Author's Note: There's a poll on my profile for this story, to determine the romantic ending it will have. You can vote for a harem end, or a comedic nothing-is-resolved-yet end where the girls are still fighting over Touma. I keep switching back and forth between these two choices in my mind and so I decided it would be fun to leave it up to you, the reader. Please vote away. A tie will be determined by a flip of a coin or a random whim from me.

I was trying really hard to get this out on Saturday, but then I got sick. I hate when that happens.


"Why do you have to show up again?" Touma complained.

"Shut up! Do you have something better to do then talk to me?"

"Well… not right now."

"What's with that response!?" Sarah Stone yelled at him. The first two times they had met she had attacked him, but now she was talking to him as if they were old friends.

"Never mind. So? What happened with your brother?"

Sarah lost all of her energy and her face became a mask. "He… he wouldn't tell me. He made up a story but… it was obviously a lie. I don't…"

"I'm sorry." Touma said with as much sympathy as he could. He couldn't imagine what finding out that a family member that you had looked up to your whole life was a criminal would be like…. Well aside from that moment during the Angel Fall incident where he had suspected his father but that didn't really count since from his perspective he had just met the man.

"Yeah… It's fine. I guess I never really knew him in the first place."

"If you ever need any help, just let me know." Touma offered a little awkwardly. He wasn't entirely sure what to say.

Luckily it seemed to be enough. Sarah smiled at him and said. "Thank you. I will." For some reason Touma couldn't help but think that she looked oddly cute.

"Hmm? What's this romantic moment?" A new voice cut in.

"Romantic moment?" Sarah yelled with a little blush. "What are you talking about!?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Shokuhou Misaki, the number five level five, asked. "I'm talking about how you two are flirting so much.

"Whose flirting!?"

Misaki grinned at her and ran over to Touma, grabbing onto his left arm like a lover. "Oh? So you aren't interested in him at all? Not even a little bit? So it doesn't matter to you if I do this?"

"Not at all!" Sarah hotly denied.

Misaki pulled out one of her remotes from her bag. "Tell the truth." She commanded in a sing-song voice.

"It bothers me a little. I think he's kind of cute and find you holding yourself against him kind of irritating." Sarah said. "Wait. What just happened!? Why did I say that!? What did you make me do!?"

"I just made you tell the truth. It's not my fault you said something like that."

"It's totally your fault!"

"Now, how should I punish you for lying? How about you show your panties?"

"Don't just ignore what I said! Wait a minute, what are you doing!?" To her horror her hands were reaching down towards her skirt and then slowly pulling it upwards.

"That's enough!" Touma finally yelled out. Just before something horrible could happen he pressed his hand against Sarah's forehead, completely negating Misaki's control over her. Her hands stopped rising and she dropped her skirt.

"That was too far!" Sarah yelled. A sword made of fire materialised in her hands and she charged at Misaki, attempting to skewer her on it.

"Stop." Was all Misaki needed to say. With the push of a button Sarah halted in mid-step and held completely still, her sword of fire still burning in her hands.

"What are you doing to me!?" Sarah demanded. "How is this happening?"

"This is my power." Misaki explained. "I can control people's minds."

"What a despicable power!"

"How rude. Am I the one who just tried to burn another person to death? Isn't that much more despicable?"

"You deserved it! How could you try and make me do something like that!?"

"You are very quick to get angry aren't you?" Misaki said. "Now it's time for your punishment for trying to kill me. Showing your panties isn't enough so how about I have you strip down completely?"

"I will not!" Sarah yelled. "Even if I can't move I can still do this!" The sword of fire turned into a more normal looking flame that shot out from her hands at Misaki.

The sound of shattering glass filled the air as Touma stopped the ball of fire from burning Misaki to death. "Stop that!" He yelled. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? She could have died!"

Misaki clung to Touma's back. "Thank you. That's twice in one day you've saved my life."

"You stop it too! Why are you antagonizing her like that?"

"What are you talking about? Don't you want to see more of her?"

"As if I would!"

Misaki skipped over to Sarah and pressed a button on her remote. "Make an erotic pose." She said and Sarah had no choice but to follow the order.

"I'll burn you to cinders!"

"Stop trying to attack me." Misaki commanded. "I don't know how you're making fire when your mind says you aren't an esper… but as long as I use that command it doesn't really matter." She struck a cute pose beside Sarah. "So, how about it? Would you like to enjoy both of us?"

"I won't allow that!" Sarah yelled out. "I don't want my first time to be like this!"

