Well, here we are again. Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry this took so long. Lots of exams kept me from writing as often as I wanted too, and my oh, so religious family makes a big deal about Christmas, so that kept me distracted too. But not to worry, I'm still here and will continue to write this story! I have way too many ideas I want to implement to quit now. I will not let this story die!
Anyway, I know you didn't all come to read about me rambling about my personal life. You all came to read me ramble about the totally fictional lives of light novel characters! We'll get to that in a moment, right after I reply to some very overdue reviews on the last chapter.
OnePunchPlayer: Always nice to see a regular reader!
Nemonobody001: Yeah, I'll be sure to work on that. Recent events have unfortunately been mostly Mikoto focused, so getting moments with others has been awkward. Thankfully, the next arc has given me the perfect opportunity to move Mikoto off to the sidelines for a little while.
Rexclone22: Most definitely. The Necromancer Arc has been on my radar for a while as the perfect opportunity for Touma and Yuri to start reconnecting.
DomM8: It will take more than a few months of radio silence to confirm my death! A year or two, maybe, but not a few months!
Isokage: Glad you like the subtle changes in all the characters. As of right now, there are no plans for Yuri's identity as Accelerator to be revealed to the rest of the Railgang as his and Touma relationship is currently in strains and it would be best to not share with everyone else until the two of them can properly patch things up. I do plan to revamp the Index vs Ellis fight, but you'll have to wait to see the results. I'd have to go with Aogami since he would be the kind of person to dedicate himself to something like esports. He'd be the kind of player who chooses aesthetics (female character models) over viability.
lovecrazyhedgehog: Glad you love reading it so much!
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Honestly hard to believe it's come this far. There are currently no plans for Touma to run into ITEM any time before the Battle Royale Arc, but that doesn't mean I can't squeeze in a couple of unplanned meetings. Academy City is known for its unlikely meetings.
Anti-Mage 29: Don't worry, I've got the timeline mostly sorted out... more or less... kinda... okay I might have my work cut out for me.
ahsoei: The Necromancer Arc has been on my radar for a long time now. And with how the timeline lines up, it's the perfect opportunity for some much needed bro time for those two. It's actually next of the list of arcs I'm going to cover.
fuji92: Thanks for all the support!
fencer29: Especially look out for the weird magic god. One touch with is right hand and all of reality might collapse in on itself.
Teloz: I will not let this story end! Not now, anyway! I care too much!
mohamadstar94: Sorry, college life can be pretty hectic. Scientific Accelerator was pretty good, all things considered. That's the power of proper preparation.
vampireharry the 2: Glad you like it so much!
Vein Bloodborne: Glad you like the story so much! It's a bit of a weird double standard when it comes to fiction depicting things personal to me. If someone else writes or produces something that can be seen as offensive towards something of my personal identity, I don't mind too much since I know that in most cases, very little if any ill intent was involved. On the flip side, I don't produce such content myself, at least not wholly on my own, as that would feel like a betray of my beliefs. Besides, the Toaru version of Catholicism is very loose, so I don't feel overly attacked by its interpretation at all. In fact, I find it humorous because parts of Catholic history make it abundantly clear that the missionaries could be rather aggressive in their conversion methods.
Stitches (Guest): Yup, pretty on the mark will all of your guesses. Index has never really bothered me as a character since I always kept in mind that she has the mental maturity of a one-year-old as a result of her then-annual mind wipes. Yeah, the Kazakiri Arc is in a weird spot for me too. It's by no means my favorite, but it is one I enjoy for the characters and their interactions.
DuckBoi (Guest): Glad to have you as a regular reader! I'll be sure to keep doing what I can to make this story even better!
Anime-ted Life116: Yeah, the Kazakiri Arc was one of those arcs that just feel by the wayside. It's by no means bad, just mostly forgettable given everything else that happens. Thank you for being so patient with me. I know waiting can be agonizing.
TeotakuFantasia: Okay, rein it in, Padoru.
Guest (1): Yeah, this arc wasn't for everyone. Not too bad, but not too memorable either. Glad to know that you're enjoying the story so far.
Guest (2): Most definitely. Those story arcs have been on my radar for a long time.
Generation Zero: This arc was the set up for so much of the higher threat stuff later on in the original series, and that hold true here as well. As for what the Kamijou Clan is, they're most definitely not extinct considering who the protagonist is, but they are relatively dormant as of right now. You can expect some big things from this plotpoint in the future. I might be able to squeeze Shizuri into the golem fight. Just need to find a way to include her that doesn't feel awkward. I think the balance between science and magic is more a matter of politics than raw combat power. Regardless, the powerplayers on each side could definitely cause some serious damage if let loose. A more varied and active cast does appear to be a reoccurring change in this story.
0 Jordinio 0: Thank you for sharing your concerns. You raise a good point. There probably is a small additional bonus added to their usual stipends for students that participate in Judgement. Honestly, Touma's fighting capabilities has always been the slipperiest slope to tread when writing this story. So much of what makes Touma fights so engaging is that outside of Imagine Breaker, Touma is a totally normal guy fighting people who could easily level building if they tried. I want to give him cool upgrades and power ups, but I'm constantly afraid to push too far too quickly. Regarding the coffee can scene from the last chapter, the point of the scene was to demonstrate just how out of it Touma was that morning. He did spend the last night running in and out of Academy City to cure a woman of her curse. Even with Touma's precognition, which is totally natural and based on his subconscious reading of body language, he'd be too sluggish to dodge something like a coffee can with his lack of sleep. Consistency is key. Everything I have written in this story serves a purpose, and nothing is off no value in the grand scheme of things. It was something that was great about the original series, and its something I try to recapture here. Believe it or not, I've actually had plans to expand on the dragons associated with Touma long before the release of NT 22R. As a matter of fact, my idea for expanding on the dragon powers actually closely resembled what ultimately became canon, no joke. I'd be happy to discuss it more in PMs, if you're interested. Guess I've set up a good number of my plans for this story pretty well. The Necromancer Arc is the next one to be covered, so expect a lot of bromance between Touma and Yuri as the two reconnect and fight off zombies. That's actually a really interesting feature I could add to ODD, plus Doctor Bakuya is totally the kind of harebrained scientist to try it. As of right now, Touma only carries the standard issue ODD Mark 2.1. Prototypes Mark 1 and 2 were handed back over to Doctor Bakuya after the distribution of the Mass Production Models. However, Touma is still being entrusted with field testing any new advancements that are developed for ODD in the future. All ships are being considered, so long as they are not incestuous, or otherwise make me feel dirty for writing.
