IV

Chapter 24: The One to Surpass a Level Five

Five_Over_Alpha

Part 1

Hishiro had lost his flashlight at some point while running away from the killing machines, but that didn't matter now. The place that was supposed to be completely dark was now illuminated by the countless powered suits' lanterns that were as strong as highlights, all pointed towards the boy standing on the center of the floor.

A few seconds have passed but none of them attacked. It seemed like their AI had identified that the boy was completely cornered and were in no rush to risk losing this advantage, but Hishiro was afraid that this status quo would be broken if he were to pull the trigger first. But doing nothing won't take me anywhere. It's just a matter of time until… damn, this is not satisfying. There must be something I can do to turn things around!

His eyes travelled from one side of the room to the other, memorizing the enemies' positions and looking for anything that could give him an advantage. One particular object picked his attention and he wasted no time. With a single shot of the AMCP, he destroyed the valve of a gas container on the edge of the room right next to one of the powered suits. Without delay, the white gas leaked out at high pressure over the machine…. though that didn't exactly do anything but make all the automated weapons take action at once.

I was hoping it was nitrogen or anything that could damage it… this is definitely not my day. Cursing his bad luck on his mind, he took off towards the side with fewer enemies while under heavy fire. Using his ability, the boy managed to get past the scorpion saws, but was kicked by the other suit on its left and was sent flying a few meters away. He struggled to get up, just to get a railgun shot blast on the floor half a step away from where he was, throwing him crashing against the wall.

"Cough! Fuck, my body had just healed- whoa!" There was no time to complain. An iron sand sword tried to cut him in half with a vertical slash, which he managed to avoid by a hair. "You freaking scrap! Don't you dare do this again!" And from almost point blank, the cannon pistol dug two bullets into the armor of the powered suit, right in the joint of the arm holding the sword, sending sparks raining all over the place. But this was no reason to celebrate, as Hishiro's face was met with a steel fist and the boy was once again flying to the middle of the room.

The impact was more brutal the he initially thought and his balance was failing him, making it difficult to stand on his feet again. But he had to, or else… "*sniff*... this smell… oh shit, don't tell me-!"

Fire. He had no idea what kind of gas he had released, but the moment it was showered by the sparks from the machine, it ignited and started to spread out fast. Ignoring the pain, the boy tried running towards the stairs leading upwards. The whole place would be filled with smoke pretty quickly, so even though there was no longer anywhere to take cover in the higher floors, it would be a bad idea to keep going down. However, before he could get there, the scorpion fired its missile, which exploded in the middle of the white mist. "GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The effect was catastrophic. All of the gas, as well as the other containers, exploded into a sea of flames that mercilessly bathed the whole floor in the hellish heat, as well as a couple of floors above and below. The structure was obviously damaged by the intense blast, making quite a few iron rods and columns fall down.

Hishiro opened his eyes after having lost consciousness for a few seconds. He had somehow landed on the stairs he was running towards to, which was now bent in an S-like shape, making it impossible to climb them. Luckily, his ability did a good job on defending against the lethal heat and avoiding setting of the other explosives he had with him, but even then, his body was full of nasty burns all over. "Ugh… at this rate, people will think I'm some kind of pyromaniac..."

Taking a look around, it seemed that a considerable amount of the powered suits were destroyed by the blast. However, the shockwave caused many others to awake. "Hehehe… now what? I'm really out of ideas."

"Geez Shiro… didn't you noticed? Really?"

"What's with that attitude after leaving me without doing anything? I even forgot you were there Asuka."

"EEHH?! That's cruel!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE TO TALK! *Cough, cough!* Damn this freaking smoke!" He got up while fanning his face, trying to ignore the fact that Asuka was unable to hide her laughter on the other side of the line. "Whatever, there's no time for this. If you have some trump card left, you better play it now because they are coming at me again."

"If you need me that much, then get ready Shiro. Do exactly as I say and you'll breeze through these toys like they're nothing~*!"

Huh… I wonder where all this confidence came from. He had his doubts about what she was trying to do, but there was no room for complaints. Two of the suits were aiming their railguns at him and were ready to fire. Hishiro was ready to try and dodge somehow, but Asuka stopped him.

"Shiro, fire at them before they do!"

What? Despite not being sure how this would help, he did just as told and shot one bullet for each of them. Just like before the scorpion got in the way to intercept the attack, placing itself between the boy and the other two machines. Wait, for real?

Just a split of second after, they fired the railguns, hitting the Scorpion at full force. It wasn't destroyed, but it stopped moving and released steam from its junctions. "Good, now run through the gap between those two. Don't stop until I tell you to."

Once again, he followed the instructions while the two enemies prepared to attack one more time, one of them with an iron sand sword and the other with a high voltage discharge. The boy managed to get by them just before the attacks struck the path he went through, making them connect with each other. Once the discharge made contact with the vibrating iron sand, it created a closed circuit, making the electricity run all over the bodies of the two suits for a moment before they shutdown, sparks and smoke coming out of them.

"They had no electricity resistance? This makes no sense!"

"Do you see now, Shiro? All of them are imperfect in some way, and their AI is so flawed that it's painful to watch. We should have thought that this would be the case, since they were mass produced in such a hurry."

He stood still, blinking blankly while the damn machines surrounded him yet again. But this time, they didn't seem as menacing as before. "But if you don't move they can still hit you! Jump to the left and throw a grenade behind you!"

Following the path set by Asuka, he avoided the attacks and heard an unpleasant noise of metal being crushed just behind him. The boy didn't see exactly what had happened, but when he turned around, three suits were disabled, one was knocked to the ground with no ways of standing up and the Scorpion was once again covered in steam. "Hehe… hahahahahaha! Hey, Asuka! Keep this up! Let's scrap those failures right into the recycle bin!"

With Asuka guiding him, Hishiro fought while exploiting the imperfections of each of the powered suits. He went towards another group of least two and made their attacks harm each other, disabling them. A third was waiting for him in the end, but he attacked it first to bait the Scorpion into defending him from it. He didn't even used the AMCP, his pistol was enough to trigger the behavior, even though the regular bullet was harmless against their armor.

Running in the hall in circles, he dropped a couple of explosives in a way that seemed to be accidental, making the enemies ignore it until it was too late. The lower part of their hull seemed to be designed to withstand harsh landings, but not direct attacks, so this tactic proved to be very effective.

