Fortitude501: That's a pretty good question, actually...I wonder what other kinds of encounters they had in the past.
Terrarianium: Glad to hear that you're enjoying it! As for the timeline, the story begins right after the Skill Out Uprising arc, which is about two weeks after the Daihasei festival.
PheonixX09: Accelerator's not very prominent in this arc. He'll have plenty of time to shine later though, cause I'm planning for this fic to go on for quite a while.
5had0wHand: We shall see...
Guest: I can't really say too much without unveiling some of the plot of the story, but I will say that Aogami is not the actual Number Six. I've actually got a lot planned for him because I want to expand his character a lot in this story, but I'll leave it there for now. As for your second point, from what I've seen of tranquilizers they tend to just paralyze, not knock out cold, so that's just what I've went with.
Wildan: Cheers! Well, you'll see the outcome of our resident blue-haired fetish king and Misaka-sexual closet pervert's battle in this chapter, so be prepared! Tsuchimikado's encounter with Shokuhou will come soon...
VLPURN: The most epic fight indeed O.o Though probably will be different to what you guys expect...
ARC 1: High School Breakdown
Chapter 6: The Battles of the Center Stage(Conflicting_Paths.)
"I...don't know what you're talking about..."
"Don't play dumb." Tsuchimikado Motoharu's voice was curt, cold, and unfeeling. It was a very off-putting tone, one that contrasted the personality that he was profiled to exhibit in public. Taka Yubi theorized that, had she never been given the job, she likely would've never realized that he was a dark side operative if she were to pass him in the street.
"There's too many things that don't make sense. Such a vague explanation behind the purpose of the event like enhancing inter-school relations and promoting teamwork don't cover up any of the inconsistencies to anyone who's paying attention. Putting thousands and thousands of different students from different schools on only two different teams with barely anytime to prepare or strategize with their peers-not taking into account putting so many Judgement members on one team, placing no barriers or restraints on any of the participating Level 5's-I don't believe for a second that the higher-ups forgot to take that many things into account when organizing this."
"..." No response.
However, Tsuchimikado pressed on.
"However, the fact that they went through with this despite all these contradictions to their goals means that this isn't some fake event. It was definitely initially planned out by the higher-ups, but...if I had to guess, someone messed around with the regulations it originally had, didn't they?"
"..."
"No response again, but also no denial-which means I'm right at least to an extent. You're not good at hiding things, are you? I guess that's a rookie for you."
"...Shut it..." At last, she muttered something quietly. However, Tsuchimikado showed no remorse as he stood up, taking out his phone-which seemed to have a rather colorful pink casing.
"Shit, wrong one..." He quietly muttered under his breath as he stuffed into his pocket and pulled out another phone, which had standard black casing. After pressing some things on the phone, he put it up to his ear.
"...Yeah, you heard me right...I'll have our resident impostor contact Management...if you're that close, then just come here. I've sealed off the entrances using the security office, so no one will get in uninvited. When I see you on the cameras, I'll unlock the nearest entrance."
Tsuchimikado then closed his phone.
"Calling an acquaintance to back you up?" Taka spat.
She did not sugarcoat the question with the word "teammate." The dark side organizations of the city were generally operated under the very thin authority of a single leader, in addition to whichever high-ranking city official they normally took orders from. Most of them did not "work together"-it was moreso that they tolerated each other's way of doing things. However, that was always tentative. No doubt, the moment one of them interfered with another's method of work, they would not be shown any more mercy than any target of an assassination contract.
Tsuchimikado said nothing in response to the girl. Instead, he just stared at her as he stowed the phone away in his pocket.
It was unnerving. While his eyes were hidden behind the sunglasses, the calculating aura was so intense that she might as well have been able to see through them to the expressionless orbs behind.
"W...What do you want?..." she muttered.
But the boy was still silent, and chose instead of answering to simply turn away and wander into the security office.
A moment later, he came back with a pair of handcuffs.
"This is a little ironic, considering that normally Anti-Skill officers are the ones who put these cuffs on people like us..." The boy absentmindedly remarked as he bent down next to the paralyzed girl, and then handcuffed her.
The girl was silent as he dragged her into the security office. There was no use of begging or trying to bribe her captor-Tsuchimikado Motoharu was evidently not so feeble of a person to fall for such a shallow thing. So she merely waited there on the floor of the office, vaguely keeping track of the blonde keeping his eye on the security cameras while occasionally turning to her to ensure she wasn't trying to escape.
