Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Twenty One: Cosplay Revolution
Beta:
In the dead of night, when most people and their prying eyes were fast asleep, a lone trailer truck plied the roads of Academy City carrying its cargo from the airport in School District 23 to its unknown destination.
It was a common enough scene and one that was hardly noteworthy.
This however changed as the quiet of the night was abruptly shattered by the sound of an explosion. The blast tore the trailer apart and sent the front of the truck careening to the side of the road and only coming to a stop upon impacting the concrete barrier at the side of the highway overpass that it had been driving upon.
Despite the powerful impact, the superb engineering of the Capital of Science held and the driver and lone passenger of the wrecked vehicle managed to safely, if shakily, exit the ruined truck cab. The passenger, a scientist if his lab coat was any indication, immediately reached with a trembling hand for his pocket. He had barely pulled his phone out when a stream of raw fire engulfed it and the hand that had been holding it.
"Ah!" He wailed out as he clutched the charred remains of his right hand. Even as he all but collapsed as a result of the agony he was being subjected to, his attacker stepped into his line of sight.
Looking up at her, he couldn't help but swallow dryly.
She was a teenage girl in a typical sailor uniform that consisted of a white blouse, a crimson sailor collar, a pleated skirt and was completed by a black necktie. She didn't look particularly threatening.
But looks could be deceiving. Especially here in Academy City and the scientist knew full well just how deadly this particular school girl could be.
"W-What are you doing?" He stammered, partly in fear but mostly because of the pain.
"Silence, Scum!" Her voice cracked like a whip as she waved her hand.
At the gesture, fire streamed from the inferno that had engulfed the trailer and coalesced into a fireball with him as the center. As he screamed in agony, several other teenagers walked up to the girl. In one of their arms was a tightly wrapped bundle.
For a moment, the driver looked transfixed as the scientist burned to death. It didn't last long though and he quickly regained enough of his wits for him to scramble to his feet and run for his life while screaming in terror.
One of the teenagers pulled a playing card out of his pockets and raised it in preparation to throw it at the fleeing driver, but the girl waved him off.
"Let him go, we've got what we needed."
"If you say so, Boss."
Naru sat on a comfy couch as she twiddled her thumbs, feeling anxious. She was in the middle of an appointment with one of the career guidance counselors hired by Tokiwadai. Despite being a Middle School, the academy strongly believed in inculcating in its students the need for forward planning. As such, it brought in career guidance specialists every year to help the girls review their academic progress and map out what they would need to do to qualify for whatever occupation they might want to pursue when they entered the job market.
"Well, your grades seem to be stellar as always. And your power assessment records look fine as well."
At least the parts that aren't covered in black ink. Naru mentally quipped.
"Do you have an idea of what you're planning to do once you finish school?"
"I don't know currently. I-I'm still considering some things." The blonde responded, her face wrinkled as she tried and failed to come up with a proper answer.
"What am I saying?" The counselor said with a laugh even as she waved her hands dismissively. "It's not like any of this really matters to you. You're a Level 5, you'll have plenty of options."
"That's…"
Not true? Naru wanted to say but cut herself off.
It was not like she could reveal to the woman that thanks to her part-time job, her job options were a lot more limited than most of her peers. For as the saying went, once a Dark Sider always a Dark Sider. No matter what the blonde chose to do later in life, she knew that she'd never be truly able to escape the legacy of her blood soaked past.
Just look at Ruiko-chan.
Not that she wanted to leave it behind. At least, not yet. But seeing her friend's experience, she was slowly coming to the unsettling realization that she might never be given the chance to do so.
The thought got her agitated enough to have her small hands tighten into fists as her shoulders shook.
"Namikaze-san? Are you alright? You have no need to worry, I promise you."
And how would you know?! Naru barely held back from snapping. This woman didn't know the first thing about the Dark Side, about Naru's true circumstances. How could an ignorant civilian who only knew the embrace of the light tell a denizen of the dark like her anything about her future?
