July 11, 2008 ACT
District 7, Garden of Learning

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The other girls burst into laughter as Saten stared, wide-eyed at her reflection in a handheld mirror.

"W-w-wha-wha-wh-w-wha?!"

They were absolutely hideous now, her eyebrows, thick and slightly oblong. She was flabbergasted, if not utterly speechless.

"Saten, get ahold of yourself-" Uiharu attempted to console her friend, but then started to snicker again.

"It must be shocking huh?" Misaka said, having gotten over her own laughing fit.

"If you at least had bangs," Kuroko said, barely holding herself together, "you could hide them like she does."

"Bangs?" Saten gingerly stood up and moved to look at the computer screen. "AH! IT'S HER!"

"Wait, you saw her?"

"Yes! When it happened, I saw her in the restroom mirror, I'm sure of it!"

"Mirrors and cameras..." Misaka pondered, "so that's it. Her ability is limited to direct eyesight." Ominous, dark-lord-styled laughter echoed about the room as Saten stood poised, aimming a decicive finger while bearing a sinister expression on her face.

"I'm going to get her back for what she did to my eyebrows! Let's do it, Uiharu!"

...

"Hai?"

District 7, Aeternum
["Let It Rock" - Kevin Rudolf ft. Lil Wayne]

"Very nice, I remember when this was just some boring old office building."

Daniel Cooper sat at the head of a large table as one Kondo Takayuki, better known as "Trick," looked around from the indoor balcony. They were only three floors up, but the main floor of the club dropped a level, essentially giving the office levels a substantial field of vision over the dance floor, stage, and main hub. The conference room they were currently in was situated over the club entrance, providing a clear view of the stage. Daniel casually looked Trick over as his Brothers and Sisters continued a very close rendition of Kevin Rudolf's "Let It Rock." Trick was tall and lean with an ugly narrow mug, a few missing teeth, "bug"-eyes and light khaki hair which Daniel figured was bleached. He wore a sleeveless purple shirt, grey pants and a handful of various accessories on his right ear and fingers. He was a typical ruffian who often hung out with other like-minded punks in the lower areas of Districts 7, 5 and 18; gave him the impression of a dirty druggie. Trick looked down on the club below and whistled.

"How much did all this cost you kid?" In other words: what kind of money do you have in your pocket right now in case I want to rob you?

"Too much," Daniel answered. Trick laughed.

"I'd bet!" The punk lumbered over and sat down at the table. "So, what's your deal?"

"My deal?"

"Well, over the past few days there's been:" he began ticking off his fingers, "you cut off one guy's finger, two other guys have been killed, and at least five others I know about were found by Anti-Skill after being brutally beaten." Yes, and Daniel knew all about them. "And then there are rumors that you can't even use a temporary cash card when you or your friends are around."

"Now that is false," Daniel finally spoke up. "We could care less what money you bring into a district. All that matters is what money you take."

"What?"

"As for the ones you mentioned, they were more than adequately punished for their transgressions."

"Transgressions? The hell are you talking about; transgressions?"

"Well, the one who lost his finger stole from an ATM within easy walking distance of our establishment, a blatant insult, even if it was unintentional. That was supposed to be a warning, but of course most people are just terrible listeners. Then there's that pair of car thieves, treated them both to gas pipes over-the-head. Two burglars, one broke into the home of some new arrival and the other robbed a business that was paying us for the benefit of protection. And then there was that sleazy greaseball who was actually trying to peep on the innocent students within the Garden of Learning; beating him to a bloody pulp was actually something we just really wanted to do." Trick blinked a few times at the blatant explanation.

"Okay, the peeper bit is fair enough. And... the two killed?"

"Death dealers."

"What?"

"They were dealing meth."

"What's wrong with that? You're no upstanding citizen."

"Dealing Death is bad for business."

"Er... didn't you kill them?"

"That's not the same as living death, drugs are living death."

"Wha- geez, I can't tell whether you're crazy or stupid." Daniel's eye twitched. "Okay, you go after some of us because people pay you for protection, and a few others for being a nuisance, but then you kill two others who are simply doing business?"

