Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Sixty Seven: Daihaseisai - Mecha King
Beta:
On the morning of the second day of the Daihaseisai, Accelerator found himself in Ruiko's house. In a rare show of trust, his girlfriend's mother had actually allowed him to stay over for the night. He would've normally been pleased with the development but the fact that apparently his family was being targeted again dampened his mood considerably. That was why after making sure that their three daughters, yes Last Order had spent the night at her mother's place with him too, were awake and started on their morning ablutions under the nanny Nunotaba's supervision, he went to hunt down Ruiko for answers.
"Morning Ruiko," he said as he stepped into his girlfriend's bedroom conveniently just as she was stepping out of her en suite bathroom after a shower if the way she was drying her long hair with a towel was any indication. She looked smoking hot doing so, dressed as she was in her Tokiwadai sports uniform as required by the Daihaseisai dress code.
She really filled out the white dry fit round neck tank top with wine color trim and wine colored shorts. Not a surprise considering just how sporty he knew his girlfriend to be. Despite her insane schedule, he knew she somehow found the time to regularly hit the batting cages, play tennis and practice a number of martial arts and thus had the curvaceous body to show for it.
"Morning Accel," she greeted easily, utterly unfazed by her boyfriend walking into her room uninvited though considering this was Ruiko, of the "I want a hickey under the waist!" fame, that probably wasn't strange at all. "You have questions?"
"Duh. I get not telling me right away since even I know I'd end up getting pissed and fly off to do something stupid, but I've had all night to calm down. So tell me what's going on already." Accel said, all whilst unabashedly ogling his girlfriend. Something she appreciated if the way she was subtly stretching in all the right places to give him a view, if you caught his meaning, was any indication.
"Glad you understand." Ruiko said as she sat down on her bed and gestured for him to take a seat on her study table chair.
"So who's after the Sisters this time?" Accelerator asked as he obeyed his better half.
"As of the moment? It seems it's MEMBER." Ruiko said with a smile at his compliance.
"MEMBER? Those has-beens?" Accelerator grunted in annoyance, eyeing his girlfriend questioningly.
"Yes."
"Haaa." He sighed out, getting to his feet and began setting up his walking bracer. "I'm heading out."
At his declaration, Ruiko shot him a disapproving look.
"Are you going to go look for them?"
"Nah, just a milk run is all." The pseudo albino said, covering his mouth and letting out a noisy yawn.
"...Accel, they work directly for the Board of Directors. Attacking them would be directly attacking the Board itself!" She shouted out, heat and annoyance in her tone.
Mm, she was extra cute when she got all angry and blustery.
"We can't afford to do that, Accel!"
He winced at the reminder, knowing full well how those asshats would come down on them for the most minor of offenses. Even for some lousy, second stringer group like MEMBER.
"Besides," Ruiko continued, gesturing firmly for him to sit down again. "We're pretty sure they're being manipulated. The Board has nothing to gain from targeting the Sisters. And if they were, for whatever reason, I'd have heard from Oyafune-sama about it. Whoever is behind this has usurped control of MEMBER somehow."
"You don't know who?" Accelerator asked with a frown.
"Not a clue. Nor do we know what they want with a Sister either." Ruiko admitted with a worried frown. "Which is very troubling. Getting past me is one thing, even with my improved network I know it can be done. Gruber proved that. But doing that to Shokuhou-sempai's as well? Whoever did this must know us very well or be very resourceful. Or both. We can't escalate things with such an opponent until we know more."
"Tch, fine. I won't go breaking any skulls for fucking with you guys." He huffed and sat back down, collapsing his walker bracer. "How's the unconscious Sister? Why ain't she waking up?"
"It's the nanodevice she was implanted with. But don't worry we've got Heaven Canceler looking into it." Ruiko informed him with a reassuring look. "Nanoscience isn't strictly in his realm of expertise though so it'll take him a little longer than usual to develop a counter. A day or two at most. But he will. We just need to be patient."
"Argh! Is there anything that we can do?"
He wanted to fuck something up, but apparently all the best targets were off-limits. Go figure.
"Just be patient, Accel." Ruiko told him in a soft, comforting voice. "We are working on figuring out just who our real enemy is. Once we do, we can teach them the price of picking a fight with us."
"Okay and in the meantime?" Accelerator growled in frustration.
"Well, Naru-chan has gotten ahead of me…"
Ruiko really has sex on her mind all the damned time, doesn't she? The Number 1 couldn't help but think as he dry swallowed at the incredibly sexy come hither look Ruiko was shooting at him. For the briefest of moments, he wondered if he was being used, but personally? The pseudo albino didn't giving a fuck.
"What did you have in mind?" He asked as he walked over to Ruiko who promptly put her arms around his waist and pulled him down even as she leaned back, resulting in him looming over her as she laid back on her bed.
"Second base." Ruiko said as she daringly pulled down her shorts. "Apparently it's the bestest thing, according to Naru-chan. I have to review the data. Oh, and since you like to 'mark your territory' feel free to leave a hickey or three down there while you're at it."
"You're demanding, you know that?" Accelerator asked as he obligingly slid down her body and began lowering himself down towards his girlfriend's groin area which was barely covered by her panties. He teasingly breathed on it, using his power to make it cold. Just to tease her.
"You like it. I've stress tested this." Ruiko said, just a little breathlessly as she put her hands on his head and encouraged him to go lower. "You love it when I make you do things."
Fuck that's hot. The Number 1 thought as he looked at his girlfriend's panty clad lower body. She'd even chosen to wear a nice little black lace number for the occasion. Someone was planning ahead for some sexy fun time it seemed.
