Indigo adjusted his fedora as he stared down from the roof of the mall down into the plaza where the Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 all faced off with each other, Academy City's years of cultural resentment coming to a head as they glared at each other, powers crackling to life, electricity emanating through the air, angelic wings spreading across the plaza, and emerald energy springing into existence.
Indigo's eyes fell onto Meltdowner, his grin widening. "Alright, little Mugino." His single synthetic eye opened impossibly wide as it began to glow a sickly emerald. "BEGINNING ENTANGLEMENT." His snake-like grin grew as he giggled to himself. "Let us begin your enlightenment!"
"Can we go any faster?!" Kuroko asked as she leaned up from the back seat of the car they were in. Uiharu was seated next to her typing away quickly at the laptop resting on her legs. Misaki was in the passenger seat next to the driver that seemed to work for her, a somewhat gaunt man with prominent eyelashes on the bottom-side of his eyes.
"We're going as fast as we can, not all of us can take a short-cut over buildings like Misaka can." Misaki said with some amount of impatience in her voice from up front. The past hour had this level of tension between Kuroko and Misaki as they had been making their way toward Saten after Uiharu had tracked her location to the mall after security camera had placed her being kidnapped off the street.
Kuroko flopped back into her seat, her foot bouncing on the floor anxiously as the driver recklessly swerved through traffic, occasionally glancing out his window at the cloud of dust rising in the far distance in the middle of a giant sprawl of buildings. He had to weave his way through a chaotic mess of cars and structures to make his way there. His attention flashed back to the front of the road just in time, his eyes widening as he quickly turned the wheel to stop the car as an explosion tore the highway road apart, the car grinding to a halt just barely in time.
Kuroko grabbed at the seat with her one arm as Uiharu hugged her lap to her chest and let out a cry as they nearly spun out, Misaki clenching her teeth and growling before the car finally came to a stop.
"What… was that?" Misaki groaned out as she looked up. The road in front of them was a disaster, cars thrown in every direction, the road torn apart, light poles ripped from their emplacements, the concrete dividers shattered. At the center of this disaster was a crater. In that crater, a feminine figure was approaching the car. The figure was wearing some type of bodysuit that covered the details of their identity, a steel plated mask hiding their face from view. The suit seemed inappropriately suited to their form, the small amounts of armor plating that covered various parts of their body the only thing that gave them slight bits of decency, close fitting enough that even both fingers and toes were well-defined. The only thing uncovered on their body was the neck length silvery hair blowing in the wind.
"What… is that?" Misaki groaned out as she rubbed a bleeding forehead after knocking her head against the window, leaving an unattractive blood mark.
"Trouble." Her driver and head of security said as he looked at the hollow face of the steel mask as it approached them like a soulless golem.
Ruiko caught Frenda as she tripped and nearly face-planted, pulling her up against her. Frenda as panting and her eyes looked hazy and dizzy. She had lost a lot of blood- she needed a hospital, and fast. Ruiko didn't dare look back as she heard a massive explosion and felt small pebbles strike at her back and neck as the three Level 5's engaged each other. It was like three demigods getting into a barroom brawl, it was a primordial fear that shook her to her core.
"Don't die, Frenda, please don't die." Ruiko muttered, Frenda just panting next to her. Ruiko limped through a massive hole in the concrete wall that had been blown, carefully jumping down the four foot drop into some bushes. Crawling out of the brush while pulling Frenda onto her back, she limped out onto the well-kempt lawn of the mall, and onto the street and sidewalks and chaos was. People had fled the from the explosions of the titans behind her, and she could hardly blame them.
"HEY! HEY KID!"
She knew that voice. Quickly looking around, she spotted Shiage, the blonde guy Frenda kept bullying. He dashed up to her, panting a bit, looking frazzled.
