Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Thirty Nine: Ripper of Academy City - Opening Cut
Beta:
In a dark alley in Academy City in District 14, Naru found herself facing off against a handsome young man with short black wavy hair and blue eyes who was wearing a blue and white striped turtleneck shirt, a hoodie with long rabbit-like ears, blue trousers and dark navy sneakers.
"You know you guys aren't supposed to be in the City, right?" Naru told the boy coyly, as she clicked the claws she'd created out of her chakra.
If the man was intimidated, he didn't show it. Instead, he just pressed a button on the phone that he had been clutching all the while. It caused three pillars of blue light to fall from the sky.
The pillar on the right faded first, revealing a knight riding a griffin, and wearing a ducal crown. It looked down at Naru with regal disdain even as it drew its sword from its scabbard.
"Murmur," the man whispered, naming the demon that he'd just summoned.
The leftmost pillar faded next, leaving behind a pentagram shaped starfish with a single sickly looking yellow eye glaring out from its center that floated in the air.
"Decarabia."
The last pillar faded and from it stepped out a grossly overweight bat-winged humanoid demon with its gut replaced with a drooling, fang filled maw with a long grotesque tongue. The demon was armed with two longswords that it swung around like they weighed nothing at all.
"Arioch."
"So these are demons, huh?" Naru said with a grin. "You Demon Tamers sure have an interesting power. Your demons are pretty cool looking. I hope they are strong too. I'd like to actually have some fun tonight… Seeing that you totally shot down my game night with Awatsuki-chan. Dicks."
"Dia," the man cast, surrounding himself in a burst of blue light. "Attack!"
"Hell's Eye!" The floating starfish yelled, glaring at Naru.
"Was that supposed to do anything?" The blonde asked as she dodged out of a sword thrust of the surprisingly nimble fat demon as it yelled Coup de Grace for some reason.
Those were both instant kill spells. Kurama informed her. Guess they were trying their luck.
But they missed, therefore they failed.
More like we resisted. Those things are stat and luck based. We're probably a little too strong for them to work and they knew it. It's why they tried to open with it.
"Maziodyne!" The knightly demon shouted as his winged compatriot fluttered back, sending a storm of odd black lightning to roast the entire area around Naru. She had only a split second between the demon finishing its casting and the spell hitting, but it was enough for her to enshroud herself in Kurama's chakra. She didn't quite manage to complete a Frame but the unstable half-finished chakra armor still allowed her to weather the spell unscathed.
"Okay, so I just want to point out that I was being polite and you were being rude. So! In the name of poetic justice I will be killing you now." Naru shot back as her Panzer Frame finished settling around her. "I also take offense to your hoodie, looking like a rabbit is my signature. Get your own."
"Dia," the young man said, seemingly ignoring her entirely as his body was enshrouded in blue light once more.
In a blink, she teleported under the creepy starfish, swinging a fist up.
"Tetrakarn." The one-eyed demon cast calmly, creating a barrier around itself and all its allies. One which easily tanked Naru's punch.
"Oh, you did not just Accelerator me." Naru bristled, the pistons on her elbows extended out.
Before she could launch another attack however, the tub of lard demon shouted Bufuraon at her before she could so much as pull back her arms and sent a boulder of ice slamming into her. It didn't deal much damage since she was in her Frame but it did send her flying away from her target and back out into the open.
"Mazandyne!" The knight incanted, sending Naru slamming into the ground in a wave of unseen force.
"Dia," the summoner cast, breathing hard even as the blue light surrounded him.
That summoner is insane. Kurama commented with a growl. Every time his demons use a spell, he's hit by backlash and he's forced to heal himself yet he's still fighting.
Backlash? He's an Esper? Naru asked even as she dodged the bat winged monstrosity's questing tongue. Even if it wasn't part of some attack, the way it was covered in drool and looked like a hentai tentacle was more than enough reasons for her to stay out of its reach.
Apparently. Kurama replied even as the starfish refreshed the shields on its allies by casting Tetrakarn again, while the knight charged forward and tried to rake Naru with its gryphon's claws.