"Um. Right. Thank you." Naru told the woman while offering her the best smile she could fake while her mind was in turmoil. "Can I go?"
The woman considered this for a moment, before nodding.
"Yes, frankly I don't even know why the administration wanted me to see you anyway. There's really no need considering your circumstances."
Naru just nodded, keeping her smile on as she stood.
"Thank you for your time." The Number 2 said with a polite bow before leaving the office as quickly as politely possible. The encounter had made her ask herself some pretty uncomfortable questions that she really wanted to get somewhere private to think about.
Sadly, Naru wasn't given much time to reflect as she'd barely left the counselor's room when she received a call from her handlers.
"What is it?" Naru asked brusquely, she was in no mood for games with the dicks on the other end of the line at the moment.
"You have a job." The man on the phone replied unconcerned by the Esper's irate tone.
"Just send me th-"
"Not this time." The man cut her off. "You'll be working with ITEM on this op and you need to meet up with them for a joint briefing."
Just great! As if this day couldn't get more annoying, now I have to work with [Meltdowner]! Naru thought to herself as she gritted her teeth in frustration. This when she tried to kill me just a few days ago.
She was however too much of a professional to voice her complaints.
"Cliff notes?"
"A team has gone rogue. You're to eliminate them."
"Because that's what I do best." Naru rolled her eyes but sighed. "Location for the meeting?"
"When the call ends you'll be sent the location."
"Alright. Have a wonderful day." She chirped with false cheer.
Her handler hung up without a word and Naru stared sourly at her phone.
"And so my hands grow more bloodstained." She mused sadly as she pulled up the text with the address for the location of their meetup.
"Well, no point to put this off. Once more into the fires of hell, I guess." Naru said with a sigh as she began teleporting towards the location sent to her.
The site of the meeting turned out to be a nondescript building where she was then escorted into an equally bland meeting room. She was the last to arrive and as she sat down opposite of the team that she was supposed to work with for this mission, Naru's blue eyes stared at ITEM's leader, Shizuri Mugino.
The older woman still seemed to be as haughty as ever. Mild annoyance came over the blonde as she remembered how the other Level 5 had attempted to kill her during their brief fight when Naru had been out trying to save Misaka-sempai from her own stupidity. Hopefully, the Number 6 could show some professionalism this time and not try anything funny on this job.
Taking a calming breath, Naru addressed ITEM as a whole, "So do any of you know the context of the mission? All I know is some Dark Sider outfit went rogue."
Frenda, the cute scared bunny that she was, opened her mouth but was cut off by Mugino's laughter.
"You know nothing? Well, not all that surprising for a mere attack dog."
Naru raised a delicate blonde brow as she retorted, "Know nothing, huh? Funny, I remember knowing enough to save a bunch of scrubs from drowning during a certain Carrier Incident a while back."
The Esper with the supermodel figure shut her mouth and her face twisted into a look of absolute rage.
"Why you little-!"
"Am I interrupting something?" A coldly dangerous voice asked as the flat screen display set into one side of the room turned itself on to reveal a older gentleman shrouded in shadows.
Mugino subsided immediately and put on a polite smile. "Nothing at all."
Naru's eyes narrowed at the volatile woman's reaction. He must be the client.
"Just asking for some context. Mind filling me in?" Naru brazenly asked the man on the screen.
"There is no need to worry yourself, Namikaze-san. Your mission is merely to eliminate the targets. ITEM will retrieve the package. You are not to interfere with their mission nor will you pry. That is all."
"So I'm just here as a courtesy to the Superintendent?"
"Precisely. Your mission just happened to be complementary to the one I had already hired ITEM for, as such to make things simpler we decided to have you work together. That said, your missions remain separate and involve completely different objectives. Do not forget that."
"Alright, I'll do as I'm asked." Naru simply shrugs, inwardly annoyed she couldn't find out more.
That certainly brought a smug smile to Mugino's face as it seemed her team would be the 'stars' of this operation.
