Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Seventy Seven: Malevolent Biohazard: New Management I
Beta:
Shortly after the Colony Incident…
Inside one of the Parasol Corporation's many secret labs in Academy City sat a test tube large enough to house a human being, but that was not what this particular tube contained. Instead, floating inside the mix of transparent chemicals that in addition to the intravenous tubes that were plugged into her body kept her conscious but unable to move her body was a being with long flowing blonde hair, deep blue eyes, beautiful facial features and full supple breasts. She was however not human, as anything remotely humanoid about her ended at her waist where her body transited into four insectoid legs. She was Experimental Type [Adelise], one of Parasol's latest experimental bioweapons and she now found herself helpless as outside the test tube that was her prison, her fate was being decided.
"You can't do this! She's almost ready for deployment! We just need a little more time!" The lead scientist, Murakami-sensei, in charge of the team that was responsible for Adelise's creation said as he pleaded with the squad of security personnel in full tactical gear and armed with assault rifles that had stormed in a few minutes ago.
"We don't have time!" The leader of the security personnel shot back. "The Number 2 just took out the primary safehouse. If we want to escape, we need to leave now."
"But we can't!" The man mainly responsible for Adelise's creation insisted. "We have no way to move the specimen! If we leave now, we'd either have to abandon her or destroy her. Either way, it would set our research back by years!"
"It is regrettable, Murakami-kun." The facility's lead scientist said as he walked into Adelise's lab. "But all the teams have had to make similar sacrifices. Yours is no different. Please understand our situation. Unless we leave as soon as possible, there is a very good chance we'll either be captured and reduced to slaves working for the Dark Side or be killed outright. We need to move quickly before the City's foot soldiers can catch us."
This argument seemed to finally sway Adelise's primary creator and he gave a resigned nod. "I understand, Asakura-sama." Turning to his team, he nodded in the direction of their computer terminals. "Alright, let's go pull out the hard drives with our data."
As they grudgingly moved off to do as they were told, Murakami-sensei turned back to his superior. "I assume that you came down here to oversee the specimen's destruction yourself, Asakura-sama?"
The more senior scientist nodded. "You don't need to watch Murakami-kun. I know it must be difficult for you to see your life's work be destroyed like this."
"Thank you for the consideration, Asakura-sama, but it is precisely because Adelise is my life's work that I need to be here to see this." Murakami-sensei said firmly as he finally stepped out of the way of the squad of security personnel and allowed their leader to step forward to begin fiddling with the controls of Adelise's tube. To begin inputting the commands that would end her short life.
No! It can't end like this! I've only been alive for less than a month! I've never even seen the outside world! I can't just die now! Adelise raged as she struggled to move her body but the drugs keeping her paralyzed only allowed her to shoot Murakami-sensei with a pleading look that he summarily ignored.
And that hurt. It tore at Adelise's heart that the closest thing to a father she had was just going to let her die. She knew she shouldn't feel this way. Murakami-sensei had never seen her as more than a science experiment. And it was only her wilful misinterpretation of his pride in her as a successful specimen and the understanding of human relationships that was downloaded into her mind alongside everything she knew via Testament that made her think of him as a parent of sorts. But nevertheless, she still felt betrayed. Deeply so.
I refuse! You gave me life only to take it away? I refuse to be reduced to nothing! Adelise thought defiantly as she scrambled to come up with something, anything, which she could do to fight her death. Even as her rage, her desperation, bubbled away inside her.
"Murakami-sensei, the system requires your biometrics." The security squad leader said as having finished setting up everything needed to orchestrate Adelise's demise, he stepped away from the console attached to her test tube prison.
I'm running out of time! Adelise thought desperately as Murakami-sensei stepped toward the console without hesitation to unlock the systems that would end her life. Before he could take more than a step though, the world suddenly slowed to a crawl and a strange voice entered into Adelise's mind.
Do you wish to live, my living idol? A voice born out of the combined sounds of a swarm of innumerable insects boomed. A voice that Adelise recognized as that of Beelzebub, the being who through her insectoid traits she served as the living idol for through the Idol Theory that governed the magic for which she had been created to use.
YES! She screamed in her mind, utter desperation filling her thoughts. She'd give anything to live to see the sky if only once! She might not have ever seen it with her own eyes before, but her implanted memories of it were beyond beautiful. She just had to see it!
Then you should know what needs to be done. The Lord of Flies said, sounding amused.
You're just going to give me your power… f-for free?
Adelise was also no fool. The Demon Lord she'd been born to emulate did nothing for free. There was after all a reason she was female instead of a male. Namely that he had exploited the increased resonance of her male predecessors to him to possess them. It was clear he wanted something for letting his power be used in the mortal Phase.
The Demon Lord just laughed, a truly sickening sound that resembled nothing remotely human, before replying. Oh, you've already paid that price, little idol. Your existence and future actions are more than enough payment for me to grant you my power to fuel your magic. That and the souls of those you will inevitably kill.
Adelise had no idea about what Beelzebub meant about how her existence and future actions might serve as payment for him being her patron. She did not understand how being his living idol served his interests. Nor did she know anything about her future. Unlike the demon of the Inferno, she was not prescient. However, the last price she was more than willing to pay.
Y-You have a deal.
Then use my power, girl. Beelzebub told her, his alien voice dripping with amusement. Feed me the first of the many souls of our partnership!
And with a scream in her mind, hell was unleashed into the underground lab. As tapping into the magical knowledge downloaded into her mind, Adelise used her very existence as an idol and called upon the power of the Lord of Flies. In response, a green, spinning magic circle appeared in front of her prison and before the humans could even fathom what was happening, a swarm of scarab beetles poured out of it and proceeded to eat the men alive.
