Greetings to all!
Some of you may find this hard to believe, but I'm not surprised by the mixed responses I've gotten last chapter. I say that since I expected more negative feed-back rather than positive. All the same, I still knew in my gut that some of you out there would enjoy what I did. Overall, it was nearly equal in terms of both positive and negative; so I'm not troubled by it. But that's enough from me, enjoy the long-awaited, head-to-head, conflict between ORDER and ITEM in this chapter of A Certain World of Darkness!
For better or worse, as sudden as it was, Chouka was thankful that the blonde girl's retort to her previous statement yielded enough time for her to act. The said act itself was the trivial task of removing the skates on her shoes now that one of the pair was damaged beyond redemption. She could only thank the high heavens that they were merely attachments that could be applied to any set of footwear; otherwise she would have been forced to go barefoot in this place. If anything, their removal may have been the wisest action she had made for more reasons than just one.
As the blonde girl opposite her raised her arm up towards the cap-wearing young woman, Chouka acted upon hearing the girl's thoughts in regards to what she was raising. From what she was using, where it was being aimed at, and the amount of time she had left to act before the trigger could be pulled. All of which was fed to her in less than an instant, which proved, once again, to be a great asset to have. With that knowledge, before the girl's actions could follow through, the red-head hastily raised her own fire-arm and fired a single shot in the girl's general direction. Whether she hit her target or not didn't matter so long as the girl's self-preservation instincts kicked in and made her cease to find cover. The blonde did exactly what she had hoped, which was all she was looking for as she scrambled up to her feet and made a dash towards the staircase entrance.
(Too easy.)
Having received that mental statement, Chouka's actions stopped just as she opened the door leading to the staircase, which prompted an almost inaudible click to resonate from the opposite side of the door. Fortunately, she hadn't completely stepped through the doorway when she heard it. Hence why, with her hand still on the doorframe, she harshly pushed herself back with that single arm as hard as possible. That action may have saved her life, but the kinetic force from the explosion that followed still did its job at sending her flying backwards and into the opposite wall. At the very least, she faired much better than the door, which had been blown off its hinges with shrapnel covering the entire frame from top to bottom.
Frenda, who had watched the entire spectacle, could only grin in satisfaction when the girl slammed into the wall; her body falling in a lifeless heap shortly after making contact. Disappointed as she was that the bomb wasn't what killed her, she did find the sight of her rocketing backwards to be a rather enjoyable show to witness up close. With the girl now appearing motionless, the blonde stepped out from behind her cover and made her approach; completely disregarding caution since it was apparent that her target was unconscious. She had to admit, though, it was a shame that this encounter was so easy to deal with; but she couldn't complain but so much since it was just one step closer to getting paid for this job.
"Stupid girl." Mocked Frenda as she stood over the track-runner's unmoving form with the pistol aimed at the back of her head. "Basically, you are way too easy."
"I could say the same about you."
Before any sort of retort could be made, hell before Frenda could be surprised or even pull the trigger, Chouka's lifeless form suddenly sprung back to life. With her back against the wall and the side of her body laying against the floor, the arm closest to the girl shot up and effectively backhanded the side of the weapon being pointed at her. Said force behind the action was enough to knock the firearm out of Frenda's grasp and sent sliding along the floor, leaving Frenda without a weapon and Chouka at an advantage. With her upper body now raised, the red-head quickly moved further on the offensive by using one of her legs to sweep the blonde's own out from under her, though Frenda had enough sense to avoid this action from occurring and getting some distance between herself and the downed girl.
In gaining some distance, she had unknowingly done what Chouka had wanted; and that was provide enough time to allow her to spring herself back up to her feet. Cursing lightly under her breath, Frenda took a single step forward before using other leg to send a strong round kick towards Chouka's midsection. But the opposing girl was already aware of what was to occur, and thus she had already shifted her weight to the side whilst simultaneously using her hand to catch the girl's ankle and her arm to lock her leg in place. With Frenda's leg now trapped in her hold, the red-head used this opportunity to send a similar kick to the girl's ribs. While the attack was blocked by the girl's arm, the momentum from her attack and the noticeable difference in leg-strength was evident due to the slight hiss that escaped from Frenda's lips.
Despite the pain that had shot up through her arm to her shoulder, Frenda was still able to form her own attack despite the obvious disadvantage. With one leg still firmly on the ground, she used a good potion of her own leg-strength to jump in place and pulling it back far enough to launch the sole of her foot into the offending party's abdomen. The action itself did succeed in knocking the air out of the girl, thus causing her to release her hold on the blonde's leg as she proceeded to cough harshly. Having been released, Frenda quickly adjusted herself whilst still in mid air to catch herself using her hands and spring-boarded herself backwards to land perfectly on both feet; though apparently without injury as pain surged through her previously struck arm as she performed the task.
