Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Thirty Two: Malevolent Biohazard - The Habitat Zero Massacre
Beta:
"This is it?" Mikoto asked tiredly as she pointed to what at first glance looked like a nondescript building in Habitat A.
The trek through the remainder of Habitat C and the rest of the way through Habitat A had thankfully been largely uneventful. Mikoto wasn't sure she could stomach another encounter like the one in that elementary school. In the face of that, the occasional bands of roaming zombies they'd had to deal with en route had been a relief.
"Yes, Onee-sama, Misaka confirms." Military Otaku said as they cautiously entered the walled compound of the research facility that contained the hidden access tunnel that led to Habitat 0.
"Then we should expect something here. It was ground zero, right?" Mikoto frowned as she held a coin out and shuffled it through her fingers nervously,
"For Habitat A, yes. Misaka agrees." Conspiracy Nut said with a nod. "The other Habitats were infected via their own, now sealed, tunnels to Habitat 0, Misaka elaborates."
"Ssh, Misaka whispers." Genki Girl said softly. "Did you hear that? Misaka asks, while surveying the surroundings warily."
"More zombies? Misaka says tiredly." Sentai-chan asked. "Even this hero of justice is feeling tired of facing them, Misaka adds with a sigh."
The sound of marching boots reached Mikoto's ears, causing her to tense up in preparation for a fight.
"Okay, I definitely heard that and it doesn't sound like zombies."
"Too regimented, Misaka notes in support of Onee-sama's assessment." Tsundere concurred.
"Whatever they are, they're just around the corner in the train station, Misaka notes grimly." Military Otaku pointed out.
"The suit's sensors are picking up seven unknowns in there, Misaka informs the group." Mecha Fan said, confirming their fears.
"Awfully conveniently that's exactly where we want to go, Misaka grumbles suspiciously." Conspiracy Nut muttered under her breath.
"We'll just have to face them head on like the heroes we are, Misaka insists," Sentai-chan said with a determined nod.
As they rounded the corner, they found seven abnormally tall men, dressed in heavy trench coats over their hulking frames. They all looked fairly identical to the others. Each of them had perfectly bald heads that shined in the flickering lights of the train station and their heavy boots clanked with each step they took. They were pacing the station in what looked a patrol pattern while armed with miniguns.
"Humans?" Mikoto breathed out in shock.
"Negative, Onee-sama. Misaka corrects." Mecha Fan said as she raised her gatling laser at the humanoid beings who had all frozen and turned their attention to the group with eerie synchronicity. "Their vital signs are well outside human parameters. Misaka informs the group worriedly."
As the things' miniguns spun, Mikoto hastily grabbed hold of a selection of metal benches and other metallic constructs in the area with her powers and created a hastily erected shield that protected them from the hail of bullets fired their way.
"The guns are non-magnetic metals and their bullets too! How prepared were these Parasol people?" Mikoto cursed even as she fired a bolt of electricity over her makeshift barricade at the humanoid bioweapons, because what else could they be, that were firing at them.
"It's as if they knew we would be coming down here, Misaka hisses suspiciously." Conspiracy Nut said as she fired her shotgun through a hole in the barrier Mikoto made for her and adding her pellets to the return fire the Sisters were dishing out at the monsters.
"They were working on splicing Onee-sama's DNA into their bioweapons, Misaka points out. Taking that into consideration, shielding against electromastery would be a valid concern, Misaka argues." Genki Girl countered.
"Miska concurs with 11118, Misaka says while rolling her eyes at 13577." Tsundere said as she tossed a grenade over their shield.
The original ground her teeth at the reminder that Parasol was actively creating electromastery using bioweapons like those salamander things back at the aquarium using her DNA. She couldn't help but wonder how many more times her DNA Map was going to be taken advantage of for weapons?
With a frustrated growl, Mikoto said, "We don't have time for these small fries."
Putting her action to her words, she sent the barrier flying towards the bioweapons at high speed while using her powers to reshape it so spikes of twisted metal jutted out from its surfaces as they slammed into the gun toting behemoths.
Even impaled the creatures struggled. Some tried to shoot their way free while others dropped their guns and attempted to use their clearly superhuman strength to tear themselves out. But Mikoto was having none of it.
"Stay down, you bastards!" The [Railgun] snapped as she wrapped all seven of the bioweapons up in an ever tighter ball of metal and added metallic sand to the mix to plug the gaps and make their little prison inescapable for the things. They might not be human anymore but they seemed normal enough, maybe after all this was over someone topside could fix whatever Parasol had done to them.
