Little mishap when writing this chapter. I was about 3/4 of the way in when the flashdrive that I store all of my data on got corrupted. I had to reformat the thing to use it, but as a result, all the data got deleted. I tried to retrieve the data, but that went bust because it ended up retrieving data I had intentionally deleted in the past. So that's 2 years worth of data down the drain, including every fanficiton I put to digital form, some of which I never posted. So, I was left to rewrite this entire chapter from scratch, and since I like having an archive, I subjected myself to the long process of pulling the previous chapters off of this site. Yeah, real fun time.

Miraculously, I was able to rewrite this chapter in under 24 hours, even with this chapter covering the events of 2 episodes. Then again, this chapter didn't have much in terms of new stuff apart from dialogue and a deeper look into certain characters and motivations given the changes in lore I previously made. Yeah, don't expect to much from this chapter. It's admittedly rushed, but at the very least it's presentable.

So, for now, let's do some Q&A.

icedshadows: Yes... yes it is...

RPGPersona: I felt the flashback was a good way to expand on her character and make appropriate use of the time, given that the Mikoto/Frenda fight is largely unaffected by the changes I made so far. Well, she did steal the photo from his journal. I wanted to portray Shizuri as this cool big sister with Yandere tendencies. She's basically a more extreme version of Shiina with lasers. The thing about the Sisters Arc is that it opens up a lot of opportunity for exploring the past considering the people whose backstories I've tweaked, making this arc my biggest challenge so far. Don't worry, her finding out the truth regarding Touma's living conditions plays a big part in their reunion later.

Mkoll: Really though, what reunion isn't awkward on some level?

Bluejack222: Backstory is love; backstory is life.

The Coke-aholic: That was kind of part of my logic for making Shizuri a missing older sister for Touma. I've always been a follower of the Freudian school of thought. Later on, I'm implementing the Oedipus and Electra Complexes. Trust me, its not as creepy as it sounds in the original myths. They basically say that children look for romantic partners that reflect their parents' relationship with one another. Remember how I said Touma takes after Touya and Shizuri takes after Shiina?

ahsoei: Yeah, admittedly, the flashback was a bit rushed, but can you really blame me when i'm covering two years worth of history and choose to only focus on major elements like intros to characters and major turning points?

Generation Zero: I actually do have something planned for just after the Sister's arc for the siblings to reunite. Sorry, ITEM won't get involved in the final fight since Shizuri decides to just watch how everything plays out.

Guest (1): Hope I didn't keep you waiting.

Guest (2): Oh, I'm sure the reunion will set off lots of powder kegs when all the truths are revealed.

SoulReaver267: I'm pretty sure his sister in on that list of people he would never punch. Plus, I have no plans for them to meet during a conflict since they would never be in the same place during a conflict and Shizuri wouldn't want to fight her brother in the first place.

Aquadude: That's actually exactly what I did. The entire chapter is more of a Shizuri chapter than a Mikoto chapter, in all honest.

RedSS: Wait, how is a flashback chapter a sin?! I thought backstory was a good thing?!

fencer29: Shizuri kept her first name. She's just using her mother's maiden name as her surname to cover up her surname of Kamijou. Thankfully, Shiina was never given a canon maiden name, so I had an easy fix for that potential inconsistency. It's true, Shizuri knows not to fully trust any sort of document given to her by the Underworld, but she has no real other option. Obviously, the most accurate information would come from meeting Touma directly, but this would blow her cover. Remember, as far as she knows, Touma still remembers her face. Your sister's face isn't something you just forget over time. She has no idea that he had an accident. Direct interaction with him would expose her.

mohamadstar94: Touma won't be in conflict with his sister, at least not physically. They don't meet until the end of the Sisters Arc.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Well, it is a flashback. You don't expect a seven-year-old girl to know that many swears. As for Frenda's tick, that my fault for not improvising the dialogue enough. Her tick is translated to "All told" in the dub, and the few lines she happened to speak in the scenes she was involved in didn't have her use it at all. Looking back, I did have an opportunity to add it, so my fault.

