Even after computer problems and finally caving in to get a new computer, I still manage to save all my writing stuff so none of this story was lost. I'll start with responding to a couple of commenters today.
Shuko: I can't really answer your questions now because it would lead to A LOT of spoilers. I can tell you by the time these fights are over and Touma meets the boss, your questions should be answered.
Several people: It seems like a lot of people enjoyed the Lust fight and I hope you all enjoy the Envy fight too. It also seems like there might be some confusion between the curse marks and the sin's normal magic powers. Lust's mind control was her actual magic, the Eternal Devotion was her power form the Mark.
Guest who mentioned he liked Kuroko: You may not like me after this chapter.
I thought this chapter would be a lot shorter but I just kept typing and it turned into a chapter all on its own. This is the first time I thought of Kuroko actually entering a fight all on her own, well she is with Mikoto, but it focuses around Kuroko. Envy is pretty mean though so fight was fun. Anyway, I talked enough, back to the fights.
Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters.
"Let our friends go," Kuroko called out to the cloaked figure who called herself Envy.
"Hmm," Envy said pretending to consider Kuroko's request. "I probably wouldn't if I could, but to humor you, let's say I would. I can't though, because none of your friends are here. You two chose the wrong route."
"So we don't have anything to do with you then," Kuroko huffed. "Surrender and tell us where our friends are."
"Oh I can't," Envy said. "You see this area is restricted to only let the survivor leave. If you can't kill me you will not be able to leave. When I kill you, I can leave. It is sort of a, as your science people say, failsafe to make us fight."
"What kind of sick game is that?" Mikoto asked wide eyed. "You actually want us to fight to the death?"
"I don't know why you two are so scared," Envy told them surprised as she jumped down into the ring. "You two are part of the haves, not the have nots. You should be use to towering over others."
"What are you talking about?" Kuroko asked. She did not trust this women, but with Mikoto next to her, she was confident they would win. She did however reach down to her thigh and touched a couple of her spikes.
"You two are powerful ability users of Academy City," Envy explained but with an air of boredom. It was like explaining the same thing over and over again to an idiot. "So obviously you had the potential to reach those levels. Lots of other people in that city will never reach the level you two are at. They are the have nots."
"That is not a fair comparison at all," Kuroko said. She had heard this argument before from a lot of delinquents who caused trouble in the city during Judgment. They always used it as an excuse to explain their problems and to just give up. When Kuroko came to the city, she did not expect to develop a high level ability, but she worked hard and manage to reach level 4. She turned and looked at Mikoto. She knew how hard Mikoto worked in order to achieve level 5. Envy must have been someone who didn't succeed and found it easier to blame others. I guess that explains her name. Mikoto was looking at Envy with a sour look on her face.
"I worked extremely hard to hit level 5," Mikoto retorted. "I didn't just start at that level. Anyone can be strong if they work hard. I'm proof of that."
Envy just laughed at them. "You poor deceived girls, you say you worked hard, and I don't doubt that. But how many other thousands of people worked hard and still did not reach the same level as you. There is more to power then just hard work. Luck and fate plays a large part of it too. I bet you don't even know about the secret Parameter List kept within the board of director's grip."
"What is that?" Mikoto asked and Kuroko could heat the curiosity in her voice.
"Onee-sama," she said. "We probably shouldn't listen to her. She might be trying to distract us." I can't lie I am curious about the list too. She seems different then a normal jealous person. Kuroko was still suspicious as to why Envy was talking so much to them.
"You don't have to believe me," Envy said shrugging. "But while we were staking out Academy City, we discovered something interesting. It appears the special curriculums designed to develop higher level abilities are not randomly selected, but predicted shortly after an individual gets their ability."
"You can't be serious," Kuroko said indignantly. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. At school they were always told they could become higher level if they worked hard. She even knew a lot of people who said they worked hard to get to level 3 and up. If what Envy was saying was true, it would mean everything they were told was a lie. She doesn't sound like she is lying, but it can't be true. Kuroko felt a small pain in her chest, but still continued to watch and listen to Envy. She never let go of her spikes though.
"After they initially develop your ability," Envy continued. "They look at the cost to develop an ability compared to how high they can develop yours. People fated to reach higher levels get preferred treatment, while those who will plateau at lower levels are left in the basic curriculums. Why do you think she," Envy pointed to Mikoto, "went through so many special sessions even when she was young and had not developed her powerful ability yet?"
