"Do NOT toot it!"
"Fool! Doctor Doom toots as he pleases!"
Let's get right into review responses, shall we?
Whwsms: Oculus operative Dave Horton had something of a point, didn't he? Last Order is effectively Accelerator's leash. So long as she's in his life, Academy City can more or less drag the 'number one' around as they please.
Wonderful to hear that your in-terest has been captured, my friend. As always, it's a pleasure to hear from you.
Chris: Of course. If there was an 'asshole contest', Aleister Crowley would be the absolute, undeniable winner.
I've always wanted to try and portray Lessar as being a deeper character than what most fanworks – and even canon material – portray her as. After all, this piece was born of my desire to break conventions and not only lampshade, but subvert tropes I consider worn-out or otherwise undesirable. Mikoto is learning to stake her claim as part of the harem, obviously.
I hope you'll enjoy yet another climactic showdown between 'strongest' and 'weakest' as much as I'll enjoy writing it, my friend.
Your kind words are, as always, deeply appreciated. Thank you!
TM: Are you reading my notes?! Git outta there! I can't have you learning all of my secrets, now can I? In all seriousness, good thinking. I think your idea is a brilliant one.
'Equal footing' is certainly one way to put it. Kamijou Touma, forcibly ascended into a nigh-indestructible being of advanced technology against Academy City's strongest esper, one who wields the very power of physics itself.
Thank you for your kindness, friend. It's greatly appreciated, as always!
That monster didn't move an inch. The Accelerator stood there, upright and at attention. The One-Way Road, he who was unrivalled, the strongest esper to ever exist. Such were the thoughts that flashed past Misaka Mikoto's higher mind as she looked upon him.
Seeing him brought her back in time. As if two enormous hands, like those of some hideous bogeyman emerging from a darkened closet grabbed her and pulled her into the inky black depths, the Railgun girl quickly found herself swallowed. Swallowed by despair. Swallowed by self-loathing. There were, of course, no outward signs of her stress.
She hadn't been able to save them. Just under half of all twenty thousand of her Sisters still lived, yes; but that wasn't good enough for the big sister who should have been able to do more. Should have, couldn't have. It would never be good enough.
Looking upon him, Mikoto could almost see the thousands upon thousands of corpses piled behind him, broken, battered, bloodied. Thousands of corpses who looked identical to her.
Just never had been served, had it?
Her precious, sweet little Sisters. Girls who had done no wrong. Girls who had never asked for any of that which had been inflicted upon them from the moment the first among them had been crapped into the world. They never saw justice. This demon never answered for his crimes. It was all brushed under the rug, as if one story arc had passed into another, and all was forgotten and forgiven.
Misaka Mikoto hadn't forgotten. Misaka Mikoto hadn't forgiven.
There was simply no end to the hatred Mikoto felt for the Accelerator. The longer she looked upon him, the greater her desire to utterly destroy him grew. With her heart beating far too quickly for its own good, she inhaled swiftly, as if gasping for air after surfacing from deep waters.
"He could've stopped it! He could've said no! But he didn't! HE NEVER SAID "NO!" I HATE HIM!"
Sharp, furious, Mikoto's words cut through the air.
Even in the midst of this internal turmoil, Mikoto had to admit it. This was nice. Being held by him, being tended to and doted on by him made this easier. Kamijou's embrace tightened. He held the Railgun girl close, gently running the cold-feeling tips of his fingers through her chestnut-brown hair. Though his entire body was cold to the touch, skin and clothing alike, the Railgun girl gave herself a moment to settle into him, and enjoy the interaction.
"You're right, Mikoto. You know, I'm not entirely free of blame here myself. I let him walk out of that railyard. I let him walk away from Eastern Europe, and I let him walk away from Denmark."
Touma's embrace tightened, protectively.
"I love you so much… It's not a mistake I'm making again. He's not walking away from me. Every day Accelerator lives is another slap to your Sisters' faces, and the justice they've never gotten. What I mean to say is…"
With some reluctance, Touma broke the embrace, but not before providing the shuddering Misaka Mikoto with a gentle, affectionate kiss to her forehead.
"… Accelerator is going to die here."
"I'm coming with you."
