Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Thirty Eight: Stomping of a Lifetime
Beta:
"It really is a gunfight!" Kuroko shouted incredulously into the headset that provided her with a secure link to her partner, Uiharu, back in the Judgement 177 Branch Office, even as she teleported across the rooftops of District 19. "Where's Anti-Skill?"
"Still enroute." Uiharu dutifully informed her. "They're being delayed by some suspicious traffic lights. You're still the closest responder."
"Suspicious how?" Kuroko asked over the ever closer sound of gunfire.
"They're redirecting traffic so that Anti-Skill is being kept away."
"Sounds like the work of a hacker." The tawny haired teleporter noted as she surveyed the horizon for the destination for her next teleport. It would likely bring her right over the fight and she wanted a good vantage point to survey what was going on.
"Or a skilled or high level Electromaster." Uiharu suggested another alternative.
"It's the latter it seems," the Judgement field agent concluded breathlessly as she teleported onto a high rise only to discover several suited men wielding handguns as they engaged in a exchange of bullets with a group of familiar looking young girls who brandished various high powered guns.
It wasn't the firefight that took Kuroko's breath away though. That honor went to the fact that despite being dressed in various different uniforms and outfits, all the girls were recognizably her Onee-sama!
So many Onee-samas! I must watch them! No, no! You have to help them, then maybe they'll be grateful? Yes, grateful. Ah, I'm drooling, how unlady-like.
"The Sisters," Kuroko drawled dreamily as she leered at her Onee-sama's perfect form multiplied in the form of a group of her clones.
"The Sisters are behind this? Who are they fighting?" Uiharu asked, sounding shocked. When she received no reply after a few moments - at least nothing coherent beyond half-formed words of admiration of the clones' beauty - the tech wiz seemed to lose patience.
"Shirai-san! Focus! Stop being distracted by the clones! Tell me what's going on!"
Cheeks growing fire truck red, Kuroko coughed into her fist, "My apologizes, Uiharu-san. It looks like suited men are holding them off."
"It's fine," Uiharu reassured her distractedly. "Ah! I've found a working camera. Hmm… Things aren't looking good for the Sisters. We dunno what's going on but I think you should intervene now."
Observing the battle, Kuroko agreed. The Sisters' weapons were seemingly jamming as objects were teleported into them. Even heavy objects were appearing suddenly in the air above the clones and falling down at them, causing the clones to barely escape being pancaked. Frowning, the twintailed girl scanned the battlefield for who could be responsible.
"That would require a high level teleporter!" Kuroko gasped, "In fact… There she is."
The Judgement agent's eyes zeroed in on a a girl with long dark red hair tied into two low ponytails wearing a Kirigaoka Girls' Academy uniform's dark blue coat over her shoulders like a cape over a pink crop top and a pleated skirt. This was the trademark look of Musujime Awaki, [Move Point], a fellow Level 4 Teleporter and Kuroko's rival for most powerful teleporter in the City.
"Who is?" Uiharu asked over the radio but Kuroko ignored her for the moment to teleport down into the battle.
She rematerialized in the no man's land between the two groups, next to a overturned car that she could duck behind if anyone got the bright idea to start shooting at her. Thankfully, her appearance seemed to signal a ceasefire as both sides turned to look at her.
"Musujime Awaki!" The Judgement Teleporter shouted at her rival. "Surrender now!"
"Musujime Awaki? Checking the [Bank] now."
Kuroko continued ignoring her partner in lieu of glaring at the punk girl that had been fighting the Sisters.
"Why if it isn't the [Railgun]'s little pet." Musujime sneered. "Here to save your precious Onee-sama's little dolls?"
Righteous indignation pumped through her veins as she shouted, "They are not dolls you, you Yankee strumpet!"
They are perfect little angels, much more so then Onee-sama at times.
"Whatever," the badly dressed wannabe punk said with a shrug. "So are you here to arrest me, Judgement-chan?"
Bristling, Kuroko drew several of her nails between her fingers, "Yes, yes I am."
"Like you can manage that," Musujime said with a chuckle as she lazily waved her flashlight in Kuroko's direction and teleported her nails right out from between her fingers and into her thigh.
Hissing in pain, Kuroko gritted her teeth and quickly ran her fingers over the nails strapped to her other thigh. A dozen of them and those piercing her flesh vanished and appeared in a perfect line along both of the other Teleporter's feet.
"Gah! You little bitch!" Musujime screamed at the pain from her nail studded feet.
"Turnabout!"
The older girl's eyes beaded in fury as she offered a wide and cruel smile.
Again she waved the flashlight she used as a focusing tool for her ability at Kuroko and this time teleported the girl herself. She intended to teleport Kuroko into a wall but the Judgement agent was a Teleporter too and could infer where she was headed. Acting quickly, she used her own powers to partially disrupt the move through the upper dimensions which caused her to appear on a collision course with the target wall rather than having her molecules mixed into it.
