And here we are once again with another chapter of this story. Things are about to get interesting if I do say so myself, so let's get to it!

Disclaimer's the same as always: I do not own Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.


Right outside the Tokiwadai dormitory in the School Garden, two Tokiwadai Junior High School students could be seen talking with each other. Mitsuko and Kuroko had left the warmth and safety of Mitsuko's dorm room in favor of talking in private; or, rather, in order to talk without forcing Maaya or Kinuho to listen along.

Not long after she heard the story from her classmates, Kuroko decided that she wanted to get some fresh air. When Mitsuko saw this, she insisted on coming with the teleporter, and that left the two of them where they are now.

"What will you do now, Shirai-san?" Mitsuko asked as she looked at Kuroko expectantly, waiting for an answer that would bring them forward in finding out how to help Maaya and Kinuho.

"I am afraid that I am unable to do much right now," Kuroko said with a pained expression. When she saw the look on Mitsuko's face, Kuroko quickly added, "You don't understand! We in Judgment cannot act out rashly; we need to have concrete evidence before we can request to act to the higher-ups. The same is true with Anti-Skill."

"Evidence? Isn't Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san getting hurt like that enough evidence?!" Mitsuko exploded, pointing a very unladylike finger at her dorm room to emphasize her point before adding, "Can't you do—"

"Unfortunately, it will only warrant an investigation. We cannot do anything about it unless we know more about the issue at hand," Kuroko tried to explain, hoping that this time it was clearer for her taller friend. When she realized that it wasn't, Kuroko tried again, "Remember when we fought STUDY to help and protect Febrie? We as people knew that they were up to something, but we could not act out unless they acted first or we would have been in the wrong."

"That… that's so unfair!" Mitsuko wailed, deflating almost immediately as reality finally struck her. Kuroko nodded silently, showing her personal opinion on the matter at hand without having to say anything.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Mitsuko asked, looking up at Kuroko in defeat as all that she could do was hope for the best.

"There is something that we can do, and we are doing it right now, actually," Kuroko said with a smile, surprising Mitsuko in the process with this piece of information. As Kuroko was rummaging through her bag for something, she added off-handedly, "We found a lot about this already earlier thanks to Saten-san informing us about it. Uiharu should be on her way to other Judgment branches right now if she is not in one already."

"And you think that if enough branches of Judgment take action that we can get permission from the higher-ups to look for the one who is doing this?" Mitsuko asked hopefully, happy to see that Kuroko nodded in confirmation soon after she said this, "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"Unfortunately, no. This is the responsibility of Judgment and Anti-Skill when they get word of this," Kuroko said seriously, stopping what she was doing to look Mitsuko in the eyes, "I cannot allow a citizen to get involved in this."

"'Get involved in this'…?" Mitsuko echoed slowly, allowing the words that she had just heard to truly sink in. When they finally did, Mitsuko forcefully grabbed Kuroko by the shoulders and, before Kuroko had a chance to respond, she exploded, "What do you mean I should not get involved with this?! Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san got hurt and are suffering right now! How do you expect me to stay out of this? This is a personal fight!"

"I understand how you feel, Kongou-san, but I really cannot let you act out rashly," Kuroko said as calmly as possible, putting her hands on Mitsuko's to escape from the taller girl's vice-like grip on both of her shoulders, "We are doing all that we can to put an end to this. Please believe me when I say that this will not go unpunished. We will find whoever did this."

"Shirai-san…" Mitsuko breathed out as she watched Kuroko put on her Judgment armband and taking out her phone. When Mitsuko saw Kuroko dial a number, she let curiosity get the better of her, "Who are you calling?"

"I need to make sure whether or not Uiharu has already reached her destination and if she has received a reply yet," Kuroko explained as she held her phone to her ear. Fortunately for her, it didn't take too long for her partner to pick up the phone, "Hello? Uiharu? Where are you right now?"

"Ah, Shirai-san! I'm still in the office of the one-hundredth-and-eighty-first branch. They said that they heard about it and are now looking into it to see if they can find anything."

"That is great, thank you for the good work as always," Kuroko smiled, despite knowing that Kazari couldn't see this. Kuroko then shared eye contact with Mitsuko, and it was then that Kuroko remembered what had just happened, "Oh yeah, about that Uiharu… it seems like things are worse than it first seemed."

