Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Ninety Eight: War in Paradise - The New Honolulu Skirmish
Being friends with Ojou-samas is the best. Kazari thought as she, the Trinity, Kuroko-san and Frenda-san lounged around in the luxurious suite in the Halekulani hotel in Honolulu that Ruiko-san had booked for them for their Hawaiian trip. All whilst she did her best to pay attention as they were chatting about just why they had to come here. Or more accurately, while Ruiko-san obsessively did an analysis of things via reviewing intel reports on her tablet while everyone else was relaxing and waiting for the hotel's room service to deliver their dinner.
Honestly, she's such a workaholic. Even I take breaks!
"Listen, Ruiko, I get that Birdy girl and her Sun cult-whatever are shady as all heck. Even if they are joining up with us in the Kamijou faction - And urgh! Why the hell do we have to be lumped in with that guy! - to come over to Hawaii to fight off this attack by Gremlin that they apparently pieced together is about to happen." Mikoto-san said with exasperation. "But there's no need to get this suspicious and worried about what they might be up to."
"Yeah, Rui-chan. If Birdway and her little cabal try anything then we can smash them. For now, just relax, won't you?" Naru-san added.
"This isn't me just being worried." Ruiko-san said with an almost mullish look. "If not, Oyafune-sama wouldn't have managed to get us official sanction from the Board of Directors for this mission. The City doesn't trust the Dawn-colored Sunlight either and wants us to keep an eye on them. If not for that, even if those Magicians requested us to assist them specifically with their plans in Hawaii we wouldn't be here. Nevermind that we have independently verified that the islands will soon be attacked by Gremlin."
"Ruiko-san, please just relax. I know? Why don't we put on a lovely movie? Is there anything you like to watch?" Kuroko-san pleaded with her hands pressed together in prayer. No doubt she wanted to sneak close to Mikoto-san during said movie. Not to say that her desire to get Ruiko-san to relax wasn't genuine but that didn't mean she didn't have her typical ulterior motives.
"No thanks."
"Saten-sama, please! It's not fun here if you are just being all held down by work." Frenda-san pleaded, shooting the Level 5 her best puppy dog eyes. A look that made her look like a doll!
Ruiko-san didn't even look. Wah~! Her best friend could be so scary when she was in work mode.
"I could just fry that, you know?" Mikoto-san crossed her arms, sparks dancing along her forehead in annoyance at her kohai as she pointed threateningly at Ruiko's tablet.
"I have three more for backup." The Number 3 countered.
"Naru! Do something!" Mikoto-san said as she threw her hands up in exasperation and turned to glower at the carefree blonde as she laid on one of the couches of the living room of their apartment-like suite.
"Ah, nah. I mean, I was going to invite Rui-chan and Frenda-chan to go skinny dipping in the pool. Maybe have the two of us makeout to rile Rui-chan up, but I guess it'll just be the two of us, Frenda-chan."
The petite ojou-sama said that with such a carefree tone that everyone was caught off guard by it!
"E-Eh?!" Frenda-san said whilst looking red faced, steam almost coming out her ears.
Did that manage to shake Ruiko-san out of workaholic mode? Nope! Outside of a minute twitch of her body and a harsh exhale, Kazari's best friend was unfazed.
"Nice try, Naru-chan. You wouldn't cheat on your girlfriends." There was a cold edge to her tone however, showing that the blonde had almost gotten through to her fellow ojou-sama with her scandalous suggestion.
As expected of someone like Naru-san.
"Tch. Whelp, I've got nothing else." The twintail blonde shrugged and rolled along the couch without worry of possible retribution.
At the Number 2's failure, everyone turned to Kazari, but… well, she was a little too busy admiring all her friends' choice of clothing for the day. Most of whom had used the opportunity provided to them by them being outside of Academy City to defy the Tokiwadai rule, at least to whom this applied, to always wear their school uniform and wear outfits more in line with their personal tastes. And in the process showing off their truly ojou-sama tastes!
First off and looking every bit the ojou-sama that she was, Ruiko-san was dressed in a black square neck polka dot mini sundress that managed to make her look casual and sexy all at once.
A style that Kuroko-san had seemingly emulated with her outfit that consisted of a blue ribbed slim fit knit cami top and a maxi skirt with fresh and cool tropical floral print.
In contrast, Mikoto-san and Naru-san were dressed up all sporty and looking all ready to go for the run along Waikiki beach after dinner that they mentioned earlier and enjoy the sun, sand and sea of Hawaii.
Mixing in a hint of sexy into her sporty look, Naru-san was dressed in a blue camisole top with triangle mesh embellishments on the sides just under the bust that gave a peek at the undersides of her swelling breasts. This combined with the pink stitch line high-waisted leggings that hugged her butt and legs and showed off every possible curve made her look very sexy indeed.
She'll need to be careful about catching too much attention on her run. Though since she's the Number 2, she'll be okay. Kazari thought with a slightly worried frown. Besides, she will have Mikoto-san with her.
Speaking of the [Railgun], Kazari's older friend was wearing a regal pink cropped fit T-shirt and matching relaxed, high-rise fit shorts. An outfit that whilst not as flattering as Naru-san's still made the [Ace of Tokiwadai] look gorgeous!
Even if Naru-san had teased Mikoto-san in her usual way about it.
"Geez! Senpai, did you have to wear all pink? Are you trying to emphasize your femininity or something? Or are you just feeling girly today?"
The [Railgun] just rolled her eyes. "And what's wrong with looking girly?"
Kazari couldn't help but nod in agreement with the Number 5. Naru-san's criticism was just unfair. Kuroko-san, of course, also nodded as well. Heck! Even Frenda-san nodded too. Which meant outside of the distracted Ruiko-san, no one was siding with her, something that caused Naru-san to pout with disappointment.
Though to be honest, Kazari had only distractedly agreed with Mikoto-san. She was too busy mulling over how plain she looked compared to her friends in her own loose blue denim pinafore dress and white t-shirt outfit to pay much attention to her friends' conversations.
Even Frenda-san looks more fashionable than me! Kazari thought with dismay as she glanced at the Norwegian who was dressed up in a green drawstring hooded jumper with large pockets, an ivory sweatshirt, a blue pleated skort with a white and green lines along the hem, and a cute little hat. An outfit that made the Norwegian fit in with their ojou-sama friends much better than Kazari did.
Not that she minded being the plain one amongst all her super pretty friends! Kazari more than made up for it in other ways. For one, Ruiko-san would be a mess half the time without her. Something that proved to be correct as she had watched her friends crash and burn to get her best friend to relax.
"Hey Ruiko! Enough fretting over the mission and relax already!" Mikoto-senpai said with exasperation. "It's dinner time! Can't you take a break for a moment?"
"I'll take a break once room service delivers our meal." Ruiko-san replied distractedly without looking away from her tablet.
"Surely a few additional minutes wouldn't hurt." Kuroko-san tried, only to be shot down just as casually.
"You never know. It might."
