After almost a year, I finally have returned to continuing this story. It was a much needed break, but I feel I owe all you readers an explanation. It wasn't because of writer's block, as I saw on some reddit forums. I stopped a bit to finish reading NT as I kept delaying reading the new Light Novels and was falling behind. When I did though, I kind of lost interest in A Certain Magical Index. NT had a lot of problems I hated starting from many characters, to execution, and the writing style. At that point, I knew I couldn't write in this fandom specifically and do a good job. My dislike would leak through. So I took a much needed break and continued other stories.
This story is planned out to the end and some stuff was changed to avoid more NT information than needed. Once this season finishes, there should be one more set up to wrap it all together. All good things must come to an end and the end is in sight. I appreciate everyone who stuck around and sent me messages hoping I was well and would continue. It did help me get more motivation.
Which makes me feel slightly bad about this. Due to how long everything took, I won't be replying individually to everyone. But I still want to let you know that I appreciate all the comments and encouragements. I will finish this story and it had been a good number of years. It will be done. Next chapter I promise to respond to comments.
Thank you all and I hope you enjoy Shiage Hamazura in this chapter.
Disclaimer: Random people do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters. Reading this story may cause you to burst out in laughter or start yelling at fictional characters. This may cause nearby people to assume you have gone crazy. Please read responsibly.
Rikou stared in shock.
Shizuri had walked through an utterly ordinary door and just… vanished. It could have been something like teleportation. Academy City had plenty of ability users who could teleport objects and people. Rikou had personally seen several such individuals. Having a teleportation trap rigged to a doorway without some kind of machine attached? That was new. For a brief moment, she began to panic when she remembered Shizuri's order.
"If I vanish, go and meet up with Hamazura. You're not useful alone here."
"…she must be aware of what she's doing… so I need to tell Hamazura."
Rikou's ability would allow her to interfere with AIM fields from ability users, but magicians did not have that. She was helpless in this situation. Her job was to help Shizuri ascend to her new form if the situation called for it, but she couldn't do that now. Trying to locate Shizuri had proved futile. It was like she vanished from the face of the earth. Her footsteps echoed along with the deserted buildings as she made her way back to the van. As the girl drew closer, the van door swung open and the dirty blonde mop of Shiage came into few.
"Takitsubo?" He called out questioningly. "Where's everyone else?"
"We… have a problem." Rikou panted, slipping into the passenger side seat. "It turns out… Mugino was correct. There are magicians here. The others have disappeared…"
"Disappeared?" Panic formed on Shiage's face. "Do you know where? Did Mugino tell us to do anything?"
"Mugino told me to find you…"
Shiage blinked in surprise at this. As far as he was concerned, he was the butt of all of ITEM's jokes. Frenda and Saiai constantly put him down and compared him to Touma. Even Shizuri compared him to that guy. Of course, Shiage felt that there was no comparison. Boss was in an entire league of his own. That guy seemed to be able to do anything he set his mind to. It was only after the fight with Oda Nobunaga that Shiage got a sliver of respect. For Shizuri to actually tell Rikou to seek him out for more than an escape was a miracle.
As Shiage heard what happened, his heart started to sink. Shizuri vanished, entering the back door without any kind of sign of what happened. Frenda and Saiai most likely vanished the same way. Neither he nor Rikou could use any type of magic, so trying to unravel whatever caused their team members to vanish was beyond them. That only left one option available. Shiage did not happen to like this option when he reached that conclusion. Still, even with those girls constantly berating him, he sort of grew attached to their presence.
"I'm going in after them."
Rikou turned her head and stared at him intensely.
"…Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I think I'm the only one in position to help," Shiage admitted slowly. "If you don't hear from me in 30 minutes, leave and contact Boss… Er, Kamijou. He'll be able to help. All I have to do is step through the back door, right?" He turned to leave but felt a hand grab the back of his jacket.
"…Be careful."
"I will, promise." Shiage placed his hand on hers and slowly pulled those fingers off his clothes. "I'll find Mugino and the others. Shouldn't be too hard, right? I just have to follow the sounds of the explosions… hehe."
Rikou was not amused and her worried expression turned to irritation.
"Ow! Just kidding!"
The girl had hit her boyfriend on the shoulder. Not very hard, but enough to show her annoyance. Shiage took that as his queue to leave and hopped out of the vehicle. The area was still silent and devoid of any personnel, so he managed to get to the back door of the warehouse easily enough. According to Rikou, all he had to do was walkthrough said door. It sounded simple enough in theory, but he had no idea what was waiting for him on the other side.
"You can do this!" Shiage muttered forcefully to himself. "Takitsubo won't forgive you if you run away."
The doorway looked completely normal and the lights were on. That worried the boy as Shizuri would never let the lights on during an infiltration mission. Did someone else turn them on? His hand touched his hip where his pistol was securely strapped, hidden by his t-shirt. The cold metal gave him some comfort, knowing he wouldn't be completely defenseless. Though, any magician capable of facing Meltdowner would laugh at his little pea shooter. Experience told the boy it's not how big your gun is, but how you use it. Shiage knew you could defeat much more powerful people with luck and determination.
Taking a deep breath, the blonde boy stepped through the door.
"I REGRET EEEEEVVVVEEERRRRYYYTTTTTHHHHIIINNNGGGG!"
All light around him vanished as something pulled him into the void. Shiage found himself falling through inky blackness with no idea where the ground was. Everything just vanished instantly. Arms and legs flailed uselessly in the space, unable to find anything to latch onto. Every passing second caused him to accelerate. While he couldn't see the ground, he knew the moment he hit something, there would be a very painful splat. Yep, he was going to die and not even in a cool way. Death by magic door. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded.
Feet hit the ground and he stumbled, falling over on his face.
"Mother fucker!"
How he managed to hit solid ground like it was a foam pit was a mystery to the boy. Yet all he could feel was joy at surviving that ordeal. Then some pain in his nose after the adrenaline stopped being pumped through his veins. Shiage sat up and rubbed his bruised nose before looking around where he was.
His mouth fell open.
"Holy shit… what the hell is this place?"
Torches flickered on to reveal a maze of intersecting staircases. Not just up and down, but left and right, staircases on the sides of staircases, pretty much every direction possible. Archways led to different areas, but Shiage felt a headache coming on as he looked at each one. It was impossible to walk on most of these with the laws of physics. At least he was on the floor and not trying to hold onto one of the ones above him.
"Okay… think!" The boy told himself. "I need to find Mugino, Frenda, and or Kinuhata. They have to be here somewhere. Though this place looks like a maze. We may be all already lost in here."
Shaking his head, he ascended the staircase to the nearest archway. He had to start somewhere. The moment his foot hit the top platform, a loud boom made him jump. Spinning around in panic, Shiage tried to locate the source. Multiple explosions followed and no matter how hard he tried, the noises seemed to come from every direction. Due to the craziness of the layout, maybe the echoes bounced differently as well? With how the staircases were set up, that didn't seem unlikely.
The explosions had to be from Shizuri. Who else would be able to do that?