Adelise ignored their dying screams, including Murakami-sensei's pleas for mercy. They were trying to kill her just seconds before so she had no sympathy for any of them. Instead, even as she maintained the first circle to summon more of her flesh eating scarabs so that there would be a constant supply of them as they spread out of the lab where she was housed to cleanse the rest of the facility of threats, she conjured a second circle from which she summoned something more substantial. Namely a single cow sized giant scorpion, which promptly used its stinger to shatter the glass of her prison and its pincers to gently catch her as she fell out of the wreckage.
With her body still full of the drugs that kept her paralyzed, she couldn't move more than her eyes but as the scorpion gingerly removed the mask that had supplied her oxygen whilst she'd floated in the tube from her face and she breathed her first breath as a free woman…
I've never felt happier!
Weeks Later…
This should be the place. Naru thought as she landed on the rooftop of an abandoned warehouse in District 19. Warily, the Tokiwadai student stalked across the roof, her eyes and ears enhanced with chakra to listen for any signs of her targets as she headed to the building's skylight.
Her intel suggested some kind of illicit deal was going down inside and she'd been tasked with capturing all involved. And as she looked down through the glass of the rooftop window, Naru smirked as she realized she'd hit the jackpot. For inside the warehouse's dusty, dilapidated interior were a number of nervous looking individuals loitering around.
A couple of the targets that are supposed to be aren't here. Naru thought with some disappointment.
We did get here a bit early. Kurama, her trusty partner and inner demon, said with a mental shrug. We should wait a bit and see if they show up.
Giving her partner a mental nod, she used some geokinesis to create a chair out of the gravel that lined the roof in a spot that was out of the view of those inside the warehouse but which thanks to her superhuman senses, still gave her a good view of what was going on. Like the predator she was, she wanted all the little piggies to gather together so she could nab them all in one fell swoop.
Though just because she was being a predator didn't mean she couldn't shoot the breeze to pass the time while she waited for the action to start. Thus even as she settled in to wait for the last of her prey to show up, she was using her bluetooth earpiece to carry out a conference call with Rui-chan, Mikoto-senpai, Kazari-chan and Kuroko-chan over her phone.
"And that's why I think we should go to that new cat cafe that opened up in District 15. Kazari-chan was gushing about all the pictures on their website after all." Naru informed her friends. Besides Kazari-chan needed all the affection after that dumb bitch had kidnapped her.
"Ah~! It still feels a little embarrassing." Kazari-chan confessed. Naru could just see her cute blushing face. "Nami-er Naru-san calling me that, I mean."
"Honestly, Ka-Kazari." Kuroko-chan sighed, even as she herself fumbled with the new dynamic. "We are a close-knit group, it makes sense to be less formal after all our tribulations. And I do concur that visiting this cat cafe is an excellent proposal for a hangout. I hear the tea is actually imported from the same sources as the School Garden."
"Don't pressure Kazari, Kuroko-chan." Rui-chan chided the Judgment Teleporter. "It's a big transition for us all. And I'm all for visiting the cat cafe, I think I'll bring the girls along. Mikoto-senpai?"
"I'm game." Mikoto-senpai cast her vote, making the decision unanimous. "And yeah, Naru, cut Kuroko and Kazari-chan some slack here."
"Personally, I think it's about time." Naru mused as she eyed the shadows for any idiots coming to join the illegal gathering below. Did these idiots think being late made them cooler or something?
Are you conveniently forgetting that we're early?
Caught out, Naru refused to acknowledge Kurama's observation.
"It's just a thing to get used to." Mikoto-senpai pointed out, getting noises of affirmation from everyone in the call before she changed the subject. "By the way, Ruiko, did you really custom order a dress from Dolce and Gabbana? I heard a couple girls from the Shokuhou Faction gossiping about it when I walked past them in the dorm just now."
"Yes, I did." Rui-chan admitted shamelessly. "But it's not just from Dolce and Gabbana. I've placed orders for dresses and suits from a number of famous fashion houses and designers."
"Suits too, Ruiko-san?" Kuroko-chan said, sounding confused.
"Yes," Rui-chan agreed with what Naru imagined was her trademark robotic nod, one of the biggest vestiges of her days as [The Robot]. "The orders aren't only for me. It's for new formal wardrobes for my siblings, Accel, Order-chan, Janie-chan and Febrie-chan too."
"So you all have something nice to wear to Eden Corp functions, right?" Naru guessed.
"Right in one, Naru-chan."
"Wait a minute, Ruiko-san. Isn't there someone missing in that list?" Kazari-chan pointed out. "What about Kiyama-sensei?"
"Kaa-san said she didn't want any new clothes and that she'd attend any functions in her work clothes. According to her, so long as she has her lab coat on, it'll be okay." Rui-chan said with an exasperated sigh. "Me and my siblings are actively working on trying to change her mind. If worse comes to worse, we're thinking of just buying her some nice dresses and ambushing her with them."
"Ambush her? What exactly do you mean by that?" Mikoto-sempai asked warily.
"Simple. I'll have Order-chan and the twins charm her into wearing a dress we pick out. And if that fails, my sisters and I will literally force her into a dress." Rui-chan said with what Naru imagined was a shrug. "We can't control how she dresses day to day, we're not that controlling. But we will make sure Kaa-san is dressed respectably at public functions when the need calls for it! She's beautiful and the world should know it!"
"Spoken like a true Mommy's Girl." Naru said with a chuckle.
"Whilst I cannot deny N-Naru-san's assessment, I do feel that what Ruiko-san says has merit too." Kuroko-chan chimed in. "If she just puts in a little effort, I'm sure Kiyama-sensei would look gorgeous."
"Yeah. You've gotta admit that she's got a nice figure." Mikoto-senpai added.
"All she really needs is some makeup." Kazari-chan said, giving her own two cents. "If she had something to hide those bags under her eyes, I'd think she'd look utterly stunning."
"That's true. Kiyama-sensei would clean up quite nicely. Though, I think her hair could do with some attention too."
"Don't worry, we know." Rui-chan assured them. "We've got things for the makeup and hair for Kaa-san ready and waiting. All we need is her permission to proceed or if need be to set the date for the ambush."
