There wasn't a great deal of time available for contemplation, at least on the part of Saten Ruiko, who could only look on for a moment, as, beneath her, her legs felt as if they might've suddenly collapsed beneath her.

Despite their apparent desire to buckle beneath the weight of her upper body, her legs found the strength to work. Saten Ruiko stepped back, shuddering, as the oxygenated air floating around her suddenly grew chilled.

Though the level zero middles schooler girl wasn't aware of it, her eyelids were widening with each second that passed. With each proverbial tick of the arms of the metaphorical clock, she moved backward.

Then, she snapped. Though not falling into the grips of any sort of psychosis, Saten Ruiko instead came to a sudden, brutal realization, one which sent a series of chills traversing her spine; curling inward, the fingers and either thumb on both of her hands clenched. Either of her formerly open hands formed into fists.

She was no longer powerless. She wasn't just a level zero middle schooler girl. Even if she lacked an esper ability, that didn't mean a thing. She had a power. It was something, it was something that she could use to defend herself, and to help her loved ones out of rough patches. That was all that mattered, regarding the subject of power and abilities.

"Ruiko," Hamasaki Tsubasa whispered, nearly beneath his breath. Stepping forward, as opposed to backward, his tone of voice remained soft, each vocalization produced little more than a hushed, low whisper, "I need you to get yourself into Family Side, one way or another, just make it happen and I'll deal with whatever comes about myself; thirteenth floor, second suite. The clone, Last Order is there. Use your magic if you have to, don't be…"

She simply nodded, and offered the fourth-ranked level five a grin, glowing with confidence. In an equally soft tone of voice, she whispered back.

"I'm not afraid. I was planning on doing exactly that, Hamasaki-san. I'm going to save Misaka-san's… little Sister, even if I have to do the unthinkable. I'm going to help, I'm going to change the formula."

No response from afar came, not even as Mugino Shizuri, accompanied by a small, sweater-wearing girl with stockings, hair styled into a bobcut stepped out from the rising, pluming smoke the former had created.

The facial expression of the fifth-ranked level five suggested that, within her higher mind's confines, there was some sense of discomfort, of insecurity. Even as her eyebrows grew to become arched, even as several wrinkles formed across her brow, she seemed unsure of her course of action.

Of course it was ITEM. Hamasaki Tsubasa could only shake his head, inspired by the predictable nature of his employers' way of working through matters.

If they were going to take the easy way out, and hire mercenaries who could be utilized as a collective of "fall guys", then, by all means, it only made sense for Gladio to reach out to the best in the business.

At least Gladio hadn't skimped out.

And, so, as Saten Ruiko ran off, across the street and toward the apartment complex identified as Family Side, Mugino Shizuri did not attempt to halt the middle schooler girl's progress. The bobcut girl didn't stray from the side of the fifth-ranked level five, for reasons that were beyond Hamasaki Tsubasa, the fourth-ranked.

"I don't know what sort of deal you have with the Dark Factions," Mugino Shizuri remarked, the soles of her flats clacking against the shattered, sundered concrete beneath them, "but I do know for a fact that traitors are bound to die a traitor's death, it's just a principle as common as using polite manners. Think about it like this, too; I kill you, and I'm able to retake my spot as fourth. I don't know how or why you were advanced, possibly because your ability's research was more valu…"

Hamasaki Tsubasa moved ahead, as if he was some piece on a game board, moved about by the invisible hand of an omniscient prodigy. The bobcut girl started, for a moment, but didn't lose her cool. Spreading her legs, chunks, and smaller bits of broken, cobbled roadway crackled beneath the soles of her trainers. Others were ejected, forced outwards by the sheer pressure.

"So, you're Gladio's hit-squad? They're really going to try and knock out one of their own agents? Accuse me of treachery? 'Kay, fine, I can dig it. No, really, I'm liking the dedication… dedication. Something your stank ass doesn't have. I advanced because I'm stronger than you, because I'm what you could only hope to be. So… be a good girl AND DROP DEAD! I've got a cemetery picked out and EVERYTHING!"

A series of calculations were swiftly performed within the mind of the fourth-ranked level five; not long following the span of a few seconds, he rocketed forward as a great, forceful push of void energies mimicked the mechanics utilized in the combustion within a jet engine, including the compression of oxygenated air, the spraying of fuel and gas, and, finally, the 'spark' which would've resulted in the ignition of the concoction.

Carried by momentum, a wild grin of anticipation etched itself across the facial features of Hamasaki Tsubasa, whose thin layer of void energy, surrounding the entirety of his form, and blanketing him like a protective sheet deflected the bright, surging purple Meltdowner beams unleashed upon him from around the form of Mugino Shizuri, whose gritted teeth looked as if they were each about to crack and shatter into millions of fragments, so much pressure did she put upon them.

Why was he untouchable?

Was he a lesser form of the Accelerator?

Just what sort of cheat power did this brat wield?

Whatever it was, it was without a doubt one of the biggest ass-pains Mugino Shizuri ever had the misfortune of crossing paths with, even on more than one occasion.