"This has been a hell of a day, I figured something had gone horribly wrong when Frenda hadn't bothered to call back and everything started to explode, so I got a hold of the boss. I mean, either that, or it was Tuesday and Frenda was bored. Seriously, she looks like shit." Shiage leaned forward to look at her and got rewarded by Frenda lurching to life to punch him in the face. He promptly fell over, clutching his nose, groaning.
"Screw you, fuckface…" She groaned into Ruiko's shoulder, her eyes still hazy and half-conscious. Shiage rubbed his nose as he got himself off the ground and looked around, scowling.
"Let's move… We need to get her somewhere where she won't bleed out." He groans, staggering his way over to a car, Ruiko following, feeling like her legs were just moving on her own, lost in the chaos of the moment, not even thinking about what to do. She didn't have the presence of mind to consider her actions, or who she was with or listening to.
She just acted.
Never had two hated enemies made a truce so quickly. Meltdowner and Railgun both threw up their respective signature attacks and launched them at Dark Matter in an unrestrained attack, shockwaves emanating from them as the floor carved out from under them, just barely in time. Teitoku's wings glimmered and shined in a holy and angelic fashion that in no way matched the dark soul they belonged to, light from the setting sun refracting through them to form bizarre lances of brilliant energy that twisted and warmed, curving from the wings on each side toward each of his enemies.
Colliding with the Railgun fired from Mikoto and the barrage of Meltdowner beams from Mugino, the intense backlash unleashed a shockwave that sent debris flying in every direction.
Mugino threw her arms up to shield her eyes, trying to get line of sight on that smug little prick, suddenly finding a pressure around her waist as some metal cabling from the wall suddenly wrapped around her, pulling her from her perch on the pile of rubble and yanked her away. Just in time, as an enormous… something… crushed where she had been standing. She found herself land roughly on the ground several yards away next to Mikoto, who had sent herself flying backwards with her magnetism, panting, her own rubble perched demolished.
"I didn't ask for your help, brat!" Mugino hissed as she stood up.
"You're welcome." Mikoto hissed, looking up as a gust of wind blew through the husk of a building, showing the arrogant smile of Teitoku floating in the air, his wings shimmering as it seemed to levitate him. Where the pair had previously been standing, a pair of massive ivory-white truck-sized beetles now stood, chittering, shifting around and moving toward them slowly.
"What kind of absurd power do you even have?" Mikoto objected, floored by just how… ridiculous this was. Beams of light? Flight? Conjuration of inanimate objects? Animate construct creation? His power was more diverse than Accelerators. This was ABSURD.
"STOP ZONING OUT YOU BRAT!" Meltdowner conjured forth six emerald orbs over her head- two more than she'd had when they'd fought, Mikoto noted, strafing beams over the approaching beetles, which screeched as the beams scorched them and the ground, an explosion rocking the building as Mikoto's vision filled with fire, the glowing lines where the beams had strafed bursting forth into a conflagration of energy.
"Or just run away. I don't need you." She scoffed, brushing her hair aside, staring into the enormous inferno that now consumed the majority of the building. She strode forth, her eyes scanning for her opponent.
"It's so cute that you think that." Teitoku's voice echoed over the flames before a rumbling sound was heard. Mugino looked up and with wide eyes, saw a calm, grinning angel holding a mass of debris and stone ripped from the walls and floors of the mall with conjured ivory wires. Snapping his fingers, they unfolded, launching themselves down like angry serpents, an avalanche of rubble and cables aiming for the wide-eyed Meltdowner.
And above, the observer grinned as he pulled out his phone and dialed his instructions to his protege.
"Make sure they are not interrupted. Misaki needs to stay alive. The rest can die."
"EVERYONE OUT!" The driver roared, everyone piling out of the car as the masked figure leaped at the car, everyone managing just in time as the figure's hand touched the hood. It happened in an instant, the car seemed to simply burst apart, shrapnel flying in every direction.
