Chapter 20: Awaki's Tale
Previously…
I could make out a girl sitting on the ground. She had brown hair tied in the back in two long ponytails. Even in this weather, she was scantily clad in a belted miniskirt, and a dark blue coat draped over her shoulders like a cape. The only thing keeping her modest were some bandages wrapped around her chest. Unfortunately for her, her jacket was slipping, and her arm was stuck in a tree.
She smiled awkwardly at us. "I'm sorry to bother you, but would you mind helping a girl out?"
Clack! Clack!
Two clean strokes from Kanzaki-san's Nanasen were all it took to free Musujime Awaki from her wooden fetters. The tree toppled over, and Musujime-san was left with a chunk of wood bound tightly to her arm.
Shirai-san laughed unkindly and quipped, "My what a fancy bracelet you have there!"
Musujime-san scowled at her. "Not really, I'm not into that nature-loving rustic look. Besides, it's way too tight on my arm, and I would appreciate it if you removed it."
Shiraz-San laughed again, "Hai hai! Whatever you say."
She touched the ring of wood, teleporting it to one side. That left a gaping wound encircling the arm like a bloody armband. Musujime-san winced as Shirai-San examined the wound carefully.
"Looks like there's a lot of wood still stuck in there," Shirai-San said, "I'll have to remove them all before I can bandage them up."
Musujime-san grimaced and turned away. "Do whatever you need to do."
Shirai-san rummaged through her flak jacket and pulled out a tweezer. Carefully, she picked out the tiny pieces of wood one-by-one. All Musujime-san could do was clench her fist and gnash her teeth and bang her fist on her thigh, but she didn't scream and remained cooperative through the ordeal.
I touched her shoulder and founded already cold and clammy. "How long have you been like this?" I asked sharply, "You're already this cold!"
Musujime-san shrugged, "It's only about a minute since I made it out, and it was only because I saw you arrive. Thank god I didn't try and leave in the night—itai!" She hissed as Shirai-San pulled out a particularly long splinter.
Misaka-san took off her blazer and draped it over Musujime-san's shoulders. "You're lucky to be alive! Another few minutes and we would have lost you to the cold!"
Shirai-San dropped the bloody tweezers and pulled out a roll of gauze. Carefully, she wrapped the bandage around the arm. Saten-San, who had been talking with the underground team, suddenly turned to us.
"I just got word from Kamijou-senpai," she said, "He's coming with a recovery team to take Musujime-san back to safety."
"Excellent," Misaka-San said, "In the meantime, why don't you tell us what happened."
"Fine," Musujime-san said, "Let me start from the beginning."
Side Story part I: Enter the dragon
I had arrived sometime before lunch. Tsuchimikado's little gang had already been in there for some time, and he needed help with infiltrating GROUP headquarters. I met Urabara-san—or rather Etzali disguised as Urabara-san—out in this plaza, along with his girlfriend. We went in together to help Tsuchimikado's group.
The trouble began as soon as we set foot inside. We crossed the front lobby, which was brightly lit by its giant glass façade. There were lots of people milling about in the lobby. At first, they paid no attention. Some even walk through us without even noticing our presence. It was as though we were on a different plane of existence.
That all changed as soon as we vaulted over the glass turnstiles blocking our entry. Every single person was staring at us and was muttering some weird gibberish. All at once, the horde came at us, arms outstretched like zombies. We managed to fight our way to the emergency stairway, but the brainwashed people pursued us.
Somehow, we reached the third-floor landing ahead of the crowd. Urabara-san…or rather…Etzali then pulled out his obsidian knife and made the stairs collapse behind us. Don't ask me how he did that. It was some esper power I had never seen before.
Anyway, we met up with Tsuchimikado and Hamazura on the fifth-floor landing. Tsuchimikado had lost a lot of blood and was lying on Hamazura's lap. Thankfully, the girl that came with Urabara-san had some sort of healing ability. It took a few minutes, but we were able to get him to move a little bit.
Everything happened so fast! One moment, we were helping Tsuchimikado to his feet, the next moment, these powered suits burst through the doorway next to us. Urabara-san used his obsidian blade to dismantle the robots, and we managed to carry Tsuchimikado up the staircase.
