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Episode 6

OP Song:

Theme of the Week #8 - Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Main Theme

Insert Song: Start

Steins;Gate 0 Ending Full『Last Game By Zwei』

Universe: DCMK Universe-Prime

Gilead Solomon Burgundy was waiting with the virtue of patience amidst heavy concerns and responsibilities.

Gilead was standing in a giant circumference, wearing what appeared to be a gray gakuran uniform fully buttoned, underneath was a white shirt with the blue-colored words "Dominus pascit me, et nihil mihi deerit." and a Chi-Rho symbol under it, gray pants, grey socks, and white uwabaki slippers with blue stripes near the soles. His student ID is pinned on the left side of his shirt.

Somewhere deep inside the headquarters of the San Francisco Branch, there was a place called the Gate. It was a large overarching hallway that was littered with Biblical Hebrew. There were seven pillars from the sides of a circumferential wall which symbolized a perfect biblical number. This place was one of many - Gates - that are used to transport the members of the Holy Order from all around the world. It can also be used to travel through realms of the unknown, dimensions of high and low, and time streams that were out of sync with the norm.

And now, the purpose of this place was for Gilead to enter through the darkness that is the lion's den - Heavenly Host. But he was currently waiting for someone to arrive.

"Hey, kid. Heard you got promoted to elite knighthood."

Gilead would look to his back and smile. There were a couple of knights wearing holy silver armor and helmets that had a slit-edge cross visor. There were four silver Saint Benedict Medals seen adorning their shoulders along with the Chi-Rho emblem found in their torso. By their rank, they were the Knight-Crusaders.

There was a tall, muscular, and bulky figure accompanying them. His skin was red, yellow eyes, a beard seen on the sides of his face, a goatee on his chin, and a red long tail seen on his back. He had the overall appearance of a red-skinned ape-like man. His horns were filed off, leaving behind circular stumps on his forehead that resemble goggles, He wears a grey-black trenchcoat, with a logo found on the shoulder that depicts a hand carrying a sword contained in a circumference and the words "B.P.R.D", a black shirt that has the same circumferential logo and acronym printed. He wore large black boots on his cloven hooves. One prominent feature about him was that of his oversized right hand which is made of stone.

Most people would call him Hellboy, an Agent of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.), founded in the early 1940s, was an international organization charged with protecting the world from the threats of the occult, paranormal, and supernatural. Unlike the Holy Order of the Covenant, the BPRD was more known to the general public, mostly due to Hellboy, who had been a known anomalous existence since the 50s and had been granted honorary status in the United Nations. He is also identified as the "World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator".

Hellboy was just smiling casually, seeing the young man whom he knew way back when the kid was young and not yet a Knight-Paladin Commander.

"Yeah, Uncle Red, I guess so," Gilead shrugged his shoulders while calling Hellboy by a nickname. Then, his smile turns to a serious look. "Though I'm guessing you aren't here to just pay a visit."

"No, Walls contacted me personally, says you got assigned to your first mission as Elite-Knight Paladin and are going on a trip to some nexus hellhole after getting a visionary feedback from a semi-ghost girl in white."

"Pretty much, yeah," Gilead nodded. "Walls told me before he went to Rome that he was gonna call for some people to accompany me on this mission. I figured one of them was probably you. Though..." He glanced around. "...You didn't bring anybody else in the BPRD?"

"Nah, the BPRD is pretty stretched thin lately. We've got weird paranormal stuff going on worldwide ever since something screwy's been happening with time. That ain't the worst of it though..." Hellboy's face turns grim. "...Something's been spooking and rumbling the ones in charge downstairs."

Hellboy was referring to a category of powerful beings known in this world and other worlds, most of them of nefarious and dark origins, each of them having controllable mastery or nigh capability of ruling a specific infernal and underworldly dimension of their own, with the names "Hell", "Underworld", "Inferno", and other terms that they like to call it. Many of them are known to carry the common titles of "Satan" or "Devil", a single absolute overlord of all evil, as a way to manipulate mortals, or claim themselves to be such a being due to pride and hubris, or merely stating those titles as a matter of fact to denote their status as beings who had amass enough power to rule the rest of their respective infernal and underworldly dimension, defined and described categorically as the Arch-Dimensions of Hell.

Gilead spoke with a grim tone. "It was only a matter of time anyway..."

"Yeah, a matter of time... Something we don't have..."

Both Hellboy and Gilead would turn to look at someone who was arriving and speaking to them.