Ruiko-san really is an incorrigible workaholic. Kazari thought with a bemused shake of her head as she stood from her seat and marched up to her best friend and tapped the top of the tablet to get the Number 3's eyes to look up at her. Only when she had the [AIM Sovereign]'s full attention did she continue.
"Ruiko-san, if you don't stop overworking I'm calling Janie-chan, Febrie-chan and Last Order-chan so they can scold you." She said whilst offering the Level 5 the smile she wore when dealing with difficult people whilst on Judgment duty and simultaneously clasping her hands together to look sweet as could be.
It was a critical hit.
Ruiko-san nearly fell over at the threat and sputtered in surprise. "W-What?! Why!?"
"Because you need a break." Kazari told her sternly, wagging her finger at her best friend to emphasize the point.
"I-!" Ruiko-san's face colored as she sighed, tossing the tablet onto the side table next to the chair she had been sitting on. "Fine. J-Just don't tattle to the girls. Please?"
Ah, so cute! Ruiko-san's face when she is begging for mercy is cute too!
"Good girl." She patted her friend on the head as the rest of the girls looked on with awe. Though they soon broke into giggles, causing Ruiko-san to look put out at being made the butt of the gigglefest.
As the giggles died down, Naru-san spoke up as she was pulling her arms to warm up for her run, "Okay. Now that we have your attention, can I ask you a question, Rui-chan? Why didn't our whole team for this op come together? I mean, I get that our group is the vanguard but why are the rest of the groups all coming in trickles and dregs?"
Kazari's best friend shrugged before replying. "It's all part of Birdway's plan. She wanted to use us as bait to lure Gremlin out. She apparently wants to test which targets and/or threats are enough to get them to act up."
"Haven't they determined that Kamijou-san is their biggest threat? After all, didn't they only attack the City once he returned?" Kuroko-san asked with a deep frown.
"Yeah, that's right! Does Birdy just want to check out if Gremlin is worried about anyone else?" Mikoto-san asked as she rolled her shoulder a few times.
"Sounds like it." Naru-san said with a shake of her head. "Magicians are universally stupid. It's just a matter of how stupid. Birdway is one of the smarter ones though and is testing to see how much stupider Gremlin are."
Everyone nodded in agreement at that.
Seemingly to change the downer topic, Naru-san turned to Ruiko-san while lifting one of her toned, lithe legs parallel against her chest to stretch. Kazari was jealous at how effortless she made it look! Like some elegant ballerina~ As expected from a model of Academy City. "So who are we expecting on this op again? It was a huge list, right?"
"Us, obviously." Ruiko-san made an illusionary chart to show who they should be expecting on this op. "Then there is Accel, who should be here tomorrow morning."
"Oh! He's coming too? How are your girls coping with both their parents out of the City?" Kazari asked with some worry for the cuties. After all, with how recent WWIII had been and how that had seen her parents disappearing off to Russia without so much as a word to them…
"They're fine." Her best friend assured her. "Accel talked to them about it and they understand it's for a mission."
Mikoto-san smirked at that while Frenda-san and Naru-san chuckled outright. This caused Ruiko-san to blush at once more being the center of amusement.
Kuroko-san looked at the giggling blondes in confusion. "What do you know?"
"Hehe~ I bet Order-chan and my super cute imoutos only let their Kaa-san leave in exchange for a bribe!"
"Yep yep." Frenda-san nodded. "It's how the world of little sisters and daughters work. They need good bribes to be well behaved."
The Electromaster of the group turned to Ruiko-san. "Should I tell them or should you?"
"Eh? Mikoto-san too? How do you know about it?"
Smirking haughtily, the [Railgun] put her hands on her hips. "Order-chan was crowing about it on the Misaka Network and I ran into Neko-chan before we left the City. She happily told me about it."
"Ah, ah! I'll tell them, I'll tell them." Ruiko-san coughed into her fist. "So the girls wanted us to bring back a dozen souvenirs. For each of them."
"I see, that doesn't seem too bad for what they could have asked. Though I am surprised Accelerator-san did not fly out with us."
Ruiko-san deflated a little. "That would be the girls' fault."
Naru-san and Kazari both gave the brunette a pair of curious looks at that bit of information. Even as Frenda-san's giggles intensified and Mikoto-san's smirk grew more smug.
Ruiko-san gave her Level 5 senpai a pouty look. "You can have this one."
"Oh, with pleasure!" Mikoto-san said with a chuckle. "So the girls decided that doing this will ensure, in their minds at least, that Accelerator won't go and kidnap their Mama again."
Ruiko-san sighed, looking drained. "My girls have the most fanciful ideas."
Kazari couldn't fight the smile off her face at hearing that. "Can you really blame them though? Last time, Accelerator-san and you went overseas, he did kidnap you after all."
Ruiko-san's pout was too cute! Her ears burned red as everyone giggled at her expense.
"Anyway! ITEM and Kuroyoru Umidori will be arriving in the afternoon tomorrow." Ruiko-san said in a desperate bid to change topics away from her being bullied by her daughters. "She and Freshmen are serving their community service for attacking Fremea-chan by serving as ITEM's subordinate organization. Though Kuroyoru is the only one involved in this particular mission."
Kazari nodded at that, recalling that the Trinity had been offered to have Freshmen serve as their subordinate organization instead. But they had refused because, in Naru-san's words, "they wanted nothing to do with those idiots". Thus as a result, they had ended up serving the sentence handed down by the Board for attacking Fremea-chan by working for ITEM instead.
"So when are Kamijou and Birdy showing up?" Mikoto-san said, obligingly taking the hook of Ruiko-san's attempt at redirecting the conversation.
"Yeah, when will the stars of the show arrive?" Naru-san asked, looking genuinely curious.
"The following morning." Ruiko said with an amused smile at the Number 2's description of Kamijou-san and Birdway-san.
"And then this show can really get started." Mikoto-san said, cracking her knuckles eagerly.
"Yes," Ruiko-san said as she stood and began making her way towards the suite's front door. "But that can wait. For now, it's time for dinner."
As if on cue, and Ruiko-san probably set it up to be, the doorbell rang to signal the arrival of their room service. A stunt that got her a series of unimpressed looks at her hypocrisy. After all, who was the one who just a few minutes ago was being a workaholic?
Outside of that, nobody chided her though. Instead, they all just stood and watched expectantly as Ruiko-san let the hotel staff delivering their dinner push the cart carrying their food into the room. It was mealtime. They could tease the Number 3 about her hypocrisy after dinner. For now, it was time to eat!
It was roughly eight in the evening on the day he'd arrived in Hawaii and after a day settling in, including a nice long nap to shake off the jet lag of his flight that conveniently allowed him to get out of having to go pick up the Melter Hag's team and their tagalong from the airport when they arrived in the afternoon, Accel was getting ready in his room in the Halekulani hotel in Honolulu to meet up with Ruiko. Preparations that saw him get dressed in a pair of tight dark blue boardshorts with sporty light blue trim and a blue Hawaiian shirt that featured a rainbow colored sunset and the shadowy image of a tropical village complete with tall palm trees that he originally received as a gag gift from Tsuchimikado and which the brat that was Last Order had insisted he bring with him once she'd learned he was traveling to Hawaii.
