Disclaimer: I do not own Railgun or Index, they are the property of JC Staff. This is just a fanfiction.

A CERTAIN AMERICAN HOWITZER

Chapter 4

Memories Past Part 1

Kuroko walks into her dormitory at school around 11:00 a.m. with a very tired look on her face. She's still covered in a thin layer of dust and smells of smoke and charred bodies. She just feels disgusting all over. She wants nothing more than to take a nice long bath and then sleep for a few more hours before the meeting that afternoon. "Shirai-san." comes an authoritative female voice behind her. Kuroko instantly freezes as she recognizes the voice. But she's really too tired to resist any neck-breaking today. But she turns around anyway. "Ah Ryoukan-san. I know why you're here. And I apologize for not calling you last night about where I was. But could you give me my punishment later? I'm exhausted and I really need a shower." says Kuroko. "Shirai-san." says the manager again.

Kuroko looks up at her and can see the top half of her face is covered in shadow, but she has a very serious "deadly" look on her face. She prepares for a neck breaking and closes her eyes. She then feels a hand on her shoulder. "Shirai-san, please don't worry. I'm not going to punish you this time. Your branch leader called me late last night about where you were. I saw on the news about what happened and actually saw you in the think of all that mess working very hard. One of the few things that I forgive is what you were doing. You showed the bravery and qualities that I would like to see from all our girls here. I understand that you are in law enforcement and must respond to these kinds of situations, even at very late times. I just want to say that I'm proud of you. Go. You deserve a nice bath and some sleep." says the Ryoukan.

Kuroko can't help but be a little shocked. Not since she tried to help her try and bag a man she was in love with, has she seen her this non-angry. "Thank you." says Kuroko as she gives a smile. Kuroko heads upstairs and enters her room. "Oh Kuroko, you're finally back." says the most beautiful voice in the world. Kuroko looks up and sees Mikoto getting up from her desk. Kuroko would like nothing more than to leap into her Onee-sama's arms, but is, for once, too exhausted to do so. "So how'd it go out there? I heard what happened on the news, it must have been terrible down there." says Mikoto. "Yeah..." says Kuroko with a saddened look. Mikoto notices and can tell she saw some traumatizing things. "Well I knew you'd be back here soon, so I went ahead and drew you a bath with some Epsom salts and some bath scents. Take all the time you need." says Mikoto.

Kuroko is touched that her Onee-sama has done something so lovingly for her. But right now, instead of teleporting into her arms, she needs a bath. She quickly goes to the bathroom, undresses, and goes to wash herself. The warm water from the shower head rinsing her skin off feels so good. It takes her three wash and rinse cycles to clean out her hair. She's surprised by just how much dirt and grime come off. She finally slips into the bathtub and it feels GREAT. The warm water and relaxing scents relieve her of most of her exhaustion. As she relaxes she begins to think about all the events that happened in the past 24 hours. The two monkeys that arrived from America, Justin and her Onee-sama's competition, the building attack, the search and rescue, and then the audacity of the Americans to go underground to find evidence. One image however keeps popping up in her mind, Justin and his determination and his face. She shakes her head and slaps her face. "What the hell am I doing thinking about that monkey!?" she says to herself.

After soaking for a good 20 minutes she finally gets out, dries herself off, changes into her PJs, and heads into the main room. "Onee-sama, I'm going to get a few more hours sleep. Would you mind waking me up at about 3:00? I have an assembly to go to at four." asks Kuroko. "Sure! No problem." says Mikoto. Kuroko nods her head in thanks and lays down on her bed. She's asleep in less than five minutes. She's right in the middle of a wonderful dream of her Onee-sama when she's roused from her sleep. "Kuroko. It's 3:00. Time to get up." comes a sweet voice. It takes her a moment to wake up. She thanks her Onee-sama for waking her up, and gets changed. After trying to give Mikoto a kiss goodbye, to which she gets zapped for, she leaves and heads to the assembly at Anti-Skill HQ.

She arrives about 15 minutes before the assembly is to start. She heads on inside the building and quickly spots Justin talking with Inspector Takano and what appears to be a scientist. Most likely the head evidence technician. She decides to head over to them. Justin looks over and sees her coming. "Oh Shirai-san, you look well rested. I take it you got some more sleep?" asks Justin. "I did, but I don't see how that's any of your concern." she answers with a slight annoyed face. She looks around for a second. "Where's Monkey #2 at?" she asks. "Travis? Oh he's gone to the hospital. Apparently one of the victims has regained consciousness. So he and an Anti-Skill officer have gone over to get his statement." answers Justin. "I see. Well that is good news I guess. So did you find anything new?" she asks. "Nothing but confirmation about my theory. You'll find out more when I announce our findings during the assembly." says Justin.

"Wait. YOU'RE the one who is speaking?" asks Kuroko in shock. "I am. There's no doubt now that this attack was done by Damien." says Justin. An Anti-Skill officer appears through a nearby door. "Sir, everything's set up. You three should head on in now." says the officer. "Right. Shirai-san care to join us?" asks Inspector Takano. "Me?" responds Kuroko. "Yeah. You are our Judgment representative for the Americans here. And since this Damien is involved with this attack you should join us. You won't be asked to speak or anything." says Inspector Takano. "I guess that's fine." says Kuroko. The four of them head inside and take their seats at the front of the assembly hall nearest the main mic and sub mics and view screen.

