Chapter 40: Battles at the Learning Core

Hello, everyone! Last chapter saw the results of Tsuchimikado's diversion, and this chapter will cover the rest of NT7.

Blankow: Cross-dressing Touma was a funny scene I just had to include! I guess Mikoto has worn a suit before, and she was mistaken as a boy when she broke into those facilities. Shokuhou will definitely be upset when she finds out. Yeah, it is nice that Mikoto isn't insecure anymore about her chest size, which is something I wanted Touma to do for her.

Steinfield: Yep, this chapter will show how Touma saves the day in the end.

LordChorizoCosmico: I do appreciate reading your long reviews, and the reviews I get often give me ideas for scenes and plot points. Yeah, Tsuchimikado is quite creepy, but he is also a very interesting character. The girls' reactions to Touma are pretty funny, and though they insulted him, thinking of his girlfriend was enough to cheer him up. Mikoto is very mad at Tsuchimikado, so he may have to watch out. Shokuhou did finally make her appearance. She didn't find about Mikoto and Touma's relationship yet, but her reaction when she does find out will be very interesting. And yes, her taunts towards Mikoto's chest size probably won't work anymore. Mikoto has progressed a lot since the start, though Touma did wisely text her the details of the situation so she wouldn't jump to conclusions. He hasn't received a shock from her in quite a while. The two of them do make a great combat duo, and adding in the Railgang would make them even stronger. The novel had Shokuhou say that it was better that Touma teamed up with her instead of with Mikoto, so I wanted to show that Mikoto could also use her abilities to help solve Touma's ostensible problem. I did just have to include that scene of Touma dressing as a girl, and it was pretty funny to write. Unfortunately, he couldn't worry about his masculine pride in that situation. Mikoto did understand his feelings about confronting his friend, since she would feel the same way if she were in that situation. Yeah, Shokuhou could do a lot to gain information, including going after Kuroko. But for now, Mikoto was able to quell her suspicions.

Toa Solaric: Yes, I wanted to have Mikoto be the one to help him instead of Shokuhou, and the crossdressing scene was pretty funny. Tsuchimikado may definitely have to watch out.

Stryper88: Yeah, he definitely was a bastard here. Touma met Shokuhou in canon when he was fleeing from Mikoto, not in the locker room. Touma did take a verbal beating, but thinking of Mikoto cheered him up. Mikoto is definitely more patient with him, and it did help that he explained the whole situation over text instead of just saying he was in the School Garden. True, Mikoto didn't lie to Shokuhou, but she didn't give out the full truth. Shokuhou won't be meeting Touma in the School Garden in this fic, but the next time she sees him, if she notices the ring, she'll definitely put all the pieces together. Yeah, Touma's efforts played a big role in reducing Mikoto's insecurities. Saten's interrogation in that fic was pretty funny, though I think she knows Touma well enough for that not to be necessary anymore. I'm happy you liked how I used Mikoto in that chapter. I wanted to show that she could also be helpful to him, like Shokuhou was in canon.

xellos540: I added my response to your review of Chapter 38 in Chapter 39. Yeah, the entire scenario was a fake from Tsuchimikado, which is why it sounds so implausible. Yeah, that was a brain fart on Touma's part, since Tsuchimikado mentioned the School Garden directly. He did text Mikoto telling her the situation. Yeah, Mikoto was able to hide the truth from Shokuhou, at least for now. Mikoto and Touma spent two nights together in Hawaii. He just massaged her breasts on the first night, but they had sex on the second night. Mikoto and Touma's interactions in that chapter were quite cute, and him dressing as a girl was pretty funny. Yeah, Touma made sure not to touch her with his right hand during their flight. Setting Touma up with Mikoto was probably a bonus for Tsuchimikado, but his main focus was Maika. It is kind of weird that her name would be publicly announced like that, but maybe that was done on purpose. Yes, the Altar of the Wisdom King was a complete fake. That chapter and this chapter cover the events of NT7, the Agitate Halation arc, so that's what these events are based on.

tython055: It was a very unconventional ploy by Tsuchimikado. It'll definitely be hard for Mikoto to keep it a secret from Shokuhou, even if the latter can't read her mind directly. Shokuhou was very eager in that scene, though I don't know if her plans went that far. Shokuhou does have the potential to cause some problems in their relationship, though Mikoto and Touma should have enough faith and trust in each other for it to not work.

PsyAnn: Thanks for catching that! I have fixed it in that chapter.

rubengalihalexis: I'm flattered that you found the descriptions so realistic, though in many cases I was just copying the descriptions from the light novel.

Vetin221: That is a very real possibility. Mikoto's friends or her sisters would definitely tease Touma if they ever saw that picture.

