Chapter 7 Bane of Mundane: Back to SCHOOL
Shaking my head to reconfirm that what I saw was not a hallucination, I nearly vomited as I turned my head around the corner again; The sight sickened me to the core.
"Faster, dead ones in this truck, escort the live ones from the other!"
Two large trucks that looked like they were made for garbage disposal were parked outside of what seemed to be an abandoned facility, no lights were on, no security guards were around. Yet these people were carrying bodies in and out of the trucks like they were objects, experiment materials.
What should I do... What should I do in this kind of situation?!
I'm still recovering from fighting and collapsing a building I barely have enough left in me to even maintain a reflect let alone fight. If those guys are carrying guns I'm done for.
My only options would be to call Anti Skill or call someone for help probably Akiha... But I can't involve Akiha too much lest she attract attention...
Pulling out my phone I started dialing in the number to Anti Skill when I heard several screams and the thumps of bodies falling onto the floor.
Alright that wasn't me. Who did that?
Ducking around the corner once again, I only managed to see a boy with a weird contraption on his head before he ran past the gates and into the facility itself.
Whether it was related to his ability or not, that contraption really looked weird. Not only did it look like a halo that had fallen and started resting on his head, but there were wires from a machine on his back attached to every inch of that ring.
Ignoring the cries from inside the building, it seemed that most of the men working outside were either knocked down or unconscious. Makes interrogation easy.
Slowly walking up to the first man that didn't look unconscious, I tapped him across the face and pretended to check his pulse, "Hey, are you alright? What's going on here?!"
"We've been attacked... SCHOOL is..."
"School is what? What does this have to do with school?"
Opening his eyes to see who he was talking to, the man's eyes widened in fear at the sight of my face, "Who are you?! What are you doing here! This area is restricted!"
"Umm, you're on a public street, last time I checked it wasn't restricted. I'll understand if the area inside is restricted though." I replied, giving the man a bored look, "And answer the question. What school are you talking about? Nagatenjouki?"
"It's classified..." The man managed to cough out, apparently despite the appearance there must be some internal damage.
"Don't tell me what is and isn't classified. Do you understand the position you're in? I'm not above torturing you for the information. So spit it out before I..."
Before I could complete my threat, the handheld transceiver on the man's shoulder crackled to life, "All units implement order #255."
Grabbing the mic before the man could protest or stop me I clicked the push to talk button before lowering my voice to sound more of an adult before speaking, "Sir what is order #255?"
"What the, are you new or something? We're moving everything. Get all your crap packed up and shipped out! Salvage any data you can and destroy the rest. All experiment subjects that try to resist or cannot be moved are to be disposed of! If this wasn't an emergency you'd be getting a pay cut!"
Heheh, if I knew that little about my job I'd expect a pink slip not a pay cut.
So just because a school showed up they're packing up? They must be pretty damn scary to scare these scientists shitless. It's almost like the time Misaka was raiding any research facility associated with the Level 6 Shift... But what kind of school would be involved in something that involves experimenting on Child Errors?
Not only that, why are Child Errors even being experimented on in the first place?
This reeks of that Body Crystal experiment on Child Errors...
"Sir! We can't fully salvage data from one of the ongoing projects!"
"Then destroy it you idiot! Weren't you listening?!"
"But according to another directive any data on the Reality Shift Project was never to be destroyed only archived!"
"I'll send a few more to you if we manage to delay SCHOOL for long enough."
That school is mentioned again... Are these Child Errors also involved in the Reality Shift Project? If so to what extent? What other experiments are these twisted people doing in this facility?
But another thing about what that researcher had said sent chills down my spine, data on the Reality Shift Project. That Project should have been abandoned. Frozen indefinitely because I was considered "damaged goods".
Now I'm really itching to go inside. But if any trouble pops up I won't be able to shake it off.
Maybe I'll come back later after I've recovered. Rushing in headfirst with no plan no intel and no firepower is just asking to get killed.
Leaving the scene as quickly as I could, I returned to my dormitory without incident. Until I ran into Akiha.
"So what were you doing hmm?" Akiha asked, giving me a knowing smile.
"I just went out for a walk." I replied, trying not to look Akiha in the eye.