Percyfan1998: Glad you liked the last chapter. Personally, I think I've kept the two of them separated long enough. Best to pick the fruit when it's ripe. Besides, what better way to demonstrate just how different yet similar to two of them are than sticking the two of them in the same room every day and seeing how they handle it? Honestly, Saten and Uiharu make for some of the best audience surrogates when it comes to situation comedy, especially Touma's brand of situation comedy.
LegallyRestricted: Nah, that wasn't bribery, just the knee-jerk reaction of an older sister who lacks practice of being an older sister in response to her brother's pitiful economic status. Well, setting up the arc was why I included that line of dialogue. Less about not knowing anywhere that could feed Index, more about finding someplace that hasn't resorted to banning her for nearly running them out of business.
GunsAndMagic: Don't worry, it shouldn't take too much longer for Touma and Accelerator to meet on friendly terms. Touma and Saten's interactions have been some of my personal favorite to write.
thewiseguyalex: Sorry this took so long. It's going to take even longer for Touma and Mikoto to become a couple. You can't rush these things. There's a timing to stuff like this.
And that's the last of them. Alright, you all know the drill, even if it's been a while.
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 59: Fake Humans
"Ah! That was officially a delicious meal!" Index sighed in satisfaction, "Now my tummy feels all full full full full full!"
"Okay, we get it. You had a good meal." Saten giggled at the young nun's enthusiasm, "No need to scream it out to the whole world."
After making their way into one of Academy City's plethora of underground malls, the group of Touma, Index, Sphinx, Kazakiri, Saten, and Uiharu managed to find a restaurant with decent prices, slow business, good food, and a tolerance for cats. Miraculously, the group was able to go in and out and fill Index's stomach without accidentally bankrupting the restaurant or the donations generously provided by the third and fourth ranked Level 5s. Looked like Index's training to not shove away every bit of food within a kilometer radius of her was finally showing real signs of progress, something everyone who knew the nun-in-training could be happy about.
Unfortunately, the one person who should have been happy with this turn of events was not feeling particularly joyful. It wasn't because he wasn't pleased with the results of his lecturing, far from it. Rather, Touma was too distracted by some recent news to really give Index's improved eating habits any mind. After all, how else was he supposed to react after learning that his best friend had been shot in the head the other day and he didn't even hear about until he was informed by his rumor hunter of a friend?
So many questions passed through Touma's head at the news of Yuri's injury. How bad was it? Was he going to suffer any long-term complications? Did he get a good enough doctor to treat the injury? How did it all happen? Touma was so distracted by these thoughts that he didn't even notice Index and Kazakiri wander into a nearby arcade in the mall. He only broke out of his thoughts when a certain headbanded girl released let out a high-pitched squeal of embarrassment.
"Ow!" Touma cried, suddenly bring his hand to his ears to protect his eardrums, "What was that!?"
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Saten greeted cheerfully, "You looked to be in a daze there, Kamijou."
"Saten, you are so mean!" Uiharu cried as she feebly pounded on her friend's chest, "Can't you go one day without flipping my skirt!?"
"Sorry!" Saten apologized unconvincingly, "I had to make sure you were wearing panties today and I needed some way to knock Kamijou out of his daze. I was just killing two birds with one stone."
"One, I don't need you to check for me!" Uiharu declared, holding her skirt down for safety, "Two, couldn't you have done something other than flipping my skirt to knock him out of his daze!?"
"Eh, don't worry about it." Saten said dismissively, "What you should be worried about is what had Kamijou in a daze in the first place. So, are you going to spill the beans or not, Kamijou?"
"Hm? Oh! Uh… it's nothing." Touma insisted weakly, "I was just thinking about something stupid, that's all. Nothing you girls would be interested it."
"Are you sure?" Saten inquired, leaning in slightly to push Touma into spilling.
Unfortunately for Saten, before Touma had a chance to respond, his cell phone began ringing. Taking this as a rare blessing, he quickly stepped back and picked up the call. However, all he heard on the other end of the line was a lot of static. There were traces of someone speaking on the other end, but not enough for him to determine anything coherent. A second later, the line was cut off, leaving nothing but silence.
Inspecting the phone's screen, Touma saw that he absolutely no bars. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had gone wrong.
"Well, we are underground." Touma mused.
"Who was that?" Uiharu inquired curiously.
"Couldn't tell. There wasn't a very good signal given that we're underground." Touma shrugged, "Come on. Let's see where those Index and Kazakiri went off to."
"Wait! You never told us what you were lost in thought over!" Saten begged, not wanting to drop the subject.
Touma simply ignored her as he made his way into the arcade, closely followed by Saten and Uiharu. Upon entering the arcade, the unlucky Level 0 started calling out for his two missing friends. Soon enough, he and the two girls accompanying him stumbled upon a changing booth. From the other side of the booth's curtain, they could hear the two familiar voices of Index and Kazakiri, the later of whom sounded extremely unsure of what they were doing.
"Hey Index, is that you in there?" Touma asked.
"Yikes!" Index squealed, "T-touma!"
"P-please wait there!" Kazakiri requested, "Don't open the curtain right now!"
"Right." Touma sighed, "I'm not going to same mistake from earlier. I think I've had that lesson beaten into me enough as it is."
"You needed 'not opening a door with a naked girl on the other side' beaten into you?" Saten asked between giggles.
"Don't laugh!" Touma yelled in indignation, "Shizuri has been super gung-ho being an older sister again ever since we reunited, and that includes the discipline! You have no idea how scary she can be when swinging around a paper fan!"
