"Foul Play"

August 25, 2020

"What's this?"

"Sir… It's... the original! She's back online!"

"I see. Find LAST ORDER. Reconnect her."

"Aye sir!"

"Also…"

"…"

"Get her mother, she'll be ecstatic."

8th district's hospital and the surrounding zones were in a state of emergency. A large force of ANTI-SKILL had been called to the scene. The massive, reinforced armoured cars that had now amassed at the partially destroyed hospital and surrounding structures struggled to mount the massive debris left by the enraged psychic that caused a majority of the damage.

The scene itself was something straight out of a video game depicting a grand battle. A war to end all wars. World War Three. It was post-apocalyptic. The streets were destroyed; parts of buildings had collapsed onto the cars and smaller buildings below. An innumerable amount of burning cars were being tended to with the utmost of caution by the ANTI-SKILL units at the scene. Several cars exploded from charges of electricity striking them, setting a chain reaction. Shrapnel impregnation from these explosions was the current leading cause of accounted fatalities. The fire damage of the exploding cars spread to nearby buildings as they caught alight.

The person in charge of this whole desperate operation was none other than the gigantic woman who came to arrest the cause of this disaster; Aiho Yomikawa. She hastily set up a command centre out of the back of several vans and co-ordinated immediate rescue and disaster prevention efforts. The stress she was currently under would have been indescribable.

"Excuse me Ma'am, can I have a moment?" piped a formal requests in a small voice, directed at Aiho. Aiho raised her hanging head in a symbolic position of defeat to answer her question with a face that would paralyse Medusa and her snakes.

"No kids. Designated disaster zones are off limits. Tsuzuri, get her and her friend out of here." She replied, nonchalantly. A woman with dark, green hair and large glasses stepped from behind Aiho and raised her hand in a gesture of salute before her actions were interrupted by the girl.

"But I'm JUDGEMENT! I… I just need to find a patient here… I've got some information she requested." The small voice spoke. It resonated from a fairly petite lass with a gorgeous arrangement of flowers donning on her head. Her big, watery eyes pleaded to the monstrously sized and temporarily aggressive Aiho to change her decision. The girl behind her nodded, as if to support her friends point.

The girl behind the pleading one was slightly taller, and also sported a small flower arrangement in the form of a pin. She gave off the vibe of a woman who, as leniently as possibly put, is "sexually inquisitive". Many a man's heart would be broken in the future due to this young girl's actions, one would assume.

Aiho nodded quickly and motioned to the previously called ANTI-SKILL to tend to her request. They quickly made way to the area currently being used to treat critically wounded patients or patients who would most likely die before reaching either 5th, 6th or 7th districts hospitals. This bit of information was kindly left out by the escorting agent and was explained simply that "if your friend is not here, she's at one of the neighbouring hospitals".

Surely enough, the girl had found the person who she was looking for. She approached the bed of one "Ms. Kuroko Shirai" to see her slowly moving her head with her eyes open. She was conscious, but was probably finding the stressful situation she was just in a bit too much to handle with her body in its current state.

"Kuroko, I… I came to tell you that your assumptions were correct…" the flowers on the girls head slightly drooped upon finding her friend in such a serious condition. Even the promiscuous teen behind her seemed slightly disheartened, like she failed an attempt to entrap a male.

"Uiha-…Kazari… How… did you find out… I told… Mii not to…" Kuroko spluttered, coughing heavily between words. The ANTI-SKILL agent that escorted her looked at the fading figure. Her face radiated shock upon stumbling on this sight. She had been the ANTI-SKILL medic that tended to Kuroko's first aid when she was wounded in fight against the RADIO NOISE unit. The amount of deterioration the girl had suffered between then and now would have been startling.

"She said the worse could…" the girl let the worse possible words out with a few of her tears before correcting what she was going to say; "A-Anyway, he-here have a look at these…" Wiping the tears from her checks, Kazari removed a poorly stapled composition of documents and placed them on Kuroko's chest. Kazari's actions were in incredibly bad taste, placing Kuroko in a precarious position to sit up from her horizontal position on the hospital bed to read them. However, considering the situation, her actions are anything but abnormal.

