Chapter 40 - The Ambiguity of Perspective
The inebriated spiky-haired boy blinked several times before mustering the ability to speak.
"Kakine?" Touma grimaced and rested his head back on the pillow. With a sigh, he closed his eyes again. "I hate that kind of hallucination. Why is it always my opponents and not a dorm manager? Or rather, Shizu-chan dressed like one... hehehe... one more thing to add to that notepad."
"Get up off the damn bed!"
An imperceptible power set the air in the room into an odd circulation, prompting Touma to pry his eyes open just in time to witness a gray wing collide with his bed and propel it across the room with uncanny precision, miraculously leaving it unscathed. The boy with spiky hair had to swiftly throw himself from his position and roll across the room to mitigate the impact, glancing back to witness his bed smashing against the window, leaving it hanging there.
"I didn't even like that bed anyway." Touma shrugged. "The one in Shizu-chan's room is much more comfortable, I bet I -"
"Are you going to stop this shit at some point?" Kakine clearly couldn't handle a drunk Touma. A normal Touma was already a challenge. "I took the trouble to come here to warn you about the war that's going on, but this is how I'm received. Why the hell did I decide to do that? I lost a fight to a damn fool, my reputation has only gone downhill, and now even my team is planning to disband. Since the day I met you, my life has come down to a flood of crap coming my way."
"Are you done venting?" Touma was patting his own ear, as if trying to remove water from it. "You think I'm a fucking therapist? Blah, blah, blah... I lost to a level 0... blablablah... my life is trash... blahblahblah. Give me a break, Kakine. You think the whole fucking world revolves around you? You want to be loved? Go get a girlfriend or pay for one, Kaibi should still work with that kind of thing... wait, I don't think that's her job."
"I haven't killed you yet because you are clearly drunk and that would leave a bad taste in my mouth.
"You didn't kill me because you can't." Again he shrugged nonchalantly, which made the other boy click his tongue. "What? I'm drunk but I can still rip the shit out of your body in 10 seconds."
"In the deplorable state you're in, I doubt you'll be able to fight for that long." Kakine put on an arrogant smile. "By the way, know that I am much stronger since the last time we faced each other."
"So? Just because you've gotten stronger doesn't mean I've gotten weaker. Look at me crooked so you can see, I'm going to kick your ass so hard it's going to take open-chest surgery to get my sneakers out of your stomach."
"That didn't even make sense, asshole!"
"Do you prefer with laces or without?"
The two elementary school boys continued to argue about who had the superior toy for a few moments, until Touma recalled something important.
"Wait, wait... hold on." Touma gestured a brief pause by forming a T shape with both hands. "Did you mention something about a war happening just now?"
"Only now you bother to ask that, jerk?" Kakine tapped his foot, displaying annoyance like a disgruntled child.
"The drinking is slowly wearing off, I feel like I'm becoming me again. Let's focus on what matters now, okay? Be a good boy and tell Tou-san here everything you know."
"I swear I'm going to kill you." He put his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath. "Your crazy girlfriend and her friends are raiding an abandoned courtyard in District 16. It has an army of low-level espers who seem to be being controlled or something. I thought you might like to know about that."
District 16. Informed by Uiharu, Touma was aware that it was the very location where the fake Aihana Etsu had taken refuge. It appeared that Shizuri had initiated the confrontation without him, which raised concerns for more than one reason. She had refrained from seeking his assistance, despite him being the person she should trust the most.
'Calm down, Touma. Maybe she just didn't want you to fight in that state. Don't overthink it, she still loves you.'
If that wasn't the right answer, then he would work to get her trust and love again, but for now, he would stick to that. Their situation had not been fully resolved of course, but Shizuri no longer seemed so angry with him at that last moment. This was no time to think about fixing what didn't break. His mind had to focus on what mattered at the moment.
"By the way," Touma said, "why did you come all this way to warn me? It's not like you owe me anything."
Kakine's silence worried Touma for a moment. He really didn't understand, he certainly didn't do anything to help that arrogant blond boy.
#2 walked with a troubled expression etched across his face, his steps filled with uncertainty. With a resolute yet hesitant gesture, he carefully removed the obstructing bed, revealing a captivating vista of the starlit sky stretching out before him.
"You were not against me participating in all this." Kakine made a gesture of disinterest with one hand. "Then it's only fair that you participate until the end."
"Do you really expect me to believe that's the reason?"
"That's one of the reasons." A long pause was made, the boy choosing his words carefully. "That day, when we were fighting, how did you know about that?" The aggressive tone he was using just now had faded. "Gokusai told you?"
Touma denied it with his head. That silent answer made Kakine take a step back, but his lips remained sealed. He was waiting for Touma to elaborate, but he didn't.
"You too, right?" said Kakike, giving a sigh.
"Her name was Mitsuari Ayu." Touma turned his back on Kakine and walked toward the window. The stars outside were being dimmed by all the lights and neon of the city below. "I met her while wandering the streets at night, in yet another of my attempts to 'kill boredom' before it killed me. I really was a stupid person then...maybe I still am."
As he tried to smile, he noticed Kakine walking up to stand beside him. With his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face, the blond boy nodded in attentiveness, prompting Touma to proceed with his speech.
"She looked up to me...looked up to a person like me," Touma continued. "But now she's gone...there's nothing more I can do for her...not in this world." The last part he just whispered inaudibly.
"How did she die?" The dry way Kakine asked made Touma's lips twitch slightly. "Did you bring vengeance on those responsible?"
Again, Touma silently shook his head in response, and then moved his trembling lips.
"She had a beautiful smile, which I remember to this day. I loved those smiles so much...so much that I couldn't tell that several of them were forced. I thought I had saved her, I really did but...maybe I don't even know what it means to save someone." A weak, muffled laugh escaped Touma's lips, but he soon turned serious again. "Revenge, you say? It would be a ridiculous thing to think about in that case. If I were to set out on a journey of revenge, it would only end when this entire city was in flames... with me still in it. But I'm not that kind of person... no, I don't want to be that kind of person."
That last-minute correction made Kakine look intently into Touma's eyes, reflecting those lights above. There was no way for that level 5 to know, but another person from the dark side had already confronted him regarding his desire for revenge, and he had answered almost the same thing to her. That really wasn't the kind of person he wanted to be, and level 5 saw that determination in that look.