Guest10032: No worries, I'm glad you're still keeping up with the fic. Yeah, that interaction between them was fun to write. It is a bit strange that Shokuhou hasn't at least heard about it yet, but Mikoto and Touma haven't gone on many dates in public, so I think it's still plausible for Shokuhou to not know yet. Her finding out will certainly be a key scene in this fic, and I'm looking forward to writing it, and I also have big plans for NT10 and NT22R. Yeah, I took a bit of inspiration from that fic, and I do want to show that they're understanding each other more and more. That was a key difference between Mikoto and Shokuhou in late NT, and I really liked how much faith Mikoto had in Touma to save the day, and how quickly she came up with a way to help him do so.

It was now nighttime, and Touma and Mikoto were running through Academy City. A lot had happened since they'd separated earlier that day. Touma had found Tsuchimikado, but his friend hadn't told him anything before Touma had too easily beaten him in a fight.

Afterwards, Touma had found documents describing the Agitate Halation project that Tsuchimikado had apparently been investigating. Run by Yakumi Hisako, a member of the Board of Directors, the project apparently aimed to use Fremea Seivelun as a protection target to have multiple heroes clash and eliminate each other. Soon afterwards, he had run into a few of these heroes, but he'd been able to escape while they'd focused on fighting each other.

After that, Touma had fought against Rensa, a cyborg who could copy esper abilities and use the powers of multiple Level 5's. He had prevented her from killing Hamazura and Kuroyoru, but Touma had only been able to survive because Rensa had tried to copy his Imagine Breaker, which had resulted in her own destruction. Hamazura had then given him a phone that tracked the GPS signal from Fremea's security buzzer and asked him to find her.

As a result, Touma had decided to ask Mikoto to join him again. After explaining the situation to her, they were now headed towards the Learning core, where Fremea was apparently located.

Mikoto sighed to herself, "What a crazy day. First there was that false magical bomb threat in the School Garden, but it ended up just being a cover for this even crazier conspiracy. How does Touma survive dealing with this all the time?"

The Learning Core was a theme park with multiple educational facilities, such as a library, museum, planetarium, and aquarium. He muttered, "That place has a lot of art and antiques, right? I doubt an eight-year-old girl could sneak past their security."

Mikoto thought for a moment before suggesting, "Maybe she wants to be caught, so that the guards can help her."

Touma nodded, "Yeah, but given everyone after her, they might just be walking into trouble. Though I guess I'm not one to talk."

Suddenly, the red dot indicating Fremea's location disappeared from the map on the phone. Having an ominous feeling, both Touma and Mikoto ran even faster towards the Learning Core facility.

A little while later, they reached the facility. Fortunately, they didn't have to figure out how to sneak in, since the alarm was already blaring. They quickly scaled the fence and made their way inside, where they found a bunch of empty animal cages in the zoo.

Mikoto cautiously looked around and noted, "It seems like this emergency is more than just a little girl sneaking in." The atmosphere felt very tense, and she could even smell smoke.

Touma couldn't help but agree. As they made their way to the top of a hill, he had a sense that this was a much bigger situation than Hawaii or Baggage City. The entire facility was lit up with bright white lights, but he also noticed a different type of light, another color that was coming from just over the hill.

When the two of them reached the top of the hill, they saw a horrifying view down below. There were flames and smoke everywhere, and there was a large mass of people surrounding the giant building known as the Lightning Rod. And this riot was not a united group of people with the same goal. Instead, they were all punching and grabbing at each other, and using various esper abilities.

Mikoto looked at the situation in shock, and she eventually muttered, "So this is the result of that project? All of those people are fighting each other in some attempt to save Fremea?"

The boy muttered, "Yes, and it'll be difficult to deal with all of them individually. We need to find Fremea. Let's go see if one of the guards has seen her."

They soon made their way into the zoo office. They searched around for the guards, but there was no sign of them anywhere. Eventually, Touma found someone hiding between the blades of a meat-grinding machine.

The middle-aged man sputtered, "W-wait, I'm just an unarmed zookeeper! I can't do anything to you, so please don't attack me!"

Touma looked at him and firmly replied, "Don't worry, we're not part of the people who attacked this place." The man seemed to relax a bit, so he continued, "How about you come out? If it accidentally turns on, you'll be ripped to shreds!"

The man nervously retorted, "I-I unplugged it first." Nevertheless, he did come out from his hiding place.

Mikoto then sighed and told him, "Only a few people have entered the zoo, so if you cross the artificial forest, you'll be able to get to the fence without those heroes noticing. They're in such a frenzy that they might set fire to the buildings without properly checking them first."

The man stiffened at the mention of fire, but he asked the couple, "Um, but who are you and why are you here?"

Touma informed him, "An eight-year-old named Fremea Seivelun is here. The crowd outside is all looking for her, and nothing good will come if they find her, so we have to find her first." Indeed, though those "heroes" may not have intended to harm her, she would invariably be harmed by the vicious fight between them.

