"Two Sides of a Coin"
August 23rd, 2020
In the crescent moonlight trickling its glow onto the city below, mischief is at hand. A woman of the age of her late 20's stands in the middle of a group of dark figures clinching on to her every word. She issues orders to those attending her speech as they run to their designated positions. As the numbers thin and the bodies surrounding her diminish the light of the sky above gives a glimpse of the shady characters.
The central woman, her overflowing brown hair and her noteworthy womanly attributes are distinguished against the sea of repetition surrounding her – the people she commands all look the same. She possesses a charming face and childish attire, 2 sizes too small, which only gives emphasis to those commendable assets.
The children surrounding her, bodies of mid-teens, eyes of warriors, carry on their person highly technical weapons and sport a matching set of goggles which glow a fluorescent green, piercing the darkness of the night. Each one more identical then the last – their eyes glazed and expressions numb.
The remaining children and commander begin their journey to an unknown destination in a structure that could only be described as a military patrol in a war-torn province. The emotionless eyes divulge every nook and cranny, whilst the isolated figure stands within a shield of bodies armed to the teeth with deadly weapons.
Under the same moonlight shines the bleached white hair of a lone boy, trawling the streets in a matter similar to a lion stalking its prey. He moves silently, hands in the pockets of his jeans scanning and listening for signs of life. The mostly black with white markings shirt he wears ruffles in light breeze that flows through the streets of an abandoned city – It was night after all. The darkness is the only company available in Academy City after nightfall.
It truly was the calm before the storm.
This calm was broken by a cry of multiple men behind the boy, he had been all but oblivious to their presence as they seemingly appeared from thin air. A small grin developed on the boy's face hearing the voices from behind him call out. They were SKILLOUTS - bad news, a vicious gang of thugs.
And just what he wanted.
"Hey, you! Who do think you are stepping on our turf!" was the angered cry from one of the men in a group of many. Some held weapons whilst others appeared to be psychics. The boy was clearly outnumbered and out-gunned.
"Your turf, you say? Looks like I'll be the one to inherit this territory then, after all you shitheads are going to disappear in a second." He replied turning and showing his sick smile. He giggled for moments before slamming his foot into the ground to have a few of the men confronting him caught by the concrete beneath them flying into the building above them. Moments after the men caught by the sudden action disappeared from sight - blood began to fall down from where they were sent. The other thugs looked on with horror at the child who's smile only grew bigger and bigger with the 'pita pata' of the blood colliding with the ground.
Two men of the group of about five remaining made a charge at the boy, clenching the steel pipes they had for weapons. Their audacious attack was soon halted by the slab of concrete removed from the ground previously colliding into one them, crushing him into the ground. The compacted remains of three men, squashed flat by the surface above them persisted to exist on top of the slab. They were beyond identification – as anything the size of a man is if it were to be reduced to the breadth of typical 180-paged notebook. The remaining disheartened combatant threw his weapon and arms in the air praying for mercy.
The reply from the boy was brutal.
A streetlight pole near the boy became the centre of attention for all those around as the child moved to it slowly. Within five second of touching it moved from a vertical position to a horizontal one and impaled the remaining man through the chest. The wound was big enough to stick both arms in. The child began to laugh at his actions until he noticed something amiss.
The three remaining members were nowhere to be seen after the brutal massacre of the five other men, though this did not mean they escaped the same fate. With incredible speed the bleached monster seemingly flew across the ground and scanned the area nearby to find a side street with cries for help coming from it.
"I've got you now!" he laughed menacingly, the sounds coming from him sound sickly, it was as if he was descending into insanity.
He raced down the side street and spotted the three men fleeing with increased haste. The area itself was fairly narrow, perhaps only a small car could fit through it. He stomped in front of the men who quivered in his presence. Two of them began to flee, though they were crushed by a huge block from the wall the kid's hand was placed on. It flew from one side and collided to the other and the bodies of the two men popped like a grape on the opposing wall to the boy.
The remaining man shook, his face was one of outright fear and he had every right to be scared. He was confronting a monster.
"Wh-Who are you!" he squeezed out of his mouth, though the rest of his body was in a state of paralysis. The kid laughed at his question before placing his hand on top of the man's head and bringing it towards his mouth. The man's ear was within an inch of the boy's mouth after this action.
"I'm… Accelerator." he whispered before howling in laughter. The gangster began to scream in response to his laugh rather than what he was told. The screamed didn't last long though and was interrupted by a 'splat' noise. The head of the man was unidentifiable, bar from the blood and brains splattered on the walls around where the boy stood laughing. His body lay at the chuckling monsters feet.
"Well, there's my midnight entertainment…" mumbled Accelerator - his mood had changed from close to insanity to one of melancholy. Perhaps he was regretting the actions he partook in, maybe he was lamenting that the occasion was over.
Or perhaps he was inflicted with bi-polar disorder.
Regardless of the reason, he popped his hands back into his pockets and sulked out of the side street before feeling a slight thud. He had collided with someone though his body did not move - it was almost like he reflected the whole of the collision onto the other person.
The other person was a spiky haired boy who sat rubbing the tender zone on his rump which he fell on. His concern for himself was short lived as any such thoughts were interrupted by the other presence in the collision.