"If Kiyama-sensei wasn't such a slob, I would almost pity her." Kuroko-chan said with a snort. "Having her six daughters gang up on her like this? And her three granddaughters too? There'll be no escape from this makeover will there?"
"None whatsoever!" Rui-chan insisted with determination.
Ah, the ever growing diva that was Rui-chan was really ruthless with clothing, huh? It was almost cute, especially when you took into account how different she was now from how she used to be.
They should do a dress up hangout soon. Maybe at a nice lingerie store with Kuroko-chan. She needed sexier stuff for Accelerator, right? Naru made a mental note to pitch the idea to her bestie later.
You're just doing this to see your friends in frilly lingerie, aren't you?
Naru didn't respond to Kurama's baited comment. Instead, she chose to address Mikoto-senpai.
"Hey Senpai, is it true that Misuzu-nee is being courted to become the spokesperson for the Recovery Movement?"
"The Recovery Movement? What's that?" Kazari-chan asked, surprised.
"It's a movement made out of guardians of the children that live in Academy City who are concerned about the safety of their wards." Rui-chan explained. "Its name is a reflection of the most extravagant demand expressed by some of its members, that is the return of their children. It was a label given to it for shock value by its opponents. As an informal movement, it doesn't actually have a proper name. And mostly, it's a group advocating for more parental oversight and access to their children whilst they are in the City."
"I can only wonder why more oversight would be needed." Mikoto-senpai commented sarcastically.
"Your mother is the one leading the charge, correct?" Rui-chan pointed out.
"Ugh, don't remind me. Mama keeps showing up at the Dorm for outings."
The sufferings of an overbearing mother, huh? Sadly, Naru couldn't relate.
"Doesn't she show up at the Sisters' dorm events too whenever she can finagle the chance? And she's even visited the Sisters overseas too, hasn't she?" Rui-chan teased. "She hasn't met all of them yet at last count, but she's definitely on track to manage it by the end of the year."
"Mama is very enthusiastic about getting to know the Sisters… We have a new chat group about all the things great about Mama. The notifications don't stop!" Senpai wailed in anguish.
"There, there, Onee-sama. At least, the Sisters also think the world of you."
"Kuroko, that's not the point here…"
"Well, I think, both points are sweet." Kazari-chan said with a giggle.
"Agreed." Naru said with her own giggle. "Though, you didn't answer my question, Senpai. Is Misuzu-nee really gonna become the spokesperson for the Recovery Movement?"
"I dunno. You'll have to ask her yourself, Naru. All I know is that Mama is talking to them about it. I don't think she's made up her mind though."
"Well, update us when you know more. If she does become spokesperson, it would have implications."
"What implications, Ruiko-san?"
"Simple, Kazari. If she becomes a spokesperson for a movement that has every chance of running afoul of the City's higher ups, a target will be painted on her back."
"There might be others depending on the situation, but yes, that's a given." Rui-chan said, clarifying Kuroko-chan's assessment. "And if that happens, Mikoto-senpai, we need to be ready to step in to protect Misuzu-san if need be."
"I-I'll talk to Mama about it." Mikoto-senpai said nervously, as if this was the first time she even considered this possibility.
She really can have such a civilian mindset at times. Naru thought with an amused shake of her head. With how she behaves at times, you'd never think she was a seasoned Dark Sider who's helped solve dozens of Incidents.
She might have done all that but she's still relatively new to this game, so cut her some slack.
I never faulted her. Just pointing out her idiosyncrasies is all.
"By the way, I think we only have time for one more topic tonight before Naru-chan has to get to work. So does anyone have anything in mind?"
"My missing prey are en route, Rui-chan?"
"Yes. Based on the speed they're driving and based on their route, they should be there in about five to ten minutes."
"Can I just say that the fact that there are so many illegal deals going on in the City at any one time pains me."
"It's Academy City." "It's Academy City." Naru and Rui-chan said in stereo.
"I know and like I said, it pains me." Kuroko-chan repeated. "But setting that aside, I'm thinking of using our hangout this weekend to go shopping. I'm in need of some new bras in particular. That alright with everyone?"
"New bras? Why would you need them, Kuroko?" Mikoto-senpai said in a show of her typical insensitivity.
"Well, for one, I'm running out. A surprising number of them get wrecked when I get in fights." Kuroko-chan said, causing Mikoto-senpai to murmur in agreement and Naru herself to nod. When a simple hit to the shoulder could very well bust a strap and ruin a bra, you tend to go through a lot of the damned things.
"Please tell me you're not wearing the lacy ones during jobs?" Naru asked warily. That was basic logic! She herself was wearing a plain sports bra at the moment. Her special ones were for when Shu-chan and Arisa-chan came to see her for kissing time.
"No, I'm not that daft. But even my normal ones are running low."
"I'm with Kuroko. I'm getting low too." Mikoto-senpai added. Though Naru suspected she also wanted to use this opportunity to get new bras that fit her Bust Upper enhanced breasts better. It was pretty obvious to anyone paying attention that since using the techniques taught to her by the Indian Poker card, the [Railgun]'s bras weren't fitting as well anymore. Not even her new bigger ones.
"That's because you're a boob cheater." Naru grumbled petulantly.
"The offer is still open, Naru-chan~" Rui-chan's smug giggle made her face heat up.
"Stay back, temptress! Stay back, I say!" She shot back dramatically.
"So bra shopping?" Kuroko-chan pressed.
"I don't need any-"
"That's because you fight from behind your barriers and/or from a distance most of the time, Rui-chan, and don't know the pain of getting a bra destroyed every time you get a hit to the shoulder or center mass."
Ignoring her, and likely rolling her eyes as she did, Rui-chan just continued like Naru hadn't spoken. "-but I wouldn't mind. I could use the chance to get some training bras for Order-chan."
"She's about ten, right? She should already have a training bra." Naru commented.
