1:18 PM

Misaka and her sisters sped down a street in the stolen gray car. Academy City's #3 folded her arms and pouted as while staring at the the blurring scenery. Her sisters sat motionless and slightly charcoaled.

There was an aura of belligerence in the air.

"You know, we would have been there earlier if big sister hadn't thrown a tantrum earlier, short circuiting our primary mode of transportation in the process, says #10032 recapping the events for the sake of the reader."

"Shut up," Misaka replied without removing her scowl from the rear view.

"Indeed, and not only that but you also disrupted our live feed to the Anti-Skill network and forced us to take the time to force ourselves back in, adds #10039 in an attempt to further guilt trip big sister."

"I said shut up."

"You are lucky two other sisters are already on their way using another stolen vehicle. We could have easily taken another car of our choosing but big sister nagged us into using the car again, expands #19090."

The car stopped at a red light. A Japanese motorcycle appeared a few feet next to the passenger seat. Two girls wearing Tokiwadai uniforms and helmets shared a seat. While one sister leaned forward slightly to grasp the handle bars, the second grabs hold of her waist the hold on. They looked at the gray car and wave. #10039 waved back stoically. At the green light, the motorcycle drove head.

"Look," Misaka said looking at the seat in front of her but referring to everyone present. "It only took us a few minutes to get the car running again and back into the Anti-Skill/Judgement network. Robbing someone else would have taken up more time than necessary anyway."

"This is true, but still. Every minute counts. The entire purpose of this quest is to seek justice for our distraught sister. And every distraction, even if it is but a second, is time lost towards completing this task, says #10032."

"Tsk."

Mikoto clicked her teeth and returned her gaze back to the window. She would not admit it but they were right and the guilt slowly ate at her soul. She channeled her anxiety by bobbing her leg. Only the most revolting and vilest of the scum of humanity would entertain the thought of violating a little girl, let alone any woman of any age. She wished nothing more then to find this Abicus and pulverise him.

Mikoto quickly sat up and squinted.

(A large swarm of electrons is coming.)

As the car passed an intersection, something fast landed on the hood of the car with a loud thud. It lifted the rear into the air and forced the front wheels to skid into the ground. The rear remained in the air for two seconds before it bounced off the ground twice and landed, shaking all of the girls inside of the car. The front wheels stopped entirely. #10039 and #10032 look ahead in utter shock.

"What the hell?!" Misaka said.

It appeared to be a man in his early twenties but stood out very much so. He had pale blonde hair, pale light skin, black sclera with orange yellow irises, and bulky mechanical arms revealed by a black tank top that made him come off as conceited on first glance. He wore black jeans that matched his shoes.

His expression could be described as no nonsense. He didn't look angry per se but rather determined and unwilling to put up with unnecessary distractions to accomplish his goal. He had a singular focus and wouldn't let anything or anyone get in his way. And part of his objective now had something to do with Mikoto and her sisters.

Misaka stared wide eyed at the entity. She heard rumors at school about Academy City's Dark Side having a secret cyborg program. Some sources said that they were remnants of badly injured Anti-Skill soldiers or even citizens given a second chance at life in exchange for performing handy work. If that were the case, then somebody from Anti-Skill must have intercepted their location by tracing the frequency to an unauthorized location. Misaka was no stranger to hacking into private frequencies.

Who ever found them must have been highly skilled with managing network frequencies.

His right foot rested firmly on the hood of the car, leaving a dent. He leaned forward with his forearm resting on his knee totally relaxed. Worst case scenario, somebody from the Dark Side figured out who Mikoto was by looking at the information on her phone and sent someone to deal with her accordingly. It would be strange for Anti-Skill to send someone to 'deal' with them unless she stumbled upon something she wasn't supposed to. That and being branded as Academy City's #3 could be meet with dangerous expectations so they most likely sent one of their strongest people… if you could even call them that. Either that or this guy was just overly confident.

Mikoto stared dumbfounded as she assessed the possibilities of the situation that unraveled.

(Dammit, why now?! We were so close! This is so unfortunate… GACK! Great, now I'm starting to think like that guy.)

A spiky haired boy who constantly complained about his misfortune came to mind. Misaka wondered if he had something to do with this since he was always butting into dangerous situations that had nothing to do with him. The thought made her heart race and she subconsciously gripped her chest to calm herself down.

"Excuse me young ladies," the cyborg said in a calm voice. "It would appear that my systems have been intercepted a while back. I have been picking up radio signals coming from this location. Explain yourselves."

