Hello internet, welcome back to another chapter of A Certain Strange Addition! This time, I have a special treat for you, this is a triple-length chapter! Well, sort of. While writing this chapter, a decided that just covering Accelerator episode 7 was too little since not much happened during that time, so I moved on to cover episode 8. However, that episode was mostly a flashback, so adapting that would be redundant since there wouldn't be much I could change. Thus, I included the events of episode 9 as well since that did have stuff worth adapting, and plenty of action too. I think you'll all like what you see in this reimagined fight with the Coffins.
A quick reminder that A Certain Strange Addition has a Tv Tropes page now. If anyone reading is a regular Troper, please keep the page updated and help expand it. Stuff like that really goes a long way to keep me going.
Now, before we get to review responses, there is something I need to address. As those of you who have accounts know, I had taken the liberty of answering some of your questions via PM since I did not know how long it would take before I got the chance upload again. For the sake of consistency and readers who do not have accounts, I will be addressing those questions again so all answers are publicly available in the event anyone had a similar question. Now, with that out of the way, on to the reviews.
Tsukz: Glad you liked the chapter. Who knows, I might just have Yuri show up at the Judgement office for slice-of-life shenanigans.
Isokage: Touma and Yuri's relationship is going to be one of the major cornerstones of this story, so I really wanted to let that relationship shine whenever I can. As such, you can be your life that they will end up meeting in the same school. By the same token, you can bet that Scavengers reaction when they meet Mikoto and learn about her connection to Touma will be a real barrel of laughs.
IS6A6E: Glad you liked the chapter. While I understand why you have reservations with the fact Naru was left naked following the punch she received from Touma, it was unfortunately unavoidable. Naru uses her powers to cloth herself in paper, so having her Ability negated by Imagine Breaker directly would naturally undo what little clothing she had left. Even if I didn't write that she got naked explicitly, it would have been implied based on the logic of the world. Better to rip off the bandage, I say. You can certainly count on seeing plenty more of Touma and Yuri's friendship.
DuckBoi: Glad you liked the chapter! Thanks for the concern. It really helps to keep me going.
Clearwing Yuta: Thank you!
emiya unlimited blade works: Thank you for the support!
ahsoei: Thanks for clearing that up. I seriously can't believe I screwed up that measurement after all the research I do for this story.
SuddenBetrayal: For those of you who have forgotten, Shinobu Nunotaba is currently in Russia with Janie and Febri and had developed a crush on Touma following the Silent Party Arc, even going as far as to steal Touma's first kiss. She and Mikoto are the only two girls Touma knows have feelings for him.
jayasimha: I'm sorry, who among the characters remind you of Kiritsugu of the Nasuverse?
comrade-elmo1: "Sometimes orders aren't orders" is actually a reference to an early episode of Generator Rex that had always stuck with me. Basically, it means to not follow orders if they conflict with what's right. I decided to add it since it really fits Touma's character to a tee. Just some classic best bud banter between Touma and Yuri. I mean, who wouldn't be traumatized after facing Accelerator's display?
MarauderPrime12: Good to be back!
5had0wHand: It's good to be back. Touma and Yuri are best buds here, buddy cop vibes were inevitable. I don't think Esther will be joining the Animan Temple Cast any time soon. Unlike with Himegami, I can actually think of ways to use her in the future since she has an actually helpful skill set. The girls will be back soon enough, and after a few more arcs, the Daihasei will be underway. Just give it a year or two given my current pace.
Stryper88: Glad you liked the chapter. The other girl who confessed was Shinobu Nunotaba. Look back at chapter 50 if you need a reminder.
Vein Bloodborne: Glad you liked it. When Scavenger meets Mikoto and learns about her relationship to Touma, you can bet they're going to be scared out of their wits about it. After all, if Touma is a monster to them, how would someone who is dating him compare?
Yuuji Akira: Really? My story has saved you life countless times? I sincerely hope that's just hyperbole. Happy you liked the chapter. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the events adapted, it was mostly a straight adaptation with not much of my own work until Touma showed up. That going to be a reoccurring theme in the next few following chapters. I'm just glad you liked the parts I did add, most prominently the friendship interactions between Touma and Yuri. Yomikawa is definitely going to become a funny aunt to Touma considering she is essentially one of Accelerator's moms in canon. Thanks for the encouragement with school.
0 Jordinio 0: Like I've mentioned before, my primary experience with the Toaru franchise was through the anime, so while I'm a Touma fan, my confidence in his ability to take on fights without proper preparation is a bit lacking. I also didn't want to take too much away from Houtou, as the Scavenger fight was her showcase. Thus, I elected to have Touma analyze the situation from a distance before having him step in when it was appropriate. My intention with the soap boxing when Accelerator arrived was to frame it as Touma giving Scavenger one last chance to back down before he let Accelerator go to town on them, but looking back I didn't really convey that very well. I think you'll find the next fight I have Touma involved in a lot more engaging.
onilink500: Gracias por el consejo.
azlil7: Due to the nature of the events covered in the first half of the chapter, there was not much I could do in the way of adapting. since Touma was not present. That all changed once Touma entered the scene. Touma actually addresses the high death count in this chapter, a topic a neglected to address in the previous chapter. Besides, jokes are a fairly common coping mechanism for traumatic stress. Thanks for the support.
Zatil Hidayah Spensa: Wow, if I had a nickel for every time someone told me I saved their life by updating my story, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but its weird that its happened twice. I serious do hope you're speaking in hyperbole.
5had0wHand: Thanks for the support. I don't really think Touma is the detective type, per say. I'd say he'd be more of a vigilante investigator, looking into mishaps with or without the permission of a higher authority. I would also not introduce another power that exists outside of of Science and Magic, as I feel like adding too many of them takes away the uniqueness of powers like Imagine Breaker and World Rejecter.
a guy with a creative name: While it will most definitely take several years, I do have plans to cover the events of New Testament. I have been sticking very close to the stages of canon, and I plan to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. All major events from canon will happen in some fashion here, with all of Old Testament more or less planned out.
rubengalihalexis: Guess that's a testament to how descriptive my writing can be.
GENO BERSERK: That's not a bad idea. I've already committed to the idea of STUDY being major supporting characters from now on, may as well explore the reason for their underappreciation in depth. I actually have a couple ideas as to why STUDY are considered jokes more influential researchers. Funny thing is, I had established Aogami as the 6th ranked Level 5 while adapting the Silent Party Arc, quite some time before we learned who exactly Aihana was. I suppose I could retcon it so Aogami is just one of Aihana's regulars, who is regularly given power, including enhancing his normally low level Esper Ability. It would certainly be one of my more elegant retcons.
Well, that's all of them. Oddly enough, no Guest Reviews this time around.
One more thing before we get to the chapter itself. This time around, I have a song selection that I would suggest you play at a specific scene. Some of you may remember how I've done this in previous chapters. There will be notes within the chapter that tell you when exactly to start and stop a given music track. The music should be relatively easy to find on Youtube with the credentials I list.
Songlist:
-"New Generation" by Shiena Nishizawa
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 68: Memories of the Dead
Following the conclusion of the battle with Scavenger thanks to the timely arrival of Accelerator, the individual members of the victorious party went about tending to their own matters. Ironically fitting given her current state of dress, Esther went around the battlefield examining the various bodies scattered about and administering first-aid to anyone still alive and within her power to help. This aid was not limited to the wounded members of Anti-Skill, as the Necromancer assisted those of DA and even Scavenger. Naturally, Houtou assisted her master with the endeavor. By the same token, Anti-Skill had come in and out of the factory, aiding their wounded, collecting their dead, and apprehending any DA agents still alive that could be taken into custody. All the while, Touma sat on the sidelines watching it all unfold as he accompanied Yuri, who was left a vegetable while the battery for his chocker recharged.
As Touma waited for the battery to finish charging so he could get his best friend back on his feet, the Level 0 could not help but focus on the dead bodies that Anti-Skill was carrying out in body bags by the dozens. He remembered the scene he, Esther, and Houtou were greeted with when they arrived at the factory. An entire factory lot littered with the corpses of tens of dozens of Anti-Skill officers, some of which were mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable. Scavenger was undoubtedly responsible for the scene, and the memory made Touma want to throw up.
