12:47 PM

Two Anti-Skill soldiers escorted Abicus by either arms to a state of the art military grade van. Abicus looked down as the two soldiers practically dragged him. When they reached the van, a third soldier handed the one on the left a pair of handcuffs. The one on the right forced Abicus' arms in front of him as his peer placed the cuffs on him.

Yomikawa astutely observed the scene as she had a conversation with Konori Mii, a member of Judgement, from her headset.

"Since your little brat was useless in providing an adequate answer, should he also be prosecuted according to our stipulations as well even if he is an esper?"

While Yomikawa kept her watch giving her the presence of a guard dog, fellow Anti-Skill member Saigou Ryota crossed her path, obscuring her view of Abicus.

"Yomikawa, we've got a complaint. Turns out some other pervert's stolen a young lady's bra in broad daylight. It could be connected to this. Should we send a small unit down?"

"Seriously? Good grief, what has the city gone straight to-"

An Anti-Skill member shouted frantically.

"S-shit!"

Saigou's body swung around towards the direction of the cry.

"What happened?!"

The Anti-Skill member who was holding Abicus' right arm pointed at the empty ground.

"H-he disappeared!"

"What?!"

"Scratch that last report," Yomikawa yelled into her ear piece. "Hostile has vanished from the premise. Repeat, hostiles has vanished from the premise!"

"Roger!" replied Konori.

Yomikawa took her finger out of her ear. She raised her gun as she ran towards Saigou.

"Arm yourselves! Hostile is teleporter and a massive pervert! He is not to be trifled with!"

"You got that right," Abicus' whispered from an unknown location.

Yomikawa and Saigou's postures stiffened. Even though he wasn't visible, it sounded like he whispered directly into her ear. Saigou aimed his gun in multiple directions.

"Yomikawa," he said without looking at her. "Get my six."

Yomikawa swiftly backpedaled until her back makes contacts with Saigou.

"You too."

"Hmmm hmmm," Abicus can be heard saying again. "I'd like me some of that pie."

"Can he manipulate sound waves too?" Saigou frantically asked.

"Espers don't have two abilities!" Yomikawa replied.

The Anti-Skill members spread out across the vicinity in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible. The four HsPS-15 power suits raised their large shotgun-esque rifles and being pointed in different directions.

"It's not use. Even with all of your little fancy toys, you couldn't stop me. Quite frankly, I'm in an entirely different league. You're cute for trying though."

A stream of sweat ran down the side of Saigou's left temple. In spite of the anticipation of the unknown, he maintained a composed disposition.

"Oh really?" Yomikawa inquired with a smirk. "We're Academy City's premier defense force, armed to the bone with technology several decades ahead of the rest of the world. You're just one man. You wanna bet you can take us with your lame parlour tricks?"

Yomikawa said that in hopes of luring Abicus out since he appeared to ego driven.

However, her plan only half succeeded.

There was a slight pause.

"Gale Wind, Level 3."

A small breeze formed in the center of the area. That small breeze turned into a massive gust engulfing the Ant-Skill members, knocking everybody including the military vans and the people in the armored suits into a series of buildings on their right. The sound of large metal and bones cracking can be heard. The vans that did crash into the wall were severely flattened, crushing the windows and staining the sidewalk with glass.

"Uzumaki."

A tornado formed at the center, lifting up the remaining soldiers, vans, and powered suits. Yomikawa futily reached out to Saigou as he floated away from her.

Some Anti-Skill members collided with the military vans or the powered suits, leaving them dangling lifelessly like they were freefalling dummies. Abicus stood atop of a powered suit with his arms behind his back. Using unconscious Anti-Skill members as foot stools, he leaped towards the upside down Yomikawa.

He leaned so close to her face that he could smell every sweating pore. He fondled her cheek for an uncomfortable length without saying anything.

"Did you really think take me for a one trick pony?" he whispered in a sadistic voice.

Yomikawa swung her rifle towards Abicus but she was a second too slow. Abicus roundhouse kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying through the window of some important business building. The business buildings in Academy City are reinforced with very strong safety glass to prevent gun shots or employees from killing themselves. But that meant nothing as Yomikawa's body effortlessly smash throughed it. She rolled across the ground for a few feet.

Yomikawa laid on her side, unconscious next an empty cubicle of some deserted office. The employees left after noticing a storm at the side of the building.

Abicus slowly floated towards the ground and landed on his right tiptoe. Then the tornado subsided, causing the Anti-Skill vans, armored suits, and regular members to fall as well. The trucks and armored suits make loud crunching sounds as they smack the pavement. The Anti-Skill soldiers flail their limbs helplessly as they approach the hard, unfeeling ground. The sound of bones cracking and fleshing slamming against the pavement.

