Here we are again. The start of the second story of the Three Stories Arc is here. I'll tell you right now, don't expect too much to be different here from what happens in canon. All of the differences here are emotion-based changes.
Second, I want to address something a lot of you have brought to my attention, the conversation between Touma and Mikoto regarding Etzali's advances. Many of you have complained that that scene in particular was poorly done, and I am inclined to agree. My intention was to have Touma suggest to Mikoto to give Etzali, then under the guise of Unabara, at least a chance to prove himself in the event that her relationship with Touma did not work out. As many of you noted, my word choice in the dialogue made it seem like Touma was trying to push Mikoto away from him, which was most definately not my intent as certified Kamikoto trash. As such, I have since revised the last chapter with new dialogue to (hopefully) fix the issue and portray that scene as intended. Special thanks to ArmoredCoreNineBall for helping me fix that.
For that, I must say thank you for all of the criticism. If not for your useful, albeit a bit harsh at times, reviews, the issue would have completely gone under the radar and it never would have been remedied.
Now, let's get to those reviews answered.
0 Jordinio 0: Thank you for the criticisms. Looking back, the fight definitely was a bit weak. In trying to keep with how certain events are not directly impacted from the changes so far, I ended up only making small additions to the fight, making use of Touma's expanded arsenal in a very limited capacity. Actions scenes have just never been my strongest suit. I'll try to improve on that in the future.
ARandomFanfictionAuthor: This story started as a "what-if?" project, so its only natural for some things to remain unchanged, so you can count on GROUP still becoming a thing. I'm definitely making something a bit more significant of the Kamijou Faction. When watching the anime, I always found it weird that the Kamijou Faction was brought up and then never mentioned again, so I'm giving the idea of it being a recognized faction more significance here.
Nemonobody001: I think the title of the chapter "The Last" should be pretty self explanatory for your question.
Anti-Mage 29: Actually, Accelerator's story spans across both of Touma's stories, with Accelerator's story spanning from midnight August 30 to about 8:00 pm the same day. I'm writing based on how the anime presented everything, showing off Unabara, then Last Order, and finally Ouma. Placement of events in the timeline should still be pretty clear if I've written them properly.
ahsoei: Yeah, admittedly not my best work. I'll try to improve on making scenes more distinct from the original and providing better relationship development on focus chapters.
fuji92: The criticisms have been heard and they have been answered with revisions. I'm will be going into the current mystery of the Kamijou Faction during my coverage of the Ouma Yamisaka story, so you'll just have to wait until then to see how I handle that mystery.
mohamadstar94: Nice to see someone compliment the date.
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Thanks again for help in making those revision possible. Sadly, I couldn't make too much different last chapter in terms of conflicts, but I can at least say I made a pretty entertaining date with at least a few good jokes. I'm not entirely sure about including Liberal Arts City just yet. Considering its a field trip for the middle school students and there would be no way to get Touma or Index involved that would feel natural, there's not much I could do to change it and thus warrant my own take on it. Looking at the timeline on Baka-Tsuki, Liberal Arts City and Accelerator's Necromancer Arcs happen in a dead-space between the Kazakiri and Orsala Arcs, so I may be able to do something special I've been meaning to do with Touma in the time that the girls are away. Still debating on if I should just outright leave the Liberal Arts City Arc be.
Aminadab Brulle: The issues you brought up have been noted and remedied in revisions. As for Kuroko, it's more likely she's go full carnal when Kamikoto sails to get in on the action herself.
vampireharry the 2: Thank you!
GunsAndMagic: Can't really take credit for the fight since most of it was pulled from the anime adaptation. Trying to not do that too often. I wanted that Kamijou Faction subplot to have a bit more substance and significance, so I have plans to having it mentioned more often than just in this one arc.
TeotakuFantasia: No man should be up at 2am in the morning in their local timezone. Unless your a night-shift worker. Night-shift workers need to do their damn jobs.
fencer29: Yeah, very easy mistake. Probably should have chosen a different name to avoid the issue, but whatever. Glad to see you liked the chapter.
drunkenlullabies90: Actually, it's not OOC for Touma considering this is exactly what he does in canon in the original story. However, the dialogue is definitely awkward and forced, which has since been rectified.
Isokage (Guest): I am Kamikoto trash! You all saw this coming when you read the description! Glad you liked the chapter so much. As soon as I saw a picture of Touma with glasses, I knew I needed to squeeze a scene like that in. I don't imagine their relationship would change too greatly. Maybe some extra curiosity on Touma's part regarding Itsuwa's technique. Mini Misaka is most adorable Misaka. I'm thinking either Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla with Mikoto as a Psudo-Servant.