What happened next could only be described as Touma's usual brand of misfortune. By no fault from himself, Touma was faced with the sight of Index and Kazakiri half-dressed in Magical Powered Kanamin cosplays after the girls' fidgeting accidentally knocked the curtain of the changing booth loose. As Index gave Touma a deadly glare, the misfortunate Kamijou could only sweat profusely while the two middle school girls behind him gave a silent, half-hearted prayer to whatever god or spirit of good fortune that happened to be listening. As second later, an extremely load scream of pain could be heard echoing through the arcade, throwing several games off and resulting in dozens of game overs.
"So cool." Index beamed as she inspected the photos that she and Kazakiri took in the arcade's photo booth.
After the painful and embarrassing little incident, the group of friends decided it would be best to leave the arcade and find something else to do, but not before Index and Kazakiri took the photos they were planning on getting before said incident. While Touma was mending his latest bit wounds, the rest of the girls were looking around for any shops that looked interesting.
"Here, this can be your half." Index offered, handing Kazakiri a copy of the photos they took together.
"Oh, thanks." Kazakiri accepted with a deep blush, the memory of the incident still fresh in her mind.
"Man, I never get tired of exploring Academy City like this!" Index cheered, "You guys have it made being students here."
"Trust me, it's not all sunshine and lollipops." Touma sighed, "The boring classes, hellish tests, and mountains upon mountains of homework."
"Tell me about it." Saten added, "Not to mention how boring it can be if you end up not developing an Esper Ability. Without one those, your school life is no different than if you went to school anywhere else, except now you have to deal with the inferiority complex you undoubtedly develop."
"Come on, Saten, I thought we moved past this," Uiharu reprimanded.
"If Kamijou can bemoan his bad luck on a daily basis, I reserve my right to bemoan my status as a Level 0!" Saten declared, "Besides, it helps to vent every once in a while."
"Preach it, sister." Touma cheered, exchanging a hi-five with his fellow Level 0.
"Honestly, you two." Uiharu sighed, frustrated with the fact Touma was actually taking Saten's side on the matter.
"Wait, did you hear that?" Index suddenly cut in, stopping in her tracks.
"Huh? What do you mean, Index?" Touma asked, "I didn't hear anything."
"No, I heard something too." Kazakiri added, "It almost sounds like a voice speaking directly inside my head, but it's all fuzzy."
"Kind of sounds like telepathy to me." Saten noted.
"Hey, you! What are you still doing standing around!?" an unfamiliar voice called out from behind the group, "How much more warning do you need!?"
Turning around, the group was met with a fellow member of Judgement. Said officer was a high school girl about Touma and Kazakiri's age with short brown hair. Her uniform consisted of a white top and red necktie tucked under a brown vest. On her right sleeve was her Judgement armband, proudly on display for all to see. For some reason, Touma could have sworn he had seen her somewhere before.
From her expression and her hutched over posture, it was apparent that she was annoyed that the group of civilians in front of her had yet to clear the area, even going as far as to look oblivious. However, after a second to inspect the group, she quickly straightened up and looked somewhat embarrassed. Some could saw she even looked downright bashful.
"O-oh! I'm sorry." the new Judgement officer stammered, "I didn't realize it was you."
"… Do we know her?" Touma whispered to Index, relying on her photographic memory for reference.
"I don't recognize her." Index replied.
"Same." Uiharu added.
"Ditto." Saten chimed in.
"I guess it would make sense you don't recognize me. I never did properly introduce myself in all the commotion." the unknown girl shyly chuckled, "My name is Sora Musen. I'm the officer you saved during the attack on the Reach Assembly. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Kamijou. Thank you for saving me back then."
"Uh, yeah. It was nothing, really." Touma chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head in confusion, "Nice to meet you again too, Musen."
"Please, call me Sora." the Judgement officer insisted.
"Okay then, Sora, mind filling us in on what exactly is going on?" Touma inquired,M"y headband wearing friend here is a member of Judgement as well and we seem to both be in the dark about the situation right now."
"You mean you didn't hear my telepathic message?"
"Are you familiar with the urban legend of A Certain Strange Addition to Judgement?" Saten inquired with a sly grin, "The mysterious member of Judgement that joined through special circumstances, field tested the then prototype ODD, and has the ability to negate other abilities."
"What does that urban legend have anything to do with my message not being heard?" Sora asked in confusion.
A nudge of her head in Touma's direction was all Saten needed to explain the context of her inquiry. After a moment to take in the information, Sora visibly staggered backwards a little from the revelation. All Touma could do was slump his shoulders and hold out his hands in a defeated manner.
"Guilty as charged." Touma sighed, "But back to my original question. What exactly is with the evacuation warning?"
"Huh? Oh! Right!" Sora jumped out of her daze, "Reports have been coming in that a terrorist has been detected in this underground mall. This terrorist has also been reported to also be the intruder that infiltrated Academy City's boarders earlier today."
"There was an intruder!? And a terrorist at that!?" Touma cried, "How is this the first time I'm hearing about it!?"
"Wait, you didn't know, Kamijou?" Uiharu asked in surprise, "The memo was transmitted to every active ODD in Judgement this morning. Everyone was ordered to stay on alert for the intruder."
"… Oh right. I forgot that there's a whole network of those things now. I guess I was just used to being the only member of Judgement with one." Touma concluded, "But if that's the case, why didn't we get a radio warning over the ODDs? Or the mall's PA system?"
"We're underground. Radio waves don't exactly transmit very well down here. We also didn't want the terrorist to hear the warning as well, least they try to escape with the crowd." Sora pointed out, "Anyway, we're going to lower the barriers to the mall soon to seal it off, hopefully trapping the terrorist inside so we and Anti-Skill can apprehend them. I suggest you guide your civilian friends out so they don't get caught up in all this."
"Will do." Uiharu replied, giving the fellow member of Judgement a solute.
"You can count on us, Sora." Touma nodded in agreement, flashing a reassuring smile, "I promise, we'll do what we can to make sure everyone in the mall gets out of this alright."
"A-all right then," Sora stammered with a blush as she started walking in the other direction, "I'll be on my way then, continue to warn the other civilians."
"Good luck." Touma encouraged, watching the Judgement officer run off.
As Sora ran further into the mall to warn the rest of the mall goers, she couldn't help but let a single thought cross her mind regarding the boy who had saved her life earlier that summer.
