Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Forty Seven: This ain't Thrilling
Beta:
"So any specific reason why the Directors are unhappy with DA?" Mikoto asked as she sent a static burst that paralyzed a squad of DA that had responded to their arrival by shifting position to intercept them.
"Their backer, the Board Director Nakimoto Rizou, has decided they're too much trouble and decided they needed to be eliminated." Ruiko said with a shrug as she switched from imitating [Meltdowner] to using her telekinesis to lift DA's cover away to let Anti-Skill shoot them up.
"But why now?" Naru grumbled, looking peeved that they were apparently on clean up duty. "Shokumotsu-san is usually more on the up and up. Even if he is a paranoid dick."
"You should know the answer to that, Naru-chan. They made an enemy of us." Ruiko explained as the blonde's eyes brightened up.
"Oh! That would scare him into cutting ties, wouldn't it?" Naru noted as she tossed air bombs into any random group of DA that caught her eye and sent them flying.
"You make us sound so scary." Mikoto frowned as she shocked more of the terrorists into unconsciousness.
"Um, Sempai, news flash! We are super scary!" Naru reminded her.
Sadly, this theory was supported by the fact by how they carried out this entire conversation in the middle of a firefight.
This is my life now. Mikoto thought with resignation.
"Rui-chan! Stop staring at your boyfriend beating up on those babies from Scavenger and help out more!" Naru complained as she turned Ruiko away from staring dreamily as Accelerator sent a long haired girl in a sailor school uniform with a scandalously short skirt flying.
""That's a boy by the way, Onee-sama. Misaka informs helpfully." Genki Girl said suddenly as she and the other Sisters blasted away at the DA with their weapons which were all set to stun wherever possible.
"Huh, so boys do look good in sailor fuku." Naru observed, her cheeks pink. "That's kind of hot."
"I didn't know you liked cross dressers." Mikoto couldn't help but point out.
"Well, I think you look good when you try to be boyish." The blonde teased, bright eyes dancing with mirth and aiming a tiny smile at her.
Mikoto's eye twitched at that. "Witty."
"You said it, not me." The Usagi shrugged.
Mikoto was about to retort before lo and behold, another mecha appeared by rushing out of a large passage leading deeper into the building in a blaze of gunfire.
What is with this City and giant robots? Where are the actual Espers or are they too afraid of us? The [Railgun] thought as she measured the mecha up.
It was a large machine with a flat roof and six legs that ended in wheels. On its left side was a large sphere where a movable camera was located while on its right side was a large Gatling-style rotary cannon. The cockpit was located in the front of the machine, with six headlights flanking the front window, which gave the impression of a set of eyes.
"Hey! They stole the spider design form Shu-chan's spider tank!" Naru griped even as the Anti-Skill fled from the storm of lead it was unleashing.
"Less griping more wrecking," Ruiko told her as she created barriers to protect the Anti-Skill.
"Thanks, Saten-san!" Yomikawa-san shouted from nearby as she dragged one of her injured Anti-Skill fellows behind one such barrier. "Mind taking out that tank too?"
"You think taking out the Tarantula is so easy!?" The machine's pilot shouted out defiantly. "I don't care if you lot are Level 5s, I'll show you DA's justi-"
He never got to finish his group's lame catchphrase before someone dressed in a bunny themed battle suit of some kind was sent flying through the thing's main gun and snapped it in half.
"Your boyfriend is a show off." Naru said with a sigh. "I mean, I need some catharsis too! I get the Dark Siders next time."
"You can take out the thing's drones." Rui-chan offered, pointing at the mecha which was launching ten small drones that were spinning towards them like demented tops.
"You think a gun is all the Tarantula has? String Juicers cut them to ribb-" The mecha pilot began only to cut himself off as his precious drones were suddenly trapped inside iridescent bubbles of water that Naru spat at them like a machine gun.
"The String Juicers! No!" He shouted angrily as the bubbles froze and fell to the ground where they shattered taking the drones with them as they did so.
"I looked up the design just now. It's decent, if sorta flawed." Ruiko commented with a shrug. "I could make it better. Think Sequenzia-san would want an upgrade to her Mobile Weapon?"
"...Did you just no-sell that mecha… with bubbles?" Mikoto couldn't keep the exasperation out of her tone.
"I was having a bubble bath before you girls called me. My wasted French imported bubble mixture needed vengeance." Naru said, looking at her with sternness. "And I'll talk to her about it, Rui-chan. What is with the similar design though?"