"Misaka would be more obliged to answer if you didn't damage her car, explains #10032 as she scowls bitterly at the handsome but rude metal man."

Mikoto stared at the back of #10032's seat.

(That you stole.) she thought. But it was hardly the time to worry about the specifics so she decided not to speak and refocus on the no-nonsense cyborg.

For a while, he didn't say anything.

"Coincidentally, I have also picked up on your conversation as well. And it would also appear that you are heading towards the location as my sensei. Now tell me: for what purpose do you armed young ladies have for stealing a vehicle and going to the same place as my sensei?"

"That's none of your business you creep!" Mikoto shouted reactively.

(Wait, what am I doing? This guy...this thing just stopped a two ton car without breaking a sweat! For all I know, he could probably toss this thing into the ocean without breaking a sweat! Well, if his intent is to attack, the key to victory here is to strike first! I just need to bide my time and wait for an opening that won't destroy the car.)

Mikoto's eyes swiftly darted around the car. #10039 was not holding her machine gun but it rested under her feet. #19090 held her machine gun and had a clean shot. #10356 drooled as she smiled duly while she stared at the ceiling.

(Dammit...From where I'm sitting, I don't have a good shot. I'd have to stick my body out the window else my sisters and the engine would get caught in the crossfire. But the window's rolled down and the inside of this car's made of some fabric that doesn't conduct electricity. Argh…! I'm at a stalemate until somebody else makes the first move!)

"Your refusal to answer leaves me suspicious. I cannot allow you to continue any further."

"Misaka does not remember asking for your opinion, says Misaka running out of patience whilst shoehorning a badass one liner."

#19090 aimed her machine gun at the cyborg and pulled the trigger. With lightning fast instincts, he back flipped several feet into the air to avoid a barrage of bullets. The gunfire punched holes into the front windshield. #19090 seized her fire briefly to kick it down. She unbuckled her seatbelt and walked over the hood and resumed firing.

Misaka and her look alikes poured out of the car and line up in front of the car, aiming either a machine gun or a finger wielding a coin at the cyborg several feet in front of them. Several cars around them either swerved out of the way. Some crashed into each other which caused air bags to flare, dents, and even windows and lights to shatter .

A skidding car crashed into the gray car. Mikoto and her sisters leaped out of the way upon detecting the noise heading their way.

The skidding car flipped into the air. A woman driving with a man in the passenger seat screamed as they twirled.

Mikoto gasped as she raised her head from the ground.

The car rotated several times before crashing on its top with a loud noise. It slide a few feet before slowly stopping. The windows shattered and the upper portion containing it was completely flattened.

With a distraught look, Misaka's pupils dilated. She stared at the wrecked car for several seconds.

"...!"

Something in the air caught her attention. A black T shaped silhouette obscured by the sun caught her eye. It descended towards the ground and landed about three meters away from the girls. With the driver hoisted over his right shoulder and her male cohort being held by his collar in his left hand, the cyborg stared at the girls as has before.

He let go of the man's collar and supported the lady with both hands as he gently set her down.

"Get as far away from here as possible," the cyborg said to the woman without looking at her. She stared at him for a few seconds. "Now."

"R-right," the woman replied. She grabbed her shocked male associate's hand and they ran off. After a few moments, the man regained his focus and took the lead.

The girls stood up. The sisters aimed their guns and finger at the stoic cyborg. He returned their gaze with a steel indifference.

"Your first mistake was locating my sensei," he began. "Your second was recklessly involving civilians. I will not stand by idly as you do as you please."

Misaka subtly swallowed. Her mouth felt sandpaper so she moistened it herself but at the same time didn't want to show concern.

(S-shit… he's fast. He was right in front of me and I didn't even notice him move. But he saved those people so that should more or less confirm that he's working with Anti-Skill.)

"Pretty shitty of you to let those civilians go unattended," Misaka said with a smug smirk. "With all that speed, you could have easily gotten behind us and out of harm's way much more efficiently."

"Misaka agrees, says #19090 as she holds a steady aim with murderous intent at the metallic menace. Letting the civilians travel within the direct line of fire was a tactical error. We could have easily used them as a diversion and then attack you while you were distracted. Such an error in your thinking pattern will lead to your downfall."

"That was not an error. It's not that I thought you had a shred of decency as to not harm innocent civilians. My confidence is firmly rooted in a simple fact…"

The cyborg put his left leg back before bending his legs. He clenched his fists and brought his left forearm to his hip while holding his right arm diagonally in front of him. It looked like he skipped to the final frame of a low block with a slight altercation.

"I determined that I would stop you before you even got the chance. Your inaction proves my notion."