The assembly hall is already near full when they enter and soon the lights dim and Inspector Takano goes up to the main mic. "Good afternoon. By now all of you know why you are here." he says. The large main screen behind him turns on and several pictures of the rubble of the F.I.X.E.D. HQ building appear. There are some mummers in the room. "Late yesterday evening the headquarters for the Fujitsu International eXperimentation for Esper Development corporation was attacked and the building subsequently collapsed. After an extensive search and rescue, and mainly helped by our American judgment associates here,..." says Takano as he gestures to Justin. "... we were able to recover several victims, and rescue two survivors. As of last report, one of them is conscious and is having his statement taken as we speak. Yet we believe this was not a random terrorist attack, but F.I.X.E.D. was deliberately targeted and destroyed." says Inspector Takano. There is a louder mummer now as many people in the room are obviously surprised by this statement.

"Here to talk of our findings and theory, is Justin McNeil of the American Judgment branch. Some of you may already know that he is involved in tracking down an escaped American esper convict here in Japan. His Japanese is near perfect so there will be no need for a translator." says Inspector Takano as he again gestures to Justin. Now the loudest mummer yet goes through the room. What is this American, who is investigating a different case, doing addressing this assembly on a completely different case? Justin steps up to the mic. "Good afternoon. I am Justin McNeil. Now I know what you're thinking. Why am I speaking to you if I'm on another case. Well I have reason to believe and have evidence that this attack was carried out by the very convict I am pursuing." he says as he pushes a button on a small remote. The pictures of the destroyed building change into one large picture of a dark haired American and his description.

"This is Damien Mitchem. He escaped from prison almost four months ago. We don't know how he made his way to Japan, or even managed to get inside Academy City. He's wanted for murdering over 30 people in America, all espers, and two espers here in Academy City. And now, over 280 more from the F.I.X.E.D. corp. building." describes Justin. "Excuse me, but what has this person to do with the attack?" comes a question from a random Anti-Skill officer. "If you could hold all questions until McNeil-san is finished with his presentation. Many of your questions will be answered though his presentation." says Inspector Takano though his mic. "As I was saying, he's wanted for murder, terrorist attacks, and several accounts of assault and escaping prison." says Justin. He pushes another button on the small remote and up comes a picture of a piece of rebar partially covered in concrete with several statistic points highlighting it in several places. Kuroko recognizes it as the piece they found in the underground tunnel.

"This is a piece of rebar Inspector Takano found in the foundation tunnels outside of the emergency gate closest to the F.I.X.E.D. building." says Justin. Kuroko thinks back to when Inspector Takano told them that any evidence had to be reported as found by him. "After being extensively examined by Anti-Skill technicians, it's shown that the iron in the rebar has been, for the better part, explosively shattered. This severely weakened the steel, and the explosive shattering also caused severe damage in the surrounding concrete. This in turn caused the building to collapse in on itself like a controlled implosion." describes Justin. There is another loud mummer as many people didn't know the building fell that way. "This could only have been done using esper powers. One of the few espers in Academy City with an ability that can explosively shatter iron, was one of the victims that Damien murdered, Kira Ryusaki-san." says Justin.

"Now what does this have to do with Damien and the building attack? Well Damien is the only esper in the world who has the ability to steal other espers' abilities." says Justin. There is the loudest mummer in the room yet. No one knew such a power was even possible. However Kuroko noticed a sad look to Justin's face for a moment. "How is that possible?" says another Anti-Skill officer in the room. Justin pushes another button on the remote and two pictures of brain cells appear. "These are brain cells. One is healthy, but the other has had all its neurons cut off. Damien's ability allows him to cut out these neurons and transplant them into his brain. These brain cells are in the memory sections of the brain. Their neurons get transplanted into his memory brain cells, there by gaining all memories of that person on how to use their ability. He remembers everything, from the moment they first developed their power, to training, all the way up to the last moment they used it. We call this power 'Cut and Paste' just like for the computer command to cut and paste text." says Justin.

Now there is near dead silence in the room as this revelation shocks everyone but Inspector Takano. Kuroko is even shocked and a bit scared. "The obvious side effect of this power is that it destroys ALL memory in the victim's brain. Essentially the victim's brain forgets to run the body. In other words, the brain forgets to live. I'm also sad to say this is also very painful for the victim." finishes Justin. Again there is a long moment of silence. Finally an older Judgment branch manager speaks up. "So why wasn't this murderer executed? Don't you do that in America?" he asks. "While many states do have the death penalty, several do not. But since the satellite city in America is under Academy City jurisdiction, they do not have the death penalty. Also he was 17 when convicted. There is no death penalty for people that young." says Justin. "Why was F.I.X.E.D. corp. targeted then?" asks another Anti-Skill officer. "This is the only part I don't understand. He's never actually targeted something like this. He has attacked Judgment buildings and Anti-Skill stations in America. But he's never taken down something this large before." describes Justin.

