Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Eleven: Crouching Loli, Hidden Dragon
Beta:
Naru hung back as she and the rest of her friends followed Misaka-sempai's lead as she led them towards their destination. The group had recently decided that they should try out some new activities, and that everyone should get a chance to decide what they did. Today, that honour had gone to the [Railgun].
"Really Onee-sama?" Shirai-chan bemoaned as she shook her head, "You couldn't have selected somewhere with more… elegance."
"What? Come on! Arcades are fun!" Her sempai puffed up her cheeks, "Besides, we can't hang out in the Garden everyday."
"Not that I would mind." Uiharu-chan muttered, a glazed look in her eyes.
No surprise there. Naru mused with a roll of her eyes. Since it seems like going to Pasticceria Manicagni is all you ever suggest. Though Shirai-san is guilty of wanting to go shopping there a little too much too.
"You can have cake any time, Uiharu." Saten-chan reminded her.
"Still! The atmosphere~!"
Naru giggled at that, but did agree with Uiharu-chan to some degree. The atmosphere in the Garden sure is nice.
"Still, leave it to sempai to pick something simple. Not that it's a bad thing."
"...Did you just call me simple?" [The Railgun] asked while leveling a glare at the blonde.
"Me? Never." Naru flashed an innocent smile.
"Whatever," Misaka-sempai huffed, as they walked into the arcade.
"Let's go have some fun!" The oldest girl said as she pumped her fist in the air.
"Whoo." Shirai-chan cheered enthusiastically as she followed her Onee-sama. The reactions from the others were mixed. Saten-chan and Uiharu-chan drifted off together into the game center clearly with something in mind. Naru meanwhile just shrugged and decided to trail after the others a bit.
Haven't been in one of these in a while. Wonder what's fun?
Probably nothing as fun as what we did the last time we were in one. Naru's tenant opined.
Yeah, well, we can't always have an assasination to carry out. Naru pointed out reasonably. So any suggestions on who we should check on first?
Go with robot girl- The fox began only to be interrupted.
Don't call her that. The Number 2 warned.
Fine. Kurama sighed. Follow the Saten girl. She's pissed for some reason, maybe we can find out why.
Naru just shrugged, it was as good a suggestion as any.
Taking a quick survey of the arcade, the blonde found Saten-chan busy playing with the VR batting cage.
Walking over to get a closer look, Naru quickly noticed that her friend was racking up a truly impressive score. With every swing of the bat, a synthesized cracking sound rang out as the words "Home Run!" streaked across the screen.
Her performance was so good in fact that she was pretty close to beating the machine's high score.
"Come on, Saten-chan, just twenty more and you'll break the record!" Naru cheered her on, joining the crowd that had gathered to watch the seemingly impossible repeated home runs.
Her fellow Level 5 didn't notice any of it. She seemed to be in her own little world, utterly ignoring the cacophony of cheers from the crowd. Her lips moving as she spoke to herself under her breath with each swing.
Curious, Naru enhanced her hearing with a bit of chakra. With her now superhuman hearing, she realized that her friend was repeating the phrase "Bakaccel" over and over again like a mantra.
Geez, what is she? His girlfriend all of a sudden? Naru couldn't help but think.
Naru was about to step forward and ask her classmate what the psycho had done to piss her off when she was tapped on the shoulder. Turning around, she was met with a worried looking Uiharu-chan.
"We should leave her alone for now. She's venting."
There was another electronic crack and Naru looked back to see another "Home Run!" flash across the screen.
"I can see that."
"L-Let's go play something else in the meantime. Uh," Uiharu-chan looked around before spotting something that caused her face to light up, "Yay!"
The flower-crown wearing girl tugged Naru along, which the amused blonde allowed, until they reached a Street Fighter game.
"You don't want to play the VR fighting game instead? What was it?" Naru took a minute to recall the name of the game that she'd read about recently. "Crosswalk Melee? It's supposed to be very good."
Of course it is. It was based on real-life combat simulators used on the Dark Side after all.
Uiharu didn't share that opinion though, instead she uncharacteristically scoffed, "Please, vintage is best with games like this. You can appreciate the elegance of these fine machines of battle best in their original form."
"...Okay." Naru was stunned at how poetic that sounded and the passion with which Uiharu-chan spoke.
Sitting down, Uiharu cracked her knuckles, only to yelp. "Ow, ow, that was not as cool as I thought it would be."
Naru covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. Uiharu-chan could just be too adorable.
"Now, where are my victims?" The Level 1 said with an edge in her voice.
"Uh-huh." Naru nodded, confused by how the girl was acting.
It was ten minutes later and a crowd had gathered around them as Uiharu-chan defeated yet another opponent.
Wow! She's insanely good. Like a gaming monster. Naru noted in surprise. That's the tenth person in a row so far.
"How is she-?" Shirai-chan said as she walked over, only to freeze as she looked at Uiharu-chan's score.
"Next challenger!" Uiharu-chan cried out as the next poor schmuck sat down to face the titan.