His ability always had seemed to be more defensive, than anything. At the very least, Mugino Shizuri had that going for her. She was offensive. He was defensive. A game of cat and mouse, then.

Regardless of her logical considerations, the fifth-ranked level five's mounting frustrations grew; each of her particle beams, manifested through the use of her own Personal Reality crashed against the layer of void energy.

Each Meltdowner particle beam wasn't swallowed whole, like a series of bite-sized morsels shoved into the mouth of a starving diner patron, but rather, each crashed against the layer, and surged for a few moments, resulting in the forming of small, barely-noticeable 'dents'. Shortly following the forming of these 'dents', each beam was subsequently deflected, like a fist crashing against the surface of a wall.

There was a question that could've been posed; it was posed within Mugino Shizuri's higher mind, at least, travelling about of its own accord. Just how was the deflection of her Meltdowner beams even possible? The Railgun had encountered considerable trouble in dealing with them, and that trigger-happy zapper brat had been able to manipulate the beams' very trajectories with her own ability.

It was then that Kinuhata Saiai, who was perceived by Hamasaki Tsubasa as 'the bobcut girl' noticed an anomalous happening. Deep in her own thoughts, Mugino Shizuri was too preoccupied with keeping watch over her environment to pay mind to 'smaller' details.

Flowing about, upwards and downwards, almost comparable in its liquid movement to the surface of a body of water, there were multiple 'streams' of purple, climbing and descending the fourth-ranked level five's legs.

And, so, as soon as his feet made contact with the ground, both Kinuhata Saiai and Mugino Shizuri learned just what the anomalous happenings were indicative of.

Outward, from the tips of either of his shoes, a great and pulsing tidal wave of void energies, a wild, whipping mess, coloured many a shade of purple, black and darkened blue surged; moving with speed that would've been more appropriate for a motorized vehicle, as opposed to a nonliving, virtually shapeless mass born of an esper's Personal Reality. With swiftness it closed the distance between itself, the fifth-ranked level five esper and the level four ITEM member.

The physical element of pressure had been fully utilized, to the greatest extent that such a physical mechanic could've been. Effectively, mechanics similar to those found within the result of the forcible ejection of a coin from between a proverbial hand's metaphorical index finger and thumb had been manipulated and amplified within the calculations of Hamasaki Tsubasa's mind, resulting in the formation of the tidal wave.

Of course, Mugino Shizuri couldn't have guessed such a thing.

Kinuhata Saiai hadn't even given a second thought to the act of leaping in front of her partner in crime. Within the span of only a few moments' time, the level four Offense Armour user had taken to acting as a human shield, standing her ground, and facing down the darkened, multicoloured tidal wave without hesitation.

Something akin to the sound of thunder crashing from sky-sea of storm clouds was produced. Contact was made, even as twenty of Mugino Shizuri's Meltdowner beams sprayed outward from around the two members of ITEM, each of which surged through the oncoming, tidal mass, but didn't halt it.

Kinuhata Saiai was forced backward; subsequently, knocked from her small feet, she tumbled, and nearly struck the chest of the fifth-ranked level five, who'd barely managed to avoid her partner in crime, who'd been turned into human tumbleweed.

Steadying herself and gritting her teeth with such pressure, such nearly suffocating tightness that she could practically feel each tooth grinding against each tooth below it, Mugino Shizuri's vision locked with the eyes of Hamasaki Tsubasa, the level five esper who'd managed to best her prior.

Battered, bruised, and cut, but otherwise ready to rumble, Kinuhata Saiai rose, first to her knees, and then to her feet. Briefly, the level four Offense Armour user stumbled.

Aloud, Mugino Shizuri proclaimed, vocalizing her words in a pitch that was comparable to something between a ghastly shriek and a feral, animalistic cry.

"Kinuhata, goddamn idiot, can't you do ANYTHING right?! You, ride-along, what the fuck kind of cheap-ass power do you use?!"

Kinuhata Saiai bit into her lower lip.

The words hurt. They stung like a dagger, thrust into her abdomen, twisted, tearing tendons and grinding against bone.

"Ahem! Cunt, please, if you would, allow me to offer you a long-winded and detailed explanation…"

Instead of continuing from where his vocalized response had trailed off, and faded into obscurity, Hamasaki Tsubasa merely shook his head, as he gathered masses of void energy in the palms of his hands. Standing his ground, he thought, deep within the depths of his higher mind a single thought, and many variants thereof.

"Giving you the chance to do your thing, Ruiko, don't fuck it up, and try not to get yourself killed. I'll keep the fifth-rank skank and the loli off you as long as I can… wait. Weren't there… three… cunts in ITEM? Shiiiiitttt, fuck, fuck, not good, not good, code reeeeedddddddd! Change of gears, finish this fast."

Hamasaki Tsubasa wasn't about to alert the fifth-ranked level five, Meltdowner, and the level four Offense Armour user to the fact that he'd temporarily experienced a near-death experience in the form of a dangerously close call with a cardiac arrest.