"Well then how do we know it WAS him? Even if he did steal Ryusaki-san's power, how can you be so sure?" asks another Anti-Skill officer. Justin pushes another button on the remote and the pictures go back to the image of the rebar but the image of another piece of steel also appears. "The image on the right is a piece of steel used in Kira Ryusaki-san's last esper evaluation test." says Justin as he pushes another button. The images zoom in to molecular level. As you can see the molecular destruction of the iron in the steel alloy is identical to the one on the left. The only difference is the rebar on the left was destroyed AFTER Ryusaki-san was killed and had his power taken by Damien." explains Justin. "Are you also saying that he can use the powers of dozens of espers now? If so that would make him someone far beyond what we can handle." says another Judgment member. "No. His ability is limited. At most he can only have three powers at once, and one of them is always his cut and paste power. He can only have two stolen powers in his brain at once. There's basically not enough room in his brain to have more than that. Every time he steals a new power, an older one he stole would disappear." explains Justin.

Suddenly the door to the side opens up and in walks Travis. "Ah. And here's my partner who is also pursuing Damien." says Justin. He then notices a sadden look on his face as Travis approaches the mic. Justin covers the mic. "What is it?" he asks in English. "They're both dead..." says Travis. "What? Who?" asks Justin. "The survivors... They're both dead!" says Travis louder. Justin is shocked and so is Kuroko who clearly heard it. "Dead? How!?" asks Justin. "We went to the hospital and got to the floor where both victims where. One was barely conscious but could talk, but the other one was still unconscious. We were just about to head to the room of the conscious victim, when suddenly the other victim began to crash. Doctors and other personnel ran to try and save her, but she was coughing up blood and then... drowned as her lungs filled with her own blood. And then less than a minute later the conscious survivor began to cough up blood. They tried to take him to have emergency surgery, but he died before he got there. We talked to the doctors. They said they suspect they had internal lung damage caused from breathing in too much concrete and pulverized glass." finishes Travis.

Justin stands there quietly for a moment with an obvious look on pain on his face. For a second Kuroko feels as if she needs to go comfort him but quickly shakes it off. Justin then turns to the mic. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some bad news. Both survivors have succumbed to their injuries." he says. Silence befalls the assembly again. Justin steps down from the mic and heads outside with Travis right next to him. Inspector Takano steps back up. "Well McNeil-san is obviously upset about this news as he and his partner were the ones that pulled both victims out of the rubble. As for the building collapse, according to the few who managed to get out of the building before it collapsed, they reported they felt the building shake violently and they also heard loud cracking. Some even reported seeing structural pillars in the main lobby explode before the building began to drop into the tunnels below. After some inspecting of the pieces of building debris already removed from the sight, we discovered a pattern. The building's center fell first, and then were caved in on by the top and then walls of the building. This was a precise implosion, like seen at tear down sites. Damien-san brought this building down with the power stolen from Kira Ryusaki-san." says Inspector Takano.

"This concludes the assembly. Everyone must now treat this Damien Mitchem as criminal #1 in Academy City and you have permission to shot him on sight. More throe search parties and patrol assignments will be delivered to assigned Anti-Skill stations and Judgment branches. We don't know what his true goal is yet, and we must take all measures to try and prevent something like this from happening again. You are dismissed." says Inspector Takano. With that the assembly ends and everyone starts heading back to their stations and branches. Kuroko quickly heads outside to try and find Justin. It takes her a minute to find him. He's sitting on a bench to the side of the building. His head is down and partially covered in shadow. The very beginnings of evening have started as the sky has taken on a slightly orange tint to it. Travis is standing next to the bench leaning up against the building with a sadden look to his face also. She stands there for a moment, unsure if she should approach, but eventually decides to.

Justin doesn't even look up at her, but scoots over anyway as he hears her approach. She doesn't say anything but Justin motions to her to sit with them. She sits down, but doesn't say a word. They stay silent for a moment when Justin suddenly gets very angry. "DAMNIT! Why has he done this again!? He knows better!" he shouts as he balls his hands into fists. Kuroko nearly jumps out of her skin in surprise. "You know damn well he's no longer the person we knew Justin. That person is long gone." says Travis with a serious look to his face. "Um... do you guys... actually know him?" asks Kuroko with a little surprise. Justin looks over at Kuroko for a moment then puts his head back down and nods. "I hope I'm not being disrespectful, but... how do you know him?" asks Kuroko. Both stay silent for a moment. Travis then speaks in English. "Would you rather I tell her?" he asks. Justin stays silent for a moment. "No I can tell her. I just need a moment though." says Justin. "Okay. I hear there's a nice overlook in a park here in District 7 that I'd like to visit. It would be a nice place to clear my head." says Travis. Travis pushes off the wall and begins a slow walk.

Kuroko watches him for a moment then looks back to Justin with concern. Justin stays silent for a moment longer before he speaks up. "It's not his fault you know. Damien I mean. They had no idea something like this would happen to him because of his power." says Justin. "Who? How is it not Damien's fault?" asks Kuroko. "Sorry... I guess I should start from the beginning. See... Damien... was our Judgment branch manager and mentor when we first entered Judgment. He trained us and taught us everything about what it means to be a member of Judgment." says Justin. THAT shocks Kuroko. "Surprised aren't you? How could an outstanding member of Judgment become such a heartless killer?" says Justin. Kuroko just stays silent as she listens intently.