Guest (1): Thank you!
Stitches (Guest): Glad you liked the date in the last chapter. Hey, to each their own on ships. Itsuwa is actually my favorite Magic Side girl, so I can see why you prefer her.
Rajarshi Sarkar: Okay, first of all, that's horrible. (It's Etzali.) And second, that would just not be in character for Touma or Mikoto. They are just not wrathful to that extreme, Touma especially. Anyway, yeah, not too much was changed from how events originally played out. Going forward, it would be best to only expect changes that would result because of direct interference by other character's inclusions or adjusted outlooks. As you'll see in this chapter, most of the events remain unchanged, but the emotion behind them is very much affected by changes in backstory.
Archangel Gabe (Guest): I'm glad you liked the chapter overall, and I understand the concerns you had with it as well. Honestly, this was not my best work, especially halfway through. I have already remedied the conversation regarding Etzali, so hopefully it falls more in line with what I intended for the chapter. The way the chapter ended was simply staying consistent with the rest of the story. Touma is a law enforcer here, taking people into custody and getting them medical treatment is part of his job. In addition, it gives him more opportunities for creating cover-ups when magic gets involved. I do have big things planned with all the developments and changes I'm making, so just sit tight as they come along.
Alright then. The reviews are all taken care of, so you all know the drill at this point.
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 55: The Last
The night of August 30 was a relatively normal one for the top ranked Esper in Academy City. The albino high school age boy was making a routine trip to the convenience store to restock on his supply of canned coffee. As per usual, he bought up a majority of the store's supply of his preferred brand of black coffee. He liked it best that way.
After making his purchase and leaving the store, he started down his normal route back to his apartment. As he walked down the moonlit streets of Academy City, Accelerator ran into another regular occurrence for him, or rather the occurrence ran into him. As he was minding his own business, a random stranger he had never met before charged at his rear with a metal baseball bat. And as per usual, this stranger posed no threat, his feeble attack easily blocked by Accelerator's Automatic Reflection, the most basic application of his Vector Manipulation. Thus, the stranger was left sprawling on the ground, clutching the wrist that was holding the reflected bat.
Not too long after, Accelerator was confronted by even more strangers, all of them wearing an expression on their face that said they thought they were hot stuff. This was the one the that changed with Accelerator's usual routine, these confrontations were becoming more frequent. Seeing as this batch of idiots would be no better chance than the last one, the Level 5 simply stood there and took their attacks, patiently waiting for the inevitable moment that they were all left on the ground with broken bones and dislocated joints. That moment came to pass within five seconds of the group's arrival. Afterwards, Accelerator simply continued walking, pretending nothing of significance had just happened.
The source of this change in the albino's daily routine was obvious. It all came back to the shutting down of Project Level 6 Shift. After he lost to a Level 0 in a fight, the experiment was shut down due to the contradiction with the basic premise, that Accelerator was the strongest Esper in Academy City. Soon enough, word got out about his defeat and the Academy City rumor mill took it from there, spreading storied about how the weakest Level 0 defeated the strongest Level 5. Suddenly, everyone in Academy City thought they had a chance at beating the First Ranked Level 5 and taking the title of top dog for themselves, leading to the increase in pointless challenges Accelerator was facing.
However, there was a crucial detail that the rumor left out, a detail Accelerator knew all too well. The Level 0 that beat him was not a normal Level 0. He was the exception to the rule. That Level 0 was Touma Kamijou, the first, best, and only childhood of Yuri Suzushina, and the only person in Academy City with the means to beat him in a fight. He was the only person who had that mysterious right hand that could bypass Accelerator's Ability; the only person with even a miniscule chance of winning that fight. And yet, because of that lack of information, idiots all around Academy City thought they had a chance at victory.
It was not how Accelerator envisioned his reunion with his only true friend. What he had planned was to complete Project Level 6 Shift, become strong enough to get everyone to leave him alone, finally dedicate some time towards finding Touma, and then reconnect with him over a can of coffee. Instead, Touma learned about the existence of the experiment halfway through and fought him to put an end to it to save the Sisters. He always did have a knack for playing the hero, especially when girls were involved.
Now, Accelerator was left with pretty much nothing. Because of that defeat, he lost whatever reputation of unparalleled strength he had managed to build up prior to the start of Project Level 6 Shift. With the end of said project, he lost his chance to gain the reputation of invincibility. And thanks to the fight with Touma, he had most likely lost his first and only friend.
