V

Chapter 29: The Girl's Promise and the Fallen Alchemist

Rumpelstiltskin

Part 1

Going against all odds, that weak little pair managed to halt the war between the two titans.

However, that was no reason for commemorate.

*Wooosh*

"!"

"Don't move."

It was quite difficult to understand what had just happened.

Hishiro had just blinked his eyes while thinking about what he should say in that situation, and then the woman disappeared from his sight while that voice came from just behind his left ear. Also, it seemed that the blade of the sword was touching his throat, but he couldn't see it to be sure. "You two, drop your weapons… now!"

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing they could do against her. Letting their guard down just because that man had left proved to be a grave mistake. The boy let go of his guns, and took off his jacket which was full of grenades and other kinds of explosives. Frenda reached for her ignition tool inside the pocket of her skirt and left it on the ground before taking a few steps back with her hands in the air. Hishiro wasn't sure of what she was intending. For sure she had more than just that hidden with her.

Satisfied for the moment, the woman asked. "You didn't learn your lesson last time, boy? Tell me who are you, what are you doing here, and just how much you know?"

There was a brief silence. Frenda showed no intention to reply, probably afraid of giving off hints of her lies if she did - especially the weapons she kept with her. Catching up on that, Hishiro answered. "All we want is to settle the score with those girls in grey robes. If you're not with them, then we're not enemies-"

"That's for me to decide, not you." She cut him coldly, tightening the grip on the sword in a way the boy could feel it. "Answer all of my questions."

"One by one? Hmm… would be enough for the first one if I said we're exceptions?" His words cased a silent reaction of acknowledgement from her. "As for the second, I guess I did it just now. And the last… well... "

This was a delicate topic. Hishiro had been clear to Frenda about the shared information between the two, but he had kept a bombshell hidden from her this whole time: magic. He had to communicate to his knowledge to this woman without letting Frenda notice. "Let's just say Index filled me in."

That was true, and Frenda knew that as well… though she didn't know the juicy details. She thought he had told her everything. The key here was to make the situation and the gap between the two of them clear, and that he intended to keep it this way.

Silence again. It seemed like something was being gauged by the woman. Whatever it was, the situation was in her control right now and this was bad for the duo. Hishiro had to take it back somehow. "Hey… Kanzaki Kaori, right? You can keep our weapons for now, but let me go already. I would rather talk face to face instead of having a blade on me during the whole conversation. It's not like I can do anything against you, the last time I tried was more than enough to prove me that. And if we intended to run away, we would've done that instead of jumping into your fight."

"... very well." Kanzaki finally lowered her sword and picked everything they had dropped off. The boy touched the area the weapon was held against him in order to check for any cuts and went to Frenda's side to keep a clear line between the two parties.

"By the way Frenda, when I told you to jump in the middle of the fight, I didn't meant that literally, you know. You didn't need to drop yourself from above like that."

"How was I supposed to know that? I thought it was part of the strategy! And it did work, so it's fine, right?"

Hishiro just shrugged off her reply and turned his head to Kanzaki again. "Just to confirm, you really aren't working with them, right?"

"Definitely not." She denied with her eyes closed.

"Then why did you try to kill me and Index before?"

"I never tried to kill either of you! My business with that child aside, you only got hurt because you ignored my warnings to not get involved!" She shouted back at him with a frustrated tone. "And more importantly, why are you going after them? This shouldn't concern you, specially if you already know that much. If you keep following this path, you'll end up almost dead again, boy."

"I wish I could back down, trust me." He said in a self loathing giggle, before explaining everything that happened between them and that faction, ever since Rüdiger's attack. After he finished, the saint frowned and sunk in deep thought.

"Seeds of Doubt… I'm not familiar with this term either, and if not even Index knows, it has to be some kind of alias. So unfortunately, it's impossible to determine their goal."

"Index mentioned the possibility of them wanting a war to start."

"That does fit their previous actions, but not now. Unless they kidnap you two, Taking you out of the city goes against the idea. They would need the conflict to happen there, and gather solid evidence that you're purposefully developed exceptions."

Tired of following the conversation going on and back with her eyes, Frenda let out a sigh and sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. "In the end, I'm feeling kinda off the loop here. I don't get most of what you two are talking about."

"Then you're following it right. We don't get why any of this is happening." Hishiro summarized. "We have to go and beat the truth out of them ourselves."

"How?! Did you see that man fighting her?!"

"Yes, just as much as I saw my shots hitting him. That's more than enough for me to believe we have a chance."

"You gotta be kidding me! That only worked because it was a surprise attack! What do you plan to do if he moves that fast again, mister genius?"

The boy didn't had an immediate answer to that and fell silent for a moment, leaving an opening for Kanzaki to step into the discussion. "You two shouldn't bother. Just go back to Academy City. I'll take care of the rest."