In the months following his memory incident, Touma had seen far more death up close than any high school boy reasonably should in that span of time. First there was the knight in the lobby of Misawa Prep School, then there was the exploded corpse of Misaka 10031. While the later was a rather extreme example, made worse by the knowledge it was by his best friend's hand, both incidents were singular, isolated occurrences. But in a single night, Touma had witnessed a death count comparable to a warzone, and the thought of it made him sick.
Before long, the battery for Yuri's chocker finished charging. Taking the battery out of its charger, Touma slotted it into his friends chocker before switching said chocker to normal mode, just as Yuri instructed.
"Thanks for that." Yuri said, now able to voice his thoughts thanks to the Misaka Network.
"Don't mention it." Touma replied, collecting the charger from the wall outlet and returning it to its owner, "Hey Yuri, you've seen a lot of death, right?"
A miffed glare was the only response Touma got.
"Right. Stupid question." Touma redacted, rubbing the back of his head, "Does it ever get easier, seeing all that death?"
Upon hearing his friend's question, Yuri immediately relaxed his face, quickly understanding why Touma brought up the topic.
"If you see enough of anything normally disturbing, its only natural you start to get desensitized to it." Yuri answered.
"I see." Touma nodded, sounding somewhat discouraged.
"But, that doesn't mean it gets easier to see." Yuri continued, "Only a villain like me could find the sight of death easy to take in. But for heroes like you, even if the sight of death no longer stops you in your tracks, you're still going to be bothered by it. All it does is motivate you to make sure a no has to see a sight like that ever again. As long as you keep thinking like that, you'll know for sure that you haven't become a villain."
"Again with the hero and villain thing." Touma sighed, "But what does that say about you? How can you call yourself a villain if the deaths of the Sisters bothers you?"
"… I have no idea what you're talking about." Yuri insisted, moving up ahead to check on Esther and her first-aid efforts.
'Still can't forgive himself.' Touma thought to himself as he watched his friend walk off, letting out a sigh, 'He's never going to move past this if he doesn't try to do that much.'
Putting that aside, Touma followed his friend to check on Esther. When they caught up to her, they found the Necromancer inspecting the downed members of Scavenger.
"What do you think you're doing?" Accelerator asked, "These aren't exactly the kind of people who show gratitude."
"After everything they've been through, I'm sure they'll regret the trouble they've caused." Esther replied.
"Like hell they will." the Level 5 scoffed.
"I don't know. You gave these four quite the fright. I can still smell the piss coming off the one in the mask." Touma reasoned, "They're probably traumatized by you now."
"What about you? You went and knocked out their heaviest hitter with a single punch while overpowering her Ability with Imagine Breaker." Yuri argued, "Not to mention I brought up the fact that you scale higher than me in a one-on-one fight. If I scared them with my little display, they must be terrified of you just thinking about how you compare to me."
"Says the guy that took down all four girls in under a minute." the Level 0 argued back.
"The one with the long black hair is actually a guy." the Level 5 corrected.
"Wait, seriously!?"
"You two really are incredible." Esther mused as she continued her work. "The way you use your powers to save people from death."
"It's nothing. really." Touma insisted, having received far too much similar praise in the past few months than he would like.
"All I did was stomp on some annoying bugs, that's all." Accelerator replied dismissively, similarly seeing his actions as unworthy of praise for completely different reasons.
"You're wrong." Esther denied, "I can tell just by looking at them. While you caused physical damage, your attacks weren't meant to take their lives. Even though you do your best to act like you're wild and unmannered, you're continuously doing your best to help other people. It doesn't help that you're personality completely transforms whenever you're interacting with Kamijou. That is to say, the only conclusion I can draw is that you're good."
"Looks like she's got your number, buddy." Touma chuckled, nudging his friend's crutch arm.
"You should stop coming to your own conclusions about other people." Accelerator scoffed, looking away.
"I'm certain, you really are the one!" Esther explained, running up to Accelerator.
"Huh?" the pair of high school boys asked in unison.
"If you'll allow me… What I'm trying to ask is… Would you be my master?" Esther asked, offering a red bundle of paper.
"Huh?" the pair of boys said yet again.
"When a member of the Rosenthal family pledges their devotion to a teacher, our custom is for the disciple to present an article red clothing or gear they are wearing." Esther explained, "It represents a blood oath to their master."
"Oh, the teacher thing." Touma mused, remembering the conversation they had in the hospital, "For a second there, I thought you were talking about something else."
"What exactly were you thinking?" Yuri asked his friend suspiciously.
"Something that would get me slapped if I said it in front of a girl, that's for sure."
Bringing the bundle of paper up to her mouth, Esther blew into it, inflating it until it was a uniform sphere.
"By adding depth and giving form to it, the significance of the gesture increases." Esther explained further, offering up the now inflated origami balloon.
"Not interested." Accelerator refused, walking away, "Try asking the Anti-Skill lady when she wakes up. Or better yet, ask Touma. He's the one that's constantly playing the role of the hero."
"Hey, don't try to pawn this off on me!" Touma yelled, chasing after his friend.
"But I need your help if I'm going to defeat – AH!" Esther tried to explain, only to get sidetracked when her offering slipped out of her hand, forcing her and Houtou to give chase as it got carried away by the gentle breeze of the empty factory.
"Seriously, why are you trying to pin this job on me?" Touma asked as he followed his departing best friend, "I think it's pretty clear she wants you to be her teacher."
"And what would I even be able to teach her? Last I checked, the only skill I have to teach is killing, and I think it's pretty clear she doesn't want to see any more death." Accelerator argued.
"And where does that leave me?" Touma countered, "I'm not exactly the teacher type. I'm barely passing my classes as it is. Besides, don't you think you should hear her about what exactly she wants to learn from you reject her."
"I told you, I want no part of this and you're not changing my mind!" Accelerator snapped, picking up his pace a bit despite his need of a crutch.
"Please, teach me your strength!" Esther begged as she gave chase, "What's it going to take to change your mind?"
"Yuri, come on. Just hear her out." Touma pushed, "It's obvious that you can't push the job on me if she wants to learn how to be strong. I may be able to take you on, but I'm pretty sure I'm just a little above average when it comes to strength outside of Imagine Breaker."
"You know, it's really annoying how you constantly undersell yourself with how often you throw people across a room with a single punch." Accelerator scoffed, barely paying attention to the pleas.
"Houtou, you try asking too!" Esther ordered.
"As you command." Houtou complied, "Carrying out Adonai's order."
Faster than what would normally be humanly possible, Houtou rushed in front of Accelerator, stopping him in his tracks, much to the Level 5's frustration.
"Accelerator, I request you be Adonai's master." Houtou said.
"Please, I'm begging you!" Esther added, joining her servant's side as they both took a bow.
"… Why is she still not wearing any clothes?" Accelerator asked, noticing that Houtou was only dressed in her underwear from the morgue and Esther's cloak.
'How the hell did I go this long without noticing that?' Touma silently thought to himself.
"Oh yeah. There wasn't any time to properly equip. Our first priority was making sure we didn't lose sight of the enemy." Esther explained, "But your right. It would have improved her defense."
'Does this girl have no sense of common decency?' the pair of high school boys shared a thought after hearing such an explanation.
"I know! I'll just give Houtou my outfit to wear!" Esther reasoned, immediately starting to undo the buttons on her shirt, "This should at least lend her some protection until I can…"
"Adonai, doing so would decrease your own defenses," Houtou pointed out, also missing the decency issue, "What if I were to borrow Accelerator's garments instead?"
"That makes sense. After all, a master doesn't need to rely on clothing to protect themselves. If you would?" Esther asked, outstretching a hand in a pleading gesture with her eyes closed.
'And that's my cue to leave.' Accelerator thought to himself as she silently turned to walk the other way.
"If you'd be so kind!?" Esther asked again, failing to notice her would-be master was already leaving.
