Chapter One

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Misaka Mikoto stomped through a gray, nondescript alley. "I can't believe he got away again."

An unfortunate dumpster received the wrath of Misaka's kick. Exuding a sigh, she shook her head and relaxed her posture.

"Ah well, there's no helping it. I'll just have to be sure to crush him next time I see him."

Misaka took a few more steps before halting abruptly. There was suddenly something very close to her. Spinning, her roommate came to mind.

Kuro-

"Um… Excuse me…" A young man, perhaps a senior in high school, stood timidly in the empty space she had just stepped through. His face was mostly shrouded with shadows, but he had his hand behind his head apologetically and gave a slight bow to clarify his meekness. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, but would you happen to know where the closest Level 5 can be found?"

Misaka crossed her arms and raised her head slightly. She studied the boy with suspicion for a moment before deciding to answer. Instead of a school uniform, he wore cargo pants and a sports jacket. His hair was evidently short enough to be hid beneath a black, unlabeled beanie.

"That would be me, though-"

"Oh! How fortunate! I need to give a message… To everyone."

The Electromaster felt her recently quelled anger resurfacing. Closing her eyes for a moment to recompose herself, she felt the familiar leap of static across her brown hair. "You know, I'm not some kind of-"

Before she could finish her rebuttal a closed fist collided with her cheek, sending her tumbling away dizzily. She had an iron-dust field whirling defensively around her before she even stopped rolling.

"Bastard!" she spat as she jerked her head up to face him.

She ignored the blood in her mouth and focused on locating the assailant in the shadow-draped corridor.

Hands softly touched her shoulders and her eyes went wide.

"I'm sorry," the whisper, riding on warm breath, was still apologetic, yet no longer overly innocent, "you were just unfortunate."

Suddenly, Misaka was staring at lights.

There hadn't been lights like these in the alley. There hadn't been wind like this in the alley. The air that had been dusty and dank was now fresh and startlingly thin.

It was a surreal moment.

Misaka was already falling before her mind started working. Her first thoughts weren't even concerned with why she was seeing Academy City from above. She was wondering why she hadn't killed the attacker the second he had touched her shoulders. Had she been so surprised that she hadn't charged her body with a couple thousand watts? Had it been wonder at how close he brought his lips were to her ear? Had it been fear?

The haziness in her mind washed away as she passed the spire of the closest skyscraper. Suddenly realizing how immediate the danger was, she began exerting her powers. She polarized herself and the passing building and felt the magnetic drag slow her down slightly. The pull swung her into the building, the impact knocking the wind from her lungs and shocking her spine. The momentum bounced her away from the wall. Despite the pain she focused on the next closest building. Using enough energy to power either of the buildings she pushed her magnetism against both with the entire length of her body. She was slowing down, but as she approached the pavement she knew it wasn't going to be enough. She took a fraction of a second to steel her resolve.

Channeling all the energy she could through her arms, Misaka let loose a scream of agony. She came to an abrupt stop a few feet above the concrete, hanging crucified and silent in the air. Already unconscious, her powers eventually dissipated and her body dropped the remaining distance to the ground.

Sometime later, when she was eventually stumbled upon, Antiskill was mistakenly called in for a homicide. The battered and unnaturally-bent condition she was in made it an understandable error.