Joy! Alright, I'm just going to get him. Naru replied as she rolled under the demon's swipe and lashed out at it with a kick that sent the knight and its mount tumbling away though annoyingly unharmed thanks to the barrier that protected it. These things are creepy. Why can't they be cuter, like you?
Not all demons are born to perfection.
The blonde teleported again, swinging her fists down in a hammerblow on the summoner's head. Her blow bounced off the barrier his demon had cast on him earlier but it shattered nonetheless, and Naru moved to launch a follow up.
"Tetrakarn." The starfish cast hastily, refreshing its summoner's barrier before Naru could connect. The blow was thus reflected back and tossed her arms away.
It didn't stop her bulky legs from lashing out though.
Not that there was anything left to hit by then. Suddenly the ground under her suddenly became super slippery and Naru unexpectedly lose her footing. A fact that the summoner used to literally slip away from her.
"Using your Esper ability? That's gonna cost you." Naru commented even as the summoner coughed up some blood, proving her point.
"Diarahan," the summoner cast, encasing himself in a bright blue burst of light even as he got back to his feet. All whilst his demonic summons crowded around him protectively.
Not the best conversationalist. Naru sighed as she seeped her chakra into the ground, using it to make the ground solid once more as she got back to her feet. I'm getting Awatsuki-chan some ice cream to make up for this. Stupid hybrids.
"Maziodyne."
"Mabufula."
At the command of the knightly and overweight demons, a storm of black lightning and icy boulders descended on where Naru was standing. In her Frame, the blonde barely felt anything even as what she thought was probably a fairly powerful attack washed over her.
"Tarunda."
Argh. That starfish just cursed us. We'll do less damage now.
How the hell does that even work? Naru sent back incredulously as she struggled to figure out how something like that would even work.
I don't know, but just kill him already! I feel violated.
Rolling her eyes, Naru commanded the ground to shift as a spike of earth shot out of the earth right underneath the summoner. The speed was too quick however and instead of just impaling him, it propelled the bastard right into the wall of one of the buildings bordering the alley.
"Oh!" Naru winced at Newton's Laws at work. The outcome they'd created was rather grotesque, seeing as the body had literally exploded from the force of her attack and left a mark on the alley that made a kindergarten paint class look clean.
With their summoner dead, the three demons began to fade but not before they all shot Naru a death glare and launched one final volley of attacks.
DODGE! They aren't held back by their summoner and his magic system anymore. This is their full power! Kurama warned even as Naru danced out of the way of the huge ass beam of demonic power the starfish shot out of its eye and spun out of the way off the glob of sickly green power that the bat winged demon spat out of its stomach maw.
She was a lot less successful when the knight charged her. It was already fading away into motes of blue light but its black lightning wreathed sword still thrust into her Frame like a hot knife through butter. It stopped literal millimeters from slicing into her flesh and doing who knows what, but only because the sword faded before it could reach her.
Naru couldn't help the giant sized sigh of relief at that.
"C̸u̸r̶s̵e̶ ̷y̴o̸u̵,̷ ̷g̸i̸r̴l̵.̵ ̵W̵e̵ ̶w̵i̴l̵l̵ ̴a̸v̷e̵n̶g̵e̵ ̵o̴u̶r̴ ̵T̶a̸m̸e̸r̸..̷ ̴Y̸o̴u̷ ̷h̷a̵v̴e̶ ̶M̷u̵r̴m̴u̶r̷'̶s̷ ̸p̸r̸o̸m̷i̴s̸e̴.̷" The knightly demon said as it finished fading from this world alongside its counterparts.
Then he should have stayed home, so go back into the abyss! Kurama crowed. And screw you for having a cool demon accent! Damn uppity European nobles!
Damn hybrid can't even follow the basics! When you die, so do your summons! Naru groused as she dismissed her Frame. I swear tonight is just all kinds of annoying!
I know, I hate them too. Smarmy bastards. I need ice cream. We still getting some?
Triple mint with a dollop of strawberry? Naru offered.
And this is why you are my favorite human.
Naru grinned as she walked over to the splattered remains, eyeing around it curiously.