"They come from the same Mobile Weapon development program. Even the City has only so many of those." Ruiko said with a shrug as she melted the legs off the by now fleeing Tarantula mech with a pair of particle beams.
"Huh, go figure. I mean, for mobility reasons it makes sense I guess. Though I expected some originality from all these smarty pants." The blonde wrinkled her nose.
"I agree Namikaze-sama, Misaka said with a disappointed sigh." Mecha Fan chimed in. "The lack of variety is galling, Misaka adds with indignation."
"Freaking. Bubbles." Mikoto pressed.
"Sempai we can bathe together in my imported bubbles after we save your captured Sister. Honestly, priorities."
Mikoto gave up on her sanity for the night then and there.
"Houtou, support Accelerator-sama!" Esther commanded as she pulled out several slips of paper. "I'll provide support for both of you!"
"Yes Adonai," Houtou said as she had Hitokawa Hasami-san's corpse fall into a combat stance.
"Oi oi, don't go ruining my fun." Her albino savior clicked his tongue.
"Accelerator!?" The redhead with the face mask that seemed to be the leader of the foursome that was their enemy said in a squeal. "You're the real deal? The Number 1?"
"Yeah, that's me." Accelerator-sama admitted with a bloodthirsty grin. "Now stay still while I beat the crap out of you babies. Ruiko asked me to put on a show and I'm not about to disappoint my girlfriend."
"...Saten Ruiko-sama?! Here?"
"Yeah. With that annoying Usagi and [Railgun]. What of it?" He rolled his eyes as he walked forward with an annoyed air about him.
Ignoring their enemy's rather unprofessional fangirling, Esther placed one of her paper charms on the ground producing a magic circle and silently invoked the power of a Gnome. In response dirt gathered around Houtou and formed into a suit of armor covered in stylized designs that harked back to ancient armor.
"The whole Trinity? Can we get their autographs?" The redhead enemy leader said as she dug through her backpack. "Yours too, Accelerator-sama!
"I want Naru-sama to sign my umbrella!" The girl in the bunny themed maid outfit squealed. Honestly, where was the professionalism that Accelerator-sama and his cohorts had shown? They joked around and were cavalier about a lot of things but they at least got the job done while doing it.
Esther guessed that not all Espers could cut such a regal figure as the Level 5s she knew. Plus Hirumi would gush over Namikaze-sama's modeling photos when they would read magazines. Ah, she was wandering down memory lane again, she couldn't do that. She needed to focus!
"Argh! Fans!" Accelerator-sama groaned. "Now I have a personal reason to beat the shit out of you lot too. I hate fans!"
With that he surged towards the group in one giant leap, his left hand outstretched to grab hold of the enemy leader's head.
"Leader!" The seifuku wearing member of the enemy team shouted in alarm as she literally skated across the ground and tackled the redhead out of Accelerator-sama's reach just in the nick of time.
"Shit!" The girl in a newsboy cap, loose square neck blouse and black spats shouted as she barely jumped out of the way of Accelerator-sama's reaching hand and tossed a vial from her utility belt at him, causing it to explode into a mist that visibly chilled the air.
"Oh, nice breeze." Accelerator-sama grinned savagely. "What else you got, you chemist wannabe?"
"Try withstanding this!" The maid girl said, her clothes transforming in a storm of fluttering small paper sheets into a set of revealing bunny themed battle armor.
"Great, an Usagi fangirl. Why don't you go bother her while I dismantle your diaper buddies?" Accelerator-sama said dismissively as he used his cane to parry the girl's swing and sent a drill of air into her stomach with his free hand that sent her flying.
"Houtou! Deal with the armored girl."
"Yes Adonai!" Houtou responded as the armored corpse dutifully charged its designated target.
The two armored foes began a boxing match, the skimpy armor somehow allowing the paper manipulating Esper the strength and durability to keep up even with Houtou despite the fact that Esther had boosted her with the Armor of the Dead.
It was ridiculous Esther thought, how was a bunny optimizable for battle?!
"Hey Rosenthal! Don't spaz out in a fight!" Accelerator-sama chided as he seemingly appeared at her side out of nowhere thanks to a tornado enhanced leap to knock the seifuku girl that had been about to attack her from behind clean across the length of the expansive warehouse.
