Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Forty Five: Artistic Showdown
Beta:
The Monet School of Art was the premiere fine art school in Academy City and whilst the City wasn't exactly famous for its fine arts. Liberal Arts City had snagged the title unfortunately. But it was nevertheless up there among the world's elite fine art schools. Something exemplified by the various beautiful displays of its students' work that were found all over the postmodernist campus.
Unfortunately, Naru wasn't there to enjoy the art. She was there on business.
"Alright, I'm going to say this once." Naru said coldly, blue eyes as frigid as glaciers as she glared at the Magicians standing across from her just outside the school's restricted labs. "Surrender or you'll be leaving here in body bags."
The Magicians she was dealing with this time were a group of six oddly dressed individuals. What was with the tophats and books strapped to their chests? Heck that one woman's was squishing her boobs! Didn't that get uncomfortable?
"Okay, seriously, did you guys even bother to blend in? I mean, this is pathetic."
"Do not mock our ancestral garb!" One particularly ugly looking fat man said.
"Control yourself Shī Dì." Their apparent leader, a particularly thin and lanky looking man said. "She is merely trying to rile us up."
"Like I need to do that." Naru snorted. "I can handle you weirdos without resorting to such cheap tricks."
"Big talk for a lap dog. Perhaps you should return to your master's feet."
The leader just put a hand to his head and shook it in frustration. "What part of not letting her rile us up did you not get!?"
"Sorry." The fat magician said apologetically.
"Look who's the lap dog now?" Naru said as she had chakra coil around her arm and form into a long whip construct.
"So it's going to be the hard way, huh? Then squeal for me piggies." She said as she snapped the whip against the ground with a loud clap, breaking the concrete in front of her.
"If it's pigs you want!" The fat one said as he pulled some sheets of paper from the book tied to his chest while the rest of his comrades just groaned. "I'll give you pigs!"
The Magician pulled an ink brush from somewhere and scribbled something on the papers and tossed them at Naru. Whilst in midair, they transformed into giant ink monsters in the shape of badly drawn pigs that charged at the Level 5.
Rolling her eyes she snapped her whip a second time and effortless destroyed the sounder of ink swine.
"If I wanted to see drawings, I'd go to an gallery. Or hang out with the twins. They draw better than you."
"You're talking about the Chemicaloids correct?" The lone woman said with a sad looking face. "If so, than I'm sad to say you're correct."
"Hey!" The fat man shouted indignantly.
"Shī Jiě is correct." The most normal looking of the Magicians said, though that wasn't saying much since the only normal thing about him was that his makeup didn't make him look like a ghost. The white face paint blending in reasonably well with what looked like naturally pale skin.
"How do you lot know how well the twins draw?"
"There were examples of their artwork in their file with the CIA. We bought it and the files on your whole Trinity organization from them before we came to this City." An overly muscled man said with a shrug. "Due diligence and all that."
Since when did the CIA have files on us? Me and Ruiko I get, but the rest of us?
Since you girls started hanging out?Of course they'll do up the details on the friends of notable individuals just in case. It's what intelligence types do.
"...Makes sense." Naru confessed as in a burst of speed, she stepped in between the group. "Now go to sleep."
She snapped her whip again, managing to strike the woman and the 'normal' one while she threw out a kick to the more rotund one's back, sending him sprawling. The leader and a ripped man leapt away but the last guy, a short man with glasses and a receding hairline, managed to toss a few sheets of his magical paper at her as he did the same.
Naru tried to knock them out of the air with another snap of her whip but that just caused the damned things to explode! Practically right in her face!
That was a shinobi explosive tag! Naru said angrily even as she unconsciously began drawing out Kurama's chakra.
Not quite. I didn't sense any chakra there. I think that was just a case of convergence.
Whatever! I'm gonna smack these idiots extra hard for reminding me of those trash. Naru shot back as she began to shape Kurama's chakra around herself into her Jager Frame.
Why Jager?
"Scatter!" The leader said as her Demon Frame settled around her body.