Unfortunately, the blonde wasn't given the proper amount of time to regain her bearings as Chouka once again went on the offensive. With the distance between the two of them being so narrow and the difference in height, it was no surprise that the red-head didn't need to move but so far in order to be in range to attack. Having said that, Frenda was forced to duck down to avoid being struck in the face by the opposing girl's round-house kick that flew over her head, before countering with a quick jab to the girl's ribs. Before the kick could connect, though, Chouka's body had completed its cycle from performing the previous attack; thus she was able to raise the appropriate leg up to block the attack before it could meet its mark. With the attack blocked, Chouka took the opportunity to hop off her free leg in an attempt to land a right straight to the girl's face whilst simultaneously dropping her other leg to keep herself from falling.
Frenda, however, was no slouch when it came down to this game; thus she hastily forced herself to fall backwards onto the ground to evade the attack. With her back on the ground, she placed both her hands on the floor above her head while pulling both her legs close to her chest area. Using the momentum provided by the shifted weight of her legs being pulled up, she pushed herself off the ground with all her strength to perform an improvised dropkick to the girl's chest. The red-head, not having the time to avoid it, merely crossed her arms across the area that was to be struck as the soles of the girl's pumps slammed into her forearms. The force was enough to stagger her backwards a bit; which served as enough to allow Frenda the means to get back up off the ground and continue on the offensive.
As Chouka's staggered backpedaling ceased, the heel of the blonde's pumps was merely inches away from landing soundly on her cheek had she not adjusted her head to avoid it. When that attack failed to make its mark, Frenda twisted her body to allow the same momentum to spin herself in place and send another strong right strait at the girl's midsection, which was promptly caught by her opponent with both hands before it could connect. Regardless of her attack being caught, the blonde chose to once again hop off her stationary leg to sent yet another kick to the girl's face; caring very little at this point if she was to fall to the ground as a result. When the tip of her shoe connected with its target, Frenda allowed herself to feel a sense of victory at the successful hit.
The sense of victory was short-lived when, just after her foot connected, pain shot up from her side as her opponent's kick connected with her ribs. Because of the fact that she was descending on that particular side, not only was Chouka's leg-strength put into the equation but also her own descend back down played a part in the overall power the kick had possessed. The fact that her opponent's legs were a bit longer than her own also played a part in the amount of damage which was being applied. Still, neither party had left the confrontation unscathed, though between the two of them Frenda had been the once to receive the most damage. As Frenda's form collided with the harsh floor and Chouka braced herself against the wall to regain her bearings, a low hiss could be heard coming from the blonde's lips as she clutched her side as the painful sensation persisted.
"Not bad blondie." Despite the fact that she was clutching her head, Chouka's statement was devoid of pain that would normally be present in a person who had sustained the amount of damage she had within the past couple minutes. "I didn't think those twigs of yours would have much of a kick to them."
"Oh, really?" Despite the pain she was currently, Frenda succeeded in standing back up on her first attempt whilst still clutching her side. Though it was apparent that the jab made at her had an effect, as vein could clearly be seen protruding from her forehead as she made the retort. "Basically, I'm not surprised those chubby stumps of yours have so much weight behind them."
"Ch-chub-chubby!? Let's get one thing straight here, this isn't fat, it's muscle! More than those boney twigs you call legs could ever hope to have!"
"Basically, my thighs don't jiggle when I walk!"
"At least I'm not hiding my legs behind pantyhose to hide how boney they look!"
"It's called fashion, something you basically know nothing about!"
"I'd take this over looking like a tramp any day, thank you!"
It was inevitable that one of the two females present would snap at some point; and in this case it had been Frenda who had finally acted out of her own anger to resume the fight. By this point, completing the job was a secondary goal for her; she could really care less if the job ended well or not. So long as this bitch ended up dead, then she would be content; killing the red-head herself would only serve as a bonus to her. With that, and with little regard to the consequences of losing her cool in a serious conflict, Frenda rushed forward with enough murderous intent to make Mugino proud.
In her state of infuriation, Frenda was not able to notice the small smirk that was playing at Chouka's lips; obviously knowing something critical that would allow the outcome of this conflict to shift in her favor.
"Tell me it's supposed to be doing that." Stated Sakurai with a hint of annoyance in his tone. As he said this, his finger was pointing at the monitor with his finger while his body leaned over Yusuke's shoulder in the chair. "Please tell me that's what it's supposed to be doing."
