They face each other like a bullfighter and a bull in the arena. The air crackled with electricity, anticipation. Who was who no one cared. The crumbling edges of the building bowed as vampires leaned over, tasting the animosity growing thick. Accelerator crouched, his red eyes glaring as his lips thinned like razors. The vampire standing still like a mannequin. Her black eyes glistening in the haziness of the darkening alley. She knew what she had to do. She paid no attention to the sisters. The two holding large bore riot shotguns the other with an automatic pistol, cradling Misaka 20,001s shivering body.
Silence.
The sound of hearts beating like drums, long deep breaths, growling. The air vibrated with sounds.
Bang!
Misaka 10039 pumped the grip of her shotgun, expelling the smoky empty shell, chambering another round.
Bang!
Another loud explosion.
Misaka 10046 pumped the grip of the shotgun, expelling the smoky empty shell, chambering another round.
Bang!
The blast ripped through the chests of vampires falling through the air.
Chaos broke out.
The vampire charged, her face twisted. She did enjoy this. Accelerator pounced, kicking the ground. Their bodies collided. She swung hitting his jaw, quickly pulling her fist away. His mouth racked with pain, his cheek rippling from the punch.
She laughed.
A burning sensation blistered her right side. Accelerator finger glanced across her white skin.
"Shit! Her body tensed.
The pain rushed through her body like a lover's kiss. She stepped back, throwing another punch. He flicked it away.
Her fingers disappearing in the bloody mist. She healed.
They fought, only having eyes for each other. Two alpha lions battle for control of the pride. Claws slashing, fangs ripping at each other.
The walls splattered with blood, dripping from the broken glass, twisted metal and electrical wiring. The deafening rounds of shotgun blast, screaming, grunting and growling.
A perverted twisted dream of sex.
She grinned, smelling the air, blood, dust, gunpowder and sweat.
It turned her on, excited her, she wanted more. Her eyes lit up in dark flames, her lips red, her fangs glistening.
"Five minutes." Misaka 10032 speaks.
Accelerator nodded his head, glaring. His body racked with pain. He dragged his forearm across his bloodied lips, smearing it across his cheek. "I gotta hold out."
He thought to himself, catching a glimpse of Misaka 20,001. The sisters, standing, faces, clothing splattered with blood. Dead, decaying bodies around them like kindling. Orange, red flames covered the carcasses, glowing embers like fireflies rose into the air, drifting then faded.
Misaka 10032, tossed her automatic pistol, reaching into the large tote bag. It looked like a large body bag used to carry the dead. An image flashed in his mind.
She pulled something out.
"Fire in the hole!" Misaka 10032 warns as she pulls the pin.
She tossed it down another alley. There was an explosion, A flash and body parts flew into the air, tumbling across the ground.
"Tch!" Accelerator spoke.
A blunt pain like a sledgehammer slammed into his nose. His body flew through the air.
"Gotcha!" she spoke as she laughed. Watching his body slowly rise from the ground.
Accelerator's body curved backwards, his legs leaving the ground, flipped up tapping her elbow.
Bam!
Her arm exploded, flopping like a fish. Her forearm and hand dropped to the ground.
"oops?!"
She laughed, "a little slow on the pullback." She shook her head, a little angry at herself.
He hit the ground back first and laid still for a moment.
Silence.
He stared up into the twilight, framed by the jagged edges of the buildings. The alley, a tight battlefield. Shotgun blasts flashed across the edges of his vision, vampires falling from the sky. Embers floating free, pulled and pushed by the wind.
He slowly raised his hand, tapping the little black box that hung around his neck. Electronic sounds of the sisters filled his head.
Since the attack by the Roman Catholic church on Academy city. When Misaka 20,001 was kidnapped by Kihara. He laid near death. A new hidden power revealed itself to him. He nodded remembering the sensation. The overwhelming darkness that consumed him.
He slowly breathed. Since then but even before that when he was shot in the head. The doctor told him how amazed he was at Accelerators healing powers. His wounds healed quicker. How quickly his hair grew back. The pain disappeared. Then he realized.
He was changing. Changing to what?
He listened to the chatter of close to 10,000 sisters communicating across the world. Each word clear, concise. He heard numbers, calculations and his name. They didn't speak with malice, fear or worry. They said his name like calling out to a friend. He could see their faces smiling as they waved.
"Run." The combined voices spoke, like a choir. "Get up! Run!" He quickly blinked.
The vampire was falling from the sky like a bird of prey. Her eyes wide, grinning. Her fist raised like a hammer aiming for his skull.
"Fuck!" He spat the word out, "thanks!"
He quickly rolled over, her fist slamming into the ground. The spot exploded, the ground caved to her fist.
"Dammit. I missed." She quickly turned her head, laughing.
"Where you going?!" She yelled, watching Accelerator running towards the end of the alley.
"Here I come." She roared in a playful manner, pushing herself up off the ground.
The dim light of the outside grew closer. His heart was racing, lungs straining to breathe. His legs aching. He struggled to take a deep breath and quickly turned around. He stuck his hand out.
His long white hair flipped across his forehead covering his narrowed red eyes. His thin smile appeared across his face as he lowered his head.