It saved her from an instant death, but she still needed to avoid a painful crash. As such, she quickly pulled off a teleport to avoid a possible concussion.
It didn't stop a trash can cracking her in the head the moment she rematerialized.
"Ugh..." Kuroko groaned as she fell flat to the ground, her head ringing. Her vision felt like it was swimming as her hand felt the growing lump on her head. "Are you really trying to kill me?"
"Duh!" Musujime snorted as she sauntered over. "I did try to make you one with a wall in my last move. You're just lucky I haven't ordered my comrades to shoot you while you're down or you'd be dead already."
"You talk too much," Kuroko observed as she teleported the whole chunk of road underneath her opponent right out from under her. This naturally tripped up the other girl who fell back just in time to look up in shock as said chunk of road rematerialized above her and was falling right at her.
The Judgement agent had to give the other Teleporter credit though as she reacted quickly, likely more quickly than she herself could have, and with a wave of her flashlight teleported the chunk of road over Kuroko instead. Much to her dismay, Kuroko couldn't react quickly enough to save herself. Thankfully, the Sisters could and a large Powered Suit dived over her position to shield her from the debris which broke apart harmlessly over its reinforced back.
"You're asking for trouble for hurting the Predator, Misaka says gloatingly! Onee-sama and the rest of the Trinity will see you dead for this, Misaka cheerfully points out!" The Sister in the Suit declared tauntingly to Musujime as the latter crawled back to her feet.
"They'll have to catch me first," Musujime said with a bloodthirsty smirk. "And if I kill you lot here, then it'll take them a while to even figure out it's me. That'll give me more than enough of a head start to escape."
"Except Onee-sama is already on her way, Misaka informs with sadistic pleasure," the Suit wearing clone retorted defiantly.
"So is Namikaze-sama, Misaka adds excitedly." The clone Kuroko believed Onee-sama had nicknamed Tsundere shouted out.
This proclamation pulled everyone, including Musujime, up short.
"Why the hell bring the Number 2 into this? At least the [Railgun] is your progenitor!" [Move Point] shouted, voicing everyone's confusion.
"Ah, well, Misaka fidgets. Misaka wanted to see her curb stomp you?"
"Then I guess I've gotta make this quick and skedaddle. I'm not hanging around to tango with two Level 5s if I can help it."
"I won't let you get away that easily!" Kuroko shouted defiantly as she shakily got to her feet despite her injuries.
"Oh shut up, you loser." Musujime said with a shake of her head as she waved her flashlight in her direction once more, teleporting the Powered Suit Sister right on top of her.
Too dazed to risk a quick teleport, Kuroko tried diving out of the way. Unfortunately, whilst this saved her from being crushed, the sudden movement aggravated what she was assuming was her concussion and she blacked out.
The last thing she heard as she lost consciousness was her Onee-sama's voice crying out her name in concern.
"So, from the top, how did this happen?" Mikoto asked as she glanced around the gathered Council of Misakas.
"The Predator, sorry Onee-sama, Shirai-san," Military Otaku corrected hastily at Mikoto's glare before continuing her explanation. "Was caught up in the operation when she responded to the battle as part of her duties as a Judgement agent, Misaka outlines."
"And you girls just let her get beat up like that?"
"We tried to help, Onee-sama, Misaka insists." Genki Girl said, tears in her eyes. "But [Move Point] had jammed our guns and without them we didn't have anything we could use against her, Misaka laments."
"And 11132 did save Shirai-san in the end, Misaka points out defensively." Sentai-chan said her arms crossed. "We weren't useless panicky bystanders, Misaka insists, we were heroes of justice doing the best with what we had."
"Okay, okay, I'm not blaming you girls." Mikoto said, her hands up placatingly. "I just want to know what happened is all. Sorry if I came off too strong."
"Apology accepted Onee-sama," Conspiracy Nut said on behalf of the gathered Sisters, the others nodding alongside her words.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Mikoto took a moment to examine her clones. Despite the fact that Kuroko was lying injured in a nearby bed, the [Railgun] had to fight a smile. Her clones were finally branching out and becoming their own persons. The differences she'd seen them developing the last time she'd met them had just grown over the few weeks since then. Conspiracy Nut was totally rocking a pulp noir detective outfit, while Sentai-chan was covered head to toe in various bits of memorabilia from Sentai shows, Tsundere was cosplaying as Asuka Langley Soryu for some reason, and Military Otaku was sporting a military themed lolita outfit. The others weren't quite so drastic in their shows of individuality but each were sporting some accessory at least that spoke towards it, such as Mecha Fan's Macross themed headphones and Genki Girl's jacket with its various button badges, or new hairstyles such as how 13579 was letting her hair growing out. All in all, Mikoto was very pleased that the clones were showing such progress on the road to growing into their own persons.
