A Certain Infinite Possibility

by Darkbetrayer

An ancient organization has emerged from hiding in order to bring the world into darkness. Will Touma be able to stop them or will his actions make everything worse. Will Touma finally develop the harem he deserves? Magic and Science will collide in ways no one thought possible. Touma X Harem (Maybe, he is really dense.)

76. S3 Adjustments

I have a couple of important announcements this time. For the next few months, I do not see the chapters being released as frequently. I have a lot of things my time is going to be divided up on and sadly, some things in RL do come before the joy of writing. I definitely will not have time to take my laptop, go to Starbucks and order a Frappuccino, and type for hours on end in the corner of the room, attracting the ladies. Most likely, I'll only have an hour or two at most per day to write, if that. This is not a notice of discontinuing this story, it's just getting good. I am just trying to avoid people sending me millions of messages about when the next chapter is going to come out. Anyways, that's enough sad talk, let's move to something more positive.

Index NT 16 release date is closing in fast. Tokiwadai is under attack and we get to see more Misaki and Mikoto. Great times for all. Now, let's move to the comments.

Brosephg: You are going to enjoy this arc then. A lot of information is going to be revealed from the previous seasons to start consolidating everything that has happened. It was hard to keep track when writing too, reason I had them split up. I also slip in reminded occasionally to help with the transition.

Kuroppy: The original Eve is not a virgin, she gave birth to the decedents of man. No one knows about the current Eve though.

naruhinasakufan1: Ruiko Saten definitely had the best part.

Deep Sea Diver Man: Friends and I have discussed the IB in detail. That explanation was one of the few options available to not have his hand switch bodies with him. As for the first part of your question, see the chapter below.

Guest: No, I know who you are.

wildarms13: Angel fall only switched outer appearance, but only for people not affected by it. No one else noticed.

Whwsms: I laughed while writing a lot of it. As for Kuroko x Jason, Nothing unites people together like the hatred of paperwork.

hubb2001: No idea what heartseed is.

Master Knight: Hmm, I don't know. You may have to read this chapter. (Yes)

Agent Nine: I have never done anything purely for comedy. There is always a point.

Cholargos of the Pericles: You are touching in something I didn't expect most people to notice, at least until later. It's something to keep in mind over the next couple chapters.

RPGPersona: Still love your combination of review/summary of chapters. You have interesting observations and tend to find some important parts hidden in the chapter.

Handsomistic1: The picture is a crossover with an anime called Needless. There is another character there called Saten. It's a good series with a funny ending.

Geust: He kind of has. England has always been infected and the rest of the world will only be a matter of time.

Salishious: Hang on… Eve! Are you conspiring against Adam? No. Ah okay. Carissa isn't here, but she is a very possessive person, so I don't think she will share.

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. Magic Gods own all so they can do what they want.

---

"That's the third time already," Mikoto groaned, wringing out her wet clothes. "This day is the worst."

"Sorry about that," Touma told her, rubbing the back of his head, while Accelerator laughed. Ruiko was looking concerned, but there wasn't a lot she could do about the unfortunate events happening to Mikoto. Instead, she went to find a towel.

"Why are you apologizing?' Mikoto asked, looking at him in surprise. "It's not like you did anything wrong."

"Remember," he reminded her. "My hand is negating my luck, so all those unlucky things happening to you are my fault because you're in my body." They were walking down the sidewalk to reach the toy store to pick up the supplies Index needed, when several things happened to Mikoto. They were passing underneath an overhang on one of the buildings and a bucket of water fell off, drenching only Mikoto. The others had all jumped back instinctively to avoid the worst of it. The walk didn't get any better for her as another couple of unfortunate events happened only to her. She slipped on a piece of trash, which appeared out of nowhere from around a corner, and banged her arm into a pole. Rubbing it and muttering, she didn't notice the hose connected to a water spout, while an old lady was watering the box plants in front of her store. The hose slipped in the woman's hand and drenched Mikoto again. I can't say it's not nice having these things not happen to me, but having it happen to someone else is terrible.

"It's still not your fault," Mikoto huffed at him, rolling her eyes. "It's not like you purposely switched us or know how to control your hand."

"But still…"

"It's not your fault," she said again, slowly and sternly. So this is what he goes through every day. I think I understand why he says misfortune so much. I always got mad at him for it, but he can't help it.

"If you told me a couple weeks ago about the damn hero's hand being able to negate luck," Accelerator chimed in. "I would have thought you were stupid. Nowadays, nothing surprises me anymore."

"Here you go Misaka-san," Ruiko said, coming back to them and tossing Mikoto a towel. "She had one handy and said we could keep it." Ruiko had asked the old lady to borrow a tower for Mikoto and had no problems getting it.

"Thanks Saten-san," Mikoto said gratefully, accepting it and beginning to dry herself off. The thought of someone seeing Accelerator, or Ruiko, getting a towel for Touma, now Mikoto, briefly passed through her mind and she found it pretty funny. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Accelerator in Ruiko's body scowl and it was obvious he thought the same thing. I'll have to bring this up sometime when we are all back in our own bodies.

"What are we getting anyways?" Accelerator asked, turning to Touma, while they were waiting for Mikoto to finish drying off.

"Only a couple things," Touma said, pulling the list out of his pocket. "Let's see, we need a large roll of string, some black tape, and an object representing each of us."

"How does magic use stupid things like that?" Accelerator asked, and Touma shrugged.

"Index has said magicians can use almost anything for their magic," Touma said. "Itsuwa is especially skilled in using common items for her magic." He wasn't going to mention one of her spells required a pair of underwear.

"An object representing each of us?" Mikoto repeated. "Like a doll?"

"A doll, action figure, or model would work," Touma explained, reading Index's notes. "It just has to have some kind of connection to each of us. It doesn't have to look exactly like us, but wouldn't hurt if it did."

"So that's why we are going to a toy store," Ruiko realized. I wonder what would represent me.

"Heh," Accelerator snickered. "I already know would be perfect for the third rate."

"Don't you dare think of selecting something stupid," Mikoto demanded, feeling a chill go down her back. "I want us all to switch back and don't want the spell to mess up because you wanted a laugh."

"Oh it's going to be a perfect representation of you," Accelerator laughed as they all entered the toy store. He didn't elaborate and Mikoto watched him suspiciously.

"Ruiko," Touma said, turning to her. "Can you get the string and tape while we start looking for the other items?"

"No problem," Ruiko nodded. "I'll find you afterwards and help if you haven't finished."

"Thanks a lot." Ruiko turned left, while the rest of them turned to their right. Mikoto, Touma, and Accelerator made their way through the aisles until they found the one with stuffed animals and people, action figures, and models. There were hundreds of options, so they had their work cut out for them. The bright side was there had to be something they could use. None of them had any idea what to search for, except Accelerator, who immediately started walking towards the stuffed doll area.

"Should we get looking?" Touma asked and Mikoto nodded. They split up and started slowly making their way through either side of the aisles, looking for anything that reminded them of their friends or themselves. At first, Touma wasn't having much luck. Most of these dolls are nonhuman characters, so I don't really see a resemblance to anyone. He came across a Gekota plushy and had to suppress a grin. I know Mikoto likes this frog mascot, but it doesn't really remind me of her. If it was the Heaven Canceller, I could see the resemblance. He came to a line of action figures and picked one up. It was a girl with long black hair and a flower on the side of her head. It definitely wasn't Ruiko, but it reminded him of her. He wasn't sure of the anime show it was from, but that didn't matter. "Think I found one for Ruiko," he announced.

"Really? Mikoto asked, turning around. "I think I found one for Accelerator." She didn't have much luck early on either. I have no idea what to look for. What are the odds I'll see something and immediately think of one of my friends? It shouldn't be hard to find something that makes me think of Touma, the honest part of her mind told her and she smiled. Still, this is like finding a needle in a haystack… She stopped when her gaze settled on an action figure. She reached over and picked it up. It was a white haired, skinny boy, with black clothes and a red eye. The guy had four red tail-like objects coming from its back. I think the anime was Tokyo Ghoul or something.

"What a coincidence," Accelerator laughed. "I found the perfect one for you too." When Touma told him it didn't have to be an exact duplicate, he immediately knew what to look for. Being forced to watch all the shows Last Order liked, he had seen enough episodes of a specific cartoon to know how perfect it would be. He was waiting to reveal it to cause the most embarrassment for Mikoto though. She will hate it at first, but it's such an accurate representation of her, she will have no choice but to accept it.

"Here's what I found," Touma said, holding up the action figure. "I thought it looked like her."

"Wow it does," Mikoto said, taking it from him and looking at it closely. "I don't have any problem with it." They looked at Accelerator, who shrugged. He didn't really care and let them decide. "Well, here's what I found for him." She held out the action figure she found and Touma grinned, recognizing immediately why Mikoto picked it up.

"Good choice," he told her. "It looks just like him."

"I guess it's close enough," Accelerator yawned after seeing it, but then he grinned. "Here's what I found for her." He pointed to Mikoto and then revealed what he had in his other hand.

It was a Pikachu plushy.

"W-what?" spluttered Mikoto, turning red from anger and embarrassment.

"It's a small harmless animal that randomly shoots off electricity," Accelerator pointed out, his grin never leaving his face. "It's perfect for you. I think it also has something to do with friendship, but I usually fell asleep at those parts." Her reaction was everything he imagined.

