Chapter 8

And Then Reality Broke Around Me.


Richard

Things had been going well at first. Bogart's team had set themselves up in a van not too far away from the Starbucks and I remember Misaka was entertaining herself by comparing Chicago to Academy City.

"…and we don't have as much trash, and we have robots that clean up what trash there is, and the buildings have an almost polished look…"

"Does it have a Starbucks?" I remember asking her.

She had looked around before politely smiling and saying "Nope, but that's a positive in my book!"

It had been a nice morning! Yeah, I was a bit nervous about what we could find out about Charlie, but I figured it was a step forward regardless. Charlie didn't look all that different from when we graduated, he seemed happy enough to be there… and then that prick showed up and gave everyone a scare and a half before disappearing.

"Uh… so… anyway-" Charlie said a little bit after edge lord decided to leave.

"You don't believe me?" I asked my high school friend.

"What… I… no… not be rude, but come on, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Charlie replied, but I could hear the encounter had left him shaken.

"Yeah, but tell me you didn't see sparks go off her hair!" I hissed, mindful of the other customers giving us bizarre looks after the light bulbs exploded probably due to something our resident electric girl did.

"I don't know… man, what the hell did you get yourself into?"

"Let's talk outside?" I suggested.

Misaka was walking down the sidewalk, irritated.

"He's gone…" she said, both to me and to the FBI team monitoring.

"Well, yeah, he walked away."

"Teleported away." she said matter-of-factly, getting a weird look from Charlie.

"Sorry, I couldn't properly introduce myself. I'm Mikoto Misaka."

Charlie gave me a look that screamed "Dude, stop this."

"And yes, I'm the real deal." She said, winking as a tiny, almost invisible spark of electricity shot out of her hair.

Again, Charlie looked at me, but this time he spoke up.

"Okay… so… what… she's the actual Misaka Mikoto… and she's here by herself?"

"Actually several other fictional characters are here now. To our knowledge, Misaka and that guy you saw earlier were the first ones, but we're not sure."

Charlie groaned.

"Okay, so what, you think I wrote him?"

"I don't know. I think this relates to the stuff we both used to write back in high school, though."

"Why?" he asked, something in his voice…

"Because when this all started, bear with me here, I got dragged into the computer, and no one else has had that happen despite others appearing."

Charlie blinked twice, looked at Misaka, looked at me, and turned around and walked away.

"Uh… okay, bye?!" I half yelled.

"Sorry, man. I can't… I just can't." he said, waving goodbye.

"W-wait a sec!" the chestnut haired girl yelled, running ahead of him, almost bumping into a guy talking on the phone.

Oh, what is she planning on-?

She started to tear up.

"We-we've been working so hard t-to… get any leads on this… you're the closest thing we've got to a possible… author… can't you please just try to help us? Please?" she said, taking

Every.

Single.

Solitary advantage any girl has when trying to convince or manipulate someone. Puppy-dog eyes, little trails of tears streaming down her cheeks, wiping said tears with her index finger in order to not make a mess, red cheeks, quivering lips, and a meek demeanor, all in order to look as cute as possible.

God, if she wasn't fourteen… FOCUS!

"Come on, Charlie, don't you remember writing or drawing anything like that?" I asked.

He avoided eye contact with Misaka and me, opting to look at the floor. For a second he looked like he was about to say something, but then he hesitated.

"Sorry… I got nothing." he said after a bit.

"Look, I'll be going to SDCC this summer. We can meet up there and you can tell me all about it then, okay? I gotta go… sorry, Rich."

And with that he was gone.

Misaka sighed, before talking to the FBI team via earpiece. I didn't hear what she said, angrily glaring as my old friend walked away.

The sound of a certain electric girl clearing her throat brought me back to reality.

"Sorry… you think he's…?"

She nodded, before sighing and turning to look in Charlie's direction.

"Bogart says they'll follow him around, but we should go back. We don't want knight back there acting up in a city street…" she said.

I nodded.

With little more that we could do we headed straight for my Lancer. I kept a calm demeanor, not really thinking about what had happened until I sat down in the driver's seat. I had noticed that I was getting angrier and angrier the more I walked, and the instant I sat down I had reached the boiling point.

"Damn it! I thought he would…" I said angrily, crashing my head into the steering wheel, mindful not to hit the horn.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… a bit pissed off I guess."

I noticed her face wrinkle slightly, before she sighed and said "You've been on edge these past few days, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah… feels like I'm in this for the ride, unable to do anything… can't stand that, you know?"

She, admittedly awkwardly, tapped my shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Hey, who knows, maybe you're right and he knows something we don't."

I shrugged.

"Did you notice how he paled when the knight said something about people not liking his drawings?"

I winced, sitting up slightly.

"Yeah… huh…come to think of it, he didn't show his old drawings to many people… well, he's on Deviant Art now, but…" I frowned. I was missing something here.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm wondering about my old classmates… I didn't have all that many friends, but I think he had even less…"

"Maybe there's another person that liked to draw?"

"Well, yeah, most high school kids like to doodle at least a little… I have to get my old yearbook." I said, wondering if there was someone else that could've written this edge lord. I doubt we had the resources to look through the random doodles of my entire class during middle and high school, but if I remember correctly, there were a few other kids that really liked painting and drawing. I figured maybe one of them remembered their old drawings… maybe one of them got into writing too.

The engine began to turn before shutting down.

"Think it's the battery?" she asked.

"Nah, it's just old…" I said trying again, but once more it shut off.

"Here let me…" she said, tapping the car with her hand, sending electricity through it.

It started up immediately.

"Huh… thanks…" I said, kind of surprised. I keep forgetting how many uses her ability has.

She smiled, satisfied, turning to the window as she stretched and said "All in a day's work!"

Charlie

Yeah, I walked away.

What would you do?

Like it or not, I'm one guy. I'm surprised Richard was working with them, assuming this was real, (Which it probably wasn't) he'd be putting himself through college while having to deal with a psychopath that no one knows exist! Think about it! I know superhero movies love to have their super powered teens keeping their identities secret while fighting off a bunch of things, but do you've any idea how insane it would be to have to fight Zoo-tar, destroyer of civilizations, one night and then deal with professor "I didn't have my coffee this morning and you'll all going to suffer with me" a few hours later?! A normal person would've snapped by that point!

He did look exhausted…

But even if it was real, it wasn't like I remembered anything useful.

You ruined the whole design!