Instead, he summoned forth a wild grin, replacing what must've previously been a frown, as he spoke his continuation of his previous response.

"… Psyke, get fucked. Do you really think I'm going to sit here and just tell you about what I can hurl at you? What would be the point in that?"

As void gathered further, practically dripping from the palms of his hands where it formed, the fourth-ranked level five's grin widened further, his eyelids widening as he suddenly stomped the broken, cobbled roadway beneath him.

Throwing his right hand outwards, palm upturned, both masses of void began to shift and shudder in place.

Kinuhata Saiai, who'd been in hot pursuit, apparently attempting to get up close and personal was experiencing the troubles of having second thoughts. She nearly danced away, backpedalling.

"Dumbass, don't get near him."

"S-sorry, Mugino."

"Just shut the fuck up, I'll deal with you once this is done."

Mugino Shizuri hadn't let up, not even a bit. Meltdowner beams, dozens at a time continued to tear at the cobbled roadway, exposing sections of mowed-down, dark brown Earth beneath. Some high-powered particle beams made contact with the fourth-ranked level five, but, seemingly as always, they accomplished very little, as each was deflected.

Then, both the young woman and the twelve-year-old girl stopped what they were doing, stopping the progression of their respective actions. Instincts temporarily took hold, forcing their thought processes to, in fact, a series of grinding halts.

Something was being formed.

Flowing from Tsubasa's palms, tendril-like growths seemed to be twisting together, bending and conjoining.

Within the span of a few seconds' time, it took shape, seemingly inspired by the quickened 'flow' of void energies 'powering' its 'creation'.

Nearly two hundred feet in height, the thing, formed of void energies, hues of lavender and dark, navy blue, these tones danced across the blackness that most of the miscreation's physical form. Its vaguely reptilian head, with its gaping maw filled to the brim with what resembled sharpened, razor-like fangs was almost too large for its body, and for its smaller, yet paradoxically broader shoulders. With elongated arms, the miscreation's four-fingered hands resembled the hooked feet of a bird of prey, more than a vaguely humanoid construct. Lacking legs of any sort, the construct's lower body resembled a monolithic and twisting funnel.

Within his higher mind, Hamasaki Tsubasa issued a single command to the lifeless construct, consisting of very few words; three, to name an exact estimate.

"Keep Meltdowner occupied."

In response to the miscreation's forming, Mugino Shizuri ejected many a Meltdowner beam, each originally formatting around her, falling into formation, like a line of toy soldiers off to fight in a war that existed only in some child's overactive mind.

From the spherical, conjured masses, they didn't fire outward.

Instead, a series of Meltdowner beams were fired outward and upward, effectively encasing the fifth-ranked level five in a shield.

The formation of this shield didn't halt the progression of the fourth-ranked level five's construct.

In fact, quite the opposite occurred.

The miscreation, born of void energies lurched forward, its arm arching outward and swiftly rising upward, just as, below, the level four Offense Armour user Kinuhata Saiai closed the last of the distance between herself and the fourth-ranked level five, Hamasaki Tsubasa.

"You're super not going to get off Scot-free with trying to kick my ass," Saiai commented, huffing slightly, as she circled the level five, individual beads of sweat dripping from her forehead.

"And, I'm supposed to give even a fraction of concern to your shitty threats? Hey, little girl… I have an idea…"

As the constructed brought into the world by Hamasaki Tsubasa crashed against Mugino Shizuri, the fifth-ranked level five, its massive, clawed hand deflected by her barricade of perpetually-surging Meltdowner beams, the fourth-ranked level five called forth a number of great, whipping appendages, each ending in hands. With three fingers, tipped with talons that seemed to be, quite literally, as sharp as razors, they rose from around him, from his back, and from either of his hips.

"The last time we fought, the skank and me… I nearly made her lose her cool!"

Two of several extremities were thrown outwards, their individual fingers uncurling, their palms outstretched, they were backed by another two, which rose upwards, and outwards.

Preoccupied by the construct miscreation, Mugino Shizuri was presented with few opportunities to actually aid her partner in crime.

Matters only seemed to be getting worse, as the telltale sirens, sirens all parties involved with the all-out brawl associated with Anti Skill blared in the distance, seemingly growing closer with each second worth of time that passed the three by.

Only two of the three parties involved could've truly said that they were concerned, even in the slightest.

Kinuhata Saiai attempted to roll. Bending downward, she prepared for her leg's muscles to perform the required movements. Leaning forward, she readied her arms, and…

This technique was immediately rendered less than useful.

One of several artificial limbs jutting from Hamasaki Tsubasa's back instantly moved inward, downward, and across, effectively sweeping the Offense Armour user from her feet, and, subsequently arranging for her an unceremonious meeting with a section of the shattered roadway.

"Now, THAT would've been RIGHT ON TO SEE! I want to see the Meltdowner melt down!"

