Italics - thoughts
Bold - Emphasis
Italics Bold - Magic names or titles
"normal" - speech
" underlined bold " - Mental transmissions
Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.
Chapter 11:High Priest, Part 2
"Become the Scorer of the Magic Gods. Obtain the altar of the Gods."
High Priest looked very confident as he asked, no, told, Touma to be the Scorer of the Magic Gods. A dry wind blew pass the small group, ruffling their hair and clothes, but none of them were bothered by it.
"No."
Touma's response did not seem to faze High Priest in the slightest. His mummified hand remained in the air.
An altar had been created for him, giving him the controls to the world, but Kamijou Touma rejected it all.
"What you are talking about may seem like a perfect world at first glance. In fact, it is not too different from the world that Othinus showed me at that time. A perfect world. One full of smiles. But that is all it is. Perfect at first glance. It could be a rein of terror, forcing everyone to conform to a person's ideals. There could be dealings in the dark that 'silence' people who are unable to conform to those ideals. It's no different to saying that a person is happy because they have food, clothes and water, but is living in solitary confinement."
"...Oho?"
"And just from your words just now, it seems that you think that there will be conflict if you leave us humans be. You believe that the conflict needs to be eliminated ahead of time, so you want me to be the warden of a prison. Keep order and peace in the world."
"Who is to say that this is how the world works? Those people that are sneaking in the shadows? They could have been preparing a surprise for their friends! Their family! Their lover! Doing something like this, its just going to create new reasons for conflict! How is this any different from a corrupt policeman, an arsonist firefighter, or even a murdering judge?"
"Even all that you have seen, you still believe-no, claiming, that people are essentially good?" Sighing, High Priest lowered his hand. "But, then again, this is the main reason we want you as our Scorer. It is exactly because you are not eager to accept that you are perfect for what we want. Unfortunately, this is not the result we are looking for. This is not the end result we desire."
The chill Touma had been feeling all this time, it began to finally reach his heart. Its cold, cold, embrace chilled hi to his very core. It was then that Touma knew. His gut feeling was telling him to get everyone out of here. He knew, if he said the wrong things, everyone around him, no, the world, would be at risk. So, he had to let this situation play out, until it was safe once more. "Are you saying that I should change my decision?"
"Yes. It is merely a matter of sooner or later. Will you catch on before or after losing something? Isn't that right? After rejecting our offer, you are sure to try to resolve the next incident that occurs. And that remains true whether you are aware of it or not. So will you fight the old-fashioned way and create needless damage or will you reach for the cheat codes right away and end it all with no one hurt? ...The path you take may be a little different, but you will find yourself in the same place in the end. You will resolve the incident. The question is how many will have died along the way."
"..."
"I find it baffling that you would still refuse my hand. You stand before the path to a future where no one has died and everyone is smiling together, so why would you intentionally choose the path of death? And I am talking about the lives of those around you, not your own life."
Even though he knew that what he chose was right, he still felt unsure about his choice. Was it truly right?
Then, he recalled what Will-chan had told him in Othinus's omega-world. Will-chan, the culmination of the Misaka Network's egos and consciousness, had told him that there was a distortion even in that happy world where everyone seemed to have been saved. The puny human's only weapons may have been selfishness and a desire to have things for himself, but he had been saved by the fact that people will risk their lives for worthless things like that.
People can easily become puppets, Touma thought to himself. One of our base desires is being selfish:Having things at to ourselves. It can be considered our freedom, even. Once we lose that, lose our freedom, we can become but mere puppets being controlled by the strings of a puppeteer. This ideal world of no starvation, no poverty, no sickness and equality? This is nothing more than an illusion. An illusion which seems ideal to only the one pulling the strings.
Index would seem happy. As would all my friends. But, in the end, it is an illusion of being happy. We would be tricking ourselves that we would be happy, even though our freedom has been taken away.
"I am choosing this path, High Priest." Touma stated firmly. "This position of being the Scorer of Magic Gods? It sounds great, it really does. But, High Priest, I won't go with you. It doesn't matter how much power you'll unconditionally lend me, I just can't allow that future. And if anyone can give you what you want as long as they have what it takes to be your scorer, then I can't just ignore this."