I angrily pushed those memories away before taking a turn and freezing when I realized I had walked past the bus stop. I sighed to myself and began walking back. I told myself to forget it all, that was the past, and I sure as hell hadn't done anything wrong! I couldn't have written that guy, nor have I written any stories with a similar character design! I draw more than I write and if anyone could've written such an edgy character it was Richard! Back in middle school he was the edgy kid of the class.

Everyone thought that if someone was going to shoot up the school it would be him for crying out loud! Yeah, he relaxed a little during eighth grade, but he was usually much more serious and quiet than the rest of the class.

I always found it creepy when…

Damn it…

Okay, I shouldn't blame him or change the subject, but I was scared! Even if there's a 95.5% chance this is just him messing around trying to prank me, the fear remained that there might be some kind of event or phenomenon going on where fictional characters are appearing in reality.

He had mentioned others…

The bus arrived a minute late, which I noticed because I kept counting down the seconds on my watch. I just wanted to move on, become my own person, forget about high school, and just move on from all of that.

But as a certain character once said, "No matter how hard you try; you can't run away from the past."

I always knew that was true, I just never thought it would catch up to me in the way it did.

Elton

I stared as Erza took a deep breath.

"Maybe… maybe we should just calm down?" the little girl asked her. The red head sighed and looked directly at Iowa.

"Iowa… listen… these men… if they're not losing sleep over kids dying how in the world can you side with them?"

Maybe stupidly, or out of pride, I stayed quiet. Truth was I lost sleep as much as some of our other agents did when we had to work with or against some of the worst people out there. We always get portrayed as this cold, pragmatic, shadow group that kills indiscriminately, and what truth there may be to that, it isn't as simple or black and white as some writers like to show. I was about to open my mouth when Iowa spoke up.

"Oh, real nice coming from someone who doesn't even understand what we stand for. You met the CIA team today, Erza, you met us a little over three days ago, have any of us done anything to you that gives the impression we're the bad guys?" she asked, coming off more worried than angry.

"I told you, I can't just let these injustices stand!" the red head growled.

"Oh? I don't see you saying the same thing about your world's dark guilds!"

The woman stammered.

Dark guilds? Did Iowa actually do some research, or…?

I glanced at Misaki.

It'd be easier if I had my remotes. I heard her say in my head.

"Right… can't you calm Erza down?"

"Not without…" she mouthed, looking kind of annoyed.

"Yeah. Kind of unfair to say, huh? I know it's hard to hear, but this world isn't as black and white as our own worlds… but I can assure you, these are my countrymen and I trust them. I know they want to do the right thing."

The red head shook her head.

"Even still, I can't work with them… I can't… not in good conscious."

The two women looked at us, hiding behind the cars, as if unsure what to say. Honestly, it was kind of cowardly on our part.

Misaki glanced at me, signaling with her head to say something.

"I can't guarantee we can just leave you alone, but if you want to go off to a hotel or just be on your own for a bit, then sure. I bet we can arrange that."

No sooner had the words left my mouth a gunshot rang out and Wendy fell to the floor.

6-18-1-14-11 3-1-19-20-12-5

Damned CIA, I expected them to just open up the second Erza turned hostile, but no, they had to act all rational and diplomatic. I guess I didn't have to shoot Wendy, it wouldn't accomplish much, but I needed Erza to think the CIA tried to kill them.

"YOU LIAR!" I heard her shout.

I couldn't help but smile slightly as she materialized a spear and buried it into one of the cars. The doctor was well on his way away from the scene, and I had a jeep hidden nearby to get us out of there soon enough.

All I had to do was support the red headed woman with the sniper I'd gotten ahold of.

Elton

The car's windows disintegrated. I ducked down; Misaki fell flat on her back.

"Erza don't! That- woah!"

"Stay away!"

Iowa was flung over the car, landing on her chest with a grunt.

I heard Erza asking Wendy if she was alright. I heard the girl let out a pained moan.

"We can help you, just bring her-"

Three large blades appeared above the car and crushed the roof in.

God, the treasury is going to kill us…

I looked at the other agents, all we had were variations of the standard sidearm we use, and I glanced at the two girls. Wendy was clutching her stomach, but there was no blood dripping on the ground. Assuming that was a sniper, which it sounded like a Remington 700 Model, and that Wendy wasn't even bleeding, the best our 40 S&W would do would be to mildly annoy them.

I considered talking, but Misaki stopped me.

Stay down, she's out of it!

Her voice was surprisingly calm.

"Come out and fight! Is it easier to shoot from back there?! Man up!" she yelled, not hopping over the cars for some reason; probably trying to taunt whoever had shot Wendy, or maybe trying to get us out in the open.

"Elton, I'll distract her."

I turned to Iowa, who simply smirked and hopped over the car.

I glanced through the side, realizing that Erza was trying to hit her with her spear blade thing without cutting her. Iowa kept swaying, barely dodging the hits, left to right and blocking when needed. She was fast, moving around her, blocking a kick as she did so, she attempted to grab the red head. A large sword appeared behind her, knocking her to the side.

"E-Erza…" the little girl tried to interject, but I could tell she was hurting. One guy tried to approach her only to get slammed with a round to the chest by the person hiding in the shadows with a sniper. Non-fatal, he had a vest underneath, but that doesn't work like in the movies, he'd be out of commission for a while.

"Misaki, any idea where the sniper is?" my boss asked the teenager.

The young girl shook her head, glaring angrily at the forest around the cemetery. Iowa had gotten up rather quickly and had put up her hands in a fighting stance.

"Been a long time since I last went hand to hand!" she said, seemingly unfazed by getting tossed aside like nothing.

Before Erza could do anything, another shot rang out and Iowa got knocked to the floor.

That was a problem. Yeah, she had her special "Uniform" underneath her casual clothes, but we'd only tested it against small arms once, we had no idea if it would handle a higher caliber round.

"OW! That one hurt you prick!" she yelled as she got on one knee, more annoyed than hurt. Another shot rang out, this one knocking her on her stomach.

"Damn… you…" the blonde groaned, lying on the ground.

But this time I could see the muzzle flash.

"Sniper! Two 'o clock! Two 'o clock! Take it out!" I yelled and opened up with the Glock, only for a large round to go through the car, almost hitting my shoulder as I ducked down.

"Now that you know where he is-"

Misaki shook her head.

"I see him, but it's like I can't get through his… damn it, I can't do anything here!" she said through a clenched jaw.

"Erza we don't have a sniper here! We didn't set one-" I tried yelling, but she shut me down.

