Hello all, finally another update here. This time is technically a side story.
Bit of an odd thing this. I started only doing a few paragraphs at a time rather than my usual lazy attempt at busting out a chapter in a single night when I felt like it and suddenly this side chapter was longer than the first two main chapters combined. I think I'll start writing over time like this since it seems to come out a lot better. Takes a long time to write just a bit but it does let me fix ideas i partially had and forgot about later.
Anyway, this side story was something I thought of at some point of the heroes coming to the rescue, but it fit a lot better during the time of lying low rather than when things go big like in the next main chapter so I made it into a side story. Honestly, I was just too lazy to come up with names so I tried writing the entire narrative without creating names and that was an interesting challenge in itself.
Minor side things, having read Heavy Object it is really hard to resist the temptation to put Heivia and Quenser in as a cameo. I even accidentally came up with a good nickname for them as "The H&Q Demolition Crew".
Anyway, I still have to fully plan out the action events of the next chapter, so don't expect it for some time. I have a lot of ideas floating around for later happenings, so this story is definitely going to go on for quite some time.
Anyway, the next chapter won't be for a while, but read and enjoy as always.
District 10, the southernmost district in Academy City and one with a history for being relatively lawless due to having low overall security and containing the delinquent hot zone known as The Strange. To its west lies District 2 which contained the Anti-Skill and Judgement stronghold which opposed both factions of Love and Peace and Humanity's Future. Due to its proximity to the Windowless Building as well as having District 2 between itself and the areas controlled by Love and Peace; Humanity's Future quickly gained control of the area. Disgruntled espers who were arrested and sentenced to the reformatory located in the district opted to join up with Humanity's future, and many of the criminals took to abusing the level 0's with their newfound freedom. Much of the faction's leadership saw level 0's as third-rate citizens at best and offered them no protection from any espers who chose to use them as target practice or worse. It was in this run down and battle scarred district that many used to escape from the grasp of Humanity's Future.
"Hey, hey, hey it's Radio AC comin' to you from an undisclosed location! We're reaching the end of August folks, so be sure to snag some warm clothing for the coming winter and remember to beware the dreaded Japanese cold! Public service aside let's slip right into our juicy rumor hour." A few youths were gathered around a small radio in an old park located in The Strange while listening to the broadcast by a boisterous young lady. There was not much to do for entertainment in the current Academy City for most people, so the pirate radio broadcast was a very welcome distraction. Huddled together a bit away from the group were a young couple; a boy and a girl that both wore hooded jackets while hiding their faces. This was not uncommon in The Strange as many people in the area were attempting to pass through to potentially safer territory or lay low in the winding streets.
"And now for the grand finale for our Gossip hour, I have some very interesting tidbits coming from the HF controlled District 10. My secret sources claim that a few high levelled and very notorious espers have lost their powers in the past week. No direct evidence has been presented but rumor has been spreading quickly that the 'Specter of Imagine Breaker' has been haunting the district, ripping the AIM fields from those deemed unworthy. For those not in the know, Imagine Breaker was one of the common aliases of the recently-claimed-deceased Kamijou Touma who was reputed to specialize in negating powerful espers. Some have started whispering that he and the Railgun who allegedly died with him are still alive somehow, though both L&P and HF claimed to have conclusive DNA evidence of their deaths. We at Radio AC will keep digging to find the truth behind this! Well, our time is up for today; be sure to check back in three hours for our next segment. This is Radio AC, signing off!"
The group surrounding the radio started excitedly whispering at the last segment of the gossip hour. While The Strange was not under absolute control by Humanity's Future due to its winding alleys and improperly maintained infrastructure, high level espers still frequented the place for "recruitment" and in worse cases "rat hunts". Those who managed to get used to the terrain and get good at hiding found the area to be relatively safe; those who did not had a much harder time of things.