"Who said anything about sex?" Misaki taunted. "I was just going to let him kiss us a few times. What a perverted mind you have."

"Anybody would assume that you were talking about that! You're a pervert! A complete pervert!"

"Who's a pervert? Why don't you tell us what your most perverted thought is?"

"I really want to try doing that on the beach. No! No, I definitely don't want that! You just made me say that with your power!"

"There's no point in denying it to me."

"I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you eventually!"

"Don't be silly, how do you intend to kill a level five like me?"

"I'll find a way! I'm a magician! I can do anything with enough preparation!"

"Magic? Are you really going to try and stop me with those kinds of cheap tricks?"

Touma backed away. Slowly. The girls were so caught up yelling at each other that they didn't even notice until he was completely gone.

"What the heck was that?" He asked himself when he was finally alone. "Such misfortune."

"Is there a pressing reason you are asking that at this time? Asks Misaka as she tries to determine if you are already too busy to help."

"Huh? Misaka Imouto?" Touma asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Searching for you, responds Misaka as she reveals her purpose."

"Searching for me? Why?" Touma just knew that he was about to be dragged into yet another misfortunate circumstance.

"The Misakas need your help, begs Misaka." She said, immediately confirming his fear.

"What is it?" Touma asked. "What's wrong?"

"The Misaka network is in danger of being exposed to the world, Misaka reports."

"Revealed to the world? How?"

"Blackmail, informs Misaka. The perpetrator has taken several pictures of Misaka's talking together and is threatening to reveal them to the world unless we pay one billion yen, Misaka says."

"One billion yen!?" Touma yelled out. "Where are you going to get that kind of money?"

"It is possible that the city would be willing to pay the money, but the Misaka Network does not want to put their trust in them, Misaka replies."

"So you're going to attack him?"

"No, replies Misaka. This blackmailer has the power to send digitized information instantly from place to place so any attack but one that would take him out instantly would only result in the Misaka Network's existence being exposed Misaka continues."

"What kind of power is that?" Touma asked.

"It appears to be a form of electronic manipulation with a very limited use, Misaka explains. It is only a level two ability, Misaka says to inform you of the information gained from the Bank."

"Alright. So what's the plan?"

"The Misaka network will pretend to have the money in suitcases and pretend to pay him, then you will just have to touch him to prevent him from using his power, explains Misaka. With his power out of commission the Misaka sisters will be able to destroy the information with our power, Misaka concludes."

"I have a feeling it won't go that simply, since I've been having that kind of day, but alright. Let's go."

"Thank you, Misaka says gratefully. Please follow Misaka."

Misaka Imouto led Touma around a few corners until they got to a bus stop that Misaka Imouto had them wait in front of.

"By the way…" Touma said. "Are you still wearing that necklace? Didn't you only need it to tell you apart from Misaka while you didn't have your goggles?"

"…Please don't try and take this away from Misaka, Misaka begs."

"Uh… Okay." Touma said awkwardly. He didn't really understand why but it seemed Misaka Imouto valued that necklace. The two of them sat there waiting for the bus in silence for a little while until Touma said "Is this what Accelerator is busy with? When I ran into him earlier he was going to Anti-Skill headquarters."

"Heh. Heh. Heh. Misaka laughs."

"Huh?"

"Accelerator is currently busy with something else Misaka says as she tries not to fall over laughing."

Touma decided to leave it at that. He probably didn't really want to know the answer.

The lapse in conversation drew Touma's attention to a problem that he hadn't noticed he had. "When will this bus get here anyways?" He asked.

"Ten minutes, estimates Misaka without checking a clock for perfect accuracy."

"Alright! I'll be right back!" Touma told her. He took off in the direction of the nearest convenience store and went to the washroom there. He had been so caught up in day to day activities he hadn't even noticed the need. On his way out he grabbed a premade sandwich and a bottle of water for himself, since he had only eaten that bowl of rice and meat the Anti-Skill member had given him since lunch. Running around and getting into fights had a way of making someone hungry. Then he hurried back to the bus stop.

"Here." He told Misaka Imouto, handing her the candy bar he had bought her while he was getting his meal.

"Thank you very much, says Misaka as she starts to dig in."

The two of them sat there eating in companionable silence for a while until the bus finally came just as Touma was trying to wipe the mustard off of his hands without a napkin. They got on the bus when Touma noticed his problem.

"My wallet!" He yelled out. "What happened to my wallet!?" His entire wallet had completely disappeared from his pocket.