…
"Did you see Kinuhata?" Takitsubo interrupted, "Did they tell you where she was?"
Musujime-san nodded. "Hamazura-san told me she and Accelerator had gone on ahead and was somewhere in the upper floors. We met up with them later in the night."
"I see," Takitsubo said, "Please continue."
Musujime-san went on.
Side-story part II: The Aztecs attack
Somehow, we managed to climb up to the seventh floor. Going through the door, we found ourselves on a catwalk high up above the theater stage that led to the array of theater lights, which was inoperable at the time. Above us was another three stories of empty space, while across from us was the emergency exit, a way we could escape if they found us. At least, that was how we thought at the time.
Tsuchimikado was still seriously injured and was in no shape to go anywhere. We stayed there for hours while his healing ability kicked in. We were lucky to have that respite. Who knows how we would have fared if we had to drag Tsuchimikado around while he was still injured? The Hispanic girl—I think her name was Xochitl—was aiding in Tsuchimikado's recovery. The rest of us took turns standing guard.
It was around seven-thirty when things started heating up again. We heard loud crashes in the theater, and three shafts of lights appeared below us. We could see pieces of oak or maple strewn all over the floor, and three long shadows moving in the light.
Two appeared to be teenagers, each decked out in a richly decorated bodysuit. One was woven red with black marks all over, and the other was made of blue-green feathers that shimmered in the light. Each wore a cone-shaped hairdress that covered everything except their faces and round shields that matched their bodysuits in color and decoration. They moved slowly, like tigers or jaguars stalking their prey. As they climbed onto the stage, they fanned out in search of something. By the way of Unabara-Etzali and Xochitl watch them with so much dread, I figured that they were looking for us.
Then, a third warrior climbed onto the stage. He was a much older man, tall, thin, and muscular. He was covered from head to toe in yellow, from the one-piece bodysuit to the face paint that covered half his face. His hair had been cropped into a Mohawk, and gold jewelry hung on every corner of his head. Finally, he carried with him a large round shield decorated with yellow feathers, and a large wooden club with obsidian stuck out on its side.
Etzali and Xochitl gasped at the sight of the warriors. "A Cuachiqueh!" Xochitl whispered, "A shorn one! Why is he here!"
As if hearing our outcry, one of them looked up and saw us. Immediately, he shouted to the others and pointed to where we were.
Before we could formulate any defensive measures, the emergency doors burst open, and dozens of powered suits flooded in. One of them jumped onto the catwalk, causing it to sway dangerously from side to side. It swung at us with a large pipe wrench, but the rocking threw off its aim. Somehow, we managed to avoid its strikes, but the Powered suit destroyed one of the ceiling supports, and the whole catwalk started listing to one side.
That sent Etzali over the railing, but Xochitl grabbed him in time. Unfortunately, that proved futile when suddenly, two spears came hurtling towards us. They cut through the metal railing as easily as through butter and destroyed the last support for Xochitl and Etzali. They went tumbling to the stage together and disappeared below.
Musujime-san accepted a thermos from Yomikawa-sensei, who had arrived with Oni-Chan and Fukiyose-San in tow. They also carried warm blankets, which they draped around Musujime-san's shoulders. She drank deeply, and the color came back to her skin. "We wanted to go and help, but the horde of powered suits blocked our way. We fended them off as best as we could, but there were just too many. In the end, we had to flee to save our own skin."
She drank again. "What would you have done? If you had been in such a situation?"
Yomikawa-sensei sighed but didn't say a word.
Instead, I responded, "I'm sure I would have done something similar. I would have tried to save myself and prayed that my friends made it down safely."
Musujime-san nodded. "I thought the same way."
We swaddled Musujime-san in thick woolen blankets and brought her down to the underground parking lot. There, we found the parking lot drastically changed. Large blue vans with flashing lights were now parked next to Kamoe-sensei's little beetle, and a dozen Anti-skill officers were standing around, waiting for orders. Meanwhile, an old man was talking to Oni-chan and Fukiyose-san, and Uiharu was tapping into a surveillance camera to get a live feed of the building.