"So this is the contraband he was smuggling?" The blonde mused as she picked out a heavily reinforced travelling case that had survived its owner's forceful meeting with a wall.
Opening it up, she found a dozen or so devices that could have passed for various mundane electronic gadgets. Cell phones, gaming devices, even a few portable media players. She knew better though. These were magitech devices, built with stolen bits of City technology that allowed Demon Tamers like the man she'd just killed to summon and control their pet demons.
"Well, let's get this back to the lab ASAP." Naru said as she locked the case back up. "The sooner we do that, the sooner we can go get ice cream."
Hooray! Ice cream!
You're spending too much time with Ruiko-chan's twins. You're picking up their mannerisms.
They are my Overminions. They pet and praise me, therefore they will be spared my wrath and hailed as my Voices when the day comes.
Yeah, yeah. Naru shot back as she holstered the relatively small case over her shoulder and started walking off towards the lab which had been assigned to study the recovered devices. You'll have to get past Mama and Papa Bear if you try to make that more than a boast. Really want to try them?
I'm still going to think it.
Giggling, Naru continued her walk as she passed by a van that passed her.
As Naru disappeared into the night, the van full of members of one of her subordinate organizations passed her en route to the site of her latest battle. This particular group specialized in cleanup duty and it was their job to scrub the former battlefield of any and all evidence that anything untoward had taken place.
"Oi, was that the lil lady?" Uryuu Ryuunosuke, a lanky young man with orange hair, asked the grizzled middle aged man that was the work chief.
"Yep. That's her alright, newbie. Honestly, she makes me sad." the chief said with a shake of his head. "She's just a little girl, barely older than my own daughter, yet here she is spending her nights going around killing people for the City? That's not right."
"Eh?" Uryuu frowned. "Isn't that a whole nature versus nurture deal? I heard she's been here since she was born and doing this kinda jobs practically since she could walk."
"And that's why she's like this, newbie. Bunch of scientists poking and prodding a kid while she's not even out the womb? Doesn't help with the brain in my opinion."
"Chief," another member of the crew said while nudging the man. "Walls have ears."
The middle aged man just huffed. "I've not kept my thoughts on this matter a secret. Besides, they're the reason I work with Namikaze-sama in the first place. She's being used as a tool already, better that I help make her life easier if possible. It's better than working for one of the other psycho Level 5s at least."
"Amen to that, chief." Another crew member replied as the van came to a stop and they began filing out. "Imagine working for [Meltdowner]? Heard she routinely fries her underlings for the smallest things."
"Yeah, though working for Saten-sama would be nice if she was hiring." Another of the crew opined. "I was asking Kurozuma-san about it the other day and the little lady not only pays above market rate, she offers plenty of perks too."
"Isn't that only because Big Spider works for both the Boss Lady and Saten-sama at the same time? Double the pay and double the perks?"
"True, but wouldn't you want an in with that?"
"So long as I get to work for Naru-sama, all's good. She's doing good work." Uryuu grinned as he adjusted his cap.
Even as the rest of his colleagues bantered and got to work, Uryuu just stood there transfixed with the beauty of what was before him. There smeared across a wall of the alley was a bloody patch that fell down from the third story all the way to the ground, one studded with the occasional bit of viscera. And lying at the bottom of the work of art was a mangled corpse. It wasn't posed or anything, just lying there in a heap but to Uryuu's mind it looked even more beautiful for that fact. The whole scene was gorgeous! The finest example of art that he had even seen!
"Hey, newbie!" The crew chief shouted. "Stop admiring the gore and get to work. We don't have all night."
"Right, chief! Sorry!" Uryuu replied even and he moved to get started but even as he did, part of his mind remained captivated by the transcendental art that he'd just seen.
It had been days since dealing with the demon summoner. The ice cream afterward had been delicious and Awaktsuki-chan was thankfully understanding of the 'late-night photo shoot' interrupting their game night. Especially after Naru had gotten her some cotton candy ice cream as an apology.
Now though she was, much to her annoyance, called to the Windowless Building to have a chat with Aleister. No rhyme or reason was given, so she had to assume it was a social call.