From the group huddled around the radio a middle-aged man walked up to the hooded couple off to the side with two steaming cups of instant ramen. The young couple briefly looked at the man in fear before carefully checking the ramen like terrified rabbits. After a moment of thought, the young girl slowly took a bite of the noodles, and then proceeded to devour them with alarming speed. Her companion quickly followed suit, and the two cups were empty in under a minute. The two quickly thanked the old man as he smiled and started up a conversation.
"You two new to this kind of life? Finding food and friends is very important for surviving out here, you never know when things will get bad." The boy slowly raised his head to finally look the man in the eye. The older man had a scruffy greying beard and wore what looked like an old aviation jacket with simple jeans. He smiled widely as he sat down in front of the couple and continued his attempt at conversation. The fact that the two were nervously darting their eyes in all directions did not escape his notice, and he lowered his volume.
"Did you somehow make some enemies somewhere? I can suggest a few places to scavenge that haven't been getting much attention lately, might help you find a few things to barter with. Living out here may be better for avoiding unwanted attention if you get good at it but you'll still need things of value to buy supplies." As the older man talked, the young couple started whispering to each other as their conversation partner patiently waited. The young girl shyly opened her mouth as was about to start talking when a loud hissing noise sounded out and a small rocket streaked through the sky.
The people around the radio rapidly packed up their things and sprinted into the nearby buildings. The middle-aged man quickly followed suit while yelling back to the young couple "some espers have left their area and are heading out into The Strange! I really suggest finding a good place to hide! Sorry, but you can't come with me for this!"
The two young teenagers quickly pulled each other up and sprinted to a different building than the older man. Scrambling hand-in-hand through a nearby abandoned high-rise the couple exited out of the other wise and continued through the narrow alleys. While running the girl finally spoke up "we need some sort of plan, any ideas?" The young man kept running while he responded "I wouldn't give it as much credit as an 'idea' but the farther west we go the closer to District 2. If we can make it there we will probably be safe." The girl couldn't see the boy's face but she could tell he was only telling himself that to help maintain some semblance of composure. It was likely that his face as white in fear and his hands were noticeably trembling even while running. They both knew that the likelihood of reaching the safety of the Anti-Skill/Judgement stronghold was less than 1%.
Both of them continued to think while running themselves ragged through the alleys and abandoned buildings of District 10. They had been running for roughly 10 minutes when the girl thought of something. "Let's start heading north, towards the Windowless Building. We may be able to shake them off in that battlefield." The boy abruptly stopped as the girl gave her suggestion.
He slowly turned around to face the girl while her words echoed in his head. "That's crazy. There has to be even more espers working for them in that direction and even if there aren't we'll get killed or captured by those damn scientists!" The boy had finally started to crack under the pressure of the situation. He was a level 3 esper with a marginally useful ability that had not really suffered any hardships even after the civil war broke out. He couldn't help but curse himself a bit for falling in love with the ex-delinquent level 1 in front of him. He cursed himself, but he knew he'd be do so even more if he ever turned his back on her; even one who skirted through life as lazily as him must have something to fight for.
The two took a moment to catch their breath before resuming their quick debate; the girl resumed the conversation first. "Listen, as things are it'll just be us against them and we have no chance in hell. If we somehow manage to get another group involved without drawing too much attention to ourselves we might just be able to slip through. If nothing else, we may get lucky and a stray bullet will find its way into one of our pursuers." At that rather disturbing comment the boy stared at the girl in front of him for a moment but relented quickly. The city was never completely safe and it had only gotten worse as public order came crashing down; those without power needed cunning to survive.
After he finished catching his breath, the boy turned towards the north and walked while the girl follow suit. "I know I may be going along with this idea, but it's still fucking crazy." The boy vented some stress with language he would normally never use as he picked up his pace. Their destination was to travel through the most dangerous part of the city, but when the world had gone crazy being sane was often a hindrance.
