III

Chapter 15: The Flames of Vengeance

Combustion

He wanted to charge right in.

He wanted to rescue that person that had helped him so far.

But it was simply impossible for him. Surrounded by all these heavily armored adults, all he could do was run and pray for the best. For once, lady luck smiled for Kamijou Touma as he managed to turn on a corner without getting hit by the torrent of bullets coming at him.

"What are you all waiting for?! Go after him!" Ordered Yuna. "All witnesses must be eliminated!"

"Roger!" They all answered in unison before pursuing him.

"N… no… GHH!" Hinata struggled even harder as she watched the scene. Yuna was impressed by all the strength the girl was able to muster with her small body after taking that massive attack. Still, she stood no chance from this position. Yuna tightened her grip, making Hinata hiss in pain as she desperately tried to breath.

"You're a persistent one, huh? Can't you see that it's all over for you?" She threw Hinata to the ground, who barely managed to avoid landing head first on the asphalt. Only then Hinata noticed something important.

My body… is getting weaker… This is the same poison I used before! Could it be that she used the gasoline to disguise the smell of the poison as well? Her thoughts were interrupted when Yuna grabbed her by the hair and smashed her face on the ground. "Gah!"

"Yeah, that expression is more fitting for you." She repeated the attack 3 more times before kicking the younger girl on the ribs.

"AAAAAAAAGH!" Hinata rolled over several times until she struck the wall of the radio tower. The impact drained out her last strength and she could no longer move her body. Even keeping her eyes half open was difficult.

Touma gritted his teeth as he could only guess what was happening by the sounds while he ran. His plan was to circle around the building and take on Yuna from the other side. After turning the second corner, he was faced by two LIZARD espers. One shot something shiny at him and the other distorted the asphalt. He wasn't expecting that and only managed to block the projectile with his right hand. The irregularity on the ground made him trip and stumble over the two espers. The momentum allowed him to roll back to his feet and keep running. He turned on the third corner right before the gunfire resumed, hoping that the two he had left on the ground weren't hit.

If I manage to make the last turn before they catch up, they won't be able to use their guns. Otherwise they are going to hit their leader as well. Just a little more! And so, Touma ran at a crazy pace trying to outspeed his pursuers. They made the turn before he reached the the edge and started firing once again, but they couldn't aim properly while running and trying to hit a target from that distance.

The boy made the turn and focused his sight on Yuna, ready to finish this with a single swing of his fist. "Oooooooaaaah!"

The girl tried to brush him off with a large blaze, but it simply disappeared when it got into contact with his hand. "What the-!?" Out of options, she was forced to jump backwards, distancing herself from Hinata.

Touma glanced at the barely awoke girl and glared fiercely at Yuna once more, which returned the glare. "I tried to go easy on you, but that was a mistake. You no longer deserve a quick death!" She lit up her fists in fire and charged at him, but the boy defended using his right hand and the fire was gone once again.

She quickly understood that it would be useless to rely on her ability. Touma sent a punch at her but he was too slow. She sidestepped his fist and kicked his side three times before he even had a chance to recover from the missed strike.

He lost his balance but still managed to keep standing. She is fast, but not that strong. Touma rubbed his side and it was enough to stop the pain. Yuna took initiative this time and tackled him. He was able to dodge, but she followed up with a spin kick that hit the center of his body, sending him back. Before he could recover, she was already in front of him throwing countless blows to random parts of his body. Those weren't much on their own, but the the endless barrage of strikes were going to burden his body if this kept on for much longer.

Touma managed to surprise her by getting a hold of her arm and she came to a stop. He tried to use this opportunity to land a decisive blow, but she parried his fist using her free hand and headbutted his stomach. Unlike her other attacks, that one shook Touma's insides and sent him to the ground.

Yuna aimed a stomp for his face, but he pulled her ankle and she fell down as well. Touma kicked her far away while he stood up, giving him a slight advantage. While she was still trying to get up, he came running at her, ready to punch her for good this time. Her position made it impossible for her to dodge, so her only option was to defend herself using her arms.

"Khh!" Even though it wasn't a clean hit, she definitely felt the blow. Touma followed up with his other fist, but Yuna rolled backwards to avoid and get some distance between them. He thought she was going to use this chance to recover, but she charged right in the moment she got to her feet. He could do anything as he wasn't expecting an attack so soon. Yuna once again punched and kicked him nonstop, wearing his body little by little with fast strikes.