"Again it's not his fault for how he ended up like this." says Justin. He stays silent for a moment again before continuing. "See when his power first manifested itself it was nowhere near deadly. He could still steal someone's powers but also only just stole their memories of how to use it. Nothing more. The American Anti-Skill and Judgment branches thought they could use it to make dangerous espers who used their powers for evil and break the law, harmless. Back when he was a kid all he wanted was to do good and help out his community and city. He wanted nothing more than to be a member of law enforcement. So at a young age they had him as part of the judicial penalizing process." explains Justin.

"The most dangerous and violent of esper criminals that were convicted of murder, rape, and other such terrible crimes would be sentenced to have their powers taken away. Damien was the one who would carry out this punishment. The criminal would be tied down or restrained in some way, Damien would come into the room, and take their power, along with their memories of how to use said power. As a bonus he could use their powers for the side of good and justice. It seemed like a win-win situation. A dangerous criminal would be rendered harmless and their power was then used for good." says Justin.

"So what happened? How did Damien turn into such a killer?" asks Kuroko. "Well, as with most espers, they would train to improve and make their powers stronger. Damien was no different. He wanted to find a way to remove powers without having to take all their memories of ever using powers too. When he was a mere level one and level two, everything was fine. As he grew he eventually joined Judgment officially and became a very powerful tool for them. Then when he was 15 he was given his own branch and that's when Travis and I were placed under his tutelage at age 11. A year past, his powers grew quickly from level three to level four, and we became a close knit group. But... something strange began to happen to him after he reached level three. He was still assigned to take dangerous criminals' powers away... but shortly after reaching level three he began to act... differently. He became more irritable, short tempered, and more violent when on patrol and dealing with other criminals. It only got worse after he reached level four." explains Justin.

"Now this didn't happen all at once. It was gradual. And most people brushed it off as someone going though adolescents and becoming a little rebellious. But all of us had no real idea what was going on. Then... Then the inmates' deaths started. At first it started with them going crazy: breaking down mentally before going fully insane. When asked about it, Damien brushed it off as saying he might have accidentally taken too much of their memories and it affected their personalities and mental functions. He told them that he was trying to improve his ability not to take memories whole when taking powers away. But soon enough, inmates would start dying right after they had their powers taken. Damien said he couldn't explain their deaths and started ignoring reprimands from the prisons about 'accidentally' killing convicts. Damien was to be removed from the judicial penalizing process after one last conviction, which again resulted in the inmate's death. Then one day after his last assignment to take a power... he just snapped. And what's worse, it happened while Travis and I were with him. It happened almost a year ago now. We were responding to a robbery call at a local convenience store..." says Justin as he reminisces.

FLASHBACK

"Come on you two! Hurry it up!" calls out Damien. "We're running as fast as we can sir! We don't have a long stride like you do now!" calls out Justin. "Jeez I hate babysitting." says Damien under his breath. "Where's the store at again?" asks Travis. "It's up ahead on the corner of 12th and Sam's street. Pay attention to the APB next time, will you?" says Damien in an annoyed tone. "I'm sorry sir. I couldn't hear it very well." says Travis. "GOD you two can be so useless sometimes. Just make sure not to mess up here. Okay?" says Damien. The three reach the front of the store only to see the front door has been caved inward by a large metal dumpster. "GIMME THE MONEY! NOW! HURRY IT UP OLD MAN OR I'LL CRUSH YOU LIKE I DID YOUR DOORS!" comes a shout from inside. Damien peeks in and can see a young man, probably a teenager, with a hand on what appears to be the ice-cream cooler that usually sits near the entrance/exit. The elderly man behind the counter is shaking in fear as he desperately tries to push buttons on the keypad to open up the register.

"SHIT!" Damien mumbles loudly under his breath. "Who is it?" asks Travis. "It's Bobby Steinman!" responds Damien sounding very angry. "You mean the pitcher for the high school team who was kicked off for illegally using his power during games?" asks Justin. "Do you know any other Bobby Steinman?" says Damien talking down to Justin. "If I remember correctly his power was called 'Gravity Switch' correct? Where's he's able to switch the amount of gravity on an object with something else?" asks Travis. "Well at least one of you pays attention. Yes. He switched out the gravity of lead balls disguised as baseballs with regular baseballs. Any batter who would hit them would break their bats, hurting their hands in doing so." says Damien. "Sheesh. So this is what he's turned too after getting kicked off the team and quitting school. Such a shame." says Justin. "Just knock it off you two we've got a job to do, so don't get in my way." says Damien harshly.