As they were now, Touma and Accelerator lived in too completely different words. Touma was a person of the light. He had a normal school life and upheld the law as a member of Judgement on a daily basis. Accelerator was a person of the shadows. He spent his entire childhood in a laboratory and had more blood on his hands than anyone else in Academy City. As they were now, the two of them could never be friends, even with their shared history. After all, what kind of friend forgets his best friend's name and face and then tries to kill him? No friend Touma Kamijou would want anything to do with, that's for sure.
As Accelerator continued his way down the streets of Academy City, he passed by a certain high-end apartment building in District 7. From one of the apartments up on the tenth floor, the screams of a family feud could be heard, along with the incredibly painful sound of a paper fan smacking against human flesh. The screams of the unfortunate soul being attacked were so loud that Accelerator could hear them from several blocks away at ground level.
"Glad I can reflect that," the Level 5 mused to himself as he projected a simple vector barrier to block out soundwaves.
Had Accelerator waited another second before raising his barrier, he would have heard the more unfortunate of his past friend's iconic catchphrases.
Continuing down his regular path with his noise blocking barrier up, Accelerator was completely oblivious to the fact that he had another person trying to interact with him. However, it was not another challenger trying to get his attention. If anything, the figure following him was the least similar to anyone who has ever approached him in the past. The figure was short, about half of Accelerator's standing height, and was covered from head to toe in a tattered blanket. It took several minutes for the Level 5 to even realize that the figure was following him thanks to the noise blocking barrier.
'Huh? A tiny, walking blanket. And it's talking to me,' Accelerator thought to himself in mild interest, 'What does it want?'
Now aware that someone was trying to speak to him, Accelerator lowered the noise blocking barrier he had up since the noisy apartment building. With the barrier down, he was finally able to hear the figures voice, discovering it to be female.
"Oh my, so unresponsive," the tiny, walking blanket mused, "That's a rather facinating indicator of your personality type, but it doesn't seem that you are ignoring me on purpose, and you're not trying to get away from me, so I must conclude that you are the world's biggest space cadet, Misaka Misaka says, tilting her head."
"… Who is this little freak?" Accelerator grumbled under his breath.
"Misaka Misaka is desperately trying to assert her existence," the small figure said as she ran ahead of the albino boy, "and by ignoring her, you are invalidating her existence."
"Hold it. You said 'Misaka'?" Accelerator asked, stopping in his tracks.
"Oh! Misaka Misaka's existence and been acknowledged! Yay! Misaka Misaka cries, congratulating herself!"
"Short stuff, stop the chattering and take that blanket off," Accelerator demanded, "I want to get a better look at your face."
Accelerator didn't like were this undesired conversation was heading. A random stranger in a blanket runs up to him in the middle of the night and refers to herself as "Misaka"? That couldn't have been a coincidence. It warranted investigation, and the direct approach was the quickest way he was going to get answers.
"H-hold on! You can't just ask a girl to take her clothes off in the middle of the street!" the small figure cried, taking a step back, "That's downright creepy, and I have no intention of-"
Disregarding the stranger's protests, Accelerator grabbed the blanket and forced it off of her, easily pulling the cloth from its owner's grip. As he suspected, hidden underneath the makeshift hood of the blanket was the unmistakable face of Academy City's third ranked Level 5, Mikoto Misaka, albeit much younger than the genuine article currently is now. The sight of that face was all the confirmation Accelerator needed; she was a Sister.
Unfortunately, Accelerator's hasty method of investigation revealed more than just the Sister's face. As he quickly found out, the blanket was the only thing the Sister had that even resembled an article of clothing. By taking said blanket away from her, Accelerator was left with an extremely underaged girl standing in the middle of the street in the dead of night completely naked.
"… What the…?" Accelerator asked to himself, genuinely surprised by something for the first time in a while.
Her small body completely exposed, the extremely young Sister curled up on the ground with a massive blush on her face and tears in her eyes, desperately trying to cover herself up in any ways she could without her blanket.
'What the hell is this?' Accelerator thought to himself, 'This is the kind of stuff that normally happens to Touma, so why am in his role?'
Giving the Sister her blanket back, Accelerator continued his trek home, the small Sister continuing to follow him along the way. In that time, she explained her identity as Misaka 20001, or Last Order, the final Sister commissioned for Project Level 6 Shift. Apparently, she was released from her incubation tank early due to the experiment's sudden halt, leaving her smaller than the other Sisters. The reason she had approached Accelerator was to help her get in contact with one of the researchers to help her with her little predicament since he was the focus of the experiment and thus had connections to all of them.
