Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index

The Trinity of Tokiwadai

Chapter Twenty Four: Assassins' Soirée

Beta:

Naru teleported into Heaven Canceller's Hospital's emergency room alongside Kongou-san and Sempai.

They found Febrie already loaded up onto a gurney and being pushed away for treatment while swarmed by medical staff. Ruiko-chan was standing to one side robotically informing a doctor everything she knew about her charge's condition even as her eyes traced the little girl's progress through the halls.

"Where's Heaven Canceller?" Naru demanded immediately. "I called ahead. He should be here!"

"Right here." The frog faced doctor said breathlessly as he came to a stop behind the group. "I had to run down from my office, give an old man a few minutes to catch his breath."

Naru looked at her favorite doctor and knew that now that he was here, Febrie was going to be okay. Her relief was visible to her friends, earning a surprised look from Kongou-chan. Unsurprising, since she was the only person here who had yet to see just how miraculous the man's skills were.

"Sorry, just… please help her, Sensei."

"Hmph, you know my motto young lady."

The pigtailed blonde smiled.

The doctor that Ruiko-chan was briefing waved his boss over, a relieved look on his face.

"This young lady has been briefing me on our patient's condition. I think it might be best you took over, I don't understand half the things she's told me." The doctor admitted sheepishly.

"Ah, that's good. I'll take over from here." The hospital director informed his subordinate with a reassuring smile, before taking the clipboard where the man had been taking notes and turning to Ruiko-chan. "Thank you Saten-kun. Anything you tell us will only serve to help your friend."

"Friend?" Kongou-chan whispered disbelievingly under her breath. "Is that all they are?"

Naru nudged her and placed a finger to her lips and winked.

She totally agreed that Ruiko-chan was seeing little Febrie as a lot more than a simple friend.

Daughter seems more fitting considering the things she's feeling. Kurama commented, a strangely sympathetic tone to his voice.

Wow. I could never picture Ruiko-chan as a mama so young. And now the thought of a creepy Accel baby in her has entered my mind. Ew, ew, ew.

Age doesn't matter as much as you humans so often like to think.

If you say so, fuzzy grampa.

With an annoyed grunt at the name calling, the tailed beast retreated back into the corners of her soul. Naru sensed that he remained watchful however, and oddly enough worried as well. Almost fearful. Part of it seemed like, shockingly enough, genuine concern for the smaller blonde, but a big part of it seemed like he was just afraid that something might happen to Febrie and Ruiko-chan would lose it, unleashing all hell in the process.

He's not wrong.

Unaware of her mental conversation with her tenant, Kongou-chan nodded and obediently agreed to keep quiet about Ruiko-chan's feelings towards Febrie. "Oh, o-of course. I will go secure us some seats. Hopefully it's properly furnished here."

Naru walked over to her Sempai and tapped her shoulder. "Come on, no use just standing here. Let's grab some snacks. I'm sure everyone's hungry."

"Do you always think with your stomach?" The tsundere huffed.

Naru shrugged cutely. "Not always."

An hour later, Uiharu-san and Shirai-san finally arrived after dealing with Anti-Skill's response to the latest attack by the Powered Suit. They immediately began comparing notes.

"So this makes it certain someone is out to hurt Febrie-chan." Uiharu-san said, a out of character but yet still fitting look of murderous intent in her eyes. "Someone whose computers I will very much like to introduce to my virus vault."

"Dream of their destruction later," Shirai-san urged. "Right now, we need to figure out who they are."

"What did Anti-Skill say?" Namikaze-san asked as she sipped from a juice pack. Mitsuko thought that perhaps the Level 5 was a stress eater. That was the only reason she could conceive for how the diminutive blonde had managed to devour all the snacks she had bought them.

"That they are currently investigating the incidents and were comparing notes with Judgement about any other unusual anomalies." Shirai-san stated.

Namikaze-san actually squeezed the juice pack, popping it, causing its contents to shoot up and splatter the ceiling. "That's just them saying they have no clue right now. Fantastic. If they want to wait for another Incident then fine, but we're not. Right?"

Her question came off as a demand and everyone was already nodding in agreement. Even Mitsuko found herself nodding along.

