Hey guys. By some strange twist of fate, I have been stuck at my family's for the weekend. So, I decided that I would make a longer chapter than usual. So I guess it's good for those of you who enjoy reading this story. This was fun to write as always, and I will continue to update. Enjoy!
"Tell me… where she is dammit!" Teitoku delivered another kick to the scientist's stomach.
"Gah!" The man fell to the side, wiping away blood that trickled down his chin. "I... told you…" His breaths came in sharp gasps. "I don't… know where… she lives…"
Teitoku took a good look around the now destroyed laboratory. Nearly everything was broken and even the floor and ceiling had dents in them.
He looked down at the man and frowned. He held his right hand out to his side and strands of white flowed from him, forming into a wickedly curved scythe and he grasped it. With a small arc, he had the blade over the man's throat.
"Feel like talking now?" The boy asked in a cold voice.
"I swear! I don't know where she lives!" The man yelled, fearing for his life.
"Then how about you answer another question…? Who the fuck… is she killing!?" The boy yelled.
To his right was a large window that was now broken. Beyond the window sat a large room. Corpses lay everywhere around the room, blood staining the ground. This was one of the labs supporting Project Dual.
"She was here right before us, right? So you must know what she was doing! Tell me!" He stomped on the man's chest and pressed the blade of the scythe up against his throat just enough to make a small cut. "Unless you want to die."
"Don't kill me! I swear! I'll tell you everything!" The man screamed.
Teitoku drew the scythe away from the man and took a step back.
"Speak."
"Okay…" The man sat up calmly. Then with one smooth motion, he reached into his coat and took out a square-shaped object with brown paper wrapped around it. In his other hand he held a small remote with a single button on it. "Die!" He yelled. He pushed the button and the object exploded, the room erupting into flames.
"This is useless…" Accelerator bent down, looking at the cowering man who was lying on the ground. His black hair covered his eyes from the side, his ability temporarily deactivated to save it. Instead, he held a gun in his right hand and had it pointed at the man.
"I swear! Everything was in the computers! If you can just fix them up, I'm sure…" The man's panicked words were cut off as the boy pointed the gun at the man's leg and shot. "AHH!" The man screamed in agony, clutching at the wound on his leg.
The boy's foot slamming into his chest stopped his screaming as he took in a sharp breath.
"I'm tired of screwing around here…" His hair turned white and he stomped on the man's chest again, this time breaking several of the man's ribs. "I'm going to give you five seconds… then I'm going to kill you… unless you want to comply that is."
"Dammit…" The man mumbled, his breathing heavy. He reached into his coat slowly, the boy just watching him. He took out a gun and pointed it at the boy's head and shot. The bullet sped towards the boy before stopping and flying back, hitting the gun and sending it flying across the room.
"Wrong move." Accelerator said. He pointed the gun at the man's forehead and was about to pull the trigger when an explosion shook the laboratory. "What the hell?"
The scientist started laughing, but due to his shortness of breath it sounded more like he was just gasping for air.
"Looks like… your friend's been taken care of." The man smiled.
Accelerator frowned and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through the man's head.
"That bastard better not be dead…" He turned and ran from the room. A quick look around and he saw smoke drifting down the hallway and ran towards it. Around the corner, the entire hallway was burning. The boy simply waved his hand and the fire spun in a circle, effectively draining all of the oxygen and putting itself out. He did this until he reached the last room. The fire was too intense in this room and was spreading out. He couldn't just get rid of the oxygen, it was spreading too fast.
"Teitoku!" He yelled. There was no response. There was no sign that there was even anything still alive in the inferno. "Teitoku!" He yelled again.
The thought of running into the room crossed his mind, but there was no way. Besides, he was running out of time on his power.
"Shit…" He decided to try to save him at least, but just as he started his calculations, the roof inside the room collapsed and he had to dive to the side to avoid the roaring flames.
Then a thought came to his mind. Even if Teitoku had somehow survived the flames, there was no way he would survive without oxygen. There was no way he could breathe in that room.
"Fuck!" Accelerator stood. "Teitoku!" He yelled. When there was no response again, he stomped his foot on the floor and floor inside the room collapsed inward. Another tap of his foot and the objects floated into the air and spun around briefly. Now manipulating the vectors to the air in the room, he spun the objects into the fire continuously for about ten minutes until he beat out the majority of the fire. A thought crossed his mind that there was probably a quicker way he could've handled the situation, but he had been panicked.
