AN: Hello readers! Here is hopefully the second to last part of the Project WaveInflux arc, with the next part being the conclusion of it. The only way that wont happen is if it gets way way too long, with me deciding to split it a little but will hopefully still move forward with the main arc in Chapter 14.
By the way, if any of you need a little more insight into Asher's ability (Gravity Dimensional Shift) and how blueshift/redshift works, someone had a question along the lines of that and I gave an explanation that might help if needed. It is down in the review replies and titled within it: "Further Explanation for Z's ability (Gravity Dimensional Shift)"
Well that's all I have today, so I hope you enjoy the climax of Project WaveInflux!
Please leave a review on anything you liked, think I should work on, or just any questions in general! I enjoy reading them and I will answer them at the end of the next chapter;)
Disclaimer: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun/Magical Index or any of its characters...the only things I own are:
1. My characters and
2. my ideas
Project WaveInflux Part 3: The Battle Begins! Railgun X GravShift
2 years ago…
Tokiwadai Middle School
"To a point that a potential black hole could be created in her place because of it?"
Shokuhou practically stopped breathing at the question Misaka just asked her, as her eyes widened in shock at the question itself as that possibility had never crossed her mind.
"A Black Hole? Seriously?" Shokuhou repeated aloud to let the reality of that statement to sink in as Misaka nodded her head. "Something like that would instantly wipe the city off the map if that was the case. Do you really think Asher has enough power to do something like that or that she's currently doing that right now at this moment?"
"Yes I do…." Misaka stated as she lowered her head towards the ground. "As you know, whatever that heartless man was doing to her was forcefully causing her power to grow in hopes to be close or on par with a Level 6 esper, a level that no one has ever reached before. From what it sounds like from what you said and from what I've gauged from the experiment logs, her abilities have gotten stronger but at the cost of her stability. Zierdan's hold on gravity was already exceptional enough even when she was a Level 4 that she was already considered the best gravity user in the city just by all the applications she could already do with her ability…."
"She has never shown the potential before to create something like a blackhole, but again she isn't one to ever use her full power in any case. However, if her blueshift and redshift abilities went out of control at the same time her power starts to increase or spike, it could literally tear her apart from the inside from trying to endure that type of flow for too long." She finished.
"So you're basically saying that if she continuously shifts the gravity towards her and away from her at the same time too much so, that there will be a point her body can't take it anymore and practically condense in on herself to create something akin to that." Shokuhou concluded. "In theory that could potentially happen if enough power is shifted into herself somehow from not being able to control her ability anymore. Which isn't all that great….."
"She would need to increase the power of that gravity field of hers to an extent for that to happen, and if it does, she could also cause an explosion of unknown proportions due to that reaction that no one could also be able to escape from."
Misaka tensed up at that, even though she was thinking the exact same thing. She quickly turned to run down the hallway before Shokuhou spoke up towards her again.
"What do you think you can even do in this situation?" She asked, thinking that she was insane to even fight something like this by herself. "Even with that relationship you two have, do you think Asher will even be in the right mind to be able to see reason? You can't just go out there and shoot that railgun of yours into something that is potentially going to consume everything within her radius or where she's standing…you probably need a miracle to even be able to get close enough to talk to her."
"From what I can sense, she hasn't reached the level of actually being considered a blackhole, because as you said that sort of reaction would destroy the city, meaning I should be able to get near her without too much trouble. And you're probably right, she probably will be completely disoriented from this that she may not be thinking rationally and probably even more mentally unstable than she has been these last few weeks. She may be so out of it and in so much pain that there could be a chance she doesn't recognize me or will show a considerable amount of hostility towards anyone who approaches her."
"If you know that then-"
"But even with that, I'm not just going to abandon her." Misaka stated without turning to look at her, cutting her off immediately. "She's my best friend and means so much to me that I would gladly risk my life for any probability that I could save her. I will use every fiber of my being…All of my strength to knock some sense into her and bring her back in one piece. Which may make us on a level playing field or close to one, since theoretically, electromagnetism is the stronger force in comparison to gravity, which usually gives me an edge over her since she has to compensate for something like that."
Before she could be delayed any further, Misaka took off into a sprint as she made her way out of the school.
Zierdan I swear to you…I swear to you on my life that I will save you and nothing will stand in my way to make that happen. Not even you and that damned stubbornness of yours to not value your own life as much as you actually should, Misaka thought to herself as determination fell into her eyes, sparks already flowing off of her body.
I won't allow this be the end of the bond we've built up with each other after all this time… I refuse to allow you to die believing that you are a danger to everyone around you because you are anything but that!
You will snap out of whatever is happening to you…whatever that jerk manipulated you to do to cause you to end up like this….
Even if I have to drag and beat it out of you myself!
Near Wright Industries Research Facility 7
Yomikawa was laying on the ground, half conscious as she tried to regain her bearings. She made it out of the building just before it exploded or collapsed due to some unknown power that she knew was connected to Asher in some way.
When she cracked open her eyes, all she could see were Anti-Skill agents splayed out all around her as her field of vision was covered in a haze of smoke. The air around her felt heavy, seeing a purple radiance uplifting around her as she looked around and felt a small trail of blood winding down the side of her face.
She was trying her best to stay conscious, while the corners of her vision were still darkening ever so slightly until she heard a scream from somewhere in front of her, watching on as another group of agents were taken out and sent across the ground with a powerful attack.
"Did you really think something like that was going to work? HaHahaha, it's not enough…it's not even amusing to even consider you all a challenge as you will never be able to beat me with that!" She heard a voice say from afar as someone's shadow was beginning to be seen through the fog.
"You should all just give up and submit to me…submit and stop fighting a battle you know you can't win. Or end up dying a useless but also potentially amusing death from trying to stand in my way. I'm done holding back…I'm done allowing myself to listen when no one has ever listened to me…..I will burn this whole city to the ground and destroy it without a single thought or bit hesitation!"
