Chapter 5: Railgun

BANG! The mall erupted in a cloud of dust, and large dark shadow clawed out of the ground. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, and all I could see were those blood red eyes burning into my soul and gnashing white teeth dripping with slobber. Something wet was soaking through my pants, and dimly I could hear a little girl scream.

Then suddenly, I was somewhere else. The eyes and teeth were gone, and I landed on the ground with an audible, "Oof!"

Disoriented, and more than a little confused, I looked around, stammering, "Wha-what just happened?"

"Whew! That was a close one." Kuroko was standing next to me, her hand resting on my shoulder. She looked down at me and smiled. "You're safe now," she said.

For a second, I thought it was all just a nightmare, but a low growling told me otherwise. I turned and saw a giant black wolf baring its teeth at me. It reared on his hunches and bounded towards me. He was almost upon me when a bolt of lightning hit it on the side. It crashed into the shop window and demolished the little toy band playing in the display case.

Misaka was standing in front of me. Her right arm was stretched out, and sparks flew from her fingers. She was alert and focused, and her eyes burned with a passion that I had never seen.

I struggled to my feet, barely able to keep my balance. I could feel a bruise develop from where I landed.

"What was that?" I asked, wobbling with every step.

Index walked up from behind me. "That is Fenrisulfr, the son of Loki in Norse mythology."

"Norse huh?" Kuroko said, "Sounds like something out of mythology class."

"It should be in the curriculum for next spring," Index sighed, "After the Greco-Roman section of course."

"Get back!" Misaka snapped at us, throwing out a hand. "He's not done yet!"

Suddenly, the wolf surged out from the shop window, and shook himself free from the debris. Plastic parts and pieces of glass went flying into the crowd that had gathered, and several bystanders were hit.

"Kuroko!" Misaka barked, "Go and clear out this area. People are going to get hurt if they stay here."

"Right away, Onee-sama!" The pigtailed girl said. She slipped on a green armband and then disappeared. A moment later, I saw her reappear a fair distance away, helping the wounded bystanders. At the same time, she was on the phone, talking to someone else.

"Uiharu!" She said, "Alert Anti-skill! Tell them that there is an attack in the underground shopping center in district seven, and we are in needing back-up! Hurry!"

"A teleporter?" I whispered to myself. I watched as two ordinary girls used scarily complicated powers to save the day.

Misaka was holding her own against a monster of stupendous size. The wolf was staring down at Misaka, her reflection in his eyes. He charged towards her, but the girl sent electricity to the manacles on the beast's paws, magnetically anchoring him to the floor.

The wolf tumbled end-over-end towards Misaka, who pulled herself up to the ceiling using static cling. She sent a bolt of lightning towards the wolf, but the creature pivoted on one foot and dodged the attack.

Meanwhile, Kuroko was other teleporting from bystander to bystander, attending to the injured and keeping others out of harm's way. All the while, she was on the phone, calling for more help.

I marveled at their ability to work together. One was attacking, while the other defended. It was as if they had been using their powers and fighting together for their entire life!

But then, I saw a couple of uniformed officers scramble out of the hole made by the wolf. One of them, a woman with large glasses and black hair tied into a ponytail, saw us and screamed, "EVERYONE! STAND CLEAR!"

Immediately, a subway train came roaring out of the hole. Misaka, who was still dangling from the ceiling, was caught completely by surprise. Then, the train landed on top of the wolf and ran him over like he was made of butter. Quickly, I shoved Index out of the way, and the two of us fell in a heap. The train barreled past us, mere inches (centimeters) away from my face, and the shrill squealing of wheels filled my ears. I plugged my ears and screamed, desperate to drown out the noise.

Peeking through half-lidded eyes, I saw Misaka crouching on the roof. She was sending electricity into the train to energize the wheels, forcing them to turn in reverse. She steered the train through the narrow passageway by varying the speed of each set of wheels. She rammed the train into the many Kiosks and decorations in the hallway, hoping to use the debris as to slow the train down.