The stress of their struggles seemed to trigger something within the things though as they began to mutate on the spot. Their muscles bulging explosively to the point of ripping their coats to shreds while their hands transformed into vicious looking talons.
"What?" Mikoto called up, shocked by the change.
"Kill them! Misaka shrieked in terror. Kill them now before they mutate into something unstoppable! Misaka insists." Conspiracy Nut said tugging urgently on Mikoto's arm.
The clone might have been hysterical but she had a point. There was no telling whether this sudden change was the limit to these things' mutations. For all they knew Conspiracy Nut was right and they could keep mutating to the point they were beyond their ability to stop.
Mikoto couldn't take that risk. Not with the lives of the Sisters on the line.
With her heart weighed down by what she needed to do, the Number 5 raised her shaking hand and looked at the metallic sphere containing the struggling monsters with tear filled eyes.
It was as if no matter what she tried, there would be no means to save anyone.
Mikoto felt her heart break at that. No, if it was to save them at least from continuing to suffer as whatever monsters they had become, she… had to end them.
"I'm sorry," The [Railgun] whispered as she closed her trembling fist. At this action, her sand poured into the spherical prison she'd created and began twisting within thus transforming the interior into a giant blender that ground her foes trapped inside into a fine bloody paste that gushed out of the sphere as she compressed it around the dying bodies.
By the time she was done, where there once stood seven imposing bioweapons there was now only a single car sized metallic sphere covered in blood in the middle of a veritable lake of the sanguine fluid.
"Ah, Onee-sama is ruthless, says Misaka as her heart flutters at the sight of Onee-sama's power." Tsundere whispered loudly.
Mikoto wanted to slap the clone for that. She wasn't ruthless! She just didn't have a choice.
It wasn't the clone's fault though. Considering how it was raised, it probably didn't understand Mikoto's feelings.
This realization tempered her anger and instead of lashing out, she merely gruffly said, "Let's just get going!"
"Happily, says Misaka as she skips after Onee-sama." Tsundere gushed much like Kuroko would.
Now that was a creepy thought.
Ignoring her fears over Kuroko and this particular clone ever meeting, she joined the Sisters as they got back into formation and boarded the train.
As the train pulled away from the station, Mikoto swore that she was going to end this madness.
Looking out the train windows as they began to pull into the Habitat 0 light rail station, Mikoto cursed as she glimpsed the packs of zombies and more of the bioweapons they'd encountered back in Habitat A.
"How many of them are out there?" Mikoto asked Mecha Fan whose sensors would be able to get the best read on the situation.
"One hundred and twenty seven zombies, eleven of those coat wearing bioweapons and one armored version of the latter, Misaka reads off her suit's sensors." Mecha Fan reported dutifully.
"Time check? Misaka asks worried about the time limit hanging over their head." Military Otaku asked suddenly as she fidgeted nervously.
Mikoto looked at her watch, where the time relentlessly ticked down, "We have a little under two hours left."
It was surprising how long they had been down here. Mikoto honestly thought they'd have more time. But despite all the time and distance covered, they hadn't found a single survivor yet. A fact that dampened her spirits greatly.
"Don't think on it, Misaka tells Onee-sama," Genki Girl said squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "If you let it bring you down, you'll not be able to fight properly, Misaka warns."
The original turned to the Sister and offered a tiny smile, "Thanks."
"Anytime Onee-sama, Misaka chirps happily."
"We're pulling it into the station, Misaka warns." Sentai-chan said, nudging Mikoto. "Onee-sama raise up your heroic shield to protect us against from the villains' dastardly attack, Misaka encourages Onee-sama."
With such a goof in the group, Mikoto couldn't resist letting out a chuckle, "You got it."
At that, she used the iron sand which she'd filled most of the train with when they'd left Habitat A to form a wall against the bullets that rained on the train as it came to a stop. She waited till it finally came to a complete stop before firing out a barrage of iron side bullets at the enemy hordes.
The barrage managed to take out a good number of zombies and disable a number of the coat wearing bioweapon's miniguns. Though much to Mikoto's shock, a good number of zombies had even went out of their way to use their bodies to suicidally defend the larger bioweapons.
Nevertheless, it had created enough confusion on the station to actually allow the team to get off the train while still shielded by a barrier of iron sand.
The moment they did, the disarmed hulking bioweapons charged towards them while wading through the zombies, the hordes of which parted like the Red Sea before Moses to give them free passage even as they ran beside them intent on tearing Mikoto and the Sisters apart. Even as the bioweapons still equipped with miniguns provided supporting fire for them, alongside a missile launcher equipped armored version.