Touma tried to grab her again, but she didn't feel to the same trick and slapped his hand away, leaving him even more open. Her elbow landed on his unprotected face, sending him stumbling backwards slightly dizzy. She aimed a kick to his neck to end the fight at once. "You're done!"

Touma felt the incoming danger and threw himself as far away from her as he could. He landed on his back, making a good portion of his body hurt at once, but still tried to get to his feet as fast as possible. When he did, he found Yuna still standing where she were before, grinning madly at him. As he wondered why she wasn't attacking anymore, he noticed what was behind her. "Shit, I totally forgot about them!"

Yes, all those members of LIZARD were after his life a few minutes ago, and he only managed to keep them from firing at him was because they could hit her by accident. But he himself destroyed that pretext by escaping her kick, and now there was nothing he could do to avoid their bullets.

The girl made a signal for them to open fire, but they were interrupted by an unexpected sound.

A low pitched horn followed by a loud engine.

Approaching at a dangerous speed.

Everyone turned their heads towards the sound and saw the black car coming at full throttle directly at them. When their heads processed this information and they panicked at the incoming danger, it was already too late for most of them. The car ignored the spiky haired teenager and drifted over a dozen of LIZARD agents. Yuna just escaped unharmed because one of them pushed her out of the way.

The vehicle finally came to a stop and the back door opened. "That's what I call an epic entrance. Yup, totally satisfying. Good job." Commented the boy as he stepped out. The driver wearing sunglasses glanced at him and gave a thumbs up.

Touma recognized the person leaving the car on the spot. "Wait, you're…"

"Yo! seems like you could use a hand here."

Even Hinata, who was just a bit away from passing out, was surprised at this outcome. "Hishi...ro..."

Confused, Touma was unable to ask one of the many questions forming in his head. Hishiro didn't wait for him and dismissed all of his doubts at once. "We can talk later. Don't worry, Index is fine. Let's end this quickly and go back to her."

Yuna froze when she saw him and anger slowly filled her until he was no longer able to control it. "You… YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"So it really was you after all, huh" The brown haired boy said while studying the screaming girl. "That's awkward."

Without thinking twice, she shot a massive amount of flames at him, enough to swallow both him and Touma, but Hishiro simply whipped his open palm around and the blaze came to an absolute stop. "Whoa, calm down for a moment! Aren't we supposed to exchange some smart mocks and act all cocky before jumping into action? I mean, this is a symbolic rematch. You're jumping way too many steps by using a 5 gauge super out of the blue like this."

"Look into my eyes and say if I care one bit for your messed rules?!"

"Yeaaah, you don't seem to at all..."

"OF COURSE I DON'T!" Her voice increased at each response, finally sounding like a mad beast instead of a teenage girl. "I'll rip your soul out of this foul body of yours with my bare hands for what you did to Yuko!"

"Oh, that's right! I was wondering about what had happened to that other girl. I was prepared to fight both of you, but seeing only the weaker one of the twins is kind of a bummer."

Yuna finally lost it. Her eyes were literally twitching and embers were spawning around her. "Ha… haha… ahahahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're dead. Dead, dead, dead, DEAD! That's it, now you've done it! Let's see how long you can keep that insolence when I start to burn you out of existence!"

The brown haired boy smirked and got into his stance. "See? That's what I'm talking about. That was a good pre-battle dialogue. Still, you could have been a bit more creative. I'll give you a six out of ten."

Drowned in hatred, Yuna charged forward, intending to end the boy's life while he waited for her with open arms, grinning the whole time.

Part 2

If the streets were empty that day, the back alleys were almost a sight from a post-apocalyptic setting movie. And in that space, the lonely girl in her white robe was completely out of place. Following the invisible trail that only she could notice, she made her way into the maze that was the gaps between the buildings of District 7.

"I knew it..." Lamented the nun after reaching her destination.

From the shadows lying in front of her, that person, who had his whole body destroyed at once, stood once again without a single scratch. "Oh, that's surprising. How did you found me? Finally discovered the truth behind my tricks?"

"I wish I had, but no." She answered while frowning, frustrated at her incapacity. "I could sense the telesma being gathered around here. You are the only one inside this city capable of doing that."

"Hahaha, I guess that was too much of a hint." He laughed it off like he had expected this development from the start. "Still, I wonder if I really am the only one. You really never once thought about the possibility of other magicians hiding within the walls of the science fortress? If even you who can't cast a single spell managed to get inside the city, why wouldn't others? I'm the living proof that this not only can, but IS happening."