And there was still that person.
"I know someone who truly gave himself over to revenge, and that's definitely a path I will never follow," Touma reiterated, making #2 take a step back.
"In the end, we are not alike," Kakine stated, looking away to the stars above as well. "The person who runs this city, Aleister, my goal is to have an audience with him. I don't want to destroy this city, but I would definitely set everything on fire if it got that person's attention."
"What if you finally got an audience with him and nothing changed? How would you react to looking at the ashes you left behind and realizing it was all for naught?"
"I'm past the point of caring about something like that."
The way he shrugged at that moment, so nonchalant and casual, left no doubt that the person there had seen it all, so much so that convincing him with an argument seemed an impossible task.
Faced with this, Touma just looked at him and returned the shrug.
"No way then," the spiky-haired boy said, "looks like I'm going to have to help you with that." He curved his lip slightly as he watched Kakine make a confused face. "Not the part about setting everything on fire, I'd prefer to deliver a satisfying punch to that smug face."
"What do you intend?" His tone was skeptical.
"Get you an audience with that hopeless pervert, of course."
"Huh?"
"Oh... my bad, wrong world. Now that I think about it, I don't believe things are any different here." He nervously scratched his head. "Anyway, it shouldn't be something that hard to get. I can't guarantee it will make a significant difference, but if it brings you peace of mind, then so be it."
"Are you stupid?" Kakine even looked offended. "What I want is not something someone can talk about getting as if they are just raising the difficulty level of a game. If it was something that simple my life would be a lot easier. It's Aleister, you idiot, the leader of this city. I doubt that even his main plan, Accelerator, could casually walk up to the windowless building and get an audience. Even someone that important would still have a hard time, so don't talk about 'helping me' as someone who is offering to carry a few bags from a convenience store."
"Geez, you need to relax with these venting." Touma averted his gaze from the window and from him, making his way towards the door."You'd better have already written your speech, because if you intend to talk to Aleister this way it will be all for nothing."
"Were you even listening to me?" Now he looked more surprised than annoyed. "Don't tell me you're someone even more important in this city than you seem?"
"Is that a tone of interest I'm noticing there?" The smile on Touma's face was almost evil, causing Kakine to narrow his eyes.
"Can you really do that?"
"To be honest, I'd rather I couldn't." The sigh that escaped his lips lingered for more than a second. "Kumokawa-senpai advised me not to discuss this with just anyone, but after my recent journey, I kind of got tired of caring about such small things." He raised his right hand and closed it into a fist in front of his face. "Time for us to make a big change, Kakine-san. But first, help me with all the mess today, you'll be quite helpful."
"Whatever. I already planned to thwart that girl's plans anyway, so I'll think of it as a bonus." He walked through the open door, but remembered something and turned toward Touma once again. "Just to be clear, Kamijou, I am only a temporary ally. Don't think you've convinced me because of your sad little story and empty promises, I'm not the kind of person who -"
"Yeah, yeah... whatever."
This time, it was Touma who walked past him, leaving the room without a backward glance. His destiny was undeniably clear, and for the first time, he was filled with an overwhelming eagerness to step onto the battlefield, a good feeling he had never felt before.
x-x
There was definitely blood there now. Shizuri hadn't shown any restraint, unleashing her Meltdowner in rapid succession, obliterating muscle and bone, rupturing veins and nerves. The result was a gruesome sight, a scarcely recognizable, partially formed mass of red, resembling a human only in the most pitiful sense, collapsing to the ground with a damp and feeble sound.
But she knew it wasn't over.
Taking a step forward, she wiped the cold sweat dripping down her tired face and continued to stare at that crimson mass that had once been a girl. All it took was for Shizuri to blink, and the image in front of her changed, as if someone had flipped through a video in a few seconds instantly.
"Firepower alone won't get you anywhere," April declared. Despite her body having appeared as charred remains mere seconds ago, it now seemed completely unharmed. "You can destroy my body as much as you want. Come on, keep shooting. Expend all your strength so that I can quickly finish this without having to take your life."
Shizuri disregarded the taunting, maintaining her focus. She couldn't allow that girl to infiltrate her mind once more. It was evident that a stalemate had been reached. As someone who preferred resolving matters through sheer power, the individual before her appeared to be the ultimate adversary. Victory for this pink-haired girl could be achieved simply by standing there, donning that sinister smile on her mask, unfazed by any opponent, attack, method, or tactic that might be thrown her way.
Nevertheless, the girl with tea-colored hair managed to muster a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
"There's no killing what doesn't exist." Shizuri advanced, slipping her hand into her pocket. "An existence as ambiguous as yours is really something fascinating."
More beams of white light illuminated that ruined building, but this time they splintered upon striking the silicon cards that Shizuri hurled. The multiple beams sliced through the air and detonated upon contact with the floor, walls, and ceiling. A scent of singed debris permeated the air, while the intense heat from the blasts tinged the atmosphere with a searing touch. The destructive power wielded by that girl was reshaping the room, leaving behind ragged cavities resembling festering wounds, the silver moonlight poured in, as if the moon itself was bleeding through the walls.
"I already said that's useless," April said, watching as her opponent continued firing in all directions. "And what's wrong with your aim? Are you so tired that you can't even hit me anymore?"
The Level 5 Meltdowner didn't stop shooting and destroying for even a second for a good minute or two. She didn't even seem to be worried about aiming anywhere, it was as if she was simply taking it out on something to relieve the stress, destroying everything while the smile on her face grew wider little by little.
"Okay, that's ridiculous," April continued, cloaked in a small cloud of dust caused by the explosions. "Do you intend to bring the entire building down in hopes that I will die buried in the rubble? It won't work, and even if it did, you'd go along."
The pink-haired girl was ignored. She was right, it was a ridiculous scene. At this point it looked like a joke that the place was still standing. Beans were flying in every direction, filling the air, but notably, not a single one seemed to be targeted at the girl who supposedly didn't exist.
"You're just trying to buy time, aren't you?" asked April, crossing her arms still unconcerned about the destruction around her. "Do you really expect him to appear eventually, like a prince in shining armor, rushing to rescue the damsel in distress? Pathetic, don't you think?"
