Chapter 6: A Certain Troublesome Bully

Warning: Involves a Mega Jerk being a Mega Jerk. That is all.

"...and so you see, those brats, talking to me like that, have serious issues! They need to be taught a lesson!"

And so, A Certain Troublesome Bully was complaining about the very people he bullied, Akari and Kota, and had locked outside naked where who knows how many people looked out the windows and had seen them, along with teachers and students, and made it their fault, mad it so they were the problem.

In other words, he was basically acting like scum of the earth that people would usually end up hating.

However, the woman across the room from him, who allowed him to vent and listened to what he said, did not blame him, or even tried to change him. In fact, she secretly often encouraged him to do exactly what he did, and more. After all, it provided more data for her projects. She was Guidance Councilor, and Psychologist, Susan Bright.

She knew of the two he was talking about, as she had been observing that very encounter. To her, the boy in front of her had already maxed out on potential, however he was a good tool in putting distress, uncomfort, and embarrassment in others. He got her and the rest of her group plenty of data. And if a fight broke out...she got to analyze combat data between two Espers.

Kaito Kota, a young boy who was only a Level 1 Esper. His Biodata was rather strange, with unusually high potential that while doesn't seem to be connected to his Esper ability, is quite remarkable. She had to wonder if maybe his parents did selective breeding, or had genetic enhancements put on him while he was in the womb. Would make everything make sense.

The other was a new student, Hokari Akari. From what she was reading, he was already a Level 5. His ability seemed close to Accelerator, although he didn't seem to have Accelerator's Defensive ability. At least, not yet. That said, he clearly was some sort of newbie because he was unable to deal with a Level 4 and got into that situation, but this presented her a unique opportunity. A chance to Develop a Level 6. Most Level 5s are Alpha Dog types, Apex Predators, so her methods wouldn't have really been effective on them since they would be far too likely to reverse the situation and prevent situations she would want them to experience from happening.

Mikoto Misaka was actually considered once, but not only did she go to another, very powerful school, she got involved in dangerous incidents and destroyed a lot of stuff, so that was scrapped. Also, she had once defeated an entire group of rufians on her own.

But this one...he didn't have that trait. And his ability was the same as Accelerators. Which made her wonder if maybe, he could be a part of her Level 6 program. It meant amping up the pressure on him, but if she could produce a Level 6, it would be a perfect result.

There was an issue that his older sister was with Judgement, and was sometime disruptive to data collecting, but she was sure it would be worth the risk.

"It sounds like maybe they did not get enough. Maybe, you should try harder to communicate this fact to them about how they made you feel?"

"Hmmm...you know what, you are right doc! Thanks! I will go do that right now!"

The bully smiled as he had a realization, and with the session coming to a close anyways, ran out hte door.

"Such an easy child. I wonder what he will come up with this time".

"What?! Have you been living under a rock? How do you not know Digimon? Okay, at least tell me you know Bakugan!"

"Nope. I am a bit behind..."

"Whaa...seriously? Okay...Pokemon?"

"Nope".

"Mega Man?"

"Nada".

"Stargate?"

"Never".

"Man, we really got get you caught up. Maybe you should come over to my place tonight...wait, errr...maybe not".

"Why? Busy?"

"For the rest of the afternoon, I am good, but tonight is kind of bad".

At those words, Akari started to think of some things...but he couldn't think of anything.

"Kaaaaay. Well then, what should we do?"

Ai was telling him he had to make friends, so Akari figured he should keep at it in the process. And Kota seemed friendly enough, although some part of him almost wanted to say he was like a puppy.

"How about we hit up the arcade! They have an old Starblazer game that two people can play that is really epic!"

"Un! Sure!"

And so, the two boys ran off to the Arcade. Little did they know, they were being followed.

Meanwhile, in a different area...Kuroko was moving forward to a recent incident she had heard about. Apparently, there were people who had infiltrated the city, and was moving towards the area in question.

"Seriously, to think this would come up and interrupt my time with...well, whatever. If I can find them, all I have to do is deal with them quickly".

Needless to say, Kuroko was not entirely thrilled by the timing, but she was pushing forward and following her will as Judgement. Still, she checked her watch. Five minutes till five.

"Not to mention, that showoff recently scored a huge amount of cred with her takedown of that secret lab! I wont let her win!"

Also, she was still competing with Ai.

Either way, she teleported on top of a lamppost, and saw three people rushing at high speeds down the street. On foot. But to a teleporter, they might as well have been standing still. She teleported right in front of them, forcing them to halt in place.