Some of the vans and armored suits exploded, either disintegrating or launching a few Anti-Skill soldiers. Abicus walked away looking bored as he adjusted his top hat.

Saigou landed on his feet but the impact snapped the large bone in his left leg. He somersaulted to prevent further damage. He brought his injured leg up to his chest with both hands. He scowled, shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth before finally screaming in pain.

Abicus slowly walked towards Saigou for no reason other than to incite fear in him. Upon reaching him, Abicus looked down unto Saigou with a blank expression or a few seconds. Saigou opened his eyes and forgot about the immense pain he felt just a moment ago. Abicus' blank face quickly and eerily turned into very wide grin that stretched his face to the fullest.

Saigou quickly reached for the handgun in his left leg holster. However Abicus stepped on his injured leg, causing Saigou retract in pain, screaming.

Abicus waved his wand in a circular motion.

"Alakazheemo," he said in a low voice. Saigou's gun slowly floated out of his holster and aimed itself at Abicus' right temple.

"Alazhingo."

The cartridge slipped out from under the pistol. Then, the bullets fly out of the cartridge. Afterwards, the pistol and cartridge dart off in opposite directions before bouncing across the street a few times. Saigou witnessed in frustration before diverting his gaze towards the cold smile cast down on him. It leaned down in front of him so that his rancid breath attacks every pore on his face.

"Poor little soldier boy," it taunted. "All of that training, all of that technology and yet here you are, writhing in pain. Powerless. Defenseless. Defeated. You messed with forces beyond your control and you. Got. Burned. Your ignorance was your own folly, which lead to your destruction. But that's alright."

Saigou's face was drenched in a sweat as he gnashed his teeth in frustration. The seemingly harmless and angular face before him had taken on an entirely different presence, installing a sense of fear in Saigou much like a child who believed a monster was hiding under his bed.

The pupils in its face disappear and it reveals a toothless smirk.

It backed up and slowly walked away in towards the left, leaving Saigou hyperventilating.

Abicus stopped walking after he heard the sound of guns cocking. He turned to the left to see four armored powered suits standing at 2.5 meters tall aiming large shotguns with large barrels at his backside in his peripheral vision. The armored suits were capable of jumping over ten meters. The forty foot fall they had taken was not enough to completely damage them.

"S-stop where you are," the suit on the far left said. "Or we will shoot."

Abicus turned around and stared at them with a hollow expression. He raised his wand.

"Misdirection."

"Put the wand down!" the suit on the second to last right shouted.

A giant bullet flew past Abicus. The wind from made his cape flap several times. Abicus heard the sound of it crashing into a building several meters away but he didn't respond.

The suit to the far right along with the two next to him looked at the suit on the far left. For the sake of simplicity, the suits will be referred to by number corresponding to how far they are from the left.

"What the hell man?!" Suit #1 shouted. "Who told you to shoot?!"

"I'm sorry!" Suit #4 frantically responded. "My finger slipped!"

"How does your finger slip on a suit of armor?!" chastised#3. "It's metal on metal!"

"I-I got nervous! Sorry!"

Suit #4 turned to his colleagues and continually bowed apologetically.

"What would we tell our superiors?!" added #2. "'Oh, sorry. We accidentally shot the perpetrator with a three foot shot gun in a specialized suit of armor.' Dumbass, think before you get nervous!"

"Wah! But you say that like I have control over my nerves!"

Abicus stared, bewildered, as the idiots before him bickered amongst themselves.

(You know, I could just run away right now. Buuuuuuut…)

The indifferent magician pointed his wand skyward.

"Fifty-Two Drop Down," he whispered in a monotone..

In a flash of pink light, fifty-two 7.5 by 6 feet playing cards appeared, scattered around him. Abicus pointed his wand forward and by his command the cards rotated so the top edges pointed in front of them. With the sound of several shock waves, the massive cards bursted forward at high speed towards the armored suits.

In response, the suits simultaneously jumped into the air, avoiding at least sixteen cards much to Abicus' intrigue. His pupils shifted towards the armored suits that were six meters in the air.

#3 aimed his gun down at Abicus.

"Hook line and sinker," he confidently said.

"Good job guys," said #2.

"Don't get comfy," said #1. "We're not done yet."

"Yeah," added #4. "But you guys said such hurtful things."

(Hmmm, so it was a trick. However…)

"Don't count your chickens yet," Abicus said even though the suits were too far out of range to hear.