Why was he dressed like that? Well, it was simple really. You see, Ruiko had invited him to join her for a late night swim.
Buttoning up the last button of his shirt, the Number 1 glanced at a nearby clock and nodded in relief.
I made it just in time. He thought as he saw that it was exactly 8 o'clock. Ruiko will be here any second.
As if summoned by his thoughts, or more accurately being excessively punctual as she always was, that was the exact moment that his girlfriend teleported into his room in all her bathing suit clad glory.
And what a sight it was! Dressed in a striped blue bikini held together by thin white straps, his girlfriend looked like sex on legs!
"You're staring, Accel." Ruiko said with a demure blush that was only spoiled by the proud little grin she was sporting. "Liking how I look?"
"Yeah. I'll be blind not to." He replied honestly. "But are you seriously heading to the pool dressed like that? Why not at least throw on something over your swimsuit?"
Ruiko just rolled her eyes. "Don't be a prude, Accel. I'll be teleporting us to and from the private pool I booked. It's not like there'll be anyone to gawk at me. Or~ Are you feeling jealous at the idea that someone might anyway?"
"Of course I am." Accel admitted easily. "You're my girlfriend. I'm not about to let just anyone look at you. Especially when you're dressed up so sexily."
A strange look flashed through Ruiko's eyes at his words but before he could decipher what it meant, she turned teasing once more. "So there are some people you'd let see me dressed like this?"
"Sure. I don't have to like it but it's impossible to hide you away from everyone. Our girls and your family at least would kick up a fuss. But at the same time I don't want everyone to get a chance to leer at you."
"Aw~ That's sweet of you, Accel." Ruiko said in a teasingly sweet tone even as she blushed prettily, clearly touched by the honesty of his words. He didn't know why but despite knowing how he felt about her, every time that he told her, she just got all embarrassed.
Women! I'll never understand them.
"Okay! Time's wasting! We only have the pool to ourselves for a couple hours, so every minute we waste here in your room is one we don't get swimming under the moonlight." Ruiko said suddenly, glancing at the clock he'd used to check the time earlier meaningfully.
She's adorable. Accel couldn't help but think as he chuckled at Ruiko's transparent attempt to change topics.
"And it would be a shame to waste even a second of that wouldn't it?" Accel asked as he smothered his laughter.
"Indeed!" Ruiko said as she offered him her hand.
Taking hold of it, he gently but firmly pulled her to him. This startled her but not enough to stop her from teleporting them. He did not pay attention to the sudden change in their surroundings however and instead cupped Ruiko's chin and pulled her into a kiss.
He had intended it to be a chaste kiss. Just a simple peck on the lips. Ruiko however had a different opinion on the matter and even as he pulled away, she wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him closer and into a deeper kiss. Pushing things even further, she darted her tongue past her parted lips and ran it across his lips, wordlessly asking him to open up. A request he happily granted and which quickly turned their kiss into a French kiss. It was only after what must've been five whole minutes of passionate French kissing that they pulled apart.
"Ruiko, what was that for?" He asked as his girlfriend pulled away whilst sporting a triumphant grin. She radiated the pride of a woman who had caught the man of her dreams. And as the man in question, Accel couldn't have been happier that she had done so.
"Oh, just a little teaser of the fun we can get up to whilst we're here in Hawaii and far away from Kaa-san and the girls' prying eyes, that's all." She said, her smirk turning from triumphant to devious.
"Ruiko-" Accel began.
There were some lines that lack of prying eyes or not, they should not cross. For one, Ruiko could not afford to get pregnant. Not only was she too young, she simply had too many existing commitments to even think about having a baby. As for Accel himself, he didn't think he was ready to be a father either.
"Don't worry, Accel. I won't cross any of the truly important lines." Ruiko assured him. "But let's make the best of the opportunity we have before us, especially before things start getting hectic when Kamijou and Birdway arrive tomorrow as they almost surely will."
The reminder that they were on a mission and would thus have few opportunities to enjoy their time in Hawaii which as Ruiko had rightly pointed out was far from the eyes of her mother and their daughters made him realize just how precious the moment he was currently enjoying with her really was. And with that came the accompanying realization that he should do his best to enjoy it.
"You have something in mind? I mean beyond us just having a swim together?"
"Well, there is a reason why I booked a private pool for us tonight." Ruiko said as once again sporting that devious smirk of hers, she began reaching behind her back for the ties to her bikini top. "Have you heard of skinny dipping?"
Accel could only nod dumbly.
It seems she might be acting like the ojou-sama she's become nowadays but she's not completely shed her nymphomaniac tendencies. Accel thought as he watched transfixed as his girlfriend took off her top and tossed it onto a nearby deck chair.
"Then what are you waiting for, Accel?" She said as she began working on the ties of her bottom. "Why am I the only one taking off my swimsuit?"
"R-Right!" Accel said as he hurriedly began unbuttoning his shirt.
He'd known tonight would be a night to remember. Every time he spent with Ruiko was seared into his mind as a precious memory. Both good and bad. But tonight was most definitely in the former category. It wasn't just good, it was magnificent! He was sure it would end up being one of the highlights of this Hawaii trip!
Considering how much of a pain he would find the majority of the rest of the trip, especially after things kicked into high gear after Kamijou and the Mesugaki arrived, he didn't know just how true his thoughts in that moment were.
The morning after Ruiko-san and Accelerator-san had gone on their late night swim, Kuroko sat beside the rest of the Trinity gang - Onee-sama, Naru-san, Ruiko-san, Kazari, and Frenda-san - and Accelerator-san at a cafe in the New Honolulu International Airport as they waited for Kamijou-san and Birdway-san's flight to arrive.
"Yo, Ruiko, where's ITEM and Kuroyoru?" Accelerator asked as he sipped from his cup of coffee with a smile of satisfaction. "This is good."
"Isn't it?" Ruiko-san said with a smirk. "Told you it would be."
"You did." Accelerator agreed. "So my question?"
"Yeah, Rui-chan, where's the others?" Naru-chan as she took a dainty sip from her cup of tea.
Ruiko-san just nodded in the direction of the shopping area that surrounded the cafe they were in as she replied, "They are doing some window shopping while they wait."
"Huh? That's a surprisingly good way to spend their time." Onee-sama said as she took a bite out of the muffin she was eating. "I didn't think [Meltdowner] would be capable of being that sensible."
"I agree with Mugino lacking sense," Frenda-san piped up with her opinion of the leader of her former team as she took a sip from her frappé coffee. "But she's also a shopaholic so choosing to kill time while window shopping is right up her alley."
"I just hope that she and her team don't get too distracted to play their part in the mission." Kuroko commented. She didn't exactly have a high opinion of ITEM. Not after everything she had heard about the team from Frenda-san.