Looks like the Sisters was right. Parasol must be able to control these zombies somehow. Mikoto gnawed her lower lip. If they knew how, perhaps they could disable them. Microchip? Electronic wave? No, she wasn't sensing anything in the airwaves. Maybe they're using some kind of telepathic control like [Mental Out]?
"We need to take out the armored one! Misaka orders," Mecha Fan shouted as she used the gatling laser to shoot down the missile that had been fired at them by the aforementioned armoured bioweapon.
"I've got it!" Mikoto shouted as without hesitation she flicked her Dark Matter coin into the electromagnetic barrel she created with her electromastery. The electromagnetic forces in the barrel proceeded to send the coin flying at the armored bioweapon.
Very deliberately, the coin broke the sound barrier in the middle of the charging ranks of the bioweapons that sent them reeling as a result of the displaced air or outright burned to a crisp by the superheating of the air caused by the coin's passage.
Despite its armor, the targeted monster didn't stand a chance either. Against the railgun shot its feeble defense folded like tissue paper and it was ended in an instant, its hulking body completely destroyed. Its whole upper body had been disintegrated by the railgun shot and the mangled remains of its lower body and surviving extremities were reduced to charcoal. The shot also proceeded to bore a hole into the far wall behind the creature but since Mikoto was fairly sure they wouldn't be using this particular station on their way out, she wasn't worried that she'd accidentally destroyed something they would need later.
"Come on, we don't have any time to lose, says Misaka as she continues her assault." Military Otaku ordered as she pulled off a headshot on one of the hulking bioweapons, killing it in one hit.
They were still at least seven of the behemoths left though, two of them with their miniguns still blazing away, and at least fifty and likely more zombies supporting them. Though that number was quickly thinned thanks to a pair of grenades Tsundere tossed into their ranks. The sharpnel tore at least a dozen of the zombies apart and staggered one of the gunners long enough for Mecha Fan to cook it with her gatling laser.
At the same time, Genki Girl had used her railgun rifle to blow apart the shoulder of the other behemoth with a gun and thus take out its ability to use its mingun. The wound rapidly regenerated in front of their eyes but thankfully Genki Girl quickly recalibrated her aim and took a second shot that nicely took its head off entirely, killing the thing before it could finish its healing.
Both Conspiracy Nut and Sentai-chan were pumping lead from their shotguns into the zombie swarms and thinning them out quickly, soon being helped by Tsundere's rifle and sniping from Genki Girl and Military Otaku.
I guess that means I get the remaining behemoths. Mikoto thought with a frown as she remembered what she'd been forced to do with the last group of these bioweapons.
She didn't hesitate to do what needed to be done however and gathering together a large mass of iron sand shaped it into five lances that she fired at the remaining coat wearing bioweapons. The things were staggered as the lances impaled them but weren't out of the fight yet and struggled to remove them.
Yeah no. None of that on my watch! Mikoto thought to herself as she had spikes explode out of the lances, thus transforming the creatures they were impaled within into little more than gigantic pin cushions.
By this time, the majority of the zombies had also been cleared out by the Sisters with only about a dozen remaining.
Being the conscientious Onee-sama that she was, Mikoto decided to help them finish the job by launching bullets of iron sand from the barrier she continued to maintain around them at the remaining zombies, tearing them apart and hopefully liberating the people they once were from whatever tortured existence their lives had become.
"The area is clear, Misaka reports dutifully." Mecha Fan informed the group readily after a moment of silence.
"Then let's move out, Misaka orders. But keep your guard up and be wary of ambushes, Misaka cautions."
Mikoto nodded along to Military Otaku's assessment of the situation and dutifully followed as the Sisters began moving deeper into the facility without breaking formation. As they advanced, the Sisters scanned the area and Mikoto did the same. Doing so however made something somewhat off putting obvious almost immediately: the surrounding area seemed unmolested. Except from damage caused by their previous battle there were absolutely no signs of fighting anywhere in Habitat 0 as far as they could tell.
"Parasol must have transported the infected to the other habitats, Misaka notes sorrowfully as she tries to understand why they would do this." Genki Girl said with a frown.
"Obviously as a means to improve their research on biological warfare, Misaka notes in a condescending tone." Conspiracy Nut said. "Did you expect any better from scientists working in Academy City? Misaka asks rhetorically. They're a bunch of amoral monsters, just look at what they did to us in the Level 6 Shift, Misaka bitterly adds."