The level five electromaster gripped that young man's hands, taking them into her own and looking directly into his cold, lifeless eyes. Mikoto didn't turn from them, not for a moment.
She expected some form of resistance.
She received none.
"Good."
With a firm grip on the Railgun girl's shoulder, Touma turned to the other girl in the limousine who was, however distantly, related to this matter. Musujime Awaki, the level four teleporter girl who'd worked alongside Academy City's strongest on several occasions.
"Musujime-san, any objections? If you want to take sides with him, I'm not going to hold it against you. I know you have a past, and I can respect that, to some extent."
Musujime shrugged in abject indifference. With one leg folded over the other's thigh, she appeared to be completely casual in this situation. Perhaps her repeated run-ins with Academy City's darkness had left her desensitized.
"I… I think I owe the Railgun and that half-assed teleport this one. I'm with you, Mr. He~ro. It was never that personal, anyways. We're business associates. That's the extent of what Accelerator and myself are to each other. You won't catch me getting weepy if he takes a dirt nap. I'm not blameless either. It's time I start admitting it and give a little bit of redemption a try."
The Accelerator still hadn't moved. He was utterly still; Kamijou couldn't even tell if Academy City's 'top dog' was even breathing. With his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants, he stood there, that disinterested expression on his face. The same expression that monstrous animal had worn while he tortured 'Misaka Imouto' nearly to death in that dirty railyard.
How had he ever let Accelerator away with it? Had 'the old Kamijou Touma' really been that much of a pathetic, spineless, cowardly piece of filth?
"Seria? What's your take on this, senpai?"
She seemed lost in thought; yet still paid heed to her kohai's words. During this period of thought-drifting, Kumokawa Seria felt it, again. That sense that she – and others – were being silently observed. She'd felt it, first, at that Occult Market. She'd felt it several times during the flight. What was this feeling?
Ultimately, Seria decided upon paying no further attention to it, choosing to answer her beloved kohai instead.
"My thoughts, Touma-kun? Attempting to circle around the Accelerator and keep driving onwards would be most unwise. One does not stand menacingly about in the path of an oncoming vehicle if they aren't actively seeking out a confrontation. The nature of the Accelerator's actions here is unknown even to me… Though, I must admit, I've heard much about the Accelerator's current role in Academy City's upper hierarchies. He is something of an attack hound. The Board of Directors, well, suffice it to say, the Board has him on quite the leash."
The Kamijou Touma of the present turned, then, to Oriana Thomson, the vehicle's driver, and then to Othinus, the former Magic God, and then to Kumokawa Seria, his stern-faced senpai.
"I'll take whatever help everyone can provide. Especially you, Lessar. You're probably one of the strongest people here right now. Are you with me?"
The former New Light Saint shot a shit-eating sneer in Touma's direction.
"I'm there, loverboy. Let's get the party started~!"
"To those who aren't particularly ready to face off against a 'person' – and I do use the term loosely, in this situation – who could bring low the armies of the world's nations, I would recommend staying close to me. If Accelerator-san knows what's good for him, he will avoid a confrontation with me. My ties with Academy City run deep."
Kumokawa Seria extended a hand welcomingly, out to the silver-haired little nun, Index.
"Index-chan, would you like to stay with Olivia-chan and myself? I'm certain Thomson-san will be more than happy to deliver us from this scene while it unfolds. Perhaps yourself and Olivia-chan can even teach me a thing or two about this wonderful 'magic' I have heard so much about, hmm~?"
"Of course. Onee-san will take care of those who aren't going to clear a path," Oriana spoke tenderly.
Kamijou Touma couldn't help but smile. Leave it to his senpai to play 'cool big sister' and try to keep the little nun's mind occupied.
"B-But… Touma…"
"My little kohai can handle himself. You need not worry about him for even a moment."
Affirmatively, the little nun's keeper nodded in her direction. He flashed her a confident, smug grin.
"She's right, Index. Don't worry about me at all. Just pretend it's another day when I'm off at school, and you're with Oth… Olivia-chan. Nothing to worry about. I promise. Would I lie to you? I love you, sweetheart."