Kami (Guest): She cut a girl in half, is this level of brutality really that surprising? "Mugino" is, in this continuity, her mother's maiden name. It helps to hid her identity from her brother. A sympathetic Shizuri is actually what I'm going for here. Like I said, she has a sadistic side, but its not necessarily a side of her she's too fond of. Remember her horror at the though of having threatened those bullies and what Touma would think if he found out? That's her distaste for her sadistic side right there.

Kim454: Thanks for the tips on the timeline. I'll have to take those into consideration when ordering certain other events.

Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.

Chapter 31: Electric Battle

After blasting open a hole in the door, Shizuri was greeted with a less than appealing sight. Frenda was kneeling on the ground, completely at the mercy of their target Electromaster. He clothes were slightly singed and there was a burn mark on the floor in front of her. The target held her at pointblank range, the perfect range to fire a shock and hold an interrogation. Given the severity of her injuries, Frenda must have taken quite a few shocks from the fight and the interrogation. Knowing Frenda, she probably said something to save her own skin. Then again, it wouldn't be a surprise if all the shocks she was getting left her with a numb tongue and unable to speak. Still, it was a rather disappointing sight.

"What were you thinking? My orders where to just container. You weren't supposed to start an actual attack until we arrived," Shizuri reprimanded, "If you had listened to what I had said, things wouldn't have turned out like this. Instead, you were just too damn eager and got yourself caught. What a rookie move."

As Shizuri listed off the multiple flaws in Frenda's strategy, the blond girl visibly got less relieved and more ashamed of herself, dropping her head lower and sweating more profusely. Meanwhile, Takitsubo was busy picking up Frenda's hat from the ground, dusting off the ash and soot it had collected from all the fighting. Once the beret was sufficiently clean, she put the hat back on its rightful place on the blond girl's head.

"It's okay," Takitsubo said comfortingly, "I know you can't help it, you just get like that sometimes."

Frenda gave her comrade a glance, looking rather offended by her description.

Suddenly, the members of ITEM found themselves face-to-face with a giant, metal canister hurdling at them at high speeds. However, the canister was of little consequence as Shizuri instantly disintegrated it with a quick blast of condensed electrons, turning it to ash. From beyond the ashes, she saw their mysterious Electromaster, the one responsible for the attack on the facility and themselves. Clearly, she used magnetism to throw the large object, a feat that Shizuri found mildly impressive.

"Nice try. You're the one whose been causing all this trouble, huh?" Shizuri deduced.

With a deceptively lighthearted laugh, Shizuri generated a large number of condensed electrons between her hands. A second later, she fired the electrons in the form of a beam straight at ITEM's target. The beam generated a powerful explosion upon impact, engulfing the target a plume of smoke. However, the target remained active, jumping out of the cloud and attaining the high ground by magnetically sticking to one of the support pillars in the room.

"So now you're sticking to the walls with magnetism, huh? What, where you bitten by a radioactive spider too?" Shizuri taunted.

The target didn't respond. She simply grabbed more metal rubble in the room with magnetism and threw them at the fourth ranked Level 5. Shizuri barely registered these attacks as threats, simply blocking and destroying them with a wall of condensed electrons. What was concerning was the target's ability to stick on to the walls like she did. Such an application of her ability would give her a mobility advantage over ITEM, especially in a modern research facility with an internal structure made entirely of steel. However, they had a contingency for that.

"Takitsubo," Shizuri called out, tossing the girl a small box, "You know what to do."

The quite girl simply nodded, complying with her orders.

The two electricity based Espers continued in one-on-on combat, with Shizuri mostly on the offensive. The target ran and jumped across the walls of the room as Shizuri fired several blasts of energy at her. The mysterious Electromaster attempted to retaliate with a shock but was surprised when her attacked missed. It wasn't that her aim was off, but rather that it was redirected. Just before the attack landed, Shizuri created three orbs of condensed electrons, orbiting them in the palm of her hand. Once the shock got close to the orbs, it followed the orb's rotation, cleanly missing their intended target. Shizuri then fired the three orbs as three different beams, each one aimed at a different location around the target in an attempt to control her movements.