"What do you mean, Shirai-san? Did you run into the thief who had the drugs? Are you all right?"

"Relax, Uiharu, I am perfectly fine," Kuroko chuckled lightly, both amused and thankful at how worried Kazari sounded on the other end of the call. As this feeling washed over her body, Kuroko recalled what happened to Maaya and Kinuho and her mood fell, "But it seems like Saten-san was right. There is somebody out there who can take away the powers of espers."

"What?!" Mitsuko shouted in shock upon hearing this but, unfortunately for her, went completely ignored as Kuroko continued her call with Kazari as if nothing happened.

"Do you remember Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san?" Kuroko asked, hearing a soft murmur of confirmation on the other side of the call, prompting Kuroko to continue, "They apparently ran into this person the other night, and it did not turn out well for them. Neither of them can use their powers yet despite it already being about a day since their encounter."

"I see… We really have to work faster, then, if our friends are starting to suffer because of it. I will bring this up with the people here and see if they know anything else. Until then, please be careful, Shirai-san, and tell everybody else to be careful too."

"I will. Thanks, Uiharu," Kuroko said as she ended the call, putting her phone back in her pocket and turning to Mitsuko, "You may have heard what Uiharu said, but I will say this again. Be careful when you are going out; we do not know who or what is out there or when they might target you."

"Shirai-san…" Mitsuko trailed off, slightly surprised at how worried Kuroko seemed right now. She quickly recovered from this, however, and she responded, "The same goes for you as well. Judgment requires you to patrol the city regularly, right? Be careful when you go out, Shirai-san."

"Right right, I will be careful," Kuroko waved off Mitsuko's worries without much of a care, "I know what I am up against. If there is anyone we should be worried about making any rash actions, it would be Onee-sama."

A short silence followed after Kuroko said those words, the only sound that broke this silence was the rustling of leaves overhead. Mitsuko nodded silently in agreement as she remembered how reckless one of Tokiwadai's two level fives was before Kuroko finally realized what she had just said.

"Ah! Onee-sama!" Kuroko exclaimed suddenly, startling Mitsuko in the process who wasn't ready for this sudden outburst. Kuroko, however, ignored Mitsuko reaction and instead took out her phone again. She dialed a certain number in a frenzied manner before holding her phone close to her ear, "Come on… come on… pick up, Onee-sama…"

"Hi~ it's Misaka Mikoto! If you're hearing this, then I'm sorry but I can't pick up my phone right now."

"Seriously, Onee-sama… the one time when I need you to pick up my call…" Kuroko grumbled in annoyance, lowering her phone again before she thought of something. Hoping that this would work, she dialed another number. This time, the call did reach.

"Hello? Shirai-san? What's wrong?"

"Uiharu, I know that you are busy with talking with the other Judgment branch members, but I need your help right now!" Kuroko said in a hurry, realizing too late that she might be talking too fast. With Mitsuko's hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down, Kuroko took a deep breath before she continued, "I cannot reach Onee-sama on the phone and I am afraid that she might have run into this person. I am not sure, but if she has heard about this somehow then, knowing her, she would run straight into it."

"You're right… all right, I will try and see if I can find Misaka-san on the security cameras. Are there any areas that I should focus more attention on, Shirai-san?"

"I… do not know…" Kuroko admitted, realizing just how bad the situation was. She hadn't seen or heard from Mikoto at all lately, their short little meeting in the café earlier that day was the first time in days.

"Hello? Shirai-san? Are you still there?"

"Ah! Y-Yes, I am still here," Kuroko replied, slightly embarrassed that she zoned out at such a crucial time. She reminded herself what she was doing and what was happening, after which she quickly added, "I am going to search for Onee-sama. Uiharu, contact me if you have any leads as to where she could be, all right?"

"Roger! Good luck and stay safe, Shirai-san!"

Kuroko nodded appreciatively, ending the call and putting her phone back for what she could only hope would be the final time that day. She was about to rush off to cover as much ground as possible when she felt a firm grip on her wrist.

Looking around for the perpetrator, Kuroko was shocked to see that it was Mitsuko who was keeping Kuroko in place.