It was a tall man with long black hair and a facial beard, hazel eyes, wearing a dark hat, dark combat trenchcoat, and dark boots. Most people knew him as Gabriel van Helsing, a monster hunter under the secret direct employ of the Vatican and occasionally works with the Holy Order of the Covenant. But there is something else that most people do not know, but both Hellboy and Gilead know. A secret that not even most Knights of the Order would know.

Gabriel van Helsing was the Gabriel the Archangel, The Left Hand of God.

A powerful being among his primordial angelic kind - the Mal'akh - intellectual and incorporeal creatures who had existed before this universe and previous universes that had preceded it. At some point in the past, during the turbulent time of the Crusades, Gabriel had descended to Earth and took on mortal flesh, greatly limiting himself voluntarily in accordance with The Rules, making him more or less human, but still retaining many of his natural abilities and capabilities to a degree. Ever since then, he has fought many battles against the dark and lived through many historical events and experiences, trained heavily in the art of combat, making him one of the oldest beings alive.

He and Hellboy have an interesting acquaintance and friendship over the years, the irony of it was not lost on the both of them, being on natural opposite sides of the spectrum and yet aren't enemies by any means. One was an Archangel of the Lord, The Left Hand of God. The other was a Cambion, half-human and half-demon, known as Anung Un Rama, The Right Hand of Doom, prophesied and destined to bring about Armageddon in the universe.

"("Well, it's not like any of that overrated destiny crap matters since Armageddon's already come knocking on everybody's doorstep, and it ain't got nothing to do with me this time.")" Hellboy would think dryly when assessing the current situation.

"Now, if we're done talking, I guess we should get a move on, since someone from the other side's waiting for us, right?" Van Helsing would give Gilead a pointed look.

"Yeah, Kid Cap's probably waiting on the other side," Gilead would take something out from his pocket. A pendant showing a white Fuþark symbol. "The girl in white gave me a magic GPS so that I won't get lost in there."

"That could definitely come in handy, yeah," Van Helsing smiled a little.

And so, the three were now inside the circumferential circle. Gilead, with his face turning solemn, putting the pendant inside his pocket, would suddenly utter a few words.

"Propitius esto mihi, Domine. Vide quid patiar ab iis qui me oderunt; tu es qui suscitas me de portis mortis; ut omnes laudes tuas commemorem; et in portis filiae Sion. exsultemus in salutari tuo. ("Be gracious to me, O Lord. See what I suffer from those who hate me; you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death, so that I may recount all your praises, and, in the gates of daughter Zion, rejoice in your deliverance.")"

A bright light would shine from the circumferential medal on the floor and the ancient language seen scattered through the pillars ignite. The Gate was now activating. The user who would make use of this interdimensional gate needed to make an effort of mental concentration, along with an indomitable will to know where to go. There were possible risks involved without the necessary conditions that are to be met such as getting lost in some other dimension or bringing in any unwanted guests, hence The Gate was not just used by everyone.

And then, they would be transported to another place.

Dimension: Heavenly Host

A flash of light brightened the dark dilapidated corridor.

Gilead, Hellboy, and Van Helsing had arrived. But there was someone else waiting for them.

"Took you long enough, Gilead. And I see that you brought two heavy hitters with you."

There was a young man who was somewhere around the age of 15 or 16 who was smiling at them, pulling out the same pendant showing a white Fuþark symbol, the same one that Gilead has. He was speaking to them with an American English accent and language.

He had black hair with blue goggles on top and clear blue eyes. He wore a black leather combat jacket that covered the spandex shirt that had a white stylized star on the center, with red and white strips around his mid-torso to his waist, red spandex gloves, and black combat boots. On his waist was a black utility field belt that had various pouches. He had a circumferential shield that was a disc-shaped object with a five-pointed star design in its center, within blue, red, and white concentric circles.

He was James Rogers of MV Universe-616, also known as Captain America, though most people would call him Kid Cap.

"Hm?" Hellboy raised an eyebrow as he and everyone else noticed that Kid Cap wasn't alone.

He was accompanied by a young woman whose feet were floating on the ground. She had reddish brown hair and red eyes. Her attire is a black gothic lolita dress with a white laced trim on the sleeves and black slip-on shoes. For the three supernaturally attuned warriors, they would immediately recognize this person to be a ghost. No, not just that. She was half-alive, half-ghost. Her body and soul are one, and yet has the power of a spirit of the dead.