"Oho~, Misaka sees some interesting prey heading out today." On the 10th floor of an abandoned high-rise, a woman was lying down while looking through binoculars. She had shoulder-length tea-colored hair, wore a grey camouflage outfit and if one was to describe her face many would agree that she would not look out of place on a wanted poster. To her left was a high-powered rifle with various attachments including a scope and silencer and to her right was an odd contraption made up of wire, aluminum foil and a bottle. Through her binoculars, Misaka WORST was observing an armored van driving into The Strange from the HF-controlled District 11.
"Ahh~ Misaka sees an armored van filled with what she recognizes as high-levelled espers heading out into The Strange. Misaka's guess would be that they're probably going after the young couple she saw running away into the district last night judging by the level 4 clairvoyant with them. Misaka's sniper rifle has been collecting dust the past few days, should she take them out?" Misaka WORST used the small wire and foil contraption with her electromaster power to communicate with somebody.
"…Hah? Let them go? You're cruel boss; Misaka wants to actually do something more than stalking some kittens all day…" The villainous face turned in boredom and most normal people that saw her would quickly vacate the area with a single glance. Misaka WORST quietly translated the signals being sent through her makeshift device and continued to keep the van in her sights. After a minute of listening, her face distorted into a terrifying grin as she agreed with what she "heard".
"That certainly sounds fun after all, make sure you get some nice pictures for Misaka when they come to…What? Can't a girl have a hobby?" While her voice seemed slightly offended the undoubtedly evil grin on her face did not waver in the slightest as she observed the van. Shifting her gaze around a bit her honed instincts quickly found the young couple that had fled into The Strange the night before. It was obvious that the espers in the van would quickly catch up to the escapees, but Misaka WORST did not move from her vantage point. Putting down her binoculars she picked up the sniper rifle next to her and started adjusting the scope. "Well, Misaka thinks she should provide a little assistance until the heroes arrive. She doubts there will be any worthwhile thanks but seeing those kittens flee in terror might just make for a bit of fun to kill the afternoon" Misaka WORST adjusted her aim through the scope and noted her targets. Contrary to first thought she was not aiming for the espers or the running couple.
"Their route has changed; they seem to be heading north towards the Windowless Building." Riding shotgun in an armored van driving through the streets of District 10, a teenager with neatly-combed black hair and a well-maintained uniform from a prestigious school unnaturally gazed into the buildings. In his hands were black-rimmed glasses, and his whole appearance shouted "honor student". This young man was a level 4 clairvoyant of high standing within Humanity's Future as a potent tacker with his ability to find and track anybody he could put a face to within several kilometers. While never taking his eyes off the target he was following, the young man directed the middle-aged man in the driver's seat.
Social standing in Humanity's Future was arranged in a rather simple manner: those who were high-levelled espers and teachers who consistently contributed to the development of such espers had higher social standing. Lower level espers had lower standing; with the level 2 and 3 espers holding a position similarly to the middle-class, and level 1 espers were treated as lower-class citizens. Level 0's who were not teachers or professors amounted to little more than slaves for manual labor in the eyes of those in control, and nobody had any knowledge of the Parameter List.
The middle-aged man in the seat next to the clairvoyant was a lower-class teacher who most often had results around level 2 with his students. As such, he was often drafted for menial work like driving for hunts much like today. Behind them, four more level 4 espers sat in two back seat rows, idly chatting or staring out the window. One was a rough-looking blonde girl who could conjure a potent wind barrier in a bubble that could block high-caliber bullets. Next to her sat a young man with an honor student look much like the clairvoyant in the front seat with messy brown hair and the ability to manipulate light to create illusions of himself. In the back seat sat a violent looking young man with bleach blonde hair, an ability revolving around magnetism and was a well-known savage among those in HF controlled territory. Finally, next to him was a quiet girl with long black hair who gave off a more "professional" atmosphere as a veteran of Academy city's dark side. This girl was a product of the Dark May project who inherited Accelerator's defensive patterns and possessed the ability to manipulate oxygen around herself much like another young girl who manipulated nitrogen, however rather than raw defensive power this girl enveloped herself in flames for both offense and defense earning her the nickname "Blaze Spikes".