Meanwhile, Kuroko continuously teleported in front of the train and pushed away any would-be victims from its path. Together, the two girls guided the train through the Underground shopping center, doing their hardest to avert catastrophe.

Inevitably, the train ground to a halt, though not before gouging deep grooves into the tiled floor. It listed to one side and toppled over. In vain, I covered myself with my arms, and a huge plume of debris washed over me. When it was all over, everything was covered in a thin film of dirt.

By now, an army of rescue workers had arrived and they converged on the train cars. They pried the train doors open, and hundreds of people came boiling out of the confines. Some had bruises and a few were even bleeding. Most of the passengers were unharmed, though they were crying and desperately clinging onto their rescuers. Misaka, Kuroko, and the armed officers were all helping with the rescue effort. Even the bystanders were helping out, pulling the passengers out of the wreckage and escorting them to makeshift first aid stations.

Index wasn't among the rescuers. Instead, she had gone for a closer look at where the wolf had been crushed. Struggling to my feet, I wandered towards the silver-haired nun, and peered into the crater. Only, when I got there, the wolf was gone. In its place was a gruff old man, lying on the ground. His long black trench coat, horribly stained, had been cut to ribbons. His hair was dirty and unkempt, and scraggly whiskers covered his jawline. I could smell whiskey coming off his breath, but that was completely overpowered by a terrible stench. I wrinkled my nose and turned away.

"Where is the wolf?" I asked, looking around, "How could something that big disappear like that?"

"He's right there," Index said, pointing to the dirty old man, "That's the Fenris-wolf."

"You can't be serious," I cried, but Index just sighed. "He's just reverted back into his human form," she said.

"Animorphy?" Misaka came up beside me. "Sounds like an esper power."

Index nodded. "He's not a magician," she said, "Legend has it that he was born with the power to shape-shift into a gigantic wolf."

"A gemstone?" Misaka crossed her arms and smirked, "Boy, if I could go toe-to-toe with this monster…"

"Yaminousai, Onee-sama," Kuroko appeared, holding her nose aloft, "I know that you are getting excited about such a terrible match, but this is official business."

As she said this, the armed officers came and pushed us away. Their weapons were drawn and pointing at the man. Meanwhile, five three-wheeled cylindrical robots rolled along in front to screening the officers from potential retaliation.

The man stirred, and when one officer jabbed him with his gun, his eyes flew open and he growled at us. The robots cast bright spotlights on the man, who winced and covered his eyes.

"I am Tessou Tsuzu of Anti-skill!" The lady with dark hair and glasses pointed a flashlight at his face. "You are under arrest," She said, "Come quietly, and we shall not harm you."

But the man wasn't even paying attention to her. Instead, he was still staring right at me like I was some kind of meat. Even when the officers cuffed him, his eyes never left mine, and he licked his chops like some an animal.

"…Ugh!" I turned away, shivering.

"That was gross!" Kuroko growled. "To eye a lady with such lewdness!"

"Are you okay?" Index asked, "Did he hurt you?"

"No" I shook my head, "I'm okay."

A terrible smell caught my attention. I clutched at my skirt and blushed at realizing what it was. "Um…I do need a change of clothes."

But then, I heard someone running towards us and a familiar voice call out.

"Everyone are you okay!"

I whirled around, and saw him running towards us. "Oni-chan!" I ran as fast as I could and jumped into his arms.

"Mo!" Index puffed out her cheeks. "Touma, you're late!"

"Indeed!" Kuroko said, "It's so not like you to come after the battles are over. You're like Achilles staying in his tent until the last minute."

"That's not how the myth goes," Index sighed, "I've told you many times before."

"Oh I'm so sorry," Kuroko said, rolling her eyes, "It's not like mythology is my best subject anyway."

"Who was that?" Oni-chan said, raising a head.