Mikoto felt disgusted but had to agree with Conspiracy Nut. Humans could be some of the most cruel things in the world. She was learning that more and more as she dived into the Dark Side. Especially the scientists of Academy City. Sure some like Kiyama-sensei were just good people forced into bad situations and forced to do dangerous things to help themselves or those they cared about but most of them? They were scum!
"As long as there are good people like Onee-sama and the Trinity, I'm sure we can stop villains like these in the future, Misaka opines optimistically." Sentai-chan added into the conversation.
"Hmph! Misaka huffs as she scathingly thinks to herself that humans will never change from being the monsters who think they can manipulate life as they see fit." Conspiracy Nut snidely noted.
"Guys, enough. We have to focus." Mikoto told them as they found a helpful sign painted on the wall with directions to various sections of the facility.
"Yes Onee-sama Misaka quietly grumbles." The two that had been told off replied.
"Right it is, Misaka orders after examining the sign." Military Otaku said as she finished reading the sign. It clearly pointed down the rightward corridor as the way to their objective: Habitat 0's control center. The control center would be the logical place from which to control the bioweapons and would also have master access to all the systems, thus making it the best place to serve as their entry point into the local systems in search of where they stored Mikoto's DNA Map.
"We're almost there." Mikoto breathed in relief. "Almost."
"Yes. It's almost over, Onee-sama, Misaka reassures." Tsundere said, offering Mikoto an encouraging smile. "We'll end this soon, Misaka says with certainty."
Mikoto just nodded, wishing that she shared the clone's sense of surety as she followed her and her fellows down the right hand hallway.
Of course the entryway to the control center was guarded. What else did Mikoto honestly expect at this point?
What she did not expect were how it was guarded. In front of her was an entire section of the hallway that had been converted into a death trap. Like something straight out of a Bond villain's lair, there were laser grids moving up and down the corridor in seemingly random patterns.
It would have been really impressive she'd imagine if the intruders had not been a bunch of skilled Electromasters. As they were exactly that though… They had the entire grid shut down in seconds thanks to the simple application of some electromastery to wirelessly connect to the relevant systems and a little hacking.
The team thus confidently marched down the now supposedly undefended corridor towards the sealed doors to the control center. They were about halfway through the section previously protected by the laser grids when a heavy door opened on the far side and unleashed some kinda super zombie.
It was a girl but her body was hideously deformed by a plethora of fungal growths that forced her into a hunched posture which in turn caused her to walk with a awkward gait. She was wearing a tattered dress, a pair of broken manacles, handcuffs and a burlap hood over her face.
Most unnervingly she cried out in a broken voice for her "Mummy!" even as she lumbered down the corridor at them in a slow but relentless charge.
"Open fire! Misaka orders frantically, unnerved by the zombie." Military Otaku shouted even as she took off a section of the monster's head with her railgun only for the creature to regenerate the damage almost immediately.
The other Sisters likewise poured fire into the slowly closing monster. They shot off whole portions of its body at a time but none of the damage stuck as it rapidly regenerated its wounds right in front of their eyes. Mikoto tried to fry it but all that did was char its skin for a bit before the burned portions just flaked off. Thankfully, none of the detached portions seemed to be regenerating. This monster was likely going to be hell to put down, if it was self-replicating then it might just be impossible to defeat.
Disturbingly, throughout all this the creature kept crying out in pain and for its "Mummy!"
Is there some twisted remains of its humanity in there? Mikoto thought to herself while biting her lower lip in sympathy even as tried to fry it once more. If there is, we need to free it. Damn it! I really wish I could use my railgun here.
But she couldn't. Not while they were in the confined space of a corridor. The heat from her shot alone might boil all of them alive without a larger amount of air to disperse it, or the shot might just bring the whole place down on top of them.
In the time that Mikoto took to consider this, the zombie had closed to within striking distance of Mecha Fan. With an almost casual swing of one of her now free hands, the handcuffed originals having been shot off and replaced by newly regenerated replacements, the monster sent the Sister and her heavy Powered Suit flying into a wall.
Mikoto and the other Sisters scattered immediately at the sight of that.
"Avoid melee, Misaka observes fearfully." Military Otaku ordered rather unncessarily.
"You think?" Mikoto hissed under her breath as she flung several bolts of lightning at the hulking monstrosity which just shed its skin like a snake once more to rid itself of its charred skin.
By now the abomination had already taken so much damage that it had probably regenerated every single part of itself at least once. Or that's the impression Mikoto had at seeing the now nude creature, its clothes having long since been destroyed by the damage it had sustained.
