Author's note: One of the rare moments I put the author's note at the front.
Okay, so maybe the story was too fast when Krasie pointed that out. So, I've added something behind to as to make the story flow better.
There's a Haruhi reference inside also, haha, should be quite obvious.
Hope its much better than before.
And do review if you have any comments! Or fav or follow if you want :)
Chapter edited as of 17/04/2013.
"Breaking news report! Several rows of buildings mysteriously disappeared overnight. The government is currently investigating the matter."
"Eh, what the hell?" Touma said as he glanced over the morning news that Misato's pet, Pen-Pen was watching. Another day of school, another boring day with Asuka always tagging along.
While Asuka claimed that she needed his protection against those crazy admirers, recently, none of them would even take a second look at her. Despite that, she still insisted on him being her bodyguard.
Everyday, he would be listening to her complaints about Kirishima Mana stealing all of her fans through underhanded means. As if she had a fan club in the first place, and the underhanded means that Mana used would be different the next day.
Even in the hospital after he awoke from his coma about two days later from the battle against the Angel, he was not spared from Asuka's 'how awesome Mana seemed, but in reality she sucks' ramblings.
After a few hours later, he was discharged from the hospital with Asuka blushing red while she shoved a thermos flask containing soup into his bag that she made as a form of thanks for saving her life.
"Wark." Pen-pen said as it turned behind to acknowledge Touma's presence.
"Good morning."
"Wark."
Pen-pen turned back to watch the news. Misato mentioned that this penguin actually had human intelligence, but it just did not have the means to express itself in terms of the human language. Seeing the penguin watch the news as if it understood everything was enough proof for Touma.
"I'm going off to school." Touma waved the penguin goodbye as he stepped out of the door.
"Wark."
I wonder how Asuka's going to feel about Mana joining our class today. Touma thought.
According to the Schrödinger's cat theory, the cat in the box can be both simultaneously alive or dead. If it was Asuka and Mana in the box, the both of them can only be dead. Reality does not encompass the possibility of either one of them or both of them alive.
Today, the bus came early. Touma was aware that this could only meant a larger misfortune coming his way.
He tried to cheer himself up by switching his viewpoint about his misfortune. Maybe this would appease the god of misfortune that has taken a liking to him since birth.
I wonder what misfortune it would be this time. So exciting~ I'm looking forward to it!
However, it came out as something sarcastic in his head.
I give up.
And so, Kamijou Touma begins yet another day of his life in school.
"Class, we have a new student." The teacher said as a brown haired girl who was smiling at the rest of the class stood beside him.
"Hi, I'm Kirishima Mana. Please take care of me."
Mana bowed politely once before she went back to her seat.
"Wow, isn't she that popular girl I've heard about from another class?"
"Yeah, it's definitely her."
"Oh my god, I want her autograph so badly."
"She's not a movie star for god's sake."
The incessant chattering continued as Touma stared at the seat beside him.
Asuka was not in school today.
Is she really that hateful to the point where you'd skip school just to avoid being her classmate? Probably can't blame you for that. Having your fanbase being stolen overnight by an ESPer like that Queen of Tokiwadai.
If it was Touma, he would have dismissed such an event as misfortune. But to Asuka, it was her entire self worth being destroyed by a single touch within seconds.
He hoped that this would not affect her perfomance against the Angel that would be expected to resume its attack tomorrow.
During the previous battle, Mana had planned to drop an N2 mine that would somehow incapacitate Unit-02, but thanks to his intervention, Unit-01.
Why Unit-02? If she had targeted Unit-01 or the both of them, she would not have dropped the mine that soon.
According to Misato, that Mana might just be attempting to sabotage NERV so that the government would be forced to rely on Jet Alone, hence the JSSDF would then rightfully replace NERV as the organisation in charge of fighting the Angels.
Still, why only target Unit-02?
Touma could not stand it anymore. He got up from his seat and broke through the crowd that was surrounding Mana.
"Tell me. Why did you want to hurt Asuka?"
Mana clicked her fingers and everyone except for Touma and Rei, who was looking out of the window as usual, froze in place with eyelids drooping.
"She deserved it."
"What are you talking about? Sure, Asuka hates you, but she does not deserve a N2 mine right in her face."
"It'd be better if she died."
Mana was smiling throughout as she spoke.
She wanted her dead, not out of hatred nor vengeance, but sincerity. Mana wished for her to be dead as if that would keep her safe from something even more horrifying.
"... Why?"
"Death isn't terrifying," Mana glanced at Rei, "I've died once too, you know."