Kuroko dove on top of Uiharu, the head of security pulling Misaki under him, taking several shrapnel into the back with a growl. Kuroko managed to catch a few in the arm, and at that moment, appreciated the metallic form of it. Not even a scratch as it all deflected off. They turned to look at the monster they now faced, seeing it literally holding the engine block in her hand before dropping it with a crash onto the ground.
"What… the hell is that power?" Kuroko gasped out, scrambling to her feet and pulling Uiharu up with her, the girl looking terrified. Misaki got up, and saw the golem approaching Kuroko and Uiharu. Kuroko looked to Misaki and for a moment, her Judgement instincts took over.
"Uiharu and I were in Judgement, we can handle-" She began to say, but was cut off.
"Take Uiharu and run!" Misaki shouted, pulling out a remote and pointing it at the masked figure, her expression looking cold. "Don't look away from me, you monster. Stay away from her." She hissed. "Now, choke until you lose consciousness." She clicked a button on her remote, as she pointed it at the masked figure, the figure seeming to pay her no mind at all as it stalked toward the two other girls. As she hit the button, there was a pause, before Misaki dropped the remote and her eyes went wide in panic and terror.
Her hands went to her throat as she seemingly tried to gasp for air, drool going down her chin as her gloved fingers clawed at her throat, her eyes twisting in confusion.
"But?! How!?" She mouthed silently, before her eyes moved to Kuroko and Uiharu. Kuroko had to grab Uiharu's wrist as Uiharu began to make a dash for Misaki, tears in her eyes.
"RUN!" She mouthed.
"What?! What's going?" Shiage yelled into the phone as he swerved through traffic in ways Ruiko was absolutely sure was illegal, but everything was so chaotic, she had no idea what was going on. People were outside screaming, and there were fires in the streets. It was reminded her of Treefall, but mercifully, of much, much smaller scale, across the District. It was like everything had suddenly gone mad. She was in the backseat, trying to make sure that Frenda didn't go into shock, occasionally slapping her cheek and talking to her, Frenda mumbling responses in often nonsensical ways.
"What? Our subordinate agency was attacked? What the fuck?" Shiage yelled into the phone, before shouting obscenities at someone on the road as he swerved out of the way of someone else. "What the fuck is going on!?"
Mugino unleashed a barrage of emerald beams at the onslaught of attacks falling toward her, but knew she could not get them all. Mercifully, she did not have to, as the cabling found itself entangled in the metallic cables that ripped themselves from the walls and wrapped themselves in the falling debris, swinging like a pendulum up at Teitoku, who seemed momentarily surprised as he was sent flying into a wall as the makeshift weapon swung like a wrecking ball.
"Don't need me, huh?" Mugino swung her rage-filled eyes at Mikoto, who was balancing on her forearm crutch, one arm extended as she used magnetic fields to create weapons out of the debris of the building.
Mugino didn't dignify that with a response, instead spinning around and raising a finger to send an enormous ray of energy at where Teitoku had landed, melting a hole through the building and into the sky, hoping to vaporize the smug little prick.
"Whoa, hey!" Mikoto grimaced, the part of her that had morals objecting to the brutality Mugino was showing. The older woman paid her no mind whatsoever as she unleashed several more large blasts, leaving nothing but an enormous several story high hole in the side of the building of molten slag.
"There. Dead." she hissed, turning to look at the younger girl, growl as she realized that Mikoto had grown taller than her over the last year. "As for you…"
"Is that really the best you two can do?"
The pair spun toward the source of the voice, down lower, as they saw light emerge from the fiery smoke at the ground level. From it, emerged Dark Matter himself, wrapped in the wings he seemed to favor so much. His face was slightly burnt, an eye squeezed shut. The wind left behind in his wake showed he had melted through the building down to ground level to avoid the attacks from Mugino, using the wings as a shield to endure the first one she'd launched, though not entirely without harm it seemed, the right half of his face slightly burnt.