"Really? After a few more of these 'walks' are you going to suddenly come back with enough wounds to cripple a person for life? Like last time?" Akiha replied, turning me to face her.
Her eyes. They look just like that time after the end of the Level 6 Shift.
"..."
"Well?"
"It won't be like last time. I'm not poking my nose into it this time, there's not enough details to be worried about anything. Even if there was, I'm not in any position to stop it."
"Admitting defeat? That isn't like you. If I know you well enough you'd go to the end of the world just to surpass your own limits."
"True... But limits are limits for a reason right? There isn't any point in surpassing anything if I don't live to fight another day."
Nodding as she patted my shoulder gently, Akiha rolled out her futon as she went to sleep, shifting in it as her breathing started to slow.
Guess I gotta get some rest too. Got a long day tomorrow.
-Timeskip 10 hours-
"Ryu! Wake up~" came Akiha's voice, as I was gently shaken.
Tch, I switched off my alarm for a reason, I don't need you taking its place Akiha. Stop being an irritant for crying out loud.
"Ryu~! What do you want for lunch?" Akiha asked as she dragged my name, her question sending me shooting straight into a sitting position on my bed.
"Lunch?! It's that late?!"
Flashing a toothy grin in my direction, Akiha pushed a cup of instant noodles towards me, "I'll need some money to go out and buy more food, this is all we have left at the moment so enjoy!"
Dammit first waking me up to ask for my lunch preference only to serve me instant noodles, Akiha really knows how to disappoint a guy.
"And you know it." Akiha said cheekily as she left the room.
Well, no point dwelling on the meal. Worst case scenario I go out and buy something decent to eat.
Helping myself to the noodles, I pulled out my phone turning on its WLAN mode with a few presses. As soon as I confirmed it was on I opened the connection settings on my augmented reality with a flicking motion of my hand to the right and then a swipe downwards to call out all the different settings menus.
Moving my hand to the icon with arrows pointing in different directions labelled "Connectivity Settings", I pressed it with a finger.
I must really look silly to anyone who sees me operating this thing, it looks like I'm playing with air.
As the icon expanded further I scrolled down by moving my fingers upwards like I was scrolling on a touchscreen.
There we go! WLAN settings!
Turning it on and searching for devices, I connected the Augmented Reality to my handphone feeling pretty pleased with myself until a pop up window appeared, "Enable remote mode?"
This looks promising.
As soon as I pressed the yes setting, the settings window and popup closed themselves, a small phone icon appearing near the bottom at what I could guess was my taskbar.
Like a kid with a new toy I laid out my phone in front of me as I tapped the phone icon on the taskbar opening a window that looked just like my phone screen. After a few taps I had brought the SMS window and typed a short text to Misaka saying, "Anything planned for today?"
Tapping the send button with a finger the sms popup window closed and the interface returned to showing my phone superimposed over my room, my phone blinking as its own screen showed the notification "message sent".
This thing is actually quite neat... Can't wait to fiddle with it later.
Pocketing my phone and heading out, I took a slow stroll to Tsubaki's apartment, trying to kill two birds with one stone since Len was probably there as well. Knowing them they'd probably be busy but it can't hurt to try.
"It's open!" Tsubaki's voice came from inside after I only knocked twice.
Well that rules out the "they're too busy with each other" theory.
Slowly opening the door in case they needed time to change what I saw just cracked me up to the point I doubled over in laughter.
Tsubaki and Len trying to last minute wing their homework.
"Hey if it's so funny join the party. I for one can't even begin to comprehend Einstein's Theory of Relativity." Len muttered, not even looking up from his textbook.
"Nah I'd rather not, the last week of the holidays is for enjoying life not doing last minute mugging as if there were exams tomorrow." I replied, a grin spreading across my face.
"Wait... That means..." Tsubaki muttered as she dropped her pen, "Ryusuke has finished all his homework?!"
Ignoring Tsubaki's over exaggerated shock and awe expression I nodded, "Yep, finished it weeks in advance so I could fully enjoy my holiday without any worries."
Both Len and Tsubaki staring at me like I was the miracle they were waiting for I quickly shook my head, "Nuh uh. Take this as a learning experience and do your homework in advance or on time instead of rushing it at the last minute."
"But Ryu...!" Both Len and Tsubaki cried out in unison, trying to give me their best puppy faces.