Then, her smile faded into a serious look.
"If you wish to extract her from the universe that I've kept her safe inside, beg Ayanami Rei as hard as you can, because she's the only person that can get you there. Be fast though, the path only lasts about an hour before it expires.
"By the way, the several rows of building disappearing was a favour done for me as a friend. Of course, only Asuka made it to that universe while the rest died. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I'm sure it's because their bodies could not adapt to that new universe."
Mana got up from her chair and left the classroom after closing the door as hard as she could.
"Shinji." Rei said.
The classroom was completely quiet, so Touma could still hear her clearly from a distance.
"We have to get to that universe she mentioned as soon as possible."
"Shinji. The Angel will attack tomorrow. If we leave, there would be no pilots left to fight the Angels."
"Don't fuck with me. We have to rescue her!"
"Tokyo-3 would be left unprotected. Even if the Angel completely destroys Tokyo-3 as a result, would you still choose to rescue Asuka?"
Touma paused for a moment.
Is saving one life more important, or protecting tens of thousands of lives more important? However, Asuka would be lost forever if he chose to protect Tokyo-3.
"... Then we will have to retrieve Asuka before the Angel attacks. What is the time difference between the two worlds?"
"4 days. You have 4 days in that universe to rescue Asuka. I must inform you that the path will disappear once the both of us pass through it."
"Then how do we get her back? Or even ourselves."
"That is up to you to figure out in 4 days."
"Fine. Let's go."
Rei thought as she left the classroom with Touma.
You are a selfish person, Shinji Ikari. To you, that one special life is infinitely more important than a hundred thousand lives.
A lone shimmering black, floating stone table titled SEELE #7 lit up in the dark space in front of Mana who sat on the floor drawing imaginary circles on the ground with a finger.
"Is that really okay? Saving that girl." SEELE #7 said.
"Our version of Instrumentality isn't so kind to the Lilins." Mana sighed.
"The descendants of Adam will thrive while the descendants of Lilith will be doomed to live in an endless nightmare of their own souls!"
"Thanks. I mean for sending the girl away from here."
"It wasn't your fault, you know. You didn't know this would happen."
Mana laughed as she finished drawing her 156th imaginary circle, "I just wanted to make it up to her."
"By sparing her from the pain of Instrumentality? Just what exactly did you do to her?"
"I raped her mind. That's enough reason to spare her from the pain."
Not even SEELE #7 knew that that she was doing it for his brother, Tabris.
The light that filtered through the yellow curtains by the window woke Asuka up from her sweet slumber.
"Annoying," she said as she got off from her bed in a single room apartment. Kaji was away in Germany again due to his work and so she had the whole apartment to herself.
Heading to the kitchen after washing up, she made a cup of coffee and toasted a few slice of bread for breakfast. Just a few days ago, that Kirishima Mana (admittedly) had dropped a N2 mine onto Eva Unit-01 and she actually had the cheek to issue a challenge.
Try and stop you? Oh, if killing was legal, I would certainly take a knife and stab it right through your heart. Asuka thought as she chewed on her toast, washing it down with coffee.
Since it was only 7am in the morning and school starts at 8am, she took her time to enjoy her toast and coffee before changing into her uniform.
Strange. Why did her uniform suddenly turned navy-blue in colour? She rummaged through her wardrobe to find her real uniform that she always wore to school, but it seems as though that only her uniform was the only clothing different from her other clothes.
Forget it. I'll just wear that uniform then. Asuka decided that she could not possibly go to school in her pyjamas, nor in her other trendy clothings.
As she walked through the corridors of her apartment, she noticed that there were windmills dotted all over the city.
That's odd, did somebody built those windmills in Tokyo-3 overnight? Asuka got into an escalator and as soon she got out, she realized that she was in a totally different place from Tokyo-3.
Every now and then, small cylinderical shaped robots would roam the streets, cleaning up litter that some of the people left behind.
Asuka also realized that the usual chirping of the cicidas was not there.
It felt like Germany all over again, except that most of the people in the streets remained Japanese.
And then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed a fireball heading in her direction.
Instinctively, she sidestepped the fireball, setting a cylindrical robot beside her on fire instead, and saw that it was a man from the opposite side of the street who did that.
Fireball? Is this even possible? Yet, the man continued to throw multiple fireballs at her. It seemed as though the fire had magically appeared from his palm and he was throwing it like how one would throw a baseball. And why the man was targeting her, she had no idea.
Asuka could only dodge those fireballs and she ran into an alley to escape from the maniac.