Slowly, with the assistance of Tsuzuri, Kuroko creaked up. Her right arm was filled with makeshift IV bags that previously covered her entire body. They read "sodium dioxide" and "saline". The medic looked slightly confused, tracing the bags to two different drips, one with a point of entry for a syringe. The extra drip entry had an additional substance inside it, to which the medic deemed it to be shots of "Adrenaline".

This girl's system was being flushed of toxins, from a bullet wound.

As the medic assessed her condition, Kuroko read the documents with increasing haste. She flipped each page over faster and faster until there was almost no time to read its contents. The sound of paper moving was broken by her voice.

"Where is the mistress now?"

"Sir?"

"Were you able to connect her?"

""…She is resisting-resisting. She is consciously halting-halting my progress." Says-says MISAKA as she repeats connection protocol."

"Course of action?"

""I can't locate-locate her, but if she continues to deny-deny me access, she won't be able to move." Continues-continues MISAKA, preparing-perparing a team to search for possible locations."

"Amplify your efforts"

Kuroko's "mistress" was currently occupied in what is commonly referred to as a 'battle to the death', though it was not quite the case as no fighting had yet to occur. She was fighting an internal battle with herself.

Slowly, Mikoto was losing control of her body. The limp, swaying and demonic movements of the chestnut brown haired girl grinded to a halt. The almost mechanical attack patterns halted instantaneously. The dull, listless eyes seemed to run series of codes, programming and macro through them. Touma felt her presence slowly disappearing.

Moments of silence passed with Touma carefully watching her action, never letting his guard down. She began to sway, her legs twitched and Touma braced; 'Is this some kind of trick? What's her game?' he thought to himself, preparing for an eventual attack.

Slump.

The seemingly disillusioned girl suddenly collapsed on the ground, head first. She fell like a sack of bricks. Her body looked to be in the early stages of rigor mortis; instead of being limp, her limbs were stiff as a board. That was impossible, however. The chemical components of rigor mortis occur over an extended period of time. Her muscles must be in a state of contraction, possibly to draw blood from them and direct it elsewhere. Perhaps the electricity around her body suddenly short-circuited her. Whatever the case, Touma took no chances in approaching her.

Retrieving his phone, Touma dialled the number listed under "Aiho". Her voiced boomed through his phone's speakers. If her voice had a physical object attached to it, it would have destroyed the speaker holes on the mobile.

"You! Where are you right now! Where is the mark! Give me a sit-rap!" Touma flinched at her voice. He struggled to understand the ANTI-SKILL jargon used.

"Uhh, I'm in a field surrounded by ANTI-SKILL tape. There is a huge crater here. Mikoto… uhh, the mark is incapacitated-" he was cut off by an enraged Aiho.

"You killed her! The higher ups need her alive! She is the key to stopping this shady group!"

"N-no! I didn't touch her! She… she just…"

"Don't move! I'm sending Tsuzuri and her squad now, she is already in pursuit of a MIA patient. Don't let her go away. Out." Aiho's speech was incredibly authoritive. Whether it was due to the rift that occurred between the two or because of the situation at hand, she spoke to Touma differently to the previous day.

Touma ended the call and pocketed his phone again. His eyes traced over the motionless girl. He could hear her mumbling, but it was nothing but gibberish. It held no weight, bar the repetition of "MISAKA"

An ANTI-SKILL wagon appeared and 5 bodies of armour and a single, smaller-structured woman leapt out, rushing onto the field. With weapons drawn to the face-first-mud-eating positioned girl, the dark green haired woman stepped to attend to her. Slowly, meticulously rolling her to face up from the ground the woman let out a gasp.

"She-She is exactly the same as the other…!"

"Ma'am! Let's bag her and tag her or the equivalent now! I don't want end up like Joishi in that wagon!" one of the seemingly indomitable armoured men announced his fear with a shuddering voice. Tsuzuri was about to give the affirmative for an execution before a desperate, strained voice sung out.

"Mistress!"

Kuroko materialised between Touma and Tsuzuri. She could barely stand. The drips were still connected to her arm, but the IV cords were not. Touma was shocked to see the petite girl appear in front of him. Shocked even more when she violently coughed up blood and collapsed atop of Mikoto's body.

