A Certain Influx of Time Traveling Mishaps

by NeoShadows

Kamijou Touma's tale has ended. A New Magic God has risen in the future, taken over the world, and set its sights to the past for more power. Luckily, or unluckily for one unfortunate high school boy, those who have inherited Imagine Breaker's will have chased after it. When Future meets the Past, a new story is created. All to the misfortune of a certain Kamijou.

8. Human Error

Here we are again! Only one more chapter until the grand finale!

NeoShadows here to deliver the lead up to the final battle of this new Arc. At first this had simply started off as Zeroes War, but now that we're at the end, it has evolved as The Level Eater Arc. How things have changed. I'm going to have to go into detail about a few things once this Arc is done, my own Ending Notes so to say.

Before we get on with this, I must apologies. For what? Did. . .did you not notice how big this chapter is? 30K+. I went a little overboard as I tend to. I know when I wrote for RWBY; still do actually, just waiting to get over a shit load of edits; I would have some complaints about the chapter size. So, I apologies if it's a bit too much to chew. Also, did anyone else read NT22R? Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! We're going to have to talk about that at the end. First, reviews!

DN Works: God damn the finale. I may have written it, and it's awaiting edits, but it still hits me hard. It's true, those future children do have an advantage with the usual knowledge of the future at their disposal. But who ever said they knew everything? There are certain skeletons that those highly revered adults refuse to speak of even as the world is turned to flames. Though there a few who are in the know, and will do whatever it takes to even take advantage of that knowledge for their own plans. As for Mila, you'll just have to see for yourself. When one is so consumed by their own destructive emotions, they lose all sight of the world as a whole and can only gaze at the hell that created them.

BlueJack22: Dark, eh? You ain't seen nothing yet! But where there is darkness, there is light. . .I just went Kingdom Hearts there, didn't I?

Jonathanblade00: But of course! What else would you expect from a child of Kamijou Touma? Each one in thier own way cares a spark of what made Kamijou, Kamijou. And I do mean each one. In the next few chapters, you'll be catching an eye of a few more children. Try guessing them, if you can! This lively little Arc is going to erupt from here on out!

Nguyen Thanh Long: . . .I swear to god, if that Jo was suppose to end with another Jo, than. . .you are my kin. But nope! That ain't Misaki's and Touma's kid. Funny you should mention him with this chapter.

Vinzelles: Glad you're liking the story. As for the whole Divine Punishment thing, that's just an effect of the Ten Commandment's spell, not the actual name for the spell itself. Anyone who breaks the cast commandment brought down by Moses will suffer punishment from the heaven's, in other words Divine Punishment in the form of holy bolts. So, it's not called Divine Punishment in the same way that Vento's spell is literally named as Divine Punishment. I'm always careful to not copy the same naming conventions as other canon spells, so don't worry. It's fun guessing who's mother the child is, isn't? I got a few more these next few chapters, if you want to try your luck.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Same goes when you update your story. Takes me a bit to get to it, but I always thoroughly enjoy each new chapter. Speaking of which, Coronzon? Really? . . .I think I love you, or her really. Always been a fan of demons girls, and she is the Great Demon. In all the right ways. Anyways, I do really think I've gotten Kamachi's writing style down rather well. I've always liked it because it was similar to my own after I began to finely polish it. I love that I brought in Hamazura early into the game, I really do. And I've always worked carefully to make my OCs as well received as possible. As my fans from my other fandoms have told me, I got a knack for creating new characters. I'm sure you'll love the grand finale!

TazalTerminals: I wish you good luck. We got at least two more this chapter, so go wild! As for the blond boy, you'll see.

TheWookie1: Oh, you bet your ass we are! Ah, Dangan. He was something alright. It was only fitting that he was taken out by Hamazura after being punished by a 'godly' power. Oh, Deadlock. Yeah, you're going to want to read this. Shit's about to go down, for real.

Well, that's out of the way for now. What? Get to scrolling already! The show's finally begun!

---

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to A Certain Magical Index. All rights are reserved to Kazuma Kamachi.

I'm in pain right now. I hate my little brother and his fans. Because of them, I've had to suffer the cringe-fest that is known as Nyan Neko Sugar Girls. I've died inside and am now writhing in my own suffering.

Just. . .just don't look it up. Please, for your own sake! I couldn't even endure two minutes of that. . .that thing! And it's over an hour long when you add all ten episodes! As either a Writer or Artists, it just fucking kills you!

And it has a fandom after seven years! WHAT THE FUCK!?

---

Chapter 8: Human Error.

Ignored_Tears.

---

It was with one final gunshot that the swarming army of both bots and Powered Suits fell, bringing with their end a calming silence on the streets of District 7. The lumbering and towering form of a standard Powered Suit fell forward with a heavy thud as an accurate shot had shattered the occult sigil on its forehead like glass, rendering its movements null without its controller.

Yomikawa Aiho breathed a huge sigh of relief as she slowly lowered her firearm. Hitting such a small target with a handgun was a very difficult task, but she had scored the critical hit just before the rogue Powered Suit could fire off another round from its shotgun. She grimaced, her right hand going for her left shoulder where she suffered a graze from the shrapnel flying by, among other wounds. Thankfully, it appeared to be over now. Her P-Phone grew alive with chatter of the other Anti-Skill forces and Judgment forces announcing the end of the rampage of machines. Every district was calling in the end. After hours of fighting and loss, they had brought the robot uprising to its conclusion.

"Just what the hell was that about?" Yomikawa grunted as she turned away from the now powerless machines, her sights set on aiding anyone who had been wounded from the fighting.

It was nothing but pointless mayhem. After all that fighting, the master mind of the attack hadn't shown up or delivered a message of their grand plan of attack. It was. . .unsettling to say the least. Who would go through all that trouble without announcing their reason?

As much as Yomikawa wanted to discover what was the cause for the attack, her top priority right now was the safety of the civilians. She could already make out both Anti-Skill and Judgment members aiding those who had been caught up in all the chaos. She was relieved to see no bodies laying around silently. Somehow, they had survived without any losses, only heavy wounds that could be treated.

"Is it safe, Anti-Skill-san?"

Over to the far left of her position, Yomikawa spotted several students hiding behind an overturn stack of cars that had been abandoned by their owners. It had worked as a psuedo rampart to protect those students from the bullets and beams fired by the hijacked machines. It was hastily set up not by any adult, but one student. From the corner of that rampart of battered vehicles, the blue haired officer could see a girl wearing the standard Tokiwadai uniform step out with a cautious gaze of the street.

The girl's hair was a platinum purple, done up in princess curls that resembled ringlets.

Her name was Hokaze Junko; Level 4; Ability: Rampage Dress.

Yomikawa smiled gently with a nod. It was good to see that there were some students willing to put themselves in danger to protect others. Just because they were all children, didn't mean that they would panic like adults and focus on their own safety.

"It's alright now. Seems that we were able to suppress the attacking force, and it doesn't seem that anymore will be showing up. If there any injured, tell them to come out and we'll begin aiding those who need medical attention away. The rest will need to come along with me. We're going to need to speak with everyone to get a detailed description of what went down."

From the haul of cars, several more students began to move out cautisiouly. They were all girls, sporting the same uniform as the platinum ringlet haired girl. A small party of ojous stood out nervously with faces of fear that were slowly being eased. Of those girls, two of them stepped up beside Hokaze. One had a hair color similar to Yomikawa's own, falling back to her waist with few locks falling half way over her forehead with an almost passive expression. The other girl had fluffy light brown hair down to her neck and a kind face. It seemed they had done what they could to protect their fellow classmates from all the mayhem. Yomikawa would have to commend them for such bravery later.

Taking a step away to help the other Anti-Skill with evacuating the students, Yomikawa suddenly paused as an odd noise caught her attention. She frowned, feeling uneasy as she looked back to the many cleaning bots, security bots, and Powered Suits strewn about all around the streets. What sounded like static was being emitted by each of the machines, similar to the broadcast of a radio station.

It was only than that the blue haired Anti-Skill Lieutenant discovered another odd occult symbol now dotting over all the rogue machines.

". . .Tran. . .Tr. . .Transmi. . .T. . .T. . .TRANSMISSIT. . .Transmitti. . .TrAnSMItINg. . Sig. ."

A robotic voice struggled to speak clearly through the static.

Yomikawa stared at the harmless machines warily.

It was over. . .right?

---

To Touma's surprise, the path to the final boss's 'lair' had been clear of any trouble or threats.

As the party made up of Touma, Komaba, and Fremea, ran through the many halls and rooms of the facility, they didn't encounter any of the Skill-Outs who had sided with the leader of all the chaos. Instead, what they found were the knocked and groaning bodies of thugs as they passed them by. Interestingly enough, Touma did find a few with tarot cards on their bodies that seemed to keep the much more rowdier delinquents in check, almost like handcuffs. No doubt Angela's doing.

It hadn't taken too long to reach the bottom level of the facility, mostly in thanks to Komaba's friend sending them the rather accurate directions. Remembering that Index had accompanied them, it was no doubt in thanks to her that they could make their way as fast as they did.

Anxiety ate away Touma's mind as they neared their destination. This had been the longest he had been away from Index. The last time she had been out of his sight for even an hour, she had been kidnapped by some forgotten acquaintance who wanted to turn her into a vampire.

Was she alright? Was she hurt? Was she hungry? Please, let it not be the last! Now wasn't the time for that silver haired sister to be demanding him to feed her! Wait, no, Index, don't bite this poor Kamijou-san! He didn't bring any food!

Komaba and Fremea stared strangely at Touma as his face grew panicked, watching as the spiky haired boy gripped his head and swung it around as if he was trying to get rid of something invisible that was attacking his skull.

Soon enough, they reached the door to a water cooling tower of all things. From what Komaba's friend had messaged them, they were all resting and waiting for them to arrive. Touma's palms were sweaty, his thoughts filled with nothing but worry before he swung the door wide open with a frantic shout.

"INDEX! ANGELA-SAN!"

With the metal door swinging behind him, Touma dashed in, eyes scanning the large cement bricked nuclear cooling tower for the nuns in question. His face grew anxious, noticing the signs of fighting around the large room; several spots were marred with explosive scuffs and smoke, and several dried blood stains could be seen on the steel floor. His mind immediately thought to the worst outcome. His breathing grew labored as he felt panic take over; his right hand reached for his chest and grew tight, trembling with a dark emotion he had only felt once before.

It had been when he had been fighting the Aureolus Dummy. After seeing what that impostor had done to the other students of the Misawa Cram School, turning them into molten gold to attack him with as if they were just petty resources, Touma had momentarily lost control of his own emotions. Having grabbed the deadly gold dart chain, he had given into those cruel, seething, spiteful, and dark emotions and strangled the bastard, caring little if he had crossed a line he should have never even seen.

An ominous shadow had grown over Touma's face, teeth grit together like grinding stones, his fist trembling with a rage and frustration he wasn't sure he could contain. That dark, destructive gaze soon found the lone figure in the facility resting back against a wall to his left, a figure he had already met with before.

"Deadlock."

Touma spat scathingly, finding the scarlet suited mercenary, beaten and wounded, the boy's suit torn with burns of severe blisters crawling over his skin. It was clear that the Queen Diver suit boy wasn't in any condition to be making any move, not with his body so heavily wounded. And yet, that Level 0 decked out in a suit created to eliminate a certain Level 5, had enough strength to smirk weakly at the seething high school boy.

"So. . .the clown finally. . .arrives. Heh. . .too. . .late. . .though." Deadlock grunted, his voice speaking of pain and discomfort despite the mocking tone.

'. . .ggggrrrrrrrggggwwwwrrrggg'

A deep coursing, vicious, burning pulse had grown in Touma's right hand, enough to nearly take over all his senses with the agonizing pain. It was the same disturbing sensation that had taken his breath away while resting in his search for the girls. But unlike before, the throbbing force had mixed in with his overwhelming hate at the smug smirk on Deadlock's bloodied, burned face. Touma's expression only grew deeper with a vile rage at what the red suited boy seemed to hint.

Touma wasn't sure what the origin of the alien pressure was from, but he had the sudden urge to stop keeping whatever the invisible pressure that was contained in his arm, that seemed to thrash in an eager frenzy for freedom, loose on the bastard.

Too caught in his rage, the normal high school boy was unaware of the small cut along his right hand that leaked a high pressured hiss of invisible energy.

All it would take was a single second. A single second for those dark, tempting, overpowering emotions to unleash something that the world was never meant to witness to tear through all that stood it its way.

Whatever IT was; that unseen, vile, cruel, seething, alien pressure in his arm; if he let it go, he wasn't sure that he could contain it from devouring the son of bitch who dared to-!

"TOUMA!"

The excited, happy, bright exclamation from that most treasured someone was all it had taken for those cruel and malicious emotions to be banished, quenching the dark twisting flames that had been spun in that panicked moment. The shadows born on Touma's twisted expression dwindled away as his head immediately turned to find a silver haired missile soaring through the air on a collision course with the unlucky boy.

Touma couldn't find it in himself to admonish Index as she came in with a flying hug, feeling nothing but bubbling happiness as his arms encircled Index's small body tightly against his chest. A wave of relief washed over his being as he couldn't help but hug the nun he had protected for this long.

No one had seen it, but that spiky boy's body had only for a moment flickered. Like an overlapping pigment of. . .psychedelic hues. It was so faint and quick, no one would have seen it without a nigh perfect sight.

"Index. . .you're safe." Touma spoke softly with a smile.

The silver haired sister giggled as she responded with rubbing her face happily against her caretaker's chest. Her caretaker's. . .naked, sweaty, dirty chest.

Both Touma and Index froze perfectly still as they came to notice the awkward position they were in. Her face was pressed firmly in his sweaty pecs, her arms circling his waist and hands clinging to his back, and her small chest could be felt below his waist. A crimson flush painted over both they're faces as Index stared at Touma's shirtless chest, pressed against her very face. Touma shivered, feeling Index's warm breath and soft female skin touch his own, the sensation only burning his face up even more. He gulped, finding a dark aura spring up from the supposedly holy sister.

"TOOOOOUUUUUMMMMAAAA! WHY ARE YOU HALF NAKED!?"

The heart warming moment was shattered by the leaping jaws of death that sought only retribution.

"GGGGGGAAAAAHHHHHH! SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

It was to the sight of a shirtless high school boy, covered in wounds and a silver haired nun of all things feverishly chomping down on his head like a dog to a bone, that greeted both Komaba and Fremea as they finally made their way in. The leader of Skill-Out remained stoic at the odd sight, simply quirked a brow while uttering a small grunt. Fremea on the other hand. . .

"Nyaa! What's that nun doing to Kamijou-onii-san!? Bad nun, that's a very bad nun, nyaa! No biting my onii-san, he's not a chew toy!"

Dropping down from the noble and trusty steed known as Komaba Ritoku, Fremea ran over to the growling, wild nun and jumped into the fray, further bringing along chaos as the three wrestled another. Index only bit down further onto the poor Kamijou's head at the sight of yet another woman; Fremea latched onto Index's back and fought to remove the bear trap teeth that were the nun's teeth from Touma; and Touma could only roll around the floor and cry out his usual misfortune. If this had been some crappy anime, this would be the part where the three would kick up a dust cloud of wrestling limbs.

Off the side, unnoticed by the odd spiky haired boy who had walked, Hamazura was laid back against the right side of the wall with a bewildered expression on his face.

'What the hell am I witnessing right now? First this scary faced nobody barges in without a shirt on, than he's hugging the silver haired sister like some scene from a shoujo manga, and now he's being bitten by someone who's suppose to follow god's teachings. And what the hell is Fremea doing here?!'

Wait, didn't that nun mention something about threatening him with the Touma Treatment? Was this it? Well, thank god if there is one that he didn't have to suffer that! Hamazura swore he could see blood running down the unlucky spiky haired boy's skull! Was that chick really a nun?

"Really, Index! You should know better than to chew on Kamijou-san's head like that! I thought we went over this already! The human skull can only endure so much crushing force!"

Groaning at her future mother's actions towards her father, Angela quickly went over to release Touma from his unjust torture. While it seemed impossible for anyone else to tear Index off from Touma once her deadly pearly teeth clamped down on his skull, Angela found it oddly simple; all she had to do was deliver a soft, yet firm chop to a certain spot on her mother's head. Seemed she was the only person in this entire world who could accomplish such a feat in such short time. The raven haired, mature sister giggled as Index let go before swiftly turning her head away with a huff from the groaning Touma. It was cute to see how her parents had interacted in their youth.

"Nya! Watch out, Kamijou-onii-san! It's another rabid nun who wants to swallow your swollen head!"

Wording, damn it.

Angela blinked once, finding what she could describe as the most adorable set of blue eyes glaring at her with hostility as their owner hugged Touma from behind. Her eyes took in everything she could see from the small blonde girl, from her cute beret, her frilly clothes that reminded her of some video game idol, to her adorable attempt of a glare as she wrapped her small arms protectively over Touma's neck. She couldn't help herself.

"SHE'S SO ADOWABLE!"

Angela squealed like a high school girl. Which, if she had gone to school, she was.

Fremea wasn't sure how it happened, but the next thing she knew, she found her small body coddled in the arms of the saintly raven haired girl. Unfortunately, no amount of wriggling could free her from the oddly affectionate nun's clutches.

"Awww, you're just the cutest little lost lamb I have ever seen! Tell me, have you heard of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ who will lead you into heaven?! The same heaven I can one day find you and dote on you when we are all welcomed into his loving arms one day?!"

"Nyaaaaaa! If it's the same heaven where you're lurking at, than I rather go to hell, nya!"

"I think I'll call you Lamb-chan, and you shall by my poor, sweet, little lost soul who I shall guide to paradise!"

For the poor, lost, helpless little lamb known as Fremea, no amount of struggling could free her from the older nun's loving embrace. A Saint had her now, for better or worse.

Komaba smirked at Fremea, finding the girl's pleading blue eyes asking for his aid. Normally he would go to his friend's rescue from trouble, but he thought better of it this time. Besides, he had something more important to take care of. Seeing Hamazura resting close by, Komaba wandered over to his shaggy blond friend's side. He was pleased to see that his fellow Skill-Out wasn't too injured, only a few scraps, bruises, and burns. Despite how damaged and torn Hamazura's clothes told of some major wounds, the blond was fine, if not appearing exhausted.