Guess he's lonely. Hanging in that test tube of his all the time has got to be trying.
Honestly, if she was in his position, she'd have gone a bit crazy in the tube of his.
Teleporting into the room, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the luminescence of the yellow liquid that filled the tube holding her oh so mighty guardian as it cast the room in what she guessed he thought was an eerie glow. In her opinion, he was trying too hard and she couldn't help but find the whole thing kinda lame. Especially, the being suspended upside down bit. Seriously, what good did that do? Why did he even need these theatrics? His influence and power were terrifying enough weren't they?
Not that she told him any of that, nor she suspected would he have cared even if he'd known her thoughts on the matter.
"Hello, Naru~" the creepy as hell General Superintendent of Academy City greeted with a small smirk appeared on his face.
"Heya." The Number 2 greeted with equal sarcastic cheer. "Whatcha call me in for?"
The legendary magician just chuckled. "I'm here to discuss the new admirer you've apparently picked up?"
"Admirer?" Naru asked, blinking in confusion. "I'm guessing you're not talking about my fan club?"
"Not quite," Aleister agreed as one of the screens that encircled his test tube showed the image of a badly burned corpse under a message written in blood that dedicated the killing to "the beautiful artist, Namikaze-sama" and a message that read, "Imitation is the highest form of flattery. I hope Namikaze will understand that and accept these gifts in the spirit they are offered." and signed off by someone calling himself "The Ripper of Academy City."
Wow! Whoever is behind this is a total psycho. Kurama commented. Posing bodies? Real killers don't have the time for that. Only crazies do.
Naru sent her tenant a burst of agreement.
"Uh, that's… supposed to be flattery? Okay, yeah." She inhaled through her nose and pinched it. Closing her eyes, she breathed out. "Great. Just what I need."
"Yes, flattery from someone as pretentious as whoever this is that is attempting to name himself after the legendary Jack the Ripper is rather unflattering, isn't it?"
"Disgusting is more like it," Naru countered, crossing her arms. "Do you know who did this?"
"A serial killer," the Superintendent said coyly. "This was only one of a dozen bodies discovered with similar messages."
As he said that, the screens around his tube began projecting pictures of the other killings.
"Thankfully we managed to suppress most of the news about this from getting out, otherwise what would the City think of our little Level 5 idol?" He asked, a hint of mockery in his tone.
"Most?"
"Well, the bodies were only discovered this morning," Aleister said with a grin. "The news media weren't told of course but I'm sure the news is slowly spreading through the Dark Side. I'm sure your little friend [Multi-Skill] knows about it already. She's probably compiling all the data she can find for you as we speak."
"Is that your lazy way of telling me that you want me to get rid of this sicko?"
The magician just smiled cryptically.
"I'll take that as a yes," Naru replied with a grunt. "Leave it to me I guess?"
"Ganbatte ne~, Naru-chan!" Aleister offered in a sickeningly sweet voice.
Please stop acting creepy. Naru whined in her mind as she teleported out of the building and pulled out her cell phone. So much for a social call.
Ruiko was enjoying a relaxing family picnic with Accel, the twins and Last Order in School District 6. It had been tough getting her misanthropic boyfriend to agree to it, but a healthy dose of puppy dog eyes from the girls and a few flirty winks managed it.
Currently, the girls were happily chasing each around their two guardians in an increasingly complex game of tag. The three rascals adding ever more ludicrous rules to the game to make it more fun. Or whatever passed for it in their adorable but clearly crazy little heads.
Accel meanwhile was eating the jam sandwich the twins had made for him. And with his terrible table manners, ended up with some jam on his lips.
Just as planned! Ruiko thought with a grin even as she pulled out a handkerchief and leaned over to wipe the preserve off her roguish boyfriend's lips.
"You got some on your face," Ruiko told her blushing - And wasn't that cute! Squee! - boyfriend as their faces got closer. He must have known what she was doing, but he wasn't pushing her away. That must mean he wanted it too, right?
Almost there! The lovestruck girl thought as she discarded the prop handkerchief and lined up her lips with Accel's. A little more…
"Hi everyone~!" A chipper voice greeted them when their lips were less than an inch apart.