The noise was all he could focus on, so Shiage took off through the archway…
"Oh come on!"
…to find another full interlocking set of staircases that appeared identical to the first area. It might not have been fully identical, but a normal person would never be able to tell without constantly checking back and forth. The sounds of explosions vanished and no matter how hard Shiage tried to listen, he couldn't hear a damn thing.
Cursing to himself, the former delinquent did the only thing he could do. After a loud sigh to indicate his annoyance in this entire spectacle, his feet began the journey down another flight of steps, turned a corner, and then walked up a flight of stairs. It almost felt like this maze was just designed to piss people off and tire them out as they wandered an infinite space of nothing but stairs. The more Shiage traveled, going through archways and then up and down the stairs, the more he felt this to be true.
Thinking they might be using some kind of space warping technology or magic, whatever they call it, he made a few marks to let him know where he had been. If he ran into those while traveling in mostly a straight line, that would be a strong sign he was being forced to travel in circles. Not that it worked. After passing through a dozen or so archways, each new large staircase construct was different. The only main similarity was they had a hole in the middle. Nothing was at the bottom except an ocean of darkness.
The boy gulped when he imagined himself falling in.
He really just wanted to find the exit now.
Next, he stepped through the thirteenth door or around there because he lost count. There was something new among the staircases. It looked like a person standing outside a box. Finally having something to lock onto, Shiage started running up staircases. It looked like he had to go up an archway and then turn right to get on that platform. Running up the stairs, panting a little, he burst through the archway to what should have been the platform.
Only to find himself looking up as the person and box was now on the ceiling.
"What the…?" Shiage couldn't believe it.
He was a little closer to make out the blonde hair that looked like it should have belonged to Frenda. Yet his experience told him not to just shout out to her. No, he needed to figure out how to get to her platform. Backtracking, he wanted to start over when he saw himself on the far side staircase opposite of the platform with what he thought was Frenda.
"Okay, now I know I'm being fucked with." A growl escaped the male's throat.
Shiage knew he went back the same pathway, so why was he in another entirely different place? It didn't make sense. This whole world didn't make sense. Was someone on acid or something when they created these stairs? It seemed like it was set up to prevent people from getting to their destination. Okay, if that was the magician's plan, Shiage was going to ruin it.
"Challenge accepted!" The boy declared, rolling up his sleeves.
A short time later, he was leaning against a stone wall of the staircase, panting and dripping with sweat.
"I tried everywhere… so why… can't I… get closer!" Shiage panted.
As far as he knew, he really did try. Every staircase, every door, and archway, nothing worked. He would show up at some random place. A couple of places he was sure put him back in the exact same spot. None of this was adding up. None of the pathways were truly connected normally. The tired boy rested up, trying to figure out what to do. It seemed like it was impossible to get to Frenda.
"If that's the case, I don't really have anything else to try to reach her," Shiage mumbled to himself with his arms crossed. "She doesn't seem to be in danger, so I guess I should go find the others? Mugino might have an idea. Fuck this maze. If it doesn't want me to reach Frenda, I don't want to. I'll go to Mugino and have her burn this place down."
He turned around and walked through the archway behind him…
…Only to find himself on the platform with Frenda.
"Okay, I am fucking sick of this place!"
Shiage should have been glad he got to Frenda. Now that he was close, he definitely recognized the blonde hair, black sailor top, and pleated skirt. What he shouldn't have done is shout out loudly and cause the girl to notice him. If he had waited just a few moments longer to consider his environment, he would have realized the box he thought he was in was actually a cage with intersecting sides that made it look solid from a distance.
Inside sat Saiai Kinuhata, who recognized Shiage even if she appeared shocked to see him.
"Hamazura, run!" The trapped girl shouted.
"Wait… what?"
Metal clicking against stone echoed from Shiage's feet as he looked down. Frenda had rolled over a small circular device. One the boy knew all too well.
A grenade.
"FUCKER!"
He dove to the side and down a staircase, covering his head as the explosion went off on the platform. Bits of shrapnel from the stone staircase flew over his head and down into the pit. Once the smoke cleared, he scrambled to his feet and looked directly at Frenda. The girl was glaring at him with hatred, but she seemed completely normal other than that. In some ways, the hatred wasn't too far off her normal treatment of him.
"What the hell, Frenda!?" Shiage shouted at the girl. "I'm on your side!"
"No you aren't," Frenda huffed, batting her hair back. "You're an insignificant worm in the way."
Okay, now the boy was confused. They were on the same team, right?
"Frenda's under Eris' control!" Saiai shouted at him. "She's the one who knocked me out and stuck me in here."
"Oh…. OH SHIT!" Another grenade was chucked, and Shiage had no choice but to dodge.
Shizuri had warned them that Eris was very good at manipulating people on the drive here. Turning them against each other was her favorite tactic. Shiage had seen how easily that girl could make a crowd of people follow her every word. Combine that with this magic shit? No wonder Frenda was acting strange. The blonde girl wasn't a clone or an illusion, so Shiage couldn't just shoot her. She was also very agile, a good fighter, and loaded with explosives. At worst, even if Shiage subdued Frenda, a suicide bombing might occur.
That left him with one good alternative.
"I'm out of here!" Shiage called out, turning around and bolting it to the archway.
"YOU COWARD!" Saiai roared at him.
"You're the one who told me to run!" The boy called over his shoulder.
He dove through the archway as another grenade went off behind him. His body hit the hard floor with a thud, but at least he wasn't dead. Pushing himself up, Shiage was about to run off to find Shizuri when he froze.
Looking at Frenda's back and the cage, that archway just put him on the other side of the platform.
"Okay, now this is getting ridiculous!"
"Welcome to my world, asshole!" Saiai shouted at him. "This place super takes you all over the place. Frenda was the one who found me!"
"Basically, because Eris taught me how to navigate this place." Frenda laughed. "So, Hamazura. Give up quietly, and I won't kill you. I'll beat you up and throw you into the cage."
"…Are you sure that's not Frenda?" Shiage asked the caged Saiai.
"Don't be stupid."
"Five seconds," Frenda warned, pulling multiple rockets from under her skirt. "Basically, I won't miss this time."
Shiage made up his decision in that instant.
"I give up!"
Saiai fell down with a loud smack.
"I can't beat Frenda," Shiage informed them. "So don't really have a choice since I can't leave."
"Even if you try to run from me, you'll only come back." Frenda agreed, putting the rockets away. "At least under Eris, I don't have to risk getting killed by Mugino when she gets angry."
"What's Eris going to do with you when she's done with us?" Shiage asked, hands still up.
"Basically, she'll let me go and live my life." Frenda huffed.
"It's no use talking to her." Saiai scowled and crossed her arms as she sat down in her cage. "She won't listen. Eris super scrambled her mind."
Frenda walked over and opened a second cage for Shiage.
"Get in or I'll kill you."
"Okay, I'm going." Shaige sighed. There was a chance Eris wouldn't kill him. She didn't seem to hate him during their last meeting. "Shizuri is going to be pissed at us. At least Boss isn't here to see this."
