A/N: Took some time, but we got it done! Life and busy-ness and this chapter is quite long!
Editor's Note: Ruminations on the nature of spacetime delayed things more than I want to admit. Yes, really.
A/N: Also that!
Kuroko gazed into the void.
The chaotic melee she'd just been a part of was nowhere to be seen. She spun around, nothing but nothing for as far as she could see. Left, right, up, even beneath her feet.
Some instinct pricked at the back of her head and she dove forward into a roll and came up in an about face ready to fight... something she struggled to make sense of. It seemed like it acknowledged this in its own patronizing way as reality itself shifted? Shifted was the best term she could use, as her awareness of everything seemed to simply BECOME. She remembered it not being what she now saw, but also that it had always been what she now knew. Whatever it was.
There was definitely a robe. And a humanoid wearing the robe. Humanoid... but not human. The features were too perfect, too symmetrical, too off-puttingly alabaster white. Its hair hung straight down to its waist before stretching off into the formless infinity. And the eyes… the eyes were a solid off-gold, lightly glowing, sickly almost. The overall impression was something like a living statue engineered to be as beautifully between male and female as possible, except not even Pygmalion could ever hope to reach this level. In their hand, a burnt coin rested, which they were examining intently. Perhaps sensing her scrutiny, they looked up at Kuroko.
"Who… what are you?"
It smiled at her question. As it opened its mouth, noise came out. High pitched, gibberish noise that made her brain scream in horrified confusion.
Her hands flew up to grab at her head, but she finally realized she didn't have any. Her prosthetic arms were gone. The metallic caps that served as their connectors, formerly as dark as night, were now shining brightly in a riot of colours that she knew with stark certainty were not part of the visible spectrum she'd known all her life. But despite not sensing her cybernetics, despite having almost no arms and no hands, she felt the space around her pulse and move and writhe, felt the yawning eternity that surrounded her shimmer and twist and pulse as it seemed to move with her "arms". AS her arms. She struggled through the pain, trying to make sense of the not-quite-physical sensations she was feeling when the maddening speech of... that thing... somehow coalesced into something she could comprehend long enough for her to catch the final few words.
"-ou welcome, little angel. Heaven, and I, will be watching… with great amusement."
In that moment, it was as if a great floodgate finally gave under the weight of all the world's oceans and her eyes were now open to see it.
Crowley jerked to attention as he felt a tremor shake through the room, his head turning to look at an empty spot in the midst of his Tarot cards. No… Not empty. Wasn't that where…?
And with a shattering pulse, cracks began to pour forth from an invisible center, fissures on the very air itself, before finally, it reappeared.
Lines of multicolor ties from other cards that had previously seemed attached to nothing, fading away into the air, snapped into focus in an instant. It was here...
The World was Upright, and the tyrant of Academy City laughed.
It felt like exactly what it was. A year and a half's worth of mounting psychic power suddenly being set free to run wild.
She had misplaced her powers. Misplaced her AIM field.
She had misplaced her arms.
Only now did she realize… They were one and the same.
"I will fucking see you all die scream-" No more of that. She found her heart racing with exhilaration once again, reveling in the joyous feeling of escaping Euclid's oppressive clutches to move freely, to disappear from one place and reappear in another with only a thought.
Also, the unparalleled satisfaction of drop kicking a criminal and/or monster in the back of the head.
Indigo let out a cry of pain and alarm as he stumbled away, dropping Ruiko who rolled away, coughing and hacking.
"W-what?" Indigo grunted as he turned to the empty space Kuroko had already vacated, then gasped and jerked his head to the side so her rapid jab from his blind spot only grazed his hair. She tsked clinically. Did monsters not get concussions?
"FUCK!" Indigo stumbled away, shimmering slightly. The feeling of it set her on edge and she dropped back to the ground out of caution. Whatever he was doing grated on her sense of... topology? Space? Something to muse over later; maybe Mikoto would have some advice or could at least point her to a "So You've Grown a New Sense" pamphlet?
She banished the thought. Not the time. The important thing was her intuitive understanding of every surface and angle of the real space around her. The shimmer, then, was some side effect of how he displaced his physical self from his own image. It was the same tactic he'd used in their first encounter, an effective parlor trick at the time, but she'd beaten it even then. As she was now?
"S-so, got your powers back I see-" Indigo jerked to the side as Kuroko suddenly appeared at the wall of the building he'd retreated to, her arm clipping into it where he'd been standing just a fraction of a second prior. The illusion of him snapped back from where he had appeared to be over to the wall where he actually was at the same time. She tsked again. She was calculating faster than ever, but lack of practice and the subtleties of the reference point… sloppy, she chided herself..