"Ahem!" A voice from Ruiko's open room door had Accelerator literally flying away from his girlfriend. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Yes, Kaa-san, you were." Ruiko said with a pout as she unhurriedly reached for her shorts which had pooled around her ankles and slid them back up.
"Oh, I'm not sorry." His girlfriend's mother smirked, giving him that dead fish eye look of hers. "If you two are going to act like animals. You'll be protected like them."
"We didn't get that far." Ruiko said with a roll of her eyes.
"Yet, dear. Yet. I'm already a grandmother, don't give me another grandchild so soon."
"Kaa-san!"
"And if you do go the distance, remember to make use of the condoms I put in your bedside drawer, okay Ruiko?"
"You put condoms in your daughter's bedside drawer!?" Accelerator couldn't help but ask his girlfriend's mother incredulously.
"There's always the not sexy latex suit she could wear instead." The quack of a scientist said as she shrugged shamelessly. "Vomit green is a flattering color. Most don't appreciate it."
"Please don't." Ruiko said, looking a little green.
"Honestly, just because your friend is getting more intimate with her girlfriends than you are with your boyfriend doesn't mean you need to try and rush things, honey. It's not a competition. Slow and steady wins more."
Ruiko pouted at that. She clearly thought it was a competition. At least in part. Accelerator would admit it was a fun one.
"Wait, back up, you're not opposed to me and Ruiko making out?" Accelerator asked, still utterly thrown by that fact. "Most mothers would."
"No. Why would I be? It's a basic biological desire." She said, blinking in confusion. "I just don't want Ruiko to have to endure a tween pregnancy. That's hell for the body even with her regeneration. So when you two do end up having sex I must insist you use protection. Preferably both of you. I recommend the suit."
"Kaa-san, leave!" Ruiko said, blushing terribly.
"Okay." The mad scientist said with a shrug. "Just wanted to let you two know that breakfast is ready. Misuzu-san cooked for us today. Oh, should I close the door when I leave? So you two can continue where you left off?"
"...Let's just go eat." Accelerator grunted, his mood gone after that talk. Plus being in the house of the mother to the Sisters? He felt he was walking on eggshells.
Ruiko pouted at that - Did he mention she had an insane sex drive? She might hide it with all the talk about her little competition with Jailbait but he wasn't fooled. His Daisy was a closeted nymphomaniac. - but she nevertheless nodded.
Mitsuko was hanging out with her best friends Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san in between events during the Daihasei by wandering around one of the many open air markets that had been set up for the festival.
"I wonder how Misaka-sama manages it." Wannai-san with an amused shake of her head. "I mean just by 10032-san's name that means she has over 10000 sisters, right? How can anyone deal with having that many siblings?"
"I dunno, but I think Namikaze-san mentioned that they all have something of a hive mind. Not that I knew what she was referring to at that time."
"Namikaze-san mentioned Misaka-sama's clones?" Mitsuko asked, honestly surprised that the blonde would reveal such a secret even to her roommate.
"We were talking about clones one night while we were playing games. They were one of the types of enemies in the game and the subject of how they'd be like came up." Awatsuki-san explained. "I found it odd that she was pretty insistent that an army of clones would have a hive mind. But since she knows an actual clone army, I suppose she was referring to that."
"It's still surprising that she mentioned it at all." Mitsuko insisted.
"Not really." Wannai-san countered. "I spoke to some of our schoolmates about it and apparently that Misaka-sama had an army of clones is actually something of an open secret. It's just not something that's talked about in school. So as not to hurt Misaka-sama's feelings."
"That makes sense." Mitsuko nodded. "And I presume people try not to bring it up around Tokiwadai students in general because they don't want it somehow getting back to Misaka-sama?"
"Probably." Awatsuki-san agreed. "I mean, would you risk upsetting her and having the Trinity or their friends pay you a visit? I mean even if it's just Uiharu-san? She has a literal army of combat drones at her disposal now. And she's the least dangerous one. Imagine getting a visit from Saten-sama and Accelerator-sama!?"
Mitsuko gulped at the prospect. Saten-sama was scary enough, but if she brought her boyfriend along as well? The carnage they would inflict on their victim would be legendary.
"I-I'm sure she wouldn't go that far." Wannai-san hedged as they walked out of the plaza where the market they were window shopping at was located and onto the pedestrian path next to the main road. "Not unless someone hurt their daughters."
"What they'd do if that happened isn't even worth thinking about." Mitsuko said, shuddering as her mind involuntarily drifted into precisely that forbidden territory.
"Agreed." Awatsuki-san said, paling and shivering at the prospect as well. "Hey! Isn't that Kuro?"
Mitsuko turned to look in the direction that Awatsuki-san was pointing suddenly and found that yes, there walking around looking lost just ahead of them was 10032-san's pet cat. It was easily recognizable by its colorful RFID collar.
"What are you doing here, Kuro-chan?" Mitsuko asked the cat rhetorically as she walked over to it and gently picked it up, earning a relieved sounding meow from the feline at the sight of her familiar face.
"I don't see 10032-san nearby," Wannai-san said, scanning their surroundings. "Maybe he wandered off whilst she wasn't looking? It happens."
"That's true. Wannai-san, Awatsuki-san, do either of you have 10032-san's number?"
"No." "Me neither."
"Then should we call Misaka-sama and let her know we found Kuro-chan? She can let her sister know." Mitsuko said, planning out what they should do next. "In the meantime, we can make our way over to Saten-sama's house. Misaka-sama's spending the Daihasei there, correct? We can meet there to hand him back to 10032-san."
"Sounds like a plan." Awatsuki-san agreed as she fished out her phone. "Just let me give Misaka-sama a ca-"
"Excuse me ladies," A chubby young man with brown hair dressed in khaki trousers and a blue sweater vest over a white shirt said as he walked over to the three of them with an approachable air.