"I worked constantly to improve myself," Mikoto denied taking a step forward. "Everyone gets experimented on when they develop their abilities. We all agreed to it when we join the city."
That is true, Kuroko thought, but a lot of us don't get a special development sessions. All the level 5s have their own research areas devoted specifically to their abilities. Kuroko always admired Mikoto because of her work ethic and how she treated everyone the same, but if what Envy said was true, Mikoto was destined to be a level 5 while others were not. "Don't listen to her onee-sama," Kuroko called out. 'She is trying to mess with our heads." Even though Kuroko said this, she felt another small ache in her heart. She imagined she might have said it for herself too.
"I see you two just don't want to admit the truth," Envy sighed. "But it doesn't really matter. I just told you out of boredom. You could always verify it with your friend Kagere, I believe he had access to it at one point. Well, and to see the look on your face girl," she turned her covered head to, assumingly, face Kuroko. 'When you realized you will never hit level 5 no matter how hard you work." She laughed.
"I'm not going to listen to you anymore," Kuroko declared. "I am going to detain you for kidnapping and force you to tell us where you have our friends." She teleported right above Envy and delivered a kick right at her head. To her surprise, Envy faded right before Kuroko hit her and reappeared a couple feet to her left. Envy swung a small dagger at Kuroko, but she teleported away instantly landing daintily on the ground fifteen feet away. "You can teleport too?"
"I have a lot of abilities," Envy said smiling. "If you last long enough you might be able to see more of them." She turned to Mikoto. "You might want to help your friend or she might end up with a knife in between her ribs." Mikoto glared at her for a moment.
"Kuroko take a step back," Mikoto said and Kuroko nodded teleporting further away from Envy. "You might regret saying that." She shot a bright bolt of electricity form her hand at Envy. Envy didn't teleport, like Kuroko expected, but instead simply held out a hand. The electricity headed directly towards her, but right before it came into contact with her hand, the electricity flew up into the air eventually disappearing. "How?" Mikoto asked in shock. Kuroko was stunned to. Envy had easily deflected a level 5 ability like it was nothing.
"Ah it's the power of my mark," she said laughing. She pulled up her sleeve revealing a black mark on her shoulder. It looked like a capital C that fell over to the right and has a small triangle facing downwards in the middle of it. "Curse of Envy allows me to copy any ability near me. Since you both are in my space, I have full and clear access to both of your powers."
"You are lying," Mikoto called out sending another bolt of electricity at Envy. She laughed again and simply knocked the bolts away as easily as swatting a fly. Kuroko took advantage of her apparent lack of concentration and teleported to deliver another kick to her head. Envy just faded away right when her kick would have hit her and Kuroko's foot went through thin air. Kuroko quickly teleported herself right side up and landed on her feet.
This is bad, Kuroko thought. She definitely is teleporting but it feels like her teleporting is different. I disappear instantly while she fades away. But as soon as she fades away she becomes incorporeal. I also haven't seen her actually fire electricity. Maybe she can only copy a single ability at a time or there is some other rule I don't know. I wish I knew more about magic. She began to realize how much she didn't know. Right now, she could act as if Envy had the legendary duel skill, but if Envy could use Mikoto's full power, Kuroko would get fried instantly.
"Kuroko stand back," Mikoto called out. "If she can use my power, you won't stand a chance."
"But onee-sama," Kuroko called out in shock. How could she expect me to stay out of this? Does she not believe in me? No, don't think like that. Onee-sama just doesn't want me to get hurt. She didn't want to admit it, but part of her was still thinking about what Envy said, about some people born to be strong. She just doesn't want me to get caught in the crossfire.
"Kuroko," Mikoto said holding out her hand. 'Please stay back."
"But…" Kuroko started to say but saw the look of seriousness in Mikoto's eyes. "Ok onee-sama," she agreed. Then her eyes went wide. "Look out!" she cried. Envy had teleported right behind Mikoto and placed a hand on her back.
"To late," Envy said triumphantly. Suddenly she unleased a huge about of bright electricity into Mikoto. Kuroko knew a small amount of electricity, like a Taser or stun gun, would have no effect on Mikoto, but a lot of electricity unleased into her while she was distracted was sure to cause real damage. Before Kuroko could react, Mikoto staggered forward and fell onto her knees smoking.
"ONEE-SAMA!" Kuroko called out and teleported forward delivering a kick into the chest of Envy. Her foot passed right through thin air as Envy faded away. Kuroko landed on her feet and grabbed Mikoto. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yea I am," Mikoto said shakily. "She just surprised me….MOVE KUROKO!"