"...I see..." High Priest attempted to speak further, but Touma was on a roll.
"You said that I would have the power to end any disaster? To stop anything bad before it happens? Unfortunately, that looks too me like a disaster-in-the making. If anyone you chose had this power, they could change the world, twist it so thoroughly, that people may not know what is right, what is wrong, what's real and what's fake! I can't just ignore it if you are willing to lend out this much power to anyone," Bringing up his right fist, he clenched, showing it to High Priest's face. ",then I would stop you right here, right now, and shatter that illusion of yours of controlling those ants you speak of!"
All was quiet.
Nothing had interrupted them. Nothing had changed. No one had died, nor had anyone been injured. In fact, one could have said that nothing had occurred at all.
Yet, for those present, once they heard Touma speak one of his famous words, that felt a shift.
A shift in High Priest's mood.
"...I see...But, Kamijou Touma, I believe I said it earlier, didn't I? It does not matter what your choice is. It is a matter of sooner or later, of when you have lost something or not. We desire that you be our Scorer. I believe I said that earlier, did I not?"
The mummified hand finally dropped down. As did all the formalities and pleasantries.
"I really cannot fanthom as to why you would agree only after you have lost something, Kamijou Touma."
The hair on Touma's arm bristled.
A jolt ran up his spine.
Colossal arms made of dirt rose up from behind High Priest's form. He had not moved an inch, not perturbed by the mini earthquake in the slightest, as he displaced what looked like a few hundred kilograms worth of soil and dirt.
"Perhaps you would agree after I kill your friends. Starting with that blonde one."
"!?"
His body reacted faster than his mind.
Moving on instinct, Touma grabbed Misaki with his left hand, pushing her towards the Saint, before he too retreated, hand already up in case he need to use its ability. One of the hands came down like a large dump-truck falling down at terminal velocity, smashing the area that the girls had been standing. Thankfully, Touma had just managed to dodge out of the way, the only damage he recieved being some rocks that peppered his back.
Both girls were in motion a few seconds the hand came down. Mikoto had used a combination of her powers and her athletic body, jumping out of range of the massive hand plunging down towards her location. Kaori, having understood Touma's intention, grabbed onto Misaki with both her arms, using her Saint abilities to dash both of them out of harms way.
Having gotten to safety, the teens looked back towards the targeted area. What they saw made their eyes widen in shock and terror.
A large handprint had been imprinted into the very place the girls had been standing, nearly half a meter deep. The trees, stone pavement, and benches that had been there? All flattened like a pancake. It was like watching a 3-D item suddenly become 2-D. Only, in this case, the 2-D item was being viewed from the top perspective of the 3-D item.
The force need to make the objects flatten so perfectly like that, as well as the speed... Mikoto analysed the attack, her body half frozen in fear and awe. ..that's at least 454,000(*1*)newtons of force! AND that is assuming his arm was made from at most 1000kg of dirt!
"Ku ku ku" The mummy-like Magic God cackled. "How long would it take, eh, Kamijou Touma? How much more death and incidents must occur before you agree to be our Scorer?" He swung down his arms once more, this time in a sweeping motion. One headed towards Mikoto. The other, towards Kaori, who was still holding onto the busty Level 5.
Shit!
Acting quickly, Touma brought out his right hand as he ran towards Kaori and Misaki. Right now, Kaori was unable to draw her blade, much less use her wires to cut the arm in-front of her. If she tried to do so with Misaki clinging onto her back, she might have been able to pull it off, albeit at a much lower output and speed then she liked. But, factor in Misaki's inability for anything sporty, Kaori carrying said Level 5 in the famed 'Princess carry', and the max speed she can move at being drastically reduced due to having an extra passenger, she could only dodge the attacks aimed at her for so long.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Touma. His right hand was close to touching High Priests's earthen arm. But, the arm was closer to touching the pair of girls then he was going to hit the arm.
Make it in tiiiiiiimmmmmeeee!
It happened in what seemed to be an instant.