All three young ladies looked at the boy with small frowns and guarded body language.
"Hello, may we help you with something?" Mitsuko politely greeted, holding Kuro-chan closely to her chest. The adorable cat, digging his paws into her shirt as if wanting to move as far away from the older boy as possible.
She agreed with the adorable kitten. This boy was to be wary of.
"Ah. I just heard you talking about 10032-san." The boy said, making a show of looking around them suspiciously and only serving to make himself appear more suspicious. "That cat's owner. I happen to have information about her safety. Since you appear to be her friends, it is probably wise that I let you in on it as well."
"I see," Awatsuki-san said warily as she flipped open her phone. "That being the case, why don't I call Misaka-sama to meet with us? I am sure she'd like to know what you have to say."
"No, no, we can't do that." The boy said with an urgent shake of his head. "The phone lines are compromised. We can't share anything over them. Even just calling Misaka-sama will tip the criminals off that we're onto them. We can't afford that until we have them in checkmate."
The girls exchanged looks and gave each other small nods.
That he objected to us calling in Misaka-sama is a red flag. We need to know his intentions though, so it's best to play along for now and find out what he wants. Or at least be away from innocent people we might get involved in possible danger should this end badly.
It wouldn't be the first time the Trinity's business washed over Tokiwadai's student body. The failed alpha test for Saten-sama's Level Upper system had landed a handful of their schoolmates in comas and then there was them roping in their schoolmates, herself included, during both the Poltergeist and Silent Party Incidents.
Nevertheless, at the prospect of getting caught up in yet another Incident, she felt her nerves firing off in worry. Mitsuko wanted to consider herself brave after all the Incidents she had been through. Yet the possibility that this would lead to combat still made her worry.
Despite that…
I can't walk away from this. Not when one of my friends could be in danger.
Mitsuko kept an eye on their surroundings as at his insistence they had followed the boy to a deserted park. Much to her dismay the area was lacking in loose objects with which she could use her Aero Hand on. She could certainly create gusts without touching objects but in her experience using her ability to launch objects was the most efficient use of her ability when in combat. That she needed to touch objects to activate her ability was a common mistake people made and one she could easily see the boy making. Or he could know enough about her fighting style to know how the lack made her uncomfortable.
Neither option meant he definitely had ill intent, but it certainly hinted at it. She certainly didn't think it was a coincidence that he had brought them to a place where she would be at a disadvantage should a fight break out. Surely there were plenty of other deserted places in the City where they could talk in privacy where this wasn't the case.
Weary eyes glanced towards Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san, Mitsuko feeling assured at their tight nods in return, wordlessly letting her know that they had her back.
"Now that we are alone, let me introduce myself. My name is Baba Yoshio and I am a colleague of sorts of Namikaze-san's. I learned some rather important news about a threat targeting the clones of Misaka-san and out of my acquaintance with Namikaze-san, I felt it necessary to help out her fellow Trinity member."
A likely story. Mitsuko couldn't help but think. A colleague of Namikaze-san's? He doesn't seem like he has the build to be a model.
"As we are all concerned for the Sisters' wellbeing, let us share information," The boy continued, sounding utterly sincere. "Anything you know might be of use to us."
Mitsuko was raised as an ojou-sama, so she saw right through this Baba boy's false platitudes and tone. The boy must have felt he was ever so genuine. There was just one problem. He was too genuine.
How banal.
"And who are you exactly to know what you do and why are you looking for Misaka-san's clone? Please show us your credentials, Baba-san." Mitsuko coolly demanded as her body tensed for a possible fight.
"Geez," The boy ruffled his hair, a resigned sigh escaping him. "I really wanted to avoid this. Playing with little girls is such a bore."
With that stereotypically villainous statement, Baba snapped his fingers and suddenly four silver-colored robots that looked like a great dane with unnaturally long trunks like an elephant stalked out of the woods of the park and fell in behind him.
"Enjoy playing with my Type: Great Danes." He said cockily. "Attack!"
At his command, the four robots that revealed themselves raced towards them joined by dozens more that charged out of the foliage of the woods within which they had been hiding.
"Kuro-chan, go hide." Mitsuko ordered the cat she was cradling as she dropped it and pulled out her trusty fan in one smooth motion.
Even as the kitten landed and obeyed by quickly scampering away to hide behind a trash can, she swung her fan and activated her Esper ability, creating a powerful gust that knocked back dozens of the incoming robots. At the same time, she saw streams of water shoot out from the canal behind her and that ran through the park, which proceeded to send dozens more flying as Wannai-san used her Hydro Hand. Awatsuki-san meanwhile bravely darted forward into the ranks of the charging robots and applying her Float Dial to them soon had them floating in the air.
"Kongou-san!"
"Got it!" Mitsuko shouted back at Awatsuki-san's prompt and using her Aero Hand blasted the disorientated floating robots back at their master. Between the power of her gust and having their buoyancy greatly increased by Awatsuki-san's ability, they shot back at Baba with the force of artillery shells and impacted the ground with enough force to both throw up large clouds of dust and totally break up the second wave of their fellows who had been charging out of the trees.
"Huh? So you can create air jets without direct contact? That's pretty high level for Aero Hand users. I'm guessing you're a Level 4." Baba said, blinking in surprise. "And that bluenette is a Telekinetic and the other girl is a Hydro Hand user, both of whom are Level 3s. Huh? This might actually be a little fun after all."
"Glad we could entertain you," Mitsuko shot back sarcastically as she sent another wave of the canine shaped robots flying, all the while surveying their surroundings for something that might prove useful against this cocky criminal.