Kuroko looked up, about thirty feet away Envy stood holding a coin. She flipped the coin into the air as if she was about to fire Mikoto's railgun. Kuroko grabbed Mikoto and teleported thirty feet away. She looked back to where Envy was, but she was gone too. "Where did she go?"
"Right in front of you," Envy said and Kuroko turned to see Envy as the coin started to fall. "I can teleport just as easily as you." The coin was about to hit her hand and Kuroko closed her eyes in fear for a brief second. She heard the boom of the railgun, but it sounded like it was further away. She opened her eyes and saw Envy in the distance firing the coin at Mikoto. However, she was saved by a black spikey haired boy standing in front of her. Touma Kamijou had appeared in front of her with his hand out. The coin had hit his hand and fallen harmlessly to the ground. All of this took place over fifty feet away from Kuroko.
Kuroko's legs gave away and she collapsed on the ground in shock. She sighed in relief. Her mind had gone blank as she saw Envy begin to fire a railgun at Mikoto. Kuroko didn't even have time to worry about herself. Now that Mikoto was safe Kuroko had a moment to think. I can't believe he arrived, she thought. Even though she did not like him, she was relieved to see him. He saved onee-sama, but why is he here and when did he get here? Wait, how did Mikoto and Envy get over there anyway? I was standing between them. What is happening?
She watched Touma charge at Envy. Envy shot several bolts of electricity at Touma who simply negated it with his hand. He got close to her and delivered a powerful right hook into Envy's face. She flew back several feet and fell to the ground unconscious. Touma, panting slightly, stood upright and walked back to Mikoto. He reached down and helped her to her feet. Kuroko opened her mouth to thank him for saving Mikoto, but then her jaw dropped and hit the floor. Kuroko watched in shock as Mikoto wrapped her hands around Touma's neck and leaned forward. Kuroko's face paled and her mind just stopped working as she witness Mikoto and Touma exchange a passionate kiss.
Onee-sama, why? Kuroko finally managed to put herself together and form real thoughts. Onee-sama and the ape. He saved her but why would she kiss him now? I knew she had a thing for him, but I'm the only one for her. ARGGGGGGG. She silently screamed in her mind. Her voice would not come out. She saw the look in Mikoto's eyes as she broke the kiss with Touma. It was the same look Kuroko always gave Mikoto in their dorm room. As she finally thought maybe she would lose Mikoto, she suddenly remembered something. The ape wouldn't do something like that now. He would make sure everyone was alright first. He didn't even look at me once. She knew something strange was happening, his sudden appearance, the weird displacement of positions, and his actions.
"She will never love you," a mocking voice whispered in her ear.
Kuroko quickly turned around to see who spoke, but she couldn't see anyone else. The only people she saw were Touma and Mikoto still holding hands along with the unconscious form of Envy laying on the ground. "Come out whoever you are!" she called out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Touma and Mikoto turn to look at her. 'Someone is still here!" she yelled at them. They nodded and let go of each other. She pulled out several spikes from her thigh and gripped them tightly in her hand. Suddenly a thick unnatural fog started to engulf the arena blocking everyone from sight. Kuroko lost sight of Mikoto and Touma along with Envy. "Onee-sama!" she called out. "Ape?"
"They don't want to be with you," the mocking female voice whispered. It was becoming clearer, but Kuroko couldn't tell where it was coming from with all the fog. It seemed to be echoing around the arena.
"You must be Envy," she said to the fog as she looked around. "Where is onee-sama and the ape?"
"They left you all alone," Envy's voice said. "Why would they want to be with a weakling like you?"
"I'm their friend," Kuroko replied angrily. "Besides I am not weak."
"Do you really believe that?" Envy asked. "After the way you treat them?"
"You don't know what you are talking about," Kuroko spat out.
"Oh really," Envy's voice said but Kuroko could tell from the tone she was smiling. "Watch." The fog split up and Kuroko watched several events of her life form from the swirling fog. These weren't just cheap imitations, or fog like forms. The fog actually changed color, became solid and turned into Mikoto and Kuroko along with several nearby props related to the scenes that were playing, like beds and chairs. She saw several times when she had lunged at Mikoto and groped her in various ways. Mikoto's face usually went bright red and Kuroko watched herself get shocked, beaten, thrown, pummeled, and all sorts of punishment for every one of her expressions of love. Kuroko always knew Mikoto got annoyed at her antics, but she always believed one day her love would be returned.
