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XII.
Passage of arms
The place stood in shocked silence.
Then a gurgled moan leaked out. Yomikawa lurched forward, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
Inside, Mikoto propelled herself back, horror written on every line of her face, only Accelerator was stilled in his place, staring down at the writhing form of the woman he considered to be one of the few people of his family. Outside, Kakine's voice boomed through them, but he wasn't hearing. All he could see was the blood slowly seeping out of Yomikawa, her hands laid open and unmoving - a scene so awfully familiar his entire being froze up at the memory.
Mikoto felt it before she could see it coming. A searing headache. It felt like something sharp had stabbed into his – their brains, and devoured everything in its path. Breaths are choked up at her throat as she felt his eyes starting to flow with a liquid that smelled of rust, redder and thicker than tears, trickling down and burning into his cheeks.
In a matter of seconds, Accelerator is in the air, a blood curdling scream ripping out of him that echoed to the ends of Earth, and he's never looked more like a demon. His eyes are glowing red and the wind is whipping wildly around him.
From behind him spread murky black wings, as if they shot out from his back. Mikoto could feel them burning to her back, something that felt like it could blow away the mind, and the anger that's shattering his own sense of self sluiced down her stomach like acid. The wings spread instantly over tens of meters, and shaved off parts of the buildings and roads around him.
The pain was appalling, sinking into her bones and wrapping up her mind as she stumbled forward, falling on her knees. The feeling was so awfully, terrifyingly familiar Mikoto couldn't bring herself to open her eyes again - knowing exactly what the winged form of Accelerator would remind her of.
"… So strong. Such powerful calamity. So you can do it if you put your mind to it, you evil bastard."
Kakine taunted, his wings also spreading wide as he pulled himself up. Dark blood was wet and still seeping through his vest but the manic gleam in his eyes was uncontrollable.
"We're not so different after all, huh. C'mon."
The six wings, as if responding to his threat, spread explosively, spanning several tens of meters emitted a mysterious glow, and at the same time holding an inorganic feel like a machine. Almost like a giant weapon gods and angels normally used. He would have it this time. Now the odds of victory were even, only that unlike Accelerator, Kakine hadn't lost himself.
An unprecedented power was expanding within him, and he has perfectly mastered it.
The air around them howled.
It all happened in a flash. Before Mikoto could open her mouth and scream for plead the Second of their kind was slammed back into the wall with a sickening splat.
x
x
x
The sound of flesh being pounded resounded across Academy City. Just like an aftershock, the earth trembled and buildings frighteningly shook. None of the bystanders made a sound, blankly witnessing the physical slaughter in terror and shock.
Mikoto fell onto her knees, a thundering headache blurring her vision and rough coughing continuously heaving out of her throat. Through stinging tears she could see Accelerator in front of Kakine, shuddering form and wings spreading wildly. The other officers hovered uncertainly around them as they watched the boy-angel hybrid beat the Dark Matter wielder into a bloody pulp.
If she didn't do anything soon, it might just be what's left of him.
Gritting her teeth, Mikoto pushed herself up on shaky legs. Accelerator only showed up when he wanted to, it wasn't on her to call him inside, and he's already too far gone for her single presence to reach.
The thought halted in her mind. The MISAKA Network.
There had to be something she could control. She's their Original. Sucking in a breath, Mikoto closed her eyes, feeling the familiar tingles of electricity bursting at the tips of her fingers.
On the outside, Accelerator's hands stopped. Statics buzzing through his bleeding skin.
x
x
x
"I found you, says Misaka as Misaka tries to communicates with you slowly."
Last Order grinned, blue sundress and hazel eyes bright as she skidded to a halt to the winged figure in front of her, not minding the horrified screams of the people around.
An explosive sound rang out, as if a gale had swept through.
The action the strongest Level 5 in Academy City took was simple. The jet black wings ripped through the air, and with overwhelmingly massive power dealt a destructive blow. With a sharp sound, the black wings had stopped mere millimeters away from her face, going no closer and only trembling, as if a monster was whimpering.
"It is alright now, says Misaka as Misaka holds out her arms."
From afar, a few gunshots were suddenly fired, but immediately dispersed at the wings expanding, covering both the little girl and its form. At this close of a distance Last Order could see the little blue sparks at the tips of his fingers. A gentle smile broke out on her face.
"You don't have to do something like this anymore, says Misaka as Misaka tries to convey the correct words."
She murmured, reaching for him again, and everything changed in an instance.
x
x
x
Mikoto coughed, leaning to the side of a wall in support as she nursed her abused head. Accelerator got out a lot worse than she did. He looked awful, skin flaying and burned marks blooming on his arms. His clothes are torn and hanging, and there's blood matted in his hair. But he's alive, and the wings had disappeared. He's back in control. The aura of power is still thick in the air, though, but Mikoto could easily tell that it was Accelerator himself, his own formidable energy making an appearance.