Though she smiled warmly to Index, the way a mother might've smiled comfortingly down at her child in her efforts to reassure them and warm their hearts after awakening from a particularly dreadful night terror, Kumokawa Seria was, in truth, overwhelmed by a sense of uselessness.
Her 'special brain' hardly mattered, in this situation. As a powerless level zero esper, and one who was much better off working behind the scenes than within them, Seria found herself outside of her element. It was unfamiliar, terrifying, and, quite frankly, beyond her.
In her brief moment of desperation, Kumokawa Seria took a moment's time to remind herself of why, exactly, she had come along and thrown herself head-first into all of this.
"I would much rather be here, at Touma-kun's side than cracking my knuckles in Academy City, worrying for him around the clock… Yes, this is where I must be. At Touma-kun's side."
Index seemed to take Seria's offer to heart; she clambered into the back seat with both 'Olivia', Touma's 'distant relative hailing from Denmark' and her guardian's exceedingly warm-hearted upperclassmen, who quickly took the silver-haired nun into a protective, reassuring embrace. Truthfully, the little silver-haired nun had begun to trigger Seria's long-dormant maternal instincts considerably.
"Do realize what you're getting yourself into, Imagine Breaker."
Othinus wasn't feeling much better; some months ago, she could have erased the very concept of 'Accelerator' from existence merely by willing it. She had done so billions upon billions of times, when she'd held Gungnir aloft during her intricate period of questing for power. Now, she was powerless. A completely ordinary human being incapable of casting even beyond the weakest of arcane spells.
"Best of luck to you, my kohai, and all others… Touma-kun, do return safely to me. Otherwise, I will have to engage Full-On Soap Opera Mode and the world may very well not survive."
"I plan on it, senp… I mean, Seria."
With a nod, Kamijou Touma spoke his piece.
"Let's get this done. Mikoto, you and I have unfinished business we need to attend to… Let's end this. Once and for all. Turn the page, end the chapter, and close the whole book."
As Misaka Mikoto, Musujime Awaki, 'Saint' Lessar and Kamijou Touma disembarked from the limousine, Accelerator raised an eyebrow.
He took a single step forward, once the limousine began to reverse; pulling his pale, sickly-seeming hands from his pockets, Accelerator stretched his fingers.
The tension in the air was thick. Oppressive, overwhelming and forceful. It was like a physical, personified thing that pushed downwards upon the shoulders of all, making great efforts to bring all of those present down to their knees.
"I figured you'd come alone, you goddamn hero…"
The gaze of Academy City's strongest fell upon Musujime Awaki, then. His tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth in irritation.
"Move Point… Yeah. That fucking figures, I guess. So, this is how it's going to be."
Electricity leapt freely from Mikoto's body as she spread her legs, positioning herself into something of a combat stance. Her athletic form was more than prepared to burst into a sudden sprint at any moment.
"I'll never forgive you for what you did! Never!" Mikoto's proclamation of war was sharp enough to easily slice directly through the oppressive tension. "You're… You're HORRIBLE! You're nothing but an evil monster! You're a psychopath! You're SICK! You'll… ACCELERATOR! YOU'LL NEVER KNOW JUST HOW MUCH I HATE YOU!"
Accelerator said nothing in response.
With her arms folded across her chest, Awaki offered Academy City's 'top dog' an awkward glance, but said nothing at all.
As if it were a sword, 'Saint' Lessar drew the enormous cross from her back, wielding it effortlessly with a single hand. To an unawares observer, the weapon might've been mistaken as an exceedingly lightweight prop of some sort.
She fell to one knee, and looked to the sky.
"Christ carried the burdens of all mankind… Stigmata! I humbly plead for Christ's strength!"
A spell was cast through the power of Idol Theory; someone of Saint Lessar's power and distinction needed no magic circle and no meager runes. Her physical connection with the Son of God was enough to act as a functioning catalyst. Lessar's entire body began to glow a bright, overwhelming golden-white; it emanated from within her, as if the girl had transfigured her physical self into some sort of illuminating bulb. Like so many might tendrils, glowing, golden energy surged forth from the Saint, engulfing all for hundreds of miles in all directions, however briefly.
Then, Kamijou Touma's proverbial mask was shed; arcing currents of machine phase-matter rose and fell, as the outer layer that represented his own, ideal vision of himself faded, revealing reality. That which laid beneath.