This is crazy! How could a mere human be able to conjure fire just like that.
"Hey, hey, hey. Look what we got here." A muscular bearded man wearing sunglasses sneered as the group of his underlings surrounded Asuka like savages circling its prey before going in for the kill.
"What do you want from me?" Asuka said. There was only 6 of them, or 7 if you count the bearded man.
"No, no, no," the bearded man waved a finger, "we are here to punish you ESPers."
Asuka held her chest up high, "I'm not an ESPer. The name's Asuka Langley Soryu. I'm the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. Ever heard of it?"
The group of 7 instantly broke into laughter.
"What is this? Some kind of a fantasy from a little girl?" An underling said, "But you're so developed..."
He attempted to reach for Asuka's chest using his slimy little hands to which she responded by gripping it, pulling his face closer to ground at a downwards angle before it was launched sharply upwards from a swift kick to the chin.
"Get her!" The remaining 5 underlings who had surrounded her in a circle now charged towards her.
It was like being in a circular space and it was getting smaller and smaller. Fortunately, years of training in combat had taught her that in situations like this, a simple 360 degrees sidesweep kick would suffice.
Asuka crouched low and in one sweeping motion, all of the underling lost their balance and started falling upon her like dominos.
Leaping up 2 meters, she gracefully somersaulted over an underling that was in the way and got up and turned behind. The 6 underlings was plied ontop of each other due to the narrow space. Meanwhile, the leader was nowhere to be seen.
Too easy. Asuka smirked. That'll teach them a lesson not to mess with me.
Out of thin air, a girl with two ponytails manifested in front of her and landed on the bodies.
"Judgement. I'm surprised you managed to dispatch of them so easily. Oh, and that man who threw those fireballs at you. Don't worry, he's already been apprehended by us. Apparently, he had a grudge on redheads like you, or something like that."
Asuka thought. She just appeared just like that? Was she also spying on me? Where in the world am I exactly at?! I need to get out of here now.
Even though her face had turned ghastly pale, Asuka managed a smile, "I need to err... I have something on. See you!" and she ran out of the alley as fast as her legs could take her.
Everything about the street now seemed foreign. The rows of shophouses and the occasional large skyscrapers and various windmills being planted all over the area like the trees which was much more modest in size than the windmills.
Yet, the street is currently the only thing that still made sense to Asuka.
Somebody. Shinji, Rei, Hikari, Misato, heck even Gendo. Tell me that this is all just a nightmare! Maybe you could all appear out of nowhere and erase the background, revealing that all the while, I was only in a virtual simulation room.
"There you are!" A black, long haired girl with blue eyes called out to Asuka. Beside her was a shorter girl who had flowers growing from her bobcut.
"Do I know you?"
The black, long haired girl said, "I'm Saten Ruiko," and pointing to the shorter girl beside her, "and she's Uiharu Kazari."
"Nope. I clearly have no idea who you are."
Saten pouted, "We only met yesterday and you've forgotten about us so soon. We're in the same class."
This is crazy. Just yesterday I was in school and I certainly don't know any Saten Ruiko nor a Uiharu Kazari. This can't be happening right? I'm actually no longer in Tokyo-3, and already enrolled in a school?
"Where exactly am I?"
"Come on! Although you're a transfer student, but surely you know that this is Academy City, am I right?"
Asuka looked at the two girls who also wore the same uniform as her.
It can't be happening right? That... I'm in that fictional city of ESPers?! I must be going crazy. This is all just a dream, wake up! But how... how do I wake up?
"So... I'm an ESPer now? And a Level 0?"
Saten patted Asuka's shoulder and grinned, "There's nothing to be ashamed in being a Level 0."
"Don't fuck with me! If you're powerless, how do you even survive in this city? Somebody could just throw a fireball at you, and BAM. You're dead. Finished."
"Out of the 2.3 million residents here, 60% are actually powerless and the rest with powers to some extent. Judgement and Anti-Skill keeps order around here so there's really no need to be that afraid." Saten said, "By the way, Uiharu is also a Judgement member so if you get into any trouble, you can count on her to save the day.
Seeing how a Level 0 like her is still alive, she took her word for it. And where are we going now... No wait, I'm an Evangelion pliot! Someone who has been living in Tokyo-3 until this morning.
"Hey!" Asuka suddenly shouted. "Do you know of Tokyo-3? Evangelions? Angels?"
"Eh? Tokyo-3?" Saten turned to Uiharu, "Do you know of a Tokyo-3?"
"Umm... Have you heard of a visual novel titled Girlfriend of Steel?" Uiharu said.
