Welcome everyone to Chapter II of A Certain Scientific Enigma! I forgot to add notes in the first chapter so I'll do that now. Firstly I've had the idea for this fanfic for like three years. In fact the first chapter has just been sitting in a google doc for that long and I just now got the motivation to post and continue this story. This is my first time ever writing a story like this so if there is anything I can do to improve my writing or if the pacing feels off please write a review so I can make this story even better. Updates for this story will be weekly at the latest and if there is any reason for updates to be longer than that I will update the latest chapter with a note of when to expect the next chapter. As for the contents of this story, it will follow the canon of the actual series but some events will be altered or removed, but the overarching plot will end in the same place. Additionally with the introduction of my OC Zenith there will be additional plot points related to her that will move the larger plot forward. As for Zenith herself she is extremely OP as you will see in the next couple chapters, I understand overpowered MCs are not everyone's favorite thing but I still think you will find her to be an enjoyable MC. Finally I will be toning down Kuroko's antics just because I can't be bothered to write all of that. I hope you all can understand. With all that out of the way, enjoy Chapter II!
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Chapter II: Monster – Demon_Of_Tokiwadai.
The day started out as usual for Misaka. Wake up in her dorm, shock Shirai off of her, put her uniform on as is required by Tokiwadai, and head to the cafeteria to get breakfast. After finishing breakfast she decided to go out shopping for a few things, mainly Gekota accessories.
As she was walking down the streets of Academy City she noticed a familiar head of spiky black hair, it was the same boy that ran into her the other day and didn't even apologize. Her blood began to boil as she watched him walk down the street like he was depressed or something. The boy must have noticed the malice coming off of her because the boy slowly turned around and as soon as he saw her his face paled and he booked it into an alley to try and lose her as Misaka began to chase the poor boy. Eventually she caught up to him when he ran into a dead end.
"Such misfortune." The boy sighed in an exasperation of defeat at being caught.
"Finally, I've got you now! Don't think you will get away this time!" Misaka said with a wide grin on her face. She began to charge electricity around herself preparing to attack.
"Wait! Don't you think you're taking this too far?!
"This is what you get for knocking me over and not apologizing!" Misaka yelled at the boy as she sent a bolt of electricity at him. But what happened next surprised her.
The boy stuck his right hand out, and accompanied by the sound of breaking glass her lightning spear disappeared as soon as it hit his hand. Misaka stood still and wide eyed in shock. The Spiky haired boy took the opportunity to run past her and leave the alley.
After a minute Misaka also left the alley and was currently looking up at the sky wondering about what just happened.
"What did he do, it was like he just negated my ability. Who is that boy?" She thought to herself. She then heard someone calling out to her.
"Misaka!" She looked to her right and noticed Saten and Uiharu approaching her.
"Oh, hi Saten, Uiharu. What are you guys up to?"
"Nothing much, we were just walking around when we ran into you." Saten replied.
"Hey Misaka, Can we go see what the dorms are like at Tokiwadai!" Uiharu blurted out.
"Huh, I guess. But I don't see why you would be so excited over it."
"Tokiwadai is one of the most prestigious schools in Academy City so the dorms must be absolutely amazing!" She said excitedly.
"Alright, follow me and I'll show you guys mine and Kuroko's dorm.
"Kuroko i'm back." Misaka said as she opened the door to their dorm room.
"SISSY!" Shirai yelled as she leapt through the air to land on Misaka only to receive a shock in retaliation.
"Don't just jump on me when I open the door you pervert, and besides I brought our friends over." She said moving into the room so Saten and Uiharu could enter as well.
"Oh, I see. Did you bring them over for anything specific?" Shirai asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Not really, Uiharu just really wanted to see what our dorms are like."
"Wow, Your room is so nice. Everything is so organized and well decorated, I'm so jealous." Uiharu exclaimed with wide eyes.
"It isn't really anything that special, we just like to keep the room organized." Shirai responded.
"Misaka, if you and Shirai share a room then what about Stryker?" Saten asked with a finger to her lip.
"Oh, She lives in the dorm right next to ours." Misaka replied, pointing to the wall that her bed was up against. "She doesn't have a roommate so she has an entire room to herself."
"Not that you can really call it a room." She thought to herself with an awkward smile on her face.
"Does she not have a roommate because of the rumors about her?" Saten asked.