The van continued to drive on the streets according to the directions of the clairvoyant, moving to cut their target off. After several minutes of maneuvering, the van pulled to a stop in front of an alley and the espers all exited. "They're completely exhausted, this should be easy." The clairvoyant out a map as he spoke and proceeded to point out several alley intersections on it. "They are currently here, so the best cut off points would be here and here." The espers divided their roles and split up on their hunt, leaving the teacher behind with the car. After they left, the teacher leaned back and started to doze off; completely oblivious to the fact that his tires started rapidly losing air.
The two hooded fugitives slowed their pace and started more carefully finding their way through the alleys. The northwestern parts of District 10 had a lot of unstable buildings due to all of the fighting, and one had to take care that they did not bring rubble down on their own head. In the distance, the occasional gunshot or explosion could be heard, telling the tales of a continued battle in the city's heart. It was early evening when they were found.
A lone brown-haired young man casually stood in front of the fugitives holding a small pistol. "I'll give you one chance to come back peacefully Mr. Wind Wall; you are a part of Humanity's Future like all of us superior beings. Why would you flee from our kindness in finding you a suitable partner for more advanced offspring?" The young man's voice gave off a sense of calm, but his face showed a hint of scorn. Even though he was as high as a level 3, he was still lower than the level 4s, and their attitude towards him was not much better than any other. The narrow alley offered little in the terms of maneuverability, so the only way out was to go through the armed young man in front of them. The fugitive boy glanced once to the girl at his side as she looked back. He could tell by the determination in her eyes she was thinking the same thing.
The hooded boy quickly raised his arms forward, conjured a powerful wall of wind, and sent it flying at the enemy in front of him. To his surprise, the man in front of him disappeared rather than get sent flying, and a voice echoed from another alley.
"So you choose to flee, no matter. We will catch you so resisting is futile. Tell me, can you tell the difference between an illusion and a real person? I am curious to see how you will attempt."
As the voice came, several more visions of the same young man surrounded them, and the fugitives dashed through several of them to get away. As the two kept running, long rails of metal impacted the buildings around them increasing their panic as they realized more than one high level esper was nearby and hunting them. While sprinting through one alley, the girl noticed a metal pipe about half a meter long and picked it up as she ran for a weapon. They had been running for several minutes when the situation got even worse as they were cut off by the level 4 clairvoyant and wind barrier espers.
"I thought that our companion made it perfectly clear that you were to come with us, did he perhaps mumble?" The clairvoyant arrogantly admonished the fugitives from behind the powerful spherical barrier being sustained by the blonde girl. The two took a step back before hearing the sound of somebody approaching from behind. They turned and found that the Illusionist from earlier was blocking their path back holding a small pistol while sneering. Sweat formed on their foreheads as the two hooded youths desperately looked around for a way out. The young boy started giving in to despair and weakly asked.
"Just what the hell do you want with me and what do you plan to do to her?"
The expressions of the two young men who demanded their surrender did not change much, but the blonde girl visibly frowned and shouted through her barrier. "Just what is it about that bitch that has you so occupied with her? I was so happy to find that our matching abilities made us good marriage partners so what the hell is making you run away from me?" The clairvoyant did not show if he noted the anger of his companion while he calmly stated the intentions of Humanity's Future for the two runaways in front of him.
"The level 3 Wind Wall and the level 4 Wind Barrier are to marry and produce offspring in part of our experiment to see if genetics can produce a more powerful esper of similar ability types. While your crimes can be ignored to an extent in recognition of your potential, level 1 Aero Hand has been deemed unnecessary to our plans. What those of us in the hunting party do with her is of no concern to the will of Humanity's Future so long as she does not corrupt any more chosen ones."