"You can't be serious," Mikoto protested. "Arg, this is just like you, going out of your way to annoy me just like Shokuhou." She looked at Touma. "Back me up please." Her eyes widened slightly when she saw he was biting the corner of his mouth. "Are… are you laughing?" Her eyes narrowed and Touma took a step back defensively. For a moment, his expression was indistinguishable from the real Shokuhou.

"O-of course not," Touma lied. It was actually completely true but, with respect to Mikoto's feelings, he was trying not to. "I just thought he… might… have a point." His words got softer under her glare.

"What do you mean?" If Mikoto was not in his body right now, Touma felt like she would have been emitting a lot of electricity, mostly in his direction.

"Besides being able to use electricity," Touma replied slowly, trying to plan his words carefully. His mouth had gotten him in a lot of trouble in the past and he did not want it to happen right now. "I remember Pikachu being loyal to his friends and working really hard to protect them. Don't you think that sounds like you?"

"I guess," Mikoto said suspiciously. "You aren't just saying that, right?"

"No," Touma said shaking his head. He wasn't going to admit she was absolutely right, even if it was true. "I just think it has some of your best qualities." Mikoto got silent and turned slightly red, diverting her eyes. She still didn't trust Accelerator's motives, but it was Touma's opinion she cared about more. Touma realized what he said and also looked away embarrassed. Accelerator looked between them and rolled his eyes.

"If you two are done flirting," he growled. Touma still found it disconcerting to hear Ruiko's body growl at anyone. "We still have more of these damn dolls to find." Touma and Mikoto turned redder, but quickly went back to the task at hand. After a little more searching, Accelerator pulled out another action figure. "Here's something for Kagere." He tossed the doll to Touma, who caught it. Looking at it, Touma thought it must have been some kind of generic wizard or mage from a manga or video game. It was your typical guy in a hooded cloak. It didn't look like Jason at first, but Touma knew why Accelerator had chosen it. The cloak it was wearing was black and kind of looked like Jason's shadow.

"Good spot," Touma told him and Accelerator nodded. "Now we just need Shirai-san, Misaki, and…"

"You," Mikoto finished. "Shokuhou should be easy." She reached over and picked up a generic Barbie doll. "Blonde and a uselessly large chest. This would be perfect for her."

"Someone's jealous," Accelerator pointed out and laughed, while Mikoto glared at him. Touma wanted to say something to tell her chest size wasn't everything, but there were two reasons why he didn't. One, he couldn't actually deny that without lying directly to her. He was a guy and was attracted to certain physical aspects, even if it wasn't everything. Second, he learned from experience not to get involved in that conversation. Most girls were not happy to talk about such matters with a guy and he still had the bruises to prove it. His best option was to draw their attention to something else.

"So that leaves two left," Touma told them. "If there's nothing here, we need to check somewhere…" He was interrupted as Ruiko turned the corner and headed down the aisle, a shopping basket in her hand, holding the items she found.

"There you guys are," she said, hobbling over to them. "I found the tape and string easily enough, but I also found something else."

"What did you find?" Mikoto asked curiously.

"Tada!" Ruiko said enthusiastically pulling out a figurine. "I think it will fit Shirai-san well as her representative since it was originally based on her." Mikoto and Touma's mouth fell open in shock, but Accelerator started roaring with laughter. Ruiko was holding up a figurine of Kuroneko, the mascot Jason turned Kuroko into after their previous bet. "Ah," she said softly, looking at Mikoto and Touma. "I thought it was a good idea. If you guys found something else already…"

"No we didn't," Touma informed her. "We were just surprised at what you have there. Where did you even find that?"

"There's an entire display of goods," Ruiko told them. "Besides the hot ice cream, there's candy, shirts, fans, and even cat ears. I heard someone mention how popular Kuroneko is among kids. It might even be approaching Gekota"

"I hope no one saw you picking that up in my body," Accelerator mumbled. "I may have to silence them forcefully."

"Kuroko will not want to hear that," Mikoto said, ignoring Accelerator and face palming. "But I can't argue that would be perfect for her representative."

"Can I be the one to tell her?" Accelerator asked innocently. Well, it would have been innocently, if he didn't have a devious smirk on his face. Mikoto gave him a quick glare, before turning back to the others.

Don't let him rile you up.

"So all we need is something for me," Touma said, taking the basket from Ruiko and putting the other figures in it. "Then we should be ready to get back to Index and Lessar." Ruiko peered into the basket at the other dolls selected to be representatives for her friends and herself.

"I think I can match them all," Ruiko said, picking up hers. "Wow, this one looks like me. The flower is different from my clip, but still…" She put it back and picked up the Pikachu. Her eyes darted to Mikoto, who sighed and nodded. "I know why this was chosen," she said with a grin. "Who chose it?"

"I did," Accelerator said with a laugh.

"As long as it works I don't care anymore," Mikoto sighed. "Help us find something to represent Touma."

"Okay," Ruiko said cheerfully and the four of them started scouring the shelves for the last item they needed. Accelerator wasn't having any luck. Nothing really stood out to represent the hero that defeated him and then somehow became his friend, not that he was telling the others. Touma had no idea what to select for himself and was at a completely loss. Mikoto was browsing through the rows of toys, but couldn't find anything good enough for her to want to represent him. Ruiko was shifting toys aside and looking in the back, hoping to find something the others missed. She always liked to notice things others overlooked, one of the reasons she followed so many of the online rumors.

It's a lot harder to find something to represent him, Ruiko thought to herself. From what I know, he wants to handle everything himself, yet still tries to remain anonymous. It's only because Misaka-san and Shokuhou-san keep getting upset at him for leaving them behind that he involved us. I still remember the first time he saved me at the museum. Her heart started beating faster and she glanced at Touma. I'm going to do what I can to be useful to him, even if I'm only a low level. She saw something and reached way into the back of one of the shelves. She pulled out a small plushy of a guy in a black butler suit with somewhat spiky black hair. It kind of looks like him, and I suppose the butler uniform could represent his desire to help others. She glanced at the others, noticing none of them were having any luck. "I think I found it." She held it out for the others.

"I guess it kind of looks like him," Mikoto agreed. It's got the hair right though. Heh, the butler uniform reminds me of the time he was supposed to be my servant for the day after the sports festival.

"Ha," Accelerator laughed. "Represents the hero perfectly. He's use to be bossed around by others."

"I was kind of thinking of something else…" Ruiko murmured, not able to actually say the words in front of the others, especially Touma.

"I think I see the resemblance," Touma said, unconsciously rubbing his hair, even though this time it was Misaki's golden hair. The butler uniform is kind of a turn off though. Does everyone think I just live to serve or something? That doesn't sound like Ruiko, and I know Mikoto doesn't think that way anymore, at least, I don't think they do.

"We finally got them all," Accelerator interrupted his thoughts. "Let's get back so the magician brat can fix us."

"I really wish you would quit making Saten-san sound like a delinquent," Mikoto sighed. "It's really unnerving, but you're right. Let's pay for this and get going."

"Misaki said I could use her card," Touma said, pulling it out.

"Once the others finish," Ruiko added. "We can finally get back into our proper bodies." She saw Mikoto frown for a moment and looked into the distance, causing Ruiko concerned. "What's wrong Misaka-san?"

"I have a bad feeling Shokuhou is up to something in my body," Mikoto said with a shiver.

---

"Hmm," Misaki said, stepping out of a changing room and spinning around to show off the frilly blue dress she was wearing while in Mikoto's body. "This fit's so well on her. I don't know why she's so adamant about not wearing dresses and sticks with those boring shorts." She looked at Kazari and Jason. "What do you think?"

"I don't think you really should be trying outfits on in Misaka-san's body," Kazari said honestly, but her eyes were looking Misaki up and down. It really did look good on her. "Especially since the others are working on getting everyone back in their proper bodies."

"We still have to wait for Shirai-san," Misaki pointed out. "So killing time isn't that bad. Besides, how often do you get to see Misaka-san in adult clothes?" She spun around again in front of a mirror.

"It suites her very well," Kazari admitted. "But I still think it's kind of inappropriate without her permission."

"Misaka and I are such good friends though. She won't mind. I'm sure she will even appreciate the clothes I pick out for her. I'll even be so kind to reimburse her since I only have her card. Besides," she winked at Kazari. "I think Kagere is trying to find something for you. Maybe you could give him some recommendations." Kazari turned red and quickly turned around to locate Jason in Kuroko's body. He was standing off to the side, looking at a wall of dresses, many of which were way more daring then Kazari ever imagined herself wearing.

"Jason," Kazari hissed, quickly moving next to him and grabbing his sleeve. "Help me talk some sense into Shokuhou-san." There was also the fact she was trying to pull him away from those kinds of dresses. Kazari had noticed he was trying to avoid looking at things like underwear, but it wasn't like he could stare at the ceiling the entire time.

"I'm pretty sure changing Shokuhou-san's mind is impossible for anyone except Touma," Jason answered, glancing at Kazari and winking. "It would be easier to call and ask him to tell her to stop." He laughed for a moment and looked up at one of the dresses. "Would you wear something like that?"

"Ah no," Kazari replied embarrassed, shaking her head. "That's way too bold for me. Besides, I'm not nearly as pretty as Misaka-san or Shokuhou-san to be able to look good in that." She looked down at the floor.