Naked, the monster looked even more grotesque and heart wrenchingly sad. For at least the burlap sack it had worn earlier had hidden the still very much human face it still possessed, one twisted in a permanent look of utter agony. Or the way her tattered dress had downplayed just how heavily the girl's body had been twisted by what had been done to her. Fungal growths grew from her genitals for Science's sake!
"MUMMY~!" It wailed in a broken voice, even as it stumbled towards Mikoto apparently annoyed at having been charbroiled.
Mikoto had to visibly squash her bubbling sadness while bolstering her resolve as she used a burst of electromagnetically assisted gymnastics to move to the other side of the corridor. The creature couldn't seem to follow Mikoto's movements and it stopped for a moment, spinning around in confusion as it tried to figure out where its prey had gone.
"Shoot out her legs!" Mikoto ordered, "Or otherwise keep it in place somehow."
Military Otaku seemed to catch onto what her progenitor had in mind because her order fit in perfectly with Mikoto's plan.
"Do it while retreating out of the laser corridor! Misaka orders."
The Sisters complied readily, shooting as they moved. They aimed at the zombie's legs taking them off time and time again, forcing it to fall to the floor while they regenerated. That failed to stop its single minded determination to attack them and it attempted to crawl after them, forcing them to blast its arms off as well. Even then the tortured girl tried to crawl after them even as her limbs regenerated.
However, she never got anywhere close to the Sisters or Mikoto as they fled on nimble feet back to the other side of the laser corridor.
"Onee-sama do it! Misaka urges." Tsundere shouted as she made it to safety, the last of their group to do so.
With a nod, Mikoto reactivated the laser grids. A checkerboard pattern immediately flew down the corridor from both directions, both spinning until their patterns matched in such a way that each square was bisected by a laser from the other pattern. These two now paired grids met as they passed through the monster which was crawling limblessly on the ground. It let out a brief cry of pain as the lasers cut it into tiny pieces but quickly became silent as its cooked remains fell to the ground in neat chunks.
Mikoto's heart shattered for what felt like the umpteenth time on this mission as she was forced to kill yet another victim of Parasol's mad science.
No more. Please no more. Mikoto begged any higher being that might be listening. I don't think I can take much more.
The moment Mikoto crossed the threshold into the control center, she knew her wish had not been granted. The lab was empty and silent as a grave which just set off alarms in the Level 5's head. The control panels were all lit up, readings and code rolling down the monitors at random intervals.
This is a trap. The Number 5 thought to herself tiredly.
As if to prove the exhausted [Railgun] correct, a nearby door was ripped open by a hulking monster. The creature was at least three meters tall with scaly skin covering its humanoid body. Claws protruded from its hands and feet as a tail frantically whipped around behind it. But most disturbingly was the upside down human face that it had at the end of a extended neck that drooped down to the level of her mid chest, for beyond how it was oddly inverted and its reptilian eyes, it was exactly like her own.
In other situations she might have quipped that the aberrant creature that emerged was an "end game boss" but she was honestly not in the mood for jokes at the moment.
That and the fact that Mikoto's blood had run cold as she stared at her own face staring back at her from the monster's body. A face that was twisted in a grotesque reflection of her own expressions as it roared in both anger and anguish.
When? When would her stolen DNA map not be used as part of some sick perversion to 'advance' science?
A small part of Mikoto wanted to save it, just like how the Sisters were saved. Sadly, her logical side knew that no matter what, there was nothing to be saved here. At least the Sisters had a functional mind while… this was just a raging beast.
"That sounds more like a gorilla than a lizard, Misaka notes warily." Conspiracy Nut observed clinically. "This abomination might have the DNA of more animals spliced into it than is immediately obvious, Misaka adds. Be wary of unexpected surprises, Misaka warns."
"Misaka is more worried about that mingun it's carrying, Misaka begs to differ." Genki Girl retorted.
"Whatever, I have no patience for this anymore!" Mikoto roared as she shot a lightning bolt at the aberration, only to have it be deflected thus leaving the Level 5 gaping in shock.
"It's at least a Level 3 variant of us, Misaka notes." Tsundere said. "It can interfere with Onee-sama's powers, Misaka observes. Onee-sama, please be careful, Misaka asks while deeply concerned."
Grounding her teeth, Mikoto made a call that twisted her heart once more.
"Put it out of its misery. Now."
At her command the Sisters sprung into action and unleashed hell on the creature, but like with the super zombie they'd just put down this abomination just took the hits and regenerated any damage it sustained. All the while, it returned fire with its own deadly minigun.