"Oh, and every one, this is Saki Akagiri, the Girl Dyed In Black," Kid Cap, putting his pendant in his pocket, introduces the ghost to his right.

"Okay... ...How many girls dyed in colors are there?"

Hellboy could not help but ask since the general gist so far was that there were two girls dyed in colors. The Girl Dyed In White - Sachiko Shinozaki who is responsible for gathering them all together and moving things forward, with a little assistance. The Girl Dyed In Red - Sachiko Shinozaki, the one whose patron Dark Old God slumbers deep beneath the shackles of this infernal nexus plane.

"Just three," Akagiri spoke with a soft but clear tone. "The Girl Dyed In White and the Girl Dyed In Red are exact opposites of the mystical spectrum who are linked to this realm. I however do not exist within the confines of this place and has no power over me because my origins are of a separate cause, making me a bit of a wild card, so to speak, though not as powerful, which is why the Girl Dyed In White had come to me and restored me to full capacity."

Akagiri would move her right hand to the side, and traces of a bite mark were seen.

"In one loop timeline, I had been bitten by the Girl Dyed In Red, damaging my soul. I was trying to help my precious friend and two others escape Heavenly Host after many of their classmates had perished. I doubt she would remember me now after all this time, though, as the loop worlds tend to be a cycle that goes back and forth. The same premise that merely drags on and on and on, sometimes adding new players, sometimes rehashing what had already happened but in a different way. This entire realm has been nothing but a twisted prolonged game that is now at its climax."

"And it's all because of the Dark Old One that is trapped here in Heavenly Host, yes," Gilead and company would be walking towards Akagiri and Kid Cap. "Hey, Kid Cap, before coming here, White Sachiko told me that you've been busy dealing with the Neo-Nazis and the Bewitchers?"

By Neo-Nazis, Gilead refers to the nefarious organization HYDRA. He could not utter the actual name of that organization, not here in Heavenly Host at least, for the name is in reference to a Dark Old One who is opposed to the Dark Old One of Heavenly Host. HYDRA - Hydra is one of its many names. At this moment, there is a conflict between two Dark Old Ones and the conflicting alien laws may make things difficult for those who would utter the names of these beings. They'd rather not draw the attention of the attack dogs (Bewitchers) and the followers (HYDRA) to their current location. It was a bit of a pain for Gilead to not call HYDRA, HYDRA, but well, it is a necessary sacrifice of habit.

"Yeah, and well..."

Kid Cap was indicating to the knocked-out bodies nearby for everyone to see. Those who wear yellow-green armor with ominous red circular lens gas masks with a yellow-green armband depicting the familiar skull-tentacled symbol. They were the HYDRA Replicator Soldiers, cloned soldiers who submitted 100% to HYDRA's cause. Totally obedient without question, taking any order without hesitation, the perfect soldiers who follow orders.

"...I and Akagiri had been fighting through many of them by ourselves before we met you all here. From what we've discovered, they're planning something down here, one of those plans would be gathering six stones called the Crystals of the Six Demons, which serve as both parts of the sealing and control mechanism of Heavenly Host. One of them had already been taken, which caused a time quake to happen in the first place, and well... ...something else is going funky with the place."

"The Hell Lords," Van Helsing muttered as his eyes narrowed above as a bright white spark of light was seen to enrapture the once hazel color. "I can sense the presence of a thousand and more making their influence felt in this dimension. They're all trying to vie for control of at least a part of this dimension to suit their ends. And..."

Van Helsing sported a grim but silent expression as he looked above. Everyone, especially Hellboy, noticed the look. Out of the three who had arrived, due to their natures, Van Helsing and Hellboy were two of the more supernaturally attuned beings in their world, meaning they had a general sense of everything, including the power levels of the infamous Hell Lords and other beings from beyond.

"Hey, Hellboy," Van Helsing looks at Hellboy. "You feel it too, don't you?"

"Yeah," Hellboy nodded as his yellow eyes narrowed. "Something big is attempting to come down here, there's no way I'd miss it."

"What do you mean?" Kid Cap asks.

"Hellboy and I are sensing some kind of gigantic cosmic force of pure magic, something that is unfortunately terribly destructive and malevolent. If this force were to try to make landfall on our world which consists of infinite dimensions and timelines, then they will all be doomed to be destroyed or worse. The power I sensed was that of a rogue God of Magic from an entirely different universe. Even if I did let loose my full power as an Archangel in accordance with The Rules, it may not even be enough against it. Though... something's luckily keeping it back from exiting its universe for now," Van Helsing said.