"Kamijou?"
Frenda blinked and looked at him, confused.
"Yeah… Kamijou." Shiage used Touma's name, and he saw something in Frenda's face. The girl was still in there somewhere. Based on Frenda's personally, it would be easy for Eris to convince her to capture ITEM. But did Eris mess with Frenda enough to ignore the way Touma influenced her? It was the only chance they had. "You know him, right? He would get upset with us for letting Eris get away with it."
"No… Eris is helping people by showing the evil of Academy City so we can change it." Frenda stumbled for just a moment. "Sometimes violence is needed. A few lost for the majority to thrive."
"If you told Kamijou that, would he agree?" Shiage asked cautiously. This was somehow getting to her and he needed to push before the brainwashing retook control. "Pretty sure to him, any loss in his books means the price is too high."
"What are you saying?" Saiai asked confused, not realizing what Shiage was doing.
"Basically, he would understand," Frenda mumbled, more to herself. "Of course he would. Eris would make him understand."
"Make him?" Shiage pushed. "Kamijou? Why would she need to make him understand unless she was wrong? Remember, no matter what happens, he turns out to be on the right path?"
The boy was beginning to understand why Eris was so dangerous against ITEM. Shizuri, Frenda, and Saiai were all very straightforward in their approach. They believed the strong had the right to stand above others. It's why Saiai and Frenda followed Shizuri devotedly. If one of them turned on the other, there wouldn't be any kind of talking things out. Only destruction as they tried to kill each other. Shiage was not like that. The boy was a level 0 that didn't have any cool powers or superintelligence. Running purely on guts and experience. If he could talk his way out of being killed, you can bet your sweet ass he would be on the ground and grovel for mercy.
So he was about to fall on his knees if the situation required it.
"Kamijou would understand?" Frenda kept mumbling, her face scrunched in pain. "He's smart and strong. Eris would be able to convince him. Not that he would need it. But he wouldn't want people dead?" Her words rambled on as she talked to herself.
Shiage eyed the girl who was obviously conflicted. Besides the mumbling which was slowly becoming incoherent rambling, Frenda's eyes looked weird. One pupil was dilated and one wasn't. There was also a pained expression on her face, with wrinkles as she appeared to be deep in thought. Whatever mind control Eris had on her was weakened for some reason. Did she not have time to finalize it because Shizuri came in or did Frenda really look up to Touma that much. Shiage had no idea as he didn't understand his magic bullshit.
'I need to do something.'
There had to be something Shiage could do at this moment. Shooting Frenda was off the table. His boss would have his head if he did something like that. Using a gun when his life was in danger with a stranger was one thing. Frenda was kind of like family. A weird dysfunctional family, but one nonetheless. If he did nothing, though, Frenda would most likely slip under Eris' influence once more and lock him in that cage. What could he do that would jolt her out of this? Something insane that would freak her out and make her break the control.
Like a hard restart.
A single idea came to his mind.
'If it doesn't work, I'm dead. If it does work, I might still be dead, but at least Frenda and Kinuhata could help Mugino.'
He took a deep breath and turned around to face the still mumbling blonde girl.
"No, she could… but he wouldn't… It's so obvious…. "
"KATSU!" The boy yelled as he enacted his plan.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Completely distracted, Frenda was unable to stop Shiage from doing what he just did.
Both of the male's hands were on her breasts as he shouted that one word.
"PERVERT!"
A single hand with enough force to nearly twist Shiage's head off his body sent the boy flying backward. His body slammed down on the hard stone, sending a spasm of pain to his bones. Skidding to a stop, he looked up to see a furious, red face glaring back at him as she covered her chest with her arms.
"Haaaammaaazuuurrrraaa!" Frenda hissed. "What the hell were you thinking?! I'm going to kill you!"
"Frenda?" Saiai grabbed the edge of her cage. "Are you back to normal?"
"Huh, Kinuhata?" Frenda looked confused. "Basically, why are you in a cage?"
"You super put me here!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Glad you decided to join us." Shiage groaned, rubbing his face.
"W-wait…" Memories began to return to Frenda as Shiage freed Saiai from the cage. "Kinuhata and I walked into the warehouse, fell into this weird place, then walked through a door and got separated?"
"Pretty much," Saiai agreed, stretching once she was free. "No idea where you went, but then I was super surprised when you came back and knocked me out."
"Do you remember what happened?" Shiage asked.
"Basically, no matter where I went, I ended up somewhere weird," Frenda recalled, scrunching her face as she focused her thoughts. "I tried to go back to Kinuhata once when I ended up a couple of landings above her and then ended up somewhere else."
"Same thing happened to me," Saiai confirmed. "I super couldn't get back to her."
"What about with Eris?" Shiage asked, trying to figure this out. "You had to have met her or you wouldn't have been under her spell."
"It's kind of blurry." Frenda's head began to hurt as she tried to remember. "Basically, I vaguely remember chasing her. She kept laughing and talking, but I can't remember what exactly she said. It just felt so… right. Like it was what I was thinking. Mugino warned us about that and I tried to block her out as I chased her. The problem was, I NEVER GOT CLOSER! The bombs wouldn't travel straight across the big gap between all the stairs."
"Like she just kept running?" The boy needed all information Frenda had, regardless how trivial.
"Yes, but when I tried to close in, she just kept getting farther away." Frenda continued. "She would then come to me and keep chatting like I was some old friend." She crossed her arms angrily. "Basically, she was a bitch."
"We can't figure out how to navigate this place," Saiai sat down, annoyed. "If we go through any door, we'll end up somewhere random. Only Eris super knows the route."
"Maybe…"
Something occurred to Shiage.
It couldn't be that simple, could it? That didn't make any sense. Why would that matter? Yet, thinking back to what happened, that just might be possible. Shizuri did warn them that this magic shit didn't follow customary laws. At the time, Shiage just thought it was some abilities developed in a different direction than Academy City. Maybe this did truly did resemble magic. So it would make sense the caster could manipulate how things worked.
"I'm going to see if I can find Mugino." The young man announced. "You two stay here for now."
"What idiocy are you spewing?" Frenda buffed. "Basically, you're in the same position as us."
"You can't do anything against a magician." Saiai added.
"Saved you two, didn't I?"
The blood in Shiage's face vanished as he paled. That sarcastic comment slipped out because he was tired and sore. Knowing if he stayed, he would be lucky to get a verbal lashing. The boy slipped out before either girl could recover from their shock. They were not used to him talking back. Finally, Saiai snapped out of it.
"Next time we see him, I'm super giving him a punch to the face."
"If Mugino asks, we freed ourselves." Frenda whispered.
"Agreed."
"Stop running and fight me!"
Shizuri yelled angrily as she fired another bright green Meltdowner beam at Eris. Even at small angles around the gap leading to the abyss, her rays would travel in completely different directions. Since range attacks weren't working, Shizuri had no other option but to give chase. The girl's stamina was pretty good, but even she would tire out after constantly running up and down the stairs, going through archways to new areas, and figuring out how to close the gap.