The zookeeper nodded in understanding, "Yes, animals in the cat family sometimes get so worked up about protecting their children from an enemy that they accidentally kill those children. I don't know who those rioters are, but they certainly seem even more dangerous than wild beasts!"

Mikoto then said, "We want to check the security camera footage so we can see where she went. Do you know where the guards may have evacuated to?" She added to herself, "I can hack into the security cameras if necessary, but it would be helpful to get it from people who know what to look for."

The zookeeper muttered, "If I did, I wouldn't have been left behind." After a moment of thought, he pulled out his phone and told them, "I can connect to the security cameras wirelessly." As Mikoto and Touma looked over his shoulders at the small screen, he switched between different cameras. The outdoor ones showed the immense destruction caused by the rioters, but there was no sign of Fremea.

Touma knew it would take a long time to go through them one by one, so he suggested, "Those rioters were chasing Fremea, so she must have triggered the very first alarm by escaping into the Learning Core. Can you bring up the footage from around that time?"

Indeed, when the man checked all the outdoor cameras at the time of the first alarm, they soon saw on the screen a child slipping through the front gate, heading towards a certain building.

Mikoto said in an intrigued tone, "The Lightning Rod, huh?" The name caught her interest for obvious reasons.

The zookeeper informed them, "The name was meant to conjure the idea of people peacefully using great knowledge to overcome a natural disaster. Anyway, it wasn't a bad choice for her. The art gallery and museum have very tough security, so if she managed to get in, it's the safest place to be."

Touma and Mikoto immediately stood up, preparing to make their way to the Lighting Rod. The man looked at them with a surprised expression and asked, "You're still going? She can last all night there, and you'll probably be spotted by the rioters if you approach the building."

Touma replied, "If we can figure out she's there, the others can too, and I'm not sure how long that building can survive from all those esper attacks." He and Mikoto then separated from the zookeeper and ran towards the exit.

Soon afterwards, as they approached the Lightning Rod, the two of them noticed the increasing density of people, indicating that the mob had figured out Fremea's location. They wondered if there was actually a way to sneak into the building, but having no such way would also mean that Fremea would be safe from the mob, so this posed an interesting dilemma.

Touma gently touched his girlfriend's shoulder and said in a low voice, "There should be some underground passageways to maintain the power lines."

Mikoto nodded and replied, "Yeah, that's a great idea!" She sensed underground with her ability and gestured her head towards a nearby manhole cover, adding, "That manhole over there should lead to the power network."

As they approached it, they encountered a girl in a leotard under a thick coat. She was swinging a long ribbon around in the air, and it was emitting orange sparks, as if it was a piece of metal being consumed. The ribbon touched a nearby piece of metal art, which immediately began sparking as well. A large chunk of the metal even split apart and fell away from the rest of the sculpture.

Touma quickly grabbed the ribbon with his right hand, but the girl simply released it. Instead, she pulled out several batons and a club, all of which started emitting orange sparks. Mikoto didn't want to give her time to do anything, so she sent out a powerful electric shock, which knocked the other girl unconscious.

Despite this, they both knew that others would soon head towards them. And if they tried opening the manhole now, they would likely just end up leading the mob to Fremea. As more and more espers approached them, Mikoto steeled her expression and stepped between them and her boyfriend, telling him, "You go on ahead! I'll hold them off!"

Touma was a little startled by her decision, and asked, "Are you sure? There are a lot of them."

The girl looked back at him with a smirk and fired back, "Don't worry, I'm not a Level 5 for nothing! And you're the real hero here, so it's your job to save Fremea!"

The boy still felt a little hesitant about separating from Mikoto, but he soon nodded, "Okay. I'm not sure I'm a hero, since I'm just doing what anyone would do. And if I am, then you're one too, Biri-Biri." Though as he said this, he thought to himself, "Well, maybe not what just anyone would do, at least anyone in this mob."

Mikoto wasn't sure if she could call herself a hero, but she turned back to face the oncoming espers and said, "Sure, well it's up to us to save her, so I'll see you again when this is all over, okay?"

Touma replied, "Okay." Making sure that all the espers were distracted by Mikoto's attacks, he uncovered the manhole and began climbing down the metal ladder to the underground passageway.

Mikoto made sure he was gone before turning her full attention back to the espers facing her. She quickly shot out multiple lightning spears, which incapacitated her immediate opponents, but a horde of espers appeared behind them to take their place.

Unbeknownst to Mikoto, all seven Level 5's of Academy City had arrived at the Learning Core and were now engaged in combat against the mob, including the elusive Aihana Etsu, or at least someone pretending to be them.

However, one of them did call out to her, "Hello, Misaka-san!" Mikoto turned towards the annoyingly saccharine voice and saw that it was her fellow Tokiwadai Level 5.

