Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter One Hundred Two: War in Paradise - The Battle of Kauaʻi
Several hours after Gremlin's invasion of Hawaii began in the wake of Kīlauea's eruption and the sealing of Pearl Harbour, the surprised and disorganized American forces had, after heavy fighting, finally managed to secure the island of Oahu despite mind controlled elements within their own ranks undermining their efforts. And in the temporary reprieve this offered, Umidori found herself seated with the rest of the folks from Academy City that had dragged her along on this mess of a mission as they met with President Katze and his aide Krackhart in a meeting in Honolulu Hale, the municipal building that served as the official seat of government of the Hawaiian capital.
"-so I recommend we capture Olay's estranged daughter, Lindy Blueshake, and use her as leverage to get her to stand down." Krackhart said, outlining the plan she'd touted as the way to stop this invasion dead in its tracks.
Well, I can't say it's a bad idea. We might not know where the girl is, but between the [Goalkeeper] on our team and the President's fancy Imperial Package computer we could probably find that out easily enough. The combat cyborg thought as she tapped her chin contemplatively. And for someone like Krackhart to even consider it…
Umidori didn't know much about the woman but she imagined it took a lot of cunning to get to the position of aide to the President of the United States of America.
Which means to even suggest this plan, she must be confident that it'll work. The Level 4 concluded as she swept her eyes over the others at the meeting. The question is whether these guys would allow her to do it.
If it was up to her, Umidori would do it in a heartbeat. If it got her a win, she had no qualms about how low she needed to stoop along the way. Something that with the carefully blank look on her face was any indication, the blonde Magician, Birdway, agreed with. Sadly, she knew for a fact that they were the minority who thought that way. As it was, a good number of the members of her teammates for this mission were bleeding hearts, like Kamijou, and wouldn't agree. Accelerator or the [Army Slayer] probably wouldn't either, what with them having little girls of their own. Similarly, that Frenda girl wouldn't either on account of that little sister of hers. However, she was pretty sure the [Laughing Joker] at least would be game, but she was unfortunately restrained by her morality pets in the form of the [Railgun] and their pair of Judgment friends.
It seems every mass murderer in the City is getting a morality pet lately. Umidori thought with a frown as her eyes landed on her superiors for this mission, ITEM. Even [Meltdowner] has one in the form of that Hamazura dude.
Noticing her look, Saiai-nee shot her a questioning look in reply. Something which just prompted Umidori to sigh too. Damnit! And now I've got one too!
Just the thought of her fellow Dark May survivor looking at her with disappointment or, worse, disgust made her stomach twist with unease. Which was just stupid! Saiai-nee was every bit the murderous Dark Sider she was! She might be restrained by her team's newfound morality but she would understand!
Right?
It was that bit of doubt that held her back from openly agreeing with Krackhart. Not that her support would have done the woman and her plan any favors when her boss was looking at her with clear exasperation and a not insignificant amount of disappointment.
"No, we won't be doing that." President Katze said firmly with a shake of his head. "Capturing a little girl to blackmail her mother to stand down!? Honestly, Roseline, what were you thinking?"
"That it will work. Blueshake is infertile, which makes her daughter her only legacy. And because of that she will do anything to secure the girl."
"I am not saying it wouldn't work, Roseline." The President said, the disappointment in his tone growing deeper. "Knowing Blueshake, it would. She is too arrogant to countenance anyone but her own child succeeding her. That said, I will not allow my administration to resort to such barbaric tactics."
"Mister President-"
"My decision is final, Roseline." President Katze said with finality, prompting his aide to cut herself off. "That said, knowing that our enemy is Olay Blueshake does inevitably mean we have to bring little Lindy into the picture."
"How so?" Saten-sama, their resident information specialist, asked on behalf of the Academy City group.
"She's somewhere in Hawaii." The President informed them. "I personally oversaw her relocation when she was taken into protective custody, though, to better ensure her safety, at my instruction, even I wasn't made privy to her exact location."
Raising his hand like he was in a class, much to the amusement and/or exasperation of the rest of those from Academy City, Kamijou asked the logical follow-up question. "Does Blueshake know that her daughter's here?"
"Probably." President Katze shrugged. "She's influential enough to get that bit of information."
"In fact, she likely knows her daughter's location better than we do considering how Trident's forces are centring their operations on Kauaʻi. Whilst her exact location has been kept secret, we do know she resides on the island." Krackhart added. "They probably intend to secure the girl either at her mother's behest or, as mercenaries are hardly known for their loyalty, to use her as leverage against Olay."
The bleeding hearts that were Kamijou, [Railgun], and the Trinity's two Judgment friends all frowned or growled at the insinuation that a little girl would be used that way. But the biggest reaction came from Accelerator and the [AIM Sovereign], who both activated their Angel Modes and radiated murderous anger.
Note to self: Never even think about hurting little girls around either of them. Umidori thought as she froze. Neither of the Angels were directing their anger at her but just the spillover was enough to terrify her.
She'd expected the couple's anger to trigger more of a response from the rest of the room's occupants but much to Umidori's surprise, outside of some uncomfortable fidgeting, no one reacted much at all. Instead, the discussion just continued as if two of the participants weren't suddenly a hair trigger away from going on a rampage with Hamazura arching an eyebrow and asking, "So those mercenaries who are working for Gremlin are Trident then?"
Saten-sama nodded as in a surprisingly calm voice for how visibly furious she was, she replied. "Yes, they are. Based on the arsenal that they have used so far, including the Narwhal anti-ship missiles they used against the ships at Pearl Harbor; the Lesser Emperors surveillance drones that they have been using since they invaded; the TheMIS III and Ranger combat drones; and the Mil AH12, it can be no one else. No other force has access to that particular combination of equipment."
"What about the spider mech I wrecked?" Accelerator asked, also in an agitated but still surprisingly calm tone.
Shit! They can keep their head even when pissed off. Umidori thought with a nervous gulp. There goes the option of trying to make them angry and slip up should I ever get in a fight with them. Not that I ever wanted to in the first place, but still!
"That was an experimental weapon being developed by our military." Krackhart stepped up to explain. "We can assume that they got their hands on it thanks to Blueshake's influence or, more likely, Irivika's mind control."
"Trident, huh?" Hamazura said with a sigh. "Argh! Dealing with them is going to be such a pain!"
From next to him, his team leader, [Meltdowner] shot him a narrow eyed look. One that was bloodthirsty enough that in his place Umidori might have pissed herself. Despite that, the Level 0 seemed unfazed as he explained what he meant. "Trident is one of the largest armies in the world. They are famous for their operations in Eastern Europe. If it's them, this is going to be a tough fight."
"Only until the ash cloud created by Kīlauea's eruption clears. Once it does or the Navy can muster together a big enough fleet from their scattered forces not trapped in Pearl to break their naval blockade, reinforcements from the mainland will start getting through, and once they do, our boys in the Armed Forces will crush Trident and this Gremlin group that's backing them."
"It might not be as easy as that, Mister President." Krackhart said with a shake of her head. "Not with Irivika's mind control and Blueshake's influence likely compromising significant segments of the government."
President Katze frowned at this but did not dispute his aide's assessment.
"Trident is counting on both of those things." The Birdway Magician chimed in. "They wouldn't be risking an operation as daring as invading Hawaii and courting a fight with America if they didn't. Thus, to defeat them, we need to take those two advantages away from them."
At this, Namikaze-sama turned towards her fellow blonde with a look. "You sound like you have a plan."
Smiling arrogantly, the Magician nodded. "I do. At least in part."
"Well, let's hear it then." President Katze encouraged.
Offering him a grateful nod, Birdway - And wasn't that stupid name! - obliged. "We will of course leave dismantling Blueshake's influence to the experts that you are, Mister President and Miss Krackhart. On the matter of Irivika's magic however, all we need is to expose her to Kamijou's Imagine Breaker. One touch of his right hand and all her magic will be temporarily disrupted and with something as delicate as mind control? That'll be enough to break it."
"That would mean we have two targets, right?" [Railgun] pointed out with a thoughtful look on her face. "Lindy Blueshake, because the enemy are targeting her; and Irivika so that Kamijou can shatter her magic with his right hand?"
Birdway, Saten-sama and the two Americans nodded.
"Okay, but where should we start looking?" Seivelun-san asked, looking at the [Goalkeeper] and her Judgment partner.
Looking up from the tablet she was bent over till now, the twintailed Teleporter of the pair answered for the both of them. "It's like Krackhart said, we need to go to Kauaʻi."
As everyone joined the infamously bomb loving Level 0 in turning towards the two Judgment agents, the [Goalkeeper] sat up and showed them her tablet where there were images of Irivika and a young girl with a set of coordinates inset into both photos alongside a map of Kauaʻi island with markers for both of them.
"This is where they are. I've hacked into the enemy's surveillance network and have positively tagged the location of both of them on the island."
The Americans blinked in surprise at the superhacker's feat but everyone from Academy City just nodded in acceptance of the validity of the news. They were all familiar with the kind of technowizardry that the [Goalkeeper] was capable of, if not by personal experience then by her impressive reputation. It certainly preceded her.
"If Irivika's on Kauaʻi then she must be already hunting down the Lindy girl so she and Gremlin can gain more leverage over Blueshake." [Maniforce] observed with a worried frown.
"Or," the Judgment Teleporter said, offering a counterpoint. "She might be helping her mother secure the girl. We don't actually know the exact nature of Blueshake's relationship with Gremlin. Though, my money is on your supposition, Naru-san. That sounds up the alley for monsters like Gremlin."
"Yeah, they sound like the dicks who would do something like that." Accelerator-sama agreed. "But that's not important. What I want to know is how we're even going to get onto Kauaʻi? Miss Presidential Aide said that it's the center of Trident's operations right now, right? Are we supposed to fight our way there?"
"No, that won't be necessary." President Katze said with a smirk. "Leave clearing the way to the island to me. I think it's time to remind Trident just which country they're dealing with."
In a cabin set aside for them onboard one of the few American warships that had survived Trident's initial surprise attack and the sealing of Pearl Harbor, Saiai, her team, Kuroyoru and the rest of those who came with them from Academy City on this mission watched a series of video feeds from in and around Kauaʻi island.
Letting out an impressed whistle, Saiai couldn't help but praise what she was seeing. "These feeds are from the bad guys, Trident's, surveillance systems?"
"Yup." Uiharu-san, the legendary tech whiz that was known as the [Goalkeeper], said with a nod.
"The visual quality is pretty good." Namikaze-sama praised grudgingly.
"Of course it is, Naru-san. Their tech is top notch. Just because they are the enemy doesn't mean we shouldn't acknowledge that." Uiharu-san chided the Level 5, causing the [Elemental Empress] to return a chastised nod.
The fact that the Level 1 could chide a Level 5 and for Namikaze-sama to not only just take it in stride, but actually accept the scolding? It was inconceivable! Sure, Saiai herself got along reasonably well with a Level 5 too. But though Mugino didn't treat her like shit, she nevertheless didn't see her as an equal. At best, she saw her as a trusted subordinate. At worst, as a useful pawn. True, she was a lot nicer since she, Hamazura and Rikou got back from Russia, but even then the way she treated the rest of ITEM was still a work in progress. She still didn't treat them with anywhere like the genuine camaraderie that the Trinity and, even to an extent, Accelerator-sama treated their friends.
"It's weird, right?" Kuroyoru asked, elbowing Saiai's side lightly.
At least someone is on my wavelength. Saiai thought as she nodded.
Someone who clearly didn't agree with her about how weird things between her friends were was Misaka-sama, who suppressed a giggle at Namikaze-sama's expense and gesturing to the feeds from a vantage point just off one of Kauaʻi's coasts and said, "I'm just surprised that Trident has things like the Cannibal Shark. Those Lesser Emperors are impressive enough. Building a spy drone in the shape of a dragonfly and miniaturizing the electronics down so it is the size of one too is tough enough. But a stealthed unmanned underwater vehicle that can monitor and record events just slightly above water and underwater too? These mercenaries are super well equipped."
"Yeah, like I said, they have good tech." Uiharu-san said with a shrug. "Hacking into their systems hadn't been easy. Heck, just the FCE part of their surveillance net had more protections than 80% of the systems I've encountered back in the City."
Saiai blinked in surprise at that. The City was supposed to be 20 to 30 years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technology! That this Eastern European mercenary group, no matter how powerful it was supposed to be, had digital security that surpassed most of that found in the City was super impressive!
Again, it seemed like Kuroyoru agreed with her if the impressed whistle she let out was any indication.
We really are on the same wavelength a lot, huh? Saiai thought before shaking her head violently. No, thinking that way leads to super madness!
Namely the madness of admitting that maybe there was some truth to Kuroyoru claiming they were sisters. Because they weren't! Nevermind that they were the only survivors of the Dark May lab where they'd been experimented upon as kids… Or that both had eerily similar life stories afterwards, what with them both ending up as Dark Siders… Or that they had plenty of the same tastes too…
No! No! No! Just because we are similar in a lot of ways and I can relate to her doesn't make us sisters! It doesn't! Saiai resolved.
A resolve that was strengthened by the amused grins Rikou, Hamazura and, amazingly, Mugino were sending her. The whole idea of having a sister that her teammates could tease her about was super embarrassing and she didn't want it!
Yet… At the same time, the confused and slightly worried look that Kuroyoru was simultaneously shooting at her was testing said resolve. The thought of having someone who she could call family… As a Child Error who had been deprived of familial love all her life, the allure of finally being able to experience it was super strong…
Desperate to think about something, anything, else, Saiai turned her full attention to Saten-sama as with a chuckle, [Multi-Skill] proceeded to praise her Level 1 best friend. "Impressive though their defenses may have been, they were nevertheless nothing before Kazari's skills."
The hacker blushed at this as the other two members of the Trinity, her Judgment partner, and even Frenda added their own praise.
"Meh! I know she's good. But do they have to treat her to such a hugbox?" Kuroyoru whispered to Saiai as they watched the scene unfold.
"I think it's super cute actually." Saiai admitted with a shrug.