It took so very long to Taka Yubi-it was likely just 10 minutes or so, but the time she spent flopped down on that floor, completely paralyzed by the tranquilizer bullet and handcuffed felt like the most shameful and pitiful experience of her life. Her captor had removed her communications earpiece, so she had no idea what her cohorts were thinking, but she wouldn't doubt the possibility that they were cursing her very existence at the moment-for she had failed her first job completely and utterly.
After those agonizing few minutes, she at last noticed out of the corner of her eye that Tsuchimikado had gave a start, and was now squinting at one of the camera screens. She couldn't make out what was happening on the screen, but Tsuchimikado stood up and walked towards one of the computers on the right of the desk. She heard a few button presses, and then the boy walked past her to the door, and then opened it. He stood at the entrance staring out into the main body of the mall, tapping his foot impatiently.
Then, she heard a noise.
It was a very odd noise-one that was very difficult to identify. It was as if the air itself had snapped in two-or perhaps some dimensional rift in space-time had ruptured itself into existence. Taka had no idea what exactly it was-the only thing that she could comprehend was that in the corner of her limited field of vision, there was now another pair of legs in the room.
She could make out that the new arrival was currently walking towards her. She braced herself slightly, but there was no impact of her getting hit in the head and knocked out, or a bag put on top of her head, or anything like that-nothing as cliched as that. Instead, she was simply hoisted upwards and then shoved uncomfortably against the wall.
She now had a clear view of Tsuchimikado's accomplice. It was a girl around their age, with scarlet red hair done in two long twin-tails that fell down her sides. Her dark blue coat was not worn in a traditional way-it was not covering her arms and front like how a coat typically would, but rather flowed out behind her like a cape. It was like how a young child would wear their coats to roleplay as a superhero that they read about in a comic book. In place of the coat, it was instead an array of bandages that did the job of covering her chest.
Taka had no way of knowing, but she was currently face-to-face with Musujime Awaki.
The girl with the pseudo-cape gave her a cold-hearted smirk.
"I'd prefer to not waste anytime, so I'm going to make myself as clear as I can. You're going to tell us everything you know about what's really happening amidst this event thing that's going on right now."
Her tone was matter-of-fact and confident; she had the air of someone who had just won a race by a mile and was waiting to be given their first-place medal.
There was an uncomfortable lump in Taka's throat. It was very clear that the difference in efficiency between her and Tsuchimikado was massive, and she could only assume that one of his cohorts would operate at a similar level. They were still just chess pieces to the board of directors, but to her they seemed like titans-walls so great that she likely wouldn't ever be able to scale them.
However, just like any average person, she had pride, which was something that often surpassed logic for many people. And that exact pride was being damaged by the smugness of the girl in front of her.
So, she grit her teeth.
"And why should I do that?"
Musujime's smirk did not move, change, or falter in anyway. She did not seem deterred or annoyed at her defiance whatsoever. It was almost unsettling-but Taka did her utmost to not show that.
Then, after a few moments that felt like it could've passed for an eternity, Musujime just gave a chuckle as she kept her gaze locked with her.
It happened in an instant.
Suddenly, a sharp corkscrew was right in front of her face.
She didn't know how it happened-the red-haired girl was still gazing at her with that arrogant smirk, and Tsuchimikado remained unmoving on the sidelines. Neither of them had moved it themselves-which left only one other answer.
"Teleportation."
She had information on Tsuchimikado Motoharu's esper ability-it was only a low-grade regeneration ability. And given that espers were only able to develop a single power, this obviously meant that the girl who was wearing her coat as a cape was the one with the teleportation.
Suddenly, although said person had not moved a muscle and her facial expression had not changed whatsoever, her smirk suddenly seemed several times colder.
"Next time, that corkscrew will be embedded into your shoulder, and I'll have you scream out very painfully for a good while before I release it. Or perhaps I should stab you in the eye? That'd undoubtedly be more painful...or perhaps even the chest. Us women tend to be very protective over them, after all. What do you think?..."
The girl with a lip piercing now felt like she might throw up. The unpleasant images that were being put into her head would likely have the same effect on many other people.
The fragile pride that she held as a human being was being shattered-any bit of confidence that she had built up to be defiant was now squashed in the face of such sickening, morbid thoughts, amplified even more given that she knew the red-haired girl could administer those horrors with ease.
She didn't have the peace of mind to notice currently, but she was trembling with fear.
"..." The terrified girl mumbled something.
"Hm? Speak up-I'm sure even a dog would have trouble hearing what you just said," Musujime scoffed as her expression became slightly more impatient.