"You worry too much, Kuroko-san." Kazari chided. "ITEM are professionals."
"Yeah," Frenda-san said with a nod. "You can say a lot about Mugino and the rest of ITEM but they are professionals. They won't miss the signal."
Kuroko shrugged. "I'll believe it when I see it."
They all fell into a companionable silence after that as they enjoyed their drinks and snacks as they waited for the signal for their operation to begin. A silence that was only broken by the airport's PA (public address) system coming to life with an urgent alarm sound, causing everyone in the building to freeze and look towards the nearest speakers with concern.
"Attention all employees and guests of the New Honolulu International Airport! There has been a credible security threat to the building, please evacuate the airport whilst we conduct investigations and secure the area! Attention-"
As the warning repeated on loop, Kuroko, Accelerator and the rest of the Trinity gang stood from their seats. They were not doing so to evacuate though.
"That's the signal I guess?" Kuroko said with distaste as their group began moving against the tide of airport staff and guests that were evacuating with an increasingly panicked air and made their way towards the rendezvous point they had arranged to meet up with the rest of their team.
"What else could it be?" Accelerator snorted, a hand shoved in his pocket as he walked with his crutch. "By the way, Ruiko, are you the one clearing the path through this mess around us?"
Ruiko-san nodded. "I'm using Mental Out to make sure the civilians don't get in our way as they evacuate."
"Did Birdy girl really have to use a security threat to evacuate the airport? I know we want to get the civilians out of here but isn't this overkill? What kind of security threat did she phone in any way?" Mikoto-san said with a frown, clearly sharing Kuroko's disdain for Birdway's tactics.
"A bomb threat." Kazari explained with a frown of her own as she looked up from her tablet that she must have used to hack into the airport's systems to find out.
Everyone in their group made some show of distaste at what Birdway had done.
"Will it be enough to draw Gremlin out like we plan though?" Naru-san asked with a frown.
"It should." Ruiko-san said with some uncertainty. "Blaming a bombing on Gremlin, like the Dawn-colored Sunlight has arranged, will likely draw them out as they will not want to be blamed for something that they did not intend, much less, do."
Her tone turned harsher as she continued. "But this still runs too much of a risk of putting civilians in danger and even if that is mitigated with the evacuation, targeting a major international airport is just reckless! Risking collateral damage to such a piece of vital infrastructure is stupid!"
Accelerator and Frenda-san nodded in agreement.
"You won't find any of us disagreeing with you, Ruiko." Onee-sama told her. "But complaining about it won't get us anyway."
"Exactly." Naru-san added. "This is Birdway's op so let her run things. Besides, if you were against this plan you could have objected to it earlier. Why didn't you?"
"Firstly, as you know, she didn't tell us what signal she would be using." Ruiko-san retorted with a frown. "Beyond that, as you say, this is Birdway's op. We essentially completely overturned her plans when we dealt with the Radiosonde Castle, so it's the diplomatic thing to follow her lead this time around. Especially when Birdway demanded we give her operational control for this mission when she approached the City for help with her operation and the Board agreed."
Naru-san shrugged. "Yeah, the Directors probably concluded that keeping an eye on her was worth letting her call the shots for this op. Giving her this chance to show what she can do when the reins aren't torn from her hands is how I would have played things to see whether Birdway is as capable as she says she is or if she is just hot air too."
Onee-sama nodded. "I hate to agree with those bloody Directors but it's a smart move. Letting her be in charge of things this mission is a small price to pay to scope out her abilities."
"I suppose you're right." Ruiko conceded with a frown. "But that doesn't mean I like it."
Any further conversation was put on hold as by this point they reached the predesignated meeting point in front of a shop selling tacky souvenirs in front of the arrival hall. They were the last to arrive as ITEM, Kuroyoru-san, and Kamijou-san were already there and busy discussing the situation with Birdway, who was standing around with a group of her Dawn-colored Sunlight subordinates.
"Seriously? A mysterious suitcase and a bomb threat is enough to trigger a full scale evacuation of the airport?" Kuroyoru asked incredulously. "Back in the City, they would just scramble a Dark Side outfit and settle it without any civilians knowing about it."
"Well, the Americans have more care for civilian casualties than the City." Birdway said with a shrug.
"Ignore Kuroyoru-san." Kamijou-san said with a shake of his head. "It's not like we wouldn't evacuate a building in a similar situation."
"Only if Anti-Skill are the ones who get the call. If not, what I said earlier."
"She's got you there, Kamijou." Hamazura-san said, cutting the [Imagine Breaker] off before he could try to defend Academy City once again.
"Really?" The spiky haired high schooler said, looking startled.
"Yes, she is." Ruiko-san confirmed as their group came close enough to join the conversation. "The City does everything in its power to project the impression that it's a utopia. If they can hide any threats to that image from coming to light, they will."
Kamijou-san frowned at that but reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, I can see that."
"Lady Birdway," Birdway's assistant, Mark Space, a tall blond man dressed in a clean black formal suit, spoke up in English.
"Yes, Mark?" Birdway replied in her native language as well.
"We have just received word. The evacuation is complete."
"That's fast. The Americans are seriously efficient at this." Naru-san said with an impressed whistle.
"No surprise. They take their airport security very seriously." Kinuhata-san said with a shrug.
"Okay. Enough of this!" Accelerator cut in, sounding annoyed. "Birdway! How long do we have to wait until Gremlin shows up?"
The Number 1 had barely finished asking his question when the answer presented itself as everyone's danger senses went off.
"Fukou da!" Kamijou-san said with a tired sigh.
"Kazari, Ruiko-san?" Kuroko asked, turning to her two friends.
"The enemy has just been spotted on approach by our pickets." The [AIM Sovereign] said as she gained a thousand-yard stare like she did whenever she was syncing with the internet.
Kazari nodded absently as she looked down at her tablet and pointed off to the right. "I'm seeing one person and seventy two drones, maybe more."
Turning in the direction that Kazari indicated, Kuroko saw a large swarm of primitive, by City standards, tracked combat drones. Each was roughly as tall as the City's security robots but a little wider and with an upper body with two arms equipped with various crew served weapons, with rotary cannons as their standard armament, and which was mounted on a platform capable of rotating 360 degrees giving it a wide field of attack, with various optical sensors built into a squat head.
"Those are older model American combat THeMIS (Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System) III drones built partially using stolen City technology." Ruiko-san identified the machines with a frown.
Said drone army was led by a beautiful, slender framed, blonde woman with white skin and a well-featured face. A woman who was wearing a dress made of countless thin membranes placed one on top of another that gave her the appearance of an ideal girl from a picture book. That is to say, she looked like a fairy tale princess.
"I am Cendrillon of Gremlin." The woman introduced herself with a curtsy. "And in the name of our cabal, I am here to stop Dawn-colored Sunlight and Academy City from sullying our name by trying to blame us for bombing the New Honolulu International Airport. Prepare yourself to face defeat!"