Damien jumps through the door with Travis and Justin right behind him. "HEY ASSHOLE! FREEZE!" shouts Damien. Bobby immediately turns to the door and sees the three American judgment members. He doesn't hesitate and throws the ice-cream cooler at them. While the gravity on the object he's switched may have changed, its mass hasn't. Damien turns and kicks Travis down and jumps sideways, shoving Justin down and barely dodging the cooler in time. "Jeez you guys are already useless! Just stay out of my way! I'll use a power I got a few days ago from a convict. 'Air Pulse!'" shouts Damien. Damien cups his hands together at the wrists and immediately a swirl of air forms in his cupped hands. He then shunts his hand forward and he launches an air pulse forward. But when he looks forward it's too late to stop as Bobby reaches and grabs the old man and puts him in front of himself. The three Judgment members watch as the old man looks on in horror as the air blast hits him and he goes flying backwards into the wall behind him as Bobby ducks. It doesn't take a doctor to realize that killed the old man instantly.

Damien gets an extremely raged look on his face. You can hear his growl loudly with his mouth closed. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT STEINMAN! WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU, FACING A MURDER CHARGE WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR PRBOEMS! HELL WILL!" shouts Damien in a complete maddening rage. Bobby makes his way over to the alcohol beverage cooler and swings open the door. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a handful of feathers. He starts grabbing 12 pack cases and begins throwing them at Damien with ease as feathers begin dropping to the floor like bricks. Damien, in a rage, shoots every single one of them out of the air with the air pulses and beer and other alcoholic beverages go splattering everywhere. Bobby runs out of ammo in the first cooler and quickly heads to the next one. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" shouts Damien. Bobby looks over when he shouts in time to see the most massive air pulse yet come straight at him. Bobby has no time to dodge and takes the hit full force and gets blown through the tempered glass door and through some more beer cases into the cooler area behind.

Damien walks over to the blasted door and looks inside. Bobby is lying inside, obviously badly injured with cuts and broken bones easily seen and covered in beer cases, cans, bottles, and beer itself. He steps inside and grabs Bobby by his beer and blood soaked collar. "Oh no you don't! You can't die yet! I'm not through with you!" says Damien in an angered and evil tone of voice. He lifts Bobby off the ground and back through the busted cooler door. Bobby makes a painful sounding moan. "As I said, you are going to pay for what you've done! You know what happens to murderers here? I'm the one they call in to take their powers away. Well I'm not going to wait for a judge this time. I'm taking your powers here and NOW." he says evilly. He grabs Bobby by the face and slams him against the nearby wall causing Bobby to wail in pain. "Damien stop! He can't resist anymore!" calls out Travis.

"Shut it! This guy deserves nothing less than what he is about to get!" shouts Damien back. Damien then turns back to Bobby. Bobby's eyes open in horrific pain as he feels Damien enter his brain and begin tearing things out. "Stop! Please Damien!" pleads Justin. Damien ignores him and continues to take every single memory out of Bobby's head. Bobby's eyes finally roll back and he goes completely limp. Damien lets him go and he drops to the ground. Dead. "Heh... he he...ha ha...AH HA HA HA HA HA HA! This is marvelous! I never knew what a rush it was to kill someone like this was! It's so satisfying to give out justice like this! Those stupid judges should just send all espers who break the law my way! They'd never break the law again. I can make sure of it!" says Damien clearly having lost his mind. "My GOD Damien. What have you done!?" shouts Justin. Damien turns to his two underlings with a very evil laugh. Both have a horrified look on their faces. "You see boys!? This is true justice! You defy me and you get what you deserve, instant justice! No waiting on being arrested, no waiting on trails, and no letting them rot in jail!" says Damien in a state of euphoria.

"Justice!? This is not justice Damien! This is MURDER!" shouts Justin. Damien looks at him harshly. "You mean the old man? Yeah too bad about him. But he should have retired a long time ago. It's his own fault he was such an easy target." says Damien coldly. "He didn't mean that Damien, he meant what YOU did. You killed Steinman in cold blood. YOU'RE the one who has committed murder." says Travis "HA! You two are useless after all. You have no idea what true justice is. Such a waste for you two to have powers." says Damien coldly. He reaches over and grabs a hold of the counter top and holds some feathers he swiped out of Bobby's hand. The counter easily pops off its nails and attachments and Damien lifts it off the ground and turns to the boys. "If you don't understand what justice is, then maybe your powers are better off serving me or not used at all." says Damien as he gets ready to throw the counter. Justin and Travis realize that the wooden counter doesn't have much magnetic properties or silicon in it to be stopped by either one of them. They immediately turn to run out the door.

Damien throws the counter and Travis and Justin just barely dive out through the door in time as it go whizzing on by. It goes and crashes into the store's front sign. Travis and Justin stand up just as Damien comes running out the door and grabs a hold of the blasted in doors on the ground. "Damien stop this! You've gone crazy! You need help!" pleads Justin. "No Justin. I haven't gone crazy! I can see the clear path now. True justice can only be dealt by me! And I will remove anyone who gets in my way and will deal justice by any means necessary!" shouts Damien as he throws one of the doors at the two. Justin immediately responds by putting up his hand and, using his magnetism manipulation powers, stops the door in mid air and slams it to the ground. Damien winds up to throw the other one when sirens can be heard coming down the street. A few seconds later the flashing lights of Anti-Skill SWAT and other vehicles comes into view. "It's over Damien. Please give yourself up without a fight. You'll be given a fair trial and psychological evaluation if you do." pleads Justin again.