"..."
"Oi, come on now, surely you haven't lost your ability to talk or anything, right? The corkscrew's gonna feel extra-painful if that's what it takes to get an answer out of yo-"
"I DON'T KNOW, OK?!"
The girl in handcuffs had shut her eyes-she could feel tears beginning to fall as she cried out. She noticed that her interrogator had gone silent and that her voice was trembling, but she didn't care. Those small things were not of notice to her.
"WHY WAS I THE ONE SINGLED OUT FOR THIS?! I NEVER WANTED TO JOIN SOME UNDERGROUND GANG, I NEVER WANTED TO ASSASSINATE SOMEONE, MUCH LESS HOLD A GUN IN THE FIRST PLACE, I NEVER WANTED TO HAVE TO CARRY OUT ANY SORT OF SHADY BUSINESS THAT YOU WOULD THINK ONLY HAPPENS IN MOVIES! I NEVER ASKED FOR ANY OF IT!" WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE EVENT? YOU THINK I FUCKING KNOW?! I GOT TAKEN OFF THE STREET OUT OF NOWHERE AND FORCED TO JOIN THIS...ORGANIZATION, OR ASSOCIATION, OR GANG, OR WHATEVER THE HELL IT IS, AND AFTER SPENDING WEEKS INSIDE ONE OF THEIR HIDEOUTS OR WHATEVER THEY TELL ME TO TAKE A GUN WITH ME AND KILL SOMEONE! WHY ME? THERE ARE DOZENS OF PEOPLE ON THE STREETS AT THE SAME TIME! WHY WAS I THE ONE SINGLED OUT?! WHY ME?! I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THIS, I DIDN'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH ANY OF THIS, I DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO USE A GUN OR KILL SOMEONE FOR A "JOB"! AS FAR AS I KNOW I'M JUST SOME RANDOM RUNT WHO GOT HIRED TO BE SOME CANNON FODDER! WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FROM ME?!"
There was then nothing but silence.
Taka was expecting them so scoff at her, laugh at her, send some even more irritatingly superior smirks towards her. After all, those of the dark side typically either worked with a cold indifference, or smug sadism to some degree. Screaming out one's inner pains and complaints like she was a child having a tantrum would no doubt make her out to be some pathetic weakling, and she was sure she would receive some verbal abuse for it. She had not been expecting to gain any sympathy or remorse; she had simply blurted things out of rage.
She waited for the laughs.
The chuckles.
The mocking.
"...who was it?"
Yes, there they were; the snide remarks about her weakness, her inability to compare, her-
"...wait."
Taka Yubi, tears still shining on her face, looked up to the speaker; Tsuchimikado, who's expression had not changed. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "...what?"
"Who's your employer?"
"...Why do you want to know?"
"Naturally, I need to know who our enemies are." His words were cold, hard, and laced with no emotion whatsoever.
"Why the hell would I give you the name of who I'm working for? That's not exactly typical etiquette for people like us, is it?"
"And neither was your not-so-professional outburst just now. You've broken your etiquette already, so why not continue the streak? Based on what you said, you don't sound particularly happy about being employed in the first place." It was Musujime who spoke this time, an unreadable look governing her face.
"...Tch. So they are making fun of me after all..."
"If I told you, wouldn't that mark me for assassination by them? I'd be nothing more than a traitor."
"So you're saying that you'd rather do a service to those who roped you into this to begin with than the ones who are going to kill them? You'll die either way. That, or you'll be hunted to the point of extreme injuries."
"..."
There was a silence for a few more moments. However, there was an underlying tone of anger embedded into it.
"I don't know their exact organization name. All I can do is tell you where my employer is-you can hope for something else from them."
The two senior dark side made no moves for a few moments.
Then, Tsuchimikado reached into his pocket, pulling out the phone with the standard black casing. After pressing a few buttons on it, he then put it to his ear.
"Pisces Department Store, District 7. All doors are locked. Musujime will pick you up and take you here when you've arrived."
He then pocketed the phone.
"Did you call more people here?"
"I did."
"Am I going to die?"
"Probably."
"...I see."
She was spared no mercy or hope.
"Musujime. There'll be about 3 minutes until a garbage truck shows up at the west entrance-when that timestamp comes, take her to the truck."
Move Point made no objections and merely nodded. "And what about you?"
"I'll have to return-I've got to save face with my classmates."
She snorted. "Never took you for one to value the classroom gossip."
The blonde gave a bitter laugh-which very much contrasted with the usual jolly chuckles he gave. "I wish it could be that simple."