By 'that' Sakurai was referring to the unexplained loss of visual on the Tree Diagram which was being targeted by Limelight. But this was not all that was happening either, far from it actually. By the frantic look on Yusuke's expression, it seemed that he was at a loss himself as to what was happening. The terminal he was using would not respond to anything he tried to do. His actions had been just as hysterical as his expression, hastily tapping on the keys in front of him; yet yielding no changing results. Nothing was working, not a damn thing was happening, and while Sakurai wanted to pin the blame on Yusuke for fucking it up; he knew the who the real culprit was. Or, at least, he had an idea as to who may have been responsible.
"I-I-I'm locked out of the system! It's n-not responding to any of the override commands!" Yusuke's panic was justified he supposed; given that Sakurai hadn't done much to ease him of his stress since they got here. It was hard to stay calm when you're a hostage; especially when the person who abducted you had a gun and was not afraid on using it on you. "P-please, I don't know what's going on either; I swear!"
"Cool your tits; I get what's happening here." While still mildly aggravated by this development, Sakurai's tone indicated more irritation than actual anger as he moved to retrieve the weapon still propped up by the window. "I knew this was going along too easy; down in my gut I knew it."
Having already removed the weapon from its perch, he moved back over towards the metal case which previously housed it before applying the strap that went with it to make it easier to carry. Having accomplished this task, the well-groomed young man's expression shifted into a pensive one as he tried to think of an alternative means to carry out his objective. The Board of Directors must have had something to do with this; as they did possess all the cards in the deck that made up this city. They didn't do much in terms of labor, but they had the clearance to do just about anything they wanted so long as all members on it came to an agreement. Limelight was obviously one of those cases, but why did they bother sending the Six-Wing here if they could just shut down the means to utilizing the project anyway?
"Hey buddy, is this the only terminal we can use?" There had to be a reason why they sent that helicopter, if not to eliminate them than to destroy Limelight itself.
"Th-the only one I know of is the workstation that operates it directly." It wasn't hard to believe that Yusuke was still nervous about the whole situation; having seen Sakurai retrieve the weapon that had easily destroyed a military vehicle with only a single shot. "The only problem is that it's located next to the satellite and getting there involves passing through the solar panels."
"Which translates to: we'll be walking through there with our asses showing." Finished the lad half-jokingly, scuffing lightly as he hoisted the heavy weapon up to allow the strap to slide onto his shoulder. "Can it be hacked into by an outside source?"
"It's possible, but since it's connected directed to the satellite, it should still be functional without interference."
"If that's the case, then shouldn't need to re-align it once I get there; all I'll need to do is fire it and it's done, right?"
"Theoretically, yes."
"Good enough for me; now show me how to fire this thing and you'll be off the hook." Having reached a verdict, Sakurai resituated himself behind Yusuke as he waited to observe how the firing process worked; though not before adding his last few bits of information that his hostage should be privy to knowing. "But if that thing doesn't fire when I do this, rest assured I'll find and kill everything down to your pets. I'll also be sure to record it on my phone so you can watch it all happen in first person; then kill you. Are we clear on that?"
By this point, the thought of double-crossing Sakurai was had not once entered his mind. It had long sense been clear to him that the lad meant everything he said and would carry it all out without the slightest bit of remorse. For this reason, Yusuke couldn't nod his head any faster without giving himself a whiplash before proceeding to both explain and display how the firing mechanism worked. It had been a little longwinded in the teen's opinion, but his threat must have really done the trick in making the guy spill everything regarding it. By the time it was over with, Sakurai had pretty much grasped how to perform his task without this guy's help anymore. Sakurai wasn't a professional hacker in the slightest, but he did have a good memory and was at least half-way decent at the aforementioned task; though not nearly as good as some.
"Alright then, I'm off!" Announced the teen as if parting ways with an old acquaintance or a co-worker at some part-time establishment. "Just tell them you were under duress and you should get off scot-free. Hell, you may even get a paid-vacation from all of this!"
The sound of Sakurai's chuckles was all that could be heard as he moved to exit the observation tower when something soon caught his attention. Given the elevation, it was hard not to notice something that was going on down below. Difficult as it may be to tell what exactly was going on, one could still see those down below quite clearly if they focus even a little bit. That being said, thanks to the broken glass, it was much easier for him to notice the gleam of something down on the surface. The only problem was that a civilian vehicle was not meant to be on the facilities grounds; the parking lot was fine but the parking garage was down below, not above ground.
So why was it that there was a car driving down below them and why was there someone sitting on the window ledge of the passenger side door?