Misaka tightly squeezed the coin between her thumb and index finger.

(Damn… that was supposed to throw him off. Well, I'll just have to beat him to the punch! He may be fast, but let's see him dodge an attack four times the speed of sound!)

Mikoto was referring to her trademarked Railgun technique, which is when she electrically charges an object and sends it propelling forward at high speed. The combined thermal and electrical energy makes even a simple yen coin capable of very easily decimating a tank.

She would normally reserve this attack for someone wielding a suit of armor or some other means of powerful defense. However, this entity has demonstrated tremendous strength and speed. Being robotic could also mean he has a whole list of abilities that he hasn't shown yet.

(I mean, it just looks like a person. It's not like I'm actually killing anybody, right? You can't trust school rumors… except for that one time that they were right about the sisters...)

Mikoto was prepared to fire her Railgun. However…

"Your notion is incorrect," said #10032 in a chilling voice and blank expression.

The sister slightly moved her machine gun to her left which aimed it directly at the the fleeing couple several meters away. The cyborg's eyes widened before he sidestepped so fast it appeared he teleported in their line of fire. In the blink of an eye, he hunched forward and rockets shot out of his palms, propelling him forward at high speed.

A slight smirk appeared on #10032's face. Given the speed and agility he had just showed, and that he was a robot, there was a possibility that he would dodge any incoming fire. However, since he wanted to protect the fleeing citizens, he would be traveling in one direction, which limited his options of dodging and made him an easy target.

Due to the hive mind that is known as the Misaka Network, the sisters were already well aware of the plan without having to discuss it. However, big sister Misaka was not part of that network and was completely left out of the loop.

(Dammit! I had a clean shot!)

She at least had a chance at a clean shot when the cyborg was in a stationary position. But now he stood directly in the path of the fleeing civilians. Even if she succeed in hitting him, the citizens would be blown to pieces.

The Misaka Sisters fired several rounds at the speeding cyborg, except for #13577 who couldn't grip the gun firmly enough to prevent the recoil from knocking her backwards to the ground with a dazed smile. The bullets bounced off his arms and chest and he only moved his arms to block anything aimed at his neck and eyes. He whispered something that was impossible to hear at his distance and amidst the bullet fire. After that, his arms started moved fast enough to create mirages of themselves, giving him the appearance of an arachnid.

The remaining Misakas side stepped in different directions while continuing their reign of fire. But the cyborg was too swift and durable. The bullets either missed or bounced off his body without him seeming to care.

The cyborg darted towards Misaka with a clenched fist. She thought about using her rail gun but went against it since there were too many cars around. They were all in danger of being harmed by a chain reaction of explosions. Using her magnetic capabilities, she quickly gathered a mass of dust particles to use as a black shield but it was easily blown away. The cyborg dashed a few meters past his target. He placed his hands in front of him and shot rockets, quickly propelling himself towards the unbalanced Misaka.

A second later, the cyborg approached her and swung his left arm horizontally. Misaka forced herself to fall backwards. A thin bolt of electricity pulled her to the ground quicker, barely avoiding an instant kill attack.

However, the cyborg put his left foot down in order to stop himself and kicked off to change directions. Even though he missed, he took advantage of that by expending rocket from his palm and dashed towards Misaka.

Less than a second later, the cyborg was about six inches away from her. She only just brought her arm into position to determine the perfect angle to fire her Railgun but he moved so fast that he appeared in front of her before she could noticed. When she processed this, he whipped down a glowing palm up in her direction.

As her pupils dilated, Mikoto instinctively brought her arms close to her face

(Shit!)

An electrically charge sewer lid hit the cyborg on the side of his head. He flinched and his arm swerved at an angle that allowed Misaka to avoid harm. Misaka noted his eyes flickered when he was hit. She quickly rolled to stand up and took a few steps back. She briefly contemplated firing her Railgun but decided against it after seeing that two cars a few meters down would have been caught in the crossfire.

She would not risk her sisters lives like that.

She pointed her left index and middle fingers like a gun and shot a strong electric current at the cyborg. He responded by side stepping so fast he appeared to teleport. With a roar, Misaka surrounded herself in electricity and fired in several directions simultaneously. The cyborg managed to jump into the air in time.

Misaka noticed that he had been avoiding her attacks because he anticipated the direction of the strikes before they were fired at him and not because he was truly faster than light. This put her at ease since that meant he was still within hitting range. It was just a matter of anticipating his moves.

If she were by herself, she might not have made it this far. However, she had 4, more or less, sisters who shared their thoughts. Their chance of winning was not totally beyond their reach.

