Naoki sprinted down the sidewalk, throwing up a cloud of dust in his wake. His gold eyes were narrowed in determination, his teeth gritted, as he made his way through the city at speeds no normal human could move at.

Where is he? Where is he? Where is he?

The question repeated over and over in his mind as he ran. He did not know where he was going, but that didn't concern him. He had only one goal, and one goal alone. He didn't know how he would go about finding the answer, he just knew that he had to somehow. He had to answer his question...

Where is Kamijou Touma?!

He dashed aimlessly past buildings covered in billboards, concession stands with holographic advertisements, futuristic cars parked alongside flashing parking meters, but he paid them no mind. He saw and heard nothing but his mantra repeating itself in his head.

Then he felt something.

This way...

He sped up even further as another thought entered his mind, interrupting the incessant question. He did not know, or care, where this thought had come from, but he knew he had to obey it. Pivoting on his heel, he swung around a corner and entered an alleyway, his speed whipping up trash and pulling it along behind him.

This way...

The strange voice in his head was a familiar one, but he didn't take the time to ponder where he had heard it. He was in too much of a frenzy to care. The very possibility that the voice might lead him to Touma was reason enough to obey, regardless of whether it actually would.

Here.

Naoki slammed his heels into the ground and skidded to an abrupt stop, his shoes splitting the asphalt and tearing deep ruts into the earth, coming to rest at the end of the alley. He turned this way and that, throwing his gaze in every direction, trying to find any sign of Touma's presence. But there was none. There was nothing around him but brick walls and overflowing trash cans. He began to grow angry. The voice had lied to him! There was nothing here!

"Where are you!?", he yelled, voice distorted with rage. The shockwave of his scream rippled up the sides of the buildings, rupturing glass windows and sending gleaming shards cascading toward the ground. Dust whipped up around him in a tornado and bolts of energy crackled across his frame as he cried out. Then, suddenly, a new sound rang through the air. One that was simultaneously quiet and deafening.

"Please calm down."

Everything stopped. Glass shards suspended themselves in midair, the dust around Naoki's frame became frozen in place, the static he felt across his body dissipated instantly, and the echoes of his rage fell silent. All was entirely still. Naoki slowly closed his mouth, his muscles relaxing. He felt as though a sort of fog was being lifted away from his mind, clearing his head. The question of where the esper was no longer continued to repeat itself. All he felt now was a very familiar presence standing behind him, and a gentle hand on his shoulder. Slowly turning, Naoki looked at the man who had just arrived.

A mysterious gentleman stood before him, completely untouched by the dust particles in the air. He was adorned in a sleek, impeccable suit with a muted violet hue. A brilliant golden tie adorned his ivory-white collar, and an equally bright handkerchief barely protruded from his breast pocket. He had smooth, pale skin and a young-looking face, adorned by a gentle smile. His long blonde hair gleamed in the faint sunlight, as did the green and orange rings adorning his slender hand that now rested on Naoki's shoulder. Most striking, though, were his eyes. Glowing vibrantly in the dimness of the alleyway, they were sharp and intimidating, but still somehow soft and inviting. His right eye shone crimson, his left eye a brilliant sapphire blue.

Naoki's mouth slowly broke into a smile as he recognized the individual, and all his worries seemed to fade. The man returned the expression, looking almost relieved to have found him.

"Hello, Mr. Cypher", the boy said, nodding respectfully. "It's good to see you."

"You as well, young Mr. Kashima", the man replied. "Come. We have a lot to talk about."

"Welcome to Remedial Class!"

A young-sounding voice snapped Touma out of his daydream and drew his attention to the front of the classroom. Ms Tsukuyomi had begun her lesson. Touma sighed, bored out of his mind before it had even started. It wasn't that Ms Tsukuyomi wasn't a decent teacher, it was he himself that was the problem.

What good is a lecture gonna do? We all know I'm hopeless as an esper.