The boy ran up to the room and looked inside. The inside was completely charred. But there was no sign of Teitoku. The fire had been intense, but there was no way it had turned his body into ashes.
He calmly took a step into the room, making sure to redirect the heat away from his feet with each step.
"Teitoku?"
"Come on, Accelerator." A voice said from above. "What if I had really been in danger there?"
He looked up to see a hole in the ceiling. Teitoku sat on the edge of the hole with his feet hanging into the room. The boy dropped down.
Accelerator sighed in relief.
"What the hell, Teitoku? If you were there, why didn't you come out earlier?"
"It's fun to see my friend try so hard for me." The boy smiled.
"Idiot. Anyways, how did you survive that?"
"You think my Dark Matter can't withstand a few flames? My reaction time isn't bad, either. I simply made a layer of Dark Matter over myself before the flames could touch me. IF I couldn't do split-second calculations like that, then I wouldn't be a level 5. After that, I broke the ceiling along with a few ventilation shafts for some air. Then I just waited for you to come."
"That's… Shit!" Accelerator's hair turned black and his eyes blue as his power ran out. The charred floor had started to melt his shoes.
"Come on." Teitoku said. He grabbed Accelerator around the shoulder and quickly got him out of the room onto some cooler flooring.
"Hey… how has your power not run out yet? I don't remember you being able to keep it as long as I can."
"I can't." The two boys started for the exit. "You see, when I create Dark Matter, it's in existence until something destroys it. So, when I went into the hole in the ceiling, to avoid being smothered by flames, I made a sheet of Dark Matter to cover the hole, then deactivated my power until you came." Remembering he should save it just in case, the boy deactivated his power.
"I see. That's smart."
The two walked outside of the laboratory they had been in and turned back to look at it. The fire had spread substantially down different pathways before Accelerator had put out the fire in the room. Do to that, most of the building was now on fire.
"We should get out of here… Anti-Skill and Judgment will probably be flooding this place soon." Teitoku observed.
"Yeah, let's go."
As they walked away from the building and made their way to a main street, Teitoku spoke what they were both thinking.
"So… we didn't find out anything about her or Project Dual there…"
The two boys had been from laboratory to laboratory that night, with the help of Yumi, to try to find out something about the number 6 or Project Dual. However, even though they had just finished with the fifth laboratory that night, they still knew nothing more than when they started.
"Yeah… And we can't do anymore tonight… I'm surprised we were able to spare our powers for this long, but I'm out and you probably only have a couple minutes left." Accelerator said.
"True. Though if you think about it, we took out the first laboratory in under five minutes. But you're right. Besides, I'm tired and you look pretty tired to." The other boy nodded in confirmation. Besides, the only reason they were able to do that laboratory so fast is because they quickly found out that the scientist's had wiped all of the data from the systems, so they went all out on the place then left. It didn't take long for it to be demolished.
The two turned in the direction of their dorms.
"What… is this…?" Mikoto mumbled to herself. She sat on her bed in the Tokiwadai dorms, a few papers scattered around her. She held one piece in her hand. It was titled "Project Dual – Expectations and Progress".
The date on the page showed that these results were from just a few days ago.
A chart showed the progress from the last few weeks of the project.
Mikoto had been reading through the various pieces of paper that told what the goal of the project was and she still couldn't believe it.
"This is crazy… they don't actually think this will work…" The girl's eyes shifted to a certain place on the chart. A box labeled "Estimated completion time". She looked down some.
The estimated completion time was five weeks from that day. She gasped slightly.
"That means… it's actually working? There's no way… Dual-Skill is impossible… and level 6? I guess that's theoretically possible… but Accelerator is number one, so how can the number 6 surpass him?" She mumbled all of this to herself, trying not to wake up her roommate who was sleeping on her bed a few feet from her.
She put the paper down and picked up the envelope again. There was only one more piece of paper in it. She pulled it out and unfolded it. It was what she had been waiting for. It was the letter the boy had written for her. She skimmed through the first part which basically explained everything she had just learned in simpler terms. Then she stopped and read it more slowly.