"Really?" Kuroyoru asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Does that mean you want a hug?"
Shooting the other girl a glare, she crossed her arms and addressed the combat cyborg firmly. "No."
The goth-loli pouted at her but though Saiai felt herself wavering, she did not falter. "No, means no."
"You're a meanie, Onee-san."
Her eyebrow twitching in irritation at the other Dark May survivor's insistence on addressing her as her sister, Saiai just ignored her. That she also had to suppress the fond smile of exasperation that threatened to spread across her face at the same time was something she'd deny to her dying day.
"Everyone!" Hamazura suddenly spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "It looks like things are getting started."
Turning to him, they all saw him pointing to a set of screens that were showing a squadron of F-35s flying low from Oahu towards their target landing beach. A beach that Trident had fortified with a host of defenses, including several anti-air missile batteries that upon detecting the incoming fighters immediately fired off a barrage of their rockets to intercept them. In response, the American planes immediately began deploying flak and other countermeasures, including evasive maneuvers, however despite all these they kept doggedly closing the distance to their targets. Not even as one of their number took a fatal hit, then two then three, did the brave American pilots so much as contemplate turning tail. Not until they got within range and fired off the payload of air-to-surface missiles that they had been armed with. Missiles that despite the desperate screen of flak that the Trident forces threw up as a last defense, mostly stuck home. Thus, in a few impressive explosions, the beach near Anahole was cleared of its invaders and a path for the American counteroffensive was opened.
"It's time to go." Kamijou declared in a deadly serious tone, breaking the silence he'd maintained for a while now. His voice held not even the slightest trace of the levity that typically characterized him. A fact that sent a shiver down Saiai's spine. As experience had shown time and time again, when Kamijou got serious, no matter how dangerous the enemy was, no matter how hurt he got in the process, he was taking them down.
"I'm just glad he's on our side." Umidori said with her own shiver.
"Yeah." Saiai agreed distractedly.
"It's time to shatter the illusion that made Trident and Gremlin think they could just go around invading other people's countries."
As terrifying as Kamijou's track record was…
"That's a super lame thing to say." Saiai found herself saying before she could stop herself, causing Kamijou to turn his intimidatingly serious look her way.
Without thinking, she instinctively took a step back. And as she did, Umidori stepped protectively in front of her as if to shield her. Thankfully, Kamijou's serious look quickly melted away into a hangdog expression as everyone else shot him unimpressed looks either for his frankly corny declaration, for scaring her, or both. Even Birdway who had just entered the room after presumably getting done briefing her men on what she expected of them during the counteroffensive had frozen and facepalmed in exasperation as she looked towards Kamijou.
"Let's just go." Saten-sama said, shaking her head with a sigh.
Nodding in enthusiastic agreement, Saiai grabbed Umidori's arm and dragged her off to form up with the rest of ITEM as everyone began moving into their preassigned groups to prepare for their Teleporters to deposit them onto Kauaʻi. It was time to end Gremlin's little Hawaiian invasion.
Weck Lunasand considered himself a normal guy. But he was currently having a most extraordinary day. It was going normally at first, with him doing his job as a children's surfing instructor on the island of Kauaʻi in Hawaii and teaching a class when first Kīlauea suddenly erupted and then that was followed by an unknown army suddenly invading Kauaʻi via its beaches. Being the professional and, more importantly, responsible person that he was, he responded to this by piling the children in his class into his SUV and headed for an abandoned building in Chinatown which he knew had a civilian nuclear shelter where they could hide out until the military could deal with whoever was dumb enough to attack the U.S.A. However, he'd been in such a rush to do so that he hadn't noticed one of the kids under his care, Steve, had been left behind. Which was what led to him being where he was now: hiding behind the cashier's counter in the store of a Blue Energy Gas Station just off the beach where he had been conducting his class with a meager .38 revolver whilst he watched a bunch of the invaders surround a terrified looking Steve.
Shit! What am I supposed to do!? Weck thought to himself as he found himself faced with a serious moral dilemma. Should he just abandon Steve to save his own life? Or should he risk his life to save the boy?
T-that's a silly question. Weck thought to himself shakily as he made his decision. As a teacher, no, as a man, as a decent human being, there's only one thing to do!
With that thought in mind, Weck steadied his shaking hands and stood with his gun leveled at the terrorists surrounding Steve. He was opening his mouth to shout something heroic, however before he could so much as say a word, he heard the safety of a gun be switched off behind him and a voice with a Eastern European accent address him.
"Drop the gun and put your hands in the air, wannabe hero."
Shit! Where did he come from! I didn't even hear him! Part of Weck thought. Only part though. Mostly he was just thinking one thing. I don't want to die!
Frozen by fear, Weck didn't immediately respond to the demand of the terrorist who had him at gunpoint. This prompted the other man to push the muzzle of his gun, some kind of automatic rifle if it was anything like those used by his fellows, against the back of his head and repeat his demand.
"I said, drop it!"
Gulping fearfully, Weck was about to do as the man wanted when suddenly with a scream the terrorist's gun was wrenched from his hands, alongside all those of his fellows'. Any knives and other weapons they might have likewise flew off their bodies as if pulled by some kind of supernatural force. Weapons that were pulled through the air by said unseen force till they crashed into each other in midair just above the gas station where they were quickly crushed into a ball of twisted metal.
Weck was frankly freaked out by this but he shoved that emotion aside, instead spinning around and putting a pair of bullets into the legs of the terrorist behind him before he could recover, disabling him and leaving it safe for him to rush out of the store and towards Steve. His shots seemed to have startled the group of disarmed terrorists that surrounded the boy out of the shock that had overcome them due to whatever supernatural bullshit had deprived them of their weapons and whilst a number of them rushed to confront whatever had done that, a couple turned to deal with Weck.
I can take them! The surfing instructor thought as he raised his revolver to shoot them.
Before he could fire a shot however, a tornado, of all things, suddenly swept in front of him and picked up the two terrorists.
"What the-" Weck began, only for the answer to his unfinished question to present themselves.
Floating onto the scene atop another twister was a pretty teenage Japanese girl with an impressive set of knockers and long raven black hair decorated by a prominent flower shaped hair clip; a white blonde girl wearing a beret; and a lanky albino boy.
"Frenda-chan, I'll knock them out with Mental Out. Could you help tie them up?" The Japanese girl asked in her native tongue, something Weck understood only because he'd taken a number of classes on the language to be able to converse in their mother tongue with the sizable number of ethnically Japanese neighbors he had here on Kauaʻi, whilst looking at the blonde. Turning to the albino and gesturing to a set of missile launchers that Weck only now noticed the terrorists had parked on the beach, she continued. "In the meantime, Accel, could you go destroy those launchers? If we take those out, it should widen the hole in Trident's anti-ship defenses and make it easier for American reinforcements from Oahu to get through."
The boy, Accel apparently, readily agreed. "Leave it to me."
Waiting for the two girls to jump off the tornado, which seemed to be under his command, the boy turned towards the beach where he proceeded to conjure more twisters and use them to wreck everything in his path. Be they gunmen, fancy tracked and four legged robots, and even, honest to God, tanks, nothing could stand in his way! The terrorists tried to stop him of course, but everything they threw at him, be it bullets, rockets, or even bloody tank shells, just got deflected off some invisible barrier around him.
That was pretty damn scary but it was nothing to what the Japanese girl did, because whatever Mental Out was, it didn't just knock out the terrorists she turned it on. No, in a scene straight out of Weck's nightmares it did so by first having them let out screams of utter agony and had them writhing in pain before they collapsed. It was so disturbing that it broke Steve out of the terrified stupor he had been in till now and caused him to run to Weck to wrap his arm around him in a desperate attempt to seek comfort. Something that in his own horrified state, amounted to the coach only managing to distractedly pat his back comfortingly. That was fine. Not ideal but fine. What wasn't fine was that Steve running to him had caught the attention of the blonde, Frenda, the Japanese girl had called her, and she turned to look at them.
"Ruiko-sama! Look, you scared the civilians!" She scolded her friend in Japanese. "I'm gonna leave securing these Trident goons to the American troops following behind us, okay? In the meantime, I'm gonna see if I can calm these poor civilians down."
Blushing in what looked like embarrassment, the Ruiko girl nodded.
"Hi there!" The blonde said in English as she offered them a wave. "My name's Frenda Seivelun. What's yours?"
"Weck Lunasand." Weck admitted with a nervous gulp.
"S-Steve." His student replied with a fearful stutter.
"Well, Weck, Steve, are you okay?" Frenda said as she moved to block their view of the, thankfully finally unconscious, terrorists Weck and Steve had been staring at in horror.
A very pale Steve just shook his head.
As for Weck, his terrified mind seemed to have scrambled his control over his tongue because in a display of remarkable lack of self-control, he said something that his horrified mind had been pondering since the terrorists had started screaming.
"Is that scary Japanese girl ripping the souls out of the terrorists?"
"No. No, nothing like that." The Frenda girl said with a shake of his head. "As far as I know no known Esper power can do that. Ruiko-sama is just pureeing their psyches with her telepathy."
Weck paled at the explanation and gulped fearfully whilst Steve outright began crying in fear.
"Yeah…" Frenda said, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "I guess that doesn't really make it that much better. Sorry. I don't think I can answer your question in any way that wouldn't scare you."
"T-That's a-alright." Weck said with another horrified gulp. "T-Thank you f-for, uh, t-trying."
Blushing, Frenda laughed nervously. "Well, um, why don't we get you two somewhere that's, uh, not a battlefield? I mean we're kinda the vanguard so where we are is going to be pretty dangerous."
"That sounds like a plan." Weck agreed, the prospect of getting out of there causing him to start to calm down. "But do you have a place where we can go?"
"Well, American troops are coming up behind us so you just need to head in the direction that we came and you'll run into them eventually." The girl said as she pointed back down the road from which she and her companions had come from.
"Or you can just wait." The Japanese girl said in flawless English as she walked over to join her friend. "The American troops are almost here."
As she said that, in the distance, Weck spotted a group of American APCs (armored personnel carriers) driving towards them, presumably full of troops to secure the area. A sight that had Weck finally breathing a sigh of relief and Steve relaxing.
The military is here! Weck thought as he finally relaxed the white knuckled grip that he had been unconsciously using to hold his gun. We're saved!
Weck, like the majority of Hawaiians, voted Democrat and believed that the American military should be slimmed down if not got rid of entirely. However, at that moment, seeing the American boys and girls in green coming towards them to save them from the terrorists, and the terrible children who had defeated them, those ideas went out the window. All he felt at the sight of the soldiers now was relief and, dare he say it, joy.
"Huh? That's convenient." Frenda said in Japanese, shooting her friend a skeptical look.
Smirking, the Japanese girl explained in the same language. "I might have radioed them to hurry it up."
"I knew it." The blonde girl said with a laugh.
"You never change, Ruiko." The albino boy said in Japanese as he flew over on top of a gust. It seemed he was done with the terrorist forces on the beach.
"I have no plans to." The raven haired girl said, still smirking. Turning to Weck and Steve, she switched to English and addressed them. "Head over to those soldiers, they'll take care of you."
Weck nodded and looked down at Steve encouragingly. "Come on Steve, let's go."
The boy nodded and allowed Weck to guide him towards the military convoy that had pulled to a stop and where a trio of its APCs were unloading its soldiers. Troops that were spreading out to secure the area.
"Good. The civvies are handed over. Let's keep going." Weck heard the Accelerator boy say in Japanese from behind him and Steve. "We still have plenty of Trident and Gremlin goons to take out."
"Yes, let's keep going." The Saten girl agreed. "Frenda, ready to go?"
"Yup. Let's go kick more enemy ass!" The blonde said enthusiastically.
The sound of howling winds behind him told Weck that the three foreigners were once more heading off on a tornado and though he was still too rattled to say it out loud, Weck nevertheless wished them luck.
What that Frenda girl said, kick those terrorists' asses!
While the Number 3 and her little burgeoning harem were off serving as a vanguard for one of the advancing columns of the American counterattack, Mugino, the rest of her team and their tagalong, Kuroyoru, were accompanying President Katze and his advisor, Krackhart, as they led another such task force through a nature reserve called Waimea Canyon State Park. Despite being the President of the United States, President Katze had refused to stay in the relative safety of Honolulu despite his advisors' pleas, during the counterattack. A fact that meant that, in the name of keeping their commander and chief safe, their column was the largest and most well equipped of the American thrusts across Kauaʻi trying to reach the home of Lindy Blueshake and her legal guardian.
Only if you discounted us Espers of course. Mugino thought as she glanced out the window of the jeep near the head of their column she and her fellow Academy City residents were riding in at the mass of American armored might surrounding them. If we took us into account, having all this conventional firepower here is just an excuse to assign protecting your president to me and my team.
Mugino was under no illusions about the relative strength of her and her team when compared to the Trinity or Accelerator. Either of them could trounce them any day of the week. An admission that before World War Three would have rankled but right now was actually something of a relief to Mugino. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't like the [Army Slayer] and the idea of being relied on to be the spearhead of an army in a major battlefield low key intimidated her. It wasn't something she couldn't do if she had to. It wasn't like she hadn't been to a warzone before and she was a Level 5, so she could wing it if she had to. But she was glad she didn't need to. So the fact that she was the weakest Level 5 in Hawaii and thus was assigned the easiest job of protecting the President of the United States was actually something of a relief.
"I still find it weird that Frenda and Saten-sama are hooking up." Kinuhata said as they continued making their way across Kauaʻi and cutting into Mugino's thoughts.
"Why? Because Saten-sama already has Accelerator-sama as her boyfriend?" Kuroyoru asked with a shrug. "What's odd about that? I mean, it's clear she's gunning to be a mistress, not oust the Number 1."
"No, not that." Kinuhata said with a shake of her head. "It's more that I'm surprised that Frenda is into girls at all. We were teammates for ages and I didn't even realize."
"You didn't?" Takitsubo said, turning to Kinuhata with a look of surprise. "How did you miss it?"
"You knew, Rikou?"