Mikoto groaned, "What are you doing here, Shokuhou?" She didn't think that the Agitate Halation could influence the strongest mental esper, so she wondered why the other girl was here.

Shokuhou frowned and answered, "I was rather intrigued when I found out from my information gathering ability that the intruder into the School Garden was a spiky-haired boy."

Mikoto stiffened, laughing nervously while saying, "O-oh, really?" She didn't want the other girl to know that she had in fact encountered Touma. And not just that, Mikoto didn't want Shokuhou to know that she'd helped him in the process.

However, despite her attempt to play it off, Shokuhou could see right through it. She said in a displeased tone, "From your reaction, I can tell that you at least knew that it was that guy. And since he's a friend of yours, perhaps you might have helped him out?"

While continuing to hold off the horde with her electrical attacks, Mikoto thought to herself, "Well, I guess hiding it's out the window. Though it seems she hasn't realized that he's actually my boyfriend." She admitted, "So what if I did? There happened to be an incident he needed help with, and I'm actually here to see it to its conclusion. But again, why are you here, Shokuhou?"

Shokuhou was annoyed that Mikoto had gotten to spend even more quality time with Touma. She replied, "Tokiwadai and the entire School Garden are my territory, so I can't just let him barge in and leave without finding out the truth behind it all!"

Mikoto rolled her eyes at the other girl's presumption, thinking, "Of course this stuck-up girl thinks she owns the entire School Garden!"

At this point, Shokuhou pulled out a TV remote from her bag and pointed it around, activating her ability to mentally control the people around her. She gave out a series of commands, "Category 109: Shokuhou Misaki is your ally. Immediately eliminate anyone who attacks her. Category 081: Your target, Shokuhou Misaki, is the boy standing next to you. Category 220: You are afraid of sailor uniforms. You want to eliminate anyone wearing them nearby."

She had merely intensified the infighting between all the heroes, but Shokuhou stood safely in the center, like the eye of a storm.

However, Mikoto almost immediately noticed something dangerous, and exclaimed, "Hey, those attacks you're diverting are all coming towards me!" She continued defending herself with lightning spears, and was forced to use some iron sand weapons as well to deal with the added threat.

The other girl smirked and said in a teasing tone, "Oh, sorry about that, Misaka-san. I ordered them to target anyone who used their attack ability on me, so perhaps they automatically chose the person who looked the most uncivilized."

Mikoto growled, "Please, you deliberately set it up that way, didn't you? Are you trying to take advantage of all this confusion to kill me without getting caught?" She intensified her attacks and knocked out one particular esper who had been persistently targeting her, adding, "I don't have time to deal with your nonsense, I need to make sure that idiot makes it through okay."

Shokuhou wasn't sure what to make of her mention of that boy. She was a little jealous that Mikoto got to spend so much time with Touma, while he would never be able to remember Shokuhou. But she pushed down her feelings, and said to Mikoto with a smirk, "It looks like both of us are looking for that boy. So why don't we agree that whoever reaches him first gets to do whatever she wants with him?"

Mikoto blushed at that suggestion but also narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She wondered, "Wait, is she into him too?" After giving it a moment's though, she shook her head and told herself, "Nah, she's probably just messing with me because she knows I love him." She decided not to respond to the other girl's taunt. After all, she didn't need to compete for a boy she was already dating.

The battles continued to rage on, across the grounds of the Learning Core. Mikoto continued fighting heavily, but over time, she slowly started to be pushed back. The opposing espers had decided to use incapacitated fighters as human shields and then overwhelm her with numbers. It wasn't just that they were countering her greater power with stronger numbers, but Mikoto also had to hold back so that she didn't actually kill any of them, especially since they were willing to give up their own lives to help the rest of the mob defeat her.

Shokuhou enjoyed watching her rival struggle, and said, "My my, you seem like you could use some help, Misaka-san! But I don't think I'm going to help you."

Mikoto sharply replied, "You better help, Shokuhou! You can stop all of them with your powers without leaving a scratch on them!"

The other girl ignored Mikoto's complaints and prepared to make her next move. But suddenly, a large mass charged at her from the side. Shokuhou reflexively pointed her remote at it, but then she froze as she saw what it was.

It was a large cat, either a leopard or jaguar. It quickly slammed into the girl, knocking her to the ground. The brainwashed students around her frantically pulled at the beast's legs, but it was much too powerful, and she was in grave risk of getting her throat bitten into. She shrieked, "Help me, Misaka-saaan!"

Mikoto felt that the other girl was getting her just deserts. With one hand on her hip, Mikoto said in a casual tone, "Oh, look who's asking for help now? Fine, I'll help, but maybe I should let it eat you a little first."