If I gave in now, would it mean I'm too soft on them? They really need a wake up call... But I really want to help them... Though that would stop them from learning their lesson and from learning whatever is in their textbooks.
Finally making up my mind, I couldn't help but sigh at my own weakness to cute puppy dog faces, "My homework is sitting in my desk drawer. My room door is locked but a telekinetic Esper can open my window and go in via the balcony that connects me to the next room. I will be out until the evening and I want my homework in the same place and undamaged. Are we clear?"
"Yes Ryu-sama!" Tsubaki yelled, closely followed by Len, both happily hugging me, "Thank you so much for saving our lives!"
"Enough with the worship, just make sure you don't take too long to copy it, I do want to have it back to submit it. And stop hugging me so tightly!"
Both of them dashing out the door to break into my room, I couldn't help but giggle at their eagerness to get an easy way out of doing homework. Though they could have at least left the door closed. Guess they expect me to do it.
Despite how they act I sincerly hope they're responsible enough to return my homework when they're done...
Closing and locking the door behind me, a ringtone sounded as a small envelope blinked at the corner of my field of vision.
SMS..?
After a few seconds of unfruitful air grabbing I finally managed to trigger the alert popup causing a small message window to appear, "I'm meeting Saten-san at the arcade in District 22 in about half an hour, you interested in tagging along?"
Opening the reply window I quickly typed out a reply, "Sure. See you there."
If I take a train there I should arrive on time.
While riding on the train, Misaka sent another reply. Being more careful in my hand actions lest I attract attention I slowly tapped the notification icon opening the message with slightly more ease than the previous time, "And afterwards prepare yourself for a challenge!"
Challenge? She can't possibly mean... Oh no, maybe I shouldn't go after all... If "challenge" means what I think it does... I'm going to have another million volt fight right after we all finish hanging out.
Touma-san... Why must your bad luck rub off on me?
Getting off the train and heading for the underground district, a voice called out from behind me, "Ryusuke-san?"
I don't recognise that voice... But the AIM field is definitely Saten's. Because of the troublesome magic that apparently affected everyone I'm forced to concentrate really hard to feel the AIM signature of every person I run into. Works on Espers but on anyone else I have to start playing guess who.
"Yo Saten-san, meeting up with Misaka?"
"Yeah we're going to the arcade, did Misaka invite you?" Saten asked.
"Yea... Gotta enjoy the second last day of our holidays right?"
"Speaking of holidays, I just found this something you should see, its an urban legend!" Saten replied, pulling out her handphone and showing me the screen.
"What's so interesting about this... Oh great that can't be good." I muttered, after reading the words scrolling across the screen.
"Yeah, an urban legend of a facility being able to produce Dual Skills."
"I hope they're talking about me, I don't want to imagine the alternative possibility... Where'd you find this anyway?" I asked, closing the window before anyone else saw it.
"I have an eye for these sort of things!" Saten replied happily, as we went down another floor.
Across the escalator we were travelling on, a busty high school girl waved over to us from an arcade, coins practically overflowing from a small paper cup in her hands.
Don't tell me, that's Misaka's swapped appearance?!
Unable to control myself, I broke into a fit of giggles as Saten looked over at me wondering why I was laughing all of a sudden, if Misaka ever knew I was laughing at her I swear she'll kill me.
"What's so funny Ryu-kun?" Saten asked as Misaka happily walked over.
"N-nothing, just remembering a joke from long ago, sorry if I freaked you out or anything." I replied, looking back up, "So you girls have any particular game you want to play?"
Both girls nodding at a particular machine, my hopes of not making a complete fool of myself fell as both girls started heading for the punching bag machine.
And to add fuel to the fire, by some cruel twist of fate, this was the exact same punching bag Akiha and I played at just a few days ago.
After Saten and Misaka had a go, both of them scoring in the 650 to 700 range I felt both of them looking at me with expectant eyes.
"Nah I'm good, my arms are still sore from helping my friend out yesterday." I said, quickly shaking my head even before they could ask.
"Awww, c'mon, just one go then." Misaka said, offering me the glove as she and Saten pouted at me.
"Well fine but don't expect anything special then..." I replied, slipping the glove on.