While in the air, Genos seemed to notice one of the quadruplets was a few feet left of the electric wielder aiming her machine gun at him.

(I have to be weary of that electric user. Strong doses could short circuit my cybernetics. Although she doesn't seem to be capable of doing anything that would instantly shut me down. However...)

Genos aimed his palms up and used his jet repulsors to increase his descent tenfold. Bullets and sparks electricity followed him as he darted. He crashed into the street between the sisters with a loud noise, sending heaps of dust in the air.

(I have to finish this as quickly as possible. There are too many cars around for me to take full advantage of my Incinerator. I risk not only damage to myself but destruction on a scale that could potentially harm innocents that have not evacuated the area. I have to use small scale attacks that will only harm my targets-grkah?!)

Genos was interrupted by a stinging sensation in his lower abdomen. A thick black rod pierced through his stomach and protruded from out of his back. He looked up at the delighted teenaged girl with brown haired school girl holding a 2 ½ meter long, 130 cm wide black rod. She was lit by several streams of blue electricity which caused her hair and clothes to fan up. After a moment, the electricity traveled up the rod on a path towards the immobilized cyborg.

(I see…)

Orange flames erupted from the side of Genos' end of the rod. A small orange explosion concealed his appearance. While the electricity was gathering around the schoolgirl, Genos wrapped his palm around a section of the rod and turned up his repulsor palm. Part part of the rod that was connected to Genos melted instantly but he was careful to target a section away from his abdomen. The rest inside of him simply returned to their previous state of individual dust particles.

(So those were dust particles she was using earlier. So she can manipulate magnetic forces even on that small of a level. And that sewer lid was electrically charged so at least one other sister has the same capabilities. Although the other four must be compensating with weapons due to being weaker. This further confirms that I cannot extend this battle.)

He fired a repulsor blast at the sister to his left. She managed to dodge with surprising timing but the tip of her gun was melted. Even though the one without the nightvision goggles seemed to be the most dangerous, he knew that going after her had the biggest risk due to his exposed wound. That and she could block his repulsor shots with her electricity shields which might accidentally send one into a car. Going for the other sister was one of the more optimal decisions.

He knew that the big sister wouldn't risk firing at her little sister.

(I'll just copy your tactic!)

Genos dashed across the ground at the disarmed sister and elbowed her in the stomach. The sister shrieked for a moment as she flew a few feet before rolling over the pavement to a halt. Some drops of blood sprinkled on Genos' face. The girl laid curled up and twitched in pain as she clenched her stomach.

Genos redirected his gaze to the sisters a few meters east of him. From behind separate cars a few feet away from each other, the fired barrage of bullets his way. The big sister lunged to the right to avoid what could have been accidentally friendly fire. Using his rocket palms, Genos swerved around the hail of bullets faster than the naked eye could detect. He skidded to a stop next to #10032.

Although swift, he lightly side kicked the sister in the stomach. With a loud thud, her light body was propelled several meters through the air as her limbs flailed helplessly like an airborne rag doll. She rolled a few more meters before hitting the side of an abandoned white car with another loud smack. Her body bounced off the car and landed on her stomach. She remained motionless.

#19090 gasped as she noticed she was within Genos' striking range. She hopped to the side and whipped her body to towards him. After kicking the sister, Genos saw Misaka a blue sparks heading towards him. He squatted down as a strong bolt of lightning shot above him and past the sister. The wind from the lightning made their hair flap.

More bullets fly towards Genos. He put his arms up to protect his face but not before a stray shot scratched his left cheek and several more bounce of his the stomach, putting holes in his sleeveless shirt. Interestingly enough, #19090 didn't seem to be aiming properly as she missed what should have been an easy target.

Mikoto was surprised that #19090 missed something right in front of her. It was like she was an generic thug in an action movie all of a sudden. She did a somersault to avoid being hit. Several yellow streaks whizzed past her. Misaka was too livid to notice but the bullets in spite being aimed in her direction seemed to be missing her entirely by a few inches as if she had an invisible umbrella with a magnetic charge opposite that of the metal of the bullets.

"Hey, watch-"

Misaka began to loudly protest but something large and heavy zoomed past her. If she were three inches to her right, she would have been pulverized. Her hair flapped several times as she stared straight ahead in awe.

"...it."

The sound of an engine roaring can be heard. Misaka smelt a tint of smoke as the mass whisked past her.

A gray car with a damaged hood sped towards Genos and #19090.

#13577 stared blankly with an open mouth smile as she planted her foot firmly on the dash pedal. The four ton gray car accelerated at top speed of 300 kmph.