I think I understand what Saten and Uiharu were talking about when they tell me I go overboard, Kuroko thought to herself. It does look bad from a third person perspective. But I love her and I know one day she will love me back. She felt a slight twinge of guilt from her actions though.
"And let's not forget the Imagine Breaker boy," Envy said. "I wonder if he likes you." The scenes changed and Kuroko watched her interactions with Touma unfold. She saw the untold number of times she had attacked Touma, by teleporting and kicking him whenever he was near Mikoto. She also watched herself chase Touma around Academy City while wielding spikes in her hands. She had always wondered why he let her attack him so easily, even though she knew now he was so strong. She also purposely held back most of the time, but she did admit some of her kicks were harder than they could have been.
Was he purposely letting me vent my anger? Or did he just not want to fight me. "It doesn't matter what you show me," Kuroko aid stubbornly. "I won't regret my actions. I love onee-sama and, even if the ape isn't as horrible as I once thought, I won't let him have her. She will only be happy with me."
"Do you truly believe that," Envy asked again as the fog theater faded away. "Or do you keep telling yourself that every day to get yourself to believe it?"
"I do," Kuroko said boldly. "One day she will realize my love." However, she suddenly felt something deep within her heart. Envy's words began to cut deep within her. Part of her had always been worried because Mikoto did not seem to be getting any closer to her romantically. They were best friends and shared a lot of secrets, but Mikoto did not share everything with her. Lately, Kuroko discovered how much time Mikoto was spending with Touma and it hurt her deeply because Mikoto did not tell her about the meetings with him. She always seemed happier when she was around Touma then anyone else. Am I really jealous of that ape? Onee-sama would never leave me for another person.
"Are you doubting yourself already?" Envy asked mocking her. "I can see in your eyes all your doubts beginning to surface."
"I won't listen to your poison tongue!" Kuroko called out covering her ears.
"I am simply speaking the truth," Envy said slightly gleefully. "The doubt exists inside you already. I am only making you realize the truth."
"I may not be perfect," Kuroko said. "But I believe in my friends." She tried to teleport out of the fog but, since she couldn't see, she was purposely limiting the range of her teleportation because she could accidently teleport into something solid. Teleportation required complex eleventh dimension calculations in order for her to travel from one spot to another spot instantaneously. When she reappears in the targeted location, her body pushes out any matter that was in the location. Kuroko knew all the horror stories about teleporters who accidently found themselves in solid objects. It mentally scarred a lot of them. Her skill with teleporting her spikes could cause a lot of damage to a person if she wasn't careful because of this principle.
"You are fact from perfect," Envy said laughing. "In fact, most of your friends don't see you that way."
"I'm not going to listen to your lies," Kuroko said. Even though she tried not to show it, these images were getting to her. She wasn't sure how Envy knew what all her friends were like, but she knew these couldn't be real. Wait, that could be it. All the fighting with that cloak figure, I never got a solid hit and she never attacked me. Maybe all of this, even from the beginning was an illusion. "I think I figured out your trick Envy," Kuroko said boldly. "Your illusions and misguided representation of my friends will not get to me. In fact, I think your ability of copying our powers was a lie too." Though how was I able to teleport the fake onee-sama? I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
"Aren't you a clever girl," Envy said mockingly. "Yes, I enjoy toying with people with illusions. I simply make them realize how shallow and jealous they are of other people. I get such a tingly feeling when they fall of their high horse and sink into sin." Her voice shook with ecstasy. "It was so much better than being on the receiving end."
"You are one sick individual," Kuroko spat out. "I'm not sure how you came up with these horrible illusions, but you need to do a lot better if you think you can beat me. I've been through much worse."
"I didn't come up with these illusions," Envy said her voice full of malice now. "You did."
"What are you talking about?" Kuroko asked. "I can't make illusions."
"Oh," Envy said correcting herself. "I didn't mean you personally made them. The fog you see is part of my favorite magic. It brings your deepest thoughts forward and manifests them into the real world. These performances you see are your own insecurities. I just enjoy watching them."
"What?" Kuroko sputtered. "I don't believe this."
"Are you sure?" Envy said and Kuroko could hear the mirth in her voice. "I think differently. You seem to be affected by them more then you know. You seem kind of defensive now. In fact, your friends probably also say some pretty mean things about the way you act."