Things are happening. Things that you can't possibly hope to understand. There are those who do not support the Science Side. There are things happening all around the world. A chain of events has started and there is nothing you can do to stop it. However, that does not mean that the situation is hopeless. Two of your friends are working hard to stop the plans on the Science Side from progressing.
Mikoto frowned. He could only be referring to Accelerator and Teitoku.
Have you ever wondered if there is anything else out there? I can't give out too much information. That is putting all of us at too much risk. If you think a level 5 is powerful, then you have another thing coming when you meet someone who doesn't support the Science Side and is not just an ordinary human. Anyways, I believe it is important to tell you what you can do.
Something she could do? She felt like the boy was contradicting himself, but he may just be doing that to confuse her.
Help them. They are bound to lose. There is only one way the level 5's will survive this endeavor unscathed. That, however, is something that you must discover on your own. You are being watched and you will continue being watched. We can't meet again until it's safe. Trust me, I know what I'm saying may be confusing, but I am truly trying to help you by giving you as much information as I can.
She was kind of skeptical of that.
If you want to help your friends, confront them. Tell them to find Tsuchimikado Motoharu. He will help them. I hope you realize that if you really want to help them, you will be dragged into something that you will wish you ever knew existed. You can't give up partway. If you do, you die. Don't get me wrong. I couldn't care less what happens to the level 5's to be honest. However, I do care about what happens to the Science Side and the others out there who are not involved with us.
Mikoto knew he was keeping something pretty important and relevant from her.
I think I've explained it as far as I care to for the time being. Remember all that I've said.
She almost smiled knowing that someone was letting her on all of this, even though the boy was keeping things from her.
The world is changing, Misaka Mikoto.
If you don't want to be left behind…
Then your only choice is to fight against the change.
Even if it seems a hopeless battle…
There is always a way.
Now, do as you wish. You can ignore this letter and continue on with your normal life, feigning ignorance to everything that is happening around you… or… you can go join those who are fighting back.
That's all. Good luck, Misaka Mikoto.
-The Imagine Breaker
P.S. Do you… believe in magic?
Mikoto thought the last line of that had to be joke, so she ignored it. She did, however, pay close attention to the signature. "The Imagine Breaker". It was like people calling her "The Railgun", right? She thought about it. It could easily be a title, but she wasn't sure and she didn't want to waste any time right now thinking about that.
The girl nodded to herself.
"Damn… You really are confusing as hell, Kamijou-san." She smiled. "Thanks. I know what I need to do." She stood and walked out the door, closing it quietly behind her.
"Done." Yumi said as she finished bandaging Teitoku's arm.
"Thanks." He stood. "Sorry to inconvenience you, Yumi."
The two had decided to stop by Yumi's place to see if she had any bandages. She did and, even though they told her they were fine on their own, she insisted on treating their wounds.
Accelerator stood up from where he was sitting on the bed. He had several bandages on him as well.
"Yeah, thanks. We really are sorry for having you do this."
Yumi shook her head.
"It's no problem. Besides, I'm helping you two. This is the least I can do."
The two boys thought that was ironic. She was risking her life for them, so, if anything, they should be the ones doing something for her.
"Anyways." The girl said. "Did you find anything out at the last lab?"
"No…" Accelerator said slowly. "And we don't have enough of our abilities to continue."
Yumi was the one who had been sending them the locations of the labs. They had just been going to each one in turn. They were so tired that they had forgot to report in to her after they were done with the last lab, so it was a good thing that they had decided to go see her.
"I see. Well, you two have done a good job so far. We can continue tomorrow night if you two don't mind." They both nodded.
"Well I'm going ahead. I need to get home and get some rest…" Accelerator said. Using all of his ability had taken its toll on him.
"See you later." Teitoku said and Accelerator walked out the room, closing the door behind him. "Well… Actually…" He glanced to his watch. It was now 1:24 in the morning. "Damn it's late... I guess I'll be going to…" He walked up to the door and put his hand on the handle, but was stopped by a voice.
"Teitoku."
He didn't turn around.
"Yes, Yumi?"
"Are you sure… you're fine with continuing this…?"
"What do you mean?" The boy's voice was calm. He had expected this.
"You… killed people tonight…" The girl said calmly. "You killed many people tonight. You don't feel anything?"
"Of course I do." He replied.
"Then…" She started.