The remaining cards rotated diagonally and flew towards the suits. 6 of Hearts cut through #3's shotgun, cutting right up the arm as well. He shrieked at the unimaginable pain of having a his forearm split. #2 was stuck in the "thigh" of his right leg, causing him to flip forward as three more cards sunk into his remaining limbs.

#1 delivered an axe kick on a card heading his way, sending it crashing into the street. Then he swung his elbow down, crushing it as if it were crunchy children's cereal.

#4 swung his shotgun up, deflecting a card into the sky. However, another card was heading his way at the apex of his attack.

(Shit!) #4 panicked silently.

A large burst of bullets shoot through the center of the card, scattering its broken bits above and below #4.

Abicus looked at #1 who had his shotgun aimed to his left.

(Fucking pest,) he thought as his scowl tightened.

The remaining cards flew towards #1. He shoot one and deflected another. The third one pierced the cylindrical helmet, getting stuck about halfway.

Number Oneeeeeeeeeeeee!" #4 shouted.

#1's figure was drowned in a sea of giant playing cards. In his place were tiny bits of a mechanical suit.

#4 landed on the ground with a loud thud, cracking the street underneath him. For a second he couldn't move.

(D-damn it,) he thought, gritting his teeth.

His comrades were either incapacitated or dead. Behind the cylindrical helmet, his shrunken pupils shook and dilated as a stream of sweat ran down his face. He was the least experienced of the group and his opponent easily mopped the floor with all of his team mates. The odds, or even the cosmos were playing against him in every conceivable way.

Even so…

(I musn't run away...)

#4 aimed his shotgun at Abicus while running with slow, clanking strides. He fired three rounds. At the wave of a wand, the enormous bullets changed course to the left, then right, then left again, destroying the windows and the cement walls of the adjacent buildings. In a split second, an enormous playing card rotating at high speed effortlessly sawed through the tip of #4's gun, rendering it useless. He grunted and then threw the gun onto the ground behind him.

Upon reaching Abicus, #4 cocked his right fist back and shouted. With all of his might, he threw the heavy, mechanical arm at the unflinching Abicus.

Instead of taking the fist to the face, Abicus flicked his wand up.

"Misdirection," he said.

The tip of the wand made contact with the fist.

Confusion ran through #4's mind. He could not compute what happened to him in that moment even though he had every reason to know. Fear must have sunk too deep in his mind, interfering with his thought process.

For some reason, #4 was above Abicus, staring at his chilling smile.

The mass of armor that was #4 was flipped directly over Abicus.

(What…?)

#4 spun rapidly across the air, the rapidly rotating world analogous to his mental state.

A suit of armor exploded a few meters behind Abicus. The wind of the explosion made his cape dance in the wind. The twisted magician closed his eyes and inhaled, basking in the brutality of crippled men and the ruins of the once clean street engulfed in flames.

After a moment, he finally exhaled.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw several blue vans speeding towards him several meters ahead. He quickly tapped his shoulder with his wand.

"Rubiosa!"

The first van screeched to a halt several feet in front of Abicus, turning to the side in the process. Anticipating this a few seconds in advance, he kicked off, gliding towards the van at full speed. He was bounced back several feet into the air. He tipped his top hat at the van as he soars over the fire. He forced himself to land directly on his back, causing him to bounce even farther.

Within a seconds, Abicus covered the span of several meters.

While sprawled on the ground, Saigou continued to hyperventilate with wide eyes as he grabbed a hold of his broken leg. An Anti-Skill member opened the driver's seat of the van and leapt out.

"Dammit!" he cursed underneath his breath at the flames that blocked his path. He turned around and upon sprinted towards Saigou upon seeing him hunched over. After stopping in front of him, he leaned in front of him on his left knee.

He placed his hands in front of him as if he were to perform first aid but he is unsure of what to do.

"Saigou!"

Saigou's hyperventilation went on for a few more seconds before slowing down and stopping. His pupils returned to normal size and he took a few more breaths, looking at the Anti-Skill member in front of him.

"Dammit," he whispered to himself. "Help me up."

"Yessir," the Anti-Skill member said. He wrapped Saigou's right arm over his shoulder and helped him up.

Saigou pressed on the inside of his left ear with his index finger.

"This is Saigou of the Anti-Skill Branch 73. The hostile has retreated by turning his body into rubber and bouncing away. Abicus somehow has more than one type of ability… we've been beaten."

Saigou took his finger out of his ear and looks down, sighing. His subordinate studied him to see what his next action would be.

"You okay, superior?" he asked.

Saigou looked up and stared in annoyance.

"Shut up and help me to that building over there. Yomikawa definitely needs medical attention."

The subordinate did not comment on the irony of that statement and helped his superior without uttering a word.