That might work. Mitsuko thought as she eyed the large parabolic antenna that the park seemed to have been built around.
"Entertain me?" Baba scoffed. "You'll have to try a lot harder before this becomes entertaining."
"Wannai-san, Awatsuki-san, cover me! I have a plan!" Mitsuko shouted as she sent a particularly strong set of gusts to clear their immediate area of the pesky dog robots.
"Gotcha!" "You can count on us!" Her two friends shouted as they used the small breather Mitsuko had created to move in front of her.
Mitsuko allowed a proud smile to spread across her face at having made such loyal friends and watched for a moment as Awatsuki-san used her Float Dial to enhance her agility so she could flit through the ranks of the pack of robotic dogs, tapping them by the dozens and causing them to float up into the air where Wannai-san proceeded to core them with bolts of water.
Confident that her best friends had the situation under control, Mitsuko began focusing her ability on the parabolic antenna. It took a moment, a healthy dose of concentration and a series of complex calculations but soon with a powerful explosion of air, the massive machine was ripped from its foundations and picked up in the embrace of her winds.
"Time to send these dogs to the scrapyard." Mitsuko said in uncharacteristic bloodlust - She was spending too much time around Namikaze-san! - as she used the antenna as a giant bludgeon to destroy Baba's robot army.
As a coup de grâce, she had the antenna fly at Baba himself intent to tip it over and trap him within the bowl like dish to await pick up by Anti-Skill. Sadly it was not to be, as just as the antenna was about to be in position, a black blur shot out of the forest and picked up Baba.
"To be able to lift something like that. My, my, aren't you a powerful Level 4." The annoying criminal taunted as he jumped down from the arms of the mantid-shaped robot the size of a car that had saved him from the antenna. "It's not going to be enough though. Nowhere near enough. Type: Mantis! Type: Great Danes! Attack!"
"Do you think that just because you have a new, bigger robot that it'll be enough to win?" Mitsuko asked with a scoff even as she sent the parabolic antenna flying at the mantis robot intent on crushing it.
Unfortunately, it seemed said robot had a counter ready and portions of its armor popped open to reveal the lens of dozens of lasers which promptly proceeded to cut the antenna into chunks which the robot proceeded to use its massive arms to easily smack aside even as Mitsuko doggedly rained them down at it. It was not however able to do anything against the spiraling drill of air that Mitsuko sent its way and which tore its left arm off at the shoulder.
In the meantime, Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san were fending off the seemingly unending hordes of canine drones with the same tried and true tactics from earlier.
"Tsch. I guess it's time to change tactics a little." Baba said, sounding annoyed as he snapped his fingers.
At once, the Type: Mantis robot leapt back to his side and picked its master up with its remaining claw and began to retreat.
"We can't let him get away." Awatsuki-san shouted as she ran after Baba and his robots. "Not without finding out why he's targeting Misaka-sama's sisters."
"After him!" Wannai-san shouted in agreement as pulling a mass of water around herself, she followed after their bluenette friend.
"Right behind you two," Mitsuko said as she took a moment to send a pack of Type: Great Danes attempting to act as Baba's rearguard flying before joining the chase.
As they continued the pursuit, small packs of Type: Great Danes kept leaping out of the woods on either side of the path they were running down to attack them, forcing Mitsuko to send gusts at them to send them flying or when she was unable leaving it to Wannai-san to step in to wreck them with the three streams of water she had taken to spiraling around the three of them as they ran. They tried to avoid the latter though as each time she was forced to engage the enemy, it depleted the Hydro Hand user's reserve of available water and with their growing distance from the canal that was a resource she could not easily replace.
"Okay, I think this is far enough." Baba said suddenly as his robot came to a stop and he jumped out of its hold. "And I've gathered enough data on your abilities, Hydro Hand-san."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Wannai-san asked warily as they all came to a stop.
"Simple." Baba said with a taunting smirk. "With you and your little Telekinetic friend working in tandem to act as defense, especially you, my robots just can't break through. The Level 4, I can handle, even if she's your heaviest hitter. But with you two shielding her? My pets can't get close. So all I needed was to neuter your defense and for that I needed to understand your limits. You can only control three streams of water and a total volume of 300 litres, can't you?"
Wannai-san's eyes flew open at that and she gasped.
"Looks like I guessed correctly." The damnable criminal said with a smirk. "Type: Mantis boil away her water."
"Like I'd let you!" Mitsuko shouted as she sent a gust of wind to drill through the robot and finish it off. Sadly, light travelled far faster than even the fastest winds and the robot's lasers struck home, boiling away the streams of water Wannai-san had been using to keep them safe. It was only after the damage had been done that Mitsuko's horizontal twister hit home and destroyed the damnable machine.
"And now with that hindrance out of the way," Baba said, seemingly unfazed by the loss of his trump card. "Time for the debut of my masterpiece."
With yet another snap of his fingers, his true trump card awoke from within the woods and rose into the air.
"Meet the Type: Dragon!" Baba cackled with a demented gleam in his eyes. Said machine was a sleek robot that had a serpentine body, a long neck and tail that ended in a cannon of some kind, a single pair of wings with large lift jet engines built into them and four limbs that each ended in vicious looking claws.
"What do you think? I developed this to fight the Trinity, you know? It's almost a waste using it against fodder like you but it does need some stress testing." Baba laughed, sneering at them as if he was a villain from a play.
"Oh? Is that so?" Wannai-san said with a small smile on her face.
Mitsuko blinked in surprise as water snaked out of a storm drain nearby and struck just as fast as Ekaterina-chan. Faster than he could even hope to react, a glob of water, the fourth hidden mass of water that Wannai-san had kept in reserve and carefully maneuvered through the drains for just this opportunity, had molded itself around Baba's head, depriving him of oxygen.