That's why. Naru told her tenant, gesturing to the Magicians who were now running away from her like she was some kinda axe murderer or something. Considering her next thought, that analogy probably wasn't too far off. It's time to go hunting and when I do you know how I like cutting my prey up once I catch them.
You're taking this way too seriously.
They threw explosive tags in my face! Naru replied as she shot after the nearest Magician, the out of shape fat guy of course, in a blur of speed. I have a right to be pissed.
She lashed out with one of her Frame's many blades but it was blocked by the grasping claws of a giant praying mantis. It was honestly beautifully drawn. Full of fine details and very lifelike. It was difficult to imagine the Magician who had created it had drawn it on the fly while running for his life, but he did. That didn't stop Naru from simply bringing another of her blades to bare and decapitating the construct while it was preoccupied blocking her first slash. Headless, the animated artwork collapsed into a puddle of ink.
It had however served its purpose and given the fat Magician a breather. Enough for him to conjure an entire animated ink menagerie that he mostly threw as cannon fodder at Naru while he rode away on a minimalist looking ink horse. Cutting apart the ink monkeys, birds (and was that an ink platypus?) and a host of other random ink animals, Naru moved to continue the chase but was interrupted by a dozen or so of the not-explosive tags going off around her with enough force to cause the second floor walkway she had been standing on to collapse.
They're escalating. I have to take these guys down fast before they do more harm. Naru thought as she easily outran the collapsing ground and bared more of her blades.
"She doesn't like the explosions!" Their leader shouted from where he was riding a giant ink ant(?). "Keep tossing them at her!
"No shit moron! There are innocent people out here!" She roared at the fool.
Honestly, these idiots were just asking to be killed.
"Shī Xiōng, she's right." The woman said as she flew ahead on a giant ink dragonfly though it didn't stop her from tossing her fair share of explosive tags at her alongside the rest of her fashion challenged compatriots.
"No matter! Our duty is more important!"
"Shut up Shī Dì!" The muscleman said to the fat man's response from where he was riding on a massive ink centipede. "There's a plaza up ahead. We can take the fight there."
"Sounds good to me." Naru replied as she narrowly missed using her blades as a scissors to cut the legs of the shorty who was being carried around by the talons of a giant ink falcon that was gripping onto his shoulders. "Meet you there."
Without further delay, Naru blitzed ahead. She was seconds away from her destination when she realized there was already a group of people waiting there. A very familiar group of girls.
Freaking hell! The Number 2 thought as she leapt and landed beside the rest of the Trinity in a crouch.
"What are you girls doing here?" Naru asked, before pointing at Ruiko sternly. "Especially you."
"I'm on my period. Not an invalid!" Ruiko said, crossing her arms irritably.
Says the girl who texted you this morning to say the pain was killing her. Kurama said with an unsympathetic scoff. She gets impaled and doesn't so much as wince but a few cramps take her down? Bullshit!
Try dealing with them when you're unprepared. Naru defended her best friend loyally. The cramps can hit you outta nowhere. She didn't have the time to activate her pain suppressing powers. You know how bad that can be if it's a bad month.
Didn't see you complaining.
"We're investigating these folks." Mikoto-Sempai said, gesturing towards the Magicians that had formed up across from them with a pack of their animated ink paintings. "Think of it as a happy coincidence."
"Yeah right, Coincidence? Pfft. Like I'd believe that." Naru scoffed even as she simultaneously continued her mental conversation with her tenant.
I did! To you! Ruiko doesn't exactly have a person in her head to complain to, so she texted me instead!
Still think she's being a wuss about it.
Oh, just shut up! Naru told him as she lost her temper with her inner demon.
"Maybe we could talk this over later?" Shirai-san said as she teleported next to them. "After we've beaten the tar out of these idiots?"
"Fine. But you girls had better have a very good explanation for why you brought Miss 'Dying of Pain' to a fight!" Naru shouted as she charged the magicians
With the chase over it was time for a change of Frame. So putting all the practice she'd been doing since her kidnapping to good use, Naru switched on the fly. Between the start of her charge to the point she got within close combat range was under a minute but in that time the shell of Kurama's chakra that surrounded her changed, shifting from the sleek and bladed Jager to the robust and piledriving Panzer.