"I AM THE TRIAL!" shouts Damien. He then turns and actually runs towards the incoming Anti-Skill armada. "Damien wait!" shouts Travis. The two boys start giving chase but he's too fast. When he's close enough Damien throws the other door at an incoming Anti-Skill squad car and nails it in the right side of its hood. Its right side tire hub breaks and it goes careening to the right, slamming into the SWAT van next to it. Its hood dips under the van's back tires and gets crushed. The van meanwhile loses control and heads strait for Damien. With another feather, Damien trades the van's gravity for the feather's and easily lifts the van into the air. Damien is getting ready to throw it into the rest of the oncoming Anti-Skill group of vehicles when there's a yell from behind him. "Damien! Put it down!" shouts Justin. Damien turns around still holding the van over his head. Justin already has his ball bearings in hand and Travis has several large chunks of concrete hovering over his hands. "So you two really are going to go against true justice after all. A shame. I thought I taught you better." says Damien. "You did Damien, you taught us to stand up for the law and defend it. And that's what we're doing now. We're standing against you to stand for the law." says Justin.

"Put the van down Damien, please!" says Travis. By now the rest of the Anti-Skill armada has stopped with dozens of Anti-Skill personal in battle gear and riffles all targeting Damien. Damien looks at the group of Anti-Skill personnel and then back to the boys. "Guess I have to go on a one man crusade is seems. Fine I'll put it down. CATCH!" he shouts and he tosses the van at the two boys. Justin drops all his ball bearings and puts both hands up. The van beings to slow down but is still coming at them. Justin strains as he desperately tries to slow the massive amount of metal coming towards him. He can't let it crash since there are still Anti-Skill personnel inside it. He's just become a level four just a few days ago but still hasn't gotten complete control of his leveled up powers yet. The van finally comes to a quick halt just a couple of feet away from him. Using his powers he sets it down as gently as he can though it's still a rough landing for the occupants inside.

Justin collapses to one knee when the command to fire on Damien is given, now that the van is down and the two boys are behind is armor protection. Only two shots are fired when there's a sudden blast of wind and a massive explosion like blast that comes from where Damien is. Justin and Travis look out from behind the truck and see a small crater where Damien has been. They look up and see Damien has launched himself into the air using the air pulse ability he had taken and has used it to propel himself over the nearby buildings out of sight of Anti-Skill fire. "After him!" comes a shout and all the Anti-Skill personnel jump into their vehicles and floor it after him. Justin and Travis however get left in the dust, except for the Anti-Skill van Justin had saved. "My God Justin... what's happened to Damien? Why has he done this?" asks Travis. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out." says Justin.

END FLASHBACK

Back in the present Kuroko's face is one of complete shock. Damien had been a member of Judgment that had turned to crime. It takes her a good minute before she can respond to that story. "So... what happened after that? Why did Damien turn to crime?" she asks. "It's not WHY he turned, it's WHAT caused him to turn. In his mind he's still doing good." says Justin. "What do you mean?" asks Kuroko. "After what happened there was an investigation into why Damien turned. It took nearly a full month before we found out what happened. It's not until the doctors compared brains scans of him taken during his evaluation tests when they found something. They discovered when he became a level three there was a radical change that began in his brain and it was linked to his power. Each time he used his power to take another person's power... not only would he take their memories of how to use it, but he would also take a minute amount of their personality as well." says Justin. "Their personality?" asks Kuroko in surprise.

"Yes. When he was a level one and level two, the amount of personality he absorbed was so small it wasn't enough to change him. But when he reached levels three and four the amount he absorbed began to affect him. It was slow and gradual though; so slow we couldn't tell. Remember when I said they had him taking the powers of convicted violent esper criminals? Well since he was taking powers from some of the most evil esper criminals, their personalities slowly started to warp his mind." says Justin. Justin lowers his head as he pauses. He seems to be trying to keep himself together. "We should have seen it, but we didn't. His sense of justice and upholding the law was slowly warped as more and more evil personalities were absorbed into him until that day..." says Justin. Justin stops, obviously upset. "You guys were close, weren't you." says Kuroko. Justin nods his head. "He was a kind person, happy to do his part in Judgment. He was more like an older brother to us than a manager." says Justin.

Kuroko knows exactly what he feels like. Mii in some ways feels like an older sister to her and Uiharu sometimes. If she suddenly turned to crime... Kuroko doesn't even want to think about it. "So... what happened after that? How did you two catch him?" asks Kuroko. Justin stays silent. "I'm sorry. If it's too hard on you to tell me then you don't have to." says Kuroko. "No it's okay. I can tell you." he says as he pauses again. "After he escaped us and Anti-Skill he went around the city attacking and killing esper criminals. Mobsters, drug cartel members, and other various criminals. He killed about 12 of them when he changed again. Instead of going after the criminals themselves... he started attacking and killing innocent espers and taking their powers to use against the criminals. His since of justice is so badly warped now, he considers killing innocent people in order to kill criminals as acceptable loses. He's dead set on killing every criminal esper by any means necessary; even if it means killing every innocent esper in the process." says Justin.