"Give up!" Wannai-san demanded, hands held out in concentration. "Even a toad like you needs to breathe and if you do, I may be merciful and not call the Trinity down on you."
Despite the fact he was drowning, Baba somehow managed to find the strength to snap his fingers.
At this signal, a section of the hovering Type: Dragon's back opened and a cylindrical emitter popped out. It spun for a moment as it powered up and once it did, Mitsuko felt it immediately. One moment everything was fine, splendid even as they were winning the fight, and the next a massive burst of pain had suddenly consumed her. She wasn't the only one as both Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san both staggered just as she was assuredly doing. It was enough to shatter Wannai-san's concentration and the water bubble she'd created around Baba's head popped.
He gasped for air but that was nothing compared to Mitsuko and her friends who collapsed to the ground and clutched their heads in pain. This had happened to her once before and her eyes widened, as she looked up at the Type: Dragon with horror.
"Capacity Down!" She choked out as she fitfully tried to call upon her ability. Yet it was like trying to grasp water while an ice pick scrambled her mind.
"Figured it out so quickly? Well, I guess you have to have some brains in you. You're lacking in everything else though." Baba shrugged, shooting them a mocking smile. "Though you're not wholly correct. This isn't that primitive little system. This is a more refined version of it that takes cues from the AIM Jammer technology used in the Reformatory, AIM Down! Like it?"
Mitsuko opened her mouth to reply but before she could articulate a single word, the criminal scum kicked her in the side, forcing the air from her lungs.
"That was a rhetorical question, little girl." Baba said with a derisive snort as he snapped his fingers yet again and a pack of his canine drones surrounded Mitsuko and her friends. "I'm glad you followed me out here. Here nobody will hear you bitches scream. If you're lucky, you might not die. Whip 'em good, boys!"
With that sinister command, the dog-like robots began hitting Mitsuko and her friends with their trunks. The blows were hard enough to bruise badly, break skin and even send them jerking into the air slightly on occasion. Sights that seem to deeply amuse Baba if his demented laugh as he watched their suffering was any indication.
Teeth gritted, Mitsuko held back the tears as best she could. Her body ached, the smell of copper filled her nostrils as no doubt some parts of her were bleeding. Some of her limbs hurt just from moving. Thankfully, nothing felt too broken. The pain at least kept her awake. She refused to give this scum the satisfaction of passing out! She would not show such weakness before such a lowlife!
"Oh, you're crying!? That's priceless." Baba said as he saw the tears pooling in Mitsuko's eyes. "Great Danes, stop! I want to take a picture of this. I so enjoy bringing these haughty bitches low and I want a reminder of this."
At this, he proceeded to pull out his phone and began snapping photos of Mitsuko and her friends.
"You know I really should be impressed by you three." Baba said tauntingly as he continued his sick photo taking. "After all, my Type: Dragon was designed to fight the Trinity. So the fact I was forced to resort to using it just to beat you three is really something that should impress me but it doesn't. You know why?"
Neither Mitsuko nor her friends deigned to give the ranting criminal a response. Not that he seemed to need it as he kept going without so much as missing a beat.
"'Cos you three fought me over something as worthless as friendship! Only second rate fools give up their will to serve others! And you even had the gall to fail in the task assigned to you? You three are worse than that! Worse than third rate. You're human debris!"
"You say that about friendships only because you trust no one." Wannai-san retorted bravely, shooting the boy a glare. "And that's because of you looking down on others and closing your heart to them. If you continue to refuse to accept others, to not meet them halfway, then no one will save you."
"Like no one is coming to save you three?" Baba shouted through a gloating laugh.
"They'll come." Awatsuki-san says with certainty even as Mitsuko and Wannai-san both nodded.
Almost as if on cue, a narrow beam of energy suddenly shot at the Type: Dragon robot and destroyed the device built into its back that was the source of the AIM Down effect. The machine retaliated by arching its tail over its back and firing off a shot off back towards its attacker. That however was not what had Mitsuko's attention.
"They aren't wrong, Piggy." A cold voice spoke from above, causing all of them to look up to see a furious looking Namikaze-san glaring at Baba with her arms crossed and murder in her cold blue eyes. "I am… upset right now."
"E-Eh-!" The boy started to sweat, panic written all over his face.
Something the boy deserved for sure! Mitsuko felt.
"Time to pay the piper, Piggy!" Namikaze-san shouted as she dove towards them from her midair perch, the esoteric chakra energy that she commanded bubbling out of her body and forming sets of vicious sword length claws around each of the blonde's fingers as she did.
"Take the other girls ho-" Baba began, only to be cut off when in a sudden teleport Namikaze-san appeared amidst the pack of canine robots that surrounded Mitsuko and her friends before running them through with her claws. A feat that she soon repeated with the rest of the dog-like robots as well.
"Type: Dragon!"
At its master's frantic cry, the draconic robot turned from the long range duel it seemed to be having with someone in the distance and dodging an energy beam, turned its tail cannon onto Namikaze-san. It fired what looked like a railgun at the blonde, only for the shot to be intercepted by a laser from its distant opponent.
"Rui-chan! Check up on our schoolmates! I'll handle the tin can!" Namikaze-san shouted as she leapt into the air, using bolts of lightning to deflect the desperate shots the dragon fired at her with its railgun and just letting the bullets from the machine guns built into its front arms ping harmlessly off the chakra armor she'd wrapped around herself.
If she wasn't in such pain, Mitsuko was sure she'd be gushing at the display.