"Hey," Jason said, frowning slightly. "Don't belittle yourself. I've told you many times you are attractive, but you need to have more confidence." Kazari blushed slightly and looked up at him. "I know you have confidence, I've seen it." He grinned. "I've been on the receiving end of it when I go too far with bothering Kuroko." Kazari couldn't help laughing. She was an expert at making him feel guilty.

"He's right you know," Misaki added, bounding over to them. "You have plenty of redeeming features, though, he's correct about the confidence. You need to be more faith in yourself." She looked up at the dress and grinned. "I think you should try it on and model it for us." She turned to Jason. "What do you think?"

"I think that is an excellent idea," Jason nodded, pulling the dress down and putting it into Kazari's stunned hands.

"W-wait you two," Kazari stammered, as they pushed her into the dressing room. "Don't gang up on me!"

"You can't come out until you put it on and show us," Misaki told her while Jason laughed. They heard her say something, but it was muffled and they couldn't make out her words. Both of them waited patiently and Kazari finally stuck her head out.

"I can't come out in this," she cried softly.

"You can't leave until you do," Misaki told her, while wagging a finger at her. Kazari sighed and stepped out, her face turning bright red. She was wearing a dark green dress, devoid of any flower designs, that reached her ankles. It was also backless and only had thin straps over her shoulders. She was showing a lot more skin then she could ever remember showing when not in a swim suit. Her crimson face indicated she wanted to run and hide or at least pass out. "See, that wasn't so hard. Why don't you spin around and show it off." Kazari moved, but it was kind of mechanically, like she was only following Misaki's orders to get this over with quickly. "What do you think?" she asked Jason. "I think it looks good."

"I think I want my body back now," Jason replied, not taking his eyes off Kazari. "It would be weird in Kuroko's body." Kazari eyes widened, she let out a small cry, and ran back into the dressing room. "She's so cute when she's embarrassed."

"You should definitely get her that if she tries to put it back," Misaki whispered, highly amused. "I'm going to buy Misaka this dress because she needs more lady-like apparel." If it was someone else, she might have been worried about providing clothes for a rival of Touma's affection, but she knew Mikoto. Mikoto would never want to wear a frilly dress like this, no matter how nice it looked on her. The only occasions she actually wore a dress was at fancy parties or performances. She already had dresses for those occasions, so it didn't make much difference if she had another one. Plus, Misaki was sure to enjoy Mikoto's expression when she found out Misaki had been shopping for her. We all need a little amusement after today.

"I can't speak for Misaka-san's reaction," Jason said. "But I think I will." He and Misaki shared a brief laugh before Kazari came out, holding the dress in her arm. "Are you going to get it?" he asked her.

"I don't think I can afford it," she said. "And I don't really need a dress right now." She paused. "Did you really think I looked good in it?"

"I was stunned for a moment," Jason reassured her, and she looked at the ground. "You should definitely get it or if you decide on something else, I want to see it."

"You two are adorable," Misaki squealed. "Give me a moment to change and we can leave. I hope Shirai-san finishes up soon, so we can meet up with the others." She quickly changed while Jason and Kazari stood outside in silence. After a minute, Misaki sprung out of the room and grabbed their arms. "Let's go you two." Normally, Misaki wouldn't have been strong enough to pull both of them, but she was in Mikoto's body and Mikoto was very athletic. Kazari and Jason were pulled after her, which actually turned out to be one of the luckiest things that happened to them.

Bang!

All three of them jumped as a large light fixture behind them fell from the ceiling and crashed loudly on the floor, right where they had been a moment before.

"Ah!" Kazari and Misaki exclaimed in surprise turning around.

"Careful," Jason warned, putting a hand out and pushing them away from it. Instead of looking at the broken light, he looked up at the ceiling and frowned.

"Did that fixture break?" Misaki asked, as she looked up too.

"It seems strange for it to break for no reason," Kazari told her nervously, noticing Jason had just knelt down and was looking at the broken light closely.

"Are you girls okay?" a woman called out, running over to them. "I heard a bang…. My goodness. What happened?"

"That light fixture broke and nearly hit us," Misaki told her, slightly angrily. "We were lucky we were about to check out and moved, or we could have been seriously hurt."

"I'm glad you are all alright," the woman said sincerely, looking over her shoulder. "The manager is coming and I know she will want to make sure you are okay and apologize." The girls nodded, but Misaki looked slightly annoyed. She knew how those manager types liked to talk and now she couldn't even use her ability to speed things up. The manager was nice enough. Her face did turn white when she heard what happened and she continued to apologize profusely. They weren't detained to long, since none of them had any part in the accident or were hurt, and they were allowed to leave, with one added perk.

"I can't believe they let us have these clothes for free," Kazari said astonished, looking at her bag carrying her new dress, as they all left the store.

"Plus you lost your last excuse for not getting it," Jason laughed and Kazari turned pink.

"Now Misaka-san can't complain at all," Misaki added, gesturing to her bag. "It was free and it's for her. I'm sure Shirai-san will also be happy. Speaking of which," she turned to Jason. "Any luck trying to contact her?"

"Phones off," Jason said, putting Kuroko's phone away. "She must still be detained. Looks like we still have some time to kill."

"We are still at the mall," Misaki pointed out. "Maybe something to drink? Uiharu-san looks like she needs something to steady her nerves." She giggled slightly. Uiharu is almost as much fun to tease as Misaka-san. She gets embarrassed easily, instead of mad.

"It's not the bad," Kazari protested. "But I wouldn't say no. It is hot out today." Misaki laughed and they made their way through the mall, but Jason followed in silence. He was getting lost in his thoughts about what just happened.

That light fixture wasn't broken, it was unscrewed. I suppose it's possible it slipped off, but that's so unlikely. Plus, I was sure I detected a trace of mana, but it disappeared so quickly. Could I have imagined that? He couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching them, no matter how many times he looked over his shoulder.

---

"….several suspects have been apprehended but we still have no leads on who orchestrated the riots…"

These guys talk forever, Kuroko thought, leaning back in her seat. But some of this information is beyond what they told us at Judgement. We found most of it out ourselves though. She was sitting the back row of a lecture hall trying to avoid attention. Each row was slightly lower than the one behind it and formed a half circle around the middle podium, where three individuals were sitting. They were introduced as members of the board of directors, which shocked Kuroko. She had not imagined they would personally be involved. The other seats in the hall were filled with anti-skill members being briefed on the situation, along with a few other groups, one of which caught her eye immediately.

They were a group of men and woman of all ages, appearing to be scientists. Kuroko actually recognized one of them. It was a woman in a wheelchair with tea colored hair tied up in a ponytail. Even stranger, she was wearing pajamas, like she just came out of a hospital. Kuroko remembered seeing her after she, Mikoto, and Touma rescued Jason from a scientist who captured him a couple weeks ago. The female scientist had been forced to work for the kidnapper. She must be back with her research group now. Kuroko's eyes darted to another person who didn't' look like she belonged. What's a middle schooler doing here? The girl had black hair tied into buns and wore a pink sweater and miniskirt. There were several electronic devices tied around her neck.

"The individuals participating in the riots were only being used as a distraction. While they did use illegal, non-prescribed drugs, they had no knowledge of the several recent thefts. Luckily, ono of our own realized this and managed to warn nearby personal to thwart their plans, for the most part. One important piece of technology was stolen and is the main topic of this meeting." Kuroko's eyes widen and she leaned forward, listening intently.

I wish I knew who actually called Jason, but at least I get to know what was actually stolen. The meeting was tedious, but there was some information which interested her greatly. A movement caught her eye and she turned around, noticing a golden retriever walking behind her. It had a backpack with robotic arms attached to it. Isn't that the same dog Uiharu said was at the research facility? It looks like what she described. Her eyes followed it and watched it walk over to the group of scientists. Her eyes widened as she saw it sit in a chair. The dog actually jumped up and sat in the chair, watching the director's talk, like a person. Uiharu may have been right about it being trained. She felt a set of eyes watching her and noticed the middle school girl was watching her closely. She diverted her eyes and stared back down at the directors. I don't like the way she's staring at me.

"The information you are about to hear is classified. The reason we are informing you is because the very nature of this device is cause for concern. We are going to let Professor Tsukuda explain. He was the original creator of the device. He is going to give a brief description of its capabilities and answer any questions." A screen behind the directors started to lower from the ceiling and an elderly man in a suit stepped forward from beside it.

"The device that was stolen was a recent scientific breakthrough. We called it the Dimensional Transmission Emitter Console or D-TEC for short. This device was designed to send and receive wireless commination signals anywhere in the world, regardless of distance or interference, like walls and electronic jammers, instantly. It was designed using information from abilities developed in this city that fell into the spatial displacement category, such as teleportation and wormholes."

Wow, Kuroko thought impressed. I knew they research our abilities, but actually using the information to develop technology is amazing. I thought most of the research for technology was done separately. This makes sense I guess. She was especially interested because the technology was based on teleportation, the ability she possessed. The point of this city is to develop and improve technology.

"Using this new technology," Tsukuda continued. "We can actually move a much greater distance, if not indefinite, in our world with fewer restrictions than basic wireless communication methods. Normally, we would have to have receivers and amplifiers, such as satellites and towers, to send wireless transmissions around the world. By using the information from teleportation, we can instantly send a signal from one point to any another, without weakening from traveling across distances. This system was then combined with information and technology created from wormhole ability users to help negate even the distance in other dimensions. We combined the strength of both abilities, negating distance with wormholes and using teleportation to send the signals to any location desired, rather than only a single point."

