Hello all, it's been a while but I got some motivation to write again so here is chapter 2.
This whole thing was originally going to be a shorter part of what will be happening next chapter, but as I kept writing it just kept going so I got a lot of the exposition out of the way at once. Hopefully I kept things paced well enough that it didn't become tedious. As I turned the story over in my head, I eventually came to the feel of not trying to break Touma and instead went for the Kamijou Faction story. Our boy is still going to be more brutal than he was at the start of the main series but if you've read the novels it won't get as crazy as the Looney Toons chase in NT13.
Some people mentioned reiterating the events of NT9 to break Touma but the novel already showed that such a thing may have come close but it still did not break him, and I will adhere to that canon.
Can't think of anything else to type at the moment aside from the fact that the next chapter will have action! It will likely be a while before I write it as I have to completely plan it all out to keep it from getting cluttered.
Anyway, ramblings aside read and enjoy.
It had been three months since the deaths of Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto were announced to the world and the fractured power balance of Academy City has settled down into a few main factions. Most of the west half of the city fell under the control of a collection of Kiharas that jokingly named themselves "Love and Peace" despite being the cruelest of the main factions. The east had eventually grouped up to form a collection of high powered espers that came together to defend themselves against the torturous experiments the Kiharas wanted to subject them to. Their motive was originally noble, however as more people of lower levels fled to them, the higher level espers started to enforce a strict level-based hierarchy. The lower levelled people were treated increasingly worse as their levels got lower, and level 0s became little more than slave labor and meat shields. Despite not having the support of any of the level 5s, the leaders of the group arrogantly claimed their territory was under the guidance of "Humanity's Future".
These two groups controlled roughly 90% of the city, and it was only their power struggle against each other that prevented them from spilling out into the city of Tokyo. Aside from the two main groups, a few smaller factions managed to maintain their sovereignty. Near the center of the city only a kilometer away from the Windowless Building where the fighting was fiercest was the stronghold of the remaining Anti Skill and Judgement officers who had not been corrupted or killed by the other factions. Despite their losing battle they never stopped their attempts to keep the innocent civilians of the city safe, and it was with their help that many fled to safer grounds.
Despite being in the same district as the Windowless Building and a prime target of ire and "recruitment" by both major factions, the School Garden of rich young ladies maintained itself as a solitary force under the protection of Shokuhou Misaki. For a while it was also protected by Misaka Mikoto; however the Railgun left after a disagreement with the Queen 4 months after the city fell into civil war, worked with and eventually died with Kamijou Touma. Despite the loss of a level 5 the older students of the Gardens continued to protect the innocent young girls in the face of repeated attempts to take the area over.
The only other faction to "officially" have the support of a level 5 is the loose collection of low level thugs led by Hamazura Shiage of ITEM and supported by the raw destructive power of Mugino Shizuri. Despite no advanced technology and very few powerful espers the Skill Out faction proved to be very adept at disappearing and reappearing in another area of the city when threatened. As the civil war grew fiercer over the fight to control the technological wonders of the Windowless Building, those who did not want to fight increasingly turned to the abilities of the Skill Out faction when it came to surviving. Both main factions found their ability to stay alive despite their lackings to be insulting and attempted to crush the group, only to find that not only had they already moved to another location but had raided several supply caches in the process.
The rest of the level 5s and many "heroes" had taken to travelling the city, frequently coming to the aid of civilians caught in the crossfire and were the primary reason neither side managed to fully control the city.
October 31st, Halloween, the day where people in some countries would dress up as any manner of spooky monster and have a fun time. In more superstitious circles it was rumored that the sometimes the dead would return to life, but few would actually expect that two very powerful dead people would make a very alive appearance on this day.
Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto; Imagine Breaker and the Railgun, two incredibly famous and extremely powerful individuals that had put an end to countless incidents even before the start of Academy City's civil war. According to the reports from both Love and Peace and Humanity's Future, the two had died together following a bombardment of a new and improved version of the Five Over Model Case Railgun that was touted to be immune to the hacking powers of an electromaster. After their deaths were confirmed, the fighting between the two factions grew particularly fierce around the Windowless Building that had been protected by the heroes. After several days of the two factions wearing each other down, Accelerator swooped in and crushed both sides and forced them to retreat. To this day the area remained a very dangerous zone for those attempting to access Aleister's former stronghold. The deaths of Imagine Breaker and the Railgun had sparked a tremendous wave of despair throughout the city; just what kind of change would their return bring?