"He's been walking away since you started looking away." Touma pointed out, prompting Esther to open her eyes to see Accelerator fleeing the scene.
"Master! Where are you going!?" Esther cried out as she and Houtou gave chase.
"Well, this isn't going to get resolved any time soon." Touma sighed following the group to make sure things did not get out of hand.
As Accelerator continued to make his way out of the factory, Esther and Houtou continued to pester him about becoming the Necromancer's teacher. The more the Level 5 tried to ignore them, the more desperate and annoying their pleas became. The pair even went as far as to circle Accelerator while bombarding him with pleas before physically tugging at his clothes like a pair of needy children. At that point, Accelerator had reached just about the limits of his patience and resorted to activating his choker's combat mode just to make a point.
"Let go!" Accelerator growled as he relatively lightly threw the pair off him, "You're such a pest!"
"Please, you don't understand!" Esther begged, "If we let them be, the world will be in grave danger!"
The next thing Esther knew, she felt something quickly fly by her face. Looking behind her, she saw a massive dent in the side of the downed Tarantula that was not there a second ago. The cause of said dent was Accelerator, who had just thrown a handful of pebbles in that direction with enough force to put most firearms to shame.
'Okay, things have officially gotten out of hand.' Touma thought to himself as he quickly ran to his best friend's side.
"Makes no difference to me what happens to the world." Accelerator declared, "And if you keep pestering me, I'll make sure to shut you up permanently."
Undeterred by the death threat, Esther continued to beg Accelerator for his guidance as her teacher.
"I need to stop Hirumi no matter what!" Esther begged with tears in her eyes as she once again grabbed at the back Accelerator's shirt, "And the way I am now… I'm unable to."
This time, Accelerator stopped in his tracks. Despite easily being able to force her off him, he did not display any sort of resistance.
"I need… to learn how to be strong…" Esther whimpered, desperate tears pouring from her eyes, "Please, help me!"
"Your willful, I'll give you that much." Accelerator scoffed.
"Yuri." Touma interrupted as he approached the would-be teacher and student, "I think you should help her. It's pretty obvious it's important if she took this many of your threats and still kept begging."
"If you want to get her help so badly, why don't you do it?" Yuri asked is friend, "Aren't you always going around helping others even if they don't want it?"
"Maybe so, but Esther clearly wants help, and it has to be from you." Touma argued, "Look, its pretty obvious there's a story here and there's something much bigger going on than just DA. Don't you think we should at least look into it and hear her out?"
Before the Level 5 could give his response, the group was interrupted by the arrival of two familiar faces, both of whom were recently rescued during the debacle with DA and Scavenger.
"What is with all the commotion? Do you realize you're injured?" Yomikawa asked Esther, noticing the injuries the Necromancer had neglected in favor of treating other people.
"Misaka suggests first-aid be applied to stop the bleeding." Misaka 10046 added.
"Yes, Houtou agrees." the reanimated corpse stated.
With three people suddenly concerned for Esther's wellbeing, Accelerator used the opportunity to get away from the Necromancer's grip. However, as she still needed the Level 5 to agree to be her master, Esther continued to struggle from their hold to catch up with Accelerator.
"Master, please wait! Don't go!" Esther begged.
"You're an idiot if you think I care the slightest bit about what you want. But Hishigata was it? That guy rubs me the wrong way." Accelerator declared, "So I'm going to find him, and crush him!"
"In that case, allow me to accompany you!" Esther requested.
"Suit yourself." the Level 5 responded begrudgingly.
"Don't forget me! I'm coming too." Touma declared.
"I already know nothing I do is going to stop you." Yuri sighed, knowing all to well how pointless an effort it was to talk Touma out of anything.
However, before the trio could even attempt to leave the factory, something else had arrived to block their path. Dropping down from factory's open skyline was a large, heavily armed machine. The machine was primarily purple and black and looked like a sort of flying tank. It remained airborne with a set of four rectangular jet engines arranged in a rectangular fashion. Sitting on top of its base was a set of bars that forms structures akin to arms with a large gun barrel on its right, and an elongated neck from which a head extended from. This was yet another one of Hishigata's Coffins.
Once it was a ground level, an array of red, glowing circles appeared in in the air in front of it, circles that Esther recognized all too well.
"Those are Rosenthal magical arrays. From the looks of it, Taotie." Esther observed.
"Wait, what's a machine doing performing Magic with your name on it?" Touma asked, having just encountered such a machine for the first time.
"I'm sorry. What this about Magic?" Yomikawa asked as she, Misaka 10046. and Houtou approached the trio.
'Rotten luck! So much for keeping that secret from Yomikawa!' Touma thought to himself.
"A shi xiong charm, much more powerful than Houtou." Esther explained, "Keep your distance, it's me they want! I'll…"
"You stay back there with them." Accelerator cut the Necromancer off, "Isn't this convenient? I don't have to go looking for leads when the leads come to me."
"Wait! We still don't know what Abilities he's enhanced yet, so be careful." Esther instructed.
"Wait, abilities? You don't mean Esper Abilities, do you?" Touma asked, having long associated with word with Esper powers.
As Accelerator approached the offending machine, Taotie fired a volley of four missiles, all of which were locked on to the Level 5. Seeing the weapons as no real threat, Accelerator simply jumped at the machine, reflected the missiles away from him when they tried to home in. However, just before he could make contact with the Coffin, Taotie activated its enhanced Ability, Replace. Targeting one of the missiles it had previously fired, Taotie switched places with it, putting the machine behind Accelerator and out of harms way, leaving the Level 5 to get caught in the blast of the four missiles when they detonated. Thankfully, Accelerator's own Ability was more than enough to defend against the explosions, although it was admittedly a bit difficult to breath for a second with the lack of oxygen in the middle of a combustion reaction.
"Are you okay?" Esther asked in concern for her chosen master, only to find herself grabbed by Accelerator, out of the way of a telepathic attack form an unseen enemy.
Switching places with a lingering missile with aid from Taotie was Qiong Qi, whose Telepathy nearly tore Esther to shreds.
"Another one!?" Touma cried in confusion as he activated his nanomachine helmet for safety.
"You think two against one gives you an advantage, you elusive bastard?" Accelerator asked mockingly, "What's wrong? You out of comebacks?"
"Stay out of this." an unfamiliar and distinctly female voice said over Qiong Qi's radio.
However, one person present knew the voice all too well.
"A girl?" Accelerator asked in confusion.
"Hirumi…" Esther whispered in astonishment before raising her voice at the machine, "You have to stop this! Give her back!"
Esther's only reply was another telepathic attack from Qiong Qi, one she was able to avoid thanks to the timely assistance of Houtou.
"Adonai, are you uninjured?" Houtou asked her master.
"You trying to get yourself killed?" Accelerator asked in annoyance.
Suddenly, a gust of wind with no clear source swept the factory floor.
Appearing out of nowhere in midair was a third Coffin, this time primarily colored orange with the appearance of a sphere hovering on a jet engine. The structure split open into four equal sized shells, revealing a tri-legged robot with a spherical torso and multiple tendrils tipped with what could be described as spearheads. This was Hundun.
"Another corpse Ability." Accelerator clicked his tongue.
"I'm sorry, 'corpse Ability'!? This is all moving kind of fast for me! Can someone please explain!?" Touma asked in a mix of confusion and panic as he drew his ODD.
Before anyone could even hope to explain, Hundun wrapped one of its tendrils around Misaka 10046, grabbing her off the ground and pulling her in.
"Misaka!" Touma cried in concern.
"That's what you were after!?" Accelerator cried in outrage.
"Let her go!" Yomikawa demanded, drawing her pistol.
Unfortunately, the teacher couldn't risk opening fire on the Coffin as the Sister was within her line of fire. By a similar token, Touma was unable to do anything to free Misaka 10046 himself. He mentally shuffled through all the possible forms his ODD could take to find the right tool for the situation, inadvertently causing the tool to shuffle between each form as they crossed his mind. Try as he did, Touma couldn't get his ODD to transform into something that he could use to cut the Sister out of the tendrils as the device had no such features.
