A/N: This chapter occurs directly after "Work in Progress". Hopefully I can start filling in the gaps of the timeline, but that might take a while. If anyone's confused, you're most likely not alone. Feel free to ask questions, and I'll PM a response if anyone's interested.
Worlds Apart
Underneath a sterile street lamp, a lonely vending machine purred quietly into the night air.
Juice. Tea. Soda. Coffee.
Internal lighting made a proud display of these various drinks behind a protective layer of glass. Reflected from that glass stood the translucent image of a fourteen-year-old girl.
The image meticulously hovered a finger.
And paused.
…
( "I'm brushing up on my English. If you don't like it, go somewhere else." )
A scene of two strangers indirectly talking to each other.
( "As your senior, here's some advice: Don't get in my fucking way." )
A scene of two strangers sarcastically praising each other.
( "I'm nice for one moment, and you're already trying to take advantage of me. What a shitty kid you are." )
A scene of two strangers repaying their debts to each other.
( "As of late, I may have been teasing you too much. But I'll stop now." )
A scene where everything resets back to zero.
…
Misaka Mikoto lowered her hand.
Self-Defense
The third Level 5 took a moment to herself. She breathed slowly.
In.
And out.
Clearing her throat, she thought aloud.
"I feel like I should make this clear."
Directing her voice to no one in particular…
"I know what it looks like. I mean, yeah. If you were to take the previous scene and put it next to this one here, it kinda sorta looks like I'm sulking, right? Well. I'm not. Absolutely not."
Misaka Mikoto made eloquent hand gestures as if she were presenting to a group.
"By no means am I frustrated, angry, or even annoyed. The 'me' now is a completely different 'me', you know? Complete reset. In fact, all that stuff that happened back there… let's pretend it didn't happen. This scene is a scene that exists entirely on its own. So… Continuity? Who cares! It's not relevant! As if it matters! This is supposed to be a comedy, dang it!
"Did everyone get that? Good? Good? Okay? Alright."
Regaining her nerve, the girl made a menacing grin.
"So now… when I press the button for juice on this vending machine… a machine that's known to rip people off… and it doesn't give me what I want… it's only natural for me to beat the shit out of it, right? There's no hidden meaning anywhere."
As Misaka Mikoto raised her hand again, the vending machine dropped a juice without provocation.
…
Staring blankly…
"You son of a bitch."
The vending machine started sweating bullets.
Mutilation
The girl's grunts could be heard from afar.
( Mikoto: Chaseeeer! Chaseeeer! Chaseeeeer! )
The Number 3 continued the onslaught.
"What the hell is your problem?-!
"Just who's the shitty kid here?-!
"You Goddamn chuunibyou!"
Landing her final kick, she stepped back and panted.
"Ha... ha… ha…"
…?
A realization.
Feeling someone's stare, Misaka Mikoto turned her head.
"…"
She had anticipated on seeing a mother and child on a night walk, trying to not make eye contact with the eccentric individual that enjoyed talking to herself. But it was not.
[ SFX: *rattle rattle* ]
It was a cow.
"C-Cow…?"
Yes. A cow.
"Why?"
For some reason, the mental image of Shokuhou Misaki wearing a cow-patterned bathing suit hung in the air.
[ Misaki: Moo? ]
The Third Encounter
The two briefly locked glances.
"…"
But the cow turned aside and continued on her path, rattling the bell on her neck with each step.
…
As Misaka Mikoto wrapped her head around this development…
"…?"
A breeze began to circle.
It was slow at first, but it abruptly turned into a furious gust.
Huh?-!
[ SFX: WUBWUBWUBWUBWUB ]
Loud unearthly vibrations swiftly encompassed the area.
And then…
A ray of light shot down from the skies onto the animal.
"E-Eh? Ehhh? EHHHHHHHHH?-!"
The cow started to float up towards the source of the light.
[ Misaki: M-Moo? Moo! Moo! ]
Abduction
Misaka Mikoto panicked.
At first she was too shocked to do anything, but her instincts finally kicked in.
The girl ran and jumped onto the side of the cow, attempting to pull it down. She shouted in a frenzy.
"MISAKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
[ Misaki: Moo! Moooo! Moo! ]
Looking up, the vague shape of a disk-like aircraft emerged from the darkened clouds.
"OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD*!"
( *English )
Misaka Mikoto desperately clung onto Misaki with one arm and hastily searched for an arcade token in her skirt pocket with the other. Finding a coin, she aimed above. And performing her signature move, the girl yelled incoherently.
"AAAAAHH-GUH-FWEHHHHHHHHHHH?-!"
The crackling beam seared through the unidentified flying object.
And the light suddenly shut off, sending the two plummeting to the ground.
Shortly after, the aircraft went down as well.
Distress Call
In the Tokiwadai dormitory…
Shirai Kuroko was sleeping soundly. That is, until her phone buzzed violently. In a stupor, she haphazardly reached out to answer the call.
[ "They're real! Aliens are real! Kuroko! You gotta get over here and-" ]
Click.
…
Her phone buzzed again.
[ "I'm at the park! I'm pretty sure their ship crash-landed nearby-" ]
Click.
…
Her phone buzzed once more.
[ "Don't hang up on me! Aliens are-" ]
Click.
…
Her phone buzzed.
[ "Ah, Kuroko. I apologize for calling you up at such a time. But I believe something strange is happening at my location, and I am in need of assistance." ]
Shirai Kuroko answered politely.
"Onee-sama. I adore you dearly, but I have to respectfully decline. And while it may not be my place to say this, I urge you to come back and get some rest."
[ "I completely understand." ]
Contact
After a failed attempt to phone for aid, Misaka Mikoto went on to search alone.
( Mikoto: Uhh… stay here. )
[ Misaki: Moo. ]
And so…
Traveling through brush and thicket, a long while had past. The girl started to doubt herself.
"Was it… was it really this far? There's no way… It has to be close… Unless…"
She stopped for a breather and rested her shoulder against a tree.
"Am I… going crazy?"
With a thin smile, she made a nervous laugh.
"This is… ridiculous. Maybe Kuroko was right. I just need to get some sleep…"
As she said this, a green man popped out of the bushes. Holding a smartphone with tendril-like fingers, it asked upfront.
"Hey. By any chance, have you seen a Pik*chu around here? I've been tracking it for like 20 minutes and it's not showing up."
"…"
The girl started yelling.
"IT'S HEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!-?"
Misaka Mikoto jumped and tackled it to the ground.
The Bug-Eyed Creature
Entering into a clearing, Misaka Mikoto pinned the celestial visitor to the ground; however, something was off.
Japanese?
At a closer look, the person she held down appeared to be wearing a hazmat-like suit.
"What the-? Get offa me!"
His voice sounded somewhat familiar to her, but not too familiar. He continued.
"…huh? Wait. I know you."
And another voice.
"Hmm. Something going on?"
Raising her head, the girl found the UFO she had been chasing. And climbing down the side of the saucer was someone she was, in fact, very familiar with. Confused and confounded, Misaka Mikoto stumbled with her words.
"W-W-What's going on here? You're…"
Approaching the Level 5 casually with her hands in her labcoat's front pockets, Nunotaba Shinobu formally introduced herself. She finished off Misaka Mikoto's sentence.
"A researcher."
Suggested Post-Reading Listening: Alien Alien by Nayutalien
Timeline (condensed): 10, 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 19, x, 3, x, 12-17, x, 5-7, x, 11
Next Chapter: Misaka Mikoto meets the people behind Project Super Seven.