Hamazura grinned as Komaba walked over to his position. It was good to see his boss unscathed by all the fighting. Though once the large, intimidating man got closer, Hamazura did notice a few bruises and dried blood on the boss's chin. And was that black spray paint over his face?

"Glad you could make it, Komaba." Hamazura grunted as he got back up on his feet. Whatever that nun Angela had done to him had certainly relieved the worst of his wounds, but she had also been right about his body still not fit enough to move. His fight with the Deadlock bastard had taken one hell of a toll on him.

And Komaba noticed from the subtle frown on his stern features. Seeing his friend stumble slightly on his feet, the muscled thug leader gripped onto Hamazura's shoulder to steady him.

"You've had a long day, haven't you, Hamazura." What Komaba had asked could hardly be called a question.

Hamazura laughed sheepishly, his voice speaking of all the hardship and struggles he had luckily survived.

"Boss, you wouldn't believe the day I've had. You ever been dragged around a district engulfed with gang warfare by two nuns and a high school girl while fighting an out of control Esper, a Top Dog of District 10, and a mercenary wielding a pile driver of all things?"

Komaba wasn't sure if the shaggy blond haired delinquent was exaggerating even a tiny bit.

At the mention of a mercenary, Komaba's gaze strayed to the far end of the room where a certain red suited boy was kept a safe distance away from the others. He narrowed his eyes.

"Deadlock."

"You know the guy?" Hamazura asked in surprise, getting a slight nod from Komaba.

"A few days ago the boy had walked in to one of our bases to speak to me about some idiotic scheme to take complete control of District 10. He seemed to realize I didn't care for the title of Ruler of District 10 or the Bank Cards he offered for participating, so he offered a different proposition; to bring down Academy City's Power Curriculum Program. As you can already guess, I didn't buy into the sweet talk and declined his offer." Komaba's eyes grew dark, focused on the Queen Diver suited boy who he know realized was responsible for all the trouble in the last seven hours, "Deadlock wasn't the first to speak of overthrowing Academy City and its Espers, many other Skill-Outs and Level 0s, along with the occasional lower leveled Esper, had the same idea, but they all fell short of ever making any noticeable waves against the city. So, I had brushed him off as another small fry that was all talk and no bark." he growled.

At first Komaba had believed that the boy known as Deadlock was just another faceless idiot who could only think of causing trouble for his own sense of revenge. Other than the boy's high tech suit that was designed to defeat Espers up to Level 2, possibly 4, there was nothing else that caught Komaba's attention. Everything Deadlock had spouted was the usual dribble he had already heard from others who found themselves labeled Level 0; Academy City was unfair to those with No Power, those with Levels above 0 abused them for their own sadistic pleasure, the stipend they offered them was barely enough to live by, and they were seen as nothing more than fodder for the strong. It was nothing but useless chatter to his ears now.

If Komaba had known this was what Deadlock had been planning from the very beginning, he would have snuffed him out where he stood.

"What's the situation, Hamazura?" Komaba asked, his eyes never leaving the defeated red suited mercenary. His watchful eyes refused to miss even a twitch from Deadlock. He would not allow the boy to cause anymore trouble. It was then that he noticed something odd. On the center of Deadlock's chest was a tarot card, one that was commonly used by the occult.

Hamazura scratched the back of his head in thought. Despite how far he had made it into the final boss's lair, he still didn't have much of a clear idea of what was going on here.

"Don't really know, Komaba. Like I said, I was dragged along into all this by those two nuns over there." Hamazura pointed to the Angela and Index; the raven haired and older sister continued to snuggled poor Fremea while Index tried to help the small blonde out of her fellow sister's crushing grip, "From what little I've heard from that Deadlock bastard, this entire nuclear plant is the base of his boss who ordered him and several other fake Skill-Out factions to cause as much trouble as they could. Why, I don't know. All this just seems far too simple to be anything more than elaborate. I mean, they dragged all of District 10 into a war; and for what? If the leader of all this was intending to carry out some grand master plan, than wouldn't they want to do it silently instead of grabbing the attention of Academy City? Anti-Skill and Judgment would no doubt come sniffing them out." Hamazura explained in frustration as he tried to wrap his head around everything.

A sudden realization had struck both Hamazura and Komaba at that moment. Currently, District 10 was in the middle of a gang war, one that had taken over and spread throughout the veins of the abandoned block like a raging virus. All those who called themselves Skill-Out were battling out for control of this useless district for their own petty reasons after several misunderstandings brought them to fighting. Gang warfare would no doubt draw the attention of those whose responsibility it was to protect everyone in this city, even no good delinquents like Skill-Out.

But in the entire time that the gang war had been spurned by that nameless puppet master who played them all into fighting on the streets of District 10, no one had seen any sign of either Anti-Skill or Judgment. The protectors of Academy City were silent, showing no sign of moving in to stop Skill-Out from bathing the streets with blood. They had ignored them.

Why?

". . .Something doesn't feel right about this, Boss."

Komaba didn't answer back. Like Hamazura, he realized that this whole scheme ran much deeper than he could have possibly thought.

Off to the side of the two Skill-Outs, Touma was looking around the cooling tower for a missing head of unruly hair. Someone was missing from the party.

"Hey, Angela-san, Index, where is Toka-san?" Touma asked with a hint of worry in his voice. While he hardly knew a thing about the strange girl who seemed to show signs of at least knowing of the past him, he still felt the oddest sense of concern for her well being.

Relenting her grasp and allowing Index to pull the adorable girl known as Fremea from her, Angela turned back to Touma. The older of the two nuns walked over to address her future father's question, but before she could say thing, Angela found her green eyes wandering down to his chest. She made a sound of interest, lowering her face down to stare at his naked pecs as if she was inspecting a piece of machinery.

Soft feminine hands began to roam over Touma's chest out of curiosity, much to the plain high school boy's disbelief.

"Hmm, I suppose your muscles are decent, maybe even exceptional for a high school boy who doesn't workout or focus on his core. But you could definitely do better. I'm going to have to make a note to order some weights and look up some routines to help further build up your muscle mass. You're still far from the hero I pictured you to be." Angela muttered to herself as her hands began to run over the now red faced Touma's chest muscles and arm with no shame.

Her father in the future wasn't what you would call muscular, in fact you wouldn't even know it when you first looked at him that he was physically stronger than most. One word to describe his form would be; Lean. Like an Olympic athlete. All those years of fighting supernatural opponents had sculpted his body into peak human condition that had allowed him to keep up with people who's stamina's were literally godly. If the BREAKERS wanted any hope of their father becoming stronger for when he faced the Magic God of Ruin, than they would first need to start off with helping his current self build some mass.

She was upset to see the number of bruises, dried scrapes and cuts, and burns on Touma's body in her inspection. Her father had surely gone through some perilous events since they had been separated. As much as she hated it, it was for the better that Touma had to go through all that fighting on his own. In the end, it was all experience her father desperately needed to build up his strength for an even greater threat. She just wished it didn't have to be so painful for the one man she cherished above all others.

"ANGELA-SAN! CAN YOU PLEASE GET YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM MY LOWER ABDOMEN, PLLLLLLEEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE!?"

Too caught up in her own little world, Angela had forgotten that feeling up a high school boy, let alone someone who would become your father, with their shirt off in front of others wasn't exactly acceptable. It was then that she realized her hands hadn't stopped their wandering of Touma's muscles, having basically touched just about every fiber before they had begun to wander south of the border, if you know what I mean. It also didn't help that her own body had pressed itself against Touma's back, her above average breasts rubbing against the boy's naked and wounded back absently.

Seriously, if anyone were to know of the secret bond and connection those two hand, there would nothing but shame and disgust. All aimed at a certain unlucky spiky haired boy who was completely innocent of the erotic undertones.

"TTTTTOOOOUUUUMMMMAAAA!"

"Index, please! This Kamijou-san isn't the guilty party here! I'm not the one who's feeling up a high school boy, and also a woman of the church! If you think about it clearly, I'm the victim! This is nothing short of sexual harassment!"

Those deadly pearly white jaws of death were more than ready to chomp down onto Touma's skull. Sweat poured down his dirty face, his doom only further set in stone as Angela giggled and only pressed her guiltily soft and pillowy chest against his back.

"My, my, Kamijou-kun! What hard muscles you have here. You really should go without a shirt more often and show these bad boys off." Angela words were nothing more than oil to an already burning fire.

Seeing this jealous side of her mother was adorable in Angela's eyes. And nothing made her happier than messing with her parents, especially her mother who in the future was a lot more regal and composed than her current self.

Steam bellowed from Index's face as her milky white complexion turned bright red. It didn't help that her eyes had strayed to wander over Touma's naked chest. Seeing the boy who had saved her life, dragging her from the depths of hell, in such a position, caused her own heart to drum against her small chest. He just looked so. . .manly.

If this was a shounen manga, his very image would appear stern, his muscles ripped, the picture image of a battle hardened protagonist standing boldly.

". . .Index? Are you, alright? Is that. . .blood running down your nose?"

"Oh, my!"

Index turned away from both Angela and Touma with an embarrassed huff, shaking her negatively while also discretely cleaning off the guilty nosebleed. Stupid Touma.

Wanting to get back on track, Touma repeated his question. Angela tapped her cheek in thought before answering.

"Well, after we rested up a bit, Toka-chan decided to scout the area ahead. She never was not one for sitting around doing nothing. Honestly, that girl acts too much like a boy than a proper lady."

"Is that safe?"

"Don't worry, I made sure to seal the red suited boy's movements with a rune embedded on a tarot card. It appeared that Deadlock was the final form of security that the leader of this mess had to protect them. All the other no good heathens were dealt with."

"Yeah. . .we noticed that." Touma said slowly, remembering that tarots left in the wake of the Skill-Outs defeat among scorch marks. He was pretty sure he saw a few with knuckle imprints on their faces too.

"I admit, I may have gone a little overboard." replied Angela sheepishly.

At the mention of the unruly haired high school girl Toka walked back with a displeased expression from a set of stairs that lead up to a higher level. Just like Hamazura, her clothes were battered and torn by her fight with Deadlock, but her wounds were light compared to before thanks to Angela's healing incantation. With a passing warning glare to the disgruntled Deadlock who sat against the wall close to the open vent in the middle of the cooling tower, Toka finally noticed the three new guests joining them with her eyes locking onto Touma.

"Kamijou-san!"

The happy shout brought Touma's attention to sight of the unruly haired high school girl running over. He smiled, glad to see that the hostile aura she had once possessed had been ridden. He was still confused about Toka, she had spoken to him as if she had known him once before, as if he had failed her in some way. He honestly believed that she had been someone the past Kamijou had known and cherished, only to be forgotten as he was replaced by this no good shell. He was hesitant to talk to her and realize that he had hurt someone who could have meant something special to him.

But with how things were now, there really wasn't much time to dwell on a past that would no longer come back to him.

"Hello, Toka-san. Are you feeling alright?" Touma asked, noticing she had her own fair share of injuries.

Toka grinned as reached Touma. She couldn't help but feel happy now that she had been properly reunited with her father. She still had some dwindling memories of how she had reacted with him, and she felt horrible for how she treated him. A dark pit buried with emotions she never wanted to deal with had been uprooted by whatever curse that damned Magic God of Ruin had placed on her and she had said all those cruel things to Touma. Thankfully, Touma's right hand had dispelled the effects of the Magic God's curse, freeing her from its machinations before she said something she would regret for the rest of her life.

Even after all she had said to him, Toka was glad to see that Touma still worried about her. The grin on her face just grew giddier now that she stood in front of him.

This was what she had been fighting for all this time. To once again see the man who inspired her to do the things that she did.

"I'm fine, Kamijou-san. Thanks to you."

In the face of such a bright and cheery expression from a high school girl his own age, Touma couldn't help but look away with an embarrassed blush. Even if she appeared plain when compared to other girls he had met, their was something kinda pure about her.

"I didn't really do much, Toka-san. At least not enough to warrant thanks." Especially one so sincere.

Toka shook her head, her eyes soft and warm as she spoke to the very man who meant so much to her.

"No, you did. More than you could ever know." she muttered softly as she looked away shyly.

It was taking all Toka's will power to not hug her father without it being weird.

". . .Touma's doing it again, isn't he?"

"Now, now, Index. Such things are taboo. Though, seeing as this is Kamijou-san, I shouldn't be surprised."

Touma felt a chill run down his spine as twin dark aura's grew behind him. Weren't nuns suppose to radiate an aura of tranquility and peace?

Watching with a twinge of jealousy at all the female attention Touma was getting, Hamazura couldn't help but want to punch the spiky haired guy's lights out.

"Enough with all the shoujo crap! Aren't you heroes suppose to be taking care of something?"

Deadlock's mocking tone brought everyone's attention to the red suited boy's sneer. Touma scowled as he walked over to the boy who had called the past Kamijou's actions a distortion; someone who had been nothing more than a convenient illusion. Deadlock smirked at the sight of the spiky haired teen, noticing all the burns, cuts, bruises, and grime on just about every inch of Touma's skin. It seemed the so called hero had been caught up in a few other matters before arriving to the stage.

"You're late, clown. Seems your understudy had to make up for your missing spot light alongside another idiot to keep the show running."

"You were stopped either way, by Level 0s no less. So much for Level 0s being weak and powerless, huh?"

Deadlock chuckled gravely, "You think this proves anything? Zeroes fighting Zeroes is nothing new. You've seen out there in the streets, people without any worth or grain of power, beating each other into bloody mush over trivial crap. No, if anything, it's because of the system created by Academy City that we're left to turn on another. It's why all the students, high level and low level, are always fighting each other! It's because of the Esper Development Program that such tension and suffering even exists! All the distortions in this world of ours that is Academy City are created by Academy City!"

"So, your placing all the blame on the shoulders of Academy City for everything now? You still refuse to accept any of the blame yourself?" Touma glared.

Deadlock scoffed to the side, his eyes refusing to meet Touma's own like a stubborn child.

"Can you really say that the Esper Program isn't responsible for everything? That it's not the core of all the problems? The greatest distortion to the world was born with the promise of power to children who could never know any better?"

It was a loaded question. In a way, the red suited boy was right; many of the troubles in Academy City could be attributed to its creation of Espers. Skill-Out itself was born from Level 0s who were unable to bear any fruit of progress as Espers. Students harassed other students based on their Level as Espers because of a hierarchy created by Academy City. The Darkness in Academy City thrived because of the program that provided them all the guinea pigs they could possibly need. When it came down to it, Academy City was at fault for all the pain and suffering in their little world of science.

But the opposite could be said as well.

"You keep calling it a distortion, an illusion that creates tragedy to all in this city. But isn't the opposite true? Isn't Academy City also responsible for all the happiness the students find?"

"Happiness?" Deadlock sneered with a taunting smile, "Isn't that just another illusion? Ignorant of what lays beneath the surface of their reality, of the darkness that creeps behind their backs. You call that 'happiness'? I call it a blissful lie."

"Than why shatter it?!"

The shout shut Deadlock up, his eyes staring at the spiky haired boy with surprise.

Touma clenched his fist, knowing that what he had just said wasn't something to be expected from him.

"You're right, underneath the surface of Academy City, there lays a dark underbelly that twists the good intentions of others for their own desires. I've gotten a peek of it now. I know very well that it exists! But that's not all that makes up the world! All you've been seeing this far is pitch black and ignoring the light! That light isn't some illusion for you to corrupt or destroy! Those smiles, those laughs, those dreams; what fucking right do you idiots have to destroy that blissful world!?"

"So, what?! Do you expect me to stand aside and just let everyone suffer in silence!? That I should just ignore all the harm that Academy City creates!"

"I'm saying that no amount of so called justice is enough to make up for all the lives that you trample over in the process!"

Where was the justice in freeing others with the bodies of the innocent? If Academy City was solely responsible for tragedies overlooked by everyone, what good was making them suffer in return? What good was getting rid of the Power Curriculum Program? What right did they have to get rid of the dream so many students were working towards?

The eyes of that simple Level 0 who had only desired to return back to his normal life were firm, refusing to budge in the face of one who strove to bring terror to the city. All in the name of saving others.

"From what you've been saying, it sounds like you only wish to protect everyone who's been harmed by Academy City and its Power Curriculum Program; you want to shield them from the darkness born from those who want to twist their wishes for profit and science. But can't you see? You're doing it wrong!"

"AND HOW THE HELL WAS I WRONG WHEN COMPARED TO YOU!?"

The tarot card restraining Deadlock's movements trembled, struggling to contain the heavily wounded red suited boy. Deadlock's eyes were livid, his face twisted by a deep seated rage as he fought to break free from the odd force keeping him still. It wasn't much, but he had mustered enough willpower to rise back up, his body audibly straining against the magic keeping his arms still, to stand up to the very shadow that had once thwarted his good intentions long ago.

Everyone watching the two Level 0s speak went on edge, ready to intercept the deadly Queen Diver boy at the drop of a dime. Touma was different, not showing any signs of hostility as he met Deadlock's seething gaze with his own unflinching gaze.

Something had broken down inside Deadlock as he spoke with Touma, as he spoke to who he believed was just a normal boy manipulated to play a hero to weaken his resolve. It was only then, as he continued to speak with the spiky haired boy, did he come to a painful truth. That the Kamijou Touma he had seen as an illusion of his doubts had never been anything but real. That even though the memory of that boy had been lost to events he was no longer sure of, the simple boy who had once again stood in his way was the same as back then.

After so long since seeing that honest and earnest hero again, someone Deadlock had once hoped to meet again after everything had been settled, he could finally ask the question he had longed to be answered by only him. A question born by the impact of a normal fist that carried an unscientific weight behind it.

"Why did I lose?"

Deadlock and Kamijou Touma were both Level 0s. Both boys had no special powers to them. They were given the same Level by Academy City for their lack of progress. Both had wanted nothing more than to protect the people behind their backs. And both had been willing to go against the innumerable odds stacked against them to save people who've they've never met. In a way, they were the same.

So, why? When the two clashed, why was it that Deadlock's own resolve had failed to overwhelm a random boy who could only throw his fists around?

It had been a question always in the back of Deadlock's mind as he returned from his failed assassination of Shokuhou Misaki. Nagging at him like some gnawing tick that demanded to be addressed. But Deadlock had never been able to address the question, of the difference between the two boys resolve, as he had once again found himself drawn into the Darkness of Academy City. Perhaps that too had been due from a weakness in his heart. He had thought it better to ignore it and continue working on his own as a tool against those who despised the workings of Academy City. The resolve and conviction he had believed had been thrown away, working only for whatever his employer had demanded of him.