She was so pleased in fact that she was able to overlook how having all the City's Sisters in one small hospital room made it very crowded. The frog faced doctor that ran the hospital probably should have objected but he had let them stay in the room until her Kohai recovered.
Thankfully the Level 4 only received a minor concussion and would be better soon.
That thought had barely crossed Mikoto's mind when the petite girl squirmed and her eyes fluttered open, "Oh, Kuroko's head hurts."
Groaning, the Level 4 looked around and gaped at the sight before her.
Oh no…
"I, I-! Kuroko is in Onee-sama heaven!" The Judgement agent cried out. With a mighty leap, she jumped for them all, arms spread wide. "Please let your embrace heal my battle wounds, Onee-samas!"
"The hell you talking about, you lech?!" Mikoto shouted as electricity leapt from her body and shocked Kuroko until she turned black. "Stop leering at them, damn pervert."
Genki Girl gasped, her hands covering her mouth, "Onee-sama, your love life is quite scandalous, Misaka notes with embarrassment at having discovered this fact."
Mikoto's face burned in record time, "My what?! Oh no, you did not just say that you twerp!"
"We are the same height, Misaka smiles as she corrects her flustered Onee-sama." Genki Girl countered.
She was still speaking in that totally monotone way that most of the Sisters did, so Mikoto wasn't sure if she was joking. But either way this wouldn't stand! She wouldn't allow it!
"Why you little-"
"Sempai, please keep your selfcest play to after we've dealt with the Incident." Namikaze told her with a disappointed shake of her head. "Honestly, can't you keep your urges under control for even a few minutes?"
"Ah, Namikaze-sama, don't insinuate such things, Misaka pleads as she shyly looks at the Number 2." Tsundere stated with flushed cheeks.
Can you be more transparent, you lovestruck school girl? Mikoto sweatdropped at how hopeless her Sister was.
"Naru-chan, please stop teasing Sempai," Saten asked with a sigh from where she'd been running a brush through Last Order's hair the whole time. "We should really be discussing the serious matters at hand first."
"Says the girl brushing her ward's hair," Namikaze teased.
Crossing her arms defensively, Saten replied defiantly. "Order-chan's hair was tangled."
"Sure, it was. Mama-chan."
Saten just huffed.
"Anyway!" A smiling Uiharu cut into the conversation before any teasing could continue. "Let's share notes alright."
"Yes, I think that's what we should do." Kuroko said as, seemingly recovered from her latest bout of being electrocuted, she sat up against the headboard of her bed.
Huh!? When did she get back in her bed? Oh right, teleporter.
Shaking her head at her moment of stupidity, Mikoto began chipping her own two cents into the body of information they had about his latest incident.
It took little over a half an hour, but Kuroko finally understood the full context of why the firefight even began.
The remnants of Tree Diagram? Kuroko thought as she tried to make sense of everything. All this? A gun battle in the streets, working with organizations from outside the City, and who knows what else just to recover a pile of wrecked computer parts? Really!?
It was unsettling to her, an officer of the law, to think such a thing could take place in Academy City.
Then again, the Sisters are an example how some things aren't right either. Kuroko thought sourly.
"-So right now, all we can do is focus on hunting down Musujime and her group." Uiharu concluded their little summary of the situation.
"And I want to be the one to put cuffs on her." Kuroko declared with a growl. "She wounded my pride when she defeated me and I demand reparations!"
Namikaze-san leaned over. With a single light touch to one of her bruises, Kuroko squealed and jumped away.
"Do you honestly think you're in a position to even try?"
"This is nothing." The Level 4 insisted with a small flinch.
This was met by scoffs all around, which was insanely hypocritical considering some of the insane things the others had done. Saten-san and Namikaze-san especially!
"Don't worry. I'll break a leg for you. How about it, Shirai-chan?"
"Over my dead body," Onee-sama said protectively. Kuroko felt a touch of envy at the tone.
"Sempai, I meant Musujime's leg."
"Oh, that's okay I guess." Onee-sama replied without thinking.
As her brain caught up with her mouth though, she slammed her hands over her mouth in horror.
Oh thank Science! It was just a slip of the tongue. Kuroko thought with a sigh of relief. I can't imagine what I'd do if Onee-sama really went over to the Dark Side.
This feeling was not helped at all by Namikaze-san and Saten-san chanting "One of us, one of us." even as they giggled.
"Onee-sama is such good friends with Rui-nee and Naru-nee, Misaka Misaka observes happily." Last Order said with a happy grin while clapping her hands in childish excitement.
That the other clones seemed to appreciate the sentiment as well just made Onee-sama feel worse if her frown was any indication.
"Don't worry Onee-sama, I'll make sure to save a limb for you to break too." Kuroko said with a gleam in her eyes. "What would you prefer? A arm or a leg?"
No one in the room seemed even remotely off put by the question. A fact that if Kuroko wasn't so obsessed with revenge might have alarmed her. As it was, the only person even minutely unsettled was Onee-sama but even then it was a small thing judging by how she seemed to shake it off almost instantly.