Meanwhile, Takitsubo poured out a small amount of the contents of the box Shizuri handed her on to the tip if her finger. The box contained the fine white powder of a grounded Ability Crystal, the same experimental Ability Crystal developed by the combined efforts of Gensei and Therestina Kihara. Licking the tip of her finger, Takitsubo consumed a small dose of the Esper ability enhancing drug. In an instant, the strength of her Esper ability skyrocketed, overdriving it. Her eyes became dilated and unblinking, as if the power boost slowly robbed her body of natural functions. Combined with her usual quiet demeanor, Takitsubo had a rather off-putting aura around her.

Coming out from hiding, Takitsubo focused intensely on their target, the mysterious Electromaster. The target noticed this and decided it was about time to make a strategic retreat. Acting quickly, she dropped to the ground and overloaded a nearby control panel. This triggered a gas line to burst, coating the room in a thick steam. By the time the steam had cleared, she was long gone, escaping through one of the holes Shizuri melted in the walls during the fight.

"She got away," Shizuri lamented, "Takitsubo?"

"Not a problem," the drugged girl replied, "I've already memorized the target's AIM diffusion field."

"Alright then, where?"

"That way," Takitsubo said, pointing towards a nearby wall, "100 meters away, 10 degrees down."

"Perfect," Shizuri said with a smile, firing a blast through the wall at the specified location.

"Target unharmed," Takitsubo relayed, "Appears to have tripped and dodged just before impact. Adjust 5 degrees to the left."

Making the necessary adjustments, Shizuri fired another shot, creating yet another hole in the wall.

"She's dodging us," Takitsubo reported, "The target remains whole and active."

"What did she do, jump on to the ceiling?" the Level 5 asked, ticked, "That arachnid move is starting to bug me. Takitsubo?"

"Right," the quite girl replied, giving herself another dose of the Ability Crystal.

'Those two are as awesome as ever,' Frenda thought to herself, 'First we have the fourth ranked Level 5, Meltdowner. Then, there's Takitsubo, with the ability to track an Esper from anywhere, AIM Stalker. ITEM's got it made with this Level 5/Level 4 combo. Is there anybody who can escape from them?'

"Aw towd, naut vewy wikwy," Frenda cheered with a numb tongue, "Ey, I can tawk!"

While Frenda attempted to regain the use of her tongue, Shizuri flipped her hair over her shoulders in anticipation. As annoying as their target was, she was creating a rather engaging game of cat and mouse.

"I don't know who our mystery saboteur is, but I do know she won't be at large for much longer," Shizuri declared, "All we have to do now is box her in and make sure she can't escape."

The plan was simple, but effective. Takitsubo would track down the target's position while Frenda and Shizuri would take turns attacking. Shizuri took the lead as she was capable of attacking the target no matter where she was. Frenda attacked whenever possible, setting off her many bombs remotely through the large trails of explosive tape she set across the entire facility ahead of time. However, something was off about how the attack was going. For some reason, they just couldn't hit the target. The bombs were understandable since she could see them when they go off, but Shizuri's blasts come from behind the walls, so it should be impossible to see them coming, especially with how fast the move.

"Target changed position, 20 meters to the northwest," Takitsubo reported, momentarily losing her balance.

"Tsk, I just can't seem to hit her, huh?" Shizuri lamented, rubbing her shoulder.

'I don't think it's just the way she's moving,' Shizuri thought to herself, 'It's almost as if she can detect my attacks and dodge them accordingly. The only Espers who can even theoretically do that are especially high leveled Clairvoyants, Precognition users, and Electromasters. We already know she's not the first two, but for an Electromaster to accomplish something like this, she' have to…'

"Are you okay?" Frenda asked her friend in concern.

"Mhm, still standing," Takitsubo said reassuringly.

Looking over her shoulder, Shizuri saw a weak looking Takitsubo being slightly supported by Frenda. The dark haired girl waved hello, trying to give off the impression that she was fine.