"Time to die." He raised his hand, a black ball of… something appearing before his outstretched hand. Mikoto's electromagnetic senses were going wild from just feeling it, and she acted on instinct, reaching into her pocket and pulling out something she'd kept in reserve- something she'd been holding onto for months- a rifle round. "MELTDOWNER- SAME TIME!" She yelled, holding up the round, charging up her railgun, feeling the voltage rising as she pulled it from within her, and from without as she pulled from the electrical grid.
"DON'T GIVE ME ORDERS!" Meltdowner screamed as she raised her first two fingers, an emerald glowing globe of energy forming at the tip, five emerald orbs forming behind her in a halo of support, as she stood side-by-side with her nemesis, her teeth grinding as the air began to sizzle and steam, the building around them groaning in strain at the growing pressure from the trio of demigods faced off in a contest of raw might.
"Do you seriously think-" Dark Matter began, but the women before him were tired of the smugness.
"SHUT-" Mikoto began.
"-UP!" Mugino finished.
"Victory has never been so sweet…" Indigo laughed as he leaped from his perch, disappearing from the air and landing far away on an adjacent building. "Finish your work, and leave. Mission success." He grinned as he spoke across his phone.
On the highway, Kuroko pushed Uiharu to the ground and interjected herself between her and the enemy, doing the only thing she could- escape was impossible. She swung a punch with her metal arm, aiming right for the metal mask, only to have her fist caught without effort by the feminine figure, a loud ringing sound echoing through the air as the figure held on to the fist. The figure seemed… confused for a moment as they tilted their head at Kuroko's fist, as though they were expecting something different to occur.
They did not have long to contemplate it all before an explosion interrupted all thought. The ground shook with devastating force, everyone turning to the source. The mall complex- the same they were all going to- was the source of an enormous multi-colored pillar of energy, half black, half emerald, wrapped in enormous arcs of blue electricity.
Even their attacker seemed distracted for a moment. A precious moment that they needed it seemed for help to arrive.
"DYYYYYNAMIC ENTRY!"
The figure turned to be met with the most ridiculous of entrances as a sweater-vest clad idiot joined the fray, smashing his fist into the metal clad mask of the feminine figure. The ground seemingly shattered apart, Kuroko, Uiharu, Misaki, and Misaki's driver sent flying away as the road gave way, a shockwave blasting everything away, including their would-be savior.
As the smoke began to clear, Kuroko stood up, looking around, finding the highway demolished, careful to avoid the long drop downward toward the ground-level street below. The metal-mask-clad figure was gone. She quickly looked around and saw Uiharu trying to climb around the hole to get to Misaki who was lying motionless on the ground face down. Kuroko rushed over to help, if only to ensure that Uiharu didn't get herself killed. They didn't need to wait long before they found themselves carefully climbing and suddenly being carried.
"I CAN HELP!" Yelled a voice that was somehow both endearing and incredibly annoying.
And they were placed down next to Misaki who was coughing and wheezing as she came to.
"Thank you, Gunha-kun. Your help is always appreciated." The driver nodded to the older teen. Kuroko noticed that the teen's arm, which he had used to punch their attacker was… beyond demolished. It was hanging limply, clearly shattered, the hand twisted in a stomach turning manner. It was like he didn't even notice. Why had his arm shattered on contact with her, but Kuroko's hadn't even been damaged?
"Not at all, Nokleben-sama. I'm sorry it took me so long to help. Emergency services are on the way. Hopefully no one was hurt." The teen named Gunha said, putting one hand on his hip, grinning widely.
Uiharu was kneeling next to Misaki, her head in Uiharu's lap, tears on her face as Misaki slowly came back to the land of the living. Kuroko wasn't really sure what to say. She wasn't convinced entirely that Misaki didn't have some scheme, but… that reaction had been very honest from her.
"Kuroko-san! I am glad to see you are doing so well! And with an arm now! Progress!" He grinned widely.
"Um… do I… know you?" Kuroko asked, trying to be polite.