"If this technology exists," someone called out. "Why hasn't it been publically announced yet? Is there some defect?"

"Yes," Tsukuda acknowledged. "It's not so much a defect, as a deficiency. Right now, we can't send the signal to a single receiver. All receivers tuned to intercept the frequency will receive the messages, so at most it can only be used as a broad announcement device. We can't even set it to only send to receivers in a specific city. Everywhere on earth would receive it and possibly even in space. We like to assume it ignores distance, but it's not like we can test millions of miles outside of earth's orbit without a receiver. That still requires some testing."

"I can understand the seriousness of stealing advanced technology," someone else said. "But this meeting was called an emergency. Wouldn't the normal channels for theft have been sufficient for this?"

"I can answer that," one of the directors said. Tsukuda nodded and sat back down. "You see, if whoever stole the D-TEC creates a specific receiver for their group, the leader would be able to issue orders to everyone, no matter where they are, simultaneously. Because the communication from this device travels through dimensions, only the receivers will pick it up the moment it enters ours. We will not be able to track it without a receiver, but that would be trying to find the right dimensional frequency. Let alone if they start duplicating it. They would be able to start sending messages back and forth with impunity. We would be at a completely disadvantage. This group is not a simple band of delinquents. They are well organized and the leader is a serious threat. We need Anti-Skill to be fully aware of the situation. For now though, Judgement should not be informed unless the situation calls for it." A bunch of people started asking questions and Kuroko's eyes glazed over, as she processed the information.

This is really bad, she thought. That one girl I faced was already ruthless and intelligent. I would hate to see who the leader is. If he hasn't been caught, he can continue his experiments. Who knows how many more people are going to be a subject of their ruthless tests? What can we even do? It's not like we have a lead, unless those people we captured talk, and that's only if they know something. This is all classified, so I can't even tell onee-sama and Uiharu, but I suppose I have to relay it to Jason. The questions finally died down and everyone was dismissed. She sighed with relief. During the entire meeting, one of the directors kept glaring at her, as if daring her to say something. She had no idea why, but figured Jason did something in the past. I'm finally free. She pulled out her cellphone, planning to contact the others and find out the progress of being switched back, when she heard a girl's voice from behind her.

"You seemed distracted during the meeting." Kuroko spun around and saw the same middle schooler she had seen with the other scientist. She looked pretty timid, with her arms crossed behind her back and her head tilted slightly to the side. It didn't look like she meant any harm and Kuroko was debating on what to say to make herself sound like Jason.

"I didn't want to be here in the first place," Kuroko said dismissively. "I had other plans. Those guys sure like to talk."

"That's obvious," the girl said. "You never want to be here. You either want to research something privately or hang out with your 'friends' from that school." Something about the way she said friends gave Kuroko pause.

There's something about this girl. I really don't want to talk to her. "Is there something you need?" Kuroko asked impatiently. "If not, I'm heading out."

"There is one thing I was wondering," the girl said, leaning forward and staring at Kuroko directing in the eyes. She looked shy, but Kuroko noticed a hint of strength hidden in her eyes. "Are you really Jason-oniichan?"

Oniichan? Kuroko fumed silently. What kind of names is he making people call him… huh? Did she actually see through our swap? I didn't think I did anything strange. "W-what are you talking about?" She tried not to sound surprise, but her voice stuttered slightly.

"Oh?" the girl said, raising an eyebrow. "Did something happen…?" Kuroko was spared trying to think of a response when she heard the voice of a man in the prime of his life.

"Enshuu, we are leaving." Kuroko turned and looked down the hallway for the source of the voice, but only the golden retriever was near the end of the hallway.

He must have walked around the corner after calling her. I wonder who that was.

"Okay," Enshuu said and turned around, walking quickly started down the hallway. She looked back at Kuroko before running the rest of the way. "Let's continue this chat some other time."

Who was that girl? Kuroko thought and a shiver went down her spine. I get the feeling I'm going to regret seeing her again. I need to get out of here and find the others. She turned around and started heading to the exit, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw one of the elder directors looking at her. "Yes?"

"Everyone's gone," he said grinning. "You don't need to act so distant. Thinking you can skip out on our usual game of chess? I need to get my revenge from the last couple of times."

"Well I'm kind of busy," Kuroko protested, but it was all in vain. The director put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to an office. How do I get out of this?

"Nonsense," the director said, opening the door and pushing her in. "A quick game won't kill you."

"If it's quick," Kuroko mumbled looking around. The office was pretty basic. A desk was in the middle with an already set up chessboard on it. There was a computer next to it and a bookshelf in the back, mostly filled with folders instead of actual books. I could finish this quickly if I lost on purpose, but I think he would be suspicious. Kuroko wasn't a stranger to chess, she knew how to play, but she couldn't say she was really good. There were some girls at Tokiwadai who really enjoyed the game, but she had always been indifferent to it. She noticed she was white and moved a pawn forward.

"Change in opening huh?" the director commented, the nametag on his desk said he was called Osamu Miyagawa, and Kuroko's stomach sunk. The game started off normal enough, but Kuroko was quickly being pushed into a corner. It was obvious she was losing and one wrong move was going to solidify her defeat.

I knew this would happen, Kuroko thought. She noticed Osamu was frowning slightly and occasionally glanced at her. I'm definitely not playing right, I'm too rusty. Her thoughts were confirmed when Osamu looked up at her.

"You aren't going easy on me right? I know you wouldn't lose on purpose."

"I'm just trying something new," Kuroko lied. She didn't think this guy would come to the conclusion Jason had swapped bodies with her but, if he's suspicious, she might be detained for even longer. How do I get out of this?

Knight to G4.

Huh, Kuroko thought, thinking she had heard something. For a moment, she thought she heard a soft male voice. Great, I'm hallucinating. She decided to move her knight and Osamu countered by moving a bishop. I know he's going for my Queen and if I lose her, it's over.

Rook to B3.

I know I heard something that time, Kuroko thought to herself. She looked around, but didn't see anything and frowned. Osamu didn't look like he had said or heard anything either. She moved her rook and Osamu was about to move to capture her queen, when he stopped. Huh?

"Almost fell for that," Osamu muttered. He moved a pawn instead. "I can't trust your moves, no matter how unpredictable they seem."

Okay, why did he stop? Kuroko wasn't sure what happened. She wasn't experienced enough to understand how chess requires you to think many moves ahead, instead of just a couple.

You would have won in 5 moves if he took your queen.

I definitely did not imagine that voice. Kuroko lookedaround again, determined to find the source of the voice. Where is it coming from? Could it be one of the voices Jason mentioned?

Most likely, but I am unaware of any other voices he talks to besides those that come from other people. Kuroko nearly had a heart attack.

Who are you?

I don't really have a name, or can't remember, but it is unimportant and we can discuss that later. Move the queen one space to the right. Kuroko did and Osama stared at the board thinking, no longer able to move quickly.

Jason told me not to talk to you, but how are you even talking in my head? How long as he known about you?

He and I have different views on what is the easiest way to solve certain problems. As for how I'm talking to you, I'm tied to his shadow ability, which you are now bound to. We have been bonded a long time, ever since he almost died five years ago and his power changed. Though, he could only barely hear and understand me until your fight with the sins.

Kuroko almost yelled out in shock, her face paling. Almost died? Changed ability? What do you mean? An ability shouldn't change once it's unlocked. She didn't even notice Osamu move his piece.

Ah, that's right. He only told the current user of the Imagine Breaker. You and the other girl still do not know. Move your pawn to D5. Kuroko did so automatically, but her mind was racing.

You know about the ape's hand? Current user? What is the story Jason didn't tell us?

I'm not going to reveal that. I have already told him what I know about the Imagine Breaker and he's doing some research into it. The ones known as Accelerator and Railgun already know about that. They were there when he performed his latest experiment on it. For now, he's been researching magic side rumors and legends.

They know about that? Kuroko thought dumbfounded. I could understand Jason keeping his past a secret, but how could onee-sama learn something so important and keep it from me? When we get out of this, I'm going to find out the whole truth. Onee-sama will tell me everything if I confront her.

I have watched these two play chess many times, just follow my orders and you will win. Kuroko agreed and the tide began to turn in her favor. About ten minutes later, Osamu leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"You unsettled me with your unorthodox opening strategy and then swooped in for the kill," he said. "You never cease to amaze me, even when I think I got you."

"I have a lot of practice with it," Kuroko lied.

"I don't suppose I can keep you any longer," Osamu told her. "One last question. Do you have any idea on who is leading these thefts?"

"No idea," Kuroko said, standing up. "But I'll make sure to report them if I do."

"Uh huh," he said skeptically and Kuroko realized her mistake.

Hopefully he thinks I was just being sarcastic, she thought. She quickly left the office before she aroused anymore suspicion. I hope the others found a way to switch us back and then I can find out what secrets they are keeping from me. Jason, what the hell happened to you?

---

"Finally we are out of there," Accelerator huffed. "I saw a couple people see my body buying dolls and laughing. I burned their faces in my mind and I'm going to make them forget everything." He cracked his knuckles.

"Don't do that," Touma said. "I thought you were above those things and it's unsettling to see Ruiko do that."

"If he finds out you try to hurt someone," Mikoto said grinning. "He's going to stop you again." She laughed and Accelerator scowled.

"Come on guys," Ruiko said cheerfully, which just caused Accelerator to scowl even more. "We should be happy that we are about to get back in our bodies." She grinned. "Unless you guys like your new bodies."