"Just save me something and I'll be happy." Onee-sama said with a sigh.
"Will do, Onee-sama." Kuroko happily promised.
With Uiharu's technical expertise, tracking down Musujime took little time. As Kuroko surveyed the office building in District 16 that the Yankee girl was hiding out in, the Level 4 tried to cool her anger at her fellow teleporter.
"I've got a visual on the target building," Kuroko informed Uiharu over the comms. "There are plenty of thugs in suits all over the place but I can't be sure if they're the ones working for Musujime or just plain ol' security guards."
"It's her, I'm sure of it." Uiharu assured her. "I'll let the others know. Just stay put Shirai-san, we don't know what other surprises she might have in store for us."
Kuroko frowned, her blood was boiling with anger at her previous loss and all she wanted right now was a rematch. Despite that, she remained in place like the plan dictated. At least she tried to.
The plan and everything else went right out the window when she saw Musujime saunter into view and collapse into a sofa inside what looked liked a high class lounge.
"I've spotted Musujime. I'm going in."
"Huh? Shirai-san, wait! Backup is coming!"
"Sorry, but I see suspicious activity~!" Kuroko said as she turned off her headset and teleported into the room where her nemesis was relaxing without a care in the world.
"Remember me?" Kuroko said as way of greeting, even as she brushed her hand across a couple of the nails strapped to her thigh, activating their little surprise even as she teleported them.
"You again? I was expecting one of the Trinity at least." Musujime said with a wince even as the two nails punctured the arm holding her flashlight, causing her to drop it. "Back so soon for another beating?"
"The only one getting a beating this time is you," the Judgement agent declared confidently as the detonators on the nails embedded in her opponent finished their countdown. As they did, both nails exploded in small fireballs that destroyed Musujime's arm.
However, as Kuroko was showered not in blood, flesh and bone but bits and pieces of scrap, the Tokiwadai student realised she'd fallen for a trap. She'd barely comprehend this when she was forced to teleport away to avoid the lounge's grand piano crashing down on top of her.
"Nice toys you have there," the real Musujime said as she stalked out from an adjacent room. "Something one of your friends in the Trinity whipped up for you?"
"Namikaze-san," Kuroko confirmed as she tried to teleport another pair of explosive nails into [Move Point]. "She wanted to enhance her friends' arsenal."
That and she doesn't want to lose out to Saten-san when it comes to goodies for their friends, not after she gifted Onee-sama those Dark Matter coins for her railgun.
"Tsk, leave it to that sadistic psycho." The older Teleporter snorted even as the two nails' rematerialization was disrupted and reappeared off target inside two of the room's floor to ceiling windows instead which were promptly blown to smithereens by explosions.
"Compared to you? She's a model Ojou-sama!" Kuroko shot back.
"And you're one to talk? You tried to kill me at the very start of this fight." Musujime countered as she sent a dozen or so shards of glass into the space where Kuroko had occupied just a moment ago.
"Like the real you wouldn't have disrupted my teleport?" The middle schooler said as she collapsed the roof over Musujime's head with a quartet of her explosive nails. "Besides, you were the one who took the kid gloves off."
Musujime just teleported the bar on the opposite side of the lounge into a position that it proceeded to protect her from the debris. It wasn't perfect but the bar's L-shape had allowed her a safe spot to stand under and it's sturdy metal frame was enough to keep her safe.
"Heh, with all those fancy gizmos, you could have ended me already. You won't though, too much a goodie-little-two-shoes. Why don't you go play cops and robbers with the other morons. The Dark Side doesn't play nice."
"Of course I am!" Kuroko shouted back defiantly. "I'm an officer of the law!"
Musujime scoffed. "And that's why you'll lose."
As if this was its cue, the girl's all but ruined robot decoy jumped to its feet and latched onto Kuroko. The Judgement girl was too shocked to react in time and only managed to teleport away from the one arm automaton only just as it exploded.
Rematerializing a few feet from where she'd originally been standing, she winced at the new burns she'd received from barely escaping the blast. This however cost her, as Musujime used her distraction to drop the metal bar right on top of her.
As she found herself pinned under the heavy piece of furniture, Kuroko felt like she was being crashed.
Naru teleported in with Sempai in tow to a scene that had both their blood boiling. Lying limp on the ground under what looked like a heavy free standing bar was their friend Kuroko Shirai, clearly having been defeated and looking very much worse for wear.
Faced with such a horrifying visage, Naru didn't even hesitate as she blurred forward with chakra enhanced speed to lift the heavy piece of furniture off her friend with her superhumanly amplified strength and toss it out the building through one of the blown out windows.
There was no wit, no barbed words, no innocent act.
The blonde was legitimately angry as she leveled a red eyed glare at Musujime.