An electric heater was set up in the middle of the room and was surrounded by benches. We sat Musujime-san down on one of the benches. She wrapped the blankets tighter around her body so only a hand poked out. Misaka-San shook her head and sighed exasperatedly.
"Tak-er!" Misaka-san said, "I can't believe that you wore that in this weather!"
"It's not like I wanted to wear skimpy clothing in four degrees weather today!" Musujime-san retorted, "And that's four degrees Celsius too! I had a nice thick fur coat on when I got here. I must have lost it sometime during that blasted night!"
We all sat down to take advantage of the heater. Soon, Oni-chan, Fukiyose-san, and the old man joined us. "Everyone, I want to you to meet Kaizumi Tsugotoshi," Oni-chan said, "He is the Dean of Yotsuba school and a member of the Board of Directors."
Quickly, we rose and bowed respectfully. "Koni-chiwa"
"Hajimemashi-te!" the old man bowed, "I apologize for the trouble that has befallen your friends because of my school. I had no knowledge of the meddling that some of my colleagues have wrought upon my students. If only I knew who it was!"
"That's one of the mysteries we're looking into," Oni-chan said, "We were hoping to gather some intelligence about that subject. Hopefully, Musujime-san here can help us."
"Indeed," Tsugotoshi-san beamed, "Thank you for your service."
Musujime-san bowed.
"Well? How did you get out?" Shirai-San asked as we all sat down, "Knowing you, I know how taxing it would have been to fight against the trauma of your past."
Musujime-san wrinkled her nose. "I can teleport myself if I want! It's no big deal!"
"No? Then how did this happen?!" Saying this, Shirai-San pinched Musujime-san's injured arm, which jerked away violently. The hostility between the two girls was palpable as they traded barbs with their eyes. Fortunately, Misaka-San sat down between her and Shirai-San and tried to placate Musujime-san.
"I'm sorry about that," she said, "Why don't you finish your story?"
"Fine," Musujime-San sighed, "Without Urabara-San, we weren't able to keep the powered suits at bay. We had to leave them behind to deal with the warriors."
Side Story Part III: Sanctuary
The rest of us, Hamazura-san, Tsuchimikado, and I, had to evacuate the area. The powered suits were swarming towards us. We escaped through the door back into the stairwell and barely managed to escape the catwalk before it collapsed. Dozens of the powered suits fell with the metal walkway, but a few managed to hang onto our side of the doorway.
We were defenseless. Tsuchimikado and Hamazura didn't carry any weapons and I had nothing to teleport into the mechs, except other mechs. I teleported some of the powered suits into each other so that they created a roadblock. That bought us enough time to race on ahead. That's when Tsuchimikado tried calling for additional backup, but unfortunately, no one was picking up. Instead, he left a voice message explaining our situation. I could tell that he was super exhausted. He could barely keep up with us and his breathing was ragged and strain. He was still in no shape to fight
We made it to the tenth floor and found ourselves in the middle of a western-style school hallway. Along either side of the tiled corridor were doors leading to classrooms. At one end was a freight elevator that led back down to the theater stage. At the other end, we could see the evening sky casting everything in an orange glow.
That's where we met up with Kinuhata and Accelerator. They were at the far end, fending off a mixed horde of powered suits and brainwashed students. They had no trouble fighting off the powered suits, but dealing with the people was much trickier. Neither could go all out without killing the attackers, and the powered suits compounded the conundrum. Yet, the brainwashed people persisted in their attacks, and the pair had to fend off both them and the powered suits. Thus, Hamazura and I joined in with the fight. I used my powers to teleport people on top of each other so that they collapsed in a tangled heap of limbs. Meanwhile, Hamazura broke into one of those fire-safety cabinets and pulled out the fire hose. He doused the powered suits in water, shorting them out. One-by one, the powered suits fell lifeless to the ground.
That was when the group chasing us burst out of the stairwell. Hamazura wheeled around and sprayed them with water as well. Meanwhile, I teleported some floor tiles into the powered suits themselves and cut them into heaps of metal and plastic.