Running at the machine with a loud yell, I let out a loud battle cry as I swung my fist. With a loud wham the machine swung down hitting the cushioning device as my score was registered on the machine.
585. An improvement from last time! Maybe I'm getting stronger? But... I'm still weaker than Misaka...
"Oh, not bad Ryusuke-san!" Saten said as she looked at the machine, "I wonder who scored 742 though..."
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind meeting him!" Misaka said, clenching a fist.
More like you'd want to fight him... And it's not a him it's a HER...
As I gave the glove back to Misaka, I heard a boy cry out from behind us as Misaka put the glove back on for another round, "Onee-sama!"
That voice came from right behind us, we all backed up to get a running start to hit the machine so there should only be gaming machines behind us as well. This AIM... A teleporter?!
Misaka's reaction was instantaneous. As soon as the boy appeared behind her, she quickly sidestepped out of the boy's way while grabbing his arms. With a mighty swing, Misaka sent him flying into the machine, using the boy's body as a projectile to hit the machine, scoring a shocking 785.
"A new high score!" Saten and I muttered, both our jaws dropping simultaneously.
"O-onee-sama... I know you don't like me jumping on you from behind but to go that far... Kuroko is..."
A boy?! Kuroko's a boy?! This is just perfect, if they could see each other now this would be totally hilarious...
Unfortunately for me, the hilarity ended when I realised who Kuroko had been switched into. Len. At least it stopped me from laughing out loud.
"Ah! Shirai-san!" a girl said, running towards Kuroko's limp body as Misaka happily input her name into the machine, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, yes I'm fine Uiharu, thanks for helping me." Kuroko replied before rounding on her unreciprocative idol, "Onee-sama that was so mean! Kuroko merely wanted to hug you after a long day of work!"
"Want me to fry you?" Misaka growled, a spark emitting from her bangs as Kuroko instantly went silent.
"Uiharu! What are you wearing today?" Saten asked, lifting up her hands even though she was several meters away from Uiharu.
As she raised her hands, a gust of wind flew upwards from the ground, sending Uiharu's skirt flying upwards revealing her light green polka dot panties.
Screaming as she pushed her skirt down quickly Uiharu rounded on the unrepentent Saten and started weakly beating her chest, "Saten-san! How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that...!"
"Sorry sorry, I just couldn't resist you know?" Saten replied as she laughed meekly.
The five of us deciding on a nearby restaurant for dinner, Uiharu ordered parfait while Misaka and Kuroko ordered a chinese dish. Saten and I were the only ones left staring at the menu as Saten looked over to me, "Neh, what do you think looks good?"
"Hmmm maybe some ramen? Haven't had it for a while..." I replied, flipping through the pages.
"Well I'll have some udon then." Saten replied, specifying her order with the waitress.
As Saten pulled out her phone to tell the rest about a rumour that she had recently discovered, I slowly reached for the handphone icon on the taskbar trying to tap it without looking suspicious. Opening the message function, I opened my recent list selecting Misaka before dragging the keyboard down to the table and flipping the keyboard horizontally so it looked like I was tapping the table.
"Leave early after the meal to avoid suspicion? For the 'challenge' you asked for."
Pressing send as soon as I finished checking it for errors, I looked out the window lazily as I heard Misaka's phone croak as she received the message.
Seriously, croak. As in noises a frog makes. Though it is a gekota phone so it should be expected...
"... and apparently someone claims they managed to enter the Imaginery Number District!" Saten said.
Despite only paying attention to the conversation for only a few seconds, the content of the discussion intrigued me though 'entering' the Imaginery Number District is definitely a tall tale concocted by someone. On the off chance this is true though it might warrant further investigation.
"Come on Saten-san, even though the rumours that you shouldn't travel between districts at 4:44 pm are there it doesn't mean something will actually happen." Kuroko replied, slowly picking up her chopsticks as her and Misaka's food arrived.
"Did your friend describe what it was like?" I asked, turning to look at Saten.
"Well, she said she was warped to another location for only a split second but she glimpsed technology that definitely doesn't exist!" Saten yelled, her volume increasing with her excitement.
"Well, well, even if that were true at least nothing bad happened to her right?" Uiharu said, digging into her parfait as soon as it arrived.
With Saten and my food arriving a few minutes later, the conversation slowly shifted to the things we did over the holidays, Misaka went eerily silent even as Kuroko went on about her exploits.