And following this same pattern of attack over and over, he managed to reduce the number of enemies from dozens to just three in five minutes. Intending to make them attack each other again, he dashed in between them and, just as expected, the one in the left swung the iron sand weapon without caring about its own ally on the other side. However, the other one dodged the attack and opened up enough space for the third - the Scorpion - to make its way towards Hishiro and try to slice him in half with its saws. "Whoa! What's up with that?! It wasn't acting like this a moment ago!"

In order to get rid of the Scorpion, he fired both of his guns at the powered suit that had attacked him earlier, but the multi-legged machine didn't took the damage for it this time, charging in once again to attack with the saw. The boy ducked under the attack and rolled beneath the powered suit, going towards the one he had just shot and unloading the AMCP on it.

That powered suit probably had received some damage beforehand, as some parts of it disassembled and crumbled down, unable to move or attack anymore. Soon after, the other powered suit attacked with a lightning spear form a blind spot, leaving no room for him to avoid it. "Ack- ghhhhhhhh!"

Enduring the electric shock and keeping on his feet, he turned towards the two remaining enemies with a scow while he reloaded his guns. "What's going on? The scorpion is acting weird, and this one is different from the others..."

"Could it be that they managed to perfect one of them? Or maybe someone is controlling them remotely..."

"What do I do now? I'm running out of bullets here, and nothing I done so far even scrapped that scorpion."

There was no time to come up with a new plan. Another lightning spear was fired, and even though Hishiro managed to sidestep it, the Scorpion jumped forward and kicked him, knocking the boy down. Then it placed itself above him and swung its saw downwards at full force. He stopped it midway with his ability, but the mechanical arm started moving again right after, slowly making its way towards the boy's neck even though it was inside the distorted field.

He panicked as the pressure on his body caused by the clash of his ability and the enemy attack increased and tried to get away, but one of the legs pinned him down, making an escape impossible. His only option was to strengthen the field which increased the pressure even further making his ears bleed, but it still wasn't enough to stop the weapon's advance. "Shit! Get the hell... away... from MEEEE!"

It happened just before the blade could touch his skin.

A powerful impact sent the Scorpion flying, ripping away its arm that was still under the effect of Null Inertia.

Something had drop kicked the machine from an above floor… several above floors actually, due to the force of the attack, and landed gracefully on the floor a few steps away from the grounded boy. "Are you still alive, Hishiro onii-san?"

It was the blond elementary school girl, Kihara Nayuta. Hishiro got to his feet and groaned, a little out of breath. "Thanks to you… not that I'm happy about it. Why are you here anyway?"

She pouted and answered while looking away. "Because you never showed up at the office, so I thought you had ditch me."

"I-I would never do that!"

"Yes you would. That was the plan." Asuka commented through his earphone, but he ignored her and continued.

"Things got a little busy around here, that's all."

"So you really took all of those out, onii-san? Amazing..."

"Just for the record," Asuka switched to the speakers on her own somehow and added, "those he destroyed were really dumb and weak. The remaining ones are on a whole other level."

Nayuta narrowed her eyes and watched as the powered suits regrouped and studied the newcomer on the battlefield. "Hmmm… I don't recognize the scorpion, but if the data I saw on the factory is right, the other one is probably the 5o#3-McR(P004)."

"Can you translate that?"

"It's an upgraded version of the 4th prototype, the one that got the best result in all tests. They were about to develop a whole lot of them, but the cost for it is too high, so the production was delayed for tomorrow morning. I guess we're lucky they got only one of them here."

Their conversation was cut short by a missile launched by the Scorpion. Nayuta got out of the way at superhuman speed to the left while Hishiro slowed the warhead end escaped to the right. From that position, they went for an uncoordinated pincer attack on the two machines.

Nayuta got to them first and sent a full blown kick on the Scorpion, which skidded backwards a bit but had no apparent damage. She was surprised by its endurance, but still managed to avoid the attack from the remaining arm of the machine. "You're not going down so easy, huh? In that case..." She circled the enemy faster than it could perceive her and attacked the joints repeatedly. The arm came off on the second strike, but the rest simply released steam and kept intact. "Curious… now I'm dying to know how you work. Let's play for a while, okay?"

On the other side of the room, Hishiro jumped left and right to avoid the lightning spears while approaching the prototype. When he got close enough, an iron sand whip formed on one of its arms, but before it could attack with it, the boy fired the AMCP at point blank and disrupted the action. The machine tried to gain some distance by jumping away and prepared to fire the railgun. "Oh no, you won't! HAH!" Bracing himself for the pressure, he created the largest field he could manage and slowed the machine's movement, catching up with it in no time. The railgun fired, but because of the distorted field, the magnetism gathered for the shot wasn't enough to make it dangerous.

Another whip started forming, but Hishiro knew the pattern the iron sand would take from the last time, so he easily managed to stop it on its tracks before planting a magnet explosive on the arm and rolling away. The blast almost knocked the prototype down, and the arm was too damaged to attack again. However, the boy failed to see another electric discharge coming at him in the middle of it all and got struck by it mercilessly. "D-d-d-d-dammit!"

Stuck in place due to the current, he was lucky that Nayuta was sent flying towards him, knocking him out of the attack range. They both rolled on the ground, but Nayuta managed to get on her feet faster and dashed towards the prototype as it was closer. The machine fired lightning spears at her and she didn't even bother to dodge. The girl simply crossed her arms in front of her and took the hit with no damage. "As someone that faced the original, this is a joke. And of course, I have countermeasures against this now, so it won't work!"

Faced the original? Did she really…? Hishiro pushed this line of thought away for the time being and went after them. Except it was too late, as Nayuta had closed the distance and started to dismantle the machine with her bare hands until it was no longer functional.

"... that girl is brutal. Remember me to never try and fight her, Asuka."

"Well, what were you expecting? She IS a Kihara, after all."

Only one enemy left. The two of them stood side by side and took their stances. Sure it was a tough one, but now that they had the numerical advantage, they were confident that they could pull it off. Except… that it turned off on its own. "Uh… did you damage it enough for something like this to happen?"

"I tried, but something beneath the hull disperses any energy applied to it. This definitely isn't my doing."