The redhead flinched but to her credit held her ground. "Sorry for messing up your fri-"
That was as far as [Move Point] got before a railgun shot flew just to her right, obliterating a window and sending glass flying everywhere. She barely managed to teleport the remains of a charred couch between her and the stray shards heading her way.
"...I fucked up."
Both Level 5s nodded in unison.
"Sempai, take Shirai-chan to Heaven Canceler. I'll handle [Move Point]." Naru said as she picked up the battered girl and unceremoniously dumped her into her older friend's arms.
Turning back to face the target of her ire, Naru allowed long and serrated claws to grow from fingers.
"Why do you get to beat the tar out of her?" Mikoto-sempai asked sounding peeved. "I want to."
"Takes a teleporter to take a teleporter. She might be better than me, but… I have firepower. Unlike Night Light Flasher-chan."
"Flasher?!" Musujime sputtered indignantly, but both Level 5s ignored her.
Sempai kept alternating between glancing worriedly between her roommate in her arms and sending hateful glares at the girl who had brutalised her.
"Mm, fine! Just make her pay." She said as she made her decision.
"With every scream." Naru smiled as her tongue darted over a claw.
Musujime shuddered at the sight.
Once again ignoring their prey, Mikoto-sempai nodded and adjusting Shirai-san gingerly to get a better grip she walked over to one of the broken windows before with one last nasty look at the redhead she jumped off into the night in the direction of Heaven Canceler's hospital.
"Oi, [Mani-Force] we can talk this out right?" Musujime smiled weakly as she inched back. "I mean, we're both Dark Siders. We know how this business works, right? Jugement-chan walked in on business. Just, just business, ya know?"
The twintailed girl ducked just in time as her head was nearly taken from her shoulders by a teleporting Naru.
"Business." Naru let the word roll around in her mouth, "Mhm, business."
The blonde picked up a few strands of hair between her clawed fingers that belonged to the Level 4 even as the aforementioned teleporter finally teleported away.
"I know all about business alright. Like how me messing you up for hurting my friend is just business!" Naru told her opponent, her voice slowing shifting into a beastial growl. "I have a reputation to uphold and letting idiots who hurt my friends walk off without at least a thrashing isn't going to help with that."
Rip and tear! Kurama roared, flooding her veins with his bloodlust and adding to her own. Rip and tear, until it is done.
Someone is playing too much Doom. Naru noted even as she charged at [Move Point], who screeched in fear from the other side of the room.
Kurama's only reply was a monstrous roar that fit with Naru's own mood perfectly as she slashed with her claws at the terrified redhead who barely managed to avoid getting eviscerated by teleporting away, though not without a set of deep scratches along her exposed midriff. Naru followed suit, teleporting right next to the other girl as they both rematerialized, much to Musujime's horror, and swung her claws at her once more. All whilst, billowing gouts of flame spilled from the Level 5's mouth, burning and immolating everything the red fire touched.
Musujime used her flashlight to move the remains of the couch in between them to protect her long enough to dodge the flames and Naru's slash. It left the already abused piece of furniture a unrecognizable lump of charcoal but it had nevertheless served its purpose, allowing Musujime enough breathing room to teleport away.
Spitting out a few embers, Naru clicked her claws, imitating the killers from the good ol' slasher films.
Am I being too cliche?
Nah. Scaring your prey half to death is part of the deal when doling out righteous punishment.
Naru felt like she needed to take life advice from other people, but Kurama knew what to do some of the time.
While Naru was having a moment with her inner demon, Musujime was crouched against a wall desperately trying to catch her breath. "How the hell are you keeping up with my teleportation? It isn't even your speciality!"
"You're right, it isn't." Naru admitted, advancing on the girl while clicking her claws ominously. "But even so, the only real difference in our ability is that you have a higher mass limit to your teleports which isn't going to help you here."
"We'll see about that!" Musujime shouted defiantly as she waved her flashlight at Naru, causing a rooftop water tower on a neighboring building to teleport just over Naru's head.
"Ha! Take that!" The teleporter cheered as the massive metal drum smashed down onto Naru, bringing with it a sizable chunk of the floor above with it.
She cheered too soon however as the water tank exploded in a burst of steam.
"Oh crap!" The redhead cursed as she teleported a AC unit in front of her to shield herself from the blast and debris. This was cut to ribbons though as clawed fingers turned into razor whips shot through the steam, slashing at the debris.
"I'm not feeling impressed," Naru snorted, her canines sharper as she smiled wickedly, her slitted eyes searing into the Yankee girl's soul. "Let's see how you look after swallowing some needles."
With a slow exhale, cold mist past her lips this time. At the same time icicles formed around the blonde before disappearing, only to reappear above the older girl like a chandelier of beautiful death.
"Shit!" Musujime cried out as she teleported out of the room just barely escaping being impaled.
Naru could sense she was just next door though, and with a shake of her head at the other girl's stupidity she took a deep breath and then breathed out, unleashing a powerful gust of chakra infused air in the process.