"I wouldn't mind," Shizuri said, stopping shooting at last. "If it's him, I really don't mind. But you're wrong if you think I intend to depend on him for everything. He told me so himself after all." An eerie light gathered in Shizuri's right hand, the one that was pointed in April's direction. "I am strong enough to save myself."
It was a precise shot, much like the first beam fired at that girl. It was like a replay of the initial scene, the same gaping hole in the shoulder of the pink-haired girl, who seemed unconcerned about having her flesh burned by an electron cannon. But...
"Hmm..." April looked at her shoulder and let out a slight grunt of pain. "What?"
There was a subtle shift in the scene. April started scanning her surroundings, taking note of the devastation caused by the human hurricane that was the level 5, the one who had perfected that malevolent smile on her face.
"Is something wrong, April-chan?" Shizuri even put out her Meltdowner and pointed at the wound that remained on her shoulder. "That looks bad, if I were you I would give up. No one will come to save you, I guarantee it."
"What did you do?"
For the first time throughout the entire night, April appeared to be losing her composure. She tightly grasped her injured shoulder, and Shizuri could almost envision the pained expression behind that mask.
"Touma told me about your powers that day...actually it was today from your point of view." Shizuri raised her index finger, making a little ball of electrons appear there. "You use the quantum superposition principle, right? But that's a bit vague, and I bet there's more to it that you didn't want to explain. Basically, you can create 'copies' of yourself and trap them in an ambiguous state of existence and non-existence. That's why my attacks had no effect."
With a continued smile, she started to toy with the small ball on her fingertip, a captivating gesture that elicited a click of disapproval from the other girl. Shizuri almost licked her lips as she sensed the mounting frustration radiating from her opponent.
"Just attacking you is not enough," Shizuri continued. "Not while you are stuck in that state of existing and not existing. Your 'surface' self can be affected normally, but your other selves can't interact with anything you don't want to. I wonder if you can see them, probably not, it's maybe just a vague concept even for you considering your reaction, but you should at least feel them. Or what's left of them."
"You... destroyed my avatars?" Incredulity leaked from her voice. "Impossible, nothing should be able to interact with them in that state, you -"
"That desperation of yours is so good." Shizuri had to give a little laugh. "I was really tired and worried just now, but knowing that you are not invincible has replenished my energy."
That girl's power was really something out of this world. But Shizuri already knew that thanks to Touma, so she didn't come here unprepared. April's ability, "Nobody's Avatar", allowed her to make copies of herself that would stay in this world in an ambiguous state of existence. Since nothing could interact with these Avatars, whenever she was injured, she could simply 'heal' herself using them. Healing wasn't the right word, since technically, she was never getting hit in the first place.
"You're almost like a real-life save scummer," said Shizuri, still interested in playing with her own powers. "Using a video game analogy, your avatars are like your 'save points.' If you take damage, or even die, you can simply load the last save, thereby bringing you back to life. I mean, you never died in the first place, did you? But unfortunately for you, I destroyed all your saves."
April was speechless. That wound on her shoulder seemed to be bothering her, and even her heavy breathing could clearly be heard even from across the room.
"My avatars are still there but..." April continued looking around. "I can't feel them clearly. What have you done?"
"So they weren't destroyed? I guess being able to corrupt them is enough to keep you from using them as you please. I bet you can't switch positions with them either, so your teleportation must be out of the question as well. As for your question, it's kind of obvious what I did." Now the small sphere became larger, several other spheres appearing and rotating around the first one. "Don't you know how my power works? My ability is somewhat unique. Basically, electrons appear in this world in one of two states, particle or wave, however, my Meltdowner can trap them in their 'pure' state, where it is neither a particle nor a wave. You could say that they are in an ambiguous state. Does that ring a bell? My powers generate an unnatural phenomenon that ignores quantum physics, in other words, ignoring any kind of observation or measurement. Do I need to continue?"
"My avatars depend on my observations to function. Your ability can interrupt my flow of observations due to its unique property. Shit... I really should have taken that into account."
In the end, the ability of these girls were incompatible with each other. They were two bizarre phenomena colliding, which should cause an unexpected result, but fortunately for Shizuri, the outcome seemed to be in her favor. Now she was the one who finally had the lead.
"Surrender," Shizuri ordered, pointing with her right hand threateningly in the direction of the girl there. "I don't know if you can create more avatars or fix the old ones, but I clearly have the advantage here. Now get on your knees and don't move, so who knows I might leave you with all your limbs intact."
"I am sorry, Shizuri-chan, but I will have to decline your offer." She looked back at the wound on her shoulder, her voice weak from the pain. "Giving up is not an option for me."
"What exactly do you plan to do? Can't you just create another world and leave this one alone? Or at least spare the lives of the people down there?"
"If only it were that simple..." The girl took a step back, her silhouette turning emerald as it touched the moonlight. "The process I'm undertaking today is not the best way, but it's the only one I can think of at the moment. In order to effectively harness the colorless and shapeless angelic energy known as Telesma, the world's largest magic cabal invented and split apart the names of seventy-two angels. What I'm doing today is a similar but more delicate process that uses a large amount of AIM instead of Telesma. I'm gathering specific AIM fields and categorizing them, creating a Shading Computer. Unfortunately, the people down there won't survive."
"Then I'll have to stop you by force before you complete the process."
"You'd better hurry then, the process is nearly complete." April looked through the carved holes in the walls. "Once he is within range, there's no turning back. I'll divide everything into four colors, four directions. After that, I need to connect with him. The two of us will be at the center of everything, two dragons interconnected but looking in different directions. With this, the universe will be my petri dish. When maximum purity is reached, I will have total control of the panacea, and then all I need to do is heal this world."
"Dragons? Panacea? What nonsense are you talking, girl?"
"It doesn't matter." She took a deep breath and adjusted the mask on her face. "We'd better end this, don't you think?"
Immediately after uttering those words, the girl dashed at full speed towards Shizuri, who grimaced in response, incredulous at the absurdity. Perhaps she still had an ace up her sleeve.
Once the initial shock had subsided, Shizuri unleashed a rapid succession of Meltdowner blasts, ensuring not to target any vital areas. The girl was completely defenseless, or so she thought. To Shizuri's astonishment, April effortlessly evaded the attacks, contorting her body downward and gracefully sliding away, akin to a desperate maneuver by a skilled soccer player.