"You are lying," Kuroko said, but her voice shook slightly. She would never admit it, but Envy was right. She knew her friends wouldn't say anything bad things to her, but some of them occasionally acted like they thought that way many times before. Kuroko did not know what they talked about when she wasn't around, but now her heart was beating faster as she thought about it. No, don't think about those things. They are your friends and would never hurt you. "I don't know why you are trying to confuse me, but it won't make me lose to you."
"I don't know about that," Envy's voice said gleefully. "Many people commit suicide when confronted with their worst fears. Well, as I started to say before, let's see what your friends think about you." The fog began to split again and Kuroko saw Kazari and Ruiko standing together talking.
"I don't know why Kuroko always clings to Misaka-san," Ruiko said. "It seems to really bother her."
"It must because Misaka-san always tries to be friendly with everyone," Kazari said. "That is a true ojou-san for you. It is a shame she has to live with a pervert like Shirai-san. I hope she can find a new roommate soon. She always looks so exhausted dealing with her antics. It's not good for her."
"I know right," Ruiko said. "Besides, she likes Touma a lot and Shirai-san can't stand him, so obviously she can't be friends with both of them. It would be really awkward for all of them."
"It's not like that," Kuroko said stepping forward before stopping herself. Remember no matter how real these illusions are, they are not real. However, it did hurt her seeing her friends talking that way about her and Mikoto. No matter how much you know something isn't real, it can still hurt to see and hear them. In response to her outburst, the fog solely covered the scene and the voices disappeared.
"You seem to be troubled," Envy commented. "I thought you said these, how did you say it, horrible illusions would not affect you. Maybe it's because your friends are forming relationships while you are being left behind." The fog cleared away from Kuroko again, revealing all her friends together in small groups. Kazari was hanging tightly to Jason's arm looking incredibly happy. Jason was holding her close while talking to Touma. Touma laughed and looked at the girls holding onto him. Next to him, on either side, were Ruiko and Mikoto holding tightly to his arms. Misaki was leaning on his back and all three of the girls looked incredible happy and laughed along with Touma. Kuroko couldn't hear what they were saying and had to take a couple steps closer.
"I'm glad Shirai finally left us alone," Touma said. "I haven't seen her for weeks."
"I know right?" Mikoto said happily. "I thought she was my best friend, but after she requested a transfer, I finally realized how good of a sleep I can get without fear of being felt up at night."
"You sure you didn't enjoy it Misaka-san?" Misaki asked innocently but with a huge grin on her face.
"No I didn't," Mikoto said crossly while Touma and Ruiko laughed. "I was waking up to find my underwear missing, clothes scattered around or, even worse, Kuroko standing over me taking pictures. Uh, it was the worst."
"Well she quit Judgment too," Kazari said. "There's actually a lot less paperwork now because she's not here to use force unnecessarily like usual."
"Only thing I miss is making fun of her," Jason added. "It was the best part of the day."
"I like the fact everyone seems happier without her," Ruiko said. "I just put up with her because I thought she was your friend, but she was really annoying."
Kuroko froze. She knew all of this was just a fake show and she kept telling herself that. However, actually seeing something looking just like her friends speaking badly of you was hard to process for her. They looked like them, sounded like them, and even their mannerisms were the same. If Kuroko didn't know for certain these were fog illusions, she would have sworn on her life they were real. Her heart felt like it was being ripped to pieces as she heard the voices of her friends talk about her like that. It's not real. It's not real. She wasn't moving and trying not to listen to the voices. But no matter how hard she tried, Mikoto's voice always reached her ears.
"It looks like I struck a nerve," Envy said mockingly. "Why are you frozen so pathetically? I thought you said you were strong and I wouldn't be able to beat you. We have barely started and you are already falling. The other sins finish their fights to quickly for my tastes. I like to drag it out for as long as possible as I slowly draw you into despair. Only Pride truly understands my work."
Kuroko opened her mouth to yell at Envy and deny everything she said. However, no words came out. A look of horror came over her face as she realized Envy was slowly getting to her. She was beginning to have trouble distinguishing the illusions form reality. Maybe this is part of her magic to mess with mind. Since Kuroko did not have any experience with magicians, she could not completely rule out the possibility, but she did not know how magic worked or how to stop it. All she could do is put up with it while trying to find a way out of the fog and stop Envy.
"You got so quiet all of the sudden," Envy commented but with a hint of laughter. "Are you, perhaps, beginning to feel the pain of jealousy of others? Those whose lives are complete and do not have to worry about their love leaving them for another? You may be above average with your abilities, but you can't stand on the same stage as the one you love. You will never reach that high. She belongs to the Imagine Breaker boy."