With that, the group of three waited.
Lightning strike after lightning strike crashed down.
But the target of them continued as if nothing had happened. Truly, an invigorated Sogiita Gunha was a terrifying enemy.
Misaka Mikoto grit her teeth. Her magnetism swinging her from building to building gave her a considerable edge in mobility against her fellow Level 5, who seemed to prefer double-jumping through the air to move around(which was yet another thing to add to the pile of weird feats that he could pull off). However, he was getting more and more persistent-he seemed somewhat annoyed that she was running and keeping her distance-and with her having to increase the frequency and scale of her calculations each time, she was getting more and more worried that she would slip up at some point-and that it would cost her this match.
"Hit me with something stronger, number three! Put your guts into it!"
"I'm...doing what I can!..."
Misaka clenched her fist as she flew.
"I have to get him off me!..."
As she made one last swing, she flung herself towards the entrance to a car manufacturing factory, one which was at the end of the block and surrounded by metal fencing-which was of no use of deterring her. Turning back, she saw that, predictably, her opponent was racing towards her at remarkable speed, but nothing out of the realm of comprehension. He was jumping continuously over things on the road, such as cars, signs, construction equipment, and she could see that there was a fire hydrant in his path.
Calculating the exact timing for when he would jump over that hydrant while also configuring how many volts she would blast at him in that precise second would've been an immense challenge for any normal esper.
However, for the third-ranked Level 5 of Academy City, it came as second nature to her as she sent a thin electric blast of around 300 million volts concentrated at that particular point.
She heard the sound of impact, but didn't turn to see how effective it was. She was positive that he wasn't out of commission just yet, but that would buy her time-which was what she needed.
Turning back towards the factory, her brain was going into overdrive. There was no sense to be made out of her opponent, but she knew that any standard attack or even any strong attack by her standards would not be enough to take him down. However, using one of her most powerful attacks would possibly grievously injure or kill him-or, at the very least, cause extreme collateral damage to the city itself, and all options would definitely have consequences. She didn't know if Sogiita would have the same problems, but she wasn't going to rule out the possibility of him being able to take her out with a good hit without worrying about what would come afterwards.
So, her only option was to improvise a way to take him down without going overboard.
Which was precisely the reason why she had come to a car manufacturing factory.
Factories were one of the most common symbols of modern industrialization; they often contained advanced or complex equipment, using methods which had been cultivated and mechanized over years and years, and produced results that were up to that modern standard. And, naturally, given the fact that factories tended to hold either metal components, metal tools or machinery, there was no better time to utilize magnetism.
"I just need things that are heavy enough..."
She had found the heavy front door, comprised entirely out of metal with the corresponding keypad sitting on the wall next to it. Normally, inputting the correct code into the keypad would've been the only way to open the door.
However, to the third-ranked esper of the city and the best Electromaster there was, unlocking it through manipulating it's electric currents was the same difficulty as tying a knot for any average person.
The doors shut behind her as she entered. She quickly glanced around, and pumped her fist when she caught sight of something she had been hoping for-a map on the wall of the entire facility. Had it been somewhere other than Academy City, it would've likely been displayed on a blueprint-like diagram on the wall, but Academy City, holding itself to a higher standard, had a complex map done in full color displayed on a few different screens across the wall, with little captions detailing information on each room, what paths lead to it, and even smaller things like the average temperature of those rooms and what kinds of machines and tools were used in each. It was a very effective method to inform a reader of where everything was like a normal map, but also give extra information that one would catch in their peripheral vision when looking at various locations. And for Misaka Mikoto, it was doubly as useful, seeing as she had never been in the facility before.
SLAM!
"OIIII! Running away from your opponent doesn't involve many guts at all, you know! Come at me with everything you've got-that's a lot more fun!"
She could hear the battle-hungry cries of Sogiita outside, but she did not humor him with an answer. Instead, she continued through the facility, running through hall after hall. She was after one specific section of the factory.
The foundry.
Normally, foundries were kept as separate facilities from manufacturing plants. However, as another show of Academy City's prowess of development, foundries had been integrated into a majority of manufacturing plants to reduce the transport costs it would normally require to move metal from point A to point B, and the circulation of everything in the production cycle ran so perfectly and flawlessly that there was never an incident to speak of at such locations.
Which was perfect, because metal was what Misaka Mikoto wanted at the moment.