One moment, High Priest was about to smash into the two friends of Imagine Breaker in front of him. The next, both him and the two girls were gone. "What is this?"
"I am afraid you are out of luck, old man."
Oho? Raising a withered brow, High Priest looked at the fifth person that was here. "As long as I am here, some things would not go according to what you want." Percival cracked his knuckles. The metal band like item that had wrapped itself around his left forearm had become a cannon. As he watched, the cannon morphed into a shield. A large buckler.
This mana flow... High Priest noticed for the first time the unique mana of the enemy in front of him. "Who are you, little boy? You have peaked my interest once again, this time with that strange mana of yours."
"As I said before," Percival got into a battle-ready stance. "I am Yurei Percival. An ordinary person."
...What... "Yeouch."
Touma was hurting all over his body. He was pretty confused. The last thing he remembered was reaching out to save Kaori and Misaki. One blink later, and he found his entire body to be sore, like he had just ran a marathon. Thankfully, there was some soft things to soothe his body.
..
..
..
...wait, soft?
"Touma..." A familiar voice called out from ahead of him. Eyes widening, he raised his head...
...and saw his own death as he witnessed a blue lightning bolt fly to his face.
"Such Misfortune!" Screaming out his catchphrase, Touma attempted to leap out of the way. Four things happened in quick succession.
First: a piece of the earth(likely from High Priest's arms) hit Misaka in the small of the back, causing her to loose his balance. Her lightning strike hit the piece of earth instead, obliteraing it into fine particles.
Second: His body had suddenly stopped responding to his commands, causing him to fall back onto the ground. His right arm, which he had attempted to raise to defend himself, remained raised.
Third: The two bodies of the girls he had attempted to save were curled up around him. Misaki was partially unconscious, using her body(especially her bust) to snuggle up to his left side. At his legs, he saw Kaori trying to get up, but failed to as she was too overcome by embarrassment when she realized the provocative position(In her mind) she was in. Her brain seemed to explode, steam rising from the top of her head as a cherry-red blush overcame her features.
And fourth: Mikoto, having lost her balance, fell forwards, landing on top of the disabled Touma. Her face, red from anger(And embarrassment, not that he knew it of course.) was the last thing he saw before he felt something on his lips. Something soft, yet mildly sweet.
It took him a hot minute to realize that he was kissing the girl on top of him. And as fate would have it, his right arm(which was still not responding to his commands) fell on top of the girl's head effectively sealing the deal, if it was not sealed before. A faint scent washed over Touma's partially covered nose.
a floral smell...roses? No, its jasmine...
Misaka Mikoto was in deep, deep turmoil.
Why, you ask? It was simple. What she had witnessed.
After dodging the attack from High Priest using a combination of her electromagnetism and pure force via electrical discharge, she witnessed Percival fighting High Priest.
Dodge, parry, dodge, slash, dodge, shoot, dodge whip, whip, counter, kick, bash...
A flurry of movements were used by Percival. But the main thing he noticed was that he was using different weapons. After using the shield to parry an attack from High Priest's earthen arms, he would use a large gauntlet to whip his face, which turned a 180 degrees with a sickening crack. Of course, that did not deter the Magic God in the slightest, instead using his control over the earth to create a wave of dirt, forcing the gray-blonde haired boy back. Both parties used that time to regain their composure. High Priest used it to set back his head, forming a pair of arms once more, while Percival morphed his gauntlet into a whip, using it to fend of the attacks thrown by High Priest's arms of earth.
" Kah kah kah kah kah!" With a jolt of horror, Mikoto realised that High Priest was laughing in joy. "It has been so long since I have been injured! Youg boy, please, entertain me more! I can get Kamijou Touma to agree to be our Scorer after you die. That should be more than enough incentive for him to agree!"
"Screw you, old man." Percival responded calmly, even though his face was laced with frustration. He noticed Mikoto, who was looking at the battle, out of the corner of his eye. "Misaka-san! Get out of here! I will hold off this battle-crazed god for a few minutes then rejoin n you guys!" Dodging another earthen fist, he morphed the gauntlet into a mace, using it to smash the fist as he dodged it. "Go! Get Kamijou-san out of here! This old man only wants him, so follow that idiot to make sure he does not do anything reckless!"