"What are you doing? Let go!" Kuroko struggled to break free, knowing that she couldn't use her powers to simply get rid of Mitsuko. Unfortunately for her, Mitsuko didn't seem like she was returning Kuroko's freedom anytime soon, "I need to hurry! Stop wasting my time!"

"I'm coming with you."

"The more time I lose here the greater the chance that—wait, what?" Kuroko added dumbfounded, finally processing what Mitsuko just said. Kuroko shook her head violently before looking up at Mitsuko, "You cannot! This is a job for Judgment and Anti-Skill, I cannot allow you to get involved with this."

"I'm already involved with this," Mitsuko argued back, looking back at her dormitory with a pained look in her eyes, "My friends got hurt because of this… Misaka-san could very well be that person's next target. I'm involved now, Shirai-san, no matter what anyone else would have wanted."

"Kongou-san…" Kuroko trailed off, slowly realizing just how difficult this must be for Mitsuko. Finally, Kuroko nodded in confirmation, "All right, fine… but do not hold me back and do not get into any kind of trouble that you cannot get out of yourself."

"Right back at you, Shirai-san," Mitsuko smirked, the embers of her competitive side burning brightly once again. The two of them were about to rush off when Mitsuko thought of something, "Say, Shirai-san, do you know any clues or where we should start looking for Misaka-san?"

"That… is a good question…" Kuroko admitted after a minute of consideration, sounding perfectly casual as the confession left her. Mitsuko, having expected Kuroko to at least have a direction, was shocked.

"You mean we're just running around until we happen to run into Misaka-san?" Mitsuko asked indignantly, to which Kuroko nodded stiffly in response.

"Until Uiharu gets back to us without an actual location of where Onee-sama is, it is all that we can do," Kuroko said as she looked around, trying to figure the best way to go about this. With a smirk, she added, "So it might actually be good that you are coming along. We can cover more ground that way."

"We have wasted enough time already," Kuroko said with a glance at the clock above her. Mitsuko followed the teleporter's gaze and saw that she was right; it was only half an hour until all students had to be in their dorm rooms for curfew, "Let's go!"


Blissfully unaware of what was happening in other parts of the city, Ruiko was finding herself sitting in front of her computer and doing what she does best. With the parfait of Kazari melting slightly on her side, Ruiko skimmed through forum post after forum post with a dedicated eye.

It was different now, she knew. She wasn't just looking around for urban legends to amuse herself; she had to get to the bottom of this to try and help her friends. Much like how her friends had done everything that they could to try and save her not too long ago.

Much to Ruiko's disappointment, she found out that her AC was broken when she got home after seeing Kazari and Kuroko in the Judgment office. Ruiko had already sent in a request to have it fixed, but it was still not working as well as it should be. As a result, the room was warmer than Ruiko was comfortable with it being, and even the parfait that Ruiko was eating slowly wasn't able to help much to try and cool her down.

She did not let this affect her, however, and Ruiko reminded herself what she was doing to regain her focus.

"Let's see…" Ruiko muttered to herself as words flew across the screen. She saw interesting posts in passing, posts that she would have opened without a second thought had it been any other day. But she knew that she had to try and only focus on relevant posts for her now.

Ruiko did not need a lot of time to find out the sad truth.

"Why are there no posts about it?!" Ruiko cried out, tangling her fingers in her hair in annoyance as she leaned back in her chair. It was strange and something that Ruiko did not understand; she thought that a rumor as big and groundbreaking as the removal of esper powers would be the talk of the online forums. It would seem that Ruiko was mistaken.

In an effort to try and cool down, Ruiko stood up and made her way to the fridge to get a cold drink. She knew that it wouldn't help fight off the warmth completely, but Ruiko convinced herself that it would at least be better than doing absolutely nothing.

On her way back with a cold can of juice in hand, Ruiko saw some interesting lights from out of her window. Intrigued, she walked over to the window curiously until she nearly hit the glass with her forehead.

"What is out there…?" Ruiko thought out loud, narrowing her eyes to try and get a better view of what was out there. She ended up looking into the darkness for a very long time until something actually did happen.

A bright flash of light, seemingly coming from a street not too far away from where Ruiko was, illuminated the whole area. The intensity of the light even succeeded in forcing Ruiko to take a step back and cover her eyes despite how far away she was.