Despite Last Order's pleas, Accelerator flat-out refused to do anything of the sort. As far as he was concerned, he wanted nothing to do with Project Level 6 Shift ever again. He lost pretty much everything to that experiment and its failure. Why should he care about the remnants of it? All he really wanted now was to be left alone.
Unfortunately, despite the repeated refusal to help, the underdeveloped clone refused to leave his side. Last Order followed Accelerator all the way back to his apartment building, continuing to ask for his help the entire way.
"Thanks in advance for your help, says Misaka Misaka, assuming you'll give in," the tiny clone said as she followed the Level 5 up the apartment building stairs, "What a big building! Which apartment is yours? Misaka Misaka asks, curiously."
"Number 304," Accelerator replied with complete disinterest.
Like the excitable child that she was, Last Order quickly rushed ahead to the apartment room door provided by Accelerator. Once she found the door, she opened it right away and greeted the apartment with a smile, only to discover that it was someone else's apartment entirely. Upon this unfortunate discovery, Last Order called Accelerator out on this deception and demanded he give a truthful answer. Sadly, it seemed that Last Order was not a very fast learner, as Accelerator pulled the exact same trick but with a later room number and she fell for it again.
"How can you be so mean to a poor, helpless, little girl, Misaka Misaka asks, sticking out her lower lip and hunching over dejectedly," the little girl whined as she continued to follow Accelerator down the floor's balcony.
Accelerator ignored the question, preferring to continue making his way home. A moment later, the pair reached the end of the hall and were greeted with the final apartment, the only one that could belong to Accelerator based on process of elimination. However, it was not a pleasant sight to behold.
"What the hell happened to my apartment?" Accelerator asked himself quietly.
"Oh my. It looks like a hurricane blow through here," Last Order gasped, "Misaka Misaka is practically speechless.
The front door of the apartment was pried open and bent out of shape, leaving the entire apartment exposed. The curtains, bedsheets, and furniture were torn to shreds, leaving them nearly unusable. The closet was busted open and Accelerator's personal items were thrown about, with some of the frailer items shattered on the floor. Everywhere, on all the walls, ceiling, and floors, spray painted graffiti was seen, with varying types of insults and profanity hidden amongst it.
"Seriously lame," Accelerator sighed as he laid down on the couch, setting aside his bag of canned black coffee on the mutilated coffee table.
"Um, don't you think you should call Anti-Skill or Judgement and report what happened to this place? Misaka Misaka asks, casually sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong."
"What are you going to do now?" Accelerator asked, ignoring Last Order's own question, "Given the circumstances, you might be safer sleeping outside than in here."
"Well," Last Order replied, fumbling with her words, "That might be true, but even so, I would prefer to stay here, Misaka Misaka says earnestly."
"What?" the Level 5 inquired in confusion, "Why do you want to?"
"Misaka Misaka does not want to be alone," the clone admitted, her eyes dropping slightly, "So, she would like to stay here."
"… Suit yourself," Accelerator replied, rolling over on his couch and turning away.
Having receive permission to stay for the night, Last Order quickly climbed into the now tattered bed, pulling the torn-up blanket and tucking herself in.
"I'm warning you right now," the mini Misaka warned, "Sneaking into bed with Misaka Misaka is absolutely unacceptable, so don't even thing about-"
"Shut up!" Accelerator yelled from the couch, cutting the small girl off.
Having been harshly instructed to be quiet, Last Order silently pulled the blanket over her head, going to sleep.
As Accelerator laid on the couch, he could help but question his most recent choice involving the Sister known as Last Order. He didn't want anything to do with her. He was trying to get her to leave him alone since she first introduced herself, so why did he suddenly let her stay? With his power, he could have easily force her to leave him alone, maybe catapult her into one of Academy City's rivers. Why didn't he? He was the guy that killed 10031 clones just like her. He wasn't someone capable of helping someone like her. He wasn't Touma Kamijou.
When Accelerator woke up the next day, he was greeted by the sight of Last Order looking over him. Apparently, she had been there for a while, watching his facial expressions as he slept.
"You're still here. That's just excellent," Accelerator sighed with discontent as he sat up.
"It's a beautify morning!" Last Order cheered, "Actually, I guess a beautiful afternoon at this point. Anyway, I'm hungry! Do you think you could make me something yummy to eat? If you did, Misaka Misaka would be very grateful to you."
Ignoring Last Order's request, Accelerator got up off the couch and walked right past her, heading for the door.
"Um, I'm pretty sure the kitchen is in the other direction," Last Order pointed out, following Accelerator to the door.