"De-desist … she's my…whole… She can't help being what she is!" Kuroko cried arduously. She spluttered both blood and tears onto Mikoto's uniform. She pleaded her case to Tsuzuri.

"She was forced to do this, she had no choice! Don't punish her for a fate placed upon her at birth! I love her regardless! Mistress- I'm sorry I went behind your back and saved this boy! If I didn't you'd… we would be doing the same old activities!"

Touma felt suddenly sour at Kuroko's accusing words.

For an instance, Mikoto's eyes brightened and the first recognizable words fluttered from her mouth.

"Kuroko, I-"

"Connection successful

"Good. Force an RSPK attack. Have surrounding RADIO NOISE units surround and capture FULL TUNING"

"Sir! The mother is here! In you go, swine!"

"Ah such a stunning beauty as always … You'll be glad to know your daughter is now in our capable hands once again. What do you say… Misuzu?"

A scream came from Mikoto before she could finish her sentence. It was short lived, though everyone backed away from girl's body. It was quite a shock.

"Mi-Mistress! You're ok! I-" Kuroko was interrupted by a familiar voice. Both Touma and Kuroko's eyes widened at the drastic change of persona. A rising Mikoto was in plain sight, she spoke as she stood. The ANTI-SKILL backed up a great distance in fear, and Touma once again braced himself.

"You will die" a deadly serious and devoid of emotion Mikoto pronounced to Kuroko. Her voice was akin with the sister that attacked Touma and Kuroko yesterday, without the special tick of announcing name and current action. Kuroko looked at her friend with confused horror as she continued to speak.

"You've been hit with special counter-psychic rounds. Every time you channel your ability, a toxin inside of you spreads through your blood. You teleported here? It has spread to vital organs. You are on death's row. What a funny turn of events. Humorous." A soft, robotic chuckle resonated from Mikoto. Or perhaps calling her "Mikoto" is incorrect; she was obviously not the same girl.

Tsuzuri came to a realization at "Mikoto's" words. She perhaps had knowledge of such a round and knew of a way to help the injured girl. She beckoned Kuroko, who was by now being guarded by a fired up Touma.

"Who are you! What did you do to Mikoto! The Mikoto I know wouldn't threat and laugh at the idea of her best friend dying! She would be hiding tears and trying her hardest to not let her friend be in any fear or pain! You are nothing like that girl. You are truly a monster!" Touma boomed a long winded improvised speech. It seemed to come naturally, like he was born to be motivational speaker. Or maybe de-motivational in this case.

"No, I am Mikoto. I even remember telling you. I am a monster. I am the original MISAKA. I am the perfect replication." Her words spun Touma back into his thoughts where he recalled her telling him something along those lines;

"This city is dark beyond your wildest imagination. And if you find out what is at its core – Well, I guess this monster will just have to find room in her heart for one more crime"

Touma stumbled in his determination but quickly recovered. He had to stop this imposter and remove her from the body of the girl both he and Kuroko knew.

"Miss Shirai. Would you be so kind to go with the ANTI-SKILL and leave this to me? I'll save you this time. I'll save everyone, even Mikoto. But I need you to leave. Can you do that for me?" Touma's compassionate and calm words promised things he was most likely unable to keep, though he had to. He knew he couldn't beat her, but it was time to step up. Time to become a hero. Time to man the truck up.

Kuroko was hesitant at first, but was ultimately persuaded and teleported near the ANTI-SKILL soldiers, coughing more blood than ever before. Tsuzuri gave Touma a nod of condolence, a "we're right here to bag your lifeless corpse for when you fail" nod. It did anything but fill Touma with confidence.

"Mikoto's" face became stone cold, and performed a slight bow, almost recognition that from now on, all matters are strictly professional. Small, sharp bolts flew towards a dancing and dodging Touma, occasionally using his right hand to block a well-placed attack. "Mikoto" remained in the same spot and continuously attacked with little to no effort.

This volley of constant attacks continued for some time. Touma had no gap to attack. He constantly analysed his opponent for an opening to no avail. He attempted a headlong charge at his adversary, blocking the incoming attacks. This, however only ended in him repositioning the emotionless monster he was battling.