"If that's the case, then who? Who would want to break the balance between both sides?"

"Balance? AHAHAHAHAHA!" His reaction made her even more impatient. "The superficial peace we are living right now is nothing but a farce! You ask who? It is EVERYONE! You say both sides? Then you're way too naive thinking that there are only two sides in this world! Countless cabals, religions, companies, governments, and even organizations we are unaware of have noticed that this sad excuse of a balance is bound to crumble and have been preparing in the shadows for what is to come, because when it happens, those relying on this peace are going to be swallowed in the struggle for supremacy. And guess who is in the center of it all? Let me give you a hint: we are both standing in the middle of the stage at this very moment."

"You don't mean..."

"Yes, the science side! They set the game board called Academy City and sent an invitation to everyone willing to play! The heads of this city must be aware of all those intruders, and yet do nothing to stop them from coming - on the contrary, they welcome them. You are no different. The Anglican Church is rooting for Academy City to take the bait that is you, and Academy City is dying to take a bite of the of the Anglican Church and the magic side even though they know it is a trap. That is the sole reason they are fine with you being here!"

The words Hishiro had told her the day they met went through her mind once again: By the way, you don't need to worry about the city security. Someone among the leaders seems to be on your side since we were called off yesterday. It matched what Rüdiger was saying, but it wasn't enough to proof it. He probably was expecting to shock her after saying that, but she just kept staring, not letting her guard down for even a second. "I see… I should had figured that you wouldn't lose your cool with just that. After all, you are the girl that managed to keep her soul and mind mostly intact after reading 103,000 grimoires. Information alone is not enough to break you."

"That's not it." She took a step forward and confronted him. "I just have no reason to believe in anything you're saying. It is true that I was allowed to stay here, but that doesn't mean it is because of some conspiracy. All I know is that you've became an enemy of Academy City and of Necessarius, so you would have only to gain by confusing us and making us fight each other."

"Hehe, clever. Very clever of you." Rüdiger pulled a card and studied their surroundings before continuing. "However, it was really stupid for you to come alone knowing that I would be here. Why didn't you brought your friends?"

"I won't let them get involved anymore. This is a problem caused by the magic side, so it is the magic side's duty to solve it!"

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that, huh?" He then flipped the card on his fingers, revealing the Red Joker one more time. Index remembered clearly the cluster attack that her spell intercept was useless against. "Walnnar mumtir min alssama'i, tathir al'rad min fasadiha! (Fire rained from the skies, cleansing the land from its corruption!)"

Part 3

Something was not right.

Previously, Hishiro managed to handle both Yuna and Yuko while his body was still recovering from the battle with the katana girl.

But now, he was being pushed back. Her movements were way faster than before. Her flames were stronger and covered a larger area. It was as if...

No, this can't be. The Level Upper shouldn't be effective anymore. Also, I never heard anyone getting their physical abilities being increased by that thing. But then… just what IS this? Every time she goes all out, I can barely hold the flare with my power… is she even going all out in the first place?

At some point, Touma also joined the fight and even then, it wasn't enough. His fighting technique was amateurish at best, easily outdone by hers. His strange erasing power helped, but Yuna always managed to split them apart so she could take another attempt at reducing Hishiro to ashes.

And even though Hishiro landed a few hits on her, it was nothing compared to the amount he had taken. He was defending most of the time. All his attempts to trip her using his Null Inertia were in vain as he couldn't do the proper calculations in time because the girl simply wouldn't stop for a single second.

After another clash, Touma was sent to the ground one more time. Yuna ignited her fists in blue flames and attacked Hishiro with a barrage faster than he could dodge.

Taking a step beck, he crossed his arms to protect himself from the impacts and created a distorted field right in front of him to diminish the damage from the heat. Still, several burn marks were being left on this sleeves - and probably on his arms as well, he guessed. It was hard to differentiate the pain of burns from the pain of the blows he was taking by this point.

Touma got to his feet again and banished the fire by holding Yuna's right hand with his own. That earned him a kick to his leg, but it wasn't enough to send him down. Free from the merciless beating, Hishiro tackled her before she could attack Touma a second time. She sidestepped and kicked him as well. He tried to counterattack, but she avoided all of his moves, all the while hitting him with her own kicks whenever she got the chance.