It wasn't until she raised something up into the air that warning bells in his head went off; thus causing him to let his instincts take over and rush through the exit and down the flight of stairs that lead up to the tower. The following explosion and the trimmer that came after his hasty departure spoke volumes as to what had occurred. Having already dealt with a good portion of resistance that showed up to stall him, it was to be expected that reinforcements would arrive once the initial strike-team had been dealt with. But as Sakurai spared a glance back where he had previously been not a few moments ago, he couldn't help but shake his head before carrying on his way.
"What a shame, I was starting to like that guy too." Despite saying this, there hardly any real remorse was noted to be in his tone as he moved towards the nearest exit; brandishing his pistol once more as he moved. "Oh well, survival of the fittest I suppose."
Several minutes of hastened steps, Sakurai finally found an exit that lead to the outside of the facility. Cautiously opening the door leading outside, he checked all sides for any sightings of the vehicle that approached or anyone remotely near his location. Finding nothing, he lowered his firearm and proceeded to begin his trek towards the vast array of solar panels that obscured the towering satellite in the distance beyond. Whether he walked or he ran mattered little as the distance between the facility and Limelight was a little over a mile apart from one another. If he paced himself, he could possible arrive there in less than half an hour; assuming of course he didn't face any resistance getting there.
But he knew better than to think that he was one of those stereotypical villains in some manga who could go about as he pleased undisturbed. Something always happened, something was bound to occur which would hinder his progress. And he was right, for he hadn't even reached passed the very edge of the sea of solar panels before the roar of a car-engine pierced through the silence that surrounded him. A fleeting glance back revealed the same car that he had seen above approaching him at speeds far exceeding the speed limit on the highway. Of course this wasn't a public roadway; hell it wasn't open to the public at all, so he assumed few fucks were given in regards to how fast the driver was going.
When the sounds of gunshots reached his ears, Sakurai took to running towards the nearest panel's thick support beam; reaching it just in time to hear the bullet's ricocheting off the sturdy material as they struck it. Tucking away his pistol for the time being, Sakurai re-adjusted the heavy weapon still held via the strap onto his shoulder before moving out of cover and taking quick aim at his target. With a simple push of a trigger, a familiar orange beam of light burst from the muzzle of the weapon. Unlike the Six-Wing he had shot down, the car had performed a sharp turn to avoid the direct shot aimed at it; though nearly spinning out of control as a result. Still, even after nearly avoiding the laser, the car continued its advancement towards him, along with a few more gunfire shots coming from the passenger side window; forcing him to go back behind cover to avoid them.
With the vehicle drawing closer and time being wasted away by the second, Sakurai once again removed himself from his cover to make another attempt at hitting his target. Of all the power that the heavy weapon provided, he could not afford to be wasteful with his shots. Each time he used this thing, the energy supply diminished for every prolonged shot he made. From what he understood, judging by the number of uses he had done with it, he could only fire it three more times before the energy supply dried up. If that happened then he would only have his pistol left and he only had two magazines left to use. He couldn't afford to be wasteful here, and if that car was allowed to move freely than it could thanks to the gap in-between the panels.
Needless to say there was a lot of pressure at this point; which was precisely the reason Sakurai took his time to aim properly despite the chance of being hit by the shooter in the side window.
With another push of the trigger, the beam shot out and towards the still advancing vehicle. Unlike before, it didn't have nearly as much distance to allow it to maneuver around the beam. As such, when he fired, the car swerved to the side in an attempt to avoid it once again; only for it to end with poor results. He hadn't hit the car itself, but he was lucky enough to hit the rear tire; melting through the rubber like butter and causing the car to veer off course and spin out of control until it slammed driver-side into a nearby support beam for one of the panels. And as hard as Sakurai tried, he could not suppress the urge to grin like a child after getting a new toy for his birthday.
"Fuck I love this thing." Satisfied and no longer concerned with the vehicle or its passengers, the well-groomed young man removed the heavy weapon off of his shoulder, readjusted the sling used to hold it, and made a hasty advancement towards his objective. "I swear if I get out of this, this baby's staying with me."
Had he looked back or even been paying any attention at all to the now totaled car, he would have witnessed a young girl kicking the door to her side of the car off its hinges; all the while appearing completely unscathed by the crash. Said girl may have largely remained uninjured, but she was still clutching her head as her world continued to spin in circles. The driver, on the other hand, was obviously killed in the crash; the blood that covered what remained of the driver-side door providing enough evidence to support that conclusion.
"That wasn't a super fun ride." Muttered Saiai to herself, shaking her head repeatedly to clear her head if even a little bit. "I better get a super bonus for this; nobody said anything about lasers being involved."