Now that all of them were either destroyed or powered off, the place was once again bathed in an eerie darkness that was only fought off by the remaining small flames here and there. And from beyond the darkness, footsteps echoed informing them that someone was climbing up the stairs from a lower floor. Hishiro clicked his tongue and put himself in guard. "Impossible… the building was locked from the outside, so how-"

"And do you think we wouldn't have an extra route to our buried treasure, boy?"

Part 2

The person finally arrived at their floor and stepped out of the darkness, revealing her round glasses, twin black ponytails and white lab coat. Nayuta gasped when she saw her and shouted in surprise. "Takayama Kyrie!? What are you doing here?"

The woman stopped next to the disabled Scorpion, placed her hands on her hips and looked at the girl with a superior tone. "Oh, you know me?"

"Of course I do! You are the one that issued the order to capture Kyiama-sensei!"

"Capture? My, my, those are some strong words. We were going to make her an offer, that's all."

Hishiro felt out of the loop, and he knew that lack of information could put himself in danger, so he interrupted their conversation. "Hey, Nayuta, what's going on? Is she the head of the whole project? The one you went after in the office?"

"No, but she's basically second or third in command here." She answered without taking her eyes of the woman. "I had fought off many agents she had sent before you left the hospital."

"This Kiyama-sensei you mentioned just now… are you referring to Kiyama Harumi?" Asked Asuka. But instead of Nayuta, Takayama answered her question.

"But of course. That woman is a genius when it comes to Espers brains. Our creations so far, as I assume you're already familiar with given the mess you two made, are mere tools to give anyone access to the highest level of Esper abilities developed at Academy City. But if a person would chose to use them as is right now, they would pale in comparison to a real Esper, and that is supported not only by previous experiments, but also by the fact that you managed to defeat so many of them in such a short amount of time. Do you know why?"

"Because their AI suck?" The boy jabbed, making the researcher chuckle a little.

"Make no mistake. They can't act on their own. These tools are all meant to be used by someone." And then, she approached the remainings of one of the powered suits and took a purple glass container out of it with a very thin line inside, like a single hair. "This allowed remote control. It is in fact a collaboration with another project, but that does not matter right now. The fact is that the user had all the instructions to use those, but it made countless mistakes along the way, like falling for traps and unintentionally hitting its own allies. This is what would happen in the streets of Academy City if our product was to be released in its current state."

Did she intend to release those to the general public? Hishiro imagined that for a moment and only chaos surged on his head. What would the members of Skill Out do if they got their hands on one of those? And the other factions of the dark side?

But Takayama kept talking without noticing his panic. "But things changed on the last moments of your fight, right? That is because the user got a better grip of the practical use of these abilities and made clever decisions taking that in consideration. Still, this was nothing compared to the several years of experience the two of you have with your own abilities. So this result is unavoidable 100% of the time in any simulation we ran so far. However, there was one person in the past that was capable of making proficient use of several different abilities the moment she got them. All she had to do is link her own brain with the brains of other Espers that had the experience she lacked - just like the Sisters do."

"Yeah, Kiyama-sensei was able to do that when she linked with the Level Upper, but the side effects-"

"That's why we need her instead of using the same method, little girl. There's this issue that needs to be fixed, and she is one of the few in this city that can do it."

"Sorry, but that's not happening." The boy had enough of their talk and stepped forward. "If you complete this toy and everyone in the city ends up owning one, I'll end up having to work 24/7 and I'm not looking forward to it."

"So, you think only the high level Espers are qualified to use those abilities? You think law would fall if level 0s were to wield them?" Takayama asked him in a daring tone, almost mocking him. "What makes the powerful Espers way of thinking so special that they are the only ones responsible enough to be trusted with those powers, hmm? Can you answer that?"

Hishiro looked at her blankly, unable to come up with a quick response, much to her amusement. "You can't, right? Because there is none. Things are the way they are now just to keep this power hierarchy in the city and nothing more. The research we are doing now could be done countless years before, but the projects were always shutdown in their initial stages without explanations. Hayashi-san and the people at Nagatenjouki Academy are the only ones that showed us support, and even they had to do it in secret. But this… this unfair rule… ends today. Right here!"

Mechanical noises could be heard from behind the woman, probably from a bellow floor. The boy forgot all about rebutting her argument as the ambient was suddenly illuminated by an eerie flashing red light, as if a warning siren had gone off somewhere nearby. "It is a shame that most of the 5o#3-McR - no, the Modelcase Railgun series were defeated, but those were just what the lower ranks were working on. Just like this Scorpion Unit, my personal creation took a different direction and became something else… something that no one could ever dream about. I regret that I had to make use of that repulsing experiment to achieve this, but now is the time to make up for that! Behold - the ultimate machine that surpasses the power of the strongest level 5!"

BAAAANG!

And so, that thing jumped from bellow and landed right behind Takayama, shaking the already damaged structure. It was a huge white four legged powered suit, mad of metal plates that weren't connected to each other, leaving thin gaps all over its body from where blue lights could be seen. Its "feet" were exceptionally large and had countless wheels attached to springs beneath them. From the inside of the empty pilot cabin, a complex layout of circuits was left visible, making one question if it was still incomplete or if it was left like this on purpose. And on the largest plate on the front, it was written "5o#1-McA(P013): Five Over Alpha".

"A 13th prototype? There was nothing recorded about this in the factory's database!" Nayuta shouted in disbelief as she tried to understand the serial code. "#1... McA... you can't be serious! When you say the strongest level 5-"

"YES! This is the one and only Modelcase Accelerator!"

Hishiro hadn't looked at the same files as Nayuta to understand all of it, but even him managed to grasp what was going on by now. "H-hey, this can't be, right? Replicate a railgun is one thing, but to emulate that monster's abilities... is it even possible?"

"They were studying the Sisters to get enough info on the strongest electromaster, so what would stop them from doing the same with that boy? Sorry onii-san... I should have foreseen that this was possible..."

"No... no, no, no, no! Asuka, it is impossible, right? Right?!" There was no answer from the other side of the line. She probably had nothing to say that would calm him down, so she opted to stay quiet. Clicking his tongue, Hishiro aimed both guns forward and pulled the trigger without thinking twice.

Seeing that, the blonde girl panicked. "Onii-san! No!"