"Well, excuse me?" Hishiro protested. "I didn't came all the way here to let someone else steal my kill. And besides, your attacks were being ineffective, remember? How can I trust you to get the job done?"

"Don't push your luck, boy. I'm in a bad mood right now." She replied and turned around and started to walk away, leaving no room for discussion. Hishiro was really considering shooting her in the back even though it probably wouldn't do him any good, but Frenda took action first.

The girl simply walked on a faster pace past Kanzaki and blocked her path with her arms spread.

"Move aside."

"I refuse to!" The blonde shouted out. "I… have a reason to fight and see this to the end, and nothing you say will change my mind! Even… even if I have to fight you first, I'll make they pay for what they've done!"

Kanzaki narrowed her eyes in disapproval and looked back at the boy standing a few steps behind her, but he simply shrugged with a mocking grin. Sighing, she turned her attention back to the younger female. "We seem to have a common enemy, so I guess I can agree to cooperate for the time being. But I won't hold responsibility for your safety. Aureolus is an old acquaintance, but the way he is now… he is quite dangerous. I mean, if that's really him."

"Aureolus… is that guy's name right? What do you mean by that?"

Hishiro asked, but Kanzaki just kept looking at Frenda. "It's not easy to explain." The boy understood what she meant by that. "We should stop wasting time. If we move now, we should still be able to catch up with them."

Part 2

Beneath the night sky, the three people disguised as Anti-Skill officers made their way to the wind turbine that their team had identified as irregular. After reaching it, the commander girl with long light brown hair made a signal for the personnel surrounding the base of the structure to open space. Only one of them kept standing nearby it, holding a device that displayed several graphs that the girl didn't understand. "So this is the one?"

"Yes, commander. If you look-"

She cut him off with just a sign of her hand. "Myuri, can you check those for me?"

"Y-yes, Yuna-sama!" The smaller girl followed the order and took the device from the other person's hand, quickly studying it. "Y-yes, that's what we were looking for. The readings are the same as the one in District 7."

Sighing in relief, Yuna finally let her shoulders relax for a bit after a long while before letting a maniac grim escape her lips. "Heh… you gave us quite some trouble, but the pieces are finally falling into their place again." She then passed a small device to the henchman that was still dumbfold at how someone as small as Myuri could make out what those graphs meant. "Get started right away. I'll contact the Overseer and inform him about this. We have to take control of this radio tower no matter what."

Yes, no one would ever notice by just looking, but this was actually one of the experimental radio towers, similar to the one LIZARD tried to take over in District 7 before Hishiro damaged it by accident. Thanks to the fact that District 22 was just next to it, the entire District 7 should be within its range, so it was a perfect substitute to the one they lost.

That guy is not kidding around. He knew pretty well that this district's tower would be hidden here among the turbines somehow. For him to go out of his way to get an information like this, it only means those are essential… but for what? What are you diving us in, Overseer?

Yuna's line of thought was suddenly interrupted by a loud explosive noise coming from east from where they were. Looking in that direction, there seemed to be smoke coming from one of the wind turbines there. Without wasting a single second, she picked her radio and shouted. "Team F, what's happening over there?"

"C-commander, this is Team F! We're under attack! Requesting reinforcements immediately!"

Everyone around stopped what they were doing to listen. There was clear tension hanging in the air that spread out in the area almost immediately. "Attack? By who? Is it Anti-Skill?"

"Negative! They have heavy weaponry with them! We can't confirm their identity just yet!"

Clicking her tongue, the commander set the issue aside for now and passe down orders. "Team A, D and L, keep your positions! There might be more of them in wait for an opening on our backline! Teams C, M and N, dispatch immediately to support team F! We cannot-"

She never had a chance to finish.

A downpour of greenish white beams and bluish lighting spears bombed the area around the disguised antenna. Yuna, Myuri, Daisuke and a few others threw themselves on the ground instantly to avoid damage from the shockwaves and fragments flying all over the place. But the rest of the team didn't react fast enough. Some received a direct hit, and the sheer impact sent dozens of people flying.

Following the attack, multiple six-legged powered suits rained down on their surroundings after being dropped by flying machines that seemed to have insect like wings vibrating on their backs.

Chaos broke out right after. The powered suits started attacking the survivors who tried to fight back, but given the enemy's superior firepower, they had no chance without a proper plan.

That didn't meant they were done for though.

The organization had 2 strong points that made them come out successful even against the strongest foes. The first one was their numbers. Once a hopeless situation like this one took place, they would call what was referred to as the disposable squad, which would mindlessly charge towards the enemy with no regard for their own lives until they the opponent had lost all their resources and energy, resulting in certain victory in most cases. And it seemed that someone had taken the initiative to do so, as the dark field was suddenly filled with soldiers with Anti-Skill uniforms and helmets that kept their faces hidden, giving them all identical appearances.