Technically speaking, a laser had been involved, but not one that threatened to cause her any direct harm. Being fired at by someone with an actual particle weapon changed things significantly, since her Offense Armor most likely wouldn't be capable of blocking it. She wasn't one-hundred percent sure of this, but taking a risk of testing the theory out wasn't on her list of priorities at the moment. While on the subject of a particle weapon, Kinuhata began to ponder precisely how her target had managed to get a hold of such a thing. She knew that Ichijirou Yuuji had helped develop a weapon, but reports claimed that the very weapon he was providing assistance on was still at the facility she had originally been stationed at.
Clearly that report had been false; but if so how did this man get into the facility and take it without anyone being aware? Why wasn't the weapon reported as missing yet? Did ORDER force the developer to recreate the weapon or did they actually sneak inside and take the previously existing one? So many questions that couldn't be answered surface into the mind of the short haired brunette; all of which were put aside for the current moment. If she was to get answers, she would just need to extract it from the current owner of the weapon. That was assuming he was willing to cooperate after she beat him senseless; otherwise having him spill his guts was going to be a real time consuming task.
With her priorities in place and her world no longer spinning, Kinuhata Saiai reloaded her gun, took a deep breath, and began her pursuit of the suit-clad member of ORDER.
"Yo, Meltdowner…"
That simple, lethargic, greeting was all it took to have Mugino's complete attention fixated on the lad standing at the opposite end of the hallway. Despite the ten yards of distance that separated the two of them, she had heard him speak those words so clearly it was disturbing. It wouldn't have been had he yelled this statement, raised his tone to a higher degree because of the distance between them. Yet, when it reached her, she could detect no signs of it being raised passed a certain threshold. It was at a comfortable level used when speaking to someone who was standing not even a foot away.
From that simple lackluster greeting, Mugino had already gained a bit more insight in regards to what she was dealing with.
"You have me at a disadvantage." Spoke the girl, the volume in which she spoke being raised to a higher to allow the teen across from her to hear her words clearly. "You know who I am, but I don't quite recall who you are."
"Should you be surprised?" Once again, the response that was given was weary and dry, but still at same level as it had been previously. "You're reputation precedes you, Meltdowner."
"My, my, you flatter me." Responded the girl as a single hand rose to toy with the long locks of her soft-tea colored hair, whilst the beginnings of a smile began to slowly surface on her lips with each passing moment. "Of course, if what you say is true, then you must know what becomes of those who get in my way; correct?"
"…I've been informed."
"If that's the case, then I hope you have come to terms with what awaits you."
From the outside looking in, one could not deny that it was a real spectacle to witness how effective Mugino was with her ability. For the instant that she had finished speaking, three sphere's of energy came to life around her; followed by the streak of greenish energy being fired from those spheres in the direction of her opponent. Due to the fact that this was one of the main corridors within the building, the hallway was noticeably wider than narrow passages that branched off from the main one. That being said, while there was more room to maneuver than she would have liked, it was tolerable if only because she could exploit the abundance of room provided just as much as her target could.
Said target was the one who was currently using the generous amount of room to his advantage as he maneuvered around the beams of energy being fired at him. He, of course, wasn't foolish enough to believe that the initial strike was all she could manage, not once looking back to survey the damage dealt to the building as a result of her attack. Mugino was a Level 5 for a damn good reason and if what he had just witnessed as all she could manage than he would be inclined to have doubts about Academy City's ranking system. What further influenced this line of thinking was that he had requested no mental feed-back for the moment, though not for reasons such as arrogance. He had made the request only because he was growing concerned with Chouka's status, having not received a report about her arrival to the twin's location.
After avoiding the initial blast, Kurou's right hand reached out behind his back to retrieve his pistol before opening fire as he began his advancement forward. By the manner in which the shots rang out, it seemed more as a means of suppressing fire rather than him actually aiming for a target location. Unfortunately, the moment Mugino had caught sight of the black metal of the gun, she had already began the proper preparations to defend herself against the firearm. By the time he had fired, the sphere's that were once hovering around her converged to the palm of her outstretched hand, forming a large shield of pure energy. If the energy wasn't so bright, she may have been outright amused by the sight of those bullets melting away into dust as they connected with her field. But, even if she didn't witness that particular event happen, a thorough amused Mugino could do nothing to keep the smile from finally completing itself on her lips.