Than Deadlock had taken this job, going along with Mila's plans which had reminded him of his own forgotten resolve to fix this world. For a time, he had believed in that foreign girl's wish that would topple Academy City's precious Power Curriculum Program. A fire had been reignited that had him working alongside Mila with passion he had once lost.

But than their plans had hit a snag in the form of a random civilian getting in the way of the capture of Dr. Tatsumi. And Deadlock had been greeted with the face of that unanswered question.

When once again faced with the boy he called a clown, Deadlock had found an even stronger desire growing to snuff out that passionate flame. The opportunity for that unanswered question to be answered had been presented to him. But yet again, his weak heart had created excuses and reasons to keep his mouth shout. Until he could no longer take it.

"Why was I wrong when compared to you?! Hadn't we wanted the same thing?! Didn't we have the same desire to protect those who stood behind us, cowering and fearful, of the world that had them cornered to their own weakness?! We both fought for what we truly believed in, bleed for those we truly cared for, and put our lives on the line to attain some kind of happiness we could hold with our own battered hands! When it came down to it that day and today, we had both wanted nothing more than to bring peace and a bright future for those who couldn't do it for themselves! SO, WHY WAS I WRONG!? WHY DID I LOSE!?"

Those desperate, agonized, and tortured cries of the boy in the scarlet Queen Diver, who no longer possessed the strength to fight, rang out to those within in the cooling tower.

As twisted as his ways had been, as much suffering as those actions created, and for all the blood and mayhem he had caused; all Deadlock had wanted was to protect others from the darkness that lurked in their blissful light.

Was such a wish really wrong?

"I don't know."

Those weren't the words Deadlock had wanted to hear, least of all suspect. Hearing the uncertain answer had left the scarlet suited boy uncertain as well, unsure of what to say back to the honest confusion on the spiky haired boy's face.

"To tell you the truth, I really have no idea why that Kamijou-san won back then; especially if what you're saying about fighting thirty more guys wearing the same suit as you is true. Going by that, I should be dead!" A normal high school boy, fighting thirty Queen Divers, with his ability shattering right hand, Imagine Breaker, useless; it was a losing fight. Yet, the Original Kamijou Touma had not just survived, but defeated them all by himself? There had to be more he wasn't hearing. A slight discomfort arose in his temple that he ignored before continuing with a puzzled frown, "But you lost. For whatever reason, you lost that time. I don't know why, I don't think I could ever honestly tell you why, but I do know for sure one thing."

"And what's that?" Deadlock sneered.

"I'm not sorry."

Even though Deadlock had fought to protect something grand, the freedom of oppression and judgment from a city that deemed them a numerical value of worth in their eyes, to save those suffering under experiments that they had believed would make them special; Touma was not guilty in the slightest for standing in that scarlet suited boy's way. Because that borrowed heart refused to feel any guilt for its past actions.

Touma found himself staring down at his right fist, the very tool he had used many times since he awoke with no idea to his character or his own ideals and beliefs. That very fist had beaten down Deadlock and many others with violent swings and knuckles painted with blood. Hadn't those like Deadlock, and even Aureolus, been fighting for something precious too? Weren't they all in some way the same?

So, why had Touma been the one to come out of each conflict the winner?

He wasn't sure why. . .but, he might have an inkling as to something that would sound right.

"When I think about it more clearly, you were fighting to only save a selected few. You were fighting for the everyday students in Academy City who were silently suffering under this very city's pressure of expectations. And yet, you used members of Skill-Out as pawns to be thrown away in your pursuit. You willingly threw those Level 0s who were just like us, under the bus that carried the majority you believed deserved to be saved. Someone who saves others at the cost of tossing others aside, isn't someone Kamijou Touma is willing to ever lose to."

It was taking all of Deadlock's remaining strength not to push his body forward and attack the patronizing high school boy. What the hell kind of answer was that? It wasn't satisfying in the least! This was suppose to be the heroic clown who had not only stopped Deadlock's gang, but made his way through the raging streets of District 10's gang war in one piece! Someone like that should have had something to give him some kind of closure for all the suffering the hero had caused him!

"Not everyone can be saved. Those Skill-Out idiots abandoned trying to do any good at all and turned to harming everyone! They're domestic terrorists for fuck's sake! The only good fodder like them were any good for is a distraction!" Deadlock ground out through grinding teeth. His comments weren't taken well, least of all by the large bodied leader of Skill-Out and his right hand man. He didn't care, scoffing at the stares of disgust and anger, "What good would saving criminals who are much too alike with a bastard like me do?" he spoke lowly with his eyes staring off at the stretching ceiling above.

It was true, Skill-Out were also victims created by Academy City. In fact, they shared many things in common with Deadlock and the way he had been doing things in the Dark of Academy City. And that was why he didn't say a word when Mila had informed him that they were to be used as sacrificial pawns for their plans to ruin Academy City.

Skill-Out was commonly known as a domestic terrorist group within the cage of Academy City. If a crime was committed without any ties to the Darkness of Academy City, it was commonly linked to Skill-Out. They were an unorganized splintered organization of Level 0s who put all the blame on Academy City and its higher leveled Espers. Some gangs acted on their jealousy to attack students with abilities ranging from a measly Level 1. Others stole from banks, sold illegal drugs to naive students, harassed other Level 0s, kidnapped, and committed other unsavory acts on whoever they pleased; all with the excuse that the city had failed them.

Academy City had failed them; failed to correct them. Like every other problem, they were a distortion born from this damned city that prized their own goals over anything else.

Knowing that, Deadlock had lined Skill-Out to take all the blame. Not only would they be taken care of, but who's fault would it be for not keeping a better eye on them? Anti-Skill, maybe Judgment. All in all, it would go back to Academy City to blame in the end.

"What would you have done? Wouldn't you have done the same to protect those who cowered behind your back?"

"Of course not."

Touma's words were firm, with a strong belief that went against Deadlock's own. When the beaten Queen Diver boy met Touma's eyes again, he didn't spy the same confusion as his own. What he found was a clear resolve and determination in spite of all the wounds, burns, bleeding cuts, and bruises coating his body. Suddenly, Deadlock became aware of the movement of that spiky boy's right hand.

"I wouldn't abandon even idiots like you to save others. I would fight with everything I have, to save everyone in my line of sight. Isn't that what any normal person would do?"

The sound of shattering glass echoed across the inside of the nuclear cooling tower. To Deadlock's shock, his body was suddenly given free will to move again. The odd pressure constricting his muscles like constrictors vanished as if it was never there. And it was all because of the tap that spiky haired boy's right hand on the now torn apart tarot glued to his chest.

"And if saving those people comes back to bite me in the ass, which I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to happen with my nonexistent luck, than I'll deal with that too. I'll take responsibility for my actions; Past, Present, and even Future. Without ever thinking about abandoning a single life for another." Touma grinned proudly.

Though Deadlock had free control of his body again, he found his battered knees hitting the concrete floor with a heavy thud. The Queen Diver boy couldn't push his body to move any further than it had. For some reason, he just couldn't muster up the strength to get back up.

Deadlock's body grew slack. He sat on his knees, defeated with a conflicted expression on his face. In his mind, there was one last ounce of fight left in him that argued with the words of that normal boy.

'Save everyone? Even a hero wouldn't save something that naive!Right? When was this idiot born; yesterday?! That kind of thinking is sure to get anyone killed! Something like that is just too impossible! Where's the justice!?'

There was no justice.

That startling realization hit Deadlock like sledgehammer to the face. It all suddenly became clear to him as he stared at that high school boy.

That normal, dull, plain faced high school boy.

Kamijou Touma was no hero. It wasn't his job to save others. He didn't seem to care about things such as revenge or justice in the slightest. He wasn't special in any way compared to any one else walking in the busy streets he blended in far too well. He was just a high school boy who did whatever he wanted depending on how he was feeling that day.

There was no logical reason he had won against Deadlock that day, or today. It was just that on those days he had saw something he didn't agree with and acted on it. He decided to fight to save someone. It was as simple as that for him. There was no greater meaning for his fists knocking anyone of Deadlock's gang around than that.

If Kamijou Touma said he would rather save everyone, than he meant it. Because it was no more simpler to him than deciding whether to eat buttered toast this morning or a bowl of cereal.

To understand such reasoning would only drive someone mad. Because no one would ever be able to accept such simplicity without questioning their own actions.

Deadlock let out an exhausted sigh. This entire time, he had been placing a normal high school boy on such a high pedestal for nothing. Like admiring a random thug with a long list of criminal acts simply because he had pulled you back at the last second from getting hit by a car. It was idiotic.

If he thought about with the same line of thinking as that normal spiky haired boy; Deadlock had lost. That was that.

"Even though I was doing it for the good of others, it truly didn't matter. I lost." Deadlock said bitterly.

"For the good of others, huh? When the hell did we ever ask for this?" Stepping up beside the spiky haired shirtless boy, Hamazura glared down at Deadlock, "All we Level 0s wanted was for the city to stop treating us as lesser than them, to at least be recognized for trying our hardest to live up to their expectations! When the fuck did that mean we wanted to kill others for that wish?! If you ask me, you assholes are just projecting your own wishes onto us without even asking us what the hell we want!"

Hamazura was more than willing to finish what he started with Deadlock. Unlike the shirtless weirdo next to him, he was fine with putting a bullet between this assholes forehead. But after hearing all the crap Deadlock had been spewing, Hamazura wanted to say his piece to the dumb ass.

"As if anyone would want to be saved by an idiot like you. We'd rather save ourselves than plead for your reaching hand."

That was what the True Skill-Out was all about. Saving themselves instead of asking for help from those who thought they knew better for them. Call them what you will, but those who followed Komaba's leadership fought and acted on protecting others from such people.

When Hamazura looked at Deadlock, he suddenly realized that the scarlet suited boy wasn't worth killing. Unlike Dangan, who was truly a piece of shit; Deadlock was just some idiot who thought he knew better. Idiots like that only ever deserved an ass kicking. And another one until they learned to stop their bull crap.

Deadlock glanced at the blond haired Level 0, knowing perfectly well who he was. Hamazura Shiage, another Level 0 who fought under the name of Komaba Ritoku's so called just Skill-Out. Just a pawn in the eyes of those who stood above him. A grunt. One who had fought against someone far more skilled in combat and technique; and won. That Level 0 had no reason to win as he did. It seemed that time and time again, Deadlock found himself surprised by his fellow Level 0s. Those without power had done what he could not, and shattered their own limits.

In the end; was the one creating distortions, illusions, figments of imagination, false realities; Deadlock himself?

"You'll lose; against her, I mean." Deadlock spoke bluntly, greatly confusing Touma and the others. Now that he had lost the strength to fight against those abnormal Level 0s, he really didn't see any reason to hide what was proceeding beyond him. He considered it a reward to those powerless try hards who believed they could stop what was ready to unveil onto Academy City, "Unlike myself, and the other Skill-Outs who fell to sweet words, Mila-san's wish is something that can't be budged. As a Level 0, and a Child Error, she's been denied far too much for far too long to fall to even your words." he said evenly.

Touma's face scrunched up at the unfamiliar name. Mila-san? The way Deadlock spoke of her, it seemed she was who awaited them. The one who devised this entire plan of mayhem and chaos to flood the streets. The reason everyone had be caught up in some pointless conflict.

The one who stood ready to plunge this city into some unknown threat was another person hurt by the title of Level 0.

"Academy City is to blame for what's to transpire once Mila-san's completed the final preparations of the Level Eater. When the dust has settled, only those without power will remain, and the system of Espers will be broken by a monster of its own failure. Do you really think you can do anything to stop someone who's wet District 10 with blood with a smile for her own wish?"

"Not like I have a choice, do I?"

Normally one would be feeling anxious, doubting themselves in the face of the unknown threat that put all others until now to shame. Any normal person wouldn't be looked down upon for feeling such emotions.

Strangely though, Touma could still clench his fists tight and stare ahead, more than ready to jump into the final scene without any lingering doubts or fear. Just as he did when he charged into Aureolus's office. And with no doubt, just as he did when the previous Kamijou Touma had saved Index, and left this current Kamijou with following through in his stead.

"When all of this began, I never intended to see it through to face off against whoever created this mess. I never wanted to fight against delinquents. I never wanted to get involved in someone's master plan. I just wanted to find my friends again and keep them safe. I've completed half of that." Touma smiled, glancing back to see Angela and Index. That smile fell though as a scowl surfaced, "But I can't say the same for the second half. They're in danger if I turn my back now, along with everyone else who's caught in this bastard's carving path for some wish. I don't know what a normal guy like me could possibly do to stop this, but I can at least try to stop what's to come. Besides, as a Level 0, I have a right to deny whatever you idiots believe would be for our own good. Right?"

It didn't matter what the true meaning of all this was. All that mattered was that it didn't sit well with Touma. That was all he needed to charge in with his worn out fist ready to destroy whatever illusions awaited him.

In the face of Level 0s like him, the very ones Deadlock aspired to save from the world disillusioned by Academy City's expectations and lies, he found himself questioning what he was doing this whole time. After all the years of experimenting researchers had put them through, after all they had suffered through because of their ranking, those Level 0s still remained strong and resilient. They defied the label of Zero and showed a power Deadlock could only dream of. One he wasn't sure even Academy City could grant him with all their time and money.

A dry laugh broke out of Deadlock's cracked lips, surprising everyone as his body shook with his laughter. Even Deadlock was surprised by his own reaction to those Level 0s he had faced with and lost to.

"Maybe this is for the best? After all, this matter only concerns those who hold no true power in this world. Who am I to stop you from talking with another Level 0?"

Exhaling deeply, Deadlock leaned back in his sitting position, going as far as to cross his legs for more comfort. He didn't have it in him to fight any longer. Only an idiot would argue with idiots. He shut his eyes and reached for his tattered, burnt pockets, putting the others on edge. They all eyed the item in his hand; a small remote with several buttons that he pressed.

A slight rumble crawled over the cooling tower as the large gaping hole in the middle of the tower began to slowly rise up. A cylinder like section came up with a metal double door hidden from sight from prying eyes, now revealed to the surprised eyes everyone but Deadlock. It looked like some kind of elevator. Without opening his eyes, Deadlock smirked in amusement.

"Go. Though this tower works as a way to cool the heat born from the nuclear reactor, it's actual purpose is to hide the express elevator that will take you further down to a hidden facility where Mila-san and The Level Eater reside. Normally the elevator would be hidden, but it seems my finger has slipped."

With a worn out sigh, the scarlet suited mercenary made himself comfortable against the wall with a slight wince.

"I'm in no shape to continue any longer. I've done my part for as long as I could. If you really want to go, I won't stop you. Whatever happens, it's none of my concern any longer."

Before anyone could remark to Deadlock's lackluster response, the sound of alarm horns and flashing red lights erupted inside the storage room, coloring the space in a red warning filter. A slight rumble that crawled its way from deep within the building hit the entirety of the Hoshi reactor, alarming everyone as a large vent of hot steam rose from below. In the blaring alarms drowning all sound among the humid fog blanketing the tower, Deadlock opened his eyes to reveal a stern gaze of caution.

"You better hurry. Sounds like that french girl's ready to unleash her monster to the world."

Acting on the flashing red lights and sirens that spoke of danger, Deadlock could hear the rushing footsteps of those Level 0s move out to face the core District 10's razed streets. An annoyed sigh escaped him, feeling a single presence stay behind as the elevator door shut and fell down.

"Don't you think you should get a move on, clown?"

Touma stared at the unmoving mercenary, having left the others go ahead of him.

"What about you? Are you just going to stay here?"

"I can't move a muscle. All the adrenaline that's kept me going until now has left my system. If you're thinking of taking me along, think again. I'm dead weight that will slow you down."

"And. . .you don't want that?" Touma asked with a puzzled expression as he scratched his head. Wasn't the whole reason Deadlock had been fighting him been to get in his way for a fight?

Deadlock snorted, "I have no reason to anymore, right?"

Gritting his teeth, Touma felt disgust as he moved to leave the injured boy behind. Just earlier he had said he wouldn't leave anyone behind, and here was doing just that. No one knew what was to come next, but by the buildings alarms going off, it wasn't anything good. If they messed up, not only would Deadlock suffer in the wake, but all those who were knocked out and being roused by the security alarms would be in danger too. The best hope any them had of being able to walk out of this alive would be for them to stop the one responsible for this entire event to begin with.

That kind of thinking; wasn't it like Deadlock's?

As the metal doors opened to allow Touma to pass through and confront the final boss in wait, he was stopped for just a moment by the words of an old ghost from his past.

"When you face Mila-san, treat her as you did me. . .no matter how twisted and deformed she's become of her original weak self. Out of everyone in this world. . .I think only you could ever reach and guide that lonely girl's heart out from the depths of despair."

Without another word, Touma nodded firmly to the simple request before running off towards the others. Inwardly, he vowed to come back when this mess was over with. He'd be damned if his words to that Queen Diver boy were nothing but lip service.

Just like anyone else, he would fight to save that boy.

---

The doors shut slammed behind the departure of an average Level 0, finally leaving Deadlock to himself as the intermission drew to a close. The grand finale was ready to go with an uproar. The Queen Diver suited boy who wished to usurp the system and free those limited by the city's grasp found himself with a small, sincere smile on his lips.

Once again, Deadlock had lost to that spiky haired boy he had said was just a convenient illusion born from his own weak heart. To lose to Kamijou Touma should have brought an ugly bile to rise up his throat. He had desired nothing more than to defeat that weak illusion to prove to himself that he was in the right, that his own way of protecting others wasn't weak compared to that of a normal boys. That everything he had done wasn't for nothing.

Deadlock had overthought it. He had placed that normal clown on a pedestal that he told himself was just some figment of his imagination. Like everything else in his life, the Queen Diver boy had blamed all his failures on someone or something else. Convenient excuses born out of a refusal to admit to his own shortcomings and powerlessness. In the end though, he had found that the one creating the greatest distortions to his life, the one who had been at fault for his failure to break through his own limitations and attain a greater 'power', was none other then himself.