The [AIM Stalker] nodded. "Frenda did not go out of her way to hide it. Did you miss the way she sometimes stared at us in the showers or bath?"
"She does that to you guys too?" Hamazura cut in with a frown. "I thought she only did that to me."
"Yeah, but I never thought too much about it." Kinuhata said with her own frown. "I stare too sometimes. And didn't she have a guy sex friend?"
"That just means she's bisexual." Takitsubo said with a shake of her head. "And besides, you stare, same as the rest of us, because you're comparing our bodies to your own. Frenda doesn't do that, she leers."
As Kinuhata hummed thoughtfully at the observation, tapping her chin as she did, Mugino turned to the only male member of her team. "Hamazura, since when did Frenda get the chance to leer at you?"
The former Skill-Out shrugged. "Not in the shower or bath if that's what you're thinking. She just liked to stare at me a lot whenever I was around. Not that I get why? It's not like I'm that buff or anything."
"I think you're plenty buff." Takitsubo countered with a teasing smile for her boyfriend.
"You're biased, Rikou." Hamazura replied with a blush.
Rolling her eyes as the couple started flirting, Mugino turned to Kinuhata with the intent to exchange an amused grin at their teammates' expense only to find the Level 4 and her sister, not that Kinuhata was willing to admit the relation yet, arguing in the sisterly manner that had come to define their relationship.
Groaning, the Number 6 shook her head in frustration. Why the hell am I the only one on my team that's left out like this!? I'm the leader damnit!
She was tempted to lash out at her teammates like she used to but after her experience during World War Three, she'd come to realize the need to treat them better and so she restrained herself. It was difficult though when everyone was just ignoring her like this, so desperate to stop herself from losing her cool and attacking her teammates, Mugino turned her attention outside their vehicle once again and desperately hoped to find something, anything, to distract her.
Thankfully, just then a set of lasers built into the tanks ahead of their jeep in the column suddenly whirred to life and began shooting at something incoming, causing explosions to fill the sky. Whatever they were shooting at, there were too many of them however, and some of them got through the laser point defense and crashed into the lead tanks, causing explosions and damaging them.
I wanted a distraction and this certainly fits the bill. Mugino thought to herself with satisfaction as their jeep came to a stop and their driver quickly began speaking into his radio as he tried to grasp the situation.
Ignoring him, the [Meltdowner] snapped herself free of her seatbelt and, popping open the door next to her, rushed out of the jeep. As she did so, she shouted back at her team and Kuroyoru. "ITEM! We've been ambushed! Let's help the Americans fight them off!"
"What are we being ambushed by exactly?" Kinuhata asked as she and Kuroyoru jumped out of the jeep side by side, even as another enemy shot got through and exploded in the ground nearby, throwing up a geyser of dirt.
"A group of enemy tanks." Hamazura said as he and Takitsubo rounded the jeep and joined them as the American tanks, which despite the damage they had sustained looked to be wholly operable, returned fire. "That's what we heard over the radio anyway."
He must've tuned his radio into the Americans' frequencies. Mugino realized. Good. He can save us the trouble of doing it too. He can tell us what we need to know.
It was not the most efficient way of doing things. And probably wasn't exactly a good idea in the middle of a pitched battle but Mugino didn't care. To her, this fight wasn't even a battle. It was nothing more than a delay.
"Coordinates?" Mugino asked eagerly as she gathered together a half dozen orbs of plasma in preparation of adding to the Americans' counterfire with some of her Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannons.
"I've got them. I'll help you aim." Takitsubo said as she tapped her earpiece with one hand, signifying she was tuning in to the Americans too, even as she stepped to Mugino's side and placed her other hand on her shoulder, using the contact to channel the AIM manipulation aspect of her AIM Stalker to enhance and, more importantly, direct the Level 5's power. "Fire away."
Nodding and trusting her teammate, Mugino let the plasma fly in the form of six neon green lasers. Lasers that shot off into the distance and caused a satisfyingly equal number of explosions presumably amidst the enemy's ranks.
"The Americans report four bogies down." Hamazura informed them as he peered in the direction of the enemy with the help of what looked like a pair of high-powered binoculars.
"Only four?" Mugino asked with a frown.
"Yeah, the other two are disabled but their guns are still working and so they aren't out of the fight yet." Hamazura replied as enemy return fire that slipped through their allies' defenses once more caused geysers of dirt to shoot into the sky as they impacted the earth. It seemed the Americans were only shooting down the incoming enemy shells that were on target and letting the others slip through.
"Onee-san! Look!" Kuroyoru said suddenly as she pointed excitedly in the direction of the latest salvo of the American tanks' return fire. Most of it were normal shells but a few of them, all of which were noticeably targeted a lot closer to their position than the other shots, were some kind of speciality shell that opened up and released a hail or cluster of blades that rained down on the jungle in between their position and the enemy's. "Isn't that cool?"
"Yeah, I guess." Kinuhata said as she cracked her knuckles expectantly. "But more importantly, if they're firing on something so close that means we'll have company soon and I can get a chance to crack some heads."
"Oh! That too!" The combat cyborg nodded in understanding, a bloodthirsty smirk spreading across her face. "Mind if I help you with that, Onee-san?"
"Sure, why not?" Kinuhata said with a shrug as she turned towards her team leader whilst pointing at the lines of American soldiers who had spread out into defensive positions around their column since they'd come to a stop. "Yo Mugino, mind if I and Umidori go help those guys out?"
"Sure." Mugino said with a shrug as she fired off another salvo of her Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannons at the enemy tanks just as a horde of THeMIS IIIs and Rangers emerged from the jungle and attacked the American lines.
"More robots?" Kuroyoru said in a whine as with Mugino's permission obtained, she and her sister began running towards the frontlines. "Damn! I wish Slivercross was here. His army of drone Powered Suits would be super helpful right now."
"You do realize that even if he was here, he wouldn't have his drones, right?" Kinuhata retorted as her sister released dozens of her tentacle-like cyborg arms from the dolphin shaped backpack she liked so much and used them to channel her Esper power to release a barrage of lances of nitrogen at the enemy robots as they continued to close with the frontlines. "Smuggling what gear that we did into America was difficult enough as is, there's no way his drones would've made it past customs. It's why he's not here. Unlike the [Drone Queen], he's useless without his toys."
"I know that!" Kuroyoru replied with another whine as she and Kinuhata finally reached the enemy, whereupon the latter began ripping them apart like an ogre without worry of injury thanks to the near total invincibility granted to her by her Offense Armor and the combat cyborg herself continued impaling enemy robots with her Bomber Lances. "But if he was here and had his army, things would be so much easier."
"She's a whiny brat, isn't she?" Hamazura said with a chuckle from his spot next to Mugino and Takitsubo as working together, the two Espers fired off another barrage of perfectly aimed Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannons at the enemy tanks.
"Yeah, she is." "Looks like it." Mugino and Takitsubo agreed.
"So, Hamazura, why aren't you joining those two?" Mugino asked, glancing at the Level 0 as she and [AIM Stalker] fired off another Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannon barrage.
"Why should I?" Hamazura asked with a shrug as another set of missed enemy shots let through their allies' defense net slammed into the ground around them. "I'm a Level 0 and not a soldier either, I won't be any help at the frontlines. Better for me to stay back here where I can support you two if need be."
"And how are you supporting us exactly?" Mugino asked with a cocked eyebrow as she charged up for another volley of her Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannons.
Hamazura shrugged. "Need me to do anything?"
Mugino rolled her eyes but Takitsubo offered her boyfriend a smile as she replied, "Not at the moment, Shiage, but thank you for asking."
"You're so easily satisfied, Takitsubo." Mugino commented as they fired off another salvo of deadly neon green beams.
The [AIM Stalker] shrugged. "But I am satisfied."
Sighing, Mugino just changed the topic. "Where's President Katze? Did his aides actually manage to get him to stay safe in whatever vehicle he's holed up in this time rather than putting himself in danger trying to lead from the front?"
"Seems so." Hamazura said with a nod. "At least that's what I heard over the radio."
"President Katze has no sense of self-preservation." Takitsubo commented in an unimpressed deadpan.
"Agreed." "Totally." Mugino and Hamazura replied as yet another storm of particle beams shot towards the enemy's position alongside the Americans' own tank shells.
"Well, that seems to have silenced the last of the enemy tanks." Hamazura informed them as he took another look towards the enemy with those binoculars he'd gotten from somewhere.
"The enemy is almost out of robots too." Takitsubo said as she pointed to the frontlines where, as she said, the number of enemy robots were rapidly thinning.
"Good." Mugino said, satisfied. "Then we can get moving again so-"
Before she could finish her sentence however, the earpiece she was wearing came to life with Uiharu-san's voice. "Sorry to interrupt whatever you are doing, everyone, but Leivinia-san has something to say. I'm patching her through in three…"
Looking to her teammates and seeing them all tapping their own earpieces to signify they were paying attention, Mugino nodded in satisfaction and prepared to hear what the Magician had to say.
"Two…"
Touma along with Namikaze-san, Biri-Biri and Shirai-san thankfully arrived at Sunny Watcher 44-19 without much issue save for speed. Well, no other issue except the dirty looks that Shirai-san was giving him that is. Looks that were rather unfair if he was being honest. So he couldn't be teleported? Everyone already knew that! If she didn't, then it was her own fault.
Thankfully a warning from Biri-Biri had the Teleporter drop the ever growing hostility the girl had for him. For now. Knowing his luck, she'd be right back to glowering at him the next time they met.
Seeing the cliffside log cabin that housed Lindy Blueshake and her legal guardian, Harzak Lolas, just outside the Nā Pali Coast State Park, Touma couldn't help but shake his head in amazement. The only reason they knew to come here, much less made it here was because Uiharu-san used her frankly scary superhuman hacking prowess to unearth the Blueshake girl's location.
Sadly though, they weren't there first as it seemed they were beaten to the punch by a group of Trident soldiers. Mercenaries who were attempting to manhandle Lindy Blueshake and her guardian into one of their APCs whilst Irivika stood to one side overseeing everything with a look of satisfaction. One that faded the moment that the Magician spotted them.
"Вытащите их отсюда! Сейчас! (Get them out of here! Now!)" The Russian barked in a language he didn't understand but which he didn't need to. What she said was obvious as the Trident troops began intensifying their efforts to force Lindy Blueshake and her guardian into their APC.
"Kuroko!" Mikoto shouted, prompting the Judgment agent to teleport a set of her Nails into the mercenaries that were manhandling Lindy Blueshake and Harzak Lolas whilst Misaka-san and Namikaze-san unleashed a series of elemental attacks to distract the Magician.
Blasts of acid, waves of earth and pressurized water assaulted the Magician from Namikaze-san. Attacks that were supported by bolts of lightning and bullets of iron sand conjured by Misaka-san. However, despite this furious elemental barrage, with feats of superhuman speed and agility, Irivika evaded every single attack sent her way.
"How?" Touma asked, blinking in surprise at how the Russian was somehow surviving what he could only describe as a bullet hell. One that whilst it failed to take out its primary target succeeded in eliminating most of the Trident troops in the area. "Is she amping herself up with magic?"
""Duh!"" Both Level 5s said with exasperation as they continued their barrage as with the mercenaries trying to kidnap them collapsed, Shirai-san teleported to Lindy Blueshake and Harzak Lolas' side and grabbing hold of them proceeded to, as previously planned, teleport them away to safety first to the warship that had brought them to Kauaʻi and then onto Oahu.
"Черт возьми! (Dammit!)" Irivika cursed as she continued her frankly amazing evasions. "Теперь я должен выследить эту девушку снова! (Now I have to hunt down that girl all over again!)"
"You think we're going to make that easy on you?" Namikaze-san said with a growl as she intensified the elemental attacks she was throwing at the Russian, adding balls of intense white flames to the mix.
I really should learn some other languages… Touma thought with a frown as he edged his way through the bullet hell the Level 5s had created whilst using his Imagine Breaker to negate any attack they came close to him as he made his way towards Irivika as stealthily as possible.
"Come on, you radish humper! Stop running and fight! You think we're going to make it easy for you?!" The blonde Level 5 roared as her bombardment continued.
"Naru! Calm down! Don't let her rile you up!" Misaka-san warned her fellow Trinity member as she called down a massive lightning bolt from the sky. A bolt that struck the cliff with an earth shattering boom of thunder, consuming the entire area in its electric fury.
Did that take her down? Touma thought as he shielded himself from the powerful bolt's wrath with his Imagine Breaker.
Much to Touma, and he imagined the Level 5s' dissatisfaction, it was not to be. As the aftermath of Misaka's super lightning bolt faded, Irivika stood there utterly unscathed whilst dressed up in that freaky magical armor of hers.
"Is that all you can do, Level 5s!?" The Magician asked tauntingly in Japanese. "If so, then let me show you real power!"
Raising an arm, she leveled it at Namikaze-san and Misaka-san and pointing at them with an inhuman, overly long, clawed finger, she spoke in a commanding voice. "Флора и фауна леса, услышь меня! Прислушайтесь к моему приказу и уничтожьте моих врагов! (Flora and fauna of the forest, hear me! Heed my command and destroy my foes!)"
Whatever Irivika was doing, Touma wasn't about to let her get away with it. He thus broke into a desperate sprint at the Magician, intent to disrupt her spell with his Imagine Breaker. However, he was still ten feet away from the Russian when a massive boar suddenly ran out of the jungle bordering the cliff they were fighting on and slammed into him.
The pig sent him crashing to the ground and Touma desperately punched the animal with his right hand. With the familiar sound of shattering glass, his Imagine Breaker dispelled whatever magic that Irivika had used to control the animal and made it attack him. Though that didn't help at all. Not when the beast was already attacking him and clearly seeing him as a threat, kept trying to maul him even after it was freed from the Russian's control.
Sorry about this! Touma thought in apology to the animal as whilst he held the beast's tusks at bay with his left hand, he pulled back his right arm back and used it to land a punch with all his strength. A punch with the strength that had destroyed innumerable supernatural phenomena, many of which were considerably sturdier than even the most bulked up mundane boar. The blow thus hit the animal with enough force to knock it out and send it toppling to Touma's side.