*BANG! BANG!*

*Kachiiiiiiiiiiiin*

The moment the bullets hit the armor – or maybe even before that – an indescribable noise roared in the room, followed by the phenomenon that the boy was hoping it would not happen. Yes, the bullets were redirected accurately towards his position. If it wasn't for Nayuta jumping at him to push him out of the way, he would probably die instantly from his own attack.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! Do you believe it now, foolish boy? You are witnessing the dawn of a new age for science! That was the face I wanted to see! When your hopes and disbeliefs turn into despair... yes, that's exactly how those apes that call themselves researchers are going to react!"

As a researcher herself, the young Kihara glared at Takayama with her eyes full of hate before turning her attention at Hishiro bellow her. "That was too reckless, onii-san."

"Hehehe... I guess it was..." The boy said lifelessly, but it lasted for just a short moment before his usual expression came back at him. "But on the bright side, it served as proof... that thing is really an imitation of him."

The two of them stood up, the male grinning smugly despite the fact he had his hands shaking of fear. "Despair? Don't make me laugh. I'm actually looking forward to shatter to pieces that fancy blender you're so proud of right before your eyes."

The lab coat woman's eyes twitched slightly over the boy's words, but she kept her composure and placed her hands on her pockets, returning his glare as if it was a stare contest. "You have no idea of the situation you are in right now, do you? Or perhaps have you gone insane in face of death?"

"Neither. I admit you got me twice, but I'm not falling for your tricks anymore. You revealed the flaw of these machines yourself. No matter how powerful it is, it can't match what a real Esper can do, right?"

"So that's where your last light of hope is coming from, hmm?" Takayama shot a look of pity at the boy while making a motion as if ordering for her creation to attack. "But we'll see about that. Show me how you fair facing the ultimate power of science!"

And then, the Five Over's lights turned to red and looked ready to attack. Hishiro braced himself to take it on head on, but had no idea on how to damage it. Everything he done in his fight against Accelerator proved to be useless after all. "So, Nayuta... any idea on how that thing works? I can't think of anything."

"I have a theory." She answered with little confidence in her voice. "that scorpion had some hind of rotor inside it to disperse the strength of any attack it took. Using the same principle, they could redirect the vectors in a similar way as the Accelerator does... probably."

"That doesn't sound plausible..."

"It's either that or she managed to replicate the absolute defense of the windowless building. Which one you prefer, onii-san?"

"So rotors it is." He answered in a bitter tone. "But how do we deal with it?"

"We just attack on the obvious opening!" And like that, the girl took off faster than a bullet, running in a zigzag pattern and aimed a jump kick at the gap between the plates on the left front leg. However, just before the strike could connect, the plates moved in their axis and formed a V, closing the gap. With great effort, the girl readjusted her position in midair to reduce the effort of the impact, but even then...

*Kachiiiiiiiiiiiin*

"Kyaaaah!" Her body was sent flying backwards at such speed that it seemed like she had just vanished. She should've crashed against the wall, but she managed to reduce the impact greatly with her arms and legs somehow.

That didn't work... but I got what she was trying to do. And if it made an effort to protect that part, it means it's vulnerable! Finally knowing what to do, Hishiro advanced this time after reloading his gun.

The machine didn't stand still this time and ran over the nearby debris, catapulting it towards the boy by just barely touching it.

"Ah, c'mon!" He was forced to step back to avoid the projectiles with the help of his ability. In the meantime, Nayuta had approached it from behind and tried another attack on the gaps on a different spot, but the results were the same as her last attempt.

"That thing is unapproachable... in that case!" Without trying to get close, he fired the AMCP three times, but missed the gaps by a mile and had to jump on the floor to not get hit by his own bullets.

"You really thought this was a good idea, Shiro? I mean, your aim is a little..."

"Shut up Asuka! Just shut the fuck up!" He got up as fast as he could, but for his surprise, the Five Over had somehow closed the distance in a blink of an eye and kicked him with no mercy, sending the boy flying against the wall. He had to reduce the speed with Null Inertia to avoid any major damage.

Afterwards, it tried to attack the blond girl in the same way, but she managed to keep up with its speed and avoided the attack, all the while picking an iron rod from the ground and using it to attack one of the gaps, while punching another one at the same time. Her limbs moved at an impossible speed. No matter who the pilot was, it could defend two different places that needed the same plate to cover up at the same time if he couldn't even follow her attack with their own eyes – or so she thought. In reality, several plates readjusted their positioning to defend flawlessly.

She wasn't sent flying this time and only skidded backwards, but her left arm was jerking unnaturally from time to time after receiving the recoil of her own attacking, making the girl hold it with her other arm while gritting her teeth. The iron rod her used got completely deformed and was unusable as a weapon.

It was obvious they needed a better plan. Nayuta approached Hishiro who had just got to his feet again and suggested. "Oi, onii-san... can't you stop those plates from moving with your ability?"

"I don't think so." He said while shaking his head. "It had no effect when I used it against Accelerator."

"But that thing isn't the original #1."

"Well, I guess it's worth a try."

Nodding to each other, they charged forward at the same time. The powered suit showered them with debris, but they got through the attack by him slowing them down and her intercepting the projectiles in midair with her superior mobility. The moment it stopped moving, the male made the calculations in his head as fast as he could and created several fields around many plates of the machine's hull. The blonde saw the phenomena and wasted no time in getting closer in order to unleash her attack.

However, just like what had happened to the Scorpion earlier, the plates were still able to move slowly inside the distortion field. "Shit... Back off, Nayuta! It's not working!"

"Not yet!" Due to the slowed down movement, the plates had to take action way sooner to close the gap before the girl made her move. Which means I can find an opening by changing my target in the last moment! And so she did. Just before sending her punch, she aimed at another gap and attacked before it could react. "Haaaaaaaaah!"

"Nice try, but it's useless!" Shouted Takayama as she watched the battle from a safe distance.

High pressure steam leaked from the gap, strong enough to push the girl's small but heavy fist back, leaving her open for another attack. She took a hit in the middle of her chest, making her roll on the floor while spitting out blood.

"Dammit!" In desperation, Hishiro took a steady aim and fired with the more precise revolver. His aim was right this time, but the plates moved fast enough to cover the gaps before the bullets hit.