As for the second…

Yuna stood up quickly and ran towards the downed male. "Daisuke! Give me one of those!"

"Commander, must I remind you of what happened last time you used it?"

"We don't have time to worry about that now!"

"... understood." Obeying her orders, he got to his knees and pulled out something that looked like a set of white cardboard tablets with a weird pattern drawn on them. He then detached one of them from the rest and peeled off a thin layer of plastic that was glued on the surface, taking the drawing along with it like a sticker.

Yuna also got to her knees with her back turned towards Daisuke, while holding her long brown hair on her right hand so it wouldn't get in the way. Daisuke adjusted his glasses before moving closer and… "Well then, excuse me."

"Ugh!"

He placed the sicker forcefully to the back of her neck. Upon making contact with her delicate skin, the pattern let out a glow similar to incandescent metal as she groaned in pain, but gritted her teeth and endured until the process was over. After a few seconds, the sticker simply disappeared as if it was absorbed by her body. "How do you feel, commander?"

"... simply amazing!"

"Good. It was a success. Just make sure you don't overdo it this time. I do have an antidote with me, but being frank, I highly doubt I could make it in time in the middle of this warzone if you were to collapse."

"Don't worry. With this power, I'll be done before the full effect kicks in." Standing up once again, she took a quick glance at the battlefield. "Miyuri, can you protect the antenna with your power."

"Wha-wha-wha! I- I'm not sure if m-my Invisible Wall i-is enough to s-s-stop them, b-but I'll try!" After replying, the small girl ran for the turbine and curled besides its base. A discreet dry sound followed, signaling the activation of her ability.

That was enough for Yuna to go into battle without having to worry. She cracked her knuckles and made a dash towards the closest weapon, jumped high and pulled her right arm back when she was just a few steps away from it, ignited her fists and…

*Clank*

That weird noise came from the hull of the six legged powered suit that bent inwards and melted right before an unbelievable outcome.

The whole thing burst into flames and exploded.

Even Daisuke, who managed the special power-up item, seemed surprised with the results.

Everything in the battlefield came to a halt, as the girl became the center everyone's focus.

She emerged from the sea of flames while grinning wide in satisfaction, locked her eyes in what would become her next victim in a few moments.

It was surreal.

The battle was one sided just a second ago, and now the game board had just been flipped around as the ones holding the superior firepower suddenly lost the title. Literal tanks were suddenly turned into paper boats in front of her.

Breaking the pause caused by her, two of the attacking machines fired their beam cannons at her. She saw them moving beforehand and predicted their actions, so she was long gone from the spot when the explosive force hit the ground. Seconds later, one of the powered suits already had fire being spread out in its whole frame.

The fearless actions of their leader gave a huge morale boost LIZARD members, who charged into battle following her momentum. At this rate, there was a chance they could turn the battle to their favor in no time.

And that indeed happened for a little while.

Among the screams of pain that came from both allies and foes that were mostly riding the giant war machines, Yuna could hear shouts of hatred targeted at her esper companions, making her narrow her eyes and stop her fierce attacks. What is that? If it wasn't for their heavy equipment, would tell those people would be part of Skill Out. Who else would hold such a grudge towards espers?

There was not much time for her to waste thinking those things though.

A weird mist suddenly surrounded her, not only cutting out her field of view but also putting off the fire on her hands. "This amount of water shouldn't be enough to stop my ability… so this mist is actually…!"

It was too late once she noticed.

Her body started to feel weak and she was forced down to her knees. Still, she was quick enough to pull her vest up and cover her nose.

"That was a smart move. Too bad it took you too long to come up with. A shame, such a shame really."

The muffled voice came from beyond the mist. Someone was closing in, but she couldn't quite see their figure. "It is really too bad I had to take away your oxygen to put you in your place. Every and all should kneel before CLASS, and you will serve as an example."

Part 3

"Seems like the Intelligence was on point again, Grim Reaper-san."

"Yeah, it's almost disgusting how accurate they are-nyah."

From a considerate distance, Tsuchimikado Motoharu and his small team observed the battle happen in the middle of the many wind turbines. It was lucky that there were nothing of interest in the surface of District 22, otherwise some civilian casualties would be unavoidable given the amount of firepower being used there.

GROUP.

This was the very first iteration of the organization, formed by four powerful espers and two wild cards.

One of them was the level 0, yet still famous and feared Grim Reaper: Tsuchimikado Motoharu. The only member that had direct contact with the Intelligence department, as well as with superintendent Aleister himself. It wouldn't be wrong to consider him the current leader of the team.