"Is it the Dark Old One of Heavenly Host?" Gilead asks.

"No, something else, and it's not the Dark Old One of those Nazi bastards either..." Van Helsing said as he shook his head. "...Something very ancient is keeping it back from making its way to Heavenly Host proper. It's stuck to its own plane of reality. If I were to trace it down to its source... ...Oh."

Van Helsing made an unsurprised expression.

"Why am I not surprised?"

Universe: ACMI Alpha Universe-0777

Here is a question. Does one know about the problematic issues of a concept such as the Multiverse?

Well, it boils down to the meaning and nuances behind the concept of interpretation.

Why is that so?

Interpretation, as it is known, if one were to describe the noun, is the action of explaining the meaning of something. In plural form, it means an explanation or way of explaining. Another meaning would be a stylistic representation of a creative work or dramatic role, a rendition so to speak.

The intricate but cosmic tapestry, the complexity of thought and design, the similar common elements that make one universe recognizable, and yet, different elements have been inserted and were drawn out of the canonical structure, becoming another story, another universe. There is what is called the Canon Worlds which are worlds based on a predetermined set of events that are all too familiar and hardly capable of changing to the whimsicalness of predetermined fate. But there is also what is called the What If Worlds. These worlds introduced new possibilities and potentialities, new events that diverge from the old, events out of sync with the old, and so much more.

Thus comes to the central discussion point. The Canon World of ACMI Universe-Prime. As for the What If Worlds, they are as countless as there are the thoughts of billions of people, as trillion as the stars of the universe, and as quadrillion as the vast potentialities of magic and science.

In many worlds, there was the common story of where and when it all began. A simple encounter with a young 14 or 15 year old nun who was on the run. She was a keeper of dangerous grimoires, hence why she was put under a tighter leash by her church and ended up losing her memories every once a year. In that encounter, she met a spiky-haired boy and that led to the first adventure where magic and science meet, at the cost of the boy's own personal memories, becoming a blank slate and a new personality. This boy, who carried the power handwave anything that was not normal, of any side.

This was the start. But now would need to look at the far future of another certain world. This world of the future which is nothing except that of an apocalyptic nightmare. There was no hero, for the boy who had become a man years later, is dead for good. There was no one left to defend this strange future. Its protector was no more, causing the grieving of many, especially those women who had been charmed and enamored by him, who bore sons and daughters before he passed on.

The Children of the Imagine Breaker.

Set A was complete for the nine have already been rescued, eight students, and one teacher, who were all at the center of a never-ending that has the same general event with nifty divergences. Set B was almost complete, as almost all of the members of the Club were accounted for, with the only one that was missing among the fold was a certain horn goddess that was beyond the reach of Sachiko the Red and her accomplice Looper Satoko Houjou. Now, one turns to Set C, and that would be the future children of Touma Kamijou, in each of the four universes which represent four women whom a variant of Touma Kamijou had chosen.

Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Mikoto Misaka. Othinus. Misaki Shokuhou.

Set C represents Four What If Worlds. But that is not all there is to the puzzle. Set C also represents the previous iteration of Touma Kamijou's prime reality that consisted of multiple canonical timelines with troubling inconsistencies, as attested by the existence of a variant of Mikoto Misaka and Misaki Shokuhou who encountered Touma Kamijou as Captain Asia, Conan Edogawa as Night Baron, and the Club that consisted of his wife, his friends, and his club advisor.

One would need to focus on one of the Four What If Worlds which is the What If World of Index. This world can be described as nightmarish beyond reckoning, a travesty of what was once called life, one that is ruled at the whims of a very cruel god. A Magic God. There is a double meaning behind the term when it relates to a specific being who rose to such a position.

He no longer had a human name. If he had such a name, it was something that he had disregarded a very long time ago. There was only one name to describe him now.

The End.

That was the name of the Magic God who had plunged the world into eternal darkness. A god that is no better than a demon. A god who had mastered magic and stepped foot into the domain of God. The god who had twisted the Phases of this world, turning them all into nothing except the sulfurous stench of fire and brimstone, the cold icy winter that breezes on the land and freezes the water, and other properties that signified the end. The Phases all looked different from how they used to be. Once realms of religious diversity now becoming hellscapes that fester with mindless demons. Judaism. Christianity. Islam. Buddhism. Celtic. Indian. Shinto. Incan. Aztec. Greek. Roman. Norse. All of them were covered with nothing except darkness.