Nothing was working.
"I would, but you seem to be really angry," Eris pointed out. "Like, way more than you should. Are you really upset with me or about something else?"
"I'm upset you aren't dying!" Shizuri roared, jumping down to a lower platform, rolling as she hit the stone. Eris turned and stepped through an archway only to end up several floors above Shizuri, looking at her from an upside-down position.
"Really?" Eris looked concerned as she gazed down at the creature known for causing mass destruction. "I don't think I've done anything to you. Are you chasing me to prove something?"
Shizuri caused several more green orbs to appear but didn't fire any yet. She knew she had to calm down. Firing the beams and running around blindly was doing nothing except tiring her out. Eris knew this maze-like the back of her hands. If she couldn't find out the trick to this maze, then all she could do was either run around like a chicken with its head cut off or stand here and let Eris do what she wanted.
Neither option suited the number four… five.
That still pissed her off on how the city arbitrarily changed ranks.
"That you're stronger than someone?" Eris continued to ask, her eyes taking in every change in Shizuri's expression. "Or is there someone you want to impress? A boy, perhaps?"
An involuntary twitch happened in the Meltdowner's stony glare.
"Oh… I see." Eris smiled warmly at her. "There's no reason for you to be involved. Everything that happened was a coincidence. You got involved with us because of that boy when the princess kidnapped him. If she hadn't gotten you involved, then we would have had no quarrel."
"Really?" Shizuri asked, raising an eyebrow as she felt her blood pressure rise. "You say that after trying to kill us with Oda Nobunaga."
"We were under the impression you were working with England," Eris apologized. "So we had to target you. If you were in our position, would you have done anything differently?"
No, not quite. Shizuri would have struck at any threat to her plans.
"I would have succeeded."
A little jab back wouldn't hurt though.
"Eve did underestimate how powerful you were," Eris admitted, giving a short bow which looked weird based on their positions with her standing on what Shizuri perceived as the ceiling. "We don't have anything against you. It's just with England and the second princess leading a crusade against us, we made a false presumption. Our reports show she is constantly in contact with Touma Kamijou, the owner of the Imagine Breaker. They even secretly meet occasionally."
A green beam fired out of nowhere and, just like all the others, it veered off course long before reaching Eris.
"Don't change the subject!" Shizuri snapped. "This is between you and me. Don't bring other bastards into this."
"But it does involve you," Eris explained, pointing a finger at her. "Thanks to Princess Carissa allying with Touma Kamijou, we had no choice but to target him and those close to him. His power is formidable. Back in Australia, that boy was able to hold his own against Adam."
"Of course he did," Shizuri replied proudly, almost sounding like she was bragging. "He works under me and I only choose the best."
"That became evident quickly." Eris nodded sagely. "Eve actually respects someone so young to form such a powerful group. Strong enough to interfere with organizations that have existed for countless years. We didn't want to have to do with you, if it wasn't for the princess."
"She's a bitch for sure." Shizuri relented. The anger in her was fading slowly away, like the flame was being doused.
"Does she and the Imagine Breaker boy have some kind of relationship?" Eris asked, going on the offensive with her question.
"NO!"
Meltdowner instantly denied that accusation.
"Oh, but I thought for sure she-…"
"The spoiled brat passing as a princess is hardly capable of being in a relationship with Kamijou!" Shizuri refused to entertain the notion. "She's simply using him for her own gains."
The irony was palpable.
"That doesn't sound right," Eris frowned. "That boy seems really nice and honest. Is she taking advantage of his personality to further her own goals?"
"You don't know the half of it," Shizuri growled. "She doesn't even tell him anything we need to know on our end. To her, it's a one-way street. If Kamijou didn't have his hand, she would have tossed him away a long time ago."
Eris looked amused but Shizuri didn't know why.
"That poor boy," Eris placed a hand on her cheek in sympathy. "Maybe I can help out? Don't you think Princess Carissa deserves to be put in her place?"
Shizuri did believe that. That bitch was far too arrogant after her coup failed.
"I bet it would feel amazing to be the one to do it."
'Oh, it would.' Shizuri silently agreed.
"You should do it," Eris continued mildly. "That satisfaction can't go to someone else."
'It would be easy since she doesn't have that stupid Curtana sword.'
"We could help. Provide you with all the information you need. You can do it. You're really powerful. It wouldn't take much from someone like yourself to end that bitch."
'No, no, it wouldn't.'
Shizuri liked what she was hearing. Carissa was a thorn in her side that caused more problems than she solved. It would be doing the world a favor in getting rid of her, plus it would be just so satisfying. The girl was about to open her mouth and get some more information when she heard an annoying but familiar voice.
"MUGINO!"
Spinning around at the spot, she saw the shaggy blond hair of Shiage running out of an archway.
"Hamazura?"
Something about seeing that ex-delinquent jogged something in her mind. She would never give up on a target mid-mission unless the situation was impossible. Eris was supposed to be defeated here and now, not the second princess. Her mind was all hazy, and she shook her head to clear the fog away. Things were much clearer now. Glancing back over her shoulder, Eris had also noticed Shiage's entrance. The magician did not look pleased. Shock was on her face, but also annoyance.
"How did Komaba's lackey get here?" Eris asked coldly, crossing her arm.
"I figured out your little game!" Shiage announced proudly. "Mugino, I know how you can reach her."
"Spill it then already, you idiot!" Shizuri snapped, but at the moment, feeling grateful. If she couldn't reach Eris in time, her mental powers would just weigh down on her mind once more.
"You have to give up on reaching her!"
Silence followed the boy's announcement.
"You have 5 seconds to explain the shit that just came out of your mouth or you're about to experience my Meltdowner first hand." Shizuri hissed, her eyes flickering between Shiage and Eris. That's when she noticed something. Eris' face had paled ever so slightly.
'Did Hamazura actually discover something?'
"This place is designed to distort the path of wherever you're trying to go!" Shiage realized how stupid he had sounded earlier. "If you want to get to her, you'll never reach her. You need not to want to get to her, and then you'll get to her because this place takes you to where you are trying not to go."
Shiage had figured it out.
He just explained in stupidly.
Frenda and Saiai told him that they could never go where they wanted to go. They kept trying to get somewhere and then would end up somewhere else. Shiage discovered that when he tried to get to the platform with Frenda. No matter how he tried, he couldn't get closer. So when he gave up and left to find Shizuri, he ended up on the platform. It also explains how none of them could find each other until he had wanted to find the exit. At first, he didn't think it would be that simple, so he had to test it.
The boy did so when he left Frenda and Saiai.
He decided he didn't want to find Shizuri and head to the exit. So imagine his surprise and relief when he walked straight into the fight between Meltdowner and Eris. Judging from all the destroyed stairs and walls around them, they had been at this for a while. His plan had worked, and Shiage was really happy with his realization. Shizuri gazed at him with what he hoped was admiration for his brilliance. Eris on the other hand, was glaring daggers at him.
"I bet you think you're smart." The magician growled.