"Damn it! Figures a weapon designed with student use in mind wouldn't have anything with a cutting edge!" Touma yelled in frustration.
While everyone was distracted by the capture of Misaka 10046, Taotie unleashed another volley of missiles, this time directed at Esther. Dutifully protecting her master, Houtou grabbed the Necromancer and carried her out of harms way. Unfortunately, these missiles were of the homing variety, and thus they chased after the pair. To make matters worse, Qiong Qi used its Telekinesis on the floor, causing part of it jut upward and cut off Houtou's path. With no where left to run, the reanimated corpse simply braced for impact to protect Esther to the best of her abilities.
Thankfully, while the missiles did eventually detonate, not one came out of it worse for wear as Accelerator had stepped in, defending the Esther and Houtou form an explosive end.
"If you're done playing sneaky, how about we fight?" Accelerator demanded of the machine's operator, not appreciating the cheap shots they were taking.
The response he got in return was not one he appreciated very much. Rather than going for a straightforward fight, the three Coffins took off into the air with Misaka 10046 in tow and blanketed the area with a wall of flames, courtesy of Taotie's missiles. Once they were out of range, Taotie fired a volley of three dud missiles out of the factory's skylight.
"See you around, Esther!" the voice on the other end of the Coffin's speaker rang out as the Coffins teleported way, switching places with the dud missiles Taotie fired.
"Where do you think you're going!?" Accelerator demanded as he gave chase, easily diving through the wall of fire and taking flight after the three machines.
"Yuri, wait! At least help us put out these fires so we can give chase with you!" Touma called out to his best friend, on to be disappointed when it became apparent that he was out of hearing range.
As much as Esther wanted to give chase as well, she quickly realized it simply wouldn't be possible. With the intensity of the flames, Houtou would not be able to get through without suffering critical injuries which dampen her fighting capabilities as well as further desecrate Hasumi Hitokawa's body. Not to mention the present company of Anti-Skill captain Yomikawa, who was not going to just let her go off on her own. With no other options, Esther resigned herself to waiting, watching as her chosen master drew ever farther away.
After some time, the flames finally subsided, allowing the quartet of Touma, Yomikawa, Esther, and Houtou to set some things straight. First and foremost was the matter of Hasumi Hitokawa's supposed revival, which required the revelation of the existence of Magic to Yomikawa, much Touma's displeasure.
While Touma himself had no real personal stake in the cold war between Science and Magic, he preferred to maintain the status quo with regards to the knowledge of Magic within Academy City. Just stumbling upon the concept earlier that summer had cost him what was effectively his whole life, and lesser but still great tolls have been asked of his friends that shared the secret with him. The last thing Touma wanted was to drag anyone else into that mess, but given current circumstances, there was not much of a choice.
Surprisingly enough, Yomikawa took the news of the existence of Magic rather well, considering every other time Touma has revealed the existence of Magic to someone they took it with at least a little scrutiny.
"You're taking this quite well, Miss Yomikawa." Touma mused.
"How can I deny it when the proof is right in front of me?" Yomikawa pointed out, gesturing to the nearby Houtou, "I could say the same about you, Kamijou."
"Admittedly, I've been dealing with Magic since the start of summer vacation." Touma admitted sheepishly.
"So, just to make sure I have this straight. You're a Magician from outside Academy City, a Necromancer to be specific, and you used your Magic to revive Hasumi Hitokawa with a psudo-soul, making her body appear alive with a different mind controlling it." Yomikawa checked with Esther.
"Yes, that's right." Esther confirmed.
"Okay then." Yomiakwa nodded, "That still doesn't explain how you're connected to those huge, Ability using weapons."
"They're my fault." Esther whispered under her breath, "It's my responsibility to stop them."
"Sounds like there's a story behind that." Touma noted, "Care to share with the class?"
"Those weapons, the Coffins, were developed through the collaboration between myself and Mikihiko Hishigata." Esther explained ruefully, "There several rounds of experimentation, we discovered placing an Esper inside a machine and tricking the mind into believing the machine was the body, an Esper's Ability would be enhanced as if to compensate for the larger body. Through the use of my Necromancy and Hishigata's life support systems, Espers who had passed away were given new life in stronger bodies, resulting in the Coffins."
"I see. So that's why Hasumi Hitokawa was put inside that weapon. And Mikihiko Hishigata is the one responsible." Yomikawa mused, pulling up Hishigata's file from the Data Bank, "Those other weapons, are they controlled with Necromancy as well?"
"They're even more dangerous, because they rely on the Evil Spirits of the Numbers." Esther whispered.
"That's certainly not a reassuring name." Touma shivered.
"Qiong Qi, Hundun, and Taotie. They're a special trio of psudo-souls created by our fifth family head, Nathen, and fine-tuned for generations." Esther explained.
"Stronger than her?" Yomikawa asked in shock as she nodded towards Houtou, whose capabilities far exceed those of Hasumi Hitokawa in life.
"Bodies who have an Evil Spirits of the Numbers charm performed on them demonstrate power and in excess of their actual potential." Esther explained further, "But they're difficult for an ordinary Necromancer to control. Let alone Hishigata, who isn't one at all. Continued use of them is dangerous. There have even been stories of them losing control and destroy entire cities."
"So not only do we have three robots powered by super powerful, unstable Magic rampaging around, they're under the control of someone not the slightest bit qualified to control them." Touma summarized grimly, "And to top it all off, we still have the political angle to consider."
"There's politics involved in this too?" Yomikawa asked incredulously.
"I'm not a hundred percent on this myself, but the Magic community and Academy City are in the midst of a cold war only held together by a treaty between the Magic Side and the Science Side." Touma elaborated, "As part of the treaty, neither side is allowed to meddle with the affairs of the other. The only reason I've been able to get involved in Magic Side affairs despite being an Academy City student is because the nature of my Imagine Breaker grants me a status of neutrality. But a member of the Science Side like Hishigata making active use of Magic for his own Science Side projects is a massive breach in the treaty. If word of this gets out to the higher ups of either side, it could mean all-out war."
"I see." Yomikawa sighed, starting to feel overwhelmed, "So, all around bad news, huh?"
To say that Accelerator was getting annoyed by the game of cat-and-mouse he and the Coffins were caught up in would be an understatement. At some point while he was chasing the Necromancy powered machines, Mikihiko Hishigata had taken over control of the Coffins and started to directly challenge the top ranked Level 5, even making small talk and taunts. It was especially annoying how he kept boasting about amazing his technology was since Accelerator was easily able to find exploits and weaknesses in each of the Coffins using his own Ability.
While he initially had some trouble with Qiong Qi and its Psychokinesis in their first encounter, Accelerator had since discovered a work around to directly attack it. Hishigata had falsely assumed that the Level 5 needed a medium to come in contact with to apply his Ability, but that was actually a misconception. Accelerator's Ability is Vector Manipulation, and thus he was able to control vectors, not the mediums they passed through or carried. All forces, no matter what their nature, had vectors, and that was especially true for supernatural forces like Psychokinesis. All Accelerator needed to do was manipulate the vectors of Qiong Qi's own Psychokinesis to use as a weapon for himself.
Hundun's Ability was Stealth Hide, which allowed it to dull the senses of surrounding humans. With its capabilities boosted the Level 5, it was able to completely erase people's awareness of it within the area, nearly completely disappearing. Only nearly completely disappearing since the power was only hindering Accelerator's ability to track it directly. Hundun was still physically in the area and thus affected things like airflow. By tracking changes in the air, Accelerator was able to deduce Hundun's location and attack it accordingly.
Taotie was by far the easiest to exploit. Since its Replace only allowed it to switch places with something else, usually the missiles it itself fired, all Accelerator had to do was keep an eye on everything that could be a viable target for Replace and redirect his attacks when his target's location changed.
"You're full of surprises!" Hishigata complimented, genuinely impressed by Accelerator's display.
"You'll find that my Ability is pretty versatile as well." Accelerator mused, unfazed by the fact he currently stood surrounded by the Coffins.
"Incredible! Simply incredible!" Hishigata laughed giddily, "As a reward, I think I'll return the Sister to you unharmed."
