A/N: This will be a 5+1 fic where I split the scenes into individual chapters because why not XD
It started from the post of a writing Tumblr blog. The goal of the exercise was to show the progression of the characters' relationship over five scenes. I was already writing several fics with these two, it should come to no one's surprise really, so I thought I could write something simple for a change. Well, turns out both Mikoto and Accelerator get stuck in their heads a lot when angsting. More so, when they dance around each other before they can have a meaningful conversation. I might have given up hope on seeing them interact in canon, but it fuels my passion for writing this pair so there is that.
I don't know how to actually call their relationship by the end of this fic tbh. Friends? Unconventional Family Dynamic? People that have come to an understanding and they don't mind having the other around? Let me hear your theories and enjoy~
Devastation
The construction beams that had been lodged in the ground like mere toothpicks, collapsed under their weight with a thundering crash. Mikoto didn't need to verify they broke in half. She couldn't turn around anyway.
He deflected...my Railgun.
Her ears were buzzing. For the first time in her life, Mikoto's powerful electric attack had zipped this close to her face—instead of going after her enemies and everything that stood in her way. Someone had managed to cancel it before; sparks vanishing into thin air, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. But it had never returned as if stumbling across an impregnable wall like this.
The one responsible for this twisted miracle, the specter of a person, was unfazed. His voice echoed muffled as if this empty train graveyard was submerged underwater. The meaning behind those words reached Mikoto crystal clear. Written all over his face was the manic glee of someone who had found a new toy to break. She'd be torn to pieces. Her body parts would soon join her clone's severed leg, currently lying in a pool of blood at the edge of Mikoto's vision. There was nothing she could do. Just watch frozen as he advanced.
Another voice joined the final act of this wretched scene. Familiar and uncanny like hearing one's self from a recording, but devoid of any emotion and sentiment. It was hers.
Mikoto looked over her shoulder.
There stood a small army of her clones, their Night Vision goggles obscuring their features with an eerie blue glow. They explained the situation, each clone continuing from where the other had left the sentence. A fight with the Original would disturb the results of this experiment.
Call it what it is! Her mind screamed. Slaughter!
After brief consideration, the killer complied. She wasn't worth the trouble when he had beaten her ace-in-the-hole move already.
"Oh, yeah. We haven't introduced ourselves yet," he said, his words dripping with irony.
Gravel crunched under his shoes while he approached Mikoto. Even Espers that held immense power had to walk on the ground like commoners, it seemed. His presence was overwhelming to the point of nausea. As if some heinous monster stood behind her back, instead of a scrawny albino teen.
"Name's Accelerator." His breath ghosted the nape of her neck. Its alien warmth made her skin crawl. "It's a pleasure." He almost purred at the last words, his hoarse voice sinking into lower octaves.
Cold sweat traveled down Mikoto's spine. She didn't react—too numb from all the shocking revelations to consider fighting him again.
Without any fanfare, Accelerator left. The oppressing aura dwindled along with the echo of his steps until the only thing weighing down on Mikoto was the stifling humidity.
Her knees faltered and she collapsed to the ground.
This was a living nightmare. She had been too naive thinking that once a project was discontinued, they wouldn't repurpose the results for another. Her decision to blindly believe in Academy City's generosity had cost #9982 her life and those of all the clones that had come before her.
Artificial lives don't matter because they're made with the push of a button? What a joke!
Standing tall against Accelerator at her current level would be suicide. There were other ways to end his ambition for absolute power though. No price, no matter how sweet, deserved such a high body count to achieve after all.