Indigo stared down at the much smaller girl who was now elbow-deep in the wall. He began to nervously laugh, his grin widening.
"And so over-eager, you miscalculated and got yourself stu-" Kuroko whipped her arm to the side, tearing through the reinforced concrete with a short grunt. Another miss, but at least he got pelted with shrapnel.
He was visibly unnerved now, and staring at her... arm? Then the glint of polished metal drew her eye as well. Her glove was shredded, of course, but the arm itself was unscratched.
"My, my," she drawled as she held it up in front of her and slowly tested all the joints in her hand to verify there was no internal damage, "I think I'll definitely be leaving a nice review for Heaven Canceller when we're done here." She paused a beat for effect before returning her full attention to Indigo with a broad, self-satisfied smirk that only intensified with his growing expression of horror.
"It… It can't be… you've become…" He didn't get to finish the sentence before she disappeared and reappeared once more, a rapid teleportation behind him that left her too close for the take down she intended so she jammed a metal elbow into one of his kidneys, earning a howl of pain.
"Fucking… KILL HER!" Indigo bellowed, causing Kuroko to reflexively blink back several meters just in time for the Accelerator clone to slam her hand into the space Kuroko had just vacated.
The clone wheeled around on Kuroko, stalking heavily toward her with a palpable aura of death and destruction.
And Kuroko… was ready for it.
Kuroko was not ready for it!
Clone or not, she was fast. Terrifyingly fast. Even with her now superhuman spatial awareness, Kuroko was having trouble keeping away from Indigo's mad doll. The fact that the space around the girl was somehow wrong helped her keep track when her eyes couldn't keep up. Was that the "shield" Mikoto had mentioned? What was it doi- "SHIT!"
Kuroko teleported once more as the clone dove at her with vicious intent. She couldn't let herself be touched even slightly by that power!
As she racked her brain for a counter, her luck ran out. Shifting just a hair too slow, Kuroko tried desperately for a last-ditch teleport… and gasped when the clone appeared halfway up the bleachers. She missed? No, at the last moment, her hand was... deflected? It was then she felt them. Other spatial distortions swaying through the area that did not belong to the clone or Indigo. Long tendrils that twitched and floated. Wary of another actor on the field, she followed one with her mind even as she continued to evade the clone's attacks and found where it ended.
In her back. Just along her spinal column, with five neighbors; six in all. They… were her? Experimentally she willed one of the six to move, to slam down at the clone. And just as she imagined, one did. The ground cratered for a moment as the spatial anomaly struck it. The clone had managed to dodge it somehow. Then a massive groove appeared, the matter being teleported away. But… where did it go? She wasn't sure.
Unfortunately, that distracted her far too much. The clone dashed at her fast enough that a pop in the air was heard, the outstretched hand almost at Kuroko. On reflex, she raised up one of her hands defensively and both of their palms touched… almost.
She could see-but-not-see how the unsettling boundary of "wrongness" that she couldn't pin down the name of stopped at her hand, a classic irresistible force meeting an immovable Kuroko. Shockwaves began to emanate from the tiny golf ball-sized space between their palms. She felt it through her senses- though she hadn't been turned into a pretzel, that was more or less what the Accelerator-chan field was doing with the space in the medium between them. She had reflexively resisted it by correcting that space, but now she focused, trying desperately to teleport the clone. The odd field opposed her spatial changes, like two magnets trying to push against one another. Kuroko felt the nameless distortion swirling around the clone and pouring at her, trying to twist her arm with immense force. A vein in her forehead pounded as she responded in kind, willing the space itself to warp in the opposite direction, all the while shockwaves flew from their struggle, scoring deep rents in the ground and blasting away nearby debris.
What finally gave was their footing. Losing purchase on the crumbling earth beneath them threw the opposing forces out of alignment and the stalemate ended like a balloon with too much air. The tortured reality in the space between their hands "popped", sending Kuroko flying back and the clone into a state of dazed confusion as matter swirled around her like a twister.
Kuroko used a small teleport to reorient herself upright quickly, looking at her mechanical hand. Still in pristine condition. The coin… she'd teleported it away. Things were finally starting to make sense: anything that struck her arm was automatically teleported and THAT was why her arm was never damaged, why the first time they tried this the clone could not hurt her. She chanced a glance to the side where Indigo had been, and saw Mikoto had engaged him to prevent him from interfering. She needed to help, she couldn't waste time-
She quickly dodged another grab at her head by the clone.
"ENOUGH!" The discontinuity surrounding the clone was nearly impenetrable.
Nearly.
Swinging her arm, she struck the shield as she aimed at the girls masked face, feeling the spatial distortions appear once again, the air vibrating against the resisting forces. There. She teleported herself just a few centimeters forward, tweaking a variable in the calculation that she had once believed was a constant to bypass the barrier, compensating for the field's attempt at reversal in the same term.