'He is so cool.'
'There he goes picking up girls obliviously again.' Index, Uiharu, and Saten all thought simultaneously.
"Well, you heard her." Touma said as he turned towards his friends, slipping on his Judgement armband, "Let's get you girls out of here before the barriers drop."
Following the crowd of evacuating civilians, the group of friends quickly yet calmly made their way towards the nearest exit. All the while, Uiharu and Touma did what they could to warn other customers about the terrorist in the mall, guiding them in the direction of the exit and maintaining order. However, as they continued down the mall hallways, the group heard a rather unsettling female laugh. Looking for the source, the stumbled upon the strangest sight of the day yet, a functioning, human-like eyeball ingrained in the wall.
"What the hell is that!?" Touma cried in confusion.
"A creature made from earth to imitate man, a golem, a protector of the temple." Index explained, examining the eye closer, "It's being made to serve as an English guardian angel."
"Wait, are you saying that the terrorist Judgement detected is magician?" Uiharu asked in fear.
"Well, that certainly makes things more complicated." Saten bemoaned.
The voice originating from the golem eyeball could only let out a laugh at the group's collective confusion and panic.
"Now, let's get this party started." the voice from the eye declared, "You can scream as loud as you like. No one is going to hear you inside of this tomb.
Having said her piece, the magician in control of the golem dispelled her magic, forcing the eyeball to disappear without a trace. As soon as the golem was gone, the mall began to shake as if it was made the victim of an earthquake. The lights suddenly shut down and the barriers to the exit abruptly closed, leaving everyone still inside the mall nearly blind and panicking.
"This can't be good." Uiharu said with a hint of panic in her voice.
"Alright Uiharu, time to get in gear." Touma ordered, immediately taking lead of the situation, "You take Index, Saten, and Kazakiri somewhere to hide."
"Wait, what about you?" Saten asked in concern.
"Obviously, I'm going to see what I can do about this magician." Touma declared.
"Not happening, Touma." Index argued, "This is a magician we're dealing with. That makes this a job for me. You're the one who should be hiding with the others."
"How do you expect to win in a fight? You're a little girl with no combat experience or physical aptitude outside of your bite strength." Touma argued back.
"Listen here! Do you think you lasted this long fighting magicians by being lucky?" Index countered, "We all know you're an amateur when it comes to dealing with magic."
"Yeah right! How could I possibly think that? I am Touma Kamijou, the single unluckiest person in the world. My middle name is practically Misfortune. As if I could win a fight by being lu-" Touma bragged before doing a double take, "Wait, that's actually not something to be proud of."
"Calm down you two." Saten interrupted, "Let's not fight amongst ourselves now."
"Um, Touma," Kazakiri cut in, "I don't really understand what's going on, but if there's anyway I could help, I would like to."
"No way!" Touma and Index yelled simultaneously, causing Kazakiri to drop the subject.
As harsh as their tone was, neither Touma nor Index meant any ill will. They simply did not want Kazakiri to get involved with magic. So many of their friends have been dragged into the cold war between science and magic already. There was no need to add another person to that list.
Before either side could continue with their argument for how to deal with the magician problem, the group heard the sound of someone running towards them from down the dark hallway. In a bid to take the lead as the spearpoint of the group, both Touma and Index stepped forward to face the potential threat, with Touma activating his ODD into its staff form. However, all that resulted was the student and the nun-in-training tripping over each other, causing Index to fall on top of Touma and nearly crush Sphinx, who was still nestled inside Index's habit.
"Do I even want to know what happened here?" a familiar voice asked the unfortunate dogpile.
Looking up from his position on the floor, Touma was met with a face he knew was possessed by at least 9969 other people. Next to this person was another familiar face, though this one was much more unique by comparison, sporting pigtails and a Judgement armband.
"Good to see you too, Zapper." Touma groaned, "Same to you, Pigtails. You mind getting off me Index."
"Should have figured your luck would have point you straight in the middle of all the weirdness." Kuroko mused as Touma and Index picked themselves up, "I take it you know about the intruder?"
"I missed the memo this morning but got filled in once reports started coming in that they were in the mall." Touma admitted, rubbing away the aches in his lower back, "Looks like our intruder is a magician."
"We know, we had a run in with her just before she entered the mall," Kuroko added, "She was able to use magic to create some sort of rock monster."
"Definitely golem magic." Index clarified, "That coincides with what we've run into as well."
"What exactly did you run into?" Mikoto asked curiously.
"A functioning human eyeball lodged in the side of a concrete wall." Saten replied flatly.
"… Somehow, that makes sense." Mikoto sighed in exasperation.
"I'm guessing the barriers falling and the lights going out was Anti-Skill and Judgement's doing." Uiharu deduced, "We ran into a fellow member of Judgement earlier that mentioned something about this. She said it was to contain the terrorist so Anti-Skill could apprehend them."
"That's right." Kuroko confirmed, "Of course, sealing the barriers has also locked several civilians inside the mall as well, thus myself and several other teleporters were charged with getting everyone else out."
"Perfect. In that case, I think you should get Index and Zapper out first."
"What!?" Mikoto and Index cried in outrage, turning to face Touma.
"Are you still trying to get me to hide!?" Index yelled, "I told you, this is a Magic Side affair, and thus my responsibility! If anyone is leaving right now, it's Hyouka."
"And I told you, that's not going to happen." Touma replied firmly to Index, "We're dealing with a magician in Academy City. That means that they're here for something or someone, and you would be a prime target. Besides, Imagine Breaker is the perfect weapon for countering magic, making me our best chance at taking this magician out. Besides, I'm a member of Judgement. I'm supposed to be here."
"What about me then!?" Mikoto added, "You can hold your own in a fight, but Imagine Breaker is primarily a defensive power! I'm a Level 5 Electromaster! Out of everyone here, I'm the most equipped for offensive combat! Isn't that our dynamic!? I'm the ultimate sword and you're the ultimate shield!"
"Sorry about this Sissy, but I have to agree with Kamijou on this," Kuroko interrupted, stepping behind Mikoto and Index, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, "Index is a potential target, and you have a tendency to get yourself involved in Judgement affairs. That's not even mentioning the political fallout that could result from an Esper engaging in combat with a magician. I'll be back to get Saten and your new friend out in a little bit. For now, stay put."