"Now, I know this may be bad news for a lot of you, but I had some extra time, so I wrote a pop quiz for you to take today." A collective, tormented groan echoed throughout the classroom. Touma didn't say anything, but he too felt the crushing weight of his boredom grow even heavier. This was a class for the rejects of the Power Curriculum Program, the espers whose powers were either nonexistent, or so pathetically simple that they barely qualified. Every student present had glazed eyes and apathetic expressions, and Touma was among that group. There were only three people who didn't seem to mind the monotony: the teacher, and the two boys sitting alongside Touma. Or, as the rest of the school called them, the Idiot Trio.

"You'll want to do your best on it!", the teacher chirped, her smile unwavering, "If you don't, you'll be playing a game of One-Eyed Poker after class." Another groan, even louder than the first, rang out. This time, even Touma couldn't keep a slight grunt from escaping his lips. The boy to Touma's right leaned back in his seat, smiling. He had blonde hair that was just as spiky as Touma's, though it was clearly natural rather than gelled, and a pair of large sunglasses that hid his eyes. His demeanor was entirely relaxed, as though he were on vacation rather than in what basically amounted to detention.

"Ah, I remember that one", he said, "Is that the game where you gotta play Poker with a blindfold on?"

"That's it", the boy in front of him said, with a hint of enthusiasm, "With the added bonus that you can't leave the room until you've won ten hands in a row." He turned around and grinned widely at Touma, inviting him to join the conversation. His hair was light blue in color, and swept out messily across the sides. His eyes seemed perpetually closed (Touma often marveled at how one could stare at girls without opening their eyes), and twinkling piercings adorned his ears.

"Ah geez", the blonde kid said, also turning toward Touma, "Remember last time we played this? We were stuck here until like three in the morning."

Touma rolled his eyes in response. These two boys, Motoharu Tsuchimikado and Pierce Aogami (not that that was his real name), were the only students in the entire academy whose grades were as low as Touma's. Even they had gotten a few points, though. He couldn't even say that much. As if in response, Ms Tsukuyomi chimed in again as she craned up to write on the board.

"You're the exception, Kamijou. You still don't have enough development points, so you'll be playing the game whether you want to or not." Touma growled in resignation, clutching his forehead. He'd expected that, but it was still grating to hear. His annoyance only grew when Pierce leaned over to him with an unsettling smirk.

"Our sweet little teacher totally has a thing for you, man! Are you really telling me you don't see it?!", he whispered excitedly.

"Oh shut up. She gave me lot of extra work. I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean she likes me."

"Bro, did you even hear? She's keeping you after school to punish you. Don't even try to tell me that isn't kinda hot."

"Oh so you're not just a pervert now, you're also a masochist?"

"Mhmhahaha!", Pierce giggled, hugging himself blissfully, his mind already filling with all kinds of indecent scenarios involving their teacher. "It's a big, wide world out there, buddy. Filled with a whole variety of lovely women. Why would I wanna limit myself?"

"Boy, a real stand up guy you are", Touma muttered, "Now stop it with the wiggling, you're freaking me out."

Ms Tsukuyomi turned around to address them, and Touma found himself sizing her up in spite of himself. She was so short she could pass for a 6th grader if she wanted, and her lace-edged dress didn't help make the distinction. Her body had apparently forgotten to try out puberty, and he'd heard the stories of how difficult it was for her to apply at the school, with the whole staff thinking it was some middle school prank. Her eyes were huge and youthful, and never seemed to drop their cheery shimmer, gleaming beneath a head of chin-length hair. And all of it, dress, hair, and eyes, were a vibrant pink that seemed to make her the embodiment of girlishness. Yeah, no. The lolicon route is one I'm not trying out. I'll leave that to the blue pervert.

"Keep it quiet back there, okay guys? Keep it up and I'll have you playing more than One-Eyed Poker. There are some even more difficult games I know." Despite clearly being a threat, she delivered her words so cheerfully that she might as well have been saying good morning. Pierce giggled again under his breath in response. Motoharu obediently shut up, shaking his head in amusement. Touma grimaced and turned to gaze out the window.

"Just my luck."

The girls' tennis team was practicing in the courtyard. Apparently it was an off day for them because none of them seemed to be using their powers, instead playing like normal people elsewhere in the world would. His eyes reflexively focused on the ones with the nicest legs as he became lost in thought.