"Members of Dawn-colored Sunlight! Take her down!" Touma heard Birdway-san command her subordinates whilst pointing her wand at the Gremlin Magician that had stepped up to the challenge she had issued to the enemy cabal.
"Oh my! I'm so outnumbered!" Cendrillon said airily as she casually evaded the barrage of spells that Birdway-san's men fired her way whilst the drones she'd brought with her moved to engage Touma's fellow Academy City residents. It seemed she was aiming to leave them to her drones. "Why don't I change that? Old lady of the pumpkin carriage, please test whether these men can wear the glass slippers."
At the completion of Cendrillon's strange incantation, all of Birdway-san's men suddenly collapsed with screams, many of them clutching at their feet, disabling them.
Birdway-san's eyes widened at that. "What did you do?"
"You're a Magician too, Leivinia Birdway. Do you honestly expect me to tell you?" Cendrillon retorted as she danced, literally, around the fireballs that Birdway-san shot her way with swings of her wand with its pocket watch coiled around it.
"She fractured the bones in their feet and toes!" Saten-san informed helpfully from where she was fighting against the enemy drones nearby.
"Broken feet and a mention of an old lady of the pumpkin carriage?" Birdway-san muttered with a frown even as she transformed her wand into a sword and sent screaming blades of wind with wide swings of the blade at Cendrillon. All of which, the Gremlin Magician's gracefully evaded.
Damn she's fast and agile. Touma thought with a frown as he finished making his way into the position he'd been moving to since the fight began.
"Stand still you crazy bitch!" One of the downed Dawn-colored Sunlight members as he raised a hand surrounded by flames towards Cendrillon.
"Tsk. I defeated you lot already. You should stay down." Cendrillon said with a frown as she evaded the man's fireball and Birdway-san's continued salvos of wind blades. "But I guess you are too stubborn to do that. In that case… Old lady of the pumpkin carriage, please send the carriage quickly. Send it before I wake… before I wake from this one-night dream. Please send the pumpkin carriage."
At this, she extended an arm towards the downed Dawn-colored Sunlight men and released a shockwave of raw force that was only discernible from the why it tore a trench in the ground as it made its way towards its targets. In light of which, Touma completely abandoned his attempt to sneak behind Cendrillon to attack her to instead throw himself in front of the shockwave and use his Imagine Breaker to nullify the attack.
"Thank you, Kamijou!" Birdway-san shouted as she fired off another brace of wind blades at Cendrillon, forcing her back from Touma and her men. "Hey! You idiot Americans hanging back and doing nothing! Be useful and get my injured men out of here, would you!?"
There was a moment of hesitance from the Americans, which even Touma had noticed had been shadowing them from the moment they landed in Hawaii, but the spies - Or at least that's what Touma assumed they were - eventually got over it and were soon rushing through the battlefield to begin evacuating the injured Dawn-colored Sunlight members.
"Those of you who can still move, help them!" Space-san, Birdway-san's second-in-command, shouted as he stumbled to his feet despite his injuries.
"Like I'll let you!" Cendrillon shouted in her musical voice as she charged towards the evacuating men, dancing around Birdway-san's wind blades with disturbing ease as she did so.
"And like I'd let you stop them!" Touma retorted as he moved to intercept her, his right hand raised to punch the Gremlin Magician's face in and shatter the illusion that made her think she could go around hurting people for the sake of whatever silly ideology her cabal subscribed to.
"You won't be able to stop me, [Imagine Breaker]!" Cendrillon retorted as she gracefully ducked under his swing and spinning in a pirouette straight out of a ballet, she kicked Touma hard enough in his side that it sent him flying. "Not when you can't touch me with that right hand of yours."
To emphasize this point, the Gremlin Magician surged forward at superhuman speed. She was moving so fast that she looked like a blur as she slammed into Touma whilst he was still sailing through the air and landed a powerful punch to his face that sent him crashing to the ground.
Touma cried out in pain at the blow but even as his body collapsed from the strike, he pushed through the pain and swung his right arm at Cendrillon in an attempt to hit her with his Imagine Breaker. However, just before his supernatural dispelling right hand was about to make contact with the Magician's head, the blonde twisted out of the way.
H-How? Kamijou thought as he spat out a wad of bloody saliva and struggled back to his feet as Cendrillon was forced away from him by a twister shot at her by Birdway-san. How is she so fast!?
"I can see the question in your eyes, Kamijou." Cendrillon said with a smirk as she casually evaded Birdway-san's continued attempts to hit her with wind spells. "In the spirit of generosity, let me answer it. You won't be able to catch me with your Imagine Breaker. My magic and combat skills were specifically developed to be countermeasures to Kamijou Touma's Imagine Breaker. As you are now, you're not fast enough to catch me."
"That's good and all, Gremlin Magician. But are you perhaps forgetting about me?" Birdway-san said as she used her weapon - I think she called it her Symbolic Weapon - which she had transformed back into a wand to hurl a massive fireball at Cendrillon.
"Oh, no. I just think you're irrelevant." Cendrillon said arrogantly as she used her shockwave spell to intercept and dispel Birdway-san's fireball.
Growling angrily, Birdway-san replied with narrowed eyes. "We'll see about that, won't we?"
As the enemy combat drones that Ruiko-san had identified as the THeMIS IIIs moved away from the Magician that was acting as their leader to engage the rest of them whilst she confronted Kamijou-san, Birdway-san, and the latter's men, Kazari began backing away so she wouldn't immediately be in the line of fire. She was squishy after all. And as she did, she began tapping away at her tablet that caused the automated zipper of her backpack to open it and allow the dozens of her golf-ball sized Fly, or more officially Oculus, Drones, within to fly out as she commanded before they used their optical camouflage to disappear from view.
"Kuroko-san, keep me safe?" Kazari asked her Judgment partner.
"Of course," Kuroko-san replied without hesitation as with a swipe of her hand against the band of nails she wore under the short pleated skirt she was wearing, she teleported Explosive Nails into the heads of the leading THeMIS IIIs that were advancing towards them. Drones that were busy spinning up the rotary cannons that they were armed with, and destroying said heads in small but powerful explosions, disabling the targeted drones in the process.
"Thank you." Kazari replied as she tapped away at her tablet, inputting commands to her Flies to carry out the plan she'd just thought up. Not even pausing in her efforts as Kuroko-san teleported both of them out of the way of the small rocket salvo fired on their previous position by one of the THeMIS IIIs that was armed with missile pods.
"Not a problem." Kuroko-san replied as she took out another few enemy drones with her Explosive Nails, including the THeMIS III with the missile pods. "I imagine that you have a plan?"
"Of course." Kazari agreed with a grin as she continued inputting the commands for her drones. "Can you help me pry open the armor on some of the enemy drones? I'll use some of my Flies to do it too, but the less I need to use, the better."
As she finished another teleport that took them out of the way of the firing line of a THeMIS III armed with a pair of light smoothbore cannons, Kuroko-san nodded. "Oh! Good idea!"
