A queen's gambit

[ACSRT: Multi-Skill]

Misaki took a few steps and rounded a corner. While this was a chase, it was a slow one.

She caught her breath as she brought out her phone. Not all of the cameras in the building had damage and they were letting her see how far behind her Gensei Kihara was.

Like her, he was simply walking. Unlike her though, he could see through and then break through walls. He could basically take the most direct path through the building to her. The only thing he couldn't do, as far as she was aware, was go up.

If she was standing right above him, Misaki imagined that he could just get rid of the floor below her and cause her to fall right into his hands but if it wasn't direct, she could keep moving as he wouldn't be able to reach her without looking away to find some stairs.

That made going up the best chance to escape him.

Of course, there was a problem with that idea. The teleporter was below her and she would need to get to her before they could reach whoever it was that was controlling Railgun.

Misaki knew that Gensei wasn't doing it himself. He wouldn't risk it. That meant he'd found someone, gained their loyalty through threats, blackmail or worse. He could have actually done something to make them loyal naturally.

They, and to be fair, it was probably the girl with the metal doll, would need to be defeated to clean this all up.

And so she needed to go down, which gave Gensei an advantage over her.

Right now, Gensei was on the floor below her and about a minute away from reaching the room below her. She forced a smile though, if she could catch him in one of the traps, she'd be able to reach the teleporter safely. And he'd be dead. There were multiple good parts to that plan.

She checked some of the records from Railgun's friends. One of them had been using the security, best to check what doesn't work.

Electricity, he's insulated somehow... Gensei could fly?

She watched the recording as Gensei stepped on the air to climb a collapsed staircase. With that done, a question was raised; Why hadn't he taken advantage of that to chase her faster?

He must not see the difference. To him, there really would be no difference in following her from below, from the same level or from above.

That... gave her a little bit of hope. If she dropped to a lower floor than him, he wouldn't just fall to that level... He would actually but it wouldn't be any faster. He'd gain time on her as Misaki would take more time going down the stairs.

She stood up straight and streached. She didn't run often. Today was probably the most she'd run in half a year, if not more. But she had more to do.

Jogging, she headed for the stairs. She wasn't one of the mad people in Joule's friend group that would literally throw themselves down stairs for the sake of going faster, Misaki would take each step quickly but surely.

She checked her phone once she reached the teleporter's floor. She hadn't chosen the stairs nearest the teleporter as Kihara would have likely used the chance to get her first. On the phone screen, she saw Gensei smile down at the floor.

A shiver ran down her spine as she realised the old man wasn't walking. He was watching her instead. He was doing it to tell which way she'd go probably. He would try to cut her off.

As she watched him though, the man moved. The floor vanished beneath him and Misaki's eyes went wide. He was coming now. In a panic, she ran down a path at random and was forced to catch her breath as she used the cameras to find him again.

He was less than fifty meters from her and closing.

Swear words flew through her head as she began walking quickly on. She needed to maintain as much distance as she could until she got to her destination.

As she walked, ideas flooded through her. Questions about why she was a high priority at this point. He already had Exterior so...

Ah, he wanted the Limiter Release Code. Hmm.

With her old plan still in mind, she put another into action.

Gensei found her only a few short meters from victory.

Kuroko was just beyond this door and she hadn't managed to reach it yet. She hadn't the time to reach her though as the old man was walking down the hallway towards her.

"Hmm?" He began to ask "You're not trying to run anymore?"

"There really is no point in running any more." She offered "With your clairvoyance and that ability to break through walls, there's nothing I can do to escape you."

It's really only a shame that she never managed to get to Kuroko. If this plan failed, she was out of options.

[ASG: World End]

Kuroko appeared on the roof.

She heard singing and turned to see Joule singing as a light seemed to glow around the Misaka's sister.

Mental out's plan was insane but she knew it would have to work.

She nodded to GV "Where are everyone else?"

"I moved them down, did she manage to reach you then?"

"She did." Kuroko grimaced as she continued "She then altered her own memory. As far as she is aware, she failed to reach me in time."

GV sighed and nodded "Right then, what's next."

"I need to stop the doll girl from escaping, do you know where she is?"

With a shake of his head, GV answered "No, her doll is somewhere below but her real body? I don't know."

Kuroko sighed "I'll need to ask Uiharu to check- no, she won't be able to move yet either. I guess-"

And then she teleported, leaving behind GV and Joule, the former raising his eyebrow at the sudden vanishing act.

"Konori, can I ask you for a favour? I need the system searched quickly and Uiharu isn't available."

End of chapter.

And we're coming to the end of this bit. The rest of Misaki's fight isn't important as it's basically the same as canon.

Back to Lumen and the network next as it all falls into place.