"I have never seen her like this!" The Teleporter said as she gaped at her partner.
"I guess even Uiharu-chan has her ruthless side." Naru pointed out.
"And that's what worries me. She was the normal one."
Naru just quirked a brow at that, "Hello? Genius hacker?"
"Normal to an extent." The auburn haired girl huffed.
"Ah! This is just like the old days." Uiharu-chan declared with a smile as she finished off her latest challenger. "Next!"
"Why does it sound like she's got some kind of dark history in the gaming circuit?"
"I don't want to know." Shirai-chan rubbed her eyes.
"Suit yourself." Naru said with a shrug. I'm honestly curious. Gotta do some digging when I get the chance.
Not just going to ask her best friend?
Where's the fun in that? Naru thought back to the fox along with a mental smirk.
"Can none give me a proper challenge?" Uiharu-chan demanded of the crowd, who began to edge away from her.
"This is getting too weird for me." Shirai-chan said as she too slowly backed away. "I think I'll go check on Onee-sama instead."
"Yeah, let's give her some space. Best not sully her Highness with our presence."
The two wandered off as Uiharu-chan started to cackle like some cliched anime villain.
It took some searching, but they eventually found their sempai concentrating intently on a crane game in a forgotten corner of the arcade reserved for the more casual games. Her fingers slowly inched the controller as the older girl's eyes locked onto one thing.
A Gekota plush.
"I will never understand her frog fetish."
"I continue to scold her for her childish tastes, but she never listens." Shirai-chan sighed and skipped over, "Onee-sama~! Allow Kuroko to assist you!"
Shirai-chan's call was poorly timed and distracted her roommate at precisely the wrong moment. As a result, the older girl's hands slipped on the controls thus causing the crane to swing erratically and loosening it's tentative grip on the plush which promptly slipped from the claw's hold.
"No! My Gekota!" Misaka-sempai screamed in horror and turned a fierce gaze upon the perpetrator. "Kur-o-ko…"
"Eep!" The Teleporter squeaked in fear.
"Die!" [The Railgun] shouted and shocked her roommate.
"Gah…" Was the only noise the Judgement member could make as she laid face first on the ground, twitching.
Naru looked away as Shirai-chan got her just desserts. As much as she enjoyed her research, electrocution porn wasn't her thing. Instead, she turned back towards Uiharu-chan who was loudly chewing out her latest opponent for his sloppy play style even as she demolished him.
"Yesh, they're all going nuts today." Naru couldn't help but note with a shake of her head. She was just about to turn back towards Misaka-sempai and tell her to stop letting out her inner sadist when something caught her eye.
There sitting pleasantly on a shelf behind the prize redemption counter was a giant top hat wearing penguin plush.
...Mine, mine, mine, mine, must have!
Great, another for the collection.Kurama groaned.
It's cute and you know it.
The hat is tacky.
Naru ignored him, the stupid fox knew nothing about fashion for animals. Why else would he run around butt naked.
Determined, the blonde quickly turned to address Shirai-chan and Misaka-sempai.
"Girls, we need to pool our tickets."
"Why?" Shirai-chan asked curiously. The girl still looked a little frazzled from the repeated shocks her roommate had subjected her to, but she seemed to have shaken the effects off quickly enough. Though considering her experience in that regard, that was no surprise.
"One, it has a top hat. Two, it's adorable and I want it!" The blonde said, looking giddy.
"That's three things, Namikaze-san."
"Semantics."
Misaka-sempai looked at the prize and squinted her eyes.
"Hm, it is cute. Sure, Why not?"
"Let's go get the others!"
Both Saten-chan and Uiharu-chan were reluctant to leave their games, but Naru wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Girls, we have an objective." Naru declared to them all.
"And why do we need to pool all our tickets just for you?" Saten-chan asked impatiently, clearly she wanted to go back to her game.
"Because we'll get enough tickets to get all of us one?" The blonde suggested
Saten-chan looked back at the plush and the sticker pasted on it that indicated the number of tickets needed to redeem it. "That would require hours of game time. Maybe days."
"It's called a challenge. I'm game, whose game?" Naru said while raising her hand.
Uiharu-chan joined her crusade as she too raised her hand.
"I too demand one for my conquests today!"
Misaka-sempai spared Uiharu-chan an odd look.
"If Uiharu wants one." Saten-chan agreed with a reluctant sigh.
"All hail!"
"I am so confused." [The Railgun] surmised.
Ignoring their sempai, Saten-chan turned to Uiharu-chan with a frown. "Uiharu, do we need to have a talk about your Street Fighter addiction again?"
"It's only an addiction if I do it everyday."
"The only reason you don't is because I literally atomised all your copies of the games and threatened to do the same to any replacements you bought."
Uiharu-chan had a crestfallen look at the reminder, "Truly a dark day in history."
"You seriously did that?" A shocked Shirai-chan asked.
"Don't judge Shirai-chan," Naru piped up. "At least they aren't like you and Sempai, what with your not-so-secret sadomasochist antics."