"Saten-san," Mikoto said turning red while Ruiko laughed. "Don't joke around like that." She liked how strong Touma was, but she missed her own body. She felt naked in some way. It was probably because she emitted electromagnetic waves which let her detect metal objects all around her, especially behind her head where she couldn't see. I feel like it would be really easy to sneak up on me now.

"I'm finding it really hard to not accidently seeing anything," Touma admitted. "Please don't make other people think I enjoyed this." The breeze was pleasant under the skirt, but he didn't want any random person to see something they shouldn't. He also missed his right hand. If someone gets in trouble, it's going to be tougher to help them without an ability or physical force.

"If I could have kept my ability I really wouldn't care," Accelerator said. All three of them looked at him and he shrugged. "I don't have to use a crutch so it's a lot more convenient. " Walking around without the cane was really the best thing about the swap for him. The worst part was he didn't have his ability, which made him feel vulnerable.

"For a second I thought you were going to say you liked her," Mikoto admitted, which made Ruiko stop and stare in wide-eyed amazement.

"She may not be annoying as most of you," Accelerator said, rolling his eyes. "But she's not my type."

"Thanks," Ruiko responded uncertainly. "I think?"

"I don't think you ever told us your type before our friends started saying…," Touma began to point out with a smirk before he was cut off.

"If you repeat what those idiots say," Accelerator growled. "I'm going to make you regret it."

"It better not be what they say," Mikoto responded, watching Accelerator closely. He's Last Order's guardian. He noticed and flicked her off. "Stop making Saten-san look like a delinquent," she told him again.

"I hope Index and Lessar have finished designing the spell," Touma commented, moving the topic of conversation to stop a fight from breaking out. "I'm sure everyone will be a lot more relaxed in their own…"

"We told you guys, butt out!" a girl said loudly, causing Touma to stop talking and they all turned in the direction of the disturbance. Two girls were being cornered by two bigger guys and the girl's looked scared and angry. Touma's eyes narrowed and he wasn't the only one. Mikoto started to frown too.

"Hey Saten-san," Touma said. "Can you take these to Index," He handed her the bag he had been carrying. "It's not far and I'll join you in a moment."

"But," Ruiko protested, automatically taking the bag before she could think thoroughly. "You aren't in your body and can't use Shokuhou-san's ability."

"I don't care," Touma said, turning and marching toward the girls. "They look like they need help."

"I hate guys like that," Mikoto growled, glaring at the guys as she followed Touma. "Let's teach them a lesson."

"Umm," Ruiko asked, looking at Accelerator. "What are you going to do?"

"I suppose I should make sure those two idiots don't go overboard," he mumbled. "You know things are crazy when I become the voice of reason." He looked at Ruiko. "Get that stuff back to Index. This should be taken care of pretty quickly and we will join you."

"Ah okay," Ruiko said, once again feeling useless. I'm even in Accelerator's body, the number one level 5 in Academy City and I STILL can't do anything. I'll drop these dolls off with Index and run back here to see if they still need help. I won't leave them behind when they are in similar positions as me. She moved as fast as Accelerator's body would let her go back to Touma's dorm. The streets were pretty empty so she didn't have to be afraid of looking silly or ruining Accelerator's reputation.

Back with the others, Mikoto and Touma reached the other side of the street and made their way toward the girl's being harassed by the guys. The guys were too busy with the girls, they didn't notice. One of the guys grabbed the first girl by the wrist when Mikoto spoke up.

"Hey," she yelled. "Leave her alone." The two guys stopped and turned to look at who yelled at them. The bigger guy, who had hold of one of the girls, let go of her, causing both girls to retreat backwards against the wall of a building. The two guys looked Mikoto up and down, and began to laugh.

"Look here Ken," the larger of the two said. "Seems like we got a hero in our mists."

"I bet he's just showing off for those two girls with him," Ken said, eyeing Touma and Accelerator tailing her. "Huh, isn't that the Tokiwadai uniform?"

"It's obvious they don't want to go with you," Touma told them. "Get out of here."

"A girl with spunk," the big guy laughed. "I like that. How about you ditch the loser there," he pointed to Mikoto in Touma's body, "and come hang out with us?"

"I think I would rather get hit by a car," Touma replied, feeling a combination of disgust and the urge to vomit. He never appreciated any guy talking to a girl like that and he would go out of his way to help them but, as a guy, he had never been on the receiving end of comments like that. Now that a random guy was saying creepy things to him, he finally understood what girls like Mikoto and Misaki have gone through. Not only were they very attractive, but they went to a prestigious school which only escalated things. I bet even Ruiko and Uiharu-san gets talked to like this. No one deserves to be looked down at like that. What made him want to vomit was the fact he WAS a guy, even though he was currently in a girl's body. This was one of the most awkward things he had experienced in a long time.

"Heh," Accelerator snickered. These pieces of trash should be lucky the hero can't user those mental powers.

"You tell him," Mikoto agreed. "This guy needs to be taught a lesson." Hold on, Touma's in Shokuhou's body, which means he's being hit on by guys… oh my god! She felt the weird combination of amusement and anger.

"No one talks to me like that," the big guy growled. "I'm going to kick your ass then take your girls." He made a fist and started to run at Mikoto.

Easy, Mikoto grinned, but then realized her situation. She was about to try to hit him with a blast of electricity like she normally would against thugs. Oh crap, I'm not in my body. She definitely couldn't fight like she normally did. Plan B it is. She watched the guy pull back his arm and swing a fist at her face. A grinned formed on her face as her body moved to the right. She grabbed his arm and delivered a knee into his gut.

"Oomph," the guy said, collapsing onto the ground.

"Easy," Mikoto said proudly. "I knew those self-defense classes would come in handy." Tokiwadai had a lot of extracurricular activities. One of which was the self-defense classes. A lot of wealthy girls came from families where they had body guards most of their lives, so the school thought it would be good if the students were given a chance to learn basic defense skills. Mikoto had taken it more as an exercise option rather than actually needing the skills, her ability could handle most people, but now she was glad she chose to.

"Look out!" one of the girls cried out, causing Mikoto to turn. The other guy named Ken was almost on her, his face red and furious. Mikoto couldn't get into a counter stance quick enough and was prepared to be hit hard, when a bag was swung next to her and collided into the side of the guy's face. There was a loud smack and the guy fell to the ground, hitting his head and falling unconscious.

"That was close," Touma muttered. "I didn't think Misaki's body could hit hard enough, so I used her bag full of remotes. I bet that hurt a lot. Hope I didn't break any of them." Touma was a lot more accustomed to street fighting then Mikoto and quickly realized his limitations. Misaki was the furthest thing from a street brawler so, because he couldn't use her ability, he had to rely on brains to make use of what he had. I'm so glad Misaki told me to take her bag with remotes. Even if it was only to keep up appearances, it really came in handy. Before he could ask the girls if they were okay, both of them had run up to Mikoto.

"Thank you so much for helping us," the first girl said, shaking Mikoto's hand.

"The other people kept passing by and avoided eye contact," the second girl added. "You were the first guy to stand up for us."

"It wasn't a problem," Mikoto told them, slightly embarrassed. They seem a little more thankful than when I help others in the past. Her puzzlement was quickly answered.

"Thanks for helping too," the second girl said to Touma. "But if you are part of Tokiwadai, couldn't you have used your ability?"

"I don't like using my ability unless someone is really in danger," Touma lied. "If either of you were in any real danger, I would have." The girl nodded in understanding. A high class girl wouldn't use her ability so flippantly.

"Here's my number," the first girl said, stuffing a piece of paper in her hand. "I definitely need to thank you sometime. So call soon." She and the other girl ran off giggling slightly, while Mikoto stared dumbstruck.

"So," Accelerator commented, slightly amused. "It would appear the Kami Disease seems to be a part of the hero's body, rather than his mind. I'm sure the idiots would want to hear about this."

"Don't tell them anything," Touma told him, panicking. "Aogami doesn't know about magic and I definitely do not want Tsuchimikado to know anything about this. He would never let us live it down." Touma shuddered at the thought of what Motoharu would do with that knowledge.

"Does this happen to you often?" Mikoto asked, staring at the piece of paper. How many phone numbers does he get?

"Occasionally a girl gives me a number after I help her out," Touma shrugged. "But I don't call. I don't help people for thanks so I don't want them to think I'm calling and looking for a reward." Mikoto stared at him for a moment and noticed Accelerator behind him face palming. Mikoto couldn't deny it, she wanted to too.

He really doesn't understand how girl's think, does he? I guess that's good for me because their less competition. I understand now why I got so angry at him when I first met him. We both misunderstood what each one of us was saying. She smiled to herself. I wonder why he doesn't realize girls like him? His friends always say he's dense, but I feel there's more.

"Least I didn't have to get involved," Accelerator scoffed. "Things would have gotten messy."

"What would you have done?" Mikoto asked, turning to him in surprise. "You don't have your vector ability."

"I got bored and learned her ability," Accelerator shrugged, raising his hand and sending a small breeze at Touma, causing the body's blonde hair to get in his face. "See, simple."

"When did you learn how to do that?" Touma spluttered, getting the hair out of his face. Note to self, never grow hair out.

"I could make out most of the formulas from her subconscious," Accelerator explained. "Then with my intelligence I just filled in the blanks. It's manipulating pressure and air currents, something I have done before with vectors, so there were some similarities. I can't get nearly as much power like in my body, since she's only a level 2."