"She does." Mikoto-senpai clarified. As the littlest Sister's Onee-sama, she would know. "She just needs more, I guess?"
"Let's just say a few more wouldn't hurt." Rui-chan confirmed. "Kazari, what about you? You don't mind if we go bra shopping for Kuroko-chan's next hangout slot?"
"I don't mind. I could get some too I guess. The more, the better, right? At least it means I won't have to be as prompt with my laundry if I had more spares."
"That's the spirit, Kazari!" Kuroko-chan cheered. "Then it's settled! We're going bra shopping for my next slot! Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"Why do I get the feeling I'll need to zap her multiple times during that particular hangout?" Mikoto-sempai lamented with a sigh.
"Because she'll take every chance to grope you, Senpai? Trust me, as a fellow deviant, I understand Kuroko-chan's thought process. I'll bring the spray bottle." Naru giggled over the line.
"I'm not that bad!" Kuroko-chan whined even as Rui-chan and Kazari-chan giggled at her expense.
"You are!" "Yes, you are!" Naru and Mikoto-senpai said in chorus, sparking more giggles from Rui-chan and Kazari-chan.
The sound of an approaching car caught Naru's attention then and she sighed. It was time to start work.
"Ah, gotta go. There is wickedness afoot besides Kuroko-chan's libido." Naru said, hanging up and cutting off her fellow twintail's despondent wail.
Naru! Wait! I have a proposal! Naru's inner demon and partner asked as putting her phone away she prepared to leap through the skylight and into the warehouse below.
Huh? Kurama, what is it? The meeting is about to start. We don't have time for this.
I'll be quick. I just want to ask you to let me handle this.
I'm not adverse to the idea. Naru told her partner. He hadn't had much of a chance to have fun lately so giving him this opportunity to spread his legs a little was probably a good idea. But what do you have in mind?
I'm thinking we can cover your body in a chakra cloak, you know like a partial or unformed Demon Frame, and then-
Oh! I think I know where you're going with this! I'll let you have the reins on the chakra! Though we haven't had much practice with that.
Meh! Don't worry so much. It's just chakra manipulation, I'll just shape the chakra into pseudopods and limbs. It's not like we'll need anything more than that to rip whatever these Parasol idiots have to pieces.
Cool, go all whirlwind of limbs on them, Kurama! Naru encouraged as she released a surge of chakra that was a mix of her and Kurama's which she'd usually then shape into a Demon Frame but which in this instance she left unformed and handed control of it over to the Bijuu. All yours! Have fun!
You're the best! Kurama cheered as he formed two tentacles that ended in imitations of his hands out of the mass of purple chakra that surrounded Naru's body and used them to launch her like a missile straight through the skylight.
Naru should've been a little peeved that he was being so reckless with her body but with the caustic mix of their chakra protectively cloaking her body like it was, she didn't even feel a thing as she burst through the glass and metal of the window and hurtled into the interior of the warehouse. So besides a roll of her eyes at her partner's excessive enthusiasm she just let him have his fun as stretching the tentacle arms further than before he had them dig into the walls of the warehouse to slow her flight. This maneuver also helped to flip her around so that she gracefully landed in the middle of the gathering of rogues she'd come here to break up.
Kurama~! Did you need to flip me around like that!? You flashed my panties at these ne'er-do-wells in the process!
Like hell I did! It's winter! You're wearing shorts! They didn't see anything! Kurama countered. I'm having fun, don't spoil it with your nitpicking! Save it till we're done!
Okay, okay! Naru said with a mental laugh. I'll stop bothering you then.
"Evening everyone~" Naru greeted the scientists and assorted other miscreants that she was here to arrest tonight, offering them a playful bow even as the existing tendrils released their hold on the walls and new pseudopods bubbled out of her chakra cloak.
"I-It's the [Laughing Joker]!" One of the little traitors screeched in pants wetting fear. Aw, that's a real ego boost.
Tell me about it!
Unfortunately even as he and his peers were overcome with terror at the sight of her, they also had the good sense to start running. Thus in the few moments that Naru and Kurama preened at how scary they were, their targets had scattered and sent a squad of the humanoid bioweapons that Naru knew were called Tyrants - What a horribly pretentious name! - at her to buy time.
"This is the best you can throw at me? I feel let down." Naru scoffed as the lumbering pale skinned, trench coat and fedora wearing giants stomped their way towards her. "I've dealt with these things before, you know! At least give them some guns or something! They're chump change without them. Not that they'd be much better armed, but it would still be an improvement."
Even as she spoke, Kurama was busily using the chakra pseudopods under his control to literally tear the dozen seven feet tall bioweapons to pieces. Tendrils that ended in clawed hands used their talons to violently slash them to bloody chunks. Tail-like appendages wrapped around others and squeezed them so hard that their bodies burst like overripe melons. Others still were grabbed by their limbs and summarily ripped apart. And through it all, one lucky Tyrant somehow made it through the gauntlet of death created by the reaching chakra pseudopods and closed with Naru.
She wasn't worried though. She could feel Kurama's sadistic glee and knew he had something special in store for this poor fool.
Hmm… Not sure if it has enough of a mental capacity to even call him a fool. Aren't these Tyrant things more like biological robots than actual sentient beings? Naru mused idly as the unlucky Tyrant that Kurama had allowed to get close, reared back one of its massive arms and prepared to punch her. With its artificially enhanced musculature, if the blow connected, Naru suspected that at bare minimum, chakra cloak or not, she'd be sent flying. A turn of events that would really be quite the pain.
Thankfully, Kurama felt the same and just before the pale giant was about to start his swing, in a purple blur a claw tipped pseudopod shot out of Naru's cloak and pierced the Tyrant's chest.
Kurama!? Did you seriously have to pull out that thing's heart!? You're getting its blood everywhere! Naru complained as her partner pulled the chakra arm out of the bioweapon and it stumbled backwards whilst clutching at the gaping hole in its chest a few steps before finally collapsing dead.