And struck home.
With a crack, the mask shattered and the clone went flying, her revealed expression one of shocked pain as she slammed into the ground, crying out in agony, rolling several times. Moments later, Indigo landed next to his fallen thrall.
"DIE DAMN YOU!" he screamed, sending a violet beam of energy at Kuroko. If she was right…
Kuroko threw one hand up, palm forward, in the path of his imitation Meltdowner.
"KUROKO!" She heard Mikoto wail in despair. She'd need to apologize for this stunt later.
. Once he cut off the beam and his vision recovered, he could only stare in bewilderment. To all appearances, the stream of highly energetic particles dissipated harmlessly on the unblemished surface of her hand.
She pointed her palm at a seemingly empty location. "You dropped this." And with a flash, the very same beam of energy he'd shot erupted from her hand at the empty spot where his true body was hiding. Impressively, his true position snapped to where he was pretending to be nearly instantly, next to the clone, his expression one of shocked disbelief.
She was right. Her hand could teleport objects and phenomena somewhere for later use… if her guess was accurate, it was that… location… she'd seen the unknown figure that had rambled at her. It had held the coin… the coin that she was positive went missing when Mikoto shot it at her.
A beatific smile grew on her face as she began to approach Indigo. She didn't have to be afraid of him anymore.
"Get up! Get up you useless defective piece of junk!" he hissed at the downed clone, several more Meltdowner orbs appearing around him. His attention turned to the girls who had begun to congregate together. Misaki had moved to the unconscious Uiharu's side while Frenda had helped Ruiko onto her feet, one hand supporting her while another pointed a gun at Indigo.
"This can't be fucking happening!" He growled, pressing a hand against his prosthetic violet eye, fingers mixing with his dark hair.
"Give it up." Mikoto demanded, raising up another coin at him.
"You're finished. I'm dragging you to Anti-Skill myself." Kuroko added, scowling, her face the image of determination. Her need for oxygen betrayed her, heavy panting probably making it clear that she was winded and it was a struggle to act like she didn't have a mounting headache that was rapidly building to debilitating levels on top of that.
"Hah…" Indigo chuckled, grinning. "You think you've won? Please… This is hardly over- huh!?" His attention snapped to the clone at his feet.
"She can touch me."
A soft, fragile, female voice filled with wonder drew all eyes.
"She… She can touch me." The clone said again, having pushed herself up to her hands and knees. Tearfully, she slowly looked longingly up at Kuroko. "Kill me." she begged quietly. Kuroko didn't even have a chance to wrap her head around what was happening before a desperate albino girl was hurtling toward her then stopped by Indigo grabbing her by the back of the neck.
"PLEASE KILL ME!" she screamed hysterically, tears pouring down her face as she begged for death, her clear despair contrasting starkly with her previous deadpan expression.
Indigo muttered a curse, waving his free hand as more of Meltdowner's signature orbs appeared, firing off at once. Kuroko could feel him warping the space, the seven beams following the curvature and orienting at the same target.
Misaki and Uiharu.
She didn't hesitate, grabbing Mikoto and teleporting them both next to the targeted girls, Mikoto throwing a hand up and deflecting the beams on reflex.
"NOOO!" The explosion of dust and smoke from the blasts did nothing to conceal the despair-filled scream of the clone that cut off suddenly along with any sense of their opponents' presence.
As the smoke cleared, it revealed what she already knew: Indigo and the girl - his lab grown victim - were gone.
"Damn." Kuroko cursed, the bitterness of that loss tainting their victory.
Uiharu Kazari groaned as she came to, blinking the heavy sleepiness out of her eyes. The first thing she saw was the radiant and oh-so-very concerned face of Misaki.
"Misaki-" she was interrupted as the girl leaned down and kissed her on the lips, earning a squeak of surprise.
"I'm so happy you're OK." Misaki whispered as she parted lips, hugging the girl. Uiharu felt herself lying on the ground, head resting in Misaki's lap. What had she missed? She remembered finding out something…
"The Sixth!" She gasped loudly as memories began flooding back. "And, and Gunha!" She tried to sit up, but instead got herself pulled into another hug to Misaki's chest.
"It's over. He got driven off. All thanks to you. You focused enough that I could rebound a message to Ruiko through our palace. As for Gunha… I'm having Nokleben-san look in on him. Hopefully he's not..." She left that statement unfinished, instead turning her gaze up.
Uiharu blinked as she looked around, blushing fiercely as she felt Misaki's chest at the back of her head. She saw Mikoto and Kuroko, and off in the distance, Frenda and Saten. They were at… a school athletic field?