"Of course," Touma acknowledged. He knew Accelerator was a genius, with the calculations for his ability he had to be. Still, learning a brand new ability out of the blue would be an almost insurmountable challenge for a normal person. I can't even begin to decipher Misaki's ability. I just get occasional glimpses of people's thoughts.

"Maybe you can give Saten-san pointers when all this is over," Mikoto suggested. I feel like he's only bragging to rub it in my face, but I don't have proof. If Saten-san can improve, I'll put up with it.

"Now that those girls are safe," Touma said. "Let's get back and meet up with Ruiko, Index and…"

"Help!" a soft female voice cried out, interrupting them. All three of them turned and started looking around.

"Where did that come from?" Mikoto asked, turning in every direction.

"Again?" Accelerator complained.

"There," Touma announced, pointing down the ally. There was an open door and whoever that girl was, had most likely been taken inside. "We have to go help her."

"I agree," Mikoto added and she and Touma bolted toward the door. Accelerator sighed and followed them. They entered an apartment building, most likely used during the week, since it showed signs of recent use. The first floor seemed deserted, but there were two stairwells on opposite sides leading upstairs, with an elevator in the center. "Do we split up or what?"

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Touma suggested. Accelerator rolled his eyes, but they quickly played. Touma went with rock while Mikoto and Accelerator took paper. "Okay, I'll go right and you both go left. Be careful." The avoided the elevator because that could give away their location.

"I could say the same thing to you," Mikoto replied.

"Flirt later and let's go," Accelerator huffed. Mikoto and Touma nodded at each other and split up. Mikoto and Accelerator took the stairs to the right and Touma took the stairs to the left. They ascended the stairs quietly, listening for any signs of the girl who called for help. The second floor was also quiet, so they moved to the third. They struck gold and froze when they heard a male's voice.

"I thought you said they were going to pay us to kidnap some students?"

"They are. I was offered quite a bit of money for each person but, with just us two, we can only kidnap them one at a time."

"What does your benefactor want to do with them?"

"Probably some experiment on their ability. With most of the higher ups being captured, a lot of people bailed. Whoever took over the group has to go to some pretty extreme lengths to continue this research. Didn't you benefit from those drugs?"

That voice sounds familiar, he thought, looking around the corner of a cubicle. It's that guy. Touma only saw him once, when he was on the fake date with Misaki and this guy showed up with his friends to cause trouble. He recognized the short brown hair and leather jacket. He was the one asking questions. The other, an older male, was standing over a young blonde girl and was answering him. She appeared to be unconscious and her hands were tied behind her back. I don't know their abilities, so I probably should sneak up on them…

"Let her go!" Mikoto yelled jumping forward from her stair well. She never was one to sneak around and hide.

There goes our surprise attack, Touma sighed.

"YOU!" the younger guy yelled, scrambling to his feet and a ball of fire formed in his hand. "I've been looking for the chance to get my revenge on you for that humiliation in front of those girls."

"The only thing you are getting is a swift prison sentence," Mikoto yelled back. The guy cussed at her and threw the ball of fire. Mikoto was going to dodge, but her body moved automatically, sticking out her right hand to intercept the fire. With the sound of breaking glass, the fire disappeared. Woah, she thought. Touma's body is so used to fighting abilities, it moves subconsciously. No wonder I can't sneak up on him.

"I knew the first time wasn't a coincidence," the guy snarled. "You actually have a way to stop my ability." His eyes widened. "You must be one of those damn level 5s, the one known as Kami with his negation ability." He spat on the ground and looked murderous.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Mikoto yelled back. "Now step away from that girl and surrender or I'm going to make you."

"As if," the guy said, holding his arms out to his side and another fireball appeared in each hand. "If direct attacks won't work, I'll try a more indirect method." He threw one of the fireballs at the cubicle next to Mikoto and the wall was disintegrated, leaving behind flames that quickly began to spread. He did the same thing to Mikoto's other side and smoke began to fill the air.

"Ack," Mikoto coughed, smoke filling her lungs and making her eyes water. This bastard actually thought this out? She realized too late she should have charged at him like Touma usually did to prevent him from composing himself. Now, the fire was spreading and she would have to run through it to get to the delinquent. The smoke was also black from all the burning plastic in the cubicles, making it difficult to see. She and Touma could work together, but they had completely different fighting styles. Without her electricity, she had to start fighting even more strategically and physically. Is the smoke lessoning? She felt a breeze blow past her and turned around.

"This smoke is fucking annoying," Accelerator growled. "I can't automatically deflect it." He was using Ruiko's wind manipulation ability to push the smoke away from them. He didn't have a lot of control nor could he produce enough wind to remove it completely. His eyes and throat still stung. "Hurry up and take him down if you're in the damn hero's body already." Suddenly, an alarm started blaring and the sprinklers turned on after Accelerator pushed too much smoke near them.

"Great," Mikoto mumbled, as the water started drenching everything. "You activated the sprinklers by moving the smoke into them."

"Shut up and get him." Mikoto didn't need told again and charged at the guy, planning to grab the guy and prevent his ability from being used.

"Get away," he yelled, swinging his arm and generating a wave of flames at the floor, forcing Mikoto to jump back. Again, if she had Touma's experience, she would have reached down to negate the flames. The floor in front of her, along with a couple nearby chairs and cubicles were on fire, even with the water. The guy had to be at least a level 3 to produce enough flames to cause this much destruction. "I finally get some power working with others, and Anti-Skill goes and arrests them, just because they found a way to increase our power without the city butting in."

"Are you stupid?" Mikoto called back. "It was banned because it was killing people!"

"They were weak!" the guy yelled back. "I was strong and survived."

"No they weren't!" Touma interrupted, steeping forward. His hand was shaking in anger, but he tried to remain calm.

"What do you know about that?" the guy said turning to Touma and recognizing who's body he was in. "It's you," he said, slightly surprised. "Are you still with this trash?" He jabbed his thumb at Mikoto, but he stopped when he saw the item in Touma's hand. "Do you really think that's going to work? I thought Tokiwadai girls were supposed to smart?"

While Mikoto and Accelerator had engaged the kidnappers, Touma had been trying to decide how he could help. He couldn't use Misaki's power at all and her body wasn't as physically strong as his. If he tried to run up and punch someone, he was probably going to get hurt instead, but he had to do something. He looked around and noticed something he could use hanging on the wall near the stairwell he had just come out of. He grinned, and grabbed it, turning around right when the sprinklers went off. He started to approach the others, when he noticed the older guy watching him. Touma was about to freeze, but the guy just raised an eyebrow. Is… is he not going to help his partner? Touma didn't have time to think when he heard the guy mention how people were weak and Touma grew angry. "They are," Touma replied, holding up the fire extinguisher. "Plus, they don't use their abilities to hurt people for fun!"

"You think that will stop my fire?" the guys said laughing. "I can just make more fire." To demonstrate, he set another cubicle on fire.

"Then I'll hit the source." Most of the fire was near Mikoto and Accelerator, so Touma had a free path. Instead of trying to put out the fire, he targeted the guy directly. A cloud of white smoke exploded from the nozzle in Touma's hand, engulfing his adversary. The white powder in the fire extinguisher was a combination of potassium bicarbonate and CO2 which expanded when released. The guy's sight was blocked and his eyes started to burn, causing him to close them in response. He was then forced to breathe the powder in, causing the oxygen in his lungs to be replaced. The CO2 was so cold, it was causing freezer burn in his throat. It was almost impossible for him to breathe while being smothered.

"ACK!" he coughed loudly, stepping back. He was becoming disoriented from lack of oxygen and then fell to the ground unconscious. Touma quickly turned off the fire extinguisher, he didn't want to cause any permanent injury, and turned the nozzle to the rest of the fire still burning the office. When he finished putting out the fire, he dropped the extinguisher and turned to the other male standing next to the bound girl. Mikoto and Accelerator moved up next to him.

"Not a bad idea hero," Accelerator told him. "At least we don't have to worry about the building collapsing."

"Thanks for putting out the fire," Mikoto added. "I wish the sprinklers would shut off though." They were all still getting drenched. At least our uniforms aren't see-through. The thought of what Touma would do if Misaki's uniform went transparent entertained her for a moment and then made her depressed.

"Let her go," Touma told the strange male. "If you try to hut her, we will stop you." Something about the man was causing warning signs to blare in his mind. The man didn't seem to be afraid or even show any signs of interest. He had just been watching them while they defeated his partner. Left with no choice, he answered Touma.

"Okay," the man said at last and Touma was able to breath normally again. Touma watched the man lean over and untie the girl's hand. "It's over. You can stop pretending now."

"Huh?' Touma, Mikoto, and Accelerator all said in surprise, when their question was answered. The girl stood up and turned to face them, a huge smile on her face.

"And here I thought this would be more fun," Eve said, sounding slightly disappointed. "You can go now." The man nodded and dissolved into pieces of paper before disappearing completely. "I didn't expect to see you guys hear." Her hair was still braided into two long pigtails, but she was wearing a black shirt and jeans. "Just once, I wanted to be the damsel in distress."

"What are you doing here Eve?" Touma demanded, shifting in front of Accelerator when he felt the killing intent radiate from him. Mikoto imitated his actions.

"I'm pretty sure you know why I'm here," Eve pointed out giggling.