Breathing hard and pushing himself to his feet, Touma found that it wasn't just one boar that had charged out of the jungle to fight under Irivika's command. Instead, it seemed like every living thing in the jungle had. Tens of thousands of insects, spiders, scorpions and every other kind of bug was swarming out of the treeline towards them. Flocks of birds in the hundreds flew at them like fighter planes. Herds and packs of every kind of beast charged at them like tanks. Lizards and snakes in the thousands crawled towards them in a scaly tide. All aided by the plants literally moving out of the way to allow the creatures passage, with some of the flora even growing at superspeed to create stable paths to make it easier for the army of fauna.
"How the hell do you have an Authority?" Namikaze-san shouted in disbelief as she created a dome of white hot flames that burned everything that charged out of the jungle at Irivika's command into ash. At the same time, Misaka-san fired lightning bolts at the Russian. Bolts that sadly fizzled out harmlessly against wooden barriers that Irivika conjured with her magic.
Kamijou had no idea what an Authority was but guessed that it must be a big deal to startle the Number 2 like that. That said, he had other things to worry about at the moment. Toggling his earpiece, one of which everyone on the team was wearing, Touma addressed Uiharu-san, who was acting as their equivalent to a switchboard operator. "Uiharu-san, patch me through to Birdway-san please."
"Sure, Kamijou-san." The tech whiz said as he watched as Misaka-san continued trying to fry Irivika with lightning whilst the Russian shot back at her with supersonic wooden shards. An exchange of fire that saw each combatant shoot at the other whilst seeking cover behind iron sand constructs and walls of conjured wood respectively. All the while Namikaze-san was busy keeping Irivika's forest friends from surging out of the forest to join the fight. "Give me a moment."
A moment later, Birdway-san's voice came through his earpiece. "Kamijou? You wanted to speak to me?"
"Yeah," Touma agreed as he hung back on the edge of the battlefield and watched things play out with an assessing eye, glancing off the coast where he could just barely spot the glint of something in the water which was likely one of the Cannibal Shark observation drones that they'd seized control of from Trident. "Are you watching what's going on in this fight?"
From where she had set up shop with elites from her cabal back on the warship that had transported them over from Oahu, Birdway-san scoffed as she replied. "Of course, I am. I've been watching the whole time and no, whilst I have an idea what Namikaze means, I don't have a counter to Irivika's latest display of magic yet. Give my men and I some time to work on it."
"We'll do our best." Touma replied with a frown. He'd been hoping Birdway-san would've offered him something helpful, but no dice. It seemed he would just have to make do with what he already had.
So just like normal. Touma thought with a resigned sigh. Fukou da!
Despite his complaints, Touma sprinted out of the way of the wooden lances that Irivika, seemingly finally remembering he was still there, shot his way and towards the Russian Magician.
"Irivika-san! Why are you doing all this!?" Touma shouted as he closed in on the girl. "Don't you see what you're doing, invading another country, is wrong!?"
"And?! What about World War Three?! What about how they invaded my motherland!? What about all those other damn nations that are reconstructing every aspect of Mother Russia so that it will be their puppet! Actions that they call just and good! Where is our sovereignty!? Where are our rights! My country is being raped by the world and I cannot strike back?!"
Is it just me or is her Japanese a lot better than I would expect? Is her magic helping her with it? Touma thought with a frown. Damn! I wish I had that kind of shortcut.
Even as he lamented his inability to use a convenient way to improve his linguistic skills, Touma decided to address the Russian's rant.
"Those things happening to your country are wrong and it is my duty to fight those who are making you suffer in the name of justice." Touma told her with utmost seriousness. "But that doesn't let you do things that will make the world mark you as a villain. It just gives them an excuse to justify abusing your country more."
"You-! YOU-! How dare you! What sophistry are you spewing? I am done pandering to your delusions!"
At her angry shout, the plants underneath him started to leak pollen into the air. Reacting immediately, he tried to get out of there. But before his body could even move, the plants bloomed and released a noxious cloud of corrosive pollen.
The pollen burned. It felt like little needles were stabbing every pore that the pollen touched. The pain ripped an agonizing scream from his lips, expelling the air from his lungs and worse, allowed the pollen to fill them, causing him even more pain. It was so intense that it made him want to tear his own eyes out!
He was used to pain. He could handle a ton of it, but as he staggered on his feet, darkness taking over his vision and the taste of copper filled his mouth, it was too much. Way too much! Thus, overwhelmed, all he could manage was to hold on long enough to hear Biri-Biri crying out his name before he blacked out.
"KAMIJOU!" Naru heard Mikoto-senpai cry in helpless worry at seeing Kamijou getting surrounded by a cloud of corrosive pollen.
Unlike the Electromaster, Naru didn't freeze up though. No, she reacted. Teleporting into the cloud, she grabbed hold of [Imagine Breaker] whilst carefully avoiding that dangerous right hand of his and knowing that same troublesome hand prevented her from teleporting him away instead used a chakra enhanced leap to jump out of range of the expanding cloud. She, of course, got badly burned in doing so but it wasn't anything her regeneration couldn't handle. Her clothes hadn't been quite so lucky but she hadn't been in the cloud long enough for them to completely fall apart on her, though some holes and rips had opened up thanks to the corrosive pollen.
"Senpai! I've got him!" Naru assured her senpai even as she landed from her leap. Noting as she did so that although the older Level 5 had frozen up at the sight of her crush getting injured, it was only for a second or two and after shaking off her shock, the [Railgun] had smoothly taken over the task of keeping Irivika's menagerie of local beasties and plants at bay that Naru had abandoned to conduct her rescue in addition to tending to her original task of holding off the Magician herself. Something she did by conjuring a thunder storm's worth of lightning down on the battlefield. Electricity that provided to zap any unfortunate thing that Irivika sent at them whilst simultaneously causing the Magician to warily keep her distance to avoid the same fate.
Good. She has things under control. Naru thought with relief as she looked away from Senpai to instead check Kamijou even as her partner helped her unleash a burst of fire all around them that scorched the earth, killing anything that the Magician could use against them.
You should have done this the moment you realized you were fighting against someone with the Authority to control flora and fauna within her domain. Kurama chided. I have explained to you how dangerous someone with an Authority is.
Kamijou's condition is bad, but nothing an overnight soak in Nanoheal Solution won't fix. Naru thought with relief as she finished looking over the injured [Imagine Breaker] and thinking of Eden Corp's prototype medical nanite solution. Thankfully, with Ruiko being the biggest shareholder of the company, they had access to plenty of it and had brought along a healthy supply of the stuff for this mission just in case under the justification that it was to field test it by using it to treat the inevitable injuries at least some of them would receive.
Satisfied that Kamijou wouldn't die on them, Naru finally deigned to respond to her partner. What was I supposed to do? Scorch the whole area?
Yes! Kurama replied emphatically.
Well, sorry about not wanting to cause a localized ecological disaster. Naru retorted as she gently laid Kamijou out in the recovery position.
Fighting someone with an Authority is no time for such considerations! Kurama hissed angrily. You need to take such fights seriously!
Naru frowned. She knew he was right. He'd explained to her, best as he was able, what an Authority meant. It gave its user the ability to shape reality, in specific ways limited to their Authority, on a fundamental level. One that allowed its effect to transcend Phases. Such that the exercise of an Authority could impact not only the Phase it was used within but multiple layers of the onion that was their reality at the same time. Thus, facing anyone with that kind of power was to be done with all due caution. Something that Kurama had rightfully pointed out, Naru hadn't been doing.
I get it. Naru assured the fox. I'll take this fight more seriously from now on.
Her conversation with her partner concluded, Naru rejoined the fight by unleashing a massive wall of fire that cleansed the surrounding area of all wildlife for a good few hundred meters. As she did, she began shouting both at Senpai and through her radio.
"Kamijou is alright but he's out of this fight! We need him extracted and given medical attention."
Upon hearing that news, Mikoto-senpai's face hardened with resolve. "Naru! Switch! I'll guard Kamijou!"
For the briefest of moments Naru playfully wondered if Senpai had chosen for them to switch roles out of a desire to be closer to her crush or because she recognized that her ability to wield fire was proving more effective against Irivika's nature magic than her own Electromastery. She dismissed the thought as quickly as it entered her mind however. She had promised Kurama she would take this fight seriously and she was not about to be a liar.
Thus, it was with a clear mind that she released another wave of white hot flames that proceeded to incinerate the latest wave of wildlife that Irivika called in to fight for her. An attack that, of course, didn't even singe the Magician's armor. It did however serve to provide the [Railgun] the cover she needed to move over to the injured and unconscious Kamijou's side and for Naru to prepare her next move.
With a chakra enhanced push off the ground, Naru launched herself towards Irivika whilst at the same time, with Kurama's help, she channeled a mix of their chakra out of her body and into the familiar shell of one of her Demon Frames. Chakra that as she got within range of the startled looking Russian, solidified into the lean suit of her Jager Demon Frame.
I'd have preferred to knock her head in with Panzer. Naru thought as she swung at her opponent with her right arm, the blade built into the small diamond shaped shield mounted on the limb deploying mid swing and turning her wild swing into a deadly slash. But her magic makes her too fast for it.
As if to prove this point, despite her surprise, the Leshy themed Magician gracefully pirouetted out of the way of Naru's blade. She even managed to grow a blade of her own out of her forearm mid-spin. A wooden blade brimming with magical energy that as she completed said spin, she used to slash at Naru.
Smoothly drawing the short sword at her hip with her free hand, the long sword being a little too unwieldy to be used one handed, Naru used it to not just block Irivika's incoming slash but to trap it against her own in a blade lock. With her enemy's weapon checked, Naru moved to stab her opponent with her shield's blade.
However, before she could land the hit, Irivika broke the blade lock by dispelling her sword, causing the wooden weapon to wither away into green motes of magic as she nimbly skipped out of the reach of Naru's blades. Activating the jetpack built into the Jager, Naru shot forward in pursuit.
As she did, her earpiece crackled to life and Kazari-san's voice filled her ears. "Sorry to interrupt whatever you are doing, everyone, but Birdway-san has something to say. I'm patching her through in three…"
What does Birdway want? Naru thought with a frown as her thrusters allowed her to catch up with Irivika and she thrust her shield blade at the Russian.
Probably to update us on what she's concluded about the Russian's magic. If you were paying attention to your surroundings earlier, you'd have heard the Hero ask her about it and the Magician telling him she needed more time to decipher it. Kurama sent back with a shrug. But more importantly! You're letting yourself get distracted! Again!
Oops! Naru sent back alongside a burst of apologetic emotion whilst she rocketed past Irivika as the Magician pulled off a perfectly timed sidestep to avoid being run through by Naru's jetpack enhanced thrust. The Level 5 tried to lash out with her short sword as she did but Irivika just brought her arms in a guard in front of her and the blade slid across the magically enhanced wood of her armor in a blaze of sparks but without dealing any lasting damage.
"Two…" Kazari-san continued to countdown over the radio as Naru pulled off a high speed u-turn and with her jetpack still burning at full power she shot back towards her foe. An opponent who was currently being distracted with crossing her arms in front of herself to shield against the barrage of iron sand bullets that Senpai had found the wherewithal to shoot at her despite being preoccupied with keeping the wannabe Leshy's summoned forest critters at bay.
Hmm… That must be why he was stupidly trying to talk the Magician down just before he got doused with pollen for his troubles. Naru mused as she closed with the Russian once more and spread her arms to either side in preparation to swing them at her opponent.
Either that or he just rolled a nat one on his Talk no Jutsu. Kurama japed with a chuckle.
Talk no Jutsu? What in the name of Science is that? Naru questioned as she was just about to come into range to swing her blades down against Irivika when suddenly the ground in front of her exploded and something that could be best described as a plant elemental made out of twisted roots and branches in the shape of a wolf leapt out of the resultant cloud of dirt at her.
A joke from my homeworld. Forget it. Kurama said with a mental shrug even as without missing a beat, Naru put the thrusters of her jetpack in full reverse, sending her shooting out of the way of the lupine-shaped plant creature's fangs and claws. At the same time, she breathed out a cone of white hot flame at the unnatural thing and reduced it to ash.
And by the way, who's the one getting distracted in this fight now? Naru sent her partner smugly.
Naru could feel the fox's embarrassment through their link but before he could formulate a reply, Kazari-san finished her countdown. "One!"
"Hello everyone! Listen up!" Birdway said over the radio. "Using a combination of tracing the extent of Irivika's influence and the flows of magical energy created by the Russian's magic, I have managed to decipher that the Gremlin Magician's domain is created by a plant up on Mount Waiʻaleʻale, probably some transplanted Russian plant. If we destroy it then her Authority should mostly collapse. She has other plants scattered across the island, and the rest of Hawaii, acting as other conduits of her power but if we destroy the central plant, her spell will at least be disrupted and exploiting that, my men and I can dispel it before it restabilizes."
During the course of the Magician's little infodump, Naru had tried to get close with Irivika once more but much to her annoyance was forced back by the Russian conjuring a whole pack of those wolf shaped plant elementals from earlier. Creatures that determinedly got in her way, forcing the [Elemental Empress] to become bogged down slicing, dicing and roasting them.
"ITEM is nearest to Waiʻaleʻale. So leave the plant to us." Mugino said over the radio as Naru bisected one of the plant wolves, whose parted halves fell to the ground on either side of her and was consumed by the caustic chakra that had infected it from her blades. "Just tell us exactly what we are looking for."
"I honestly can't say." Birdway said, sounding frustrated. "It could be anything. Just scorch the whole place. Leave no vegetation behind."
Catching a pair of the wolves with a spread of fireballs she spat at them, Naru simultaneously beheaded another with her shield blade even as she gutted a fourth with her short sword.
"Oh! I like the sound of that!" Mugino, ever the bloodthirsty crazy, enthusiastically agreed to Birdway's call for wanton destruction.