Signs of slight frustration were appearing in her method of attack. Her attacks drifted from poking and prodding strikes to heavier, higher voltage and higher impact attacks. She was obviously tiring of using such a rudimentary method of constant suppression.

The battle was almost akin to boxing match. Touma was a super-lightweight amateur challenging the heavy-weight champion. He could no damage on the monstrous combatant and was forced to dodge each and every one of her devastating, OHKO blows.

Another way to view it would be two soldiers in a past war fighting each other. One (Touma) is equipped only with a knife; the other ("Mikoto") has a complete arsenal at her disposal. The mismatch this fight presented was horrendous. It has to be stressed that either Touma was buying time for someone to supress "Mikoto" or he was simply fighting out of a man's foolish pride.

The later seems to be the more reasonable explanation.

"This is no good. I don't think I can keep avoiding these attacks any longer." Touma whispered to himself with the tone of a man on the edge of defeat, a man with his last penny on 32 black in roulette.

"Well? RSPK her."

"She has already been in the RSPK state before she connected-connected. Reactivating-reactivating it will-"

"LAST ORDER, cancel connections to all combat units, only END TRANSMISSION are to be active. All energy is to be used to RSPK that girl, now."

"…Roger"

"Mikoto's" attacks halted spontaneously. She drew her attention away from Touma and let out an affirmation to an unknown entity.

"Roger."

RSPK, or Recurrent Spontaneous Psycho-Kinesis Syndrome is, simply put, a phase in a psychic's mental state where they lose control over their ability and body. With this loss of control, comes an increase in psychic ability and if the psychic is powerful enough, a spread of the RSPK syndrome into surrounding psychics.

Her lifeless, unappreciated eyes closed and "Mikoto" collapsed. Touma thought this to be the perfect time to attack and took the offensive. Before closing the approximate twenty metres between the two, Touma heard a roar emanate from the fragile teen collapses on the turf. He pushed on after his sudden startle and raised his right fist to strike the vulnerable Mikoto.

CRASH!

Touma was flung back by an almighty explosion of a dark, wispy substance. It rose from the ground and engulfed Mikoto who cried in pain before the black substance expanded like a nuclear fission explosion. Touma, blown back a similar distance he travelled, marvelled in the sight that was now "Mikoto".

Around her, black particles rose from the dirt. They grew in intensity until all was left was a black cloud swirling around her. For fragments of a second, Touma could see inside of the swirling black particles to the emotionless child inside.

Her brown, glazed eyes spoke words of solemn disappointment, contrasted against the violent visual noise of the black cloud around her.

Touma stood in amazement as he pondered his course of action. Questions and solutions swirled in his head, though all thoughts eventually returned to one point:

'What is that thing?'

A single black lash struck out from the enveloping cloud and gripped Touma's left arm. The cloud wrapped around his wrist then extended up his arm, eventually enveloping the entirety of it. As its grip tightened, he cried out in pain and the true extent of the attacks nature became apparent.

The black cloud was magnetised iron, swirling around its controller. They are all violently repulsed by each other, they are unable to touch. This is what creates the noise effect. This same noise effect was like a million cheese graters. Touma could feel the iron dig its teeth into his flesh. Excruciating pain, that's all he could muster up to think about. No strategy of escape or attack. Just the recognition that;

'Hey, this hurts like all of hell's monsters eating my internal organs through my nose.'

A clever simile that didn't quite depict the vulgar language that streamed through Touma's head. But the gist is explained with such a simile.

Touma relinquished his clenched eyes to see his attacker monotonously creep towards him. His blinking slowed; time seemed to drag on and on. The brown haired assailant drew a long, serrated object that could be described as a sword made out of vibrating iron. As it materialised, her blank face showed a fragment of pain arise on the surface. Touma linked this pain to the hand of the monster holding the blade. Blood dripped and splattered slightly on the back of her hand and on her uniform. Her palm was suffering intense damage from gripping the deadly weapon.