Their sempai stammered at this while Shirai-chan looked away with a flush, covering her cheeks.
"It's not that I mind it, but she just does it in public so much. It should be in private."
"Kuroko!"
"Enough talk!" Uiharu-chan interrupted the conservation in a loud voice. "Time to win that penguin!"
Naru pumped her fist, "All hail."
"All hail!"
"What is going on?!"
Saten-chan just groaned and walked off towards the batting cages. "Trust me, sempai, just roll with it. It's safer for your sanity and this is me talking."
Shirai-chan and sempai just exchanged confused looks, but Naru paid them no mind.
"Let's get those tickets!"
Naru raised a padded mallet in the air.
"It is time for your extinction." She said sternly as the game she had chosen to take on started.
"Whack them moles!" The machine announced as the first of the moles popped out of its hole.
"Die!" The blonde cried as she swung the hammer down and sent the first of the mechanical caricatures of a mole back into it's hole. Another two popped up to replace it almost immediately, only to meet the same fate.
Naru showed none of the moles any mercy. As each one popped up, they were swiftly taken down by a vicious strike from the Level 5. In a matter of minutes, things had gotten to the point that Naru was summoning her chakra to enhance both her senses and speed to keep up with the game.
"And I thought the day couldn't get any weirder." Naru heard Shirai-chan say. That couldn't be right though, hadn't she and sempai wandered off to try a shooting game.
"Yeah," Misaka-sempai agreed, sounding a little uneasy. "I didn't think that game could get this intense."
"That's because it's adapting to your friend's skill level. It's designed to make it more challenging for Espers." An unfamiliar male voice explained. "The moles pop up faster as your score gets higher."
Naru was curious who her friends were talking to, one of the arcade's employers maybe, but she had no time to satisfy her inquisitiveness at the moment. The game had reached such an intense stage that she needed her full focus just to keep up. In fact, the moles were popping up so quickly now that even with her chakra enhanced senses, she was unable to react in time. If she waited for them to pop up before acting, they'd retreat back into their holes while she was still in mid-swing. Instead, the blonde was relying on feeling the shift in the airflow to sense which mole would pop up ahead of time so as to allow her to smash them on their way up.
Through the use of this little trick her score continued to climb, already breaking the 99,999 threshold.
Come on, murder more! Kurama cheered her on in his own special way.
Everything was a blur, Naru's arms, the popping moles, her ever increasing score.
"She really wants that penguin." Misaka-sempai noted with astonishment in her voice.
"T-That shouldn't be happening, she should be losing by this stage!" The unfamiliar voice gaped.
"Was it designed for Level 5s?" Shirai-chan asked him.
"L-L-Level 5? She's-!? Oh no…Oh no!" He shouted in horror.
And with good reason as the machine began to shudder and release smoke just trying to keep up with Naru. The blonde barely noticed, the moles were still coming!
"Wait!" The male voice called out desperately. "The machine's-!"
"Bye bye!" Naru screamed, drowning out the man's voice, as she smashed the lone mole that didn't return to its home. As if a nail to a coffin, the mole shot down and the machine split in half.
Insult to injury, nice.
"-already died." The man finished despondently.
"...Oops." Naru muttered weakly as she looked down at the shattered remains of the whack-a-mole machine. It's parts and a sea of reward tickets were strewn all over the floor, with its scoreboard still flashing her score: 999,999,999.
"Consider those tickets invalid, young lady." The man, who was in fact an employee of the arcade, told her sternly as he came over to inspect the scene. "And you're paying damages for that machine."
"Aw," Naru pouted, looking down at the sea of tickets that reached her ankles.
Stupid faulty machine! Naru whined mentally, even as she put on the best contrite mask she could manage.
Naru's face was flat against the table, groaning as the group of friends waited for their ordered beverages. Shortly after her rather interesting turn at playing whack-a-mole, the crew had left the arcade. Seeing that it was still only late afternoon, they had decided to fall back on their old stand-by and headed over to Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant for something to drink and to cool off.
"What kind of cheap material do they use nowadays?" The blonde bemoaned, saddened by her failure to get her hands on the dapper penguin plush.
And it didn't help that Uiharu-chan was hugging her very own dapper penguin.
"Don't you dare complain." Misaka-sempai said accusingly, while shooting her a glare. "It was you who got us kicked out of the arcade. It was my favourite one too!"
"Onee-sama," Shirai-chan looked at their sempai dryly, "do you have room to talk about that? Have you not broken your fair share of arcade machines?"
[The Railgun] flustered, "By accident! Chibi here went full throttle!"
Naru didn't dispute that, she had gone a little overboard. That said, she wasn't going to let her sempai make her out to be some villain for it.
"I already said I'd pay for all the damages, didn't I?"
"That's not the point!"
"Calm down, Onee-sama. It's not that big of a deal." Shirai-chan reassured their volatile upperclassman. "It's not like they banned us permanently. They just asked us to leave for today."
"Hmph!" Misaka-sempai childishly huffed and continued to fume.