"And what has it got to do with Tokyo-3?" Asuka said.
Uiharu put a finger to her chin, trying to recall what she still remembered about the title, "It's about a girl named Kirishima Mana... and there's a Shinji Ikari as well. I don't remember much of the details since its been quite a while but apparently she's a spy of some sorts."
Asuka stood there in a daze. Kirishima Mana? No, how can this be? Did she freaking teleport me into this place? Even for an Angel, how could this be possible? I refuse to accept this! Don't think you've won, Kirishima Mana. I will find a way out here and I will rip your body into a thousand pieces.
Asuka had enough of this already, "I need to be left alone for a while..." and she started running, and running about aimlessly until she reached a park.
A certain Misaka Mikoto was there again kicking a certain vending machine in her chaser style, which involved executing a 45 degree oblique kick to the side of the machine. After that is done, the machine is sure to spit out several cans.
However, while she could not choose what would come out, it did not really matter.
Asuka sat at a bench as she noticed the brown haired girl kicking a vending machine. She started to consider the fact that she might just be stuck here forever.
A gloomy vision, no doubt. She now felt homesick taken to the next level squared to the power of 100.
The park was unusually quiet and it seemed as though the two of them were the only ones here.
Just then, another bunch of thugs appeared, surrounding Mikoto and cornered her into the vending machine. They claimed that they have a old debt to settle.
Magically, lightning started to pour from her body, electrocuting them on the spot.
Mikoto spotted her from a distance and Asuka wondered if she was going to kill her as well to get rid of any witnesses. If she is currently inside an Eva, she would not hesitate to charge forward but now, she truly understood the phrase, "But I am only human."
No way she could defeat a lightning godness even though she is Asuka Langley Soryu, the child prodigy who had graduated from university at the age of 14. Besides that, being an accomplished Eva pliot which also meant she was well trained in combat.
However, she had no ESPer ability, thus no matter how good she was, she would die in one move.
"Oi, are you okay?" Mikoto called out, surprised at how pale Asuka had become.
Asuka stood up and got into a defensive pose. Powerless or not, she will not be going down without a fight.
Mikoto said. "Huh? Oh don't worry, I'm not going to fry you like how I fried them." She turned to the thugs who laid on the ground, with smoke still emitting from their body. As Mikoto would put it in her own words, freshly baked from the oven,
"Ah, so there's where you've been." Saten said as she appeared from a distance with Uiharu.
"Saten, you know her?" Mikoto said.
"Yup. She's a newly transferred student. Same class as me."
The same girl with two ponytail appeared out of thin air again, in a manner like pouncing upon her prey.
"Oneesama~~~~"
"Kuroko, stop that!" Misaka valiantly tried to shake off that besotted, clinging girl.
Asuka facepalmed herself at the sight of this while Saten and Uiharu could only look at them sheepishly.
"Oh its you. It's strange that you'd run at the sight of me like you've seen a ghost." Kuroko said after Mikoto succeded in shaking her off by bathing her in an electric waterfall, "Isn't ESPer abilities a common knowledge here in Academy City here? Why would you be shocked as if I had accomplished an impossible feat."
Asuka thought. Because you're a freaking ghost! They can teleport about freely. Wait, did I die in my sleep? Has Kirishima Mana killed me in my sleep. Is this heaven? But it seems a bit noisy than peaceful. Speaking of which, who the hell would pick fights in heaven.
"Is this heaven?" Asuka wanted to make sure. Maybe she would feel better if this was true.
"No, this is Academy City, are you really okay?" Saten said.
"Don't you remember? We're in the same class," Uiharu said. Just yesterday she was hitting it off so well with Saten and her, but today she had completely changed.
"I'm Asuka Langley Soryu. I'm the pliot of Evangelion Unit 02. I don't know how I got here but I need to return to Tokyo-3."
"What in the world are you talking about? You're just a transfer student from Germany. We all know that your name is Asuka. What's Evangelion? How do you get to Tokyo-3 anyway? They don't exist, or maybe in that visual novel only." Saten said.
"Hey... Are you okay?" Misaka said. Although they had only met just a few minutes ago, she was concerned at how afraid she seem to be.
"No!" Asuka snapped. All she wanted right now was for this nightmare to end.
"Do you need to see a psychiatrist or something?" Kuroko said.
"We're running late for classes already." Saten said, "Let's go."
"Are you really okay?" Uiharu asked Asuka, who still looked distraught for some reason.
"We should... hurry to class." Asuka forced a smile. It was better than running about in the city without any clear goal in her mind.