Let her be in the limelight. All the better if she screws up. Naru thought with a roll of her eyes at older teen's behavior.
"With that out of the way, let's get down to business." The shadowy man turned to ITEM. "I believe I will not need to repeat my earlier instructions?"
"No," Mugino shook her head.
The man nodded, before continuing. "Well then let's begin going through your expected opposition on this particular operation."
The image on the screen suddenly changed to display the photos of four people.
"These four are the rogue outfit Cosplay."
Cosplay? Really? Naru noted, smothering the urge to giggle at the silly name. She could laugh about it later but for now she needed to maintain her professional mask.
On the screen, three of the photos disappeared and one in particular grew to fill half of the screen. It showed a mousy looking girl dressed in a plain school uniform that Naru didn't recognize with a cold and calculating look in her eyes. She looked high school age at best.
"This is their leader, Fuschida Atsuko. More details have been provided to you but for now review what is on the screen."
According to the short bio next to her photo her ability was Energy Collector, which allowed her to manipulate radiation. Specifically she could collect high energy particles and condense them. Apparently she'd developed a technique using this ability that she called [Melchsee's Door].
Where have I heard that name? I think it was from a manga, but I can't remember.
The technique involved her using her ability to collect energy into energetic concentrations that appeared as glowing orbs that orbit around her body. She then used the concentrated energy to fire off various attacks. She was however limited in that as a Level 4 the maximum amount of energy she could collect together was relatively low. Quickly running the math for the listed energy levels, Naru concluded that in order to tank one of [Meltdowner]'s shots she needed to siphon its combined power into three separate concentrations.
That's honestly still pretty good for a Level 4.
She was also limited however by the fact that whenever she attacked she needed to fire all the energy she'd collected in a single concentration. Though she somewhat made up for this weakness by being able to create three concentrations at any given time.
Energy Collector, huh? Naru mused as she finished looking over the ability. While she may be a Level 4 she could give [Meltdowner] a decent fight. A pretty serious look in her eyes too. Wonder if she's another crazy though?
Fuschida's data disappeared and was replaced with that of a tall teenage boy in a leather jacket. He wore a shirt and necktie paired with a pair of jeans and stylish black shoes.
"This is Takizawa Rinji. Fuschida's second in command."
He was a Level 3 with a power classified officially as Temporal Hyperperception but which he seemed to have coined [Bullet Time].
It was a hybrid of Precognition and Clairvoyance that allowed him to dramatically increase his perception of time and gave him the ability to perceive his environment at a greatly accelerated rate. This translated into bursts of superhuman reaction times that he used to enhance his martial arts and gunplay. He favored a pair of Berettas that he dual wielded. He also seemed to be addicted to painkillers despite ironically having an absurd tolerance of pain due to an injury to his nervous system.
Okay, I'm starting to see why they're called Cosplay. Their Esper powers are all out of manga and videogames. Naru shook her head as the slideshow continued.
It shifted to show a man wearing a suit of green armor with a fishbowl helmet and a purple cape. A small inset photo showed him without the outrageous helmet on and revealed him to be a pale teenager whose face was covered in scars.
"This costumed reject is Andrew Schnitter." The shadowy gentleman announced as the transition finished.
Schnitter was a Level 4 with a ability called Trick Art that allowed him to create optical illusions. He was apparently good enough at his illusions such that when cast over people they were not even aware of the fact. Something that involved quite a bit of complicated light bending. As if that wasn't enough, it seemed that to make his illusions even more believable he liked to combine his power with the use of smoke laced with drugs that disorientated his victims and made them more susceptible to being manipulated. In particular, he tended to use drugs that caused temporary loss of hearing to make it harder on his victims see through his illusions. The bio added that once he had his targets under his thrall, he tended to take them out through the use of robots.
Leave it to the big shoots to have all the ins and outs on Dark Siders' powers. No doubt they have more than a few counters set aside for all us just in case we go rogue. The Number 2 thought. No doubt Accelerator is one of their major counters for the rest of us Level 5s.