"But…" Teitoku interrupted her. He turned to face her and smiled sadly. "I'll do anything it takes to save my friends. To be honest, I don't know what will happen if the number 6 reaches level 6… but all I know is that it poses a danger to rest of us level 5's. Something tells me… that if she does achieve it… we'll never be seeing each other again… for one reason or another…"
"What if you die? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for this?"
Teitoku walked up to the girl and put a hand on her head. He gently rubbed her head and she looked up at him.
"I'm not going to die, Yumi. If I do… Then make sure my friends stay safe, okay? I almost hate myself right now… My friends are in danger… and Accelerator and I may be putting them in more danger by investigating this matter… And not only that but… we're also dragging you into this… We're just trying to keep everyone safe, which is precisely the reason we decided not to tell any of our friends about this."
"Don't… speak as if dying is even an option, Dark Matter." The girl stood. "Right now, you and Accelerator are the only two things standing in the way of your enemies hurting your friends. We still do not know the reason they separated you, but I have my suspicions. So, until we figure out what exactly is going on and put a stop to it, you'll have to stay alive." She smiled. "Okay?"
"Okay." Teitoku smiled and walked to the door. "See you later, Yumi." He opened the door and walked out, slowly letting it close behind him.
Accelerator frowned as he reached the floor his dorm was on. A girl stood in front of his door, her back to it. It was Mikoto. He had a feeling that if she was there at this time, it wasn't just for a visit.
He walked up to her and stopped.
"Hey, Mikoto. What are you doing here? It's close to two in the morning, you should get some sleep."
"Accelerator… We need to talk…" The girl said calmly.
"What is it?" He knew there was going to be something.
"I know… I know everything…"
A chill ran down the boy's spine. After they had gone through everything they could to keep what they were doing a secret, there was no way she could have found out.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, hoping that she was talking about something entirely different.
"I know about you and Kakine. I know about the number 6. I know about Project Dual." Mikoto slowly walked up to him.
"I…" He had been prepared for this situation, but when it actually came he wasn't sure what he should say.
"Why didn't you tell me!?" The girl suddenly yelled. "This involves all of us! You were just leaving us all in the dark while you two were out there risking your lives!"
"We just…" He knew there was nothing he could say to calm her.
"Did you think we would never figure it out!?" She continued. "Did you expect that everything would just go smoothly on your end and the rest of us would never have to know anything was wrong in the first place!?"
"Shut up!" Accelerator suddenly yelled, silencing the girl. "Do you think we wanted to hide it from you!? Do you think we wanted to keep you guys in the dark!?"
So many thoughts raced through his mind of things he could say. Random bits just came out.
"We were just trying to keep you safe! We wanted you guys to stay in the light! There was no other way! There was no way we could put you in danger! We thought that if anybody was going to get dragged into the darkness of this city, it should be us!"
Mikoto raised her hand and swung it at him. The boy knew he deserved it, so he made no effort to block it or to dodge.
However, another hand reached past him and grabbed the girl's wrist.
Mikoto's face was a look of shock as she pulled her hand away and took a step back. The hand returned to behind the boy and he turned slowly.
"Misaka was wondering what all the noise was about. It appears that you two like to be loud when others are trying to sleep. That's quite rude. Says Misaka as she scolds the two who are making noise right outside her room."
Misaka 1 stood there, wearing nothing but a long red shirt that covered just enough.
"Shit…" Accelerator mumbled. He turned to look at the other level 5.
Mikoto took another step back.
"Accelerator… what… is this…? Who… is that?" It was like looking in a mirror for her. The girl tried to make more words come out, but they caught in her throat.
"Mikoto… I can explain…" The boy said slowly.
The girl seemed to snap out of her shock.
"What the hell is that!?" She yelled at the boy. "So she's something else you've been keeping from us!? What the fuck is going on!?"
"Misaka, or Misaka 1, is a clone of you. I guess you could say I'm like your little sister, Oneesama. Says Misaka as she tried to give a simple explanation of the situation."
"Clone?" Mikoto's eyes shifted from the girl to the boy. "Accelerator… what the hell… is going on…?"
Accelerator sighed. There was no getting out of it.
He explained as much as he could to her, making sure to leave out any mention of Yumi and of the people they killed in the labs trying to get information. He told her how they met Misaka 1 and how they had met number 6 in the past. He also left out any mention of SHIFT.