"That Powered Suit-"

"What about it?"

"I recognized it." Saten-san stated, looking deep in thought. "It was part of a project that I worked on for the City."

"Let me guess," Misaka-san said with a huff. "The one about developing countermeasures to suppress me should the need arrive. The same one where you built them that special Dark Matter prison you used the last time."

Saten-san fidgeted nervously and nodded. Strangely, Namaikaze-san looked flustered too for some reason.

There's a story there, but one that I don't think I want to know. Mitsuko thought and held her tongue. She felt like an outsider right now, despite her cordial relationship with the exalted Level 5s of Tokiwadai.

"So if you recognized it, any hope that it can give us some clues?" Shirai-san asked.

"A few. But I'll need to confirm some things first before I can share any details."

"Confidentiality?" Namikaze-san asked knowingly.

Saten-san just nodded, though there was an angry gleam in her eyes. Understandably, it had been there since the attack but it had gotten quite a bit more intense ever since she started talking about what she knew about the Powered Suit.

Why though? Mitsuko thought to herself, even as she prepared to divert the topic to something hopefully slightly less triggering for the volatile Number 3. And who'd have thought the Level 5 called [The Robot] would be the most emotional member of the Trinity?

"Actually, there was something I wished to discuss with you all." Mitsuko brought up with a raised hand.

"What's up, Kongou-chan?" Namikaze-san cocked her head to the side, looking very curious. With all the attention on her, Mitsuko instinctively snapped her fan open to cover her blush.

"I had been trying to contact you after we parted back at the Assembly grounds. I encountered a suspicious man making a phone call. Now, normally I wouldn't eavesdrop, but Awatsuki-san, Wannai-san, and I had overheard him talk about 'reclaiming' little Febrie-chan. Naturally, we grew worried and separated to find you since Awatsuki-san could not get in touch with Namikaze-san for some reason."

"Huh? Why?"

"Phone signals were jammed for a brief time back at the Assembly." Saten-san informed them.

"The Suit had a jammer? Ugh, I hate Powered Suits. So annoying."

"No, it seems the Suit's controller had enough pull to just have the local relay tower shut down."

"...And that's worse. Damn." The petite blonde frowned.

"Is every authority in this City corrupt?" Shirai-san asked, her tone full of righteous anger.

Saten-san and Namikaze-san exchanged a look before shrugging.

"Pretty much?" The brunette said.

"Nine tenths of the time?" The blonde offered her own input.

"You say it so dispassionately." Shirai-san's shoulders sagged.

"Cheer up, Shirai-san. At least this means you'll be busy when you join Anti-Skill. Fighting the corruption will take a long time I bet." Uiharu-san offered half-heartedly.

"Ugh!" The Teleporter grunted in disgust and flopped back into her seat.

Mitsuko was about to chide her for her lack of manners when her phone rang. Sending everyone an apologetic smile, she walked a short distance away to answer her call.

"Yes? Wannai-san?" Mitsuko asked.

"Kongou-san, did you find them?"

"Yes, I did. We are actually at Heaven Canceller's Hospital. While we faced some problems, we are all safe."

"Thank goodness! We'll be right over."

"Yes. We'll be here and be careful." Mitsuko instructed. She didn't want something to happen to her friends.

"Of course." With that, Wannai-san hung up and Mitsuko did the same. Seeing the eyes on her, she explained.

"Wannai-san and Akatsuki-san are coming over."

Namikaze-san smiled at that. "Yeah, having all of us here should be good for everyone."

Mitsuko greatly agreed.

"So you said that the suspicious man said he wanted to 'reclaim' Febrie?" Misaka-san frowned, her hands balled into shaking fists. "They were talking about her like she's an object?"

"That's what I felt when I heard him saying it as well." Mitsuko agreed, a frown marring her face. "It was completely unacceptable. If I wasn't so worried for Febrie-chan I would have given him a piece of my mind."

Twenty minutes after their conversation, Wannai-chan and Akatsuki-chan arrived and the friends quickly briefed them on what had happened. The two school swimmers were horrified by what happened and disgusted at the threat posed to Febrie. It was this threat that prompted the Trinity, Uiharu-chan and Shirai-chan to decide to stay overnight at the hospital to ensure the little blonde's safety.