I wonder how my guests are doing? Maybe I should have given them directions to the store or the police station in case something comes up. And what's the deal with all the weird stuff they were saying? Something about like a million books? And what's the deal with that Kashima guy?

"Oh, teacher!", Pierce's voice rang out happily, "Kamijou's staring at the tennis team instead of paying attention to you!"

"Dude, what the hell?!", Touma snapped, wheeling around to face him. Pierce grinned mischievously in response. But then Touma saw a much more worrying sight. Ms Tsukuyomi's eyes had lost their gleam, and now grew shiny as tears slowly welled up along her eyelid. She clutched her clipboard to her chest, shaking, as she struggled to hold back sobs that shook her tiny frame.

The air seemed to grow crushingly heavy as nine young espers slowly turned to gaze back at Touma, sending forth piercing glares of such anger that the light seemed to shrink away from him. Then they began chanting in low, dangerous voices.

"You made her cry."

"You made her cry."

"You made her cry."

Motoharu chuckled nervously, leaning back to avoid their vile stares, while Pierce continued gazing at Touma with wicked glee. The spiky-haired boy, the lowest of the Level-0 espers, simply sighed and slumped onto his desk, head in his hands.

Yep, just my luck.

The sun was just beginning to set, casting it's fiery glow across Academy City and lengthening shadows into intricate towers of darkness. Naoki Kashima and Louis Cypher both stood watching the beautiful spectacle from the top of a skyscraper, the wind blowing past and lazily rustling their hair. Craning his head down, the boy looked over the edge at the tiny silhouettes of nameless citizens milling here and there. With his inhuman vision, he could pick out individuals of all kinds. Students, police, parents, dropouts, salarymen, all sorts of people going to and from work, school, and home.

"It's nice isn't it?", Mr. Cypher chimed in. "Reminding ourselves of what we have fought for. So many individuals, so unique in their backgrounds and desires, and yet so unified in their core nature. So many possibilities to be explored, if only they were all given the same chances."

Naoki nodded slowly.

"What happened?", he asked, still looking down, "Why am I in this place?"

Mr. Cypher turned and looked at his pupil solemnly. "I truly wish I could tell you. There are many questions that go without ever being answered. Sometimes for the best, and sometimes to disastrous results. Even I am eluded by some truths."

Naoki nodded again, somewhat expecting an answer like that. There were other things on his mind, too.

"What happened to my power?", he asked, looking at his teacher, "On the bridge I was struck by an attack that should have been meaningless. But somehow it struck me down with enough force to knock me unconscious. I was forced to rely on humans for shelter, I was so helpless."

Mr. Cypher turned and began walking past Naoki as he spoke. "It would appear that you have lost possession of the Masakados Magatama. Additionally, your strength has been all but stripped away by a mysterious power, as though to prepare you for entering this world."

Naoki turned and followed him. The two crossed to the middle of the rooftop, where two ornate chairs had just appeared across from one another. Sitting down, they continued conversing.

"There is another thing that has changed about you as well. I doubt you have noticed it, but it is the most worrisome aspect of this situation."

Naoki looked concerned, and Mr. Cypher pointed to him in response.

"There it is", he said, "Your humanity. The emotions and vulnerability that you gave away for the sake of becoming the vessel of Chaos, the True Demon, that you chose to be." He fixed his gaze on Naoki's, red and blue eyes across from pale yellow ones.

"It's been returned."

The wind rushed past as the weight of Mr. Cypher's words sank in. Naoki's eyes widened, and he slowly lifted his shaking hands, staring at them. It was true. His skin was no longer the jet-black it should have been, and his markings no longer glowed. Hurriedly, he pulled Touma's broken phone from his pocket and stared at the cracked screen, looking at his fractured reflection. Myriad eyes of baleful yellow stared back at him, no longer the blood-red coals they had been.

"It's why you were able to speak with the people who found you. The reason you didn't simply ignore their presence and leave, particularly when you suspected that the girl might be a servant of Law. You talked with them and identified with them, even eating their food, conversing as though you were another human."

The device slipped from the boy's hands and clattered to the ground. Emotions rushed through him. Fear, confusion, despair, anger, all things he had long since given up the need to feel now poured into his mind, and he clutched his head in his hands.