You could say that his illusions had been shattered. For once in a long time, Deadlock could begin to think clearly without the fog of excuses clouding his judgement.

A long winded, free, and relieved sigh escaped Deadlock's blood stained lips. Something felt like it had been shattered within himself. A. . .limit that had long eluded him for far too long.

"So, you let them go? I suppose I expected that when the person you were facing is known to purify the darkness within his opponents. I am surprised that you didn't think to mention me in any way. May I ask; why is that?"

Deadlock refused to meet the eyes of the sudden presence that appeared in front of him in a beam of blinding light that shimmered his body into existence in the wisp of steaming fog. Those cold, amused blue eyes staring at him told of untold wisdom that seemed to not match the innocent face the blond boy possessed. Everything about that boy seemed completely alien in the background of the city of science. As if his character didn't fit the sci-fi setting he was propped in.

"This is a battle between Zeroes. Those blessed with power all too similar to Level 5s have no right to be brought in where they don't belong." Deadlock said softly with scorn.

It was this boy, Arden, who was the true puppet master of this story. Even Mila herself was nothing more than a piece at that blond boy's disposal. To better explain it; all others were but pawns, Mila, the Queen. And Arden, the Chess Master.

Those Level 0s were better of not concerning themselves with the Hidden Boss beyond the Final Boss that put her to shame.

Arden tilted his head with a light hum, his face calm and innocent as he gazed at the wounded red suited boy too weak to lift even a finger.

"He saved you, didn't he? He shattered that illusion you created by your own hands and helped you to discover a road much lighter than the one you wandered in. As expected of my father. Always the savior."

Father?

Deadlock didn't have a chance to question the startling revelation from the blond boy as his eyes were flung wide open and his pupils dilated. Blood seeped out his gaping mouth as a gurgled scream only spat blood onto the floor. To his stunned belief, a blade of pure blinding light pierced through his chest, straight into the quaking core of his being. The thin blade of light was conjured from Arden's out stretched left palm.

Arden smiled brightly, matching the stunning bright blade from his palm that went against the cold action.

"That's good! I feel that even father had an inkling that you were now ready to reform yourself for the better. You were just another person who's world he had saved with that right fist of his. Though Toka-onee-san had a hand in that as well, but all the same in the end. But, sadly, I need you to die. So, play the part of a stepping stone, please? After all, I can't have any loose ends left when the dust settles." Arden asked far too sincerely for a killer.

Deadlock couldn't speak in the face of his demise. All he could do was utter a shuddering breath as he felt his heart give out its final beats.

"Don't worry, your death will not be in vain. Know that you will have helped to build up a great hero to face even greater and crueler threats than our friend, Mila-chan. This is all just a scripted Event so that the hero can gain even more EXP to Level Up. You were always nothing more than a bundle of EXP to the Main Player. An NPC that is never thought twice about in the Story. A mere grunt that rose to the title of Mini-Boss and nothing more. Just. . .a passing reference."

A grin with eyes full of sympathy and coldness was the last thing Deadlock's fading sight had seen.

"Welcome, Deadlock-san, to those Who The Right Hand Had Failed to Save."

With a shimmer of bursting light, the mysterious figure known as Arden faded away. Leaving behind the cold, still body of another Level 0.

---

The journey to the heart of District 10's dilemma had gone in silence with only the sounds of the reactor's security system blaring from within the metal shutter elevator. Everyone else had already gone ahead of Touma when he decided to stick around to talk to Deadlock for a bit before following along. Something he was fine with as he could finally have a moment to himself to rest in the middle of all the trouble he found himself in. To think, this had all started because he had woken up to seeing Angela's panties while sleeping in the bathtub. If that mature raven haired nun had only knocked, he would have never been dragged into this in the first place.

Touma couldn't help but sigh with a weary shake of his head at the strange series of events that lead him to preparing to face against someone who pitted an entire district of delinquents against each other. This was, what? The second time he was involved in some trouble that was better left to the pages of a manga? It seemed like this was just the norm for Kamijou Touma.

'What am I going to do exactly when I meet this 'Final Boss'? Other than my right hand, which really hasn't done much since all this began, I don't have any other means of fighting. Apparently this Mila person has something called a Level Eater, something that Deadlock mentioned will bring down Academy City's Esper Program. Just what the hell can I do against that?'

Touma scratched his head furiously as he tried to come up with a plan of action when facing the challenge ahead. Could he really go in as usual, swinging his fist without any thought of what to do; other than punch? He wasn't exactly smart, not with how many remedial lessons he was forced to undertake because of his low scores in school; apparently the past Kamijou Touma hadn't been clever enough to keep him from summer classes. And he wasn't exactly cunning either; the past Kamijou Touma could only ever resort to solving his problems with violence, something that had been passed down to the Touma of now as if second nature. He was average to say the least; the past Kamijou Touma hadn't left him with anything to help him stand out from others or give him an edge other than a rotten right arm.

A troubled expression only grew on his face as Touma continued to think about what to do. His expression only grew twisted with a grimace as his right arm once again throbbed with a chilling pressure threatening to break out.

'Grrrggggggiiiiiiggggrriii.'

Something seemed to demand to let go from Touma's right arm. The same arm that had once been lobbed off by a spinning sword. The same arm that had wielded an unseen abomination born from an Alchemist's fear.

Touma's back hit the wall of the spacious elevator as he continued going down, still fighting to figure out what to do as he felt his entire body cry out. It was only in this quiet space that he could finally feel the day's events hit him like multiple punches of varying damage. The pain felt like he was being swallowed whole by the jagged jaws of a great beast. Anxiety, trepidation, fear of failure; along with his injuries were ready to break him down with a nervous sweat.

'When you face Mila-san, treat her as you did me. . .no matter how twisted and deformed she's become of her original weak self. Out of everyone in this world. . .I think only you could ever reach and guide that lonely girl's heart out from the depths of despair.'

The invisible pressure that wished to lash out from Touma's right arm settled as Deadlock's words came back to him. Swallowing his self doubt, Touma narrowed his gaze as the elevator door dinged, alerting him that he had reached his destination. His fists balled up firmly.

That was right. He had already been told what to do by that ghost of his past. Actually, he had already known what he was going to do from the beginning. It was no different than when he was facing Aureolus.

Touma was going to fight. Simple as that.

Even if that plan of action was simply the urging of another ghost's leftover embers.

"Go on, Clown. Stage is that way."

Door sliding open, Touma had stepped out, only to trip over nothing as he could have sworn he felt something shove him ahead. Adding onto the large bill of injuries, he fell on his face with a groan muffled by the floor and a bruise forming on his forehead.

"God damn luck!"

Picking himself off the floor, Touma cursed his typical misfortune with a growl before continuing on.

Weird. For a second there, he could have sworn he felt a whisper from behind. Must have been the wind.

In an underground facility.

---

Having reached the bottom and walked through a wide corridor made of odd black steel that Touma could have swore could reflect light with how polished the surface was, he had soon made it to an automatic high tech door that would lead him to the others. Normally it seemed that to gain access to the room ahead, it appeared that a key card was needed to proceed. But to Touma's surprise, the doors opened without any hassle. He shrugged, not wanting to question it further as he walked in to find a control room full of high end equipment, monitors, and control panels displaying information and readings that went over his simple minded spiky head. He breathed a sigh of relief, finding Index and Angela along with the others. Along with a familiar face he had briefly met at the Food Stand Spire.

An angered Hamazura held Dr. Tatsum up with his hands balled up in the doctor's collar, appearing as if he had just heard that some news he wasn't hoping to hear. Dr. Tatsumi was staring with a paling face at the group gathered around him, seeming to have just explained what they were dealing with regret. Touma had missed the details, but he never less walked over to Hamazura and forced the disgruntled blond's hands off of the fearful head researcher.

Hamazura flinched as he felt the shirtless spiky haired boy's grip his wrist. What the hell? The weirdo looked battered more than they did! How was he able to keep such a terrifying grip when his hands appeared sprained from all the dark blue and green discoloration on his arm. He scoffed, dropping his grip from the bastard that had a hand in what was happening right now to District 10.

Ignoring the annoyed glare from the blond delinquent, Touma returned to Dr. Tatsumi to ask about what was happening. He frowned in confusion, finding the clean cut Level 0 researcher lean over the monitor nearby. The man's shoulders trembled with emotion, his body slouching in defeat and despair as Touma made out some odd readings on the screen of the monitor begin to rise alongside a window of emerald code.

"T-This. . .this was never my intention. The Reality Giver was meant to aid Level 0s in finally breaking past their limits to attain a Personal Reality, so they could finally be recognized for all their hard work. But this? This is nothing short of. . .of an abomination! Level Eater? Kihara? Devouring Personal Realities? Just what the hell were they trying to do with my creation!? What the hell's the purpose for such evil?!"

Dr. Tatsumi startled everyone as he slammed his clenched fist onto the keyboard, rattling the desk as his expression twisted into one of seething outrage. The dark clean combed scientist dragged his hand over his grimaced face.

"Even with a Kihara helping to reprogram and re-design Reality Giver with its Source Code, it shouldn't have been possible to gain this much progress in only a matter of an hour! Hell, this looks like they had it planned out days in advance and had a tour around my own mind! And what are with these readings? These specs aren't making any sense! It's like she's some kid who thought it would be a good idea to mix all the colors of her paints for a rainbow! Just. . .what the hell is she trying to do? Half of what I'm seeing doesn't even seem like science! It's as if whoever corrupted the machine mixed in something else that goes against everything I've been taught to believe in Academy City!"

Angela gazed at the bright computer screen, feeling troubled as well. While most of what she was seeing didn't make any sense to her from a magical stand point, she did catch some worrying text in the flow of information on display.

"Isa%iah&14#: 12-25. . .2+Corin thians11*:14. . .2Pe%ter2:4#. . .M athew%25:41?" Past those odd symbols, she could read the hidden words. Phrases like that did not belong with what Angela was seeing. They sounded far too familiar to her liking.

"What are Bible verses doing with all these numbers and weird terms?"

It was Index who came to the realization of the religious texts mixed in with scientific equations.

Dr. Tatsumi scowled irritably, "Bible verses? What are you talking about?"

Whatever Index was going to respond with was cut off by the computer screen flashing abruptly. A new screen of readings and measurements were displayed.

Brain Wave Scan Completion: 78%.

Radio Signals at 100%. Beginning Transmission.

Brain Wave Override. . .

Subject 1: Successful.

Subject 2: Successful.

Subject 3: Successful.

Subject 4: Successful.

Subject 5: Successful.

Subject 6: 67%.

Level Eater, Model Case:Ghoul now assimilating AIM Diffusion Fields.

Transmitting. . .Transmitting. . .Transmitting. . .

At the sight of the status of The Level Eater, Dr. Tatsumi found himself slouching in his seat with a soft, foul curse on his lips.

"It's far too late for me do anything this far in the process. I can't even perform a manual override from here! This room is just for monitoring the Reality Giver's progress as it copies pieces of an Esper's brain waves to help spurn a Level 0's Personal Reality with the help of those with similar brain patterns. To shut the machine down, we would need to switch over the Admin's authorization key to the main computer on my end."

"So, why don't you?" Hamazura growled from close by, more than ready to lay his hands on the researcher again, "Don't tell me you're too much of a coward to go in there and do a few lousy clicks!?"

"Don't you think I would have?!" Dr. Tatsumi spat as he stood up from his seat. He looked away from the children, his fingers gripping his tattered lab coat in frustration as his eyes landed on the door to the hanger that housed The Level Eater, "But for some reason, I can't! I've tried to override whatever locks and security is keeping the door shut, but nothing works. And I'm the one who set up the damn thing!"

Following Dr. Tatsumi's gaze, Touma found the door in question and grew suspicious. The white door itself had no handle of any kind to pull, it was mechanical sliding door with a touch screen displaying a digital keypad and finger imprint scanner. But what caught his eyes were the scribbles of ink that seemed to act like chains over the smooth frame of the door.

Angela noticed the writing as well. Just what was going on here? At first, she thought this just involved the Dark side of Academy City. But now she was catching hints of Magic involvement?

"Kamijou-san."

Touma didn't need to be told what to do. Walking to the door leading to the final stage of this mess, he placed his right palm over the writing, keeping it hovering as he spoke back to Dr. Tatsumi.

"Tell me, if we can switch the controls over to you here; can you shut whatever The Level Eater is down?"

Level Eater. It sounded ominous in name alone. It was this thing that laid past this door that had been the cause for all the death and blood Touma had walked across in his search for his friends? A product of some side of Academy City he had begun to catch eye of? A district of students who had given up on ever becoming anything more than Level 0 and blamed Academy City, had been transformed into a war zone that was almost reminiscent to hell?

It was taking everything in Touma's power to not smash his fist past the occult lock and smash his fist into the bastard who had caused so much despair and loss over a stupid toy.

Dr. Tatsumi wasn't sure what the shirtless, bruised and burned spiky haired boy could do, but he nodded.

"If you can activate the manual override, I can take control of the Administrator's privileges and sever her connection with the Hosts who's brain wave lengths she's overriding and copying. It'll take a while, but I can shut down. . ." Just saying what Dr. Tatsumi's pride and joy had become brought a sour taste to his tongue, "The Level Eater before it permanently devours the AIM Fields of the Espers it's taken a hold of."

That was all Touma needed to know before firmly pressing his right palm onto the magical text blocking their entry.

The sound of shattering glass indicated a negation and the door parted open without any struggle.

Dr. Tatsumi stared in disbelief along with the others who were ignorant of Imagine Breaker. To them, all Touma had done was touch the door. None of them had any idea that it was magic that had forbidden them from passing through.

"What. . .did you do?" the dark haired, spectacles scientist asked softly.

"What is that we need to do to override the main system's controls over to you?" Touma got straight to the point, not wanting to waste anymore time.

Shaking his head to get back to the important matter, Dr. Tatsumi quickly explained the process of logging into the main computer and entering the string of code to hand over The Level Eater's controls to him to begin the process of shutting it down. He had created a backdoor in case something like this had happened, having not placed too much trust in those who had aided him in his life long dream. It was a secret protocol to return absolute control back to him, known only to him and him alone. While much of what the researcher said to them was lost to them, they were lucky to have on hand a certain nun with a perfect memory. And while she had no idea how to input all the keys herself when she had no idea how to even work a simple cellphone, they did have a blond delinquent who had knack for hacking into machinery when needed. An average thug like him was just what they needed.

The task of dealing with the manual override laid with Index and a groaning Hamazura. Which meant the others were left to confronting the girl known as Mila.

Knowing that whatever awaited them would be dangerous, Komaba urged the pouting Fremea to stay back with Dr. Tatsumi. And while Fremea stomped her feet down and demanded to go too, complaining how unfair it was that the two Sisters could go and not her, she relented on one exception. The same exception she always asked of her best friend whenever he went off into some kind of trouble.

The little french girl in a frilly video game idol's clothes held out her small pinky finger to the towering, intimidating gorilla like man. Komaba smiled, kneeling down to offer his pinky. Fremea grinned happily before turning to one more person who stared with questioning eyes at the pinky being held up to him.

"What is it, Fremea-chan?" Touma asked, earning an eye roll from the small girl.

"Essentially, promise that you'll come back, Kamijou-onii-san! You have to pinky promise, or else it won't mean anything, nyaa!"

"Aww! I want a pinky promise too! What about your lovely Angela-onee-san!?"

"Why don't I get one? HEY! Don't stick your tongue out at me, you nya-nya brat!"

Ignoring the other two, Touma smiled kindly at the big, pouting blue eyes of the blond girl staring up at him on her tip toes. Curling his dirty, blood stained and cut up pinky against her dainty soft finger, Touma promised Fremea with the holiest and most treasured pacts a child could ask.

"I promise, we'll all come back in one piece. And I'm a man of my word."

"I think I'll stay back this time." Angela said as she stepped back from the group. Seeing a chance, she was quick to scoop Fremea in to her arms with a giggle as the little blond girl began to wriggle in her grasp, "I've used up far too much magic to be of any use. Besides, if something happens on this end, someone has to be there to help out in some way. With what little I can muster, I'll do my best to protect Dr. Tatsumi and Fremea-chan."

While Angela couldn't perform any of her greater spells like the Ten Commandments, she could still tip the scales of balance for some protective charms. She had enough training to maintain the backlash of continually tapping into her Saint abilities. She liked to think she had gained her endurance from her father in that regard.

"You won't be the only one."

Toka blinked, finding herself for some reason being grabbed by the back of her school uniform and pushed back alongside her older sister. She gaped, finding the sternly scowling face of Hamazura as the culprit.

"Hey! What the hell's your deal?! Don't think you can just bar me from the action! I may be a normal high school girl, but I can still punch that bastard's lights out!" Toka complained, moving to follow the others.

Hamazura clicked his teeth in annoyance before poking Toka's forehead.

Toka blinked, this time to get rid of the dizziness as she slightly stumbled. Thanks to Angela holding her shoulder, she didn't fall.

"W-What?"

"You're far too injured to do a thing right now. I may have been the one who'd been electrocuted, but you're the one who's been running around all day stacking up injuries. Like you said, you're a normal high school girl. Do something useful and help the nun guard the lab coat and brat." Hamazura explained plainly.

Whatever weird ability Angela had used on them cleared up the worst of their wounds. But that didn't mean that they were a 100%. Even Hamazura could still feel his body ache. Meaning that the unruly haired high school girl was much worse off. And he couldn't for the life of him allow that special girl who caused this lowly Level 0 to stand up to fight put her life at risk.

"But!"

"He's right." Touma cut in, stepping up to Toka and gingerly placing his hand on her shoulder. He looked to the girl softly, knowing how she must feel to want to help. He was the same way. "Who knows what may happen? I'd feel better if you and Angela-san stayed back to watch over Dr. Tatsumi and Fremea-chan. Besides, you really are in no condition to go charging in like an idiot."

"And what about you!?"

Touma stepped back at the outburst. The frustrated cry made him grimace as Toka glared at him.

"Hey Kettle, my names Pot! Aren't you even worse off? Compared to you, I'm the one who's better off in your stead! I'm not the who's every inch of skin is covered in some kind of wound or burn! I'm not the one who keeps running off to play the hero! Don't you think it's about time someone else took up that cursed mantle and let you rest for once!? Why do you always have to be the one to fight?"