"Surprise! Bitch!
"Fuck!" Her lips twisted, her body turned trying to avoid his finger spread wide. Then he laughed. It sounded like rusty nails being driven into a chalkboard.
He twisted his body in the opposite direction, whipping his other hand out like a snare. Her eyes went wide, realizing he had directed, led her into the mouth of the trap.
She blocked his attack, sacrificing her right shoulder. The flesh exploded, the pain tore through her, the fires ravaged her blood. Her face twisting in excruciating pain.
She tumbled across the ground and then stop.
She gripped what was left of her shoulder with her healthy hand, squeezing it tight. A large wound like this, she could bleed out.
"Very nice!" She shouted, still lying on her back. "I should've known you wouldn't run." She quickly nodded, licking her lips in satisfaction. "I love you, Accelerator." She spoke to herself.
"Hey!" She continued, looking side to side for her arm. "Why don't you drop that little force field thingy or whatever it is and let me turn you. We'd have so much fun together." She arched her neck, looking behind her and smiled. "There you are." She had found her arm.
"How about I don't, but you still try to stick your fangs into my throat, you sick conceited bitch!"
"now now…" She spoke as she rolled on her belly, crawled a few feet, reached out and grabbed her arm. She rolled on her back and held the end of her arm to her shoulder. She chuckled. "I love the way you talk dirty to me."
The feeling returned to her fingertips. "I'm getting sloppy." She whispered, sat up and looked at him.
Accelerator was worse for wear. Bruises covered his face, blood covered his mouth, trickling from his eyes. She couldn't gauge his heart or breathing because of his reflection. But from experience. She hadn't had a fight like this since the rise of the three warlords. When vampires like her were the norm not the rarity.
She stood up, brushing the dirt off her butt.
The fighting in the alley had stopped. She cocked her head, looking past him.
"Looks like it's over." She spoke, pointing past accelerator to the alley.
He turned slightly, looking over his shoulder as a small dark shadow move through the haze.
A vampire, her head and face exposed, covered in blood. Her eyes wet with tears, her mouth hanging open wide. She was struggling to walk, emerging from the darkened alley.
"You lose." The vampire spoke calmly, watching the little one as she slowly took her steps.
Boom!
An explosion ripped through the chest of the little vampire. Her face frozen in shock. A large hole in her chest where her heart used to be. She dropped to her knees and then fell forward hitting the ground face first in a sickening wet splat.
"Misaka, sorry for being late." Misaka 19090 speaks apologetically while clearing the chamber.
Accelerator grinned, his eyes glistened, turning around to face the vampire once more.
"oh well." She shrugged her shoulders, returning her attention to Accelerator.
He swayed, wobbled, his legs faltering. His chest aching with each gasp. The blows he received were like sledgehammers. Once she understood how to break down through his ability. She piled it on.
She stood staring, glaring, taunting him. Her eyes flashed up in a black flame, her grotesque smile narrowed. Her long curved fangs slipped out pricking her bottom lip. A dribble of blood fell over her creamy white skin.
She was waiting, coiled, a serpent waiting to strike. She cocked her head, her long messy hair falling over her shoulders, fingers curved, nails glistened. A breath, a simple breath and she would strike.
The boy, this strange gawky white haired boy, had just driven her to exhaustion. Her heart was pounding, her breathing evened, held tight in her chest for her final strike.
She waited 400 years for this battle, euphoria. Now to end it.
She waited for a moment. The pleasure. The feeling building inside her like a lover's gaze.
but her eyes opened wide in astonishment." Why!? Why is he laughing!"
His strained look, crimson eyes half lidded, his lips narrow. Accelerator didn't have a care. He learned a long time ago. That his abilities were not what he had been taught. Vector control. Defensive, suited simply to kill. And he was skilled at it. Because that's what they told him.
Kill, murder, exterminate and develop into a level VI. Power. Absolute power. No individual would challenge. They lied.
He was challenged, by that boy. A level 0 with that peculiar right hand. No matter what pain he delivered that boy would get up from the ground and fight. Anything to help him achieve his dream of absolute power. No one would challenge him. no one would dare come close to him.
He stared up into the nighttime sky. An idea. Yes, that will work.
He reached up to the air and catch the wind. Channeling it. The numbers crunched, the wind began to flow and it worked. The possibilities excited him, awakened him to his core. But the sisters interfered.
"Why! They are nothing but wind up dolls. Right?! Right?"
A young girl wearing only a rag called out to him in the darkness, on a bleak street.
Not afraid. "Do you know what I did?" He cried out, he admitted.
She didn't care. Because she saw him. Without him they wouldn't be. She answered.
A virus and everything would fall apart.
An idea. A thought. A realization. I can do this.
He went inside her mind, finding, fixing the code. The thought thrilled him. I can save someone. A bullet to the brain was his reward. But despite all that. he had saved two people that night. Maybe a third. Himself.
Now, A battle on equal ground. This vampire had driven him to fatigue. He needed to finish. Misaka 20,001 was lying down on the ground in a clump like soiled laundry, bitten.