Realizing she could only realistically maneuver herself so much, Kinuhata Saiai, instead of attempting to dodge the limbs seemingly hell-bent on tracing, following and, apparently, capable of predicting her every move merely rose and then stood her ground. With fists upwards, Kinuhata Saiai placed them some few inches away from her face.

Throwing a fist outward, she expected to meet one of the seven – though there'd originally been four of the conjured limbs, several more had emerged, seemingly from within the fourth-ranked level five.

Instead, no such clash occurred. Saiai could only stumble forward, awkwardly, momentum carrying her tiny frame forward, pushing her with considerable force.

Scavenging some shattered sections of the roadway beneath her, easily three times her size, and likely weighing more than her body's mass well over ten times, Kinuhata Saiai effectively dual wielded the chunks of rubble, seemingly prepared to utilize them as makeshift weaponry.

Instead of a clash, each limb of void energy was forcibly reeled back, and, sooner than later, each limb vanished, as each was fully retracted, seemingly disappearing upon the moment in which the hand of each limb made contact with physical existence of the fourth-ranked level five.

"Play time is OVER! There's not a thing I can learn from you! Maybe tearing your shit up will accomplish something! MELT DOWN, MELTDOWNER! SCREAM! Let me STUDY the anatomy of your cum-stained mind! Incest rape-baby! KILL YOURSELF!"

The fourth-ranked level five rushed Kinuhata Saiai, while a raging Mugino Shizuri, protected by ten Meltdowner beams, unleashed the searing rays of an additional ten directly into the form of Hamasaki Tsubasa's construct, which, apparently incapable of feeling pain, simply regenerated, 'healing' its 'wounds' shortly after receiving damage, whenever Tsubasa would hurl masses of void energy at its gargantuan form.

Strangely, the thing seemed limited in what it could accomplish. It outright avoided contact with structures, and even avoided contact with the roadway and walkways; when its lanky arms neared anything that could be damaged, with the exception of Mugino Shizuri's form, they bent unnaturally, becoming concave, and even shrunk in size to avoid contact.

While the fifth-ranked level five and the fourth-ranked level five's miscreation found one another at a stalemate, the fourth-ranked level five and the level four Offense Armour girl were in no such predicament.

The former had nearly closed the entirety of the distance between himself and the latter who, while shaken, wasn't about to give in. Instead, she prepared herself for round… something, round something or other. She'd lost count of just how many blows they'd traded, even in a rather short expanse of time.

"Is it really worth the money?! What is it that drives you people?! Fully aware that Gladio loves their mercs, but, shit! I didn't know mercs loved their Gladio! Ambition, an addiction to life's finer things, paid for with dirty yen? I MUST KNOW! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS! The anticipation is just KILLING me!"

"I could super ask you the same question, bro. What do you have to gain from fighting Mugino and me? You're super a killer, just like both of us. The kid and the old ladies are super none of your business, none of ours, either. It's super just a job."

"I wasn't aware that not being a child-killer was a special trait, these days. We are on the same page, yes?"

In response, Kinuhata Saiai simply shook her head, from side to side, "no".

"The kid's super not going to die; Academy City needs her for something."

Hamasaki Tsubasa stopped in his tracks, suddenly staring wide-eyed at the level four Offense Armour user for a moment, before his dilated pupils locked with the darkened, brown-coloured irises of Kinuhata Saiai.

"Ho… hooooooly shit, you're naive as… shit. As soon as the kid's outlived her usefulness, that's it, into the trash she goes. As far as maniacs go, I at least try to keep standards, no civilians, uninvolved women and absolutely no children… no children."

Saiai never loosened her grip upon her scavenged, makeshift weapons. Not even for a moment did she consider even the thought of letting them go. Their usefulness was vast; they could be utilized as a makeshift shield, wielded and swung like two enormous, misshapen baseball bats, or even thrown like great projectiles. They were simply too valuable to abandon.

As was her life.

Her fingers twitched, for a moment.

For the briefest of moments, the thought of fleeing crossed her mind, growing in prevalence, and pounding at her higher mind's proverbial walls with its metaphorical fists, demanding to be acted upon.

Again, and again, as Hamasaki Tsubasa stared her down, with lips moving but, from her perspective, producing no words, sweat dripped down from Kinuhata Saiai's brow, along her cheeks, and downward, slipping over the bridge of her nose.

No. She couldn't flee, she just couldn't. She'd done exactly that during the period of time in which SCHOOL had been hell-bent on fulfilling their own goals, while Academy City's then-weakened state of security.

She'd fled like a damned coward, and Mugino Shizuri had nearly taken her head for it.

If she fled, and Mugino lived, that would be it. The level four Offense Armour user would be running for the rest of her days. A second offering of uncharacteristic mercy from Meltdowner was an impossibility. Kinuhata Saiai couldn't rely on it, couldn't bet on it either.

But, was that a true friend? Was that someone who should've been relied upon? Was that someone who should've been trusted, someone who deserved to have their own life shielded?

It was then that Saiai noticed something different, indeed.