It still begged the question what was the counter to the Number 1 himself.
Naru was pulled out of her musings as the shadowy gentleman switched the presentation over to the bio for the last member of Cosplay.
"Lastly, there's Kusatsu Denbe."
Kusatsu was a tall lanky teenage boy with dyed blonde hair and was dressed in a long trench coat. He was a Level 3 with the ability of Energy State which allowed him to convert the potential energy stored in an inanimate object into kinetic energy by agitating the otherwise stable subatomic particles in the object. This "charged" that item, usually resulting in it releasing a glow, but which ultimately led to highly explosive results. He apparently used playing cards as a medium for his powers just like Gambit from that X-Men comic.
Plus I doubt most would think of a playing card as something threatening, making it easier to trick his opponents into a false sense of security when he first pulls them out. She mused as she mentally cataloged all her targets and hummed.
"Pretty diversified power set. Do they have a good track record? Any known infighting amongst them?" Naru asked the handler, searching for anything that she could use to her advantage.
"Their track record is stellar and their cohesion is amongst the best."
"I see. Thank you." Naru nodded as she wondered how much stranger the teams of Academy City could get.
"Really? With a name like that I can't imagine them being anything more than a joke." The tea haired girl seated across from Naru mocked while cracking a wicked smile, "They must have picked the name because they're all losers that cosplay as someone from pop culture. And just because they match their powers? How lame."
"Do not underestimate them just because of their eccentricities, [Meltdowner]." The shadowy figure warned sternly.
"Yes, of course sir." Mugino's face turned to stone as her amusement died quickly.
Ha-Ha. Naru thought childishly as she waited for the man to finish.
"You have your missions. Do not fail."
With that, the projection ended, leaving the girls alone in the room.
The two Level 5s turned to one another, and glared at each other. Each trying to wordlessly assert their dominance over the other as the tension in the room grew thick enough to choke a normal person.
In the background, the other members of ITEM squirmed uncomfortably. Each sweating uneasily as the standoff continued.
"We'll work together." Mugino said at last, without looking away. "We're all professionals here and can see how we would just waste our time duplicating our effort if we don't. Agreed?"
"Sounds good." Naru nodded, unconcerned that this effectively meant she lost their battle of wills. She'd got what she wanted. "So let's start planning our first moves."
ITEM all nodded.
"Takitsubo-san," Naru addressed [AIM Stalker], the core of ITEM. "You ever met any member of Cosplay?"
"Unfortunately not." The tired looking girl admitted. "Which means I can't track them."
Kinuhata shifted a bit in her seat and hesitantly said, "I um, kinda know Kusatsu."
"What?" Mugino snapped and the girl gulped.
"We super hang out once in awhile at some pubs, looking for trouble. I could probably set up a meet with him."
"Pubs?" Naru asked with an amused smirk. "Do you use fake IDs to get in?"
Naru doubted even that would be enough. Kinuhata was tiny. Heck, the girl was shorter than she was.
Kinuhata just shrugged. "Wouldn't get in even if I used one. Even the super illegal ones have standards. So I just wait outside, the places I frequent have enough trouble spilling out their doors to give me more than my fair share."
"You go there to pick fights?" Naru asked incredulously.
"What else are pubs good for?"
"Plenty of things, Saiai." Mugino said with a sigh. "But right now, their main usefulness will be as a trap for our little cosplaying friends."
"Um, I see a problem here." Frenda said nervously, eying both Naru and Mugino. She waited for either of them to snap at her but when neither did, the Caucasian girl continued. "Kinuhata, even if you can get in touch with them, they've gone into hiding. There's no way any one of them will crawl out of whatever hole they're in just to meet you."
"We could always call Ruiko-chan for some intel." Naru suggested to the group.
"Can't do any investigating on your own?" Mugino teased with a malicious smirk. "Are you reliant on Big Sister now?"
Trust a psycho to mangle a reference to 1984. Naru thought with disgust at the other Level 5's lack of respect towards the literary classic.