Finishing her food faster than me as she was not participating in the conversation at all, Misaka slowly clapped her hands together, left some money for the meal and said she had to leave on some urgent business.
"O-onee-sama! Where are you going?"
"Just some stuff I gotta take care of." Misaka replied, giving a small wave as she left.
Finishing a few minutes after Misaka left, I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone pretending to check the time and my messages, "Shit, is it that time already?"
"What's wrong Ryu-san?" Saten asked, swallowing her udon quickly to ask.
"I got to go back and get my homework from my friends or I'll never see it again." I replied with a sigh as I pocketed my phone again, "Sorry guys but I guess I gotta call it a night as well."
Leaving some money on the table just like Misaka, I excused myself before hurrying out of the restaurant to look for her. I didn't have to look far though, as soon as I turned around the corner she was waiting there leaning against the wall waiting for me, "Really... Just how long did you intend to keep me waiting!?"
Electromaster, Vector Change and Energy Manipulation Personal Realities online! Preparing for imminent electricity based attack!
As if on cue, Misaka didn't disappoint as she stamped on the ground sending a small shockwave that caused me to jump or get shocked.
"So... Usual place?" I asked, landing slightly off balance but recovering quickly nonetheless.
"Anyhow, anywhere! I can't wait til we get there." Misaka replied, grinning maliciously.
After a short walk to the grassy area next to the riverside, Misaka and I stood several meters from each other. As if sizing me up, Misaka looked me up and down as she stood there with folded arms, tapping her foot restlessly.
Vector Change, Energy Manipulation and Electromaster on standby for defence and Pyrokinesist active for offence.
Noticing my slow shift in stance, Misaka finally uncrossed her arms, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, please hold back though, I won't even survive the first hit if you get serious."
"I know that already! Here goes!" Misaka yelled, shooting a multi pronged lance of electricity from her forehead.
Unable to dodge in time, I quickly tried to create a electron stream of my own to redirect her lightning, some of the current being redirected, the rest being redirected by my Vector Shield into the ground or absorbed by Energy Manipulation.
Even though none of the current went directly through any of my organs I can still feel an eerie buzzing feeling a few split seconds before the redirection kicks in, not particularly harmful but still quite creepy nonetheless.
"You're getting better at using your abilities, you weren't able to come out from an attack that powerful unscathed before." Misaka said, electricity already building up for another shot.
My Electromaster Personal Reality is practically useless here. Seeing as its the owner of the ability I'm fighting, she can easily predict any move I make with that ability. Not to mention the difference in proficiency, there are just too many costs and not enough benefits.
As I was repurposing my Electromaster Personal Reality for passive defence, Misaka shot another pronged lightning lance this time making covering all the spots around me eliminating the chance of me redirecting the electricity away from me.
Taking the lightning in from one arm, I tried to absorb as much electricity as I could using Energy Manipulation while using Vector Change to force the lightning into the ground again. Only partially succeeding, I felt some of the current travel through me feeling that buzzing sensation on a greater scale, feeling a slight pain as some of my muscles spasmed involuntarily.
"If you can ward of my electrical attacks what about this?!" Misaka yelled, pointing her hand downwards, electricity travelling from her hand directly into the ground.
Indirect attack with electricity? No... It's the right hand rule... Which means she's using electromagnetism...
Yanking her hand upwards, Misaka summoned out a funnel of iron sand, the iron sand taking shape in the form of her trademark chainsaw sword.
I was waiting for it!
Igniting both hands, I created a pair of flaming scimitars one in each hand brandishing one at Misaka, "Let's do this!"
Both of us silently running to each other, I drew back both arms ready to parry Misaka's strike. My theory was simple. Magnetism requires complex calculations derived from Maxwell's equations, and iron itself is a ferromagnet. Due to the large surface area to volume ratio that Misaka's iron saw has it will heat up very easily. When a ferromagnet reaches its Curie Point it loses its ferromagnetic properties. In other words, iron stops being a ferromagnet when heated beyond a certain point. In this case, 770 degrees Celsius.
As Misaka drew her arm back across her left shoulder, her direction of attack was practically broadcasted: a diagonal strike from her upper left to lower right.
