Hello again, it has been awhile. This was probably the longest wait, I'm sorry.

I'm not really a blogger, so I don't have much to say. My province (I live in Canada) is actually in lockdown right now and online schools have started. The homework has increased now that my schoolmates are spending more time at home.

I'm also actually working on a MHA fanfic too, not really sure if that's going to work out. I'm going to publish the chapters slowly once I'm done with this fic.

"Damn!" Mikoto cursed. She continuously dodged each of the robot strikes. It seemed like the mechs were completely immune to electrical attacks. The machine swung overhead at Mikoto, and the black power raised from the ground to shield Mikoto.

Mikoto counterattacked, the trail of iron sand slapped the robot as if it were an insignificant fly. However, the mech hit an unstable part of an unfinished building. The steel beams fell onto Ruiko and Febri, and Mikoto managed to levitate the beams just in time for Kuroko to teleport them out of danger.

"Uiharu! Call Anti-Skill!" Kuroko commanded as she helped Ruiko up.

"I-I can't get a signal!" Kazari said in panic.

"What do you mean?" Ruiko asked, distracted. The moment Ruiko kept her eyes off Febri, she ran forward into the chaos. She sat on her knees to pick up a pink Gekota figure that she dropped.

"What are you doing!?" Mikoto rushed by Febri's side. "Get back and-"

Mikoto's line of speech was interrupted by a robot approaching them quickly to attack. I can't use Iron sand, it'll hurt Febri!

Mikoto flinched, but suddenly, their enemy stopped. A metal steel beam came flying from the side, hitting the robot cleanly. The enemy was launched far away from Mikoto and Febri.

Mikoto looked up to see a figure standing in front of her. As soon as she noticed the unique goggles she was wearing, she gasped.

"You! What are you doing here? Aren't you still in the hospital!?"

Emilia removed her goggles and gave her a strange look. "What are you talking about?"

"O-oh, it's you." Mikoto said. The goggles were identical to her sister's, she was going to have to ask her about that later.

"Todoroki! You came!" Ruiko cheered. Her enthusiasm quickly died down as she looked her former roommate up and down. "What happened to you?"

Mikoto also looked at Emilia. Her tokiwadai uniform was covered in dirt, and her arms and legs were covered in scratches and bruises. Her left hand was pierced and bleeding. Most noticeably, the palm of her right hand was black, with some flesh exposed to the naked eye. Mikoto easily considered it to be a third degree burn.

"Ha! Piece of cake, if I say so myself!" A newcomer's voice gloated.

"Kongou-san!?" Mikoto said in shock. She realised that she was the one who launched the steel beam to save them.

"Thanks for the help." Emilia said.

"O-oh no! Think nothing of it!" Kongou said.

"More importantly, Todoroki, please tell us what happened to you!" Kuroko said firmly.

"I was also attacked by those unmanned mechs." Emilia said, tilting her head to refer to the mechs. "It was hard. They were heat resistant, and I couldn't call any of you for help."

"Wait, did you say unmanned?" Mikoto echoed. She quickly walked closer to glance at the mech to see that the cockpit had no one in it. She gasped in shock.

"Yeah, there wasn't a heat signature in them." Emilia said. "Saten-san called me to come over to you."

"Really!?" Kuroko asked with shock. "Nice quick thinking! Though, why did Saten's call come through and not Uiharu's?"

"Yeah! Why is that?" Kazari asked.

"The only answer I can come up with is that Uiharu's call was intercepted by an unknown party." Emilia said.

The group went silent for a while, Emilia's idea was the only possibility. This might lead to something a lot bigger than we think. Mikoto thought.

However, their silence was suddenly interrupted by Febri collapsing onto the ground. Ruiko catches her and holds her head gently. However, the little girl was breathing rapidly, and her face was all red.

"Febri!" Ruiko called with concern."

"Call an ambulance!"

"Do I really need to get in there too?" Emilia asked.

Anti skill arrived alongside an ambulance that came to pick Febri up. Almost everything was resolved, and Emilia also reported the area where she was attacked too.

"Emilia, those injuries aren't something that could be brushed off." Mikoto said.