"I'm further away but I'll fly over to the mountain as well." Accelerator spoke up suddenly. "Want to make a race out of it Melter Hag? Whoever destroys the plant first wins?"
Finished dealing with her wolves, Naru once more beelined towards Irivika herself. Something that seemed to irk the Magician if the annoyed glance she shot the Number 2's way was any indication. Though, if Naru was being charitable, she might've understood. After all, the Russian looked like she had her hands full evading the whips of iron sand that Mikoto-senpai was using to lash out at her and probably wasn't thrilled with Naru adding to her misery.
"What did you call me!?" Mugino screeched indignantly.
"Are you hard of hearing? Do you need me to repeat myself, Melter Hag?" Accelerator shot back unfazed by the Number 6's anger.
"Argh! You bastard! I don't care if you are the Number 1! No one insults me like that and gets away with it!" Mugino shouted angrily over the radio just as Naru used her jetpack to fly up above Irivika before cutting her thrusters so she could drop down on her with her blades poised to stab into the Magician.
"Oh? And what are you gonna do it about it, Melter-"
"Accel!" Rui-chan's exasperated voice cut her boyfriend off, causing the Number 1 to take a chastised breath that was clearly audible over their radios.
Unable to resist the urge, Naru chuckled at her bestie putting her man in his place. Laughter that made up for the fact that Irivika used that bullshit agility of hers to leap out of the way of her death from above attack at the last second.
"Mugino-san, Accel, we're allies, so let's keep things friendly shall we? Go ahead and compete and see which of you can destroy Irivika's Idol atop Waiʻaleʻale first. The winner gets bragging rights."
"Save the bragging rights, Number 3." Mugino shot back. "If I win, I want that boyfriend of yours to apologize to me while performing a dogeza!"
"He'll apologize to you no matter what-"
"Who-"
"Accel!" Rui-chan cut the Number 1 off, sounding annoyed. Something that the boy in question must've picked up on if his sharp intake of breath was any indication.
Sucks to be you, Accelerator! Naru thought with a giggle, and she wasn't the only one laughing at Acclerator's expense if what she hearing over the radio was correct, as she tried to catch Irivika in a fire blast only for the Magician to perform a gravity defying leap that took her out of the blast zone.
"But," Rui-chan continued as if she hadn't just finished embarrassing her boyfriend. "If Accel offering you a dogeza when he apologizes is the prize you want for winning the competition then that's perfectly acceptable. How about it, Mugino-san?"
"I accept!" The Number 6 said enthusiastically.
"Accel?"
"Fine! I'll do it." Accelerator said sullenly. "It's not like I'll lose."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Number 1!"
As she and Kurama both rolled their eyes at the behavior of Naru's fellow Level 5s, the Number 2 flew up into the sky to attempt to attack Irivika whilst she was still airborne and thus hopefully vulnerable.
Your peers are so immature. Kurama commented as Naru brought her blades down on Irivika in a scissoring motion.
Yeah, but you can't deny they're entertaining because of that immaturity. Naru replied with a mental chuckle. Amusement that again offset the failure of her attack to connect as her Russian opponent fired off a burst of power, the recoil of which drastically increased the speed of her descent, allowing her to fall out of the range of Naru's blades microseconds before they would have contacted.
True. Kurama allowed with a chuckle of his own as they watched Irivika make a dramatic three-point landing.
Her posing cost her however as before she could shift into a proper stance, a lightning bolt suddenly slammed into Irivika with enough force to send her flying and with enough charged electricity that Naru herself could feel it through her Demon Frame's armor. It seemed Senpai was done playing babysitter to Kamijou and had rejoined the fight.
Some time earlier, Mikoto stood protectively in front of Kamijou whilst simultaneously using a electrified iron sand twister to fend off the horde of bugs, birds and other wildlife that Irivika summoned out of the surrounding jungle with her magic to attack them whilst she defended the unconscious [Imagine Breaker]. All whilst she somehow still managed to fend off Naru's attempts to smash her skull in. At another time, she would have gotten all annoyed at the Russian being able to do that. Right now though, Mikoto was too concerned with Kamijou's situation.
Damnit Kuroko! Where are you!? She thought instead as she chanced a glance at the injured Kamijou even as a literal sounder of wild hogs ran straight into her iron sand twister only to be reduced to gore whilst she absentmindedly fired off a salvo of iron sand bullets at Irivika after she'd evaded one of Naru's attacks.
She knew her roommate had to make a series of successive teleports all the way from the warship off Anahola or possibly even Oahu to make it back and that took time, but that didn't stop her from wishing she'd hurry. She'd seen how badly hurt Kamijou was and he needed treatment ASAP!
Thankfully, she was just beginning to worry that Kuroko would not make it in time when the Teleporter materialized next to her with a medic in a white Powered Suit equipped with a large backpack that had a translucent lid at its center, presumably full of medical supplies, and small red crosses painted on its upper arms.
"Hello everyone! Listen up!" Birdway said over the radio as Kazari-san finished her countdown.
Mikoto ignored her however and before either her roommate or the medic could say a word, not that she knew if they were going to say anything, either, she spoke up. "Get Kamijou out of here and into a tub of Nanoheal Solution now! He needs treatment yesterday!"
Mikoto's urgency seemed to surprise Kuroko and the twintailed Level 4 blinked at this and glanced down at Kamijou, only then noticing the extent of his injuries. Paling at the sight, she hastily offered Mikoto assurances. "Don't worry, Onee-sama. We'll make sure of it."
Even as she said this, the medic had got on his knees next to Kamijou and quickly injected the injured boy with a set of syringes provided to him from his backpack by a set of mechanical arms. An action that had Mikoto looking at him questioningly. With Irivika's mind control rampant through the American ranks, she could not just simply trust the medic was on the up and up.
"Those were anesthetics, pain killers and other medicines that should help to stabilize him for transport." The medic informed them, clearly understanding her concern.
Mikoto and Kuroko both nodded as they watched the medic gently begin moving Kamijou into a carrying position. "I would strap him down on a stretcher, but honestly his injuries don't really need it and speed is the priority here."
Mikoto bit her lip nervously. She didn't fully trust the medic, either his judgment on the matter or in general, but he was the medical expert here. So all she could was once again helplessly nod whilst she used her twister to shred a flock of birds that attempted to dive bomb their position.
"Then we should get going." Kuroko urged. "The sooner we can get Kamijou some proper treatment the better."
"Agreed." The medic said grimly as with Kamijou in a princess carry, he began running away from the battlefield and in the direction of friendly lines. Prompting Kuroko to keep up with his Powered Suit assisted pace with her Teleportation as she served as their escort.
A flock of angrily squawking turkeys, of all things, flew out of the jungle in a bid to intercept them but Mikoto cleared their path by introducing the birds to the 300 million volts of a lightning bolt, sending the birds crashing to the ground as charred corpses. Something that she honestly felt a little bad about but which knew had to be done. She was in a fight to the death and it was kill or be killed. And she was sure as hell not going to let herself just roll over and die. Nor would she let that happen to her friends and allies either, So sympathy for the innocent wildlife that Irivika was controlling or not, she was going to give it her all in this fight even if it meant massacring them.
I think I get how Naru and Ruiko feel when they're in a fight now. Mikoto mused as she watched Kuroko and the Powered Suited medic race away with the injured Kamijou. Though they could really do to be less bloodthirsty about it.
That she could even think that was a sign that the anxiety she felt over Kamijou's injuries were easing. A fact that was further substantiated when even as she was electrocuting a flock of dive bombing shore birds that attempted to waylay the retreating group, she couldn't help but think about where the Americians acquired the technology to build such an advanced Powered Suit.
They must have stolen it from the City. She concluded. Though by the looks of it, they're improved on it. The medic's Suit is a lot sleeker than most of those the City uses.
As an agent of the City she should have felt at least annoyed by that but she was just grateful that it existed because it's thanks to it that Kamijou was being brought to safety. She didn't want to even think about how they'd manage it without that Powered Suit. She doubted Kuroko could teleport more than a couple of medics in, who in turn would struggle to carry Kamijou out to safety on their own. Sure, she could make multiple trips but that was liable to tire her out. What with pushing the maximum load for her teleports tending to do that a lot more than multiple more standard ones. The Powered Suit eliminated that worry however as it provided a single medic, who even wearing it must still have been within Kuroko's weight limit if she managed to teleport him in, the strength of a whole team of his peers and thus could easily carry Kamijou to safety on his lonesome.
If only his [Imagine Breaker] didn't make it so Kuroko couldn't teleport him at all! It would be so much easier to get him to safety if that wasn't in the way! She lamented even as she breathed a sigh of relief and distractedly directed some of the iron sand under her command to form into whips that she proceeded to attempt to lash out at Irivika. No matter, at least he's safe now.
Intellectually she knew that wasn't exactly the case. They were still in a war zone after all and an active battlefield at that, but Mikoto had faith in Kuroko. Her roommate would keep Kamijou safe. She had no doubts about that at all.
Just as her worries subsided and she was able to focus more clearly on things besides Kamijou and his safety, she found herself catching what sounded like Ruiko setting up some kind of challenge between Accelerator and Mugino.
"If Accel offering you a dogeza when he apologizes is the prize you want for winning the competition then that's perfectly acceptable. How about it, Mugino-san?"
Ruiko is making her boyfriend apologize to the Number 6 about something!? What the hell did I miss!? Mikoto gaped. Ruiko could get her boyfriend to do basically anything she wanted. Mikoto was sure of that. But what in the world could the albino have done to warrant her to force him to apologize to [Meltdowner]?
The list of possibilities is just too long! I'll have to ask later. Mikoto thought even as a clearly pleased Mugino accepted Ruiko's terms.
"I accept!"
"Accel?"
"Fine! I'll do it." Accelerator said sullenly. "It's not like I'll lose."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Number 1!"
I should probably find out what they're supposed to be competing over too. Mikoto mused curiously as she used her iron sand twister to eviscerate a flock of turkeys that working together to carry the snake had just, rather creatively, tried to drop a large boa constrictor like a bomb on top of her. Whatever it is though, I'm pretty sure Mugino is going to lose. She's up against the Number 1 after all.
Loathe as she was to admit it on most days, Accelerator deserved his rank. The sheer strength and versatility of his ability was just that great. Thanks to his vector control he could do almost everything the other Level 5s like Mikoto and her friends could do and often with more potency. He was just broken like that.
And Mugino wants to compete against someone like that? Mikoto thought with a shake of her head at her fellow Electromaster's stupidity, doing so at the same time as she used a powerful electrical surge to charbroil the latest swarm of wildlife Irivika had tried to have invade the battlefield before turning to where the aforementioned Magician was fighting Naru.
With Kamijou out of danger for now, I think it's about time I give Naru a hand. Mikoto reasoned as she began gathering electricity that she swiftly channeled into a supercharged lightning bolt that she hurled at the Russian. A bolt that satisfyingly blasted the magical armor clad girl away from her kohai.
"Glad to see you're back in the game, Senpai." Naru replied as she raced after their opponent as she tumbled through the air, the thrusters of her Jager Demon Frame burning hard to give her speed a boost and to give the strikes of her blade that extra oomph when she eventually brought it down against Irivika. "Kamijou's okay?"
"Kuroko and a US medic in a Powered Suit are hightailing it out of here with him after the medic gave him some first aid." Mikoto informed her teammate as to her mild surprise, Irivika not only recovered from her impromptu flight with superhuman grace but as she landed, she grew a pair of clearly magically enhanced wooden blades out of the forearms of her armor and used them to parry Naru's sword strikes.
"The Americans have started mass producing Powered Suits?" Naru asked as Irivika managed to land a kick to her stomach when their blades had gotten locked. A blow that had enough strength behind it to send the blonde skidding away from the Magician.
"Don't know if it's mass produced." Mikoto replied as she sent a torrent of iron sand to cut off Irivika's attempt to capitalize on her advantage and close on Naru whilst she recovered from the kick. A move that forced the wildlife manipulating Magician to leap away to avoid being blended into mush. "But it was definitely sleeker than our mass produced HsPs-15s."
"Maybe it's a prototype?" Naru suggested as she put away the two swords she was currently using and instead drew the Jager's two-handed long sword. A move that she paired with firing up her thrusters and shooting into the air above Irivika so that she could bring the oversized blade down in a powerful overhead slash.
"Don't know, don't care." Mikoto said with a shrug as she watched with annoyance as Irivika just gracefully leapt out of the way of Naru's slash. "We can leave it to Ruiko and the City's spooks to figure out what's what with those Suits. Right now, we have this wannabe Leshy to deal with."
"She's right, you know, Demonhost." Irivika replied tauntingly as she landed just as a rain of large boulders were suddenly hurled in Mikoto and Naru's direction from the nearby jungle.
"Did she just-"
"Yeah, I think she animated some trees into treants and had them toss those boulders at us." Naru concluded as she and Mikoto fired off attacks, lava and iron sand bolts respectively, at the incoming boulders that either destroyed or deflected them.
Between her ability to control all flora and fauna within her area of control and now her holding her own against Naru and I at the same time, I can see how the Russian higher ups expected Irivika to lead the defense of Vladivostok during World War 3.
"Neither of you are going to comment on me outing Namikaze as a Demonhost?" Irivika asked curiously as she danced around the iron sand and lightning bolts that Mikoto tossed at her even as Naru paused in attacking the Magician to shoot fireballs into the surrounding forest to burn away the boulder hurling treants.
"Should I be surprised?" Mikoto asked with a shrug as she had to up the intensity of the iron sand twister keeping Irivika's suborned wildlife from interfering as seemingly in response to the forest fire that Naru was starting in the surrounding jungle, the size of the horde pouring out of the woods doubled. "Naru is my teammate, of course she told me about that fox sealed in her. I don't know the full details but I don't care. She's my friend and what she is doesn't matter."
"Wait! You actually read the intel reports for once, Senpai?" Naru joked as she teleported in front of Irivika as the wannabe woodland spirit tried to charge at Mikoto with one of the wooden swords poised to impale her.