The Teleporter sighed at her crush's immature display, and continued trying to calm her down. "Besides, like I said earlier, you're done much the same in the past. Plus, more besides. Do I need to remind you of all those arcade tokens you regularly steal to use as the ammo for your railgun?"
Defeated, but unwilling to admit as such, the older girl blushed and looked away.
Turning away from the two roommates, Naru lifted her head up and focused her attention on the flower-crown loving girl, "Uiharu-chan, can I hug it sometimes when you aren't?"
"Hm, I may bring it to the office to cuddle during breaks." Uiharu-chan smiled as she squeezed her new conquest.
Naru let out a whimper at the Level 1. Looks like Uiharu-chan's one is out of the question.
"Saten-chan, you'd share right?" The blonde pleaded.
Her fellow Level 5 hugged her own prize, something akin to a smirk on her face.
"I think I'll give it to my siblings." The mean Number 3 said, "I'm sure one of them will like it. Maybe Park-chan?"
Naru held her tongue at that. After hearing that declaration, the blonde knew the plush was lost to her forever.
It was a deep loss, one that would haunt her forever. Turning away, she let a few tears escape her eyes.
Oi! Don't be so melodramatic! Kurama chided. It's just a dumb toy.
It's the principle of the matter!
Naru would have continued defending herself against her demonic tenant's overly harsh critique but was distracted when something soft bumped her in the head. It was the penguin plush. Turning to Saten-chan, she saw her fellow Level 5 smirking at her while gesturing encouragingly at the fallen toy.
"Huh?" Naru blinked as she picked up the large and soft toy.
"I was just teasing you! Hehe, you're so easy!" The brunette said as she broke into a fit of wooden giggles.
It was so unexpected that all the other girls were caught off guard too. All of them looked at [Multi-Skill] with varying degrees of surprise. They all smiled though as they saw their friend joke around like a normal girl, a sure sign of her recovery from being [The Robot].
"I-" Naru didn't know what to say as she held the plush close, cuddling it. After a moment, she muttered, "Thank you."
"Aw, she's embarrassed." Their sempai teased, making Naru's cheeks burn red.
"I-I was just surprised! Baka-Sempai!"
"Hm, so even Namikaze-san has a tsundere side." Shirai-chan commented, making Naru's blush more luminous even as her eyes widened.
"I am not a tsundere!"
Naru was getting riled up when Uiharu-chan suddenly waved the flipper of her plush to catch Naru's eye and winked.
What?
"Saten-san!" The Level 1 cried out, sounding shocked and happy. "I'm so glad to see you so carefree today."
Seemingly caught off guard by the sudden change in the topic, the Number 3 blinked in confusion.
"Um. Yeah?"
Uiharu then proceeded to gush over her best friend's improving ability to behave like a normal person. Her enthusiasm easily sucked in the other two girls too and soon all three of them were happily congratulating the stoic Level 5 on her progress.
Offering her flower loving friend a thankful smile, Naru just leaned back and enjoyed the show as it were. She was content to just hold the newest addition to her collection, but that idea was dashed when an electronic jingle came from her pocket. Pulling out her phone, all her good nature fled as she saw who the call was from.
"I've gotta take this." The blonde said as she left the plush in her seat and walked out of earshot to answer the call.
"Hello, what do you need?"
"I have a new mission for you. Go to District 11. I'll send you the exact coordinates shortly. You'll be meeting up with the Black Crow Unit." Aleister instructed her.
A collab with Shutaura huh?
"Alright, I'll head out right away. Bye." The blonde said as she ended the call.
"Who was that?" Misaka-sempai asked curiously.
"My boss." Naru said and patted her plush, "Could one of you hold on to this for me? I'll pick it up later."
The others all looked at her with looks of unease. Understandably so, they all knew her well enough by now to have an idea of what a call from her boss likely meant.
Saten-chan however just gave her an encouraging nod. Good to know that at least one of her friends was confident in her abilities.
"It was a call from the General Superintendent. So she has to go."
"I'll cover for you. Go." A barely there whisper ghosted into Naru's ear.
Damn, sonic manipulation too? Naru mused in exasperation as she eyed the Number 3 and gave a nod in reply. Do you need to show off that you have practically every Esper power catalogued?
"I'll hold onto it for you," Misaka-sempai told her, pulling the plush close to her.
"Thanks sempai, you can hug him as much as you want. You have my blessing."
"L-Like I would. Psh." Their sempai shot back dismissively.
She's so going to cuddle it. Naru giggled and departed from the restaurant.
It was never a dull moment in Academy City.
In between teleports to her rendezvous point, Naru read through the briefing packet that had been sent to her phone shortly after she'd accepted the mission. Apparently, some crucial component - the exact nature of which was a secret that she was not privy to - for Endymion, the City's experimental space elevator, had been stolen whilst it was en route from the warehouse where it had been stored in District 11 to the STUDY spaceport in District 23 where the contractor was to launch it into orbit and install it as part of the construction process.