Yomikawa's eyes widened slightly when the fog was clear enough to see who it was, barely even able to recognize the girl in the state she was in currently.
What the hell? Yomikawa thought to herself, wondering if she also had said it aloud.
The girl she knew to be Asher was standing up on her feet unsteadily as one of her eyes were glowing the most intense crimson she had ever seen before while an intense shade of blue lied in the other, radiating such bloodlust that she had never seen in the girl before as a wide smirk was sitting on her face.
Her blonde hair was swept back as the color of her hair was overtaken in a mix of red and blue, almost fighting for control to stay on one color.
The most notable thing that sent chills down her spine was that there were also cracks that seemed to be forming on Asher's skin and along her veins, each pulsating a purple glow that seemed to increase and grow gradually as time went along.
"This feels so great! I can't believe that this didn't happen any sooner!" Asher said aloud as she put her hands out to her sides and looked up at the sky. "Ahahahaha! I feel amazing! To think it didn't take much at all to convince you to actually stop fighting with me and actually want this as much as I do. To gain something you've wanted for your entire life…to be able to control gravity on such a scale as this that no one will be able to stand in our way!"
"But…" She continued as her voice shifted slightly to something much colder as her hands fell to her sides, looking down to the ground as a shadow fell on her face. "It won't be enough…we need more and more…and more and more power. And even that may not be enough….It will never compare to what this city deserves…I….W-we t-tch…"
Asher seemed to stiffen up in that moment in pain as a burning sensation fell through her body and the ringing seemed to be increasing more and more as time went on as she clutched her head and chest at the same time, bending her knees to the ground as she trembled slightly.
"Is this really w-what I want? I don't know or remember anymore but…It hurts…Everything…j-just hurts…Someone please help….m-make it stop…I d-don't know what else to do anymore…" She said shakily in a low voice as she winced under her breath. "It hurts…..My head….h-hurts…and my body burns so so much…The ringing i-it won't stop and …and…"
"And…probably will never stop sounding off in my head." She continued as if she came to some type of realization. "I see that now….I see that the noise will never go away…That my suffering will never end. Nothing will be able to stop all this pain. The only thing that will bring me close to ending it… "
"Is seeing this city suffering as much as I am by burning and sending it into oblivion. And I won't stop until it does…until I get…when we get… what we deserve from this damned place…"
She rose up back from the ground, as her steps left a small imprint on the surface as the air around her continued to surge and surge, almost trying to pull everything towards her direction.
"I won't stop…I will never stop…I will turn into the calamity this city has wanted me to be….to be the calamity to wipe every one of these people off the face of the Earth. I don't care…I don't care anymore….they wanted me to be this way…they allowed this to happen…." She mumbled to herself as she passed right in front of Yomikawa without sparing a second glance before stopping in her tracks and sensing a blast flying up somewhere in the air.
An electromagnetic blast or special move that she was very much familiar with, prompting her to release a sigh as she looked in its direction with a dead sideways glance as no interest was anywhere within her eyes.
"So she's trying to interfere as well….to get my attention and somehow stop this from happening? How amusing but in the wrong sense. Predictable and foolish from such a naïve idiot like her…To think I ever considered her to be someone different from the rest. To be someone worth fighting this for." She said darkly as she began staggering in its direction.
"You were right…you were….always right…all she ever does is stand in my way. Doesn't even care about what I want for myself. Probably never has…I see that now….there's no one who understands m-me….no one who would care what I want for myself. Leaving you as the only one who does inside and out."
"Well, well. What fun we're going to have, Asher. Ahahaha, to fight and destroy the Railgun and Ace of Tokiwadai!" She said with a smirk, her voice shifting back to what it was before. "It's going to be great to watch her struggle against this power that still hasn't even begun to stop rising. I can hardly wait to see the look on her face when we get there. To see her groveling below my feet when she tries to save you….when you don't need to be saved anymore, since I was the one to finally open your eyes so that you could see the truth..."
"To see that there's nothing in this world who should even try to attempt to stand in our way…."
"And to see a life actually worth living for…to bring something that has actual meaning in this unfortunate existence." Asher said in a trance like voice as it seemed like the cracks and her veins pulsated purple even further while her blue eye was overtaken in a vibrant red.
"To ascend into a Level 6, even if it ends with our demise….and no matter whose lives are taken in the process, including hers…." They both said almost in unison, feeling their mindset beginning to mend together, even though Asher's personal reality and psyche were starting to tear apart from the mental strain and physical strain that she couldn't fully realize herself, feeling her actual self fading even faster and faster from it all and unable to ascend back to the surface as she had previously.
Starting to not be able to tell what was what anymore, with her only goal towards a dark path of desolation and destruction…
As she moved farther down the sidewalk and vanished out of view as if she dissipated in a purple haze, Yomikawa tried her best to reach out and call out the girl's name to see if she could make her snap out of it before she left, but she couldn't keep hold of her consciousness anymore and was forced back into the rocky slumber she was in just moments ago.
Somewhere within the 7th District...
"That should do it…" Misaka said aloud to herself after sending her railgun up in the air and stretching her arms. "That should be able to get her attention."
She was sitting in an area somewhere within the seventh district that appeared to be empty, not seeing a single person walking in the streets or even lights on within the buildings around her, even though it was usually a high traffic area at this time of day.
"I wonder if she did this…she didn't seem all that keen on coming here earlier. But I guess I won't complain, since I don't have to worry about anyone getting caught up in the crossfire." Misaka said with a sigh, wondering if Shokuhou had intervened in any capacity for this to happen.
But…Can I really do this? Can I…really come at Zierdan with my full power? Misaka thought to herself as she looked down at her hand, seeing it shaking slightly.
Much like her…and maybe Shokuhou surprisingly, we unconsciously hold back to not use the full extent of our abilities….knowing something like that could be deadly for those who try to fight against a level 5's full power or increase the risk of us losing a handle on it to end with someone getting hurt…but…
From what I'm sensing…and what I've seen from her abilities over the course of these past 4 years we've gotten to know each other….