This world, in terms of interdimensional coordinates, was once known as ACMI Alpha Universe-0777 - the What If World of Index. Now, it was just A Certain Dark Dimension.

"...Hmm, interesting."

There was The End. He was a man with grey hair and dark skin. He looked somewhere in his twenties. He wore a black and white wool bandhgala suit, a crimson robe that had the symbol of a tombstone, and black formal shotes. His eyes were of an ominous shade of red and his simple smile spoke of hidden intents. His face was no doubt handsome. His right arm, once of flesh, was now a mere prosthetic arm, having sacrificed it.

He is The God of The End. He is Armageddon. He is Apocalypse. He is Ragnarok. Many religions, legends, myths, cultures, and stories had a concept of an end of the world. Many people were so utterly fascinated and despised such a concept. They wondered just what would it be like when the end came. Would it be the end of all civilization as everyone knew it? Would it be the end of an era? Would it be the beginning of something anew?

Questions, questions, and more questions abound. All of which - encapsulated - was something formed by the Magic God whose name is The End.

He was standing on what appeared to be a magical site. The highest natural point on Earth. Around 8,849 meters above sea level. There was no other mountain peak that was closer to the sky and vast heavens beyond its peak. The End remembered that long ago, there were the first attempts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers, some of them were magicians of the Anglican Church's Necessarius.

At some point, a man-made structure had been built in this place. A temple where structures and pillars form. It was a place where magicians had tried to attempt to manipulate the past to ensure the outcome of the future. An idol of the deity Chronos was seen at the center of the altar. The End mused a little as he glanced upon the mountains and the ethereal snow that came down. Flashes of white thunder would rumble through the very heavens.

His right mechanical hand touches what appears to be a dimensional wall that separates his world from that of beyond. He could not enter, but he could feel the touch of his finger radiating with power making a ripple across what appeared to be a magical barrier made of unlimited intricacy. How odd. He is a Magic God, The One Who Brought The End, no world was beyond his reach. He felt intrigued.

"The Imagine Breaker's Children had ended up in quite a coincidental pickle. By trying to attempt to travel to the past before I had arisen, they inadvertently got swept up in what appeared to be a realm between worlds where a gathering of malevolence and violence is the ironclad rule. An unexpected development, and yet, quite welcoming."

The feeble attempt of the children to travel to the past to stop his glorious ascension. That would be futile in any endeavor. As a Magic God, he can control time, past, present, and future. Everything is within his realm to manipulate to his liking in 100% capacity. Then why did he allow these children to try to attempt such a wayward illusionary tactic? Simple. To at least give them a sensible taste of despair that would crush them even more than he was to simply flick his wrist and crush them like an ant. No power of magic or of science was strong enough for him. All who defied him were reduced to nothing.

Without the Imagine Breaker, this was his world now. There was no one truly left to stop him. The Man Who Makes Miracles is dead. There was only The End.

Then, a fluke happened. This dimensional crack that led to different worlds. He could sense it. He could sense the trillions and trillions of life, of worlds that are ripe for the taking, of beings that he would desire to bring under his heel. Though, unfortunately, something was keeping him from entering. He knew that an exertion of his power would be futile. It would have an equal and opposite effect. This "something", he could sense was ancient, old, even older than he was. Could it be a challenge at last to his rightful throne?

Inconceivable but exciting.

But, he noticed a greater power... ...Two of them... ...He twitches. Something festers in that dimension that may even exceed him in power. He felt the threat that lay dormant and the threat that influences from afar.

The End would glance to look at his army of legions. His warrior angels if you will, though they look more like bat-like humanoids straight out of generic horror films. What can he say? He has a thing for the theatrical and for the modern. Sharp teeth, yellow lion eyes, large horns, heavily armed, with the symbol of The End on their shields and torso gold armor. They were the Arch-Enders, unimaginative name The End admits, but a pointed clear intent nonetheless.

"What are your orders, my Lord?" one Arch-Ender asks. The distinguishing thing about him among his kind was the four bat-like wings and a scar on his face.

"I cannot seem to enter into this strange dimension due to an ancient and unknown boundary constructed of unlimited magical power which can keep even a Magic God at bay, though the boundary's defensive walls do not seem to apply to you, the least of my servants. Scour this realm and report to me of anything that happens down to the last detail, for I may feel that there is a threat, two of them, who may potentially destroy the long and hard work that I have built in order to bring order to this wretched world."