Startled, the couple jumped apart like they'd just been electrocuted.
The twins turned and their cherubic faces lit up, "Naru-nee!"
They scampered over and latched their little arms around their fellow blonde while Last Order happily waved at the Number 2. Accel on the other hand looked red faced and furious at the interruption. Ruiko could only sigh in resignation.
Of course something would interrupt my first kiss. She thought with a pout. I never get to have good things.
"Uh, I'm interrupting something aren't I?" Naru-chan asked sheepishly as her arms cuddled the twins in a happy hug.
A dark look flashed over Ruiko's face, "We were about to have our first kiss."
"Oh drat! I'm sorry Rui-chan. I really am." The blonde flushed in embarrassment, looking very apologetic.
Naru-chan had been a lot more friendly towards her lately, they had even chatted about their respective other halves a few times seeing as they were the only ones dating in their circle of friends. Of course they joked about their loveless Sempai for giggles too.
On account of that alone, she was willing to forgive her. This time.
"You weren't picking up and something sorta happened, again. You see-"
"Nope." Accel hissed as his patience cracked. Looking irritable as all hell, he rose to his feet, "Drop the kids and run Usagi."
"Girls, protect your Naru-nee!" The older blonde squeaked as the twins wrapped their legs around her waist, practically becoming limpets.
"Yeah!"
"Tch, using kids as shields, have some shame Number 2." Accel growled as he took menacing steps forward.
"As I have been told, I can be quite shameless." Her fellow Trinity member smiled unashamedly.
"Naru-sama is very shameless, Misaka Misaka agrees." Last Order said with a nod. "The Misaka Network unanimously agrees on that, Misaka Misaka elaborates."
"Order-chan, I am a healthy teenage girl. That's all I can say."
Shaking her head at her friend using the twins as human shields, Ruiko used Move Point to teleport the rascals into her arms where she proceeded to trap them in a restraining hug.
"Go get her, Accel." Ruiko told her boyfriend with a grin.
No one takes Febrie and Janie as hostages, not even in jest.
"Ah… Rui-chan is certainly evil." Naru-chan wilted as she bolted, running around the park to evade the irate Number 1.
He was not very serious about it, thankfully. The park likely wouldn't survive if he was. So all it amounted to was Naru-chan running in circles, with the occasional teleport, as Accel chased after her with ability enhanced leaps and the odd telekinetically thrown object. Frankly, it looked like something out of a slapstick comedy, which was probably why the twins and Last Order were all laughing uproariously at the display.
Now while they entertain the girls, what exactly does Naru-chan want… Hmm… Oh, that!
"Okay, fun time's over." Ruiko declared with a clap and the raising of a barrier between Accel and Naru-chan, the appearance of which caused the other two Level 5s to freeze in their tracks.
"Why? I almost got her!" Accel asked with a pout that just made him look adorable.
"Let it go, Accel." Ruiko told him with what she hoped was a mature eye roll that hid the dopey grin she was fighting at how attractive he looked at that moment. From the amused grin on Naru-chan's face and the blush on Accel's, she probably failed.
Nevertheless, she soldiered on.
"We can get back to kissing in a bit," Ruiko said bravely.
"Rui-nee and Accel-sama are kissing now!?" The twins shouted in pleasant surprise.
"It's about time, Misaka Misaka says with relief." Last Order adding and delivering a blow to Ruiko's pride.
I wasn't going too slow, was I? Ruiko fretted.
"Should I take a picture?" Naru-chan asked, waving her phone playfully.
"Not now, Naru-chan." Saten told her seriously, deciding that playing ball with the blonde would get her and hopefully the girls off critiquing her love life. "You came here for intel on the serial killer, correct?"
"Of course you'd know." Naru said with a teasing grin. "Best info broker in the City."
"Serial killer?" Accel asked dangerously, his eyes narrowed even as he looked around them suspiciously and gently pulling the suddenly nervous Last Order to his side with a tendril of wind. Ruiko for her part reassured the equally unnerved twins who were still in her arms with a comforting squeeze.