The cold eyes of the clairvoyant made it perfectly clear that the fate of the girl did not include her survival if she was caught by the hunting party. The boy gathered up his little remaining courage and shouted in defiance. "You guys are fucked up. Just what kind of crazy society do you intend to build? Why are you only calling people by their ability and level? We have names!" The boy felt his shaking intensify as adrenaline started to pump through his body. The clairvoyant seemed like he was about to say something when a terrified shout resounded through the nearby alleys. The members of the hunting party all frowned at the shouting voice.
"That's the voice of the level 4 Magnetizer, just what has him so worked up?" As the Illusionist spoke in confusion, the fugitives took advantage and made their move. The boy quickly conjured a wall in the direction of the already existing spherical wind barrier causing them to violently interact and prevent the two located inside from doing anything.
As that happened, the two fugitives sprinted in the direction they came from towards the Illusionist. The brown haired young man panicked and started firing at the two rushing towards him. The youth was obviously not used to actually firing his gun, as the bullets sprayed all over the place, but one caught the boy in the left shoulder and he sharply jolted from the impact but kept running. Within a moment, the girl was close to her enemy, and savagely smashed his face with the pipe she picked up earlier. The two paid no heed to their foe that was writhing on the ground and kept running.
The two sprinted with all their might, trying to get some distance between themselves and the hunting party. The boy was clutching his wounded shoulder in a token attempt to stem the flow of blood, but he felt his strength rapidly fading. After they had made several random turns a voice resounded in their heads.
"Hiiiii~! Eloping and escaping from an unfair society is very romantic and all but at the rate you two are going, you will die." The faces of the couple paled even further as they realized they were still being tracked, and they both subconsciously willed the voice to go away.
"Oh don't be like that; I'm on your side. I wasn't kidding about what I said earlier though, so for you to survive I'll need you to obediently follow my directions. I could just mind control you to do what I want so at least show some appreciation for my consideration. Well, I say it like that but it's really because my King would get angry at me for controlling people too much."
The voice in their head was annoyingly cheery in the face of their plight, and they felt some anger rising at it. However, the two could hear the sound of a large blaze approaching them, and silently agreed that the plan from the voice was better than what they had. Hand in hand, the two sprinted in a completely different direction from where they were heading before.
Following the instructions from voice, the two came to a small open park area with an abandoned ice cream shop located to one side. On top of the ice cream shop sat a bleached blonde young man with some piercings wearing an old brown jacket. Resting on his shoulder was an assault rifle that was no doubt looted from a battlefield in the city. The young man raised his hand in greeting.
"Yo, so you're the two they mentioned huh? Gotta say you guys got guts, I know how that kind of fight is." The man's voice was easygoing and calming despite his rough look, and he implied knowledge of their situation. The boy did not recognize the man in front of him, but the girl breathed out a name. "Hamazura Shiage, the End of the Century Emperor." The young man turned his head in mild amusement at the nickname he jokingly made for himself after surviving World War Three.
"Please, I'm no hero; I was just a boy trying to protect the one girl who showed him kindness is all. Honestly the situation I was in is very similar to yours right now, speaking of which…" Hamazura's eyes rose from the young couple and looked to the alleys behind them. There stood four level 4 espers: the Clairvoyant, the Wind Barrier girl, the Illusionist, and a black-haired girl they did not recognize. The Illusionist's face was completely bloody, and his eyes were a bit unfocused as he obviously had not recovered from getting smashed by the metal pipe earlier. While the Illusionist attempted to glare at the fugitive girl with bloodshot eyes, the rest of the hunting party was focused on the man on the roof.
"Public enemy of Humanity's Future priority #1 Hamazura Shiage; known to have corrupted not only the level 5 Meltdowner from the proper path, but also tainted the level 4 AIM Stalker and has corrupted many other level 4s. It pleases me greatly to have been led to you; today we will finally have your execution." The clairvoyant's face twisted into an absolutely disgusting smile as he set his sights on the death of the delinquent boy on the roof of the ice cream parlor. However, Hamazura did not seem concerned in the slightest.