"Fenrir, the son of Loki." A distinct clinking sound reached my ears. I let Oni-chan go and saw a tall woman with black wavy hair walking towards us. She wore a short white T-shirt tied at the bottom and tight skinny jeans with the right pants leg cut off. Most notably, she was holding a hiltless nodachi in a dark blue scabbard.

"He is mentioned in the Poetic Edda and further described in the Prose Edda," she said, "He is fiercest of all the beasts, and the bringer of doom. Legend has it that he was fettered by the Aesir to prevent the end of days. Now that he is free to wander the land, he is searching for Odin to consume and destroy. When that happens, the end approaches and Ragnorak shall begin."

Kuroko raised an eyebrow. "And who might you be?"

"Kanzaki Kaori, at your service," the lady said, bowing low, "I believe Kamijou-san spoke of me."

"Ah yes, you're here for the Nun, are you not?" Kuroko said, "Although, I wasn't expecting someone so…"

Her eyes wandered upwards slowly drooped. "…tall."

A thin stream was flowing from the corner of her lips, and I could hear her whisper, in a low husky voice. "Oh, Onee-sama, perhaps you have some competition, after all."

Misaka wasn't paying attention. She was looking somewhere else, though her eyes kept drifting towards our direction. When her wandering eyes found his, she turned red like a tomato, and she jerk her head away.

Touma didn't notice either. "Hang on a second. You mentioned that he was connected to Othinus! Does that mean he's a part of that group?"

Kanzaki-san nodded. "Yes, he's part of GREMLIN."

"Gremlin?" I didn't understand what they were talking about, but the short-haired girl visibly flinched at the sound of that name.

"I thought that they were destroyed," He said fretfully, "After the incident at Denmark…"

"Yes, GREMLIN is no more, but its members still live," She said, "After Othinus gave up her powers, the rest of GREMLIN has gone underground. We've managed to track some of the more prominent members, but most have melted back into society."

Kanzaki-san sighed. "Fortunately, we need not worry about them at the moment. They have no leader, and are no threat to us."

"We should go." Misaka's voice was a lot closer than I realized. I looked up and saw that she had drifted closer to Oni-chan. His body stiffened as soon as he noticed. "Anti-skill is calling for us to leave, and the shopping center is going to close soon,"

"I agree," Kuroko said, "And curfew's only a few minutes away."

"A-re?" Is it that late already?" Touma glanced at his phone. "We should leave before we get into more misfortune."

There was a pause, as all the girls stared at him.

"You heard that?" Kuroko said smugly, "He's telling us to stay out of trouble!"

"I know, right?" Index sighed, "Does he ever stop and think about his situation?"

"My goodness," Misaka scoffed. "Does a tree make a sound when it falls?"

"Indeed," Kanzaki said, nodding, "He is so considerate for others. It's why he is so difficult to be with!"

"Eh!" Oni-chan blinked, "Who are you talking about?"

The girls shared a look and smiled. Then all at once, they turned around and looked back at him.

"Not telling you!"

Between the lines: Neo Yggdrasil

After the downfall of Aleister Crowley, Academy city started changing immediately. The board of directors started fighting among themselves to fill in the power vacuum, while the city fell into greater and greater disrepair.

By day, the city ran as usual, with Anti-skill and Judgement keeping the peace. By night, the streets come alive, as roving gangs ruled the streets. District nineteen, once the abandoned slums of Skill-out, is now a hive of bars, nightclubs and love hotels, and the alleys are full of vice and debauchery.

Meanwhile, the lax in magical security has attracted the more religious types. Both Catholic and Protestant missionaries have moved into the city and have built churches and greatly expanded the theology academies. Necessarius, for example had opened a liberal arts schools in district twelve, and have included dorms for the nuns who teach in the classes. At last, the Science side and Magic side live-side-by-side, cross pollinating and enrich both in knowledge and philosophy.