"He means in this building with that guy," Mikoto clarified irritably, pointing to the unconscious figure of the guy Touma knocked out with the fire extinguisher.

"I know what he means," Eve said dismissively, waving her hand. "I was bored waiting for my plans to come to fruition, so I thought I would kill some time. I wanted to experience something new and interesting. Having never been kidnapped before, since I'm not weak and helpless, I thought I would try that. I created a puppet to find some pawn willing to do the deed with the promise of money. I gave him the information I heard all of the city's police force talking about to make it sound convincing. Sadly, my puppet only found this chump and I'm really disappointed. He's completely useless at being a villain." She kicked him lightly with her foot. "He only threatened to physically hurt me twice. Can you believe that?"

"I'll physically hurt you a thousand times over for what you did!" Accelerator snarled, suddenly trying to push pass Touma and Mikoto, both of whom grabbed his arms. "You better switch us back bitch!"

"See," Eve pointed jumping backwards on top of a desk. "That's what he should have been like, but why is she acting like a villain? That girl should be one of the most docile among your group. Does it have something to do with switching?" She looked curiously at them.

"Calm down," Touma told Accelerator, trying to keep him restrained and panting with the effort. "You can't take her right now. She likes to antagonize us."

"Don't give her any information either," Mikoto added, also panting. Accelerator was keen on ripping Eve apart.

"You all are acting strange," Eve pointed out. "I expected you," she pointed to Touma, "to use your mental powers to defeat my pawn, but instead you fought like a normal person. You," she pointed to Mikoto, "fought a lot more conservatively then previous fights. Something strange is going on here." She put her hand on her mouth and stood there thinking.

Did she figure it out? Touma thought and then he found himself flying backwards. He and Accelerator had been hit by a sheet of paper and few back several feet, landing on their butts. Mikoto turned her head to see if they were okay and Eve took advantage of her lapse in attention.

"Let's see what you are hiding Imagine Breaker," Eve said and Mikoto immediately turned back to her, but it was too late. Eve had moved right in front of her and grabbed her collar. She leaned forward and kissed Mikoto on the lips before Mikoto could react.

What the hell? Mikoto thought. Again? Wait… she's using tongues! Why can't I move? She heard the sound of breaking glass and she felt feelings in her arms again.

"Let her go!" Touma yelled, jumping at them and pushing Eve off her. Eve stumbled backwards and Touma helped Mikoto stay on her feet when she stumbled. "Are you okay Mikoto?" He was feeling a combination of anger and jealousy when he saw Eve forcing herself on Mikoto.

"I'm fine," she said softly, her face crimson. She coughed and took a deep breath. "Eve just surprised me. I think she tried the same thing she did in England. She read my memories before your hand freed me." I still taste her tongue. It's so nasty. It's like when Kuroko tried it that one time. Only the time with Touma actually felt pleasant.

"Let's kill her now," Accelerator suggested, standing up and walking toward Eve.

"Okay," Mikoto agreed instantly and Touma tried again to be the voice of reason.

"You both know we don't…," he tried to say, when Eve's laughter overshadowed his words.

"So that's what happened!" she laughed, clutching her side and leaning up against a desk to keep herself standing. "You all switched bodies. That is hilarious! Hahaha… No wonder you couldn't fight properly! I was wondering what my magic was going to do, but this is great." She fell onto the ground and was rolling around with laughter, the water from the wet rug soaking her clothes, but she didn't seem to mind. She was having the time of her life.

"Let me kill her," Accelerator growled again.

"I kind of want you to," Mikoto admitted, even though she knew it was futile right now.

"We really need to get out of here," Touma reminded them. "The fire alarms went off so people should be arriving shortly."

"Good point," Mikoto mumbled.

"Before you leave," Eve said, standing up and regaining her composure. "You have entertained me so much, I'll share a couple things with you."

"Such as?" Touma said skeptically. Take everything she says with a grain of salt.

"If I don't succeed before Adam," Eve said. "He's going to show up after he sets up the ritual to re-forge our lord's body. He will then likely kill any person who gets in our way, including your friends, regardless of what I say. You should probably have your church friends slow him down so I can finish first. I already told you where he is."

"The most God forsaken place on earth," Touma repeated her words. "Mind telling me where that is?"

"Nah," Eve said, waving her hand mockingly. "I told you to do some research for yourself. We don't want you getting dependent on me." She stuck a finger in her mouth and winked at him, causing him to blush slightly. A vein throbbed in Mikoto's head. Accelerator was standing behind them, a vein also throbbing, but he was mad for another reason. He wanted to kill Eve and rip her apart, but he was smart enough to know he couldn't right now and that knowledge was killing him.

"Anything else?" Mikoto asked irritably, crossing her arms. If I was in my body, I would electrocute her.

"There's one more thing," Eve answered, this time looking at her. "It actually involves you too. You remember my dear sweet Juliet?" Mikoto and Touma nodded. "Well, she may be on an emotional roller coaster right now and is off doing something bad."

"Like?" Touma asked, fear rising within him. This isn't going to be good.

"She's planning to kill two of your friends."

"WHAT!" Mikoto and Touma yelled, but Accelerator was quicker on the uptake.

"Who?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

"The teleporting girl and the girl with flowers on her head," Eve told him.

"Why is she after them?!" Mikoto demanded.

"It seems like they took something Juliet felt belonged to her," Eve shrugged. "Without a body, it's easy to be overcome by emotions every once in a while."

"We need to find them," Mikoto said, turning to Accelerator and Touma. "Uiharu-san won't be able to face someone like Juliet alone, while Kuroko, Kagere-san and Shokuhou-san won't be able to use their abilities."

"This is bad," Touma admitted.

"I sent Cain after her," Eve added. "But he may not make it in time if she's hiding herself. I told you I didn't want to have to use violence, so think of this information as a sign of my sincerity." She laughed and her eyes grew cold. "If you do get in my way when I get the wing, I won't be so lenient." She suddenly smiled and felt warmer. "Good luck." She waved as Touma and Mikoto ran down the stairs, with Accelerator trailing behind them. He had turned to glare at Eve one last time before leaving.

"We have to contact them," Mikoto told Touma as they bounded down the stairs. She reached into her pocket and pulled out his phone. "They are in danger."

"Could this day get any worse?" Touma asked, pulling out Misaki's phone. He was beginning to tire again as Misaki's less athletic body began to give as they ran.

"Why would you say that?" Mikoto asked astonished. "You know that will cause more bad luck."

---

"Here you go," Jason said, bringing Kazari and Misaki their drinks and sitting down while sipping his own. "Any luck on contacting Kuroko?"

"No," Kazari replied, shaking her head. "Your phone's still off, so she must still be in the meeting. You sure you don't know what it's about?"

"It's most likely about the thefts and illegal drugs," Jason replied between sips. "It should be over by now, unless…" He paused. "If he's there, she might be a bit. He likes to challenge me to chess if we attend the same meetings and he doesn't take no for an answer. I should have let him win more."

"Is Shirai-san any good at chess?" Misaki asked curiously. Jason and Kazari shrugged. "It might be better if she's not. She can lose quickly, find us, and then we can head back to Touma's apartment. "

"I missed a message from Saten-san," Kazari spoke up, glancing at her phone. "They collected all the materials needed for the ritual. I told her we were waiting at the mall for Kuroko and will meet rendezvous with them when she's done."

"See," Misaki pointed out to her. "I told you we had plenty of time. There's no point in worrying without reason. The others are fine and we will all be back in our normal bodies soon enough." She glanced behind her and only saw a guy walking past her talking on the phone. This is weird, she thought. I keep feeling something is floating behind me, but I only see people on phones or tablets. Is this part of Misaka-san's power? I seem to recall she could sense metal objects with magnetism. It must be subconsciously generated, but it makes me paranoid.

"I suppose you're right," Kazari said, sounding slightly more cheerful. "I'll take the chance to enjoy the quiet. When Accelerator woke up in Saten-san's body, he nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I bet he swore loudly out of nowhere," Jason guessed. "Didn't he?" Kazari nodded and they all laughed.

"I definitely would never have expected Saten-san to do something like that," Misaki grinned. She was trying to keep herself occupied and found herself having a little fun. She had a lot of fun trying on clothes in Mikoto's body, mainly at the thought of how Mikoto would react when she found out. Naturally, she would prefer to have stayed with Touma, but understood situations do happen and it's best to get them over with instead of causing more problems down the road. Spending more time with Touma's other friends was also something that was bound to happen. It was actually an interesting reprieve for her, since Touma's friends all had vastly different personalities and didn't just immediately agree with her like her clique.

"What happened when you woke up in Shirai-san's body?" Kazari asked Jason.

"Well," Jason said, scratching his cheek. "Shokuhou-san woke me up so I was a little confused when I saw Misaka-san standing over me." He really didn't want to say much more because Kazari was watching him closely. If it was anyone else, he probably would have over exaggerated it.

"He was a little shocked about Shirai-san's… bold choice in clothes," Misaki said grinning, and Kazari turned to face her. "But he refused to look and I changed his clothes so he didn't have to see anything."

Thank you, Jason muttered. Misaki gave him look that said, you owe me.

"I know what you mean," Kazari said, nodding. "Shirai-san has some very unique tastes in clothing." She was actually relieved Jason didn't get a chance to see anything. Not only because Kuroko would try to kill him, but an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach grew at the thought of Jason looking at other girls. Am I jealous of Shirai-san? They seem to have a connection, but Jason has never gone after her. He always stays with me.