The lips of the fourth-ranked level five had stopped moving. Hanging almost limply at his sides, Tsubasa's arms swung, like branches in a light breeze, forward and backward, ever so slightly.

"KINUHATA, fucking KILL him, what are you DOING?! Move, do SOMETHING! Get this thing… off… me… KILL HIM, KILL IT! OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

A series of Meltdowner beams, ten in total, were unleashed upon Hamasaki Tsubasa's construct, even as Mugino Shizuri shrieked aloud, her head thrown back in a display of wild fury.

Aside from harmlessly tearing through its body which seemed to apparently be capable of perpetual regeneration so long as it was 'supplied' with additional void energy by its creator, Shizuri's high-powered particle beams seemed only to damage the structures and environments around Shizuri, and not her target itself.

Perhaps, if she could somehow unleash all twenty, or, with some luck, even more than twenty upon the ugly miscreation, she could somehow best it, outdo that damned perpetual regeneration. Maybe, if she could come up with more than twenty, Shizuri could even break through the Voidwalker brat's barrier, destroying whatever nasty shit said barrier was made of.

Then, Hamasaki Tsubasa posed an inquiry, one which snapped Kinuhata Saiai from her apparent daze.

He'd take another route. Complete and utter annihilation was one thing, but, there'd be nothing learned from that.

An opportunity had presented itself, and Hamasaki Tsubasa would be damned if he didn't at least attempt to abuse it for his own gain.

As far as he'd known, there must've always been an obvious rift between the level four Offense Armour user and the fifth-ranked level five Meltdowner. There was, quite literally, not even a singular 'good' reason for him NOT to jam the proverbial wedge in, and strive to subsequently drive the metaphorical gap further.

"Are you really just going to take this, like some kind of little battered wife? You're just going to let this menstruating joke of a psychopath threaten you?"

Simply killing Mugino wouldn't benefit the higher-ups whose good graces Hamasaki Tsubasa needed to keep himself in. So long as she didn't turn her focus to the point of interest, Family Side, the game of cat and mouse could be permitted to continue. Simply, it'd have to be.

Denying them of their chance to mess with the little girl, the clone, "Last Order" was going to irk them enough as it stood.

If there was something the fourth-ranked level five could offer them in exchange, then, all the better.

Hamasaki Tsubasa had goals to accomplish, after all.

For a moment he shrugged, even as fifth-ranked level five Mugino Shizuri screamed aloud, proverbially hurling verbal insults, and threatening the fourth-ranked level five's life.

"I can see taking it, I honestly can see that. Do what you've got to do for the payout, right? Not unlike any other job… but just like any other job, you can just…"

"Quit."

The word practically rolled from the fourth-ranked level five's tongue, accented and spoken in an almost hushed, low whisper.

"Walk out. Some jobs just aren't worth it, baby doll. Smack-talking co-workers are a thing everyone's got to put up with, but… a smack-talking boss? That's another. Boss's supposed to be the person you run to. She's always pulling this on you. Remember when we worked together? You and the little blondie girl, you ladies might as well be footstool number one and footstool number two. You're nothing but her hounds."

"DON'T… FUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG…. LISTEN… TO HIM! KINUHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"I super…"

"You won't get anywhere following this skank around and doing her bidding, like a good little girl. Expand your horizons, baby doll, look to bigger and better things. You're nowhere close to being powerless; you could easily start your own crew, and get things done for yourself, and take the full payout, plenty of Skill-Outs who need competent leaders. For once, baby doll, you could be in charge."

Taking a step forward, many scattered bits of rubble were ejected, as the soles of his trainers crunched down upon them, not unlike the jaw of a great, lurking alligator crunching down upon the form of an unsuspecting prey item.

Feeling not unlike prey herself, Kinuhata Saiai started; yet Hamasaki Tsubasa took no action against her. Instead, he extended his arms, and tilted his head, from one side, and then to the other; it produced a series of cracking noises, and, in response to the array of sounds produced, the fourth-ranked level five groaned in pleasure.

"Take off, baby doll, and you'll never see my face again. I won't bother you… and the skank won't, either. I've got plans for her. I'll make it quick, and, besides, think about in this way. We'll be furthering science's understanding and ridding the world of a clownshit crazy bitch."

Hamasaki Tsubasa's construct attempted, and subsequently failed to backhand Mugino Shizuri; her Meltdowner shield acted as a reflective surface, and easily, almost effortlessly repelled the miscreation's attempt at physical harm.

What the mindless thing didn't know, was incapable of knowing, was the fact that Mugino Shizuri was struggling to maintain said Meltdowner shield.

Quick bursts were virtually nothing within the realm of calculation difficulty, when compared with even one constantly-maintained stream. Maintaining even half a dozen of them – ten beams had some time ago become virtually impossible for her slipping mind, throbbing within her skull – was coming closer to being a near impossibility.

Despite this strain, Mugino Shizuri managed to scream once more, throat feeling as if it was being torn apart by the sharpened blade of a knife, as her vocal cords acted on her higher mind's commands.

"KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Even if you manage to somehow throw me off," Hamasaki Tsubasa remarked, facing the raging, shrieking level five, "she's probably going to fry you, just because she's throwing a temper tantrum. You know it, too, don't you? For just how long have you and the blondie lived in fear of this… creature? Just run, take off, and have a second chance. Psycho fifth will be in the dirt. Everyone… deserves a second chance."

Kinuhata Saiai could only grit her teeth, for a moment.

The sirens were growing nearer. Their screeches, their constant, seemingly never-ending cries, repeating, looping over, and over, they grew louder, and they threatened to shatter the Offense Armour user's very tympanic membranes. The screaming of tires against cemented, cobbled roadway accented the screeching sirens, further wracking the twelve-year-old girl's mind.

A dank, unfeeling cell, or, perhaps, some sort of swift execution. She was Dark Side, after all, not just some esper who'd been out misusing their power and causing mild property damage.

Like there was some great, expansive pit within the depths of Kinuhata Saiai's lower chest, her stomach felt as if it was suddenly falling, in place.

Then, there was a sudden roaring, followed by vaguely electrical hissing, comparable to the noises produced by a damaged piece of electronic hardware, whose wiring was exposed and sparking.

Three searing, enormous Meltdowner beams surged forth from the form of the shaking, stumbling Mugino Shizuri; each beam seemed almost uneasy, as each grew and shrunk in size, perpetually.

The fifth-ranked level five's mind reeled. Her eyelids threatened to close of their own accord, denying her higher mind's repeated commands to remain open.

Just what the Hell was Kinuhata doing?! The fourth-ranked Voidwalker stood mere inches away from her. She'd armed herself, she'd scavenged rubble; even if her makeshift weaponry was deflected by whatever sort of barrier the fourth-ranked level five utilized, as part of his damnable esper ability, the effort alone would've won her unvoiced, mental praise.

She'd given everything to that stupid brat; roofs over her head, decent meals, beds to sleep in, usually-consistent work, more consistent than what she could've found elsewhere, within Academy City's dark and unforgiving underbelly.

The construct that troubled Mugino Shizuri never tired. It never stopped, and it never so much as hesitated. Either of its massive palms crashed against Shizuri's faltering Meltdowner barrier, consisting of three rising, and shrinking beams. Her head throbbed, her forehead ached.

She, Mugino Shizuri, was forced to face the music; an uncomfortable tune, one which Shizuri was hardly in the mood to hear. The metaphorical song's proverbial lyrics were not the sort that Shizuri wished to pay even a sliver of attention to.

She, even as the fifth-ranked level five, one of the strongest espers on planet Earth, was a human being, and she could only accomplish so much.

And, so, the tide changed further.

What had once been calm, and, by the standards of most, an almost idyllic street, surrounded by innocuous apartment complexes, friendly neighbourhood communities and academic facilities, where the espers who flocked to Academy City sought to bolster their collective ability development had been warped into a war zone.

If all three combatants involved hadn't seen their fair share of nightmarish scenarios, perhaps the environmental changes would've cut deeper.

Surrounded on all sides, Anti Skill personnel piled out from their vehicles. Large, armoured vans, adorned with white, vertical stripes, and decorated with Anti Skill's logo, each possessed an elongated light fixture, flashing in sync with the non-tune of the sirens' mechanical wails.

The officers of Anti Skill, numerous enough to even be referred to as a small army at the very least hid behind their riot shields. Large things, constructed with metallic frames supporting rectangular fibreglass structures within, one among them, a woman, if the individual's gender was to be judged upon the tone and inflection of their voice spoke aloud, her voice amplified as it passed through the mouthpiece of a megaphone.

"Stop where you are, and let us see those hands in the air! Refusing to co-operate with Anti Skill personnel will result in…"

"Code Gladio seven zero five twenty-two, Anti-Skill authority overridden. Further interference in Gladio affairs will result in penalization."

Hamasaki Tsubasa, the fourth-ranked level five flashed from within the right pocket of his pants a small badge, contained within his simplistic leather wallet. Held high, the badge was put on display for most, if not all within the immediate area to visualize.

Mere moments following his producing of the queer, white and blue emblem, Tsubasa returned his wallet to his pocket.

The legion of Anti-Skill officers seemed to stop, suddenly, in their collective tracks. The megaphone user, hidden behind her riot shield had ceased to vocalize any words at all. Though many a hushed whisper was produced by the small army of peacekeepers, they spoke only among themselves.

Once clenched, the pieces of rubble held by Kinuhata Saiai fell from her grip, and to the ground, where they came to rest atop one another.

"Fuck this, and super fuck Mugino," Saiai remarked, firmly; despite, or perhaps, because of her words, the level four Offense Armour user's lower lip seemed to buckle, as her form quivered awkwardly. "This is dead end, super rock bottom. You super leave me alone, and I'll super leave you alone. No job, no loyalties are super worth dying for."

"Hamazura and Takitsubo made the right decision to run. Even if we get out of this, Mugino would probably kill me and Frenda, just because."