"Does this look weird on me? I've never worn something like this before" said Kamijou Touma as he idly examined himself. He wore what looked like a strange cross between a suit and a military uniform complete with a collar, tie and black overtones with a white collared undershirt. All in all it looked like some sort of impractical outfit that wouldn't look out of place in a manga, but the girls in the room all gave nods of approval.
"I knew I left the designing in the right hands, you look just right; powerful, charming, and just a touch of regality." Shokuhou Misaki happily commented on Kamijou's new attire while Kumokawa Seria took a few pictures with a satisfied face. Despite the look, the clothes were extremely easy to move in, and no matter what movements he took to test things out, nothing fell out of place and nothing seemed like it would get stuck. Truly, the tailors of the School Gardens were terrifyingly good.
They were in a large and well decorated banquet room in the heart of Academy City. It had long been abandoned due to being located close to the worst battlefields in the city. The only reason the place had not been looted is because of the guards that had been "assigned" to protect it by Misaki. However the expensive walls still showed some signs of damage and most of the lights no longer worked. Overall, the abandoned building made a good staging point for the plan that was about to go underway.
After he had finished examining himself in the mirror, Kamijou took a minute to examine the other people in the room. Everybody was wearing the same black uniform with a similar look to himself; a simple black top modeled after military parade uniforms with matching pants. Shokuhou and Kumokawa also wore what appeared to be a long cape skirt that draped behind them from their waists to their ankles. While in planning, many agreed that proper attire was required to show the world the solidarity of the group, and after a few concept designs were introduced most of the people involved were eager to see them become reality. The ladies in particular consistently sent glances towards Kamijou and Tsuchimikado while discussing it. However there needed to be enough of a difference to distinguish their "king" from the rest, and Kamijou was fitted for a design that was a touch more elegant. Touma himself was very worried that he would somehow ruin the clothing, but Misaki told him to not worry about it. He also noticed her eyes drifting a bit in thought but quickly put any curiosity of what she was thinking out of his mind.
"I guess even you would look good in something like that, I'm impressed" Misaka Mikoto made a cheeky verbal jab at Kamijou as she arrived on the scene. She wore the same uniform as Misaki and Seria and when she got to them she took a moment to examine the two ladies. "The same could be said about you Misaka, just the other day you looked like a harmless schoolgirl. I wonder just how many poor souls you savaged over the years." Misaki jokingly held her hand in front of her face while bantering with Misaka.
The two girls historically did not get along, however shortly after the death of Aleister; Misaki had discovered that he had been using the strobilus nanomachines to prevent Kamijou Touma from ever remembering her. Despite all of her connections, Misaki had difficulty finding somebody to safely remove the machine, and even Heaven Canceller stated that he would not be able to guarantee it's removal without risking even more brain damage to the young man. However, a sufficiently skilled electromaster would be able to shut it down with minimal risk; that electromaster was none other than her longtime rival Misaka. Misaka Mikoto would never forget the day that the usually haughty Mental Out came to her requesting her help; there were no attempts at trickery, no politicking with previous favors and even her speech was completely different. On that day, Shokuhou Misaki wholeheartedly begged for help from somebody other than Kamijou Touma for the first time in her life. After the incident the two started getting friendlier with each other but maintained their enmity in public; Aleister had made sure that the two would disagree and they believed that it was a good idea to keep the city thinking that way. This precaution proved worthwhile as the order of the city continued to devolve and the two often had to work together to manipulate the outcome of many events.
While Misaki and Misaka helped each other adjust their clothes, Index walked into the room with a tiny Othinus on her head. Both were clothed the same as the three ladies surrounding Kamijou. Index looked at herself in the mirror next to Touma and frowned. "I feel weird not being in my usual habit, do I really have to wear this? I am a nun-in-training after all." Index idly complained while turning herself to see her back in the mirror, the nun did not seem to care for the uniform. Othinus stood up on Index's head and looked at herself as well while retorting to Index's complaint. "After this is all said and done you're likely going to be branded a heretic anyway so I wouldn't worry about it." After a moment at the mirror, Othinus nodded in satisfaction and turned towards Touma.