Finally, Mikoto used her legs to move. She did not know where the spiky-haired boy was, but that was an easy fix.
Sending out a pulse, she located the deadzone on her 'radar' known as the boy called Kamijou Touma. Found him!
Rounding the corner, she landed softly on the ground, using her powers to help with her descent. Which then led to a series of events best explained in five sentences.
Mikoto got jealous. Fired off her electiricty.
Pieces from the fight behind her hit Mikoto.
Mikoto fell and kissed her crush, AKA Kamijou Touma.
Touma's hand fell onto her head.
Mikoto obtained the following status effects: Charmed, Lovestruck, paralysis, confusion and embarrassment
Wha-wa-wha-wha- Her eyes began to have swirls in them as she started to comprehend the situation she was in. WHAT THE HELL IS THE IDIOT DOING!
In the deep corners of her mind, she knew that this was also part of her fault, as she wanted to kiss her crush for quite a while now. But the dominant part of her(the tsun- part that only came out when faced with Touma) was denying that small little bit of her brain over and over again. Trying to deny that she was, no, is enjoying the kiss that her crush was giving her, even if it was accidental.
The two finally brought themselves out of their funk when Misaki, who had fully regained her consciousness, used her powers on Mikoto.
*Zap*
""Ow!"" Shocked by the pain, the two finally separated. A string of saliva was also connected between the two, the small line glistening in the lig-
"Hello?" Misaki dragged up the still shocked Saint(Or attempted to. She was not light, nor was Misaki able to lift up a fourth of a person's weight) "Your flirting ability is as great as always, Touma-kun, but there is a crazy Magic God after you, if you have forgotten." A loud crash landed near them, as did a small crater. "See?"
"Urgh," Percival crawled out of the small crater he had made when High Priest flung him. Shit, this is though without using any abilities. But, it is best to keep trump cards secret. So, I will have to stick to only one category for now, if I ever have to resort to using it. Then, he noticed the girls and Touma. "What? Why are you- You know what? Forget it. Just get out of here! Now!"
"Got anything fast?" Touma asked the obviously peeved Percival.
"I guess..." Percivall shrugged. "But its only good for short bursts. And, if I use it too long, I would be little more then dead weight."
"Not that we have much of a choice." Touma had understood something very important as he had been kissing Mikoto(His brain had been mainly thinking of ways to stay alive when the brown haired girl had fully processed what happened.) "But right now, we should get as much distance from High Priest. That is the main priority. But, don't overexert yourself too much, Yurei-san." Touma added. "I need your help right now."
"Of course. We can talk later on about what you were doing just now while I was distracting High Priest." The stare Percival gave Touma felt like it was piercing his heart. ...Sorry, Yurei-san...
Sighing audibly, Percival went to work. As Touma watched, his shield morphed forms. Yurei-san's shield is just like Leivinia-san's wand..I think...
"Form Morph!" Percival held out his hands, as if he was expecting a hug. Or waiting for something to drop. "Glider!"
It looked similar to a video about a seed growing into a tree. At first, there was a frame of the entire glider. Places for the passengers, the glider's 'wings', and what looked like thrusters. Then, the frame started to be filled in. The 'wings' became bigger and longer. The thrusters began to gain a clear shape, with finer details popping out. And finally, there was a steering wheel, plus three bags that were similar to sleeping bags. However. they were in the shape of a humanoid figure, instead of just one, long bag. Also, the arms, feet and lower legs were exposed, giving it the impression of a harness and jumpsuit.
All in all, it took around 10 seconds for the glider to be finished.
"Shokuhou-san and Misaka-san would be with me." Percival began to strap the unconscious girl into the harness like thing. "Shokuhou-san would help with getting innocent people out of the way, while Misaka-san would help me look for somewhere for us to hide from that Magic god when she wakes up. Kanzaki-san, please carry Kamijou-san."
"Eh?"
Touma did not know how to respond when said Saint swept him of his feet. Literally, as he ended up in a princess carry. "EH?"