"Huh!?" Accelerator asked, baffled by the sudden offer.
"For entertaining me!" Hishigata explained, "I've been getting so worked up coming all this way to get a single clone that you can create any number of."
From where he stood, Accelerator could hear Misaka 10046 as she moaned in pain as Hundun probed her brain for the Misaka Network's memories.
"After all, she's just a leftover, isn't she?" Hishigata continued, "From the 10031 clones you already massacred."
Having that particular incident brought up again made Accelerator snap a little bit. As an almost reflexive response, he flexed the wind control application of his Ability, sending Qiong Qi and Taotie flying away by the air currents.
"I took a look at the records. Level 6 Shift, was it?" the mad scientist explained further, "I'd be very disappointed if after chewing through so many of them, you suddenly decided to play the hero and try to say just this one. I don't understand why you're so concerned in the first place. Look at their purpose, why they were made. See? The clones are nothing more than guinea pigs for you to exterminate!"
"What are you talking about? You know why I'm here?" Accelerator growled, "The truth is, I simply wanted the gratification of hearing every bone in your body snap as I break them apart!"
That was no lie, but it was far from the whole truth. Accelerator really did want rip Hishigata a new one, but his reasons for wanting to do so are far deeper than he'd let anyone know. The truth was Hishigata sickened him. He reminded Yuri far too much of his attitude while participating in Project Level 6 Shift, even using the same kind of language he used to refer to the Sisters. Yuri had resolved to move past that terrible experiment and start fresh with Touma by his side but having someone bring up his previous involvement with the experiment was keeping him chained down. Naturally, the Level 5 wanted to remove such a chain as quickly as possible.
But worst of all was how Hishigata treated the dead. First, he goes around sticking corpses in machines to exploit the Abilities of deceased Espers. Now he was stealing the memories of the Sisters 10031 deaths to use for some other twisted purpose. Those memories belonged to the Sisters and the Sisters alone. He was not about to let some bastard desecrate those deaths and do with them as he pleased.
No matter what it took, Accelerator was going to see to it that Hishigata paid.
Thanks to a generous donation from Anti-Skill, Houtou was now equipped with a full outfit consisting of several pieces of lightweight Anti-Skill gear, including a combat vest, a skirt, combat boots, and fingerless gloves. For his part, Touma was just glad she was wearing something other than a cloak and underwear.
"All I can say is she looks like a living, breathing person." Yomikawa mused, still amazed by the feat of Necromancy.
"That was my mistake too." Esther said solemnly, "Hishigata and I both believed we could control that power. I knew the truth and couldn't admitted."
"Hey, don't beat yourself up over this." Touma gently reprimanded, "We all have things we refuse to admit to ourselves."
"I have to stop him." Esther declared, getting up off the ground and marching off.
"And you're certain you can let Anit-Skill take care of the situation?" Yomikawa asked, determined to be of some help.
"I'm the one responsible for sowing this seed and getting my master involved. Leaving it for someone else to clean up isn't possible." Esther reaffirmed, determination permeating in her voice.
Placing a paper charm on the ground in front of her, Esther activated it and cast a simple transportation spell. Within seconds, the magical array on the charm expanded and enveloped her in a green light, lifting her up off the ground and through the factory's skylight. Houtou quickly followed her master, piggybacking off the effects of the spell and flying after her. As much as he wanted to follow them, Touma knew Imagine Breaker was just going to negate the spell the moment it entered its area of effect, making it impossible for him to follow the same route. Unless there was some exception he was unaware off, the only way Touma was going to fly was with technology and not some supernatural power.
"Why are there so many kids in Academy City who feel like they have to take everything on by themselves?" Yomikawa asked no one in particular, bemused, "I take it you want to go after them and lend them a hand, Kamijou?"
"Of course." Touma sighed, "But given the circumstances, I'm guessing you're going to give me a direct order as my superior to stand down and leave it to Anti-Skill, right?"
"Quite the opposite actually." Yomikawa smirked, "I was going to order you go after those two and help them in any way you can."
"Wait, what? Why" Touma asked, befuddled.
"You said it yourself, there's a political element to all of this too." Yomikawa explained, "Magic and Science cannot interfere with each other's affairs and your power gives you neutrality. Plus, you've already admitted to having experience with Magic, so I figured you'd be the best equipped to handle this. Anti-Skill will do what we can take down the remnants of DA, as well as defend civilians that get too close to action. Does that sound acceptable?"
"Y-yes ma'am!" Touma stammered, baffled by how accommodating his PE teacher was being.
"Alright them! You have your orders, so move out!" Yomikawa bellowed.
"Roger!" Touma hollered as equipped his helmet and activated his hoverboard before racing out of the factor.
As she watched Touma leave, Yomikawa couldn't help but chuckle and how eager the student was to help.
"You've got a real interesting student, Komoe."
When Touma saw the faintest bit of sunlight start to creep over the horizon, if finally started to dawn on him just how long he had been out trying to help Esther with her problem.
'Shizuri is going to kill me when I get home.' Touma thought to himself with a shiver.
Perishing the thought for the time being, Touma focused on the more pressing matter he was currently faced with. While he was more than willing to help Esther with cleaning up her mistake, he was faced with his own dilemma at the moment.
Since the Necromancer had gotten a head start over him in leaving the factory, the Level 0 had unfortunately lost track of her and now had no means of finding her. Touma was not sure if she had a phone, and even if she did, he did not have her number. Not to mention that Esther was rather adamant about handling things herself, so even if he did manage to call her, she would likely refuse to tell him her location to keep him uninvolved. And with Uiharu currently outside of city limits, there was no way for Touma to take advantage of Academy City's surveillance system to track Esther down without getting any more people involved in Magic.
At this point, the only way to track Esther down was to follow the trail of mana she and Houtou inevitably left behind. However, since Touma was not a Magician, he lacked the skills to actually detect the mana of others.
"Rotten luck. At this rate, I'll never be able to track those two down." Touma grumbled as he rode his hoverboard aimlessly thorough the streets of Academy City, "It'll take a miracle for me to find them."
As he said this, Touma noticed something in the corner of his right eye. Wisping through the sky like an aroura borealis was a trail of rainbow light. The band of light seemed to beckon Touma towards it, point towards the general direction he had last seen Esther go. Seeing as one does not normally see aroura borealis at this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely in a single band of light, Touma figured it was some form of supernatural phenomenon worth investigating. As he steered his hoverboard to follow the trail of light in the sky, Touma never noticed that his right eye had transformed, his sclera black, his iris violet, and his pupil vertically slitted.
Following the trail of light, Touma found himself in front of an outdoor café. The café appeared to be abandoned, with broken windows, rotting floorboards, and scattered porch tables and chairs. Kneeling on the dilapidated porch was Esther, with Houtou standing not too far behind her on the café's lawn. Following the band of light he had been tracking, Touma noticed that the light seemed to be coming from the Necromancer herself. As soon as his eyes fell on Esther, the band of light disappeared and Touma's right eye returned to normal.
Upon closer inspection, Touma noticed that the Necromancer had her dagger stabbed into the floor. The dagger itself now held a faint red glow in its markings.
"I take it that dagger is important." Touma asked as he approached.
"Kamijou?" Esther asked in surprise, "When did you get here?"
"Just got here." Touma replied, "And that dagger? Any particular reason why it's glowing like that."
"This is Emperor Shun's Blade." Esther explained, "Within it is a spell that can unbind a pseudo-soul form the host body. With this, I can free Hirumi from Taowu's control."
"You mentioned a Hirumi before, and I'm guessing Taowu is another one of your psudo-soul charms. Who exactly is Hirumi?"
Upon being asked the question, Esther immediately became crestfallen, which was impressive considering her previous disposition.
"She is… was Hishigata's younger sister." Esther answered.
"Damn. This bastard's sicker than I thought." Touma growled, "What kind of sicko do you have to be to do that to your own little sister?"
"Oh no, you have it all wrong!" Esther jumped, realizing Touma had come to the wrong conclusion, "It was actually quite the opposite. While she was part of her brother's experiments to create a Level 6 Esper, Hirumi was forbidden from participating in a of them until he could confirm that were safe."