"But Kuro-"
Sadly, Mikoto never got a chance to finish her argument. In the blink of an eye, the three middle school aged girls disappeared into thin air via Kuroko's teleportation.
"Guess we're waiting." Saten mused, plopping a squat next to a wall.
"Not we, you." Touma corrected, "You three are going to stay put and wait for Shirai. I'm going to see what I can do about our magician friend."
"You're not going alone, are you?" Kazakiri asked in concern.
"No offense to any of you, but I'm the only one here that has any real chance against whoever this magician is. I don't want to risk any of you getting hurt."
"Do you even know where to find the magician?" Saten inquired, "You weren't planning on blindly running around the mall until you got lucky and happened to run into them, did you?"
Touma lack of an immediate response said more than what any words could hope to accomplish.
"… You were planning on doing exactly that, weren't you?" Saten asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer.
"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Touma replied, "Contacting anyone else is out of the question with communications down thanks to the underground, and it's not like I have some sort of Ability that lets me locate the exact position of a target regardless of distance or obstacles."
"Why are you asking me? I'm not the miracle worker." Saten said as she leaned backwards on to the wall.
As she did so, she fell onto a metal panel on the wall, creating a very distinct clank noise. Said noise did not go unnoticed by Uiharu, who quickly approached Saten to inspect it.
Asking her friend to move aside, Uiharu quickly discovered that metal panel was in fact a door of some sort. Opening the door revealed it to be a security access panel, complete with ports for auxiliary instruments in the event that greater access to the system was needed.
Pulling out her ODD, the flower headbanded girl jacked her multipurpose tool into the access panel and synced with it. Within moments, Uiharu's ODD bracelet was projecting a holographic screen that laid out the entire map of the underground mall, including nodes that indicated the security cameras and PA speakers. A portion of the screen displayed a video feed of a few of the cameras, including the area the group was currently in.
"Well, it's no All-Seeing-Eye-esque ability, but it's something." Saten mused.
"Man, I was the one that field tested these things and I didn't know you could do something like this with them." Touma said in awe, examining the holographic screen in front of him.
"Well then, let's see just how useful this application can be." Uiharu said as she started tapping commands into the security system interface.
After a few seconds of scanning the multiple security feeds, Uiharu stumbled upon a particularly interesting scene. Deep towards the center of the mall, several Anti-Skill officers were crowded together, hiding behind barricades and blast shields. They appeared to be firing on something, and from the looks of it their weapons weren't doing much against what they were fighting.
"Guess that's where I'm headed." Touma deduced, setting his school bad down and pulling out his hoverboard, "Uiharu, can you make isolated messages on the PA system, like making it so only specific speakers play the message?"
"No problem. Easy as pie." Uiharu boasted, demonstrating her ability to do just that with her control interface.
"Alright then. Use the PA system and the security cameras to guide me through the mall from here." Touma ordered, activating his hoverboard, "Kazakiri, Saten, I want you two to stay put and out of trouble with Uiharu until Shirai can come back to get you to safety. Have I made myself clear?"
"… Yes." Kazakiri replied somewhat dejectedly.
"Sheesh. You get really assertive when it comes to keeping people safe." Saten grumbled under her breath, but none the less agreeing.
Now assured that all of his friends were all out of harm's way and would stay that way, Touma hopped on to his hoverboard and rode down the dark hallways of the mall. He had a magician to stop.
Deep in the center of the underground mall, Anti-Skill was in the midst of an explosive firefight with an unknown threat. They had located their target, the intruding magician Sherry Cromwell, but now faced opposition unlike anything they had ever seen before. Despite being an outsider, their target appeared to have some unknown supernatural ability or high-tech weaponry that allowed her to create a giant rock monster out of the earth around them. Given the fact that they were currently underground, that gave Sherry plenty of materials to work with. The monster followed Sherry's commands to the letter, doing everything she wished of it. It was unreal how fluidly she could control her creation.
Despite Anti-Skill's best efforts, nothing they had thrown at the monster had done anything to slow it down, let alone stop it. Gunfire barely left a scratch on its stone body, and with the golem doing everything in its power to protect its master, Anti-Skill had no hopes of taking out the controller either. That left the law enforcers with no option but to hide behind some barricades and continue firing, clinging on to some minuscule hope of slowing the monster down to allow the rest of the civilians to evacuate.
Getting desperate, one of the Anti-Skill officers attempted to throw a grenade at the monster, hoping the increase in firepower could improve their chances. However, as soon as the pin was out, the monsters stomped its massive stone foot, launching a shockwave that shook the entire hallway. The shaking caused the officer to drop the grenade just beyond their barriers, setting off an explosion that caused enough damage to leave the squad disoriented and hurt, but thankfully not dead.
The explosion could be heard down the hallway in both directions, drawing the attention of many of the civilians still trapped inside the underground mall. The first of those to hear was Touma Kamijou himself, who happened to be only a short distance away.
"Headband, I need a status report!" Touma called out, "What was that just now!?"
"Anti-Skill is currently engaging the terrorist!" Uiharu reported over the PA system, "They accidentally dropped a grenade on themselves and suffered several casualties!"
"I need to hurry! That explosion sounded close from where I am. Which way?"
"Straight ahead, just past the next intersection."
Following Uiharu's instructions, Touma kicked his hoverboard into high gear and raced towards the fight.
"Man, all this new tech coming out of the Disciplinary Committee's weapon's development team sure does come in handy, doesn't it?" Saten mused as she watched Uiharu work at the access panel.
"Let's just hope it will be enough to give us an edge." Uiharu grimaced as she continued to follow Touma's movements on the cameras.
"Hey, I'm back." Kuroko announced, teleporting on to the scene behind her two friends, "Sissy and Index are officially safe and out of harm's way."
"That's great Shirai." Uiharu congratulated, not taking her eyes off her ODD's holographic screen, "Now you just need to get Saten, Kazakiri, and all the other civilians out."
"So, where is Kazakiri?" Kuroko inquired.