The other was the newcomer and mysterious Unabara Mitsuki. No one in the organization other than Tsuchimikado knew the secrets behind the boy's abilities, but that haven't proven to be a problem so far. The moment the Grim Reaper accepted him as a member, no one questioned it.

Their mission there today was quite a tricky one. And the scale of the mess only made things even more difficult. Ayane, the short haired tall woman standing besides Motoharu asked him in a challenging tone. "Any plans? If you want a suggestion, then you should go there and beg them on your knees. I bet they'll be more than willing to listen to you before pulling the trigger."

"Ladies first." He mocked her back. "I bet the self-proclaimed beauty of the century would have no trouble handling a bunch of aggressive men at once-nyah."

Silence followed for the next few seconds of peace before hell struck them.

Yes, that's actually correct.

They were supposed to be the strikers here, but after a cold night breeze, they had suddenly become the prey of… something.

It happened so fast that no one could believe what had unfold just before their eyes.

In a blink, Ayane was just dead.

"?!"

Tsuchimikado froze and failed to even pick her body as she flopped lifelessly forward with a large knife digging into her back. His attention quickly turned towards the other four behind him with clear anger on his face. "Who did that?"

They all seemed as confused as he was and kept silent as they looked around in despair.

There was no one else there.

Which meant only one of them could've done that.

Yet none of them admitted.

They were the elite of the elite in the dark side, so a sudden realization had come to them.

They couldn't trust each other. The killer was hidden among them and was probably waiting to strike once again. That assuming it was only one.

"Unabara, just to confirm," said the blond sunglasses boy, "this isn't one of your tricks, is it?"

"N-no!" Disclaimed the other male. "It's not me! And I can't sense anyone using that technique among us right now!"

One of the remaining members suddenly lifted his arm and pointed to another. "With all due respect, I'm pretty sure he moved just before it happened."

"D-dumbass! I was just checking my weapon! Don't go ahead putting the blame on others like this!"

"Yeah, that makes you quite suspicious!"

And chaos broke out.

Tsuchimikado only narrowed his eyes and didn't even attempted to stop them. He knew it would be a waste of time.

Instead, he focused his attention to the younger one among them that just watched everything as if looking scared. But he was certain he had saw something there.

The kid's eyes flashed red for a brief moment.

Upon noticing the older male staring at him, the boy grinned unnaturally and jumped towards the Grim Reaper like a hungry beast would after finding a piece of meat.

"What the-!"

Tsuchimikado just barely managed to react in time, lashing his own attack with the traitor(?), resulting in multiple explosions. After all the smoke was gone, the kid was laying on his back and scratching the front of his head while the others looked at him.

There was a slight difference though.

All of their eyes were red now.

"It's him!"

"Don't let him get away!"

This isn't good. That was the only thing Tsuchimikado could think before the blood bath begun.

Part 4

The sky was pure dark.

Due to the countless lights illuminating the capital metropolis, it was completely impossible to see a single star in the sky. But still, the girl sat on the hard floor of the building rooftop and looked upwards as if she knew exactly where each and every shiny point should be up there.

Every constellation, every planet, every celestial body within the solar system… she had all of that mapped on her mind and could clearly tell their position by simply glancing upwards in the empty sky.

"It really makes me curious in how you do this." Said the man in white suit and green hair standing nearby her, also looking upwards trying to see the same as her without success.

"The moon." She answered without taking her attention away from the black ocean above them, as a gust of wind blew away her hood revealing her brown hair beneath it. "Taking in consideration our position on the planet, the season, the ley lines and looking at the moon, it becomes possible to calculate where everything is up there without having to see their light. This is something I learned from Hamapep."

"Is that so?" He replied with his eyes closed with a cynical smile on his face. He made it seen as if he had understood her, but no matter how he looked at it, it was not something humanly possible to do - not that he was one to talk about surpassing the realm of possibility. "It's an ability worth of envy, being able to see the beauty of the sky even though its not visible. Unfortunately for me, this is way too far from my field of expertise."

Aureolus Izzard and Cristina.

It was almost laughable to link these two names which held a massive weight at this point in time to the two figures having such a calm conversation with the enemy territory just around the corner.

However, this is just what an amatheur would think.

Cristina had to look at the stars not for fun or her own satisfaction.

Several tarot cards, marbles, books, maps, compasses of different types, clocks and even a crystal ball surrounded her at what seemed to be a random position, but everything was meticulously placed down with a specific purpose.

Hishiro made a bunch of assumptions, but had been right at one thing: combat isn't her forte. That girl had been brought into the cabal because one specific talent she held, which was only enhanced by the group's magical methods.

"Fortune telling, huh..." The alchemist commented with melancholy in his voice.

Yes, fortune telling. It was her most precious gift, and at the same time, her worse curse. Ever since she was young, she learned to foresee events by simply learning the patterns of people's behavior or their body language, and once she started to study the subject, she had reached a level where she could tell a lot by just looking at people's eyes.