With April now in close proximity, Shizuri instinctively deactivated her Meltdowner, a voice in her mind cautioning against reckless discharge at such a close range. This little internal squabble was enough of a distraction for the pink-haired girl to swing her fist toward Shizuri, who was hit right in the cheek.
A dull sound rang out. Shizuri instinctively turning her face away, the impact being lessened, but still leaving a trail of lingering pain. Another blow came, this time to her belly, a kick that forcefully drew the air from her lungs.
"Let's settle this the old-fashioned way," April said, throwing her fist again in the direction of the other girl still recovering from the previous blow.
"Is that your last wish?" Shizuri blocked the fist coming towards her at the last instant with her left hand, she barely had to strain. "As you wish then."
A deafening thud sounded, coming from Shizuri's forehead colliding with her opponent's. The headbutt was so hard that April was forced to stagger back, shaking her head as if to regain her senses.
But Shizuri did not want to give her a chance to recover.
Advancing with a firm step, level 5 fired her fist straight into the girl's face, causing her to practically spin her body from the sheer force of the impact, and in a heartbeat, she swung her leg, kicking her opponent in the stomach, eliciting a piercing cry of agony as she was flung across the room like a discarded puppet. It was a moment that felt like a personal reckoning, almost a one-on-one act of vengeance.
Shizuri snapped her fingers slowly as she waited for the other girl to get up. She could go ahead and keep hitting her, or even fire her Meltdowner, but she was beginning to enjoy destroying that annoying girl with her bare hands, so she would savor it slowly.
With weak legs, the girl stood up with difficulty. Her hand was on her stomach, and Shizuri saw and heard when she forcefully swallowed something. Whether it was blood or her dinner being forced back she did not know.
"Ohoo..." Meltdowner let out a mocking chuckle. "So are you the swallowing type? I'm starting to get excited here."
"You damn monster," spat April, breathing hard. "I think I made a mistake."
"I agree." Shizuri smoothed her hair in an arrogant manner and put a hand on her waist as she walked toward the other girl. "Trying to turn this here into a fighting game instead of a bullet hell was dumb of you. You seem to have his thought patterns but not his punching power. In that case, I have the advantage here."
Once again Shizuri punched the poor still staggering girl with all her might. She met resistance, coming in the form of an attempt to protect herself using her arms, but the level 5 twisted her hand to pierce the defense and then used her other fist to hit the girl in the side, right in the ribs. A faint sound like something crunchy being chewed was heard.
"I love that sound." Shizuri laughed maliciously again. "How many ribs can I break until you pass out from pain? Do you have the same mental toughness as him? If so, that's going to be veeeery interesting."
The girl retaliated, delivering a solid blow to Shizuri's face, momentarily staggering her. However, Shizuri quickly composed herself, concealing any signs of vulnerability, and resumed her relentless assault on April.
A punch to the face, a kick to the ribs, another punch to the neck, a palm strike to the back of the head, followed by another punch and a devastating blow to the solar plexus. Hit, after hit, after hit. Each strike resounded with the unmistakable sound of something being fractured or ripping apart. Shizuri would be lying if she said she wasn't loving it all.
"How much stamina!" The level 5 now hit her with the sole of her foot, causing her to fly backwards and spin on the ground several times, however she soon stood up. "I may not be the best at ITEM in pure fist fighting, but I have confidence in my brute strength. Anyone normal would have fainted by now, so you must still be using your powers to mitigate the damage somehow."
A few Meltdowner beams were fired, but none went in the direction of her opponent. Shizuri was trying to hit all the places where the girl's body was physically in that room. It was a gamble, but Shizuri believed that she could make her avatars anywhere she was. Whether she had any restrictions was impossible to know, but at least she was sure that she couldn't just create one anywhere just by looking or something, she would basically be invincible if she could.
"I think that should do it," Shizuri said. She pointed her palm in the other girl's direction. "As much as I'd like to play a little more, I'm in a bit of a hurry. Besides, I'm kind of starting to feel bad, it proves that I'm a better person than before... maybe..."
"Looking for a little approval yet?" April straightened her aching body, crossing her arms under her ample chest and taking a deep breath. Her pose was too relaxed in Shizuri's opinion. "You know, you really aren't that bad. I still have doubts, but it was a good choice."
"Hearing that from someone I just beat up is kind of weird. Are you trying to awaken something in me?"
"Your jokes are as lousy as his." She sighed loudly. "I made a mistake, I confess. It was stupid of me to try to work things out his way." Her hand went to where her lips would be on her mask, making an odd gesture with her fingers, bringing them together right in front of her face leaving only a small gap. "Sorry about that, but I've wasted enough time with my antics."
She had no way of knowing what the girl was planning, so Shizuri didn't think twice before firing her Meltdowner. The idea was to rip off one of the girl's legs, so the fight would basically come to an end. She was expected to dodge, but the Meltdowner beam passed far from its target, and the reason for this was simple: something had hit Shizuri right on the side of her body.
It was so fast that Meltdowner was unable to understand it. It was like an invisible force, a roaring punch of air that hit her, causing her curvaceous body to twist and be thrown for dozens of meters. When she finally touched the ground, she kept rolling for a few more meters until her back hit a pillar. She had probably broken something too, if she were to judge by the sharp pain destroying her senses.
"Shit!" cursed Shizuri, watching the world spin around her, even after steadying herself on her two shaky legs. "Wha -"
"What are you made of anyway?" cut in April, still holding her hand in front of her face, like someone trying to whistle. "I really didn't want to have to use this because I thought it might accidentally kill you, but you didn't even faint. Well, I guess there's no way. I'm sorry about that."
The invisible attack hit her from the side once again, but this one was weaker than the previous one. In any case, the restraints of gravity left Shizuri once more. The tea-colored girl had to grit her teeth to keep from groaning in pain, forcing her battered body to stand up once more.
The level 5 girl could not identify what had happened. It appeared as though she had been struck by a sudden blast of air, but the noise was so loud that it almost burst her eardrums. She was also sure that she heard a sharp sound coming from the direction from which the invisible attack came, but this was hardly helpful in understanding this phenomenon.
"Was it just air?" Shizuri spoke that aloud as a ritual to maintain consciousness, that attack had not been easy to deal with after all. "Wait... she can walk without making a single sound... that must be it."