The swimmers and Kongou-chan had plans the next day and so couldn't join them. They had however helped out by agreeing to visit their dorms and bringing them some changes of clothes and other necessities.

The heiress even brought a fresh dress for Febrie when she woke up. It was a fine looking white gothic lolita dress with black ribbons on it. Naru had to admit it was cute and fit Febrie's style perfectly. Leave it to Kongou-chan to have such a fashionable eye.

The hospital didn't exactly have anywhere for them to sleep besides some comfortable chairs. Thankfully though they had Ruiko-chan who had access to the power to create Dark Matter, something which she used quite liberally to create a set of rather comfortable camp beds that the hospital staff allowed the girls to lay out in the rest area nearest to Febrie's room. As such, they had a surprisingly comfortable night.

It was in the middle of the night that Naru woke up in a jolt. Her eyes snapped wide open and her senses went on high alert as she glanced around trying to pinpoint what had woke her up.

I just sensed some chakra being used. And it wasn't us.

"Now?" She whispered and quietly slid off her cot. She started to sneak off when a drowsy yawn halted her steps.

"What's wrong?" A tired Mikoto-Sempai asked, rubbing her eyes with her hand. "Toilet?"

Naru, flushing pink, gave her a look.

"No shame in needing to go to the ladies room." The Electromaster muttered before drifting back to sleep.

Ruiko-chan just turned to look at her with a suspicious glance. Unlike the others, she wasn't anywhere near the cot that she'd chosen and was instead sitting on one of the hospital chairs facing down the hall towards Febrie's room.

"Did you even sleep?"

"Go. I'll keep watch and act as your support."

Nodding wordlessly, Naru headed off, following Kurama's directions towards the source of the unaccounted for chakra.

"I'm going to skin them for this. Seriously, they have the worst timing."

It didn't take long before she found her prey. Going down a hallway, she spotted them. A squad of four Shinobi. Three men and one woman. Unfortunately they spotted her in turn and immediately scattered like the cockroaches they were.

"Shit." She cursed and pursued.

One of them was midrun when the space in the hallway he'd fled down abruptly distorted, causing him to crash into a wall head first. Before he could even see stars, Naru teleported right next to him. Without any hesitation, she used a conjured dagger of chakra to slit his throat.

"Thanks for the assist, Ruiko-chan." The Number 2 said with a smile, as she pushed the dying man to the ground and used a chakra enhanced foot to stamp his head flat.

A disembodied giggle whispered in her ear.

Shivers running down her back, Naru pouted. "Never do that again. It's really creepy!"

"Ah, sorry." Ruiko-chan's disembodied voice told her.

"Ah, Misaka says as she finally found Naru-sama." A monotone version of her Sempai's voice said as the blonde turned to see what she could only assume was one of the Sisters jog up to her. "Greetings to you, Misaka says with a polite bow."

"What are you doing here?" Naru asked, confused.

"Several of the Sisters are undergoing their physiotherapy at Heaven's Canceller's Hospital says Misaka in a dutiful tone. We are obliged to aid in its defense, Misaka states with a salute."

"Umm, sure. So how can you help?"

"We can scout ahead, Misaka offers. We are patients here and can move about discreetly."

Nodding, Naru could hardly refuse the help. With the hospital full of vulnerable civilians that both made it impossible for her to go all out and could also be used as human shields, she needed all the help she could get.

"And you can do that better than Ruiko-chan?"

"Let them help. The shinobi don't use AIM fields, that will make it hard for me to track them especially with their exceptional skill at stealth." Ruiko-chan's voice resounded in the quiet of the hall. "Their help might be invaluable."

"Agreed. This is an excellent use of our skills, says Misaka as she nods. We will go recruit Onee-sama to join us as well, Misaka says with a determined expression."

The Sister's expression hadn't changed at all and Naru asked. "What do you mean recruit?"

Ruiko, who was sitting in one of the lounge chairs, watched as another Sister walked into their little area. The clone stalked right up to her progenitor with a water bottle in her hand. Without any warning, she proceeded to dump the contents right over Sempai's face and quickly backed away.