The lab coat woman giggled at his struggle. "That won't work. Alpha was made to replicate the original's automatic reflection. It doesn't matter how fast you attack because the pilot has no need to input anything, the sensors will do all the work and react on their own. Oh, and don't even think of damaging those either, it's beyond your reach."

Gritting his teeth again, he gave up on his offence for the time being and went to Nayuta's side to help her to stand, but she refused his hand and forced her words out. "Onii... chan... the cockpit..."

That's right... it's a little too high, but there is no armor there! Following the hint, the boy charged forward one more time, ignored the projectiles coming at him and threw a couple of explosives at it.

*Kachiiiiiiiiiiiin*

!

Unexpectedly, his actions resulted in his explosives coming back at him alongside the other projectiles. He had no way to avoid that and ended up getting hit by the blasts and debris at full force, knocking him unconscious before even falling to the ground, with a small puddle of blood slowly forming beneath his body.

"What a couple of fools. I told you it was useless." Takayama sighed and shook her head with her eyes closed, but still wearing the same annoying smuggle smile. "Alpha is way beyond the league of the likes of you. It is true that that girl didn't had much time to adapt to controlling it yet, but even the basics of the #1 power is still untouchable by your average Espers. Once she masters it, it will easily be able to reach the unexplored territory that not even the top seven could even dream to reach. Yes, it will surpass all level fives and go beyond!"

Part 3

To surpass a level 5.

That had become that little girl's dream.

That girl that was looked down upon by all the adults surrounding her for following the rules.

Kiharas are not meant to follow those rules. They were meant to test the boundaries of possibility regardless of the consequences, and the rules set for the others to follow are partially based on their results. She soon came to understand that as those Child Errors, the first friends she ever made, became victim of her grandfather experience and fell into comatose.

They all had that stupid dream of becoming a level 5 someday, even though she knew it was impossible. But at some point, she had incorporated that dream into herself, and made the experiments on her own body instead of the other guinea pigs that could be easily given to her by the city. And with great sacrifice, she gave a large step into that direction.

Now the kids were awake again thanks to Kiyama Harumi, but she didn't had the courage to see them yet. Even though she avoided harming other Child Errors, she not even once tried to help them directly like that teacher did. Because she thought it was also impossible.

So she had decided that she would turn the impossible into possible first. She would create a method to fulfill their dreams, starting with herself. Maybe it was just an excuse for her to forgive herself for giving up on them, but it didn't matter. She would do that no matter what.

Even after witnessing the difference in power between her and the #3, she would not give up on that. Not on that at the very least.

Even if she had to overcome that massive hurdle right in front of her now.

That machine that was about to steal her dream towered over her and the other boy's body as if victory was already granted. Indeed, defeating it... was pretty much impossible.

But that's exactly why I need to do it!

Her limbs started moving again slowly, making a similar inorganic noise to those powered suits.

After all... I…

The artificial skin was peeled off in some parts, revealing the black synthetic muscles beneath it.

"That thing... will never be what you want it to be... Kyrie!"

Those were the results of her efforts so far. The consequences of her experiments. And just like her hair and eyes colors, they were all the proof of her success into attaining the power she desired so much.

"Because... the one to surpass a level 5... will be me!"

With that shout, she willed herself to her feet again and prepared to attack again, making the lab coat woman laugh scornfully. "Deluded child... you never learn, do- oh my..."

She stopped in mid-sentence because she noticed the attack wasn't directed at the Five Over. Nayuta was aiming directly at her this time.

With steps that were mere shadows from her previous speed, but still above of what a regular human could do, the girl approached Takayama intending to hit her neck and end her life with a single strike. The older female showed no signs of fear though and simply placed her hand over her mouth, probably expecting the machine to defend her.

"Gah- AGH!" Feeling a heavy impact on her stomach, the young Kihara was lifted from the floor. She didn't even saw what the powered suit had done and concluded it was the result of some sort of vectorial manipulation. But how... How is it controlling vectors? How can a machine replicate that to this level?

Her line of thought was interrupted by a sudden sharp pain in her wrist, which made her scream in agony. Barely landing on her feet, she noticed that her left hand had been ripped off, leaving the many cables and steel wires that composed her cyborg arm visible.

I need to find out... if I don't, this will be the end of my dream... of our dream! Narrowing her eyes, she went for another useless attack. As the Five Over brushed her attempt off as if it was nothing, she sharpened her five senses trying to find something, anything that could give her a hint. It was just like back then... when she blindly put herself through the experiments trying to find an answer, knowing that it could end up being harmful for herself.

And beside noise of the rotors she had speculated earlier, she managed to see it. Something very faint. Something very thin. Something that shouldn't be there. No way... this is...!

Getting up again, she studied the machine. That thing wasn't there anymore, but she was sure she had seen it. "It happens only when the ability is triggered? If so, she had to bait yet another attack."

This time, Alpha didn't wait for her and threw several parts of the other prototypes that were laying around, burying her in a pile of heavy junk.

Ah... so that's really it. The girl had to laugh at herself for not noticing it earlier. It was there the whole time. She could've seen it from the start, but the answer is so insane and improbable that she brushed it off as impossible by default.

"Whatever... if that's it, then I... Ugh..." Digging her way out, Nayuta tried to go for a decisive attack, but she fell flat on the floor without being able to keep her balance. My right leg... is not working anymore.

"One attack... all I need is just to hit that thing once!"

"Keep dreaming." Spat Takayama. "And even if you managed to do it, what good would a single strike do?"

"Heh... let me show you!" Jumping on her only functional foot, the blond girl baited another attack from the powered suit, and this time...

*Kachiiiiiiiiiiiin*

"What? How is this-"

The attack that was supposed to redirect the vectors back at Nayuta ended up sending the whole machine flying back. With a single limb, she failed to land correctly and fell back first on the floor. The damage on her body was severe and she knew she couldn't move anymore, but... "I did it... HAHAHAHAHA, I DID IT!"

"What have you done?!"

"Try and figure it out on your own, oba-san."

"Tsk... APLHA! CRUSH HER!"

Obeying her orders, the Five Over jumped high and was about land on the girl's limp body.

But once again, it was pushed back.

"What... is going on here!?" Nayuta didn't move a single muscle. The only one that had attacked was Alpha, and yet, it was the only one that had received the damage. "No, wait... don't tell me..."