"You say that yet you have nobody with an ability that has any range to it. I'd imagine the boss has already dealt with the magnet guy that was with you earlier." Hamazura lightly chatted with the enemies in front of him with nary a hint of concern in his voice. His eyes turned towards the illusionist boy and he whistled. "Man you guys did a number on him, I wonder if he could even make convincing fakes now. Good job, that's the kind of teeth you need to make it when he world is set against you." Hamazura slowly stood up while he praised the fugitives and calmly took aim at the hunting party. "Well then, while I may not give a shit if you die the boss doesn't like killing too much so try not to get killed today eh?" With the warning, he unhesitatingly pulled the trigger.
The blonde girl hastily put up a barrier to block the bullets, and they were harmlessly directed off to the sides. Despite the fact that his attack had been warded off, Hamazura showed no signs of disappointment. Without breaking his shooting stance, he shouted to the young couple below him. "Get yourselves to a safe place and patch yourselves up; the boss should be here soon to take care of things if I don't finish them off first. The building I'm standing on has some medical supplies in a red emergency cabinet, you can't miss it." The elopers blankly stared at the level 0 in front of them before quickly dashing into the parlor. Dry gunshots echoed through the buildings surrounding them as Hamazura occasionally took shots to force the barrier to remain up.
The hunting party started to slowly advance within the safety of the wind barrier, however the black-haired girl started to frown as she noticed that Hamazura did not fear them. As a former member of the dark side of Academy City, her evaluation of the risk was far too late as she realized the trap they had stumbled into. Hamazura quickly grabbed a device from his pocket, flipped a switch and hit a button as he turned his back on the group.
The black haired girl tackled the blonde girl to the side as several devices sprang from the ground and emitted an extremely bright light. Both the Clairvoyant and the Illusionist were completely blinded by the flash and could not respond, however due to the action of the black haired girl, the blonde esper was able to put up a shaky barrier as Hamazura turned back around and started firing at their legs. He kept firing until his gun ran day, but the barrier still managed to defend against them.
"A coward as always, fight with your own power you trash!" The blonde esper shakily shouted at Hamazura as she started to regain her senses. As Hamazura calmly reloaded, the black-haired girl made a decision. "We should pull back for now; I don't doubt that he has the whole park filled with traps. Pride won't help us here." The two girls pulled the still-dazed men in their group with them into the alley they came from. As they retreated, the clairvoyant regained the ability to walk on his own, and staggered along with the two women while sulking about the failure of the group. However, they had not even made it to the first alley intersection when another figure cut them off from the front.
The first thing they noticed was that the person in front of them was dragging the Magnetizer esper they were working with behind him. Blood was splattered across the front of the grey hoodie and black coat that the new arrival was wearing, and what was presumed to be the same blood was trickling from their comrade's face. The hooded figure stopped for a moment to observe the hunting party before tossing the Magnetizer towards them with one arm. The unconscious youth soared a short while in the air before tumbling to the ground and rolling an even shorter distance. The group quickly looked away from the savaged state their companion was in and finally properly looked at the one standing in front of them.
He wore a black school coat with a cheap-looking grey hoodie underneath. Black pants that seemed to be intended to match the coat clothed his legs, and black hair poked out from beneath the hood. Blood was caked onto the sleeves and front of his clothes, and if one were to glance at him on the street of a normal city they would probably think he was up to no good; Yet the feature more terrifying that the blood covering his coat was undoubtedly the man's face.
A few small drops of blood had dried on his cheeks, yet he had no injuries at all. His eyes lacked any sense of danger in them despite having recently been dragging an unconscious body with him. As the hunting party cautiously observed the new enemy, they noticed something odd. The new arrival had walked right up to the whirling gale of the wind barrier that was protecting them and with a hint of casualness reached up to it with his right hand. The instant the hand touched the barrier, the wind was dispersed.