She had no time for further contemplation. The shrill sound reverberated once again, but Shizuri swiftly reacted, employing her abilities to craft a protective shield. The dissonance, resembling the distorted roar of a wild animal, moved the air in Shizuri's direction, crashing into the electrons in their pure state.
But it was not enough.
At least the impact seemed to be reduced, if you were to judge that the pain she felt when she was thrown across the room was much less. Of course, maybe she was just too sore to differentiate a new pain from an old one, judging by how deplorable she was.
The girl's trembling legs could hardly support her weight anymore, a thick trickle of blood was running down her body, and she still had that cold sweat, sliding down her body full of dirt, as if something metallic was scratching her body.
"My shield worked," Shizuri said in a weak, gasping voice.
At that moment, she felt she blocked in the right direction, but that girl found a way to guide the attack through her shield. Or maybe around the shield. In that case, could a larger shield be used as a response? She had to think of something fast.
"If it's just sound..." Shizuri took a deep breath and punched her own legs which were still trembling.
"What are you whispering to yourself there?" April once again made that 'hissing' gesture. "If you're praying to some god, be quick, I doubt you'll still be standing after one more attack."
"Unfortunately, the only 'god' I know is a fairy doll that disgusts me to no end, so I would die before praying to her." Shizuri put the fingers of her right hand together, pointed in April's direction, and then swung it to the side, as if slapping the air with the back of her hands. An eerie light was extending from there. "By the way, she must exist in this world doesn't it?"
"Are you talking about Othinus? That's... complicated. Anyway, enough talk let's finish - huh?"
April stopped talking when she heard a flickering sound like electricity, akin to an insect being fried by a bug zapper. From Shizuri's outstretched hand emerged a blade fashioned from her Meltdowner ability. Resembling a medieval sword in size, its radiance burned with an intensity comparable to that of welding sparks conjoining.
"You're kidding, right?" April seemed to smile at the sight of that. "You get points for the 'cool' factor, but what's your plan? You think I'm going to give you a chance to get close enough to use that noisy thing."
The gesture had been completed, and from Shizuri's right side came a sharp sound, originating precisely where the electron blade sliced through the air. The invisible blast surged once more toward the unsteady girl, who stood on her feet, swinging her sword horizontally.
At that moment, Shizuri wished she could see the girl's expression behind the mask.
"What?!" April even took a step back in confusion.
The explosion had somehow dissipated, leaving Meltdowner utterly undaunted, a sly grin etched across her face as she maintained a firm "grip" on her sword. Shizuri didn't even want to give the girl time to think about what trick she had used.
"You are using sounds," she said, swinging the noisy sword, which made even more noise as it was moved. "Since I met you that day, I realized that you can manipulate sound waves somehow. It must be the same method as the avatars, but it is much more rudimentary if you consider that my Light Show from before didn't interfere with them. You should be able to use your observations to trap in an ambiguous state sound waves created by you, like your speech, footsteps, or whatever. Maybe even specific frequencies, am I right?"
The pink-haired girl's click of her tongue was a delight to Shizuri. The table was turning once again.
"Probably, even if I tried the same method as before, my interference wouldn't do any good, it's just sound after all, not a human body in a state of ambiguous existence." She brought her hand to her forehead, wiping away the blood there. The sword was now pointed in the direction of her opponent. "But your method of guiding the blast shouldn't be easy, since you need specific sound waves. That's where this here comes in."
In other words, she was using her electron sword to tear the air and protect her from the explosion, but also harnessing the sound generated by the blade's high power to disrupt calculations or whatever that girl was using to control her powers. It was also a small gamble, but considering how incompatible her powers were, it was a relatively safe bet that the sound generated by the two would be as well.
"I'm back in the game," Shizuri said, taking a courageous step forward. A sphere of electrons formed in the palm of her free hand. "Time to get more serious about this."
x-x
The ruined courtyard had turned into an even more chaotic battlefield since Shizuri had entered the building to confront the one responsible for the whole mess. The positions now seemed to have been reversed, as what was once a squadron trying to pierce the defenses of an army, now this very squadron found itself tasked with safeguarding the entrance to the building, desperately striving to halt the relentless surge of espers, their numbers swelling with each passing moment.
"Are some of them getting up?" cried Misaka Mikoto.
"That's how it seems, Onee-sama. We have to take this more seriously."
The four remaining girls were not supposed to have the best chemistry, not even close, but in a rather odd way, they actually worked well. They moved more like two pairs rather than a quartet. Misaka Mikoto stood atop a lamppost, wielding an iron sand sword in one hand, while a cluster of iron sand constructs extended from a black ball on her back, resembling the tentacles of an octopus. Her focus lay primarily on cleaving through the ground and demolishing objects to create makeshift barriers, at least impeding the enemy's advance. Frenda Seivelun, the girl armed with a grenade launcher, skillfully dispersed sticky bombs amidst the obstacles. The explosions sent entire groups soaring through the air, though miraculously without causing any fatalities. This could only attest to the blonde's proficiency and calculated precision.
Meanwhile, the little girl named Kinuhata Saiai threw herself into the horde of enemies without any fear. With fist clenched, she kept knocking down enemies as if there was no tomorrow, while Shirai Kuroko quickly teleported improvised darts onto the clothes of fallen enemies, preventing them from getting up.
Yes, the duos were actually organized with the Teleporter and Offense Armor in the front line, while Frenda and Mikoto attacked from a distance between lightning and bombs.
"Hey, Railgun," called Frenda, holding up some dolls. "Take that. Basically, I put metal in there, so you can use your magnetism and -"
"Got it, leave it to me."
"Let me finish explaining!"
The girl's grasp on the dolls was forcefully torn away, and they took flight in unison, descending upon the adversaries below. A chaotic maelstrom of dust, grass, and debris engulfed the courtyard as the dolls ignited in a sequence of explosions, obliterating a significant portion of the enemy ranks. The precision with which the Level 5 scattered the dolls was nothing short of sublime, yet the little blonde girl remained unsatisfied.
"Damn Railgun," she muttered softly, with a cute, pouting face. "Trying to take all the credit and not even letting me gloat. Basically -"
"Good job, little girl." Mikoto raised a thumb to Frenda and winked at her. "Those bombs are effective, do you have more of them?"