The moment the gunfire ceased, Mugino shifted back to offense with, literally, a flick of the wrist. In the instant that action was made, the shield that was crafted drastically shrunk in size as it contorted back into a single sphere of energy having in front of her palm. As it continued to shrink, two smaller traces of energy detached themselves from the mass of energy and also formed into matching sphere's, though noticeably smaller in comparison to the main shot. Once all three sphere's had formed, she simply watched as the beams of energy shot out towards the advancing party, the largest of the three heading directly into the teen's path while the smaller of the three fired along either side of the main attack.
Kurou, while aware of the method behind her attack, was in no way of truly knowing the scope of how large or small her attacks would be. That was something he wouldn't ever possibly know, since Mugino's thoughts didn't depict how much energy was to be used. That was the real danger here, for if he didn't know the output of the energy she was using to attack him with then avoiding the attacks would still hold just as much risk as not knowing where the attacks were going to go. That portion of the problem, however, was taken care of since she was at least mentally aiming at him; but again that meant nothing if he couldn't determine how much energy she was planning to use. Even so, he managed to avoid getting hit by her attacks, though the pistol he had been using was now useless courtesy of one of the stay beams cutting the barrel just a few inches away from the muzzle.
Tossing the now useless hunk of metal aside, Kurou's hand reached towards the small of his back. Unlike the previous action, he did not retrieve a firearm; instead all a loud clicking noise was what followed as he moved his arm back out into view. Whatever he had retrieved was just as quickly thrown to the floor, the canister rolling along the flat surface of the floor near Mugino's position whilst spilling its contents as it moved. The contents within the canister was simply white smoke and a lot of it; easily enough to engulf the entire passageway in a fog of white clouds that was rapidly hindering the girl's visibility of her target.
"Smoke grenades?" Despite it appearing as a question, the amusement that was evident in her tone depicted that she was disbelieved by her opponent's choice of action. "Do you really think that's gonna keep me from finding you?"
"Not really, no." One thing that was growing increasingly annoying about this boy was how difficult it was for her to locate him through sound. With the volume of his voice and it seemingly appeared as though he was right in front of her as he spoke, tracking him through speech was not going to yield any results. The fact that he was sounding more and more like a certain boy she knew of wasn't helping much either. "But I work better with the element of surprise at my disposal."
"It's a shame that the only one that's gonna end up being surprised is you." Having said that, Mugino spared a glance over her shoulder towards the ever silent Rikou; who had chosen to remain hidden since before the conflict had ensued. "Takitsubo, if you would."
"…eleven-o-clock."
Without further warning, a single shot of green energy raced through the cloud of smoke in the location which was specified by the track suit wearing young woman. Upon entry, the area in which the beam had traveled through parted a few inches in diameter, providing the Level 5 with a brief moment to see through the veil which had coated half of the hallway. But, as before, it seemed he had managed to avoid her attack once again, something that was steadily beginning to wear on her patience. Regardless, Rikou continued with her task of locating her target, but time after time she never managed to successfully land a clean hit due largely by the smoke he was hiding in. Before long, Mugino's impatience got the better of her, thus she simply fired multiple separate blasts into the cloud hoping to either catch an image of him at least once.
Absentmindedly, Mugino was both curious and relieved that the fire detectors seemed to have been disabled. She was relieved because she didn't want to deal with drenched clothing after all of this was done with, but curious as to why they weren't functional in the first place. It was possible that the lad was planning to use them from the start, but was it worth all the hassle to ensure that they would be inactive?
Before any further thought could be processed in regards to that matter, something suddenly burst from the cloud of smoke, rolling at a rather fast pace toward her exact location. At first she believed it was another smoke grenade, but that thought was instantly discarded when she saw that, why still in a canister, it was far too large in size. Once she saw the hose that was attached to it, she realized that it was a fire extinguisher, something that wasn't so out of place since it was to be used in the event of an emergency. The question remained, though, as to why he had performed this action at all; given the fact that he had no firearm anymore since she had severed his gun not long ago.
Upon further examination, however, she was quick to understand the reason for this odd action; if the flickering red light near the top of the canister was of any indication. With its advancement drawing closer, Mugino crouched down low as she calmly re-applied her shield just in time to hear a particular sound that stood out that originated from within the cloud of smoke. It was a sharp whistle, one that was loud enough to echo down the opposite end of the hallway behind her. Exactly when this noise was heard, the flickering light ceased, shortly followed by a loud bang as whatever was attached to it detonated. The amount of pressure inside the canister, combined with the explosive force of whatever was attached to it, caused the object in question to shatter into several pieces, propelling the metal frame of the object at speeds capable of piercing through the thick concrete that made up the walls and the tearing through marble floors. Thankfully, the shrapnel was not capable of bypassing Mugino's shield, but it did only further prove one particular factor about his mysterious opponent from inside the smoke-screen.