"Gah?! What the-! H-Huh? What are you doing here? Why did you dump water on me?!"

"Shh, Misaka says as Onee-sama is as loud as a train."

As if to prove this point, Shirai-san sleepily pushed herself up to a sitting position.

"Uh-oh, says Misaka as she watches the predator awaken."

"Onee-sama? Two Onee-samas?" The tawny haired girl said as she rubbed her eyes in shock. "My dreams have come true! Onee-samas, take me now!"

"What are you saying you weirdo?!" Mikoto-sempai squealed with her face the color of vermillion and she unleashed an electric shock that turned Shirai-san into a lump of black coal.

With blood trickling down her nose, the Teleporter released a giggle as she passed out in a heap.

The whole scene was as amusing as she'd expected, it had been noisy though and Uiharu needed her rest. As such, Ruiko was glad that she'd had the foresight to put up a sound negating barrier around her best friend to ensure her sleep wasn't interrupted. At least one of them deserved a good night's rest.

The perverse Teleporter? Not so much.

"Onee-sama, there are villainous shinobi in the hospital, says Misaka with a serious tone." The Sister said in her standard monotone voice. "We must assemble together to defeat them, says Misaka as motivationally as possible. We will track them for the team, Misaka says confidently."

"Team? Eh?"

Mikoto-sempai looked at her expectantly.

"They know how to work around me." Ruiko admitted.

"The other Sisters are prepared to work as scouts and root out the villains, says Misaka with stars in her eyes and a firm nod."

Her Sempai just turned to look at her for a translation.

"They can use low intensity pulses in morse code to communicate." Naru-san's disembodied voice whispered around the area.

"So you didn't have to use the toilet." Mikoto-sempai accused.

"Focus Baka-Sempai!"

"Fine. I'm still not caught up on things, but I guess it could work?" The [Railgun] said uncertainty. "Just be careful with those EM pulses, we don't want to destroy any of the sensitive hospital equipment."

"We could use Onee-sama as a receiver for the rest of the Trinity, says Misaka before she starts to drag Onee-sama to save the day."

"H-Hey! I can walk! Hey!" Mikoto-Sempai cried out as the Sister dragged her progenitor out of her cot.

She sent Ruiko a pleading look. Smirking, the Number 3 just shook her head and pointed first to Uiharu and Shirai-san then towards Febrie's room. "I'll play defense."

"You always play defense," Sempai angrily grumbled as she stalked off with her clone.

Ruiko shrugged. "I'm the best at it. Give them hell, Sempai."

Stupid Saten-chan, stupid Shinobi, stupid Sisters, stupid… stupid something else! Mikoto griped miserably in the privacy of her own mind as she followed her clone down the labyrinthine hallways of the hospital.

I wonder what these ninja wannabes want with Febrie? Don't they know messing with her is tempting the wrath of a mama bear Number 3? The electromaster mused in amusement, though that quickly turned to concern. Talking about that… Is Saten-chan getting so attached so quickly another symptom of her relationship obsessive–compulsive disorder? And if it is, is there anything I can do about it?

"Naru-sama is just around the corner, Misaka explains hastily." Her clone said suddenly as she pointed down the corridor to the right at a T junction. "Misaka will leave Onee-sama now to begin hunting the villains, Misaka said with enthusiasm and a cool action pose."

Still a little rattled by the way her clone was talking and the whole situation in general, Mikoto just nodded slowly.

This seemed to please the clone immensely as it offered a wooden smile worthy of Saten-chan at her height of being [The Robot] before she ran off down the corridor to the left.

I'm so teaching them to smile properly when this is all over. Mikoto promised herself with a frown as she followed her clone's directions.

Just like she said, the path eventually reached a corner and as she rounded it, she saw Namikaze waiting for her.

"So where are they?" The blonde asked impatiently the moment she spotted her.

"The Sisters are looking." Mikoto told her. "Why isn't one of them with you? They weren't serious when they asked me to be the 'receiver' for their little morse code network, right?"

"Sorry to tell you, Sempai, but yeah they were. We're kinda shorthanded here, they're all playing scouts right now."

Mikoto grumbled a little at that. She hated being reduced to being little more than a walking radio.