If I come at her any less than that, she would beat me…
She…would beat me for sure….and there would probably be no one else that would have the drive to fight her, or at least try to get her back to the way she was before this….
Not seeing that any of what's happening isn't her fault.
So, I have to…. she continued to think to herself as she clenched her hand into a fist, looking up and seeing while also sensing a powerful force coming towards her.
I have to do this, for her sake…
To save the person I know is still somewhere inside….even if…
She has given up and thinks she has already lost.
In the inside of her head, Asher found herself sitting in a dark plain without anything on, with no else that she could find in any direction.
Sitting there alone with no one there to help her, as she sat there huddled in on herself.
Overwhelmed by all the feelings and sensations she was enduring at that moment in which were increasing way too much to contain as cracks appeared on the surface of her psyche.
'Who am I? What am I? What is it that I actually desire?' she thought to herself, that answer lost to her for what felt like a whole eternity ago.
'What is driving me to do this? What…is the point of it all?'
'I can't find that answer….I can't find it in myself to stop said feelings, since I honestly have no clue why they're there in the first place…..'
'Why I'm allowing it to happen….'
'There's no one here….no else inside of this void except for me….no one here to repair the damage that is being done to it..'
'I know I'm…no…'
'I think I'm….dying but I'm not sure…..I feel nothing but at the same time I feel an immense feeling of loss and sadness, as if I did something unforgivable to someone else….'
'But that can't be a possibility…since…'
'There's no one here except for me for that to even happen.'
Somewhere in the 7th District…
Asher was stumbling along on the sidewalk, power radiating from her in all directions. Her body was burning like an intense fire that refused to even flicker. Enough so that most people would probably be on the ground in a heap as they struggled with the pain.
But she was reveling in it, allowing it to fuel her drive of moving forward with what she wanted.
Her mind was such a jumbled-up mess, preventing her to not think rationally as the pavement around her crumbled under the weight of her power, escalating her further and further towards a potential power of a Level 6 esper.
Further and further unknowingly causing herself to condense too much of the gravity into herself, to lead to something no one would have seen before or be able to escape from.
"It's not enough….not enough…n-not….e-enough…." Asher kept mumbling to herself. "I need more…and more…a-and more. Even more to fulfill my desires….o-our desires…..to end all of this pain….."
As she came into full view for her to see, Misaka's resolve faltered slightly from seeing her friend, as she was in a state even worse than she could imagine.
Her face was hidden from her view, only seeing her hair turned upwards with red and blue mixing seamlessly and relentless in her light blonde hair.
Her veins and the notable cracks on her skin radiated a purple color, which she could tell was probably a side effect from how much of the gravity was condensing in herself.
"Zierdan…" She said aloud, seeing the girl in question stop in her footsteps, silence befalling the two for a time.
"What is it…what do you want with me, Misaka?" Asher asked with such resentment in her tone that it took Misaka by surprise. "What is it that you're trying to stop me from doing now? I told you…promised you that there would be consequences if you even attempted to find me…"
"Zierdan…you need to calm down and collect yourself for a second." Misaka stated with upmost seriousness in her voice. "If you don't get a hold of yourself at this rate, there's a high chance that you're going to turn yourself into an actual blackhole that could cost the lives of everyone here in this city…including you."
"And what's wrong with that?" Asher asked hollowly as she looked up, showing her the blues in both of her eyes had faded into an intense shade of red. "What's wrong with showing everyone the power of someone who's on route to becoming the first level 6 in the city? Such an event that has never happened before that I feel myself pushing towards it each and every second…"
"Didn't you hear me? If you keep allowing this to happen, it will devastate the city!" Misaka said aloud, though her eyes widened in shock from hearing the girl in front of laughing under her breath.
"And why should I care about them and this city …Misaka…" Asher asked as she swayed slightly to the side with a wild smirk on her face. "They're the reason that my life has been a living hell….if it wasn't for this place, I would've lived a normal life without this stupid ability, my mother and father would still be alive….I would've never trusted the likes of Silas, and you would have never met the likes of me!"
"All I want is for everything to just disappear!" She continued as she clutched her head, her eyes glowing the most intense shade of red she had ever seen. "B-Burning to ashes or with everything just sent into oblivion! Just so I can be by myself and stop hearing all this damn noise coming through my head! It hurts…it hurts so much, and I just want it to go away! I want it to stop!"
"And you Misaka…you're getting in my way…you're getting in my way Misaka and that's what's pissing me off the most! I thought you cared but I'm not surprised…No one cares…no one has ever cared for what I want, and I now see that you're the same!"
"Now that isn't true! I've always cared about you from the beginning! Why else would I be here standing in your way to stop you from doing something you're going to end up regretting in the end!?" Misaka shouted trying to reach the heart of the girl again. "This isn't you, Z. Fight it! Fight whatever is making you feel this way or do this! I know you truly don't want this, to see the people of this city die by your own hand!"
"Tch How dare you…" Asher said darkly as she sent a scathing glare towards her. "How dare you and others think I don't want this! I've wanted this for my entire life, and this power has opened my eyes to that very fact alone!"
"You're so annoyingly naïve to think this isn't me…this always has and always will be in the eyes of everyone in this city and that naivety of yours is going to be the mistake that is going to end up costing you your life, as I will be the calamity that brings this city to its knees whether you like it or not!"
In the response of her emotions, the power of her gravity seemed to escalate, though in turn caused a huge wave of pain to surge into Asher's body in which caused her to kneel down to the ground and clutch her head and chest in agony.
"Zierdan, please I'm almost begging you at this point." Misaka said as she reached into her pocket for one of her coins. "If you don't stop, I'm going to have to be the one to force you to and I don't really want to do that. But I will if I have to."
A wide arc of electricity burst forth around her, causing a slight shimmer in her eyes as the air vibrated around her.