She was right. Toka was absolutely right. Compared to everyone else in their party, Touma was the one most injured and ill fit to be fighting. It was purely stamina and willpower that was keeping him running this far. If he were to rest, fully let go of the reigns, he wasn't sure he would be getting back up on his feet.

Touma knew that. Call him an idiot, but he was still far off from being brain dead. What he was telling Toka to do was nothing short of hypocrisy.

And for whatever reason he couldn't understand, he only felt he had all the more reason to act like a hypocrite with Toka.

"Because this is the only way I know." Touma smiled bitterly to Toka and Angela's displeasure, "I can only ever resolve the problems happening right in front of me with my right fist and a fight. It's not something I'm proud of, and it's not something I want, but it's something I got to do. Because I would be betraying the Me that can't stand to stand by and allow others to get hurt."

The urge to jump into the fray with a fist to protect the smile of a single person. . .was that. . .that urge even his to own? Was that desire even what Touma wanted, and not the lingering whispers of who Kamijou Touma had been? Having played the greatest act of them all, standing in the spot light of Kamijou Touma as he was lost in one of his ventures to save someone from suffering, Touma couldn't even say that what he wanted were his wants.

But even so, with doubt creeping into his heart, his fist never relaxed and only tightened with resolve.

"You're right, I'm no condition for another fight. I should have honestly passed out by now. But I'm going to anyway. Because that's what this heart of mine screams at me to do. That part of me. . .I have to listen to it no matter what. And I can't fight with all my heart if I'm worrying about what would happen to others not in my line of sight. So, can you listen to this selfish, hypocritical, high school boy's wish; and watch over everyone here for me? Please?"

Toka hated it. That honest, sincere plea from the man who inspired her to follow after his shadow made her bite her lower lip. She couldn't deny Touma. That hero she loved with all her heart had always sacrificed himself with no reward and nothing to ask for. The one time he asked for something, something so simple, she couldn't deny it.

With a grudging sigh, Toka nodded and stepped back alongside Angela. Like her father, Toka's own heart told her to go into the fight, but she set aside her desire for once. Not as if she needed to get involved anyway. A brief smile came to her face, watching Touma's face relax.

All she had wanted was to ease her father's heavy shoulders. For the moment, this would have to do.

"Just come back, you damn idiot."

A soft, comforting, oh so longed hand patted Toka's head. One she had hoped could last forever before it faded like it did in her time.

No more words were said. The door shut behind Touma, Index, Hamazura, and Komaba as they entered to the core of this district's chaos. The stage had been sent, the actors had arrived, and the lights were set.

It was time for the grand finale to commence.

Let those without power clash.

---

Stepping in, the Touma found himself within in a large hangar that he would normally guess housed aircraft's, a smooth black marbled floor in contrast to the while ceiling of the large spacious hangar that extended several power cables down. The cables connected to only one machine as the power source drawing from the cables seemed to come from the nuclear tower's reactor. The machine itself was made of an alabaster white metal that resembled an egg, stood at the height of a small townhouse, and grounded by two arm like supports. A single burning red lenses was placed at the center of the machine, seeming to glare at the intruders. It was centered in the room on a circular platform with several computer desks lined around it to monitor its progress with one lone desk with three screens kept far from the others by itself, serving as the main controller.

Touma frowned, finding six container like tanks lined in an arc behind the machine, filled with an odd green liquid, and weirdly shaped silhouettes. Each container had a set of cables running to connect with the platform where the machine stood along with a golden antenna atop the glass containers.

As they walked closer to the main computer to begin the manual override, they all made out the writing running down the machine. It was Index who could understand the English writing as the only one fluent in the language.

"Level Eater, Model Case: GHOUL?" The name alone caused a shiver to run down Index's spine.

Names held in important meaning in magical affairs. From their spells to Magic Names, to Spiritual Items and Soul Arms, names held power. And she didn't like the name associated with The Level Eater.

A Ghoul was a being that consumed the flesh of humans in Arabic tales; a grave robber that absorbed the abilities of those it feasted on.

Hamazura couldn't help but scowl tensely in the presence of the machine. This was what all the fighting and bloodshed had been about? Why? Why was some hunk of metal connected by cables so important? And why did he feel so uneasy out by it? Shaking his head, he decided to ignore it and just get down to business.

"Let's hurry up and get the manual override going. I don't really want to stick around this place for another second. By the time we've finished, I just know Anti-Skill and Judgment will come busting in and blame us for all this crap."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about them. I've made sure to keep all the city officials and their little soldiers occupied. After all, don't you think it was odd that no one came to this district to stop all the fighting?"

The giggle from a young girl caused Hamazura to jump back in fright. Everyone's head swiveled in search of the owner of the giggle, finding no one but themselves and The Level Eater in the hangar. Coming to a conclusion, they faced the ominous machine as they once again heard the voice speak.

"Hello there, Komaba Ritoku and friends! May I ask what the humble leader of Skill-Out is doing here? I would have thought you would have been busying trying to regain control of your underlings. Or at least wound up dead like the rest of them. I suppose relying on others who hold no true power either to finish you off was wishful thinking." the female voice huffed as the red eye of The Level Eater grew an intense red like scorched metal, "But they at least served to distract everyone from my plans. Oh, if only you hadn't placed such rules and regulations on the unlawful Skill-Outs, than I wouldn't have had to drag you all into this mess. And it looks like you've dragged along others as well?"

Komaba's features never changed, remaining stern like the surface of a rock.

"Mila-san, I presume? You were the one who sent over Deadlock to persuade us to join your cause. Are you saying, that if I had joined along with you, none of this bloodshed would have occurred on our streets?"

Mila hummed from within The Level Eater, "Correct. When I had this plan devised, I had planned on enlisting you first to better move about District 10 and go about setting up the final touches. You're control over a majority of Level 0s was needed to help with distracting Anti-Skill and Judgment from my capture of the Hoshi Reactor, but you denied my generous offer. You were an important piece to the plan, but since you weren't keen on following along, I had to dispose of both you and your gang to keep you from getting in the way. After all, when those weak little monkeys grow even a bit too rowdy on the playground, it's the big, bad, Gorilla who reigns them in with an iron fist."

Without seeing the mastermind's face, they could picture a wide grin on the girl's face as she spoke sweetly.

"If I was to let those monkeys go wild, I first needed to get rid of the gorilla who unfairly treats them to behave with the same morals as the humans who bully them in their cage. I was hoping you would be drowned in the sea of violence."

"That's why you had all our guys killed?! Because we didn't want to go along with your bullshit?!" Hamazura yelled, "The fuck's your problem, you bitch?! You're a Level 0 like the rest of us, right? Than why would murder your own kind and say that it's for our own good?!"

"Oh! I suppose you were able to speak to Deadlock-kun before you disposed of him. Let me guess, he told you all of how this entire venture was for the good of all Level 0s? That this was to bring down the unjust system created by Academy City that was unable to grant our wishes to gain supernatural powers that they promised us time and time again? And that we simply wanted to free those who were looked down upon by the city to stand on equal ground with even those Level 5s?"

A snort. From within the cold machine hooked by several cables, a snort was heard. That snort quickly transformed into laughter that bellowed from The Level Eater's body.

"D-Don't tell me!? Did you actually believe all that sweet honeyed candied words?! Oh, my! I would have thought you who turned down my offer would have guessed that it was just sweet little lies! Saving other Level 0s? Control over District 10? The Power Curriculum Program? Justice? Who cares about that!?"

The roar of laughter coming through the ghoulish machine filled the hangar, spitting on the many bodies it has used to be where it stood.

"You used them?"

Mila's laughter stopped at the voice of a trembling shirtless spiky haired boy. She grew silent, finding her voice leaving her as she found a familiar set of dark blue eyes full of anger staring at her.

"This entire time, you were just using those misguided delinquents for your own schemes?! You lied to their faces, had them give up their lives, and played them all for fools! And for what?! For some piece of junk that was stashed away in the ground?! What the hell were those Level 0s worth to you?!"

". . . . .Didn't I warn you to leave this district and seek safety, Kamijou-san?"

Touma's eyes went wide in shock. His body locked up, frozen as that mysterious girl's voice resonated with his memories. That voice, it had sounded oddly familiar. His face grew an ugly grimace, despising the rise of images that the master mind of District 10's bloodshed had brought up. He had only heard it once when he had been resting while searching for Index and Angela, speaking to him of the worth of the number Academy City had placed on them. A pretty faced foreign girl with blonde platinum hair who had helped to patch up his wounds.

He had never gotten the kind blonde girl's name. Not until now.

"You're. . .Mila-san?" he said unbelievably with a paling face.

Mila sighed irritably at the sight of the spiky haired boy. He was a complete stranger by all means. The only reason she knew his name was because she had stolen his wallet in case he needed to be eliminated. And despite how she had killed others without so much as a thought, he was someone she didn't want involved in this mess. Kamijou Touma appeared to be an average Level 0, one who was happy with his status and lived happily with being worthless. Meeting him was a pleasant memory.

It was why she had advised him to leave once he found his friends. She had even sent a message over to those Skill-Outs guarding the border of District 10 to allow a Touma to leave. Deadlock was suppose to inform those under her command to watch out for that one Level 0 who fit her description to be left alone. Going by that boy's appearance, her message hadn't gone through.

Mila had many questions at the moment, but one stood out to all others despite the tense and dramatic atmosphere. She couldn't help it, she had to ask.

"Why are you shirtless?"

"This is literally not the time to be asking that question right now!"

"How can I not when your chest is out in the open, dirty, naked, and with sweat running down your pecs to your waist line! I swear that your chest muscles are glistening! I can even see a bead drip to your navel!"

"Don't go into detail about it! Learn to read the god damn rooooooooooooom!"

No one could see, but Mila's face was painted a bright cherry red as her green eyes roamed that spiky boy's chest. She had to admit, he had a nice build for an average boy.

Shoving his embarrassment deep down, Touma stepped up to The Level Eater with a puzzled frown.

"Mila-san, what the hell are you doing? When we met, I knew you weren't happy with being a Level 0. The way you spoke about our Level made it clear that you thought it was unfair and cruel. But. . .this? Pitting other Level 0s against each other to the point of killing each other? What the hell are you trying to accomplish with this!? If you never had any intention of helping Level 0s to be free of their status, than what has this bullshit been for?!" Touma yelled in outrage.

The Level Eater's eyes suddenly gleamed with a malevolent red light. A change began to overcome the machine as it began to lift up from the platform by an unseen force. As it levitated, the party made out a glowing purple stand at the bottom of the tear drop machine that ended in a jack like spike with three red rings. The power cables continued to hang off The Level Eater by its back, shaking as it ripped out its two side bearings that kept it still. Seeing the tear drop shaped machine move caused everyone to step back as its gleaming red eye glared down at them.

Index stared at the machine, only to be grabbed by her sleeve. She turned to find the shaggy blond delinquent, Hamazura, gesturing her to follow. She nodded firmly, knowing what he had in mind now that they witnessed The Level Eater act.

"What's this all been for; you ask? Kamijou-kun, I thought you already knew? It's nothing all too complicated really. To be honest, I'm not like those Skill-Out idiots who attack Espers for their gifts. I actually admire those who've been able to gain an Ability after working so hard for it. I've never really felt jealous, nor have I blamed them or hated them for their wishes being granted. The fault doesn't lay with the students; it lays with Academy City."

Responding to the change in The Level Eater's movement, the six cylindrical containers containing wispy silhouettes began to emit an emerald glow that cast an eerie aura over the machine's body. Other than floating in the air, The Level Eater didn't move as it was still attached by the cables running from the ceiling and its six containers behind it.

"It was Academy City that had made a promise to my family. They told my parents that they could grant their only daughter power that could only be coveted by their peers. That they could make me more than just human, but a marvel they could proudly show off to others! They said that I had the potential to be an Esper! And my parents bought into their sweet promises, so much so they shipped off their eight year old daughter to another country who's language she didn't understand! And what do those lying bastards do? They label me a Level 0, Someone Without Power!"

A forceful burst of wind lashed out The Level Eater's body, crashing against Touma and the others in response to Mila's scream. Touma grunted, moving his arms to shield his face from the powerful gust before the all too familiar whine of Imagine Breaker sounded of. The winds crashing into him shattered, leaving them to pass him by like a rock to a stream.

'Imagine Breaker negated the wind? How? It should only react to a supernatural power. Does that mean that the machine is producing some kind of ability?'

Wait. Were machines even capable of something as complicated and unique as a Personal Reality? Wasn't that something reserved to humans?

The storm like winds ceased a moment later after pushing Komaba back. It was than that Mila noticed to things out of place. One; Touma hadn't budged an inch even after The Level Eater had absorbed several the AIM of several Espers. And Two; she didn't spy the out of placed silver haired nun or the blond delinquent. The Level Eater's monitor was quick to spot the two missing party members. Mila's eyes narrowed in suspicion, finding them furiously typing away at the main computer that was in charge of a large range of settings to The Level Eater.

So, they were trying to activate the manual override, where they? She couldn't help but grin.

From thin air, a clear flesh like substance formed at the sides of The Level Eater that molded into lanky, boney arms with an aqua like substance inside. Having produced its own AIM Dispersion Field, The Level Eater took the chance to flex its long fingers.

"At first, I endured the label as everyone else who found themselves as Level 0s did. It was common to be labeled a Level 0 anyway, one had to study and work towards leveling up. So, I did. For years and years, I put my mind on the grindstone, studying into the late hours of the night, taking whatever drugs the researchers gave me, took their exhausting tests to strengthen my mind; and no matter how many times I failed, I tried again. And again. AND AGAIN! But no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, now matter how much I wished for it, I could never improve! I was fed nothing but empty lies from the beginning. And do you know what it cost me!?"

The same clear, aqua like substance inside The Level Eater's arms erupted from its back in the form six ribbons that waved behind it like wings. The eerie form the machine had taken sent goosebumps along Touma's skin. The way it appeared seemed. . .otherworldly. Mila hadn't made any hostile moves yet, seeming to be focused only on him. That was good. With her focus on him, that left Hamazura to safely listen to the string of code Index had memorized to switch control over to Dr. Tatsumi.

Mila seethed within The Level Eater as the cables it was connected to trembled. Her voice quivered, for a moment revealing the hurt, vulnerable emotions of a girl.

"My family. Because of Academy City, I was abandoned by my own mother and father! All they could see was a number, a symbol of failure that was worthless in their eyes! I became a Child Error at the age of ten, left all alone with no way to go home, and no one to take care of me. I survived on the city's stipends without my parents allowance, and had to learn to take care of myself. I found out that day that I was worth nothing to anyone. All because of those who run Academy City and lure in test monkeys with false promises. The ones I truly hate, despise, and detest, is Academy City! So, you ask me why I played all those Level 0s into fighting with false promises? Simple."

"Revenge."

The final stage of The Level Eater's transformation came in the form of the clear skin hinted substance growing over its body and devouring its metal frame with a bluish aura. On both sides of the machines center red lens, an eye formed with the white of its eyes blood red and its pupil glowing magenta. A toothless mouth formed below its eyes, snapping open wide in a cruel grin as if it was relieved to finally breath. To finish its growth off, a broken series of segments circled around the tip of its body with a golden, glitching glow. Its new formed resembled a burning ball of energy given a cruel face.

"FUCK! That should have overridden the The Level Eater System control! Are you sure you memorized what that lab coat guy told you, Sister?"

Slamming his fist onto the computer top, Hamazura growled as all the code he had been instructed to input failed to activate the manual override. What the hell does Error 403.3 even mean?

Index wanted to argue with the blond delinquent, knowing that she had perfectly memorized everything Dr. Tatsumi had instructed her. But her eyes were too focused on the form The Level Eater had taken. A cold sweat formed on her paling face as she stared at the ghastly, corrupted, twisted image of a holy figure created by science.

She wondered; if anyone knew that they were in the presence of an angelic being.

Mila's disembodied voice giggled through The Level Eater's ghoulish gaping mouth.

"Oh? Did you think that you could simply stop The Level Eater by switching the Administrator's privileges onto another user? I'm sorry to say, but my friend Arden and his brothers, Shinzo-san and Hachi-san, had placed measures to assure that the upload of my brainwaves to The Level Eater System wasn't interrupted. Why else did you think I left Dr. Tatsumi alive? Hachi-san's unique ability had done more than enough to take what we needed from the researcher's mind to prevent that back door protocol. I am surprised that you made it in at all. Arden swore that no one could possibly enter." she mused.

Manipulating the left arm of The Level Eater, Mila grabbed a hold of the power cables supplying the machine's energy and tore them off like weeds with one ripping motion. The cables fell to the ground with a loud thud as the robotic being of AIM breathed what sounded like a sigh of relief. It no longer needed to siphon the energy the plant created to keep it running any longer. Not when it was in the process of draining all the energy it could possibly need from the living batteries that resided in the city that had bore it.

"So, this is The Level Eater, Modelcase: GHOUL? I didn't think it was possible for Arden and Shinzo to drastically change what was essentially a tool to help develop Level 0s AIMs to gain a Personal Reality, into this." Mila marveled as she flexed the skinny finger joints of The Level Eater, "I must say, even from the confines of the machine, I feel oddly free. They said my mind would be connected with the machine to allow me better control, but I didn't think I would actually feel as if I was the machine. And this is only with the devoured Levels of a measly six Espers? Imagine what it'll feel like when I devour double that!"

"What are you going to do now, Mila-san?"

The Level Eater motioned it's eyes to fall back on Touma, finding the boy had come closer within just a short running distance from it. Mila frowned lightly at the sight of the boy who proclaimed himself as a common Level 0. She would have to argue with that. No common Level 0 would confront the monstrosity that was The Level Eater with such a fierce gaze.

Mila had only just met Touma, but in their short conversation, she had gotten a glimpse of who the boy was. He was someone who simply wanted to live his life as a normal high school boy. Even with being labeled a Level 0, he didn't let it define him or get in the way of his daily life. If anyone, he seemed a bit down on his luck to be involved in her plans. She couldn't help but wonder how he of all people stumbled into her plans.

"I told you, this is about revenge. It's Academy City's fault for my family abandoning me. And I intend to make them pay with the only currency they could ever possibly understand. Destruction!"

Spreading its arms out wide, The Level Eater opened its palms to summon a small whirling gust on each hand. The winds, the size of a small child each, were strong enough to send strong breezes to swarm around the room and rustle their clothes.