"Did you notice already?"

"You... are making Alpha attack itself... aaaahh I see. You ARE Kihara Nayuta, so that's how it is..."

"In other words, you can't defeat me as long as that thing is using that ability."

"Indeed. But... that's the case ONLY if it is using the ability, right?" A malicious grin, much like the one in the face of the other scientists she despised so much, replaced the surprised expression in Takayama's face. "Alpha, turn off all automatic defenses. Just use your weight and smash her like the worthless bug she is!" And answering her commands, the lights coming from the gaps turned from red to yellow.

That's it then. Her body was stuck to the ground. Her limbs no longer answered to her commands. And even though she had found a way around the redirection, there was nothing she could do if it was just a normal attack. The elementary school girl laid her head back and closed her eyes. Banri-chan, I did it. I overcame the strongest ability of Academy City. But this is my limit... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't fulfill my promise with you.

Dashing with its wheels, the machine intend to run over the small girl on the floor. It would all be over in a dozen of seconds-

*BANG*

Suddenly, a large hole appeared on one of the front feet of the powered suit, making a couple of wheels detach themselves from it and changing it course, sending it crashing against the wall.

Surprised, both females turned towards there the sound came from.

"And to think... you would disable the defenses on your own... just how much of an idiot are you?"

"Hishiro onii-san!"

"Damn you!"

The brown haired boy had regained consciousness at some point and was now on his knees, bleeding a waterfall from many injuries all around his body but still aiming the AMCP at the prototype. "That's what you get for underestimating me, dumb bitch!"

Without giving the researcher time to react, Hishiro unloaded his gun, hitting several areas of the machine that left holes in the hull from where sparks showered. The damage seemed serious, but it wasn't enough to take it down as the powered suit charged towards the boy while he reloaded his gun with his remaining bullets.

However, unlike before, its moves were slower than the other prototypes and he managed to avoid the attack at ease. "I don't know what happened to your toy here, but the way it is now, it stands no chance against me!"

Stop. It wasn't broken yet, but the Five Over stopped its movements for a moment, slowly turning to face the insolent boy and turning the lights back to red, making Takayama panic. "Wait, Alpha! Don't do it!"

"Onii-san! Shoot it now!"

Maybe because he had followed Asuka instructions earlier, Hishiro obeyed before thinking about the command while the enemy came rushing at match speed, only to be knocked back with twice the force it intended to attack the boy. "Whoa, that's satisfying. Is that your doing, Nayuta?"

"I'll explain later, just keep attacking!"

With every shot, Alpha's armor bent inwards causing heavy damage to it and by the time he shot the last bullet, the machine was no longer recognizable. It still tried to move, but all it was able to do was crawl with its only working leg. The boy was feeling dizzy due to blood loss, but he still grinned towards the twin ponytail woman and announced while aiming the revolver at her. "Your absolute weapon got absolutely defeated. This is the end of line. Any last words?"

Sighing, she still seemed to be calm despite the clear dissatisfaction in her face. "I guess that's what I deserve for being too kind. Aritami's doll is still too young to be able to fully understand and control something of this level... I'll make him pay for this later. If I had piloted it myself, this wouldn't had happened."

"Putting the blame on someone else? What a sore loser."

"Loser? Sorry to disappoint you, but this game is far from over. I have no intention to let it end here."

In that moment, the flashing light went off, bathing the place in darkness again. Hishiro pulled the trigger three times but stopped when he heard a mechanical noise nearby moving upwards. "Dammit... where are you, coward?"

"Hishiro onii-san... can you give me a hand here?"

Nayuta's voice was followed by a beam of light that came from one of the girls eyes, who was still laying face up on the floor. He approached her and noticed the despicable state she was on. "Nayuta... you're..."

"It's alright, this is nothing. I can get myself fixed as much as I want. But I can't get up on my own now so... please."

"..."

The boy made a complicated expression for a moment, but he ended up picking her up despite that. "What do we do now? I don't know how, but that woman escaped..."

"She used the Scorpion to climb up the walls." Informed Asuka. "If you still want to go after her, I can follow her using the cameras."

Nayuta shook her head. "Hmm... no. It's a shame, but we can't go after her in our condition."

"Not to mention the stairs upwards are trashed. We can only hope to use that other entrance to leave."

Part 4

Hishiro headed to the lowest floor while carrying Nayuta, who illuminated the way with the flashlight on her eye. There were still some powered suits on the way but they decided to leave those alone for now. They couldn't risk another battle after all that happened. There, they found a tunnel that probably was used by Takayama to get inside the facility without them knowing.

While he walked, the boy ended up looking at the damaged parts of the girl for a brief moment. "Asuka onee-san investigated me, so you to already knew, right?"

"Yeah... sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I'm not used to seeing cyborgs, even in my line of work."

"Don't worry about that."

"Still... I'm curious about how you trampled with that powered suit."

The girl hesitate for a moment before answering. "It's actually better if you don't know, onii-san."

"Don't give me that. After all the madness we went through, I should at least have the right to know that."

"*sigh* All right. Do you know what my ability is?"

"Huh... if I remember correctly, it had something to do with manipulating AIM diffusion fields-" The boy had a realization and felt as if someone had dropped a bucket of cold water on his body. "No way..."

"I didn't want to believe it either but it's true. That machine somehow emitted a thin layer of AIM Diffusion fields."

"But... how is this even possible?"

"I don't know... the project will have to be stopped after all the damage we caused, so I hope I can get my hands on all their research material to figure that out. In any case, that woman... Takayama Kyrie is not a normal researcher. I'll have to keep an eye on her from now on."

...

Following that path, they soon found an elevator leading to one of the many buildings of their base. By now, everyone had already been evacuated, but the place was full of people in military black clothes that the blond girl recognized on the spot. "The Hound Dogs? What are they doing here?"

"Oh, don't worry about that Nayu-chan." Asuka answered from Hishiro's communication device. "While you two were having your moment alone in that dark place, I already took care of all the bureaucratic work. These people will handle the leftovers – including that woman and the head researcher you let escape."

The boy's face distorted in a bitter expression under her words, but the girl was the first one to talk. "Ah- you found out about that, onee-san?"