Asuka thought as she walked through the corridors of the classroom with Saten and Uiharu.
Sakugawa Middle School, huh. They actually have better facilities than that oppressive school back in Tokyo-3.
She had contemplated living a normal life as a schoolgirl in this city as she entered the classroom of Class 1A until she spotted a familiar presence.
Oh, its just Wondergirl staring out of the window again... Wait what?
Asuka tore through the sea of desks and chairs as she headed to where Rei was, causing a commotion among the other students who were already seated.
"I don't think that's how you make a good first impression to somebody who had just transferred here also." Uiharu commented as she entered the classroom just in time to witness this scene.
Asuka slammed down on the front of Rei's table, "Wondergirl! Care to explain why in the world is the both of us doing in such a weird city."
Rei slowly turned away from the window and faced Asuka. From her uniform, she took a piece of paper out and placed it on the table, smoothening the creases on the paper.
Asuka scrutinized the piece of paper closely, "District...? And a whole bunch of nonsense! Is this some kind of a stupid joke? It's not funny at all."
"I must be the only one that can decipher this message. This is to prevent any unnecessary interference." Rei said.
"Do me the favour of explaining the message then, Wondergirl."
"My name is Ayan- Never mind. On 12am, we will head to District 19 to save a girl."
"She can teleport us out of here?"
"Perhaps."
A boy who was a Level 2 Telekinetic rearranged the tables and chairs like a puppeteer manipulating invisible strings attached to his puppets from the back of the classroom and whispered to a girl beside her, "I guess it takes a redhead to melt that ice princess."
"It takes a fire to melt a glacier, you didn't know?"
That boy smacked the girl on the head, "Of course I know that, but she totally ignored her yesterday."
Asuka heard the boy crystal clear from a distance.
Who exactly was the Asuka from yesterday, and since when was my hearing that good?
She estimated the distance between her and the boy to be about a few meters since Rei sat in second row from the front. It felt strangely natural, like piloting an Eva, but she clearly was not in one.
Something is definitely amiss.
"How do one get to District 19?" Rei asked as she sat in a cafe beside Asuka with Saten and Mikoto. Uiharu had Judgement work, thus she was not here.
"Why would you want to go there?" Saten said.
"I am searching for the rumoured mysterious 6th Level 5. If one reaches there at exactly 12 midnight, one will be able to spot it."
Asuka thought while she sucked on her mango parfait. She didn't even bat an eyelid when lying. As expected of Wondergirl.
"Ah, that recent urban rumour. Well, there has been a lot of speculation," Saten leaned closer to Rei, "Do you happen to have some sort of insider information."
"I would suggest you to not go there." Mikoto said as she pushed Saten back to her seat.
"Why not. I am very interested in knowing who is the mysterious 6th Level 5." Rei said flatly, with no hint of excitement nor curiousity.
I take back what I just said about you being a wonderful liar. Asuka thought as she looked at Rei and Mikoto, who seemed a bit uneasy.
"Anyway," Mikoto said as her voice grew stronger though she tried her best to keep it in check, "Just stay out of that area."
"I must know who is that Level 5."
Sparks started to flutter around her bangs as Mikoto continued to restrain herself from electrocuting the blue haired albino who seemed intent in going there no matter what.
"What's wrong, Mikoto?" Saten said.
"Nothing."
The sparks vanished as Mikoto put on a smile; though rather forced, so as to signal that everything was just fine.
"Anyway... Good luck with your hunt!" Saten said, "But there's a curfew being imposed so there's no bus that would take you to District 19 after 7pm."
"Don't you have a PDA? Why don't you show us the route instead. We'll go by foot, and probably after a few hours of walking, we'll probably reach there." Asuka said.
Mikoto trembled with frustration as Saten excitedly took out her PDA and started tapping on it to bring out the map.
There could be only one reason why the both of them would want to go to District 19.
No, she will no longer allow anyone else to die under his cruel, snowy hands.
Underneath the warm moonlight, a young man with unusually pale skin and white moppy hair was sitting at the balcony ledge of a building in District 19.
He could clearly see his target about 5 meters below him armed with a rifle; the 9985th clone of the strongest Electromaster, Misaka Mikoto.
Rows of buildings and street lamps that illuminated the area were neatly lined up beside the main road where the clone was currently at.
District 19 had became a ghost town due to a nuclear incident that supposedly happened in District 19, which ordered an immediate evacuation of the district. He knew that the nuclear incident was a complete lie so as to chase all the people away.