"Will you shut up?! Until proven otherwise, whoever shot Wendy will pay, and whoever shoots you is a friend of mine!" she yelled, materializing a large sword and cutting down the middle of the car, effectively destroying a good chunk of the cover we had. I don't know what she was thinking, or if her thoughts were so clouded by rage that she couldn't think.

Keep in mind, we hadn't actually shot Erza yet, but with Iowa on the ground, and Misaki without her remotes…

Damn it!
I turned my aim on the looming red head and squeezed the trigger as she lunged at our small group.

Richard

I kept the volume low as an old Linkin Park remix played on the radio. Misaka was quietly looking out the window as the car made its way down the highway, and I was thinking back to middle school, back when Numb was my favorite song, drawing edgy comic concepts was my go to during free time, being really depressed was starting to become normal, and the only reason I didn't dress like a biker was because I didn't have the money and it was frankly embarrassing even for me.

I drew plenty of messed up concept art for some of the stuff I wanted to write later, thankfully those went nowhere, and none involved an edgy teleporting knight, but… there were some kids back then that liked drawing too, right?

A bad memory came up, one of a skinny girl that had a pretty nasty skin condition. What was her name? She was only in my class for a single semester around eighth grade if I'm remembering correctly, and I only talked to her once, though it was more of an interaction than a talk… I remember that she was drawing something in her notebook… It was one of those moments that you want to forget because it's just so awkward. She had sat down next to me, and the guy behind her desk asked something about what she was drawing, and when she ignored him he decided to get her attention by grabbing her notebook.

Yeah, she was drawing a thing and some retard grabbed it and tossed it at someone else.

I got a glimpse of it and I think she was drawing herself as an adult… well… even if it wasn't, it's still a teenager's drawing, and I wouldn't want anyone finding out about the stuff I drew back then, so to have even a small chunk of the class making fun of it was pretty heart wrenching to look at. The part that really stuck with me is that she immediately started to cry; she ran up to the group of kids that were looking at the drawing, grabbed it, and gunned it out of the classroom before the teacher could even figure out what it was.

That was our one and only interaction, me sitting next to her when some moron decided to reveal to his friends what she was drawing and having her freak out.

The only reason I say it's an interaction is because she bumped my forehead with her arm as she ran off, she quickly apologized for it and I shrugged it off, but I specifically remember some of her treatment cream or ointment or whatever the hell that was on my shirt left a small stain that stuck with that shirt until I threw it away a few years later.

I wondered what ever happened to her.

Misaka's phone rang there and then.

"Yes?"

Did she move away or something? I can't even remember her name.

"WHAT?" Misaka yelled into her phone. She turned to me quickly, yelling "Richard, take the next exit now!"

"Uh… the one we just passed, or…?" I asked as it appeared on the rearview mirror, causing Misaka to look confused for a second before she realized she'd spoken too late.

"Erza just went crazy; she's fighting the CIA team keeping Misaki and Iowa safe! They're in a cemetery down that road back there" She yelled, almost pleading.

Damn it all!

Ignoring the coming traffic, I whirled the old car around as best I could (Which was to immediately hit the brakes, and awkwardly begin turning around), getting several angry honks, went against traffic for a few yards before turning right.

As I made the turn I wondered what the hell I could even do. Deliver Misaka, maybe evacuate whoever was hurt? What was even happening? This looked like a quiet part of the state!

Smoke appeared from not too far away.

"We're nearby, just stay down!" She yelled into her phone, as she rolled down the glass window.

"H-hey! Wait! That's… not… safe… oh yeah." I said as she climbed onto the roof of the car and magnetically glued herself to it.

"Turn left!" she yelled, ignoring the odd look other drivers and pedestrians were giving us as I drove down the road. Keep in mind; I wasn't going fast enough for wind and dust to be a problem for her eyes.

The cemetery came up and I could see the CIA cars on fire.

"Oh, crap…"

Erza was hopping around like a rabbit, kicking some men down as if they were Jenga towers. I saw one of the Eltons grab her from behind, lifting her up in the air and tossing her to the side about three feet. The red head got up immediately, standing back as several swords materialized around her.

I accelerated a little, finally realizing that I could do something useful.

Elton

It was chaos.

She ignored my bullet, hopped high in the air and materialized a spear looking blade, swinging it around with amazing skill. We were smart enough to back off, Misaki herself had retreated behind a tombstone, but the sniper kept our options limited. As she continued dancing, trying to hit us, at least one of the agents tried to get Wendy out of the line of fire, but Erza materialized a blade and knocked her back with it. She continued to kick and hop over the men trying to subdue her, but bullets were doing nothing!

It was at that point that I remembered the footage we'd seen, and how one Marine had managed to pick her up and bring her down. Erza was lighter than she looked, more so now than when she wore that steel plating, but she was still strong. Just because I had managed to grab her by surprise didn't mean I could do much.

She had tanked a point blank round to the chest earlier, I doubted me tossing her a few feet would do much. Sure enough, she was back on her feet, literally glaring daggers at me.

This whole time, Iowa remained on the floor, whether she was playing dead or not was irrelevant at the moment, and no one could help her.

I was just hoping Misaki had gotten through. She'd retreated to a nearby gravestone to call Misaka who was the closest aside from the FBI team, but I wasn't sure if they were on the way or not.

Erza however, had materialized several blades.

"Erza, please…" the little girl, trying desperately to calm down her friend, pleaded while supporting herself on a large gravestone.

"I won't let you hurt her!" she yelled at me.

Okay, death by magic sword… I kind of figured I'd go out in my sleep, but sure, why not?

Wait… is that a car?

An old Lancer hit the brakes as it stopped in between Erza and the rest of the team, a certain electric girl was on the roof, she immediately got rid of the swords by magnetizing them to the car.

"Erza, what is this?" she asked the red head.

"Misaka get down!" I yelled. She turned around to look at me, narrowly dodging the bullet that was aiming at her head.

"What was- whoa!" she exclaimed as another round broke the glass of the passenger door's window. She hopped down from the roof, and ducked next to me.

"Sniper?! Oh for f-" the college student cursed as he ducked down on his seat.

"Mental Out!" Misaka seemed to beckon.

"I'm good here." the other blonde waved, cowering behind a now cracked tombstone.

"I know! But I'm going to try-" another sniper round slammed against the gravestone Misaki was hiding behind, pulverizing one of its corners and getting a yelp out of the girl. Yeah, whoever this guy is, he wasn't letting up.