"My God..." says Kuroko. "Indeed. As for how we caught him, I wasn't the one who took him down. Travis was." says Justin. "Travis did!? How'd he manage that?" says Kuroko with surprise. "Two months after he started his 'crusade' he had killed 30 espers total, criminal and innocent espers alike. We and Anti-Skill had tracked him to the outskirts of the satellite city to an abandoned warehouse yard; and to one warehouse in particular. Anti-Skill had the place surrounded. Several of us espers along with several Anti-Skill personnel were sent inside to take him. If we could take him down without killing him we were allowed to do so, but if not... we had orders to stop him by any means necessary." says Justin. He's obviously having difficulty recalling this as it's upsetting. "Damien didn't wait for us to come to him. He ambushed us and our group. He didn't hesitate at all. He killed several Anti-Skill officers and injured several more along with some espers. Travis and I got separated in the chaos." describes Justin.

"From what Travis reported and told me, after the initial attack on Anti-Skill he had gotten separated along with several other people. Damien jumped him and almost killed him with a pyrokinisis type attack. Travis barely managed to dodge that attack and then caused part of the wall beside them to collapse in on themselves. The debris managed to hit Damien in the head with some concrete, knocking him out. After searching for him for several minutes, I found him just after the wall had collapsed. We immediately arrested Damien and dragged him out to the awaiting Anti-Skill forces. Damien was sent off for psychological evaluation and was clearly found to be mentally unstable and was sentenced to life in a maximum security asylum. Then, as you know, he somehow escaped four months ago and somehow made it here to Japan. Again we have no idea how he escaped or how he made it to Japan. Hell, we don't even know WHY he came to Japan. I have no idea what could have driven him to attack a building with innocent people inside either." finishes Justin.

"Hmm." think hums Kuroko with her finger to her chin. "Maybe he has some sort of agenda. Academy City IS the center of all esper activity in the world. Maybe his mind warped further and he came to the idea that all esper crime starts in Academy City." she theorizes. "Possibly, but unlikely. He's been incarcerated for six months. He hasn't been able to steal an esper power for that time. So his mind couldn't have been able to be warped further. Plus he never once directly attacked someone that didn't have a power. Even in his warped state he considered them to be truly innocent. Something has happened for him to have changed tactics so suddenly." explains Justin. "Do you think he decided to change tactics? I mean he had some time to think it over in his cell didn't he?" asks Kuroko. "That's possible, but it's not his MO to do it in a round-about way. He takes things head on. Then there's still the fact of how and why he came to Japan." says Justin.

"What do you mean?" asks Kuroko. "He shouldn't even have been able to break out of jail nor come to Japan. He was on the no fly list. All the ports in America were on alert for him after he escaped. The moment cameras caught his face he would have been recaptured." says Justin. "Maybe someone smuggled him out of the country and here to Japan. Without some sort of wall or barrier in the way, smuggling someone across another county's boarders isn't that hard." suggests Kuroko. True, but that still leaves the fact that he got into Academy City without Anti-Skill or Judgement's knowledge." responds Justin. Again Kuroko puts her fingers to her chin. "Hmm, this is very true. Except for a few entry and exit points, which are heavily guarded and all vehicles are inspected, the entirety of Academy City is surrounded by a large wall." she says.

Justin then grimaces. "What is it? Did you figure something out?" asks Kuroko. "I don't know. I just had a dark feeling." says Justin. Kuroko looks at him with a slight confused look. "Smuggling someone into Academy City is all but impossible. So the only way I can think of on how Damien got in was that someone had to LET him in." says Justin. A very cold chill runs down Kuroko's back. The thought of this all being an inside job deeply scares her. What's more, thinking this is more than just a crazy person gone rouge: that there is more than one person behind all this is something she doesn't want to think about. As if reading her mind, or her emotions, Justin speaks up. "I don't like the thought of it either. But all that's happened; Damien escaping jail, managing to leave the US, making it all the way to Japan, and even getting into Academy City… it would be too much of a feat for him to accomplish by himself. Then there's the matter of him targeting the Fujitsu Corp. HQ. That couldn't have been random." Justin explains.

Justin intertwines his fingers into a double fist and places his chin on top of it. The serious look on Justin's face stirs something in Kuroko's heart. She quickly quashes it. "Do you think we should go tell this to Inspector Takano?" asks Kuroko. "I don't know yet. There is no real evidence of collusion or even if one other person is involved. But given the circumstances and more than strange coincidences, I do think it's more than likely. Still I have no proof. Anti-Skill doesn't act on theories alone." says Justin. "Sadly that's true too. A simple hunch isn't enough to get Anti-Skill moving on anything." says Kuroko. "I guess the only thing we can do is play the waiting game and be patient. A clue or evidence will pop up eventually. Though the longer we wait, the more people will likely be killed. And I hate that." says Justin sternly. Kuroko can only lean back against the bench in thought and frustration. Sometimes being in law enforcement can feel very restrictive. She also hates this feeling. The two of them just sit there quietly as the sky once again turns a deep shade of orange.