Misaka Mikoto was not struck by surprise, but rather, by sheer, unadulterated horror; she'd seen this before. She had been the first to learn of that young man's secret. Still, she reeled from the sight of it.
Musujime Awaki glanced in his direction, as the golden-white light faded, leaving behind only faint, glimmering traces of its brilliance, and gasped aloud.
Saint Lessar looked on with mere pity.
Kamijou Touma's 'true form' resembled little more than an entirely flayed human being, with bones and musculature consisting of swarming, swimming nanorobotic phase-matter. Arcing currents formed intricate ribbons which crisscrossed over one another before returning to their places within the greater hive that was Touma's form. Empty, milky-white eyes rested within their sockets, staring directly into Accelerator's own, natural-born crimson orbs.
"They finally fucking got to you, didn't they, hero?"
"I'm really not sure what you're talking about."
Kamijou Touma raised his right arm casually; his fully-replaced phase-matter body bent to his whims. His arm tightened, then sharpened itself and rose, surging, into a enormous, jagged blade of swarming, swimming nanomachines.
"Nobody "got me". They don't even realize it, but, at the end of the day, they improved me. Made me stronger than I ever was before."
Touma, once-Bearer of the Imagine Breaker strutted towards the white-haired, pallid boy he'd already faced down on three occasions with the sort of casual gait a mall shopper might've held while drifting from shop to shop.
"But, enough of that, Accel. I've been finding myself patching up a lot of my mistakes lately. When you suffer like I have, it gives you new perspective. Helps you see things differently. You being alive is, by far, my biggest mistake to date."
The clouds themselves parted. The heavens seemed to rage along with Mikoto. Her inhuman scream was a battle cry. A declaration of war. An announcement to all who heard it that she would avenge her Sisters, as she never had before. Colossal pillars of crackling lightning struck the open fields. Rising, seemingly levitating, Academy City's third strongest level five esper lived up to her name.
"Do you know what I'm doing, you dumb animal?! I don't even need metal for my magnetism anymore! The iron in my blood is enough!"
Mikoto's expression seemed to twist into a manic, detached sneer. It stretched from one ear and to the other, wide, toothy. It was the expression of unleashed sadism, the nascent desire to enjoy the suffering of another, living creature. A creature who did not deserve to live.
"… And, so is yours, Accelerator! GIVE ALL OF IT TO ME!"
Kamijou Touma had figured out exactly what that girl was planning from the moment she'd started rising from the Earth; she intended to rip the very iron from Accelerator's blood.
But Accelerator claimed his blood's iron for himself. His capacity for vector manipulation was passive; he didn't even need to think on it for more than a moment's time. Some exceedingly minor calculations directed towards his internal organs was all it took, and nothing more; Accelerator's control over his own blood – as well as the microscopic traces of minerals and nutrients within it – remained his own.
"DIE, Accelerator!"
"Not happening, third-string… There's a fucking reason I'm number one, and you're number three."
Kamijou Touma was upon him, then.
"Not for much longer, you won't be."
"HIGHMIND TERMINAL:/ FORCE PROTOCOL LAUNCH ROUTINE. "TACTICAL" SYSTEMS PROTOCOL. LAUNCHING. RECOMMENDED COMBAT PROCEDURES BASED ON SITUATIONAL FACTORS, OPPOSING COMBATANT FEATS. OPPOSING COMBATANT: ?/ACCELERATOR.
"COMBAT PROCEDURES: REVERSAL OF COMBATANT'S RELIANCE ON AUTOMATIC REFLECTION VIA SWIFT WITHDRAWAL OF PHYSICAL ASSAULT PRIOR TO IMPACT. CALCULATING LIKELYHOOD OF OPPOSING COMBATANT'S UNTIMELY DEMISE… SUCCESSFULLY CALCULATED. LIKELYHOOD OF OPPOSING COMBATANT'S UNTLIMELY DEMISE, NINETY-NINE POINT NINETY-NINE PERCENT.
"Reversal of his automatic reflection… A glitch in his system."
The Railgun pulled entire swathes of earth up, ripping the fields apart. Soil, grass, and the dangling roots of subterranean plant life found their way into the air.