With the gang here I don't need to fight a running battle anymore and so didn't need speed. I need firepower. Naru thought as pulled her arm back for a punch even as the Frame was still finishing the transition. It wasn't quite a Sudden Impact. She didn't exactly want to leave her opponent as a smear but with the strength of her Panzer Frame behind it, the punch would still pack one hell of a wallop.
There was however still a slight lag in the shift between Frames, something which presented an opening that the opponent exploited by shooting a lance of magically reinforced, animated paper at her. Ruiko was the best though and helpfully threw up a barrier.
"Good timing with the shift." Her best friend's voice drifted in her ear in a ghostly whisper thanks to that creepy audiokinesis trick she loved using just as Naru's punch obliterated the dozen animated ink tigers that the rotund Magician threw in her face with a desperate sounding yelp.
"Did you think that-" She was cut off by having to take a step back from the swing of a large paper fist.
It seemed the time it took to take down the ink tigers gave him a moment to make magical papier-mâché replica of her Panzer Frame.
"Seriously?" Naru asked incredulously. "Do you really think that'll stand up to the original?"
"You think this a paper tiger? Foolish child!"
Naru didn't even bother to dignify that with a response. Instead she simply ducked under another of the man's clumsy punches and scored one in the gut of his paper armor of her own. The single punch shattered his construct, sending sheets of paper flying everywhere and revealing the man hiding behind them.
Grabbing him by the book he has tied to his considerable stomach, Naru lifted him into the air like he was a piñata.
"You should have taken up macaroni art instead." Naru told him as she crashed his book and thus stripped him of his magic.
Tossing her defeated and now sobbing former opponent to the side, she sought out new prey.
It was official. Mikoto hated magicians. A lot.
She wanted a day to hang with her friends? But, no~! Somebody just had to pull a heist, or kill someone, or cause a crime! Maybe she was being unfair, many times the ones doing these things were amoral scientists but the past few times had been magicians and she was venting so logic could take a hike!
Even as Mikoto was cursing out Magicians in her head with words that her Mama would wash her mouth for if she ever found out that she knew them, she was simultaneously sending arcing waves of electricity at the many animated ink paintings charging at her, destroying them by the dozens but her opponents, a musclebound bruiser and a short man with glasses, just seemed to make more.
"Wow! They're just churning those paintings out. And they don't look half-bad either." Uiharu complimented via her combat drones.
"Uiharu!" Mikoto exclaimed in exasperation. "Don't compliment the enemy! And since when were you an art critic?"
"I always liked art." Uiharu cried, sounding genuinely upset.
Groaning at her friends being so easily distracted when in the middle of a fight, Mikoto just fired a railgun shot right through the centre of the latest wave of ink monsters. The carefully calibrated wake of the shot cooking all of them and causing them to crumble to dust, leaving their creators exposed.
"Gotcha!" Uiharu said happily as her particle cannon armed drone fired a beam of arcing blue energy at each of the two Magicians.
"Is that really safe?" Mikoto asked, eyeing the two unconscious but twitching Magicians worriedly. "Using particle cannons as tasers I mean."
"According to the weapons' manuals it's perfectly alright so long as the settings are set up right." Uiharu said reassuringly. "And I triple checked the settings."
Mikoto still wasn't convinced and was about to say so when a scream of pain had them both turning in Saten's direction.
A little while earlier, Ruiko was actually having a grand ol' time as she took a page out of [Meltdowner]'s book and acted as a living artillery battery by standing there firing a mixed collection of beams at the trio of opponents she was facing, effortlessly blasting apart every feeble attempt at a defense they made and sending them continuously scurrying for cover.
"Uh, Saten-san, the way you're going there's nothing for me to do." Shirai-san said with a put upon look from where she was standing next to her. "You have them running around too fast for me to get a lock on with my teleportation."
"Why are you even here?" Ruiko asked absently. "Don't the others need you?"