#10032 rolled over on her stomach and shot the hood of the car. Several holes were punched into it. The roof of the hood flew off in an orange explosion. At the same time, #19090 jumped over an abandoned car and continued to shoot around Genos', who deflects every bullet by quickly moving his wrists, fists, and forearms.

#13577 opened the driver door and jumped out of the car. When it was no more than 40 cm away from him, Genos finally registered the car engine. He had more than enough time to jump out of the way. He moved to do a backflip but instead bent his torso backwards, which gave him a flipped view of the speeding car heading directly towards him.

He pieced together the sisters' strategy the formed in a nanosecond.

#10032 feigned being unconscious to force attention away from herself. While #19090 distracted her with a barrage of gunfire, #13577 had already started the car and drove it with the intent of crashing into him. The gunfire served a triple purpose by distracting him visually and audibly, masking the sound of the car engine, and warning Misaka to get out of the way without making the plan too obvious. #13577 did not seem to have full control of her actions but that made her the perfect person to sneak back to the car since she was not perceived as a threat.

The icing on the cake was magnetizing his feet to the ground. That could have easily been done by any of the sisters but #10032 and #19090 were prime suspects. There was a possibility of a combined effort since they were comparably weaker to the big sister to the point where they need to be armed. Any one of them might not have been able to muster up the power to power to stabilize him. Or it could have been only one of them if the big sister is more powerful then she let on which would also mean the sisters could also mean the sisters were more capable. He did not have the time to contemplate the possibilities.

They must have deduced that his attacks were limited because he did not want to risk an explosion going out of control. That and in spite of his threatening words, he did not wish to cause serious harm to the girls. With the strength and speed he has shown, he had more than enough opportunities to completely kill the girls if he felt like it. In fact, he simply could have incinerated the car from a distance or threw it somewhere barren without even bothering to talk. The fact is he wanted to discover the motive behind their actions and he needed them alive and nonthreatening to do that.

Them being after Saitama meant they might know something about Abicus as well.

All he was doing was being a good hero and a friend. He had long past the days where he was a ruthless murderer for his own cause.

The gray car effortlessly carried Genos' body a few meters into the side of a blue car. They bounced off each other which caused the gray car to turn 180 degrees. There was a loud, metallic sound. The windows shattered inaudibly. The cars slid for a for a few meters. A person shaped dent was left in the passenger door of the attacked car.

Genos could have used the kinetic energy generated by the car as a means of propelling himself into the air but the car was charged with a magnetic pull. His head felt like it was being slowly cleaved in two by one of those super heated knives that were popular on YouTube.

He assessed the situation as he remained sandwiched between the two vehicles.

(...I can no longer move. My palms are facing the car so I cannot even defend myself. Even if I wanted to, using my Incinerator would burn through the engine, causing a massive explosion. I have no choice but to comply with their demands. But I mustn't give up. Damage is minimal. I must bide my time until I can…)

The sound of approaching footsteps drew Genos' attention. #10039 slowly shuffled towards the scene of destruction while gripping her stomach and hunching her back. Sweat permeated her brow and cheeks and she looked like she was trying not to vomit.

She stopped about three meters away from the car. She made eye contact with the immobilized cyborg. He felt a heavy tension in her gaze. He was all too familiar with the feeling of killer intent.

From afar, Misaka saw something she had not seen before. It was the furrowed scowl of anger stemming from intense hatred. Even though she was familiar with her own face, seeing the normally stoic sister with such passion in her eyes felt unnatural to her. She took a step forward but her sister raised her hand on cue and stopped her in her tracks.

After a brief pause, #10039 reached into the inside of her vest and pulled out a magazine which she placed between her teeth. She then pulled out a silver CZ-75 pistol and placed the magazine inside the chamber with her mouth.

She aimed the pistol at Genos, who was rightfully nonplused.

(...That was unbecoming of a young lady.)

There was a pause of about 3 seconds. If she wanted to threaten him, delaying it would not gain any advantage. And surely at that point it was painfully apparent that bullets had no effect on him. So what had the clone planned to do with that handgun?

"Hasta la vista, bastard," said #10039 in a low voice.

Sorry. I lied. Genos only deduced part of the sisters' plan.

Mikoto shouted "No, doooooon't!" as she ran but her cry was inaudible to her clone.

The enraged sister lowered her hand and pulled the trigger which sent a bullet about 10 cm beneath Genos' crotch.

"Oh shi-"

She was covered in screen of gray and orange, consumed by her own wrath.