'Takitsubo's AIM Stalker is handy, but it's a difficult ability to use since it needs to be intentionally overdriven,' Shizuri surmised, 'It can't be sustainted for long. Based on Takitsubo's reports, the target's progression towards the facility's central hub is slowing down. Given everything she's been through tonight, she must be on the end of her rope, but still has some compelling reason to not turn back. It won't be worth it to keep using Takitubo at this point. If we wait for the target at her destination, she's sure to show up soon enough. She's a wounded beast, tired but more unpredictable and dangerous. It's a risk, but I should be fine if I keep my cool against her.'

"It's so unlike me to set up an ambush," Shizuri laughed, "I'm actually getting excited. Hey Frenda!"

Even if she had a plan for an ambush, ITEM still had the strength for one more ranged attack. Using Frenda's bombs to box the target in, Takitsubo was able to confirm that the target was left in a position where she would be unable to dodge. All it would take to kill her now was a single blast from Shizuri. However, things did not go as expected. Shizuri could feel it as her Meltdowner was manipulated, like someone grabbed an extension of herself turned it around.

"My Meltdowner should have taken her out," Shizuri mused, analyzing the situation.

After a moment of thought, everything clicked. It was the only explaination.

"So that's it," Shizuri said with a deceptively jubilant laugh, "I understand now."

Suddenly, Takitsubo collapsed on her knees, pushed near her breaking point by her overdriven ability.

"Whoa, we go a woman down!" Frenda cried as she raced to her friend's side.

However, she found that she could barely move as he muscles stiffened, still sore from all the shocks she took from the Electromaster earlier that night.

"Are… you… okay… Takitsubo?" Frenda asked, struggling to support her friend.

"Frenda, take Takitsubo and meet up with Kinuhata," Shizuri ordered.

"I'll be alright," Takitsubo insisted weakly, "I can still help."

"This isn't just for your sake, Takitsubo. Frenda's in pretty bad shape too," Shizuri explained, "You took some pretty bad hits from the Spider-Girl, didn't you Frenda. You're playing through the pain and its bad. In addition, if Takitsubo reaches her limit, she can't detect enemy attacks. I can't protect both of you at the same time. That'd be too difficult."

"O-of course," Frenda stuttered, "I'm sorry we've been holding you back."

"It's not like I'm blaming you for it or anything," Shizuri insisted, patting Frenda's head, much to her surprise, "In fact, I think you did quite well. Thanks to you, our opponent is on the ropes. Let Kinuhata bring up the rear. You two should get some rest."

With nothing else to say, Shizuri walked away, leaving her teammates to make a strategic retreat.

"Mugino…" Takitsubo breathed.

"She was… really nice to use," Frenda noted in surprise, "All told, it was like she was a big sister or something."

'A big sister, huh? Been a decade since I've seen him, and I still act like that,' Shizuri mused as she walked through the door, 'At least it gets them to leave. I wouldn't want the record to say I beat her just because I had the numbers advantage. Academy City's third ranked Level 5.'

Letting her sadistic side take control, Shizuri flashed a twisted smile and let her power flare in her right hand.

"The Tokiwodai Railgun," she said in anticipation.

With very little effort, Shizuri made her way to the central hub of the research facility. She stood just outside the central hub, patiently waiting for the arrival of the third ranked Level 5, the Railgun, Mikoto Misaka. It took a bit longer than expected, but she appeared before the leader of ITEM, exactly as she expected.

"Ah, you're finally here," Shizuri greeted, "So, you like being fashionably late, huh?"

However, as soon as Mikoto walked through the door, Shizuri could see that she had something in her hands. Bunched up together in each had were a handful of stuffed dolls, the same dolls Frenda used to hold her bombs.

'Frenda, you forgot to clean up after yourself,' Shizuri growled in her head.

"Where are your little buddies?" Mikoto asked, looking around.

"I sent them away," Shizuri explained, keeping her cool, "because I wanted to take you on personally, Railgun."