Were warehouse doors supposed to spider crack like that? That amount of force should have had it fold into itself over the tall girl.
"Apologies, Accelerator-sama!" Esther said with a blush.
"Don't do it again. Now duck."
Esther obeyed immediately and ducked as Accelerator-sama used a punch over her ducked head to send a spear of spiraling air at the newsboy cap girl that caused her to cry out in agony. Spinning around, Esther saw that the attack had drilled a hole through her right shoulder eliciting that scream earlier and forcing her to drop a set of vials she probably had been planning to throw at them.
Vials that exploded and sent her into a wall. She should have been splattered by the force of the impact but strangely was not. Saved by a cushion of air that appeared in between her and the wall moments before she struck it. Not that it saved her from being knocked unconscious.
"Ruiko wouldn't be happy if they actually died fighting me." Accelerator-sama explained absently. "Their backer would get pissed and that will cause us trouble and she hates unnecessary trouble."
Ah, that would explain it. Accelerator-sama seemed chivalrous like that.
"Adonai! Watch out!" Houtou said suddenly as she appeared in front of Esther and Accelerator-sama, where she proceeded to use her armor to shield them from stray gunfire as a large spider like mecha, one that looked straight out of an anime, rolled its way into view from the passageway leading deeper into the building.
"Tsch! More trash!"
"Houtou what about your opponent?" Esther asked as she tried to find the bunny girl.
"She is doing much the same as I," Houtou said and nodded towards where said bunny armor wearing Esper was picking up her various disabled teammates under the protection of her armor and relocating them somewhere safe.
"Yeah, no. I have a better use for bunny girl." Accelerator-sama said with a frown as he leapt over Houtou with another of his tornado powered leaps to land in front of his target as she put down the unconscious seifuku girl.
Startled, she could do nothing as he promptly clotheslined her with his cane and sent her flying towards the mecha.
"You think taking out the Tarantula is so easy!?" The machine's pilot shouted out defiantly. "I don't care if you lot are Level 5s, I'll show you DA's justi-"
He cut off when the girl Accelerator launched his way slammed into his machine's main gun and snapped it in two.
"You think a gun is all the Tarantula has? String Juicers cut them to ribb- The String Juicers! No!" He cried as the spinning drones he launched, probably some kind of secret weapon, were trapped inside a set of shimmering water bubbles fired at them by Naru-sama that froze and crashed to the ground, destroying them in the process.
"Huh, Usagi's been getting more creative lately." Esther heard Accelerator-sama mutter as she and Houtou moved to support him. Was there perhaps a hint of approval in his voice?
Still, bubble weaponry? What an innocent yet devastating attack.
What would happen if a person was within such an attack? How frightening.
"So, midget." Accelerator-sama smiled, as he stalked over to the young girl with the strange surgical mask. "I gotta ask. Which limb?"
"H-Huh?"
"Which limb should I take for stupidly butting into our business?" Her albino savior sighed. "Man are you slow or what?"
"M-My limbs?!"
"So, leg, arm? Hell I'll even take an organ. You've got the surgical mask. Makes it all the easier." He smiled brilliantly at the young girl while threatening her with bodily harm. He was a skilled actor to be so intimidating to his enemies despite being a kind person. And Esther knew he was kind. She had seen him with Last Order-chan. No one who treated their little girl with such love and care as he did could be anything but kind at heart.
"I-I-!" The child stammered.
The Number 1 took a swift step forward, his lanky frame towering over her. He offered the girl a wide threatening smile that showed all his teeth.
"Or I can pick. At. Random." he held up three fingers. "You got three seconds. Three."
"No, please!" The girl cried out taking several steps back.
Accelerator-sama hunched forward, preparing to pounce. "Two~"
"I-!"
"One!" He roared like a beast, cackling glee escaping him as he was before the redhead in the blink of an eye, finger poised to strike her.
The young redhead collapsed on the spot with her eyes rolling into the back of her head and a rapidly growing puddle of liquid pooled around her lower body."Accelerator-sama! Did you just scare the girl into relieving herself and unconsciousness?" Esther observed in shocked awe.
Truly he had such amazing acting skills!
"I guess I did." The albino bastion of strength said with a proud grin. "Wonder how Ruiko will rate that? Good I hope."
