Three days later:
Mugino waited for them in the nearest city of Las Cruces on the edge of the Chihuahuan desert. She waited in a small hotel when she heard a knock on the door. John and Accelerator had came back, their leather jackets not even touched, no bullet holes, no scorch marks, no blood or guts or brain batter. Nothing seemed to have happened.
"It's all done." John said calmly stepping into the room.
"You guys took a bath somewhere?"
"Nah." Answered Accelerator. Redirection abilities, no mess.
"Actually you have a small streak of blood on your chin, but I assume it's definitely not yours." Stated Mugino. John shrugged and wiped it off.
"I'm gonna take a nap." He said.
"Precision hitting and you downright smote them right? Whatever, I just hope you took care of the bodies." Asked Mugino.
"Oh. We're all professionals aren't we?"
That's what happened. Their memory was getting blurry. People like Mugino has long been desensitized by the brutality. They only knew that somehow they've acquired the coordinates from Shinobu, and got a new "contact." The massacre has taken place in the New Mexican desert. It was fast, in which the enemy had no chance against two Level 6s, which meant that the result of the "battle" was already determined. Their reactions and moves were so fast they were impossible to get shot at, even if they do they would deflect all projectiles and powerful explosions by a 99.9999% chance. Amid the fighting the convoy was destroyed in two storms that merged together. Nothing was visible to the normal eyes inside the storm, only countless shots fired and occasionally lit up by explosions. Pockets of plasma sparked by the converging air currents destroyed vehicles to a degree where it can't be fixed. The two remembered more clearly that they killed some Espers in the fiery inferno, but couldn't remember their exact powers. John had actually figured out to better manipulate iron sand by manipulating strong air currents and use as a reliable weapon. The soldiers and Espers they killed were the scientists faction, all their equipments came from part of the Board funding.
As if on cue, John woke up and sat up groggily. He looked out the window.
"And they are here." He said simply. Several heavily modified pure black SUVs from hell showed up, no brands, insignia, covered in blacked out windshields and side windows that seemed to dissolve in the paint job.
"And I bet they have forged license plates." Mugino muttered. "Okay John, why are we making deals with the local Mafia?"
John simply smirked. "Oh look at these brilliant assholes." As soon as he finished a man in a plain suit wearing sunglasses stepped out. He could be a legit business man, a scientist, an agency member, a caporegime, or the Devil himself with a capital D. But he broke the atmosphere.
"I believe this is the group introduced by one of your fellow associates Nunotaba Shinobu!" He asked calmly when John stepped forward face to face with him. He looked at John speaking ironically: "The name does sound pretty familiar huh?" John's eyes flashed dangerously, that everybody was afraid he is going to decapitate the man in the suit, but John didn't use his Espers powers. He gave the man an old fashioned but still powerful punch, then dragged him to the ground. "Hey hey hey chill out!" He shouted as his bodyguards cocked their M16s pointing it at John. John stopped and taunted them. "Pull the trigger then, see which way the bullet travels."
"There's no need for this!" The man shouted. "Guys, he's just bitter, put your guns down."
"Still remember me huh. Yeah, I'm bitter, 5 fucking years for my powers to develop, at least three times I could've gave myself away."
"You won't give yourselves away, from the way we've orchestrated all this. We let your powers and personalities develop under suitable conditions, we didn't grow you like a crop. Chill out alright? We treated you like a trained soldier, with smart senses and can think. Not some robot that can just be bossed around."
"Well, I came back." John let go of his collar. "Now what?"
"We expected that you can make it back alive." He started. In his most solemn voice, the man commanded John. "Operation John, mission to infiltrate and observe Academy City. If possible, jeopardize activities regarding the violations of terms belonging to any related treaties. Status report."
John's expression changed as if his inner robotic, drone-like personality was activated. "Mission report: Mission successful, future Board of Director projects acquired. Major powerful groups identified including friendlies. Ability development stable, mind development stable. Jeopardized Level Six shift bases with foreign help (talking about Misaka Mikoto). Precisely eliminated research group along with Espers and enemy combatants in the nearest desert." Then his serious expression faded. "Mission successful, finished reporting to my superior Asshole standing in front of me." They laughed, finally showing that they're glad to see each other, again. "What was that for?" John asked.
"To test if you're a phony clone of that John." They laughed harder. "Great acting by the way!"
"Hey, just remember I'm still a little pissed."