"No! But I am the one who caught you when you exploded." He said simply, smiling. "I am glad I did. It would have been quite tragic that a hero such as yourself did not have the opportunity to continue to experience life. I hope you continue to heal." He then seemed to look at his arm, the destroyed one, raising it and flexing it with a growl. Cracks and pops were heard, and with a sudden ripping sound it suddenly seemed like everything popped back into place.
Kuroko tried really hard not to be grossed out. What kind of monster was this guy?
"So.. Wait, you were the one who saved my life?" She asked, turning to look at him, but already, he was distracted.
"I must go investigate that explosion!" And with that, he was gone.
"MIKOTO!" Kuroko ran to the edge of the highway, her attention back on the explosion herself, her legs shaking as she hoped that whatever that explosion was, Mikoto was OK. She had to be, right?
...Right?
Mugino groaned as she tried to pick herself up off the ground and get her bearings. What in the hell… What had happened? No, wait, she remembered.
That smug little prick had launched that black ball of energy at them just as her and Railgun had fired... Their attacks had collided, and that brat had pulled some huge piping from under the floor to shield them from the blastwave. It had sent them flying all the way outside.
"You stupid fucking little brat…" Mugino felt an intense murderous rage building inside of her. That little brat was always getting in her way, always acting superior to her, always, always, ALWAYS!
She pushed her way out of the park that she had landed several hundred yards from the mall, the bushes and branches having broken her fall- painfully- but otherwise alive. The mall had collapsed in on itself. Maybe that smug prick had died. She couldn't see the brat anywhere at all… Where the fuck was Frenda? Or Shiage?
She was so angry she could barely contain herself.
"If that little whore thinks she can just go on thinking she's better than me…" Mugino grabbed at the roots of her hair, clenching her teeth. "I'll ruin her…"
"Yeah, think I'll just… she'll be fine." Mikoto muttered from very far away, far, far out of earshot of Mugino after she'd managed to avoid getting exploded by Dark Matter. Once she was sure Meltdowner hadn't died, she'd bolted toward the highway. What felt like a supersonic human-sized bullet flew past her at one point, and the only thing she heard was "KUROKO-SAN IS THAT WAY!"
Deciding that she had had enough weird for one day, she rolled with it, flinging herself carefully from building to building, eventually spotting a worried looking Kuroko, and practically launching herself into Kuroko's overjoyed looking arms.
"KUROKO!" Mikoto collided with her, hugging her tightly and falling into the ground, panting and collapsing in exhaustion.
"I… Oh man…" Mikoto panted out, looking at Kuroko, Uiharu, and even Misaki who was still resting in Uiharu's lap but had regained consciousness entirely. "I've got a few updates and…" She looked down, ashamed. "...I lost track of Saten. But she seemed… OK."
Saten jerked awake as she was shaken by her shoulder, sitting up straight as she looked around frantically to get a grasp on her surroundings.
"W-what? Where? Why?" She blinked. Oh, right. Shiage had driven them to a private clinic. They used liquid breathing tissue restoration tanks. Frenda was badly injured, but overall, it was mostly small tissue damage and blood loss.
"Super calm down." Said a voice she didn't recognize. Saten turned to look at a girl with short brunette hair in a long sweater dress. There was a look in her eyes as she looked at Saten that Saten really didn't like. It was… judgemental. Almost condescending.
"You were out all night. Frenda spent all night in a tank. She's super better. There, I passed it along." She thumbed at the door where Frenda had been resting in a tank. She then turned and leave without even introducing herself or saying goodbye. She couldn't have been older than Saten.
"What the hell…" Saten stood up, half wanting to smack the girl for being a rude little shit. But honestly, right now, she just wanted to go see Frenda. Sighing, she stood up and knocked on the door.
"Come in…" said a quiet, muffled voice.
Saten entered, closing the door behind her.
"Hey, Fren- Oh come on!" Saten quickly turned away from Frenda, covering her face. Frenda was still in the tank that was slowly emptying of its regenerative fluids, her voice muffled because of that, and by proxy, still naked.