"Yeah, but it worked out because she didn't want a roommate in the first place. Misaka stated.
"Umm, sorry for asking but what rumors are associated with her? I'm not really up to date on Academy City's rumors like Saten is." Uiharu asked shyly.
"Uh, well the rumors say that she was involved in an incident where she attacked some researchers and destroyed a research facility around about 3 months ago." Misaka said quietly.
At this revelation Uiharu gasped "How could people say those things and claim that she was responsible." Uiharu asked with a hint of anger at the people that say such things.
"Well they say that she is the only person with an ability that could deal that kind of damage. But since there was no concrete proof against her nothing happened and it just stayed as a rumor." Misaka elaborated. Of course she knew what really happened but she would keep it a secret at any cost.
"Speaking of Stryker, what is she doing now?" Saten asked.
"She is in her room right now, probably resting. She tends to be really lazy on our days off, only really leaving her room if she's bored and needs some "entertainment" as she likes to call it." Misaka answered with a bit of a smile.
"I don't understand how she can be so lazy, school is a joke for her and she barely does anything outside of school unless she is with you Sissy." Shirai stated with her arms crossed.
"Well then Kuroko why don't you go and see if she would like to join us." Misaka said with a smirk on her face.
"Are you serious! You want ME to try and wake HER up! Just peaking into her room throws my senses into disarray and makes my head hurt, and forget about what will happen to me if she gets upset that I was the one who woke her up. Shirai exclaimed much to the confusion of Saten and Uiharu.
"Uhh, what's so hard about waking Stryker up?" Saten asked with obvious confusion on her face.
"Why don't you see for yourselves." Misaka said to Uiharu and Saten. She stood up and motioned for them to follow her.
She led them to a bare section of the wall that connected their room and Stryker's and pointed to it.
"Stick your heads through the wall." she said like it was a completely normal thing to say.
"But won't that hurt?" Saten and Uiharu said at the same time.
"Don't worry, if you're going to be friends with Zenith you are going to need to get used to these types of things.
"Ok, if you say so." The two girls replied as they moved their heads closer to the wall. They were expecting to hit it but instead were surprised when they passed right through it. As soon as they looked into what was supposed to be Stryker's room they immediately pulled their heads back with enough force that they fell backwards and hit the ground.
"What the hell was that!" They both exclaimed. "I barely even looked and my head feels like it's going to explode, I don't even know what I saw." Saten said while rubbing her head with her hands.
"Well did you guys at least see her?" Misaka asked.
I think I saw her floating somewhere in there, but why is her room even like that?" Uiharu asked while also tending to her head.
"Well first you need to know what her ability is, but that's not for me to tell, you will just have to ask her yourselves when we see her."
"So for her something like that is completely normal?" Uiharu asked, having recovered from the effects of Stryker's "room".
"To be honest I don't even know how she is able to be in there like it's normal. She just tells me that everything seems normal for her."
"Wow, she must be extremely powerful if she can pull something like that off and like what she did the other day to that guy who was robbing that bank." Saten said.
"Yeah she is really strong. I don't even stand a chance against her, think of it like an ant fighting against the pull of a black hole, that is the power difference between Zenith and I. And for why she is only second ranked, it's because there are other factors that contribute to the rankings other than raw strength and she doesn't participate in research on her ability and research is one of the contributing factors to the rankings." she stated. "Finally, as to why she made her room like that, it's because that is where she feels comfortable. She likes being in that world of her own creation where only she truly knows how it works."
"Well with that out of the way I guess I'll go get her then." Misaka said standing up.
"Wait, how are you going to get her Sissy?" Shirai asked
"Oh I guess you haven't seen me go in there yet. Zenith showed me a path to get to her from the entrance here and I can do it with my eyes closed so I don't get affected by the unusual geometry." Misaka said, moving towards the entrance to Zenith's domain. "I'll be back with her in a few minutes and then we can go out and do something." She said moving through the wall.
After watching Misaka pass through the wall Saten spoke up. "Wow, I can't even imagine having that much power, we don't even know what her ability is yet but she already seems all-powerful.
"But even though she has all that power she doesn't seem like someone who possesses a crazy powerful ability." Uiharu added.
"Yeah, Stryker is definitely an interesting person." Shirai finished, looking at the section of wall that served as the entrance to that girl's world.