"Okay… or I'll just do everything myself." She mumbled, beginning to emit an electric field that began to expand rather quickly.

"W-what are you doing?" Erza asked, as her blades would constantly get pulled into the ground, and I could feel the magnetic pull as I held my gun.

I groaned, as Zapper gave us a look that suggested we should trust her. yeah, leaving it to a fourteen year old who can actually do something here would probably be the smart choice.

"Do it!" my boss ordered as another round slammed into the now damaged Lancer. Some of my guys opened up on the area we knew the sniper was hiding, but I doubted they'd hit anything.

6-18-1-14-11 3-1-19-20-12-5

Those bastards hit me!

Alright, gloves were off.

Usually, accounting for wind direction when firing wasn't a problem for me, but here in the "real world" I was learning a little late that it was a bit tougher to get any good hits. Iowa appeared down, but I wasn't sure if she was dead, the CIA agents kept behind cover even when Erza tried driving them out of it. Mental Out was constantly trying to breach the defenses the good doctor had set up for me, but her attempts weren't getting anywhere since she didn't know what to look for and the second her golden hair became visible to me I'd shoot.

But she would occasionally get lucky, causing some slight discomfort before moving on. Apparently, the way telepaths work in her world is similar to a fishing line, they create a sort of "communications line" by aiming at a selected target and hooking up with the brains if the doctor's explanation was to be believed, so I could avoid it by moving, but a sniper has to remain still and unseen, so I had to wear the defense the doctor had set up.

She didn't have her remotes, but she could still do all that… yeah, I needed to kill her now.

I had two shots left, and she was staying put behind a foot of granite.

But things had gotten bad when electric girl arrived and made Erza's blades useless by either magnetizing them to the surrounding cars or disrupting Erza's use of the things by magnetically moving them around.

Kid was smart, and I knew this was probably just the first part of her plan.

It was at that point that some lucky bastard grazed the device on my head, damaging my defenses. So all Mental Out had to do now was look around and she could theoretically get my coordinates and set those CIA guns on me, but then the third strongest level 5 began doing her own thing. I felt her electricity subtly spread across the cemetery, causing everyone's hair to stand on end slightly.

"What the hell are you up to?" I grumbled as I went to adjust my aim.

The old Remington suddenly flew out of my hands, along with my telepath protection and one of the hand guns I had in my pocket. The weapons landed out in the open cemetery, away from my cover. At that moment she hopped high in the air, landed on top of the car, and facing red head, demanded an explanation from her.

Oh no, that couldn't be allowed.

I had planned for something like this, setting up plastic explosives in some parts of the cemetery, something she wouldn't notice until I let go of the trigger which would send an electric signal way too late for her to react; problem was I didn't have enough for the whole place so I had spread them around at random so they would almost surely hit someone.

I let go of the detonator and ran back to where I had left the jeep I'd stolen.

Richard

A sniper flew out of the forest along with some random items I couldn't see well from my hiding spot in the car. I did hear Misaka start asking questions, though.

"Everyone alright?" she asked.

A few grunts confirmed that not one was badly hurt.

Erza was eerily quiet; I awkwardly pulled myself forward, glancing at her. She was awkwardly clutching a large blade which was pinned to the ground, while Wendy was supporting herself on a tombstone, clutching her side, visibly in pain.

"Wendy's been shot, I don't know if-" one of the agents began but Erza cut him off.

"Liar! They shot her!"

"What? Why?" Misaka asked.

"Because I don't want to work with them anymore and neither should you!"

"What do you-?" she stopped abruptly and whirled around.

Funny thing about real life fights, they usually only last a minute or two if it's one on one, since you want to end it as soon as possible. And even when one on one fights go on longer than that, talking during one isn't advised, because trying to do that will only give the enemy an opening.

Misaka thought the sniper was out of the picture once she removed his weapon, and perhaps she was not entirely incorrect, but trying to understand Erza's actions would be something saved for the interrogation room, not the scene of a shootout.

She realized that almost too late.

The glass windows ceased to exist as small explosions rang out around us, knocking her from the car's roof and driving me mad. Ever heard an electric transformer explode? Yeah, that's how it sounded. I covered my ringing ears as I tried to crawl around. Surprisingly, there wasn't much smoke, and I stupidly stood up, coming face to face with an angry Erza scarlet.

I swallowed and was about to speak up when she jabbed me with the not sharp end of her spear.

It felt like I had been impaled despite her not even breaking skin. She must've lifted me a foot off the ground with that.

I collapsed, and as I puked on the ground, I think I heard her speak up.

"I hope you weren't lying about there being good people here." although I could've imagined it.

I glanced around, everyone was out of commission?

Misaka appeared then, her right hand on her bleeding forehead. The red head cringed, taking a step back in what seemed to be a mix of surprise and horror.

"I'm… I didn't want to hurt you… but you all… I'm sorry. I didn't set up these explosives!"

"Yeah, yeah, well… who's talking to you?" Misaka managed to ask, as she sat on the floor next to me.

"He just told me what to ask… Mikoto, please… tell them that I will only attack if they force it. Leave Wendy and me alone."

Before she could say anything a black jeep rammed through the cemetery's fence, stopping behind the older woman.

"Come on! I have answers!" an old guy yelled from inside the car.

"Wendy!" Erza grabbed the exhausted girl and dragged her into the car.

I looked around, desperately trying to find something useful I could use before these guys got away.

A gun!

No idea what kind, but it was sleek black and scary. I picked it up and… they'd gone.

I groaned and decided to let gravity pull me down.

I heard police sirens in the distance, which at this point I welcomed. As I awkwardly moved, I saw the CIA team gather itself, someone screamed in horror.

One of the men had lost some fingers, and was staring in a panic at the bleeding stumps.

A dazed Misaki walked over, touched the man's head and he instantly fell asleep, allowing for his not maimed buddies to pick him up and put him in my car. One of the Eltons had gotten on the driver's seat and was yelling "Anyone hurt, get in here!"

I awkwardly lifted my shirt, checking where Erza had jabbed me.

It was purple, but I wasn't bleeding… wait, is purple internal bleeding or…?

Screw it… it doesn't matter.

"Iowa, you okay?" I heard Misaka ask the blonde after a bit.

I heard a tired groan.

I turned and saw the older blonde slowly sit up, holding her stomach.

"Bastard shoots good… ow…" she said, smiling somehow before lying on the ground again, seemingly out of commission.

Who the hell was that?