"No matter what happens I won't quit," Kuroko called out defiantly. It took a lot of strength to hold back the tears she was slowly feeling well up deep inside of her. The illusions were slowly breaking her and she was holding on to the last few threads of her confidence.
Envy didn't say anything in response to her declaration but instead laughed loudly. The fog began to swirl around Kuroko instead of parting. She didn't know what was in store for her, but she knew it wasn't going to be good. Envy enjoyed messing with her mind and didn't even need to use mind control. What was worse was Envy could use her magic to prey on her fears and insecurities no matter how hard Kuroko tried to ignore them. At this point, unless Kuroko could pinpoint Envy's location, she did not believe she could win this battle. At some point her mind would break. She realized Envy has had countless hours of mastering this kind of mental fight. As she tried to mentally prepare herself again, several figures stepped out of the fog and started to approach her.
Each of the figures was made to look like her friends. Mikoto, Touma, Kazari, Ruiko, and Jason all walked out of the fog toward her. This time Kuroko knew it wasn't going to be a display of a past memory or a fake reenactment this time. They were all looking directly at her. "What are you planning now Envy," Kuroko said wearily.
"Your friends probably have something to tell you," she replied in amusement. Kuroko's heart fell into the pit of her stomach. When Envy was amused, she knew it wasn't going to be good for her. The illusions of her friends kept walking toward her until they surrounded her about five feet away.
"Kuroko," Kazari said. "You won't ever be with Misaka-san. Just give up and let her be with Touma."
"I agree," Ruiko added. "It is getting really annoying watching you to cling to her so much. We tried to be understanding but now, just stop it you pervert."
"Shirai," Touma said and Kuroko felt a sudden intense dislike she normally felt when she saw him with Mikoto. "Mikoto and I are going to be together and all you do is cause problems. Please leave and don't bother her again. All you do is cause her to feel sorry for you." Uncontrollable jealousy engulfed Kuroko for a moment and she shouted before she could stop herself.
"Shut up ape! You don't deserve her! Onee-sama belongs with m…" She slammed her mouth shut when she realized she fell for Envy's trap. She heard the laughter from behind the fog and knew she was just providing her amusement. She mentioned something about suicide, but if I don't do that, how is she going to defeat me? She enjoys torturing me, but I don't know what combat skills she possesses.
"Kuroko," Mikoto said and she turned around instinctively to look at the illusion. "He is right. I love him and you are just annoying. To be honest, because of the way you act, I really hate you." The last two words were emphasized.
Kuroko knew this was false, she knew it was just an illusion, but seeing Mikoto tell her she hated her pierced through her heart like a stake. She was already mentally weakened from the constant illusions slowly poking at her own insecurities. She covered her ears and turned away from Mikoto while shouting, "NOOOOO! It's fake, I won't believe it." Something caught her eye as she stared ahead for a moment. Jason was smirking at her like usual, even as an illusion he irritated her, then gave a brief jerk of his head to the right. Kuroko frowned for a second and by reflex turned her body to the right to see what the illusion was indicating to. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder. Instinctively, she teleported forward ten feet. She turned around and looked to see what hit her.
Mikoto was standing there with a small knife. The blade had a red rust smelling liquid on it, Kuroko's blood. She took her right hand and covered the knife wound in her shoulder feeling the blood slip between her fingers. She was lucky the knife didn't hit any vital place and the wound wasn't horribly deep due to her reflexes. If there was too much pain she wouldn't have been able to teleport. Since moving through the eleventh dimension required complex calculations, too much pain would prevent her for being able to calculate the formulas and not be able to teleport. She had been through much worse pain so a small knife wound would not immediately stop her. However, the loss of blood over a long period of time could be problematic. As Kuroko looked at Mikoto, Mikoto stepped back into the fog and disappeared. Following the example, the other illusions disappeared into the fog too.
Ouch, how did an illusion hurt me? Kuroko was still slightly traumatized from the fake Mikoto's announcement. It was lucky I turned or the knife would have gone toward my neck. But why did the illusion of Jason help me? If these are all Envy's illusions then they should all be out to get me. She thought about it for a second then remembered something Envy said. The fog brings your deepest thoughts and insecurities forward and manifests them into the real world. She took a few steps forward to keep moving and tried to find the wall. She thought she might be able to get up to the crowd stands and get above the fog. While she teleported forward in small jumps, she pondered the information.