When he couldn't keep up anymore, Touma stepped in again, but wasn't able to hit her as well. Following the pattern, she would take him out of balance and then attack Hishiro with her fire. If this kept up for any longer, they would end up losing due to the accumulated damage. I need to stop her from doing it. It'll take a chunk of my stamina, but it's better than being hit by her fire punches again!

"Hey, step back! NOW!" Both Touma and Yuna looked at Hishiro at the same time and shivered. They got away from each other just before it happened. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A massive distorted field appeared between the two males and their enemy. But unlike the ones Hishiro usually used, this one flickered and wobbled in midair like it was made of some kind floaty jelly. This was the result of the activation of his ability without proper aiming nor calculation. Using his visual focus alone, he could make it appear somewhere close to where he wanted it, but it wasn't very accurate. It was also very unstable, as a minimal change of the affected mass could make the whole thing collapse, thus making it almost useless since any movement from within or the outside would destroy the field before it could reduce anything's speed. The researchers classified this phenomena as "the closest an Esper could get to a RSPK Syndrome without fully losing control", triggered by sending one's own thoughts in disarray or by a paradox within the theory behind an Esper's power. Hishiro didn't know the specifics, but he knew the single good side of doing it: speed. He could activate it instantly and cause a huge spectacle, useful to distracting enemies for a few moments before it ends.

And so, his goal was achieved. Yuna stood there unsure of what to do as she watched on before the field disappeared a few seconds later. The price for using this came right after and Hishiro fell to his knees, all covered in sweat and gasping for air.

"A-are you okay?" Asked Touma.

"More or less… but don't count on me doing this again… it's impossible..."

"Still, she's tough… what can we do to turn things around?"

Hishiro answered and reached for his pocket. "I have a last resource, but… oh well, screw the rules." And then he found out the most terrifying truth of this whole situation: My revolver… I never took it back, did I?

"Shit, Asuka's going to kill me for this!" Without any other remaining option, he took the AMCP and aimed at Yuna.

The girl clicked her tongue and started to run. Touma panicked when he recognized the weapon and tried to stop him. "Wait- wait a second, this is-"

BANG!

"DARN!" Hishiro hissed in pain as his ability failed to weaken the recoil due to his recklessness earlier. Touma covered his ears in reflex. Yuna flinched on her tracks. The gun was way louder than she was expecting and she knew what this meant. The hole and cracks left in the asphalt showed clearly that this was not any regular weapon.

BANG! BANG BANG!

She forced herself to run again, but her movements seemed different from before. The fear of getting hit by the overkill bullets was probably getting to her.

BANG BANG!

"Yikes!" Yuna shrieked when one of the bullets missed her by a hair… and almost hit Hinata, who was still resting by the wall of the radio tower. Even Hishiro was surprised at his own lack of good sense and unconsciously stopped pulling the trigger. Instead, he shouted to Touma at his side. "She's confused. Go now!"

The spiky haired boy was still surprised by the gun, but there was no time to complain about it. This was indeed their only chance. Clenching his fist, he dashed forward and aimed a punch at Yuna's face. "Ooooaaaaaaaahh!"

She didn't seen this one coming and finally got hit. Her whole body was sent spinning in the air and beautifully landed on her back a few moments later.

That guy… he fights like a thug, but I have to admit, that was one heck of a punch. And his ability is quite fearsome as well. Hishiro thought while he checked his hurting wrist. "Ow! I usually forgot about this, but this thing recoil is no joke..."

Touma just stood there for a moment, catching his breath as the fatigue from the fight finally came to him. He knew it wasn't over yet, Yuna was still conscious and slowly sitting up. Her mad eyes and the trail of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth gave her quite the demonic look. "C-curse you… You ruined everything!"

"Sorry, but I wouldn't let you hurt her and get away with it!"

"SILENCE! I'm not talking to you, fool!" Touma was taken aback by the blunt retort. "You just had to hit the damn antenna with that toy!"

Both Touma and Hishiro had no idea what she was talking about at first, but looking up at the tower, it seemed that one of the antennas had a large hole caused by the cannon pistol. Hishiro laughed a little about it before replying. "I don't know what were you trying to do with this, but I guess luck isn't at your side. Or maybe it is? I mean, that bullet was supposed to go through your head, you know? If you don't want that happening to you, just give up and let us go. And by the way, that includes that girl over there. I'm sure you won't mind if we take her away, right?"