"And what of the Children of the Imagine Breaker?"

"Kill them. I no longer have any use for them when I have now discovered worlds without end. For just as this world knew The End, so those from beyond will know of The End."

"What if we were to encounter those who are hostile to us? We sense great powers beyond the border who may have an interest in this realm just as you do, my Lord. They may find us to be an unacceptable presence."

"That depends on the power in question. Negotiations and parley can be employed, for it could not hurt to gain possible allies that would be of use to me, however, if the power in question is hostile from the start and may have their own agendas, then they would also learn the meaning of The End, without mercy."

The End spoke the last part with an edge but maintained a troubling smile.

"As you wish," the Arch-Ender bowed his head low before he raised his mighty sword that is made out of flames. "GLORY WITHOUT END!"

And then came the shout...

"GLORY WITHOUT END! GLORY WITHOUT END! GLORY WITHOUT END! GLORY WITHOUT END! GLORY WITHOUT END!"

...Of legions upon legions of Arch-Enders who raise their weapons in the air. Many of them were even flying and hovering in the skies as far as the eyes could see.

Dimension: Heavenly Host

"Hmmmmmmmmm."

There was Red Sachiko Shinozaki, smiling while giggling. Accompanying her were the Undead Misaka Sisters who were standing in attention.

"I spy with my little eye and I see one of my onii-chan's future kids joining up on the game!"

She was holding a black dart with her right hand. She throws it. It hits one of the four stapler-attached pictures that is pasted on the bloodied chest of the dead body of a high school boy who had a painful horrified expression that remains on his face.

The picture that was hit was a Child of Touma Kamijou and Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

"One point for the magic side."

Sachiko spoke with a sinister smile.

"Ne, Shokuhou."

Mikoto Misaka, walking alongside Misaki Shokuhou, would speak among themselves while Touma Kamijou and the rest of the Club were walking ahead. Night Baron in particular would cover the bridge's arching parts in order to scout the entire area for himself. Much to the surprise of the Level 5s at the time, Night Baron would suddenly sprout from one of his gloves what appeared to be a cable line that would send him straight away toward the upper arch of the bridge.

They were currently on the move across the foggy bridge. If one were to try to peak to the sides, one could not see what awaits down the bridge. The road that they were walking through was clear of any vehicles compared to the roads that they used earlier. She was glancing at her fellow Level 5 esper who was looking a bit serious and troubled. Not that she could blame her. Misaka had similar questions.

"Is it just me or... ...is something very different about him?"

She could not help but ask. In all this time, Touma Kamijou was serious every single time. Not once would he make an inappropriate joke. Not once did Touma call Misaka with the nickname "Biribiri". Not once did something stupidly misfortunate and perverted tend to happen when Touma is here that would get her a little irritated, though granted maybe this one was only a matter of time before it happens. Nevertheless, she and Shokuhou didn't find things comforting, especially when they had yet to even hear the infamous catchphrase "Such misfortune".

"...I noticed it too," Shokuhou agreed while looking troubled. "He seems to recognize us both though, but he seems..."

"Too formal?" Misaka muttered.

"And too serious, with none of the crass jokes he's known for," Shokuhou said. "But it's his eyes that gave it away, Misaka-san. I feel that it's not just the fact that he feels different, he is different."

And Shokuhou would not mention this yet, but she noticed that... ...Touma still recognizes her, which by all rights should be completely impossible. For Touma Kamijou, the boy she knew, suffered from a condition where he would tend to forget her if he even looked a second away from her. But he somehow still recognizes her?

"And I don't see that Silver Sister who is with him most of the time," Misaka muttered before eyes looked towards someone very close to Touma. "Which reminds me, that woman, Furude Rika, does she ring a bell to you, Shokuhou?"

"No," Shokuhou spoke with a troubling tone. "I didn't even know this woman existed until now, and that's what worries me."

Misaka sported a thoughtful look on her face before eventually sighing. "I'm gonna go over there and ask some of them. You coming with me?"

"It's not like I have other better things to do, Misaka-san," Shokuhou sighed. "I need to know what is going on as much as you do, and I do not like being left in the dark about all of this."

Then they both would walk a bit faster and would eventually be near some of them.

"Umm, excuse me," Misaka said, grabbing the attention of a green-haired woman - Shion Shinozaki and a blonde-haired man - Satoshi Houjou.

"Hmm?" Shion noticed Misaka and Shokuhou.