Touma was restricted to the ground by the grip and watched as she brandished the sword before his face. He winced at the air being blown onto his peripherals by the whirling of the iron. Small particles of blood sprayed his face. The blood of his attacker was now on his body. 'Well, at least the forensics team will know what killed me…' he assured himself, ever the defeatist. Touma's morale continuously declined throughout the battle and had now hit the pits.

He braced himself for the worse.

"…!"

"What is it?"

"Connection lost."

"What! Get her back online!"

"It's not her, I can't communicate-communicate with any of the units in the area. Magical intervention, It's blocking my communication for that region."

"Sir! Reports of RSPK in the psychics around 8th district are coming in! The district is suffering major damage!"

"Sir! Conflicting reports! RSPK in the effected psychics as ceased. Major damage sustained to the district."

"…Scrap the current plan. Continue with our WORST CASE SCENARIO program. All monitoring of this region is to be discontinued. LAST ORDER…"

"…"

"This is your second failure. Do not disappoint the Heads again."

"…"

"Mikoto" fell into unconsciousness once again. Seriously, there was something wrong with this girl's mental stability. Maybe she should develop a proper sleep pattern. The magnetised iron piled on the ground; it fell from its assisted levitating state. The grip on Touma's arm relinquished its hold and he scrambled back. He felt rage take him over. He wanted to inflict some sort of pain on the person who had caused him and increasing amount of trouble and faced him with death several times. He wanted to vent his anger, his trauma on the one responsible.

He stood over the girl, rolled her to face up and pulled his fist back in a motion similar to cocking a gun. He kept saying to himself "Do it! Do it! Do it!" He hesitated, he hesitated enough for enough time for her to regain consciousness. She was not the least bit surprised.

"You…I-I blacked out. I did something bad, right? That's why you are holding a fist to my face. Well then? Do it. Be the hero this city needs, finish me before I get detained and killed by ANTI-SKILL." Mikoto worded out methodically, almost like she had prepared the speech for this exact occasion. That thought didn't surprise Touma. He now knew he couldn't hurt her physically, he couldn't do it. So he resorted to a psychological assault.

"You aren't worth it. It's not you that deserve to die, but the thing inside you. When it reappears, expect me to destroy you and it's illusions of superiority. Perfect? Hardly." An obvious lie, seen straight through by the girl.

"You were almost killed by me in that state! Do me in now! I won't resist. I saw how you were, you would have died… Do onto others before they do onto you, yes!" She pleaded. If she was so intent on dying, why wouldn't she just commit?

That line of reasoning led him back to the fight she had previously with Shizuri. Despite the scary act she put on, she was unable to do the deed. She was a coward. She needed other people to do her dirty work. She wanted someone to protect her. She is co-dependant.

This quick psycho-analysis would lead to a lethal psychological weapon with potentially unforeseen circumstances. Touma ignored the warnings and pushed the metaphorical button "detonate".

"I won't have to if I can save you from such a fate. I will stop RADIO NOISE. I will get to the bottom of it. I will destroy it. You can sleep easy; I'm on your side. So please, go with ANTI-SKILL, I promise you won't be killed, but that is all I can do for now." Another obvious lie. Touma's delivery of this line was so unconvincing you'd have to be blind (read; deaf) to believe it. She blinded herself from the truth to accept this.

A small sparkle in her eye arose, a sign of hope. A sign for "Mikoto Misaka, Butcher of Academy City" to start anew. A sign of forgiveness. What she had searched for in the darkness and finally found…

Was in a lie.

ANTI-SKILL soldiers in bulk arrived on the scene after the threat had been pacified. 'These are the people on the frontline keeping Academy City in check? Then what am I? The bullet?' cynically thought Touma. Aiho approached the willing girl, and unlike last time took extraordinary measures to secure her. Tranquilizer, ability suppressor injection, ability suppressor cuffs and a common blindfold were all administered to the girl who was then taken away in a massive convoy of suits in armour. Aiho glanced at Touma once she was detained.

"You did good kid. Ever thought about joining the Force?" She smiled and spoke similar to their first encounter, though she remained dominant and daunting in every other aspect.