Misaka was currently walking through the dark and disordered world that was Stryker's dorm room. She had her eyes closed as she walked, carefully following the path Stryker showed her that would lead Misaka to where she rested. Misaka could feel herself walking at weird angles and at times she could have sworn that she was walking upside down and on the sides of walls.
"I'm never going to get used to this," She thought to herself.
"Oh, Mikoto, what are you doing here?" a soft but somehow powerful voice rang out in the paradoxical world. It would appear that Misaka had almost reached her friend before she woke up, either by herself or Misaka's presence woke her up.
"Um, Saten and Uiharu wanted to see our dorm room so I brought them over and we wanted to do something and they wanted to see if you would like to hang out with us today." Misaka said in her usual soft voice.
"..."
"I guess I can hang out. It's not like I'm doing anything and I think I can feel comfortable around them." Zenith thought to herself as she floated over to where Misaka was standing.
"Ok, I'll hang out with you guys. Just give me a minute for me to get my clothes on." She said in front of Misaka.
"I still don't understand why you sleep without any clothes on, doesn't it feel weird?" Misaka asked.
"Not really, I mean this entire space is a part of me so technically you are inside of me right now.." Stryker said bluntly.
"I-in-sside of y-you?! Do you have any idea how that sounds Zenith?! Misaka said stammering and blushing like crazy.
"Oh, I guess it does sound kind of suggestive, but either way I wouldn't mind as long as it's you." Stryker said with a devilish smirk on her face that Misaka couldn't even see.
"You know what, stop teasing me and get me out of here Zenith, I better see you in my room in a few minutes!" Misaka yelled, still blushing from Zenith's comment.
"Ok Ok, I'll teleport you out and I'll be there in a few minutes. She said, waving her hand. And with that Misaka disappeared from the Dominion of the second ranked, Enigma.
*sigh* "well guess I should get ready then"
After finishing her talk with Stryker the next thing she knew she was transported back to her dorm room and heard gasps of surprise from her friends at her sudden appearance. She was finally able to open her eyes and reported back to the others.
"Good news guys, She agreed to come out and hang out. She will be here in a few minutes, she just had to change into her clothes.
"That's great, so Misaka, how was it walking through there?" Saten asked with curiosity evident in her voice.
"U-uhh, i-it was disorienting and… i-interesting." Misaka stammered out, thinking back to how Stryker teased her with what she said and couldn't stop herself from blushing slightly.
"Are you ok Sissy, you look kind of red."
"Huh, yeah I'm fine Kuroko, thanks for your concern."
A moment later Stryker appeared in the middle of the room dressed in her casual outfit with her jacket zipped up.
"Alright I'm here, so what are we gonna do now?" She asked
" Oh I have an idea!" Saten blurted out as she stood up quickly "How about we go to the arcade and have a competition where we play several of the games and whoever out of the five of us places first the most wins.
"That sounds like an interesting idea Saten any objections." Misaka asked as she looked around at the others.
"I'm not really good at video games but I can give it a try." Uiharu said shyly.
"Alright then, it's decided, let's head out." Misaka announced.
With that they all left the room and headed onto the streets towards the arcade.
After about fifteen minutes of walking the group arrived at the arcade and went inside. The arcade looked like any normal arcade with machines grabber games, and other bits of entertainment for students. The group of friends gathered at the entrance to discuss how the competition will go
"Alright so here is the plan. We will play four different games, a shooter game, a sports game, a racing game, and a dance game. Whoever has the most wins at the end will win. Any questions?" Saten explained.
"What if there is a tie?" Stryker asked.
"If there is a tie we will replay the game that the two of us that tied did the worst on. Now let's begin!" Saten replied enthusiastically.
The group first headed to the shooter game and they each would take turns playing the game on the same difficulty.
"I'll go first" Stryker said
She picked up the gun after inserting one of the coins that they picked up at the entrance. The game started and she began shooting the targets with insane accuracy. The others just watched as her score continued to go up eventually the game ended and Stryker put the gun down.
"Wow, you ended up with the highest score for the entire arcade. That is amazing, how did you get so good Stryker?" Shirai asked.
"I've had some practice." Stryker casually replied.
"Well I think we can agree on who will win this game." Misaka declared as the others nodded their heads.