"First, how rude. Second, I'm playing defensive. Thirdly, someone has to watch your back today."
"I am not an invalid!" Ruiko reiterated for the second time, though it felt like the hundredth.
Between her exasperation and subjecting her enemies to an artillery barrage, she didn't notice as she let up a little on the power she'd been using to numb the pain of her cramps. Unfortunately, this was also exactly when her muscles decided to hit her with a spasm that had her wincing.
This caused her to let up on her barrage. An opening that the enemy pounced on immediately by sending a flurry of explosive paper charms flying her way.
Distracted by her pain, she only managed to put up a dozen barriers to weather the attack and the explosions easily blasted through them and sent her flying rather painfully into a concrete pillar. A blow that tore a pained scream from her despite the thin layer of barriers she wove around herself at the last minute to soften the impact.
"This is why I hate magicians!" Ruiko cursed as she let her regenerative powers kick in. "If they were Espers and those were normal explosions, my barriers would've held!"
"Complain later." Shirai said as she teleported next to her and quickly grabbed her before teleporting away. "And why the hell did you not teleport to safety like I did."
"I thought my barriers would hold." Ruiko whined as she twisted her right leg back into proper alignment so it would heal properly.
Uiharu's drones rushed over and immediately took up guard positions.
"Saten-san, you alright?" Her best friend asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine." Ruiko reassured her. "Just give me a minute."
"While we're waiting, mind telling me why in the world you'd think your barriers would hold?"
Ruiko shot Shirai-san an annoyed look but nevertheless complied.
"Well, obviously I miscalculated the properties of the explosion. I always find it difficult to predict a magician's moves. Magic is just too diverse and takes too many esoteric forms. It makes it difficult for me to counter or disrupt it like I typically do when I fight Espers."
"Then dodge next time, okay, Saten-san?" Uiharu said chidingly.
"Okay."
"That's all? Dodge next time? What kind of scolding is that!?" Shirai-san said looking like she was a hair's breadth away from pulling at her hair.
"It works for us." Ruiko told her with a shrug. "Sorry?"
"Don't apologize. Just, ugh, I dunno." Shirai-san said shaking her head. "Just heal yourself up."
What's up with her?
"Alright." Ruiko said as she shot a questioning look with the nearest of Uiharu's combat drones which pulled off a passable shrug of incomprehension.
Our friends are weird.
The moment with Saten-san was broken when a furious growl came from Namikaze-san.
Turning her drone's cameras to get a look at her, Kazari felt her knees begin knocking as she watched her blonde friend. Yes, Saten-san was indeed hurt but she was healing. But the Number 2 didn't seem to have gotten that memo.
Instead, the moment she'd seen Saten-san get hurt, the bloodlust radiating from Namikaze-san had spiked to such an intensity that the flower-crown wearing girl felt the urge to curl up into a ball and disappear. This was not helped as her Panzer Frame shifted back into the Jager Frame in an instant before Namikaze-san disappeared in a burst of raw speed.
The Level 1 often forgot just how frightening the Number 2 could be. Yet here she was being giving a demonstration of why she was called [Mani-Force], a literal force of nature.
Screaming in fury, she reappeared hovering in the air above the two remaining Magicians who looked startled. Kazari couldn't blame them. Namikaze-san's Jager's blades were warping right in front of their eyes, something that as far as she knew they weren't supposed to do, as they turned into a wicked scythe with spikes that looked liked the tips of blades decorating every part of it as if it was forged out of multiple swords. Most ominously was the aura of deep crimson energy that enshrouded it and which trailed after it as Namikaze-san swung it at their foes.
The scythe's blade caught the Magician woman that had hurt Saten-san right in the stomach. The blade wasn't slowed down in the slightest by meeting flesh and bone but cut right through her as if she was made of water.
The wide eyed expression on the woman's face told Kazari she was confused. Kazari would be too if she saw one half of her body flying in the air and the other landing on the ground with a thud.