Knowing she couldn't necessarily rely on Mikoto, Shokuhou controlled an ice esper, who proceeded to freeze the beast. She then pushed the animal off of her and stood back up. She had an annoyed expression on her face as she realized that several other large animals were staring at her, apparently having been released from their cages. Since she couldn't use her powers directly on the beasts, she used her remote to change the formation of her troops, thinking to herself, "The more unfavorable the circumstances, the more unexpected the ways they find to counterattack." Because of this fact, even Level 5's could be defeated by people seemingly weaker than them, so she knew that she had to be careful.

Meanwhile, Touma had found Fremea hiding inside the mouth of a dinosaur skeleton. But just as he did, the cyborg Rensa had crashed into the room and announced that the entire building was about to blow up, killing them all. Fortunately, Kakine Teitoku, in the form of multiple small rhinoceros beetles, had been able to cut the cords of all those bombs. A giant beetle had then crashed through into the building, soon revealing itself to be the boy who controlled dark matter. As he grew white wings and prepared to fight Rensa, she had announced that, having learned from the previous Rensa's defeat, she would now simply stick to Accelerator's ability. And so, four tornado-like objects had then appeared from her back.

Among Touma, Rensa, and Kakine, the first two to clash were the ones with wings and Level 5 powers, and they clashed at supersonic speeds. The collision crushed the dinosaur skeleton and shattered all the glass boxes scattered around the room. As a result, Fremea crouched into a ball in panic.

Touma guessed that Kakine must have taken some measures with his dark matter, since he didn't hesitate to attack against Rensa's reflection power. However, Rensa was the one laughing smugly, "Unlike the previous Rensa, I'm not afraid to reach speeds my senses can't keep up with. And two against one doesn't matter, since only one of you can keep up with my speeds anyway!" Her voice sounded distorted because she was moving so quickly, but Touma was barely able to make it out.

Kakine and Rensa constantly pushed off the walls and ceiling, creating shockwaves throughout the room. Touma couldn't keep up with those speeds, no matter how much he swung his right fist around. But that didn't mean he couldn't contribute to the battle.

The boy decisively stepped forward into the clash between the two titans. Since they were using their esper powers to maintain their speeds, hitting his right first would be deadly. He realized, "Even if there's no chance my fist would touch her, she still has to worry about it, and that'll limit her options. Doing direct damage isn't the only way to influence a fight!"

Kakine took advantage of Rensa changing her movements to avoid Touma, sending one of his wings towards her, aiming to push her towards Touma's fist. However, Rensa took the attack head on and announced, "You know, my vector control can apply to your dark matter too!"

Kakine immediately shouted to Touma, "Get out of the way!" His wing was twisted unnaturally, and it soon slammed mercilessly into Touma's chest.

To Touma, it felt like being hit by a car, and all the air left his lungs. He slammed into the ground and rolled backwards until he was next to Fremea.

Rensa attacked towards him from the air, musing, "Hee hee, perhaps I should get rid of this uncertain element first."

But Kakine cut in between her and her target, and the two sets of wings collided repeatedly with each other. Rensa taunted him, "How cool! But how long can you keep it up? If you let just one strike through, those two will be turned to mincemeat."

Touma forced his battered body to stand up and shouted at Kakine, "Cut them loose!" Kakine immediately saw what he was going for and separated his wings from his body.

Touma charged forward from behind the falling wings and slammed his fist towards Rensa's face. She protected her face with both arms, but this allowed Kakine to target her lower torso with a new wing, and she was thrown back into one of the shattered display cases.

Rensa remained immobile in the rubble, so Kakine wondered, "Did we do it?"

Touma used the back of his hand to wipe the blood off his mouth, and noted, "Just defeating her isn't enough, we also need to get away safely. Can you turn back into that huge beetle and carry Fremea somewhere far away?"

Before Kakine could respond, Rensa finally stood up from the rubble and said, "No no, this has barely even begun. The previous Rensa could never have gone this far, because you need to be cornered like this to use it, to use the ace move of Academy City's strongest esper!" As she said this, black wings sprouted out of her back with a great roar.

Kakine tried to react, but Rensa immediately struck him, and his body was sent flying over Fremea and into the opposite wall. It was as if the previous fight had been completely pointless. Rensa snapped her fingers and stated, "I was right, you have to stick with the strongest! There's a reason this power is the #1, and yours is only #2! Hmm, there was also an unconfirmed sighting of him using white wings in Russia, but I don't know how to replicate that. Well, it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Touma angrily exclaimed, "Damn you!" However, Rensa ignored him and swung a black wing towards him. However, the boy was able to deflect it upwards with his right fist, which caused Rensa to stop laughing. She repeated this attack multiple times, but Touma just deflected the wings each time.

Rensa asked, "What the hell? I brought out my ultimate weapon, and you just lost your strongest fighter! So why are you fighting much better now?"