Meanwhile in the basement of a dark abandoned office building near the outskirts of The Strange in District 10, a man with long shoulder length black hair walks into a strange brightly lit room. He winces a bit at the sudden change in light levels. It's Damien. And he's never been a fan of overly bright rooms. The room is very wide and spacious with a few dozen or so very bright florescent lights set to max on the ceiling. There's an odd metal grid structure over the ceiling as well. Over on the far left side of the room from the entrance is a platform that sets up about two steps high. On the platform is a giant computer with a 10 foot computer screen that is also brightly lit. "Damn, why does it always have to be so damned bright in here?" he complains. "Heh. I think worrying about the light levels is the least of your problems now. You're going to in big trouble with the boss." comes a young female voice. Damien looks over and sees a long blond haired woman sitting on the floor with her back against the wall and one of her legs stretch out on the floor. Her hair is long on one side but is buzzed cut on the other. She's wearing an oversized hooded sweatshirt with long sleeves and a black mini skirt. She also has on long pink thighhighs and black stylish high-heel boots.

"Oh shut your mouth Stesha!" says Damien harshly. Stesha, a girl a year younger that Damien and from Russia, just grins. "Right now you should be worried about yourself being in trouble. It seems Anti-Skill and Judgment have figured out you're here in Academy City already." says Stesha in her Russian accented English. Those incompetent Japanese Anti-Skill and Judgement retards can't find their way out of a paper bag. I doubt they would know I'm here and that I brought down that shitty Fujitsu corp." says Damien with a smirk. "Maybe not the Japanese, but two American Judgment members you are familiar with would did." says Stesha with an even harsher smirk as she thump points towards the computer. Damien looks over and sees the image of two young boys on the screen. Both Damian knows too well. "Justin and Travis? Why are they up on the screen?" ask Damien. "Both those brats arrived in Academy City yesterday and were working heard cleaning up the mess you made of Fujitsu Corp. HQ. What's worse it seems our contact in Judgement and Anti-Skill say that these two have already connected you with this 'act of terror.'" explains Stesha.

Damien gets an angered look on his face. "Oh my, did I strike a cord?" asks Stesha teasingly. Damien then calms down a bit. "No not really. Frankly I'm not surprised. I did train these two 'brats' myself. If anything, despite the fact they're no longer on the side of true justice, I'm kinda proud they tracked me down so quickly. I trained them well. The little traitorous bastards." says Damien with a smirk. "I don't think smiling is what you should be doing right now. Thanks to your incompetence about being found out so soon, the boss isn't going to be very happy. He may even have me kill you for your failure." says Stesha with a hard smile. "Oh? Do you WANT me to rip your ability out of your brain? I hate you, you know and would love nothing more that to see you writhe in pain as I took another ability from another criminal. Stupid Russian bitch." says Damien as he smirks fiendishly. "Hah! I'd like to see you try. You know very well that my power is the only thing keeping yours in check. But if you want to try I welcome you to. I would love to see your brains splattered across the floor and wall." Stesha then pulls out a Tokarev TT-30 and aims it right at Damien's head.

"Now, now you two. No fighting." comes another male voice from the doorway next to the computer. The two look over and watch a man with black pants, blue dress shirt, a large labcoat and highly reflective glasses sitting on a long nose, come through the doorway. "Oh Doc. It's just you. Tell this Russian bitch to stand down so I may rip her ability out of her head. I could use it so much better than she can for true justice." says Damien evilly. "Try it and the last thing you'll see is the flash of my gun. Or better yet just let me kill him now since he's already ruined the plan." says Stesha.

"Come now, Stesha and Damien, calm down. What's happened so far is going all according to the plan. Even the fact that Damien has been found out so quickly was part of the plan." says the mysterious man in a calm voice. "You're shitting me right? You mean he hasn't screwed up the plan?" asks Stesha with shock. "That's right. The plan even took this into account and in fact makes the plan work for the better. Now both of you just calm down." says the mysterious man again with a calming voice. Damien and Stesha stare down each other for a few more seconds before they both back down at the same time. "Now see. That's much better. The next phase of the plan is to begin tomorrow. The next target is ripe for being taken out. You'll need both of the powers you took for this plan to work. So there's no need to take Stesha's powers. Are you ready Damien?" asks the mysterious man again with a calm voice. "Oh yes. Taking down these instigators of evil is all the punishment needed for True Justice." says Damien with another smirk. "Good. I'll be ready on my end as well. This one will be a little more difficult to pull off than the first one, but the results will be even more devastating. Get some rest you two and be ready bright and early." says the mysterious man still in a calm voice with with an evil smirk of his own.

End of Chapter 4

To be Continued in Chapter 5: Another Tragedy, A clue found?

Story Note: Things have become even more complicated and twisted. Justin and Travis are having to deal with the fact that their former mentor is still going on a killing rampage. Meanwhile Kuroko is having feelings stir in her heart that she doesn't want. Who is this mysterious man and what is he planning next for Damien to go after? What part of this does this Stesha girl play? Can another tragedy be prevented or will more innocent people die before Damien can be stopped? Find out next Chapter!

Author Note: Yes I know it's been FAR too long since I last updated this story, or any story for that matter. But I ran into many MANY writer's blocks on how to get this chapter to sound right, but nothing came out perfectly. So I took a break from it for a while and have returned with a fresh perspective. And what do you know. I plowed right though it. I have also begun work on my first Children's learning book. Wish me luck! See you all next chapter!