"Doesn't matter," Daniel said plainly, "narcotics are bad for business, therefore: off limits, no exceptions."

"Oh please!" Trick rolled his eyes as he continued on. "Just what the hell are you? Some holier-than-thou criminal with a moral code bullshit?" Daniel's eye twitched again, godforsaken scumbag. "And what about the rest I hear about you; saying you can't do anything without your permission? Really?" Daniel casually reached into one of his pockets as his eye twitched a third time. "What? Are you some secret Level 5 that no one knows about? Actually, now that I think about it, just what Level are you-?"

BANG!

A loud crack reverberated around the room, momentarily drowning out the music from the club, and Trick's nose registered the burn of ozone as something white-hot creased his ear. He froze stiff, now realizing that this Daniel guy just fired an actual gun at him.

"You tell me," Daniel said, almost sneering, "what Level is a bullet to your head?"

Trick didn't say anything; perspiration beginning to creep down his forehead. Good, now he's listening. Daniel gently put his gun down on the surface of the table; putting his fingers together while resting his elbows on his side of the long table. "Now that I have your complete attention, let me clarify the situation. I didn't just waltz into District 7 and proclaim all this mine, no. I was placed here, you understand, placed! My Godfather, my Padrino, assigned three of us to this city, and I ended up with District 7. You with me so far? Good. Now; you want to do business in the District, go ahead. You wanna do honest work, go ahead, we won't bother you. You want to rob a house? You come to us first; and if the house is safe, then we'll let you rob it. You wanna establish a racket? You come to us; maybe we'll help you out. You wanna deal drugs? We'll kill you. You still listening." Trick hesitated a few moments before nodding. "Okay; here's the rub. You do any work in the District, you come to me and my brothers first, and when you're done, you hand over 20% of what you get; no ifs, ands or buts. Got it?"

"Y-y... y-yeah, y-yeah I got it." Daniel clapped his hands together.

"Excellent." He stood up. "A pleasure talking business with you Trick. Please, get yourself a drink before you leave; better yet, I'll buy you a drink, how bout it?"

["Let It Rock" - END]

Garden of Learning

"This game of tag is over," Misaka said, standing up from the swings and turning to face the little girl with dark brown odango hair and thick bangs. Behind the girl, Kuroko and Saten with a ballcap walked up.

"How?" the girl wondered meekly. "Why is my Dummy Check not working?" Misaka shrugged.

"Who can say?" The bangs girl gritted her teeth.

"This is why I hate you Tokiwadai girls!" She pulled out a taser and charged right at her. "RAAAGH!" Sparks arced as the taser came into contact with Misaka's sweater vest. But then... "Huh?" Nobody moved. The little girl looked up at Misaka as the taser continued to spark. Misaka just had to smile.

"Sorry. Those things don't really work on me, you see." She raised two fingers and made electricity arc between them.

"Um...!" She then placed a single finger on the inside of her attackers elbow, and gave her a firm shock. The girl dropped the taser, dropped to her knees, then fell face-forward.

"I am holding back, so you understand."

"Uiharu," Kuroko said, looking up at a nearby surveillance camera, "contact Anti-Skill, tell them we have the suspect in custody."

"Ri-ight." They carefully picked the girl up and laid her on a park bench.

"Now then..." Saten uncapped a black felt marker, her face adopting that villainous look from earlier. "What kind of eyebrows should I give-" she brushed back the girl's bangs- "her?" Her eyebrows were already misshapen. The girl regained consciousness.

"No!" She squeaked, covering her face with her hands up like cute little paws.

"Uh..."

"Looks funny right?"

"Huh? Um..."

"Go ahead! Go ahead and laugh! Laugh all you want! Just like he did!"

"Like he did?"

Aeternum
["True Faith" - New Order]

"Now they get the message, about frick'n time."

Trick had opted for a glass of water before leaving the club proper. Meanwhile, back in the upstairs meeting room, Daniel stretched his arms as two of his soldiers entered. One was Abe Goro, a 15-year-old Nagoya native often seen sporting a t-shirt with a FANATIC◇CRISIS logo who got kicked out of his school for getting 愛と調和 tattooed on his wrist. The other was Brandon Walsh, 16-year-old former high-school athlete from the Pacific Northwest. Also known as: Brand, Brandon is usually seen with a red bandana tied around his head like a sweatband and one-of-a-kind Nike Vandal Supremes on his feet.