Altering the flame scimitar in my left from a regular grip to a reverse grip, the flame blade disappeared towards my hand only to appear on the other end. Shifting my balance to the left side of my body I readied both my blades at my lower right side. Although shifting my balance to the right would let me put my body weight into the strike, both blades won't clash anyway so a powerful strike is not necessary.
At the last possible moment, Misaka and I both swung our blades out, my scimitars cutting through her chainsaw as I predicted. But the blade didn't dissipate as I thought it would. The iron sand the flame passed through appeared disorganised for a split second but the blade reformed as quickly as it was distorted and now the chainsaw was headed straight for my face.
I can't bring up a Vector Shield in time!
With the majority of my calculations focused on maintaining the flame blades all of my defensive abilities were all set to standby. Nobody raises their shield if they don't expect an attack to come.
Ducking and dropping into a roll, I felt an intense stinging pain as the iron sand hit my skin and started shredding through it, my roll taking me out of the swords trajectory but the damage was already done.
Extinguishing my flame scimitars I brought my right hand up to my face to feel the extent of the damage, judging by the amount of blood and stinging pain that I feel it's probably not very deep so it's not something I have to treat on the spot.
"I got you didn't I?" Misaka replied, her own iron chainsaw dissipating into the wind, "The cut isn't very deep I pulled back as soon as I felt it hit."
"So this ends in my loss then." I replied, pinching the wound close to try and accelerate the clotting process.
"Nuh uh it ain't over. You're not defeated yet." Misaka said, reaching into her pocket.
"You got a hit on me. Doesn't that mean I lose?" I replied, wondering what she was doing.
"That was a miscalculation on your part. You thought by heating the iron sand you could make it lose its magnetism right? When any object has been heated enough it can become a paramagnet. Which means I can still control it."
So that's why the iron sand seemed to reorganise in such a short time...
"Well, it's a good strategy but it had its flaws. The real match is decided here." Misaka said, pulling out an arcade coin and balancing it on her thumb and forefinger.
"U-uhhh Misaka-san...? I'm not like a certain natural disaster who can negate anything... A railgun is really asking for a bit much don't you think?"
"Don't worry I'll hold back. At the output I have in mind you won't die."
"That doesn't sound reassuring at all..."
Oh man, I was right, at the end of the fight she'll make me catch railguns...
Deactivating Pyrokinesis and Electromaster, activating Aero Hand and Telekinesis.
"Anything you want to say before I fire it?" Misaka asked, sounding awfully calm despite practically issuing a death threat.
"Uhhh don't kill me please?" I replied, slowly walking backwards.
If I can just get out of her 50 meter range limit I'll be safe. But just in case...
Using Telekinesis and Aero Hand to slow the movement of ambient air molecules, absorbing heat energy and redirecting it to myself via Energy Manipulation and Vector Change...
I hate doing this to block attacks. It's too time consuming and only works if my enemy is willing to wait as I prepare. It would probably work better if I had someone to act as a distraction but more often than not I don't have that luxury.
"Time's up!" Misaka yelled, a yellow beam shooting out from her hand as she fired her signature move straight at me.
Vector Shield to the front half of my body, deflect to randomised vector, absorb and convert the kinetic energy of the coin via Energy Manipulation!
The coin passing the 50 meter mark in a flash, I felt like a truck hit me in the next instant, knocked backwards several meters from the impact as my Vector Shield and Energy Manipulation failed to fully deflect the attack.
That coin wasn't even travelling at the speed of sound. But despite her holding back I'm still lying on the ground totally winded.
Coughing as I struggled to sit up, I looked up at Misaka wearily, "Do I lose now?"
Or maybe I should have stayed down...
"Fine, it's my victory this time then." Misaka replied, not sounding as happy as I thought she would.
"Why don't you sound happy?"
"I wanted to try a few other things..." Misaka muttered offhandedly as she walked over, "I guess they can wait until next time."
Ehhhhh don't treat me like I'm your punching bag!
-End of Chapter 7-
Author's Note: Wooo! Sorry it took so long for this one, had to consult a friend regarding the fight scene and kinda got distracted by a few facebook games (I swear those things are evil) along with watching Furious 6. As always, leave any thoughts, suggestions or possible plot holes or extreme OOC moments in review or private message! Until next time!