But that had earned her nothing but disgrace.

When people reach for those with that talent, they have the hope of hearing of how bright their future would be. But that girl could only see the incoming tragedies. When they would lose their jobs, how they would be betrayed, all the opportunities they would miss due to their bad decisions, how they would lose their most loved ones, how they would be alone at the moment of their death… no matter how much she tried, that was all she could foresee.

Needless to say, this didn't made her very popular. In fact, she was even hunted down as a witch by her own family and had to live on the run for a few years. But none of that was enough to break her will.

Or rather, it made her weaver once.

Only a single time. A single moment of weakness. And that was when she had made the worst mistake of her life.

She decided to read her own fortune. And the result was just like all the other fortunes she had read in the past. It was then when she finally reached her limit and gave up. At least until that person came and took her out of her misery, welcoming her into the organization. "Just because you know the darkness of your future, it doesn't mean you will have no light in it as well. And even then if you can't accept it, then don't. Magic holds infinite possibilities. There might be a way to change your fate in one of them".

With those words in mind, she developed the spell in which she placed all her hopes on. It was contained on the card that she held close to her chest every time she had to use her fortune reading again. Including right now.

"This is bad." That was all she said once she had finished while casting her sight to the itens surrounding her.

"As expected." Joked Aureolus, still standing by her side. "We need to build our plan based on what you know it's going to go wrong."

That was her main function within the Golden Sages. Myrin and Rázval used her predictions in order to decide on actions that could make use of their failures. This was the only way to place themselves on the same footing of their most dangerous enemy, which currently ruled Academy City, and how they had built their whole plan from start to finish. And even after that, Cristina insisted not only in staying in the faction, but also on coming in this particular mission.

She let out a sigh. "It won't work. I knew someone would interfere, but that saint is too much. We can't beat her. And we won't be able to accomplish our goal before we..." Her silence at the end was enough to tell what would happen.

"I see..." The green haired man turned around and sat down on the floor just behind her in a way that their backs almost touched. "But that is just about the plan, right? When it comes to the other matter..."

"..."

"I guess there is no point in trying to foresee what we are aiming to change. It was foolish of me to ask."

"No, it wasn't. I did see it too." She replied in a lower tone. "But telling you the result would kill the point. The less chances of success we have, the more likely my spell is to give our desired result."

"The high risk, high reward logic to its finest." The alchemist pulled out one of the many needles he had hidden inside his suit and watched as the moonlight was reflected on its surface. "Are you really sure you want to do that? You could only save yourself if you wanted to."

"No, that won't do. I need your Ars Magna for what comes afterwards. And also… it's not only about the two of us. The seeds of doubt, the people in Academy City, and my opposite self that used to live here as well and tried to fight her own fate just like me… I want to save them all. There is no point in the world Rázval is trying to build without them."

Aureolus lost her midway her explanation, but he had heard the words he wanted. Their pact were reaffirmed. He wanted to break away from the fate built for him by the very woman who had revived him just as much as Cristina wanted to break away from hers. But that girl had much more in her than just that. It almost reminded him of a memory that not even belonged to him, but to the true Aureolus Izzard. About a certain girl he wanted to save even if that meant selling his own soul to the devil.

While he was lost in thought, he felt something on his back.

"Buuuuuuut there's no guarantee that any of this will work, and this could be our last night in this world, so why don't we have some fun?"

Cristina had went back to her usual self. Aureolus had to question how in the world she managed to turn around and hug his back without him noticing. "Hey, let go! Do you even understand what you are suggesting?"

"Now, do I? Who knows? Why don't you teach me what you think I'm suggesting?"

"Cristina, compose yourself and stop teasing my tool."

That voice came from the opposite edge of the building. The other woman had came back and was slowly approaching them with elegant footsteps hidden by the gray robe. Cristina quickly pulled of from the man's body and giggled with a wry smile. "Kihhihihi! Caught on the act, that's embarrassing."

Aureolus cleaned his throat and stood up before fixing his necktie. "I assume they are getting near."

"Yes, you can't underestimate the science side when it comes to tracking people. Cristina, are you done with your fortune telling?"

"It's going to be a complete disaster! We're all gonna die!" She said nodding with her arms spread, like a child waiting to be complimented by their parents, which made the scene quite bizarre given what she was saying. But the woman didn't seemed to be shaken by her statement at all.

"Good. Let's start from the principle we are doomed to lose and find a way to our goal from there."

After that, she went forward to discussing and giving specific instructions to Aureolus while Cristina just watched from the sidelines. Or rather, the girl was staring deep into the male's eyes as if waiting for something to happen.

And after a while, his eyes flashed red for a brief moment, which brought a grim to her face.