As the group continued to play the games Saten won the dancing game and Misaka won the sports game, which left the last game to determine who would win overall.
"I'm sorry I haven't been putting up that much competition for you guys." Uiharu said solemnly.
"It's alright, as long as we are all having fun together that's all that really matters." Misaka replied
"Yeah, Sissy is right, besides there are things that you are great at that we can't even compare to you like your knowledge with computers." Kuroko said, looking at Uiharu.
"Thanks for that, all of you, so let's finish this competition so we can see who wins."
The last game was the racing game. The machine had a screen and a chair with a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals. They each took their turns racing and in the end the winner was decided.
5th- Uiharu
4th- Saten
3rd- Misaka
2nd- Shirai
1st- Stryker
"It looks like Stryker wins with 2 wins and the rest of us with either 1 win or 0 wins" Saten announces.
"Congratulations Zenith, I didn't know you could drive that well." Misaka asked
"Well it is a lot easier than driving in real life" Stryker stated.
"So now that we are done here, how about we head to the School garden to show you guys around there. I bet you would love to see that. Right Uiharu?" Kuroko suggested to the group.
"Yeah that sounds like fun, you two will definitely enjoy it." Misaka added
"I think I'll pass on that then and just go back to my room." Stryker spoke up softly
MIsaka turned to look at her directly as brown eyes met crimson eyes and it seemed as if they had a silent conversation.
"Fine I guess I can go, but just don't be surprised if anything goes wrong" Stryker spoke up seriously.
"Alright great, we just need to take a bus from here and we should arrive pretty soon." Kuroko said.
As they were walking to the bus stop Stryker was feeling more and more anxious.
"Damn, I rarely ever go there and even though practically all of those girls haven't even left the garden since coming to this city they all still know about the rumors about me and they don't like me one bit... What a drag.
After getting off the bus the five friends made their way to the entrance of the school garden. The entire garden was surrounded by tall brick walls and the gate was metal. It looked like Victorian style architecture. Misaka let security know that Saten and Uiharu were friends of theirs and were visiting for the day. And after being let in, Saten and Uiharu were in awe of the architecture and high class feel the entire garden gave off.
"Amazing! Everything looks so high class and exquisite here!" Uiharu exclaimed with a massive smile on her face and stars in her eyes.
The group shared a quick laugh at Uiharu's expressiveness, and they continued walking through the School Garden. As they approached the main plaza that connected all the different streets Stryker began to feel more and more stares directed at her.
"God damn it! Why is everybody staring at me like I'm some disgusting freak! Stryker's facial expression stayed undescriptive but her inner thoughts were in chaos and there was a hint of fear in her mind as well.
The group decided to take a short break and take a seat on some benches next to an intricate water fountain in the center of the plaza. Stryker, not wanting to be a bother to the others, did not voice her discomfort to her friends and remained silent. The group was sitting on the bench when a group of 3 girls walked up to them, Stryker looked up and acknowledged their presence when they started talking.
"Well well, look who decided to show their face, Demon." The girl who appeared to be the ringleader of the group spoke up. Stryker on the other hand tensed up at her words garnering the attention of Misaka and the others.
The new girl had long straight dark blue hair reaching well below her lower back and had bright blue eyes and wore a uniform of one of the other high profile schools associated with the garden. Misaka spoke up first in response to the new girl's provocations.
"Who do you think you are talking to Zenith like that and what business do you think you have with her?" Misaka said with anger clearly heard in her voice.
"Well well look at this girls, the Ace of Tokiwadai on a first name basis with this monster, doesn't being associated with her hurt your reputation and popularity Railgun?" She said with a terrible smirk on her face.
"As for my name that isn't important, not like you will remember me at all after today. And as for why I am here, I couldn't help but notice you all walking around the garden without a care in the world. I can't stand you level 5's, you all try to act like normal people when in reality you're all crazy monsters. Nobody gets as strong as you guys without doing terrible things, especially that one!" She exclaimed pointed to Stryker.
At the further provocation Stryker who was looking down at the ground the entire time shot her head up glaring with piercing blood red eyes directly at the blue haired girl.
"This girl doesnt know a thing about Mikoto, she's right about me though, I have done terrible things and even more so that I don't regret doing them at all. But Mikoto has lived an honest life and is an amazing role model for how espers including the other level 5s should carry themselves." Stryker thought to herself as she continued to glare at the girl.