"Do I look like someone who does a lot cooking to you?" Accelerator asked rhetorically.
"I was hoping you had an apron wearing, whisk wielding, domestic side to you," the small clone admitted, "but I suppose that was overly optimistic, Misaka Misaka grumbles."
'Well, tough luck, kid,' Accelerator thought to himself as he stepped out the door, 'I'm the wrong guy to go to for that. I'm not Touma Kamijou.'
A few minutes later, Accelerator and Last Order arrived at the family restaurant knowns as Julian Café. As someone who didn't really cook and had access to the massive funds provided to Level 5 Espers by Academy City, Accelerator often frequented the place for his meals. It wasn't the most lavish of places he could eat at, but the service was decent, and the food was passable. He wasn't a food snob or anything, so someplace cheap with the bare minimum in quality was just fine with him.
"Misaka Misaka is wondering something," Last Order asked as she looked at the menu, "Is that your natural hair color, or do you dye it?"
"I couldn't tell you exactly how it works myself," Accelerator replied with minimum interest, "It has to do with skin pigmentation, the stuff that protects you from ultraviolet rays. My Esper Power reflects all those unwanted rays away from me automatically, so I don't need pigmentation like other people do."
'Why did I bother humoring her question?' the Level 5 thought to himself after giving his answer.
"Interesting. So, it has nothing to do with you wanting to look cool and intimidating? Misaka Misaka says surprised."
"… I'm getting a headache," Accelerator sighed as Last Order continued to browse the menu.
While Last Order busied herself with deciding on what to eat, Accelerator noticed something, or rather someone, suspicious outside through the window behind the tiny Sister. Stepping into a yellow sports car was a man in a labcoat with long, waving black hair, almost like seaweed. When the man turned around, Accelerator was able to see his face, and it was a face he could have sworn he's seen before.
"Is that Ao Amai?" Accelerator growled to himself.
In that moment, the man Accelerator suspected to be Ao Amai hesitated for a minute, as if spotting something of interest himself. He then quickly loaded himself into his car, trying desperately to get it to start.
"That bastard!" Accelerator yelled as he got up from his seat, "What the hell could he be doing here?"
"What are you looking at? Misaka Misaka inquires curiously."
"Stay focused on the task at hand!" Accelerator demanded, slapping his hand on the table, "Do you remember why where here?"
"Yeah, where here to get something good to eat! Misaka Misaka promptly answers the question," the Sister replied, holding her menu over her head like the roof of a house.
Suddenly, the sound of a roaring engine could be heard from outside. Turning his attention back to the window, Accelerator saw the yellow sports car blaze out of the parking lot and down the street. All Accelerator could do was grit his teeth having lost his suspect.
After that little incident, Last Order got underway ordering her meal. In the end, she ordered a Hamburg Steak with vegetables and rice. All Accelerator ordered was a glass of water. When the food arrived, the young Sister couldn't help but eye the food with childlike glee.
"This will be the first hot meal I've ever had in my whole life! Misaka Misaka says with much glee!"
'That's not saying much considering you can't be older than a few weeks,' Accelerator thought to himself.
"Is this over yet?" Accelerator asked no one in particular.
However, despite food clearly being present in front of her, Last Order had yet to take a single bit. This was particularly strange considering her excitement a moment ago. All she did was stare at Accelerator with expecting eyes.
"What's the matter? Why aren't you eating?" Accelerator asked with some annoyance.
"It's proper etiquette to give thanks for the food before eating," the Sister explained, "Misaka Misaka would like to do so to show her manners."
"… Do whatever you want," the Level 5 sighed, not having any real interest in the matter.
Having received some rather unneeded permission, Last Order immediately clapped her hands together with gusto.
"Thanks for all the food!" she cheered.
Having said her thanks, she immediately dug into her meal, starting with the rice and the Hamburg Steak. As soon as she took the first bite, her eyes immediately lit up more than they usually did, as if it was even possible.
"This is the best food I've ever tasted! Misaka Misaka says excitedly."
"Huh?" Accelerator asked in confusion, "The stuff they serve here is all freeze dried junk. They're not exactly known around here for their fine cuisine."
"That doesn't matter, what's good is good," the Sister explained between bites of food, "And sitting down at the table with someone only makes it that much better, Misaka Misaka explains philosophically."
"Yeah, sure," Accelerator replied in disinterest, "I don't understand what you're doing here. You do understand what happened to the rest of your little family when they met me, don't you?"
"My brainwaves are connected to all other Misakas, so of course I know what happened, Misaka Misaka states matter-of-factly," Last Order replied, taking a break from her meal.