"Someone's been killing people and leaving behind messages with the bodies claiming they're presenting them as gifts to Naru-chan."
Accel made a disgusted face at that and the girls all shivered, earning them comforting squeezes from their guardians.
"Yeah," Naru-chan said, expressing as much distaste as all of them felt. "That's pretty much what Crowley told me. Showed me the pictures and let me read the messages too."
"Nothing else?" Ruiko asked with a frown.
"Nope, he asked me to find you for the details."
[Multi-Skill] dearly wanted to growl at that, but refrained. Her wards were upset enough by the news of this serial killer. There was no need to unsettle them further by showing them her hatred for the Superintendent.
"Well, besides that there really isn't much," Ruiko explained as calmly as her seething anger allowed. "The bodies were only found this morning. Autopsies and results from examinations of the scene aren't in yet. But there is one thing-"
"What is it?" Accel demanded.
Rolling her eyes in fond exasperation at her boyfriend's impatience, Ruiko continued. "As I was saying, the one odd thing so far has been the timing of the discoveries. All of them were discovered at the same time, despite some of the victims having clearly been killed some time before and some of these bodies being placed in very noticeable places."
"Huh?" Naru-chan looked perplexed. "Why wasn't that detail in the files? When I couldn't get through to you I checked Anti-Skill's preliminary reports and this wasn't in it."
Ruiko gnawed her lower lip, pondering, "Whoever this killer is, he - from the limited footage recovered it seems its a male - has some means to make people, up to and including the investigators it seems, ignore this fact. Logically this means he has a power, Level 2 or higher from my guesswork."
"And test tube man didn't tell me," Naru-chan sighed. "I swear he's doing this on purpose."
"Probably," Ruiko agreed with a shrug. "I doubt whatever ability the killer is using would fool him if I can see through it just by closely reviewing the data."
"Yeah," the blonde Level 5 said with another sigh. "Anyways, thanks for the intel. I'm making a move. Gotta go serial killer hunting. You can get back to lip locking now."
"That's the plan," Ruiko said to empty air. Her friend having teleported away without waiting for a reply.
Shaking her head, she released the twins and looked them in the eye appraisingly for a moment. They looked like whatever fright they had from hearing about the serial killer had faded. As much as she hated it to admit it, she wasn't surprised. The twins were just too aware of the City's Dark Side to be rattled by something like this for long. A quick glance at Order-chan told her she was pretty much the same.
Don't think about it. Ruiko thought with a sad smile. There's better things to think about at the moment.
With that thought in mind, she gave the twins' shoulders a reassuring squeeze before teleporting directly in front of Accel. He startled and flinched back a little, but Ruiko didn't let him.
Grabbing hold of his head, she pulled him into their first kiss.
I'm having this darn it!
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Poor Devil Survivor 2 MC-kun! He didn't stand a chance. Unless he was his pure canon counterpart. Still, hope it was a good scuffle. Naru got a workout that was for sure.
Nameless: This won't be the last we see of Devil Tamers though, so hopefully we did the concept justice. If not please do let us know how to improve it for the next time they show up.
Now our serial killer should be known to some of you at least. If not, just google his name. He is one sick puppy and we can totally see him being a fan of a loli killer. I'm sure he has a body pillow… ew. No seriously, I think that's a new canon for our fic. Of course someone would sell body pillows of the Level 5 gals.
Nameless: When we wanted a serial killer, his name was the top of our list of characters we'd like to use as the basis for our OC. That should speak volumes about just how terrible a person he is even for serial killers.
And of course, the fluff never stops this chapter, we have the two bloody Level 5s kissing for the sheer daw factor. Good cheer for the two, it's been a long time coming!
Nameless: Yeah, the two deserve some chance to act on their affections at last. Now if only Mikoto would woman up and do something with her feelings for Kamijou! And I don't just mean in the TOTverse alone either, in canon too! Seriously, she's been aware of her feelings for him for how long and done next to nothing about it? Really!? What a coward you are, Miss [Railgun]!
But then she wouldn't be Lonely Heart Sempai! XD
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!