"That's what this has been leading up to! The destruction of Academy City's lying foundations with a rampage fueled by my wrath! Recognition? Respect? Equality? Freedom? Retribution? Justice? I don't give a damn about any of that crap! What I want is to make them suffer for all the suffering they had caused me! So, I'll devour every last once of AIM from those lucky students those bastards oh so treasure, to rid the symbol of my suffering; The Windowless Building where a certain Board Chairman sits! And once I bring down the bastard responsible for The Power Curriculum Program that lead to my parents to shipping me away, I'll turn to the researchers and their facilities. I'll destroy everything this false city of hope has created to lure in more naive children, and even then it won't be enough to quench my thirst for revenge!"

With a flick of The Level Eater's wrist, she had compressed the winds on her left hand and sent a whirling blade of air in front of her. The blade raced against the ground like cutting steel and flew in between both Touma and Komaba to slam into the wall behind them. A large scar marred the wall as both Level 0s stared in disbelief at the display of power.

"And I won't allow anyone to get in the way of that most cherished wish."

The spiky haired Level 0 was someone Mila had found herself fond of despite how little she knew of him. She honestly didn't want to have him dragged into this any further than he found himself in. But if he stood in her way, than just as she did with the others, she would get rid of him.

Touma stared at the ground, his face shadowed by his spiky locks as his shoulder's trembled. Gritting his teeth openly in frustration, he found his fist clenching and unclenching.

Revenge? The war on the streets? The acts of indiscriminate violence? The blood painting the alleys and bullets littering the road? It had all been for something as petty and useless as revenge this entire time? He had been caught up in this crappy scenario just because one girl had wanted to make some faceless figures she had never met before pay for her own tragedies?

"How?"

Mila stared curiously at Touma, finding the spiky haired boy speak softly she that she almost didn't hear him in the roar of the winds she created.

"HOW CAN YOU CALL SOMETHING SO WORTHLESS A WISH!?"

To the shock of everyone in the room, Touma had sprung off the floor with a furious shout on his lips, charging ahead with his right fist cocked and loaded.

Mila scowled distastefully at the charging boy but paid him no mind. If he had been smart or valued his life, than he would have run away by now at her threat. Instead he runs at her like some idiot? What could he possibly do? Sighing sadly, Mila commanded the ghoulish mechanical AIM Burst to swing its right hand, sending a wall of rushing winds to send Touma flying.

The blunt trauma alone would be enough to mangle his limbs. If Touma had any luck at all, he'd be alive to cry about it.

But to her disbelief, the wall of winds were snuffed out as Touma stretched his right hand out to met the attack. An unseen crack spread along the monstrous winds and caused them to creak. With a sound of shattering glass, the Level 4 Aero Ability she had was. . .negated?

It had to be a miscalculation! Maybe one of the six Espers connected to the Level Eater had lost focus? There had to be some explanation. Raising Level Eater's left arm, she raked the air to send a tearing wave of cutting winds to end his idiocy.

Touma's right hand batted the tearing winds away with a simple slapping motion and the sound of breaking glass. Once again, the ability Mila had devoured with Level Eater had been negated without any effort.

"W-What. . .WHAT ARE YOU!?" Mila yelled uncertainly with rage.

Reaching a good distance, Touma leaped up and reared his right fist back in the face of the ghoulish ability robber.

"I'm just a Level 0 who's going to take apart that stupid wish with his so called powerless fists!"

Level Eater moved to slap Touma out of its face, only for its hand, made of AIM, to wither away as the Level 0 drove his right fist through it. Plowing through the arm, his knuckles met the face of Level Eater with enough force to do what it had intended; send it flying back. Landing back on his feet, Touma watched the ghoulish machine slam into the back of the room with a crash of steel on steel. He grimaced while noting the ominous aura acting as its skin flicker to nothing for a short moment.

It was only thanks to Hard Taping's amplified effects on his arm that he could even send something like that back with one punch. That punch sent a splitting sensation up his entire arm; from knuckle to shoulder.

Gaining back its AIM Field, Level Eater floated back up into the air with a snarl on its toothless lips.

"You actually canceled the Level Eater's Aero ability?" Mila asked in a daze. Regrowing the shattered arm, she clenched its fist. "That shouldn't be possible! I've collected the abilities of six Aero users! Their winds are strong enough to cut through steel! With the gathered conscious of those six Espers, I can calculate how to properly control those winds to deal devastating attacks! How is it that a Level 0 like me can negate my power!?"

"That isn't your power."

Stepping up again to Level Eater's haunting gaze, Touma ignored the splitting pain crawling up his arm and aimed his hand at the machine of stolen AIM.

"It's the stolen power of students who have worked to the bone to achieve their Personal Reality. It doesn't belong to you so you can twist their realities for something as pointless as revenge! You have no right to distort what they've gained just because you're suffering!"

"No right?!" Mila yelled in gall before performing a raking uppercut in front of her, firing a long blade of compressed air to cut along the ground and race towards Touma. Like before, the deadly blade that should have cut him in half was negated with a swipe of his right hand. Again, she fired several more blades to dice him to pieces.

"I have every right to use the same gifts that I had coveted for so long! While I have nothing against Espers who have realized their wish for power, that doesn't mean I don't find it unfair that they had their wishes heard! What about my wish?! Why couldn't I have been so fortunate to have even gained a measly Level 1 ability? All I wanted was to gain something, something I could build up, to prove that I wasn't worthless in their eyes! No matter how hard I tried though, I could never improve even a bit in my System Scan."

The fury swipes of slicing winds were like a barrage that found themselves solely focused on Touma. He grit his teeth, evading and negating the air blades that nearly cut his body to pieces. He ducked under one guillotine like breeze; stepped to the side of another after negating one that was aiming to cut his left arm off, and jumped over the sweeping winds flying for his legs before swinging his right hand in an arc in the face of three wind blades. His breathing grew heavy through the barrage of wind attacks as he ran ahead to beat the machine with all his strength.

"And that gives you the reason to take the abilities of others? To use the bodies of students who have suffered like you? How is that fair?! They're innocent, they don't have anything to do with your revenge! Why must they suffer because you didn't get what you wanted?!" he roared.

Growing fed up with her attacks being brushed off by one measly hand, Mila commanded Level Eater to fly after Touma. She took the high school boy by surprise as she flipped it over, aiming the spiked headphone like jack like an impaling spear. If her gained ability wouldn't have any effect, how would an attack by something that wasn't psychic in nature fare?

"Kamijou!"

"Got it!"

In Mila's focus on the spiky haired boy, she had forgotten about the silent party that was with him. A mistake that would cost her.

Touma didn't think about dodging, relying on his body to act on its own. At the very last second that Level Eater's spiked jack would stab through his face, he dropped on his knees and slid underneath the large ghoulish machine. His right hand's fingers went up as Level Eater passed him by, brushing against the AIM Field it had stolen from six Espers and negating its powers for a moment.

Mila scowled furiously until she was taken back by the appearance of an intimidating, stern faced man in a leather jacket and pants appearing overhead. Komaba Ritoku had used the Hard Taping in his legs to amplify his speed and jumping power to reach Level Eater in its vulnerable moment. Raising his leg up high, he slammed the heel of his foot down as hard as he could into the alabaster white metal with a metal clang. The heel drop sent Level Eater crashing down and shattered the mirror like black surface below.

Regaining Level Eater's ethereal body, Mila flung Komaba up into the air with a burst of twisting wind from its body. The stern faced gorilla man flinched as he felt a few nicks appear on his leather jacket along with a cut or two on his face. He flipped back in the air, dodging a clawed hand that was coated with tearing winds before landing on his feet. It was at this time that the leader of Level 0s felt the need to take out a weapon to better fight against Level Eater.

Reaching for the back of his waist, Komaba swung his arm to reveal a large blocked pistol, the flourish of the firearm causing a hidden barrel to extend with the length of his arm while six cylinder's grew out. The weapon was known as the B20 Grenade Launcher, an explosive launching firearm that's main feature and appeal was its ability to collapse for easier carry around and concealment. Along with its six chambers, it was made of a light weight metal for just about anyone to use. And while Komaba tried to avoid killing when it wasn't needed, he still believed it was a good idea to carry some kind of explosive power when dealing with students who could conjure and manipulate fire.

Aiming the barrel of the B20 grenade launcher at the ghoulish machine, Komaba steadied his aim amid Mila's giggle.

"Are you serious? What can that little toy do to me?! I'll just slice whatever grenades you shoot at me!" Mila goaded smugly.

Komaba didn't respond, simply smirking as his finger tickled the trigger.

Did she forget that she wasn't fighting one Level 0?

Mila felt a disturbance in the AIM Dispersion Field that made up Level Eater. It was far too late to act before Level Eater once again lost its connection to The Level Eater System and the AIM it was consuming from the Espers. She didn't need to know who was responsible for what should have been impossible.

The very second Komaba had witnessed Touma negate Level Eater's AIM, something he still couldn't wrap his head around or understand, the gang leader fired off three grenade shells in rapid succession. Mila could only watch the large metal explosives soar after the Level Eater's body in its window of vulnerability, rocking her body from the inside as the machine was consumed in smoke and flames.

The time it took for Level Eater to regain its connection to its system was .21 seconds. That was how long Mila had calculated it had taken in the three times she had lost the connection. Before her precious machine could hit the ground, it restored its Aero ability to float and disperse the flames and smoke with a whirl of wind. Mila grit her teeth with a flinch, quickly growing infuriated.

It was official. She was pissed.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIIIIIEEEEEE!?"

A tempest of spiraling winds erupted from Level Eater's ghoulish body, spreading to form a hurricane like wall that circled and spun around it. The black metal floor was marred by gashes as the hurricane grew to the height of the hangar's ceiling in its attempt to engulf all those Level 0s in her way. Surely even what could be a literal hurricane created by psychic winds would be enough to kill one measly Level 0.

Shielding their faces from the stinging winds from the spreading hurricane gales, Komaba, Hamazura, and Index found their bodies being pulled in. They fought to ground their feet but only ended up skidding forward against their will.

The only one to not fight the pulling winds was Touma. Eyes fighting to remain open against the stinging winds hitting his face, he let his body get dragged forward, flying towards the wall of shredding winds with his right hand aimed forward. He ignored the few new cuts along his already wounded body, focusing solely on driving his fist against the grinding force.

Anything supernatural was automatically destroyed when in contact with Imagine Breaker. Not even a hurricane created by supernatural phenomenon stood a chance on the bane of all things with corrupted harmonies.

Mila swallowed a scream of fury as she witnessed the spiky haired Level 0 endure the tearing winds to be pulled within the eye of the storm, his right fist rocketing forward and dispelling both her hurricane and Level Eater's powers. She went on the defensive, seeing Touma fall to the ground with the loss of the pulling winds into a roll and get back on his feet. Creating a spiraling funnel around the arm of Level Eater, she fired the twister like spear at the spiky haired boy. But even with enough force to tear along the ground below, the twister was dispersed by a simple reach of Touma's right hand.

"WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND!?" Mila screamed before going on another approach of attack.

The ribbon like green wings on Level Eater's back arced, locking onto its targets to rain down like heat seeking missiles with edged tips. Her Aero ability wasn't working properly, that had to be it! She just needed a little more time to fine tune the calculations she was being provided is all! So, what about an attack of pure AIM?

In Mila's blind rage of the impossible, she had forgotten how easily the body of AIM Level Eater took was shattered just as her ability had been.

Touma went on the evasive, moving in a combination of dodges and deflections with his right hand as most of wings of AIM focused on impaling him. The floor around him was littered with piercing holes by the missed wings. But those false angelic wings weren't solely meant for him.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

Sweating profusely, Hamazura, who had no ability whatsoever, scrambled to dodge the tethered green edged ribbons. Something that wasn't so easy when he was carrying a silver haired nun on his back like a backpack. He couldn't help but be annoyed that he was left to babysit a nun who just as worthless as he was.

"It's an Angel!"

Angel? Hamazura wanted to laugh, but found himself back stepping from a stabbing wing.

"That thing?! Aren't angel's suppose to be beautiful winged hotties with big breasts?!"

. . .Exactly what kind of angel's was the blond delinquent thinking of? Obviously not the kind who preached god's holy words.

Even though Index wished nothing more than to treat Hamazura to the Touma Treatment, she instead focused on the corrupted holy being attacking them.

"It has all the symbols of an Angel. What signifies an angelic body is not the features, but its wings and halo! Even though the wings and halo it possess aren't complete and twisted, it is without a doubt a being that dwells in the heavens!"

Bullshit. Hamazura was calling utter bullshit. There was no way that thing was similar to angels!

Feeling a wing graze his calf, Hamazura grit his teeth as he felt blood run down his leg. He couldn't continue dodging, he wasn't like Komaba who was built like an athlete, or that Kamijou guy with the freaky right hand that canceled out Level Eater's powers. As a good for nothing Level 0 with nothing remotely special about him, he had to think outside the box and rely on tricks to survive. Twisting out of the way of several wings that wished to stick him full of holes along with the holy luggage that was Index, Hamazura carefully eyed the battlefield.

The blond delinquent watched as Touma got in close to Level Eater, once again shutting it down with just a touch of his hand which opened a window for Komaba to fire off another round of grenades at the ghoulish creation. That's when he caught what the others had missed.

When Level Eater regained its AIM body, the six capsules containing an odd obscured green liquid glowed a luminescent emerald hue. The antenna's at the top hummed, sparking ever so slightly and Level Eater once again went on the attack with a rain of wings stabs. What they had first believed to be some background pieces looked to be more important then they believed.

That chick inside the weird, deadly machine said something about stolen Personal Realities and ability, right? Six Espers with Aerokinesis; the ability to manipulate wind itself. And where were those Espers? They had to be close by.

In plain sight, the answer laid in those containers with odd silhouettes.

An idea came to Hamazura. One that even a delinquent like himself could pull off.

"Get a good grip, Sister-chan! Cause we're about to break some shit up!" Hamazura grinned as he swung his steel baton free.

Swiping his right arm, Touma shattered several green wings aimed for his chest. He panted, feeling the constant evading and negating start to wear him out. He knew Toka was right, that his body was in no condition to be fighting, but he pushed his body regardless. It shouldn't have been a surprise he was already out of breath.

"So, you can dodge a few attacks? Than how about something more widespread?!"

Spreading its arms up wide, Level Eater unleashed a flurry of slashes that fired blade after blade of winds at Touma. Seeing the attacks fly far faster than he could vainly dodge, Touma was left with no other option than to raise his right hand's palm out to act like a shield in the face of the wild slashes. Splaying his fingers out wide, he created a pseudo field of negation that shattered most of the aero blades. Though the parts of him outside of that field weren't so lucky. His shoulders suffered lacerating tears, his legs were sliced, and a long slash starting from below Touma's left eye lid to his ear ran with red.

Mila smiled sadistically. She could finally see the odd ball Level 0's face twist with agony. Good, for a moment she believed that he was invincible. What a silly thought. She may have been taken back by that right hand of his, but that wasn't enough to make her fear him. That power to negate her attacks looked to be centered remotely to his right hand. Meaning; if she wanted to do any real damage, she needed to focus avoiding that right hand that was capable of negation.

Negation. Mila had never heard of such a thing existing in Academy City's Bank, a power like that wasn't anything like the five attributes in the Power Curriculum Program. Idly though, she did hear of a certain rumor; the rumor of a mysterious Level 0 who had the ability to negate an Esper's abilities. Like many others, she had thought of it as nothing more than what it was; a rumor with no truth to it.

But here he was, a breathing myth.

Well, not breathing for long.

Creating another twisting gale in Level Eater's palm, Mila was already calculating a new strategy with the borrowed minds of those six Esper's connected to The Level Eater System. She tsked, transforming those twisting gales into blast of bellowing winds as three grenade shells came from the left. Right, she almost forgot about Komaba. Unlike Touma, the true threat, the big thug was just an annoyance. Hardly worth her time.

Ants were ants though, and they were meant to be squashed.

"You've annoyed me long enough, Komaba-san. Drop dead already." Mila remarked in annoyance. She flung Level Eater's wrist, sending a long blade of wind along the floor with the speed of a ramming truck.

Komaba knew he couldn't dodge, the attack was far too fast. Thinking quickly, he aimed his grenade launcher at the ground a few feet away from, disrupting the long blade's form with the explosive force. He didn't go unscathed though, standing far too close to the blast that flung bits of the ground back at him like shrapnel into his skin.

Despite the bits of ground stabbed into his body, Komaba didn't stumble and loaded the last of his shells while abusing the Hard Taping over his joints to evade the chasing slicing winds. With how large the rounds were, he didn't carry much on him to be wasteful. He was down to three and would have to make them count.

A mad twitch developed in Mila's eye. They were zeros! Just like she had been, they lacked any power! In the face someone with the power to control the very wind to do whatever she damned well pleased, they should have cowered and died like any other Level 0! So, why was it that two lowly Level 0s were able to continue standing in her way?

Creating six spinning twisters, she fired them like spears after the most problematic target; Kamijou Touma. Calculating the trajectory with the aid of the Espers doing all her calculations, the twisters twirled around in confusing patterns to better avoid Touma's right hand. The drilling winds spun around Touma's panting form, speeding up in rotation as he tried to follow where they would strike from. A wide grin grew as Mila manipulated the twisters to spiral around Touma, flying up high above the spiky haired boy before raining down in six directions to pierce him through. Like clasping fingers, the twisters moved to run him through in a stabbing grip.

Touma grew frantic. Feeling his right hand flexing his fingers, he spun his body in a complete spin on the balls of his heel just as the twisters closed in. All but one of the drilling winds were negated. He grunted deeply as one of the twisters eagerly lunged for his face; his reflexes saved him yet again, forcing his head to the side and earning several shredding cuts from his cheek to his shoulder.

Blood freely swam down Touma's face from the numerous cuts from what felt like a shredder against his skin that would have made even a grown man swallow a cry. But he endured the agony, right fist still held out to shattered another, much larger, twister that had thought could sneak in a kill shot. His breath was ragged, each breath felt like he was gulping a gallon of air into his dry lungs, and his right arm was throbbing with the beat of his hammering heart. All it would take was one good hit, and he would be out for the count.

And yet, that damn, plain faced, Level 0 continued to stand in her way.