"Oh! Look! Accel is done with Scavenger too." Ruiko said with an excited grin as she waved at her boyfriend which was glaring down at an unconscious short red head wearing a white flu mask with two dark crossed hands printed on it. A girl who was lying in a puddle of what was very obviously her own pee.
All whilst the Esther girl and her pet zombie who was dressed like a knight for some reason stood behind him and looked at him with awe. Well, the necromancer did. The zombie was just as expressionless as always.
"Finally. Took him long enough."
"Oh shush, you play with your food too." Ruiko teased the blonde even as the two of them wandered off to meet up with Accelerator's group.
"Fair. Though I will give bonus points for not only making the midget fall unconscious but also pissing herself. Gotta love the classics."
"Let's just get my Sister back." Mikoto grumbled as she looked to the other Sisters and said, "Fan out and find her. I'm worried she could be hurt. Stay in pairs or with one of us. These jerks are not going to get their hands on anymore of you."
The [Railgun] would break their spines before she let that happen.
"What are you doing?" Yomikawa-san asked as she came over and her fellow Anti-Skill went about securing the DA survivors as prisoners. "Did I hear right and one of your clones got kidnapped by DA, Misaka-san?"
"My sister, yes." Mikoto told the woman sternly. Clone meant they weren't someone in their own right. They were and Mikoto would correct that again and again if she had to. "Nearly killed a bunch of innocents in a restaurant to do so."
"Some help getting the guy in the mech out please!" A random Anti-Skill shouted and Naru absently lobbed a white hot fireball at the thing's cockpit and melted a nice little hole inside.
"Thanks [Mani-Force]!" The man shouted back.
"Meh, it's burnable garbage. I could cook the inside too of course." Naru sneered as the Anti-Skill guys pulled the DA agent out.
"Let's not create more bloodshed tonight." Yomikawa-san sighed as her eyes lingered on some of the Anti-Skill agents that didn't make it. "But more importantly. Misaka-san, tell me everything."
A couple hours later found Mikoto leaning over Ruiko's shoulder to eye the stream of data flying across the screen inside the DA base's command center as she, the Usagi and their tagalongs impatiently waited for any information the Number 3 could find out about the missing Tsundere. As much to their dismay, they, with help from Anti-Skill, had searched the whole damned factory and found no trace of the Sister.
Naru was thumping her foot every so often, showing her irritation despite her blank visage.
"Yes, they spoofed her AIM signal. Yes, that should be impossible. Any idea how they did it?" Ruiko asked, sounding incredibly annoyed as she hacked into the DA base's computers.
"Duplicating an AIM signal isn't technically impossible." Yoshikawa-san said over the speaker of Ruiko's phone as she consulted with Last Order's live-in nanny and one of the scientists formerly involved with the Level 6 Shift project. "But surely the Misaka Network would have detected it was a false reading when it failed to receive any sensory input."
"Not necessarily, Misaka explains. Failsafes were put in place to ensure the privacy of individual sisters, Misaka adds." Military Otaku said with a frown. "Misaka requested suspension of such safeguards but the Network has declined, Misaka concludes unhappily."
"Declined!? Why?" Mikoto demanded, electricity sparking off her in response to the incredulous anger coursing through her mind.
"The Network was confident that the Trinity would resolve this Incident without the need to set a precedent of compromising such vital precautionary measures, Misaka informs everyone in exasperation." Conspiracy Nut replied for the gathered Sisters, all of which looked thoroughly annoyed by the Network's decision. "The Misakas outside the City are more concerned about their privacy than 10287's safety, Misaka says with disgust."
"To be fair to your sisters, that is a pretty dangerous precedent to set." Naru pointed out with a frown. "And it's not wrong to trust us. We will find 10287."
"Do another poll of the Network," Yoshikawa-san suggested. "Maybe with the changed circumstances, the other Misakas will be more willing to relax the restrictions."
"We have already done so, Misaka said despondently." Genki Girl said with an uncharacteristic frown. "The outcome remains the same, Misaka adds. The Network remains confident in the Trinity's ability to save 10287."
Mikoto felt she had to give her Sisters a spanking for being such brats about this. One of their own was taken! Their privacy could shove it!
"It wouldn't work anyway," Ruiko said with a sigh. "Hishigata must have realized we'd track her via her AIM output. He's completely suppressed 10287's signature. I can't pick her up at all anymore."
"That would take a lot of suppressants." Yoshikawa-san observed warily. "Either that or-"
"Mikihiko needs her alive," Rosenthal insisted. "She's still alive."