"Musujime-san!"
"Won't do much… But I'm on it, Railgun."
The entire mass was teleported against the Accelerator; instantly, it was reflected. As soon as so much as a single molecule of the earthen mass touched his flesh, the 'top dog's' passive reflection kicked into its highest gear. He hardly even needed to move a muscle. Lessar's own repeated strikes were instantly reflected back at her, her own momentum utilized as a weapon.
Kamijou Touma passed harmlessly through the reflected, earthen mass; breaking himself down into swarming currents of machine phase-matter by temporarily weakening his body's magnetic connections, at speeds incomprehensible to the human eye he closed the distance between himself and that walking, pallid testament to his failures.
Accelerator leapt backwards, manipulating kinetic momentum beneath his lower body; Saint Lessar's enormous cross slammed where he'd stood mere moments ago with such force that vast, subterranean caverns were exposed by the rumbling fissure which came about as a result.
He wasn't, however, able to evade Kamijou Touma's strike; at the last possible moment, just as impact initially occurred, the swarming, human-shaped mass of machine phase-matter yanked his arm back.
The sheer force of the blow was enough to send Accelerator careening backward; he struck the earth repeatedly, his body flailing. Wracked by pain, his nose violently broken, bent to one side, Academy City's 'top dog' found himself in a familiar position. Rising from the ground, shuddering. His weak, spindly limbs were barely able to lift his body's weight.
"Fucking piece of shit!"
"Language, Accel, language. This is one thing I've noticed about you "all-powerful" types," Touma remarked, swiftly approaching the rising Accelerator. "You boast too much, and think too little."
Another blow came; it struck Accelerator's chin. Pulled backwards at the last possible moment, Kamijou Touma's arm reeled as the kinetic force of the blow landed; Academy City's 'strongest' was tossed into the air. His teeth clattered together, and several found themselves chipped. Landing, unceremoniously with a solid thud, Kamijou Touma was upon him once more. The once-Bearer of the Imagine Breaker did not relent.
"Think on this, Accel. I'm going to make you feel everything Mikoto's beautiful, innocent little Sisters felt. A million times over. You'll be screaming for mercy by the time I'm through, and, guess what? Take a guess! Really! No? Fine. I won't give you any. Just like you never gave them any."
And the Accelerator stopped relenting, as well.
There was a colossal burst of pure, white light; it heralded the emergence of enormous, feathery wings. Like those of an angel. As white as snow, the feathery wings beat against the air. They lifted Accelerator from the earth below. A golden-white halo floated just above his head's crown, gleaming like a miniature sun.
There was no maniacal laughter. There was no boasting, and there were no threats. Accelerator descended once more, when the soles of his cheap trainers struck the earth, his enormous, feathery wings slamming into the vast, open fields.
Saint Lessar stared forward, then turned to those she fought alongside.
"This foe is beyond us," Lessar stated with uncharacteristic seriousness. "We really should turn back."
The invisible presence – that which had continually caught Kumokawa Seria's attention, all the way from the Occult Market in Academy City to the present, in England – made itself known.
"He isn't the only angel around here!"
Long, bright golden hair reached past her waist. A lock, however, was tied off to the side with a hairclip, upon which rested an ornamental bead. As if they were burning, enormous, golden wings – formed from lashing tendrils of golden light – surged from her back, licking at the atmosphere. Her glowing eyes' colouration matched that of her hair. Garbed in the dark blue uniform of Kirigaoka Girls' Academy, complete with that uniform's long-sleeved blazer, a colossal, golden sword was clutched in her hands' grip. Outwards from its blade there was a vast, comforting illumination.
The sword was this girl's will to fight made manifest. With each passing moment it became greater.
Only the presence of so many powerful espers, with powerful Personal Realities – and, therefore, powerful AIM Fields – permitted Kazakiri Hyouka to exist here, beyond Academy City's walls.
Without so much as another word, Hyouka charged.
Angel clashed with angel, there. Accelerator's snowy white wings slammed against Hyouka's own golden wings; the latter's blade cleaved through one of the former's wings, but such was not enough to win the war. Merely a battle.
"T-Touma!"