"We both know I have an edge on you in terms of our esper abilities, as gravity is the weaker force when it comes to electromagnetism. If I were to use my full power on those gravity barriers of yours, there's a high chance that they'll shatter if you don't use the right amount of power." Misaka stated as she got into position with her coin ready to be sent straight in front of her. "Even if I don't want to, I will gladly use all my power to beat some sense into you! To get some logic and rationale back into that brain of yours so you can help me fix this!"
As Asher cradled her head in pain, a large smirk came on her face at the thought of it all.
"Oh really, do you really think it's going to be that easy?" Asher asked as the tone of her voice shifted slightly, layered with the anticipation of fighting the esper in front of her as she raised her arm in her direction with gravity being collected in it to propel it towards her. "Go ahead and try, Railgun…let's see what you're actually made of. Do you really think you can best me with those little coins of yours? I honestly think to the point I am now, I could deflect them without that much energy. Do you really think you'll be able to keep up with me?"
"Well it looks like I'm going to have to." Misaka said as she let out a sigh as lightning began to crash inside the clouds above them. "I swore to myself to do whatever it takes to bring you back in one piece. If I have to use all my power to do it, then I guess that's a risk I'm willing to take. I'm not going to lose to you today. Or allow you to die because of that jerk or your misplaced doubt in yourself..."
"You are my best friend…someone I can say I care deeply about so of course I would do anything to save you. Even if it means I have to fight you using my full power to do so that may or may not injure you in the process. Even if it means the same can be said for me. Neither of us will die here, but one of us will win and I guarantee that it won't be you."
Asher seemed to falter slightly at that, seeing a significant amount of conviction within her eyes and hearing it in her voice.
The whole area went silent for a few moments as rain began to trickle down to the world below before falling down consistently all on and around them.
"We'll see about that…" Asher finally remarked after a while. "Let's see if you can back up those words. Allow me to show your 'best friend' how little those bonds should even mean to her. How much more significant and valuable her bond is with me…and show you the real power that gravity holds."
They sat there in a standoff, waiting for the other to make the first move…
The second lightning clashed above them, Asher sent a large condensed wave of gravity as Misaka sent her railgun flying towards her to block the attack.
As soon as the orange beam and purple wave clashed, all of the windows in the buildings around them shattered, with the vibrance and tremors of their clash going throughout the entire city…
Signaling the start of the intense battle between the 3rd ranked Railgun and 4th ranked GravShift…
The fight that would be the end of the calamity hanging over all of their heads.
One way or another…
Near Wright Industries Research Facility 7
For what seemed like an eternity, Yomikawa was beginning to awake from her unconscious state, feeling someone lightly hitting her on the side of her cheek.
"Come on Aiho, stop sleeping on the job." The voice said almost jokingly, though holding notable concern within her voice.
When she was finally able to open her eyes, she saw Yoshikawa sitting above her wearing a small smile on her face and a bandage wrapped around her forehead.
"Kikyou? What are you doing here?" Yomikawa asked with a wince as she cradled the side of her head in pain. "You're supposed to be resting at the hospital…."
"I think there's a matter more concerning than that, so my lovely doctor allowed me to leave early." Yoshikawa answered casually, before she brought out a couple of bandages from the emergency aid kit she had brought with her. "Good thing I grabbed this, because it looks like you needed it surprisingly."
"Tch, what's that supposed to mean?" Yomikawa said with a wince after she touched the tender spot on the side of her head, gently wiping away the blood on her face.
"Well considering the fact I called you half conscious to go save Asher from an overzealous jerk like Silas Wright, I was sort of expecting there to be some sort of struggle. I didn't expect that you and basically everyone else was taken out by him I guess. He must've fled away right?"
Before she was going to answer, Yomikawa's eyes widened, almost forgetting about the current situation as she tried to rise up to her feet and immediately regretted it when hit by a wave of extreme dizziness.
"Hey, I don't think you should move on your feet yet." Yoshikawa cautioned. "You probably have an even worse concussion than I do, in comparison to when Silas took me out to go and find Asher before."
"We have a big situation, Kikyou." Yomikawa strained as confusion fell on Yoshikawa's face.
After giving her the details on most of the situation, Yoshikawa's face paled heavily.
"Well that's just fantastic." Yoshikawa said under her breath before noticing Silas laying a little ways away from them. "Hang on a second Aiho…"
Before Yomikawa could reply, Yoshikawa was able to quickly get over to Silas, noticing that he was starting to regain some consciousness as his gray eyes stared up at her.
"Kikyou, what are you-"
He was immediately cut off when she grabbed him by his collar and forcefully pushed him against the wall behind him, seeing the rage within her eyes.
"What the heck did you do to her Silas!?" She asked angrily. "I warned and told you to end this damned passion project of yours earlier than this. And when it finally is ended forcefully, you go off and do whatever the heck you wanted with Asher without even considering any of the consequences!"
"Why should I when I've possibly created the first level 6 in the city? A level nobody has ever reached before with their own power alone!" He said as he maniacally laughed before releasing a small shout of pain when Yoshikawa stepped on his injured leg.
"And look at how that worked out for you, you freaking idiot!" Yoshikawa shouted, with her normal laid backness all but forgotten at this moment. "Do you understand what you've done? If you had actually in your right mind read why they stopped the project, then you would have noticed that due to your device and her instability in general from these experiments of yours, Asher isn't a Level 6 candidate anymore, which I discovered after hacking into your computer to read it for myself…"
"Meaning she can't make it to a stable level 6 without ending in her death or other devastating circumstances or both from whatever way you go about it, which is similar to all of the other Level 5's except for the 1st ranked Accelerator…."
"But guess what you go and do: completely ignore it, even though it was best to just stop and go do something else for a change! That device of yours has detrimentally affected her brain to the point that she probably has damaged the areas that it's focusing in on, but again you blatantly ignore that and proceed with your damned plan that has most likely ended with a Level 5 esper basically going through a severe form of RSPK syndrome as her personal reality continuously falls into shambles!"