He's leaning on Last Order when he collapsed back into the void with her.
Mikoto flinched at the sound, but relaxed upon realizing it was him. She supposed he really could choose to do whatever the hell he wanted in here, because his appearance was as pristine as ever – white shirt, black slacks and pale hair, long and fluttering right above his eyes. The red eyes that were staring at her.
Oh. "Uh…," Mikoto said, suddenly very aware of what she just did. "I didn't do anything. Just told her which direction to - to come...She was already looking for you anyways…"
"Shut up."
She blinked, mouth hanging halfway for a comeback before she looked up and saw the look in his eyes.
Accelerator's pale brows were furrowed, mouth curled in his usual distaste. He didn't close his eyes, though. His first instinct was to snarl and snap, like an agitated gator in the marsh. His second was to leave without a word.
There's another instinct too, just beneath the surface of his skin, that threatened to gobble the first two right up if he's not careful.
"I'll be back later."
And then he was gone. Mikoto kneeled staring at the empty spot he was at, heart pounding like a drum against her ribcage.
x
x
x
Later turned out to be at asscrack 4am, Accelerator thought in utmost annoyance. But it was the only time when he was free of two noisy kids and one nagging ward. He popped up in their space quietly, and was only mildly surprised to see the girl sitting with her legs crossed, hands in her lap. She looked up when she noticed his presence, and he wisely chose to look at anywhere on her face besides her eyes.
"Alright, let's talk." He announced, coming closer before plopping down at about ten feet in front of the girl – an extremely reasonable distance as far he was concerned.
"What in the goddamn hell did you do?"
Mikoto blinked, before furrowing her brows. "I already told you. I used the Network to reach La – "
"Not that," he glared. "I meant the part where you made electricity burst out of my hands."
The girl's eyes widened, before lowering as she stared back at him. Accelerator sort of felt like pulling out his hair. It's got to be a genetic thing, Third-rate, Last Order, or any of the sisters for that matter - always sporting those blank, big bambi eyes at him whenever he tried to corner them for questioning. He's still not sure to be amused or absolutely horrified.
"I - I'm not sure," she finally said, looking down at her hands. "I think I can still use my powers, maybe not all of it like my Railgun."
Then she looked up at him. Maybe if this was a few months ago he would have promptly turned around and bolted across the room, or thrown her his usual glare of contempt, but it's not. Accelerator willed himself to look straight back at the hazel eyes, and smoothly ignored how funny his stomach was starting to feel like.
"What is it?"
"I - I think I can use my powers through you."
Silence. Accelerator leaned back with a flat stare.
"Stop saying stupid shit."
"I'm not dammit."
Mikoto huffed, soft hair bouncing around her shoulders. She looked down at her hands, tiny warmth emitting at the tips of her fingers from her past attempts before he appeared. When she looked up again his red eyes weren't on her anymore, but at her lap. Mikoto gulped down the sudden lump in her throat. Maybe…
"I'm not lying," she breathed, finally, and raised up her hand. "Here...use your vector."
For a moment, Accelerator's eyes just darted from her hand to her face, as if not believing what was in front of him. But Mikoto refused to waver, her hazel eyes stern and steady staring back into his. Glaring, eventually he complied, putting his right hand up to face her open palm.
It took a moment, before a blue light glowed up between them. Dim but very much present, spazzing in small buzzing sounds.
"See?"
Mikoto murmured, heart thrumming in her chest at their new discovery. She blinked, again, as the light dissipated right away. Accelerator's already planting his hand back on the ground, supporting his weight.
He scowled at her as he clicked his tongue. "You will not tell a soul about this, Railgun."
"I couldn't even if I wanted to," she reminded him. "In case you forgot, Accelerator, everything that happens here has only us to see."
Something about the brunette's comment made his throat run dry, and he gulped down a scratchy swallow as he pushed himself to stand up. Muttering something about losing sleep that he couldn't bother to check, he collapsed back into his bed in the real world with still-struggling muscles. When he was finally sure she wasn't present anymore, he brought his hand up, raising it towards the ceiling as he inspected his palm.
There's no marks from the contact, his skin was unblemished ivory, but he would swear he could still feel an unnatural buzz across his wrist and palm. Accelerator huffed, before balling his fist and slammed himself to lie sideways into the mattress with a revolted grunt, shutting his eyes closed.
Sleep was a little harder to come by, that night.
(TBC)
Note: This is where I stray way way way off the canon timeline.
Thanks a lot for all the kind support~~~