"EHHHHHH?!" Touma realized that he may have graduated from being a boy by accidentally having his first kiss. But that status was revoked the moment he was carried like a princess by a girl who was only a few years his senior(2 at most).
"Ho ho ho?" High Priest arrived at where he threw Percival earlier. "What is this strange thing?"
The starnge thing he was talking about was the figure of a big breasted female running at high speeds, carrying a certain misfortunate boy in a princess carry.
"Fine then." High Priest chuckled. "I shall play along with your games, Kamijou Touma. Or perhaps, it is you, Percival Yurei?" Snorting in amusement, he shook his head. "I must be getting too old for this. For me to be distracted from my goal by a young bo-No, he is no boy." He gazed at the figure, which was getting smaller and smaller with every passing second. "I do wish to know exactly what he is, but the objective comes first. HO HO HO!"
"Well, shit." Percival's voice echoed in the earpiece he was given. A few seconds before they had all departed, Percival gave everyone an earpiece.(Seriously, where does he get these things?)
"Hmm?" Touma risked a look back. In the current position he was in right now, Kaori's breasts were swaying a little from the speed she was running, which was easily 80km/h. So, if he turned his head, or even moved it a little, his face would come into contact with them. So, when he moved his neck a little, the breast closest to his face rested itself on his neck.
W-what is this strange softness?! I-is this a woman's b-b-breasts?! Ah Touma snapped himself out of his delusions. "W-wait...Is...THAT HIGH PRIEST!"
High Priest was running at them, his posture not that different from that of a professional sprinter. His green eyes were glowing a little as he ran. And the worst part was, he seemed to be catching up.
Touma did not know if he was just playing around, or if he was enjoying this charade(Wait, aren't they the same thing?), but one thing was for certain. High Priest wanted him to be their Scorer, and he was not taking no for an answer
(1)-Speed mach 4,height of 25m+,3 sec to reach ground,10 metres from HP.
AN
Yep, I did it. I made them kiss. How's that for a twist? (¬‿¬)
Regarding my last AN for the last chapter...I understand some of you might be a little confused. Understandable, seeing as I more or less admitted I screwed myself over. But the danger has passed! The plot is back on track, with the detour fully demolished!
Originally, it was meant to be a car(The derailment part), but I thought: That makes no sense whatsoever! So, I did this scene instead. And ironically, this happened in Railgun T, which I had not read nor watched at the time of this chapter's completion. So, yippee! A blast from the past!
I hope all of you will continue to review. Honestly, its a little disheartening to see few reviews. I feel like everyone is trashing my fic T_T. Please review to bring this author's soul back from the brink of death!
Also, I want to say something to a reviewer. In fact, it was the latest. Sorry in advance to those who are with me on this review...
Rant Start: I mean, seriously! This is just messed up! If I wanted to do something like that shit you suggested, I would have made the OC the protagonist, with the OC taking Touma place in all this shit! Plus, its pretty much a known fact among those who have read the LNs that Magic Gods are death incarnate if you do not have Imagine Breaker or a certain other thing. So to say my OC, whom I tried VERY HARD to balance, is going to defeat a Magic God...that's just like saying, and I quote 'the makings of a C-rated movie'. Thats like telling a guy to bake a large ass cake, but you have just done the base, and a guy suddenly says: Oh wow, this cake is so bland. There's no icing, layers, or even fruits on it!
Rant End.
...Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Sorry about that. I had to get that out of my system. If you worked on a fic u have been planning for a while now, and a guy randomly reviews or disses you that a part of the story is shit when it has been explained in the AN... Well, I bet all fic writers know what I am talking about. Especially the better ones. If the guy who wrote that particular reviwe meant no harm from it...Sorry man, but I got some irritated vibes from it, as well as some disappointment(Which has no sense, since I said that Percival was balanced after a few weeks of designing his powers...I think...)
Anyway, please, more reviews! And keep safe too! Also, I am looking for an artist who can help me design Percival and Touma to put as the artwork for this fic! PM me if u are interested, and I will give you the details. The best one would get the chance to design a new antagonist! For more details, please wait for the next chapter.
As always, Anime is Life!