It took only about a minute to reach the foundry-it was on the first floor of the factory, and she only had to turn a few corners and open a laser gate via another tampered keypad-she did so as naturally as she breathed. Walking into the foundry, although it was unmanned, it was still carrying out it's processes and work smoothly-as things seemed capable of operating fully automated.
It didn't take long for her to catch sight of the metal storage unit-it was situated on the right of the massive room, and had plenty for her to work with. Stacks upon stacks of iron and steel lay neatly separated in front of her. Silently making a mental note to put everything back once she was done, she magnetized a couple dozen kilograms of metal towards her.
"Now, I gotta find the security office...there's gotta be some cameras overlooking the perimeter in there...once I find where he is, I'll ambush him and try to trap against something with the metal!"
The Level 5's brain was working in overdrive-and she came up with that as the best resolution to the situation. Trap him against the wall with all the metal, or perhaps knock him down with a Railgun or high-voltage electric blast, and use the window of time it provided to trap him to the ground. That way, she could subdue him, put some distance between them, and move the metal by crashing other bits of metal into it, freeing him. The metal could still be melted down into the castings that were made at the factory, so she could just put it back at the end of the game. She didn't want to be a nuisance to unrelated third parties, after all.
Clenching her fist in determination, she turned toward the exit of the foundry.
"Alright...now, I've just gotta go find the office...if I remember right, the map showed that it was on the second floor...if I make it quick enough, maybe I can-"
"HYPER..."
"...?" Misaka stopped in her tracks.
"ECCENTRIC..."
"What?..."
"ULTRA..."
Slowly, Misaka began to understand.
"GREAT..."
She began sprinting for the other side of the room.
"GIGA..."
Setting some of the metal in front of her, she braced herself for what she guessed was coming.
"EXTREME..."
A moment before impact, she sighed.
"HYPER AGAIN!..."
"Again?!"
"AMAZIIIIIIIIING PUUUUUUUUUNCCCCHHHH!"
CRASSSHHHHH!
At that moment, the vast wall that covered the opposite side of the foundry was reduced to rubble and ash.
Coughing, Misaka slowly stood up, assessing the damage as she looked around. Countless pieces of machinery were toppled over and crushed into pieces-metal had been spilled all over the place, the remains of the wall scattered about-it had been a ruthless blast. Luckily, it was only rubble that had fallen, and the sturdily built furnaces did not break under the pressure-which was incredibly lucky, given the damage it could've caused had they not been so tough.
It was like seeing the aftermath of a bomb.
There was a figure in the dust that had been kicked up from the impact-who seemed relatively unaffected by what had just happened, if the lack of any coughing or negative reaction was any indication.
"Whew! Haven't done that move in a bit. That was great exercise!"
Sogiita Gunha casually spoke with a tone that one might typically use to congratulate themselves after a long day at the gym, one that seemed entirely inappropriate considering what he had just done.
"Y-You...what are you even thinking, using some destructive attack like that in the middle of a school event?! Are you crazy!?" Misaka shouted in disbelief at the insensitive boy before her.
However, that boy just looked at her curiously-akin to how a young child would ask their parents a question about some unknown thing they saw. "Huh? It's still a battle-and you've gotta go all out to prove yourself in a battle, especially against people of equal power like us! Going all out to prove your guts also proves you've got a lot of them!" The boy shouted excitedly.
"There's something seriously wrong with that way of thinking!" Misaka internally screamed.
"So you just randomly decided to throw a punch strong enough to break down a massive reinforced metal wall into dust, and you call that exercise?! You get even worse by the second!"
The boy didn't seem concerned with her indignant rant. He did, however, raise an eyebrow. "Randomly? Course' it wasn't random; I strengthened the guts of my ears to listen for you through the walls, and I figured out you were in here!" He said as if explaining that one plus one equaled to two.
"...There's no point in trying with you, is there?..." Sighed the tea-haired girl after a momentary silence.
That, however, was all the brainpower she was going to spare towards the boy. She then decided in that moment to attempt to act out her original plan. She was going to seek him out anyway, after all. Him showing himself here did her a favor in a way, even if it was needlessly destructive.
Sparks began to fly around her.
"Oh! Are you finally starting to go all out? Good! Let's have a proper, spectacular showdown of guts!" Sogiita smiled excitedly as he punched his fists together, in a typical challenging fashion. A strange sort of energy seemed to gather around him-his aura intensifying. He then put his fist out, as if ready to punch her although he was a considerable distance from her of about 16 meters.
It was invisible, but an unstable wall of psychokinesis had formed there.
Likewise, Misaka's brain was running calculation after calculation in her head.