That's when Tsuchimikado did something strange. He sat down cross-legged and began chanting. As he did, blood started flowing down every orifice in his body, and he was swaying back and forth like some Buddhist monk in a deep trance. A moment later, all the brainwashed attackers stopped. One by one, they dropped to the ground, unconscious.
It was nothing short of a miracle. We were saved thanks to Tsuchimikado's actions, but the cost of victory was terrible. Tsuchimikado collapsed on the ground, even weaker than before. We rushed him inside one of the classrooms after I had teleported the door off its hinges.
That's right! I remember now! We used our coats as a makeshift sleeping bag to keep Tsuchimikado warm while he recovered.
I told Accelerator about Unabara…no… Etzali's and Xochitl's situation with the warriors, and he went off to find them. The rest of us hunkered down to rest and recover our strengths. For the rest of the night, we stayed there, rotating shifts of sleeping, watching the door and watching over Tsuchimikado. We were lucky to have working bathrooms and water fountains in the hallway.
Musujime-san sighed. "Unfortunately, Accelerator didn't come back at all. The next morning, Hamazura and I went down to look for him, but that left Kinuhata alone guarding Tsuchmikado. I don't know if those brainwashed people have awakened yet."
"Ma-take! That Tsuchimikado!" Oni-chan sighed, "He must have used too much magic again! He's always so reckless when there are loved ones to protect!"
"Sounds like someone I know," Stiyl Magnus deadpanned as he drew in some smoke.
Oni-Chan looked confused "Eh? Who?"
But Stiyl didn't answer. The rest of us shrugged and traded knowing looks.
"So? What happened next?" Misaka-san said, "You still haven't explained how you got from looking for Accelerator…" suddenly, she turned and spat on the ground behind her, "…and the others to getting stuck in a tree. What happened?"
Musujime-san rolled her eyes but nevertheless smiled at the same time. "Right, I was getting to that!"
Side-story part IV: sacrifice interrupted
Kinuhata showed us where the main staircase that led down to the theater lobby. Bodies of the brainwashed people were strewed all over, all unconscious due to Tsuchimikado's unusual ability. This set of stairs was housed in a glass tower so that we could see all the way down to the theater lobby on the third floor. Between us and the lobby, there were glass walkways that projected out from the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh floors, forming a loop that encircled the staircase and two glass elevators on either side of us. These floors also had entrances to the theater, presumably to the balcony seats that encircled the theater.
We were high above the seventh floor when the theater doors open. Out came a whole entourage of strangely dressed people. There were the three warriors dragging Accelerator, Xochitl, and Urabara-san…or rather… an unmasked Etzali by their hair. All of them had been stripped of their clothes. Even Xochitl had been laid bare for all to see. Surrounding the three warriors were a gaggle of unadorned soldiers, wearing only a white shirt and loincloth, and carrying spears tipped with obsidian.
Leading the group was two tall muscular men. One was some kind of priest, wearing a large red headdress, a large gold-and-ivory collar, and a blue cape that went down to his ankles. The other was dressed more modestly, with a green cloak with red trimmings, a bleached loincloth, and a crown made of long blue-green feathers. He held a golden spear in one hand and a gold shield in the other. They too were surrounded by attendants. Some were carrying large fans, and others were carrying a stone plinth.
As we got to the seventh floor, the entourage had passed us and had set up some sort of altar in front of the glass façade. The attendants placed the stone plinth at the very center, where the morning sun was brightest, and the priest stood over it, chanting some unknown prayer. Then, as if some spell was cast upon us as well, we understood what he was saying.
"Hail! Almighty Huitzilopochtli! Look down upon us!" The priest cried as he basked in the sun, "We offer these traitors to thee! May their blood sooth thy anger and nourish thy power!"
Four attendants grabbed Etzali by his hair and dragged him to the plinth. They laid him flat on the stone and held him down so that his chest jutted out. Then, the priest held a black knife aloft, ready to plunge it deep into Etzali's chest.