"Kongou-san, Wannai-san, Awatsuki-san, stay still." Saten-sama said as she teleported into their midst, tearing Mitsuko away from the sight of the battle. "I'm going to perform some first aid."
Almost immediately Mitsuko felt the pain from her injuries dull even as bandages seemingly appeared out of nowhere to wrap themselves around her cuts from which Mitsuko had noted the blood had suddenly stopped trickling. At the same time, cold packs likewise materialized over her bruises and were quickly secured with more freshly conjured bandages.
Mitsuko couldn't help but marvel at how Saten-sama had managed to create an ability to heal others. She was sure it was one of the few abilities she hadn't had.
Seeing the look on her face, Saten-sama gave her a smile. "I'm just using my emulated abilities in a new way. I'm using Hydro Hand to stop the bleeding and Dark Matter to create painkillers on your wounds alongside some stimulants to encourage healing. I've been experimenting with it for a while now. Someone had to with all the many injuries the Trinity gets sometimes. We couldn't rely on Shirai-san and Uiharu and their limited first-aid skills forever. Not that this ability is much better."
"I think it's admirable, Saten-sama." Wannai-san informed the Level 5 with a starry eyed look.
"I'm sure the rest of the Trinity appreciate it." Awatsuki-san added with a smile.
"Oi! Rui-chan, catch that swine! He's bolting!" Namiakze-sama called out as she ripped off the tail of the Type: Dragon and speared it through its body.
"You know we can't." Saten-sama shouted back. "As much as we feel like it, Baba is part of MEMBER and that means he's protected by the Board of Directors. Fending him off is fine, but hunting them down would be crossing a line."
Namikaze-san snarled and seemingly decided to vent her anger on the Type: Dragon, she breathed out a stream of white hot flames at the machine, melting it into a slagged mess that fell to the earth in a ground shaking rumble.
Even before the dust from the destroyed machine's crash could settle, the blonde teleported to the rest of the girls, her face softening into a worried look. "Alright, who needs a piggyback ride to the hospital?"
"Who did this?" Mikoto asked as she stomped out of the room in Heaven's Canceler's Hospital where Kongou-san, Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san had been warded.
"Baba Yoshio," Naru told her as she closed the door behind her whilst cradling Kuro-chan in one arm and took a quick glance down either side of the corridor they were standing in to make sure there was no one close enough to hear what they said.
"Did he get beaten to a pulp?"
"No," Naru said with a shake of her head. "Baba is part of MEMBER. We can't just go around beating up the Directors' dogs. Even if I'm technically higher on the food chain by virtue of being a direct subordinate of the Superintendent, I can't just attack him. My boss will be pissed if I stir up trouble with the Directors."
She gave Kuro-chan a pouty scritch behind the ears, no doubt to calm herself.
"Isn't he the same idiot who attacked 10032?"
Naru nodded.
"That's it!" Mikoto growled as she turned and began storming off.
"Sempai! Where are you going?"
"I'm tired of MEMBER hiding behind their connection to the Directors!" She shouted back at her kohai. "If you and Ruiko are too afraid of those old geezers to kick their pets' asses, then I will."
Her phone pinged and Mikoto pulled it out and looked at it, her scowl turning into a vicious smile at the GPS coordinates that Ruiko had just messaged her.
"Thank you, Ruiko~" She sang out, sparks dancing off of her body.
Her phone pinged once more as she received yet another text.
[No need for that. Just go teach the bastard a lesson for us. The Directors have too much leverage over me, Naru and Accel's heads for us to risk angering them. But they have nothing over you. So kick Baba's ass for us.] - Ruiko
"Just shock that idiot until his body goes numb." Naru shouted after her, apparently having been somehow clued in on the plan.
Mikoto turned around for a second to shoot her kohai a thumbs up before turning back around to continue her sprint out of the building whilst simultaneously sending off another message to Ruiko.
[You can count on me.] - Mikoto
"Dammit! That was my only prototype for the Type: Dragon." Yoshio cursed as he exited the self-driving van, yet another of his drones, that he'd used to escape the park where he'd fought two of the Trinity and their little friends. "Just my luck that it had to face off against those two monsters before it was fully optimized."
Then again…
"Maybe it wasn't a total loss." Yoshio thought to himself as he walked into the formerly abandoned warehouse that served as his base. A place that he had converted into a factory to manufacture and store his army of drones. "The data from the fight with Namikaze is invaluable. With it, I can develop all the counters I'll ever need to fight her!"
Yoshio laughed as the possibilities ran through his mind. Not just about his new and improved trump card either.
"Once I get the Type: Dragon upgraded, I'll use it to turn those girls into smears." He laughed, his mind dreaming up the humiliations he would heap on those arrogant brats once he had them at his mercy.
Oh, how he would enjoy degrading those uppity strumpets.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when an alarm sounded signalling that one of his motion sensors had been triggered. "What? Who's all the way out here?"
He hurried over to his office and with a few quick inputs at his workstation, brought up the feeds from the camera systems and scrolled through them all before focusing on a group of them from the cameras he had placed out in the freight yard that surrounded his base. As he looked at the images before him, he could not help but balk at who appeared to be advancing towards his base radiating fury...
Misaka Mikoto.
"No, no it's not her, right? Is it one of the other Sisters? Hehe, we messed up with that other one, but what's the difference if we snag another?"
With a few keystrokes, the false cargo containers he had placed his guard robots in opened up and they began to close in on the moronic Sister.
"Oi, Sister. What are you doing here all on your lonesome? Trying to get brownie points for your Onee-sama?" He jeered over the mic as a group of his Type: Mantids surrounded the dumb, helpless girl.
The first sign that his brilliant plan was going awry was when the supposed Sister raised a single hand and in so doing, sent a wall of electricity that slapped the closest Type: Mantis through several cargo containers, mangling it.
