Me: Time to respond to some reviews
Xeno01: Well naturally Kamijo is the main character, but the other characters are sure to get plenty of screen time as well as some time in the spotlight
Kamijo found Index on the roof. He looked to the right of Index and saw an arrow flying towards her.
"Index watch out!" He shouted as he ran towards Index and punched the arrow with his right hand.
"Toma!" Index cried as a shrieking sound that gave the image of shattering glass filled the air while the arrow was destroyed.
"Index! That arrow was magic, can you sense where it came from?"
"No I can't. It must have been a magic bow that shot the arrow, otherwise I'd be able to detect the launch of the spell." Index explained.
"Shoot! Dang it, where's the next shot coming from?" Suddenly, an arrow came flying at Kamijo from the back. 'Too slow!' Kamijo turned around and caught the arrow with his right hand.
The shrieking sound was heard again as the arrow was destroyed. Another arrow was shot towards Index.
"Index!"
"T, Y, T, G" Index spoke a few letters using spell intercept and the arrow changed direction and flew into the ground.
"Index, have you figured out which direction the arrows are coming from?" Kamijo asked.
"Yes. They're coming from every direction!"
"What?!" Just then, an arrow came at the two of them from every direction.
"Index get low!" Kamijo shouted. Index ducked and Kamijo leaned over her, covering her as the arrows seemed to change direction and all head towards his back.
"PK Thunder!" A voice cried. Kamijo looked up to see a ball of lightning attached to a lightning bolt hit all of the arrows, destroying them.
"Hey! You okay?" Etrig asked, jumping in front of Kamijo from the next roof over. "Man I've always wanted to say that without sounding like a geek."
"Etrig? What are you doing here?" Kamijo questioned.
"Ask Tsuchimikado, it's his fault. Now then; Hey! All you cowards hiding! Come out and face me!"
On the roofs of surrounding buildings, four men in white robes appeared out of thin air. One of them, in front of Etrig, Kamijo and Index, chuckled. "What's this? An esper? You do know that if you fight us it'll ruin the 'precious' balance between magic and science and start a war right?" The man asked.
"Yeah, and none of us want that, so why don't you just take responsibility and leave?" Etrig replied.
"Sorry, but for our plan to be successful, we need the death of Index Librorum Prohibitorum and the Imagine Breaker." The man responded.
Etrig shook his head. "What a shame. And here I thought I could agree with you peoples' ideals. BUT! If you're willing to take lives in order to fulfill your ideals, then clearly you're just as corrupt as what you're trying to stop. That's right! I know just who you are Hellbringer!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're getting too worked up there buddy." Tsuchimikado spoke, walking out the door to the roof. "But it is true. This corrupt world will only become a world of death if such important assets are eliminated."
"Are any of those the real bow?" Etrig asked.
"Nope, we're all good." Tsuchimikado replied smirking.
"Die!" One of the men shouted, firing an arrow at Etrig.
Etrig sighed. In front of him a cylinder appeared and the arrow flew into it. Another cylinder appeared behind the man who shot the arrow's back. The arrow flew out of that cylinder and hit the man in the back, knocking him out.
"That was easy. And here I thought magicians were these big, bad, scary, overpowered figures." Etrig said, shrugging his shoulders.
"What did you do?" Kamijo asked.
"I may be listed as a level zero, but I've got an ability. He fell into my trap. So, who's next?" Etrig asked the three remaining robed men.
"That trick won't work on all three of our arrows at once! Men, fire!" The man who appeared to be the leader of the four shouted. The three remaining men all shot an arrow each at Etrig.
"Shoot." Etrig muttered his breath. The arrows all hit Etrig at once, stopping when they hit his skin, then bouncing back towards their respective archers as beams of light, knocking them all out.
"Phew." Etrig breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't expect that, that was close. Still, I was hoping for some close combat. It's way easier not to kill them that way."
"You were keeping that in mind the entire time?" Kamijo asked.
"Of course. I couldn't live with myself if I killed anyone." Etrig replied.
"You better not get soft on me." Tsuchimikado told Etrig.
"Yeah, yeah. You better make sure they get taken to a hospital." Etrig demanded.
"They'll get the proper medical care. We're taking them for interrogation." Tsuchimikado explained.
"What's going on Tsuchimikado?" Kamijo asked.
"To put it simply, the Bow of Purgatory has been stolen, we need to get it back, and if an arrow shot by it hits someone, they die. You get the story Kami?" Tsuchimikado asked.
Kamijo nodded. "Yeah."
"Hey!" Index interrupted. "You better not leave me behind and go running off your own again." Index told Kamijo.
"Index this is too dangerous. You should-"
"Let her come. It'll be more dangerous for us to not be watching her." Tsuchimikado told Kamijo.