Well, at least he had the entire district as his playground instead of hiding in alleys where space was limited.
Accelerator, the strongest ESPer in Academy City wondered again why did he agree to that Level 6 shift experiment which requires him to kill 20,000 clones in order to achieve Level 6. Even though he had already killed 9984 clones, but there was something about killing those clones who could not even put up a proper fight that bothered him.
Guilt?
Accelerator remembered it was guilt when he killed the first MISAKA clone but as he killed more and more clones, the boundary between guilt and boredom started to blur.
The clone looked up at Accelerator as he sat at the balcony edge looking bored, "This is MISAKA Serial Number 9985 and the experiment will begin in exactly in 6 minutes at 12:00am, says Misaka as she informs you of the time."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just shut the hell up."
"Do you wish to confirm the passcode with Misaka so as to verify that Misaka is indeed part of the experiment, questions Misaka as Misaka believes that this is a good option."
"... No. Haven't you guys learnt that after 9984 encounters with me, there is no way you will ever touch me, not to mention defeating me. Even though you people may be clones but do you really see your life as something worthless, worthless enough to throw it away just like that?"
"Misaka can be automatically produced at the press of a button as long as the proper machinery and chemicals are prepared, explains Misaka. Misaka has an artificially made body and a borrowed mind and her value is 180,000 yen with 10,015 more in reserve, says Misaka as she continues to explain."
Accelerator was annoyed at her response, "Tch, don't tell me what I already fucking know," and he jumped off the building, landing in front of the clone and cushioned the impact using his ability.
"I never expected my opponent to look almost like Wondergirl."
Turning around, Accelerator saw two girls approaching in his direction and stopped about 4 meters away from him.
One had red hair tied into a ponytail while the other had blue hair... in the same hairstyle as him, and had the same unusually pale skin colour with eyes equally as red as him. He could tell where did the source of the voice originated from.
The girl with the red hair casually plucked a streetlamp off from the ground and twisted the metal frame into a hoop. So long as she visualized herself plioting an Eva, any superhuman feat that the Eva could do, she could also do.
"I never understood the Personal Reality thing when I read the book, but now I truly do."
"Are you here to challenge me, is that what you mean?"
"I just wish to save that girl over there," Asuka smiled as she looked at the clone, "but it seems as though I'll have to... incapacitate you permanently in order to do so."
Accelerator's grin widened in response to her threat. Finally, a more interesting opponent than the predictable MISAKA clones.
"Try me."
Asuka hurled the hoop towards Accelerator like throwing a bowling ball but it got deflected and crashed to the side of a building just inches before it reached him.
"Is that all you've got?"
Wasting no time, Asuka leapt forward like a bullet and sent a fist across his face.
It was truly a monumental achievement that she managed to touch Accelerator.
Due to the nature of his ability, nobody could even lay a finger on him, not to mention punching him in the face.
Accelerator reached out his hand and gripped the neck of the insolent fool who dared to touch him.
"INTERESTING. BUT DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT ABILITY OF YOURS CAN BYPASS MY DEFENCE FOREVER?"
Asuka tried to break free by giving his leg a good kick, but an unknown force in the opposite direction nearly crushed the bones of her toes into pieces.
Accelerator repeatedly pounded Asuka to the ground, forming craters before he sent her sliding through the road as if it was snow.
"It's too late. I've fully analysed that strange variation of the vectors from your unusual existence right down to the last mathematical detail."
"... unusual existence...?"
This was what she only heard before her world faded into black, with pain accompanying her to the depths of the darkness.
Accelerator twisted his wrist to loosen up the joints while looking at the remaining girl who remained as composed as always and still in her original position.
"I've always wondered how would it feel like if I were to fight my own clone. Even though you're different, but you'll pass since we're both albinos after all."
"You are only half of what your true form is. You will regret in choosing to engage in combat with me."
"True form...?"
Accelerator chuckled softly at first, but he soon burst into a maniacal laughter.
"So you're saying that I'm only 50% away to reach Level 6? If this is only 50%... I see, I see, 100% would truly propel me to the level where even challenging me is a sin!"
A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.
"Does that mean I have to defeat you in order to achieve that remaining 50%?"
Accelerator stamped his feet lightly on the ground but the impact caused wide cracks to form, reducing it into rubbles. The shock had shattered the windows from the buildings, causing glass shards to rain down like it was winter.
However, there was no sign of any change in expression from the girl. She remained composed as before.
"Heh. Are all albinos like that? Well, I don't blame you for being bored," Accelerator said, "I was just warming up after all."