"I like to pretend I am sometimes." Shiage agreed. "What's wrong, Eris? You seem a little mad."
"Oh, I'm just amazed a mere lackey discovered the trick to this place." Eris just came right out and said it. "But you also made it more difficult for her." A single finger pointed in Shizuri's direction. "You think it's a simple trick, but knowing it only makes it harder." The girl giggled as she stepped through an archway and appeared across the cavern. "Do you think it's so easy to abandon you goals? You can pretend you want to give them up, but deep down, you haven't."
"You think so?" The green orbs around Shizuri vanished. "Let's see."
The girl focused her thoughts and imagined leaving Eris behind and going after Frenda and Saiai. She took a deep breath to steady the sick feeling about actually wanting to run away. The goal was more important than her pride. So the girl kept telling herself. She could worry about that feeling later. Passing through the archway, she found herself were Eris HAD been, not where she was currently.
"Damn it!" Shizuri kicked the wall.
"See!" Eris gloated. "A stubborn girl like you could never hope to set aside your pride and run away. Secretly, you'll always want to really chase after me. The only reason someone like Hamazura could do so was that he's a coward. Willing to abandon you in the middle of a mission."
Shiage saw what Eris was doing instantly. Those words were going to start turning Shizuri against him.
"I'm getting really fucking tired of your mind games!" Shizuri shouted furiously. "I'm going to kill you one way or another."
The only way she could do that was to forget Eris and go after another target completely. Yet, no matter how much she tried, Shizuri couldn't truly believe she was trying to escape Eris. In terms of raw power, the moment Shizuri got close enough, she would win. Eris was physically weaker and had to rely on distance. That's what this maze was designed to do. Lying to oneself was almost impossible. Shizuri was too smart and methodical to delude herself. It took someone delusional to convince themselves of that.
Or extremely angry…
The idea just occurred to Shiage.
Eris constantly angered Shizuri so she would chase her. Once Shizuri was too tired, Eris would then use her magic speech to worm her way into the Level 5's mind. A simple but effective strategy. A tired body would also wear down the mind. Being exhausted would also prevent her from suddenly leaving during a moment of calmness. The blonde boy needed to get her made at someone else. There was just a slight problem.
Shiage was the only one there.
"The things I do not to die." However, his plan would put his life at risk. If he didn't do something, they were all going to die anyway. There was just a chance he might survive this way. Raising his voice, he addressed the leader of ITEM. "Mugino! I got something to tell you!
"Not the time, you idiot!" Came the curt response, causing Eris to snicker.
"It's important!" Shiage shouted back. "I need to tell you before our current situation gets worse!"
"WHAT!?" Shizuri's impatience was reaching its limit.
"You don't pay me enough so I secretly take pictures of you changing and sell them on the internet!"
Dead silence followed those words that if a pin dropped, it would sound like a gong.
"It was so popular that I set up hidden cameras in your room to get nude videos!" Shiage just kept digging the hole deeper and deeper. "I even made an only fan's account for you, and I'm pulling in 300,000 yen a month!"
Eris' mouth had fallen open comically as even the magician specializing in causing havoc couldn't see this coming. Shizuri wasn't nearly as amused. The darkness below them paled in comparison to the aura Shizuri was exuding. Anger was not nearly strong enough to describe the ferocity that was the Meltdowner. Several green beams shot at him, but the weird gravity wells changed their direction.
"HAAAAMMMMAAAAAZZZZZUUUUURRRRRAAAAAA!"
The howl sent chills down the boy's spine as Shizuri, blinded by white-hot rage, entered the archway next to her to kill Shiage.
Only to appear next to Eris.
Shizuri blinked and took control of her temper as the real target was suddenly standing in front of her. Sheer shock managed to break the hold the anger had on her. The girl realized what Shiage did, and while she was still going to beat him later, the Level 5 had to admit the idiot did well this time. The anger disappeared as fast as it had come.
"Oh… shit…" Eris realized too late she was in trouble.
"Oh, shit indeed." Shizuri agreed, voice oozing with mirth.
Eris instantly bolted for the doorway at the opposite end of the stairway, only for a green laser to fly over her head and destroy it. The charred stone piled up in front of her while the explosion knocked her back on her ass. The magician looked up as Shizuri stepped over her. The grin staring down at Eris was anything but reassuring.
"L-Let's talk about this, Mugino-san." Eris stuttered, scrambling back on the hard stone stairs. Her entire plan fell flat in seconds, thanks to Shiage. "I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement."
"I think so too," Shizuri agreed, as a sinister smile adorned her expression and green orbs appeared around her. "I want you dead, and we're about to arrange that."
Shiage looked away in distaste. The plan had worked just as he had hoped. Since Shizuri's anger had been changed from Eris to him, so did her main target. Her goal was to leave Eris and punish him for those words. The magic in the maze then made her head to Eris rather than him. That's all it took. Once the distance between the two girls vanished, Shizuri easily won.
Eris' maze was foolproof when it was one on one. With a second person was added, it caused problem by splitting focus. It was why Eris seemed to wait until people were alone after getting separated from their teammates. They would only be able to focus on her. By discovering the trick and actually being able to use it against her, Shiage became a wrench in the works. The maze turned against its owner.
The ex-delinquent looked up as Shizuri stepped away from the blood-stained remains of the stairs.
"You get one. Next time you say something like that, I won't let you off.
Tonight, Shiage would steal some alcohol and celebrate another day of life.
Outside Touma's new apartment, two girls appeared out of nowhere. Kuroko had teleported herself and Kazari on Mikoto's request. No explanation as to why, only that Mikoto needed them here as soon as they could. Both of them had been called to work early in the morning due to the current situation. The city needed every hand on deck with the riots at full swing. The problem was when higher-level ability users tried to keep the peace, it only angered the rioters even more.
The Parameter List really threw the city into chaos.
"What do you think Misaka-san and Kamijou-san discovered?" Kazari asked. "It must be important based on them stressing for us to get here quickly, but why not bring the others?"
"Well, Onee-sama vanished in the middle of the night, so it has to be something involved with Eve's group." Kuroko muttered under her breath. "I wish she would have woken me up at least to let me know. I was freaking out this morning."
"I have the voice mails on my phone to prove it… ow! S-Stawp, Shirai-san!"
Kuroko pulled on Kazari's cheeks at her words.
Truthfully, Kuroko was still extremely worried about what happened. When she had woken up that morning to discover Mikoto was missing, instantly, the girl had feared the worst. With all the magicians, riots, and mad scientists in Academy City, anything could have happened to her. What was worst was she couldn't look for her because of Judgment duties. Being able to contact Mikoto that morning was a small silver lining.
The only reason Kuroko and Kazari could be here in the middle of the afternoon was Anti-Skill dismissed all the students of Judgment. Not only were the ability users riling up the mobs, not on purpose of course, but the violence was escalating. Anti-Skill wouldn't let children get any more involved with the current situation. It was their job now and Judgment was dismissed. Adults still believed that kids couldn't handle themselves, which Kuroko believed was a mistake.