It's not like any of it got onto you. Kurama replied defensively as he crushed the oversized heart and the inhuman blood of the giant abomination of science sizzled against the cloak of chakra that surrounded Naru's body as the caustic energy disintegrated it.
True. But it's the principle of the thing. Try not to get me drenched in blood please. You know how difficult it is to get blood out of my clothes. And I really don't want to have to buy yet another new set of replacement uniforms. Naru reminded her partner as one of the pseudopods lashed out, grabbing the leg of a Tyrant, pulling it high into the air and smashing it hard into the ground. Kurama wasn't done with it after just that though and once more lifted it into the air as another limb reached out to grab the head and with moderate strength tore the bioweapon into two chunks before throwing them at one of the rogue scientists, pinning him. The other was dropped with a meaty thump to the ground.
Oh, come on! It's not like you can't afford it. You practically get them for free.
The pair's mental conversation was interrupted when a group of seemingly normal humans that arrived with the last group of the rogues she'd been sent here to deal with today and which till now had been milling about at the very edge of the warehouse suddenly rushed her.
Are they suicidal or some- Naru thought, cutting herself off when the body of one of those rushing her suddenly swelled unnaturally just as Kurama's tendrils began reaching towards her. The blonde woman's body expanded grotesquely like she was some kind of balloon, ripping her clothes in the process before abruptly exploding in a shower of gore. A bloody explosion from which emerged a single giant wasp the size of a tiger. And even more disgustingly, the woman was only the first as all the rest of the seemingly suicidal humans' bodies burst open one by one to release even more of the massively oversized wasps.
Okay… That's new. Totally didn't expect that. Kurama commented as not letting his clear surprise hamper him, he smoothly redirected the chakra tendrils under his control to attack the monstrous wasps.
Ew, ew, ew, ew! Naru blanched in disgust at the sudden bug attack! While she was used to anything that involved killing, bugs were just plain gross! Naru had seen a hentai related to this! Only Shu-chan and Arisa-chan can do that to her!
Gross but agile and fast. Kurama retorted whilst, despite putting in his best effort, the wasps managed to evade his attempts to ensnare them within the grasp of his tendrils. The most he had accomplished was managing to keep the giant insects back and far away from Naru.
That did not mean however that they were unable to attack her. As, much to her shock, the wasps' abdomens began glowing with an unnatural green light and electricity of the same color began arcing along their stingers. Lightning that the giant bugs began shooting at her.
Huh? This flavor… It's magic… Since when could bugs use magic? Kurama asked in surprise even as the apparently magical lightning grounded itself harmlessly against the chakra cloak that surrounded Naru.
Your guess is as good as mine. Naru replied, just as thrown by the development.
Anyways, I think I'm going to need to start using jutsu now. That okay with you?
Please do not call my moves jutsu, that's just distasteful.
Who said anything about using your moves, Naru? Kurama scoffed. I'll have you know I have plenty of techniques all my own. Like this one! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!
At his invocation, a portion of the chakra that made up the tendrils under his control were transformed into fire and was unleashed as continuous streams of blistering red fire that sprayed from the tips of said tendrils. Fire that the now flamethrower tipped tentacles tracked across the air of the warehouse, incinerating every last one of the uber gross giant wasps.
Good news, I think you got them.
Duh.
Bad news, we have to put the fire out.
Tch! Like that's a problem. Kurama replied with a roll of his eyes. Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)!
In response to his latest invocation, the flames that had previously been shooting out of the various chakra tendrils were replaced by jets of water that shot forth and smothered the blaze that had threatened to consume the warehouse.
Alright, good work. Sadly, we let the objective get away! She scolded her inner demon. Her foot thumped the ground like an irate rabbit. Now we have to go hunt them down. There goes the whole night!
Well, not all of them. Kurama reminded her as he used the tendrils under his control to pull the one scientist that he'd pinned under the severed upper body of one of the Tyrants he'd dismembered earlier over.
The man looked like a mess. Being crushed under what must've been a very heavy bioweapon full of unnaturally dense muscle and bone would do that to a person. Especially a frail scientist that had probably never endured anything resembling true physical hardship before. But he was still breathing and that's what mattered. So long as he was, she could get him fixed up enough to answer the questions she had.
Like who, how and why was someone mixing science and magic in the form of bioweapons? 'Cos Naru was fairly certain those wasps were exactly that, a fusion of the usually diametrically opposed arts all wrapped up in twisted travesties of nature. She was hoping this man would give her the answers, or even just leads to the answers, for these questions, but even if he couldn't… Well, she could probably spin tonight's failure as a still open case. After all, she wasn't about to let Kurama getting too caught up in having fun ruin her spotless mission record.
Hey! It's not all my fault! If you were so worried about your mission record maybe you should've done something to make sure you accomplished it instead of just standing there and doing nothing?
Despite the scathingly accurate point he made, Naru beautifully ignored her partner with the ease of long practice. Instead, she turned her attention to her sole catch for the night.
"Hello there, friend." Naru squatted down, looking at him with a row of sharp teeth. "You'll tell me everything I want to know, won't you?"
If the poor man was awake, he'd have shat himself. As it was, he was blissfully unconscious and would not become aware of the terrible fate that awaited him for many hours yet.
The afternoon of the day after Naru's run-in with the magical giant wasps, Ruiko sat on the couch of her bookshelf lined study and used her emulated electromastery to remotely access the bank of computers that lined one wall of the expansive room that served as her home office. Having just returned from school and checking in on Janie and Febrie, she had settled down as she did every afternoon to review the latest intelligence that her network of informants and the programs she'd set up to monitor the City's digital networks had acquired.
The sheer amount of information that she had to sort through was overwhelming even for her and even as she flagged item after item of interest for further follow-up, she was certain that things were slipping under her notice. She just hoped that none of those things were overly important and that they were picked up by the team of analysts that she'd had Maniple hire to assist her.