"Umm, I don't think we both met yet, but I'm Misaka Mikoto," Misaka smiled a little.

"And my name is Shokuhou Misaki," the other Level 5 answered with a neutral expression.

"Hmm, my name is Sonozaki Shion," Shion would glance at her twin who is near Touma. "The other one who looks like me is my twin sister, Sonozaki Mion."

"And my name is Houjou Satoshi," Satoshi smiled a little. "So, how is it that you both know who Kamijou-san is?"

"Umm, well," Misaka glances at Shokuhou. "He did kind of help us in the past with some problems."

Misaka would not think to mention their specific problems since that would not matter in the conversation. She couldn't speak for Shokuhou, whom Misaka had an inkling suspicion that something had happened to her and to that idiot in the past, but Misaka herself had been saved by Touma Kamijou concerning the stupid Radio Noise Project, the brutal experiment that was a yearly long slaughterhouse of girls who looked awfully like her. Just thinking about it still makes her sick. She did not really like to talk about it personally.

Which reminds her. The Undead Sisters that they all saw earlier. That triggered a spark of anger within her. Someone or something is using her sisters again and... ...she did not want to believe it, but everyone else would keep telling her that they are dead, meaning even if they stop whoever is behind this, the sisters would still be dead. That blonde-haired bitch as she called her mentioned something about a "Zakaloth", whatever that is, though the former mentioned a kind of artificial network akin to the Misaka Network.

So it works like a hivemind of sorts. Misaka wondered if there was that clone, the Last Order, who is the command center of these Undead Sisters. She did not like to think about it. Using a child? And the less said of her being dead just as the other sisters, the better.

"...I see," Shion spoke with a soft but sad smile. "That does sound like Kamijou-san."

Misaka and Shokuhou would raise a strange eyebrow, noticing Shion's reaction. They even noticed Satoshi making a similar smile.

"Did... ...Did umm, Kamijou-san, help you all out at some point?" Misaka could not help but ask.

"You... You could say that, Misaka-san. I and everyone else here are more in debt to our friend so very much, and to Rika-chan of course, along with someone else who isn't here at the moment," Shion answered.

"Someone else?" Misaka asked.

"Furude Hanyuu," Shion answered. "That is the name of a woman who is not here with us right now. I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing though considering where we all ended up."

"Shouldn't this be good though?" Satoshi muttered. "If she isn't here, that means that whoever dragged us all here doesn't seem to be capable of dragging her here."

"...I suppose so," Shion spoke while thinking. "("Well, Hanyuu is a goddess after all. There is no doubt that she'd probably notice that we've been suddenly dragged out of Hinamizawa and landed in this strange place.")"

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you all meet Kamijou-san?" Misaka asked.

Shion and Satoshi would look at each other and smile a little before turning to Misaka and Shokuhou.

"Oh, we've met him way later. Satoshi at the time was in a coma at the time. As for me, I met him when my sister, Rika-chan, Satoko-chan, and the others were already becoming fast friends. Though, for first impressions, he felt... ...well, a bit of a strange outsider who just suddenly dropped in out of nowhere. At the time, we uhh, didn't understand some of the terms he was talking about sometimes such as a "cellphone" or the "internet"."

Shion spoke with a little embarrassment, putting her hand on her hair. Misaka and Shokuhou made confused expressions. Satoshi would provide the answer, smiling awkwardly.

"Before you ask what Shion means by that is well... ...It's a little hard to believe but we all come from another universe. The current year of our universe is 1988. At the time we first met Kamijou-san, it was in 1983 back when we were all young."

Misaka and Shokuhou would glance at each other with bewildered expressions.

"...Umm, no offense, Houjou-san, Shinozaki-san, but it really does seem a bit bizarre of an explanation, though..."

Shokuhou spoke while looking at Touma with a meaningful glance.

"...Misaka-san, I do not think we should rule out the possibility either."

"Huh?" Misaka sported a surprised expression.

"Look around you, Misaka-san, do you really think at this point that this seems like Academy City's dark side or anything to do with espers are involved here, your clones and references to the Sisters Project aside?"

Shokuhou would point out their general surroundings. This strange place where they never saw much of anything save for corpses and of the dead.

"...I," Misaka could not help but cut herself off, looking unsure.

"I may not know much of what is going on, but there is something here that may possibly lie outside our purview of things. It is best that we walk forward from here on and not expect our current knowledge to work. What we think may be real may in fact be a mere illusion after all," Shokuhou spoke with an unsure tone.