"Fine." Kamijo reluctantly relented. At that moment, an arrow came flying at Kamijo's back.
"Toma!" Index, who only noticed it at the last second shouted out.
"Ah!" Kamijo turned around, too slowly however, and the arrow was about to hit his face when a red blade of light pierced the arrow, disintegrating it.
"Are you okay?" Himegami asked from behind Kamijo, her newly acquired Rose Blades circling around her head.
"Yeah, thanks a lot Himegami." Kamijo replied.
"Where did you come from?! And you better not say you've been there the whole time!" Etrig shouted.
Himegami shook her head. "No, I just got here. These new blades can also be used for transportation." To demonstrate her point, Himegami moved one of the blades underneath her feet and jumped on it. "We should focus on capturing the man who shot the arrow, and is now currently running away." Himegami spoke, getting off her blade.
Before anyone could answer, the sky turned red for a few seconds and cries of pain could be heard. A few seconds later, Stiyl jumped onto the roof. "No need to worry. He's been apprehended, and so have the others." Stiyl spoke.
"Stiyl? What are you doing here? And when did you get an ability Himegami?" Kamijo asked.
Stiyl answered first. "It's simple, really. I've been called here on a mission to recover the Bogen des Fegefeurs, or the Bow of Purgatory." Stiyl lit a cigarette in his mouth.
"And I received this upgrade last night." Himegami spoke.
"Aisa, was that magic?" Index asked.
"No, it was part of my esper ability." Himegami explained. "Or was it magic?" Himegami pondered, confused.
Index was about to congratulate Himegami when Stiyl interrupted. "Let's go. We've gotta head to the location of Hellbringer's base in Academy City before the bow is moved somewhere we don't know." Stiyl told the group.
"You know, Hellbringer is a terrible name for a group with their purpose, don't you think?" Etrig questioned.
"You don't know." Tsuchimikado answered. "It might mean they'll bring hell to corruption." Tsuchimikado countered.
"Now is not the time to discuss naming logic." Stiyl interrupted.
"Let's go." Kamijo spoke. "I won't let them hurt anyone."
"Alright. I know where their base is, so follow me." Stiyl instructed.
"I'm coming too." Himegami said.
"Is that alright?" Stiyl questioned.
"Etrig?" Tsuchimikado asked.
"It should be. Her ability is kind of a combination between magic and science, not actually her esper ability. It's really hard to explain. I don't really get it to be honest with you." Etrig told them.
"Fine. It's not something I have to deal with either way." Stiyl spoke. "You can come, just don't get in the way." Stiyl told Himegami.
Kamijo and the group were walking through a back alley towards their destination. Stiyl, leading the way, stopped suddenly, causing the rest of the group to stop as well.
Stiyl took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it as it burned to ashes, then scattered rune cards across the alley.
"Why are you putting the rune cards for Innocentius here? It's way too narrow." Kamijo questioned Stiyl.
"And that is precisely why it'll be impossible for our would-be ambushers up ahead to escape from Innocentius. Besides, Innocentius' body is made of flames so it'll fit." Stiyl replied.
"No, it'll set the buildings next to us on fire!" Kamijo complained.
"Calm down Kamijo." Etrig told him. "I've used my ability to temporarily make these building fire-proof." Etrig informed Kamijo.
The group continued walking until they were near the end of the alley. Then, they were blocked by several dozen thuggish looking men and women.
"Sorry, but we won't be letting you through here." One of the men spoke.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Come, Innocentius!" Stiyl summoned Innocentius, its massive form roaring at its enemies.
"Hah!" One of the thugs screamed out. "We know Innocentius' weakness. All we have to do is take out the rune cards."
"However," Stiyl countered. "You won't be getting the time to do that. Go, Innocentius!" With that command, Innocentius engaged the thugs, the heat rendering them unconscious in mere moments. "Well..." Stiyl started, putting another cigarette in his mouth. "That takes care of that."
A loud rustling sound could be heard behind the group and then they all felt intense wind.
"What?!" Stiyl exclaimed, turning around to see all his rune cards destroyed and Innocentius' body having two gaping holes in it.
"Who did that?" Kamijo questioned as Innocentius' form completely disappeared.
"That would be me." A women wearing a brown tank top that was cut just above the belly button and red shorts spoke from behind the group. She had pink, neck-long hair and blue eyes. "I'm afraid I won't be as easy to handle as those wimps."
"Kami!" Tsuchimikado called out. "Me and Himegami will stay and take care of her. You and the rest of the group go ahead."
"Okay." Kamijo nodded his head and took off along with Stiyl, Index and Etrig.
"Now then." The woman spoke. "The name's Luthia or Liberatio348. Now that I've spoken my magic name, let's see how you fare against me." A powerful wind blew from behind Luthia, nearly knocking Himegami off her feet.