The boy shrugged, "Don't ask me." Perhaps it was because he had no excuse to relax, or because she was now targeting him directly.

The cyborg replied, "So you don't understand it either? Does the increased danger act as a trigger like with me? Or do you just have an easier time thinking about a one-on-one fight? Hee hee, are you the type that has trouble in fights with multiple people?"

Touma gritted his teeth and asked, "So what if I am?" He'd worked pretty well with Thor and especially Mikoto in those fights during the Ichihanaran Festival, but those had been mostly separate fights. He wasn't as used to fighting alongside Kakine, so perhaps Rensa had a point.

Rensa replied, "It means I can use that to my advantage, you fool!" Touma's reaction slowed against the next black wing, and he would've been smashed to pieces if Kakine hadn't gathered his strength and pushed him out of the way. Fremea let out a scream, and Kakine was knocked to the ground in Touma's place.

Touma looked up and saw that Rensa had altered some settings, making her face completely expressionless. Her blinking, breathing, and talking became mechanically and uniformly timed, and she told him, "Your precognition can be countered by restricting the information you take in. Humans can't stop all their slight muscle movements, but as a machine, I can truly freeze my expression and stand as still as a statue."

With this, it would be impossible for him to defend from her supersonic attacks. She continued, "Now, time for you to go to sleep, hero. Did you really think you could save every single person you came across? No, the path to such a flawless victory has already closed."

She then pulled out a small cylindrical container and flicked it towards Touma's feet. As he looked at it with confusion, she told him, "That's #28, the previous Rensa. Technically, it's a human hypothalamus that's been chopped out and repackaged. You could say it's the smallest unit of life, and not even Academy City's technology could mechanize this part. Of course, that could change at any time."

Touma was at a loss of words. As he tried to comprehend the situation, Rensa continued, "It began with those clones of the 3rd Ranked. They had the exact same physical body as the Original, but each functioned as a distinct human being. Life forms are given the role of master when they're created, which gets in the way of becoming a pure slave used just as an output for esper powers."

And so they had shaved away every part of the human body until that mystery of life was gone. She wasn't just a human or just a machine. She concluded, "When I spoke of the previous Rensa, did you think there were multiple different bodies? No, this is the only body, and unlike those cheap clones, this body took vast amounts of resources to make. When one brain can't be used anymore, it's switched out for a new one. It's no different than switching out an arm or a battery!"

The adults had created her to defeat the Level 5's if they ever united against the adults ruling the city. As Touma thought about this, he realized with horror that 27 other people had had their brains cut apart for this gruesome project. He wondered, "Why would you...did someone make you do this?"

Rensa replied, "You could say that. But don't think of me as some poor victim. If I didn't choose this path, I would've met an even worse fate. There are people in this world whose lives are so tragic that this looks like a final hope."

The boy couldn't even imagine what kind of life she'd led beforehand that would make her think this way. The cyborg saw this and scoffed, "This is what you get being happy hero, ignorant of how the world really works. People in the darkness can't save anyone even if they win. Compared to me, your life must be pretty easy if you still have all your internal organs. You may be able to save people, but you can't win this fight. Our paths are too different."

As Touma felt the pressure of her words on his heart, she concluded, "There was never any chance for a flawless victory here. Agitate Halation produced sacrifices even before it began, and how much destruction did those heroes spread along the way? Saving one or two people won't make up for it all. No matter how much you grit your teeth and protect this brat Fremea, it won't change the fact that you didn't protect the others."

These words were supposed to demoralize Touma, and they did have an effect on him. Perhaps it was too late to save some lives, but the boy asserted, "Screw that, that's no reason to stop trying! If you do that just because you couldn't save someone, you lose any small possibilities that remain. There's no such thing as a perfect hero, so we all have to bring together what little power we have if we want to protect anyone!"

Rensa flatly told him, "Do you realize you're contradicting yourself?"

The boy smirked and answered, "So what? That's something for me to deal with. I don't save people to make sure I chose the right answer."

Rensa took a step forward and replied, "Fine then. This was my attempt to save you, but if you want to keep going, it just means one more body in addition to Fremea Seivelun." The black wings of death thus approached Touma once again.

Meanwhile, as she sat in a daze, Fremea's instincts led her to a conclusion. This was all because of her. Many times in the past, she had relied on other people, like Hamazura, to protect her, and those people had ended up getting hurt on her behalf. Her safety had always been assured by trampling someone else underfoot. So why hadn't anyone pointed out her evil? If someone had, she might have shut up and never asked for help.

But Kakine Teitoku, still crushed on the floor with much of his human form lost, muttered, "No...That's not something you need to worry about. I was only doing what I wanted to do, and the same is likely true for him."