Mikoto physically reacted at the reveal that she had been discovered, but she quickly composed herself. Instead, she let her actions speak for herself, throwing a doll straight at her opponent. As soon as the doll was close enough, Mikoto fired a small shock at it, setting it off in midair. However, the blast was easily blocked by the shield of condensed electrons that Shizuri crafted for herself.

"You're using Frenda's bombs to compensate for the fact that your power has been diminished," Shizuri deduced, "However, you do realize that by doing so, you're admitting your too weak to beat me on your own, right?"

Mikoto didn't respond, instead electing to throw another doll at Shizuri. Shizuri was temporarily thrown for a loop. Surely, this girl wasn't dumb enough to try the same trick twice. For all she knew, the bomb was just a distraction to get behind or past her. Rather than leave it up to chance, Shizuri elected to blast the bomb herself and destroy it before it became a problem. However, as soon as she fired, the doll somehow managed to dodge.

"Wait, did you rig the bomb somehow?!" Shizuri asked in shock.

"With some metal inside, I can control them magnetically," Mikoto explained smugly.

"You just keep getting more annoying," Shizuri said as she fired her maximum number of beams, four, to corner and destroy the doll.

"If it were only one doll, you'd have no problem shooting it down, right?" Mikoto suggested, "But what if it was not just one doll?"

From the corridor behind her, dozens of bomb-loaded dolls floated into the room and around Mikoto. Shizuri tried to attack Mikoto herself, but the younger girl dodged and took to the walls. Running along the perimeter of the circular room, Mikoto directed all of her dolls to swarm at Shizuri. As far as Mikoto could tell, the older girl was incapable of creating a curtain of fire with her ability and could only create a small number of beams at one time. If she could, she would had done so earlier in the last room instead of using pinpoint accurate strikes.

Under normal circumstances, this was true. Shizuri couldn't use her ability to create a curtain of fire. However, she could still create a curtain of fire with a little boost to her ability. Shizuri pulled out a small back card and threw it in front of her. She then fired a blast right at the card. In an instant, the card broke apart into shards and the single beam divided into dozens of individual smaller beams. These smaller beams tore through the wall of swarming dolls easily, destroying a great number of them and pushing Mikoto back to ground level.

"Silicon burn," Shizuri explained, holding up another card, "I'm not afraid to sure up my weaknesses with props if it's necessary. This is why you show respect to ITEM, you brat!"

Not about to give up, Mikoto sent even more dolls at the leader of ITEM, just like before, Shizuri tossed a silicon card in front of her and used it to destroy a large number of dolls.

"Frenda's mistake has made my job harder, but I think I can handle a little middle school girl, thank you. Honestly, third ranked my ass," Shizuri mused as she continued to destroy the dolls, "Why did you earn that title? Because the research applications of your ability are so profitable? And here I am ranked fourth! All I have to do is wipe the floor with you and prove that you don't deserve the rank you've been given!"

Soon enough, only three dolls remained. Shizuri managed to destroy two of them before Mikoto retrieved the third one and returned it to her side.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you don't have any more tricks up your sleeve. This was just starting to get interesting," Shizuri taunted.

Taking a deep breath, Mikoto charged in for what appeared to be a suicide attack. Even more surprising was that she detonated her last bomb prematurely, not even remotely close enough to catch Shizuri in the explosion. However, it was quickly revealed that using that bomb was never the intention. It merely served as a smokescreen for another bomb that she had on reserve. By the time Shizuri knew about it, it was too close for her to defend against. Unfortunately for Mikoto, she still needed to ignite the bomb a shock, something Shizuri easily manipulated and redirected, rendering the bomb useless as it followed the shock to the side.

"Did you forget? I can easily redirect those shocks you rely on so heavily," Shizuri gloated, "You didn't actually think you had actually won, now did you? This fight was finished almost as soon as it began, Railgu-"

Suddenly, Shizuri felt a blunt, metal force hit her in the side of the head. It was the doll that she had just redirected. From there, everything went black.