"Funny you would say that, since you ask her for information too."
"But I'm hardly as reliant on her as you are." Mugino shot back, that damnable smirk still on her face
Naru glared at the older woman who returned the favor. Soon the two devolved into yet another heated staring match, even as Mugino's teammates looked on anxiously.
"Fine!" Naru conceded a minute later, tired of wasting time sparring with Mugino. "We'll go with Kinuhata's plan for now. I doubt it'll work, but if it does it'll save us a ton of trouble."
"Of course it will." Mugino declared confidently even as she radiated smugness at winning another round in their little war of wills. "Though in the meantime… Frenda!"
"Yes!" The beret wearing girl said as she sat up straight.
"Go hit up our contacts and see if they can dig up anything useful." [Meltdowner] ordered. "Just in case."
"Roger."
"Get going."
At the Number 6's command, her team slid off their chairs and walked out of the room presumably to do their parts in setting up their plan. This left the two Level 5s alone in the room.
"So once again all you've asked to do is to kill. Think you can handle it? You haven't gone soft on us, have you?" Mugino offhandedly commented.
"Soft?" Naru scoffed at the very notion, "I've been pretty active lately."
"So you haven't been playing the bleeding heart lately and running around playing savior?" The older woman asked with a taunting smile. "So it was a doppelganger that helped save [Multi-Skill]'s siblings? Or that naive [Railgun]?"
"Being in Ruiko-chan's good graces has its benefits. I'm sure you know." Naru retorted with a smirk. "It makes hunting down my targets so much easier."
Mugino laughed.
Same old attack dog, I see. Good." The older Esper said while smothering chuckles.
Naru didn't know why, but it ruffled her something bad.
I'm not, right?
"What's this? Didn't know that's what we call you?" Mugino asked, apparently misreading Naru's discomfort. "What else do you call a merciless killer like you?"
Merciless killer? Naru's mind mulled over what her fellow Level 5 had called her. Is that what I want to be?
A worm of doubt wiggled in her stomach as her face grew stoic.
"Then again I've no room to talk, eh?" [Meltdowner] said with a psychotic grin splitting her face.
Naru had to lock her muscles to stop from recoiling in reflex. Damn it! She's right. We're both just killers. Murderers. That's all we are.
"You're lucky, you know?" The deranged older girl continued. "Your mission is so much easier. You just need to kill the idiots. Me? I've still got all the other stuff to do."
"Yeah, just kill them and be done with it." The blonde said in a strained whisper.
I don't want to be a killer. Naru realized as she looked into the bloodthirsty eyes of the older girl. I don't want to be a murderous maniac like her. But… I can't spare them… Though maybe I can make their deaths quick.
Naru stood up and stretched her arms, "I'm going to get ready."
"Right, right, get your head in the zone. I get it." Mugino said as she relaxed in her seat.
Yeah, head in the zone. Naru thought as she left the room to clear her mind.
Yo, what's up? Kurama asked sleepily as he woke up from the nap he'd been enjoying since yesterday.
Nothing. Naru replied grumpily as she sat in her hiding spot behind an air conditioning unit as she and ITEM, minus Frenda, staked out a the area around a illegal pub located in the back alleys of The Strange. Much to the [Elemental Empress]' surprise, Kusatsu actually agreed to meet Kinuhata thus allowing Naru and her team to setup this little ambush.
I'm in your head. I know when something is up.
Naru sighed, I don't know, just not in the mood for this.
For a moment she felt her demonic tenant ruffling through her head as he tried to figure just what "this" meant.
What? Last I checked you were always ready to do this. The fox replied as he caught up with recent events.
Anger flashed through her face, Well maybe I'm getting sick of it right now!
What's changed since I took my nap? The tailed beast asked sounding concerned.
I don't know. I just… I can't. I just don't know what I want right now.
We'll talk about this later. The demon insisted. But right now you need to pay attention. It looks like your target has arrived.