"H-Huh?" He blinked, confusion crossing his face as he tried to process how a Sister had that level of firepower. Was she using Body Crystal or something? Could they use it?
That idea went out the window when a wave of iron sand washed over three more Type: Mantids and started to grind into them. Tearing them to pieces.
"She's n-not a Sister…" He said with dawning horror spiking through his heart.
He was not a professional for nothing though, so even as his blood ran cold in terror at the prospect of facing a Level 5, he began acting quickly.
"Alright, alright, no issue. She's a weakling in comparison to the rest of the Level 5s. She's in the bottom bracket compared to the other monsters." He told himself as he maneuvered the remainder of his guard robots around the stupid girl.
It was like watching surgery at work. The Number 5 systematically dismantled his robot forces. She didn't even use her vaunted railgun. Blades of iron sand tore his robots apart, magnetic pulses sent parts flying to smash them and even the occasional small bolts of electricity fried even the hardened electronics of his machines. Even throwing a dozen Type: Mantids at her at once didn't seem to even faze her!
"T-That's fine. I'll j-just drown her in numbers." Yoshio told him himself as he activated all his operable drones in the vicinity and sent them at the Level 5. He was most definitely not breaking out in a cold sweat at how effortlessly the [Railgun] was destroying his army, not at all!
Type: Great Danes were dispatched in the dozens like they were mere nuisances. Type: Mantids were destroyed with extreme prejudice. Electricity, iron sand, and magnetically charged projectiles flew everywhere as Misaka Mikoto left a trail of destruction behind her as she continued on her unhurried way towards Yoshio's increasingly empty base.
As his army dwindled to the low single digits, Yoshio realised it was time to flee. So without hurrying, he definitely did not trip over himself as he tried to run, he made his way back to his self-driving van.
"It's a strategic retreat. S-Strategic." He told himself as his sweaty fingers missed the command prompt to open the van's doors a few times until he steadied his finger and activated it.
Slipping into the vehicle, he took a second to take a calming breath before snapping his shaky fingers. He didn't need to attempt it three times before he managed. He didn't! And in response, the van's programming kicked in and started driving off.
"Escape plan theta." He said, cool as a cucumber.
"Oi, can you hear me out there?" A girl's voice said, somehow hijacking his comm interface through one of the wrecked Type: Mantids. A feminine voice that he was horrified to recall as being Misaka Mikoto's! "Stop that car and stay where you are. I can track you from the comm signal if you try and flee."
Yoshio broke out in a cold sweat. If she can discern my location, t-then can't she seize control of my vehicle?
His answer came when the van turned dark, all the lights switching off, save for the red emergency ones. He pressed his tablet a few times, inputting command after command, but the vehicle was completely dead.
No, not dead. Under the [Railgun]'s control.
A fact that was proven as it promptly turned around and drove him back to the base he had just abandoned and the Level 5 that awaited him there.
S-Shit! I-I need to think of a plan! Yoshio thought as he fumbled in his pockets for his last hope. This has gotta work.
As his commandeered van came to a stop and its door opened to reveal his attacker, Yoshio drew his holdout pistol.
"Die, [Railgun]!" He shouted as he fired the special City developed AP (armor piercing) round he always kept in the pistol's chamber. It was ferrous so if the Level 5 was on the ball, she'd easily deflect it but if he caught her by surprise…
Sadly, it seemed the Ace of Tokiwadai was expecting him to try something and his bullet was deflected off an electromagnetic shield that she'd shrouded herself in. Despite that though, she did not take kindly to having been shot at and with a glare she used her Electromastery to grab hold of his gun and painfully pull it out of his hands, breaking his finger that had been resting over the trigger to fire a second shot in the process.
Crying out in pain over the damage to his finger, he curled up on himself and cradled his wounded hand close to his chest.
"Hello there, Baba Yoshio-san." Misaka Mikoto said as she loomed over him. "I have to admit, I'm pretty upset with you right now. Can your tiny brain figure out why?"
He could only suck in a breath as he looked at her like a deer in headlights.
"You know how lucky you are that I came to deal with you?" She frowned, hands on her hips. "I'm not as bloodthirsty as the other members of the Trinity or worse Accelerator. Their kindness would be leaving you with enough of a body to have an open casket funeral. I'm kinder though and you'll get to actually live."
Yoshio gulped as he cradled his hand.
"So here's my warning to you, Baba Yoshio. If you and your robots ever come near any, and I mean any of my friends again…"
She pressed a hand against the wall of his van and suddenly every electronic inside erupted into a shower of sparks.
"Aaah!" He screamed, covering his head as he ducked, feeling the sparks bounce off his body.
Once it was over, he looked up just in time to see the [Railgun] cocking her fist back and striking him across the face.
His head bounced off the wall, stunning him as he toppled to the floor of the van. The van's floor wasn't exactly meant to be comfortable and he felt himself getting poked at from all sides, but that paled in comparison to the pain he felt from his mouth. The reason for which became obvious as he spotted several of his teeth on the floor and tasted copper in his mouth.
"I will break every part of your body. I will make sure you never function as a human being again. And you will live. I will make sure you live for every second of it. That is my kindness."
And with that, she turned and walked away. Sparks flew all around her as she departed, as she fried every single piece of electronics in Yoshio's base as she did. Not that he cared by that point. He was a little too focused on rocking himself and crying in a fetal position.
It took what must have been hours after the monstrous [Railgun] had left before Yoshio calmed down enough to even remotely resemble his usual self. And the first thing he did was run out of his ruined base and towards one of the many emergency phones scattered throughout the City. Usually these could only make calls to emergency services like Anti-Skill, but keying in a special code he was soon on the line with his teammate.