"Even if I'm not in control of her at this moment, I bet I can somehow get to that point again by controlling the sound device I installed in her head as that will still allow me to drive her power to a Level 6. I don't care what happens to her in this process, but it will be enough to satisfy me and lose my life to witness such a thing!" Silas stated before Yoshikawa's face fell in shock.
"Wait you used that ability of yours to put it into her head!?" Yoshikawa asked angrily as she stepped further onto his leg, forcing him to shout out again in pain. "Tch no wonder her ability is going out of control! What the hell did you think was going to happen!? Please tell me you at least had the nerve to turn it off before the building collapsed, Silas! Please tell me it isn't sounding off in her head increasingly stronger as time passes!"
When she saw him look away for his answer, Yoshikawa's grip on his collar faltered for a few seconds before she bit down on the side of her cheek and rose up off of him.
"I wonder what Himari ever saw in you…to think you would go off and not only kill her but also use her daughter in such a way to uplift your already finished career as a researcher says how much of a piece of trash you actually are. Let's hope your damn selfish decision doesn't go and cost the whole city." Yoshikawa stated as Yomikawa limped over towards her.
"What do you mean cost us the whole city?" Yomikawa asked seeing the hard expression on Yoshikawa's face.
"Because this idiot decided to implant that device in her head and didn't think to turn off the failsafe before the building was destroyed, there's absolutely no way to turn it off manually. Meaning her power is going to continue spiking until it reaches critical mass, or until her body gives out. When either happens, it will probably be at that point a reaction will take place that will completely wipe out the city in a matter of seconds." Yoshikawa said with a sigh as Yomikawa's fell in shock.
"No….there has to be something we can do before that happens." Yomikawa said in disbelief, seeing the conflicted expression on Yoshikawa's face.
"I honestly don't know if we can. We would need to somehow precisely locate the device inside her head and somehow destroy it from the outside. Both of which is pretty hard if she's in the state you described her to be." Yoshikawa replied before she felt the wind picking up around them.
They both had to cover their faces and brace each other slightly when a huge wind surged towards them in unison with the tremors running throughout the ground.
When they were able to open their eyes, they could see off in the distance a huge vibrance of orange and purple light fighting for control as lightning pierced the sky above them.
"What's happening over there?" Yomikawa asked over the loud gust of wind.
"If I had to guess, that must be where Asher went off to!" Yoshikawa answered. "The real question is, who or what is she fighting?"
When the massive gust of wind stopped, Yoshikawa saw Yomikawa casually walk past her, immediately grabbing onto her shoulder before she went any farther.
"And where do you think you're going Aiho? Didn't you hear that I said Asher is over there?" Yoshikawa asked.
"Yes I did hear you. I'm going over there to see if I can help her any way I can." Yomikawa said with determination.
"Are you crazy? What do you plan to do when you go over there? It's dangerous to get near her when she's like this."
"I'm going to bring her back to her senses. She's still in there somewhere Kikyou. If she was completely gone, all of Anti-Skill that went to confront her including me, would have probably been killed if she actually wanted that to happen. Meaning, she's still fighting somewhere in there to not completely cross the line. If I was able to bring her to her senses for a few moments before, I can do it again so we can figure out how to stop whatever is happening to her." Yomikawa stated as she looked over her shoulder.
"I'm doing this whether you like it or not. So don't even try to stop me as I already know the risk of going."
Yoshikawa looked at her for a few moments before she released a sigh, putting Yomikawa's arm over her shoulder as she looked back at her in surprise.
"Why did I even bother trying to talk you out of this? You're too stubborn to listen to reason when you get hooked to do something, even if it is dangerous or reckless of you to do so." Yoshikawa stated as they began making their way towards Asher's location.
"Don't blame me for it. I mean considering you were the one to introduce us to each other, I would say you're the reason I'm so hooked onto doing something like this." Yomikawa said jokingly as she heard Yoshikawa release a couple of laughs under her breath.
"Indeed I did, I guess. And in any case, there's no point in hesitating going over there. We're pretty much screwed either way, but there's a possibility this can work." She replied as she looked up in the clouds, seeing the lightning still crackling through the sky.
Especially, if whoever that girl is fighting has electric-based abilities… she thought to herself.
If I have to guess, I'd say that she's fighting that friend of hers. Someone who happens to be the most powerful Electromaster in the city….
That makes me almost want to turn back. It would be pretty risky to go over there as 2 Level 5's are duking it out.
But…
Hopefully, by the time we get over there, they'll be done or already have figured out how to stop Silas's device to stop its signal.
Even though it's risky, she should be able to do it easily by sending a strong, well-placed shock to it…which would hopefully be enough to disrupt the signal or destroy it altogether….
Though, in any case….
We'll see how good or dire the situation is when we get there…
Somewhere within the 7th District…
As soon as the clash ended by canceling each other out, Misaka instantly magnetized herself to the wall a little ways away from her when multiple streams of condensed gravity were sent towards her, running across the surface of the wall before jumping in the air and sending another railgun blast towards Asher.
Asher smirked at that already prepared to send it back. Over the years they had gotten close with each other, they had been able to learn the ins and outs of each other's abilities, leaving her an easy enough way to calculate the power and velocity of the railgun blast itself and take control of the gravity around it.
"Like I said before!" Asher said with amusement in her voice as she used the gravity to change its direction by causing the blast to circle behind her back before sending it back at her. "It's not going to be that easy!"
"Yeah I noticed…" Misaka said under her breath as she magnetized herself downwards to avoid the attack, before getting the wind practically knocked out of her when Asher sent a wave gravity to propel her into the building behind her.
When she was sent through the open window, she sailed across the room before crashing her back against the wall and falling down to the floor, hard.
"Tch, owwww…" Misaka winced aloud as she tried to rise back to her feet before feeling the gravity around her crash her right back to the ground, seeing the whole area illuminate in a purplish glow.