Mikoto burst out from a window of a building, riding a large metal plate like a surfboard in the air controlled by her electromagnetism and landed beside Rei.
"I'll distract him," Mikoto pointed to an unconscious Asuka, "You'll take her away to the nearest hospital now!"
"I will be the one to distract him," Rei corrected, "You will send her to the nearest hospital."
"What are you talking about?! Do you even know what he is capable of? His ability is Vector Change. He can manipulate anything that moves, whether be it heat, momentum or electricity. There is no way you can stand up against a one way road like that!" Mikoto grew flustered, "That is why I'm begging you, stay away!"
"I am the rumoured #6 Level 5."
"Huh...?"
"I am the trump card against the #1. He will die in one move if he's too overconfident. Two if he decides to take me seriously."
Mikoto looked at the girl who revealed herself as the mysterious #6 that even the Bank had no records of. Ayanami Rei, the #6? However, she spotted a flaw in her logic.
"If you could finish the #1 in two moves, then why are you only #6?"
"I am only a trump card against the Main Plan in case something goes wrong."
"And that's the difference between the #1 and the #3," Accelerator interjected, "So it seems as though they've found a replacement for her, the original #6. I wonder if the ability is the same though."
"Trust me." Rei looked at Mikoto, though her face remained as emotionless as the clone behind Accelerator.
"... Fine. You'll end this experiment in one move right?"
"Yes."
Mikoto smiled with tears nearly bursting from the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you."
She went to carry Asuka on her back and headed off to the direction of the hospital.
Accelerator's voice was as chilly as the breeze that blew past Rei.
"So its just you and me left.
"That was an awful lie you made. #6? Don't make me laugh. I know who the real #6 is. But I really wanted that #3 to be out of the way, so I decided to play along."
"Despite that, do you believe that I am capable of ending your life in one move?"
"No. Because I never go easy on fellow albinos like you, thus according to you, it would be in two moves."
Playing around with the rubbles under his foot, Accelerator lightly kicked a small piece of asphalt in Rei's direction. The end result was a tiny meteorite flying in her direction.
To his surprise, a translucent, orange hexagonal barrier manifested in front of her, shielding her from the meteorite and it dropped harmlessly to the ground as soon as it came into contact with the barrier.
"What's this? Is this your ability?"
Accelerator burst forward, covering the distance between him and Rei almost instantaneously by altering the vectors under his feet and swerved a fist in an attempt to shatter the barrier. When that failed, he pushed himself against the barrier and closed his eyes, trying to analyse the vectors governing the formation of the barrier.
"Fascinating... like #4's shield but it seems as though I will have to invent a new form of vector manipulation just to break through."
"Are you able to do so?"
"It will only take 2 minutes. I applaud your efforts in making this challenging but its unfortunate everything will end that fast."
Being presented with 2 interesting opponents made Accelerator forgot all about the clone who remained unusually quiet throughout.
"The MISAKA network has recovered from a temporary state of disruption, informs Misaka as Misaka notices that you are currently pushing against a translucent, orange hexagon barrier to get to a girl. Misaka would advise a much more subtle way if you wish to break through the wall of that girl. However, it is now 12.00 am and the experiment will begin as of now, states Misaka as she will begin making her move against you."
Accelerator heard a clicking sound of a rifle. He had totally forgotten about the clone and the experiment. Shit.
"Too bad." Rei said.
"This was a fucking trap from the start."
If he were to stop analysing the barrier and throw up a simple reflection, the barrier might morph into a spear and pierce through him since his defence system cannot reflect vectors from the barrier yet. However, if he did not throw up a simple reflection, the clone would then fire a bullet right through him.
"What would be your choice?"
Accelerator never got the chance to answer that because the bullet was fired through his back right after she finished her sentence.
He collapsed to the ground due to the sheer pain in a pool of blood. Since Accelerator could reflect anything in his path, he never once understood how did it feel like to be in pain. The shock was too much for him.
The clone walked right up to the once mighty Accelerator who now laid silently in a pool of blood and pointed the rifle at his head.
"Misaka will now avenge the death of #9983, says Misaka as she prepares to fire at her enemy."
'BAM'
However, the bullet ended up as a clean shot through the clone's right eye.
"It seems as though his reflection ability still work despite being unconscious, Misaka confirms as Misaka realizes that the bullet got reflected back at her.
"Error! Misaka is unable to connect to network. New information about Accelerator's reflection ability is unable to be uploaded to the network, Misaka states with a certain extent of worry."