Mikoto just stood there for a while silently. She looked the boy in the eyes.
"…." The girl turned and walked away.
"Mikoto…"
It was too late. Mikoto walked away and down the stairs, then headed off for her own dorms.
"Should I not have interfered? Says Misaka as she worries that you are angry at her." The girl looked at the boy, speaking in an apologetic tone.
"No… you were just trying to protect me…" He smiled at the girl. "Go back to your room and rest. We'll talk to Teitoku about this tomorrow."
Misaka 1 smiled gently.
"Okay. Says Misaka as she makes no attempt to hide her relief." The girl turned and walked back into her room, closing and locking the door behind her.
Accelerator looked around.
"What the hell is taking him so long?" He mumbled.
Teitoku walked slowly around the corner. He was walking through one of the streets that was lit up with many street lights, so he could see perfectly fine.
However, he didn't need to be able to see to know that someone was following him. He could hear the soft footsteps behind him for the last twenty minutes.
Finally, he reached and open street that was lit up well.
The boy turned.
A person stood there wearing a gray hoodie with the hood pulled tight around their head so their face couldn't be seen.
The person stopped.
"If you were trying to be stealthy, you failed. I've been knowing you were following me for the past twenty minutes."
"Who said I was trying to be stealthy? I was, more or less, just waiting for you to do something."
The voice was a male's.
Teitoku frowned. Abilities didn't recover quickly in the least, so he estimated that he had about seven to ten minutes of his ability now. If he had been resting, then he would have recovered his ability quicker.
"Well, if you went through the trouble to take time out of your busy schedule to follow me this early in the morning, then I assume you have business with me? Or are you an idiot who just wants to pick a fight with a level 5?"
"I'll go with the first." The boy pulled back his hood to reveal shoulder-length gray hair and gray eyes.
"I don't really have time, you know. It's way past my curfew." He already knew that the boy wasn't just going to let him go, but he really didn't feel like fighting anyone, especially considering his limited time on his power at the moment.
Then a thought came to his mind. This boy was not a level 5. The level 4 with the longest lasting ability was about 15 minutes maybe.
He smiled. Ten minutes should be plenty of time to show this guy that he shouldn't mess with a level 5.
"How unfortunate." The boy commented. "I mean… you won't have to worry about that curfew when I'm done with you… I'm sending you straight to the hospital. Hopefully, you'll mind your own business there, Dark Matter."
"Oh… I see…" He frowned. "So, you're involved in all of this?"
"That's correct. I'm a member of SHIFT." The boy smiled. "I'm Satoshi Miyasaki." He reached into his pocket and slid out a paper-thin knife.
"A weapon?" Teitoku sighed and activated his ability. "Well, if that's how you want to do this…"
Strands of white flowed out from the boy's head. They coalesced into the form of his favoured weapon, a halberd, which he gripped in his right hand and swung it so the blade was at his side.
"I'm going to beat you into the ground." The level 5 charged forward. He couldn't afford to waste any time.
Something caught his eye as he neared the boy.
The knife in Satoshi's hand vanished.
Oh… I get it… He's a teleporter… but where…?
Teitoku threw his body to the side. Right where his chest had been a moment before, the knife appeared and fell to the ground.
He looked over at the teleporter. The boy now held six smaller knives, three in each hand.
"You should keep running…" One of the knives vanished. "Or you might get hit." Satoshi smiled.
Again, Teitoku threw his body to the side just as a knife slammed into the ground from above.
He held his hand out and white strands flowed from his head and formed a solid white ball in his hand, about the size of his head.
"Come on… that isn't fair…" Teitoku drew his hand back and threw the ball. It flew at a much quicker speed than he should've with the force he applied to it.
The boy vanished as the ball made contact with the ground where his feet were. The ground exploded, on impact with the ball, sending pieces of concrete flying in every direction and a moderately sized crater.
"Is that all a level 5 has to offer?" He turned to see the boy sitting on a street light. "If so, you're a disappointment." All five of the knives vanished and appeared floating around Teitoku, there points aimed for various places on his body.
Simultaneously, they all closed in on the boy.
"….." A sudden explosion of white strands from the boy's head hit the knives away, letting them fall harmlessly to the ground.
All of the white strands formed into fist-sized balls. There were about a hundred of them, slowly floating in the air around the level 5.