"Okay." Touma said wearily, "If that's the case, how did she end up dead with one of your pseudo souls controlling her body?"
"She was terminally ill. She wanted to help her brother with his research, but because of his insistence on her safety, she wouldn't be able to do any real testing before her expected expiration date. Wanting to achieve their goal of creating a Level 6, she stole my shi xiong charms and used one on herself after taking her own life, forcing her brother and I to use her body in the experiments in a desperate attempt to save her." Esther explained sadly, "Unfortunately, it was all for nothing. I should have known better, but Hishigata and myself both clung on to the false hope that Hirumi was still alive. The truth of the matter is Hirumi is long gone and all that remains is Taowu, the Evil Spirit of the Numbers pseudo-soul attached to Hirumi's body. Now Hishigata is continuing to pursue the goal of turning Hirumi into a Level 6, completely convinced that Hirumi is not the one in control of the body."
"I see. I get it now." Touma mused, clinching his fists, "Hishigata may be the brains behind the operation, but Taowu is the one pulling the strings by taking advantage of his grief. You weren't kidding when you said these things were dangerous."
"That's why I needed Emperor Shun's Blade." Esther said, presenting the weapon, "With this, I can remove Taowu from Hirumi's body and allow her soul to properly pass on."
"But why prep the spell in an old, dilapidated café?" Touma asked, gesturing to their surroundings.
"This place was once Hirumi's favorite café. It was here that I made to help her whenever she was in trouble, no matter what." the Necromancer explained, holding the blade close to her chest.
Hearing this, Touma couldn't help but smile.
"You're a good friend, Esther." Touma complimented, "So, you have any clue where to find Hirumi?"
"I do. But please, don't follow me." Esther requested, "It's bad enough I got my master involved in this. I can't have you trying to clean up my mess too."
"Sorry to tell you this, but I have a habit of ignoring people's requests to not get involved when they need help. It's just not how I operate." Touma shrugged, "Besides, after hearing that story, it looks like you're not the only one that needs help. I need to set this Hishigata person straight, and I think my signature right hook is just what he needs. So then, are you going to lead the way, or am I going to have to go on a wild goose chase to follow you?"
"… Alright then." Esther agreed, her eyes, filled with determination, "Houtou, Kamijou, let's go."
As morning crept over Academy City, Accelerator's pursuit of the three Coffins that kidnapped Misaka 10046 had not let up. No matter what Qiong Qi and Taotie did, they could not shake the crazed Level 5 off Hundun's tail. Eventually, Accelerator managed to get a few solid punches on the Coffin transporting Misaka 10046, inadvertently disconnected it from Hishigata's remote computer and interrupting the download of the memories of 10031 deaths.
Such a turn of events infuriated Hishigata to no end. After so much time and effort had been put into the project, he refused to have it just end with nothing to show for it, especially not at the final step. Luckily for the scientist, his sister Hirumi, or rather Taowu, was there to calm him down and get him back on track. With the wireless connection to Hundun's mind probing equipment lost, the only option left to them was to retrieve Hundun and the Sister to their base so they could complete the download over a wired connection. But to do that, they needed to get Accelerator away from Hundun, and Hirumi had the perfect idea to do it.
By hacking into Academy City's infrastructure and creating interference within District 16, the location of their base, the Hishigata siblings were able to force Anti-Skill to act and conduct an evacuation of the district. With people actively moving out of the area, Qiong Qi and Taotie were able to act more freely in how the confronted Accelerator, including causing millions of yen worth of collateral damage.
In a bid to pin down the top ranked Esper, Qiong Qi and Taotie executed a collaborative attack that involved dropping a whole skyscraper on top of him. While such a tactic would not even scratch Accelerator, the same could not be said for the dozens of civilians and Anti-Skill on the streets that had yet to evacuate from District 16. So while the attack did not pin down Accelerator as planned, it did give Hundun a suitable distraction to let it return to base. With so many innocent people getting caught in the crossfire of a battle between villains, Accelerator could not help but step in to save them.
"Imitating others? How tacky!" Accelerator yelled as he shoved the falling building away from the crowd, while also shattering it into smaller chucks of rubble that would cause minimal damage once they landed.
Not too far away, Accelerator spotted Qiong Qi positioned on the streets, looking his way. Quickly assuming it was responsible for the collapse of the building, the top ranked Level 5 saw it fit to give it a taste of its own medicine.
"Hey, piece of junk number 3, you forgot this!" Accelerator called out as he threw one of the larger chunks of debris at the Coffin.
As the rubble greatly surpassed Qiong Qi in size and mass, the Coffin was immediately knocked off its feet on impact, only avoiding more serious damage thanks to psychokinetic shielding.
"That twisted freak ended up getting away." Accelerator mused, "But after making such a big scene fleeing, I can guess which direction it went."
Seeing the inert Qiong Qi laying under a pile of rubble, a wicked thought crossed Accelerator's mind.
Once Hundun managed to return to base, Hirumi's school, the Hishigata siblings immediately got to work downloading the rest of the memories they needed from the Misaka Network. Now able to use solid cables, the download was completed at a much faster rate then what they were able to manage remotely. However, before they could celebrate completing the download, they were interrupted by the crash landing of a new, unplanned arrival.
Standing on top of a crash landed Qiong Qi was Accelerator, who looked down on the Hishigata siblings with an unreadable expression. He paid the siblings no mind, not even questioning why the girl was wearing nothing but underwear and was dragging multiple wires from her back. It was honestly an uninteresting sight after everything he had seen in the last few days. Instead, Accelrator turned his attention to the inert Hundun, who still had Misaka 10046 wrapped up in its tendrils. With a simple tap, the Level 5 was able to shake the Sister free from captivity, who safely landed in his arms.
"So it was you." Misaka 10046 said upon seeing who had saved her, "Says Misaka, recognizing the face of the person who saved her as surprise appears on her own."
"Bravo." Hishigata applauded with a slow clap as he and Hirumi approached the Level 5, "You really are the first ranked."
"I recognize that voice." Accelerator said in realization, "From the first moment I heard it, it made me sick to my stomach. Now I can say the same about your face."
"I don't like this guy." Hirumi whimpered as she cowered behind her brother.
"Now now, before you overreact, you've arrived at the best part!" Hishigata beamed excitedly, "Do you know the extent of my research over the last few years? The Espers who were abord Qiong Qi and Taotie, which you easily defeated, were originally Level 3, but with my Esper enhancing paired with Esther' pseudo-souls, their Abilities were raised all way to Level 5! And yet, they were still no match for you."
"Are you an idiot or something?" Accelerator growled, "If you hook up junk to more junk, you still end up with junk!"
"You'd have been right!" Hishigata laughed, "Until recently."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the Level 5 asked, "After everything you've thrown my way, you think you can gain even a millimeter of victory over me?"
"Well you see, now I have the memories of 10031 deaths I got from her." Hishgata explained, pointing to a shocked Misaka 10046, "Once I upload my formula into those three, you'll finally get your wish: enemies worth fighting, or rather ones you can kneel before, opponents you'd write out as 'nemesis' but read as 'friend'. Watch."
From his lab coat pocket, Hishigata pulled out a rather innocuous looking remote with a single button and screen.
"With one press of this button…" Hishigata explained but was cut off when a rock thrown by Accelerator shattered the remote into pieces.
"That won't be necessary." Accelerator said, juggling an extra rock in his hand, "You've caused me enough trouble with your pathetic attempts at darkness."
"What have you done!? You've completely destroyed our dream!" Hishigata bawled, dropping to the floor on his knees.
"Looks like all it took the snap you brain was a little despair."
However, the despair did not last for long, at least not for Hishigata. Just as quickly as he broke down crying, he collected himself and flashed a wicked grin that gave Accelerator a run for his money.
"I was only kidding!" the mad scientist laughed, "Actually, it's already been installed! That's right! Its up and running! I'll admit, when you first arrived, I was feeling a little anxious inside."