"Then how can you sit there across from me so calmly?"
"The worth of Misakas was explained to me, Misaka Misaka says."
"Huh?" Accelerator asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Even if an individual Misaka unit dies, the Misaka Network will remain intact so no important information will be lost. Even so, each Misaka unit has a worth of her own, beyond the network," Last Order explained, her childlike expression replaced with an uncanny static one that didn't fit her previously establish personality.
Accelerator flashed back to his confrontation with Touma that night, the night the Level 0 stepped up and stopped the experiments. More specifically, he thought back to the speech Touma made just before the fight got under way.
'After all, you're still the only one of you in the whole world, right?'
"That Misaka was told there are actually people out there that shed tears when one of the Misakas dies, so we don't sacrifice ourselves anymore," Last Order further explained, "Since we each have individual worth, we can't keep throwing our lives away. That's what Misaka Misaka believes. And it's all because of you. Without you, the experiment wouldn't have happened, and souls wouldn't have been put inside the Misaka bodies, so Misaka Misaka is grateful to you."
"Grateful? You know that's absurd, right?" Accelerator said with a wicked grin, "Don't you realize that I enjoyed killing you? Doing gave me a thrill every single time."
"That isn't true," Last Order denied calmly, wiping the grin off the Level 5's face, "Misaka Misaka has come to a different conclusion. You did not actually desire to go through with the experiment, or so Misaka Misaka senses the situation."
"Oh, come on!" Accelerator yelled, pounding his fist on the table, "You must be seriously twisting the facts to come up with that idea! I was perfectly happy to continue killing you people for as long as the experiment was active. I don't know why you would think differently."
"Think back to all of those battles," the youngest Sister instructed, "You spoke to Misaka many times during them. So, why would you do that? Misaka Misaka says, asking the obvious question. In Misaka Misaka's estimation, you picked rather strange times to engage in conversation. Generally speaking, the main reason you draw someone into conversation with you is to establish some sort of connection with them. If you were really only concerned with the success of the experiment, then there would be no reason for you to converse, Misaka Misaka states reasonably."
"I was trash talking," Accelerator argued, "I don't see how you took that as me trying to establish a connection with you."
"Yes, that's the second thing that is odd about your behavior, Misaka Misaka agrees, holding up two figures to illustrate. You were consistently arrogant and rude. Everything you said was abusive to Misaka. That suggests that your motivation went beyond simply making a connection. However, the fact that your words were cruel does not mean that they were meant to be malicious."
For the first time during the conversation, Accelerator actually took a double take, as if actually considering the Sister's argument.
"In this analysis, we must also consider the timing," Last Order continued, "Misaka Misaka can recall that you always engaged in conversation before the battles began. It was almost as if you were trying to intimidate Misaka into backing down, like you wanted Misaka to say that she did not want to fight you, Misaka Misaka observes."
Accelerator's arm flex ever so slightly, unsure of how he should act.
"Of course, it didn't work. The Misakas could not understand what you were attempting to do. But what would you have done if Misaka said that she did not wish to continue? Misaka Misaka believes things would have turned out very differently."
Accelerator could not stand what Last Order was telling him. Who was she to tell him what he his intentions were? She had no right to try and psychoanalyze him. If anyone knew what his innermost desires were, it was him.
Accelerator was about to get up and leave, but Last Order had one last point she wanted to make.
"In addition, there is a third point Misaka Misaka would like to make, Misaka Misaka adds, raising three figures to illustrate. During your confrontation with the boy who put an end to the experiment, the boy referred to you by the name, 'Yuri'. Towards the end of the confrontation, the boy made mention of how you knew each other in the past, specifically mentioning how you was his face every day. In addition, you referred to the boy by name yourself just before your defeat. These accounts and behaviors, both from before and now, suggest that you are capable of compassion and not as heartless as you make yourself out to be."
"… I'm getting tired of listening to this crap," Accelerator said as he got out of his seat.
He did not like what this girl was doing. Making claims about his personality and intentions was not something for a Sister to do. And to top it all off, she brought Touma into the conversation. That last thing he wanted right now was to be reminded of the friendship he had surely ruined.
Turning his back to the Sister, he intended to leave Last Order behind in the restaurant to fend for herself. He had no reason to help her any further, so why should he stick around? However, before Accelerator could make even a meter of distance between them, he heard a loud thud on the table he had left behind, as well as the clattering of plates. Turning around, he saw that Last Order had collapsed face first on the table. Her face was flush, and her breathing was weak, but she still seemed to be conscious.