The concept of loyalty once again crossed Kinuhata Saiai's mind.

But what even was loyalty? Was loyalty something that Mugino Shizuri could understand? Kinuhata Saiai remembered overhearing the words her 'employer', or, at least, the individual whom she could consider to be her 'boss' had spoken to then-fifth ranked level five, the recently-crowned fourth-ranked level five who stood before her, offering her a chance at freedom.

"Frenda and Kinuhata are completely expendable extensions of my own will, as are you, so don't get in my fucking way, you ride-along."

Within the confines of his higher mind, Hamasaki Tsubasa uttered a simple command, not to himself, but to the construct he'd formed with his Personal Reality.

"Interrupt Meltdowner's Personal Reality, inflict pain, but don't kill."

Anti Skill's legion of officers, reluctantly returning from whence they came, did not act, and did not even attempt to aid the battered, sweat-drenched Mugino Shizuri, who'd come to find herself with a large, sharpened clawed finger forced directly through her right arm.

Piercing directly through her elbow, and emerging on the other side, Shizuri, the fifth strongest esper in all of Academy City, on the entire planet lacked the strength to even cry out. The pain, the fatigue, the fact that she'd been worn down like some sort of beast long-pursued by game hunters had all taken their toll.

Mugino Shizuri could barely even summon forth more than a few orbs of electromagnetic particles. They formed, but, the fact that she could form them was null and void. Each was transparent, and seemed to flash in and out of existence, like synthetic light turned off and on with the flick of a wall-mounted switch.

"KiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnuuuuuuuuuuuuuHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Throwing her makeshift weapons to the ground, Kinuhata Saiai, at first, took two mere steps back.

Then, another, which followed the previous steps, and another; five in total had been taken, within the span of mere seconds, which felt more like a journey across the entire globe, in the perception of the Offense Armour user's higher mind.

With a huff, she turned on her heel, and she fled.

And, so, in response, the construct that'd not only troubled, but had worn Mugino Shizuri down, practically to the proverbial bone faded from existence, dismissed by its 'creator'.

Hamasaki Tsubasa, always ready to tackle a situation before said situation could not only get out of control, but begin to transpire before he could take steps to control it, began to perform a series of rather complex calculations.

Distance, the distance between himself and Mugino Shizuri, measured in meters. Without a calculator of any sort, save his mind's own accumulated mathematical and scientific skills. The distance between himself, the apartment complex identified as Family Side, and the other various structures, high-rise or otherwise that surrounded the area, including restaurants and various ability development facilities.

Thirty meters, and thirty meters, in a circular pattern; with the calculations set in place, the fourth-ranked level five's Personal Reality began to work its science.

Accented by the ringing sound of many crackles, one produced after another, others produced 'atop' one another, overlapping, and combining, to birth thunderclap-like booms, a great dome of void energy surrounded the fourth and fifth-ranked level fives, blocking out the sights, sounds and tastes of the world beyond its literal sphere of influence.

The only source of light within the dome, which prevented the area of effect from being pitch black was a nearby streetlight, which had automatically activated in accordance with the darkness that'd fallen, adapting on its own.

Swiftly, just as Mugino Shizuri was apparently able to rise to her feet, her legs seemingly able to just barely support her body's weight, Hamasaki Tsubasa applied a simple deflection formula to the dome, through the use of surprisingly basic mathematic calculations, and his Personal Reality.

It was almost as if she, the fifth-ranked level five was making the entire thing too easy.

"Not all that nice being on the receiving end."

"Shut… the fuck up… you motherfucking monster."

"Ho, that's rich coming from you, Meltdowner. You can dish it out, but you can't take it. I hope you realize that you are, and always have essentially been fodder."

Tripping, as she stumbled through a pothole, an enormous gouge in the cobbled roadway that she, herself had created with her own ability's power made manifest, Mugino Shizuri steadied herself, as best she could, and straightened her back. Rolling her shoulders, the eyes of the fourth and fifth-ranked level fives locked.

"Like I give a shit what you think I am," Shizuri commented. "You're just a ride-along, so, do what ride-alongs are supposed to do, and follow orders! The order I give you is to DIE!"

Destroying Mugino Shizuri, in her present state, wouldn't have accomplished Hamasaki Tsubasa's endgame goal. It wouldn't have accomplished anything even resembling a goal. It only would've served to act as a convenience, a means of quickly getting rid of a problem that was easily handled, a problem that could easily be utilized, in order to further his own machinations.

He'd have to poke the bear at an even swifter rate, and with even more force than he already had.

She was angry – some might've even referred to her as being 'livid' – but she wasn't quite angry enough. Mugino Shizuri possessed, untapped potential, yes, that fact was likely among Gladio's most blunt and simplistic information gathered through prodding in Academy City's data-banks.

That potential was entrapped, ensnared within her higher mind's survival instincts. So long as her mind possessed the will to live, then the true potential, the sliver of progress made towards the fabled level six would not be seen, ever.