"You can't hide anything from me, you know? A-ny-thing~*! Incluuuuding the true reason behind the favor you asked us. It had nothing to do with the danger of that research, nor the fact that their results risked to invalidate all your efforts. No, no, you just wanted to keep that teacher out of the dark side, riiiiiiiiight~~*?"

That sentence destroyed the friendly atmosphere built by their cooperation up to that point, which was aggravated by the cold tone of the girl's retort. "Ridiculous. Why would someone of my-"

"No use playing dumb. And you don't need to be so wary just because we found out. I don't intend to tell that to the troublesome members of your family, because I'm sure they wouldn't leave you alone if we did... that is, as long as you are willing to do a tiny favor for us in return."

"... so you two are trying to turn the table on me? That's cruel. You two are sooo cruel! You're not going to let her do this to me, will you, onii-san?"

"I already told you, that cute act won't work on me. And she's not asking anything incredibly unreasonable like you did."

"Yup, Nayu-chan. We just need you to look up on who else is peeping our private communication lines besides you, that's all. Since you managed to do it, you can find if the same security breach is being used by someone else, right?"

"Geez, you two are not fun." Nayuta pouted and looked away with her cheeks slightly dyed in pink for some reason. "Fine, I can do that."

"Good! Since you agreed so easily, I'm even willing to give you a ride home in our dedicated vehicle! Am I not a nice person?"

What, were you intending to leave her here like this otherwise? That's low even for you, Asuka. Those thoughts passed through Hishiro's head, but he decided to not say it since Asuka got what they wanted. "Okay, since all is settled, I guess it's hospital time again... oh well, I just hope it's a different one from the last time."

...

Once inside the car – which happened to be a mini black limo – Hishiro let out a heavy sigh. Nayuta was on a sit ahead that faced his while looking through the window. "Well then..."

His voice picked the girl's attention and made her look at him, and when she did... "Onii-san... why are you pointing this gun at me?"

"You didn't think I would let you get away with everything you did for free, did you? I need some answers from you, and you better answer honestly."

"Huh? But I thought Asuka-"

"Her requests doesn't necessarily concerns me. She was the good cop, and right now, I'm the bad cop. And don't you DARE to ever tell her what I'm going to ask you now, got it?" Nayuta didn't answer with words. She kept staring at his face, as if to test how far he was willing to go with this, and came to the conclusion it was not a good idea to get on his bad side at that moment.

"I'll take your silence as a yes. Then I'll go ahead and ask. Kihara Gensei. You've met him personally, didn't you?"

"Yes. He is my grandfather."

"Do you know anything about his whereabouts?"

She answered after a small pause after closing her eyes and shaking her head. "No. And I don't think any other Kihara knows what happened to him either."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. The last time I saw him was shortly after that failed experiment with the Child Errors."

"I see... So what about his researches? Do you have access to what he had worked on during all those years?"

"Huh... I think so. Some of it at the very least."

Then, he took a small SD card from inside his phone and handed over to her. "There is a high chance that he was involved in the experiment described there. If you find anything regarding that, contact me immediately."

Soon, they arrived at the hospital. Hishiro opened the door and left those last words with her. "Remember, don't tell Asuka about it. I'll know if you do."

After he left and the driver headed for another hospital located in district 7 for Nayuta, the girl lost herself in thought about what had just happened while toying with the SD card. "Just what is he planning? Good thing I didn't killed him with his own ability when he pointed that weapon to me. Things are going to get... interesting."

...

August 22, 5:55 PM

After being dispatched from the hospital (again), Asuka sent Hishiro a report regarding the results of their last operation. An investigation was made, the Five Over project was redeemed illegal and an arrest warrant was issued for all personnel involved, though the higher ranks, including the head researcher that Nayuta failed to catch, are yet to be found. All the remaining equipment and the research results were confiscated by Academy City's security department, and after the cancellation of the Level Six Shift project, it was decided that the Five Overs were going to be once again put in test phase after receiving heavy adjustments for practical military use.

"Wait, what?! That's fucking bullshit! We went through all the trouble to put a stop to this madness so they could just green lit it again under a new label and call it a day?!"

"Well, it can't be helped." Asuka wanted to calm him down, but she couldn't think of any means to do so. In truth, she herself was quite mad about this whole thing. "Seria-chan wasn't happy about it either, but now that the Project is under the wings of Academy City's official channels, there is nothing we can do about it. If you ask me, I think this was the whole point of this. They just wanted the patent to use this in any way they want. But the good side is that we can be sure this won't be released to anyone now."

"Fuck that, I give it two or three months until we see some of those being used in the dark side!"

"I can't argue with that... but you know what's weird? I think this is the first time the higher ups ever concerned themselves with weapon development of this caliber for practical use. I wonder if they are feeling threatened by something or preparing themselves for war..."

*FREEZE*

Upon the mention of that word, the boy stopped on his tracks as he remembered something important the nun in white had told him before

"A conflict between Academy City, which is the core of the science side of the world, and the church, which is the core of the magic side that transcend even countries, would probably result in a large scale war."

That's what she said as one of the possible goals that crazy magician had back then. Is Academy City taking precautions against this worst case scenario? Or are they actually...

"Heeey, Shiro! Are you still there?"

"I'm listening. It's just... that tracker you placed in Index's clothes is still working?"

"Huh? Yeah, it is, but why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"It might be worth paying that airhead a visit soon."

Between the Lines

"So this is checkmate... well played, Mr. chairman. You did manage to take everything from us in the end."

"I am truly sorry, Yukiko-san. If we were better prepared..."

Inside the principal office of Nagatenjouki Academy, the elegant Yukiko Hayashi and the cyborg runaway Hashimoto were discussing what to do from that point on. The woman knocked the white king on her beloved chess table before sighing and answering. "Never mind that... What about Takayama-sensei?"

"Not even a hint. My men are still searching for her as we speak."

"I guess we should treat her as an enemy from now on as well, since she didn't even tried to contact us... and we can't support Aritomi-kun anymore, since he isn't exactly aligned with our cause. How troublesome."

"How should we proceed then?"

Rubbing her temples, Hayashi replied with a bitter smile. "Our only option now is to contact our friends outside the city... you know what this means, right?"

...