But Yuna barely paid any heed to what he said, as she was more concerned to what was being told to her via her earphone. "Hehe… Ahahahahaha! This isn't over yet!" And then, as if it was a cruel irony from the destiny, a black wagon came at full speed into the scene, almost running over the two boys who had to throw themselves to the ground in order to avoid it. Yuna stood up, grabbed Hinata by her arm and dragged the limp girl inside the vehicle. "And no, I won't give up that little doll so easily. This is the payback for what you did to Yuko!"

"Wait, stop!" But it was pointless. The wagon took off and left them behind. Hishiro wasted no time and went back inside the black car he used to get there, followed by Touma. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to rescue her. Isn't that what you were planning to do?"

They had no time to argue over this, so he didn't argue back. Besides, his official mission was to take Touma away from there safely, after all. Saving Hinata was his personal goal as a compensation for when she saved him. "Ah, whatever. Hey, follow that wagon!"

The driver answered by smashing the pedal, causing the engine to scream loud as the car blasted off after the other vehicle.

Between the Lines

Even after having let off a bunch of steam by blowing up a whole street, Mugino was still annoyed that their shopping trip got ruined. She and the other members of ITEM decided to go back to the private saloon for now and contact their liaison to look up into the guy that had suddenly attacked them, but for some reason, their cell phones weren't working so they couldn't all anyone to pick them up. Also, the public transport system was still out, so they had no choice but to walk to the neighbor district.

"Still, this is super weird. I'm pretty sure my phone wasn't out of range while we were hopping before."

Takitsubo leaned closer to Kinuhata, who was toying with her cellphone. "Didn't it got damaged during the battle?"

"If that was all, mine would still be working..." Replied Mugino while walking a bit ahead of the two. "Either something happened to the antennas or this has something to do with that destroyed satellite."

"The former was a very close call-nyah!" All girls stopped on their tracks. The voice and the way of speech was familiar to them. They had met its owner not long ago: the infamous Grim Reaper of the dark side of the city. He and two other boys had approached them from behind at some point and no one had noticed, even though there was no crowd to hide and sneak within. "But in truth, someone is using a radio tower to jam the signal. Only unconventional wavelengths are usable right now. But don't worry, someone is already working to get this solved. Were you ladies going to call for a taxi? If you don't mind, we could give you a ride."

"Tsk… you again. Really, just how many will I have to blow up to get some peace today?" Spat Mugino as she simply eyed the hawaiian shirt boy from the corner of her eyes.

"I advise against recurring to force this time. I'm not going to let you out off the hook today-nyah." This time, his voice sounded more serious instead of his usual joking tone. "In case you didn't get yet, this is not an invitation. I don't need all of you, but the hoodie girl there and your blond friend aren't allowed to refuse. So you better tell me where she is."

But the girls didn't felt intimidated. First, they were confused at what he meant on his last sentence. And only then they noticed…

"Hey, where is Frenda?!"

"She was supposed to be following us… I think..."

"What got into that girl? Super disappearing out of nowhere is her new character trait now?"

…

Meanwhile, a few away streets away from the other members of ITEM, Frenda was running with all she got, intending to catch up with the white robe girl.

Seed of Doubt, Exception, Rázval… Everything has been a mess ever since the intruders broke into the city that night. If she really was among them then, in the end, I will get to the bottom the answers I'm looking for!

Before anything else, I need to make a confession. I was originally intending to make Hishiro learn the meaning of friendly fire up there, if you know what I mean. Yes, I am a terrible person. Hinata is only safe (kinda) due to a my friend grabbing me by the collar and shouting "DON'T YOU DARE!" *laughs*

Even though this was yet another battle chapter, I managed to slip some important things there. For those who don't remember, the RSPK Syndrome is when an Esper loses control over his or her power, causing weird things to happen. I've been wanting to put this desperate tactic for quite some time now but wasn't sure if it was going to be well accepted (at least no one grabbed me by the collar for this yet, so that's a good sign?). Just to make it clear, that isn't limited to Hishiro, but I won't give any more details about it now. It is going to be important in future arcs, so hang in there for now.

Next chapter: Index will go solo on Rüdiger, Touma and Hishiro will go into a hot pursuit after Yuna (I wonder if I missed a chance of adding Hamazura in this part?), and Tsuchimikado and Mugino will finally going to fight each other... no wait, that's not gonna happen. Sorry, but his role is limited to the Between the Lines this chapter, and no fighting is going to happen there. but in the future... hmm, who knows?

I give my thanks for everyone supporting me, specially my friend that is helping with a lot of ideas and the guest that keeps finding typos where not even Aleister's Under Line is able to find. See you all next time!