It was the voice of Misaka Mikoto; the Railgun girl was at his side. Though she was disturbed by his new, 'true' form, those thoughts were thrown to the wayside. Distracting and ultimately unimportant.
"Mikoto, stay close. How are you holding up? I love you. Don't forget that."
"I… I love you too. Let me magnetize you."
"…?"
"I'll magnetize your body. Keep you close to him; then, you can do that thing with your own swords. You know? With the "zeeee… nunununuuu". You know what I mean!"
That was certainly an idea, wasn't it? While Hyouka – who'd seemingly performed some sort of Deus Ex Machina and appeared from nowhere – battered Accelerator from the front, Kamijou, with his new and improved self, could strike from the back.
He nodded, then. Kamijou Touma turned from her; his body's magnetic connections warped, and, on command, his machine phase-matter arced, surged and split. His hands, as they'd been, extended outwards, sharpened, then solidified into sharpened, gleaming blades.
The Railgun girl focused all of her mental effort – that which she could muster in her considerably frazzled state, at least – and lifted Kamijou Touma from the ground, slowly, cautiously. The ease at which Mikoto could magnetically 'reach' and manipulate him was not unlike the sort of feedback she'd received while casually manipulating any other metallic object through her magnetic grip.
Kazakiri Hyouka and Accelerator continued their wordless brawl; neither showed signs of giving in. Neither showed signs of slowing, and neither was ready to throw in the proverbial towel. Every time he would attempt to dispel her with the simplest of calculations, she would reconstitute in mere moments.
Cracks were beginning to form in the colossal, white wings protruding from the upper back of Academy City's strongest. Their structural stability had been compromised. Of course, Accelerator merely tapped into and borrowed this power; Kazakiri Hyouka was born of it.
"Tch. I remember you from Russia, you fucking brat. You tried fighting Gabriel."
"You should never have left Russia alive for all that you've done!"
"… Word's getting around, I take it."
Accelerator wasn't disagreeing.
Maneuvered around, lifted and lowered by Misaka Mikoto, Kamijou Touma struggled to find the perfect mark; if the strike wasn't instantaneous, it would all be for naught. Accelerator's control over the very laws of physics themselves, through his manipulation of vectors – as alien a concept as it might've been to the average human being – was such that no mere flesh wound from which his body could possibly heal would be anywhere near enough.
"HIGHMIND TERMINAL:/ FORCE PROTOCOL LAUNCH ROUTINE. "TACTICAL" SYSTEMS PROTOCOL. LAUNCHING. RECOMMENDED COMBAT PROCEDURES BASED ON SITUATIONAL FACTORS, OPPOSING COMBATANT FEATS. OPPOSING COMBATANT: ?/ACCELERATOR.
"COMBAT PROCEDURES: PERSONAL REALITY ORIGINATES WITHIN THE BRAIN. TOTAL BRAIN DEATH RESULTS IN TERMINATION OF PERSONAL REALITY.
"That makes sense. Strike the brain. Slice it apart, tear it apart. Without a functioning brain, there's no Accelerator. Just an empty shell."
The battle waged between Kazakiri Hyouka and the Accelerator had taken to the skies; Kamijou would be forced to bide his time and await their descent.
Musujime Awaki and Saint Lessar hung back with Misaka Mikoto, observing the goings on.
Golden blade clashed against white wings, again and again. Though Hyouka made efforts to drive her sword into Accelerator, or otherwise dismember him, the 'top dog's' wings' capacity to, seemingly, predict the artificial angel's every move rendered such efforts fruitless.
"How could you?!" Hyouka exclaimed, driving the edge of her sword through Accelerator's wings; pulling it upward with such force that the air itself exploded, Hyouka was forced away. She returned, never relenting, only strengthening her blows.
"You'd never fucking understand!" Was Accelerator's response.
In some twisted way – a way which certainly made Mikoto feel quite sick with herself – she enjoyed this. Seeing that monster, the Accelerator, forced into a proverbial corner in this way, being repeatedly battered and struck by a foe who could keep pace with him provided something of a cathartic release for the Railgun girl. She experienced his downfall through the actions of another, vicariously; and not for the first time.
With any hope, this would be the last time.