Emilia sighed, and gave in. "There's a guy unconscious where I was attacked. Just make sure he gets interrogated." She said as she climbed aboard the white van.

"Yeah." Mikoto said.

As the doors closed, Emilia took a seat in the ambulance. The moving vehicle looked very modern, and was full of medical supplies. Emilia could almost even call it a portable patient's room. It didn't really feel like a real emergency as she was still unconscious, and was able to walk. Her injuries did hurt though. It was only then that Emilia realized that her right palm was all burnt up. I didn't notice that. It must be because I accelerated the pistol at an extreme abnormal speed. I have to hold back on that more. My movement-based scalars can only by used for movement, not attacks.

Emilia thought about the attack. Pretty much every application of her ability was accounted for. The heat resistance countered the rising of thermal energy, and the tough alloy the machine was made of countered the cold. There was nothing she could use to accelerate, and the machines overwhelmed her before she could even try anything.

"This is going to hurt." A doctor said. Emilia braced herself.

Emilia's left hand was poured by disinfecting alcohol. She got her left hand injured saving Mikoto. She did remove the kinetic energy applied to the strike, but it didn't stop the enemy from piercing her hand.

Misaka made it unharmed, not to mention that she had to protect our friends too. She really is amazing. I hope Febri is okay.

Emilia's thoughts were cut off by the stinging pain her right hand felt when it brushed off an object. She winced like a puppy.

Owww… that really hurts.

"Okay, then. Later." Mikoto said before ending the call.

As a result of the unexpected attack, only Febri and Emilia were injured. Kuroko and Kazari stayed behind at the scene to explain what happened to Anti-Skill. As a result, Mikoto and Ruiko were waiting in the hospital for Emilia and Febri.

"They'll be fine, right?" Ruiko asked, as Mikoto put away her phone.

Emilia is undergoing a minor surgical procedure to fix the burn on her hand, while Febri was being examined. Emilia surely was going to be fine, but she couldn't guarantee if Febri was going to be alright.

"Argh, I can't believe she's making us worry so much." Mikoto complained, in an attempt to indirectly reassure Ruiko. "She's paying for this once she wakes up." Ruiko looked at Mikoto, and she winked.

Suddenly, the doors opened and several doctors moved out with Febri. Ruiko and Mikoto stood up to see her still breathing heavily, on a bed.

"Doctor, how's sh-"

"Her fever won't go down." The doctor said, already predicting the girl's words. We have no idea what's wrong with her." She bowed apologetically. "We're transferring her to a bigger hospital."

Mikoto and Ruiko stood there, speechless and motionless. They watched as the girl was taken away.

After some time, Mikoto and Ruiko waited in a certain hospital Febri was transferred to.

I don't know who was behind that, but they were after Emilia and I. Us level 5s. Febri got hurt because of me, because I couldn't protect her. Mikoto clenched her fist.

"Onee-Sama!" Kuroko's voice called.

Ruiko and Mikoto turned around, and they saw their friends running over.

"Kuroko, Uiharu-san!" Mikoto called.

"How's Febri-chan?" Kazari asked.

Ruiko sulked. "W-we don't know yet. She spoke silently

"And Emilia?"

"We haven't seen her, but she should be fine." Mikoto replied. "What about your end?"

"Well, Anti-Skill is continuing their investigations. The man Todoroki-san mentioned isn't saying a word. We have no clues at this point though."

"Well, more importantly…" Kuroko said out of the blue. "What are you doing here!" she shouted, as she looked behind her.

As it turns out, the two judgement members were tailed by Kongou. She held the fan in front of her face. "What do you mean? I'm also worried about Febri-chan. I came here to warn you that Febri-chan was in danger!"

The four girls looked at her in puzzlement.

Emilia inspected her hand. They were bandaged up like a cast. She could still move her arm, but her wrists and fingers were locked in place by the firm bandages.

"What do you think?"

Emilia looked up to see a doctor walking casually into the room. He held a wholesome smile on his frog-like face. It was the talented doctor nicknamed the "Heaven Chancellor".

"Your burn was serious, but there's nothing I can't fix. You seem to run into a lot of trouble, don't you? It kind of reminds me of a certain patient. I wouldn't be surprised if he got appointed to this hospital again."