"Oh? Did I finally get your attention, Demon of Tokiwadai? I mean what I said and find it abhorrent that you are allowed to just walk around freely like you never did anything terrible." she said with malice in her voice.
"You're really going after her over baseless rumors, that's not fair to her in the slightest!" Saten, who has been quiet since the new girl's arrival, spoke up with Uiharu nodding her head in agreement.
"Fair, you think I should be fair to her? Don't make me laugh, life is the furthest thing from fair. It wasn't fair when the collateral damage from her rampage destroyed my parent's lab resulting in the destruction of all their valuable research that would've made them prominent figures in Academy City. Instead they're stuck at the bottom now with limited resources to continue their research, and that's all because of this monster. Honestly the city should lock you up never to see the light of day again, you don't deserve the life you are living now. You're just a wolf in sheep's clothing acting the part of an innocent school girl when underneath you're just a murderous psychopath!" the girl exclaimed the rage in her voice evident. With all the commotion going on a crowd began to form around the fountain.
Before anyone could say anything else Stryker calmly got up from her seat and everyone was silenced. Misaka's body stiffened and then she gasped when Stryker faced towards the girl and raised her hand up and brought it down vertically like she was slicing something. Everyone around them had nervous faces including the Blue haired girl who took a step back even. But as the seconds went by nothing happened, then laughter erupted from the girl with blood red eyes.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You really are a complete idiot aren't you! You come at me fully believing the rumors about me to be true and still try to pick a fight with me! How poor is your sense of self preservation that you would think doing this is a reasonable idea. If I wanted to, I could've split you in half right here. I'm sorry about your parents and their research and I hope they are the good kind of researchers. But you can't just use me as a scapegoat because it's convenient. You don't know a damn thing about me and I suggest you think twice next time because if all the level 5s are terrible people like you say they are then you'll end up getting yourself killed one day. Stryker said her voice towards the end sounded genuine like she truly hoped the troubled blue haired girl would realize her mistakes and correct her course in life.
"Holy shit, that was close I almost actually attacked her. I need to be more careful, with my ability I can't be this unstable." Stryker thought to herself, she didn't even notice that she was sweating.
"Let's go home girls, I'm done here.." Stryker said her voice now sounded clearly exhausted.
The other four girls all quietly got up from their seats and started following Stryker away from the group of girls when the troubled girl spoke up once more.
"You know, with the way you act, the things you have done, and how hypocritical you are, I wonder what your parents think of you. Oh wait they're dead, and you did nothing to protect them!
Misaka who knew what was about to happen tried to turn around quick enough to reach the girl but she was too slow. The blue haired girl was blown backwards several meters by an invisible force and crashed into a light pole falling down until she hit the ground with a thud and was knocked unconscious. The crowd looked in shock at what just happened, everyone turned towards Stryker and what they saw shocked them. She had six black and red tendrils coming out of her back and the air around them seemed to be stuttering like a glitch. Before any of the onlookers could say anything they all froze in place except for Misaka and Stryker and their eyes became glazed over and were replaced by starry pupils. Then a voice spoke up.
"My my, you and Misaka can cause quite the mess when the two of you are together. Standing in the plaza was a well endowed girl with honey colored hair and starry eyes wearing the Tokiwadai uniform with a purse hanging across her chest. She proceeded to approach the only two girls who were currently conscious.
"What did I tell you about using your ability on my friends Shokuhou? Misaka asked with an annoyed look on her face and her arms crossed.
" I know Misaka but don't you think this is an extremely delicate situation that warrants such action? The girl now known as Shokuhou replied.
"Anyway I suspect you have already taken care of the cameras then?" Shokuhou asked and Misaka nodded in response. "Good, I have my clique locking down the area currently so we can deal with the current issue." Shokuhou said with a serious face. With that they both turned to Stryker who has been looking at them this entire time the tendrils having disappeared from her back.
"Are you calmer now Zenith, how are you feeling?" Misaka asked the red eyed girl.
"I'm fine now… I just couldn't hold myself back anymore. I tried so hard to keep calm but she just didn't know when to shut up, and I just lashed out at her." She said with downcast eyes and a quiet voice while her body shook slightly.