"500 million volts should do it, I think..."
Two Level 5 powers, one fathomable and the other unfathomable, clashed a moment later.
Aogami Pierce was not the kind of person you would expect to be a competent fighter.
If one was to tell any of his classmates that, they would likely laugh and call them a good comedian.
He wasn't at boxer-level of physical strength; he was relatively average. Not scrawny, but nothing special either. He didn't show any particular knack for battle instincts or knowledge-they would all say that any capacity in his brain for storing knowledge was already at it's maximum with details concerning each and every fetish or category of women there were. Nor did he show any ability with which to fight with.
However, the last point, while it did not affect most people, affected Shirai Kuroko in a significant way.
Particularly due to her favored form of weaponry. Spikes.
She had rushed Aogami in an annoyed craze, due to him calling her closet pervert, but she quickly realized that had been a big mistake when she had thrown her first batch of needles at the edges of his clothes to pin him to the ground.
Presently, she was incredibly annoyed, but continued to throw the spikes at him; in her frustrated mind, she reasoned that it would at least buy her time.
However, it did no such thing, as the boy lazily sidestepped them.
Shirai's eyes narrowed. "Damn...he has good reflexes, so it's difficult to a hit on him even if I teleport next to him. What other way can I use my spikes fo-"
"!"
Reaching to the belt on her thighs, she realized that she no longer had any spikes left. She had wasted them out of frustration. And although normally, if her spikes didn't connect she could just teleport to them and pick them up, she could not in this case-for they were all gone.
The boy had melted them.
He carried a lighter on him-normally, the heat from a lighter wouldn't be enough to melt the steel spikes she used, but for some reason after using it he always was able to melt the spikes she threw, after dodging them with suspicious ease and lighting them up after. Every spike she had thrown had melted. Moreover, the boy was physically adept-in addition to his reflexes, he was also quite agile, and was thus a difficult target to beat. She was started to see why he was still standing-the boy was very adept at hand-to-hand combat, and no doubt had caught her fellow Judgement officers off-guard with his surprising speed.
As she blinked, the boy was closing in on her.
She had absolutely no idea why he had his eyes closed the entire time-but he moved swiftly as if they were somehow open. She teleported to the side of him and attempted to kick him out from under his feet, but before she could even move her leg towards him he had already spun on his heel and swung a fist towards her, forcing her to teleport further away. She began to think that the seemingly perpetual shutting of his eyes might have been some weird intimidation tactic.
"Damn...I don't know if I can land a direct hit in melee range, and I don't have any more spikes!...What else can I use to hit him?"
She then saw the boy rushing her again, his odd eyes still closed.
She gave a small start as she caught sight of him. His speed was still consistent, and undoubtedly within around a second and a half he would reach her. In a panic, she turned slightly to the right of him and quickly calculated the equations to teleport there with the miniscule amount of time she had, and a second later she arrived at the spot.
However, as she did, the boy had done another turn on his heel and hit her square in the face with his right fist.
Collapsing, she fell to the ground. Evidently, his pure physical strength was impressive too. Panting, she gazed at the boy, who also seemed to be panting.
"Sheesh, you're pretty fast. That was hard."
"How...did you know I would be there? You threw your punch so early..." Shirai murmured in confusion.
The boy just shrugged. "I closed my distance as fast as I could. Seeing as you're a teleporter, you need sufficient time to do your calculations, so I figured if I rushed you at full speed you would only have time to slightly turn and pick a spot very close to me, because you needed to quickly get to a spot where my first hit wouldn't connect. I saw you look a little to your right, so I figured you would go there, and I pre-emptively threw a punch that way and got you."
Shirai was utterly dumbfounded. "That's...a very impressive deduction to do in the middle of a battle."
Again, the boy just gave a simple shrug.
"And...my spikes. How did you melt them with just a lighter?..."
The boy's expression didn't change. "Oh, that? Well..."
Shirai looked at him expectantly.
"My ability is called Multi-Melt. It's a fancy name, but it's nothing special-it lets me manipulate the melting points of anything that isn't a human. But it's range can only take away or add 600 degrees Celsius to a melting point, so normally even if I go the max amount, it's not hot enough to melt most metals. So I carry this butane lighter on me, so I can use it on metals and get them hot enough so my ability can do the rest of the work and melt it."
"That's...quite niche."
"Agreed. It's only a Level 2 ability, after all."
Then, the boy began walking away. "Anyway, nice fight. Or, I can say, GG!...Heh."
*How strange..."
"What's your name?" She called out.