If that wasn't enough, the caustic part of Namikaze-san's power ate away at the Magician. It was like watching a million little ants eating the body of some unfortunate larger animal that had died too close to their nest. It didn't seem fast enough for [Mani-Force]'s tastes though as instead of moving on, she twirled her scythe and made it transform into an equally wicked barbed spear that she threw at the woman's head. The impact turning it into a cloud of bloody mist.
As she processed the sight, the Judgement member felt a small warm sensation between her legs. Her cheeks blushed as she cursed herself for not bringing spare panties. Feeling embarrassed at her mishap, Kazari was a little distracted as Namikaze-san turned towards the last conscious Magician whilst radiating murderous intent.
"Naru, stop." Saten-san said as she walked casually between the murderous Number 2 and the terrified Magician.
"See I'm fine." The Number 3 said, as she absently sent a blast of electricity to zap the already trembling stick thin man and send him into unconsciousness after a long moment of writhing agony. "And he's knocked out. Mission complete. Flawless victory."
"You play too much Mortal Kombat." Namikaze-san said nonchalantly as she dismissed her Frame and as if she hadn't just gone all psycho mode on them.
Kuroko shot Onee-sama a look hoping she'd be just as freaked out by this as her. To her shock, Onee-sama just looked resigned.
"Accel likes it." Saten-san said with a shrug.
"Why am I not surprised you let your boyfriend decide what video games you play?" Onee-sama said, crossing her arms in exasperation.
That's what you ask, Onee-sama? Not why they are all okay with what just happened?
"Well, I only ever play them with him so it's not a problem." Saten-san said with a shrug. "And Naru stop poking my leg."
"You just regenerated it after a very nasty open fracture I want to be sure you've healed properly." Namikaze-san from where she was crouched next to Saten-san's right leg and was poking it with her finger.
"So do these guys have Kill Orders?" Onee-sama asked pointing to the unconscious Magicians. "They seem too small fry to have you after them if they didn't."
"They did." Saten-san revealed.
You could've told us sooner!
"What did they do, Saten-san?" Uiharu asked, apparently back from whatever had kept her afk (away from keyboard) for the last couple of minutes.
"They killed a bunch of people when they snuck into the City." Namikaze-san explained. "You know the mess at the District 11 checkpoint into the City?"
"The exploding out of town gas tanker?"
"Yup. That was them." Saten-san confirmed. "They used the chaos the explosion caused to sneak in."
"Is that why you were so against us tracking the Chibi down? You were hoping she'd off these jerks before we could find them?"
Why would she do that?
"Yes," Saten-san freely admitted. "I'd prefer if we didn't kill in front of you guys if we can help it."
"Baka kohai," Onee-sama said as she pulled Saten-san into a hug.
W-What!? What did Saten-san do to earn that? I need to know!
"So I'm gonna hand these doofuses over to my subordinate organizations. Even with the Kill Orders, I'm sure the Directors want to pump them for anything useful before executing them. You girls want to wait for me?"
"I'm good to wait. Everyone?"
"It's okay with me." Saten-san said as Onee-sama finally released her.
"Same. Kuroko?"
Everyone turned to Kuroko then and she could only blink in confusion as she tried to process the logic of just hanging out after brutally taking down a bunch of murderous Magicians. For all her shock though, the Teleporter was one of the geniuses of Academy City and it took her only a moment to formulate an answer.
"Sure. Joseph's?"
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Whoo! Now that was a fight, right? So Naru is now able to swiftly change between her Frames. That'll be a boon if nothing else. The magicians were fun to use. I always found construct combat to be interesting. Or at least the use of ink constructs for the drawing aspects. These ones were inspired by the 2011 Thundercats show where they appeared in that one episode. Forget what they were called but I dug the idea at the time.
Nameless: They were called Wood Foragers and were led by a Zig. Thank you Google-sama! And yes, the idea of construct combat is interesting but hard to write. Hopefully we managed well enough.
And holy shit, Naru got murder happy. That was the true face of her vicious side. Poor Uiharu, her panties!
Nameless: And the rest of the Trinity was all cool with it. Even Kuroko and Uiharu got with the program, as it were, after a while. Shows how far they've come doesn't it?
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!