Mikoto was ready for that though and had quickly raised a barrier of iron sand to protect the team from the ceramic bullets it was pouring on them like rain.
"Shoot out the foul monster's wrists, Misaka suggests." Sentai-chan shouted. "Make it drop its instrument of death, Misaka clarifies."
Both Military Otaku and Genki Girl lined up shots with their railgun rifles and scored perfect shots that should have shattered the thing's wrists but the aberration didn't even seem to notice, as the damage was blunted by its scales and healed up before they could make a difference.
"New plan, take out the gun directly, Misaka suggests while suppressing a sigh at the absurdity of the previous one." Tsundere said as tossed a grenade at the monster. The grenade showered the creature in sharpnel but like everything else didn't cause any lasting damage which caused her to frown.
"Let me try, Misaka asks while hiding her smile at 10287's failure." Genki Girl said as she promptly fired a railgun round directly down one of the minigun's barrels.
Science! How in the world did she manage a shot like that? Mikoto thought to herself in awe even as the round ripped a nice and big tear in the weapon rendering it inoperable.
Seems military training via Testament really did wonders.
Not that the monster seemed to mind much. It just glanced down at its disabled weapon and frowned before tossing it aside like yesterday's garbage and charged at the Sisters. Having learned their lesson from the fight with the super zombie, the group scattered with even Mecha Fan avoiding getting into a fistfight with the superhumanly strong, it did tear open a heavy metal door earlier, monster.
"14091, 13577, suppress its powers, Misaka orders." Military Otaku commanded. "11118, help me suppress it, Misaka adds. 11132, use your Powered Suit to engage it in melee, Misaka finishes."
With their plan formulated, the Sisters moved like an well oiled machines. Conspiracy Nut and Sentai-chan fell back and looks of concentration appeared on their faces as they began interfering with the aberration's electromastery with their own.
The abomination roared in anger, presumably having realized that it's esper powers were shut down. Acting out on its fury, it lashed out at Mecha Fan as she closed. Or at least it tried. As it raised its arms to smash them down on top of the Powered Suit wearing Sister, both Genki Girl and Military Otaku shot it in its center mass. While the damage was minimal and was easily regenerated, the power of the shots still managed to still have the strength to stagger it back. This created the opening that Mecha Fan exploited to finish closing with the beast.
"Rip and tear! Misaka roars, recalling her favourite iconic phrase from her gaming." Mecha Fan shouted as she slammed into the off-balance monster, toppling it over.
The creature tried to wrap its arms around Mecha Fan's Powered Suit but Genki Girl and Military Otaku shot its arms, imparting enough force that it could not do so, at least not before Mecha Fan pinned both arms down and popping out a pair of smaller, more rudimentary manipulator arms equipped with what Mikoto guessed were heat blades that she promptly used to began sawing the monster's arms off.
I've got to get in on that action. Mikoto realized as she shook off her lethargy. Sending tendrils of her iron sand to wrap around various parts of the monster, she had them began vibrating the particles so as to cut into its flesh.
Soon the abomination's blood was flying everywhere as between Mecha Fan's heat blades and Mikoto's iron sand acting as vibro blades, they butchered the struggling creature. It howled in agony but no one was feeling up to offering it any sympathy as they systematically cut off first its limbs then cutting open its chest cavity to rip its innards out before finally finishing it off by decapitating it.
It was brutal and inhumane but no one, not even Mikoto, wanted to give the chimera a chance to regenerate and were more than willing to set aside their morals to ensure that it died. Painful death or no.
That was why even after they had disemboweled it and taken its head off, Mikoto still used a powerful electric bolt to reduce it to charcoal just to be sure it stayed dead.
Despite her recognition of the necessity for such action, her morality still burned a hole in her heart. Thus it took a moment after the fight finally ended for her to collect herself and suppress her guilt to deal with later.
I still can do something though, Mikoto thought as she moved to one of the still functional monitors. Using her powers, she hacked into the system and looked over the data. She used none of her usual relative finesse and just brute forced her way through any and all defenses she found. She was too tired for anything else.
And what she found made the level 5 snarl.
Parasol had purposely let the containment breach happen.
They had gathered enough data on the habitat living experiment years ago and had long shifted into the realm of biological weapon development. The inhabitants were used as test subjects under the guise of clinical check ups and experimental medical drugs to better survive in the habitats. Eventually they grew bored of that and went into straight up madness and decided to use the habitats to field test their bioweapons in an urban environment.
The sick and twisted bastards had then proceed to observe the so called experiment offsite, safe and sound as their abominations massacred thousands of innocent lives.