"We have to go after her… maybe she'll lead us to- wait... what is this?" Misaka said, grabbing a damaged helmet of sorts before letting out a surprised gasp.

"Is… is that…" Misaki said, her voice cracking with fear.

Misaka nodded.

"An Academy City helmet… someone else from our world came through."

I heard that as the ringing finally dissipated. I rolled my eyes, shut them tight and let out a long sigh. The implication of a helmet that was specifically designed to counter esper powers was reminiscent of a few mad scientists from the show, all of which were sadistic "doctors" that had no qualms in torturing and brutalizing children.

And now at least one was possibly on the loose in the real world.

Damn it all…

6-18-1-14-11 3-1-19-20-12-5

"You made the right choice back there." I told the red head.

She remained silent, as if she was now realizing that she'd acted brashly.

Can't have that.

"Kid's pretty tough, that CIA sniper hit her with a high caliber round, and it didn't even penetrate." I half lied. The round hadn't penetrated after all.

She looked at me, worried.

"It really was them… wasn't it?" she asked as the little one slept in her arms.

I nodded.

"We have to get the others out of there, Misaka and Iowa aren't all that smart from what I've seen… maybe they're-"

"No, I've been here for a fair bit. This world is cruel, Erza, it's a nightmare compared to where you're from. Not even the dark days you spent as a slave compare to some of the horrors that are seen here daily. Those girls are deeply involved in it, even if they claim to have noble goals."

She looked at me for a second before turning her attention to the small girl.

"I see. Thank you… for helping us back there."

I nodded.

I doubted they'd be able to figure out which jeep I was driving since I'd ripped the license plate, but to be safe I parked it about a mile from where the others waited. We made our way through the forest near the lake, an area that didn't have any roads or anything similar.

"We're mostly on the move; if you've been with their soldiers long enough you should know they shoot to kill."

"They're aircraft are… terrifying. But their small arms aren't as effective, although I can sense why they're so deadly." She replied, glancing at the little girl she was carrying.

I looked at her, frowning.

"A part of me is amazed at how quickly they turned on you. They just… shot her." I said, doing my best to sound sympathetic. I was glad she didn't die, but I was also nervous. All that round did to her was bruise her a bit, and when Erza explained she had some kind of "extra resistance" around her skin, I admit, I didn't want to get on her bad side, so keeping the fact that I had shot Wendy a secret was obviously a top priority.

"When your doctor told me about all the crimes they've committed... I'm still shocked they can still pretend to be so kind. The doctor warned me about them having snipers nearby, but I didn't think they'd shoot Wendy."

So, the doctor had stuck to the script. That was good to know, even if he was the type of guy I'd shoot in a heartbeat, he was still willing to work with us.

We made our way to the area we were staying for the moment and saw that the knight was sitting near the water, the pale girl sitting next to him, looking at the lake.

"You're…" Erza began, but the he spoke up.

"Yes, I'm the one who brought you here. I'm sorry for leaving you with them, but I had no choice. They had brainwashed… my friend." He said, pointing towards the other girl.

"Lelouch?" she asked.

"Yes, I was busy battling that electric brat, I summoned her for help, and she performed marvelously despite being possessed." He said, patting the creature's head thing.

"And you dragged us into this reality next… why us?"

I observed the situation from a distance. I hadn't bothered asking too many questions. All I knew was that he wanted what I wanted.

Vengeance.

"I was desperate, I guess I figured your sense of justice would prevail and see through their charade, which you ultimately did." he said, patting the creature's head. She appeared to enjoy it.

Erza nodded before asking "So, you knew us… you read about us?"

He looked at the sky before saying "I think… my writer really liked you… I've been able to know things about people, characters I've never met, but that's about all I know about my bizarre existence."

"How did you bring us here?" she asked quickly. This felt like a job interview.

"I just thought about bringing you out, I think it involves me mentally going in and digging you out of any fountain of information I have for reference, as in if a data about it exists, I can figure out how to grab someone."

She nodded.

"Final question, what do you want to do? Get revenge?" Erza asked.

"Yes." he said simply.

"What do you intend to do for it?"

"Well, these humans see themselves as gods, creators of worlds, but they choose to make us suffer for their entertainment… I figure giving them a taste of their own medicine would work."

The red head nodded, before saying "I can't in good conscious agree to that. There has to be a better option that doesn't involve making anyone suffer."

The knight shrugged.

"If there was, what guarantee is there that it'll change anything? Keep in mind each and every one of them is capable of producing and geocoding realities with their thoughts."

"I don't know… but I know that I cannot abide by the idea that we must get revenge. I want justice, not vengeance."

"Ah, yes, but is there a difference."

"Yes." She said in a dangerous tone.

I seriously thought I would have to kill the two women there and then, but Knight surprised me.

"Alright, we'll be in touch. Castle, you provide money for them, get them an apartment or something in the city."

I nodded, but I was surprised. Thankfully, he explained his thought process.

"I want you on our side Erza, we can find you some money but you'll have to play by this world's rules, and I can't guarantee we'll help you if you get caught. But if you think the people of this world are worth anything then come to me to tell me about it. I'm certain you'll see things my way, however."

"We'll see." She said in a challenging tone.

"All that work for nothing?" the doctor demanded of the Knight.

"I'd rather keep them under close watch than having them fighting us. I still need to regain some energy before I can grab who I want. I don't want a repeat of the albino." He said cryptically.

"Bah, his power's useless here without any of the dolls supporting him. You were right to dump him in the trash."

"Yes, but now where is he?" he asked, as if making a point.

"Albino?" the red head asked as she packed some food into a bag I'd given her.

"Oh, when I was first getting used to my powers I tried bringing out this one really powerful character, only to discover that doing so drained me of energy and that he had been brain damaged and couldn't do anything. I left him in this dump of an alleyway, which was a big mistake on my part because when I went to get him again he was gone. I haven't been able to find him since, but the good doctor here thinks we shouldn't worry about it." he said, reminding me of a cocky teenager.

"…if he isn't dead, you should certainly try to find him. What if he wants revenge?" Erza said, looking at the doctor like he was an idiot.

The doctor sighed, admitting defeat, but went back to work on adjusting some wires on this device he'd created. He'd set up a sort of camera interference thing that messed with a drone's surveillance equipment and would keep us hidden, even if they went with thermals.

Problem was keeping it working.

The pale girl was able to power it slightly using the bizarre energy she emitted, but that wouldn't work forever.

"I'd rather return to my lab in the city. I can research much more discretely there." He muttered.