"So my assumption was right after-all." Announced the girl, her shield fading out of existence as she rose back up to her full height. Her expression was largely the same as it had been since the beginning, but one look in her eyes would be all someone would need to realize that something had changed. "I suspected that your little voice trick played a part in what your ability was, but now I guess this confirms my initial theory."
"…okay, I'll humor you; what was your assumption?"
"At first I thought you were just throwing your voice, but those headphones of yours would make that task harder to do since you wouldn't be able to hear precisely how high or low your pitch was. The fact that you've kept it leveled at the same degree this entire time to avoid me tracing you through sound waves emphasized that throwing your voice wasn't the case here. And after what you did just now, I've come to conclude exactly what you can do and why you've only been using tools this entire time and not your Esper ability. My guess is that you're just some low-level Esper who can control sound waves to create high or low frequencies. While I will admit that make-shift bomb you used was a nice trick, if this is all you have to offer than I'm severely disappointed with what ORDER is capable of."
For a while, there was only silence as Mugino gazed back at the cloud of white smoke that persisted in keeping the lad out of her line of vision. As she stood there, waiting for a response from the lad hiding within, it was clear now what had changed in those shaded brown eyes of hers. Before, there was excitement and a bit of thrill in facing an unknown opponent; but now that excitement was lost and replaced with monotony upon reaching this conclusion. Her opponent wasn't worth her time, and while playing a game of hide-and-seek was fun at first, she had come to accept that there was no real challenge against someone who could do nothing but hide from her and use tactics that would be rendered useless against her. Then again, finding anyone who could provide a challenge for a Level 5 like her was a fruitless battle unless it involved another Level 5; and even that depended on who the individual was.
There was, of course, that brainless fool of a youth that had caught her interest, but he was a different matter that still required being addressed at a later date.
"…you're on the right track, but your theory is wrong." That simple statement was all it took to cause the girl to break away from her previous train of thought and instead cause her to raise an eyebrow at the lad's statement. "But, I won't waste my breath in telling you what my ability is. How about I just show you the extent of what I can do…and why you shouldn't ever underestimate the members of ORDER."
By all accounts, it shouldn't have been his business to answer the call that had been made to someone else's phone. In every way, he should have just ignored it and dialed his own number to inform the real owner of the mix up. He should have done that, Kamijou Touma should have just let the phone ring and carry on with his day like any normal person would have. But that was not the case, he had answered the call; and even though the voice on the other end couldn't see it his face had been set in an ideal image of complete confusion at the demands being made. Sure, they weren't being directed at him but the actual owner of the mobile device, but it was still an odd request for the crazed girl to make.
He may not be the brightest individual in the world, but when the phrase 'take out the stairs' was used, it usually implied that something need to be blown up. That wasn't a term to be used lightly by someone whom, he assumed, was just your everyday Esper in this city. By her tone alone, he could assume she was being dead serious about whatever she was talking about. But what would cause her to make such a bizarre statement like that in the first place? That was what he wanted and yet, at the same time, didn't want to know about. As curious as he was about the statement, something more pressing quickly overlapped his desire to understand the phrase she had used.
The static which he received in the middle of the call prior to the disconnection was something that was honestly worth his concern. As far as he was aware, for someone to lose their signal anywhere within the jurisdiction of Academy City was as unheard of as him having a lucky day. Hell, it was hard to imagine anyone losing a signal anywhere in this city considering how advanced everything was; excluding certain exceptions. He may not have known what those exceptions were personally, but there was sure to be at least one or two places which acted as a dead-zone within the city. The problem he had, in conjunction with his gut feeling, was that Mugino's signal had been lost mid-conversation and yet she was inside of a building which should have had a good signal in the first place.
That bothered him more than he realized; as, shortly after the girl disconnected, he began shifting through the applications on the phone he currently was in possession of for a GPS. As far as he knew, the phones in Academy City all had the same GPS application already installed, some being more advanced than others. But even with his personal outdated mobile device, he could use the GPS to locate another mobile device so long as he had the right code for it. The problem was, and something he realized once he found the function, that the code changed every half-hour. Back when he had it, he didn't have any need to perform such an action; now he rather wished he had now that his concern had been raised.
He may not have gotten along with any of the girls, excluding Takitsubo, but a combination of odd statements and just as peculiar occurrences tended to yield at least some concern.