"K-Kouzaku-chan!" He cried out, forgoing any attempt at pretense of calm. "I just got attacked by the [Railgun]! My base is a write off! I need a safehouse. Now! One where she and the Trinity can't find me! Hurry!"
Walking out of the nondescript warehouse that served as one of Kihara Gensei's satellite bases that she had just raided in search of data on what the old fuddy duddy was planning, Misaki spotted the van that her subordinate Keitz Nokleben had sent to pick her up. Getting in, she tapped the driver to get going and settled back into a comfortable seat in the back.
Taking over the base had only taken a little less than an hour yet it had left her feeling exhausted.
Curse my frail stamina.
"Drink?" Keitz offered her from the seat to her right, waving a can of some energy drink at her with a tiny smile.
Wrinkling her nose at the bland drink, she nevertheless took it with a reluctant sigh. "Thank you."
Popping the can open and taking a sip, she couldn't help but grimace at the awful taste that wafted over her tongue and down her throat. "Bleh! I wish there was a tea flavoured power drink. This supplement's aftertaste ability wrecks my palette."
Keitz just smiled in amusement at her complaints and Misaki pouted. Couldn't he be more sympathetic? Well, whatever! It's not like she hired him to be empathic.
As the van drove them back to her base in District 2, they fell into a companionable silence. One that Keitz broke when he spoke up suddenly. "Why haven't you told the Trinity about Gensei being behind the attempt to kidnap the Sister?"
"Huh? Don't be silly!" Misaki said, puffing up her cheeks. "If I did, things would escalate out of control! With Saten-san's deep grudge against Gensei, well deserved though it is, who knows who would die when she gives in to her wrath power. If she found out he was involved in this Incident, that girl's reason ability would plummet to zero!"
Her subordinate snorted at the small rant. "That's just an excuse. The rest of the Trinity would keep her in check. I believe Namikaze-san is one of her counters, is she not? And we both know the real reason. You just don't trust those girls since you can't read their minds like any one of us."
Misaki shot him a bland look. "Can you blame me for being cautious?"
"No," Keitz said with a shrug. "But you will have to, I think. Tell them I mean. That is, if we want to win this one."
"I'll manage." Misaki insisted a touch forcefully.
"Eh, I wonder how long you'll be able to keep that up."
Putting his phone away, Gensei couldn't help but chuckle. "Ah, it seems that girl thinks that the Trinity are responsible for the attacks on our satellite bases. So quick to jump to conclusions."
He left his words hanging for a moment and watched with some minor interest as a shinobi literally stepped out of a nearby shadow.
"We recommended recruiting that girl for her connection to MEMBER first and foremost." The shinobi said as he picked up the conversation. "Not for her intelligence."
The brittle looking old man let out a soft cackle at the remark and nodded. "True, even if Kouzaku-kun is wholly mistaken about which of our opponents is being a pest, picking a scrap with the Trinity should prove useful. Keeping those three off balance and distracted will aid our endeavour."
The grunt of disapproval from the shinobi gave Gensei a moment of pause.
"You think otherwise?" The elderly man asked the advisor his allies had sent him.
"Antagonizing them prematurely is not wise." The trained killer said. "Having them be aware we are their foe before the time is right is foolish."
"Perhaps," Gensei allowed. "But I hardly think it will ruin our plans so I am willing to allow it."
"This is your operation," the shinobi said with a dismissive shrug.
Gensei didn't exactly like that he had failed to convince the man, but then again he also didn't want to waste the effort of having to try to do so. As such he let the matter go. He had more important things to consider anyway.
"Now then," he said with a grin. "How about we go over our plans to take that quaint little base [Mental Out] has set up in District 2, shall we?"
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Well, Kongou and the gals certainly had it rough huh? Though I gotta say they did way better than in canon and it was the presence of an upgraded AIM Jammer/Capacity Down that took them down. At least Naru and Ruiko came in to deal with the mess. Though it seemed Baba was scared a bit, or at least his inferiority complex took a blow.
Nameless: Just to be clear, Accelerator calling Ruiko a nymphomaniac in the opening scene is not diagnostic. He is an unreliable narrator and no psychologist. Though there is a possibility that it is a symptom of her relationship obsessive–compulsive disorder in that she keeps pushing the sexual limits of their relationship in order to validate the relationship and allay her unconscious feelings of self-doubt about it. Or that's our intent with Ruiko's behaviour on this front. Of course, not being psychologists of any stripe we are portraying this from a layman's understanding which is probably flawed but this is as close as we can manage. Hope no one minds. Also feel free to ignore this whole angle if you feel like it, it's not like we had Ruiko go to a psychologist in-story to get a proper diagnosis of her condition so anything that even mentions it is really just characters imposing laymen assumptions onto her condition. ;) Is this us taking our cake and eating it too? Yes, it totally is.
So I'm sure some of you noticed Mikoto going way further with Baba than she did in canon. As to why? Well, she has dealt with Dark Sider stuff far too often lately and has had it up to the ceiling with them. This assclown tried to not only kidnap one of her precious sisters, but beat down her friends just to find out about said sister! As for her threat? Mikoto doesn't like to kill, so she would do everything in Science available to her to make sure Baba lived. Even if he liked it or not after she was done with him. Mikoto has a switch people, and it has been flipped!
Nameless: Indeed. And once it's switched, well she can be even more cruel than Naru or even Accel. I mean, at least they'd just have killed Baba. Here Mikoto threatened him with a fate worse than death. As the saying goes, it's always the quiet ones. Not that Mikoto is all that quiet mind you, but you get my drift I hope. ;)
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!