"Well, considering you didn't straight up kill her you were clearly holding yourself back quite a bit." Shokuhou said bluntly while Misaka approached Stryker and grabbed her by the shoulder to try to comfort her.
"All of you should head back to the dorms now. I'll deal with the clean up here, nobody will remember this incident and with Misaka dealing with the cameras this event never happened. But what would you like me to do about your friends?" Shokuhou asked, looking at Misaka and Stryker. Before Misaka could say anything, Stryker spoke up.
"Don't alter their memories, I owe it to them to explain things to them. Especially if they are to be around me a lot they need to know about me." She said calmly
"I won't tell them everything about me, just that something related to the rumors about me did actually happen and I'll tell them about my ability. Maybe one day I'll tell them the full story but I can't do that now, and if they resent me afterwards then I am willing to accept that outcome." She said with a sad tone.
"Well best of luck to you then, but you guys really should leave before anyone outside realizes that something is wrong." Replied Shokuhou.
"Alright I'll teleport us to your dorm, ok Mikoto?" Stryker asked.
"Sounds good, thanks for your assistance Shokuhou." Misaka said acknowledging the effort of the 5th ranked Level 5 who she has mixed opinions about.
"Ok I'll teleport us out now." Stryker said before Misaka and the other three disappeared from the plaza instantly leaving only her and Shokuhou still present. She then turned to Shokuhou.
"Thank you for everything Shokuhou, I really owe you one." She said with a small smile on her face.
"Don't mention it, it's the least I can do for you all things considered, and remember my offer still stands if you ever consider it." Shokuhou replied with a serious expression. At this remark Stryker's body stiffened slightly.
"I haven't forgotten your offer but I'm not ready for that. The thought of being vulnerable like that again terrifies me even though I completely trust you. She said with a troubled look in her eyes. She knew what Shokuhou was offering her, but the thought of lowering her defenses for even a split second to allow Shokuhou the time to do her thing absolutely terrified her. Her ability is what keeps her safe but at the same time is what puts her in danger at the same time. In Stryker's eyes her ability is a blessing and a curse. And she is convinced that that split second would be enough for her to be taken advantage of again by people like from before.
"Alright then, but let me know if you ever change your mind, that power of yours is truly troublesome, but of all people it's a good thing you're the one who has it… Well see you around Stryker i'll clean up this mess, make sure you take care of yourself. Shokuhou said, turning around to deal with the clean up of today's incident.
"Thank you Shokuhou, see you around." Stryker replied before teleporting, leaving only a temporarily glitchy space where she was previously standing.
—-
Shokuhou now stood over the unconscious girl who was tormenting Stryker. She already used her ability to get all the bystanders to return to their normal routine from before the incident. Now the unconscious girl and Shokuhou were the only ones left in the plaza. Shokuhou bent down to take a closer look at the girl and noticed something coming out of her skirt pocket and went to grab it.
"Huh? A music player with earbuds, interesting. Shokuhou then pulled out one of her remotes from the purse she always carries and pointing at the unconscious girl she pressed some buttons to look into her memories.
"So this thing is called a level upper? Or more specifically one of the songs is this "level upper". A way to increase one's ability level passively by just listening to the music. Shokuhou said with amusement.
"What a joke, are low level espers so desperate that they will resort to baselese nonsense to try to increase their ability… But what if it does work? She only found out about this "level upper" a few days ago so maybe it hasn't taken effect yet. It's probably nothing but I'll have Knockleben look into it. She said with an amused expression on her face while sending a text to an informant of hers.
"Well then time to take care of you then, I suppose I can make it seem like you were in a car accident, that would explain the fractured ribs." Shokuhou said before pointing her remote at the unconscious girl again and altering her memories of today's events and arranging for her transport to a certain hospital.
"Seriously, that girl is too strong."
—-
Back at Misaka's dorm room all 5 girls appeared in the room, the silence was hanging thick. After a few seconds Saten spoke up.
"Sooo, what the hell just happened? The last thing I remember is Stryker blasting that girl backwards and those weird tendrils appearing out of her back and then the next thing I know we are all here in Misaka and Shirai's dorm room." She asked with confusion In her voice, Uiharu and Shirai both looked equally confused and nodded their heads in agreement with Saten. All three of them then turned toward Misaka and Stryker and the girl with blood red eyes spoke up.
"Well, I guess I have some explaining to do…"
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