"Why do they need to go to all the trouble with that anyways? Don't they have phones?"

Namikaze just shot her a unamused look. "They're a bunch of clones with nothing to their name except the clothes on their backs, do you really think they have the money for phones?"

"Oh." The second year middle schooler said, embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that.

The Usagi sighed in disappointment for a moment, before she turned sober and looked at her with a serious look. "Alright, forget about all that for a moment. There's something I want to say. I know your iffy on just ending your opponent, but do not give these guys an inch."

Mikoto tightened her hands, but nodded in understanding. "I'll do my best."

The examining look the blonde sent her was unsettling. Mikoto was about to say more to assure her Kohai, but a small buzzing sensation passed through her.

Onee-sama. One Shinobi. Heading labs. Over. The message from one of the Sisters came in a series of EM pulses.

"One's heading to the labs." Mikoto relayed the information.

With a feral grin on her face, Namikaze declared. "It's time for some murder."

The [Railgun] bopped her on the head, earning a yelp from the Chibi. "Don't call it that."

"Fine… time for a playdate."

"...T-That's makes it even worse."

Why are my Kohai all insane? The Number 5 thought helplessly as she led the way towards the enemy. And where can I find more sane friends?

As they reached the lab, Naru halted her Sempai so they could peek in through the open doors. Doing so, they easily spotted their target. There seated in front of the main computer was one of the shinobi typing away, no doubt looking for something.

The shinobi suddenly froze, causing both girls to frown in confusion.

Has he found something?

No, just the Saten girl proving how scary she can be. The tailed beast sealed in her soul said in a terrified whisper.

Blood started to pour out of the man's nose like a fountain as he began babbling.

"Pri-primary ob-jective: Cap-ture specimen, codename Febrie, for vivisection and study for Project Ashi-garu."

Ashigaru? They were going to vivisect Febrie to develop foot soldiers!? Naru thought to herself as her eyes bled red and anger flowed freely through her veins. Over my dead body!

"S-Secondary object-ive. Acquire as m-much data as possible on the specimen." The shinobi spasmed where he stood. "Stay out of my mind!"

He started clawing at his own head, pulling whole bunches of his hair out and began to scream senselessly. A sight that had Naru smirking, You deserve it, you scum.

"Thank you Ruiko-chan." The blonde cracked her knuckles and was about to unleash her fury on this pathetic excuse for a human being who had the audacity to try and harm Febrie, but she was preempted. Before she could take more than a step toward her prey, a blast of electricity shocked the man and he crumpled to the ground.

Pouting, Naru looked over her shoulder. "What happened to no killing?"

Her Sempai rolled her eyes. "He's not dead. Just close to it. If he dies, then its his karma for being a murdering asshole."

"Hmph, whatever. Let me look him over just in case he has some kill switch."

She barely made another step however when she felt a large buildup of chakra.

Move! Kurama screamed unnecessarily, as she was already in motion. Reacting as fast as her chakra enhanced reflexes allowed, she turned around and tackled Sempai to the ground even as she erected a shield around them both.

Despite her superhuman response time, she barely made it in time. Her shield had just managed to cover them fully when the fallen ninja's body exploded.

As the coast became clear, Naru dropped the shield and clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Damn, those explosive tags. They're such a pain."

"What the hell. I didn't think they had a literal dead man switch." Mikoto-Sempai whispered in shock.

"You get used to it." Naru said with a sigh.

"How the hell long do you need to get used to something like this?"

"Too long." The blonde said with a growl. "Anyways, just be careful okay? They like to use these pieces of paper they call explosive tags to destroy evidence, including their bodies. From what I gathered, it's linked to their vitals somehow. So if they get too injured and if no one inputs some kind of code within a set time, the things go off."

"A code?" The electromaster noted thoughtfully.

"Don't even think about being able to crack it. Trying to figure it out is a real pain. Seriously, my team has been working on it for years and is still trying to make an algorithm to figure it out."

"Really?" The older girl asked skeptically. Naru wasn't surprised, most people tended to assume the shinobi were a bunch of idiot LARPers who wouldn't know the first thing about the modern world just because they were aping the style of the ninja from the Sengoku Jidai.

If only they knew. The demon fox snorted derisively.