"Maybe you could try to be a little bolder in your outfits," Misaki suggested. "I'm sure you would look great."

"No no," Kazari denied. "I couldn't…"

"Well Kagere-san is thinking about it," Misaki pointed. Kazari turned and noticed Jason had a glazed look in his eye.

"Jason," Kazari said, snapping her fingers in front of him to bring him back to reality. "You had the same look Shirai-san has when she talks about Misaka-san."

"I have no idea what you mean," Jason lied and Misaki laughed. They finished their drinks, threw their trash away, and continued looking around the mall.

"What do you want to do now?" Kazari asked Misaki.

"I don't really care," Misaki shrugged. "Why don't you choose the next place?"

"Okay, how about…?" Kazari never finished her sentence. Jason suddenly reached forward and grabbed their arms, pulling them backwards. A moment later, a vending machine they were about to pass exploded, the shockwave shaking the ground around them. Shards of metal and plastic flew out along with dozens of canned drinks. They would have been skewered by the debris if Jason hadn't pulled them back at the last second, indicated by the piece of metal stuck into a concreate pillar. "AHH!" Kazari screamed finding her voice, and she wasn't the only one. Several other people in the area were screaming and took cover. Drink cans exploded and were spreading liquids all over the floor.

"What happened?" Misaki yelled, covering her ears. They were hurting from the loud noise. She felt Jason pulling her to her feet and noticed Kazari was being helped up too

"We need to get out of here now," Jason muttered. "Leave the bags."

"Why?" Kazari asked, but noticed the serious look on Jason's face. "Okay, tell us after we move." Misaki sensed the seriousness of the situation and the three of them begun to retreat from the crowd of people beginning to form. They exited the mall and looked around, but they didn't appear to be followed. "Can you tell us now?"

"That wasn't an accident," Jason whispered. "Neither was the light in the clothing store."

"Huh?" Misaki asked. "What do you mean?"

"Both times there were traces of mana," Jason explained, looking both ways and leading them away from the mall. "I thought I imagined it the first time, since I wasn't use to Kuroko's body, but the second time I was sure. It's lucky detecting the flow of mana isn't a spell or I would have missed the second attempt. Someone is trying to attack us, but make it look like an accident."

"Who?" Kazari asked. "And why?"

"We only know of one group of magicians in the city," Misaki said thinking. "It would have to be Eve or one of her companions. The important question is, why? She never really bothered with us unless we ran into her when she was in the middle of gathering those wings."

"Our lives could depend on that question," Jason agreed, and he frowned. "Shit, someone is setting up a people clearing field. Whoever it is, they are planning to come out in the open. I was hoping we could keep moving and not give them a chance to set up more ambushes."

"Shirai-san just contacted me," Kazari told him. "She's out and on her way here. What should I tell her?"

"Tell her to get back to Touma's apartment," Jason said, as all three of them started running down the street, trying to escape the people clearing field before it was set up. "None of us are capable of fighting at full strength, so we can't risk all getting trapped here."

"I'll tell her," Kazari said, hitting call. "Shirai-san, we are being attacked by one of Eve's people. You need to warn the others. NO! Don't come to us. We can't have everyone get caught."

"Look out!" Misaki yelled, tackling Kazari to the side. A car was thrown right where she had been a moment before. Jason had dived the other way at Misaki's warning. "Ouch," she moaned, standing up. This might have been the first time she physically tackled someone to save their life. It's a good thing Misaka's body is so athletic. My reflexes wouldn't be nearly this good. I would never have dreamed of trying that before now. Kazari also got up to her feet, her phone had flown out of her hand when she fell.

"Are you two okay?" Jason asked, getting up and running over to them.

"I'll live," Misaki muttered. I'm going to have a bruise though. I'm glad it's not my body.

"I'm fine," Kazari reassured him, looking around for her phone, but it was lost. The thrown car was blocking the middle of the street behind her. We are trapped.

"You know it would have been easier if you just died from that," a girl's voice said. From the top of a building a long strip of darkness descended onto the street twirling in a vortex thirty meters away from them. It looked like a single stream of black water, flowing with a mind of its own in a twisting motion. There weren't any facial features, but Kazari, Misaki, and Jason all knew it was watching them. "It could have been quick, even if it was too good for a bunch of harlots."

"Juliet," Jason muttered. He recognized the shadow form from England. It was almost identical to his own. He shifted slightly in front of Kazari. Misaki, however, took offense to Juliet's words.

"Harlot?" she demanded. "Take that back!"

"I didn't mean you," Juliet said, her shadow body flickering slightly. "You can leave. I only want to kill the other two. If you decide to get in my way though, you will meet the same fate."

"Why are you after us?" Kazari asked. "Is it something for Eve?"

"Eve doesn't know about this," Juliet replied. "I'm doing this purely for myself. She promised I would be with my Romeo, but so far she hasn't delivered. So, I'm taking matters into my own hand."

"But why come after us?" Jason asked, remembering he was in Kuroko's body.

"Because you two are trying to steal him away from me!" Juliet roared, whipping a thick strand of her shadow body at them. Kazari and Jason dodged to the side to avoid it. A loud crack echoed down the street. The shadow strand left a ten meter long gash in the asphalt, about a foot deep. Misaki, Kazari, and Jason all gulped when they saw it. If a human body took a direct hit from that, it would be crushed instantly. "If you both are gone, he will be mine!"

"Who are you talking about?" Misaki asked. She did not have any combat abilities while in Mikoto's body, capable of fighting against a water-like substance capable of destroying a street, but she had never been a strictly combative person. She had always specialized in information gathering. "Who is Romeo and how do you know him?" The shadow stopped rotating for a moment and merged at a single point right above the street. The small sphere started to expand into a shape of a human and then became solid. Where the shadow had been floating a moment ago, a young girl stood. The girl had dark brown eyes and long dark brown hair, which reached the middle of her back, with a rose tucked behind her ear. She was wearing a light pink tank top and a white skirt.

"Romeo is my soulmate," Juliet told her. Her face looked like it could have been that of a kind older sister, but it was streaked with dark lines, like she had gone through a traumatic experience. "Ever since we met six years ago. However, fate tragically separated us until now."

"But that doesn't tell us who Romeo is," Misaki pointed out. "None of us know anyone by that name." Kazari shook her head in agreement.

"He goes by a different name here," Juliet said, after narrowing her eyes, as if Misaki was trying to be funny. "You should know it well, as you are in his company often enough. I just know you are after the guy wielding the Imagine Breaker or you would be dying here too. You know my Romeo by the name of Jason Kagere." Misaki and Kazari's mouth fell open and they looked at Jason, whose face had gone ashen.

He knows something, Misaki thought. It's obvious.

"Jason?" Kazari whispered, tugging on his sleeve. "What is going on?" Jason didn't answer her, but her eyes widened when she saw him shaking. Juliet is scaring him, but I've never seen him like this. She wanted to calm him, but had no idea how.

"Enough talking," Juliet said, reaching her hand out to her right. Her hand transformed back into a shadow and extended, wrapped around a light pole, and ripped it out of the ground. "If you don't fight back, I'll make this quick." She noticed Jason walking toward her, but she still assumed he was Kuroko. "Volunteering to go first? Don't move or I might miss." She raised the pole high into the air.

"NO!" Misaki yelled.

"JASON DON'T!" Kazari cried desperately.

"Jason?" Juliet turned to Kazari confused. The light pole was still held high above her, but it lowered slightly. She turned her attention back to the person she believed was Kuroko. "What nonsense is she spewing?"

Jason's face was deathly white, but his body was moving automatically. He had seen Juliet before, when Misaki showed them the memories of Eve she saw in England. He had seen the similarities and thought about it, but decided it wasn't possible. He realized now, he convinced himself it wasn't possible, even when he knew deep down who it was. The fact this girl was standing in front of him was causing his mind to freeze. Even in deadly situations, he was able to think and plan ahead. Now, his faith had been completely shattered. His body recognized the girl, her voice, the hair, and the rose long before he could consciously accept the truth. He had no idea Eve would resort to something like this. He stopped ten meters in front of her, gazed into her eyes, and said a single word. "Emiko?"

This single word nearly got him killed.

Juliet slammed the lamp post into the street less than a meter away from him. A couple chips of asphalt gave him minor cuts on his leg, but he didn't notice. "How do you know that name?" she hissed, glaring at him directly in the eyes.

"You died," Jason continued softly. "I saw it personally five years ago."

---

Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish I 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.

Motoharu: So, Accelerator, Kami-yan's ability to attract females is attached to his body?

Accelerator: Seems like it. The third is in his body and is still getting phone numbers.

Touma: I told you guys it's not like that…

Pierce: Remember the bet? You can't deny it.

Touma: ARG! Let's focus that Eve is toying with us.

Mikoto: She annoys me so much. I think I rather go clothes shopping with Shokuhou.

Misaki: That's great Misaka. My friends and I were just about to go and get some new undergarments. Mine's getting a little tight around the chest area. You know how that… I mean you will know.

Mikoto: Go away!

Kuroko: Onee-sama, I want to go with you!

Mikoto: Don't you have to go interrogate Jason or something?

Kuroko: There is always time to shop for underwear with you!

Ruiko: We are actually getting some parts this time.

Kazari: I know, it's so exciting. I feel like the author is setting us up for something big.

Shizuri: The only big thing happening is when I get ahold of Kamijou and force him to spill his guts.