"... No... It's not possible...", he said quietly, his voice quivering, "... What could have done this?... And why?..."

He winced in pain as a burning sensation struck his eyes. They felt as though they were sizzling. "What's happening?", he exclaimed.

Louis Cypher gently reached out his hand and paced it on the boy's head, his expression soft.

"Don't you remember?", he asked his student, "You've done it before. It's just been so long since you've felt what it's like...

"You're crying."

"It is now student curfew. All students, please return home."

Touma trudged numbly through the courtyard, bag slung over his shoulder. Hearing the announcement on the intercom, he let out yet another resigned sigh.

"Geez, the game went that late? I figured it probably took like an hour. Definitely felt longer, what with having to hear her keep trying not to cry."

"HEY!"

Touma was jostled back to reality by a very familiar voice, one that he wasn't exactly wanting to hear. He turned around and, sure enough, the brown-haired Level-5 girl was running toward him, a look of rage on her face. Marching up to him, she grabbed his collar and yelled at his face.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

Touma was surprised at her anger, but he tried not to change his expression. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of making him flinch.

"What am I doing here?", he responded, "What are you doing here? This isn't your school, Bug-Zapper."

"Don't try to change the subject! And don't call me that!", she cried back, clutching his collar tighter. Tiny blue sparks began crackling across his shirt, and he got the feeling he should probably try to get her to leave as soon as possible. "I have a proper name, okay? It's Mikoto Misaka! Don't tell me you've been calling me that to-!"

"Why are you here?", Touma interrupted, keeping his unamused expression fixed on his face, "You in remedial, too?"

"R-Remedial?! Don't be ridiculous! Anyway why are you even alive right now?! Last night on the bridge I blasted you and that other kid with so much lightning you should have been a twitching wreck, but then when I came back with an ambulance you were both completely gone!"

"Oh, I get it. You were worried about me and Naoki, huh?" Touma felt like an asshole, but he really felt like someone should do something about this girl's attitude. "Surprised you'd come all the way out here to tell a guy you cared about him"

"WHAT?!", she screamed, sending shrieking arcs of electricity in all directions and shoving Touma backwards with a pulse of kinetic energy. Students across the campus groaned in annoyance as their phones sparked and died, and a group of cleaning robots nearby wailed as they were slammed together by a wave of magnetism. Touma straightened up involuntarily, jolts of pain shooting through his legs and up his back.

Mikoto panted as the lightning died down, pointing a finger at Touma haughtily.

"How's that? Did that wake you up? You ready to fight me?"

"Will you give it a rest?!", Touma shot back once he could move his jaw again, "Thanks to you, my air-conditioning is fried, my food is rotten, my guest almost got a fever, and if it wasn't already missing, you would have blown up my phone!"

"It's your fault for pissing off a Level-5!"

"Why the hell are you even pissed?! I didn't do anything! Even after you almost blew me and my guest up!"

"Exactly!" A crowd was beginning to gather, wondering why the Railgun was yelling at a member of the Idiot Trio. They looked back and forth between the two screaming espers like they were watching a non-powered tennis match. "You just sit there in front of a lightning bolt like you've got a death wish, and then you refuse to retaliate! Am I not good enough for you to fight, is that it?! Or are you just not willing to hit a girl?!"

"We are not gonna start arguing about gender equality right now, okay?! I'm going back to my apartment, and you can't stop me!" Touma pivoted on his heel and began to stride away across the courtyard, taking the largest steps he could to emphasize his point.

"Hey! This isn't over! You're gonna-!"

"Emergency. Aggressive AIM discharge detected. System malfunction." The collapsed cleaning robots began to spin wildly, flashing red and beeping furiously as they rocketed across the grass toward the two espers, who immediately panicked and sprinted in the opposite direction.

"You idiot!", Touma shouted as he ran, "What did you think was gonna happen if you used your powers on school grounds?!"

"Shut up!", she yelled back, quickly beginning to pass him, "We need to get out of here!"

Naoki and Mr Cypher gazed out over the city once again. The sunlight had all but faded, and the night lights of the city began to flicker into existence. Naoki had ceased crying, but he still felt the lingerings of fear. His master had given him a brief but effective summary of what Academy City was, what espers were, and what he could expect from the locals.