Snapping her head down to look at the door to the pub across from which Kinuhata had been leaning against the wall waiting for their prey to show up, Naru saw that Kusatsu Denbe had indeed taken the bait.
Using chaka, she enhanced her hearing to eavesdrop.
"No thanks." Kinuhata said, as she pushed a packet of cigarettes that the boy had offered her away. "You do remember I'm only twelve right? I'm like super underage."
"Old enough to kill, old enough to smoke." The boy said with a shrug as he pulled out a cancer stick from the packet and lit it.
"Takitsubo, can you sense anyone else from Cosplay nearby?" Naru asked over their radio.
"No. I can't tell if any of them are here. I can however I.D. several other Espers. No less than ten match with the Levels from the debriefing."
Naru clicked her tongue. It seemed Takitsubo's power was a lot less refined than Saten's.
Seems I really am spoiled by Ruiko-chan. Naru pouted to herself.
"Cut the chatter girls." Mugino's condescending voice carried over the radio. "Namikaze, go search for interlopers the old fashioned way. Rikou, focus on getting a bead on Kusatsu. He'll lead us to his friends sooner or later."
Naru frowned at being ordered around by the haughty [Meltdowner] but her instructions made sense, so she obliged and began her search by leaping across to the adjacent rooftop to check for any of the other targets. However, even as Naru begun parkouring across the area's rooftops she continued to pay attention to Kinuhata and Kusatsu's conversation.
Blowing out a cloud of smoke, the boy turned to Kinuhata.
"Why did you ask to meet out of the blue? It's not like you." The trench coat wearing teenager asked. "Our hangouts are usually more impromptu."
Kinuhata shrugged. "I felt like being super different today."
Kusatsu just nodded and took another puff on his cigarette.
Despite her focus on the conversation however, she did not let it distract her from her surroundings. Enhancing her senses with chakra she did her best to try and locate if any of Kusatsu's teammates were around and up to no good. She hadn't detected anything so far, and so tuned back into the chat outside the bar.
"So, you going to secondhand smoke me all day or what?" Kinuhata asked the boy.
Kusatsu dropped the cigarette and smothered it with his heel, "Sorry, just needed a fix before we hash out the heavy stuff."
"Uh, what do you mean by that?"
The boy sighed and looked at her seriously, "Have you ever felt the City's gone too far?"
The hoodie wearing girl cocked a brow, looking at him as if he was an idiot.
"Oh right! Sorry." Kusatsu said chuckling nervously. "I forgot for a moment that you're a survivor of the Dark May Project, aren't you?"
"Yeah, shut up. Right now." Kinuhata said sharply, clearly not wanting to bring that up.
Naru couldn't blame her. She'd heard all about the horror show that was that particular experiment. It was one of the most infamous cases of the City's depravity.
"So what do you want then?" The girl grumbled at him.
"Just wanted to throw something out there to one of the City's many victims."
"Spit it out."
"Getting there." Kusatsu reassured her. "As I was saying, I was just wondering if you'd be willing to help out another such victim in his time of need?"
Suddenly, Naru's gut churned. She couldn't point out what had set it off but she was beginning to feel a growing sense of uneasiness.
"Girls, I have a bad feeling. Stay alert." Naru warned her allies.
"Namikaze you're just being paranoid." Mugino dismissed as she focused on the conversation.
Suddenly white smoke began to fill up the whole area.
Kurama! Fight off the drugs.
On it!
"Oh yeah, just plain old paranoia huh?"
"Kinuhata get Kusatsu now!" Mugino shouted into the radio but the hoodie girl didn't respond.
Naru turned to rush towards the tiny Level 4 when her radio crackled to life and gave voice to a clearly distressed Takitsubo.
"Hey, um, I need help over here. I'm being chased by Mugino. She's under an illusion to look like a robot dog. Oh and I've suddenly become deaf."