Asher stood outside and took control of the gravity of the entire multifloored building, preparing to drop the whole thing on the esper inside.
She hesitated for a couple seconds before closing her eyes as she crushed her hand in a fist.
"Fall," Asher said under her breath as she lowered her hand quickly towards the ground, immediately causing the building to crumble under the pressure of her gravity.
A dust cloud was immediately created as she let out a sigh under her breath, turning her back away from the demolished building behind her.
"Not even she could survive something like that." She stated as she began to walk away, before stiffening up in pain as the burning sensation in her body increased even more.
"It's getting worse…nrghhhh….." She said under her breath as she panted slightly, using the pain to fuel herself to continue walking forwards. "But it doesn't matter….it doesn't matter at all…."
As she unsteadily walked forward, she sensed something coming towards her at a blazing speed, turning around and creating a barrier before a railgun blast impacted it with a stronger amount of force than she had ever expected to come from the Electromaster herself.
Upon contact, there was some resistance before her eyes widened when it completely broke though as it grazed her shoulder and sent off toward the area behind her.
"Well that was kind of rude…." She heard Misaka pant as the dust began to clear, seeing the esper in question mostly unscathed due to controlling a dense amount of metal to shield her from being hit by any of the debris. "You're just going to leave after literally dropping an entire building on me? I thought you had better taste than that, Zierdan…."
Some part of Asher felt some sort of relief to see her standing, which was immediately overshadowed by the anger that was rising inside of herself as blood slowly fell down her arm.
"Tch damn you, how dare you try to belittle me!" Asher said darkly. "I was wondering why you chose this place….you're giving yourself a field advantage thinking that's going to save you from me!"
"I wouldn't say that…" Misaka said with some amusement in her voice as the building completely collapsed after releasing her hold of the metal behind her. "It's not my fault you sent me on the floor that had a wide range of metal at my disposal."
Asher snarled at that as she tried to raise her left arm only to see that she couldn't lift it all, realizing that the glancing railgun hit did more damage than she originally thought.
Damn it….she was able to disrupt the nerves and muscles in my shoulder, she thought to herself before a massive pain went through her head, causing Misaka's steps towards her to falter slightly when she saw the significant amount of discomfort on her face.
"Tch…AAAAARGH! M-My head! I can't think straight!" Asher said aloud as she cradled her head in her hand as the color in her eyes wavered into a blue for a few moments before returning to its red color when she closed her eyes from the pain. "It won't stop r-ringing…won't stop at all for just one freaking second….s-so much noise….I want it to stop right now! It hurts….It Hurts….IT HURTS! I can't ignore it anymore! Make it stop!"
Ringing? What does she mean by… Misaka thought to herself before sensing some sort of metal object located somewhere inside of Asher's head from afar, causing her eyes to widen slightly from monitoring the high signal it was giving off as the air started to vibrate around the girl even further and increased the amount of cracks located across her skin.
Is that sound device that Silas was using for those experiments inside of her? But how?
I'm sure it wasn't even there before, even though she still complained about it before she had left the school earlier…..
And if it is, did I somehow mess with the signal when she was grazed by my attack before?
Before she could put anymore thought into it, she heard Asher starting to laugh under her breath, as she raised her head to show off the wild glint in her eyes.
"Sorry about that," She said with a wide smirk. "It seems Asher's having a hard time ignoring Slias's device. It may be annoying at times, but to say I love what it's doing to us would be an understatement. I'm going to have her sit tight for a while so I can deal with you by myself. I honestly don't know what she sees in you to even try and resist this incredible feeling."
Misaka's eyes narrowed at her friends phrasing, noticing something that hadn't slipped past her even when she had done it earlier.
That's the second time she's has referred to herself as if she's talking about a different person…. Misaka thought to herself, noticing the subtle differences in her voice and tone when it had happened the first time and now.
"Hey I have a question for you before we start this up again…." Misaka stated, seeing Asher falter in her steps. "Who are you and what are doing to mess with Zierdan's head?"
"Wait what? Oh, you figured it out huh?" Asher asked as she stared at her from afar, letting out a sigh and shrugging her shoulders. "I guess it's not surprising, since I did let her name slip out of my mouth. Technically I'm still Asher in a way but at the same time not the one that you've ever really talked to, since I didn't come out all that often around you. She was always able to somehow keep me mostly suppressed when she was in your prescence boringly enough..."
"If I had to describe myself or us in a sense, you could say that me and Zierdan as you refer to her are basically two halves of the same whole ever since that psychopath went along and did his little experiments on her."
"What's that supposed to-" Misaka trailed off before realization came across her face. "Are you saying that you're almost like a split in terms of let's say her personality in a way?"
"I guess you could describe me that way, ahaha. Though it's a little bit more complicated than that." Asher replied. "I'll try to keep it short, but essentially I was created from all the conflict going through Zierdan's head these last few years. You could say I voiced the darker part of her thoughts that she tried to ignore during this lovely experience of her mind getting beaten down more and more by Silas's stupid mind games and experiments….And came out when it became too much for her to handle…"
"And to answer that other question you had before, I'm not messing with her head at all. I'm just opening eyes and showing her what she truly wants and that no one else will be able to understand her other than me. To allow me to show her the way of what she truly desires! Which just happens to be the destruction and annihilation of this city and all that's in it!" She finished as she propelled herself towards Misaka and pinned her against the column behind her with one hand.
"Tch, to be quite honest you, I would have to disagree with that statement." Misaka said as she winced under her breath, feeling what she was against cracking behind her. "You even existing means her head is completely messed up more than I originally thought…Zierdan is not the type of person who wants to kill people or use her abilities to devastate the city!"
"I'm not shocked to hear you feel that way, but you're so wrong! If I want this then that means she has to want this one way or another!" Asher replied darkly, as a shadow fell on her face, bringing her right hand to land a hit on Misaka, who dodged quick enough for her attack to break a piece of the column.
