The man who worked for Academy City was frustrated, to say the least. Based on what he was hearing, his men were the only people in the entire city who hadn't run into the elusive new Number 1 in the last few weeks. It was, frankly, embarrassing. Nobody involved had seen the boy since he had made the offer. He couldn't believe that little Mr. Perfect had turned it down. The fact that he went into hiding afterwards was just bizarre. Or maybe he wasn't in hiding. Maybe he was just toying with them. It seemed possible.

They had made their building as resistant to him as they could, but it was still always possible for him to sneak in. As long as he was hiding, they were safe. The man doubted they would last long if he genuinely turned against them.

Still, to turn down the chance to reach Level 6. Something was wrong with that Takeru boy. Who would walk away from that kind of chance? It couldn't be he had compunction about killing; the man had heard stories. Pretty scary ones, too.

So now it was time to decide. Should he retract the offer? Clearly there was no interest. But if he did, Takeru would have to be taken out. And that had to be done in some very specific ways, or else they were all doomed. He closed his eyes, held his breath, and sent out the order. Takeru Yamamoto was to be killed.

It was time for a rematch. Takeru had made sure it would happen. He had timed the encounter just right, too. Nobody else was around. Just him and Accelerator.

Accelerator was grinning at him like a crazy person. "Not gonna just run away this time, are you?"

Takeru smiled back. "Not the plan!"

Accelerator picked up a rock from the ground, flicked a switch on the collar around his neck, and flicked it towards Takeru. It crossed the distance between them in less than a hundredth of a second. Takeru suddenly reappeared two feet to the left. "Too slow." He held out his hand to show that he had caught the pebble. "My turn!"

Takeru pulled a Swiss Army Knife from his pocket. He opened it with some effort, and looked Accelerator in the eyes. "If I can land one hit, the fight is over."

Accelerator rolled his eyes. "Oooh, a teleporter with a knife. How scary. You are aware, I assume, that teleportation is based on vectors?"

Takeru smiled again. "Good thing I don't teleport."

Accelerator felt a sting on his arm. And something wet. He looked down with a sense of creeping dread. Blood. He had been cut. Takeru was still standing in his spot. The knife was now bloody.

"Fight over. I win."

What… what had just happened? This was wrong. Something was wrong. Accelerator backed up. "What are you?" In the corner of his eye, he saw a shape sneaking towards them.

Takeru smiled his stupid smile. "I'm the new Number 1."

Accelerator watched as the shape continued to sneak towards them. He couldn't make out what it was, especially not while keeping his eyes locked dead on Takeru. The shape crept close, and pulled itself up into the shape of a man.

Mizuno Kuroyama silently drew his gun, aimed at the back of Takeru's head from point-blank range, and fired.

"Dodge this."

Accelerator stared at the corpse on the ground. "I have to admit, that was scary."

Takeru nudged it with his foot. "He really was an idiot."