"What… was that…?" Ruiko muttered some time after she had recovered, still rubbing her eyes to try and regain her vision. She stepped forward to try and see what was happening and to try and find the source of light that had blinded her just now. Much to her disappointment, however, Ruiko found out that it had gotten dark yet again, preventing her from seeing very far.

"That was a weird light," Ruiko said to herself, pushing the image to the back of her head as a rebel starting a fight in the street that caused it. Ruiko went back to her computer whilst trying to focus on her search once again, but found her mind continuously drift back to what was happening outside, "It almost didn't feel like it was just light, but that it came from… light…ning…"

The last few words hadn't left her mouth and Ruiko was already rushing back to the window to try and see if she was right. To try and see if that flash of light was caused by what she thought it was.

Ruiko ended up standing there for what could have been hours for the girl and nothing out of the ordinary happened. She was about to give up and get some rest when it happened.

A large bolt of lightning flew into the sky and electrified the clouds that had started to form not too long ago above it. Ruiko's heart sunk as she saw it, recognizing that light as she knew that she had seen it before; whatever doubts she might have had earlier about what had caused that light disappearing instantly.

Ruiko quickly searched for her phone, mentally berating herself for not putting it in its usual place, when she tried to call her friend. After the call rang a couple of seconds, however, Ruiko found much to her disappointment that Mikoto was not picking up.

"Misaka-san…" Ruiko trailed off as she looked out to try and get a glimpse of the electricity-user. Unfortunately, time kept ticking by and Ruiko could still not see a single thing outside.

"If I can't reach Misaka-san, then maybe…" Ruiko muttered to herself, trying to think of what she could do now. It could very well have been a different electromaster, but Ruiko knew that she was lying to herself; there was only one electromaster in the city capable of doing what she just saw.

Having made up her mind, Ruiko scrolled through her phone again until she found the name that she was looking for. She clicked on the name, held it close to her ear, and hoped that this one would connect.

"Saten-san? I am sort of in the middle of something here, so please make it quick."

"Ah, sorry to disturb you, Shirai-san," Ruiko said quickly, silently thanking the teleporter for picking up her phone when Ruiko needed her the most. Knowing that she didn't have a lot of time, with how Kuroko was sounding like she was busy with something, Ruiko tried to make it quick, "Is Misaka-san with you now, Shirai-san?"

"Onee-sama? No, I am out trying to find her. Why?"

"It's just that I saw a big source of electricity not far from my dorm just a few minutes ago," Ruiko said as she peered out of her window again, trying to find the source of the lightning again to convince the teleporter.

She couldn't find any signs of lightning outside, but it turned out that she didn't need to.

"Do you have an approximate direction?"

"Shirai-san…?" Ruiko asked, trailing off as she waited for a response. She didn't get this, unfortunately, so she had to settle for helping her friend, hoping and praying that Kuroko knew what was going on more than she did, "It's about three blocks away from my dorm, in the direction of that café we went to today."

"Three blocks… in the direction of… got it. Thank you, Saten-san! Call Uiharu and ask her for the details, tell her that I told you to ask her. Sorry, but I need to hurry!"

Kuroko had already ended the call before Ruiko could say or do anything else, forcing Ruiko to listen to the annoying ringing sound of a call that had been terminated.

Ruiko lowered her phone with a sigh, wondering what was so important for Kuroko to run off in a hurry like that. It was, of course, at that moment that Ruiko remembered what had been happening and, with a heavy heart as if expecting the worse, dialed Kazari's number.

"Hey Uiharu, sorry to bother you, but I need to ask you something," Ruiko began slowly after Kazari had picked up her phone. Surprising Ruiko a bit, there seemed to be a lot of background noise on Kazari's end, almost as if she was busy in a room full of other people. Ruiko shook this feeling off and pushed it to the back of her mind before continuing, "I just called Shirai-san and she seemed to be in a hurry for some reason. Do you know why?"

"Well… remember that urban legend that you found and told Shirai-san and I about today? It turns out that it is a lot worse than we thought that it was…"

"A lot worse, you say? How so?" Ruiko asked, genuinely curious as she had yet to find anything new about the rumor after coming home. And, from the sound of things, her friends did not suffer the same fate, which only helped make Ruiko even more curious.