Yeah, betcha they'll shit themselves if they knew half the things that they can do. Or that they're technically from another wor-

Her train of thought was interrupted when her Sempai released a gasp and grabbed Naru's hand.

"We need to go! Febrie's in trouble!"

A dark giggle crossed the blue eyed girl's lips. "Good luck to that idiot. Leave him to Ruiko-chan."

Ruiko just stood in front of Febrie's room, her arms crossed and glared at a female shinobi a hundred metres down the corridor.

There was a smirk on her face as she felt bloodlust surge through her veins as she looked forward to the opportunity to destroy this fool who thought she could harm Febrie. No one would hurt the little girl on her watch.

The kunoichi didn't seem to realize she was walking to her death however and was actually foolish enough to smirk as she raced through a long series of hand seals.

"Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Style: Falling Earth Spears)." She declared as she slammed her hands onto the floor.

In response, a forest of concrete spikes shot out of the ground, all aiming to skewer the Number 3.

However just as the spikes were inches from impaling her, they just melted into a swirling liquid mass that circled around her.

Did she honestly think that was enough?

Reshaping the liquid mass into bullets, she snapped her fingers and shot them back at the kunoichi.

The attack should have reduced her enemy into a body riddled with holes, but all it produced was a shattered potted plant. An outcome that left a frown that marred her face.

That annoying spatial replacement technique. I can see why Naru-san complains about it. Ruiko thought and released a gasp as she stumbled forward. Looking down, she discovered that a tanto had been stabbed through her back.

Staring at the blood staining her clothes around the wound, Ruiko started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" The kunoichi asked, sounding smugly confused.

Instead of answering, Ruiko had her body light up in a blinding flash. The woman released a cry of pain as she was no doubt blinded by the searing light.

Teleporting behind the idiot ninja, her smirk just broadened as the brunette saw how her opponent was stumbling around drunkenly. Deciding to give the woman a clue, she leaned forward and tapped her shoulder.

Startled, the woman spun around.

Smiling brilliantly, Ruiko conjured an energy blade and casually used it to stab the kunoichi. The woman tried to raise some semblance of a guard but a little telekinesis kept her limbs locked in place and so she faced no resistance as she slid the blade right through the woman's heart.

"No one touches that girl." She hissed into the dying woman's ear.

The woman gave a rattling last breath and went still.

"Well, that was easy." Ruiko noted as she released her grip on the power she'd been using to deal with the fool.

As she did so, the corridor faded away from her field of vision to reveal that she was actually standing in a hallway some distance away from Febrie's room. Shaking her head, she used telekinesis to float the unconscious kunoichi's body to the far side of the room and conjured a set of Dark Matter chains to tie her up.

"Haa, it seems they're vulnerable to proper telepathy. Morons." Ruiko said. With an enemy captured, she couldn't think of any better punishment for trying to harm Febrie then sending her to a lab to be… studied.

Ruiko turned to Uiharu and Kuroko and sighed. "If my friends weren't here I'd have killed you for attempting to hurt Febrie but I don't want them to think badly of me."

Tilting her head, a thought occurred to her.

"Then again this might be even better." Ruiko said with a cruel smirk. "Becoming a lab specimen is a much more deserving fate for you then a simple death. Fittingly ironic considering what you wanted from Febrie, I'd think. Naru-san's lab should do. Hopefully they'll let me watch some of their experiments, hehe."

Mikoto was panting as ducked just in time to avoid a kunai that would have slit her throat.

The two Level 5s had intercepted another Shinobi enroute to the director's office. They had immediately engaged and things had devolved into a chase that had somehow led them to the morgue.

Looking at the floor, Mikoto charged her hand and slammed it against the ground. This sent a storm of lightning that arced along the ground. It failed to find its mark though as the damned shinobi reacted with superhuman reflexes and jumped up into the air to avoid the attack.

Still, that left him wide open as Namikaze leapt up herself to intercept him with a body shattering kick.

Unfortunately, the ninja once again used that substitution technique of his to replace himself with a table that the Usagi's kick reduced to kindling.

In the meantime, the Shinobi landed on one of the walls and looked around.