Meanwhile, inside a complex of buildings in District 17 that used to be Misawa Cram School, a woman in a dark grey robe with golden decorations and a black hood hiding her face walked on the empty hallway – one that couldn't be perceived by normal people. Two planes used to exist in that place, and she recreated that second plane, the other side of the coin, in order to achieve her goal.

"Well, well, who would ever think that it would still be here? People from the Anglican church can be a bit too careless for their own good."

On her foot laid the "person" she intended to meet. However, right now, that person was nothing more than a pile of molten gold, an entity that lost the conditions it needed to exist. "Not for long though. I hereby concede thee the divine bless of forgiveness. Thou shalt be allowed to be once more as long as I, your master from this day forward, walk upon this land. Now... arise!"

And after chanting those words, the woman dropped a tarot card on the gold, which slowly started to take form. "Hehe, easy as taking a candy from a baby. It almost makes me feel bad from doing this. Almost."

...

Just before 8 PM, the doorbell rang in a certain house in Kanagawa Prefecture. Kamijou Shina knew it was her husband that had just arrived and opened the door, but she didn't expect he wasn't alone that night. "My, my, Touya-san, we have a visitor tonight?"

"Sorry it's a bit sudden. It's that I just met this gentleman in the plane on my way back and he was curious about my collection, if you know what I mean."

And the gentleman in particular, wearing the same kind of dark grey robe, covered in a graceful aura that washed away any complaints Shina had about the situation, politely bowed and introduced himself. "Forgive my intrusion. I am Rázval Gregory Serafin, also a collector of exotic items like your husband. May I come inside?"

They both welcomed him inside without noticing his fixed gaze on their peculiar decoration, nor the way he carefully picked up specific items here and there with the excuse of taking a closer look on them just to place them in a slightly different position to create a specific meaning.

Later that night, after Rázval left the house, he took out his cellphone and made a call quickly while he walked towards the closest bus stop.

"Rázval, you're no longer in Academy City, so why do you insist in using such rustic means of communication?"

"My apologies, Myrin, but I actually came to like this device quite a lot. I cannot stop using it now."

"This is... unexpected. Well... how did it go?"

"It is done. Either luck is smiling at us or one of our enemies is really unlucky, because I found a sanctuary almost ready for use, and it was built completely by accident."

"This sounds too good to be true. Are you sure it isn't a trap?"

"I am. The person behind did it all by himself without knowing what he was doing. In truth, the way he randomly placed new spiritual items in there, he could end up making a catastrophic spell that not even us would be able to handle. It was a good thing I found it and guided it towards our goal."

"So when it begins?"

"In about six days. If everything goes according to the plan, we will have an angel on earth similar to the one being created in Academy City, and we will be sure that they are doing this on their own accord."

...

"I did it. I have created the monster you requested, Overseer."

Inside the hidden laboratory in the underground of the skyscraper on the border of District 7, Hideaki rested his back on the chair after seeing the results of the tests he had been running for the past twenty hours displayed on the monitor. The spiky red haired boy applauded him from nearby the door, walking towards the capsule on the other side of the room.

"Well done. Honestly, you surpassed all of my expectations. You somehow managed to stabilize her before those clowns from STUDY could complete theirs."

"That is because ours don't need to work on such a large scale like theirs. Still, she is quite destructive. I really recommend leaving her as a last resort instead of the main plan."

"Don't worry, professor. I'm well aware of the risks, and I'm willing to make the bet." And so, the boy pressed the button on the machine, opening the capsule after all the liquid inside it got drained. And in just a couple of seconds, she opened her eyes, sending shivers running through the older male's spine.

There was no turning back now.

All of them had made their preparations.

All pieces had been set on the game board.

And the first movement was just about to be made.

Hello my readers. It's been a while. I guess I don't even need to explain why it took so long, just take a look at the size of this. 11k words. Turned out that everything I wanted to put in this chapter ended up taking a lot more than I initially thought it would. Yeah, I'm terrible at making estimates. But I hope I managed to get your hype up. I was just dying to write all this ever since the beginning!

This is the end of this arc, and as you probably can already tell, the next arc is going to be intense to say the least. Multiple factions are finally going to clash head on while our hero will seek for answers in the middle of all of it.

Leaving that aside for now, let's talk about... my insanity. Yup, I have gone insane this chapter. A Powered Suit with AIM Diffusion Fields? That "molten gold" coming back to life? Seriously, what was I thinking? Someone told me that maybe I was going to far, but I said "naahh, this is nothing"... though now I wonder if I should have listened to him. I just hope you all can forgive me and follow me in this crazy ride to the end.

Nayuta will be leaving for now, but she will be back. Sorry to disappoint those that were hoping that she was going to be the new member of Pointer Seria was talking about, but don't worry, she will still be playing a major role in the story later on. Let's give her an arc of rest to let her work on the tasks Hishiro and Asuka left her to do. And since I touched on the subject... Who is the new member? Look forward to the revelation.

Guest: The question was about a raw fist fight, so I took only their physical fighting abilities in consideration - hence why I used Touma vs Tsuchimikado as reference. The fact is that Hishiro has more training and battle experience, so he fights better than Touma, which is mentioned to some point when they team up against Yuna. As I said, Touma could get the upper hand depending on other variables, but not on his fist fighting skills alone. And just for curiosity, was that precognition thing ever confirmed? I remember it being somewhat implied, but I don't think it went beyond that.

The crack shipping guy: LMAO I wonder about that. XD

Sargent Crash: Attack before being attacked… yeah, that certainly fits. It might get him in trouble oftenly, but it might as well be a life saver in the dark side of AC, just see how it worked against Scavenger (though they used the same tactic on him, so it didn't end that well). As for Asuka... he's lucky that she saves his ass when he messes up, but not THAT lucky with her pissing him off so often. Though the overall dynamic between them is quite good... kinda. Well, it is fun at least.

My special thanks for my backstage helpers: the AIM typo stalker Guest and the plot supervisors (?) Banditz and my anonymous friend that wants to be kept anonymous. Leave your reviews if you have the time to spare and see you guys next time!

...

...

...

Oh, there you are. I was thinking you would not come here after all.

"Did you predicted Misaka would come again? – Says Misaka with a tone of surprise on her voice. So I believe you already know what's going to happen-"

Yeah, about that... hold those sparks tight for a little longer and I'm sure you won't regret. Just a liiiiiitle longer.