"Why?" Mila's voice came out softer than before, displaying how tired she was becoming with their exchange. Her gaze remained on Touma, flicking Level Eater's hand to fling aside the grenade shell Komaba had tried to hit her with, "Why are you even here? This doesn't involve you, this involves Academy City and I! Why can't you just leave me alone and let my wish be granted!?"

Slapping a bullet like burst of wind his way, Touma spoke to Mila with a puzzled frown.

"Wish? How can any of this be for a wish?! What does that blood stained wish even grant you? Satisfaction? Happiness? Can you really say that the lives of those lost today are worth it?!"

"Don't you dare speak to me like you know what's right for me!" Mila yelled as she aimed Level Eater's left hand out. Unlike the attacks from earlier, it was unseen to the naked eye. But it's effect was immediate. Touma felt the air around him grow thin. It seemed Mila had learned a new trick to her Aero ability and created a space devoid of oxygen. The spiky haired Level 0 began to choke as he fought to preserve whatever breath remained in his lungs.

"For years, I've tried to better myself to no success. Did you know that after eight, agonizing, lonely, loveless, years I haven't so much as increased my AIM by even a fraction of its number? I couldn't live up to my parents expectations, and who's fault is that? Academy City, that's whose! Where I failed, they continued to smile and tell me to keep trying, knowing I would never do better!"

"And that gives you the right to manipulate others for your revenge? Aren't you doing the same as Academy City?! Giving those who followed you false hope of making things better for Level 0s, when in reality it was all for your own selfish desire!" Touma grunted weakly before stumbling a short distance and moving his right hand forward. The sound of shattering glass rang out, negating the draining oxygen field as he swallowed several gulps of sweet tasting air.

"Exactly; you're exactly right! I'm just another manipulative, twisted, cruel figure, created by this lying city of science! The sweet little girl who originally wished for her parent's approval was corrupted by the researchers who poked at her body like some rat! Just like all the other students, those monsters took an innocent child and turned them into cold values!"

Once again, the pseudo angelic wings made of AIM spread themselves out from Level Eater's back to rain a barrage of slicing lashes onto all that opposed it. And though Touma could rely on his instincts and Imagine Breaker to survive the wings, the others were left to struggle in vain. If these kind of attacks continued any longer, it wouldn't be long until one of them fumbled and were torn to shreds. Komaba could attest to that from the several nicks tearing through his favorite black leather jacket amid his dodging.

There was no let up to the wild attacks fueled by the wrath of a Level 0 who's wish was denied by Academy City. Unless they could find some way to cut off the Level Eater's power source or permanently shut it down, their only option was to evade Level Eater's assault as best they could and as long as they could.

"Komaba! I found that bitch's weakness!"

Rolling out of the way of several gusts of slicing winds, Komaba turned his eyes to find Hamazura and the silver haired nun at the center of the large hangar. The Skill-Out leader wasn't sure how they had did, but they had managed to avoid detection from Level Eater's wrath, mostly likely to due with how little of a threat the two pose. Wondering what the shaggy haired thug was speaking of about weakness, he seemed to put the dots together as he noticed Hamazura gesture to one of the six tubes filled with luminescent liquid.

The Level Eater was a machine that attained a Personal Reality of Espers that were connected to its network, consuming a Level from those students to further build onto the shared abilities while also producing a visible field of AIM for a body. So, that left a question; where were those six Espers? The answer was simple, appearing literally right in front of their faces.

Hamazura grinned as he winded his arm back for a full body swing of his baton. He wasn't sure what those creepy tubes were made of, but he was sure that a couple of swings from a destructive thug would be enough to do some kind of damage!

"Oh, how cute! You thought I wouldn't do a thing to protect the power source of Level Eater's body? How utterly foolish of me! Why, I'm so devastated by the discovery of my one weakness, that I am unable to so much as stop a common delinquent from smashing the weak points."

The dramatics of Mila weren't lost to Touma as he batted away a wing that had curved to slice along his ribs. He frowned, feeling an uneasy weight drop down his stomach as he watched Hamazura ready to bash the glass tank of liquid providing the ghoulish creation AIM with the Personal Realities of students.

Wait. . .the students!

"STOP! DON'T BREAK THOSE TANKS!"

The desperate plea was just enough to stop Hamazura's swing. Well, in truth the delinquent was more than ready to ignore the shirtless spiky haired teen's and bash the weak points like a pinata. It was only thanks to Index's interference that the blond boy missed. Hamazura growled in annoyance and moved to try again, only for Index to grab onto his arm.

"What are you doing, Sister-san! Can't you see that breaking these things will stop that thing's rampage!" he grunted.

"But Touma said not to! He has to have a reason why!" Index argued stubbornly.

"And what stupid reason would that be!?"

"It's the students!"

Palm facing forward against the spinning drill of wind racing at him, Touma explained his reasons for stopping Hamazura from cutting off Level Eater's power source while shattering the attack.

"There's no reason why Mila would just leave those tanks out in the open if they contained the students supplying her with AIM! She's not an idiot, and she's not careless! If those tanks contain students, than there their only protection! Who knows what would happen to them if you damaged them!"

"He's right; spoilsport." Mila pouted. From her tone of voice, she didn't seem bothered that Hamazura could easily cripple her machine's ability to perform an ability. She was acting rather lax, caring little for what would happen to her power source, "If you don't care about the lives of those Espers, go ahead and break those tanks. Not only do they protect them and provide me all I need to perform their abilities, but they act as their life support. Those tanks control their breathing, monitor their heartbeats, supply them with vitamins to stay healthy, and make sure that their blood is properly pumping. And while I've made sure to avoid damaging them with small calculations of wind to bat away any damage, the same can not be said for you all. Tell me; are you willing to stop me at the cost of six innocent lives?"

Those cold words were accented by the Level Eater's hand aimed for one of the pods that housed a random student. The palm made of AIM swirled with wind, gathering a small storm that was fired like a stream rolling truck. The floor was torn apart in its destructive path for Level Eater's human power source.

Seeing what Mila was aiming for, Touma kicked off from where he stood to chase after the massive burst of storms. It took all he had to intervene the attack, breaking right in front of the towering whipping force of winds with the destructive force to tear apart walls of steel with a clenched fist. Even as the storm tossed his hair back and inflicted small cuts along his already wounded skin, Touma endured and did what no other human could; he punched the storm with his right fist.

As all other supernatural force, the attack was shattered as if it was never even there. No matter what power or destructive force the power held, it was meaningless before that right hand.

Touma's body trembled with anger as he glared furiously at Level Eater; at the platinum haired girl who had once again endangered an innocent student.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Kamijou-san! I had a feeling that you would stop my attack just in time. After all, you've been getting in my way this entire time with that freak of a right hand of yours." Mila said with a hiss.

"Get the fuck over it!"

That uproarious shout took Mila back, causing the girl to level the ghoulish machine's blood red gaze at the normal high school boy.

"What did you say?"

Touma stepped up to Level Eater, that same right hand that had constantly shattered every one of her attacks now slapped over his heart with an expression crossed with both frustration and sympathy of his fellow Level 0.

"I said; Get the fuck over it! I understand, you're in pain, you're suffering because of that stupid, insignificant label a bunch of faceless figures have given you! I don't know the story of your life completely, but I know that because of your status as a Level 0, you lost your family. Because of Academy City's Level System, they abandoned you in this cold city of science to become a Child Error. You were just a little girl who only wanted to be loved but were abandoned! Left all alone, you could only resort to wishing for all your hard work to be paid off with an ability all your own. And when that prayer belonging to a crying little girl wasn't answered, you resorted to anger, hate, revenge! Blaming Academy City for your lack of progress and everything else wrong in your life!

That kind of suffering, that kind of sorrow, had created the girl who sought to toss that pain right back at the cause of her fate. It didn't matter if others got caught up in her path of destruction. She was no longer the little girl who's voice could not be heard. Her voice was starting to resound, devouring a single district in street war, and was ready to do the same to the entire city.

Touma could understand how Mila had become such a girl. But that didn't mean he would accept it.

"But such failure isn't an excuse to allow yourself to transform into such a cruel, careless, girl! When you were at your lowest, I'm sure you had two options to choose from. Allow that pain to drag you further down into the darkness; or fight past it and get over it! Even if you don't have power, I'm sure you certainly had enough strength to see past the blame and grow up!"

"Get over it? Grow up? WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?"

With a roar, Mila commanded the Level Eater to charge ahead with a gaping mouth ready to devour the mouthy Level 0 up. Her anger was beginning to cloud her judgment. She didn't care about that odd negating hand of his, she just wanted to make him shut up! The winds she conjured washed past her like streams, aiding her in sending her flying like a sonic jet. Even with Touma's ability to cancel whatever ability Level Eater could summon, he couldn't hope to react quick enough to a heavy steel object that flew with the speed of a jet.

"WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT BEING ABANDONED BY THOSE YOU LOVED?! HOW COULD ANYONE EVER THINK ABOUT LETTING SUCH PAIN GO?!"

It felt like time itself had grown to a sluggish pace. Everything was happening in slow motion in Touma's eyes. He could see the metal ghoul of gathered AIM racing towards him with speed he couldn't hope to dodge. He was stuck. The second Imagine Breaker negated the AIM Burst's body, he would find himself being struck by the hard, durable, metal body. It would crash into him full force, breaking every bone in his body if he was lucky.

If Touma was anyone else, he would have taken what little time he had to think of a smart strategy to save himself. Surely, there was some way to escape. But that spiky haired boy wasn't that smart. The only thing he could ever do was rely on that right hand of his. Clenching that right fist was all he had ever known since his memories were destroyed.

Facing the jet speeding Level Eater head on, Touma sighed tiredly and squared his shoulders. He raised his right arm, balled his fist, and dug his feet in as deeply as he could.

'It's true, I don't understand such suffering like you. But I was abandoned too; abandoned by a boy I could never hope to live up to. And I could have given into the despair of waking up with no connections to call my own, with no personality to call my own, with no dreams to call my own. In that moment, I could have fallen into my own despair too. But,'

All it had taken was one teary eyed, bright yet trembling, smile of one girl to give him reason.

Doubt still existed in his core. Were his actions his own to claim? Did his fist clench because he desired it? Was he putting his life on the line because that was what he desired it? Touma wasn't sure, but-

'I'll get over it! I will move on! AND IF SOME HUSK WITH NO PAST, NO DREAMS, NO IDEALS, CAN; SO CAN YOU!'

The Level Eater crashed against the fist of a normal high school boy who impersonated someone greater. As suspected, the AIM Burst the machine had created as a skin had been shattered. That left the steel, crushing, body to meet against Touma's fist with a boom. Science dictated that such an object that moved at such speed should have utterly broken apart that arm and obliterated his body in a bloody shower of meat chunks.

But that right hand-No, that boy, had a habit of defying both science and magic.

The Hard Taping had aided in Touma's punch, adding more impact to stand against the crashing metal body. For a good few seconds, he had been able to hold the Level Eater's AIM-less body back. Any longer though, and he would have been blown away none the less.

What had helped to evade such a tragedy though was the shell of a grenade.

To the sides, Komaba had been watching the scene between Touma and Mila play out. He hated to say it, but he couldn't do much with only one grenade shell left. He had to wait for just the right time to use it, along with another trick he had in his sleeve. For his plan to work, he had only one chance to act on, leaving him to stand aside and patiently wait for his chance to come.

When he had seen the Level Eater abandon its long range attacks and go in for a close range move against that spiky haired boy's negating fist, Komaba knew he had to time his next move just right.

He fired his last grenade with perfect precision, just in time to hit the Level Eater's exposed body as it crashing against Touma's right fist. The shell hit the side of the ghoulish machine with enough force to screw with its flight upon detonating and send it skidding to the far left of Touma. Komaba didn't waste another moment to act and ran.

He didn't run for the vulnerable Level Eater though. No, his true intentions were centered for the six pods that contained the Espers powering the machine.

Having no need for a weapon with no ammo, Komaba tossed it aside and went for another weapon in his leather jacket. Well, calling it was weapon was actually wrong. It was more of a tool than anything else. It was meant for dealing matters that didn't concern fighting, but it had a purpose in this battle after all.

'If that machine relies on signals to gather its AIM from the pods, than stopping it without harming those students is much more simpler than I thought!'

Coming to skidding stop at the center of the pods, Komaba threw the object in his jacket out, almost as if he was throwing confetti. Strangely enough, a silver glitter showered over a few of the pods that was soon accompanied by more.

From within the Level Eater, Mila groaned in discomfort. She may been protected from outside attacks from the confines of the ghoulish machine, but that didn't mean she was entirely safe. Her body was jerked around by the forces outside that shook the machine. After that last hit, she felt several of her joints had grown sore. She had to blink away the groggy pressure in her head.

No matter. She may have taken a hit there, but she wasn't down. The Level Eater would just rise back up, and this time, she would make sure to deal with the pests properly. She was going about it the wrong way anyway. First; she would deal with Komaba and the others first. They had no means to properly defend themselves. After she rid herself of them, she could fully focus on dealing with Touma and his freaky right hand.

With a new strategy in mind, Mila moved to act swiftly on it and continue with her goal of revenge.

But to her puzzlement, nothing happened.

At first, Level Eater did not respond to her mental commands to rise. After a bit more push, the ghoulish machine levitated with the help of the Aero abilities she had stolen. But as she moved to regain the AIM Burst body, she could only conjure a short burst of AIM that repeatedly flickered on and off. The left hand she could only produce created a small gust of wind that died as quickly as she created it. To everyone watching gaze, the Level Eater's AIM body kept disappearing with what body parts it could create randomly.

Somehow, the connection to the Level Eater Network was being jammed.

The culprit stood in the middle of the pods that supplied her with her power.

Komaba smirked slightly as he found the half formed glare of the Level Eater staring at him.

"It's over. You said that you used brainwaves sent through radio signals to use your machines AIM draining abilities. That only meant we just needed to disrupt the signals."

"B-But, how!?" she roared furiously.

"Didn't you notice it in the air?"

Blinking owlishly, Mila soon discovered odd little silver petals twirling around the center of the hangar. Upon closer look, they resembled seeds with leaves sprouting out like a two fanned propeller.

"What you're looking at are called Chaff Seeds; Feathers of Disturbance. And while they seem harmless and pretty to look at, they have an important purpose. These little machines are mostly used to mess with Anti-Skills radios and prevent them from calling in back up, or sending any information that might get in our way in the moment. The metal sheets they're made from are very useful in getting in the way of radio signals, among other things." Komaba shrugged in his explanation, sending a few more up into the air around him, "After hearing how your machine relies on radio signals, it seemed only appropriate to rely on a trick a no good Level 0 developed. Though I had hoped it could completely jam the signals; it looks like Level Eater is still able to receive some signals."

Those little machines were jamming Level Eater signals? Of all things, those little gadgets brought by a Level 0 were disrupting a machine that absorbed the abilities and minds of Espers?

Even though Komaba couldn't see the platinum haired french girl's face, he could picture her frozen with an expression of disbelief, and rage. It made him chuckle just a little bit.

With the ghoulish machine slowed down by its body unable to properly develop, that allowed them to move onto the next stage of their plan.

"Hamazura!"

"Already on it!"

The blond delinquent didn't need to be told what to do next. The problem came with the tanks that contained the Espers and the signals they received and sent back. That only meant that they just needed to get rid of whatever was acting as the radio transmitter. It was clear what the cause was. Having already loaded his small handgun, Hamazura went to work on shooting at the top of six pods. His bullets were more than enough to destroy the receivers. Once the receivers were nothing more than metal riddled with holes, Hamazura gave Komaba thumbs up alongside the silver haired Sister he was watching over.

The loss of the small network of Espers had an immediate effect to the Level Eater. The ghoulish machine's unstable AIM withered away to nothing, leaving it to fall with a great boom to the floor. It stood up right, thanks to the spiked jack digging into the floor to keep it stable. And with the loss of its ability, the burning red eye at its center dimmed into a dull red as it remained inactive.

The signs of any threat from the mechanical ghoul were nonexistent. Without any AIM to power it, it was nothing more than a heavy tear drop piece of machinery.

Touma breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over. The spark that ignited a war in the streets of District 10 that had turned into a feverish, hungry flame, was now snuffed out. Now that there was nothing to fight, he could finally ease his fists. He flinched, finding his body nearly toppling over as he found the days events now creeping up on him. Any moment now and he was sure he would find himself falling on his face to add another bruise to his face. That was just his luck.

"Touma!"

It seemed that Index wasn't willing to waste any more time being away from her beloved caretaker. She left Hamazura's side and ran ahead to Touma, jumping at the tired boy with a leaping hug.

He was tired, beaten up, still bleeding here and there, and he felt that he might have a broken bone somewhere on his body; but he ignored all the aches and pain to return Index's embrace with his own smile. The fact that he was shirtless didn't matter to the two. In this moment, they only cared about being reunited through all the fighting without any looming threat.

"You couldn't wait until we got out of here, could you?" Touma chuckled through a grimace.

Index shook her head against Touma's dirty chest with a bright smile. She didn't care about the spiky haired boy's chest in her face, or the blood or smell; she just cared that he had made it back to her in one piece. Unlike last time.

Falling back beside his boss, Hamazura couldn't help but stare at the heart warming scene between the spikey haired boy and the silver haired Sister with envy.

"Who the hell is this guy anyway, Komaba? Is he part of Skill-Out or something?"

Komaba shook his head, taking the moment to rest on his knee now that the action was over. The excessive use of Hard Taping had taken a toll on him. When this was done with, he was going to need a long ice bath to ease his sore as hell muscles and joints.

"The boy's name is Kamijou, I believe. And no, he's not part of any Skill-Out gang that I know of. From what I've learned, he's simply some random high schooler who got caught up in this mess."

Hamazura said nothing, staring at the so called random high schooler flatly.

"He's. . .just some random guy?"

"Yup." Komaba said bluntly.

"Bullshit."

Bullshit indeed.

Patting Index's headdress affectionately, Touma turned his attention back to the silent Level Eater. He couldn't help but frown in worry at the lack of any activity from Mila. When one thought of it, she was safer inside than outside. He may not have anymore reason to fight her, but he wasn't sure of either Komaba or Hamazura from acting on their emotions. They were thugs after all.