"It turns out that there really is someone with that ability. Shirai-san's classmates, Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san, ran into this person last night and haven't been able to use their powers since."

"No way! You're saying that they lost it?!" Ruiko exclaimed in shock. Then, worriedly, she added, "Is there anything we can do to help them?"

"We don't know yet, but Shirai-san and Kongou-san are currently trying to see if they can. But more importantly, they're trying to find Misaka-san because Shirai-san fears that Misaka-san might be going after this dangerous person on her own."

"Misaka-san…" Ruiko trailed off, looking out of her window instinctively. She knew that she couldn't see anything, but now that Ruiko knew what was going on she couldn't help but feel worried.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Saten-san, I have to go! Stay safe out there!"

The beeping noise of a call that had been terminated resonated through the room once again, but Ruiko didn't bother to turn it off this time. After a few seconds, the sound stopped on its own, but Ruiko was still zoned out and had not even noticed this.

With an empty look in her eyes, she looked out of the window in the direction where she saw that first bolt of lightning emerge. If what Kazari said was true, and Ruiko knew that she could trust her friend's words, then her friends were fighting an incredibly dangerous threat. Or are about to, at the very least.

And all that Ruiko could do was sit in her room and hope that her friends would be safe out there.

"I don't like this… I don't like this at all…" Ruiko murmured to herself, somehow starting to remember how she felt when she used the Level Upper only two months ago. And when the power that was bestowed upon her was taken away from her again.

Ruiko knew better than anyone how the victims of this person were feeling right now, and yet all that she could do was sit on the sidelines and pray for the safety of everybody around her.

"No! There has to be something that I can do to help everyone!" Ruiko tried to reassure herself, looking around her room to find the answer. She ended up looking around in a panic for a surprisingly long time, but she knew that it was worth it when she finally found it.

The one thing that only she could do.


"'Onee-sama, duck!' Misaka calls out in warning as Misaka takes another shot," Misaka 10032 readied her firearms and fired two beam-like shots from them. As soon as these blasts made contact with the concrete they exploded, covering the two electromasters' vision with a thick cloud of smoke and debris.

Both girls were still in the alley that they tried to use for a shortcut but now ended up having to fight with someone they've never seen before. The two were already at a big disadvantage, if only because they barely had any room to move in, and were continuously pushed back deeper into the alley.

Despite these hardships, they kept on going, and seeing Misaka 10032's blast do that much damage reinvigorated Mikoto.

"Nice shot!" Mikoto praised her sister with a sideways glance after the cloud of debris disappeared. As Mikoto joined Misaka 10032's side, she added, "Do you think that was enough?"

"'I do not even think that I hit my target, Onee-sama,' Misaka replies sadly as Misaka recalls seeing her target jump out of the way at the last moment," Misaka 10032 answered Mikoto's question while keeping her eyes peeled on where she knew her foe was. As Mikoto raised her senses to prepare herself for a counterattack, Misaka 10032 reloaded her weapons, "We might be in trouble if this keeps up, Onee-sama."

"Yeah… we have one chance," Mikoto added with a small smile, startling her sister slightly. Mikoto nodded in her direction, offering her open palm to her sister, "Let's do it. Generate as much electricity as you can, and I will take care of the rest."

"'But Misaka cannot generate as much electricity as you, Onee-sama,' Misaka says, reminding Onee-sama that Misaka is only a level three," Misaka 10032 said, wondering what Mikoto was planning to do. Misaka 10032 knew that Mikoto knows that their difference in power is huge, but even so…

"That doesn't matter, even if it is just a little bit extra it will do," Mikoto reassured her as she dug in her pocket to find what she was looking for. Mikoto smiled when her fingers curled themselves around the metallic object, and she held it up to allow it to shine in the dark alley.

"'How many times have you practiced using two electromasters to fire your Railgun, Onee-sama?' Misaka asks in curiosity as this idea of Onee-sama's seems reckless and dangerous," Misaka 10032 replied as she placed her hands on Mikoto's shoulders in slight hesitation. Misaka 10032 only heard of the fearsome power behind the third strongest level five's signature attack, knowing that the few times Mikoto had used it in front of her were not at full power, but to add even more firepower behind that…

"This will be my first," Mikoto replied nonchalantly without looking back, knowing full well that she needed to keep all of her attention on her target in front. Despite this, she managed to add in a relatively steady voice, "When I give the signal, generate as much electricity as you can and direct it at me. Don't worry about putting in too much, the more electricity the better."