"I did, when I first came to the City. All CHILD ERROR's strive to be ANTI-SKILL. But I don't think it's for me." He conceded and ignored the praise she gave him. He did nothing, the only reason he didn't die was pure coincidence. For once in his life, luck shined on his side. Aiho looked slightly disappointed, but this disappointment was soon replaced with sadness.

"Well now that's said, I've got some bad news. Your little saviour, Kuroko…" Aiho implied Kuroko's name in an upward tone, trying to lead him into guessing what she was about to say. When Touma offered nothing like an answer, she sighed and continued; "…She died when the RSPK breakout occurred. Ask Tsuzuri for the details, she's the dorky looking one... Sorry kid, really."

Shock and Awe tactics are employed to disillusion the enemy into thinking victory was impossible. The same disillusion was being felt by Touma at the breaking of this news. He rushed to Tsuzuri who was currently in the company of two girls, one with an extraordinary flower arrangement on her head, the other with a minor one in comparison. Their libido was as adjacent as their flower arrangements. However, their sadness was of equal value.

"Oh… Umm… She was forced to use her ability in the RSPK state… the poison was in remission until that moment, when she died of a heart attack. That's all I know, I'm only a field medic. Since she is the first to die of such a condition, her body will be used forensically so no one else can suffer the same fate. The Heaven Chancellor made it his top priority… it's a shame she had to…"

"I-I lost control too… But…I'm only a level 1…" The smaller girl with more flowers whimpered. Further investigation would find out that psychics in the entire region were placed into the RSPK state. Most of the district had been damaged by renegade psychics. ANTI-SKILL from across the City was called in to supress them. Yet suddenly the RSPK effect disappeared. At the centre was none other than Mikoto Misaka.

"It was still pretty scary Kazari. Hee, I need a cheer up…" The taller girl sniffed before throwing the plaid, casual wear dress the smaller girl was wearing into the air. Touma felt an instant urge that spoke volumes in his head; bitches and whores.

Drama between the two ensured and Touma tried to pull himself out of the cynical slump the previous fight placed him in. He was so obsessed about hurting Mikoto deep enough that a barrier now appeared in his emotional balance. Her instability was rubbing off on him.

"Y-your arm! Look at it!" The now calmed down small girl exclaimed. Touma himself had completely ignored it. Adrenaline is a magical substance.

"I'll take you and Kazari to 8th district. She needs to be checked up after the RSPK attack and you… well you can tell why you're going." Tsuzuri smiled, gesturing Touma and Kazari to a wagon. She turned, forgetting to invite the other, uninjured girl.

"You can come too, I'll take you home."

"I-Its ok, let Kazari enjoy her time with a boy!" was the joking answer given by the other girl.

"R-Ruiko! Don't say things like that!" she puffed her cheeks in embarrassment.

Bitches and whores sounded again in Touma's head.

As Touma conversed in idle chit-chat with the two ladies, he couldn't help but feel somewhat defeated. He had no intention of following through with his proclamation he made to Mikoto, quite the opposite. He planned to deny her, for maximum psychological damage. But upon reflection, his good nature began to twist this hatred into remorse. He now realised he was unable to double-cross this declaration. If faced with it, he would most likely submit to assisting her.

Such is the life of a good natured person.

"Hero?" he smirked to himself. "Just my luck."

At a distance from the scene of the previous battle, atop of a building looking down into the park was Motoharu. He stood above a body identical to the girl Touma had just fought with a sniper rifle's bi-pod deployed a facing the field. He was bleeding from the mouth, and clutched his side like he was experiencing intense pain. Set-up behind him was what seemed to be a magical diagram with multiple colour markings inside of a large circle.

Motoharu crouched down and eventually sat upon the body of the lifeless girl. He adjusted the position of the gun he had used to put a .45 in the back of her head to a more comfortable one, not adjacent and dangerously directed to his crutch. He read the name on the goggles she sported; "END TRANMISSION 15038" and chuckled, watching the wagons carrying Touma and Kazari as well as the one carrying Mikoto leave the scene.

"Well GROUP needs four members…"

"…and one as outstanding as you will go a long way…"

"… But what will serve well as a tool for blackmail…"

"…Kami…?"

"Foul Play"

END