"Hey, by any chance, can I get some identification? You seem really new, and suspicious".

"Well well, if it isn't a member of Judgement" a voice said, but...she could not recognize anything about it. Somehow, she could not percieve its gender or age, although given height it had to be either an average height male or a somewhat tall female. At least by her guessing.

However, that person suddenly appeared behind Kuroko, which surprised her. But not enough to teleport away and onto a nearby car.

The women teleported after her though, and delivered a kick right to Kuroko's stomach almost instantainously. Faster then Kuroko could react.

"Sorry sweety, but in this case, you just aint strong enough to deal with us".

Kuroko started to stand up as she approached, but Kuroko teleported off to a distance while teleporting the cloaked figure into the middle of the air. Not that far, but far enough to hurt. But once again, the girl disappeared and reappeared in front of Kuroko, and stabbed a knife into her. Kuroko managed to teleport away, extremely far away, before it got far into her, but still...it was not good.

Not fatal, but seriously bad. She quickly began to make a call, after making sure she was not followed and got out of sight.

"Hey, we have an issue...something weird is going on. We need help. It's just...after five? Anyways, everyone should be out of class and club. But don't call Sissy! She gets involved in enough stuff as it is!"

And while this was going on, Akari and Kota were in the arcade, playing Starblazer. They were each control of a fighter, and were blasting enemies, asteroids, and aliens.

Once they were done, they went towards the skeeball section and played some skeeball.

They heard some sirens go by, but they didn't think much of it at the time. They were just having too much fun after all. So much so, they lost awareness of their surroundings as much.

"Well now...if it isn't the two runts from earlier".

Suddenly, a familiar and vexing voice was heard behind them.

They turned around, only for each to get a punch in the face as they smelled something unusual...and disorienting.

"What the hell..."

"It seems like my punishment last time didn't last, so I guess I will just have to go even further to teach you two a lesson".

Both Akari and Kota felt an extreme hatred and distaste for the older boy, but for some reason the both of them were feeling off. They tried to bolt, but each one tripped on their own two feet.

"Seriously, I was told the effect would be instantainous...no matter. Nighty night, losers. Hope you love each other's company".

And so, the two began to pass out there on the spot.

A man who watched all of this, and more, occur on security monitors sipped some tea as things progressed.

"Atlas, tell me. How likely is this experiment to actually succeed in helping to create a Level 6?"

"We have confirmed through numerous experiments that fear, shame, guilt, and such are capable of advancing Esper levels. Furthermore, the subject in question is the Hybrid Weapon project. This could enhance his probability, though it may also make it more difficult. Should we intervene?"

"No, no. Besides, I am a bit curious. Not just about what the test subject will do, but how will his friend react? Deploy Neural Wave manipulation, amp this up further. Oh, and as for the intruders...have you properly adjusted the factors accordingly?"

"Yes. We shall now begin the monitoring of Conflict Experiment 02354. Level 5 Monitoring Measures in place. Please be warned, Monitors from CLASS have also been detected".

"Hmm...interesting..."

"Uhhg...what happened?"

"...why does my head hurt like crazy".

Akari and Kota woke up at about the same time, and each one finding themselves looking into each other's faces.

"What the hell...hold on..."

"The...uhhh...what?!"

And once they realized that, and looked down, they learned something else that was concerning. The two of them were tied to a tree, with something that was far stronger then rope, almost like a steel cable or something. But, the way they were tied...Akari and Kota were tied naked with their chests pressing against each other due to their bindings, standing with Kota inbetween Akari and the tree, with their heads mere centimeters apart.

As for as bullying and pranks go, this had far, far, far, far gone over the line in their opinion. Of course, they were the victims.

"What the hell is this?! Damn you!"

"Uhg, its so tight I cant move at all!"

Furthermore, Akari was right next to Kota, so if he tried to use magic, that would cause a huge amount of issues. Not to mention, who knew who was watching.

"Ahh, it seems you are finally awake" a voice said from a place they could not see. Though to be fair, their position meant they couldn't see much aside from each other. "I do hope you like it. Losers like you should be together forever, since you dont seem to be able to learn your place".

"Oh come on! This is too far!"

"You have to let us out right now!"

Akari mentioned about how this was clearly crossing a line, while Kota desperately pleaded for them to be let out. Akari could feel Kota trying to struggle, and felt his arms struggling to get free from behind Akari's back. Meanwhile, Akari's own hands were also tied behind his back, and it seemed they were all tied together.

"Ohhh. Never heard Kota desperate before. But soon, everyone will. Uploading this straight to the internet after all. Just imagine what people might say about you two?"