The winds hit the separating walls like a massive sledgehammer, taking them down in an instant and exposing Musujime hastily extracting a suitcase from a safe.
"I said you were going to scream. And I meant it. So stop running little squirrel."
"No!" The redhead shouted defiantly. "I won't die here. I'm escaping with this and you're not stopping me."
The briefcase must contain the Tree Diagram remnants that she stole. Naru noted absently even as she grinned viciously at the Level 4 and continued taunting her.
"Die?" Naru cocked her head, "No. I'm just going to torture you to the point you wish you died. That's very different, hehehe."
"You're fucking nuts!" Musujime countered as she sent the empty safe above Naru's head.
"Wouldn't dispute that," Naru said with a shrug even as she absently disintegrated the falling safe with a blast of Kurama's corrosive chakra. "Now be a good minion and hand it over! If you don't it's only going to get worse!"
Tell her you'll eat her leg. She'll brown pants right here and now. Guaranteed.
"You'll have to catch me!" The teleporter shouted as she invoked her power and vanished.
She is not very smart. Naru commented to herself. The Level 5 could fly and teleport. Taking that into account how did she think she could manage to escape?
I wouldn't say that. She did just buy enough time by just talking to get in her calculations. And did you realise how she kept using her quick teleports of objects to buy time for herself to pull off her more difficult, for her, self-teleports? Kurama noted with a hint of appreciation of the skill on display. This girl is good.
Meh, no matter how good she is, she's still just prey. And I feel like playing with my prey. Naru thought darkly. Gotta scare her straight somehow. Plus she hurt Shirai-chan, I'm not feeling charitable here. So a little terror goes a long way.
Of course, Kurama agreed. But what does that have to do with her skills?
Alright, alright. She's decent. That's all I'm saying.
You set too high a standard. The ancient chakra being said with a sigh. Oh, you better start the chase already or she'll really get away and that will be such a shame.
Ah, thanks for the reminder.
With that she teleported out of the ruined office lounge and floated above the building that housed it as she used her enhanced senses to track down her quarry. She'd just gotten a bead on her - I've got you now, little mouse. - when her phone rang.
Closing her eyes in frustration as Naru recognised the ringtone as one she'd attached to a number she couldn't ignore. Pulling it out, the blonde accepted the call.
"Yes?"
"Let her go."
"You want me to what!?"
"Let her go."
"Why?"
"I have someone even scarier than you waiting to teach her a lesson."
"Scarier than- You got your boyfriend involved!?"
"No," Saten said with a resigned sigh. "Last Order did."
"Where are you ambushing her?"
"Why would you want to know that?"
"So I can see the epic beatdown of course, duh!"
"Musujime is headed to the Toshidawa Transport Company facility in District 11. It's where she setup exfiltration from the City. We're cornering her there. She should be there in 10 minutes, she's too roughed up to teleport there any quicker than that. Good job by the way."
"Now I just need to grab a snack."
"Want to share? I've got popcorn."
"As long as you actually have some, sure!"
"So what did I miss?" Naru-chan asked as she teleported in to join Ruiko atop a stack of crates that overlooked the facility's outdoor storage yard where Accel was tossing Musujime around like a ragdoll.
"Not much, Accel just got started." Ruiko informed her friend as she handed her a tub of popcorn. "What took you so long?"
"I went to go get cleaned up some." Naru said with a shrug, snagging a handful. "I got all sweaty fighting the idiot just now."
Ruiko just nodded in understanding. Fights left one feeling so dirty afterwards, what with all the sweat and various stuff it left one covered in more often than not. Taking the chance to wash that all off when you had the chance was only natural.
"This popcorn is good!" Naru-chan said as she swallowed down a mouthful. "You made it?"
"Yomikawa-san and Yoshikawa-san did," Ruiko clarified. "Order-chan convinced them to."
"That girl is a charmer. You're gotta be careful with her. When she gets older, you'll need to beat off the suitors with a stick."
"Or a Accelerator?" Ruko shot back with a smirk.
"Or that." Naru-chan agreed with a laugh. "Oh! Ten points!"
Ruiko looked over to how Accel had just tossed Musujime head first through the window of a parked truck. Unfortunately, the girl had managed to use the suitcase she'd been lugging around as a shield for her head, so instead of killing her outright it only left her covered in scratches. It did leave her comically stuck through the small window of the truck's front cabin.
"Hmm, she's not that banged up from that." Ruiko observed. "I'll give it a eight."
Raising her voice so Accel could hear her, Ruiko addressed her boyfriend. "That's a pretty funny pose you've got her in, Accel. I like it but maybe you could hurt her more?"
Blushing slightly at her praise, Accel shot her a grin. "Gotcha, Ruiko. Any ideas?"
Ruiko hummed in thought.
"Get her into a X-pose?" Naru suggested with a grin as she took more popcorn.
"So she'll be exposed?" Ruiko concluded with a chuckle. "I like it. Accel, do that!"