"Don't underestimate a level 5, you bastard." Half of the balls flew at the boy at an incredible speed.
The one that was closest to him slammed into the boy's shoulder and sickening crack sounded.
"Dammit!" Satoshi teleported just as the rest of the balls hit the ground. The ground was torn to pieces.
Teitoku looked around carefully. A single ball flew at a nearby alley, hitting the wall and making it collapse in.
The teleporter appeared back out in the street, narrowly escaping being crushed. Just as he turned to look at the level 5, a ball of Dark Matter slammed into his side, breaking a few of his ribs.
"Fuck!" The boy fell to his knees.
Teitoku approached him slowly, the Dark Matter balls floated around them slowly.
Satoshi tried to teleport, but he was in too much pain.
"You're lucky I didn't aim for a lethal blow." He kicked the boy so he fell onto his back. Then he placed his foot on the boy's chest and pushed on his broken ribs.
Satoshi screamed in pain.
"Fuck… you!" The boy managed to get out.
"That's not really the appropriate thing to say, considering your position right now." He leaned down. "Now… you're going to tell me everything. Start with… why you attacked me."
"Like… hell… I'm not- Ahh!" The teleporter's words were interrupted as Tetioku once again put pressure on his broken ribs.
"What was that?"
"O-okay…! Just fucking… stop!"
Teitoku stopped pushing on the boy's chest and smirked.
"Glad to see you understand your situation now. Now, I repeat myself, tell me why you attacked me."
"Why the fuck do you think I did…?" Satoshi said it as if the answer was obvious. "You two… have found out way too much… and you're messing around where you shouldn't be… WE can't risk Project Dual being compromised by you two."
"Why is it so important that Project Dual is carried out? What does SHIFT gain from this?"
"You're… an idiot…"
Teitoku frowned and prepare to put pressure on him again, but the boy spoke again.
"You have no idea what's going on… Project Dual is just one of many… You just so happened to find out about it. Even if you stop Project Dual, you can't stop what's already been put into motion." He smiled despite his position. "This is much larger than you could hope to know… You don't… seriously think espers are the only ones involved in this do you? This go far beyond the borders of Academy City. A war you couldn't imagine is starting. We need… all we can get…"
"War? What the hell are you talking about? This isn't answering anything."
"A war… between Academy City… and the other side… Why do you think we are doing this?" He answered before the boy had time to think about it. "If we make the number 6… a level 6… and Dual-Skill… She will be unstoppable. She will tear through the enemy ranks as if they're insignificant. It guarantees our success."
"The other side? Who the hell is the other side, exactly?"
"If I tell you that… I'll be killed… You can't know yet…"
Teitoku applied pressure, making the boy scream again.
"Tell me everything, you bastard!" The level 5 yelled. "I'll kill you right here!"
After he stopped and the boy caught his breath, he smiled up at him.
"I was wrong… It would be better to die here… then to face the punishment I'll receive for telling you anything more…" The boy coughed up some blood.
A ball of Dark Matter slammed into the boy's arm, easily breaking it.
"AHH!" The boy screamed once again, but still refused to say anything.
Teitoku kicked the boy in the side and backed up.
"Fine…" He swung the halberd down and stuck into the boy's chest.
"AH!" The boy coughed up blood. "Fuck you! I'm not telling you… anything…!"
The level 5 twisted the weapon around in the boy's chest.
The boy held in his scream this time.
"You won't get anything out of me… But it looks… like I'm done for… So it should be ended quickly…"
"Like hell… I'll make sure you suffer until you breathe your last breath."
"Your fun… is over…" Satoshi's hand moved quickly. He reached into his pocket and drew out another knife. Before Teitoku had time to react, the teleporter sliced open his own throat.
"What the hell?" Teitoku backed up a few steps and watched as blood poured from the wound, forming a puddle around the teleporter. He deactivated his power, seeing that it wasn't necessary anymore.
The life slowly left Satoshi. He died with a smile.
"…" Teitoku stood there for a few minutes. Then he slowly walked up to the boy. He searched his pockets and found his ID, which he took.
He almost felt bad searching the body of a dead person, but he considered it necessary. He found nothing else, so he turned and walked away.