"Onee-sama…"

Unfortunately for Misaka 10032, Mikoto's attention was already focused on something else entirely. It had been quite some time since Misaka 10032 fired her weapons, but there was still enough debris to obscure their enemy from view.

And Mikoto was adamant to find their enemy before their enemy found them.

It remained quiet for a very long time, and with two of Mikoto's senses effectively disabled she didn't have any choice left. She closed her eyes, raised her right hand to point it in front of her, and focused.

A very faint but still recognizable signal came back to Mikoto, and she grinned.

"NOW!" Mikoto yelled at the top of her lungs, flicking the coin high into the air with her thumb as her body became enveloped with electricity. With the additional boost from Misaka 10032, Mikoto almost lost her concentration completely when the overwhelming amount of energy surged through her body.

She knew that she had one shot with this, so Mikoto made sure that she would make it count. Directing all of the electricity to her right hand, she flicked her thumb right as the coin landed on top of it.

With the two electromasters giving it everything that they got, the coin was sent firing forward with a destructive force unlike any other. The resulting explosion of when the Railgun hit spewed smoke and debris up tens of meters into the air.

"Surely, this time it should—" Mikoto began as she saw the damage that was done by their joint attack, but then stopped mid-sentence. She saw movement through the cloud, and she knew what meant.

"'Onee-sama, be careful,' Misaka warns as Misaka sees the enemy moving through the dust," Misaka 10032 muttered, the familiar sound of her weapons getting readied coming from the direction of her hands, "This fight is far from over."

"How right you are…" an eerie voice said, one that Mikoto and Misaka 10032 could only assume came from their enemy on the other side of the explosion.

The smoke slowly but surely cleared, allowing Mikoto and Misaka 10032 to see the damage that they had done. The blast from the combined Railgun had formed a huge crater in the middle of the alley, something that Mikoto hoped and prayed would not be traced back to her.

But what the attack didn't do was take care of its intended target. The third person in the alley, albeit hurt significantly from the shockwaves alone, was still able to stand on both of their feet.

It was only now that Mikoto and Misaka 10032 could have a good look at the person who they were fighting against. The first that they noticed was that the girl they were facing was tall, standing well above Mikoto. She had long brown hair that was tied in a high ponytail, with two strands of hair framing either side of her face. This made her look only a couple of years older than Mikoto.

Despite the attack not doing enough damage to finish her off, it did manage to weaken her considerably. With her clothes dirtied and several fresh cuts on her skin, it was clear that she had only managed to avoid the brunt of the attack at the last second.

"So that was the power of a level five, huh? How interesting… I've only fought level threes so far, so fighting you is a treat… Tokiwadai's… Railgun!" the person said, showing a creepy smile as their silver-colored eyes locked on their targets, "But that makes it all the better when I take it away from you!"

"You can't take away esper powers, that's ridiculous!" Mikoto exclaimed both shocked that that claim was being made and worried about the small minuscule chance that, perhaps, their words weren't a lie. For some reason, Mikoto's mind drifted off to her urban legend-loving friend; this seemed like something that she would be very into.

"Well, we're about to find out, aren't we?" the mysterious girl exclaimed, dashing towards the two girls at full speed before either Mikoto or Misaka 10032 could do anything in response.

She didn't come very far, however, as a long and sturdy javelin impaled the ground right in front of her. This didn't just surprise the mysterious girl but also the two electromasters.

That was when two familiar figures jumped down from the roofs in between the combatants, making their presence known to everybody. Originally caught off-guard, Mikoto was surprisingly overjoyed to see and recognize who had joined the fight.

"Do not take another step! In the name of Judgment, and as Onee-sama's right-hand girl, I will not allow you to walk away with everything that you have done!"

"If you want to get to Misaka-san, you have to get through us first! But will you continue to fight despite knowing that your opponent is I, Kongou Mitsuko?"

Kuroko and Mitsuko had finally caught up to Mikoto.


And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!