"I'm not a little girl! Basically, I'm older than you!" Even though she sulked, she clearly enjoyed the compliment.
Even with enemy advances, the situation was beginning to become less chaotic. Mikoto's strategically crafted obstacles acted as a narrowing funnel, ensuring that each blow had more impact on their numbers. If those four kept it up, the battle would be won.
That's when it happened.
The horde of enemies came to an abrupt halt, freezing in their tracks. Even the espers who had been attempting to launch attacks from a distance found themselves immobilized, their abilities deactivated. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though the enemies regained their senses, their eyes wide with a mix of confusion and desperation. Panic rippled through their ranks as they became aware of an unseen force that had rendered them powerless.
The 4 girls also stopped attacking, looking at each other and trying to understand what the plan of action would be, when suddenly, all the enemies collapsed on the cold, rough ground below them, as if their energies were depleted.
"Super what?!" The first to grimace was Kinuhata, who was in the middle of it all.
"Basically, I think we won." Frenda smiled gracelessly.
"Your friend must have done something there." Kuroko let out a breath of relief.
"Well, that was kind of disappointing." And with that, Mikoto undid her iron sand sword and gracefully propelled herself off the lamppost. "I was hoping for a little more action after that idiot ran away from me and -"
"Onee-sama." Kuroko pointed to the middle of the courtyard, where the largest concentration of enemies were. "What's that light?"
"It's not my thing, if that's what you're asking."
A shiver coursed down Mikoto's spine, a sensation that seemed to resonate with the other girls. It was far from over. Amidst the dusty surroundings, a brilliant, ominous light ascended, its radiance spreading out in a display reminiscent of a contorted, gnarled tree.
They too froze in place, their breaths labored and a lingering unease creeping through their bodies. Their trembling lips instinctively quivered and recoiled, as if guided by an innate instinct to pull away.
"Not good," Mikoto whispered. "What is that thing? Some kind of..."
The sentence went unfinished, as if the girl was physically incapable of understanding what that bizarre form was trying to represent. It was a creature, she knew that, but nothing more. Its appearance was there to be seen, but it was like someone watching stars with the naked eye in a brightly lit city obscuring the view.
"An angel?" asked Frenda. Among all the high-level espers, it seemed certain that a level 0 would be the one to ask that "A demon...no, not that."
It was almost as big as a building. Its multiple wings extended from its back like deformed hands trying to reach for the sky, with fingers spreading out like the legs of a giant spider, each segment bent at a disjointed angle. Its head was adorned by a golden flame that fell over its back like strands, and in its hand a blade extended for dozens of meters, reflecting the stars of the night sky on its black, metallic surface.
Everyone who looked at it felt that this creature did not belong in this world. It was like something one would see in a horror book, a creature beyond human comprehension. With a blank stare, the 'thing' moved its head in the direction of the girls, who could not look away, its guard up at all times. The sword in its hand was lifted high above its head.
And then there was a resounding bang.
It was not an impact, the mere swing of the sword made a noise as loud as thunder, dragging a mass of air in all directions. Misaka Mikoto snapped out of her trance, swiftly seizing the little blonde girl and harnessing her powers to propel both of them in the opposite direction, just before the sword touched the ground.
A crater formed from the impact, and a rain of dirt and mud fell on that courtyard. A minute ago, the fight seemed only a reasonable challenge, maybe even fun, but the situation had changed, and now no strategy seemed valid.
"Is everyone okay?" Kuroko asked, teleporting near Mikoto and bringing Kinuhata along with her.
"Yes," Mikoto responded, gently setting Frenda down."I don't know what that thing is, but if it manages to strike us… it's over."
"Basically, I think it's a good time for me to switch to lethal mode," Frenda declared, taking a courageous step forward.
"Leaving the fact that you have something lethal in there," Mikoto said, "I doubt any bomb can stop that thing." She put her hand on Frenda's grenade launcher and lowered it, stopping her from doing something stupid.
"What about you, super Railgun?" inquired Kinuhata. "Do you have the firepower to take down that strange thing?"
"Let's find out."
A coin was taken from Tokiwadai's ace pocket and positioned on her right finger. She imagined it as two rails in front of her, stretching 50 meters. That was the range of her final attack, so she needed a little help to make the most of it. Just as electric sparks began to shoot from her body, the girl screamed.
"Kuroko! Get me as close as possible."
"Leave it to me, Onee-san."
The two Tokiwadai girls disappeared the next instant, reappearing more than 20 meters from the ground. Mikoto wasted no time. An orange light illuminated the courtyard as a coin was accelerated at 3 times the speed of sound, leaving a glowing trail and flying toward the alien thing.
It was expected that great damage would be done, and that is exactly what happened. This attack had enough power to blow up a nuclear bunker, and it was aimed right at the humanoid creature's chest, where its heart would be, opening a huge hole in the creature, which barely seemed to react. Mikoto's human brain must have thought at the last second that aiming there was ideal, but with something so inhuman, would it still make a difference?
"Tch, let's get out of here!" she shouted, sensing something approaching her.
If Kuroko had taken another millisecond, the two would have been hit by a fist that was swung toward them. Was that a fist right? No one could define whether it was supposed to have something human in it, but that attack would decimate anything in its path, regardless of what they believed or not.
"It's super regenerating!" shouted Kinuhata, pointing to the spot where there had been a hole.
"Shit, what do we do?" Frenda pointed the grenade launcher in the creature's direction, even though she knew it wouldn't be enough.
"We can handle it," Mikoto replied, preparing another coin. "Your friend said she'd take care of it, didn't she? That pink haired girl must be responsible for this, we have to face this thing until it is defeated. Don't give up yet."
Their hopes were pinned on someone else, but all 4 had not yet lost the will to fight.
All the female combatants prepared to go all out. Misaka Mikoto kept firing as many railguns as she could, even picking up large pieces of scrap iron around her to use as ammunition. Kuroko was helping her by teleporting everything she could to keep her firing non-stop, while Frenda pulled the trigger on her grenade launcher, which wasn't doing much damage.
"Basically, I'm out of ammo," Frenda warned, discarding her grenade launcher and reaching under her skirt. "Kinuhata, help me throw those homemade bombs at that angel."