Mikoto moved to the door, blocking it as lightning danced off her and the door's frame. Up on the ceiling, Namikaze watched him like a predator, even creepily licking her lips.

Please just be something to unnerve him.

The man began running through a series of hand seals and the Number 2 tried to interrupt him by swiping at him with a claw she hastily conjured out of that chakra energy of hers. However, he deftly evaded it with an acrobatic leap that easily put him out of its range. The claw lengthened to catch him but he finished his technique before it managed.

He muttered the name of his technique under his breath so softly that Mikoto didn't hear it, but she definitely noticed its effects as it caused his body to start sparking and pumping out an unnatural level of EM radiation.

Emboldened, he punched the Usagi's claw construct and shattered it.

What the heck is that? Mikoto thought to himself even as she hurled a electric bolt at him. Enhanced by his technique, he took the blow without any problems and instead drew a kunai before charging at the chestnut haired girl.

It seemed his speed had been boosted too, as he moved so fast that within a blink of an eye he was directly in front of the [Railgun] with his blade poised to pierce her heart.

Thinking quickly, the Second Year middle schooler used her electromagnetism and tore the kunai right out of his hand with a shout.

Behind him, Namikaze jumped down and was closing to attack his unprotected back. Apparently judging her the bigger threat, he turned to face her but not before lashing out with a kick that caused Mikoto to feel all the air leave her lungs.

She was sent flying into a wall so hard that she was shocked that her spine didn't fracture from the impact. Slumping down, Mikoto saw a glimpse of bubbling red before she passed out.

Naru stood to one side as the hospital staff wheeled the two shinobi bodies into the refrigerated cells that lined the morgue. They'd only managed two intact bodies and one bloody mess but it was still very much a win in her opinion, after all not only had they managed to keep Febrie safe but had also scored themselves a prisoner/lab rat.

That's quite the achievement. Naru noted to herself with a pleased grin.

"Did you have to be so messy here as well?" Heaven Canceller said with a frown as he eyed the blood splatter from where she'd blown off the last shinobi's head from his shoulders. "The cleaning crews already have their hands full upstairs."

"Not my fault. You know these morons love their confetti explosives." Naru informed him dismissively. "Besides, at least one of them was helpful enough to decide to fight us here. That saved you some trouble picking his corpse up, didn't it?"

"I suppose," The bald man said with a sigh. "At least we didn't have to drag it far."

"So I heard Ruiko-chan managed to keep hers alive," Naru asked curiously. "Any idea how she did it?"

"Indeed. Apparently she just knocked her out with some type of telepathy." Her favorite doctor smiled. "Hopefully the staff at your lab will be able to either disarm or work around her dead man switch."

"Too bad we never managed to get access to Tree Diagram to break its code." Naru sighed in disappointment. "We were in the queue too, but now that it's gone… What a shame."

"Yes, I'm sure it is." The man said distractedly as he eyed the stack of documents he was carrying under his arm. "Now I have a heap of papers to sign thanks to some rambunctious young ladies."

"...Not rambunctious." Naru pouted as the old man laughed and patted her head kindly. "And stop doing that, I'm not a little kid."

The doctor just chuckled and turned to walk over to check on his staff as they finished loading the bodies into their cells.

"Oh yeah, remember to hand the bodies over once you're done with them!"

"Already on my to-do list."

A laugh escaped Naru's lips as he walked off.

"Crazy old geezer." She smiled fondly at the one man she truly trusted in this City.

The nameless being known to his foes as Black Zetsu sat his current host's body in a relaxed seiza position waiting for one of his underlings to enter his chambers to make his report on the outcome of the mission he sent out to retrieve the data on the designer Esper clone that one of Academy City's many Dark Side groups had developed.

His subordinate entered and immediately gulped at the body he was wearing, which was exactly as he intended. He'd chosen this over muscled buffon's body purely for the intimidating presence it could convey when he possessed the otherwise mediocre man.

That the man used to be the woman's husband before he'd given him the 'honor' to become his host just added to the effect. Seeing her beloved being reduced to nothing more than a meat puppet was unnerving for anyone. Even someone indoctrinated to think it a glorious fate.

"Report." Zetsu barked as the woman prostrated herself before him.

"The team has failed, my lord."