Kazari smiled, pleased that she was so on the same wavelength as her Judgment partner that the tawny haired girl had discerned her plan without her having to spell it out. She did not let her happiness distract her though and as Kuroko-san used her Explosive Nails to do as she asked to blow away the external armor of a number of the THeMIS IIIs, Kazari ordered a number of her Flies to do the same by slamming into them and triggering their self-destruct systems. The rest she plunged into the innards exposed by these efforts where they proceeded to plug themselves into their air-gapped systems allowing her to hack them and seize control of the machines. Suborned drones that she promptly turned against their fellows.
"And that's a job well done." Kuroko-san said with a triumphant smile.
Kazari rolled her eyes at that and lightly jabbed her partner in the side. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch. We haven't won this yet."
"Maybe not but we have this fight in the bag." Kuroko-san said confidently.
Kazari just sighed and turned her attention back to the fight. If her partner was being an over-confident fool at the moment then she would just have to pick up the slack and make sure that her friend's lapse didn't cost them. One of them had to.
"Rikou, get out of here!" Shiage shouted at his girlfriend as their team and Kuroyoru-san faced off against a group of the enemy's combat drones.
"Already on it!" Rikou shouted back from nearby, causing Shiage to turn in her direction whereupon he saw her retreating alongside the injured Dawn-colored Sunlight members with the aid of the American shadows that Birdway had guilted into helping them.
"This is damned ironic." Kuroyoru-san said with a groan as she cut a pair of enemy drones in half with her Bomber Lances. Two was sadly as many as she could use at the moment since she had not been able to get her additional cybernetic hands past customs and thus was limited to using her own two hands to activate her Esper ability. They were apparently simple enough to build so she was making replacements but she hadn't had the time to finish any yet. "Considering we are dealing with robots, bringing Silvercross Alpha and his collection of automated Powered Suits would be super useful. They would at least even up the odds."
"Hey!" Saiai shouted irritably as she smashed up some of the THeMIS IIIs with some ample punches and kicks whilst she waded through their ranks heedless of their fire, all thanks to her Offense Armor. "Umidori, super stop using my tic! It's mine!
Kuroyoru-san teasingly replied from behind her cover behind one of the baggage claim conveyor belts, "Yes, Onee-chan~!"
"Don't call me that!" Saiai shot back.
"Can you two save your sisterly squabbling till after the fight?" Mugino chimed in irritably as she wiped out at least a dozen of the THeMIS IIIs with the green beam of one of her Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannons as she stood out in the open whilst relying on screens of plasma to protect her against enemy fire.
"We're super not sisters!" Saiai shouted in denial as she brutally used her bare hands to tear a THeMIS III apart.
In contrast, even as she impaled a drone with her Bomber Lance, Kuroyoru-san just replied with a cheerful, "Hai!"
"Oh, just let them be, Mugino." Shiage said with a shake of his head behind the cover of a pillar as he fired off a Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warhead that he pulled from the backpack of equipment and weapons that he had brought for the occasion. A missile which hit the roof on top of a group of THeMIS IIIs, sending debris crashing down on the drones and destroying them. "Some playful banter during a fight helps."
"Well, I don't need it!" Saiai protested vehemently as she walked fearlessly through a stream of bullets shot her way by a THeMIS III that she was intent on wrecking.
"But I do, Onee-chan~!" Kuroyoru-san countered whilst cleaving another drone with one of her Bomber Lances.
"Super stop calling me that!" Saiai said in a loud whine as she punched one of the drones into a mangled wreck.
"Tsk! The enemy's got reinforcements." Mugino said with a frustrated sigh, firing a Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannon at a group of a dozen or so new drones heading towards them.
However, unlike their predecessors, this new batch of drones didn't just melt under the power of the Number 6's beam. Instead, as the beams washed over them, the drones were surrounded by fields of electromagnetic energy that proceeded to disperse the energy beam.
"The bastards have prepped those shitty shields to counter me!" Mugino cursed as she copied Shiage's tactic from earlier and blasted a section of the roof apart, sending it crashing down on the new drones and crushing them.
By the shout of frustration from the direction of where Misaka-sama was fighting, it seemed that the electromagnetic shields employed by the new batch of THeMIS IIIs were just as good a counter for the [Railgun] as it was for Mugino.
Hopefully she can figure out a way around them like Mugino did too. Shiage thought as he poked his head from behind his cover and proceeded to blast one of the drones to pieces with another Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warhead.
"Yeah, super looks like." Saiai agreed as she picked up the wreck of one of the THeMIS IIIs that she had mangled and tossed it at another of his fellows, destroying it too. "Not that it's doing them that much good. Just because your lasers can't destroy them directly, doesn't mean you can't destroy them with super indirect fire."
"The enemy is uncreative." Kuroyoru-san said with an unimpressed shake of her head.
"Yeah, looks like." Shiage agreed as he shot a cluster munition variant of the Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warhead at the still coming enemy drones and slagging four of them. "But don't underestimate them just because of it. Uncreative or not, the bullets they are shooting at us can still kill us."
"Yeah, yeah, Hamazura. You don't need to remind us. We're not stupid." Mugino shot back as he brought down yet another section of the airport's roof to crush a group of THeMIS IIIs. "Just focus on finishing this fight."
"""Yes, Mugino!""" Shiage, Saiai and Kuroyoru-san all replied simultaneously, knowing it was better than arguing with [Meltdowner] when she was so irritable. Instead, they just turned their attention towards the fight against the drones.
Letting out a frustrated shout at seeing the latest electric blast she shot at the enemy being dispersed harmlessly by the electromagnetic disruptors equipped by the latest THeMIS IIIs that had showed up, Mikoto weighed her options. She imagined that if she used her railgun, she would be able to overwhelm the damned disruptors but unleashing the fury of her trademark attack indoors was inadvisable. The strength of it could possibly bring the whole building down for one. It was thus out of consideration.
And that leaves me with just electromagnetically hurling projectiles. Mikoto concluded with a frown. Not even her iron sand would work, not when the drones' electromagnetic disruptors would disrupt the fields she used to create any constructs she shaped and cause them to disperse before they hit their targets. Not my favorite combat option, but I guess I can make it work.
With her decision made, Mikoto crafted a set of electromagnetic fields to pick up several large metallic items, among them a fridge from a cafe and a large metallic statue, and hurled them at the incoming tide of THeMIS IIIs. However, contrary to her expectations, instead of destroying the drones, the machines instead responded by firing a rain of bullets and rockets. Fire that proceeded to easily intercept her barrage of hurled items.
"Oh! You've got to be kidding me!" Mikoto cursed as she watched the enemy drones she'd tried to take out begin to turn her attention towards her. And as their weapons began to likewise turn towards her, her eyes widened in alarm and she hastily forged an electromagnetic shield to protect herself.
Not that she ended up needing her hasty defense.
"Oi! Not on my watch, you tin cans!" Naru shouted as she teleported in front of her and proceeded to stamp her feet on the ground, causing large spikes of earth to shoot out of the ground to impale the entire group of incoming drones.