"Count super me in."
As the battle raged on, another round of relentless attacks was unleashed upon the enemy. Despite their concerted efforts, the damage inflicted upon the creature seemed to be only temporary, as its regenerative abilities proved to be even more formidable than previously witnessed.
"That thing... it's getting stronger," Mikoto wailed, her voice exhausted from shooting in succession.
"Yes, but something is wrong," Kuroko said, pausing to rest. "That thing hasn't been moving or attacking for some time."
"Do you think something has changed?"
"I don't know." She looked at the building behind her. "If that thing isn't attacking, then we're just wasting our energy."
"What do you mean?"
"We'd better go help her."
"Basically, you're not trying to escape, are you?" complained Frenda with a tone of indignation.
"Just think, if I teleport Onee-sama into the fight up there, that girl doesn't stand a chance. It will be two level 5s against her, that's the best strategy."
"If that's the case," Mikoto cut in by snapping her fingers. "Stay here and help them, I'll go alone."
She left no time for counterarguments. Using her power of magnetism, she threw herself toward a lamppost and flew toward the building. It was only then that she realized what a big mistake she had made.
The chilling sensation that had coursed down Mikoto's spine earlier returned, compelling her to avert her gaze towards the direction of the creature. It felt as though her entire life flashed before her eyes in an instant. With the girl still in mid-air, the creature extended the blade in its hand, slashing through the air with a swift, stabbing motion, causing it to emit a primal roar reminiscent of a wild beast.
The enemy's blade moved so fast that none of the girls could react in time, not that it mattered, since the target was not them, but the level 5 climbing the building. Kuroko panicked, due to the loud noise disrupting her calculations. She would have to make two consecutive teleports, in other words, there was nothing she could do.
Misaka Mikoto quickly threw herself to the side and away from the building in a desperate attempt to evade the colossal blade. However, to her misfortune, it seemed as though the creature anticipated her movement, altering the trajectory of the massive sword. The blade tore through everything in its path, hurtling relentlessly towards Mikoto's defenseless body.
With her eyes closed, Railgun heard a sharp sound very close to her ear, an instant before she was hit by that blade. It was a loud sound, like glass breaking.
"That was a close one," a male voice was heard soon after.
Now with her eyes open, Mikoto witnessed the impossible. That implacable sword had been broken, obliterated by an unknown force, and right there, clinging to the wall she had instinctively reattached herself to, was a boy. He had a simple face but a certain sense of style judging by his clothes. His eyes were blue, his hair was black and spiky, and... he was smiling for some reason.
"You?" Mikoto almost stuttered at seeing that boy again. "How did you get here?"
"I had a little help." He nodded towards the ground, where a blond boy was standing with a straight face. "Thanks for the boost, Kakine-san."
"Shut up and get down here, we don't have all night." The boy named Kakine seemed to be angry about something.
"Yeah, yeah." He detached a hook-like contraption protruding from his wrist and plopped down. "I'd better go, I suggest you come with me too."
That feeling from before had passed, disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place, and all thanks to the presence of this boy. It was strange, but Mikoto felt that the moment he appeared on that battlefield, an abnormal feeling of safety hovered around everything. Maybe it was because she had faced him and seen how strong he was, or maybe it was something else she couldn't decipher.
"Hey, girls, are you having fun?" asked Touma to Kinuhata and Frenda.
"Kami-kun, finally!"
"Thank god, Super Kami-chan has arrived!"
"A somewhat unexpected reaction." He scratched his head absently.
"Hey, you're that guy from that day," Kuroko said. "Uiharu's friend, right?"
"Exactly, Shirai-san."
"Do you know this guy, Kuroko?"
"Sorry to interrupt you." Kakine cleared his throat loudly for attention. "But that thing won't kill itself."
"Oh... yeah." Touma shrugged and turned away from the group. "I'm still a little drunk, so I let myself off easy. I'll take care of that now."
He walked so fearlessly toward the thing that Mikoto blinked several times until she could process what he had said and try to act on the madness that was going on.
"Hey, idiot, what do you -"
"Don't stand in the way, Railgun." Kakine stepped in front of Mikoto and put on a serious face.
"Huh? And who the hell are you anyway?"
"Kakine Teitoku. Also known as dark matter, number two in this city."
"Number... 2?"
It even made sense that the guy who was apparently dating a level 5 would also have a 'friend' like that. But that still didn't explain the recklessness of that idiot casually walking towards a monster that didn't even care about being hit by a burst of railguns.
"What are you anyway?" he asked aloud, as if he could speak to the creature. "You look familiar but... never mind. Come on, I'm right here, hit me with everything you've got!"
The creature, which until now had looked more like a machine, staring with mere indifference in the direction of his opponents, stared intently at the boy. Maybe Mikoto's imagination was playing tricks on her, but... when the boy raised his right hand, she saw this monster from another dimension take a slight step back, as if acting cautiously in front of this new enemy that should be as insignificant to him as the others.
And just as before, the enemy swung his fist with extraordinary speed. That alien 'angel' had no mercy, that attack would destroy anything in its path, turn the concrete below into a mere cloud of dust, crush that frail flesh body below it until only a red stain remained of what once was a human. It was the logical thing to happen. But... still.
It barely lasted an instant. The angel's fist crashed into another fist, the one belonging to a mere human, who lazily shook his arm as if bored. It couldn't even be called a punch, the boy merely raised his fist, which looked completely normal, and soon after, that same high-pitched noise as before was heard.
"W-what?!" Mikoto almost screamed. Her eyes widened at that scene.
The sound of breaking glass reverberated through the courtyard, as the building-sized creature had its limb blown off in an instant. But it didn't stop there. Like a crumbling house of cards, the creature shattered, and its remains fell into the courtyard, forming a huge cloud of dust that covered the mysterious boy.
"Eh?" Kuroko looked as surprised as Mikoto. "A single blow. I-impossible."
"The bastard really did it," Kakine said, clicking his tongue and putting a hand in his pocket.
Emerging from the midst of the cloud of debris completely unharmed, Kamijou Touma wiped the dirt off his clothes and put both hands in his pockets. He walked up to the group as casually as someone going to school in the morning.
"I guess that settles it," he said, looking in Kakine's direction and putting on a smirk.