Tsuchimikado smirked. "Fallere825."
Kamijo and the remainder of the group walked into an abandoned construction site.
"This is their base?" Kamijo questioned.
"Yes. Be careful." Stiyl told Kamijo as the group continued walking.
"This is boring." Etrig complained. Naturally, as he said that a barrage of arrows from all directions were fired at the group.
"You just had to talk!" Stiyl shouted.
"Sorry about that!" Etrig created a green spherical barrier around the group that all of the arrows bounced off.
From on top of beams and other such hiding places, around 100 thugs showed their faces. Each of them were holding a bow in position to shoot.
Stiyl smirked. "It seems they've fallen into a trap."
"Huh?" Index questioned.
"With a group this size, they're bound to have a leader. But it's easy to tell just by looking at these fools that they're all espers, and that none of them are the leader." Stiyl explained. "The leader must possess the true Bogen des Fegefeurs, meaning we don't have to worry about these fools."
Etrig spoke next. "Kamijo! You go ahead and take down the dungeon boss, I'll handle fighting the encounter enemies and protecting the allies!"
"What?"
"Go!" Etrig shouted. "The boss should be right ahead, or they wouldn't have so many minions right here."
"Right." Kamijo nodded and ran ahead. "I'm leaving it to you Etrig!" Kamijo called back.
Once Kamijo was gone, Stiyl was next to speak. "I wonder why they haven't attacked yet. Well anyways, thanks, you've been a big help, I've been briefed on you by the church of Necessarius, but I still don't trust you."
Etrig pouted. "That's mean!" Etrig complained in a childish voice. "Oh well, it's fair. And they haven't attacked because they know that they're not allowed to combat magicians. They care about the balance just as much as we do. For now anyways. However..." Etrig smiled and his gaze sharpened. "They can play with me." Etrig vanished, appearing above the head of one of the thugs and kicking him off the beam before he could react, watching as he fell into a pile of hay.
"So," Luthia started, "How exactly are you going to beat me and my wind magic?"
"That's a good question." Tsuchimikado responded. "Well I'm sure you've noticed how my friend seems to have disappeared?"
Luthia gasped and quickly turned around, where Himegami laid in wait, her three blades circling her head. A fierce wind blew Himegami away right before a blade was about to hit Luthia.
Tsuchimikado quickly chanted some words beneath his breath, causing a sphere of water to appear in front of him and fly towards Luthia.
"Shoot!" Luthia swung her arm forward causing a powerful gust of wind to slice the sphere in half and render it useless. Luthia then turned around and jumped over one of Himegami's red blades flying towards her, but while she was in the air she noticed something right behind her, prompting her to turn around.
"Eat this." Tsuchimikado said smirking, before throwing a punch at her face, sending her to the ground where she landed unconscious. "Good work." Tsuchimikado told Himegami after landing. Himegami simply nodded her head in response.
"Now then," Tsuchimikado started. "Let's see what information we can get out of her." Blood trickled out of Tsuchimikado's mouth.
Kamijo was walking through the construction site but stopped when he noticed a man standing a short distance away from him. He was very tall, had short, spiky brown hair and red eyes. He wore a brown tank top and blue jeans. He also had a bow strapped to his back.
"So I assume you're-" Kamijo was interrupted by an arrow whizzing towards him. Luckily, his reflexes brought his right hand up in front of his face, catching the arrow which was destroyed. "So I assume you're the boss."
"And I assume you're Toma Kamijo, the Imagine Breaker." The man replied. "Tell me, if you're fighting against us, does that mean you support the corruption in Academy City? The death of thousands of people in the shadows?"
"Of course not! But how are you any better? You said you wanted to kill me and Index!"
"That was a bluff. We simply wanted to capture you. You and the library of grimoires are two of the greatest assets to Academy City, and to the church of Necessarius. The goal of Hellbringer as a group is to bring about change in the corrupt systems of the worlds of science and magic. You should join us."
"How can I believe you?"
"I can give you no proof stronger than my word. However, that is truly our objective."
"And you're willing to hurt innocent people to get your way?"
"How are our enemies innocent?" The man asked. "They know of the terrible things that happen to people because of their superiors and yet they do nothing to create change!"
Kamijo started running at the man. "That's where you and I can't agree. Using violence for no reason isn't something I can join!" Kamijo reared back his fist. "But... if someone is hurting people for no good reason... then I'll fight!" Kamijo threw a punch towards the man's face. The man caught the punch and threw Kamijo over his back, but Kamijo recovered and landed on the ground.
"Very well." The man spoke. "I'll have to prove our intentions through battle!" The man pulled out the bow and quickly shot an arrow at Kamijo.
'How can he shoot that quickly?' Kamijo punched the arrow with his right hand before running towards the man for another punch, which the man dodged with ease.