"Onee-sama, Misaka says to hopefully turn Onee-sama away from the monitor." Genki Girl said, earning Mikoto's attention. She turned to see the Sister on another terminal. "Misaka has located and deleted Onee-sama's DNA Map, Misaka says triumphantly at the small victory for the Misakas."
"As far as Misaka can tell this appears to be the only copy Parasol had access to as it had complex measures in place to prevent duplication, Misaka adds." Sentai-chan chirped.
"Misaka has discovered the command program for the bioweapons and has sent them the order to self-terminate, Misaka says in distaste over this whole affair." Military Otaku said as she typed away at another terminal.
"How did Parasol even manage to control the bioweapons in the first place, Misaka ponders with worry that this tragedy might repeat itself." Tsundere fidgeted from where she stood, glancing around as if expecting another bioweapon to burst into the room despite their affirmed termination.
"Simply, Misaka says as she adopts a lecturing pose," Conspiracy Nut said as she raised her right arm in an L-shape while holding a finger of her right hand in the air while she supported her right arm with her other hand by resting it on her right elbow. "They seemed to have used some form of quantum entanglement effect created by exotic matter they developed with the help of the Number 4, Misaka suspects. The 'nervous systems' of all their bioweapons are made of it, which in turn effectively made them biological robots that can be controlled remotely by anyone with the know how, Misaka elaborates. Thus toy soldiers on demand, Misaka adds with a snort at the obvious."
"Guys, none of that is important." Mikoto cut the Sisters' discussion off. It was too depressing to listen to. "How many survivors are there? They have to have been tracking them, right?"
The Sisters all exchanged looks and any fragile hope Mikoto had shattered.
"Ah, Onee-sama, Misaka says looking nervous. There are less than three hundred survivors left and dropping due to injuries and lack of medical personnel to aid them, Misaka reports." Genki Girl stated.
And like that, the dam broke and Mikoto broke down. She collapsed to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably.
How could she have been so stupid as to believe that she had a chance of saving anyone? She'd seen the zombie hordes! Fought them even! Seen how numerous they were. She should have known what that meant. But she'd still held onto the childish hope that she could somehow make it in time to save the majority of the Colony's inhabitants.
But now the Level 5 was faced with the awful truth and she couldn't handle it. Confronted by the painful, awful reality all Mikoto could do was bawl her eyes out.
Naru kicked open the door to a fancy salon in District 3 alongside elements from the Black Crow Unit. She was met almost immediately by a giant in a trench coat and wielding a minigun. Naru just casually sent a vacuum blade to bisect the bioweapon, gun and all. As each side of the vile violation of nature collapsed to either side of where it stood, Naru stepped pass the corpse while dropping small fireballs from both her hands that proceeded to incinerate the disgusting remains.
"You morons are under arrest," Naru ordered, glaring at the dozen or so Parasol scientists and employees cowering before her.
Turning to the accompanying Crows, the Number 2 began barking orders. "Secure them and search the premises. Make sure we don't miss anyone or anything."
"Yes Ma'am," the Crows replied dutifully as they ran off to do as they were told.
While they did so, Naru surveyed the room she was in. It was a swanky little living room that she wouldn't have minded hanging out in herself.
Hard to imagine a bunch of Parasol eggheads would use a place like this as their safehouse, but I guess that's the point.
"Mam, we've found something." One of the Crows said as he returned with a suitcase.
Taking it from the man, she popped it open to see two vails resting on a whole bunch of padding.
She snarled, scaring the captured Parasol employees shitless in the process, as she read the labels.
[Railgun Cloned Cell Culture] and [Tyrant Cell Culture Type Railgun α]? Naru read as she leveled a red-eyed glare at her prisoners.
Ruiko stared down from the open loading ramp of the transport plane that had brought over the airspace of an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that served as one of Parasol's hidden bases.
Looking down at the base as her plane continued to circle the rig, the [Army Slayer] allowed a bloodthirsty smirk to spread across her face.
"This is the last one," she noted almost wistfully. "I guess I'm done after this."
She took a moment to shuffle through her myriad of templates, until finally deciding on her choices. With a thought, she used some Thermal Hand to freeze the water around the rig then using Telekinesis in conjunction with gravity manipulation and Float Dial she lifted the whole rig into the air, making sure to take all the sea she'd frozen along with some of the seabed it was anchored to as a precaution as well.
Tapping into some Clairvoyance she made sure that she wasn't missing anything. She hadn't.
Time for the next step.