"We should be out there helping," Kuroko sighed, looking up at the apartment complex. "Before things get worse."
"If Misaka-san wants us here because of Eve, we are helping," Kazari reassured her. "She can't be broadcasted publically, so all of our movements need to be under the radar."
"I know that!" Kuroko shook her head and felt bad for snapping. There was just so much going on that was stressing her out.
'I wonder why Onee-sama didn't ask me to pick anyone else up. Did she think Uiharu and I would just be nearby?'
All their questions were about to be answered as the two girls took the elevator up to Touma's apartment. With all the magicians living there, Kuroko was still a little suspicious some unscrupulous things were happening. If the ape did anything to hurt Mikoto, Kuroko would not let him off easy. Their relationship was a little unusual, but she could hardly say hers wasn't either. Three-way with herself, Jason, and Kazari? Never in a million years did she expect that to happen.
The moment they knocked, there was the sound of someone rushing to the door.
"Come in." Mikoto ushered them in instantly. "We have a lot to talk about."
"Finally, you can tell me…" Kuroko noticed Mikoto's pained expression almost instantly. It looked like she had been worrying about something for hours. "You look horrible."
"We'll explain everything in a minute," Mikoto assured them. "You just… might want to take a seat."
Kuroko wasn't the only one who felt something was off. Kazari also could tell this wasn't just a report about Eve's activity. The hairs on her neck stood up and there was a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her eyes zeroed in on Touma, who was sitting in a chat with his hands clenched into a fist in front of his face He barely looked up when the two of them went in.
The bad feeling permeating Kazari's body doubled.
The two visitors didn't say anything as they sat on the couch. Mikoto took a seat on the opposite side of the table as Touma. They locked eyes for a moment and seemed to be struggling with what to say. It appeared neither wanted to be the first one to talk.
"What happened?" Kazari was the one who broke the silence. Her expression was firm, but she bit the corner of her lip in anticipation.
"Last night…" Touma finally started explaining himself with some silent urging from Mikoto. "Eve appeared at my apartment."
Kazari couldn't resist gasping.
"What did she want?" Kuroko asked dryly.
"She…" Touma took a deep breath. "Wanted to warn us about an incident that was about to happen. She had found out the Church suspected one of us for working with Eve and sent Stiyl to deal with them."
"Who?" Kuroko instantly asked. "We knew there was a spy, but wasn't it that Doctor Ricane?"
Kazari, on the other hand, did not. It now occurred to her why Touma and Mikoto had asked for them and only them to be here. The apartment was completely devoid of anyone else. Her hand began to shake but she grabbed it with the other to will it still. Nothing was said yet and maybe there was a good reason for this.
"It was… Kagere-san." Mikoto interjected.
The two visiting girls stared at her for a moment.
"What?!" Kuroko leaped to her feet. "Why would they even consider that? All the times he's helped and saved our lives. Saved their butts after getting us mixed up in all their nonsense in England!"
"Jason has saved our lives multiple times," Kazari whispered, her throat dry. "Shirai-san has a point about England, but he's fought by our side here too."
"I know!" Touma hit the table in anger, causing the girls to fall silent. "That's just it! They didn't try to reason with him. Stiyl just attacked when Jason had his guard down. I saw the entire thing."
"So what happened to Stiyl then?" Kuroko asked, eyes going back and forth from Mikoto to Touma. "You stopped him, right? Is he locked up? Maybe we can get him to tell us why he was so stupid."
There was no response.
"…Right?" Kuroko's voice grew quieter.
Still, no response came forth.
"…RIGHT?!" Desperation filled her words.
Touma averted her eyes toward the ground, as Mikoto buried her face in her hands.
"…Nooooo…" Kazari's eyes began to water as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"That's impossible…" Kuroko trailed off, stepping back and almost tripping on the couch. "No… it has to be a lie…"
"I saw it!" Touma banged his fist on the table again. "I, Lessar, Birdway… we all saw it! Eve tricked the church into thinking Jason was an enemy. Stiyl attacked without mercy using Innocentius. Jason never had time even to defend himself and was…"
"Shut up!" Kuroko cut him off furiously, her eyes watering. "Don't you say anymore! I can't believe it! I won't believe it! There's no way he would die!"
"Kuroko…" Mikoto stood up to reach a hand over to comfort her friend.
Slap.
To everyone's shock, Kuroko slapped Mikoto's hand away. This was significant in displaying her emotional state. Kuroko idolized Mikoto in so many ways. She would never in a million years hurt her Onee-sama. For her to lash out showed just how shattered her emotional state was.
"He can't be!" Tears were falling down her cheek onto the ground. "He can't be dead! Jason always has a backup plan. This was probably just a trick. Yeah… a trick…hic. He's faking his death to investigate Eve's forces. That's got to be it." The girl was desperately trying to convince herself.
"I wish it was that simple," Mikoto whispered, watching Kuroko trying to force herself to believe a concocted story. "But there were so many witnesses."
"He was right in front of me," Touma mumbled. "If I had just been faster… left sooner. Just a couple steps and I could have saved him-…"
"Then why didn't you!"
The words rang with ferocity that caused everyone in the room except for the source of them to freeze. Kuroko had not been the one who shouted. That would have been expected. No, the words came from the one person at that table who probably had never shouted in anger. Kazari had stood up, her hands in fists at her side. Tears were flooding down her face. It took time for the shock to wear off and now all her emotions were flooding out.
"Everyone talks so highly of you!" Kazari continued, almost wailing. "Saten-san, Misaka-san, even J-Jason… and you couldn't even save him when he was right in front of you?!" She wiped her eyes but nothing was stopping the water from flowing. "He was your friend… and YOU LET HIM DIE!?"
"I should have saved him…" Touma agreed and slumped down in his chair.
"Touma did everything he could!" Mikoto protested. "If there had been any chance at all-…"
"I don't want to hear it!"
Mikoto's eyes widened and she looked like she had just been slapped. Kazari had always been a kind, sweet, quiet girl. With what just happened, the chance was to be expected. Hearing your boyfriend just died couldn't be brushed under the rug for later. It was traumatizing for her. Still, hearing her friend talk to her like that, blaming her and her boyfriend, hurt. It hurt a lot deeper than she realized it would have.
"I'm leaving!" Kazari stood up and marched toward the door.
"W-Wait!" Kuroko shouted. "Where are you going?!"
"I… don't know…" Was the only response the upset girl was given.
The door slammed behind her.
The three remaining kids didn't move for a couple minutes. The silence lengthened and felt suffocating. Eventually, Kuroko collapsed on the couch and started crying, her face buried in the pillow. Mikoto walked over and sat beside her. The same pain she felt when seeing Touma suffer like this returned. There was nothing she could do to make this pain go away. All the power of a Level 5 and she still couldn't stop her friends from suffering. Wrapping her arms around Kuroko, she hugged her tightly as her friend wept into the couch.