The boy stopped for a moment. After which, he began walking again. He didn't turn as he briefly called back his response.
"Aogami Pierce."
The legendary clash between two Level 5's within a car manufacturing factory in District 7 had ended in one last attack.
BLLAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM!
"ATTAAAAAAAACK CRASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!"
"500 MILLION VOOOOOOOLTSSSSSSSSSSS!"
Attacks of insane caliber collided with each other. Level 5 vs Level 5, third-ranked vs seventh-ranked, Misaka Mikoto vs Sogiita Gunha.
Rubble and dust covered the area. The room and most of it's contents had been strewn about from the impact-it was like a meteor had touched down in the middle of the battlefield.
Misaka Mikoto groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. As she slowly got her bearings, she noticed she was panting-that concluding collision had taken much out of her, evidently. She was barely able to move-her limbs felt numb. She figured that she would be stuck there for a little while.
Groggily, she looked across the battered room at the boy who had been her opponent moments ago. Sogiita Gunha was similarly sprawled out on the ground. His hair was ruffled, and the dust and scratches that covered him were obvious to see.
However, the boy himself was awake. Upon seeing Misaka looking at him, he gave a smile and waved-well, as best as he could wave with no energy left in him.
"Heh! How are ya holding up? I feel great!"
Misaka just blinked. "Uhm...well, I can't move. So not great..."
Sogiita looked positively shocked. "Ahhh...you haven't got true guts yet, then! If you fight a fierce battle with a fierce opponent-all you should feel is pride! Even if you can barely move after!"
"...R-Right..."
Her lack of enthusiasm would've been clear to most people, but Sogiita Gunha was not most people, and as such paid it no mind.
They were silent for a few moments after. They wanted to recuperate, after all. However, as they did so, something came to Misaka's head.
"That attack you did...what even was that?" She murmured loud enough for Sogiita to hear her.
"Hm? Oh, that? I call that Attack Crash-I don't really know the logistics behind it, but basically I make some unstable wall of psychokinesis, and then punch it to create a stimulus-and that creates a massive explosion after! It's one of my most gutsy attacks in my arsenal!"
"Is there anything that you do understand the logistics behind?..." Misaka absentmindedly mumbled in her mind. However, she didn't voice it out loud, and chose to be more polite about her opinion. "Uhh...I'm no expert on psychokinesis, but that doesn't sound like it should be possible..."
"Huh? What are you talking about? Everything is possible if you've got the guts for it!
"I really wanna hit this guy!..." Misaka irritably huffed in her head.
Not very willing to strike up more conversation that would inevitably lead to guts in some way or another, Misaka chose to stay silent from then on. However, it wasn't very long, as after a few minutes a distinct sound could be heard closing in on them.
Sirens.
Looking up, Misaka could see an Anti-Skill truck pulling up towards the both of them. As it came to a stop, one of the doors opened, and out stepped a familiar face.
Yomikawa Aiho descended from the truck, seemingly muttering some things to her fellow officers. She had an uncharacteristic glare on her face-one that Misaka was unfamiliar with seeing on the normally kind woman's face. However, as she turned towards Misaka, who was still lying flat on the ground, her expression softened.
"Hang in there. We've got some first-aid kits in the truck. Tessou! Can you get the boy across from here!"
"Roger that!" Called back a female voice from the truck.
Yomikawa then softly picked Misaka up off the ground, and put one of the girl's arms around her shoulders, supporting her as she walked them back to the truck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tessou also doing the same for Sogiita.
As they were both loaded into the back, the two did first aid on the two of them, treating their injuries. Seeing as they weren't severe enough to warrant going to the hospital over, they decided that the first aid kits would suffice. As the two Level 5's began drinking some water that was offered to them, they could hear an angry Yomikawa talking to her colleagues outside.
"...Seriously, what were they even thinking of, setting up an event like this with no rules, regulations, proper monitoring, or anything! How did the Board of Directors even approve of this "Capture the Point" game?..."
The indignance in her voice was clear and pronounced. Sogiita didn't seem concerned; he merely shrugged it off and drank a bit of water. However, Misaka had a different reaction.
"So it wasn't just me who thought this was all weird, huh? There was basically no regard for whether the event would actually run smoothly or not in this event; it was like writing an essay and then handing it in without editing it."
Misaka looked out uneasily towards the street in front of her, basking in the bright sunlight. However, although that was how it looked, it wasn't what it felt like.
"What is going on?..."
Musujime Awaki was annoyed.