Kuroko knew everyone would have negative thoughts at some point in their life, mostly small ones they usually can ignore without problem. The fog took the occasional small dark thoughts she had and turned them into the illusions she had seen in front of her. The reason the fog impacted her so much was she knew about the dark thoughts she has had before several times, and the illusions just increased her fear they might be true or become true. Her friends always supported her, but her fear was they might turn away from her while Mikoto would find someone else. This explains everything except for why the illusion of Jason helped me. Her thoughts always turned to the way Jason acted to her, making fun of her and lying to her constantly. However, she also acknowledged every lie he told never led to anyone getting hurt when she found out about them. She frowned. Was it possible I subconsciously thought he was helping me? I hate magic so much. There doesn't seem to be a lot of rules I can understand.
Kuroko felt a sudden sharp pain in her thigh. She looked down to see another small knife lodged in her. She kept her mouth closed to avoid yelling out to let Envy know she was hit. She knew it was probably pointless since Envy seemed to know where she was, but Kuroko did not want to give her any satisfaction at the very least. She also didn't pull out the knife because she would probably lose a lot more blood and couldn't risk it right now. She finally found an entrance in the arena wall and ran through it and up the stairs. She found herself up in the stands above the fog. She couldn't see anything in the arena but at least the fog did not cover the stands. Running with the knife in her leg was causing her a lot of pain. along with the constant loss of blood from her shoulder and thigh slowly turning her uniform red.
"You finally left the fog," Mikoto's voice said. Kuroko turned to see Mikoto walking toward her holding a knife. "I thought for sure you would try to teleport out of the fog and I set up precautions, but actually using the stairs, impressive."
Kuroko narrowed her eyes. "You have to be Envy but why are you still disguised as onee-sama?" She realized now Envy was disguised as Mikoto the entire time.
"Oh this," Envy said indicating to her body disguised as Mikoto. "This is the true power of my Mark of Envy. It allows me to copy anyone I have seen before. It's quite convenient because it also lets me copy the mannerisms so almost no one can tell the difference. Even Accelerator couldn't tell it was me when I disguised myself as Touma Kamijou. Also, I want to see your expression when you are killed by the person you love."
"Now that you are here," Kuroko said pulling out several spikes. "I can win. I won't lose to someone who hides in the shadow with cheap tricks."
"Cheap tricks?" Envy said faking sadness. "I am hurt. But will it be as easy as you think." She held out her hand and the crackle of electricity was heard a second before a bright bolt shot toward Kuroko. Kuroko thought this was another illusion but immediately felt the pain and she fell to her knee. Her body was smoking slightly. "I sent you some of your onee-sama's love. Did you enjoy it?"
"How?" Kuroko asked.
"My mark allows me to copy my target," Envy said sighing. "I just told you that, were you not paying attention? As you just saw though, it also lets me copy their abilities to a certain extent. I may not be able to use her full lighting power, but it is more than enough to kill a human. I am so glad the mark allows me to ignore the rules between mixing abilities and magic."
Kuroko stood up slowly. The knife fell out of her leg and blood was trickling down staining her sock. She didn't have too much longer before the loss of blood would serious impact her. "A weak shock like that won't do anything to me. I've been on the receiving end of the true Ace of Tokiwadai."
"Well I guess the knife will have to do then," Envy said. She took a small step then dashed forward. Kuroko had easily incapacitated people running before with her needles and she started calculating the trajectory though dimensions. Right before she teleported a spike into Envy, she hesitated for a second as she saw Mikoto's face looking at her sad and worried. Her needle teleported half an inch behind Envy because of the moment of delay. Envy's face twisted back into a grin, she obviously planned it, and ran forward jabbing her knife forward. Kuroko jumped back but once again she got distracted for a second as she saw her Mikoto attack her. The knife cut deep into her side and the blood drenched her uniform. The pain overwhelmed her for a moment and she fell backwards.
Envy stood over her laughing. "People always hesitate when they see their lovers attack them. It is the weakness of being human. Any last words before I end this?"
Kuroko stared up weakly. Her vision was beginning to blur slightly from the blood loss and pain. She couldn't teleport out of the way because of the pain interference. She opened her mouth and asked, "Why do you enjoy torturing people so much?" Kuroko could not understand how someone would purposely want to cause pain to someone they didn't even know. At least when she attacked Touma it was because he was monopolizing Mikoto.