"Very funny, Naru." Mikoto said with a roll of her eyes as her kohai used a wide swing of her longsword to force Irivika to abandon her attack or risk being cut in half. "It's about you, of course I'd read it. Had to make sure it didn't say you were dying or something, you know?"
"True, true." Naru said with a giggle as she pressed her attack against the Russian with a flurry of powerful swings of her sword. "Though you're really okay with me having Kurama in my belly?"
"Like I said when you told me the first time, I don't care. You're my friend and that's that." Mikoto said earnestly as she tried to help Naru out by attempting to trip the Magician up with tendrils of iron sand only for the Russian to rip through any attempt to bind her as if they weren't even there. Heck! They didn't even slow her down! "So what if you have a not-so-imaginary friend living inside your head?"
"Even if he's a demon?" Naru asked, sounding surprised as she spreaded the bladed wings of her Jager and began lashing out with them as well, adding to the intensity of the flurry of her attacks.
"Even if he's a demon." Mikoto confirmed as she blasted a new round of boulders that were hurled at them out of the sky with bolts of iron sand and followed up by calling down lightning bolts from the sky to incinerate the new treants that Irivika must have created to hurl them. "The report had a list of people who were read into the information on him- And seriously I know you told me to read the report but couldn't you have explained things to me?
"Well, everything was in the reports. Besides, it's tough sometimes to remember what I can say and what I can't because it's classified, you know? It's easier to ask you to just read the report where everything you don't have clearance for is just automatically redacted by the system."
"True. Anyway, as I was saying, Ruiko's name was one of the few that wasn't redacted. If she's okay with him then so am I. I trust Ruiko's judgment."
Giggling happily even as she continued trying to stab Irivika to death with her blades, Naru replied. "Kurama told me to tell you that you are almost as cool as Rui-chan."
"What's Ruiko got over me that makes him think she's better?" Mikoto asked curiously as just for good measure she called down more lightning to scorch the surrounding jungle. The boulder rain was annoying and she wanted to put a stop to it if she could.
"Well, Rui-chan lets him babysit her girls sometimes."
"Damn! Yeah, I can't top a show of trust like that." Mikoto conceded with a pout as she watched with satisfaction as the surrounding forests burned in the blaze she'd started.
"I know, right? Rui-chan really is the best." Naru said with a smile as she finally gave up on trying to skewer Irivika with her blades and leapt to Mikoto's side. "Senpai, I think we need to reassess our options. Our attacks aren't getting through."
"Yeah." Mikoto admitted with a frown as she watched Irivika just turn to face them whilst radiating smugness.
What the hell does she have to be smug about? It's not like she's winning! We're at a stalemate!
"I know we are holding back so we don't trash a good chunk of the island." Naru said as she glared at their arrogant opponent. "But maybe we should go for broke?"
No sooner had Naru finished her question than in a display of showmanship that was almost emblematic of the girl responsible, a wave of rainbow colored fire swept out from inland and washed over their cliffside battlefield. Prismatic flames that scoured the area for miles around of any wildlife that Irivika could take control of.
Giggling and shaking her head at the display, Naru turned to the Angel responsible and offered a greeting. "Finally decided to join the main event, Rui-chan?"
Whilst two thirds of the Trinity were facing off against the mind controlling Russian Magician, at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands located on the western shore of Kauaʻi, the skies above the base bore witness to a display of might by the world's Number 1 Esper.
"You're in the way!" Frenda heard Accelerator-sama shout angrily as he was shot at by the massive underslung gatling gun that one of the the last three surviving Mil AH12s of the squadron of them that Trident had deployed to help defend the occupied base as he attempted to fly off towards Mount Waiʻaleʻal. A gun that a number of the gunships deployed here had equipped in lieu of the eight tube missile battery that seemed to the standard loadout that Trident had equipped them with. The gunfire from said gun was soon joined by a barrage of rockets from the other two still functional AH12s but both sets of attacks proved just as ineffectual against the Number 1's Redirection barrier. "Get lost!"
With that angry demand, the Number 1 conjured a hail of spiraling wind lances that he sent raining down on the helicopter gunships. Said machines' armor withstood contact with the lances at first but as the spiraling winds that made up the latter began to greatly accelerate their spin, to the point that the air literally caught fire, even the advanced materials of said armor failed. With that impediment out of the way, the fire tornadoes had free reign to carve their way through the AH12s' internals, burning everything that touched and, more explosively, igniting their ammunition stores. Thus, it was that the three gunships went down, like their previously downed squadronmates, in a series of fiery explosions.
"He's such a showoff." Ruiko-sama said with a fondly exasperated sigh as they both watched the albino fly off without a backward glance at the flaming wrecks he'd just created.
"Well, as they say, if you've got it, flaunt it." Frenda replied with a shrug as they both turned back to the surviving Trident forces attempting to oppose their attempt to liberate Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands.
"I suppose so." Her crush said with another sigh, this time sounding resigned.
"What is it, Ruiko-sama?" Frenda asked as she gave up on her pretense of loading another round into the mortar she had looted from one of the Trident outposts they'd wrecked on the way here and turned to look at the other girl questioningly.
"It's time for me to go too but I don't want to." Ruiko said with an adorable pout that Frenda had to use all her self-control to stop herself from kissing away.
Instead, playing it cool, she rolled her eyes. "You're being overdramatic."
"I'm an ojou-sama. Can't I be overdramatic if I want?"
"Sure you can." Frenda said with a shrug whilst hiding her amusement at seeing this childish side to the Number 3. She'd bet it was a rare privilege and she was going to treasure it.
It will definitely be nice fodder for the next time that I pet the cat. Frenda thought shamelessly. Just the thought of imagining Ruiko-sama being all coquettish is getting me hot and bothered!
She let none of that show though, and also ignored the knowing gleam in her telepathy-capable crush's eyes, as she continued. "But that's so not your style."
"I suppose so." Ruiko-sama agreed as she giggled, for more than one reason Frenda was sure, and activated her Angel Mode and transformed her already beautiful form into a winged avatar of perfection.
"I'm going to help Naru-chan and Senpai now. Can I leave things here to you, Frenda-chan?" Ruiko-sama asked in a voice that sounded so enthrallingly beautiful that Frenda couldn't help but think it must be how an actual Angel of the Heavenly Choirs must sound like.
Hastily swiping a hand across her mouth to wipe away the drool that leaked out of the corner of her mouth at the sight of Saten-sama's Angelic majesty, Frenda snapped a salute.
"Yes, mam! We'll have this airbase liberated in no time!" She assured her crush. "The Americans will be using it to fly in reinforcements from Oahu before you know it!"
"I'm sure they will." Ruiko said with a smile as she leaned over and caressed Frenda's cheek lovingly. "Stay safe, Frenda-chan."
"I will." The Level 0 promised as she leaned into her crush's touch. She was acting like a kitten but she didn't care! She craved the feel of Ruiko-sama's fingers running along her body!
The AIM Angel must've read her thoughts if the light blush that stained her cheeks was any indication, but she otherwise gave no sign of having done so. Instead, she just nodded and with clear reluctance pulled her hand back before with a flap of her rainbow hued wings, she began to float into the air just above the American APC she and Frenda-chan had been using as cover.
Immediately, bursts of gunfire and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) shot her way but in a casual display of power not unlike that exhibited by her boyfriend, Ruiko-sama simply let the attacks harmlessly impact against a barrier she'd conjured around herself. Turning in the direction of her attackers, she swept her right arm in a wide arc in front of her, sending a wave of rainbow colored energy sweeping across the battlefield that the American naval facility and airbase had become. An energy wave that, as Frenda popped her head out of cover, she saw proceeded to completely neutralize any enemy it touched. It didn't matter if they were armored vehicles like tanks, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and APCs or the enemy's THeMIS III and Ranger combat drones. Not even their infantry were spared. All enemy forces that Ruiko-sama's wave washed over were reduced to ashes.
Frenda knew that Ruiko-sama could've dealt with them non-lethally but it seemed like she was not in the mood and Frenda could empathize. These people had invaded a country for, by all accounts, no reason at all and had killed or hurt thousands of people, at least, in the process. Against terrorist scum like that, it was only right for the [AIM Sovereign] to show no mercy. The only reason she'd held back till now, Frenda knew, was because she was conserving her strength for the final fight. Now that it was at hand, Ruiko-sama could finally go all out like she'd probably wanted to since the beginning
"Ruiko-sama~! Did you have to do all my work for me?" Frenda groaned in frustration. She wanted to brutally kill some of the terrorist scum too, damnit!
In response, the AIM Angel just shot her a cheeky grin and a parting wave. Rolling her eyes, Frenda-chan returned the wave prompting Ruiko to giggle in amusement before she teleported away to go help the rest of the Trinity.
Seeing her crush teleport away to fight the big bad Magician that was carrying the invasion for the enemy, Frenda couldn't help but lament her weakness. Really wish I was strong enough to actually be of help in that fight. Sometimes it sucks to be a Level 0.
She didn't let the depressing thought weigh her down for long though. Slapping her cheeks to dispel such thoughts, she mentally reminded herself of an important fact. I might be weak but there are still things that I can do. That Ruiko-sama needs me to do.
With that thought in mind, she stands to help the Americans secure the base that her beloved Ruiko-sama had liberated.
As Accel flew over Mount Waiʻaleʻale atop a controlled tornado, he found it to be a tropical rainforest surrounding a lake at the summit of the shield volcano.
That Irivika's Idol has to be a plant, right? He thought with a frown. Trying to find it in this jungle will be looking for a needle in a haystack. Guess I'll have to burn this all down like Mesugaki said!
He began gathering the winds above him into an ever growing swirling ball of gas with gusts that were spiraling with an ever increasing speed, such that the gasses within quickly ignited and transformed it into a massive fireball. A flaming threat that seemed to trigger the guardian that Irivika had left behind to defend her Idol.
A guardian that revealed itself when suddenly five massive heads that ended in venus fly traps big enough to swallow a person whole emerged from the lake, each of them snapping at him. Flying away from the reaching jaws of this abomination, he saw a gargantuan sized creature swim towards the edge of the lake and aided by its long, sinuous tail that ended in a broad, leaf shaped tip before pulling itself out of the lake on its four webbed feet. The damned thing was so huge that it took a whole damn minute to haul its massive green bulk out of the lake, even as it continuously tried to catch him in one of the jaws of its five heads.
Because of course the Magician wouldn't leave her Idol unguarded. Accel thought with a sigh. He might've expected it but that didn't mean having to actually fight the blasted thing was any less of a chore. Though, that didn't mean he wouldn't do it. If he was going to get a chance to actually enjoy some more of this trip to Hawaii with Ruiko then he was going to put down this stupid invasion and that meant dealing with this thing. With that thought in mind, he activated his Angel Mode and prepared to engage the Russian's guardian beast.
As he did, the monster spat out streams of what he could only imagine was caustic liquid at him from its mouths. Streams that he effortlessly evaded as he activated his Angel Mode and flew towards the beast, gathering as much Telesma as he could as he closed the distance. Energy that he proceeded to shape into a javelin.
One that as he got within snapping range of the twisted planted creature's fang filled maws and had to fly around their attempts to swallow him whole, he let fly. At such close range, there was never any doubt of the lance finding its mark and within moments of him letting the concentrated Telesma loose, it had buried itself within the floral abomination's body.
"And boom!" Accelerator cackled with amusement as he flew back out of the range of the hydra's reaching necks and watched with satisfaction as an explosion of golden light consumed the creature.
The monster was too huge to be completely consumed by the burst of Telesma however and the rear part of its bulky body collapsed to the ground with an earth shaking thud. And just because his luck hated him - He must've gotten infected with some of the Hero's notorious bad luck! - the bloody edges of its body began bubbling with new growth as the monster began to regenerate.
Because of course the damned thing has regeneration! Accelerator thought with a groan of frustration as spreading his wings wide, he conjured a beam of Telesma that he fired at the regenerating rump of the hydra, scorching it with the energy of the Christian Heavens. The plant matter that made up its body burned at the contact but not all of it and those parts that did not get immediately incinerated seemed to up the rate of their regeneration as they desperately tried to outpace the rate it was being destroyed.
That's a losing game you're playing. Accel thought with a wicked grin even as he casually angled his wings to deflect the long whip-like tail of the magically twisted creature as it tried to attack him in a bid to disrupt his efforts to finish it off. Nice try though.
As if to substantiate that glowing assessment of its efforts, at least by Accel's high standards, the monster gave up on its efforts to deny the inevitable and instead switched tactics to instead attempting to take Accel with it to the grave. An effort that took the form of the creature's remaining body exploding into a shower of the caustic substance it was spitting at earlier and a cloud of toxic looking green gas. Most of both were also immediately burned away by the beam of Telesma that Accel still had focused on the monster but enough of it still spread out that it posed a minor threat. Emphasis on the word 'minor'.
Like I said, nice try. The Number 1 thought with an approving nod at the attempt even as with a beat of his wings, he dismissed his Telesma beam and instead conjured a powerful tornado that sucked up not just the caustic liquid and toxic gasses the monster had released as it self-destructed but also sizable amounts of the lake's water and chunks of the surrounding rainforest, in the form of plant, animals and even the ground that made up its floor. All of which the twister sent skyward where it would be spat out safely at sea. A twister that he kept going for a minute or two just to be sure he got every last trace of the plant hydra's final hooray.
"Accelerator!" He heard [Meltdowner] shout at him just as he let the twister dissipate. "We're supposed to torch this rainforest, not level the mountaintop!"
Turning so he could face the lower ranked Level 5 and her team, who had apparently finally made it to Waiʻaleʻale, Accel just shrugged. "Doing the latter would mean doing the former too, wouldn't it? What's the problem? More importantly, you're late, Mugino Shizuri."
The Number 6 just ground her teeth in frustration even as she grumbled out a reply, "Why don't you try going by land instead of flying and see if you can do better?"
"That's just an excuse and you know it." Accel shot back, unimpressed. Seriously was this all that the Number 6 could manage? Even the [Railgun] could banter better than this and she was an ojou-sama! "Are you here to help or just whine?"