"On it!" Accel said with that oh so attractive sadistic grin of his as he pulled a screaming Musujime out of the truck with a tendril of air and sent her flying into the air. He slammed her repeatedly into the side of a shipping container, clucking in dissatisfaction each time she took on the wrong shape as she collided with the metal box.
"Looks like your boyfriend's a real working man now." Naru-chan elbowed her teasingly. "Next he'll be having a nine to five job."
Ruiko felt her cheeks warm at the thought of Accel in a suit. He could certainly pull it off.
"And you know what? You two go together like bloody peas in a pod." Naru-chan said with a sigh. "Honestly, don't know what to think about that. I mean, he's Accelerator!"
"That he is," Ruiko replied with a genuine smile at the thought of him and he being her boyfriend. It was enough to put her over the moon.
"Hey, Ruiko! How's this?" Accel asked from down below and she turned to see his latest masterpiece.
It was a bloody and broken Musujime trapped in a indent in the shipping container, spread eagled in an X-shape.
"Ten!" Naru-chan shouted excitedly, making the popcorn in her hands fly like confetti.
Ruiko offered her boyfriend a smile and nodded. "Ten out of ten. It's beautiful Accel."
Shooting her that cocky grin that always made her heart skip a beat, Accel replied. "Of course it is. My art always is."
"Yes, yes," Ruiko agreed with a nod as she teleported down to stand next to the suitcase containing the Tree Diagram remnants. "And thanks for leaving this to me."
"Meh, I knew you wanted to get some kinda kick in."
Smiling at his thoughtfulness, Ruiko gently tapped the suitcase with her shoe, hitting it with a molecular disruption wave that proceeded to tear the matter that constituted it and its contents down into their subatomic particles. It was a particularly taxing ability to use due to the insane level of calculations required - So much so that the original user of this ability had never managed to push it beyond Level 3 - but to eliminate something that posed as large a threat as the Tree Diagram it was worth it.
"Oh, sub-particle breakdown? Someone's feeling vindictive."
"Very much so." Ruiko smirked at her friend.
"You girls had popcorn?" Accel asked, sounding a little miffed. "And you didn't share?"
"You were busy, you albino wannabe." Naru-chan reminded him. "Here, since you're done. You can have the rest."
"There's more back at Yomikawa's," Ruiko told him with a small blush at what she was insinuating. "Order-chan made sure of that. Want to go back and we can have a party to celebrate?"
Naru-chan looked between the two of them uneasily for a moment and chose to act just as Ruiko was sure Accel was about to agree.
"I don't think so," the blonde said, grabbing onto Ruiko's arm. "Didn't you promise that we'd go to your place and talk girl stuff tonight, Ruiko-chan?"
Before Ruiko could even formulate a denial, Accel paled and with a hasty wave goodbye he leapt into the sky and disappeared. She had never seen Accel run that fast before.
"Naru-chan~!" Ruiko whined in disappointment.
"There, there," Naru-chan comforted her with pats on her arm. "This way your Kaa-san won't have more reason to get angry at your relationship. I'm helping you here."
Ruiko knew she meant well, but… Can she stop helping!?
The day after the drama over the Tree Diagram was resolved, Mikoto found herself seated for the second time in as many days inside the hospital room of her roommate and friend, Shirai Kuroko.
"Ugh, what hit me?" The teleporter asked as she awoke.
"A metal bar," Mikoto informed her as she put away the book she'd been reading to pass the time and moved to help her friend. "Musujime dropped it on top of you."
"Did you guys catch her?" Kuroko asked as she got into a sitting position.
"Yeah," Mikoto nodded as she got back into her seat in the comfy chair the room provided. "Accelerator caught and beat the stuffing outta her, while Saten dealt with the Tree Diagram remnants."
"Accelerator got involved?" Kuroko gasped in shock. "Saten-san called him in?"
"Last Order-chan actually." Mikoto informed her with a shake of her head. "And he proceeded to turn Musujime into a living burger patty."
"Onee-sama, that was a terribly uncouth analogy." Her overly proper roommate chided. "But aside from that, I must say if anyone deserves to be described as that it would be Musujime. I'm honestly a little ashamed I wasn't the one to dole out her just deserts."
The usually peppy twintail girl looked down, her bandaged fists gripping the sheets, "My display on the other hand… she outclassed me. How humiliating to lose to one such as her twice in a row."
"Hey, you were playing by the rules. Doing what you do best." Mikoto chided her. "I know losing sucks, believe me. She was out to kill, the bitch. All you can do is get better, alright?"
Kuroko's cheeks turned pink, "Onee-sama, saying such encouraging things to me. Oh, my heart is all pitter patter."
The Judgement officer leaned forward and puckered her lips.
"Please be gentle with Kuroko."
Mikoto took a large step back and held up her hands, "Sorry, I don't swing that way."
The auburn haired girl pouted, "Drat."