But did that make it okay for Kakine or Touma to be killed instead of her? Of course not. Fremea wiped her tears and faced not just Rensa, but the entire world that sought to harm her. She didn't want to just sit there and be killed, but she also didn't want anyone else to get hurt for her sake. She stood up and declared, "I'm not going to just hope for a hero this time. This time, I'll be the one to protect everyone!"

She ended up being able to look Yakumi Hisako, the person behind the Agitate Halation project, directly in the eye. This was strange because the woman was an AIM thought being, and thus should have been invisible. As she heard Fremea's declaration, she realized that her project was in danger. After all, it relied on Fremea being a protection target, but if the little girl became a hero herself, the foundation of the project would collapse.

Yakumi was able to speak to Fremea, and she said, "Neither of us has any direct power. And it's obvious that you'll be killed and I'll be released from the city. No one can change that now!"

But Fremea decisively declared, "That isn't true! It may be incredibly small and almost useless, but even us Level 0's have some power! It's not true that there's nothing we can do."

Yakumi was filled with a sense of disgust. And then she noticed something. Despite having abandoned her human body, she could feel something like a shiver down her spine. It was as if Fremea was controlling the AIM diffusion fields. That seemed impossible, but even a Level 0 could cause microscopic changes in the calculations of the shading computer that housed her consciousness.

Fremea then somehow bombarded her mind with someone's memories, perhaps in an attempt to overwrite Yakumi's identity. She frantically shouted, "Wait, you don't understand the true scope of this project. The violent part is just a small portion, but if you saw the ultimate goal, even you would-"

She was cut off by Fremea, who replied, "I don't need to understand. I don't care about your project, I just want Hamazura, the rhinoceros beetle, and everyone else to have their smiles back!"

Back at the battle, Rensa's black wings dissipated, as she felt some other power fill her. She protested, "Wait a second, I don't remember calling in a ridiculous power like this."

Similar to what had happened when the previous Rensa had tried to absorb Imagine Breaker, the current Rensa's stomach swelled up. But this time, Fremea had thrown the entity known as Yakumi Hisako into Rensa.

Two voices came from that one body. Rensa confusedly wondered what was going on, and Yakumi said, "Heh, so this is how it ends for me?" Rensa's body continued to swell, and she began looking less and less human.

Kakine, who was slowly recovering, told Touma, "End this now."

Touma clenched his right fist and assured, "I will." He then started walking towards Rensa.

She glared at him with her warped eyes and said, "Hee hee, you're going to kill me? Your ideals are full of contradictions after all."

Touma asked, "What do you want me to do?" His Imagine Breaker could remove the abnormal entity inside Rensa and save her. But it would also destroy whatever that entity was.

Rensa laughed and answered, "Weren't you listening? I wanted this. Yakumi Hisako is my savior for turning me into this! You want me to let go of her and hand her over? I'd rather die than do that!"

That wasn't unexpected. If she was willing to go along with this cruel project, there must have been some reason for doing so, even if Touma wasn't aware of that reason.

Rensa told him, "She saved all of us from dying, and all of us have our reasons for obeying that woman. I won't let someone who came in so late take that away from us! To us, Yakumi Hisako is the greatest hero in the world."

The boy understood her feelings. He alone couldn't save everyone in the world who needed help, and people would adore whichever heroes saved them, even if by strange methods. As he watched her body swell up even further, he asked, "Then why didn't you save Yakumi Hisako earlier? Sure, if you wait for a hero, they may not always arrive in time. But if you had fought desperately until they could, you could have changed the outcome!"

Rensa replied back, "Don't force that role onto me. That's only something you can do. Someone like me can't play the role of a hero."

Touma smirked, and instead of telling her that she could indeed be a hero, he told her, "But you already are. And you're doing a wonderful job."

But Rensa sharply countered, "Shut up! I could never be a cliched hero like you! I'm just a filthy tool, and that's the only way for me to repay her for her help."

The boy then announced, "Let's go hero, I can no longer do anything but destroy. So it's your turn to make it in time."

Rensa screamed, and white wings appeared from her collapsing back. It was Accelerator's ultimate power, and she had finally been able to achieve it.

Touma stepped towards her, with his right fist ready. He mused to himself, "Saving Rensa #29 is easy, I just have to drive Yakumi Hisako out of her body. But then I may end up killing one person to save another."

Just like the Misaka Sisters, Kazakiri, and Fraulein, Yakumi Hisako had no physical body. But she was still a human who deserved to be saved.

As Rensa walked towards him with those white wings, Touma resolved, "You can't stop me, I will save you."

The resulting clash lasted for just an instant. She moved at supersonic speeds and swung her white wings at him from both sides. He shouldn't have been able to do anything, especially since she had neutralized his precognition.

But Touma ducked his body at the exact right moment. He hadn't had enough time to react to her movements, so he had chosen the right time beforehand, as if he'd foreseen her actions.