Touma sat there, unable to get up. Kuroko was closer to Mikoto, so it was better she did it. Yet, seeing her cry like this, the strong confident Judgment girl breaking down, the feeling of vomit rose up once again into his throat. His stomach churned. This was one of the reasons he fought. It wasn't just for the person suffering, but the knowledge that every person has someone who cares for them. If they died, others would be hurt. Someone couldn't isolate themselves completely from human connections.
Accelerator was living proof of that.
"We'll stop her."
The words came out of his mouth, but it sounded like a stranger was speaking. Carissa had issued radio silence and even avoided his calls. That didn't mean he was giving up. If things came down to it, he would march toward her hotel room if required. Anger and resentment bubbled up as everything seemed to be crashing down on him at once. He had deluded himself thinking everyone would get through this safely and Jason paid the price.
There was no going back now.
"We have to," The boy continued. "If Eve wins, it won't be just Jason. He left us something behind. It's as you said, Shirai-san. He always plans ahead."
"What do you… hic… mean?" Kuroko lifted her head up slightly to look at him with one eye. The couch was soaked with bodily fluids, but Touma wouldn't reprimand her for it.
"We found something in his apartment, hidden by magical means," Touma explained slowly. "We aren't entirely sure what it was for, but it might be the key to making sure we prevent the worst-case scenario."
Kuroko sat up and slapped her cheeks.
"I'm okay… well, I'm not." The teleporter backtracked. "I won't be for a while, but Jason… he wouldn't want me to fall apart. Tell me what you found. What he left. I'll morn him once this is settled." A noise escaped her, somewhat of a cross between a laugh and a sob. "I just imagined what he would say if he saw me like this."
"You're strong, Kuroko." Mikoto still hugged her friend. "But you're also kind and caring. I wish there was something we could do to help."
"Stop Eve." Kuroko blinked her tears out of her eyes. "Stopping her would be the best revenge for him. Jason always hated people using power to force others to do what they wanted."
"That is something I can agree with, a hundred percent." Touma took a deep breath to calm his nerve. "Shirai-san… here's what we found…"
Kazari had her legs pulled up to her chest as she sat on a bench outside.
It was impossible. She refused to accept it. There was no way her boyfriend could be dead. Not only was Jason smart and clever, he always had a backup plan for his backup plans. This had to be some sort of long-term deception to make The Fallen drop their guard. Because Eve could spy on them without much effort, he had to fool his friends as well as his enemies.
That had to be it.
The girl couldn't even bring herself to cry because of her delusions.
"I need to know though…"
There was the small part in the back of her mind that spoke what she secretly had been dreading. Touma and Mikoto had been so serious, so hurt and worn down, that no matter how strong Kazari's delusion had been, she couldn't shake the look of pain and regret on her friends. None of them would even joke about something like this. Even if this plan was suggested, there was no way Touma would go along with it, knowing how it would affect her and Kuroko's sanity.
"He wouldn't want me to, but I can't go on… without knowing for sure."
Tears were finally forming in her eyes, but she wiped them away on her sleeve.
"No, not this time." The girl stood up and took a deep breath. "You have a way to confirm this for sure."
Kazari had access to something none of her friends did. Even Carissa didn't know what Kazari could do. Thanks to her job, she had access to a lot of internal systems in Academy City. Lately, she had been working on improving security before the data breach. With all the work she had done on it, the young girl knew all its weak points. She could easily bypass any firewalls and check for herself with her hacking skills. If Stiyl had used that flame monster magic of his, there was bound to be video of it.
The only problem was this would be a breach of her contract and the repercussions could be severe.
All rational thought was pushed away as the Kazari thought about her boyfriend. With determination on her face, Kazari made her way to her office. It was a Saturday, but she had access even on weekends. Most of the facilities had access due to how overworked they were. No matter how many hours they had, it was never enough. Being part-time meant Kazari worked weird hours. Weekends were usually her best bet and she had permission.
What she was going to do was definitely not intended by her boss.
Luckily the office building where she worked wasn't right in the middle of the downtown riots. If it had been, there was no way the girl could get there unnoticed. Most of the city was focused on the destruction that they wouldn't notice Kazari bypassing security, as long as she didn't trip any alarms. At least she hoped that was the case. When she entered her office, there was a moment of self-doubt as she sat at her desk, her back to a large window overlooking the city.
Doubt was washed away when she saw a framed picture on her workstation. It was a picture of her, Kuroko, and Jason posing in front of the camera. Water began to pool in her eyes before being wiped away again. There was no longer and hesitation as Kazari logged in. It wasn't hard to get into the security camera system. A few moments later, she had access to everything.
"Now, let's check last night," Kazari muttered to herself, eyes scanning each camera. A giant flame monster would be noticed pretty quickly. Wasting no time, screen after screen flashed on the monitors.
At first, nothing was off, until a section of the city appeared to have entered a blackout.
"All the cameras around this area were turned off last night," Kazari muttered to herself, a pencil between her teeth as she looked at a map. The distance wasn't too far from Touma's apartment. "And no matter what angle I try from, I can't get anywhere near it. It happened last night too." Her eyes paused as she saw several unmarked vans drive into the area. "Something happened there… Maybe Kamijou-san and Misaka-san were right…"
Both hands slapped her cheek and the girl shook her head violently. The flowers on her head almost slid off at how hard she went.
"No, you don't know that yet!"
Kazari bit her lip to keep herself from falling into despair. There had to be some way to see if Jason had any kind of backups or safe houses he could hide in. The cameras weren't showing her anything. The most she got was him walking down the sidewalk with a hand held electronic device before vanishing into the quarantined area.
'Think,' Kazari's hands trembled as she watched her boyfriend's final moments on replay. 'If I was Jason, where would I hide important information in case I needed others to find it? He knows I'm good with computers and Shirai is a teleporter. Would he have some kind of clue in his private files?'
This was going to be a massive breach of trust.
Her fingers were already dancing across the keyboard.
If he had anything that wasn't directly connected to Academy City's main systems, they wouldn't be accessible from this computer. However, there might be some clue as to what he was doing before last night. Any sign he was planning to go into hiding. Kazari's eyes were flickering back and forth across the lines of codes as she began to bypass all security. Jason's area had pretty advanced security compared to the rest of the city, saying something about how advanced the infrastructure already was.
Still nothing could stop the number one hacker.
"I'm in," Kazari whispered. "Sorry for invading your privacy, but I know you'll forgive me."
Thousands of files were neatly organized and everything dated. The old Kuroko would have flipped out knowing how detailed Jason was. Hours and hours back at their Judgment office had been devoted to her friend complaining about him. Kazari had been amused at how dedicated Kuroko had been to find out Jason's weak points. No matter how much she told the teleporter he was just messing with her, nothing got through to her.
Now, Kazari was wishing for those days again.
Clicking on some of the more recent files, the girl almost wished she hadn't when she began to read the information inside.
Personal Files of Level 5s.
Kazari already knew Jason had taken over the level 5 information. That wasn't new. It was better as he had been made to watch over them. They didn't have to worry about a random scientist discovering some of their hidden secrets. Such as Eve's group was made of magicians. Science and magic were already mixing up more than it should. The church really disliked that. Most scientists would probably be in the same mold.