"Eh?" Saten and Uiharu asked in confusion as the looked away from the screen to see that Kazakiri was indeed not among them, "EH!?"
"What!?" Saten panicked, "I could have sworn she was right next to us!"
"We must have gotten distracted watching Kamijou on the cameras that we didn't notice her leave!" Uiharu deduced.
"But where could she have gone?" Kuroko mused, worried for this new girl's safety.
When Touma arrived on the scene, he could barely believe what he had come across. Anti-Skill was being slaughtered by this rogue Magician. It was a miracle that no one had been killed yet. Several officers pinned under rubble, either passed out from the recent blast or struggling to pull themselves out. Much to Touma's horror, among the officers present was a very familiar face.
"Miss Yomikawa!" Touma cried, hopping off his hoverboard and rushed to his teacher's side, "Are you okay!?"
"… Kamijou?" Yomikawa gasped, getting her bearings, "What are you doing here! Judgement is supposed to be handling the evacuation, not engaging combat with the terrorist!"
Before Touma could explain himself, he heard a roar coming from further down the hallway. Looking up, he saw the massive stone golem Anti-Skill had been fighting continuing to advance towards them. The monster was so massive it occupied the entire hallway and its "eyes" glowed with an imposing red light. Behind the golem stood rogue Magicain, completely relaxed in her position as the clear advantage holder.
With his targets now in sight, Touma knew exactly what he had to do. Standing up, he pulled his ODD out in his left hand in Standby Mode and calmly approached the Magician and her creation. As he crossed Anti-Skill's defensive barrier, Yomikawa tried to stop the student, only to find her own injuries slowing her down.
"Good afternoon, young man." the Magician greeted in a faux politeness, "What's this? You're the one who wields Imagine Breaker, are you not? Why is it that you're not with the key to the Imaginary Number School District? What was that brat's name again?"
Touma didn't bother to answer any of the Magician's questions. He had no reason too. She was disrupting the peace of Academy City and had endangered the lives of several innocents. After everything she's done, she didn't deserve and answer from him. Not that he could give her them considering he didn't understand half of what she was talking about, especially regarding the Imaginary Number School District.
"Oh well. She's not the only one I'm here to kill. I do have options." the rogue Magician mused, disregarding her own questions, "I'd be more than happy to spare a few moments of my day to kill you instead!"
With a wave of her stick of chalk, Sherry commanded her creation to attack. The golem known as Ellis complied with its master, dropping its massive stone fist on the unlucky Kamijou. Thankfully, Touma was able to anticipate the attack and quickly dodged out of the way, putting a bit more distance between himself and his opponents.
"The power of the earth is under my control. You will not survive for long." the Magician elaborated, "With Ellis, the very ground will fight you."
"Damn Magician." Touma growled, tightening his grip on his ODD and his right fist.
"There's no need to be rude. Call me Sherry Cromwell." the Magician introduced herself, "Regardless, you're going to die here, so I may as well tell you I'm with the English Puritan Church."
"That's Index's Church!" Touma gasped, "Why would one of their members do something like this?"
"It's simple, really. I want to start a war, and this incident will the spark that sets it off!" Sherry revealed, "So, for maximum impact, I want everyone to know that the English Puritan Church is the one responsible as I am one of its pawns!"
Like before, Ellis brought its massive stone fist down on Touma, with the unlucky Kamijou barely managing to dodge. Even so, he wasn't out of the woods yet, as the impact from the golem's punch kicked up massive amounts of debris and sent them straight at him. Reacting quickly, Touma extended his ODD into Staff Mode and started spinning it in front of him, using the air jets in the device to move it faster than would normally be possible for him. The fast pace of the weapon's rotation was able to knock away and block a majority of the debris sent at Touma, leaving him with only a few minor scratches on his arms.
"This is bad." Touma mused to himself as he returned his ODD to Standby Mode in his left hand, "I need to think of some way to get close enough to touch that thing with Imagine Breaker. If I could just do that…"
"Um…" a meek voice said behind Touma, catching his attention.
Quickly turning around, Touma was shocked to see a very unsure Kazakiri standing behind him. She held her hands close to her chest and her legs were wobbly. Even in the darkness of the underground mall, Touma could see the fear in his friend's eyes.
"What are you doing here!?" Touma demanded, "You're supposed to be waiting with Saten and Uiharu so Shirai could get you out!"
"I-I know, b-but…" Kazakiri stammered, unable to properly voice her reasons for ignoring Touma's instructions, "I just…"
"Never mind that now!" Touma ordered, not seeing the point in her explaining now, "Just get back! It's dangerous here!"
Behind him, Touma could hear the sound of boulders rumbling. Considering what exactly it was he was fighting that day, it didn't take a veteran combatant to deduce what was about to happen.
With a loud crash, the golem Ellis slammed its fist into the floor, throwing up a large wave of rocks and debris. In a bid to protect his friend, Touma pounced at Kazakiri, planning to tackle her to the ground and hopefully clear of any incoming debris. Unfortunately, he was barely too late and Kazakiri got nailed straight in the head. The impact knocked her glasses off her face and herself off her feet.
"Kazakiri!" Touma cried, rushing to her side, "Are you okay?"
Rolling the fallen girl on to her back with his left hand, Touma quickly inspected for injuries. However, whatever he was expecting, it was near close to what he had found. Rather than finding something like a cut of a bruise on the girl's head, Touma found a huge chunk of the left side of Kazakiri's head missing, shattered like it was made of glass. She was missing an eye and an ear, and the hole appeared to trace around her cheek. The inside of her head was completely hollow, lacking any traces of the organs that appeared on her face. Inside of her hollow head was a floated, red, triangular prism that seemed to almost pulsate with power, almost like it was alive. For some reason, Touma could have sworn he had seen something like it somewhere before.
"What the…" Touma gasped, unsure of what to make of this discovery.
Although disoriented from her injury, Kazakiri quickly picked herself off her back and sat up. She appeared to be mostly oblivious to her own injury, feeling only a comparatively small amount of pain in relation to how seriously hurt she looked. While she certainly felt pain, she did not notice the gaping hole in her head until she started touching it. Once she did, Kazakiri turned her attention to a nearby store window. In that window, she saw her very strange reflection. Even in the darkness of the mall, the image of the hole in her head and the glowing prism within were as clear as day.