"You really are a genius, brother." Hirumi giggled.
"Yeah, I'd say it's just about time for them to get restarted."
Much to Accelerator's surprise, the previously inert Qiong Qi rose up from behind him. Despite missing a leg from their previous confrontation, the machine looked than ready to fight.
"We'll leave him to you." Hishigata told the machine.
"We should get going, brother." HIrumi suggested.
"After one last fine tuning." Hishigata insisted.
"Huh?" Accelerator asked, wondering what the siblings could be up to.
"The formula was designed for HIrumi." Hishigata explained, "Once it's been installed, she'll become an absolute Esper, a Level 6, which means she'll surpass you."
"Yeah? Go ahead and keep dreaming!" Accelerator scoffed.
Ignoring the Level 5's protests, the siblings made their way out of the room to continue with the final phase of their plan. Accelerator was about to make a break for it to stop them, but he was cut off by the revitalized Qiong Qi before he could do so.
"Get out of my way, you bucket of bolts!" Accelerator demanded, almost amused that the machine would still try to fight him after all the beating it had received from him.
Far less amusing was Misaka 10046's attempt to stand by him in combat with nothing but a crowbar. While the gesture was considerate and noble, it was also incredibly foolish. If she was one of the stronger Sisters, she would be at most a Level 3, and that wasn't going to cut it against a machine with capabilities on par with a low ranked Level 5. Besides, this was a battle between villains, and she was nothing more than a victim of one villain's schemes. If she got involved, she would only get in the way.
"Get out of here, right now." Accelerator calmly instructed.
"But I…" the Sister protested.
"Beat it!" Accelerator ordered more forcefully.
Seeing that the boy who had killed so many of her sisters was not going to argue over the matter, Misaka 10046 stepped back, distancing herself from the fight about to ensue.
"Misaka wanted to fight alongside you, but now is concerned about being a bother and has decided to give you some distance." The Sister declared.
"No one asked you to be considerate. Don't forget the damage I inflicted on all of you." Accelerator reminded, "Just keep quiet and hold it against me."
With the Sister now out of harm's way, there was only one thing left to do, destroy the Coffins. Fully intent on doing just that, Accelerator was leaped at Qiong Qi to attack, only to find himself teleported outside the building with several of Taotie's missiles gunning for him. While Accelerator was easily able to redirect the missiles, that didn't change the fact that the Coffins had gotten considerably more powerful after the integration of the memories of the Sisters' collective deaths.
Thanks to the additional formula, the scope of Taotie's Replace Ability had drastically increased to that of Asportation. Initially, the Esper inside Taotie could only swap places with their favorite stuffed animal. Now, with its enhanced Asportation and some simple hypnosis, Taotie was able to link its camera with that of Qiong Qi and perceive anything either of them saw as that stuffed animal. This in turn let Taotie not only teleport things that Qiong Qi saw, but also Qiong Qi itself, so long as it had something to swap places with.
That left Accelerator standing outside of the school Hishigata was using as his lab, facing down both Qiong Qi and Taotie with far more powerful Abilities than they had prior. Despite this, he was not worried in the slightest. After all, Accelerator was the first ranked Level 5. The was no way a machine was ever going to match his power. It was going to take some doing, but he was going to crush the two Coffins in front of him no matter what.
"You listening, Trash Lord? I'm going to destroy these two rust buckets real quick and then head your way." Accelerator declared, knowing full well Hishigata was still monitoring the Coffins from some other part of his facility, "I figured you should have had long enough for your life to flash before your eyes by the time I'm done."
"Sorry, but I can't have you come here any time soon." Hishigata apologized over Taotie's speakers, "Now when the second round is just beginning."
"Really?" Accelerator asked, amused, "Who do you think you're talking to?"
After Accelerator had disappeared before her eyes, Misaka 10046 ran frantically through the building in hopes of tracking down Hishigata and maybe putting a stop to the chaos somehow. In her desperate search, she stumbled upon a damaged hallway with a hole in the wall leading to the outside. From that hole, the Sister was able to see just how powerful the Coffins had become after installing the Sisters' memories.
The fight was not looking too good for Accelerator. While none of the Coffins' attacks were able to cause any injury thanks to the Level 5's defensive capabilities, the machines had total control of the battlefield with Taotie teleporting the combatants however it liked and Qiong Qi throwing Accelerator around with powerful psychokinetic blasts. As much as Misaka 10046 wanted to help, she knew she was helpless to do so as her enemies were far out of her league. The Sister could not help but despair at the thought.
"Misaka!" a familiar voice called out from behind the Sister.
Looking behind her, Misaka 10046 was surprised to see Touma running up to her, with Esther and Houtou following closely behind.
"Are you alright?" Touma asked as he ran up to meet her, "How did you get away?"
"Accelerator rescued Misaka, explains Misaka, baffled by the Savior's sudden appearance."
"Then where's Yuri now?" the Level 0 asked, only to get his answer when an explosion went off outside, curtecy of one of Qiong Qi's psychokinetic blasts.
"Master!" Esther cried out in concern.
"Master? Asks Misaka, wondering what you mean."
"I mean Accelerator! He's my master!" Esther explained, "Where's Hishigata, the one who captured you? I need to defeat him if I want to help my master!"
"You three take care of Hishigata! I'll see what I can do to help Yuri!" Touma ordered as he equipped his nanomachine helmet and activated his hoverboard.
"Wait! You cannot fight Qiong Qi and Taotie! They are far too powerful! Exclaims Misaka, advising the Savior against picking a fight he has no hope of winning!" the Sister begged.
"Never stopped me before! How do you think you and the rest of the Sisters are still alive?" Touma quipped as he jumped out of the hole in the wall on his hoverboard.
As she watched Touma leap into action, Esther could not help but ponder about what he had said. What had he done in the past that led to this girl and her sisters being alive today?
Elsewhere in the facility, Hishigata couldn't be more satisfied with how things were progressing. While Esther stood by in a capsule on the other side of the room, he was busy on a console, vigilantly monitoring the progress of his formula's installation. With his current set up, the formula was being installed at an exceptional pace, with only twenty percent not yet installed after running for just a few minutes. However, his mood became remarkably sourer when he heard an alarm go off on his console.
Checking the security cameras, Hishigata was both infuriated and surprised to see Esther and the corpse from the Coffin prototype quickly approaching his current location. Seeing as he could not have any interruptions, he decided it best to send out the unoccupied Hundun to deal with them. After all, it would be useful to have some data on how all three Coffins performed with the memory formula installed.
As Esther and Houtou rushed through the halls of the facility to stop Hishigata's misguided attempts to turn his sister into a Level 6, they were faced with a rather imposing roadblock in the form of Hundun. Determined to stop Esther from progressing any further, the Coffin thrusted on of its spear tipped tendrils at her with the intent to kill, only to be intercepted by Houtou, who was just as determined to keep her master safe.
"Danger to Adonai detected. Executing action to eliminate the enemy threat." Houtou declared as she pinned down one of Hundun's tendrils under foot.
"After all this time apart, you dare come back now, Esther?" Hishigata questioned over Hundun's speakers.
"That's right! I'm here to keep my promise to Hirumi!" Esther declared, "That thing walking around in her skin is actually Taowu, one of the Evil Spirits of the Numbers!"
"Instead of worrying about what you can't control, sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor." Hishigata replied, ignoring Eshter's warnings, "Hundun, if you'd be so kind."
With its orders given, Hundun pushed forward with its offense.
"New Generation" by Shiena Nishizawa : Start
While Accelerator was confident that he could dismantle the pair of Coffins easily, they proved to be much more resilient than he had given them credit for. Thanks to their cooperation, they were extremely nimble, teleporting everywhere by switching places with the countless bits of rubble the fight was creating. While all he needed was a single touch to end a fight, getting that single touch was quite difficult given how nimble the Coffins where. Not only that, but Accelerator was on a time limit while his opponents were not, so while his Ability could easily defend him from harm, it would only last as long as his battery did. Worse still was that their strategy involved swapping the comparatively small bits of rubble with larger objects to catch him by surprise, something he learned the hard way when a bus was nearly dropped on top of him. Thankfully, a certain strange addition to the fight arrived just in time and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulling Accelerator to safety.