"He has most likely put 10287 into a medically induced coma, Misaka theorizes. That and placed her in an AIM isolation chamber." Conspiracy Nut posited as she began to pace. "Saten-sama, the City has developed those as a counter to you has it not? Misaka asks."
"They have," Ruiko admitted with a shudder. "I built a couple of them using Dark Matter."
"Wait!" Naru said looking at Ruiko sharply. "You built containment cells for yourself for the amoral City!? Are you insane!?"
"I'm with Rabbit-chan on this one, Ruiko! What were you thinking!?" Accelerator hissed in alarm.
"There needs to be countermeasures for all of us in case we're taken control of. You know this, Naru-chan, Accel."
"Yeah, but let them do it if they're so desperate for it. Not make it yourself." The blonde huffed, but didn't seem to disagree.
Accelerator for his part looked ready to give Ruiko a stern talking to but refrained for now in lieu of the current crisis but only just barely if the way he ground his teeth were any indication.
"Saten-sama did it to as part of the payment for Kiyama-sensei's early release after the Level Upper Incident didn't she? Misaka asks with an angry glare." Sentai-chan opined. "The City abused Saten-sama's kind heart. Misaka declares with finality. The unjust monsters!"
"Unlike most Dark Side projects, Kiyama-sensei was more public." Naru sighed. "She put hundreds into comas. If they could milk Rui-chan, they would for whatever they can get."
The [AIM Sovereign] grumbled at that.
"Don't remind me," Ruiko said with a growl. "Now quiet down please. These systems are a lot tougher than they look. I'm really wishing Uiharu was here right now."
"Anything more I can do to help?" Yoshikawa-san said suddenly, reminding Mikoto that Ruiko still had her on the line for some reason.
"Yes, actually. I need to know if it's possible to remotely retrieve memories from the Misaka Network via one of the Sisters."
"Mikihiko said he could, Saten-sama." Rosenthal insisted.
"I want confirmation." Ruiko said waving the necromancer away. "Not what a mad scientist thinks he can manage."
"It's theoretically possible." Yoshikawa-san acknowledged. "Misakas? What do you think?"
"It would be difficult, Misaka says consideringly. The Misaka Network has protections to prevent such access. However, it is possible. Misaka concludes." Mecha Fan said while rubbing her chin in thought.
"Force brain hack, huh?" Naru curled her lips. "I've seen that a few times. It's not pleasant."
"Why would he even need that?" Mikoto asked, uncertain if she wanted to hear the answer.
"He wants to extract the memory of the ten thousand deaths recorded in the Misaka Network," Ruiko explained shooting worried looks at both the Misakas and her own boyfriend. All of whom winced but otherwise held their nerve. "He needs it for his ritual."
"He intends to convert it into a special formula and input it into the sefiroth constructing the Taowu artificial soul currently animating his sister's corpse. By engraving the proof of death into the soul 10000 times, the soul would also reach Keter." Rosenthal explained. "That would essentially turn it into a god. He sees it as the only way to resurrect his sister. He's wrong though! Hirumi's dead! The thing controlling her body is Taowu!"
Accelerator rolled his eyes at what he must consider a bunch of mumbo jumbo. The Number 1 was still firmly in the denial phase of learning that magic was real. That didn't stop him from commenting though.
"Does this Hishigata person have the know-how to do that?" The pseudo albino asked with narrowed eyes.
"Do you think it would matter?" Naru snorted. "He'll still try to prove his 'genius'."
"Plus the specifics of the Radio Noise Project is openly on sale on the City's black market." Ruiko revealed with a frown. "If he needed the technical data on how to pull it off all he needed to do is buy it."
"You can't be serious!" Accelerator and Mikoto demanded at the same time.
"Sempai's DNA map isn't included. The Directors scrubbed that bit out but everything else like the mechanics of the Misaka Network? It's readily available. I tried to shut down the sale a dozen times, it's never stuck."
"Of course not. It's a useful idea for a system. If they can do it once, they'll want to do it again." The Number 2 grumbled.
"Especially since with Tree Diagram gone, the market for a computing system of the Network's caliber is sky high. Pun fully intended." Yoshikawa quipped in a fit of dark humor.
"This City terrifies more with every new detail I learn about it." Rosenthal admitted.