"And you have no idea who could have possibly done this to me?"

"None that seem plausible", Mr Cypher replied, "To strip away the power of the Chaos King is... unthinkable."

Naoki grunted in agreement.

The two sat in silence, pondering what to do next. Naoki thought about the beings of this world, and how they had interacted with him.

They have no idea what I am. They don't know who I was, where I've come from, or what I could do to them. If they did, they would flee. But they barely even bothered asking questions. they simply accepted my presence and carried on with their lives. And the way they interacted... Naoki almost smiled, remembering the petty arguments between Touma and the girl. I don't even remember what that's like. To have friends. To not fight. To simply... be.

Then the atmosphere changed. Everything seemed to darken. An immense pressure weighed down on him from all directions. He barely had a moment to notice the change take place before Mr Cypher's hand clasped onto his shoulder. Turning to look, Naoki almost cried out in shock. His master's form was flickering rapidly, shifting between his young self, an old man, a little boy, a gleaming angel, a grimacing demon, and others. But all of his forms shared one feature: a massive gash across his face, as though he had been slashed with a knife moments ago. The wound pulsated and writhed, emitting a vibrant green glow that was rather pleasing to the eye, but somehow felt distinctly wrong.

And, most worryingly, there was another person standing just behind him, a grinning figure with a marked face.

"Naoki, CAn yoU HEar mE?" Mr Cypher's voice was strangled and distorted, changing along with his form. In the brief moments that his face was human, his expression was one of distraught terror. Naoki recoiled, barely able to nod in response. "ListeN tO Me, PLeASe. You Need To FiND her."

"What?" Naoki stepped back slightly, preparing to defend himself.

"ShE Who holdS ALL sKillS! FiNd sHe Who hOLds aLL SkIlls!" Mr Cypher's voice was growing more panicked, and the wound on his morphing face began to contract, turning a brilliant gold color.

Naoki opened his mouth to try to respond, to question what was happening, but suddenly everything returned to normal.

Mr Cypher stood, looking the same as always, suit and all. His expression, a familiar gentle smile. His face, undamaged.

"Is something the matter, my child?", he asked, his tone understanding and fatherly.

"I... You...", Naoki stuttered, completely at a loss for words, still reeling from the sight he saw. Whatever had just transpired, something wasn't right here.

His master tilted his head, looking concerned. "Did you hear what I asked? I was wondering what you ate in that boy Touma's house?"

"Er... Crackers", Naoki responded without thinking.

"Oh, that reminds me", Mr Cypher said, suddenly seeming excited, "I managed to find this." He reached into his pocket and held out his hand. Naoki looked at his palm, momentarily forgetting his apprehension. Something writhed and chittered, slithering around the bases of his fingers.

"A Magatama?", Naoki asked.

"Yes. Ankh. The First Light Magatama of Healing." Indeed, as Naoki tentatively reached out and picked up the insectoid creature by its tail, he felt a faint warmth radiating from it, and it emitted a pale golden light from the edges of its carapace. He lifted it above his face, watching it wriggle and snap its steely mandibles, its near-microscopic yellow eyes rolling. He already knew what to do.

Releasing his grip and opening his mouth, he let the Magatama fall down his throat with a faint screech.

Closing his eyes, he felt the tiny mass wriggling as it sank into his body. Rather than pass into his stomach, it stopped at chest level, changing direction and moving back. He felt it creep up between his shoulders and onto his neck, eventually coming to rest at his horn. There a scrabbling sensation indicated that one Magatama was consuming the other, taking on its properties.

Inhaling sharply, Naoki felt a soft warm glow spread throughout his body, and his demonic markings flashed gold for a brief moment, before returning to their original hue. The Demi-Fiend breathed out and opened his brilliant yellow eyes. Lifting his hand, he turned it this way and that, flexing his fingers. He felt better than he had moments ago. A tiny fraction of his former strength seemed to have returned to him.

"You should now once again be able to utilize magic. There are supposedly other Magatamas that have entered this world, so be on the lookout. I would, in particular, advise you not to forget that Ankh provides a healing spell." Mr Cypher's voice lowered, and he spoke in a knowing tone, "You may want to keep that one on hand."