"Casualties?

"Total. The demon and her friends killed all but one of them and the last has been captured."

He appeared to be patience incarnated. For him who had spent centuries manipulating a whole world into an endless cycle of war and strife from the shadows, who had caused countless genocides all in the name of his Mother.

This? This setback was nothing.

At least that was the image he wanted the pawn before him to walk away with. In truth however anger and frustration bubbled deep within his soul, he simply refused to let it show.

That one name, that one blasted name stirred his ire to no end.

Namikaze Naru...the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Everything was that bastard's fault. Curse Obito for not merely killing that girl in the womb! Her and that monster in the tower. I'll have their heads for slaying Mother…

Their plans has all come to fruition! They had merely been crossing dimensions to complete her by picking up the last fragment of her being that had somehow slipped through the net, but upon arrival they'd been drawn into a battle, no, slaughter, with Beast666… There had been nothing Black Zetsu could do. As it was, he had barely managed to escape with his life.

And now he was stuck here in this new world, with nothing to do but avenge his Mother's death.

"The loss and failure are inconsequential. We have many other means to bolster our strength." He grunted and smiled cruelly. "Still, having those overconfident fools removed from our ranks is just as good. We have no need for ones such as they who know not the need to be cautious."

Of course even if I say that, they were still some of my strongest pawns. I will have to train my tools further. I cannot have fools who recklessly charge into danger. I need daggers in the shadows that can pick their targets. Not fools who do not even realize when their foes are outside their weight class.

"How is our progress on the research and development for the Kemono no Shuryō?" He demanded.

"It is progressing slowly, my lord." The woman said bowing her head even closer to the floor. "Though they remain within our expectations."

Still not ready yet!? If this was the Elemental Nations, something as rudimentary as this would have been the work of a mere fortnight at most. They've had months! I want to get that Kyuubi brat now!

Silent as the night, he merely gave a curt nod of his head.

The foolish woman taking it as a sign that he was pleased with her, smiled. Though she quickly smothered it as she remembered where she was.

Giving the idiot a dismissive wave of his hand, he waited till she was gone before he let go of his mask.

Once he was sure that he was alone, he stood and let out a rage filled cry.

"Blast her, may that girl have the most painful of deaths!"

He stormed around, huffing and puffing as he tried to recompose himself. It was a process he had grown accustomed to.

I just need to patient. I just need to wait and I'll get my revenge. Patience Zetsu, patience.

Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.

Phew, looks like our little cinnamon roll is safe and sound. Good thing Saten is a ruthless mama bear.

Nameless: So some of you might be confused by the scene where Ruiko takes down the kunoichi, so here's a quick explanation. Basically as far as we can recall, telepathy in the Toaruverse can't just tell a person to drop dead. It can make someone commit suicide but not just order their brain to shut down or something like that. And this is after seeing [Mental Out] go all out in quite a few battles. By that logic, Ruiko couldn't do it either. So instead, she just made the kunoichi think she was dead which was enough of a shock to the system to knock her out. Why go to all the trouble? Well, she's angry as hell at the moment over everything that has to do with Febrie and she needed to vent. Lucky for her, a idiot kunoichi presented herself as the perfect target for her to do so.

On another note, I hope you guys noticed Naru and Heaven Canceller have something of a familial relationship going on. It's actually nice since we both just realized that he is the closest thing to a grampa she's got. Hopefully we can have more interactions with them.

Nameless: We also introduced the leader of the shinobi this chapter. Lo and behold, it's our old friend Black Zetsu. Someone who as he explained here has quite the justified hateboner against Academy City/Aleister. They did kill his mum, like again. (How many times has that 'woman' died/got sealed now? It's like she's a meme by this point.) Though whether he's justified in hating Naru too? Well, that's more debatable.

Oh no! Kaguya's been Kaguya'd! Just like Yamcha…

Nameless: So we had a review that pointed out the Febrie was a little OOC. In hindsight we have to agree. That said, we don't really think the difference is big enough for us to go through and rewrite everything. As such, we're going to instead justify the change by chalking it up to Shinobu programming the twins in a different way from canon so as to appeal to the Trinity as a whole rather than just Mikoto.

Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!