"You'd be giving up the advantage of viewing them directly." I reminded him.

"Bah, two of the weaker level 5s, a boat, and an exiled prince with an overrated power, all I'll learn from watching them from here is that they're interested in returning home to fix things."

I knew this guy had other goals; he was most likely working with edge lord because if the government found out who he was they'd hang him in an instant, with no trial.

"Um… mister Castle?" little Wendy asked me.

"What?" I asked.

"You… killed the man that shot me?" she asked.

I nodded as emotionless as I found possible.

"I'm sorry." She said genuinely sad.

"My job needs me to be ready for this. Don't think much of it." I said.

"Sir, I promise you, Erza and I will make things better for everyone!" she said, pointing at herself.

I looked at the sheer determination in the child's eyes. It hurt to imagine that my daughter was probably as optimistic, so the doctor snapped me out of it.

"Of course, little one." he said, kindly tapping her head in a way similar to a grandfather, a similar smile on his face.

"Alright, I'll walk you to the city, find you a cheap place, maybe it'll have some commodities, maybe not, but hopefully you'll be comfortable." I said, internally groaning that we were playing nice with two sympathizers of the people we wanted to destroy, but at the moment it was better than having two more enemies.

The pair nodded and followed me.

Excerpt from ABC7 Eyewitness News

-… strange situation developing in (Location redacted), Chicago earlier today, our man on the scene (ID redacted) is at the scene where what some are saying was a gas leak caused a major explosion, exhuming at least two buried cadavers and badly damaging over a dozen graves. We go there now.

- that's right (ID redacted) few people are sure what caused the explosion, but residents of (Location redacted) say that it wasn't a gas leak, but a shoot-out.

Resident- we've been having problems with gangs here, I don't know if it was that but I heard people shooting each other.

-no one actually witnessed the shooting, but many people claim they heard gunfire. Local and state police aren't commenting on the incident, but the high presence of police and just a few moments ago federal agents suggests that this was no mere gas leak. We'll continue this story as it develops…

Lieutenant Anderson

I tried my damndest to keep my shaking hands hidden.

I screwed up.

Oh, they're just kids, let them out for a few hours, let the newcomers get a taste for the real world, we'll be careful here, I'm sure you'll be able to handle it!

God, I was so… no, can't blame myself right now, save that for later!

I had a lot of work to do. But the priority was to check over the wounded. None of my guys had even been there, but I was responsible for the men wounded since I pushed for the excursion that turned deadly.

I wouldn't be surprised if they kicked me off the task force.

I made my way down the medical ward, which was now full of doctors from other divisions, and got to the area where the wounded were being treated.

Both Richards walked out, the youngest of them with an uncomfortable look in his eyes.

"You okay?" I asked the civilians.

"He's just a bit bruised." His dad said.

Richard looked at me before saying "I want to talk to you when you get the chance."

I nodded and moved past them.

Mikoto was sitting down next to Misaki who was trying to comb the chestnut haired girl's hair so it hid the stitches on her forehead.

Damn it…

"Lieutenant!" one of the agents yelled at me as he walked over.

"We've been analyzing the helmet we got, the thing works to block Misaki's powers and-"

"I heard about the helmet and its simple tech, I don't-"

"We have an idea on who made it. And if he's through…" he paused, staring nervously.

"Yeah, I know… big trouble regardless. We're all in deep-"

"Lieutenant!" an older voice called.

I shuddered and turned to look at my Admiral.

"A-admiral-"

"Ah, relax; I'm not going to berate you just yet. I do however want to know what you plan to do after all this."

"I… I want to discuss possible contingency plans back at the warehouse, this time including the displaced characters… maybe even move our operations to somewhere else."

He looked at me and nodded.

"Alright, do your job and tell me what you and the commanding officers come up with."

I checked the wounded, thankfully most were just mild injuries.

A few broken ribs, some deep gashes, damaged or outright impaired hearing, and one case of a man who lost the index, middle, and ring fingers on his left hand, none of which were fatal with modern medicine, but a few of the CIA agents would have to retire, or at the very least be out of commission for a fair while. I guess it's the best outcome considering they were up against at least one superhuman and one sniper. Which meant we had to find more, which made the people aware of the situation grow in number, which increased the odds of the populace finding out.

It was a mess, period.

Technically, I didn't have all that responsibility here, that honor went to my commanding officers and the Admiral himself since he approved it, but even after I found out no one was killed, I still felt responsible for going with the idea of letting the kids be kids and go out of the base.

Again, I pushed those thoughts away and began to focus on the big question of "How to keep this from happening."

Time for a big meeting, I guess.

I began to step out of the building when Richard walked over.

The kid had clearly been on edge for a while now, and I could tell he was growing restless, but he'd been quiet.

I remember reading that he was a quiet kid in school, though.

"Uh… lieutenant… I… uh… I would like to train with the Marines more… maybe get some tips on how to defend myself… firearms training wouldn't be bad either… unless you think it-"

"You want to train with the military?"

"Hell, I'll join it if I have to! I'm tired of just standing around doing nothing!" he said, not really yelling, but clearly frustrated with himself.

I looked at him for a minute, shrugged, and walked away after saying.

"I'll see what I can do. But you did help out earlier today, so I don't think you just sat around."

"I delivered zapper to the area, I couldn't…"

"Yeah, and for that we're thankful. I'll see what we can do with you." I told him.

Right now it was time for a meeting.

"So! What do we know?" I asked the group sitting at the table.

"That gingers really have no soul…" Iowa said bitterly.

"No, we know that this little knight is a bit smarter than we thought." The young royal replied.

"We can assume he sent the telepath that guided Erza to start doubting us, getting her to believe the CIA was an actively evil organization, and ultimately turn her against us." I replied.

"Whoever the telepath is, he lured us out by getting Wendy to follow some old man to the cemetery." Misaki added.

"Wendy kept trying to say something, but she never got the chance to… you guys think she believed whatever the telepath told her?"

We were quiet for a moment, wondering if that was the truth.

"I don't think it matters, both of them are gone and all we can do right now is sit around and wait for him to make the next move, am I mistaken?" Lelouch asked, somewhat angry.

"I don't know…"

"Well, if I may suggest something, I say we take change the playing field. I saw how your military handled the dragons, how about we all move to an area where there is absolutely no one around? That way there is little risk of the public finding out and you can go all out once he attacks."