Emilia stayed silent, and the doctor continued.

"Well, you will be just fine as long if you don't do anything out of the blue. You'll be discharged soon enough."

"W-wait!"

The doctor turned around, and Emilia found herself in an awkward position. She didn't know why she had to shout. She shifted and maintained her composure.

"Do you know if Feb-I mean, the blond girl is okay?" Emilia asked.

"Ah, yes. My apologies. I forgot to relay this to you, but…"

Emilia subconsciously leaned forward.

"She's actually fully and scientifically manmade."

"W-what?"

"I mean that she isn't human. The first clue was that it seems that most of her proteins didn't occur naturally. She doesn't seem aware of it though."

Emilia's mind raced. What was the point of artificially created children? Why would she be left in Academy City like this? How on earth is she unaware? Would that explain her strange heat signatures?

Emilia's questions were interrupted by the doctor continuing on. "As a result of her metallic process, her cells naturally create poison. Toxins, if you will. She will eventually die because of these toxins."

Emilia stayed silent, inviting the doctor to elaborate. "The lollipops that she has been eating are an antidote that's been neutralizing the poison. You could say that it's her lifeline. I'm not sure if this feature was on purpose for her creators."

"B-but why?" Emilia asked. But it hit her like a rock as soon as she asked the question. Still, the doctor spoke the obvious to her anyway.

"This was the doing of the dark side."

Emilia never believed that she would ever hear the term ever again. She was done with the dark side, she was never going to be manipulated ever. Emilia squeezed her fist. She wasn't out of the rabbit hole just yet. She stood up, and bowed slightly, dismissing herself.

"I told Railgun about this too. It would be best to talk things out with your friends." Heaven Canceller said as she left.

My friends…? Can they be useful against people from the dark side?

Febri was ready to get discharged from the hospital, but all 4 of the friends waited a little longer for Emilia.

Mikoto felt uneasy as she waited. Kongou had warned them that a group of strange men were after Febri. With the information that was relayed to her by the doctor, it was pretty clear that she had to do with the dark side. Febri was created by mysterious researchers for an unknown reason. Her friends didn't know of the truth yet, and it was probably better that way. She didn't want her friends involved with the dark side.

Emilia experienced the dark side much longer than I have. I don't think she would want to go back there again, but I could ask her for advice.

Emilia arrived conveniently, with bandages where there used to be wounds. She still wore her tokiwadai uniform, which still had traces of dust and sand.

"Emilia!" Ruiko greeted Emilia. "Are you okay?"

"Hey, I wouldn't be discharged if I wasn't okay." She replied back.

Eventually, everyone came out of the hospital all safe. After the sudden event, everything felt normal again. Mikoto returned to her dorm to settle down and think about what was told to her. She trembled. She didn't want to waste a single second, yet she didn't know what to do or where to start. She didn't get her friends involved again, yet it seemed like it was the only way to get anywhere close to her goal.

She went out to take a walk like she always did during the summer. She didn't meet the idiot anywhere, and it wasn't like she wanted to either. Mikoto didn't have the time to challenge him and his weird right hand to a duel.

The day passed by in a flash, and Mikoto went back to her dorm as usual. However, when she almost arrived back, she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket.

"Hello?"

"Hi, It's me." Kongou's voice said.

"Do you need something?"

"Oh, no. I just wanted to check on Febri. Is she doing alright?"

"Oh, y-yeah, she's fine."

"That's a relief. It seems that Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san were angry about dealing with things without them. I suppose true friends share both joys and dangers alike."

Mikoto's eyes widened at the words.

"Well, Thanks for letting me know about Febri."

"Oh, yes. Send my regards to Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san."

Mikoto ended the call, shutting her phone.

The phrase took a much bigger toll than she really anticipated. She couldn't stop thinking about it. Even when she entered the dorm, took a shower, and rested in her room. She wondered if it really was beneficial to bring her friends along to the depths of Academy City. She didn't want them to be in danger, and having them involved felt a bit counterproductive. Yet, the words didn't stop echoing.

Well, if it's come to this… Mikoto thought before she made her way out of her room.