"When was the last time you saw it? Misaka asks the obvious question."

"When I paid for that last bus ride…" Touma's voice trailed off as he realized what could have happened to it. Anything really. He had been thrown around a lot today, so his wallet getting thrown out of his pocket wasn't really that surprising. "Such misfortune."

"Misaka will pay for you, offers Misaka as she doesn't wait for your response." Misaka Imouto dropped in enough payment for two bus tickets and the automatic bus allowed them on. They took a seat in the middle of the bus and waited some more. It was very pleasant for Touma, who had been doing nothing but running around all day, to not have to do anything but sit still.

"Hey, why are you sticking so close to Ikoma!?" A strangely familiar voice yelled from the back of the bus. Touma didn't mean to eavesdrop but since there was no other people talking on the bus it was hard not to hear it.

"What do you mean?" A perfectly calm voice responded. "Am I doing anything unusual?"

"Yes you are. You're sitting so close to Ikoma that you look like lovers! I should be the one- I mean, what's gotten into you!?"

"I… I don't know. This just feels natural."

Something about the conversation made Touma feel like he was forgetting something, but he pushed it out of his mind and said "So how far away is this place?" To Misaka Imouto.

"It should take fifteen minutes by this schedule, reports Misaka."

"Fifteen minutes huh?" Touma echoed. That sounded wonderful. He relaxed onto the surprisingly comfy seats and focused on getting as much rest as possible while he could. "By the way, how's that cat?" He asked.

"Dog is perfectly safe, Misaka replies."

"Heh. So you actually ended up naming him dog huh?"

The two of them passed the rest of the bus ride talking easily like that, until the bus finally pulled up to its destination and the two of them got off of it. The place they had been dropped off in wasn't a bad part of town necessarily, but it also wasn't a place that Touma would recommend hanging out in. There wasn't much of anything here, aside from a few warehouses that were only in use for about half of the year. Anti-Skill only bothered showing up here when the warehouses were being used so for the rest of the year it was a place frequented by people trying to do new things with their powers that their teachers wouldn't let them practice at school. Nobody was going out of their way to hurt other people, but Touma knew it was just a matter of time before an accident happened. Which with his luck, he would be involved in.

"This is the place?" He asked. They were standing in front of an open warehouse.

Misaka Imouto nodded. "Yes, Misaka confirms."

Touma took a step forward but Misaka Imouto grabbed onto his arm and said "Please wait, requests Misaka. Help will be arriving soon, Misaka explains."

Touma stopped walking and before long a car showed up and a blue haired woman wearing a lab coat stepped out of it, along with three other Misaka clones. The blue haired woman looked slightly familiar and she was carrying a briefcase. "Are you two ready to start?" She asked. "Take this." She handed Touma the briefcase.

"What's this?" The briefcase was surprisingly heavy.

"The money. Well, actually it's just a bunch of blank white paper. It's what we're pretending is the money anyways."

"Alright. So I just pretend to give it to him and then grab onto him?"

"Yes. With any luck it will be that simple."

"Please don't say that." Touma sighed.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Let's just get this over with. Are you guys ready?" He asked the Misaka clones.

"Yes, Misaka confirms." One of them replied back.

Touma and the four Misaka clones entered the empty warehouse and all five of them quickly realized that something about it was strange.

"Is this supposed to be a haunted house?" Touma asked.

The warehouse had been decorated, and not in a fashionable kind of way. It looked, like Touma had said, like a haunted house. All of the windows were covered by black curtains, the only source of light was the candles randomly distributed around the room, fake spider webs were hung up everywhere, there were a lot of fake tombstone, and a creepy song was playing on the speakers. Touma would have been scared if he didn't find the whole thing so ridiculous. There was a simple path set up that guided them through the warehouse.

To Touma's shock two of the Misaka clones grabbed onto his arms and clung to him.

"Wha- what are you doing?"

"Misaka is afraid, Misaka lies in order to take advantage of this opportunity." Misaka Imouto told him.

"Misaka is also afraid, Misaka echoes for the same reason." The other Misaka clone said.

"You just told me it's a lie!" Touma protested.

"WELCOME." An ominous voice came from the speakers. "THIS IS MY KINGDOM. I AM THE LORD OF THE DARK. HAVE YOU BROUGHT WHAT I HAVE REQUESTED?"

"What the hell?" Touma asked. "Is this what they call a delusion of grandeur?"