"I have to wonder," Brandon contended, "how come they didn't get the message when Goro cut that one guy's finger off."

"Some scum are stupid like that," Abe said, taking a seat at the table. "Some idiots are just slow on the uptake." Daniel took out his pack of Raleigh cigarettes and a lighter.

"Well, at least now things will run relatively smooth." He put a cigarette in his mouth and put the pack away. "For now at least." He began to click the lighter. "What news from the other capos?"

"Lawernce set up shop in a high-end neighborhood," Brandon reported, "place called the: Rozu no Roze apartments."

"Rose of Roses?"

"Yeah; and they're already pulling in betting money."

"I'm not surprised." The lighter finally produced a flame and he lit his cigarette. "And the other group, what're they calling themselves again?"

"East District gNostics," Abe answered, "abbreviated EDN."

"Eden, right, now I remember."

"They're still settling into District 12, but they did settle on a front man."

"Front man?"

"JJ got the idea from the Genovese, one of the Five Families."

"Yeah, I know who they are."

"Apparently, big guys like Lombardo and Chinzeeno would use lesser men like Tommy Ryan and Fat Tony to fool the cops."

"Wasn't one of them ranting and raving while shuffling around in a bathrobe?"

"Wait what?" Brandon interjected, not believing his ears.

"Yeah," Abe continued, "but I don't think their going to go that far."

"Yeah yeah," Daniel took in a long drag before attempting to blow out a smoke ring... and failed. He waved the smoke away. "So who'd they pick?"

"Sokai Unsui." Daniel knew of Unsui Sokai, but wasn't aware of any of his exploits. "And it looks like they will be pitching their tent at District Twelve's Dogen Theocratic Academy, since Sokai is already a student there." Daniel nodded at this assumption.

"And so our business begins."

"Actually," said Brandon, "I have a question."

"Then ask."

"Why did Mr. Powers put three of you in charge of one city? Isn't it usually like, one city one capo?" Daniel gave a shrug of admittance.

"It's an experiment of sorts. Alex thinks that-" he stopped himself short, thinking for a second before asking: "Do either of you know about him?"

"Him who?"

"Him, as in: You-Know-Who Him."

"We're not talking about God are we?" Brandon asked. Daniel gave him an irritated look. "Then no, I don't know."

"Neither do I," Abe admitted, feeling like he missed something important. They're capo took another long drag before going on.

"In that case: let's just say our Padrino is trying out a new set-up. He's thinking: if you have three semi-independent capos operating in the same city, and if something bad happens to one of them, would business be able to continue?" Abe and Brandon gave each other a look.

"So... this whole outfit is a test?"

"Sort of; assuming something really bad happens, then what happens will dictate how things our done later. But he's not going to arrange for that kind of thing. This Realm, its uniqueness, its potential, is a Realm that could easily be exploited, and not just by us. Therefore, our... lets call it: Tres Tribuni system, could be considered a preemptive defense of sorts."

"But who else is there?" Brandon asked, scratching his headband. "I mean, we're the only ones who can travel between Realms-"

"Listen," Daniel interjected with a firm tone, "the only things that matter are the preservation of our Family, the well-being of our brothers and sisters, and the protection of our business. All this which we swear to: la vita nostra, this life of ours. That's all we need to worry about, unless," he raised a single finger in emphasis, "that really bad thing happens, something that shouldn't happen and will hopefully never happen. So for now, focus on the matter at hand: business. Can you two do that at least?" They both gave each other another look before telling their capo: yes. "Then there's nothing more to discuss." Daniel turned to the indoor balcony overlooking the dance floor. "Have a good evening brothers, our time here is your time."

["True Faith" - END]

Garden of Learning

"So she could actually disappear huh?" Misaka wondered aloud as the Anti-Skill van drove off.

"Now that you mention it," Kuroko added, "isn't she just a Level 2? That is odd."

"You don't suppose the data is wrong, do you?"

"O-of course not, no way."