A sharp, translucent lance from Rei's palm went through the face of the clone, killing her on the spot. Now, only through the uniform could one clearly identify from the mangled face of the corpse that was the clone of Misaka Mikoto.
Rei looked up at the moon.
"Even though the message was heavily coded, there is an unnecessary interference after all."
"Do you super mind if I were to talk to you for a moment?"
A girl with short, brown hair said as she now stood behind Rei from a comfortable distance about 2 meters apart.
Rei turned behind to face her and the girl smiled.
"I'm Kinuhata Saiai. Nice to meet you."
Mikoto ran along the dusty roads of District 19, hoping to get Asuka to a hospital as soon as she could. However, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath.
"She's pretty heavy."
A comment that would be taken very seriously so long as your gender is female. Even Mikoto herself felt slightly embarrassed for saying such things.
Just then, she saw a girl with a soft, tea coloured long hair with an open palm facing her.
"Mugino...!"
A white flash of light surrounded her and Mikoto closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact.
"I suppose we should just get things done and over with. Useless chattering only impedes the process."
Mugino adjusted her clothes, half expecting to see two roasted corpses that would earn her team a huge sum of money. Even though that blast was only meant to injure her, but you never know.
When the smoke cleared, Mugino saw a man with spiky hair mysteriously appeared, together with Mikoto and the girl that she was carrying throughout.
"Teleporter? How can this be? There is no way you can have two abilities at the same time!"
Mikoto looked at the man who had his right hand raised to shield the both of them from the beam. That position looked exactly like a certain Kamijou Touma, but he should be currently in a hospital, unconscious. She had visited him herself a few days ago.
When she asked what had happened to him, a nun who was there said that because he saved her life, that is why he ended up in this state.
"Who are you?" Mikoto said.
The street lamps that lined the roads were not lit up and she could only make out the shadow of a spiky haired guy from the pale moonlight.
Touma sighed.
Back in Academy City, but in a different time period from where he came from.
Apparently, according to a Nagato Yuki when he entered her universe through the path Mana mentioned, a strange interference prevented him from returning to his original timeline.
Such misfortune. Perhaps he was asking for it after all.
How could I just abandon a girl trapped in another universe like you, Kamijou Touma! Have some sense of sympathy.
Nagato also mentioned that it would be best that he keeps his identity a secret if possible for there would be two Kamijou Touma in this timeline.
"... Me? I'm just a passer-by."
Mugino fired another beam. "Enough talk!"
Like a white pillar of light, it traveled at an amazing speed towards Touma, however, it vanished into thin air when he raised his right hand to defend himself against the beam.
Imagine Breaker.
The ability to negate any supernatural phenomenon and the source of his misfortune.
The path was fortunately not negated by his ability due to Nagato's universe being a bridge connecting multiple universes together that happened to be a natural phenomenon. (apparently this is due to a certain girl which she refused to give more details about).
"Go now," Touma said, "I will distract her for you."
Mikoto nodded in acknowledgement and ran off.
"Just because you can deflect my electron beams doesn't mean you'll win."
Mugino eyed the boy who erased her beams with his right hand as if it was just an ugly stain.
"Why are you after her?" Touma said.
"Oh, you mean #3? I have a job, mister. Unlike you kids who go to school and live on your parent's allowances and scholarships."
"So you will sacrifice the girl that she was carrying just to finish your job?!"
"It's a job, I can't always choose what I like."
Touma clenched his right fist.
"If you think a job would allow you to disregard a life to such a extent..."
Mugino readied herself for his attack as her body slowly grew bright orange.
"Then I will shatter that illusion of yours."
Changing herself into an intangible form of energy, she launched herself like a human pillar of beam towards him.
Touma merely stood in his position and swung his fist hard against the pillar, sending her to the side and she crashed against a nearby street lamp, slightly bending its metal frame.
Mugino got up and fired a few more beams at him, however, he negated all of them with ease while approaching dangerously closer to her.
Even the translucent white barrier that she pulled out as a last resort to stop him vanished as soon as he touched it.
Touma gave her one more punch right at her face, knocking her out cold.
However, he forgot that ITEM was a four men group.
Mikoto was glad to see a hospital in sight as she crossed the borders of District 19 into District 14.
"Hang in there, just a little more."
However, a thick smoke suddenly filled Mikoto's line of vision and her legs slowly began to give way.
"This is anesthesia..."
Her mind grew heavier and heavier and she fell asleep soon after.
When the smoke cleared, a blonde girl with blue eyes appeared and dragged the both of them into a van.
"That was easier than I thought."