"You're so adorable." Frenda snickered, leaning against the clear crystalline substance of the tank, waiting.
"Your… friend… told me you were better." She muttered, staying turned away. Eventually, Saten heard the tank open up, and heard wet footsteps approach her from behind, hugging her.
"You saved my life, I saved yours. Guess that means we're square, huh?" Frenda said quietly, pressing her cheek against Ruiko's back.
"I think it's time we call it quits, Ruiko." Frenda said wrapping her arms around Ruiko's navel. "I'm an unrepentant mercenary who kills people for cash." She squeezed the naive girl. "You should go back to your friends. Apologize for making your mistakes. Try and be better. Don't be like me. You've got the mighty Railgun to protect you, and friends who do genuinely love you. Kay?" Frenda smiled a bit, before letting Ruiko go, patting her back for a moment.
"Thanks for everything." She said honestly, pulling away and turning to grab her clothes, sighing a bit. "Shiage can drive you home, just go hit him in the lobby." She said, walking over to a chair where her clothes were folded, a slightly sad smile on her face. Ruiko stood motionless by the door where Frenda had left her. Frenda took a brief moment to glance over at her and saw her raising her hand up toward the door, her sad smile widening a bit.
Good. This was for the best. Ruiko should be one of those sad, ignorant dopes. She didn't deserve this lonely, pathetic, miserable life. She looked back to her belongings and started going through them again.
Click.
Frenda found herself blinking. That sound… Was that… No… Couldn't be… the… lock?
Frenda turned in time for Ruiko to close the distance between them. Their lips hit each other and Frenda found herself suddenly off her feet and up against the wall, her eyes wide, and for once, she was the one blushing in shock as she felt hands on her ass and her feet off the ground.
"R-Ruiko, w-what are you-!?"
"No." Ruiko was blushing so intensely that her face practically radiated heat. "No, I refuse. I'm making my choice. I'm done letting other people choose for me. I'm done letting other people protect me like some helpless damsel. I'm done falling apart." She pressed closer to Frenda, who seemed at a loss in this sudden turn in developments. Especially in the role reversal of her being the naked one and Saten being the clothed one.
"I want to be stronger! Like you! I don't want to be scared of monsters anymore! I don't want my home to be this festering pit that it is! I want to make a difference!" Ruiko held Frenda closer to her, prompting a gasp from the older, smaller girl.
"Earlier… I said… I said what if I do want this to be something?" Ruiko said quietly, looking away from Frenda's face, which was admittedly difficult with how close together they were. "What… would you say?" Ruiko asked quietly. Silence stretched on for a moment as Frenda thought, and thought, and thought. She felt the tension building in Saten's body, but to her credit, she waited patient. This girl… This idealism. It reminded her so much of someone. So much.
"I'd say… That while locking the door was very dramatic, I'm not having sex in a hospital room. Take me to a hotel room or something like a lady." Ruiko blinked as she looked at Frenda with a frazzled, flustered look, Frenda grinning widely as she took hold of the dominance of the conversation. "...And from there, we can see where this goes. I'm willing to give it a try." Her grin widening as she pushed her lips against Saten's once more.
Frenda stretched a little as she looked out the balcony window at the nighttime city lights, smiling a bit. She glanced over her shoulder at the moving lump of adorable under the covers. After getting shot at in a mall, and having to spend a night in a recovery tank, she really hadn't expected to spend her NEXT night like this. Not bad.
Her cellphone vibrated on the chair next to her.
Frenda leaned down, opening it open. It read; Mugino - Boss. She flicked it open.
DO YOU HAVE A PLAN?
Frenda frowned. She texted back a response.
NOT EXACTLY.
She waited. A response came.
KEEP ME POSTED. SHE COULD PROVE USEFUL AT FIGURING OUT RAILGUNS SECRETS.
Frenda felt her grip on the phone tighten and her jaw clench. Her hand shook slightly.
RIGHT.
The people in power. The people with power.
...And those without it.