"Seriously though Kuroko, once you get out why don't we go hit the arcade? My treat?" Mikoto offered generously. It would strain her allowance but for the sake of comforting her friend, she'd do it.
And like a switch, Kuroko's dreamy look turned dour.
Kuroko's response was interrupted by the door to her room opening and the entirety of the City's Sisters population filing in. At the sight of which, the Teleporter froze.
Acting in unison the clones all offered Kuroko a bow. It was surreal how well timed it was, even with the knowledge of their hive mind.
"Thank you, Shirai-san, Misaka says sincerely." The clones said with one voice. "And sorry about you getting hurt, Misaka apologises."
Mikoto felt a shiver go down her spine at the creepy synchronicity, but that didn't seem to bother Kuroko at all. Instead, her head shot back as if hit by buckshot, blood streaming from her nose.
"H-H-Heaven~!"
"You're incorrigible." Mikotos said with an amused shake of her head at her roommate's antics.
"The Predator is the Predator, Misaka notes with a shrug." Genki Girl said even as she picked up a box of tissues off a side table and tucked it under Kuroko's arm. "But she's our Predator, Misaka affirms."
This was met with nods from everyone of her fellow clones.
Was that a compliment? I honestly don't know… Mikoto thought scratching her head in confusion.
While Misaka-san was checking in on Shirai-san, Kazari was hanging out at a cafe with Namikaze-san and Saten-san while waiting on news about the latter's condition.
"So what's the silver medal? I mean nothing beats the X-posure pose but we need to figure out which was next best." Namikaze-san was insisting as they reviewed the video footage Uiharu had recovered of Accelerator's beat down of Musujime-san.
"I agree, Accel needs a list so we can properly dissect his art and help him improve." Saten-san said with a nod. "But which one comes close to his finale? Hmm… The stuck in the side window pose?"
"That was pretty good." Namikaze-san agreed.
"But you can tell he's trying a bit too hard the whole time. How many times did it take him to get the poses he wanted?" Namikaze-san asked as she took a bite of her sundae.
Personally Kazari found what her two friends were doing kinda morbid, but she was too happy at seeing the genuine rapport between her best friend and Namikaze-san to be upset. Well, that and she was too busy happily enjoying her own serving of a jumbo sundae to think about much else.
Ah, where did my normalcy go?
Oyafune Monaka sat in her office fighting a frown as she attended a video conference with the other Directors of the City's Board. It was their regular meeting and despite it only being twenty minutes in, she was dearly wanting to strangle her colleagues.
"The Trinity are proving exceedingly effective." The middle-aged, wrinkle faced Nakimoto Rizou commented. "They resolved the issue with the Tree Diagram even more efficiently than the projections said the formal Dark Side outfits would have. Considering that I suggest that we simply make them one. Giving them official backing wouldn't be too hard, Namikaze is already one of the Superintendent's chief enforcers afterall."
"I object," Monaka cut in before anyone could second Nakimoto's foolish notion. "We could only ever have the girls agree if we strong armed them. That is not likely to end well for either the Board or the girls. It's better for everyone involved to give them their independence."
This was met with unhappy mutterings from the other Directors for a moment before it was finally decided to leave the Trinity alone for now and the discussion moved onto other matters.
As it did however, Monaka received a private message from Kaizumi Tsugutoshi.
This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. The old man informed her bluntly. A line will be crossed and you will have to prepare them for when it happens. They have become one of, if not the, most effective assets at our disposal. Sooner rather than later, the Board will find the leverage it needs to force them.
I know. Monaka replied simply. It was something she'd been worrying about for some time.
But even if their induction is inevitable, I'll do my best to delay that for as long as possible. The grandmotherly Director swore. They deserve no less from me, from us, after all they've already suffered in service to the City.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Ah, I loved the curbstomping in this arc. It was just so, satisfying. Plus delivery of one of the best lines Accel has. "I may be weaker, but that doesn't mean you're stronger." So awesome.
Nameless: On the Musujime front I totally agree. The curbstomps of Kuroko was painful though, but not unexpected. She did get stomped by Musujime in canon too. The redhead is just that much better than her. As for Accel… I'm sad we couldn't use that line but we got him being tsundere as he worked to impress his girlfriend so there's that.
And Naru's halping her bestie. Now if only Saten could point it out, but she's unable to! Priceless!
Nameless: On another note, I do love writing out the shady goings on of the City's leadership. It offers us a chance to show just what motivates the people behind all the insanity in a way even canon sometimes doesn't. That and foreshadow things. Foreshadowing rocks.
Though I hope you guys didn't miss how not all the Directors besides Monaka are immoral monsters. They might be driven by their own interests but not all of them are totally bad. This is something I think canon doesn't show very well, so we're trying to amp it up in this fic to make it a little more obvious.
E4E: There are so many to keep track of too. Man, for every hero, there's like 5 more villains. But hey, at least not every higher up is a villian.
You know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!