Mikoto was still stunned, and it seemed that this would not pass anytime soon.
"What on earth are you?" Railgun's voice was a mixture of surprise and irritation. A slight tone of admiration as well.
"Basically, that's Kami-kun for you." Frenda attempted to seize Touma's arm.
"Leave some Super Kami-chan for me." Kinuhata tried to grab the other arm.
"Girls, I'm still a committed man, I guess, so keep a safe distance, please." He stepped away from the two girls and extended his palm toward Kakine like a beggar. "You owe me 10000 yen."
After an apprehensive click of his tongue, Kakine delved into his pocket, withdrawing his wallet. With an air of utmost reluctance, he extended a bill towards Touma.
"What's going on here?" asked Kuroko watching that exchange between the two boys.
"I told Kakine that I didn't need his help since I would defeat that bizarre angel in one blow, he doubted I could do it so we made a little bet."
"Wait, wait," Mikoto cut in, standing between the two boys, "if you're number 2, then what rank is this idiot? I refuse to believe that I lost to someone of lower rank than me."
"You super defeated Railgun too, Kami-chan? Impressive."
"Basically, I'm not surprised, Kami-kun."
"Who are you guys? This guy's fan club?" Mikoto realized too late that she had made a mistake in admitting defeat.
"By the way Frenda, it's good to see you again," Touma said, completely ignoring the poor defeated girl. He had a solemn, somewhat sad tone.
"Eh?" The little blonde girl's cheeks flushed slightly. "Basically, why are you telling me this out of the blue? I didn't even get a chance to apologize to you, so don't act like that, you're making me feel bad."
"Apologize? For what exactly?" Touma shrugged and then put his hand on her beret which was a little crooked and straightened it.
"Well... b-basically... I..." The girl stammered, and in the next instant, her expression changed to a terrified one. "No... it can't be..."
The pleasant mood there had distracted everyone, preventing them from noticing something important, which became obvious when Frenda began pointing to the lowering cloud of dust. Everyone turned in that direction as fast as they could, feeling a repulsive sensation that seemed to hang in the air, thickening it like a dense fog.
It was not over. That creature from before was getting up, using a newly created sword for support. More than half of his body had been obliterated by the attack of the unknown power from before, but he was struggling to fight, and the situation seemed even worse than before.
"Is it regenerating?" asked Kakine, eyes sharpening toward the creature, its dark matter wings forming on its back. "Not good, we have to take it down before it recovers."
But it was too late, the creature had already risen, whole and unscathed, nullifying Touma's efforts. Everyone's guard went up again, it was time for another round.
A/N: And here we are, the last two big fights of the arc have begun in earnest. Now you understand why Shizuri's powers have been explained so many times in this fic. Before anyone asks, although April is similar to KnT, she is stuck in her "human" form, so she doesn't have superhuman strength and also can't move faster than sound. Without her avatars, she is pretty much a "normal girl".
Touma and his entrances. I couldn't write a scene like this without him appearing out of nowhere to save the day, but the fight isn't over yet.
Let me see those reviews:
KHVSFF: Things are starting to get closure around here, the pace will pick up even more in the next chapter. It seems that a lot of people liked Shizuri hugging Frenda, nice, I should have extended that scene a bit. One small thing about this fic, in one of my initial drafts, I planned to have Shizuri and Mikoto be friends, that's why the two talk about manga and relationships in the first arc, but I abandoned the idea halfway through because the pace of the story was already too slow and I wanted to focus on Takitsubo. I thought carefully trying to create a phrase that matched Shizuri's aggressive personality and resembled Touma's, a "dead" rather than "broken" illusion, did that make sense? Thanks a lot for the support as always.
Xellos540: ; Hey! "The 4 colorings are from the east magic, right?" Not really. Black, white, yellow, and red are the colors that represent the cycle of the four stages: death, bonding, fermentation, and rebirth. This is from the teachings of the Rosicrucian magic cabal, part of the foundation of modern Western magic.
;Strange to mention Mikoto and Accel, but not The Holy Guardian Angel Aiwass, an AIM thought-being.
;I know next to nothing of BNHA lore, so I have no idea what it means. But if you are wondering, this is not my take, it is literally taken from canon. Here is a quote from Aihana Etsu copied from the novels: "I cannot actually do all that much. The nature of my power means I cannot bring about justice on my own. So I am always thinking about who I can side with to ensure the good guys win. I lend out the name of Aihana Etsu as a part of that."
;Do you mean romantic signs? We don't have anything that clearly indicates that in canon, so I don't know why I would put that here. I did reference her line about Hamazura in the IF arc, it was subtle but it's there.
;Yes, that was the intended subtext.
;You seem very concerned about Frenda. I already said in my notes that nothing will happen to her. I reiterate.
;Reference to JB arc, sort of.
;Now you understand why Touma refused to talk about Ayu, although it was ambiguous.
;I think it's asking too much kindness on Shizuri's part, Mikoto tried to fry her boyfriend while he was drunk after all. Shizuri is not exactly a reasonable person, even if she has done far worse in the past.
;I said in my notes that it would be more confusing for those who haven't read the novels, but I explained a bit in the previous chapter your doubts, so I won't comment further here.
;Touma no longer sees the other Touma, but he listens to him sometimes. There is one chapter in this fic where I show Touma's thoughts and he is talking to himself, in this case, to the other Touma, but I was subtle.
;Othinus was in Windsor Castle, it is plausible that she deduced.
;April was created with Touma's ability, just like KnT.
;Poor Kazakiri.
;She will keep trying, different or not is irrelevant.
;After she stole Touma's speech pattern(This Mugino-san/Shizuri-chan) now she will steal the catchphrases too LOL.
;The equivalent of four long fics? I'll have to examine what the average is across the board then. Thanks for the feedback.
5queso: Those are very kind words, thank you very much. I find that my writing tends to vary in quality depending on how long I write each day, so it's good to know that I am improving. We have two fights going on at the same time, I was thinking of writing one and then the other, but I changed it because it would look a bit strange. The problem with this is that neither fight was finished in this chapter. Is this kind of narrative bothersome? It happens in the novels from time to time so I guess Toaru readers must be used to it. See you next time.
Another chapter with no interactions between Touma and Shizuri, will we get one next time? It's over for the time being. NioMoon leaving.