Envy laughed again. "I'll show you." The image of Mikoto vanished leaving a very plain looking girl with shoulder length black hair and brown eyes. Well, she would have been plain, average height and chest, but there was a horrible burn across her face like she had been branded with a hot piece of metal. "I was just a plain girl growing up. One day I tried to attract a guy I liked, he was kind, attractive, athletic and more. Well, I dolled myself up like any normal girl and asked him out. He agreed and I was really happy. Well it turned out some other girls liked him too and were not happy with me." Envy's voice grew bitter. "They ambushed me and burnt my face with a hot metal rod. They also stabbed me many times and I was hospitalized for months. The mark on my face will never fade. What was worse was I found the girl dating my man when I got out. He took one look at my face and distanced himself from me."
"That doesn't explain it," Kuroko said weakly. "I feel sorry for the pain, but they should have been arrested."
"They had powerful fathers," Envy explained. "Nothing happened to them because there was not enough 'proof.' Afterwards I met The Herald and he gave me this mark to have my revenge. I killed both of the girls who made me suffer then took the place of the girl dating him. After a year, I reveal myself to him and then killed him. The look on his face at the betrayal gave me goosebumps." She put a hand to her face as she remembered the event.
She's insane, Kuroko thought. She just enjoys other people's suffering.
"I plan to kill you here so I can leave," Envy continued. "Then I will take on your appearance to live your life. If Wrath doesn't kill Mikoto, I will. I bet she will have the ultimate look of shock at the betrayal on her face." Envy's body shivered in excitement. "Now die girl." She suddenly stopped as spikes appeared in all of her joints. None of them were lethal hits but they prevented her from moving her arms and legs. Pain wrecked Envy's mind and she fell down. "How?"
Kuroko was standing up in front of her with a look of cold fury on her face. When Envy told Kuroko she was planning to kill Mikoto, rage flew through her mind blocking out all the pain. Kuroko would not let this vile women hurt Mikoto as long as she was alive. She used every piece of her mind for the calculations and teleported every spike at her disposal into the joints of Envy. Now, any move, no matter how small would cause intense pain for her. It took all of her remaining strength to stand up and tower over Envy's body. Her clothes were drenched red and her pale face made her look ghost like. "I won't let you hurt her," Kuroko said softly, but with an aura of strength. "I may be jealous of how much time the ape spends with her but if she really chooses him I will accept it. It also doesn't mean I will give up. If he slips up once, I will be there to help onee-sama back up. You call yourself Envy, but you are just a weak willed girl. What happened to you was horrible, but I am not going to die for you because of that. My love is stronger than your power."
Envy had no choice but to believe Kuroko. Envy could not move and every time she tried, her body was wracked with pain. She hated the girl in front of her but still admired her unlimited willpower. Even on the verge of death she was still fighting. "You will die even after you beat me." As soon as Envy realized and admitted she lost to Kuroko, she felt the pain of the rune on her back. Her body began to dissolve into a pile of salt. After a few seconds the pain stopped and she lost consciousness while her body disappeared.
Kuroko stood swaying as Envy's body disappeared. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't really comprehend what was happening. She fell to her knees and tried to stabilize herself. She clamped a hand on her side to try and stop the blood flow, but it was useless. She was bleeding form her shoulder, side and leg. A small puddle of blood was forming below her as drops of blood kept falling down. She looked up to the sky and couldn't even register it was cracking. Onee-sama, if I don't make it. I love you. Ape, you better treat her right. The blurry scenery turned black as she lost consciousness.
Wow, this chapter was a little depressing. When I originally planned this chapter, it was one I thought would be short. After getting into it, and really thinking of what envy should be like, it stretched out a bit. Before anyone freaks out, the fight ended in 'virtually' a draw for a couple reasons. Out of all the people, I feel Kuroko is the weakest on Team Kamijou. She is the lowest level, not counting Touma's awesomeness, and doesn't have magic to supplement it like Jason does. Envy I just don't see being very combat oriented but more messing with people's minds like Lust. The ability to copy others was from a big part of envy, like jealousy, jealous of other people and wanting to be them.
All the other fights will be much more combat oriented. Sogiita Gunha's fight is going to be next. I need a more uplifting fight after this one.
Sogiita: She fought to the end with real guts.
Mikoto: Someone is going to save her right?
Me: It's possible I guess, all the fights are taking place at the same time so someone could save her if you hurry.
Mikoto: Kagere-san, you can use magic to heal right?
Jason: I'm a dark mage.
Touma: If that was some kind of pun or joke, it wasn't funny.
Jason: Was it real PUNishment?
Accelerator: You deserve to die for that joke alone.
Jason: Totally worth it.