"Finished preparing yourself? This whole plan relies on you looking suitably charismatic; most of the city may owe you but if you don't put on a good show then we'll be fighting an uphill battle. Well, it wouldn't be anything unusual for you." Othinus gave Touma a once over while speaking. She seemed satisfied with how he looked as she did not correct anything and tapped Index's head. Index reached up and Othinus jumped into her palm, then Index reached her arm out for the tiny fairy to jump over to Touma's shoulder. Kamijou looked around the room once more before saying "that seems to be everybody, let's get started."
On one wall of the room a white sheet was spread for a projector and a map of the central district 7 where the Windowless Building was located was projected onto the screen. Next to the projected map stood the large-breasted black-haired woman who was the brains of the operation. "Alright everybody today is the day. In the off chance somebody doesn't know me, I'm Kumokawa Seria and I'll be in charge of directing everything that's going on today. Our main goal today is to gain complete control of the Windowless Building the other groups have been fighting over and make our entrance with flair. The people of this city are looking for somebody proper to protect the innocent and provide stability, that somebody will be us."
The normally calm Seria was giving off a very energetic vibe as she explained the details of the plan. "To summarize: our King and his guard will take the Windowless building and announce to the city our intent. The support groups will move about and interfere with any attempts to get through into the building; if any serious firepower comes your way don't hesitate to call for help. You guys know better than anybody else what it's like going against espers and technological monsters." Seria turned to her right and looked towards two powerhouses who had been talked into helping. "I know you two don't like being treated as artillery, but this job is very important. Love and Peace has a lot of powered armor and you two level 5s are the most qualified to take them out. Leave most of the espers to the support groups." Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri did not reply, the two liked to think of themselves as professionals, and professionals did their job properly.
After the briefing was finished, the various people moved towards their assigned missions. The groups included the following:
The King: Kamijou Touma
The King's Guard: Misaka Mikoto, Shokuhou Misaki, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Kumokawa Maria, as well as an assortment of particularly experienced high level espers and mundane law enforcement.
Support groups: ITEM, Etzali, Hattori Hanzou, Kuruwa, Misaka WORST, Kuroyoru Umidori, and a large quantity of assorted Skill Outs, Anti Skill, Judgment, and former Dark Side members.
Heavy Support: Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri.
In the evening, the Kamijou Faction was ready to put their plan into action, and Misaki held a radio towards Touma. "My king, how about a bit of a motivational speech for everybody before we get started?" Misaki smiled brightly as Touma nervously scratched his cheek and took the radio. He glanced around at the people accompanying him before Tsuchimikado grinned and faked shouting over the radio. "Speech! Speech! Speech! Come on now Kami-yan a king has to give a speech!" The radio channels were quickly filled with joking requests for a speech while Kamijou glared at Tsuchimikado. "All right all right you guys I'll give a damn speech." Touma cleared his throat quickly before starting.
"Right, it's been one hell of a year for all of us. We've gone through all sorts of hell, fought to defend our loved ones, fought each other, fought gods…Yet we've made it here. Today we're going to bring the beginning of the end to this shitty civil war that's been going on in our city. Today we announce to the world the innocent are not alone, that they don't need to resign themselves to their tears. We will be the hand that helps those that cannot even cry for aid. Love and Peace? Humanity's Future? If they're claiming to be on the side of 'good' while causing so much suffering then we'll be the 'evil' that saves. When the 'good' of the world was been corrupted and the systems in place no longer come to the aid of those without power, I guess it comes down to a Demon Lord to shake things up a bit. You all know I often speak of 'misfortune', but let's show them the misfortune they brought upon themselves.
Ladies and gentlemen; it's time to break their fucked up illusions."
Kamijou released the transmission button on the small radio and handed it back to Misaki as quiet cheers sounded over the radio. He could hear several people telling their comrades to wait until after things were over to get loud and grinned a bit. Tsuchimikado started slowly clapping with an infuriating grin on his face and the other people in the Guard joined in. Touma blushed a bit before complaining. "I'm not used to speeches like that". Tsuchimikado lightly slugged him in the shoulder before calling him out "Kami-yan you've always been really speechy, but that was well done." Over the radio, Kumokawa Seria was telling everybody to quiet down.
"All right guys that was a wonderful speech. You heard our king, today is the day and right now is the time. Everybody is in position and the bait is in place. The leading units from both sides will be clashing as planned. You all know what to do, begin the operation!"