"What do you mean?", Naoki asked suspiciously.

Then he sensed it.

A presence had made itself known. Somewhere in Academy City, something had appeared, and was on the move. Something that Naoki could sense even from afar. The boy turned sharply and focused in the direction of the signal, trying to make out the specifics. It had a distinctly mystical aspect to it, one of light and peace, but one of power and danger beyond mortal ken. He could also sense that it was a feminine presence, and one filled with both confidence and a deep regret.

But there was another trait that it had...

One that Naoki did not like...

It was so obviously...

So distinctly...

Lawful...

Naoki gritted his teeth, and his eyes narrowed in rage. Even though he was no longer truly a demon, he had not forgotten this feeling. This hateful sensation that marked the forces of the enemy. All other thoughts melted away, and he furiously tried to narrow down the location.

North of here... Several miles away...

Kamijou's Apartment...

The Demi-Fiend didn't even bother saying goodbye to his master, for this issue was an immediate one. Darting across the roof of the skyscraper, he tensed his muscles and crouched as he approached the edge. Then he jumped.

A sonic boom blasted forth as he launched himself, flinging back a cloud of dust and sending a crack down the side of the building. He flung himself up and out into the night sky, other buildings passing by underneath him. Landing on another rooftop, he sprinted across its surface and jumped again, leaping gracefully across the cityscape too fast for the human eye to follow.

Louis Cypher watched his apprentice vanish into the distance, then let out a sigh. Turning his head slowly, carefully, he looked at the person standing behind him. They were shorter than him, but they stood with such power and confidence that they seemed to feel bigger than all others. They gazed back at him and grinned, pressing the blade of their knife even closer to his throat.

"Are you happy now?", Mr Cypher asked, unable to disguise the disdain in his voice. The smaller figure chuckled in response, a vile sound that caused the very air to warp and shudder.

"Oh, definitely", they replied to him. He bridled and tensed up, barely able to stomach the sound of the person's hateful voice. It was the sound of someone that simply should not be. "You certainly chose your progeny well, Lord of Chaos. I half expected him to notice Me hiding back here."

"Chairman of Chaos", Lucifer snapped back, despite his better judgement. The figure yanked him down to their level in response, brandishing their knife in front of his face.

"You have witnessed what I am capable of, demon", the being growled. As if in response, Lucifer winced as the wound on his face reappeared, crackling with stinging green and gold energy. The knife shone along with it, gleaming the same terrible colors, and the faintest hint of fear shone through Lucifer's eyes as he followed its movements. "Don't think that I will hesitate even for a moment, should you defy Me."

Lucifer barely managed to keep from sighing in relief. If they're saying that, they haven't heard my message to Naoki. I can only hope that he remembers my words when the time comes.

"Why are you doing this?", he asked the dreadful figure, "What can you gain from it that you can't get yourself?"

"What else?", they snickered back, "Everyone needs a little entertainment."

Lucifer grimaced, disgusted.

"You have quite the talent for deception, Lord of Chaos. You managed to keep My identity from him, as well as the fact that you are the one who hid those Magatamas for Me."

"But why restore his humanity? What does that accomplish?"

"You must be joking. An emotionless demon that can't even hold a conversation. What a boring notion. Now, he can CHANGE." The being looked past Lucifer, in the direction that Naoki had gone. "I wonder what sort of changes We can expect from him now."

With a final, hateful, disgusting, vile bout of laughter, the entity disappeared into the impassable space between dimensions, dragging the hapless demon along with them. And all was silent.

Two boys were returning to the apartment.

An unlucky esper.

A monster of chaos.

What would await them was something neither would ever expect. Blood, scorch marks, and slashes. The faint scent of the enemy, and the telltale hint of magic. But neither knew of these things now. They each had their own thoughts, simple thoughts that occupied their adolescent minds and pushed them in the direction of the Kamijou residence.

A simple goal sounded in Touma's mind as he strolled slowly down the street:

"I'd better get home before it gets too late. My guests are probably waiting for me."

And a simple goal sounded in Naoki's mind as he rocketed through the dark sky:

"DESTROY"