She was in the back of a garbage truck-one that had previously been transporting her and Taka Yubi to a rendezvous spot. There, members of GROUP's support staff apprehended Taka and took her in for questioning. She had already given the location of her employer-which was in a remote sewer beneath a street of the district less populated then the rest. It was this that annoyed Musujime, however-for when she had given the location, she had subsequently been ordered to infiltrate and subdue the employer, and get information from her.
She then noticed the truck had come to a stop.
"We've arrived. I'll return here in 10 minutes-make sure the job is complete by then." Came a voice from the driver's seat.
Musujime gave no reply as she jumped out of the back of the truck into broad daylight.
A grim look on her face, she instantly spotted the sewer grate that was a couple feet away. She walked over to it, and then pulled out a screwdriver from her coat pocket-one of the tools of which she had been provided by GROUP in order to complete the job.
"Well, I'll try and end this quickly..."
Popping open the grate, she dropped down into the dark, damp corridor.
Sewers were one of the things that Academy City didn't really improve in comparison to the rest of the world-at least, aesthetically speaking. Obviously, there wasn't really any reason to make the sewers glamourous to any degree-it would just be a waste of money. However, Musujime couldn't help but mentally protest a little about it in her head out of indignation.
Regardless, she made her way through the treacherous tunnels.
She had heard from Taka that her employer was situated in the corner of the sewer system nearest to the grate-if one were to look at District 7 from a birds eye view, it'd be the top right corner. In other words...
It was the passageway that she had just turned to.
At the end of the tunnel, she could see a few desks, as well as computers, file cabinets, tables, and the like scattered about on a flat metal platform. It seemed like it was a high-tech section; one very odd to see as it contrasted with the damp, dirty sewer floors. At one of the desks, she could see a girl around her age, with long brown hair that flowed down her back.
Musujime wasted no time. Doing multiple calculations in her head, one of the corkscrews she had in her pocket disappeared from it and embedded itself into the girl's shoulder across the hall-and her scream of pain echoed throughout it. Musujime had no remorse, however-she unsteadily teleported next to the girl, and after quickly gaining her bearings, punched her in the face, causing her to stumble backwards into the desks.
The girl's face was covered by a mask. Therefore, she wasn't able to identify any of her facial features. However, Musujime didn't mind-that just meant there was more information to collect when she was defeated.
She seemed to not possess any esper power. Musujime repeatedly smacked her, keeping up a violent momentum. There was no need to defeat her by teleporting anything-her opponent was easily felled by mere physical strength.
It only took a minute and twenty four seconds for her to fall to the ground, multiple bruises and wounds covering her.
"Tch...that was kind of pathetic, you know? For some big shot employer to be taken down so easily...I'm disappointed." Musujime mocked her openly as she put a foot on her stomach.
"Big...shot...employer? What are you talking about?..."
Musujime raised an eyebrow. "You employed Taka Yubi for an assassination job, didn't you? Are you the head of another organization?"
There was momentary silence.
Then, a chuckle.
"...heh."
"?"
"Hahahahaha..."
"?..."
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"...What's so funny?" Musujime spat. What had started as a chuckle had irritated her-and now she was getting angry.
"The head? ME? The head? You've got no fucking idea-we're widespread, and you'll never be able to dismantle us! You're from GROUP, aren't you? You're a small organization of four! You couldn't possibly defeat an organization that's got roots across the entire city! You wouldn't catch a glimpse of our leader if you searched for a decade!"
Musujime's eyebrows were now narrowed. "Nice superiority complex you've got. We'll see if you can keep it up when you're interrogated." She said coldly. She then bent down next to her, presumably to knock her out cold.
"Interrogated? What, for our name? You don't need to, I'll tell you! It won't make a difference anyway!"
The red-haired girl grit her teeth.
"WE'RE UMBRA! GOOD LUCK AT TAKING US OUT! GYAHAHAHAH-"
Her laughter was then cut short by a clean hit to the face.
"Tch...what a cocky bitch. But...UMBRA, huh?..."
Annnnnnnd there's another chapter! A new challenger-I mean, a new dark side organization approaches!
"Why'd I have to go through a sewer?...So gross down there..."
Cuz I'm the author, Musujime.
"...Fuck you."
Ouch.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you've got the time to spare, I'd appreciate it if you leave a review that expresses your praises, suggestions or criticisms of the story! All feedback is important to me, and it'll help me write the next chapter better. If you've got any questions, leave em' in that review and they'll be addressed next chapter!
Have a great day and stay safe!
-Cloak