Watching her grind her teeth like that is honestly quite amusing. Accel thought with a grin as he watched [Meltdowner] do exactly that. It seemed she wasn't used to being talked down to like this and if the plasma spheres she was gathering in the air around her and were angling in his direction were any indication, she was barely suppressing the urge to blast him with one of her lasers. Fortunately for her, she managed to master her emotions and turn them towards the rainforest they were here to torch instead.
"Let's just get this done!" She huffed angrily, even as her teammates all suppressed laughter at her expense.
Snorting at her antics, Accel nodded and conjured a fire tornado and joined in on scouring the volcano clean of plant life.
Moments after teleporting away from Frenda-chan at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Ruiko rematerialized just shy of Linda Blueshake's home, Sunny Watcher 44-19, and found a outpost set up by Trident consisting of a pair of APCs and a tank surrounded by squads of infantry supported by three THeMIS IIIs and a half dozen Rangers. An outpost that was blocking the road to the cliffside log cabin where in the distance she could see Naru-chan and Senpai battling the Gremlin Magician, Irivika.
They're in the way. Ruiko thought with disdain as with a wave of an arm in their direction, she unleashed a wave of the raw AIM energy that her Angel Mode gave her the ability to direct at her enemies. Said energies taking the the form of a tide of rainbow fire that, by her will, swept forward and incinerated everything in its path that harbored any remotely hostile intent towards her and her allies.
She had expected it to burn away the Trident outpost but it went further than that. Much, much further. As to her surprise, her conjured flames proceeded to reduce every living thing in the already burning jungle between her and the sea to ash.
Since when can my powers discern the intent of non-humans? And since when can plants even have enough awareness to hold hostility!? Ruiko pondered distractedly even as she followed the path of her flames and flew the remaining distance towards the cliffside where the fight with Irivika was taking place. I suppose the latter can have their hostility imposed upon them by Irivika's magic, but again since when can I detect that from plants of all things!? The humans and animals I can understand but the plants!? The powers my Angel Mode gives me just don't make sense at times!
"Finally decided to join the main event, Rui-chan?" A giggling Naru-chan greeted her as her flames announced her arrival.
The greeting from her blonde best friend prompted her to push her thoughts about the latest absurdity of the mysterious powers afforded to her by her Angel Mode aside for the moment. And as she used a volley of particle beams she fired from the feathers of her wings to intercept the spread of supersonic, superdense wood shards shot her way by Irivika, Ruiko lifted the skirt of her dress slightly and offered her two teammates a curtsy.
"Konnichiwa (Good afternoon), Naru-chan, Mikoto-senpai." Ruiko offered in greeting as the excess beams from her interceptor fire curved through the air in impossible angles to rake across the Russian's Leshy inspired battle armor and covered its surface in a host of deep cuts.
"Seriously, Ruiko! Is now really the time to play up the fact you're an ojou-sama?" Mikoto-senpai chided her half-heartedly as she shook her head in fond exasperation even as she launched a barrage of hundreds of pebble sized, rapidly spinning iron sand bullets at their opponent.
"Hey, get off Rui-chan's case, Senpai! Her opening move just cleared out the whole jungle that's been providing Irivika with all those adds which she's been using to distract us. Something we've not managed. So cut her some slack." Naru-chan defended her earnestly even as Irivika's armor finished regenerating the damage it had sustained from Ruiko's particle beams and she used her magic to have a dozen tentacles of plant matter, each as broad as a man, rip their way out of the ground and lash out at them.
.
An example of the plant tentacles that Irivika has summoned
"Besides, you know what she's like. Her sense of humor has always been a little weird." The blonde added as she used the speed of the Jager Demon Frame she was currently equipped with to blitz between the tentacles and chop them down in rapid succession with nimble swings of her blades.
"You're one to talk, Naru." Senpai shot back as she called down lightning to deal with the rest of the tentacles even as she used her Electromastery to aid her in some gymnastics to evade their reaching grasp. "Your humor is just as bad if not worse at times."
"That just makes you the normal member of our team doesn't it, Senpai." Ruiko observed as she tapped her chin thoughtfully as she lazily flew around the tentacles' attempts to grab her whilst she simultaneously blasted away at Irivika with rainbow colored bolts of raw AIM energy that the Magician evaded with inhuman grace. "Congratulations!"
"That's not something to congratulate me about, Ruiko!" Mikoto-senpai said angrily as she hurled a supercharged lightning bolt at Irivika. Unlike Ruiko's own AIM bolts, the lightning connected and even sent the Magician flying with the force of the impact. It, however, failed to do more than scorch the Russian's armor. Damage that she repaired within seconds.
"Is it just me or is she suddenly regenerating her armor?" Naru-chan asked as she got in close and attempted to gut Irivika with a wide swing of the longsword she was currently wielding. "She wasn't doing that earlier in the fight."
"Maybe it needed to hit some kind of damage threshold before its regeneration activated?" Senpai offered with a careless shrug even as taking a page out of their opponent's book, she conjured tentacles of iron sand that she attempted to use to restrain the agile Magician as she leapt skyward to evade the swing of Naru-chan's sword
Ruiko flew in to engage their opponent as well but a hail of barbed shards that dripped with poisoned energy launched at her by the last of the surviving tentacles forced her back. She was not about to chance the strength of any barriers she might be able to throw up against Irivika's magic, or any magic for that matter, if she could help it. Though, she did destroy the offending tentacle with a burst of conjured flames courtesy of some emulated Pyrokinesis.
"You're not wrong, [Railgun]." The Magician replied, sounding amused as using bursts of raw magic she dispersed Senpai's tentacles before they could get a hold of her. "I merely decided that with the entire Trinity present it is no longer prudent to attempt to conserve my mana."
"Bitch! Are you saying you were holding back in the fight till now!?" Naru-chan asked in angry disbelief as she rocketed up into the sky in pursuit of their opponent, who was currently spinning in the air like some kind of demented top and releasing a rain of superdense, magically enhanced wooden bullets.
"That's exactly what I mean, [Maniforce]!" The Russian taunted as Ruiko and Senpai scrambled to defend themselves against her attack. She teleported next to Senpai and using some emulated geomancy added walls of stone to the iron sand barriers that the Electromaster had raised. For Naru-chan's part, she chose to tank the wooden barrage head on with her Demon Frame so she could get within range to once more swing her sword at their opponent.
"You arrogant little hippy! Eat my blade!" Naru-chan said with an angry growl as she swung her sword down at Irivika, only for the Magician to stop her imitation of a spinning top at just the right moment so she could catch the longsword aiming to bisect her between the crossed blades she'd grown out of the forearms of her armor.
The [Elemental Empress] was not so easily thwarted however and burning the thrusters of her Jager's backpack, she sent both her and the Magician, who stubbornly refused to release the blade lock, spiraling towards the earth. A fall that ended with an earthshaking impact that threw up a large cloud of dust.
"You sneaky little bitch! Where did you run off to!" Naru shouted indignantly as she conjured a gust of wind with her powers that cleared away the dust to reveal that Irivika had disappeared from view.
"She's underground." Ruiko informed her teammates as she fired a beam of her prismatic AIM energy at the spot under which Irivika was lurking, tracking the Russian as she moved around underground. "Naru-chan, help me dig her out."
Before her blonde best friend could even reply there were a series of sudden explosions around the battlefield and from the clouds of dust and rubble they caused emerged a set of twisted floral growths that swiftly grew into twisted trees. These unnatural plants had glowing green veins which pulsed disturbingly and many of their limbs ended in large pods that spewed out clouds of glowing green pollen.
"Watch out! That pollen is both highly corrosive and dangerously toxic." Ruiko warned her teammates of the findings of her suite of emulated sensory abilities as she turned her attention towards Irivika's latest conjurations.
"Yeah, we know. Irivika used it to take out Kamijou earlier." Mikoto-senpai said as she destroyed three of the twisted trees that happened to be growing in enough of a straight line to be taken out by a single railgun shot.
"Is that how he got taken out? You never said over the radio."
"Yeah, it was. And we were kinda busy fighting Irivika so we didn't bother explaining." Naru-chan answered as she conjured carefully controlled tornadoes that drew away the clouds of deadly pollen whilst Ruiko incinerated them with emulations of the Number 6's Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannons and Mikoto-senpai did the same with railgun shots.
"What I don't get is how by Science is the Russian still able to conjure all these monster plants? Didn't we destroy all the plants she can twist already? Considering they're all bursting out of the ground, did we miss the underground plant matter like root systems or something?"
"Of course we didn't make as elementary a mistake as to miss that, Senpai." Naru-chan said, sounding offended. Which was totally understandable. How could Mikoto-senpai even think they would be foolish enough to make such an amateurish oversight. "The Russian is just regrowing them."
Ruiko nodded as she added, "She's releasing seeds every so often that she has burrow underground and grow whilst out of sight so she can make use of the plant matter later."
"Sneaky bitch!" Senpai said with a frustrated growl.
"I'll take that as a compliment." The Magician said as she emerged from where she had been hiding underground in yet another explosion of dirt and displaced earth. "Let me return one of my own by admitting that I have been mightily impressed with the kind of efficiency in how you three dealt with my Blossom Trees. Considering how a similar tactic took down [Imagine Breaker], that you dealt with them so easily is truly worthy of praise."
"We don't need your compliments!" Mikoto-senpai scoffed as she fired off a barrage of not only dozens of rapidly spinning iron sand bullets with impressive penetrative power but also not one, but two, supercharged lightning bolts.
"I've seen those attacks already. Don't you have anything new, [Railgun]?" The Magician asked mockingly as with a casual wave of an arm she conjured a wall of twisted roots that though it was destroyed by the Number 5's attack, nevertheless served its purpose and shielded the wannabe Leshy from harm.
"Oh! She does! It's called a team attack, you bitch!" Naru-chan shot back on Senpai's behalf as she and Ruiko teleported on either side of Irivika and unleashed their attacks. In Naru's case, this took the form of a tornado of her caustic chakra that sucked the Magician into its corrosive grasp. For Ruiko's part, in a case of synchronicity that only came from fighting side by side for months on end, she had conjured her own twister of AIM energy which proceeded to blend seamlessly with Naru-chan's. Irivika was thus subjected to the power of both chakra and AIM at the same time as they tore away at her armor.
"Пробудите Внутренний Дух! Иривика Леший! (Awaken the Inner Spirit! Irivika the Leshy!)" The Russian's voice boomed from within the confines of Ruiko and Naru-chan's combined attack moments before with a burst of green light and magic, their combined twister was dispersed and Irivika emerged in a set of newly improved armor.
Said new armor made her into a twenty foot tall giant with features that vaguely resembled a human woman but with hair made out of a twisted mass of thorns, briars and twigs, a face distorted into a terrifying and savage visage, long limbs like tree trunks, and hands that ended in vicious talons clearly made for rending and impaling her enemies. All in all, she looked like some kind of monstrous, giant version of herself that had been carved out of a tree.
"Now you fools will see my true power!" The newly powered up Russian declared as she punched the ground with one of her newly massive fists and unleashed a shockwave.
"So that's her ultimate form?" Mikoto-senpai as she used some electromagnetism to all but hurl herself into the air and out of the path of Irivika's latest attack.
"Looks like it." "Seems so."
"What's with Magicians and all these forms? It's like they're taking a page from the bosses in video games!" The [Railgun] gripped as she fired off a shot of her signature technique at the giant sized target that Irivika had turned herself into.
"Considering Magicians have been around longer, shouldn't it be the other way around?" Naru mused as she shifted to her Festung Demon Frame and fired off a salvo of the heavily armed Frame's many, many guns.
"I think it's more a case of cross-pollination to be honest." Ruiko opined as she forged a lance of AIM energy and hurled it at their opponent.
Irivika responded to the Trinity's combined barrage by simply raising a hand in the direction of the incoming attacks and conjuring a barrier of magical energy. She obviously thought it would be enough to weather the attack but it seemed she grossly overestimated the strength that her powered up form gave her as the shield barely lasted for a couple seconds against the fury the Trinity had unleashed before it shattered like so much glass and allowed the attacks to slam into her and proceed to deal massive amounts of damage.
The railgun shot blew off the entirety of Irivika's raised arm and a good chunk of its shoulder too. Naru-chan's all-out assault blasted whole chunks of the mass of her oversized armor into oblivion, leaving it with an appearance not unlike Swiss cheese. Last but not least, Ruiko's lance had found its mark by impaling the giant's head where it proceeded to detonate in a rainbow colored explosion that completely disintegrated it.
"Hahahaha! Most impressive! Most impressive indeed!" Irivika laughed like a madwoman as the damage rapidly regenerated. "But sadly for you these are mere flesh wou- Tsk."
"Wait, did something happen?" Senpai asked with a confused frown as Naru-chan teleported the both of them back to the ground. "Why is she tsking all of a sudden?"
"Not 100% sure," Naru-chan replied with a shrug as seemingly in a nod to the recently erupted Kīlauea, she used some of her chakra to pull some molten earth out of the ground and sent it shooting towards the Russian. "But if I was a betting woman, I'd say that Accelerator and Mugino probably just got done destroying her primary Idol on the island."
"Okay, but why isn't she powering down then?" The [Railgun] asked as she added a salvo of iron sand bullets to the projectile storm flying at Irivika.
"From what I know, Senpai, the plants she uses as her Idols extend her domain, thus the reach of her power, but they're ultimately secondary. Irivika is an Incarnation of a Leshy. That being the case, she's her own Idol." Ruiko postulated even as she added a salvo of particle beams of her own to the bullet hell raining down on their opponent. Magic was still hard to grasp even with her research into it and what she could get from Naru-chan but she knew enough to at least make some hypotheses. "Furthermore, if we take into account her upgraded battle armor and the fact she's able to impose an Authority, I'd hazard a guess and say that she's well on the way to becoming a Leshy herself."
"Oh, Rui-chan! Five stars!" Naru-chan praised, making Ruiko puff up her chest a little. The [Elemental Empress] was the resident magical expert on their team so to have her hypothesis about Irivika's magic validated by her blonde best friend was something that she felt truly proud about.