Hamazura and I sprang into action. Quickly, I teleported the glass from the stairwell, and they landed hard on top of the warriors. Dazed, the attendants released Etzali, who dodged the plunging obsidian knife. At the same time, Hamazura tackled the shorn one, quickly overpowered him and stole his obsidian-lined weapon. Using my teleportation power, I freed Xochitl and Accelerator, and the latter sprang to action. Quickly, she grabbed the weapon and bashed the other warriors in the head. Then, she grabbed Accelerator, who had remained unresponsive, and ran into the theater. His choker's battery must have run out. Etzali did the same. He grabbed the priest's knife and cut his throat. Then, he carved a bloody path through the attending soldiers and disappeared in the theater as well.
Hamazura went in with them, but I was trapped. The soldiers surrounded me even as the shorn one got up. I managed to teleport onto the walkway below them without trouble, but the soldiers chased after me. They rushed down the stairs as a gang, and I prepared to defend myself.
But then, the shorn one climbed over the railing and dropped down next to me. The impact of his landing cracked the glass below his feet, but he lost no time in attacking me. His weapon was gone, but that didn't stop his ferocious attacks. He fought like an animal, and I barely dodged his punches and kicks, and he went after me relentlessly. I tried to teleport something into him, but he knocked the flashlight right out of my hands. His next strike hit me squarely in the chest, and I was sent flying. I landed on the glass surface hard enough to knock the wind out of me.
As I tried to get up, I saw your van arriving, and that gave me a little hope. But then, I saw him about to strike, and I rolled away. The shorn one's strike shattered the glass beneath me, and I went tumbling down to the fifth floor. With no other recourse, I focused all my calculations on the outside world and teleported one last time.
"In the end, I managed to teleport outside the building," Musujime-san said, "That saved me from falling to my death, but unfortunately, you saw the results at the end."
She drank again from the thermos. "As far as I can tell, Hamazura and the others are still in the theater, fighting for their lives. There may still be time to save them."
There was a brief pause as everyone took in everything she said. Then, Oni-chan turned to Stiyl Magnus. "I thought you said that the magic side wasn't going to factor into all of this."
Stiyl shrugged. "I was wrong. Who knows how the Mexican cabal works these days? After Tecpatl was killed, we lost all contact with the Aztecs. Then, all that madness with World War III happened, and we had bigger fish to fry."
Stiyl Magnus blew out a large cloud of smoke. "Is there direct access to where Tsuchimikado is?"
"Eh!" Tsugotoshi-san said, "There's a maintenance door leading to the eleventh floor. It's what we use to access the window cleaning robots.
Stiyl nodded and rose from his seat. "Then I will go there immediately. It sounds like Tsuchimikado is in dire need of assistance. Recovering him is priority number one."
"Me too!" Index said, standing, "If I can identify the spell that is controlling the people, I can track down who did it."
"I can help you get up there," Yomikawa-sensei said, "As for my part, I want to recover those students as soon as possible. If those students have been used as puppets, I want to know who is pulling the strings."
"I'll go too," Oni-chan said, "It's my fault that Tsuchimikado and the others were there in the first place. I sent him there to look for clues to Academy City's dark past, and he ended up like this. If I can at least make amends…" He stood up and tugged at the handcuff between him and Fukiyose-san, pulling her to her feet as well.
"I can assist in the victim recovery effort." Shirai-san said, "Saten-san and Otohime-chan, can you help me out?"
"Hai!" Saten-san and I chimed in at once.
Takitsubo-san sighed. "Ma-tak-er! Hamazura-kun really likes to get himself into so much trouble."
She stood up and wiped the dust from her knee. "Looks like I'll have to save him myself."
Musujime-san chortled. "Those are brave words from someone with little power."
"It's true," Takitsubo-san shrugged, "I am weak and scared of those men, but if they want to harm someone I love, someone I cherish. I want to have some say in the matter!"
She walked closer to the heater and turned around.
"As you say, I am weak. Though I am determined go save Hamazura-kun, I would like some help."
"You are a brave girl to carry such a heavy burden," Kanzaki-san smiled. She rose and joined Takitsubo. "I will help you. On my life or death, you have my sword."
"And you have my spear."
"And my Railgun."
Itsuwa-san and Misaka-san stood and joined the other girls, clasping each other's forearms just below the elbow. Everyone else stood up and got ready to leave.
Misaka-san smiled savagely and growled, "We can do this! Watch us blow you away with our railgun!"