Mikoto hobbled over to Kuroko, hugging her tightly.
"You have your powers back!" Mikoto said in a tone that could only be described as overwhelming relief. "Oh god, I thought I'd taken it away from you forever…" Mikoto was audibly choking back tears. Kuroko squeezed her tightly, burying her face into Mikoto's chest.
"It's fine… I realized something when he said the word misplaced… I had misplaced my powers. My arms as well. They're the same… my arms became part of my AIM field. I think." Kuroko sounded quite confident at the start of her explanation, but that began to trail off toward the end.
"...Maybe I should talk to the doctor about this." She finally conceded. The other girls giggled slightly; everything was going to be fine.
"IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER ANYMORE!"
The girls collectively jumped and turned to the source of the yell, spotting Frenda visibly furious, and Ruiko next to her looking anxious and scared. Kazari had tuned out the quiet whispers before, but now everyone could hear them perfectly.
"I don't have ANY agency left in my life, I just want to go back to my blind hedonism and money when things didn't fucking matter!" Frenda screamed at Saten, who was visibly trying to calm her down.
"I don't matter anymore, I'm nothing but a fucking pawn for these stupid fucking demigods! All fucking seven of them! First it was Accelerator and Railgun a year and a half ago. Now I'm fucking dealing with the Sixth that no one even knew anything about?! I'm at the beck and call of that fucking terror over there," she pointed at Misaki, "and her thug, the Seventh?! And then Mugino's gone completely-" she cut off in a sob, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm fucking done, nothing I do matters anymore, I don't fucking care!" she screamed.
"I CARE!" Ruiko came back instantly. "You matter to me!" she shouted, taking a step forward toward Frenda.
"I know! And that's why it all bothers me!" she jabbed her finger at Ruiko as she said this and froze. Her expression crumbled. "It's all YOUR FAULT! Before I met you, none of this bothered me, but now… now I care, now I give a shit!" Her voice cracked as she turned away to hide her obvious rage and despair. "Fuck you! Just, fuck you!"
Frenda didn't look back as she stormed off and Ruiko just stared at her back.
Ruiko watched as Frenda stormed away. Absently, she noted the others approaching her. They were saying something, but she didn't hear it over the beating of her heart in her ears.
Frenda's words hurt, sure, but that wasn't what stilled her with cold fear. It was what she saw when she touched Indigo.
First it was like grasping a lightning bolt, then there were lights and vibrations and sensations she couldn't name, and then suddenly...
Ruiko prowled carefully through the steam tunnels of the industrial lab complex above ground. Looking behind her, she saw a stairway leading up to a door- she had clearly come from this direction.
"Please… Please Mugino…"
Her head whipped back forward as she heard the voice of Frenda. Frenda was in trouble. Frenda needed her. She broke into a dead sprint, vision tunneled as she rushed for the girl she...
A brief flash of light and crackle of energy interrupted her run for a moment. It had come around… from her left. She turned and ran down it, dashing for what felt like forever.
She slowed to a stop as she approached a foul smell. Burning meat.
Dread filled her and her steps became leaden. She saw a pair of feet sticking out from behind a piece of machinery. Turning the corner around it, she saw it…and fell to her knees as the horror and devastation rolled over her like a tsunami.
There was Frenda, leaned up against the wall. From across her waist, something had burned straight through her, severing her torso from the rest of her. Her face was frozen in a rictus of hopelessness and pure agony… glassy eyes staring into the distance with her death. Tears stained her face, her head hanging forward. Clutched in her hand was a blood covered phone. Almost against her conscious will, Ruiko crawled forward to reach out to… she grabbed the device and began to shake violently as she looked at it, the pain in her heart blending with her rage at the unfairness of this situation. Parts of the screen were obscured by the blood, but she could see enough.
To: Saten; Fremea
Im sorry I lov
It was never sent, Frenda's body having given out before she could finish it.
Trembling, Ruiko reached out to gently close Frenda's eyes, then rose slowly and turned away. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes shut tight. Her knuckles were white and her fists shook at her side. A beastial roar echoed through the tunnels as the scene fell apart around her into an endless void that consumed her as well.
She had woken up, or rather regained awareness, with Frenda pulling her off the ground and aiming a gun at Indigo. She could hardly believe her eyes, it had been so… so real and she wanted nothing more than to hug that girl at that moment.
Even now, as she reflected on the memory, it haunted her.
She covered her mouth as she held down her gorge at the vivid image burned in her mind of the mutilated body and agonized expression of Frenda.
A hand landed on her shoulder, prompting her to look over at Mikoto who was giving her the most concerned of looks. She was probably a pretty pitiful sight right now. Heartbroken even. But it didn't matter… Only one thing mattered.
Only one thing.