"Get used to it, Zombie Girl." Naru offered a sardonic smile and a pat on the back to the naive foreigner, even as she looked at the animated corpse dressed up in tactical gear that was the taller blonde's familiar with clear incredulity.
Mikoto could relate. Magic was annoying enough as is but seeing it desecrate the dead like this? It was beyond creepy.
"You took the job here to play with the dead didn't you?" Naru continued. "That was only the tip of the horrific iceberg. The things some people get up to in this City? Well, let's just say that they give my nightmares nightmares of their own."
"I wish they were wrong, Rosenthal-san." Yomikawa-san said as she entered the control center. "Anyways, we searched the building a second time. There's no sign of your missing sister, Misaka-san. Any luck on your end, Saten-san?"
Ruiko just put up a hand for silence and left it up for a moment before a smirk spread across her face.
"Gotcha." She declared triumphantly at long last.
"We really should have just dropped Uiharu or Shirai-san a call." Ruiko said as she looked at the location of Seiin High School under which Hishigata's base was located with a twitching eyebrow. "I mean hiding it under the former school of the dead sister that he's trying to revive? That's just so obvious that they'd have spotted it in a second."
"I'd rather they not get involved with this." Sempai frowned. "They are part of Judgement. There's a lot of illegal stuff involved in… a Dark Side matter."
"Huh, she's learning." Naru-chan teased with a smug smile.
"Shut it, Usagi!" Sempai snapped with pink cheeks.
"Hehe!"
Leave it to Naru-chan to ease Sempai's tension.
Though Sempai did have a point.
Guess I shouldn't let her know I did end up enlisting Uiharu's help in the end.
It was only with her computer wiz of a best friend's help that she had been able to discern Hishigata's location from the IP address of some chat logs in the Sukunabikona Foods' Supplements Factory computers. Without Uiharu's help Ruiko suspected that she would still be working through all the misdirections and other protections they had in place to spoof the real IP and with it Hishigata's location
"If so then why did we involve Anti-Skill? Misaka asks whilst tilting her head in confusion." Mecha Fan asked as she tilted her entire Powered Suit to the side to simulate the motion she was describing.
"Someone has to deal with all the DA cannon fodder." Naru-chan said with a shrug. "Besides they have their own score to settle with them don't you, Yomikawa-san?"
"That we do," the Anti-Skill leader said as she parked the Maniple van the group was using just outside the commander center the City's security forces had set up around the high school. "You have a nice van. Mind explaining where a bunch of middle schoolers got it?"
"That's classified, Anti-Skill Onee-san." Kurozuma-san said with a wink. "You'll have to formally join the club before the-"
"My backer sponsored it." Ruiko said without preamble as everyone filed out of the truck even as she smirked at taking the wind out of the redhead's sails. "If you have an issue take it up with Oyafune-sama, Yomikawa-san."
"That old bat? No thanks." Yomikawa-san blanched. "I'm better off not knowing."
"Good choice."
"Tch, if he didn't have a hostage, I'd collapse the place under him." Accel grunted and turned to Naru-chan. "Oi, Usagi. You can sense life or something, right? Where's the Sister?"
The small blonde looked annoyed, but rolled her eyes. She closed them for a moment and opened them with an intense gaze. "I'm sensing some life down there. Definitely a Sister, but she's quiet. Also sensing malice? No, elation. Someone's a little too happy here. We should fix that."
"Naru-sama can sense life and emotions? That's amazing." Rosenthal-san said, looking stunned as she walked up to the group with her familiar.
"You got here first?" Accel asked, looking surprised. "How?"
"Houtou carried me, Master." Rosenthal-san explained with a proud grin. "She can run very fast if she needs to."
Ruiko eyed her boyfriend intently. Trying to see how he reacted to the words. She wasn't exactly adverse to Rosenthal-san calling him master, considering it was a sign of her admiration of him it was flattering. Heck, the girl had made a big deal about it before splitting off from the rest of them to power up some magical trump card she'd previously held in reserve. However, she did worry about whether Accel was into 'master' play? If he was then… Research would be needed. Maybe she could ask Naru-chan about it, she was far more knowledgeable on that front.
"You finished what you needed to do?" Naru-chan asked the necromancer.
"Yes, Naru-sama." Rosenthal-san said with a firm nod. "I've charged up the Emperor Shun's Blade. It is now ready to destroy Taowu's artificial soul."