"I wouldn't exist if that was the case! Yeah, those experiments may have messed up her head, but I never did! I helped her cope through it all by driving her towards what she was wanting…what she needed to feel! It was her own damn fault for ignoring me all this time and only falling under my influence whenever that device redshifted her too far! I voiced the dark and selfish urges inside of herself to show her the life she wanted to live! Not the lives she was trying to protect from herself!" She shouted as she sent a powerful wave of condensed gravity, seeing Misaka use her electricity to create a metal barrier to block it as it dented upon impact.
"And you! You're the worst of all by allowing this to happen!" Asher continued as Misaka was struggling to block her attack fully, feeling the power of her attack increasing more as time went on. "If she had never met you, she wouldn't have even wanted to do this! But then again when she did, you should've known from the beginning that something was wrong, but you didn't…you never ever did! You failed her!"
"I know, I know I didn't! Tch, I should have known and I should stopped you as soon as I felt that something was wrong ….but!" Misaka said in a low voice as she propelled the metal towards Asher, causing her to move it out of the way before her eyes widened when she saw 4-5 coins flying up in the air and down towards Misaka's hand that was ready to send them all right at her.
When has she been able to send more than just 1 at a time!? She thought to herself as she bit down on the side of her cheek.
"I'm here now aren't I!? Meaning I'm going to do everything I can to make it right!" Misaka shouted with determination as electricity sparked from her arm, preparing to send all of the coins towards her.
When they launched, Asher immediately put up a barrier before being surprised yet again when each of the railgun shots hit the area around her, releasing a cloud of dust to obscure her line of sight.
"Tch, another one of your cheap tricks!" Asher said in annoyance as she sensed her coming from in front of her, sending an attack through the dust. "You can't hide from me that easily, Railgun!"
As soon as she sent the wave out, her eyes widened when it was the metal that Misaka had sent to her before, charged up with a high amount of her electricity.
No I could've sworn! She thought to herself before she saw Misaka appear out of the dust from her left out of the corner of her eye, with her hand pulled back in a fist as electricity sparked around it.
"Zierdan, I don't know what you're doing in there, but this is no time to be taking a nap!"
"TCH, Shut up! She doesn't' want to hear your illogical delusions anymore! I'm going kill you for her sake and there's no way you're going to be able to stop me!" Asher hissed as she attempted to block with her gravity before her ability stalled out as the ringing spiked to break her concentration.
Damn it, not now! How did she even know that was going to happen!? She thought to herself as she attempted to fight through the pain in her head and spun herself around to grab hold of her arm with the arm that she could actually move.
"I know you're tired and I know you're in pain but that doesn't mean you can just go and give up. So, please!" Misaka shouted with tears in her eyes, feeling Asher grab onto her arm to stop the attack as the bone nearly snap upon contact.
She wasn't able to maintain the pressure, though, as her arm slipped from her grip, allowing Misaka to propel her electrified fist into her face.
"WAKE UP ALREADY, ZIERDAN ASHER!"
"Nrgh!" Asher grunted in pain as she was propelled into the air, with Misaka's electricity adding to the forceful blow to her cheek.
She felt her entire world turn upside down and almost darken immediately after that hit, feeling as though she was in the air for what seemed like forever until the back of her head impacted the ground and her body skidded across the surface until she gradually came to a stop on her back.
What just…happened? My head…f-feels weird…I feel so tired… she thought to herself seeing the corners of her vision darkening as she stared up in the sky, with the only sound that she could hear being the rain coming down to the surface.
Rain?...It has been doing that all this time?
When did it start?
I guess with all…the ringing in my head I didn't notice…but now that it has fully stopped for the first time in months….I can actually hear it fully.
It's so…
calming….
She felt her mind clear up slightly as her eyes wavered between red and blue as she gradually closed them, allowing unconsciousness to take hold of her.
Misaka was knelt down on the ground, cradling her arm as pain was spreading through it in waves.
"Tch, owww. P-Probably not the smartest thing to punch someone when your bone was nearly broken seconds before…." Misaka said with a wince as she slowly rose up to her feet.
It seems my gamble payed off though…she probably didn't expect me to do that attack, since I've never done it before in front of her before… she thought to herself, making her way to where Asher was laying.
Thankfully I was able to time that whole attack when her power was about to spike again by keeping track of those waves that sound device is emitting through her head…which does mean that's what's more or less pushing her ability to its limits…
Hopefully, I've disrupted that device enough to buy some time, in order to get her to help me out in figuring out a plan…
When she made it over to her, she noticed that she seemed somewhat at peace, with a slight wince here and there as she panted under her breath.
Using her uninjured arm, she carefully wrapped her arm around her neck, hearing her moan just a little under her breath as she began walking them off towards a wall to lay her against it to attempt to somehow wake her up, hoping she will be cognizant enough to figure out how to stop her ability from going out of control.
Even if she's unconscious right now, I can still sense that her gravity is still condensing in on her…enough to the point that she's most likely close to reaching her limit, she thought to herself, feeling waves upon waves of heat from Asher's skin.
But even with that, there's no doubt in my mind…
That I won't allow that to happen…
Asher blearily stared up at the dark void above her, feeling herself falling down into oblivion for ages now, as the form of her psyche began to come closer and closer to shattering.
She didn't try to stop it or prevent it anymore, feeling completely lost on knowing what her true self was at this point.
'There's nothing here to help find it….'
'To know what or who I should believe in…. '
'I don't even know if I should believe in myself anymore…'
As her eyes began to fully close to allow herself to be taken completely by the void below, she heard something in the distance that seemed familiar to her.
"Zierdan!" someone shouted somewhere around her stopping her from closing her eyes completely.
'Is that'? she thought as light gradually came back into her blue eyes, feeling her form not breaking as quickly as it was before.
"Come on wake up Zierdan!"
'That sounds like her…But….'
"Why is she here, after everything I said… to her before?'