How could security be so lacking for such an item? I don't care if the enemy was using magic. They should have been more prepared.
Not all of them can be a magician killer like you.
Not the point, Kurama!
As she arrived at the crime scene, she was unsurprised to find that the Black Crow Unit was already there, scouring the area for clues. The scene consisted of a wrecked semi-trailer truck and a patch of busted up road in between two rows of nondescript warehouses.
"Crow 3, check behind that building. Crow 9, I want statements from any workers close to the scene. Everyone else triple check the area. Crow 7, be sure to make sure the witnesses understand that everything they saw were the work of Espers." Shutaura barked her orders, looking like the fierce leader she was.
"Yes Crow 1!"
"As efficient as usual." Naru couldn't help but comment as she walked up to the Black Crow Unit leader, "Though I've got to ask, you sure about blaming magic on Esper powers. Is that really a good idea?"
"It's worked before and it will work now." Shutaura dismissed as she turned to glance at the blonde, "It's either that or kill them, like back in the old days."
I would have loved it if we were in the old days, sounds more fun.
Something amidst the wreckage of the semi-trailer truck caught Shutaura's eye and she walked over to check it out.
Naru eyed the older girl as she walked, the way her hips swayed catching her eye and causing her mouth to feel parched.
Did she get a new bodysuit? 'Cause she's looking a lot more sexy than the last time I saw her in one.
Preaching to the choir here. The fox said with a decidedly lecherous tone to his voice.
Maybe I should get one too.
Naru's thoughts were derailed when Shutaura reached whatever had caught her eye, a piece of the wreckage with a strange glow to it, and bent down to get a better look.
Naru swallowed, Wow, that thing really flatters her rear.
Yeah...
Getting herself under control, Naru ignored Kurama and did her best to be a professional. Since she was on the job and all that.
"Can I help?"
"No, my Unit has things under control." The older girl replied, even as she waved over one of the forensic technicians attached to her unit to examine what she'd spotted. "This is an attack targeting Lady Tangleroad's interests and as such is in our purview. The only reason why you're even here is because the Superintendent insisted. We don't need your help so just stay out of our way."
The blonde felt put out by this, and just a little bit hurt.
"By the way, I saw you looking." Shutaura told the blonde, who blushed heatedly at being caught leering. "Could you stop playing around and be serious?"
"Right. Sorry." Naru awkwardly apologized. "So, uh, what are we looking for? I didn't have time to go through all the intel while on my way here."
"It's a special material-"
"For Endymion, I know. Any idea what it is?"
"No, that's classified and beyond our pay grades. All we know is that it's in a special sealed crate that won't open without the proper procedures and codes. We are to recover it before the thieves either extract it from the City or figure out a way to open the crate."
"Want to bet on what it is?"
"What? No."
"Come on," Naru grinned, "I know you're curious since Lady Ladylee is all mysterious and stuff. How about this? If you lose, you have to forfeit one article of clothing."
Shutaura's usually cool visage heated up and she shot the blonde an outraged glare.
"Hey, it's okay. Not like I'm going to make this unfair. I'll put a pair of panties up for collateral. Does that make you feel better?"
"It doesn't! How can you talk about this so casually?!" Shutaura nearly shouted, but quickly composed herself and glared at Naru, "Honestly, must you play the fool all of the time? Try and take this seriously."
"You know, you're such a stick in the mud for an exhibitionist."
I thought this is what friends do, mess around with each other. Friendship and panties.
Shutaura stood stock still at this, but soon glared furiously at the blonde with a new blazing blush.
"I am not an exhibitionist!"
A member of the Crows coughed into his hand, he looked new in Naru's eyes.
"Isn't it an open secret that the Captain walks around in her home practically nude?" He whispered to another member.
Shutaura must have heard him because she turned her glare towards the hapless man.
His comrades quickly silenced him so he wouldn't lose his head.
The older girl might have done more to her cheeky subordinate but the technician examining the wreckage they were standing over caught both her and Naru's attention when he pulled out a wand with a frown.
"Magic?" Naru asked, unsurprised by this turn of events. Considering Ladylee's links to the Magic Side, it was a high possibility from the get go that this attack against her pet project was an attempt to get at her by one of her old enemies.
"Looks like." Shutaura nodded with a peeved sigh, obviously not liking the news.
"Any clue on what type?" The young commander addressed her subordinate.
"Sorry Captain," the technician said with a apologetic shake of his head. "The best I can tell from the residue is that it's high level magic. Not much more than that. At least not without a detailed analysis back in the lab."
"A sha-"
"How high level?" Naru cut in.
The technician shrugged. "My guess? Something at the level of about a Saint. Possibly high tier at that. My bet is on the latter."
"Just my luck." The blonde cursed under her breath. The Saints were the Magic Side's equivalent to Level 5 Espers, so to face one of the most powerful magicians in the world? Someone who could be more powerful than she was? That was a daunting prospect.
"Captain!" One of the Crows came running over and headed a comms unit to Shutaura.