But, like with every padlock, there was a key.

Mugino Shizuri, only partially aware that the Dark Side of Academy City saw her as something of a stepping stone towards the achieving of the goal known as SYSTEM, found herself beyond surprised when, rather than hurling some sort of construct at her, or lashing at her with one of those arm-like appendages, Hamasaki Tsubasa instead chose to rush her, head-on.

Standing her ground, the fifth-ranked level five, too stubborn to abandon the battlefield, and, by extension, her partner in crime Frenda Seivelun, too filled with fury, hatred, betrayal, and sorrow, all welling up into some great, all-consuming amalgamation of negativity, threw her head back in a savage display of fury, and willed with all of her might as many spheres of electromagnetic particles as she could.

Three formed around her, blinking in and out of being, circling one another and performing odd, stuttering, jittery movements.

Before she could even attempt to unleash a high-powered Meltdowner beam from within a single sphere, the deflective barrier of void around the fourth-ranked level five esper fell, and, as it did, his left hand, fingers and thumb curled, clenched into a fist, crashed against the side of Mugino Shizuri's face.

From her point of view, from within her own perspective, time practically slowed to a crawl, even as, in reality, it flowed as it always did.

A trail of saliva, forced from the corner of her mouth, was ejected outward. A great, unsightly glob of the stuff dripped down her chin from between her teeth, before it too became airborne; the force of Mugino Shizuri being knocked backward from the vicious right hook delivered onto her gave the globs of salivary gland secretions leaking from her open mouth the momentum they needed, in order to achieve 'flight'. Her eyes closed, as tears of pain welled in their corners, and threatened to leak down her cheeks.

Hamasaki Tsubasa's right fist came, then, and his left came again. One, two, one two, Mugino Shizuri was knocked about like a rag doll.

To the nose which immediately resulted in its violent bending which was accented by a loud crunching of bone. From Shizuri's nostrils, lifeblood fled freely, not unlike in intensity or in speed the flows of a waterfall.

To the chin came another vicious uppercut which resulted in her lower jaw's teeth clacking violently against the upper row.

A blow delivered to her chest, the fourth-ranked level five's fist found its mark some few feet away from the fifth-ranked level five's breasts, close to the interior location of her stomach itself. With the very wind knocked from her lungs, with a gasp, and a brief, barely-audible cry of pain, the battered Mugino Shizuri collapsed, like a structure crumbling, wracked by the kinetic force of an explosion.

Above her, feet firmly planted upon what remained of the cobbled roadway consumed by the dome of void energies made physical, Hamasaki Tsubasa had not even a scratch upon his form. Aside from having worked up a light sweat in his beating of the fourth-ranked level five, he was utterly unmarred.

"It's hardly a wonder ITEM languished under your leadership," he remarked, as if he was passively discussing the day's weather, "all you can do is scream death threats at people and bark orders. What a gloomy state of affairs. You really are the worst. Even Accelerator was able to back up his tough talk, you fucking bum."

Coming to a rest beside her, crouching upon one knee, Hamasaki Tsubasa placed either of his hands around Mugino Shizuri's neck.

Applying pressure, tightening his fingers' grip, his own flesh pushed inward, contacting Shizuri's surprisingly soft, almost silky smooth skin.

He'd always expected her to have reptilian scales underneath a thin layer of rubber flesh. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

"But I guess there's need for you to worry about ITEM now. Where you're going, there won't be any ITEM, no Academy City, no life. It'll be like you're asleep, restful right?"

Mugino Shizuri physically reacted to the forceful denial of necessary life-giving resources; a kick of her leg, a twitch of her fingers, and a failed attempt first at inhaling oxygenated air, and then at coughing.

"Don't consider yourself the victim. You were about to hand a little kid over to Academy City's darkness without a second thought, so, you're not in any position to be embracing victim-hood! CHILD-KILLER! CHILD-KILLER! You kill babies for a living! Go work in abortion clinic! Ring, ring! Now calling Dr. Mugino! THEY! DON'T! NEED! YOU! The bobcut girl ran off, because you're a psychotic, evil skank! CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNT!"

The dome surrounding the level five espers flickered, for a moment's time.

And, emanating, glowing around the form of Mugino Shizuri, the fifth-ranked level five, one of the strongest espers produced by Academy City's Power Curriculum was a thin, barely-visible layer of purplish-white light.

Nearly expired, hardly with the energy to even cling to life, Hamasaki Tsubasa released the throat of Mugino Shizuri, and stepped away, quickly re-applying his deflective barrier of void energy to his body's form.

With a chuckle, the fourth-ranked level five watched on; as if she was lifted from the ground by a force invisible to his eyes, beyond his mind's comprehension, Shizuri rose from the sundered, once-cobbled roadway. Eyes rolled into the back of her head, tongue lolling, mouth agape, enormous, whipping, tendon-like growths, purplish-white in coloration emerged, jutting from her spine.

The gambit had paid off. It was forced, a runaway esper ability, a Personal Reality gone rampant.