Akari tried to struggle, but the way he was bound prevented his hands from touching anything except himself and Kota's hands. And somehow, it seemed like a terrible idea to try and use any of that in that way.

"YOu had your fun, now let us go!"

"You dont think you will get away with this do you?"

"Of course I will get away. After all, the first person who finds you can untie you" the voice said, and then they heard someone run off in the distance.

This was not a good thing for either of them. The sun was getting lower, and it was possible they would be there all night before someone found them at this rate.

"Umm...Kota..."

"...yeah..."

"We need to get out immediately..."

At first, Kota was not sure why he was iterating what he already know, until he noticed Akari was moving...oddly...

"Oh no, please dont tell me..."

"I already had to go to the bathroom before at the Arcade, and I was about to when..."

"Akari! Trust me! We need to get out of this before nightfall!"

"That is litterally in less then an hour! And why nightfall?"

"Just...trust me!"

The two tried to struggle, but nothing worked. Neither of them could find a way out. And the sun was already beginning to set too, as the light changed around them. A full moon could be seen starting to rise at the other side.

"Akari! We need to get out now!"

"Kota! Its not like..."

"If we dont get out of this right now, you will die!"

That comment came at a bit of a shock.

"I will...what?"

"I may not have been totally honest about myself okay...but, if I dont get out of here, if I dont get home, bad things will happen!"

Akari started to fidget even more now.

"You making me nervous like this is not helping!"

"Just trust me!"

"Well, its not like I can do anything about the situation! My hands cant reach anything, so I cant use Vector Program on the bindings!"

"Cant you use any part of your body touching it?!"

"Not really! Only my hands and...my feet!"

Akari looked down. At the current moment, his feet were firmly planted on the ground and he could not angle them to touch the bindings. However, he could at least do something since the bully had taken his shoes and socks also. And he saw exactly what he needed.

"Okay...I have not really done this before, so...things might get a bit weird. But, here goes nothing!"

Akari managed to move one of his legs just enough, going right past Kota's leg, and got his big toe to touch the tree itself. Almost instantly, the tree began to move once he did. For one thing, it twisted its own trunk which caused the bindings around Kota and Akari to losen since it shrunk in radius as a result. In addition, the roots wrapped around their bodies for a moment, and untied the bindings around their arms. Almost instantly, the bindings that used to be on them fell to the ground, and as Kota pulled his arms away Akari felt like he got scratched...but not by a human.

And surely enough, Kota stumbled backwards a bit...as his body began to change. For one thing, he had wolf ears and a tail now. Now, if it was just that, it could be seen as adorable and cute, but...it was far from just that. Kota's entire body was changing right in front of Akari.

Akari finally released when he realized right then and there what Kota was.

"...werewolf..."

Akari felt relieved, cold, and concerned all at the same time. If it stayed like that, it would only be that, but...

Kota swung his arm around and knocked a bullet out of the sky as it flew towards him, diverting it into a nearby tree. And surely enough, it was silver.

"...and hunters...damnit!"

Akari took cover behind a tree from where the bullet was fired. Now he understood, why it was problematic to be tied that way. Any later, and Kota's claws would have torn his body apart. Not only that, but Kota might have suffocated himself from those bindings. Either way, it was a bad situation.

And now, they had people shooting at them with silver bullets? Akari was naked, which meant he did not have a phone to call for help. Kota was a werewolf, and he didn't look very "in control" right now. And no one but the hunters knew they were there and needed help. They were isolated in this park, alone.

"Kota! Please tell me you are the type of werewolf who remains in control of his transformation!"

"Arrooooooooo!"

"I will take that as a no!"

Unfortunately, Kota did not know yet how to do that reflection thing Accelerator did, so he could not really let himself get shot. And who knew what silver might do to him as well, something that for all he knew could be classified as an undead.

And then, Kota looked at him as if he was a midnight snack.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Things were not going well for Akari, not at all.

AN: Me: Thats right people! Kota is a werewolf!

Akari: Dont get me eaten so soon!

Me: Relax, you are the main character. You will live!

Akari: BUt, I might be maimed! Haven't I suffered enough?!

Me: Maaayyybeeee~

Akari: Uhg! Everyone, reviewers! Please tell this jerk to not make me suffer so much!

Me: It wasn't that ba...

Akari: Yes it was! You legitimately must hate me for putting me through this!

Me: Hey, at least you didn't get stabbed!

Cloaked Figure: What smells like piss?

Akari: Thats it! *starts using Vector Program to launch high speed rocks and marbles at author*

Me: ! *runs away*