It didn't sound like a bad idea, moving to an area away from people to fight him there, make him play by our rules, however…

"The problem is that we have no way of guaranteeing him following us. Maybe he's waiting for you guys to be out of the picture in order to attack somewhere else." Misaka stated.

"If that was the case then why not attack another populated center? Surely he has the capabilities of hit and run attacks. This person is affixed to something, and we may have it. I say we move elsewhere."

"I don't think we have it, I think we're the only ones in the way." Richard Junior suggested.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I think moving the displaced people away from Illinois to say, the state of Iowa would allow him to play out his revenge fantasy."

"And we know that's what he wants? Vengeance?" the young royal asked.

"It may not be a guarantee, but think about it. Bogart's men recorded the conversation between him, Charlie, Richard and Misaka. Anyone noticed that he mentioned that the world needed to pay? He constantly referred to people as evil. This is someone who wants vengeance."

"But then that begs the question, doctor, if he hates every human being alive, then why is he limiting himself to the state of Illinois if he has proven capable of bringing forth dragons out in the dessert hundreds of miles away?" Lelouch asked.

"It has to be something with Charlie or me… or maybe someone else here. Like, maybe something that happened here is related to his reason." Richard suggested quietly.

"Hey, we don't know that, but one way or the other, this knight is limiting his operations to the state of Illinois. If we move on, he'll have free reign to do what he wants, especially when you remember that Misaka has consistently mopped the floor with him."

"So, what are you suggesting?"

The man looked pensive before saying "I say we stay here, wait him out."

"Just wait? I say we scan the entire state until we find him!" Iowa demanded.

"They already have drones looking for them, Iowa." Misaki said.

"Yeah, well… I don't like the idea of Wendy being out there with that monster…"

"We'll find her, I swear we will." Mikoto said in a determined tone, which calmed the older girl down.

"So, it's another gamble then. This is all speculation, but it's better than what we started with." I added, glancing at the feed from the other military officers that were assisting us. We'd lost one battle, and we couldn't afford to lose more.

They agreed. This was all ignoring the fact that at least one person from Academy City was through, and assuming this was a doctor that would break international law for "science" then there was even more reason to focus our efforts in Illinois.

We would stay here and wait him out.

Richard

Well, that could've gone better, but what else could we do? Yeah, we could move away, but like dad said, that may just give him the opportunity he wants to attack a populated center. We didn't know this for a fact, but how come he hasn't attacked other places? Why is he sticking around Illinois? We know he can move wherever, so why the hell is he still here? All I can think up is that he must have some kind of vendetta against someone in this state, and it might be me, or it might be Charlie, or it might be someone else entirely. But the situation is that for some reason he's staying in this state, despite him saying that the whole world has to pay for its sins of creating and torturing fictional characters.

I kept thinking of the other kids that liked to draw in class. There was an art club, but that had more to do with paint and arts and crafts than writing characters, so I never joined. How many kids joined it, anyway?

I pondered this as I got the call out to Bogart.

"Hello?" he said after a bit.

"Agent Bogart, sir, it's Richard." I said awkwardly.

"Hey, Rich, how can I help you?"

"I was wondering about my old middle school years, wondering if there were any other artists that liked to draw or write, and I remember this one girl was with my class for a single semester around eighth grade. I don't know if she has anything to do with it, but I thought you might want to know about it." I said into the phone.

Bogart was quiet for a bit before saying "Thanks, I'll look into it. Charlie's been shaken, but he's got himself straightened out for the moment. We'll keep watching him, but I'll look into this girl."

"Good, thank you…" I said with my mind at ease. Even if it led nowhere, I was really starting to wonder just how deep this whole thing went.

I continued to wonder about this on my way to the room the Navy had stocked with bullets for days. As I walked over there, I saw a certain chestnut haired girl sitting on the floor near my room.

She was eyeing her tablet by herself.

"You okay?" I asked stupidly.

"Yeah… when I heard Wendy and I shared a voice actress I wanted to surprise her…"

Oh yeah, Brittney Karbowski voices both her and Wendy in the dubs. Can't believe I hadn't noticed.

"I don't know… I only knew her for a couple of days but… I just hope she's okay…" she sighed.

This was the girl who grew attached to a clone of hers after spending a few hours together, I was frankly amazed how she was keeping it together after today.

"Yeah, I don't remember much from the show, but both of them are pretty smart… I'm sure they'll turn around and maybe even give us some important intel later." I said.

She sighed, nodding.

"How's your…?" I pointed to the now stitched up gash on her forehead.

"My head's getting better, but I'm worried… I've never seen anything like this and it kind of… scares Me." she said, despite not sounding scared at all.

"Yeah, same… I want to do more to help, but…"

She chuckled dryly at that, as if remembering.

"Yeah, I guess I do know how you feel." She said.

"Well, kind of… I still think you had it worse…"

All that power and yet she still couldn't save her sisters…

"How do you do it?" I asked, worried.

"Hmm?"

"Work with us? If I found out all the bad stuff in my life happened because some weirdo wrote it like that… I'd go crazy."

"Well, I don't think he knew what he was writing about would affect a real person, and I think he does feel bad for me, it's not like he enjoys watching me suffer. But even if he did, I just don't see the people of this world as monsters that need to be destroyed considering you're all trying to help me." She said, smiling confidently at her answer.

I can't say the same.

"What?" she asked suddenly.

"Oh, nothing… I'm glad you're on our side."

"Uh huh… what's that look in your eyes?"

"Beg pardon?"

"You got this look earlier today too… like you want to break something."

"Uh… I did?" I asked, more than a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, it's… kind of creepy."

"Sorry… I didn't know I made a face when I was wondering about difficult questions."

"Like?"

"What I just asked you."

"Uh huh?" she said, maybe believing me, maybe not.

We were quiet for a minute, and I was about to enter my room when she spoke up.

"So, who's your favorite character from my show?" she asked suddenly.

"Uh…" crap! Between her and Accelerator, I don't really have that many favorites… Shiage's cool.

"Shiage Hamazura… he's pretty cool. He's the only character to actually get a girlfriend in the main series, to my knowledge."

She chuckled a little.

"Okay, maybe I should rephrase my question… did… did the strongest… did he ever really explain himself?"

I blinked.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, I just figured you'd like him a lot more from how you talk. I don't really know much about Shiage, but I wanted to lead into another question."

"Oh, well… shoot."

"I remember asking him why he did what he did, but looking back at it now… his response just…"

Oh yeah! In the Railgun spinoff Misaka actually asks Accelerator why he's doing what he's doing! He responded something along the lines of "I want to make the idea of people challenging me unthinkable" or something like that.