Accelerator opened his lethargic, weak eyes, his narrow lips curved a little. His shoulders shook. A weak laugh, it became louder into his familiar cackle. He raised his head to the dim sky.
An idea. A thought. A plan.
The alley was too confining. So, he moved into the street. Wide open. The other vampires would not intervene. Their master was fighting a monster. Trading blows. The pain, body parts breaking. When she was wounded, she'd reach out, snatch a vampire draining it. Remove her ability to feed.
She was cold, ruthless and unforgiving. He needed to stall, if he couldn't kill. An idea. He'd take advantage of his ability to redirect fatal blows. Another success.
Then the word fell into his pain filled consciousness. "Drop." A simple voice said inside his head. And he did.
Accelerator raised his arms out, palms facing the sky and fell over backwards. He saw her startled expression fade from his point of view. Then the blackened heavens, the oranges and purples, luminous stars. He wrinkled his brow watching streaks of lightning speed across the sky. Two golden glints, like dying stars moved over his face. He hit the ground A sense of satisfaction rolled over him.
He needed to stall.
Time for the plan to work.
Time for the Sisters to get up close. Not even 50 feet away. So, close she wouldn't be capable of avoiding the attack.
Time to set up two fifty caliber metal eaters rifles. The very weapon employed to stop tanks in the Gulf conflicts. The very weapon employed in an effort on Accelerator. They required time to bolt them to the ground, coordinates fixed, ammo loaded. Special anti-Esper rounds. The external shell inscribed with runes. The smaller inside round to finish off the job.
The plan. He would ask for help. He would be a decoy. The Sisters set the plan into motion.
He lay flat on the ground for less than a moment. Misaka 20,001 needed him. The thought sickened him and warmed him. She'd been hurt while he was to protect her. The failure gnawed at him.
"It's okay." Misaka says Misaka says. "Accelerator it's okay, Misaka smiles, Misaka smiles" he heard her voice inside his head.
He got up off hard ground and ran off to the alley. He didn't worry about turning around to see if it was successful. He knew they wouldn't fail.
A heavy wet slump like a bag of damp rice falling from the shelf. The street went quiet.
The vampires hesitated, their destruction stilled. All eyes staring at their mistresses' lifeless body.
Its head was missing, mere pieces of a bloodied stump. A large space in the chest, pieces of meat, bone protruding out.
"Let's go! Brats!" Accelerator yelled, stooping over, plucking up Misaka 20,001 off the filthy ground. "Tch!" He clicked his tongue. "Shit! What have you been eating lately?" He shouted, noticing a little weight on the small body. He adjusted his grip, hoping to make her comfortable. He looked up at the rooftops.
Two Sisters, who had delivered the kill shots were standing near the edge, peering at him. the goggles strapped around their heads, their eyes catching the growing moonlight. The breeze fanning their hair, clothing, revealing their distinctively different colored panties.
"Misaka's desire to finish." Misaka 13577 speaks holding a what the blue blazes is that in her hand. Her lips revealed a mischievous smile.
"Yes." Misaka 19090 responds to her sister while holding the very what the blue blazes did she have in her hand. She gave out a short snicker. It was the size of a volley ball. Gray metallic colored object with a handle to carry it.
"Right!" Grumbled accelerator, "I'm off with the brat." He twisted his lips and vanished back into the blackness of the alley.
The two of them walked over to the edge of the roof that looked toward the street. The vampires still puzzled as their mistresses' body wasted away.
A low terrifying growl shook the atmosphere. Many of the vampires removed their mask, pulling their hoodies exposing their heads. They were not the faces of frightening monsters from the movies but the faces of young girls. They tightened their eyes, lips tensed, fangs ready.
"Calculations are ready. Misaka 13577 says to her sister, pointing out to where it needs to go.
"Confirm. Misaka 19090 says to her sister, acquiesce in understanding.
Two more Misaka's walked over to the edge. Two large metal cylinders strapped to their backs. Both like scuba tanks only twice the size. A long flexible tube curved to a handle with a spinning nozzle. The soft hissing noise emanated from the end. A few millimeters apart from the mouth of the spout, a narrow tube with a small flame trembling in the slight breeze.
They nodded to each other, then lifted their right legs and placed their shoes on the edge of the building.
The two Sisters' reach back and threw the two medium-size round objects into the twilight sky. they hit the ground with a metal clunk, bouncing and then rolled across the ground and stopped. A hissing whisper of aerosol spilling out from each object, drifting into the air.
The vampires didn't pay attention to the two volleyball size containers. They didn't pay attention to the lighter than air aerosol that was slipping, snaking around them like a fog. Their anger rising, the growling shaking the ground and then.
In the stillness was a sound, someone flipped a switch and the nozzle spun, the whirring sound becoming louder. The flames flickering then they squeezed the triggers on the two flamethrowers. The whirring changed into roar as liquid flame hit the air, spilling over the edge of the building onto the ground. A magnificent cascade of flames. Like propane burners on an outdoor grill the air around them brightened up. The gas that drifted around them burst into flames. In a split second, the entire area was in flames. The light of the roaring flames flickered across the sisters faces, the building, up into the night sky. The roar hiding, the wails of the vampires as they died.