"Oh? You want an encore? Well, who am I to deny a scab their last request?" boomed a demonic voice from Accelerator. He slowly geared back into his ludicrous behaviour.
They say the world's fastest man can do 100 metres under ten seconds. This boy would have gave that man a run for his money during the first 50 metres of the sprint that occurred in response to the remark spewed from Accelerator's mouth. The cowardly boy moved so quickly that Accelerator was unable to distinguish where he had fled to, perhaps into 7th district as its entrance was only two blocks away from where he was currently.
Thoughts to pursue the boy filtered through Accelerator's mind though were ultimately turned down after considering how far he might have to chase for what little satisfaction he would gain. His personality took another dip into something similar to depression as he wandered out of the side-street and back to the main street of 8th district, leaving the horrific deed as it was.
This dip into a black hole of depression would persist for a good time to come as he continued through the now, once again, quiet streets of Academy City. ANTI-SKILL sirens can be heard off in the distance, though this was no concern to Accelerator – if caught, he could easily escape or kill his captives. He had no home to go to and detention seemed like a free ticket to hell for the unlucky cell mate. There was nothing he feared.
Accelerators lack of fear was not unfounded - he was declared the strongest psychic in the entirety of Academy City. 182 districts, 2 million psychics and he was the strongest of them all. The gap between him and the others seemed infinite, like the size of an ant to the universe.
He possessed a unique ability, "VECTOR CHANGE". In essence, he had the ability to calculate the speed of the wind, resonance of a metal and breaking point of a solid and be able to manipulate it. He was in essence a living super computer. In addition, he subconsciously surrounded himself with what could be described as a reflective shield that bounced back anything that came into contact with him. His bleached hair and ghostly figure is a testimony to that as the UV rays that colour the skin and hair melanin are bounced off of him. In laymen's terms, he was like a mirror for any form of force in the universe.
Accelerator quickly stemmed into boredom as the moon began to hide behind the large buildings in the area he was currently present in. As the darkness began to engulf the entirety of his surroundings, he keenly heard the shuffling of shoes on asphalt. There were many sets of shoes, sneakers or school shoes with a distinct 'tap' of one set of heels within it all. He stopped to try to pin-point the location of the scuffling until they all but stopped instantly. The silence once again took over until the sound of a high powered rifle rang throughout the streets below.
Atop of a largely abandoned building adjacent to the street Accelerator was on was a young girl aiming down the barrel of a military grade sniper rifle. She wore a high quality school uniform with the badge of "Tokiwadai All Girls" and distinct electric green goggles. With her gloved hand on the trigger of the beastly weapon she jerked the index finger back and the booming noise of the rifle sounded with the exit of the bullet from the barrel. She waited, starring into the scope of the weapon anticipated for the target, Accelerator to fall. It was not long until she confirmed the targets status, but it was knowledge only to her.
The bullet reflected from the boy and flew back to its origin. The girl had no idea of the bullet returning to her position. It lodged itself into the left eye, the eye closed as she looked into the scope and penetrated her brain. 50. caliber rifle shells are designed to "implode" in a sense to cause maximum destruction on impact instead of only a flesh wound. Suffix to say, the girls eye socket provided the perfect shortcut into her brain where the bullet "imploded", impregnated and destroyed the brain matter inside. Death was instantaneous.
Accelerator, oblivious to the attempt on his life until the moment to bullet had reflected from him now understood the gravity of what was at hand. In the very least, the people grouped up ahead of him were professionals who knew what they were doing. A military convey, perhaps?
Accelerator licked his lips at this prospect.
Racing ahead to where the origins of the footsteps he heard earlier was, with increasing anticipation of a worthy fight, he encountered a large group of teenage girls armed with rifles. They all turned their weapons to him at the realisation of his presence as he awaited them to make their move.
The cocking of the rifles one after another sounded in the street until a call of "stand down" came from behind the line of girls. Though the glow of their goggles gave some light in the darkness, the shadow that light caused covered their faces. Although, it was easy to distinguish that they all wore the same uniform.
A few girls in the middle parted to allow a darker, larger shadow proceed to the front. As the figure began to proceed forward, the girls began to speak in relay to Accelerator.
""MISAKA assumes you are the great "Accelerator"?""
""MISAKA would say it was a pleasure, but you killed our only "END TRANSMISSION" attached to us.""
""Things might get a little bit… sticky because of that." Concludes MISAKA attempting to scare you as she finishes the desired comment floating in the network and then waits your response to MISAKA talking in relay."
"What the… Here I was hoping you brats might give me a challenge, but you turned out to just be a bunch of nut jobs. Un-fuckin'-believable." He sighed and cursed with arrogance to the girls speaking in relay. By the time he finished the larger shadow had moved to the front and stood before him. She was very close to him considering that she knew who he was.
She held no weapons unlike the other girls and what could be seen of her face in the darkness was incredibly childlike despite her otherwise adult appearance.
"Who the hell do you think you are standing up to me, Number One? I should kill you right now, bitch."
""LAST ORDER" answers-answers MISAKA to the bad mannered boy cursing-cursing in the presence of a lady."
"Two Sides of a Coin"
End