"You see," The man started. "The Bogen des Fegefeurs isn't only a weapon, it also enhances the user's physical capabilities, something those pathetic copies can't do." The man jumped back and fired another arrow, which Kamijo caught again, destroying it. The man then shot three arrows at once, one aimed for his head, one his torso, and one his left knee.
Kamijo jumped to his right, punching the arrow aiming for his torso with his right hand, bending his body awkwardly to do so.
"If Academy City and the churches are allowed to continue as is, more and more people will die because of a few peoples' selfish agendas! You can't tell me you want that Imagine Breaker?!" The man shouted as he fired an arrow at Kamijo. "You can't say that's fair?"
Instead of punching the arrow, Kamijo dodged it and ran towards the man. "Of course it's not. But how are you going to change it?" Kamijo asked running towards the man.
"We'll take care of the problem of course!" The man replied, shooting another arrow.
"And how will you do that?!" Kamijo questioned, throwing a punch that destroyed the arrow and continued on to destroy the bow.
"No! Argh!" The man threw a punch at Kamijo's torso, then his cheek, knocking him back a bit. "You want to know how we're going to save lives? We'll eliminate the corrupt leaders that control these systems!" The man ran towards Kamijo rearing a left fist.
"And by eliminate you mean kill, right? I can't accept that!" Kamijo replied, also running towards the man.
"As if they can be considered human in the first place! Why can't you accept that we want to save people?!" The man threw a huge punch at Kamijo.
"You say that you want to save people, but you're going about it the wrong way! You say that you want to save lives, but your plan only leads to more death!" Kamijo ducked the man's punch and reared a larger one of his own with his right hand. "You speak of saving lives from these corrupt systems, but your actions don't have meaning behind them!" Kamijo threw his punch. "All you have are your words. And your words are just an illusion! An illusion that I'M GOING TO DESTROY!" Kamijo's punch hit the man's cheek sending him flying into a support beam and knocking him unconscious.
Kamijo breathed a sigh of relief. "That takes care of that." Kamijo turned towards the unconscious man. "Your heart's in the right place. If you had a better plan that didn't involve killing people I might have joined you." Kamijo clutched his stomach and heard the signature shrieking sound of the Imagine Breaker. "A spell? When did he-" Kamijo paused and thought back to the fight with that man. "It must have been when he punched me." Kamijo concluded. 'What kind of spell did he use? My stomach hurts a lot. Well better head back.' Kamijo started walking back from where he came before he suddenly passed out.
Kamijo awoke to find himself in a familiar hospital room.
"Here again huh?" Kamijo sighed. Kamijo heard a knock.
"Hey Kami, can we come in?" Tsuchimikado's voice sounded through the door.
"Sure." Kamijo answered. Tsuchimikado, Himegami, Etrig and Index walked through the door. "Hey guys. I'm glad you're all okay. Ugh!" Kamijo winced in pain and grabbed his stomach.
"Toma!" Index cried out in worry and Himegami's face shifted slightly to one of concern.
"I'm fine Index. I'm just glad you're okay. So, anything I need to know?" Kamijo asked Tsuchimikado.
"Well one, you weren't asleep that long this time, only a few hours, and also we didn't get much information from our interrogations. We did, however, figure out where Hellbringer was intending to transport the Bogen Des Fegefeurs. We could've found out more but Etrig tagged along and insisted we didn't torture them." Tsuchimikado answered.
"You can't just torture people!" Etrig replied.
"By the way Kami, where's the girl?" Tsuchimikado asked, ignoring Etrig's outburst.
"Huh?" Index and Himegami's faces turned to ones of rage, Index's being much more clearly visible.
"Every time you save the day you also save a new fair maiden, so where is she?" Tsuchimikado asked once again.
"Tomaaaaa! Are you hiding girls now?!" Index shouted, already prepped in biting position, a red aura surrounding her.
"W-w-wait Index! It's not like that!" Kamijo protested, but to no avail. With a leap, Index opened her mouth and prepared her fangs for an attack on Kamijo.
"Rotten luc-" Kamijo was interrupted by a lack of pain.
"Huh?" Index questioned. She was being held by the back of her shirt instead of chomping down on Toma's head. This never happened.
"Come on Index." Etrig chastised, holding on to Index still. "Show some respect. This is a hospital you can't just go biting people. Not to mention biting is undignified and humiliating, you're not four."
Tsuchimikado chuckled, and Kamijo also laughed warily.
Himegami's face also turned upward in a smile, unnoticedly.
Kamijo: Life returns to normal, or as normal as life gets in Academy City
Kamijo: Etrig battles Misaka, and Misaka learns why Etrig came to Academy City
Kamijo: Later, Etrig cuts school and challenges Accelerator to a fight for a prize
Kamijo: Next time, "Elite Student (Two Schools)"