The blonde esper whose barrier was just dispelled reacted first with confusion, and attempted to reestablish her sphere. The wind picked up once more as she used her power, but the instant the area under her control reached the right hand she once again found that her ability had no strength. It was at this second occurrence that the confusion started giving way to fear. The whole group had seen the right dispel an esper power twice, and their minds all came to the same conclusion, but their minds desperately clung to doubt.
The Clairvoyant voiced his doubt first as his eyes darted about, not wishing to look his enemy in the eye. "Impossible, he's dead, there's no way he could be in front of us like this." His mind and his gaze both searched for an escape from the cruel reality in front of him. Leaning on his shoulder, the Illusionist was still dazed and was unable to properly comprehend what was going on around him.
The blonde girl continued to vainly attempt to rebuild her shield and continued to be met by failure. The hooded figure seemed to be in absolutely no hurry as he watched her wear herself out before the black-haired girl finally managed to calm her down. Pushing the shaken girl behind her, the former member of the darkness of Academy City stepped forward and surrounded her body in flames. In a move unusual for the quiet girl, she introduced herself.
"I am the level 4 esper known as Blaze Spikes, and I will be your opponent." The hooded figures head tilted in what could only be assumed as curiosity at the girl's statement. His mouth opened for a brief moment, but before he spoke it seemed like he remembered something and closed it once more. The fiery esper took a cautious step forward and then made her move.
Kicking off from the ground, the living inferno dashed towards the figure and unleashed a horizontal sweeping kick, sending out a wave of fire along its path. The hooded figure responded by swiftly ducking underneath and started to close the short distance. Within two steps, he was already less than half a meter away, and the girl let out a violent blast of flame in front of her. Normally this short-ranged blaze was her trump card, burning away or melting anything including many types of composite armor. Nothing had ever survived this attack from as close as this, so the girl had let her guard down just a small bit as she released the blast.
Yet in the next second just as the flame should have come into contact with her enemy, the fire disappeared, and the girl's vision was filled with a single fist bearing down into her. The instant the right hand came into contact with her face; the entire blaze the girl had enveloped herself in dissipated, and the impact sent her flying nearly two meters back to her comrades.
It was at this moment that the rest of them chose to panic. Without any sense of coordination, the injured Illusionist was tossed to the side, and both the blonde wind esper and the Clairvoyant broke into a panicked retreat. They both had completely forgotten the fact that they were heading back into the trap-filled park where Hamazura was watching.
The hooded figure briefly checked both the fire esper and the illusion esper that had been left behind, and then broke into a terrifyingly fast sprint to catch up to them.
The Clairvoyant was caught first. Just as he reached the edge of where the alley merged into the park, the figure roughly tackled him from behind. The man could only scream in terror as he was savagely mounted, and the hooded one ruthlessly beat the consciousness out of him with three quick punches. A sickening breaking sound could be heard as the Clairvoyant's nose broke and blood started pouring out. The hooded man slowly stood up and looked around before setting his sights on the blonde esper.
The Wind Barrier girl had completely given up on using her ability at this point and was fleeing with all of her strength. Having made it back into the park, the fleeing girl did not notice that she was being calmly watched through the sights of a gun by Hamazura, however despite the easy shot he did not pull the trigger. The former delinquent watched as the hooded man rapidly caught up to the girl, but just before he did so, the girl tripped over something and fell on her face. She quickly caught herself and turned on her back with her hands in front of her as she screamed.
"Please stop I give, I give! Please don't kill me!" The girl let out a rather pathetic screech as she pleaded, and the hooded figure stopped in front of her. The man pulled out a phone and started typing into it, seemingly searching for something. The girl could only watch in terror as the figure went about his business, and at one point he paused to take a picture of her. After a few minutes of fiddling with his phone, the hooded person sighed and brought back his hood.
It was at this moment that the fears of the group had been confirmed: Kamijou Touma was indeed still alive.