"Hey," Accelerator called out, mildly concerned for the clone.
"Misaka Misaka's body isn't complete yet," the Sister replied weakly, "Her physical body is still less than perfect. Normally, she wouldn't even be out of the incubater at this point. Misaka Misaka clarifies the reason for her collapse."
Accelerator returned to the table to get a closer look and hear her more clearly.
"Up until now, Misaka Misaka had been able to manage, so she assumed she was alright," the clone continued, "Perhaps she was mistaken, Misaka… Misaka…"
"… Hey," Accelerator called out again, noticing her breathing getting heavy.
"… What is it? Why are you still standing?" the young Sister asked, barely managing to lift her head off the table, "… You're not leaving yet already… are you? Misaka Misaka asks pleadingly… There's still plenty of food left…"
"… Yeah, well after all this talking, I've pretty much lost my appetite," the Level 5 replied flatly.
"Oh… okay… Misaka Misaka is disappointed though… and hoped you would finish the meal together… she didn't even get to order desert."
"Yeah, well, life's tough, kid," Accelerator replied coldly as he took the receipt and left, "You should get used to it."
Having left the restaurant and Last Order behind, Accelerator wandered through the streets of Academy City rather aimlessly. He had no real destination, nor did he have an idea of what exactly he was doing. When he left the restaurant, all he wanted to do was put some distance between him and the annoying little Sister. He didn't want anything to do with her and had no desire to help her. Despite this, his wandering somehow too him straight to one of the labs previously involved in Project Level 6 Shift.
"Of all places, this is where my feet carried me?" Accelerator asked himself.
Approaching the building, Accelerator quickly discovered the facility to be mostly abandoned, though the locks were all still active. Using his unparalleled strength in Vector Manipulation, the Level 5 forced the front door open. Making his way through the facility, he eventually found himself in a certain office, the door of which is also broke down with his ability. The room was littered with papers and files, like a miniature tornado when out of its way to enter the building and knock over what was a perfectly stacked pile of papers.
To Accelerator's surprise, sitting on the desk at the very back of the laboratory was a woman in a lab coat with short, dark hair. He wasn't expecting to see anyone in the building after the experiment ended, but he wasn't necessarily displeased. Of all the researchers he had ever met in the many experiments he has been involved in, she was the one he disliked the least. After all, she was the closest thing to a mother he had in Academy City. Her name was Kikyou Yoshikawa, on of the direct heads of Project Level 6 Shift.
"Hey," Accelerator greeted upon entry.
"Hey, Accelerator. Welcome back," Yoshiwaka greeted in return, "You didn't have to break the door down, you know. You're ID is still good for another ninety days."
"It's a little late to be telling me that," Accelerator deadpanned.
"True enough," the researcher agreed.
"I bet your having the time of your life stuck in here, going through data all day," the Level 5 mused.
"Actually, it's not as fun as it looks," Yoshikawa admitted, "I certainly wouldn't mind the help if you're here to volunteer it."
"Ha! I'll pass," Accelerator laughed, "So anyway, I just came to get the manual for adjusting the Sister Units."
Yoshikawa simply gave the Level 5 a blank stare as he started digging through her files.
"I also need to borrow some of your conditioning equipment," Accelerator added, "Don't ask why, Yoshikawa. Think of it as an outstanding contract fee for ending the experiment ahead of schedule."
"… Somethings going on. I didn't even notice it until a couple of hours ago," Yoshikawa admitted, "I was about to begin purging the bugs from their personality data before you barged into the lab. How did you know about it?"
"Huh?" Accelerator asked, stopping his search.
"About the disturbance," Yoshikawa clarified, "Strictly speaking, it should actually be called a virus."
"Hold on. A virus? What are you talking about?" Accelerator demanded.
"Oh, I just assumed that's why you came here looking for the manual. Did I ever explain to you the special unit we developed called Last Order?"
"No, you never did. So, that one's special?" the Level 5 mused.
"Heh. That one is," Yoshikawa explained, "Last Order wasn't created to be used as part of the experiment."
"Are you saying I wasn't supposed to kill all of them during the experiment?"
"That's right. Think back to the number of battles projected to take place before the experiment would come to a conclusion."
"Exactly twenty thousand," Accelerator replied easily.
As soon as the answer left his mouth, the pieces all fell into place. Last Order specifically mentioned that her serial number was 20001, one more than the twenty thousand battles and kills he was supposed to have.
