News from elsewhere. Battle from nowhere.

[ACMI: The Thing You Can't Get Back]

The two of them sat in silence for a while before Hokaze got a phone call.

Joule listened as she gave responses.

"I see..."

"Hmm? No, of course not. Why?"

"Yes, take care."

The call ended and the girl gave a sigh.

"Misaki... thank goodness."

Joule tilted her head "Was that someone else from the clique? Has Shokuhou been found?"

Even as she spoke though, something moved in the room with them.

[ACMI: That Which Emerges from Obscurity]

"You let your guard down."

Joule was barely able to track the movement of the two of them. Hokaze threw herself away from the sudden strike of the girl.

A new girl, her hair pulled back into a black ponytail.

"Well done." The girl said as Hokaze came up from her roll "So you can dodge that?"

There was another shift in the room and the ghost girl appeared just as suddenly as if coming out of Hokaze's arm.

"Junko, thank goodness I made it in time."

Hokaze seemed to be in as much of a shock at the sudden events as Joule was.

The ghost girl explained quickly "Misaki told me to save you as you were in trouble. So I flew over really fast!"

There was a small laugh from the unknown girl as she took a look around the room, her eyes grew just a little tighter when they saw Joule, she had been seen. Now was probably a good time to get somewhere safer.

But the girl turned back to Hokaze "Not bad. All of you in Shokuhou's clique sure have your connections."

She went on to explain how, somehow, the clique had been able to get her on a wanted list, freeze her bank accounts and phones and get information about her in a blindingly fast time.

Hokaze smiled, she looked proud of them too, in a way.

"I left some people at base." The girl admitted "But seeing what all of you have managed to do so far, you could probably get through them too."

"Then surrender." Hokaze stated simply "As you've said, any further resistance is meaningless."

The girl moved so suddenly that Joule jumped slightly. She struck towards Hokaze with martial arts.

"Is it though?"

The strike threw Hokaze into the air. This should be the type of enemy that she could deal with best, what had happened?

"Shokuhou Misaki was always just a bonus. Yumiya's target was always you."

Hokaze spun in the air, righting herself as she landed on one knee.

The ghost girl panicked and asked if she was okay but Hokaze couldn't answer not when she was trying to figure something out.

"Curious?" The girl asked before lifting up her shirt to reveal some kind of tape wrapped around her body "Hard Taping Custom. They expand and contract to strengthen my physical abilities, though using them leaves you more than a little sore. This suit i'm wearing is designed to do much the same while protecting me from any electrical charges you try to pass to me. Using both is risky but I could tell in our last fight that my moves wouldn't be enough to beat you without these."

Oh good. Someone else that Hokaze knew. Well, at least her attention seemed to be focused on her and not on Joule.

She slowly started to edge towards the door. She could always send Lumen back in once she was clear of the danger.

The two girls began to clash at a speed beyond human. This was the full power of the body, what was called "hysterical strength."

Hokaze's ability and the girl's equipment both allowed them to draw out all of what their muscles were capable of.

That said, the girl seemed to be winning. She caught Hokaze's attacks in palms before they had the chance to hit somewhere that might actually hurt. She was seeing all of Hokaze's attacks coming.

That said, Hokaze seemed to be trying to think of a way past it. The girl didn't give her a chance though and threw her back against the wall with the power of a two-handed strike.

Lumen re-entered the room as Joule finally got out through the door. The new girl didn't seem to notice her as she joined the ghost girl in hovering behind Junko. She just kept talking.

"You really are different. You're not like us. You don't seem to truly understand the situation. You're only still here because you refuse to abandon Yumiya. You're too kind."

There was no respect in her words. It was a wry comment, not a complement.

"And yet, your strength is the kind only obtained through fierce fighting. Whatever you overcame in your sheltered life, I am disapointed."

There was a dark look in the girl's eyes as she started walking to the side. Hokaze didn't lose her focus on her foe but maybe it would have been better if she would have and turned to see what she was walking towards.

"You do not properly appreciate the danger. And so-"

Hokaze realised too late that the girl had walked over to Yumiya's side. She pulled out some sort of box and lifted the sleeping esper so that she could press it against her kneck.

"You couldn't protect this."

"What?" Hokaze was too shocked to move at first.

"I said in the begining of all of this, we could quickly defeat you by doing this to someone. But Yumiya chewed me out and refused. Her basic kindness is her great flaw."

There was a hiss from the box. The sound of an injection gun releasing its payload.

"This is poison. She will die in five minutes."

Hokaze's mind blanked. It was the kind of thing that Lumen could see from her perspective by her side.

"As for the antidote..." The girl held up a small bottle and before Hokaze could move, she quickly popped it in her mouth and gulped.

"So you see, you either kill me, or you let her die. Now choose."

The injector dropped to the ground and clattered. Hokaze was awakened from her stunning by the sudden noise.

And lightning crackled.

End of chapter.

Just going over canon this time. No real changes, just Joule acting as a narrator.

Happy new year!