["I don't need you to tag along with me…I honestly never do. I'm fully capable to being by myself without you hovering around me to see if I crack under the pressure of trying to understand people. All you're doing right now is just creating more and more noise for my head to have to filter and I'm at my wits end and want it to stop." Asher said darkly as she opened the door. "I'm done with this stupid day…this school….and basically everything in general, including you. I'm going back to my room or somewhere in this damned city for who knows how long, and don't you even dare try to follow, because you may not like what happens if you do."]
'I know I didn't truly feel that way…but there must have been part of me that did for reasons I still can't understand…'
'Even with all this pain I'm feeling right now….'
'Nothing will ever compare to the pain I felt when she cried from what I said to her….'
She saw a light beginning to pierce the darkness above her in the form of a hand, unconsciously bringing her own to reach for it before hesitating, barely scrapping her fingertips.
'I don't….I don't deserve this…To have a friend like her…..'
'To go back to something like that…'
'After everything I did…everything I've done…'
'Especially today...'
'It's illogical to even think our friendship is still there. That she doesn't hold any resentment towards me.'
'So…'
'I should just stay here and-'
Before she could think of anything else, her eyes widened when feeling her hand get grasped by her wrist, looking up in surprise as light flooded into the void.
"Why am I not surprised…I guess I was the illogical one in this situation, since…." Asher said under her breath as she sighed to herself.
"You're always pulling me along one way or another…"
"Even if it seems like I don't have the energy to follow behind you, Mikoto."
Word Count of Chapter: 9708 |Page Count: 18 pages |Reviews: 36 | Followers: 34 |Favorites: 29
Review Replies
Guest: Don't really know what to say, other than: yep (this chapter would have probably been around 12K+ if I hadn't pushed some stuff to be in the next chapter…slightly raising the chances of the next chapter being that long lol since I'm going to do all I can to finish this mini arc in chapter 13)
Blankow: Thanks! (sorry if this is long…again…some things I did explain in detail so you or others can hopefully make sense of it all, especially for her ability)
Alright, so even though it hasn't been gone over that much yet, Yoshikawa is the one that introduced Yomikawa to Z. Even though Z tends to keep to herself, if she trusts someone enough (in this case Yoshikawa) then she tends to warm up to those that they trust a little faster.
So, the device actually hadn't been installed when she was speaking to Mikoto. It was installed during the point in time that she was unconscious after being essentially kidnapped by Silas to finish Project WaveInflux after it had been cancelled.
Throughout the course of the experiment, her mind has just basically been hammered consistently with that noise enough so that her mind just kept on filtering the noise through her head and has experienced notable damage because of it. One of the parts of her brain that was sustaining some of the most damage was her Temporal Lobe, which has a hand with processing auditory information. Due to how much this device was affecting her, it gradually made it to where she became very sensitive to hearing the sound (and in the present times, all sounds in a way) and to where her brain couldn't fully process the sound out of her head to the point where she was hearing it constantly at different intervals of volume.
They thought at first that she could reach Level 6 safely due to how fast her development was with her esper abilities in comparison to most, since she was already a level 4 in grade school. However and ironically due to Silas's constant manipulation and pushing doubt into her, her power stalled out for a time until she finally reached Level 5 status before her and Mikoto entered Tokiwadai and during which they tried to push her power for a Level 6 with Project WaveInflux. But due to the experiment itself, they found her unable to safely reach Level 6 at a safe capacity like the other Level 5's, excluding Accelerator.
So, no it isn't possible for her to reach Level 6 safely, especially after the damage from how the experiment tried to forcefully push her in that direction.
Yeah, Silas is the least of Aleister's worries. I used that part to show how delusional he was to even attempt something like this, even with being constantly notified by Yoshikawa herself that it was leading to a road of potential disaster for not just him and Z but also the entire city.
Yoshikawa did send Anti-skill. It's glossed over in this chapter, but she was trying to stop the events that transpired, under the assumption that Asher was in danger after she had learned the project was forced to stop and that Silas wasn't willing to allow that to happen.
If I did my math right (*crosses fingers*) Touma and Misaki have already met during this time of the timeline...with that instance giving Shokuhou some motivation into helping Asher in the present events...
The old geezer does happen to be Gensei Kihara. He knew from the get-go that Silas didn't have the skills to pull something like this off, but still used it to benefit from gaining research on Z's power and potential use.
Further Explanation for Z's ability (Gravity Dimensional Shift):
Blueshift= attraction
So, Blueshift is basically where she attracts things towards her with her gravity, in which in turn lowers/shortens the wavelengths around her. She is technically always in this state due to passively always having a natural field of gravity around her that her mind unconsciously creates. Something like distorting the light around her, pulling something towards her, or condensing her gravity towards her can all be examples of this type of shift.
Redshift= repulsion
Now, red shift is usually something she uses the most but at the same time does come with risk if she uses it at a high enough power too fast enough for her mind to keep up with, leading to a sudden change wavelength that does mess with her head (mostly just her personality/mood). If she knows she's going to redshift to that point, she can go that high if she wants and remain in control of herself but not for a very long time as it will send her mind into overdrive and tire her out.
The safe level of redshift is indicated when her eyes turn purple since it indicates that she is balancing both her redshift and blueshift since she's passively always in blueshift mode technically. Redshift can be seen as a repulsion in which heightens/lengthens the wavelengths around her. Barriers, constructs, waves, and when she lays gravity dimensions for herself are some that can be considered this type of shift.
Other Shifts?: Nope
And finally, these two shifts are the only ones she can do with blueshift being a force of attraction and redshift being seen as a force of repulsion. Purple is just there to show a stable combination between the two, while when her eyes turn red shows an unstable combination between the two.
For more info:
You can just ask if there are any more questions for it.:D
(Chapter 2 has the log at the end of the chapter that explains it in more technical terms if you're interested in that as well)
drak3n: Aw thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying it that much so far:`)
Thanks for your reviews!
-PurpleClover99
