by the kick Kuroko had delivered, although a thin trail of some glimmering cyan substance ran down from her temple. Kuroko stared. Was that blood? Impatiently, the hellish creature rubbed away the liquid with a clawed hand, eyes staring at Kuroko with a deep, potent hunger.

"I want to keep you as my pet. Swear your loyalty to me, fallen angel."

Those electrifying eyes flared with such intensity, Kuroko had to fight back a shiver.

"No!" The red-haired shook her head frantically. "I would never!"

"Ehh?" The corners of the demon's lips sagged. "Why not?! I'm offering you a position of great honour and privilege!"

"Hardly!" Kuroko snorted, but the horned girl simply ignored her comment.

"Maybe you haven't realised yet since you're a newbie excommunicant, but I'm a special kind of person you know."

"A self-loving narcissist?"

"Do you even know who I am?" The demon demanded with one eye lazily closed.

When Kuroko failed to reply, she grinned with a nod. "I thought so…"

She puffed out her chest (or what she could of the washboard, Kuroko observed), and placed those sharply clawed hands on her hips in an arrogant stance.

"I am Misaka Mikoto," she declared in a confident voice, "the Ace of Perdition and the Demon Lord of Pride."

Kuroko's eyes widened. 'No wonder she is so powerful… This girl is one of the seven Sinful Demon Lords?!'

As an Angel of Judgement, Kuroko's sole duty had been at the Gates of Judgement where she spent most of her time shifting through mountains of paperwork about human deeds. Her job had never provided many opportunities to come in contact with demons or creatures from Hell, so she lacked experience with them. She should have been prepared for anything, finally coming up close and personal to one like this. Even so…

"…I hadn't expected a Demon Lord to be quite so childish."

There was a long silence.

It was only when she heard the first hiss of electricity that Kuroko realised she had spoken her thoughts out aloud.

Her drumming heart skipped a beat as she slowly looked up at the ominous figure standing over her. The wild brown hair fluttering with power covered the demon's eyes in shadow, but her lips were pulled back to reveal angrily grinding teeth. Clawed hands trembled, and their sharp ends glinted dangerously with the terrifying blue energy that swirled around the furious demon.

"You…"

The energy grew, spiralling up to the skies and enveloping the thick, ebony clouds in cerulean light. It felt as if every atom in the atmosphere was quivering with the sheer amount of power being gathered in one place. Panic surged up to Kuroko's throat, all hair on her body standing on their edges as goosebumps boiled on her scorching skin. In her current state, there was no way she could survive something like this. A cry of terror tore out of her throat, along with words of surrender.

"Wait, wait! That's too much - !"

But the demon wasn't listening. Turbulent blue eyes full of rage glared at Kuroko, fangs exposed as her guttural growl roared out above the thunderous peals of lightning.

"Just shut up and DIIIIIEEEE!"

The angel's world exploded in a rush of blue and white agony, before fading into black.