"DO NOT DARE TO MOCK ME. I SHALL DETERMINE YOUR FATE."

"Yes, yes," Touma patronized him. "Where are you?

"IN THE CENTER. FOLLOW THE PATH."

Touma sighed and continued to follow the path. He had just known something would go wrong. He had been hoping for some amateur but instead he had gotten a crazy person. The two Misaka sisters were still clinging very closely to him but he didn't say anything.

They found the man in the centre of the warehouse, standing in the middle of a circle of candles. In contrast to the theme of his ridiculous decorations, there was a computer right beside him. Touma guessed the information that the man could move without his power was inside it.

"Here's the money." Touma said, hoping to get this over with quickly.

"EXCELLENT."

"Can you not turn off that speaker?" Touma asked. He was having a very hard time taking this idiot seriously. "I'm standing right here."

The man studied him closely. "ARE YOU THE MAN WHO CREATED THESE CLONES?"

"What? No. I'm just a high school student. Why would you think that?"

"DON'T TRY TO FOOL ME. I SEE HOW CLOSELY THEY ARE CLINGING TO YOU. HOW YOU ARE THE ONE TO SUPPLY THEIR NEEDED MONEY. OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE THEIR CREATOR."

"Wait a minute… are you telling me you don't know who made them?"

"I-"

"You just discovered that a group of internationally banned clones exist and you decided to blackmail them… without knowing who made them?"

"WHO MADE THEM DOES NOT MATTER. NO ONE IN THIS WORLD WOULD DARE TO DEFY ME."

"This… really isn't going to end well for you." Touma told him. He shook off the two Misaka's holding onto him and walked over to the man, being careful not to tip over the candles. "Well whatever, here's your money."

"EXCELLENT NOW I- WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Touma had handed him the briefcase with his left hand and grabbed onto his arm with his right. "Okay, that's the end of that." He said.

A bolt of electricity hit the computer and destroyed it instantly. The man who was attempting blackmail struggled against Touma's grip but he was weak and Touma held him easily. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Another bolt of electricity perfectly knocked off the microphone mouthpiece that he was wearing. "No- no wait. You can't do this to me! Please stop!"

"Misaka will now begin the extermination of the threat, Misaka declares."

"Misaka has now selected the most heinous punishment the Misaka Network has been able to construct, Misaka declares."

"Misaka will now begin the punishment, Misaka adds."

Touma started to back away slowly. Then he started to run away. For some reason he felt that he didn't want to be around for this.

"Is it over?" The blue haired woman in a lab coat asked him when he had gotten out of the warehouse.

"Yes."

"Alright. I'll drop you off at your dorm as a thanks. Where do you live?"

Touma sighed. Going back to his dorm sounded good, it sounded very good, but he forced his tired body to shut up and said "Actually, can you take me somewhere else? I have something I have to do."

The car ride was much faster than the bus ride had been, as there was no need for stops or doing anything but heading straight for the destination. Touma was there in no time.

"What is this place?" The woman asked. "Estates are really rare in Academy City."

"Yeah." Touma said. "I guess that's why they stole it. Drop me off a street away, I don't want them noticing your car if something goes wrong right away."

He had come back to the estate even though he had already saved Fukiyose for a very simple reason. To save the rest of the slaves. He had left here without them earlier, but that had been out of necessity not by choice. If he had tried to save all of the slaves right in front of the gathered crowd of all of the magicians that lived here, right after he had given them a reason to hate him in that fight, then he undoubtedly would have failed. He had beaten Edward, of course, but fighting thirty magicians at once was suicide. So he had decided that it would be best to wait until later, when everyone had gotten back to their normal routine.

He tried to formulate a plan in his head. They had no reason to believe he would be coming, unlike when he had come for Fukiyose, so stealth could be an option this time. He could start with the guards at the gate the ones who were-

Touma completely froze in shock at the sight of someone who was standing in front of the guards. For a second he was afraid that she was caught too, but she was actually yelling at one of the guards and trying to get him to listen to her.

"Shutaura?" Touma blurted out.

Time changed to 21:00.


Author's Note Continued: Alright two things. First of all I noticed a lot of you were pointing out how Touma would have saved the slaves. This is completely correct, except that he couldn't have in that situation, and it made much more sense to wait until later and do it then. Secondly you'll notice I introduced Shutaura to the story, a character from the Endymion movie. I was not planning on having her in this story originally (I hadn't even seen the movie when I started this) but I couldn't resist. She's just so cool.