"Yes. She is a unit that the experiment parameters didn't call for," Yoshikawa further explained, "She's the control tower for the Misaka Network. As such, she was kept in a incomplete developmental state. Her existence was kept secret even act the experiment had ended, but someone found out about her and managed to override the code in her brain with an illegal program. Her escape from the laboratory was an attempt prevent that somebody from succeeding. It has been seven days since she got out.
"The virus that I isolated is set to trigger at midnight tonight. If it does activate, it will run rampant, spreading throughout the entire Misaka Network and infect all the Sisters. Once that happens, there will be no stopping it."
"What exactly does this virus contain that's so dangerous?" Accelerator inquired.
"As far as I can tell, an order to launch an indiscriminate attack on humanity," Yoshikawa said grimly.
"Huh? That is intriguing," Accelerator mused, "So, who's behind it? Terrorist group? Rogue defense contractor?"
"Ao Amai," Yoshikawa revealed, much to Accelerator's shock, "One of the former Radio Noise researchers. Nobody else is in a better position to understand the Sisters' personality data than he is."
"I saw him earlier outside of a restaurant. Huh?" Accelerator mused, leaning on the desk.
"You can be serious!" Yoshikawa cried in disbelief.
"If what you suspect is true, how do we go about stopping the virus implanted in her head?" Accelerator inquired.
"I'm doing everything I can to figure that out, but if I can't find a solution before time runs out, there's only one choice," the researcher answered grimly.
"You mean is going to have to be…"
"Uh-huh. Her termination will be the only option. Of course, I'm working hard to make sure that doesn't happen. In this case, there's something you can do too."
"Ha. I case you've already forgotten, I'm the one who killed over ten thousand of those Sisters, and now you're asking me to save one of them?" Accelerator laughed.
"You were not in charge of the situation," Yoshikawa reasoned, "We were the ones that directed you to do what you did to them. There was no other way that we could advance you to a Level 6. If we found a method that didn't involve the Sisters, you wouldn't have had to kill anybody. Unfortunately, we had no choice."
'So a little bad luck left you with no choice but to turn me into a killer,' Accelerator thought to himself bitterly, 'Something like that never stopped Touma from finding a solution, and that guy's nothing but rotten luck.'
"That's a nice speech, but I don't think it would be enough to get me to trust you," Accelerator replied with a smirk.
"If you don't want to help with this, I'm not going to force you," Yoshikawa clarified, "Right now, there are two things you can do. One is solving the problem entirely by tracking down Ao Amai and getting him to give up information on the virus. The other is securing Last Order and the virus and returning her to the incubator and contain the threat.
Digging through her desk, Yoshikawa pulled out two sets of tools, each one tailored for one of the options she presented Accelerator. In her right hand was a stack of papers with a picture of Ao Amai attached to the front. In her left hand was a small handheld computer and a flashdrive.
"You appear to be familiar with both Amai and Last Order, so I'll that up to you," Yoshikawa explained, presenting the two tool sets, "Here's the necessary data on both of them. Chose which ever you like. I think I can guess which one you'll take. You've always been bigger on destroying than protecting."
"I can't really argue with that," Accelerator admitted with a smirk, "This isn't really a tough decision to make. It's obvious which I should chose."
It really was a simple decision. One of the easiest he's ever made in his life. Even so, his decision surprised him. When he reached out to take this tool set of choice, he took Last Order's personality data. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to be able to protect her. Maybe it was a desperate attempt at redemption, or maybe he was trying to emulate the friend he lost. Either way, protecting the last Sister was his goal now. He was the strongest guy in Academy City. It should be a cinch for him.
Special End Card Segment: Animan Temple
At the top of a certain mountain range, the Animan Temple rested, housing its two occupants. The master of the temple, Animan von Elysium, and his trusty assistant, Aisa Himegami, sat in the middle of the temples common room, peacefully eating a meal of Hamburg Steaks and rice.
"Meals really are best when eaten with others, aren't they?" Animan mused as he took another bite of his Hamburg Steak.
"It's nice to be able to sit down with a friend and eat a meal without any interruptions," Himegami agreed.
"Too bad protagonists can never truly experience it," Animan pondered, "Always getting interrupted with a call to adventure they may or may not want, with story progressing demanding that they eventually accept it. Always such a hassle."
"Master, don't you have a call to adventure your supposed to be answering right now?" Priestess Number 1 pointed out.
"Do I?" Animan asked obliviously, his fork hanging out of his mouth.
"... Your Specail End Card Segment."
"Oh! That," Animan said in realization, "Eh? The readers will know about the next chapter, "The One Way", eventually. I can always do it later."
"Fair enough," Himegami replied as she continued her meal.