The commander had a short and terse conversation with whoever was on the line, before allowing a small satisfied smirk to grace her face as she turned to address her men.
"Crows 2-6, get ready to move out! Crows 7-12, stay back and guard the scene. Technicians, I'll leave the processing of evidence to you." Shutaura ordered, getting shouts of 'Yes ma'am!' in return. Done issuing her orders, the brunette turned to Naru and said, "Alright, join us in the transport. We're heading out now."
"Location?"
"We'll be heading tow-"
Naru was about to turn to follow her, when her instincts started screaming at her about imminent danger.
"Move!" The blonde shouted as she tackled Shutaura away from the Armoured Personnel Carrier that they were just about to enter.
It was just in time as with a loud crack that echoed throughout the whole area, the APC was abruptly sliced in half by some kind of red whip. At the same time the whole area around where the APC used to be exploded in a massive unnatural fireball.
That was way bigger than it should be, even if all the fuel and ammo cooked off.
Duh! It's magic. Didn't you see the flaming aura around that whip?
"What?" The wide eyed leader of the Crows gasped out.
Naru barely paid her any mind, as she dropped the chakra shell she'd thrown up to protect the two of them and turned to look in the direction of their attacker.
"I think we found our suspect." Naru said as she got off Shutaura.
Standing on the air itself was a titanic humanoid construct. It stood at a massive eight foot height and was wearing red ornate Chinese armor that looked like it had come out of the wardrobe department of a period drama. What truly stood out though was the fact that its skin was a translucent white and was surrounded by a red aura that gave off a spectral vibe.
In his hands was a long red cord.
Naru clicked her tongue, So is it a spirit or maybe an avatar projection? I guess it doesn't matter, I should end this fast.
"Greetings, servants of the Silver Star." A heavily accented voice boomed from all around them. "I'm afraid Guăng Mù Tiānwáng (广目天王) and I cannot allow you to interfere with my colleagues."
"Do you have your papers? Because we don't like illegals here." Naru shot right back as she started to summon her Jager frame.
Shutaura took the chance that Naru's smack talk gave her to get behind the dubious cover of the remaining Black Crow APC - the earlier one hadn't stood up to the magician's little ghost thingy, so why would this one? - and from the sound of it organised her men for the fight.
"A sharp tongue for a fledgling magic user."
"Oh my god, I do not use magic!" Naru said as her armor fully covered her, an earthy film covering the demonic red plated armor. The new addition was a little something she was working on to counter the proliferation of anti-chakra Dark Matter weapons lately. The earthen armor was compacted as tightly as she could make it and should be able to stop or at least slow - and thus reduce the damage caused by - any attacks made using such weapons.
"I'm an Esper and I'm about to send you back to Heaven." She said in a demonic tone.
I love it when you do that.
Shut up and focus.
The spiritual being sneered, "That man should keep his pet on a tighter leash!"
Okay, the fucker was dead!
The armored blonde rocketed towards the the warrior with her shield forward, the blade under it flipped out.
"Ha! Your recklessness matches your age, whelp!" The magician mocked as the projection's cord came alive like a snake and one of its ends turned to face Naru.
She tensed, ready to dodge yet another supersonic whip strike. Instead, the cord unexpectedly shifted into a red scaled Eastern dragon, which gave a roar and quick as a viper lunged forward to bite her.
She dodged past it and flew right at the beast's owner. Closing the distance, she leapt into the air and used her shield blade to slash at it. Naru clicked her tongue as the projection pulled back at the last second. As a result, she only managed to slice the breastplate of its armor instead of dealing a mortal blow.
"Good failure, whelp!" The magician snarled as his projection proceeded to snap a punch right into her armored face. The blow was insanely quick, like its whip, and even with her Jager enhanced senses Naru had barely registered that it had moved before its beefy fist had slammed into her helm.
The blonde released a yelp as she stumbled in the air. Shaking off the blow and using her wind powers and her wings to find purchase on the ground, she stabilized herself. Just in time for her to hear another roar. Turning, she saw the dragon opening his maw and promptly breathing out a stream of white flame.
Naru dove out of the way but still got caught up in the sea of fire that the enemy unleashed.
"You'll need to try har-"
The Level 5 didn't get the chance to complete her taunt however as the enemy used the cover of the raging inferno to lash out with its whip. The blow struck Naru right in the chest, only a quick shifting of her body allowing her to avoid having her head knocked off, and was sent flying. The armor of her Frame softened the blow somewhat but it still left like all her insides had been turned to mush.
"Argh!" She choked off a scream of pain, even as Kurama rushed to heal what must have been extensive internal injuries.
Somehow the bulk of the force from the blow got transferred to your insides. The fox noted almost academically. I wonder how that works.
Shut up! Just focus on healing me! Naru cursed. And it's because magic is bullshit!
She grunted as she crashed into a warehouse, and was prevented from falling to the ground by the cord lashing out once more. This time instead of striking her with a bone rattling blow, it shifted into a dragon's head that firmly pressed into her abdomen and pinned her to the wall.