"Good to hear. Necromancy is a bitch on a normal day. Adding in tech makes it worse. I hope you can handle that front."
The foreigner looked both pleased with the praise but also nervous.
"And, uh, there is something I think I need to explain too. Something important."
"Hishigata is not the true mastermind behind this incident? Misaka suggests. It is instead his dead sister, am I correct? Misaka opined. Or more precisely the artificial soul animating her corpse masquerading as her." 13577 said with a glare at Rosenthal-san that was hostile enough for her zombie familiar to move between them in anticipation of violence.
"...Of course. It's never the mad scientist anymore. It's whatever is backing him." Naru-chan palmed her face.
"How!? I-I never said anything about it!"
"It wasn't hard to figure out you were lying or leaving out something. Misaka said with a shrug. It was simple deduction based on gathered intelligence from there. Misaka adds." 13577 said as she shrugged.
"Leave it to the conspiracy nut." Sempai sighed with a hint of amusement.
"Out with it," Accel demanded. "The truth. What the hell is going on!?"
"I-It's a long story-"
"Give us the cliff notes," Sempai said, agitated sparks flying off her forehead.
"As you've already guessed. The real mastermind behind everything is actually Mikihiko's sister, Hirumi, whose body has been taken over by the pseudo soul Taowu. I-I don't know if it's just animating it like a zombie like Houtou is doing with Hitokawa-san's body or if it's genuinely revived her as one but… Everything that's happened has been due to whoever or whatever is controlling Hirumi's body."
"So your big puppet's got its own ego now? Huh. I think that's a full blown sapient magical AI or something close. I'd praise it if it wasn't being a bitch." Naru-chan hummed. "Most I've run into were nothing but automatons at best. Your family really went above and beyond, huh, Rosenthal-san?"
"Ah, yes. Though it seems to have backfired…"
"Always the issues with AI that aren't spanked while growing up." Kurozuma-san said with a chuckle as he joined them equipped with a Powered Suit and what looked like a bog standard baseball bat.
Why can't he ever use the fancy gizmos I get him!? I know he hasn't even touched the new version railgun rifle I issued him last week! Ruiko lamented.
"This is why you only ever build AIs smart enough to do the specific task it's intended for and no more than that." Ruiko said with a shake of her head.
"Let's not get into the pros and cons of technological life." Sempai stated firmly. "We have a mission. My sister needs rescuing."
"Before that, I've got a question." Accel said looking at Ruiko with a frown. "Why didn't you question Rosenthal on all this when we met her? She knew tons she didn't tell us until she felt like it. Or did you miss that she was hiding stuff?"
"I-I was just being cautious, Master!" Rosenthal protested but everyone ignored her.
"Of course I noticed," Ruiko said with a shrug. "I just chose not to act on the knowledge. Sometimes gaining someone's trust is more important than ripping the information from their head."
"You know you can just admit you thought she was kinda pitiful being hunted the way she was and decided to play nice with her." Naru-chan suggested.
"That too I suppose," Ruiko admitted with a pout.
"I guess I wouldn't kick a hurt puppy either." Accel admitted. "It wouldn't be sporting."
"Master! Saten-sama! You're both so kind!" Rosenthal-san cried out with literal tears of admiration in her eyes, though Ruiko studiously kept ignoring her.
That pitiful look just made her want to hug the naive girl. What power. Was it a blonde thing? The twins were capable of such power too. So was Naru-chan when she tried.
"I think both your logic is kinda screwed up, but at least you're not fighting which is a good thing. So can we just go finish this already?" Sempai said as she turned to their unofficial Anti-Skill liaison. "Yomikawa-san, are you guys ready?"
"Give us a few more minutes." The Anti-Skill agent said with a frown as she listened to her radio earpiece. "We're still evacuating some of the nearby-"
Suddenly the earth shook and three robots suddenly flew out of previously hidden hangars built underneath Seiin's sports field.
There was the familiar blocky Replace using machine that had kidnapped 10287 and also the almost dog-like Qiong Qi that Accel had encountered earlier with its central spherical body that connected to a pointed head, two long forelimbs studded with retractable feathers, and a rear section with two hindlimbs and a tail. They were further supported by a third machine that was mostly covered in brown coating which had a central spherical section with holes on six sides, with a spine-like section extending down from the bottom to a tripod-like base with three legs connected with cables whilst another cable from the sphere's top hole connected to an elongated head and yet more cables from the four side holes each connected to a large shield.