Misaka couldn't really argue with Shokuhou's logic. As much as Misaka doesn't want to admit it, Shokuhou, being a woman with a scary grasp and mastery of the human mind, would know what she is talking about when it comes to situations like this. ...But.

"I'm starting to wonder what gave you that conclusion," Misaka said.

"...Call it a hunch, no matter how impossible it may seem," Shokuhou muttered. "The enemies that we may be currently fighting seem a bit too personal than just merely a simple dime a dozen dark side's plot. The enemy knows who we are, and the enemy knows about Kamijou-san's other friends. It would not be out of place to say that this place, in one sense, seems too fleshed out and designed for the sake of Kamijou-san."

"...So what? Some deranged lunatic is targeting him and everybody he knows?" Misaka asks with a grim tone.

"Yes, and I'm not just talking about the blonde-haired woman we saw from earlier either. She did say that she had an accomplice working with her. She and that accomplice may have something to do with Kamijou-san's past," Shokuhou spoke with a concerned tone.

"Actually," Shion brought the Level 5s attention, sporting a grim look. "I believe that you're not actually that far off, Shokuhou-san."

"...What do you mean?" Shokuhou asks.

But before Shion could respond further, suddenly...

"...!"

Everyone noticed something awry and made surprised expressions. Touma in particular was widening his eyes, looking straight ahead. Night Baron, who was above ground, would notice something happening as well.

There was a blue magic circle that materialized a few meters away. It had the appearance of an hourglass with two triangles, straight and inverted, inside a circumference. There was the presence of lightning that emanated from the circle and out came...

"...Ugh!"

...A nun.

"...Uggh..."

...A nun who looked a little worn out and tired as she tried to lift herself off the ground, to no avail.

Touma and everyone else began to dash and draw near towards the nun who fell to the ground as the magic circle dematerialized. Night Baron would drop down from the ground, using his shoes that would suddenly sport rocket parts that would allow him to hover slowly to the ground, with his cape blowing a little by the descending wind.

"Hey, are you alright?!" Keiichi Maebara asks as he helps the nun lift herself a little from the ground.

Upon checking, Touma and Night Baron would notice the following.

She wore a Christian nun's habit that was pure white with gold-laced embroidery made of golden thread that had been sewn in. It managed to possess the characteristic look of an ostentatious nouveau riche teacup. She would lift her face up...

"...I...I'm...fi..."

...She cut herself off mid-sentence as her black eyes (just like Touma's) had come face to face with Touma's eyes. She had raven hair and her skin was as white as snow. She looked like a foreigner. She seemed a little younger compared to either Touma or Night Baron.

"...Huh?" Misaka made a confused and dumbfounded look. "Silver Sister...?"

She spoke with uncertainty because the girl who was lying on the ground looked a little like a certain nun who was hanging around Touma. However, Misaka noticed that she looked different somehow because of the hair color and the eyes.

"Huh?" Rena Ryuugu muttered in confusion, looking at Misaka. Night Baron would glance at Misaka before turning back to the girl with a nun habit.

"...Hah...Ahh...Ahh..."

The nun was suddenly crying. Her mouth was trembling. Her eyes were in disbelief, wondering whether this was real or not. She could not utter the words she wanted to say, for it proved to be difficult. Everyone would notice this sudden reaction and would be concerned.

"Eh? Oi, what is it? What's wrong?" Mion Sonozaki would ask, gently placing her hand on the nun's shoulder.

And she, with eyes in tears, and an expression that was desperate and grieving, would raise her hands towards Touma and engulf him in a sudden embrace. Normally, both Misaka and Shokuhou would be a little ticked at this sudden development. But they felt that something was wrong. They could sense the foreboding and troubling atmosphere. They could hear the clear sobbing that was now echoing from the trembling nun.

Then the clouds would drop a little rain, little by little. It was not a heavy rain, but it was a sober one nonetheless.

Night Baron walked towards Touma, both of them were glancing at each other, unsure of what to make of this. Touma would glance at Rika who was right beside him, showing a common uncertain expression.

"...Papa..."

And she uttered those few words. It made Touma and everyone else widen their eyes. The nun would raise her face, one that spoke of grief.

"...Papa...I...I finally found you..."

Angelicus Communis Universalis.

Daughter of Touma Kamijou and Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

Insert Song: End

ED Song:

【ARTERY VEIN】Confutatis no Inori (Full Version)【CP Blood Covered】【Eng Lyrics】