The odd sight shock Kazakiri to her very core. Unable to properly process what she was seeing, she had mental breakdown and frantically started running, hopelessly trying to escape this discovery about herself. Unfortunately, the direction she chose to run in was directly in the path of the Magicain and her golem, the latter of whom easily swatted her into the air and into the ceiling.
"Kazakiri!" Touma cried as his friend hit the ground.
Despite the rough way she was handled, Kazakiri got back up on her feet like nothing had happened. However, the manner in which she did was most definitely not human. It was almost as if she was a marionette on a set of invisible strings, lifting herself up on her feet by dragging her behind her limbs. These continued unnatural behaviors drove Kazakiri deeper into her breakdown, sending her running down the halls of the mall with a horrified shriek.
As Kazakiri disappeared into the dark hallways of the underground mall, Sherry watched quietly as she confirmed her new target.
"Come along, Ellis. Our work isn't done here." Sherry ordered her golem, "We still have more hunting to do."
With a wave of her stick of chalk, Sherry sent the ceiling of the section of hallway behind her crumbling down. The falling debris quickly pilled up behind her, cutting of Touma and Anti-Skill from following her as she fled the scene.
"Damn it." Touma growled under his breath, "What is that Magician up to now?"
"Headband to Misfortune. Come in, Misfortune." a familiar voice said over the PA system, "Please respond."
"Yeah, I read you." Touma replied, searching the area for the nearest security camera, "Did you see all that?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Kuroko replied, catching Touma off guard.
"So you saw it too, Pigtails?" Touma mused, "Can you girls try to track down that Magician and Kazakiri? I'm going to do what I can to help Anti-Skill recover."
"Shouldn't we be addressing the elephant in the room?" Saten inquired, much to Touma's Ire.
"Not at this moment, no." Touma replied, promptly coming to the fallen Anti-Skill officers' aid.
Although it took some effort, Touma, along with the other able-bodied Anti-Skill, were able to dig everyone out of the rubble. Those too injured to continue fighting were given medical treatment, while those who could still fight huddled up to plan a new attack strategy.
"Headband, were you able to track down Kazakiri and the terrorist?" Touma asked.
"Yes." Uiharu replied over the PA system, "I have been to locate both of them. Kazakiri has seem to have settled down, now hiding in the southern wing. However, the terrorist is now quickly approaching her location, and should close in on her within a couple of minutes."
"This is bad." Touma growled under his breath, "We need to get to Kazakiri, and quickly."
"What does this terrorist even want with a student like her?" Yomikawa asked in concern.
"She wants to start a war." Touma explained, "She comes from an organization outside of Academy City that has its own methods of granting supernatural powers. She thinks that if she can kill Kazakiri, she can set off the spark that starts the war she wants."
"But why this Kazakiri girl in specific?" Yomikawa pushed, "If she wanted to start a war between Academy City and her own organization, she could have targeted one of the higher ups. Why target a random student like her? And what about that wound on her face?"
"I don't…" Touma tried to respond but was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing.
"Do you really need to answer that right now?" Yomikawa asked indignantly as Touma answered the phone.
"Hello?" Touma answered somewhat sheepishly, "Kind of busy at the moment."
"Is that you, Kamijou?" the familiar voice of Touma's teacher Miss Komoe replied, "Finally, I was able to get through to you. Himegami has been trying to reach you for a while without any luck. She lost count how many times she's tried."
"That was HImegami?" Touma inquired, remembering the fuzzy call from earlier.
"Yes, and I have something very important to tell you." Komoe continued.
"Sorry. but I'm kind of in the middle of joint Judgement operation with Anti-Skill, trying to catch a terrorist that's out to kill my new friend." Touma replied rather bluntly, "I'm in the middle of a mission briefing, so I really have to go."
"Actually, what I have to tell is about your new friend." Komoe revealed, catching Touma off guard, "If you're in the middle of a mission briefing, you might want to put me on speaker for everyone to hear."
Doing as he was told, Touma switched his phone to speaker mode and increased the volume to max. Afterwards, he held it up in front of him so everyone in the huddle could hear what Komoe had to say.
"Okay then, you're on speaker, Miss Komoe." Touma announced, "Miss Yomikawa is with us as well."
"Perfect! As I was saying, we've discovered something very strange." Komoe explained, catching the attention of all the Anti-Skill listening in, "We don't know how or why yet, but Hyouka Kazakiri doesn't show up on any of the security cameras around the school. We know that Kamijou was with her and would like him to tell us were exactly she entered the school to get a more focused search."
"Wait, where are you going with this?" Touma asked, lost as hell.
"Remember how we were discussing AIM Diffusion Fields earlier today? We believe Hyouka Kazakiri may be connected to them in some way."
"Connected?" Yomikawa inquired, "What exactly are you getting at, Tsukuyomi?"
"This is all just conjecture, but we basically have all the components necessary for what we consider to be a human being. Thus, it would be expected for a person to come into existence, correct? What if, with all the AIM Diffusion Fields of Academy City overlapping, they coalesced into something physical, and that something physical was Hyouka Kazakiri?"
"Don't you think that's a bit of a stretch?" Touma argued.
"I don't think so, Kamijou." Uiharu interrupted over the PA system, "We've already seen multiple cases of AIM Diffusion Fields combining to form physical manifestations, such as the AIM Burst during the Level Upper Incident and the Diffusion Ghosts produced by STUDY's Chemicaloids. Not only that, but that prism structure inside of Kazakiri's head is very similar, if not identical, to the reports of the core of the AIM Burst that Misaka destroyed."
At the mention of the AIM Burst, the foggy memory clicked in Touma's brain. While he had no direct recollection of the event, he did have memories of reading through past Judgement reports and his own recordings in his journal. One particular page he had stubbled upon happened to be the entry on the AIM Burst, which included a few rough sketches of the monster and its core.
"Also, there have been multiple sighting of Kazakiri going back a long time." Komoe continued, "They describe her as being more indistinct, similar to a ghost."