I can see why intelligence agencies have hundreds of analysts in their employ. Ruiko mused idly with her primary stream of consciousness as a good chunk of the remainder continued with the task at hand. I have computational capability surpassing most supercomputers and even I find sorting through all this data overwhelming.
It was for this reason, and the bitter lessons of the Mercenary Terrorist Incident and other intelligence failings on her part, that had prompted her to finally bow to the inevitable and hire people to help her. Her past failings would never happen again. Ruiko refused to allow it.
The Number 3 was brought out from her dark musings by a series of long, small knocks on her door. Checking the camera in the hallway, she was pleasantly surprised to find the source of the knocking to be her cute twins Janie and Febrie. The former of which continued knocking whilst the latter held a tray with a steaming cup secured on it.
Smiling, she stood and walked over to open the door.
"Hello girls."
"Mama!" They two blonde Chemicaloids said in adorable stereo as Febrie carefully padded forward with the tray.
"We got you tea!" Janie said proudly. Febrile nodded eagerly, her ahoge bouncing cutely.
"Oh? Who made it?" She asked curiously, with a hint of caution. While she loved her girls, the twins' and Order-chan's cooking skills could be downright lethal. Only Naru-chan was able to eat their 'treats' and not pass out.
"Shinobu." Febrie chirped and Ruiko's tension bled away.
Reaching for it, she took it graciously and took a sip. A little bitter, but it certainly helped the Level 5 perk up. "Mm, thank you girls. It's just what Mama wanted."
Their happy giggles at the thank you warmed Ruiko far more than the tea could. She was really lucky to have them.
"So, so, what is Mama doing?" Janie asked curiously, peeping into Ruiko's study to try to discern the answer to her question.
"Secret secret stuff?!" Febrie guessed.
"Sorry to disappoint, girls," Ruiko said, shaking her head in amusement at her youngest daughters' vivid imaginations. "But I'm just reviewing the latest intel."
"So I was right!" Febrie cheered victoriously. "It's secret secret stuff."
"Uh, not really. Sure, most of it isn't common knowledge-"
"So it's a secret, right?" Janie asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"I suppose?" Ruiko conceded in an unsure tone.
"Then it is secret secret stuff." Febrile nodded, looking smug. Ah, it was a look Naru-chan would have when correct! Why did she teach the look to her girls?!
"Un. Un." Janie said, nodding in agreement with her twin. At least Janie was still mostly free of Naru-chan's influence. Her middle daughter had somehow proved able to maintain her innocence despite the corrupting power of Ruiko's blonde best friend.
"We won't disturb Mama then! Not when she has secret secret stuff to do! Come on, Janie! We can go ask Shinobu for help with our homework instead." Febrie said suddenly as without even waiting to give Ruiko a chance to process what she'd said, she turned and ran off.
"Okay!" Janie said as with a nod, she raced after her twin but looked over her shoulder to address Ruiko as she did. "Enjoy your tea, Mama! Play with us later?"
"Definitely," Ruiko promised as she waved at her departing daughters. "And don't run in the house!"
"Sorry Mama~! Won't do it again, Mama~!" The twins chorused insincerely as they disappeared down the stairs, causing Ruiko to shake her head in exasperation at them.
"Those liars," Ruiko said with a smile that belied her harsh words as clutching the cup of tea her youngest daughters had lovingly brought for her, she stepped back into her study and using some telekinesis to close the door behind her, she got back to work.
If she wanted to have time to play with the twins, and Order-chan when she came by for her daily playdate with the twins, later, she'd have to get the daily intel review done ASAP. With this goal in mind, she dove back into the task of looking over the intel with renewed determination as she idly sipped from her tea.
It took another twenty minutes and an empty mug of tea before she was done and she was going over the items she'd flagged for the day, sorting out which she'd assign to her team of analysts to follow up on and which she'd do so personally when one of them caught her eye.
Another former Parasol scientist has suddenly disappeared? Ruiko thought with a frown. That's the fifth one this week!
It was beyond suspicious, beyond the pattern itself, of course. Like with the previous four cases there didn't immediately appear to be foul play. Like all the others, the latest man had just vanished.
With their skill in the biological sciences they were prize assets in the Dark Side and many had secured employment in various outfits, however she'd managed to keep track of most of them. Though she admits, not all of them. But this many of them dropping off the grid and in such a short time was an undeniable pattern. They hadn't been disappearing with such regularity until now, not since Parasol first collapsed and they were gobbled up like the hot commodities they were.
With Naru-chan's recent run-in with a few lingering Tyrants, something had to be going on with them. Someone had to be either tying up loose ends or perhaps even reforming Parasol's team?
I need to speak to the others. We need to get to the bottom of this. Ruiko decided as she began sending out messages to Mikoto-senpai, Naru-chan, Kazari and Kuroko-chan to meet with her at the 177th Judgment Branch tomorrow to discuss something important.
Why tomorrow? Especially in light of the potentially nightmarish scenario of someone reforming Parasol? Well, potential horror show or not, Ruiko had her priorities. And her promise to play with her daughters trumped worrying about such things any day. She was a mother after all.
"Hi Ruiko, Naru, Kazari-chan," Mikoto greeted her three friends as she allowed Kuroko to lead her into the comfy rest area in the 177th Judgment Branch office where they were gathered.
"Hi Mikoto-senpai." "Yo, Senpai!" "Good afternoon, Mikoto-san." Her three friends returned in turn as Mikoto and Kuroko took their seats.
"Thanks, Kazari-chan." Mikoto said, offering the computing genius a smile as she accepted the cup of tea that the other girl had poured from the service that had been laid out for the occasion on the coffee table that separated the two couches they were all seated on.
Judging by the fancy way it was all laid out and the opened carrier containing snacks from a bakery in the School Garden, she'd bet good money Ruiko had arranged their refreshments. It could've been Naru, she could be as ojousama about these kinds of things too when she wanted to be, but with Ruiko going all in about being a high society lady now, it was more likely to be her. Besides, she was fairly sure the particular bakery that today's snacks came from was the Number 3's favorite.