"Congratulations on reaching Level 3, sis!" Touma cheered as he presented his sister with his homemade cake.

"Thank you," Shizuri replied with a giggle, taking the cake off of Touma's hands.

Helping herself to a slice, Shizuri could hardly believe how good the cake tasted. Touma had only started cooked recently, yet his progress was phenomenal. If it weren't for his right hand, she would have said his real Esper ability was making food taste better.

"This is delicious," Shizuri complimented, "If you put as much effort into developing your Esper ability as you did your cooking ability, I'm sure you would be a powerful Esper."

"You know I don't really care about that," Touma pouted, "Besides, I think you'll be the one that becomes super strong. You'll probably become one of those theorized Level 5s!"

"You really think so?" Shizuri asked with a giggle.

"Yeah! You're the strongest there is!" Touma cheered with wide eyes.

"In that case, I guess I'll just have to become the best I can be," Shizuri replied, humoring her brother.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

When Shizuri came to, she knew she had to get up and get that girl. She couldn't lose here, not to her. She had her pride to think about. Her pride as a Level 5, one of the strongest in the city. Her pride as the leader of ITEM, one of the most feared groups within Academy City's underworld. And most importantly to her, her pride as an older sister. She may have left her brother alone a decade ago, but that didn't mean she didn't care. She promised him she would become the strongest there is, to meet his expectations.

She knew Touma would have never approved of the life she led now. A life in the shadows, constantly hurting and taking from others. The life of someone who got a sick sense of enjoyment from causing so much pain and death. That's why she needed to become strong. To become the strongest. To become the strongest like he thought she would. That way, if she ever got to see him again, if he ever learned of all the people she's hurt and the lives she's taken, she could at least rest easy knowing he had at least one thing to be proud of her for. At least, even with all the things she had done that he would disgust her for, he had at least one reason to be proud to call her his sister.

Picking herself off the ground, Shizuri hobbled over to the door to the facility's central hub. Holding closed the head injury she got thanks to the metal filled doll, she waited for the Railgun to return, hiding behind the edge of the door. She probably destroyed the central hub by now, but that didn't matter to Shizuri. All that mattered was getting that girl. Soon enough, the Railgun returned and Shizuri made her move.

As Mikoto inspected the bloodstain Shizuri left on the ground, Shizuri took the opportunity to get close and fired four beams at her at pointblank range. The Railgun managed to dodge all the beams, but that didn't stop Meltdowner from kicking her opponent in the gut and across the floor.

"Hey now, this is no time to lie down. We've still go some unfinished business," Shizuri said menacingly, clutching her fist, "I'm gonna pay you back for this, a trillion times over!"

Mikoto simply lied on the ground, clutching her aching stomach.

"Oh, what's wrong? Your tummy hurt? Just get up already, unless you want to be turned to charcoal where you lie!"

Shizuri fired another full set of beams straight at the disabled Mikoto. Thankfully for the younger girl, she was able to cartwheel away at he last second, having nothing in her stomach for the last few days. Shizuri didn't stop, continuously firing beam after beam at the weakened Level 5. Despite her weakened state, Mikoto used her magnetism to evade the blasts, eventually pulling herself towards and through an exist. Shizuri followed in suit, walking calmly down the halls of the facility while laughing manically. The entire time, she continued to fire beams of condensed electrons, caring little for the collateral damage she was creating. All that mattered was beating the girl running away from her.

This continued until the two Level 5s blasted their way into a large chamber and dropped on to a catwalk hanging over a several-story-tall drop. Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, Mikoto found herself face to face with Shizuri as she dropped right in front of her. The older Level 5 kicked the middle school girl down the catwalk before firing a continuous stream of condensed electrons at her. Mikoto managed to block both attacks, the former with her forearms and the later with her ability. However, she struggled to hold back the blast given her weakened state.

"You just block and block and block, huh? You're never gonna beat me by playing defense! Do you think this kid of child's play will get you anywhere against the underworld of Academy City?!" Shizuri yelled as she attacked, "Come on, at least make this entertaining for me! You're going to die, no doubt about it, but wouldn't you rather go out with a bang!"