"Okay, you make a good argument." Touma admitted, "But even if you're right, I don't think she's aware of it at all."
"That's hardly surprising." Komeo agreed, "Why wouldn't she believe she's human? She certainly fills all the criteria. Regardless of what she may believe, Hyouka Kazakiri is most definitely not a human being. She is essentially an anthropomorphic manifestation of AIM Diffusion Fields."
"Damn, that's awful." Yomikawa sighed.
"Yeah. It's almost too awful to believe." Touma agreed, "Imagine believe yourself to be one thing, only to discover you're anything but."
"Awful or not, it is the truth." Komoe replied bluntly, "Do you hear what I'm saying, Kamijou? It doesn't matter that she is formed from all the component parts of a person, not at all. Despite whatever you want to believe, Kazakiri is not human. Of course, does that really matter? Why does she have to be a human being? Think about it, Kamijou. How do you see her now that you know? Is Hyouka Kazakiri nothing more than an illusion? Is she just some soulless image that just happened to appear one day, haphazardly thrown together? Is her presence so insubstantial that nothing would change if she suddenly disappeared?"
"No way!" Touma forcefully replied, "That's not what she's like at all! And even if she was just some etherical phantom that could disappear at any moment, there's no way I could just stand by and do nothing as someone tries to harm her!"
Hearing Touma's answer, Yomikawa couldn't help but flash a smirk. That smirk transformed into a low chuckle before erupting into a full-blown hearty laugh.
"Looks like we were right to rope this one into Judgement!" Yomikawa laughed, "Your student's a real piece of work, Tsukuyomi!"
"Isn't he thought?" Komoe agreed, "It makes me so proud whenever my little men come to the right answer like that all on their own! That's all I have for you for now. I'll leave you to your anti-terrorist operation. Be sure to save Kazakiri. Bye-bye now!"
As soon as Komoe hung up, Touma closed his phone and stored it away. With renewed resolve and a fresh fire in his eye, he eyed the rest of the able-bodied Anti-Skill in front of him. Based on the looks they were giving him, it was apparent that they all had the same devotion to the cause that Touma had.
"Hey, Headband," Touma said, looking up at the nearby security camera, "do you still have a lock on Kazakiri's location?"
In the dark recesses of the underground mall, Kazakiri sat against the wall, completely alone. The wound on her head was still clearly visible, her core completely exposed. Within a few seconds, the wound closed in on itself, completely reconstructing the portion of her face that had been broken off. Once her face was healed, a copy of the broken glasses she had lost also appeared in her hand in mint condition, as if she had never lost or broken them in the first place.
After taking a minute to readjust after having her face completely heal, Kazakiri replaced her glasses on her face, having come to terms with the fact that she was not entirely human, if human at all. After all, what kind of person has their face shatter as if it was a glass vase and then perfectly reconstruct itself within a few minutes? However, that left her with a completely different question. If she wasn't human, what exactly was she?
Before Kazakiri could think too much on this, she heard a loud rumbling not to far away from her coming from down the hall. Looking towards the source, she saw the glowing red eyes of the golem that had attacked earlier, as well as its master, the Magician Sherry Cromwell.
"My my, look what I've found." Sherry mused as she closed in, "You're said to be the key to the Imaginary Number School District, but you are a sorry sight. I imagined better than this. I'll never understand these science-minded types, jealously clinging to something like you."
"Why are you here!?" Kazakiri demanded, confused by the Magician's appearance, "What is it that you want from me!?"
"Hold on, what's this? Am I sensing a little fear?" Sherry inquired, "Don't tell me you actually fear to lose your sorry life. Surely, you've figured it out by now. You are not and never will be a real human being."
Kazakiri gasped at the statement. She had figured it out. It was fairly obvious after that wound she had suffered. But hearing it come out of someone else's mouth somehow made the fact hurt so much worse.
"Oh, don't go all pale on me. Here, look!" Sherry instructed as she waved her stick of chalk.
With a single motion, Sherry commanded her golem to punch the nearby wall. The strength of the punch was enough to completely decimate the wall but given that Ellis's arm was made from all the same materials, the arm shattered as well.
"You see? This is all that's going to happen to you." Sherry demonstrated, "It's like smashing an inanimate object."
Its example made, Ellis immediately reformed its broken arm pulling in rubble from the wall it had just smashed to construct its new limb.
"Are you beginning to understand?" Sherry goaded, "You are just like my Ellis, a monster. There is no place for you here or anywhere else."
Monster. Was that what she was? A monster? Something hideous and inhuman, incapable of loving or being loved? What did that mean for her friendship with Index and the others? Was it even real? Could a monster even have friends? The thought what the answers could be brought Kazakiri to tears.
"Now now, don't cry, monster." Sherry said a mock-reassured tone, "It only makes you look even more pathetic, and thus easier to destroy!"
With a swift motion of her hand, Sherry commanded her golem to deal the killing blow. With a deafening roar, the golem Ellis pulled back its fist and threw a mighty punch at Kazakiri. Paralyzed by the though of her death, all Kazakiri could do was close her eyes and brace for the impact.
However, the punch never landed. There was no pain. No sound of bones shattering from being crushed or rock slamming against flesh. All she heard was the sound of shattering glass.
Opening her eyes, Kazakiri noticed a pair of familiar sneakers on the floor. Those sneakers were attached to a pair of legs, which she followed up until she saw the face of the person standing before her. To her surprise, Kazakiri was faced by the sight of Touma Kamijou, effortlessly holding back the fist of the golem with nothing but his right hand.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Touma smiled, "Don't worry, everything will be alright."
Special End Card Segment: Animan Temple
"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!" Animan cheered, wearing a Santa hat and brandishing a pair of noise makers.
"A bit late for that, don't you think?" Himegami deadpanned, less enthusiastically spinning her own noise maker.
"Cut me some slack, Priestess Number 1!" the master of the temple cried, "I have a busy life outside of writing this universe!"
"You mean like building your Dragonmaid Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck?"
"Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this recent chapter!" Animan segwayed, "Next up is the chapter I like to call 'True Friends', so stick around! Until then I'll see you all next time!"
"Whenever that may be." Himegami deadpanned, waving goodbye.