"Bastard." She grunted and materialized her short sword. The blonde Esper proceeded to stab the dragon right in the crown and began to spread her malevolent chakra into it.
"Ah!" The magician shouted in surprise and called off his dragon, the weapon changing back into a whip once more.
The projection's eyes flashed a violent red, and spoke of its own accord for the first time. It's voice was utterly perfect, inhumanly so. Clearly it belonged to something out of this world.
"Yaogui! You dare taint my holy relic?!"
Er, Naru? I think you might have managed to piss off the actual god!
Yeah? Well fuck this god.
He started to mutter some words as a white light danced along the slowly blackening whip. As it passed over the length of rope, it cleansed it of Naru's poisonous essence.
Naru pushed herself up and dismissed her short sword in favor of her long blade.
She pointed the tip at the avatar, "You think that baby tap was bad? Wait until I stab you."
"Where's the summoner?" Shutaura cursed, as she burst out from behind cover to toss a brace of her small rare earth disks at the projection, the wires trailing from them allowing her to change their direction subtly in mid air, allowing them to slam into its side from an unexpected angle before she used her power to cause them to explode.
The blasts were reasonably weak, but they were enough to distract the magical construct from Naru for a moment. It's distraction was added to when the rest of the Black Crow finally seemed to recover enough of their senses to give her some support fire. Not that it was very useful, as their bullets largely just harmlessly pinged off the construct's armor. It nevertheless created an opening.
An opening that the Level 5 was quick to exploit.
Leaping into the air once more, she swung her long blade and cut a deep gash into the back of the armored avatar.
"Gah! Demon filth!" The magician roared in pain. The avatar twisted around, attempting to slam its fist into her side.
She ducked just in time and charged the projection, but she barely got within a few feet before his whip coiled around her blade and ripped it from her grasp.
How? I'm moving almost at Mach 1!
It's probably got some kind of supersense. Kurama reasoned. Now, stop getting distracted!
The blade flew into the air as the projection roared at her. The whip shifted into a dragon once more, and the serpent echoed its master's anger as a purplish miasma spilled from its maw.
Oh bitch please.Kurama rolled his eyes at this.
Kurama shut up! Black Crow can't handle this! We have to end it fast. Naru chided her demon as she charged the projection once more, heedless of the poison.
Hey, hey! What are you doing?!
Just fight it off for me. I can't think of anyway to get rid of it without causing it to spread.
You are such a soft hearted idiot! Ugh, fine. Just hurry up.
"NBC gear now!" Shutaura barked as she sprinted into the APC, presumably where the aforementioned hazmat suits were stored. Her men quickly following suit.
I really hope they have enough suits in there for everyone.
She didn't get a chance to be sure, as she once more closed with the Heavenly King. It lashed out at her with its cord which glowed with a frosty aura. Every time it struck a surface, it left a flower of deadly sharp icicles in its wake.
"Ice too?"
"Of course, Guăng Mù Tiānwáng rules over all dragons!"
"Yeah, and just like them, you'll join them in extinction." Naru declared as she summoned a new pair of swords.
A powerful blast hit the King in the back, and Naru turned to see that the Black Crow APC had joined the fight and was leveling its cannon at the projection and lining up another shot. Behind it, a dozen Black Crow in hazmat suits fanned out as they got back to searching for the magician.
"Pests!" The magician hissed in annoyance, even as his projection turned to face the soldiers and looked ready to attack.
Naru was having none of it.
Firing the jet engine on her backpack, Naru launched herself at the King like a bullet. A spinning bladed bullet. Swinging every blade available to her as she crashed into its side, she cut deep grooves into its armor and carved deep gashes into its spectral flesh.
The godly avatar didn't even wince as it was cut up, even as the magician controlling it hissed in pain, instead calmly punching Naru in the gut. This time the Esper was expecting it and managed to roll with the blow. It nevertheless still sent her tumbling away.
It was clear however who got out of the last round worse for wear. While Naru was admittedly rattled by the punch, her foe looked like it had been shredded.
"That hurt, you wench." The magician said through his construct even as the damage she'd caused slowly repaired itself.
It regenerates! Hax!
The APC's cannon barked, but instead of scoring a hit the King's cord shot through the air and slammed into the shell mid flight, throwing it off course.
Still not as Hax as the Saten girl. Kurama noted.
That's just obvious. The blonde replied even as she began slashing at the air, sending wind blades screeching towards the damaged King. She didn't want it to turn its attention to the Black Crow again. She succeeded as it responded by having its cord lash out at them, dispelling them upon contact. The effort took its toll though and the rate that the construct recovered noticeably slowed. Though this might have been helped by the occasional cannon shell and wind blade that slipped through its defenses and dealt fresh damage to its already battered body.
"He's on the roof!" One of the Black Crow operatives shouted, pointing to the roof of one of the surrounding warehouses.
Reacting quickly, Shutaura barked out a new set of orders. "Crow 4, 6, 8. Go kill him."