"Thanks, Naru. I could've handled it, but thanks."
"You could've handled it? Yeah right." Naru said with a disbelieving snort as she distractedly hurled a fireball at yet another squad of incoming enemy drones, setting them alight in a white hot blaze. "Anyway, it seems that Gremlin failed to come up with counters for the rest of us."
"Not yet." Ruiko joined in as she teleported to join them, using psychokinesis to rip a THeMIS III into pieces. "Just because they failed to do so this time, it doesn't mean that they won't next time so don't get overconfident."
As she turned a whole patch of the airport's floor into lava that a whole half dozen drones sank into where they were promptly destroyed by the molten earth, Naru pouted. Ruiko ignored her though and even as she used a brace of vacuum blades to cut another half dozen THeMIS IIIs into scrap, she turned towards Mikoto.
"Why don't you hang back and leave this fight to the rest of us for now, Senpai?" She suggested. "We'll work on coming up with a way around these electromagnetic disruptors later. But for now, it's probably safer if you retreat."
Mikoto did not want to admit it, but Ruiko was right. With her combat options all sealed away, she was nothing more than a liability in this fight. So she just nodded.
"Kuroko!"
At her cry, her roommate materialized at her side only a moment later. "Onee-sama, you need me?"
"My powers have been countered." The [Railgun] explained reluctantly. "I'm gonna retreat. Teleport me out of here?"
"Of course." Kuroko agreed. "Ruiko-san, can you take over looking out for Kazari in the meantime?"
"Of course." Ruiko said as she picked up the wrecks of what must've been a dozen disabled THeMIS IIIs and hurled them at a fresh wave of enemies, including a group that had been vectoring towards Kazari-san's position, scrapping them too.
Kuroko nodded and touched Mikoto's arm before teleporting them both out of the airport.
As Naru saw Mikoto-senpai teleport away, she proceeded to feed her chakra into the ground and created one large pitfall right in front of a large incoming group of enemy drones, that the whole host of them proceeded to fall right into where she subjected them to what creative punishments came to mind in the bid to reduce them to scrap. She had rapid flowing earth ground them down. She made spikes shoot out of the earth to skewer them. She shot boulders out of the ground like mortar fire to crush them.
This is boring. Naru mused. This isn't a challenge. This is just minion - mechanical at that! - clean-up duty.
It is boring. Kurama agreed with a yawn. But it's necessary. So don't slack off.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Naru replied with a sigh as she continued disinterestedly using earth manipulation to destroy the still incoming tide of enemy drones whilst using the same to pull out an earthen wall to serve as cover from the machines' incoming fire. It doesn't help with the boredom though.
As bored as she was, Naru let her eyes wander over the battle where she found them falling on Ruiko, who was being creative with her offense instead of relying on her usual standby particle beams which would like [Meltdowner]'s Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannons have been deflected by the enemy drones' electromagnetic disruptors. In her case, she was conjuring liquids from the atmosphere that she shot at the THeMIS IIIs as high pressure liquid jet cutters that cut the drones to pieces. Liquids that by the looks of the way that the cut apart pieces that the jets left behind were smoking and corroding away, had been modified through some emulated ability or the other into some kind of corrosive.
Skipping over to Ruiko, who was standing guard over Kazari as the [Goalkeeper] commanded a squad of suborned THeMIS IIIs against their enemy fellows, whilst she simultaneously continued to use her earth manipulation to both wreck enemy drones and shield her from their fire, Naru addressed her bestie with a smile. "Hey, Rui-chan! It's fun to experiment, huh?"
"I certainly think so." Kazari-san said cheerfully. "Watching Ruiko-san stretch her creativity in terms of her use of all those emulated Esper abilities of hers is amazingly fun!"
Ruiko just rolled her eyes at the sentiment as abandoning her liquid jet cutter, she instead just turned the corrosives she conjured into a waterspout that she sent spinning into the ranks of the THeMIS IIIs. "Why don't we just focus on the fight, shall we? By my count, there are plenty of enemies left to deal with. Thanks to their reinforcements there are still at least a hundred and sixteen THeMIS IIIs in New Honolulu right now."
"You can be such a mood killer at times you know that, Rui-chan?" Naru said with a bemused shake of her head. "But, okay, let's get this done! Right, Kazari-chan?"
"Yup!" The [Goalkeeper] chirped cheerfully.
And thus the trio of friends turned their full attention towards the continued mechanical massacre of the enemy THeMIS IIIs.
"Naru-chan, mind taking over looking after Kazari until Kuroko-san gets back?" Ruiko asked her blonde best friend as she used Synchrotron to create a graviton accelerating effect to turn the surprisingly large amount of aluminum internal components of the enemy THeMIS IIIs into bombs that detonated and destroyed them from within. All whilst using barriers to protect her and Kazari from their return fire.
She hated to emulate the technique of the disgusting Graviton Bomber, Kaitabi Hatsuya, who had almost killed Kazari in his demented and inane revenge plot against Judgment, but she couldn't deny the utility of his ability. And with her favored particle beams countered by the enemy's electromagnetic disruptors, she had to rely on every viable offensive technique that her emulated Esper powers offered. Oh, she had plenty! The problem was finding a set that she was both comfortable with using considering the use of computational resources and was effective. There was a reason she defaulted to a few set offensive abilities in the first place after all.
"Sure. But why?" Her fellow Level 5 asked with a knowing look.
"Do you need to ask, Naru-san?" Kazari asked with a smirk. "If Ruiko-san is here that means that Frenda-chan is alone, doesn't it? She's probably worried about her."
"Oh! Right! Silly me!" Naru-chan replied teasingly. "Sure. Go check in on your girlfriend. I'll keep Kazari-chan safe."
"Thank you, Naru-chan." Ruiko replied, refusing to rise to the bait that her two best friends were using to get a rise out of her. "Stay safe, Kazari."
Without waiting for a response, Ruiko teleported away to check in on the blonde Norwegian who had found a way into her heart. Said pretty highschool dropout was busy helping with their slaughter of the enemy THeMIS IIIs by firing off a volley of Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warheads from behind the cover of a car rental booth that proceeded to wreck at least a half dozen THeMIS IIIs in a series of large explosions.
Destruction that produced plenty of debris for Ruiko to launch an attack of her own, something that she was polite enough to thank the cutie for. "Thank you, Frenda-chan."
This caused Frenda-chan to blush prettily and smirking at the reaction that her simple thanks elicited, Ruiko used some emulated telekinesis to pick up the debris that the Norwegian had created and used them as ammunition that she hurled at supersonic speeds at the other THeMIS IIIs. An attack that substantially added to the number of wrecked enemy drones.
"Ruiko," Accel said as he wandered over whilst wrecking at least three dozen enemy drones with vacuum blades. "If you need debris for your telekinesis, I could have helped make it for you."