How can she sound so nonchalant about it? Naru questioned as she rushed to go help the laid back girl. In comparison to Kinuhata, the tracker had no combat ability whatsoever. Between helping one of the two, there was no question that she would prioritize the defenseless Takitsubo.
"Damn him! This is Schnitter's doing." Mugino cursed over the radio.
"Now's not the time for that." Naru shouted back even though she knew that thanks to Schnitter's drugs it was unlikely anyone could hear her. "We need to go help the others."
Finally locating Takitsubo, Naru was greeted with a shocking scene. It looked like Schnitter was running away from a car sized dog robot.
However, that was only on the surface. A single whiff by Naru's enhanced sense of smell and she saw through the illusion. In reality, the fleeing Schnitter was Takitsubo while the robot was a crazed and disorientated Mugino.
She must be under the illusionist's control. Kurama told her.
"Get back here, you coward!" [Meltdowner] shouted as she fired one of her trademark particle beams at Takitsubo.
Teleporting right next to the AIM tracker, Naru tackled the taller girl to the ground and narrowly saved her from having her upper body disintegrated by her team leader's attack.
"Mugino! Snap out of it!" Naru shouted as she slammed her hands into the roof and caused it to surge up and create a series of earthen walls between them. Walls that disintegrated as Mugino tore through them with her lasers.
It bought time though for Takitsubo to frantically push away from her with a terrified gasp and run away. Naru let her. The greater distance she put between herself and the out of control [Meltdowner], the better. Naru was much better equipped to deal with the crazed Level 5 than the defenseless tracker.
Thankfully, Mugino seemed to be of the same mind and turned her blurred eyes towards Naru instead of the fleeing Takitsubo.
"Stop with the illusions. Fight me you coward!" Mugino exclaimed as she fired another beam at the blonde.
The blonde was expecting it however and she unleashed lightning from her hand. The Number 2's lightning forked through the air and intercepted the particle beam, redirecting it harmlessly up into the sky.
The action caused the manipulated Mugino to pause in confusion as a voice rang out from the obscuring clouds of smoke.
"I'm amazed you were able to do that. I can see why you're the Number 2, [Maniforce]." The voice echoed from all around her.
"Schnitter I presume?" Naru asked, hoping he would respond and give her a chance to narrow down his location.
"Indeed I am. Geez this job just got harder didn't it?" His voice held amusement, but he also sounded a touch nervous.
Mugino reminded Naru she was still there by firing off a beam in her direction with a cry of rage. "Die! You manipulative ass."
Once more, Naru deflected the beam. "Mugino, snap out of it! It's me, Naru!"
"It's no use, Number 2." Schnitter crowed. "My drugs have made her deaf and my illusions make her blind to the truth. The Number 6 is nothing more than my pawn at this point."
"Son of a bitch." Naru cursed as she tried and failed to narrow down his location. Sadly, it seemed that he was throwing his voice around. If given time, she was sure she'd pin down where he was but much to her frustration she was forced to deflect another of Mugino's beams before she could really get started.
"Stop it already, you walking energy cannon." Naru growled as her lightning crackled all around her as she used it to deflect the other girl's electron beam yet again.
Though if there was any silver lining to becoming Mugino's target, it was that she was building up an increasing understanding of the power that [Meltdowner] could put into her beams. They were a lot more powerful than Ruiko-chan's, that was for sure.
I'm going to need to put her down if I want to find Schnitter. Naru frowned. Just as this realization came to mind, Mugino pulled something out of her pocket.
It was a silicon card.
"Let's see if your fancy robot can deflect this?! Eat my Silicon Burn!"
Flinging the card forward, it broke up into smaller pieces. As they begun to fall towards the ground, Mugino fired her beam at them. It struck the card fragments and reacted with the specially created material causing the charged electron beam to split into a host of smaller beams that lanced across the air in a deadly storm that lanced towards Naru.
It's more wild than Ruiko-chan's version, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Naru noted as she tried but largely failed to predict the chaotic paths the beams were cutting through the air.