Eventually, Shizuri's attack broke through the Railgun's defenses, leaving Mikoto collapsed on the floor of the catwalk. Seeing the state she was in, Shizuri couldn't help but almost feel sorry for the girl. Almost. Her sadistic side didn't exactly leave a lot of room for mercy or sympathy.

"I get that you're desperate, but really, choosing this place to run to? You practically begging to die," Shizuri taunted as she approached the fallen girl, "The third ranked Level 5? More like a wet behind the ears little girl. Come on, now, I'm giving you one final chance to fight back. Why don't you use that railgun you're so famous for? This is the perfect opportunity!"

However, Shizuri never got the answer she was expecting. Instead, Mikoto started to laugh, almost as if she had lost it. It was actually a little concerning.

"Hey now, it's no fun if you go crazy before I get to torture you," Shizuri complained.

"My railgun? I don't even have enough power to avoid one of your blasts after all of this, let alone use my railgun. That's why I gambled on coming this way, you see," Mikoto admitted, "You know that blond pal of yours? She really gave me a hard time. Blowing me away, duping me, kicking me, and of course, nearly plunging me to my death by knocking out the floor. See, that got me thinking, she was extremely thorough, setting up traps throughout the entire facility. So, I figured it was likely that she set up traps in the area."

Looking around, Shizuri could see that Mikoto was telling the truth. The entire catwalk was coated in explosive tape. It was stupid how much tape Frenda had applied.

"Even as weak as I am, I still have enough power to lite this," Mikoto declared triumphantly, "Not bad of a wet behind the ears little girl, huh?"

"Frenda!" Shizuri cried in outrage.

A single spark from Mikoto, and the entire catwalk was torn to pieces by the explosive tape. Mikoto was easily able to catch herself, using her magnetism to grab on to the remaining pieces of the catwalk. Shizuri, on the other hand, continued to fall, unable to grab the remains of the platform. Mikoto offered her a cord to save her, but Shizuri wasn't about to accept help from her target. Instead, she fired her blasts downward, generating enough upward force to slow her down to a safe speed. She slowed down enough to survive, but her landing needed some work.

Once on the ground, she attempted to continue fight, demanding that the Railgun come down and face her like a Level 5. However, the target got away, leaving Shizuri to have to track her down another day. However, something about the situation caught her interest. The Railgun went to Tokiwodai, so what could she possibly want with the facility? Shizuri needed answers, and she was going to get them whether her employers wanted to give them to her or not.

Returning up to the upper levels of the facility, Shizuri located a squeamish looking researcher and pulled him aside for a talk. And by 'talk', she threated his life for the information on the project Mikoto was interested in.

"There's no way I can do that!" the researcher insisted, "I can't leak information like that! They'd have me elimina-"

"I can turn you into a pile of dismembered flesh, right here and now," Shizuri threatened, grabbing the poor researcher's face, "Or, you can take your chances living on the run from your former employers. Which will it be?"

After a light beating, the researcher reluctantly handed over the information on Project Level 6 Shift. Seeing the information for herself, Shizuri couldn't help but let out a laugh. It was all too ridiculous to believe.

"You can't be serious! This is what they've got the first ranked Level 5 doing?" Shizuri laughed, "Trying to level up by exterminated 20,000 cockroaches? What can the Academy City Governor's Board be thinking?"

However, upon inspecting the file closer, she noticed some rather intriguing information about the project.

"Oh. So that's it, huh? And then as for those of use in ITEM," Shizuri mused, "This should be very interesting. I think I'd like to see how this all plays out. Why kill someone when you can watch them suffer, right?"

And that's the chapter. Like I said, not too much is different. A few references here, some changed dialogue there, a sprinkle of a dream induced flashback there, and a bit more character exploration here. Not a lot new, but what is new helps to set up the future. Hopefully, the future is filled with much more changes. I actually have a lot planned that might interest a lot of you, many of these changes having long term effects.

For now, that's all. See you all next chapter. Leave a review if you like!