It was Ruiko's turn to blush at Accel's gallant offer. "Thank you, Accel. I appreciate the offer but I didn't need the help, I could make my own. I just used the ones that Frenda-chan made because it was convenient."
"Yeah, I know you can make your own. But I'm your boyfriend, so if you need help just ask me for help, okay? I'll do what I can to help." Accel said with a smile as he sent a brace of air lances to destroy a new batch of incoming enemy THeMIS IIIs.
Blowing up another couple THeMIS IIIs with another couple Anti-Tank Missile Warheads, Frenda-chan chimed in as well. "Feel free to ask me too. I will help you as best as I can too."
Destroying a dozen THeMIS IIIs by firing off a brace of ice lances she'd conjured out of the air whose cold was a stark contrast to the warmth that filled her heart at the offers from both her love interests, Ruiko shot them a brilliant smile. "Thank you both."
"No need to thank me, Ruiko." Accel said, looking away from Ruiko to hide the blush her smile had elicited from him. "Like I said, I'm your boyfriend. Of course, I'd help you if I could."
"And I'm your subordinate." The Frenda girl added. "So helping you is my job. Though, I'd help you even if it wasn't."
Before Ruiko could respond to that, a fuel truck crashed into the airport arrival hall they were all fighting in. A truck that was being driven by the Mesugaki of all people! A crazy woman that quickly hopped out of her truck and using a wind blade she conjured via that sword of hers, cut open the fuel container and allowed the aviation fuel that it was carrying to flood the whole building.
"Mesugaki! What the hell are you trying to do!?" Accel shouted in alarm as everyone began fleeing with Ruiko starting it off by teleporting the Frenda girl out of there. "Are you trying to kill us!?"
"Hardly." The Mesugaki declared haughtily as she transformed her sword into a wand. "I am just neutering Cendrillon's power. Her magic is based on the story of Cinderella using her dress as her Idol, and it has a limit to its functionality, especially when there is something that represents the passage of a new day, like midnight or the dawn."
The dawn!? Is she really doing what I think she is!? Accel thought with alarm.
"Yes, she is." Ruiko said to him via audiokinesis as she returned by rematerializing next to ITEM and Kuroyoru and began teleporting them out. "Could you get Kamijou-san out? Thanks to his Imagine Breaker, we can't teleport him out."
"Leave it to me." Accel replied instantly as he used his powers to shoot towards the Hero and grabbing hold of him, began hauling him out of there.
"Birdway-san! Are you seriously going to blow up the whole building!?" Kamijou shouted back as he watched the Mesugaki shield herself from the shockwave the Gremlin Magician shot at her by shifting her transforming weapon into a disc and using it to raise a wall of earth.
"Shut up, Kamijou!" [Meltdowner] shouted as Accel shot out of the airport like a bullet, barely seconds after he'd grabbed [Imagine Breaker] and began their hurried retreat. "Weren't you fighting with her? Since you didn't stop her, you're just as much to blame for this madness aren't you?"
Madness that took the form of the airport building behind them being rocked by a massive explosion. Not that Accel bothered to turn to look, instead choosing to drop the Hero on his ass and scanning their group. Breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that everyone was accounted for. Well, everyone except the Mesugaki.
Not that Accel really cared for most of them. He just knew that if any one of them got hurt, Ruiko would likely get all mopey, or worse, and he wanted to avoid that if at all possible.
"It isn't madness if it works." The Mesugaki said from behind them, in the direction of the now flaming airport.
That response was so cliche that Accel couldn't help but turn back towards the destroyed building to tell the Magician how stupid she was for talking like that. However, as he did, what he saw had him holding his tongue and letting out an impressive whistle as he saw the Mesugaki walking towards them whilst dragging a defeated Cendrillon behind her by her long hair with the New Honolulu airport building burning brilliantly behind them.
"Indeed." Ruiko praised the Magician. "Will you be needing help interrogating her, Birdway-san?"
"Thanks for the offer, Saten-san." The Mesugaki said with a smirk. "But I have it handled."
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Woot, time for one of the biggest arcs in our fic! Usually we finish an arc in two to three chapters, but dang! It just ballooned from how important this arc is. Nameless was a beast during his wiki dive to flesh out the arc's story board. Best co-writer ever!
Nameless: This arc is going to be massive! It will be six chapters at least and each should be reasonably substantial too! All of which is full of stuff, as based on our planning, that will be amazingly fun to write. Hopefully, you guys will find it amazing to read.
On another note, just want to point out that whilst we are doing our best to stick to canon, we will change things up as necessary. That doesn't just mean story details but also things like a particular character's powers/equipment. It shouldn't be too obvious in this chapter but it will become clearer the further we get into the arc. Hope this is acceptable.
E4E: Yep yep! While we love canon, we love changing things even more! Character evolutions and plot advancement in tiny and large ways. So get ready for them as we continue on this wild and crazy Hawaiian ride!
Nameless: Now, you might be wondering about the purpose of the scene of Accel and Ruiko going skinny dipping. It's basically our attempt to balance out all the flirty and saucy scenes we've had written lately starring Frenda and Ruiko. The latter have been in the spotlight since their relationship is treading new ground but we might have overdone it. So we added the skinny dipping scene to remind our readers that Accel and Ruiko are just as loving as ever even though we haven't been showing it as much. We'll try to be more balanced in the 'screentime' Ruiko spends with her two lovers going forward.
Because unlike Naru, Ruiko doesn't have them in the same body XP
Nameless: Ok, so we had guest reviews (all of which were deleted) on FFN that tried to toot Touma's horn by telling us how uber powerful he is in canon as of Souyaku/Genesis Testament 9. Apparently they weren't readers of this fic and just wanted to drive by and drop spoilers. That said, they gave the impression that this somehow means we should elevate Touma's role in TOT. Whilst they clarified this was not the case, we feel the need to reply for anyone who might think along those lines. To that ends, let me just add an edited version of my own replying review (also deleted) to those spoilers based on our initial assumption:
Touma can be the most powerful in the canon universe in the latest arcs of canon if Kamachi-sensei says so. However, I have to ask, so what? How is that relevant to TOT? Has any of those revelations of that strength taken place in the current timeframe of the story? Are the characters in the TOTverse aware of his strength? Would it really impact how the TOTverse characters see him? The answer is no. The TOTverse characters *do* respect Touma, *Mugino explicitly says so in chapter 97*, but not because of his power/strength.
Bringing up how Touma is uber powerful/strong in the latest arcs in canon does not change that our characterization of how TOTverse characters treat him is valid. Beyond that, how does Touma being uber powerful change anything? Does that alone make him an interesting character? Personally, I do not think so. It takes more than strength to make a character interesting or for other characters to respect him.
So, *no*, we will not be aggrandizing Touma's role in TOT based on how strong he is in the latest arcs in canon. We will treat him as he deserves to be treated within the TOTverse taking into account his achievements within it and what other characters know about said achievements. And also the fact that he is a *supporting character* in this fic. No more, no less.
Now, annoyed rant done, over to you E4E!
E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!