Part 5

*Bang*

There was no warning or anything whatsoever.

Upon seeing the three of them standing in front of what seemed to be an abandoned factory, Hishiro fired the AMCP without thinking twice. The green haired male swung his golden chain without even looking, melting the bullets into gold in midair. "So you have all come."

"Of course. There's no way we would come here in less numbers than you. Seriously, do you take us for morons or something?" The boy retorted and took his stance alongside the other two females.

But Aureolus copied both his tone and his sadistic smile while answering. "That very action is proof of your lack of intelligence. It is foolish to raise your weapons before us." He then turned his attention towards his old friend. "Kanzaki, this shall be my last warning: leave at once. There is no reason for us to fight here."

"I heard what you all have done to them. As a member of Necessarius, this is more than enough reason for me to stop you!"

"Give it up." Said the caped woman behind him. "This one is just too stubborn. Let's crush her first, then we take care of our business with the Seeds of Doubt. Cristina, do it!"

"Yay, yay!" The third member of their group raised her hand high holding a card between her index and middle fingers. Nothing happened to the card itself, but both Kanzaki and Aureolus eyes turned red afterwards.

"The Wheel of Fate…?" Said the swordswoman as she placed her hand on the hilt of her weapon.

"There it is, your eyes are all messed up again!" Informed Frenda.

"I know. But there's nothing we can do about it until we understand what it does exactly and how it works." Kanzaki answered and dashed forwards at supersonic speed. "Yuisen!"

Her shout actually made Aureolus break into a cold sweat and he made a desperate jump backwards to avoid her strike. The blade of her sword managed to cut a piece of the sole of his left shoe. "I see you are no longer holding back."

"I have no reason to when my opponent is just a faker."

"So you figured it out."

"Styil told me." Her voice held a tone of anger mixed in. "There was a second Aureolus involved in the Deep Blood incident."

"And how can you be so sure that's me?"

"The true Aureolus had his memories altered and appearance changed."

"So that man isn't 'Aureolus Izzard' anymore, which makes me the real one."

"You'll never be a mere shadow of the man he once was!" Kanzaki retorted in anger, releasing a second attack. The alchemist avoided getting hit by swinging his golden chain, which failed to block the blade, but sent him skidding sideways acting like a spring.

That spot, however, was perfect for them.

A couple of porcelain dolls holding clock set by Frenda were sitting there in wait for his arrival, blasting off the moment he got into range. He emerged from the explosion using his chained dart like a grappling hook attached to a crane nearby, making him a perfect target for Hishiro's guns.

"Tsk!" The green haired male turned the whole arm of the crane into molten golden and fell back to the ground to avoid the incoming bullets, only to be welcomed by Kanzaki once again.

"Nanasen!" This time, a piece of his collar got cut, but he was still unharmed. "If that's all you have, then it wasn't even necessary to bring them with me. Don't you agree, Aureolus Dummy?"

Her mock made him erupt in anger. "Silence! This version of me has surpassed the original! I have reached absolute perfection!"

"!"

Only now the three of them noticed, but tiny droplets of the molten metal had landed on them, leaving small burns on their faces and arms. Filled with impatience, they unleashed their attacks once again.

Certain conditions were met at some point.

The battle kept raging on, but there would be no point in describing it. Their actions and the results were mostly the same.

The perfect loop had trapped them.

"Dammit… how is this even happening?!" Hishiro shouted. He couldn't understand. His mind was clouded and just couldn't think of a way to break free of this.

He knew that his eyes had changed, just like Frenda a while ago. But what it meant exactly?

In a desperate attempt to get answers, he tried to shift his aim towards Cristina, but it was in vain. The shots were way off the pretended route and almost hit Aureolus instead, but he managed to escape by using his chain and melting a pile of building materials.

It was impossible to break free.

No matter what they tried to do, it would somehow always turn into the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

However, Hishiro had already shown how to make this rule crumble to the ground.

Suddenly, a scratch appeared at the older male's check, followed by a thunderous gunshot noise.

That moment, aside from Aureolus himself, everyone's eyes went back to normal. Cristina blinked in surprise and started stomping on the ground like a spoiled child. "Eeh? What happened? Who is trying to ruin the show?"

That was a sniper rifle just now, wasn't it? That means…

"Kyuchi?!" He shouted the name and looked towards the origin of the sound.

There, atop of another building, it was possible to see a small silhouette of the girl with her massive gun on the rooftop.

"Sorry for the wait, Shiro~! The chivalry has finally arrived!" Asuka spoke from the Hishiro's phone speaker.

"Dammit woman, took you long enough!" He said it harshly, but there was a wide smile on the boy's face.

Kanzaki didn't know who those were, but that didn't matter for her. Making use of this opportunity, she blasted onwards and used everything she had at once to finish that battle right there. "Nanasen! Yuisen!"