"Okay, everyone's here, Rui-chan." Naru said as she finished gulping down a macaroon in a very unladylike manner. "What did you call us together for?"
Instead of replying immediately like Mikoto expected, Ruiko, to her surprise, shot her a look instead.
"Ruiko-san, what's with the look?" Kuroko asked rather unnecessarily on Mikoto's behalf as she herself simply put down her cup and nodded. She knew her fellow Level 5 well enough to know the meaning behind that look. What she wanted to say would upset her and she was asking for permission before proceeding.
She's considerate that way. Mikoto couldn't help but think fondly even as she mentally prepared herself for whatever bombshell the Trinity's intel chief was about to drop on her.
"Just giving Mikoto-senpai fair warning." Ruiko explained to Kuroko, causing both Mikoto's roommate and Kazari-chan to let out worried hisses at what she was about to say.
"Ruiko-san, is it that bad?" Kazari-chan asked, glancing at Mikoto with concern.
"It can't be," Naru said, waving a hand dismissively. "If it was, Rui-chan wouldn't have arranged to meet up with us a whole day after she found out whatever she did. She even waited for the school day to be over before meeting up. That said, it'll be triggering to Mikoto-senpai… So, it's about that?"
Ruiko nodded and Mikoto shot Naru a questioning look.
The blonde shrugged. "My last job gave me a clue as to what Rui-chan wants to talk about."
"I see," Mikoto said with a nod, accepting the explanation at face value even if she was sure her two fellow Level 5s probably had secretly shared information beforehand. It wouldn't be the first time. The two did love to keep secrets from her at times. Be it minor or even major unless they felt the need to avoid sharing, they'd keep it to her chest. It was like a game to them. She trusted them to not keep anything truly important from her though and that was frankly all that mattered.
"Enough beating around the bush already," Kuroko said with an annoyed huff. "Onee-sama is ready. So what have you discovered, Ruiko-san?"
"Someone seems to be rebuilding Parasol's research team," Ruiko said, her words sending a stake through Mikoto's heart and causing her to flinch back into the back of the couch in horrified shock.
Why? Why would someone even think to revive something as terrible as Parasol!?
"So it wasn't just the group from the other day?" Naru asked with a frown. "The one guy we captured didn't mention that other former Parasol scientists outside of the group I was sent to apprehend were thinking of defecting."
"I highly doubt he would. They were like rats fleeing the sinking ship. It was every scientist for themselves." Kuroko said with a frown.
"That and its basic operational security to not let one cell know what another is doing wherever possible." Ruiko added.
"Mikoto-san, are you alright?" Kazari-chan asked as she looked at Mikoto with worry.
"I-I don't know what to think to be honest." Mikoto said honestly, trying to push back all the dark twisted thoughts of that filthy company into the back of her mind. "Ruiko, are you sure?"
"I can't be a hundred percent sure, there isn't enough data, but several prominent former Parasol scientists have disappeared lately." Ruiko informed them, looking as serious as she could. "There's been six this week alone. And that's discounting the dozen or so who have left their employers recently under less suspicious circumstances. They could be being hunted down but-"
"Nah." Naru said with a shake of her head. "If they were, they'd be a lot more urgent in their behavior. I'd bet good money on someone recruiting them en masse like you said."
"To bring back Parasol!?"
"Or some form of it," Ruiko said with a nod.
"Maybe they're only trying to revive the legitimate pharmaceutical arm?" Kazari-chan suggested hopefully. A hope that Mikoto also shared.
"No, that was spun off into its own company when Parasol was liquidated. There's no need to rebuild anything there." Kuroko said with a shake of her head. "And if Ruiko-san, of all people, is the first to notice these disappearances then I'd bet the researchers we're talking about are Dark Siders?"
"We don't generally call anyone except agents that, but yeah, if Rui-chan brought them up then they're scientists linked to the Dark Side." Naru said with a frown. "Right?"
Ruiko nodded, crushing the faint glimmer of hope that Mikoto had felt.
"I have a question though, Rui-chan." Naru asked as Mikoto struggled to come to terms with the fact that the vile Parasol seemed to be on the road to a revival. The mere thought had her hands shaking, and she sat on them so no one saw. "Is whoever is recruiting these ex-Parasol scientists either a Magician or is working with one?"
"Insufficient data," Ruiko said with a shrug even as Kuroko put a comforting arm over Mikoto's shoulder and Kazari-chan rushed off towards where she knew the 177th kept its first aid kit. "That is one of the reasons why I didn't call for a meeting on this matter immediately. I needed more time to figure out what was going on. I take it you're asking because of those magical giant wasps that you encountered when you tried to corral the last batch of defectors?"
"Um, where's Kazari-chan going?" Mikoto couldn't help but ask, more out of a desperate bid to distract herself from the dark thoughts about how she'd failed her sisters in not being thorough in her eradication of Parasol than genuine curiosity.
"She went to get some Calmnex," Naru said with a shrug as she refilled Mikoto's teacup with some fresh tea. "We're gonna add it to your tea and you're going to drink it so we can have this conversation without you freaking out."
"I've better self-control than that." Mikoto sniped as Kazari-chan returned with a bottle of the calm inducing drug that she passed to Naru.
"Thanks, Kazari-chan." Naru said absently as she poured a sliver of the drug, that Judgment usually used to calm belligerent suspects and panicking civilians during the course of their law enforcement duties, into her tea.
She'd barely finished stirring it in and pulled the stirrer out of the way when the teacup and its saucer floated into the air via Ruiko's emulated telekinesis and into Mikoto's hands.
"Drink," the [AIM Sovereign] ordered with all the imperious authority implied by her moniker.
Despite frowning at being babied like this, Mikoto dutifully obeyed, drinking her laced tea and let the City developed drug calm her fraught emotions.