As the destruction of Rensa's body continued, even though she'd turned off all facial expressions, she trembled slightly. Touma clenched his fist so hard that blood oozed out, and having ducked under the white wings, he slammed it into the center of Rensa's face, mentally urging her, "Go think for yourself, and find a way to save that person you want to protect the most!" And thus, the fight was over.

At some point, the mob of espers on the grounds of the Learning Core had suddenly stopped rampaging. When this had happened, Mikoto knew that Touma had won his fight. She had then quickly split up from Shokuhou in order to head into the Lightning Rod and reunite with her boyfriend.

When she went into the building and entered the scene of the earlier fight, she found her boyfriend, the little girl who must have been Fremea, and an older boy sitting collapsed on the floor. Although Touma was heavily injured, she was relieved to see that he was still able to stand a little.

Mikoto immediately rushed over to Touma and gently hugged him, exclaiming, "Touma! You're okay!" She made sure not to put too much pressure on his injuries.

Touma smiled and returned her embrace, replying, "Hey, Biri-Biri! Looks like you're okay too!" He carefully brought up his arm and started stroking her hair.

The girl chuckled and told him, "Yeah, fighting that mob was exhausting, but I didn't really get hit or anything." She added to herself, "Though Shokuhou certainly tried her best."

The boy then complimented her, "Wow, that's a Level 5 for you!" As he lazily rubbed his girlfriend's back, he frowned and recounted, "As for us, we defeated another Rensa cyborg. But unfortunately, her machine heart was destroyed, and Yakumi Hisako was inside her body when that happened. Her body was already collapsing from absorbing that woman, and maybe my right hand isn't to blame, but still…"

Mikoto rubbed soothing circles on his back and said softly in his ear, "I'm sorry, Touma." She knew how hard it was for him that he hadn't managed to save the new Rensa or Yakumi.

Touma relaxed into his girlfriend's embrace, but he said in a determined tone, "I don't know about Yakumi, but there's still a chance of saving Rensa."

He didn't know that Yakumi had prepared a backup plan, allowing her to resurrect using the power of some man-eating roaches that hadn't been killed by Kinuhata Saiai earlier. But Fraulein Kreutune soon found her. Taking revenge on her friend Fremea's behalf, Fraulein consumed the woman, but left one tiny piece to keep her alive as a torturous punishment. She vowed to only eat the final piece, ending the woman's life, after a very long time.

Touma separated from Mikoto and picked up the vial that Rensa #29 had shown him. As he held it up to show Mikoto, he explained his plan to save the Rensas, "Multiple Rensas were created by inserting a person's hypothalamus into the same cyborg body so that they could use multiple esper powers. Apparently, Academy City can't afford to build more than one body, but if we gather all the hypothalamuses like these, we can put them into cold storage and maybe they can be revived in the future."

Mikoto was very creeped out by the thought of multiple people having their brains cut open simply to be used for this cruel project. But she was also impressed at his ingenuity in finding a way to save people. She placed one hand on her hip and asked him, "That's a good idea, but how are you going to find them? Do you even know where they are?"

Touma replied, "They're probably being stored in Yakumi Hisako's lab."

The girl sighed, "All right, we can go retrieve them, but after that, you're going straight to the hospital, okay?" While her boyfriend's wounds weren't as life-threatening this time, she knew that he still needed medical attention.

Touma nodded, "You got it, Mikoto."

Meanwhile, Kakine had finally managed to stand up, and Mikoto now turned her attention to him. She somewhat recognized his appearance and asked, "Are you who I think you are?"

The man nodded, "Yes, I am Kakine Teitoku, the 2nd Ranked Level 5, Dark Matter. And you're Railgun, the 3rd Ranked, right?"

Mikoto replied, "Yeah. So I heard from Last Order that you were some sort of clone of the original Kakine that replaced him?" She wanted to confirm whether this was the Kakine who had broken Uiharu's arm while pursuing Last Order, or the one who apparently had saved Last Order.

Kakine chuckled and replied, "Yes, that is correct. You could say I was formed from the good side of the original Kakine Teitoku, and I protected Fremea and Last Order from being caught in his battle against Accelerator." He then picked up Fremea and turned back into a giant rhinoceros beetle. He then announced, "I need to take the girl back home. Thank you both for helping her."

Mikoto had heard about him being a rhinoceros beetle, but she was still stunned to see it in person. Before they left, Mikoto wondered whether to ask Fremea about Frenda, who Mikoto now knew was Fremea's older sister. But given what Fremea had gone though, Mikoto decided to not bring that up for now. If Frenda had actually died like Mikoto and Saten guessed, it wouldn't be nice to bring it up.

She and Touma thus watched as the giant beetle flew away while carrying Fremea on its back. They still needed to retrieve the Rensa hypothalamuses, but other than that, it seemed this new incident had finally come to an end.