The wires surrounded the dummy while the godspeed slash came at him in a straight line. Out of options, he only managed to stop her attack by coiling his chain around the hilt of her sword.

Both Hishiro and Kyuchi took this opportunity and fired their guns at him, hitting his body in many spots, forcing him to step back.

Going against his momentum, Kanzaki pulled backwards with all her strength, while Frenda sent missiles towards the unbalanced man. "You're done for this time!"

The force of the blast opposing Kanzaki's superhuman pull resulted in a grotesque scene.

Aureolus right arm was ripped off from the rest of his body, alongside the chained dart. He showed no sign of pain, but he had clearly lost his cool at that point.

And his only weapon.

"Give up, dummy. You can't keep fighting like this." Said Kanzaki, sheathing her sword.

"He… hehehehehehehehe, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DON'T MAKE A FOOL OF ME, YOU SHITTY SAINT! HOW DARE YOU TALK DOWN TO ME LIKE THIS! I SWEAR ON MY MAGIC NAME THAT THIS WILL BE THE LAST THING YOU'LL DO IN THAT MISERABLE LIFE OF YOURS!"

"Heh, in the end, he's a sore loser."

"Man, you couldn't beat us using that dart, what do you expect to do with us barehanded? AND single-handed?"

Frenda's and Hishiro's provocations made his eyes twitch in insanity and he reached for something inside his pocket. "Loser? THIS BATTLE IS FAR FROM OVER, YOU BRATS! BEHOLD THE APEX OF ALCHEMY!"

"Stop your bluffs. I know very well you aren't capable of using Ars Magna."

"Now, am I?"

That moment, Kanzaki's body froze.

The object the Alchemist pulled out of his pocket was a long needle, that he brought to the height of his own neck. "No way..."

"I told you, I surpassed the original. I don't need a special plane to bend reality to my will. Now shiver in fear as I slowly erode your bodies from the inside!"

Saying those words, he stabbed his own neck.

This… is bad, isn't it? Hishiro didn't know what was about to happen, but if Kanzaki of all people was worried about what was about to come, then it couldn't be good. Even Frenda held her breath and widened her eyes.

"Destroy the flesh of my enemies, starting from their intestines, Keep them alive for as long as possible and double up the pain felt!"

And with that, it was all over.

Aureolus eyes fleshed brighter one last time before going back to normal, and then he fell to the ground holding his stomach with his remaining arm. "AH...aaahh… wh-what?! H-how…?"

"Cristina…? What is the meaning of this?" Asked the older female watching everything unfold.

"Ah, don't mind this. It's everything under control."

"U-under… y….YOUUUUUU- BLEGH!"

Cristina's face distorted in ecstasy as she watched her ally suffer in pain and vomit out molten gold right in front of pain. "That's right, I have been waiting for this. I told you that your Ars Magna was necessary, didn't I?"

"D-daaaaaammiiiit! CRISTINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGHHH!" His angry shout turned into a pained scream midway, and it was the last words he managed to say before his jaw fell apart.

But he kept staring at her the whole time. Even after his eyes stopped showing anger and started to display sorrow and regret. She approached and walked past him, but not before giving him her goodbye softly so only he could hear. "I'm sorry. This is the only way. There's no turning back now."

"Well then! With this out of the way, I'll be taking over the show once again!" said the girl, removing the gray robe and revealing her body only barely covered by the bunny outfit. "Are you all ready?! LEET'S BEGIN!"

Between the Lines

*CRASH*

It happened one day about one or two years later.

Me and Lilly were the only ones playing inside the building as it was windy that day. Bit it turned out to be a bad idea to play with the ball indoors. One of my kicks sent it towards one of the few decorations we had: a glass vase contained a single flower in which we took turns to take care of. The impact with the toy made it fall from the table and crash onto the floor, breaking into countless pieces and spreading out the mud and the plant inside.

"Uh-oh… now I did it..." I said in a disheartened tone as ran for the broken object while Lilly gasped and covered her mouth with both hands.

It was a total loss. There was nothing to be done to fix it.

Filled with regret, I turned towards my accomplice feeling the tears gather in my eyes. "Oh, we are in trouble now. What do we do? It's all my fault..."

But she just giggled carelessly. "T-this is not funny!"

"Sorry, sorry! It's just that you're so cute when you're worried."

"Stop that! I'm seri-" I couldn't say nothing more. She had suddenly embraced me and kept patting my head trying to calm me down, as if the issue didn't involve her as well. "There, there, Ri-kun. Don't cry. Remember, there's always a solution."

"B-but!"

"Shh, shh, shh… it's okay..." She said in a calm voice as she hugged me tighter. "Just leave this one to me."

Finally letting go off me, she knelled down before the shards, took a deep breath and spread her arms open.