Which one was superior?
"Experiments?" Kazari muttered, noticing they were the most recently accessed files. That was when she regretted her action as she began to read the summary. "Level 6 Shifts?"
The first file belonged to Accelerator and after she began reading the summary, her faced paled with each line.
According to the former Tree Diagram, Accelerator was the only individual capable of reaching Level 6 with the implementation of the current curriculum. The time period would have been 250 years. As this was unfeasible, a new curriculum had to be developed. The Tree Diagram indicated this could be changed by preparing special battlefields. Further research indicated the quickest method would be to do battle with the Level 5, Misaka Mikoto aka Railgun. To achieve Level 6, Accelerator would need to kill the Railgun 128 times. However, since 128 Railguns could not be created, it was determined that the failed Sisters Project could be repurposed for clones of Misaka Mikoto. See Appendix A for further details.
The clones of the Railgun were determined to be roughly level 2. Due to this discrepancy, it would require the killing of 20,000 Sister clones in 20,000 battlefields would be an apt substitute for Accelerator to achieve Level 6. With the connection between the clones known as the Misaka Network, the clones would learn after each battle, forcing Accelerator to grow in the process. See Appendix B for progress details.
Due to the interference of Subject REDACTED, the experiment had been canceled. The possibility to achieve Level 6 has increased with Subject REDACTED interference in recent events.
"20,000…" Kazari couldn't believe it, but the evidence and videos showed otherwise. A hand covered her mouth as she almost threw up. "Accelerator did all this?"
She quickly closed the folder and moved to Mikoto's.
It is hypothesized that while Mikoto Misaka, aka Railgun would be unable to reach Level 6 alone, use of the Misaka Network has shown potential. With almost 10,000 clones accessing the Misaka Network, it was hypothesized that the calculation power added to the Railgun's own, would allow to her to reach Level 6 temporarily. See Appendix A for details.
Stability still remains a problem. The subject would quickly burn out after reaching Level 6. The power would be similar to a sudden supernova and the physical body could not contain the power. See Appendix B for possible solutions to this problem. Solutions to sanity have not been fully resolved. Might require use of the Exterior project.
Update: Solutions for sanity has been resolved. Railgun has shown stability when in the vicinity of Subject REDACTED. See Appendix C.
"This is crazy!" Kazari gasped. "Misaka-san could reach level 6? But at the cost of her life? They can even be considering this!"
Based on some of the calculations, the city had been seriously debating if the cost was worth it. Gritting her teeth, Kazari looked up information on the Exterior project.
Exterior Project
The purpose of this project is a giant brain capable of allowing any registered person, whether they are other ability users or normal people, the ability to use the ability of Mental Out, aka Misaki Shokuhou. Under the control of Mental Out, this gives her a considerable boost to her ability. Tests have shown her range can extend to several kilometers and control thousands of people.
Tests have shown this would not allow Mental Out to achieve Level 6. Please refer to Level 6 Shift: Mental Out for that information. Recent field tests have shown positive outcomes when Mental Out is with Subject REDACTED.
"Even Shokuhou?" Kazari gasped. Her eyes then went to the next section of files. "Mugino-san and Sogiita-san too?" They had their own information on the practicality of reaching Level 6.
These files weren't old. They had been updated recently. All of them. With information regarding stability and Subject REDACTED. There was no information on this subject, though. It was like everything had been scrubbed clean. Kazari naturally dug deeper, but nothing was there. Only information on her friends.
"The city is doing so many horrible experiments behind the scenes to try to get a Level 6…" Kazari slumped back in her chair. "This stuff needs to get out to the authorities. I didn't think the Parameter List was real, but after seeing what some people will do to achieve higher level ability users, maybe it's not so farfetched." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Jason… are you really gone? Did you approve of these things?"
This information had to get out though. Scientists were performing illegal experiments on children. This time, there would be even more riots not just from the kids. Those insane individuals need to be put away for life. Hopefully the city didn't condone these experiments and it was just a fringe group. Grabbing a flash drive, the girl began to download the information. She can figure out how to disperse it later. The Level 5s were victims. Adults took advantage of them. None of them would think this is okay. Accelerator was kind of rude and brash, but he wouldn't willingly participate in these things without being tricked into it.
Right?
Kazari grabbed an external drive and began to download the information. There was a lot there and she tapped her foot impatiently. The sooner she was out of here, the better.
Heavy footsteps broke her stupor, and she spun around in fear. There was no warning notifications or alarms she had tripped something. As far as she could tell, she was secretly in the systems. Did she miss something? Holding her breath, the girl realized she should have hidden, but after finding out what she did, her mind was more preoccupied with countless questions. There was also the chance something else happened and those people weren't here for her.
The door was blown open with a bang as a man in military gear kicked it.
No such luck.
"Hands up!" The man yelled, pointing an automatic rifle at her.
"Don't shoot!" Kazari pleaded, hands thrown up instantly. "I work here!" Five men followed the first one, all masked, with body armor and standard-issued assault rifles. Each gun was aimed at Kazari.
"Stand by the window!" The first man ordered. "Hands where I can see them." He gestured to two of the men behind him. "Check for others." After a quick sweep of the closet and under the desk, he pulled out a phone. "All clear."
Kazari gulped and waited in silence, as there were still several nozzles aimed at her. She wasn't sure what was happening, but it looked like she had been caught. The men never asked her anything else and simply waited, guns never lowered for a moment. After a couple of minutes, she heard another set of steps outside the room. A moment later, a woman with long brown hair entered. Kazari has never seen her before.
"Kazari Uiharu." The woman stated. "It seems we were right about you." She walked over to the computer and spun it around. "Very good, it looks like you broke into his records. That saved us quite a bit of time. If someone less skilled tried that, his fail-safe would have deleted most if not all the information."
"W-What?!" Kazari croaked out. "What are you saying?"
"We knew you would come when Jason Kagere was killed." The woman stated simply. "At least the ones above me. This information is classified and it seems you were attempting to steal it too?" She shook her head and clicked her tongue. "That could get you locked up for a while."
"At least I'm not the one who's creating clones to be killed by people!" Kazari blurted out. "Or risking people's lives just for some pipe dream of a Level 6."
The woman's face fell and she went quiet. A ding attracted everyone's attention as the external drive just finished downloading. Picking it up, she put it in her pocket and proceeded to leave.
"Order's ma'am?" The leader of the men asked.
"Orders were clear, Captain." Came the curt response. "If she discovered anything she shouldn't have, eliminate her."
Kazari's eyes went wide as the woman left, never looking back. Words were caught in her throat as fear overtook her.
"Sorry, kid." The men all aimed carefully. "Orders are orders."
As gunfire erupted, the window behind where the girl stood shattered.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish to ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter.
Wishez: ACIP after a while, hope you guys haven't forgotten the story. Although I finished this, I will be going on a much needed editing break, so I hope Dark finds someone to replace me and uploads whenever he finishes his stories. Also, two people… guess you could say that it's pretty… Dark.