"Tch, looks like the fucker knows we're here." Accel said as he retracted his cane into its vambrace. "And that's three of 'em. I'm going to snap 'em like twigs."
"Taotie and Hundun too?" Rosenthal said with a gasp.
"Which is which?" Naru-chan blinked as she examined the three mecha curiously.
"The boxy one is Taotie and the brown one is Hundun, Naru-sama."
"And I take it that that dog like turquoise one is Qiong Qi?" Ruiko asked as she clinically assessed the situation.
"Good that you got the names down right, yeah. Wouldn't want you lot to not know what killed you, right?" Hishigata said with a chuckle as he addressed them, his annoyingly grating voice coming out of the speakers on Qiong Qi. "Eh? And what's this? What's this? All these level 5s all for me? I'm honored, yeah!"
"Yomikawa-san, how long do your people need?" Sempai asked, looking at the Anti-Skill woman with barely constrained annoyance.
"Ten minutes. There's an elementary school dorm complex and a hospital in the area that's still being evacuated. We need mo-"
"We'll buy you your ten minutes," Ruiko said confidently as she nodded at Accel who returned it. "Get those people out of here. Things are liable to get messy."
"Very messy." Naru-chan agreed as she cracked her knuckles.
"You lot think you can stop me, yeah?" Hishigata said with a laugh. "You do know that I've already enhanced the Coffins with the memory formula from the 10,031 memories of death I extracted from the Misaka Network right? You lot stand no chance, yeah."
"Fucking touch 10287 and I swear I'll rip your sister's corpse apart in front of you and reduce it to so many tiny pieces that you can take the remains and fill a thimble with it. And then I'll have you drink it." Naru-chan threatened with her lips peeled back into a menacing sneer.
"Huh, nice one." Accel complimented whilst gave the small blonde a thumbs up. "You've got good taste in threats."
"Tell us where she is, you twisted fucker." Sempai demanded, shoulders tense even as the sky above darkened to match her agitation.
"Hm, I guess I should. Since you're whining so much." Hishigata snorted over the speaker. Hundun unfurled its cables, showing the unconscious Sister bound up and strapped to its body where she was clearly being used as a human shield for the Coffin. "Happy? Now that I have the memory formula, it's really the best thing she was made for, yeah. So while you're trying to save her, I'll be uploading the memory formula into Hirumi to turn her into a Level 6! Since you lesser Level 5s can't even try to reach that, yeah!"
"Another Level 6 Shift attempt? Don't people in this City have any new ideas?" Mikoto growled.
"So Level 6 means becoming a god huh?" Ruiko mused absently as she created a mental short list of the powers she felt she'd need for the upcoming fight.
"From what limited knowledge I have on the matter, they do appear analogous, Saten-sama." Rosenthal-san explained even as she bit her lip nervously at the prospect of the fight ahead.
"Enough talking! Let's just wreck these damned things!" Naru cried as she leapt at Taotie with her Blitz Demon Frame already taking shape around her body.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
And so here we go! The team has cornered the rat Hishigata and his twisted sister puppet. Of course we managed to save some Anti-Skill from that fucking beyblade orb thing. With freaking bubbles! I love Narutoverse jutsus, they can be so BS like that. Seriously! Making bubbles deadly? Terrifying.
Nameless: If only Narutoverse jutsus were as readily versatile though. Sadly, outside of very rare prodigies few jutsu users can as freely manipulate the elements like Naru can. With canon so focused on exactly those kinda prodigies, usually as the antagonists, it's easy to forget that most shinobi in the Narutoverse rarely develop any new jutsus of that kinda caliber if any at all. Most seem to get by mostly, if not entirely, on standard jutsus taught to them by their clans and/or village.
Now we just need to save Tsundere and take Hishigata's head from his shoulders for being a dumbass. These Dark Side villains honestly feel one note. Always Level 6. At least try for something original! I get that it's the primary goal and all, but if he was doing it just to bring his sister back which he 'is' in his mind. He could have just stopped here, but nooo.
Nameless: Not to excuse Mikihiko or anything since he was an amoral scientist from the get go but to an extent he was a victim too. If anyone is the real unambiguous bad guy here then it can only be the sicko Issac Rosenthal. For those of you who aren't familiar with Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator you'll have to wait till the next chapter to learn what I mean. For now just know he's a very, very sick dude.
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