But with so few options and the desire to truly involve himself in the situation dimming, Touma was just about to leave the matter alone when a notification icon on the mobile device suddenly appeared on the far right-hand corner of the screen. As previously stated, by all accounts, it shouldn't have been his business to go snooping on someone else's phone. But this particular icon was for a news site that fed all subscribers with the latest information occurring within the city by students acting as amateur reporters. Some of them were just pointless news articles; most others were pictures or live streaming of current events occurring in their general area.
Personally, Touma never visited the site himself, hell he never really paid much attention to those things in the first place. So when the icon appeared, his typical response was to simply ignore it and put the device away. Given his still curious mind and with little better to do, he gave into temptation and allowed the icon to direct him to the site. What he found when he reached the designated page, however, revived that concern in his gut as he played the video that was posted. The video was only two minutes long, the commentator of the said video was clearly an just your average student filming and a majority of it consisted of the individual in question filming some building where gunfire was supposedly heard originating from. That knowledge was hardly what caused Touma to feel restless, but just as the video was nearing its end something very familiar burst out from the side of the structure; something that was very hard for Touma not to recognize.
It was a single, bright green, beam of pure energy which he was certain belonged to only one particular individual he knew of off the top of his head.
Having realized it on the first glance, Touma tried to replay the video from the beginning for the sake of regaining some rather critical information in regards to what was going on. But, as soon as he hit the play-back button, a message appeared on the screen pretty much telling him that the video wars removed. Now Kamijou's anxiety turned into full-blown alarm as he refreshed the page again in a vain attempt to have the video play back at least one more time. The results ended all the same, and thus Touma was forced to recall everything the spectator had commented on.
"District 15….gunshots…" Counting with his fingers, Touma began to verbally list off all the significant information the commentator had made prior to seeing Mugino's Meltdowner at work. After several moments of silent perturbed musings, Kamijou realized that the most important fact that could help him was eluding him from actually performing any sort of action. "…fuck, what was the name of the building!"
He needed to think, but with the very real danger that was currently going on at the moment, remaining calm became less and less like a priority. Kamijou, in spite of everything that girl put him through, couldn't just let her be in that situation. The thought that she could defend herself just fine without him did honestly cross his mind, but what if things escalated? What if something happened, something she couldn't have been prepared for? Would he be capable of simply letting this whole thing go and carry out the rest of his day knowing that she could very well be in legitimate trouble? Could he just allow another person to get hurt, worse yet killed, simply because he chose to overlook it?
The answer to that question was a given.
Of course he couldn't, he wouldn't; even though he had every reason in the world not to.
"Seiren!"
Hence the reason why, once his memory finally kicked in on the facility's name, he reopened the GPS to locate the facility on the mobile device he possessed. Since he had been chased a rather good distance away from the underground shopping center, he had fortunately been moving west the entire time. That meant that he was already relatively close to District 15, which also meant he was not too far away from where Seiren's Communication center was located. With the borrowed phone as his guide and resolve providing him the energy he needed, Kamijou Touma ran as fast as he legs could carry him to the designated location. All the while, the lad was praying to whatever higher being that pitied him would allow him the means to get there before something terrible could happen.
Okay, chapter's over, now for some talking from me.
Now, again, I'm very aware that my actions last chapter have had a lot of mixed responses. Some liked it, some didn't, and that's fine really. I'm not gonna rant and tell people to STFUFO since that won't change things. I just feel the need to remind most of you reviewers that this arc. serves a purpose outside of just the overall story plot. Said purpose is to test out things I should and shouldn't do for future arcs. to come. This is new to me, so I kindly ask for your pardon if the previous content was not to your liking. I'm just reminding you all that I've never done something like this (a non-canon arc) before, so your responses, harsh or not, are being heard and the mistakes I make in this arc. will more than likely be amended in the ones to come after this one.
That being said, I hope that this chapter gives you all what you have been wanting this entire time; some real action and some plot development. Now that everything has been explained in the previous two chapters, I won't have but so much info dumping to do. And while I can't say that my tenancy to be wordy at times will fade, I'll do what I can avoid adding unnecessary content to the events taking place. However, if this one is still too wordy for you, then all I can say to in regards to it is that I want you all to actually visualize the fights going on as they happen as clearly, but not overly, as possible.
One last thing; the actual chapter itself. As promised, this chapter is mostly action based with the only two bits of non-conflict being Sakurai's scene and Touma's. Hey, I couldn't leave Touma without having at least some feasible reason to get involved in the conflict now could I? That and I got tired of the Communication Center not having a damn name. As for the Mugino/Kurou fight, though dull in my eyes, will escalate in the next chapter. Don't worry, I promise not to disappoint; action-scenes are my true specialty as I've come to re-realize if the rapid speed this chapter was produced is of any indication.
As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.
Goodbye for now.