Similar to my ability, the heat distortion appeared around the whole area. And one by one, the pieces, as well as the dirt and the flower, started to rise up.

No, that wasn't exactly accurate.

It was like the fall and crash was being replayed in reverse. Slowly, they traced their way backwards towards the top of the table, piecing themselves together until the vase was in one piece again.

I could only watch, hanging my jaw in disbelief. "Amazing..."

"I am, right?" She said winking, with a bit of sweat on her forehead.

She wasn't being modest at all, but I couldn't say nothing back at her. It was no wonder she was the only one among us to be considered a level 4. Unlike me, who could only apply opposite forces to moving bodies until they came to a stop, she could return everything within the effect of her ability to a previous state, which had earned her power the nickname Rewind.

"How did you got so good at this?"

"It's just kinda happened." She said nonchalantly, crushing my hopes. "But I'm sure you'll be able to do incredible things one day too, Ri-kun. You just need to do your best!"

"You're just saying this to make me feel better."

"No, It's true! The adults said you have a lot of potential too, you know!"

At the very core, all of the abilities of the ones in the orphanage supposedly worked in the same way, and none of us could be correctly measured using the Parameter List. But our semblance ended there. Beyond that, our powers developed in a completely different direction, and Lilly's was supposedly the one closest to what the researchers wanted to achieve.

Yo, Hello, Fellow living beings! Welcome back to the vortex of madness that is this story!

Phew, it's getting even more difficult to avoid crossing the canon lines as we move forward. There is just so many unknowns I touched here, like the foundation of GROUP and the past between Kanzaki and Aureolus. Or even Frenda's reactions in the middle of all this. Her case in particular is really rough, as she have the safety of her sister to push her forward while surrounded by monsters and magic that is still unknown to her. I HOPE I made no mistakes there, but I'm sorry if there are any. I really did the very best I could with my current skills.

On top of all that, I teased a couple of new things. First, the inclusion of CLASS alongside the esper hater group. Yes, another dark side faction (at how many are we now?) for you all to savor, and yet another enemy for LIZARD. If you guys like the insane side of Academy City, then look forward for what is about to come.

Second, the alliance between Cristina and Aureolus Dummy. We'll go in depth into this next chapter. Dummy might have been defeated, but he is still a key piece for this whole arc, so he is far from gone yet.

Also, the other woman are going to have her share of action next chapter too. And believe me, I saved the best for the last. There's a good reason I had her hiding her skills during all this time. ; )

On an unrelated note, check this out! A friend of mine made this picture of Hishiro: bit. ly/2VqDipA (remove the blankspace)

This is surreal! I never made a good description of any of my characters (tbh, I don't like making lengthy descriptions) so I never expected this to happen! Still it looks awesome! Thank you very much! (Not sure if want me to expose your name, so I won't unless you say it's ok)

Replies:

The crack shipping guy: Thanks! I'm trying really hard to improve! And while it was my goal to make Hishiro cool, I was aware some wouldn't like him because the way he acts. Good to know you enjoy him.

Guest: 1. Then be on the edge my friend. It turned out to become a 4 vs 2 battle, and one of them is a Saint. Regardless of the results, I can only guarantee it will be epic.

2. You're shipping Touma with quite some monsters here… not that it stopped him in the past, right? (looks at Othinus) But poor boy, at least I haven't made a Yandere OC - yet XP. Yuna and Cristina should be around 16, Myuri between 13 and 14, and the last one… Well, I'm keeping everything about her a secret until the last moment.

3. I'm ashamed to admit I'm still reading NT 21 AND NOW YOU GOT ME HYPED AS HECK! Guys, if the next chapter takes too long, blame him/her! I need to read that shit ASAP! (jk)

Anonymous7: Thanks! This Arc is really away from the rest of the cast, but as you said, it's for a good reason. Next one will be all about mixing what started here from a certain canon incident that wasn't very explored, and leaves a lot of space for a Backstage. So I'll go crazy with a ton of characters, both canon and ocs. Which means a lot of re-check and re-writes again, you'll see no inconsistencies or plothles here (unless I fail hard, I'm sorry if that happens).

As for the genre… I have to say I just love the dark side of AC. I couldn't write my first fic about anything other than that. Heck, Hishiro is basically a personification of what I think of it: goals above morals, and personal goals above group goals. It can lead to such interesting conflicts and characters…

And good highlights on the battles. Those come to me naturally as I write, didn't even noticed that I made use of this stuff. Now I wonder what could happen if wrote them with that in mind… huh.

I could keep talking forever about the ongoings of the story, but it's 5:30 am… wait, what? Damn, another night of sleep lost. XP Sorry for any typos, I'm gonna make a better cleaning on the chapter after I take a rest.

Thank you all for your support and see you guys next time!