"Damn boss that was like something out of a horror movie." Hamazura approached Kamijou as he pulled out his phone. As he started his call, he shouted to the young couple that he left in the ice cream shop. "Hey you two, it's alright to come out now…I thought they would have been watching to see if they had to run again." Hamazura lightly scratched his cheek as he watched the young couple timidly step out from the building. He took one look at their terrified faces then turned to look at where they were staring and proceeded to sigh.
"Boss you're doing the scary eye thing again." Hamazura was quite familiar with Kamijou, having fought against and with him on several occasions prior to the day that civil war broke out in Academy City. The former delinquent came to the understanding that Touma was one hell of a guy to have around in a scrap, but there was something he noticed while hanging out with the man.
Kamijou Touma was not normal, no matter what he tried to say.
Hamazura first started noticing the difference after the day he Kamijou fought against the entire world and managed to come out of it alive. The next time he met the man, something seemed different. In subsequent meetings, he noticed more and more that Touma would occasionally have what seemed to be suppressed fits of panic or depression. The man was very good at hiding it, but having survived in the slums for a while, Hamazura had met many people who had seen a glimpse of hell. Further observation and a few questions to the right people taught the former delinquent that Kamijou had at least seen far more than just a glimpse of hell, and the man's eyes would often go into an extremely creepy emotionless state in contrast to the rest of his face. There was a saying that the eyes don't lie, and Shiage was starting to be told more than he ever wished.
"You say that sometimes but I still don't know what you mean." Kamijou turned to look at Hamazura as he replied, and a bit of normalcy started to fill the seeming void that was in his eyes. The fugitive couple started to calm down a bit as they saw the eyes regain some light, and the fatigue from the chase finally caught up to them. Hamazura walked up to them as they collapsed to the ground.
"So what are you gonna do now? I figure you two were escaping from HF, but do you even have any plan to do so?" The couple looked up at Hamazura as he asked that question before turning to each other. It only took a moment for them to both realize that they indeed had no real plan, and they both shook their heads. The former delinquent chuckled a bit before giving them an offer.
"Ah you remind me of myself a while back, just a powerless boy on the run trying to get away from seemingly insurmountable odds. Well, I'll tell you what, how about you come with us? It'll be a bit rough on the streets for a while but we can help you adjust until everything is set, find you a few odd jobs to earn your way rather than having to steal or loot." Hamazura offered his hand, and the young couple in front of him quietly whispered to each other. After a momentary discussion, they both stood up to shake the hand of the man in front of them.
"Okay, we're all done here, their memories are muddled and Takitsubou took their AIM fields away so they won't have any power right now. You guys go take them back out there and spread the right information as needed."
Within an open room located in a high-rise building nearby the trap-filled park the earlier fight took place; several people were attending to various tasks. Several disguised youths were exiting the building while carrying four now-former espers. Behind them, Shokuhou Misaki and Takitsubou Rikou were quietly eating some cookies.
One of the many plans the organization tentatively known as the "Kamijou Faction" was enacting was the myth of "The Specter of Imagine Breaker". Using the veil of misinformation, they were piece-by-piece removing the abilities of many high-profile espers who were part of Humanity's Future. Slowly but surely, fear was starting to spread, and the activities of the group were starting to become hindered as fewer espers were willing to risk stepping out into District 10. With the combined information manipulating abilities of Mental Out and a level 5 Electromaster, keeping the spread of information exactly where they wanted was an easy task.
The idea for the plan had actually come from the members of ITEM, as Takitsubou had recently gained a greater control over her ability that allowed her to more permanently seal the AIM fields in an esper. After this realization, the movie-lover Kinuhata Saiai idly started tossing out ideas before she eventually refined it into the horror-movie like scenario the plan was now.
The plan was refined to be as such. Various agents would incapacitate high-profile HF espers that wandered out into The Strange. After securing their targets, Takitsubou would remove their AIM fields, and Shokuhou would manipulate their memories so that they would remember things in certain ways. Before long, the rumors had spread, and the desired result had come about.
Yet for all of the effort that went into this, it was only one of many plans that were being enacted to prepare for the decisive day.