With the base now floating above the whirlpool that its removal had created, she let her bloodthirsty smirk grow even wider as she dealt the coup de grâce.
Using her telekinesis she began to rapidly crush the whole floating mass into an ever smaller mass. It soon resembled a large sphere of ice, metal and torn flesh but Ruiko was not yet satisfied. She compressed it further and further until the huge mass was reduced to a sphere that was no bigger than a small car, at which point she emulated Meltdowner and fired the most powerful Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannon she could muster, utterly atomizing all that remained of the Parasol base.
Her task done, she turned away from the loading ramp and began walking back towards the cockpit and the relatively comfy seat that waited there, all while sporting a triumphant grin and ignoring the fearful reactions of the plane's crew as she walked past them.
It was a week after the Colony Incident and Saten had finally returned to school, something that Mikoto noted immediately. Though that was largely because she'd been waiting for her anxiously. She hadn't been the only one. Namikaze had too and had started looked ragged from all the waiting despite her little bunnies pampering and worrying for her well-being.
Walking up to Saten in the cafeteria during lunch, Mikto asked a single question.
"All done?"
Saten nodded, causing a sense of relief to overcome Mikoto.
"Yes, as far as myself and the City can tell, Parasol is no more." Saten added, giving Mikoto's arm a reassuring squeeze. "They won't be around to trouble anyone with their mad science ever again."
Mikoto just nodded, an intense sense of gratitude welling up inside her.
Before she could say anything however Namikaze popped in on them via a Teleport, it was sudden enough that if Mikoto wasn't so used to Kuroko doing so all the time she would have jumped in surprise.
Patting her back comfortingly, the blonde said, "It's alright Sempai, I rounded up a lot of them in the City. Maybe ended one or two by accident. Still," She turned to Saten, a small smile on her face, "Thanks for breaking that vow of yours again, Saten-chan."
"Considering the circumstances, I was more than willing to once more don the mantle of [Army Slayer]." Saten assured them. "Parasol needed to die."
"Poetic way to put it but yeah," Namikaze agreed. "You sure you're back to normal. You always talk flowery when you're off being a one girl army."
"I might still be shaking off some of the influence," Saten admitted with a shrug.
Naru winced and Mikoto frowned. Saten had explained the [Army Slayer] side of her as pretty damned close to a split personality and Mikoto really didn't want her kohai to set back her growth from being the broken girl she was when they first became friends over Parasol.
"You're sure you're okay?" Mikoto asked worriedly, nervous that her kohai had to do something uncomfortable just for the chestnut haired girl.
"I'm sure," Saten reassured her. "I'll just hang out with the twins or Accel and Last Order a little more this week, that should shake off any lingering traces of the [Army Slayer] from my psyche."
"You go do that." Namikaze urged. "Though I wish the Superintendent would have let me do the external part of the extermination in the first place. Not only would it have saved you all this hassle, it would have been so cathartic too." Namikaze smiled, though it was a touch too bloodthirsty for Mikoto's liking.
"Quiet you two. It doesn't matter who did the deed, as long as they were put down that's all that matters." the [Railgun] informed them, feeling somewhat hollow inside.
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always!
Man, this was a Halloween-y arc for sure, but it had a semi-happy ending? Well, hopefully we didn't break Mikoto too much. This cutie will not break! ...Right?
Nameless: If canon is any indication, the girl is made of stern stuff but yeah… This was a harrowing experience that would break many people. That said, Mikoto has the support of good friends who can empathise. That and understanding that Saten and Naru both went through similar things as she's endured and survived, will help her loads.
Quick Mikoto! Go cuddle Touma! It's the only way to cope! Or Naru for the yuri fans.
Nameless: Lolz. I betcha Touma would even be up for it. That guy is altruistic to a fault. Which reminds me, anyone watching Index III and being disappointed? I mean the pacing is all over the place. The Document of C arc felt a little bloated at the start to justify fan service then too fast during the fight thus reducing a lot of the tension in the fight and then the Battle Royale arc was just a high-speed trainwreck.
I am actually waiting for the eps to pile up before binging it, but from what Nameless is telling me, it is not shaping out to be what we all have been hoping for. All those years...
Nameless: So before we sign off, let's clarify some references we made. We've borrowed some ideas for the two monsters that feature in this chapter, so let's point out where we took inspiration from:
The super zombie was based on Lisa Trevor from the 2002 Resident Evil remake
The 'end boss' was based of Shou Tucker's final twisted form in the 2003 iteration of Fullmetal Alchemist
Nina why?! You were too young! My anime nightmares!
Anywho, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!