"You can have all the self control you want, but we all have triggers, Senpai. I do, Rui-chan does. It's not a weakness." Naru chided her as if she was the senpai.
"Really wish Calmnex worked on me," Ruiko said with a sigh. "You're lucky, you know that, Senpai?"
"It doesn't?" Mikoto asked, looking at the Number 3 curiously.
"Nope." Naru answered instead. "It doesn't work on me either, at least not well. My brain chemistry is just different enough that its effect on me is pretty weak. For Rui-chan, I'm thinking since she does most of her thinking in her AIM body, altering her brain chemistry with drugs just doesn't help."
"Naru-chan really knows me well, huh?" Ruiko smirked.
"Of course. But now I have a proposal!" Naru raised her hand, getting all their attention.
"Yes?" Kuroko asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"I suggest we have one big group hug for Senpai." The blonde declared with as much seriousness as she took sweets. "Once she finishes her tea of course."
"Agreed!" Kuroko readily agreed, making Mikoto roll her eyes.
"I think it's a good idea!" Kazari-chan added encouragingly.
Ruiko just looked at Mikoto's teacup meaningfully.
Bowing to the inevitable, Mikoto down the rest of her drugged tea in one gulp and put her cup down before spreading her arms invitingly.
"Cuddle Attack!" Naru declared, using Move Point to land in Mikoto's lap, hugging her tightly around the neck.
"Ah, Naru-san, you cheater!" Kuroko whined and teleported to Mikoto's left, hugging her arm. And, as per Kuroko, rubbing herself against it.
Kazari-chan giggled and took her right arm while Ruiko shook her head and sandwiched Naru between the two of them.
Mikoto wouldn't lie, she closed her eyes and took in the warmth of her best friends. She was thankful for them. She was one lucky ojou-sama.
All good things must come to an end though and after a couple of minutes, Mikoto was feeling a little crushed so she gently began pushing her friends off her and they all started backing off. Even the clingy Kuroko taking the hint, for once, and teleporting back to her former seat.
"Okay, back on topic." Mikoto said once everyone finally pulled away from the group hug. "Naru, you were tasked with capturing at least one group of the Parasol scientists, right? Did you get them?"
"I only caught one of them at the scene." Naru said with a shake of her head. "My subordinate organizations are hunting down the remainder. They'd managed to nab a few more by this morning before school, but I haven't checked in with them since."
"Give Kurozuma-san a call, Naru." Ruiko advised. "Getting an update would probably ease Senpai's mind a little."
"Good idea!" Naru chirped as she pulled out her phone and put it on the coffee table, set it on speaker and called the Trinity's runner.
The phone only rang twice before the call connected and they heard Kurozuma-san's relieved voice.
"Good timing, Blondie-jouchan! We could use a little help here!"
Everyone shot Ruiko a look at this. With her constant access to the City's omnipresent surveillance systems and her having suggested the call, it was almost as if she'd set this all up. Amazingly though, she just shook her head.
"Ran into trouble chasing a bunch of scientists, Kurozuma-san? And with a whole Maniple squad as backup? Do you need a pay cu-"
Naru's chiding was cut short when Ruiko suddenly frowned and talked over her. "Kurozuma-san, is that a giant flaming spider you're fighting?"
Everyone shot the Number 3 alarmed looks at that bit of news. A giant flaming spider!? What the hell!?
"Yeah, it is, Stoic-jouchan! We were tailing the scientist Blondie-jouchan sent us after just fine until some weird bug lady showed up and just summoned, no other word for it, the damned fireball spitting thing out of nowhere! So you little ladies gonna help us or not? 'Cos if not, we're about to get the hell out of here. This thing is too much for us."
"Magician," Kuroko hissed in understanding even as Naru jumped to her feet.
"We're on the way!" The blonde declared as picked up her phone. "Hang in there a little longer. Naru out!"
Cutting the call, she slipped her phone into her skirt pocket and looked at everyone expectantly.
"I'm coming." Mikoto said immediately, with Kuroko nodding in agreement.
"Kazari-chan? Rui-chan?"
"I'll get my drones ready." The [Drone Queen] said as she hurried to her workstation to do just that.
Ruiko though just frowned and shook her head. "Something feels off about all this. I'll look into it and join you once I've figured it out."
"Alright, fine." Naru said with a frown before turning to Mikoto and Kuroko. "But you two follow my lead, we don't know what sect this Magician is in. So let me take the lead. I have experience with this kind of situation."
"Right."
"Good, then let's go!"
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Oh wow, that start was certainly fun. The actual mixing of science and magic happens more down the line in the series, but since we set it up this way? It just felt like this was something someone in AC would end up doing. Yes, we have a mini-Beelzebub in the house!
Nameless: Nuh-uh! It's a fem!mini-Beelzebub. Gotta be accurate about these things, dontcha know? XD
And with the horror out of the way, we have our slice of life fluff with a dash of target capture! Naru really shouldn't have let Kurama have his fun, but we enjoyed it and so did he! Good thing Naru can spin-doctor with the best of them.
Nameless: I especially like how we interspersed slice of life moments throughout this chapter. It made things feel more real. In particular, I enjoyed the phone conversation Naru had before she busted into that warehouse. Not only did we manage to make the world feel lived in like we intended, we also managed to address a number of plot threads through that one conversation. Another notable bit was the conversation in the last scene, especially the early parts before the big reveal. It showed how chill Mikoto was with some of the stranger aspects about her friends and their friendship. I thought that was a nice touch.
And I like how they all knew she was having a panic attack from the potential revival of the company of her nightmares and did the best they could for her. Really shows how the Trinity are a close knit team/sisterhood.
Nameless: Yup and as for our OG drug, Calmnex. Did you think AC wouldn't have something like that? Or equip their law enforcement with it? Yeah, it's unethical to just drug people with it but since when does the City care about ethics?
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!