Smart move. Taking out the summoner will cause the projection to dispel.
The astral projection turned and attempted to stop the gunmen as they stormed the warehouse where its summoner was operating from.
Naru without letting up on her barrage of wind blades, unfolded her wings and had them stab the construct in the back, impaling it.
"Grah!" The magician screamed out in pain, "May you forever be cursed, you vile wretch! Your kind will perish!"
"Shut up." The Number 2 shouted in the direction of the warehouse where the magician was hiding.
She used her wings to fling the avatar into the air. At the same time, she pumped more chakra into her swords, causing them to more than double in length.
"Disappear, [Omnislash]!" She roared as she moved in a blur. She swung like a woman possessed, each swing faster than the last. Each swing was moving through the air so quickly that it sent shockwaves rippling through the air around them.
Despite the avatar doing its best to parry the swings with its cord and arms, Naru still managed to score fifteen clean hits that cut deeply into its body. As a result, by the end of her combo, the mighty Heavenly King was reduced to little more than mutilated spectral remains that floated in the air as they gradually dissipated into nothingness.
An agonized wail came from the direction of the controlling magician, but Naru paid it no mind. The guy got what he deserved.
No kill like overkill.Kurama chimed.
Hmm...
What is it?
This guy? There's no way he came into Academy City alone.
Done and done! Whoo, kicking off a new OG arc! Thanks to the team of Nameless as usual!
Ah, slice of life moments, how you work so well for a group of superpowered lolis. Hope you guys enjoyed the little bonding session the girls had. And of course seeing that Mikoto isn't the only tsundere around XP
Nameless: Yes, hope you guys liked the slice of life scene. I am a little concerned people won't stick around to see the action part of the arc after it, but whatever. The arc needed a prelude and this was what we settled on. From a storytelling perspective, it's designed to show how close the group has gotten and will serve as a nice starting point to Naru's character development in this arc, namely that she might be close to them but not know how to properly interact with them at times, something she realizes by the end of the arc. And of course it will be something that she'll start working on in later arcs.
Now to the action! I'm sure you're wondering who else will jump in to help Naru with this great fight that is to come. Well, no one. This is all Naru. That's right! The Saten arcs are over for now and it's on to Naru's! So all you that were whining about Saten being MC, well now it's Naru's turn. Seriously, it's called Trinity for a reason, three, three MCs. Naru, Saten, and Mikoto. Deal with it guys.
Nameless: We admit that we probably miscalculated by frontloading all the Saten arcs, but since they were linked we thought it made sense. In hindsight, we should have squeezed at least one OG Naru arc in between and not left it all up to the Big Spider arc. Well, hopefully it's better late than never. We've also taken the critique about the lack of focus on Mikoto into account and have added OG Mikoto arcs into our plans as a result. We honestly thought canon gave her enough of a limelight already. Silly us. Anyways, thanks for the constructive feedback on this front. It helped us a bunch.
That said, there are some points we want to clarify about our verse's "lore". And since I'm the loremaster here, by virtue of apparently being better at phrasing our ideas, here I go. It's long so bear with me.
Some reviewers keep bringing up when Naru will be getting Naruto's canon jinchuriki transformations. So now I'll be blunt and say that she won't be getting any of Naruto's canon jinchuruki transformations. Firstly, she's very different from Naruto in terms of personality and more importantly how she uses chakra. As such any transformations she would get if she could would be very different. Just look at her Demon Frames, which by the way are technically her equivalents to Naruto's jinchuriki transformations. Secondly, she can't trust Kurama enough to unlock the higher tier transformations or even equivalents of them. Ever. Why? Because her personality is not as trusting as Naruto's and more importantly her power relationship with Kurama is very, very different. Naruto had a roughly equal power relationship with Kurama, with neither being truly able to one up the other while the Seal was in place. In contrast, Naru outrights dominates Kurama with her Esper power. As such, the kind of deep mutual trust that's needed for the higher tier jinchuruki transformations are just not possible under this dynamic. Hope this answers some things.
On another front, we got a lot of backlash with the last arc about how Naru is underpowered. Well, here's an arc that we hope will rectify that somewhat. That said, don't expect us to go crazy and have her level whole districts or anything. Naru is a pro Dark Side agent and that means being covert. Destruction on that kind of scale is not covert. She's internalized this and doesn't go all out unless she can (i.e. certain conditions are met) and/or has to. Addressing another related line of complaint, Saten may seem more powerful/versatile. This is entirely because that's the role she was trained to fill. While Naru was groomed to be the perfect secret agent, Saten became a one person army. Hence the difference in seeming capabilities. Lastly, please do not forget that the rankings of the Level 5s have nothing to do with firepower and everything to do with research potential that their abilities offer particularly in regards to achieving Level 6. On that front we've already addressed why we've ranked Naru and Saten as we did in a previous AN. Go read it.
E4E: Thank you Loreax. And after all that answering, enjoy the new arc guys and gals!
And remember to smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace off my peeps!