Unable to evade the beams, the blonde sighed and raised her hands as she unleashed a storm of her own from her fingertips. Her own chaotic storm of lightning created a protective dome that deflected the majority of the incoming electron lasers.
This is starting to get old real fast. Naru growled as she sidestepped the odd beam that slipped through her defense.
"These robots are getting old Schnitter!" [Meltdowner] shouted.
Enough is enough. The blonde frowned and teleported behind Mugino in order to knock her out.
It surprised her when the tea haired girl seemed to have a good enough sixth sense to sense her and snap a kick at her the moment she rematerialized.
"Uf!" Naru exclaimed as the kick connected with her side and sent her tumbling.
Landing in a crouch, Naru's nose wrinkled as she deflected another beam. Only for her troubles to be rewarded with a jab to the face.
At least she knows how to throw a punch. Naru though as her split lip healed and she ducked under another punch.
Despite being a long ranged specialist, Mugino showed a pretty good amount of skill at close combat as she unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks.
"Huh, for a robot you've got some decent programming. I didn't think a mousy little thing like Fuschida would waste cash on a kung-fu scrap heap." Mugino huffed as she continued her attack.
Didn't think you knew how to fight either. Still, I wonder who her teacher is? Maybe I can pouch her coach. The blonde pondered as she dodged and twisted out of the way of the older girl's well placed strikes.
[Meltdowner] growled in anger as Naru continued to evade her. In her frustration, she overextended her next jab.
Naru smiled broadly as she capitalized and channeled chakra into her fist. Her arm struck like a viper and cracked Mugino right across the jaw. She knew she'd hit her just right when the Number 6 stumbled back a step before collapsing to the ground in an unconscious heap.
K.O.! Hehe, man I forget how squishy you meatbags are. Kurama laughed uproariously. Hit one of you in the right place and with the right amount of force? BAM! Lights out!
"Yeah. Doesn't help that she's got a glass jaw." Naru said, looking down at Mugino. Thankfully she had used the proper amount of chakra in her strike. She really didn't want to have to explain to Aleister why she'd killed a Level 5.
A snicker broke out from the smog as it began to clear.
"Nice joke, [Joker]. I can tell you're going to be a fun opponent. I actually look forward to fighting you again." Her opponent told her even as the clouds of drugged smoke started to dissipate.
"Sure thing," Naru said with an easy smile.
The young girl couldn't help but wonder if he noticed his powers didn't even work on her. Would he actually still try to fight her if he did?
As the smoke finished clearing, Naru's bright blue eyes surveyed her surroundings.
Mugino was unconscious at her feet.
Kinuhata was passed out outside the bar.
Takitsubo was a sweating mess some distance away, looking ready to take a nap. Though it looked little different from how she tended to.
"So much for our little ambush." The blonde scratched the back of her head.
The prospect that she would fail this mission was becoming more likely and she couldn't fight the pout as she stepped forward to help her allies get back on their feet.
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.
So, a group has gone rogue and Naru has to deal with it. Just a typical day for our loli heroine. And having to work with ITEM? The sparks are going to fly! Oops, they already have, hehe.
Nameless: Here's a shout out to the reviewer Daemon of Crawling Tentacles! It's all thanks to his/her review that we were inspired to come up with Cosplay
It gave us the idea to do an entire team of homages for Cosplay. Hope you can all figure out who is who. That's half the fun of this after all!
Nameless: We won't spoil anything. Consider this our little game with you readers. If you know who Cosplay are emulating, with the exception of Kusatsu who we spelled out, then drop a review to let us know. We'll see if you got it right. It shouldn't be too hard I'd think.
So despite the bad blood with ITEM, Naru is still able to play nice if it's on a job. Seems Mugino can too, until she's hit by some drugs and illusions. Poor Naru and her immunity to most drugs. XP
Nameless: Hey now, what are you implying there?
Hm? Oh, nothing that will come into play now.
Nameless: Man, your mind these days… Oh well, maybe your probably illegal idea might be useful later. Very big maybe
You know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!