He stepped away from Index and the others to stand in front of french girl within the nightmarish piece of technology. He wasn't happy with how things had gone. Mila was just a girl who had suffered due to Academy City. She was someone who wanted to be loved by a family who abandoned her. Her cries hadn't been heard by anyone willing to help that poor girl.

If only. . .if only he, or the previous Kamijou Touma, had come across her sooner.

"Mila-san, are you okay?" Touma asked tentatively, his voice soft as he waited for a response from the girl.

No answer. The lonely girl didn't say anything back even as he gave the tear drop machine a few gentle knocks. With no response, he began prodding the machine for some kind of door handle or latch to reach her. Who knows what kind of condition she was in.

". . . .Brainwave Upload; Complete. Proceeding with initiation of MELODY."

A chill slithered down Touma's head down to his toe as an automated voice spoke in place of Mila from Level Eater's body. Something didn't feel right here. Level Eater no longer had any AIM to produce its body. Without any form of power, it was no longer a threat to them. It was finally over with.

And yet, Touma found his body taking a step back from the still ghoulish machine. A dividing line formed down the Level Eater's body that released a hiss. From that line a brilliant beam of light blinded everyone in hangar and lightened up the facility. Touma grimaced harshly, suffering a point blank blast of the light curtain. He moved his arm over his face to shield his eyes, gaining some sight back in time to see the teardrop shaped machine crack open wide.

From that wave of light washing over every nick and cranny of the Level Eater's hangar, an obscured shadowed stood as the origin of the brilliant wave. Struggling to see what was the cause of the blinding light. Touma could only see what he could guess was Mila's silhouette facing them.

Even though Touma couldn't see much past the overwhelming light, he could make out what he guessed was an open grin from the silhouette before its lips began to move.

A song began to play, sung by a lonely girl who had suffered under the weight of zero.

Something compelled Touma to move on instinct; the instinct left behind in the wake of the previous Kamijou Touma. At the heavenly voice's song, he threw his right hand forward, fingers spread out wide as something flashed from the blinding radiance.

"EVERYONE, GET BEHIND ME!"

He wasn't sure if the others listened to his rushed shout. All Touma knew was that everything in his line of sight erupted with a sea of destruction.

Than. . .nothing.

---

Once Yomikawa had helped several other Anti-Skill personal in aiding those students and officers harmed by the onslaught of hacked automated security bots, she turned her attention to the pile of broken machines. She scowled in annoyance as she had to endure static buzz the heap of metal sounded. Even when the Cleaning Bots, Security Bots, and Powered Suits were taken care of, they were still a pain in their ass. For some reason, they couldn't stop whatever was causing the static.

Further breaking them did nothing. Ripping out the speakers that were installed did nothing. Not even their jamming devices did a thing.

The only thing they could guess could be responsible for the sounds could be the odd occult symbols littering the once hacked automatons.

Yomikawa scratched the back of her head with a sigh as she stood over the remains of the machines. She honestly didn't know what to even do with all this junk. Maybe turning them into scrap, or melting them down would silence them? Certainly would help if they had an Esper on hand that could easily melt metal like butter over a flame.

"Just what the hell was that all about?" She couldn't help but ask to herself amid the background of Anti-Skill and Judgment working around her to bring normalcy back to the school district, "I can't help but feel like we've missed something."

BOOOOOOOOOM!

The uproarious echo of an explosion from south overhead caught the attention of all those in District 7. Yomikawa spun her head towards the origin of the explosion, quickly finding a column of pitch black smoke bellowing into the sky. She grit her teeth as the uneasy lump in her stomach grew.

From what she could guess, the explosion had come from District 10. A sector that housed the gang known as Skill-Out and more alarmingly, the nuclear reactors that aided in powering the city. Not a milisecond later, her P-Phone began going off with a stream of alarmed chatter.

"What was that?! Did that come from District 10?"

"Is it the nuclear reactor?! Quick, send a team of Anti-Skill to investigate the cause of the explosion!"

"Where getting reports of Skill-Outs barring anyone from entering the district! It looks to be the work of Drop Out and Vile Dogs!"

"This is Branch 20 at District 10! Where the hell have you idiots been?! Do you even know what's been happening here! It's a literal turf war! Why has no one been responding to our distress calls!?"

"A team of Anti-Skill and Judgment are now engaging with Skill-Out members discovered wandering the streets of District 15! Them seem to be carrying an odd. . .steel obelisk? What the hell are those thugs doing?!"

The stream of disjointed calls from other branch leaders hammered Yomikawa with endless information. District 10; A gang turf war; Skill-Out; Steel Obelisks; and. . .

A song.

From the static blaring from the broken down machines, a song began to play soothingly over the ensuing chatter over her P-Phone. A beautiful, gentle, melodious female voice began to sing in place of the static. The girl's very singing could lull a person to a tranquil state of mind. The song itself was hard to understand, almost as if it was being sang in an alien language Yomikawa's mind couldn't piece together.

The songs very melody was enough for the blue haired teacher's grip on her rifle to slip. She almost lost herself to its rapture before her P-Phone snapped her out of it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! WARNING TO ALL ANTI-SKILL PERSONNEL, AN UNKNOWN-BZZZZZZZZZZTTTT!"

Whatever that Anti-Skill officer was going to say was cut off abruptly by a static feed, followed shortly by the song playing over all lines through Yomikaway's P-Phone. It was taking all her mental strength to fight off the luring pull the singing had over her. It had gone to the point she had to rip off the bluetooth device from her ear and crush it under her foot.

The song was much stronger when it was playing right in her ear. Its song still had the same effect on her through the piles of broken down bots, it was much less powerful than it was through the P-Phone.

Fighting the lull, Yomikawa stared ahead at the rising column of smoke that was most likely the cause of the new form of chaos in Academy City.

---

Heavy, struggling, strained breaths followed behind Touma's efforts in carefully carrying a certain silver haired nun's unconscious form against a wall. Luckily, other than a few bruises and nicks on her pin cushioned white habit, Index was fine. She had just been knocked out from the force that had hit her.

Index laid back against the wall alongside the forms of the others. Komaba, Hamazura, Angela, Toka, Fremea, and Dr. Tatsumi were in similar states as the silver haired Sister; unconscious and unresponsive after what they had survived. It was a miracle they had survived without any fatal wounds. He would have to thank Angela for what could only have been magic in play.

Touma groaned deeply, leaning his head back as he surveyed the hangar.

Or, what remained of it.

If one were to see it from his point of view, it appeared as if something had completely obliterated everything in sight. It was nothing short of decimation. Though they were several levels below the Hoshi Reactor's bottom floor, the attack that had blown the secret facility to rubble had stretched as far to erupt out from the reactor at an angle. To add further to the destruction, the cause of the obliteration had created a massive hole straight up to exit out from. The afternoon sunlight peeked down to lighten the scene of devastation and rubble. There were no signs of the attack melting metal, cutting through, or dissolving anything. It was just an intense, blunt, smashing force.

Now, one would ask how Touma and the others had survived such an attack even with a miracle at play. The answer was simple.

Imagine Breaker.

When Touma had thrown his right hand out, finger's spread wide open before the insane attack that decimated everything around him, he had created a pseudo field of negation in front and behind him. As great and powerful as the attack had been, it too had failed to overcome that boy's right hand. The supernatural destruction hadn't been outright shattered to nothing. No, it had fought to overpower Touma's right hand until it had died down.

The others who stood watching everything from the control room had been lucky to be caught behind Touma's position. The control room itself had been destroyed, collapsing under the force, but everyone inside must have been protected by a last minute protective spell that had reached even Komaba, Hamazura, and Index in time. They were wounded and buried beneath the rubble though, which Touma had painstakingly dug through to make sure they were all alive.

By the end of digging them out, Touma's hands were soaked with blood due to all the scrapes and gashes inflicted by the rubble. Well, it would be better to say hand instead of hands.

Touma fell to his knees with a dull thud, his eyes downcast to the torn apart floor to his right arm.

His entire right arm had been twisted horribly, nearly turned from its socket. His fingers were all bent, nails chipped right through like broken glass, and skin peeled like some amateur chef had tried to skin his arm off like an apple while the bandaged Hard Taping had been shredded. The attack had all but ripped his right arm off. He was lucky to have it left behind a mangled mess.

Imagine Breaker negated anything supernatural. Good or Bad. He was the only one left to suffer the brunt of that cruel attack.

What was it? Shock? Disbelief? What was it that stopped him from giving into the searing pain that enveloped every inch of his body, and cry out with wracking sobs of agony.

He wasn't sure what it was. All he knew was one thing.

Touma had failed.

He had failed to stop Mila. He had failed to protect Index and the others.

And most importantly of all, he had failed that Level 0 he was standing in for.

This was it. He couldn't go on any longer. He had suffered far too many injuries to even get back on his feet. His entire body had gone numb to protect him from the damage that threatened to shut him down. What remained of his strength and will was keeping his eyes from giving out.

A sigh; drained, exhausted, defeated, left that normal high school boy's dried and bloody lips as he rested on his knees in the remains of the research facility.

There was nothing left for him to do. Nothing.

"Now, now, Kamijou-san! That's not the face a reluctant star should be making! You're Touma Power needs to sparkle more radiantly!"

"The fact he even remains conscious after such a brutal strike is fascinating. I knew the wielder of Imagine Breaker had high resilience, but this is scientifically absurd. Kaa-san was right; there is no method to explain what he's capable of. No wonder she found herself captivated by him. How romantic."

"Even at this early of his journey, he's still capable of this much. But it's still lack luster. He needs to Level Up some, other wise this Event is all for nothing."

Voices, once's he didn't recognize in the slightest. Or did he? His memory loss was really a pain in his ass sometimes. Moving his head up slightly, Touma could only make out three hazy figures standing in front of him. That wasn't good, his sight was on verge of leaving him too. He could already feel his eye lids flutter, ready to shut at any moment.

"W-Who?" Touma rasped, struggling to even utter a single letter.

One of those hard to see figures walked up to Touma's kneeling form. Even when they were so close, he still couldn't make out their features well enough to picture a face. It was just a blur.

That unknown person laid their hand on Touma's naked, filthy, blood soaked, shoulder with a comforting squeeze. They spoke kindly.

"Don't worry, Kamijou-san. You can leave your friends to us to care for. I'll be sure they're all healed up and moved somewhere safe. But I'm afraid your work isn't done, not just yet. After all, isn't there someone who needs to be saved? Can't you hear it?"

Hear it? What was that mystery person saying? What could he hea-

Music. A song was being sung for all to hear, spread far and wide within Academy City. It's very melody lured in those who heard it and linked them all together in harmony to the singer's wish. All who were to hear it were struck by its beauty and captivated to listen.

But Touma, as heavily wounded, drained, and close to passing out as he was, could hear what was buried deep below the gentle tones.

An emotion. One so buried deep down, no one else could ever hope to discover it. Yet he found himself ignoring the wondrous sound and focusing on that one emotion.

And that gem he had found called to him to clench that mangled fist of bent fingers once again.

The action brought a pleased grin to that mystery boy's blurred face.

"There it is! The famous Kamijou Touma fist clench that's defied so many! Even at your knees, you can still muster the strength to try and try again! It's almost enough to mist up my eyes."

"Unlike a certain blond Mind Over. How unromantic."

"S-Shut up! The sheer determined power Kamijou-san displays is just too overpowering! And I see you glancing away, you supposed cold and calculating Kihara!"

Ignoring the bickering between the other two blurry figures, the leader of the trio stood up and stepped back.

"Now that you've regained that infamous spark of yours, it's time to get you going. Unfortunately, you've suffered a great deal of damage, your HP is at the red and blinking dangerously. At your state, you'll suffer a Critical Hit and then Game Over. Luckily, we've learned much from our respective mother's on how to fix you up quickly. All that I ask, is that you once again grit your teeth-"

One of the other blurry figures moved next to the leader, their hand rising up with a silver glint that sent warning signals firing off in Touma's head.

"And bear it."

That silver glint moved with insane speed, slicing through the air with the sound of cutting wind like a whistle. And in that single flash of steel, Touma found he could no longer feel his right arm.

Something hit the ground with the sound of wet meat flopping dully. The sound sickened Touma.

And then, something. . .cruel, menacing, wild, and uncontrollable began to spring from that ordinary boy's blood spurting right shoulder. With a bubbling sound, a great pressure began to emit and sting the very air due to the unrestrained phenomenon ready to unleash itself to the world.

"Hachi-san; Over-Run 061: Sensory Restoration."

"Already on it! Kamijou-san, what you see, is just an illusion!"

An invisible presence moved to snap its jaws at the three boys who had dared to see its release from that spiky boy's right arm. But even without the ultimate shield; Imagine Breaker, it found itself vanishing into thin air.

Whatever It was, it held enough power to easily plow right through the tricks of humans, Magician or Esper. But the same could not be said for Kamijou Touma. Without Imagine Breaker, he was now weak to attacks and abilities of those he once negated.

That spiky haired boy who appeared no different than any other high schooler possessed another power. One that had moved quickly to crush that unseen, invisible terror. It was an unconscious motion he himself was not aware of.

The pain had ended there. Touma wasn't sure how, but it felt like his right arm had been reattached. It was odd. Even though he could clearly see that his right arm laid across from him, it felt as if it was still attached to his shoulder. Like it had never been chopped cleanly off. Somewhere in his brain, certain bio electrical signals were telling him that his right arm was very much fine; to not worry about the fact his right arm was indeed laying across from him in a bloody puddle.

That what he was seeing was simply an illusion.

"Apologies for the ugly method we've resorted to, Kamijou-san. But it was the only way to allow us the chance to send you on your way quicker. Now, stand still. This will only take a moment. After that, it's all up to you to wrap this Event up. We can't carry you the entire time after all. Though I'm sure you're tenacity will help you to chase after Mila-chan and put an end to her illusions."

Touma wasn't sure what was happening. At the brink of defeat, he was greeted to three strange boy's he still couldn't make out, lost his right arm again, felt something divine yet monstrous burst out of his empty right arm socket, and now felt this odd tugging sensation over his body. What he could only guess was a needle poked his left arm, injecting him with some unknown medicine.

Touma blinked slowly, feeling his senses come back to him thanks to what he guessed was a drug that helped to restore his exhausted stamina. Even his vision began to clear up, giving him enough sight to make out two heads of blond hair and one head of dark hair.

"Sorry! But we can't allow you to see our faces just yet, Kamijou-san! It was nice meeting you, and to know that you certainly live up to your reputation, but you got somewhere to be. This is where we part."

Before Touma could finally make out the leader of the three stranger's faces, he felt his body enveloped by what he could guess was magic, and pull him away. He moved to stay, to at least thank the strangers for healing him, and make sure that Index and the others really were in safe hands, but only found a mangled red object flung his way.

It wasn't until his entire body was whisked away by the spell of the leader, that he realized that it was his right hand that was thrown at him.

---

The grand finale is ready to close. A song of one lonely girl fills the city, connecting them all to the same suffering that has been ignored for far too long.

A great beast is now unleashed with an appetite that can't be quenched. The hunger for revenge is great and will devour this city whole.

Against the entire reality of this city of science, what can one ordinary boy do? With doubt in his heart, a heart that he can't even call his own, what will he do?

That fist only remembers how to clench. Follow it, and your wish will be heard.

And that's that! Due to how long the finale was, I had to cut it in half. Again, I went a little overboard with my words. But now, when next we meet, we will see how the final battle will play out! I gotta tell ya, it was one hell of a fight to write. I can't wait for you all to see the dramatic conclusion.

Now, for NT22R. Spoilers for those who hadn't read it yet.

Holy hell. Was that more than I expected in the way of character development.

Touma, Accelerator, and my beloved Misaki. Those three were truly the stars of this volume for sure. All of them grew or revealed parts of themselves that I would not have thought to see.

Touma, for once, killed. It was himself in a way; his own unknown ability having taken a human form and stolen Imagine Breaker; but he had fought to kill Kamijou no Touma with no remorse. I will always shiver when I remember his line; "I'll kill you, you and only You!"; He revealed that dark part of himself he had always had and we've only gotten peeks of. Not only that, but Kamijou no Touma had shown us just how deadly and dangerous Touma could truly be. When he wasn't tied down by his morality, he could prove to be truly cunning, cynical, and tactical. All while still retaining the image of Kamijou Touma it he had always observed from his cage inside Touma. To use even the memories of his lost summer with Misaki against her and Touma; that was both cruel and smart.

That dragon shell he created was pretty awesome too. I wonder what it could be? And what it's full potential could do? God damn Kamachi! Always leaving me with more questions!

Accelerator has finally grown past his old self. That boy who killed 10,000 girls as if they were wind up dolls has gone through so much through OT and NT. The number 1 now see's himself as being an example for the other Espers to follow, and wants to do better and act better. He wants to change Academy City's dark underbelly. He doesn't want those cruel, twisted experiments that created him to go on any further. He is now the Board Chairman. And he will do whatever it takes to properly bring up his precious students. Because he's now ready to properly walk the same path as the hero he's always been chasing after. All while still being his typical self. I loved the cheery introduction full of bloodlust at the remaining board members.

Poor, sweet, Misaki. I say again; God damn Kamachi! She's just a girl! Her love for Touma had come to bit her back as she met a Touma that actually remembered her, and those lost memories of a happy summer. As long as she could hear Touma, whatever form he took, say her name, she would be happy. But that was just a blissful illusion, one she had to break herself. With one final blow of her whistle, she wished that the boy she had loved would hear it and come to her rescue again. And even in the strange form of a dragon of sky blue and lemon yellow, Misaki could see the Touma that truly had her heart. That poor girl has suffered so much these past few volumes. I hope that as we get into the new chapter of A Certain Magical Index, that she can find some happiness with Touma again. She no longer needs to hold onto the past, she can finally begin living towards the present and future.

The fights this volume were great. Touma vs. Touma. Accelerator vs. Queen Elizard. And Touma vs. John's Pen Mode Index, Part II! And this time, he wound up surpassing the old Kamijou Touma by defeating JPM Index's Dragon's Breath without losing his memories. That slap of the feathers that had created him was just perfect. as he said, "It's over."

I can't wait to see what's in stores next. Anna Sprengal and Aiwass are set to take the place of The Silver Star and The Great Demon. Many more adventures await, and I'll be here waiting with little to no patience!

What did you think of the last of New Testament? It's always good hear from fellow fans of how it came to an end.

Now, enough rambling! You know what to do!

Read and Review! It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.