"Well, you haven't read the wiki, which would explain it better-"

"I think you understand him better, though… don't you?" she asked, turning to me. I guess since I watch the show, and study literature, and know about character development, then maybe I can make her understand why someone like him would do what he did.

"Well, I read his whole arc…"

"So he did have an arc…" she said in a neutral tone.

"Why did he do what he did?" she asked me.

"Well, it's complicated… he was the strongest esper since he was like… I don't know, ten? Since then he was constantly attacked by lower leveled espers that wanted to take his place and claim the title of strongest, and he got tired of it. So when some scientists offered him the chance to change things, he took it."

She remained quiet, which makes sense. She'd gone through most of the Sister's arc on her own, often getting attacked, having no real person to support her, so she definitely knew how it feels to be so alone.

"He didn't want to kill the Sisters, apparently… but after accidentally killing the first one, he kind of convinced himself that there was no turning back."

She took a breath.

"Alright… see, where someone else might want to get revenge I firmly believe that it isn't the right thing to do. I guess I did sort of understand why he wanted more power, I just couldn't stand the fact that the strongest one of us still wanted more when so many of the other espers in the city struggled just to reach level one. But as unforgivable as his actions might've been… if I can somehow stop the experiment from starting, then maybe I can also stop him from thinking that killing my sisters is the only way to stop the cycle of violence he's in."

She was really banking on being able to go back in time in her world… God, I hoped she got that wish granted. She'd more than earned it at this point.

"Actually, the author wrote an alternate reality where you did do all that."

She turned to look at me in shock.

"He did?!"

"Yeah, but I think that's a world made specifically to make Touma feel guilty for his imperfections or something… I haven't read the volume yet." I said.

"I see… but there's a chance… maybe with Misaki's help we can-"

"Did you know that The Strongest has an official female version?!" Misaki exclaimed as she glanced out her room, rather uncharacteristically if I might add.

"Uh… what?" I asked.

"What's got you so interested in the fact?" Misaka said after taking a breath.

"Well… I think I could sell this information to the second strongest. I'm sure Dark Matter has a thing for torturing the Accelerator. I mean just look at the picture!"

Sure enough, an official art of Accelerator's female version, one "Suzushina Yuriko" in a sailor uniform with a flower pin coming out of her head, plus a panicked Touma in the forefront worried about the possibility that this might be the new transfer student.

I glanced at Misaki with a questioning look.

What the hell were you doing looking that up?
Her voice rang in my head, saying Oh, just trying to lighten the mood here, you're welcome.

I glanced at Mikoto who simply sighed.

"I'm… really starting to worry about the kind of man that came up with our story."

"Eh, lighten up, Misaka, at least we're not some of Lelouch's or Iowa's followers, those have some scary fan writers on board who only want to see their favorite characters hook up." She whispered not quietly enough.

That got a small chuckle out of the chestnut haired girl, and the blonde smiled in return, seemingly satisfied that she'd succeeded in cheering up her colleague without using her powers on her.

I looked at the two and figured that things might be getting better. Even if Erza had joined the enemy and dragged Wendy with her, we could still save the two of them. We had two level 5s, a genius who could also bend people to his will, a battleship, and the most powerful armed forces in history.

One would think the odds were in our favor.

But another part of me was worried that reality would make things play out differently.

Charlie

Things had gotten better after that incident a few days ago.

Mom and dad had been enjoying themselves and I had been able to distract myself from the dark memories that had been bothering me after the encounter with that mysterious knight. But, as the we approached the end of the week, we also approached the highlight of our vacation, a trip across Lake Michigan, going from Milwaukee to Muskegon on the other side of the lake. We were supposed to spend the last few days there before going back home, and I was curious to see the sights along with mom and dad.

Of course, first was the ferry trip.

Not gonna lie, leaving so early was annoying. We got up at four thirty in the morning to drive up to Milwaukee, and then had to wait for the ferry to arrive. I guess it bought us some extra time, but I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched the whole time. The ferry arrived on time, we boarded and after a quick checkup we departed a little bit after six in the morning. Mom and dad were taking pictures of the sunrise, and I was trying to get some extra sleep, but it wouldn't come.

Something just felt wrong with me, like I was feeling down.

Maybe you should've told them what you know

But I didn't know anything! I was only speculating at that point. God, I blame Richard for being the edgy one, but I drew some edgy crap too.

You ruined it!

I walked over to the ferry's railing and stared at the lake's water. Why did these memories have to be dug up?

Damn you, Rich…

I winced as my phone vibrated suddenly.

When I took it out of my pocket I realized that Kancolle was open and- Holy HELL I was in the middle of a SORTIE?!

When did I-? No time for that! What Fleet Girls did I-?

I blinked in confusion…

This was wrong… the game looked off, like the screen itself was unusually bright, and there was much more sound.

Then I heard the girls speak; it went from their actual lines to… their English dubbed lines?

The girls were talking English?!

In a game whose anime adaptation had only recently gotten a dub?!

My hands started to shake, and I began to take deep breaths as a dark possibility slowly became a terrifying reality.

I think this relates to the stuff we both used to write back in high school

No…

I got dragged into the computer, and no one else has had that happen despite others appearing…

No… No!

You ruined the whole thing! What is wrong with you?!

No, I'm telling you I had nothing to do with it!

"Admiral!" I heard a girl scream as the sounds of explosions grew ever louder.

And then reality broke around me.


A/N: Okay, so that's chapter 3! First things first, I really don't want Richard or the other OCs to come off as needlessly whinny, but if they ever do start sounding like Shinji Ikari please let me know. I had tried describing the fight at the beginning in better detail, but I keep asking myself stuff like "Oh, why don't they do this?" or "Why don't they do that?" and the fights get really weird as the main characters are acting as pragmatically as possible while characters like Erza are pretty much impervious to anything short of an anti-tank rifle, so of course the fight would be in her favor as long as Iowa didn't have her weapons, Wendy was out of commission, and Misaki didn't have her remotes, but I didn't want it to be a total curb stomp. I should state that I'm not the biggest Fairy Tail fan, I really liked the story back in the day, but as it kept going it just disappointed me so if Erza is a bit out of character I'll apologize right now. Also, YES! I got it out in time for Index III! Anyway, once again, thank you all so much for reading up to this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and remember that if you have any criticisms or suggestions to let me know, as any feedback is appreciated!