"How did you-?!" Irivika said, a stunned look crossing the monstrous wooden face of her battle armor even as she conjured a wall of foliage out of the scorched earth, consuming a sizable but still insignificant fraction of the growing plant matter she'd sequestered underground, that despite being completely eradicated by the Trinity's attacks nevertheless shielded her from their fury. "How was it an Esper that figured it out and not Leivinia Birdway?"
And, in accordance with the way she operated, as if in reply to the Russian's question, the Trinity's radios crackled to life with a whine as Birdway addressed them. "I see! It makes so much sense! I should have seen this and warned you that the Russian hussy was an Incarnation! But hindsight is 20/20. More importantly, now that we know that she is and especially that she is one who is on the cusp of becoming a spirit like her patron… End this fast, Esper girls! She's high tier Saint-class at least. And you don't want to drag a fight against a Magician of that kind of caliber out."
"Lil late, huh? You're having a real blonde moment, Birdway." Naru-chan snorted as she switched Demon Frames whilst simultaneously breathing out a wall of white hot flames that incinerated the tide of monstrous plants full of snapping jaws akin to venus fly traps and lashing whip-like vines that Irivika conjured and sent creeping towards them with a sweeping gesture of one of her arms and the release of a cloud of seeds.
"Yeah, we just figured that out ourselves. Thanks Birdy Girl." Senpai replied back via the radio as she threw a powered up lightning bolt at the Russian that the Incarnation unfortunately just tanked like a boss. "Not exactly our first fight with an Incarnation."
"No need to be smug about it." Birdway sniped back even as Naru-chan used the path she'd cleared in the mass of monstrous plants to charge their opponent, the twin pistons mounted on the arms of her Panzer Demon Frame already pulled back in preparation for a Double Sudden Impact.
Pot meet kettle. Ruiko thought with a roll of her eyes at their ally's weak comeback even as she took over from Naru-chan in conjuring flames to keep the still encroaching tide of killer plants that Irivika had conjured at bay, all the while making sure to keep the path the Number 2 had created clear.
"Actually, speaking of that." Senpai turned to Irvikia and even as undeterred by the ineffectiveness of her lightning bolt, she simply pivoted to helping Ruiko with her pruning by gathering together a swirling twister of iron sand that she sent hurtling into the green mass attempting to assault them. "If you're an Incarnation, why aren't you all emotionless like Kashiwagi Mai?"
"Why should I answer? Maybe your little information bank can figure it out?" The Russian retorted as she nimbly leapt over both the thin beams of AIM energy that Ruiko had shot at her in a bid to restrain her and Naru-chan's punches as the blonde got within range, causing the blows to hit the earth hard instead and the ground to explode at the massive kinetic force of the Level 5's Double Sudden Impact technique.
"Stalling much?" Naru-chan challenged, only to get a shrug in reply from the Magician as she lashed out with a kick at [Maniforce]. A blow with enough strength behind it that despite her Demon Frame still packed enough of a punch to send the Level 5 skidding back a few feet.
Ruiko paused and thanks to the immense computational capability provided to her by her nature, quickly came to an answer. "Senpai, when do you think Irivika has not been heavily using her powers since we met her? She's like Adelise Canopy in that she channels her patron all the time I'd wager."
"You truly are smart… too smart for your own good. It's a pity I will have to kill you." Irivika said with an almost disappointed shake of her head as she grew a blade-like growth out of the forearm of the right arm of her armor that she used to parry the bludgeon of prismatic energy that Ruiko tried to swing at her after teleporting in to engage her in close quarters.
"Yeah, enough with the tough lady act. You aren't going to kill anyone here. If anything? We'll be making mulch out of your ass, you hippy bitch." Naru-chan with a flash of red and purple in her eyes as she bled out her power from her whole being, even as she rushed forward to re-engage with the Russian as Ruiko dismissed her bludgeon and floated back whilst providing her best friend with supporting fire in the form of bolts of prismatic AIM energy.
"That remains to be seen." The Leshy-to-be uttered as in a display of insane agility, she somehow danced around all their attacks all whilst a giant flower, one reminiscent of a massively oversized Tulipa suaveolens or as it was also known, Schrenck's Tulip, began to grow and bloom from the back of her armor.
"Rui-chan, am I seeing this right?" Naru-chan asked as Irivika spun out of the reach of another of her swings and lashing out with a kick, sent the blonde Level 5 skidding away from her once more. "Is she stealing from Pokemon now?"
Before Ruiko could reply, Irivika herself beat her to the punch. "What can I say? I was inspired."
"You're a pirate that's what you are!" Mikoto-senpai shot back angrily as she fired off a railgun shot aimed at the flower growing from the back of Irivika's armor within which energy was visibly gathering and was starting to glow with a golden light.
Hmm… If she's going to go for a Solar Beam then maybe we can use that to our advantage. Ruiko reasoned as she watched Irivika nimbly evade the railgun that Senpai shot at her and just as easily escaped the blast zone of the fireball that she herself hurled at the Magician. With that thought in mind, she reached out to her teammates with some carefully controlled audiokinesis and began to explain her plan even as she began working on her contribution to it in the Imaginary Number District.
"Sounds good. Let's go for it." Mikoto-senpai replied enthusiastically.
"I'm game." Naru-chan said, giving her own agreement as she switched back to Festung and began gathering chakra. "Let's kick this bitch's ass!"
They had just finished planning things out when with a smirk spread across the twisted face of her armor, Irivika raised her right hand in their direction. They watched with anticipation as it shifted into the muzzle of a cannon and the energy that had been gathered in the flower on her back was pumped into it by vines that grew from the latter for that very purpose.
"Have a taste of my Solar Beam, Trinity!" Irivika roared triumphantly as she unleashed the power she'd gathered in a golden beam of raw destructive power at the three Level 5s.
Sadly for her, she'd counted her chickens before they hatched as her attack was met head on with one of comparable power.
"Why don't you taste test my Bijūdama instead!" Naru-chan shouted back defiantly as she shot a purple energy beam to intercept Irivika's Solar Beam.
The two immensely powerful energy beams met roughly in between where Irivika and Naru stood and contrary to what might have happened in an anime promptly reacted violently, triggering a titanic explosion that threw up a massive cloud of dust and debris. A distraction and smoke screen that Ruiko happily exploited to teleport behind Irivika and shifted the quartet of AIM lances she'd forged in the Imaginary Number District into the Physical Phase, a costly move but one which allowed her to manifest the weapons without the seconds she'd normally need to forge them, directly into the limbs of Irivika's armor, thus impaling and restraining them.
"Senpai, now!" Ruiko shouted as she teleported away even as the Russian literally began tearing the limbs of her armor apart in a bid to free herself.
"Eat a full powered railgun, you bitch!" Mikoto-senpai shouted as she fired off one of the most powerful railguns that Ruiko had ever seen her manage. A shot that blasted a hole clean through the center mass of Irivika's immobilized giant magical battle armor. More importantly, the shot hit their true target, namely Irivika herself and literally bisected her at the navel even as it tossed her body out of her battle armor.
Seeing the downed Magician, Senpai, with a flicker of her power, activated her radio. "Target down! We got her, everyone! Target is down! Kuroko, come pick me up. I want to check on Kamijou."
She's not upset about the state she's left Irivika in? Ruiko thought with a frown at Senpai's uncharacteristic lack of reaction as she teleported over to the unconscious and wounded Magician and began using her powers to heal her so she wouldn't die on them and deprive them the chance to interrogate her for information on Gremlin. As she did, she shot Naru-chan a questioning look.
"As you know, Kamijou got hurt early in the fight. Senpai's probably just worried about him and wants to rush off to play tsun-nurse."
"Ah." Ruiko nodded in understanding. A part of her wondered what it would be like to dress as a nurse for Accel. Sadly, his defenses were just too strong for him to get hurt. Maybe roleplay?
No, save that thought for later. Ruiko chided herself as she shook her head to get her mind out of the gutter just as she heard the sound of an engine and turned towards the sea with her fellow Level 5s.
An aircraft that she recognized as a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey was flying towards them. Presumably with men that would be taking Irivika into custody.
Looking away from it, she turned back to Naru-chan who had dismissed her Demon Frame.
Really wish I could do the same for my Angel Mode, but I can only heal when I have it active and with Irivika as injured as she is, I don't want to take the risk of complications happening suddenly. Ruiko thought with a frown. Guess I'll just have to tough it out until we can hand her over to the Americans and she can become their problem.
"Looks like our job in Hawaii is done."
Her friend had a cute frown on her face. "What about the rest of Trident's forces?"
"Oh, while we were fighting all over Kaua'i, President Katze was negotiating with Trident's leader. Now that their biggest trump card is in our hands and with Lindy Blueshake under U.S. protection thus neutralizing her mother, the PMC has no choice but to surrender."
"Little skivvy to use a kid like that, but if it works it works, huh?" Naru-chan nodded and while Ruiko did agree, she felt this was the best approach to ending the conflict.
"To be fair, we're not actually holding Lindy Blueshake against her mother. We've just taken her into protective custody. Olay Blueshake is reacting simply on the prospect that we might be taking her daughter hostage. As for Trident surrendering, it was either they surrender or they get wiped out by the Americans. If not immediately, then once the ash cloud from Kīlauea's eruption clears up and reinforcements from the mainland arrive. Not even their friends in the European Union (E.U.) would be able to help them against the full might of American power."
The blonde made to speak, but before she could Kuroko-san appeared and grabbed Senpai before teleporting away.
The two could only sigh and say nothing at that display of unseemly haste. Really, they knew the depth of Mikoto-senpai's crush on Kamijou and couldn't blame her behavior. Yet as the two with stable relationships, they could not help but feel some worry for the older girl. Was it really a good idea for her to invest so deeply into a boy who didn't even seem to recognize her affections existed, much less seem like he would ever accept them?
Then again, it's her choice.
Likely coming to the same conclusion as she had, Naru-chan shook her head and decided to just return to discussing their previous topic. "What do you mean by the E.U.? Were they honestly backing this nonsense?"
"Yes, it seems so. They provided Trident with the Narwhals. They couldn't have acquired as many of those missiles as they used to attack Pearl Harbor without help from the E.U."
"Tch, stupid geopolitics. Let me guess? They hoped to weaken the Americans no matter how it turned out and gain some kind of advantage that they can use to improve their own standing? Most likely with minimal risk to themselves because I doubt they'd be stupid enough to leave evidence behind of their deals with Trident."
"Spot on!" Ruiko giggled. Leave it to Naru-chan to get the gist of the overall politics of the situation. "In that, they have succeeded on both counts. Even if the invasion was repelled pretty quickly, that it happened at all will damage America's reputation. And with there being no evidence of their involvement beyond it being the most likely reason why Trident had so many Narwhals, a rather restricted export product of the E. U., but which they could plausibly acquire through other means no matter how unlikely, the Europeans have managed to escape from this scot-free."
"Geez," The twintailed girl sighed with a hand on her cheek in a usual ojou-sama manner. "What a mess. It makes sense though. At least we got a total loss for Gremlin as compensation."
Ruiko could only shrug. "I'm not so sure about that. I find the circumstances around the eruption a little suspicious. But, at first glance, it certainly seems so."
[ManiForce] nodded and as the Osprey landed nearby, she wordlessly directed the Americans rushing out of the plane towards the unconscious Irivika. "Oi, Rui-chan, you can investigate your suspicions later. For now let's head back and regroup with the others. There's a time for work and a time for play. I think we've earned some play time, right~?"
At the cheerful declaration, Ruiko cracked a smile. Leave it to Naru-chan to fight hard, play hard. As she waited for the Americans, including a number of Magicians to cast a number of restraining and magical containment spells on Irivika, she nodded as she finally released her Angel Mode. "Yeah, let's go take a break."
Once the vile Leshy woman was secured and transported away, the two Level 5s teleported away. With the Invasion of Hawaii at an end, it was time for their Hawaiian vacation to begin!
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Yikes! This chapter just ran and ran, but then again it was a big fight scene chapter! Everyone was doing stuff and it was so worth it! Accel and Mugino bitching at each other and her trying to compete with the upper levels of her rank. The Trinity doing team attacks against a demented Leshy woman.
Nameless: I know bringing IRL politics might be controversial but I think it actually makes things more believable, hence why I gave Weck the political views that I did. After all, Hawaii is majority Democrat and a good number of Democrats are anti-military, so I see his view as pretty believable. Especially the part about his views taking a 180 degree turn when he finds himself actually needing the military. Because people rarely appreciate something they have until they need it and find themselves without it. I hope that our attempt to give the story some authenticity didn't put off any or readers.
Alright, so just to point out, Irivika is a total bitch. But she's a bitch lashing out in anger and stupidity. Anger that her country is being chopped up to the smiles of other nations after WWIII ended. In fact, her lashing out at Touma's words, both verbally and physically, isn't a shot at Touma (Who really believes in what he does. Respect) on our part. It's just that to someone like the wounded dog that Irivika is? She's going to gnaw, bite, bark and try to smother such a notion from some 'child'.
Nameless: Okay, going to preempt some of the potential accusations of us hating on Touma. We aren't actually doing that. Like E4E said, Irivika's a total arse and hurt, of course she would have an unkind view of the idealistic Touma. As for him being so easily taken out… Yeah, that's just 'cos he's not the MC in this story, the Trinity are. So, of course, we'd write it so we can swap him out for them being the ones that defeat the big bad of the arc. Hopefully, you guys are alright with that.
The whole result of Trident's actions is going to affect the world or at least Hawaii. The level of politics tossed in with this is crazy because after World War Three, people are no doubt stumbling to make alliances, probe others and just want to strengthen themselves. It's a hot mess, but the world still goes round either way.
Nameless: Another thing I think that's worth mentioning is that the good guys seem to be perpetuating an environmental catastrophe as they fight Trident and Irivika, no? Well, that's what happens in war. Things like environmental concerns become secondary in such circumstances, that's just the way it is. Collateral damage is unavoidable in a conflict.
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!