Yumi watched everything from her room. Her laptop displayed security camera footage of the area. She watched the boy walk away, then deleted the footage from the camera.
"Just… how far are you willing to go for your friends, Dark Matter?"
She typed on her computer and a window popped up. It was a chat room.
She tapped on the keys of her keyboard.
Y Are you there?
A Yes. I am here.
A Is there something you need?
Y Did you watch that?
A Watch what? I was a little… preoccupied. Explain.
Y Dark Matter has killed Satoshi Miyasaki.
A …
A This is interesting, is it not?
Y Indeed, but are you fine with this turn of events? I believe he may have told him too much. He almost revealed the Magic Side to him.
A It would not make a difference if he knew. Truly, it is easier to keep them ignorant, but if they do find out it will not impede my plans.
A You act like not following orders is unusual. Last I checked, weren't your orders to avoid contact with the level 5's?
Y ….
Y I have made my own decisions. I'm trying to do what I think is best for everyone in the end.
A Very well. We may have another problem though that I want you to be wary of.
Y Yes?
A Misaka Mikoto has found out about Project Dual, as well as Accelerator and Kakine's involvement in investigating it. She had confronted Accelerator about it, but he did not tell her everything.
Y Will that pose an immediate problem?
A Most likely not. If it does, I will contact you. I do, however, believe that someone on the Science Side is supporting the Magic Side. I have yet to figure out who. I believe she received information from somebody, but I have been unable to identify this person.
Y Very well. I will keep an eye on the situation. However, I do not follow your orders anymore. If you cause a mess, you will have to clean it up yourself.
A I understand. I will contact you later.
A Goodbye.
Y Goodbye.
Yumi closed the chat room.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Aleister."
Teitoku returned to his dorm.
Accelerator was waiting for him.
"Teitoku." He said as the boy approached.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Where have you been?"
"I had to… deal with something. I'll explain it tomorrow."
"Fine. I was going to wait until tomorrow to talk to you anyways, but there's something you need to know."
"What is it?"
"Mikoto knows about Project Dual."
"What? How did she find out?"
Teitoku considered this one of the worst things that could happen. He had hoped to avoid getting anyone else involved, especially one the people they were trying to protect.
"I don't know. She just confronted me. I told her what I could, but I left out any information about SHIFT. Also, she knows about Misaka 1 because she stopped her from hitting me."
"Damn. We were so careful to make sure they never followed us anywhere or found out about what we've been doing. How the hell did this happen?"
"I think this was beyond our control. For now, let's get some rest. We'll try to talk to Mikoto tomorrow."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."
The two level 5's walked into their rooms and shut their doors.
Teitoku walked in and looked around. Misaka 1 was asleep in the bed.
He quietly walked over and rubbed her head gently.
"I'll make sure to protect you." He smiled.
He grabbed a sheet and laid down on the floor.
"This is all going to end. We'll make sure of that."
He couldn't tell if he was trying to reassure the sleeping girl or himself.
He held his hand up and looked at it.
"I was told, when I became an esper, that I have touched the territory of God. That should be enough to end this. If it isn't, then we need to rethink just who we're up against." He put his hand down.
Teitoku closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.
Accelerator was laying in his bed, staring up.
"This is going to end… We have to end it."
He held his hand up and looked at it.
"When I became an esper, I was told that I wielded the power of God. If that isn't enough to end this… then I'd like to know just what the hell we're up against."
He shook his head.
"No… This is going to end. Teitoku and I will make sure of that. We'll protect everyone."
He put his hand down.
"Tired…"
Accelerator closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Mikoto sat on her bed. She watched her roommate sleep peacefully.
"Just what's going on? They may be trying to protect me, but they act as if I'm helpless."
She laid down on her bed, looking up. The girl held out her hand above her.
"I'm number 3. I'm the third ranked in a city of over 2.8 million espers and one of only seven to achieve level 5. Is third not good enough?"
She smiled.
"No. I'm going to help them. I'm a level 5 too. I'll show them that I can help too."
Mikoto closed her eyes and fell asleep.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I had a great time writing it, and I hope to have the next chapter out soon. By the way, before somebody says something about it, Touma's letter was supposed to be poorly written. It wasn't really supposed to have any organization. I just wanted to get a point across through it and I wrote it how I thought the Touma in this story would. Anyways, that's all for now! I'll see you next time!