"Sorry I'm late!" Touma greeted as he pulled his friend on to the hoverboard, "Had to make a detour to check on your student."
"Shut up before I decide to hurt you." Yuri snarked, grabbing Touma's shoulder for stability, "Thanks for the save, not that I needed it."
"So, what are we dealing with?" Touma asked.
"The green trash heap uses Psychokinesis to create rubble, which the purple scrap heap uses as currency to swap in larger stuff to crush us with." Yuri explained, "Speaking of which, oil truck, 12 o'clock high!"
Taking his best friends warning to heart, Touma barely managed to swerve out of the way of a falling oil tanker, one that detonated after its tank ruptured and lite a spark. It was only thanks to Yuri enhancing the hoverboard's speed that the duo managed to avoid getting caught in the blast.
"Okay then. I guess that means we need to take out the purple one first so we can actually hit our targets and not get blind sighted." Touma deduced, "Any suggestions?"
"It's Asportation is dependent on sight, so if we destroy its camera and blind it, that should stop things from teleporting. Only issue is getting close to the camera since anything we throw at it can easily be teleported away." Yuri explained.
Upon getting the lowdown, a plan formed in Touma's head, one he was not particularly fond off.
"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but how is your fastball?" Touma asked, steering the hoverboard towards Taotie.
"You don't seriously mean…?"
"Just do it before I change my mind!" Touma demanded, readying his ODD in his right hand.
"If you can get us closer first, it will make it easier on you." Yuri pointed out.
"Better hang on then, because we've got incoming!" Touma suggested as he gunned for Taotie.
As the pair raced towards the purple Coffin, Qiong Qi continued to assault the pair with psychokinetic attacks. At the same time, Taotie kept teleporting in random objects like buses and trucks in an attempt to crush the duo before they could reach it. However, Touma's reflexes and Yuri's raw power were too much for the Coffins to deal with. No matter how quickly the Coffins tried to attack, Touma would spot them and react accordingly, easily dodging Qiong Qi's swooping strikes and Taotie's falling debris. And with Yuri close by, the attacks that did manage to get near were easily repelled away, leaving both Touma and himself unscathed.
Noticing a jutting out slab of pavement pointing towards Taotie's perch, Touma gunned for the makeshift ramp while Yuri manipulated the hoverboard's vectors to push it to speeds that it normally would not be able to reach. Once they ran off the ramp, Yuri further enhanced the vectors of their upward movement, launching the duo much farther up than what normally would be possible and giving them the high ground against Taotie.
With a clear vantage point over their target, Touma and Yuri put their plan into action. Jumping off the hoverboard, Touma clasped his left hand around Yuri's left wrist and vice versa as they went into freefall. Giving it a good spin to be safe, Yuri threw Touma straight at Taotie at a speed fast enough to do some serious damage, but slow enough that a human could survive. Looking up, Taotie could see Touma rushing towards it with his ODD extended into spear mode. Detecting immediate danger to itself, the Coffin tried to directly defend itself by teleporting the attacker away. However, if quickly found itself facing a critical error when it discovered it could not teleport Touma, nor the weapon he had pointed at it. By the time Taotie had concocted a solution for the error, it was already too late.
Touma drive his ODD straight through Taotie's camera, blinding it and stripping it of its Ability. Once the Coffins Ability was disabled, Yuri stepped in to deliver the final blow. Using Touma's hoverboard as a springboard, Yuri rocketed down on Taotie's chassis, utterly crushing it underfoot. Taotie was reduced nothing more than a pile of flattened scrap.
"One down, one to go." Touma mused as he recalled his hoverboard to his side and dislodged his ODD from the Coffin's remains, "Any suggestions for how we deal with the other one?"
Looking around, Yuri noticed a section of the facility was currently under renovation and framed with scaffolding.
"How quickly do you think you can get me to that scaffolding?" Yuri asked.
Suddenly, both boys noticed a sizable shadow loaming over them from above. Looking up, they saw Qiong Qi coming in for another sweeping attack.
"With that thing chasing us, I'd say pretty fast!" Touma screamed as he and Yuri took off on the hoverboard, "Hold on to your butt!"
With Qiong Qi on their tail, Touma and Yuri led the massive machine towards scaffolding. Bobbing and weaving through the gaps, the duo easily slipped through while Qiong Qi crashed through the structure, shattering the scaffolding into its component rods and boards. Said rods and boards also momentarily pinned the Coffin under their weight, temporarily giving the two high school boys a chance to catch their breath.
"Okay. I got you to the scaffolding, which that think reduced to rubble. Now what?" Touma asked, growing concerned as Qiong Qi worked its way out of the rubble.
"Now, I use the ammo that hunk of junk created to finish it off while you use Imagine Breaker to negate its shields." Accelerator explained.
"Don't I have to be in your line of fire for that?" Touma asked meekly.
"Don't worry. I'll be sure not to hit you." Yuri insisted.
Unfortunately for Touma, the pair could not spare another second to argue on the matter. After a bit of struggling, Qiong Qi managed to break free from its self-made prison and was ready to charge again. Despite his own reservations regarding the plan, Touma dropped Accelerator off and charged straight at Qiong Qi with his right hand stretched out in front of him. As Touma closed in on the Coffin, Accelerator kicked the pile of scaffolding rods in front of him, immediately sending all the rods flying at Qiong Qi like volley of arrows. Recognizing the danger, Qiong Qi put up psychokinetic barrier to defend. However, just before the rods would have made contact, Touma touched the barrier with Imagine Breaker, completely negating it. With no time to put up a replacement barrier, Qiong Qi was utterly skewered by the volley of rods, rendering it inert and inactive in mere seconds.
For his part, Touma was just glad he did not meet a similar fate.
"Told you I wouldn't hit you." Yuri said with a smirk as he walked up to his best friend.
"Yeah yeah. Laugh it up, ya show off." Touma replied, offering a fist bump, which Yuri happily returned.
"New Generation" by Shiena Nishizawa : Stop
However, the duo's celebration was cut off by the sound of staticky, slow clapping. Looking around, they spotted a broken security camera on the ground that was still barely functioning.
"Well done. I expected nothing less of the first ranked." HIshigata complimented over the PA system, "Taking out Qiong Qi and Taotie even with the formula installed was a piece of cake for you. So much for their new Abilities. Although, I never would have expected you accept help from someone. That certainly seems out of character for you. I do wish they proved more of a challenge for you two. But don't think I'm disappointed. Those two bought me plenty of time to make my Hirumi perfect."
Getting sick of Hishitata's voice, Accelerator crushed the camera underfoot, cutting off the scientist's feed.
"We better move. He's about to make his little sister a Level 6." Yuri ordered.
"It's much worse than that. Get on." Touma said, offering a spot on his hoverboard, "I'll explain as best I can on the way."
Not having time to argue, Yuri hopped aboard the hoverboard as the duo raced through the wrecked facility to locate Hishigata. All the while, Yuri used his Ability to enhance the hoverboard's speed and tighten its turns.
"No point rushing. You're too late." Hishigata said over the facility's PA system, "The countdown has already begun."
"Just who the hell do you think I am!?" Accelerator growled as he and Touma raced through the building.
"It doesn't matter what tricks you two try to pull." Hishigata taunted, "You won't make it in time!"
"You're Hishigata, right?" Touma asked the loudspeakers, "You have to stop! Hirumi is not what she seems! Your sister has been long dead! The one in control of her body is just Taowu, a dangerous pseudosoul that could destroy everything if you grant in the power of a Level 6! I get that you're grieving you sister's death, but you can't keep ignoring the truth! You can't keep believing in an illusion!"
"Funny, Esther claimed the exact same thing," HIshigata mused, "You must be as foolish as she is. I'd recognize my own sister when I look at her."
"Alright, you asked for this!" Touma declared, "If you're going to continue to deny your sister's death, then I'll shatter your grief fueled illusion!"
"Shatter my illusion? You're a funny one!" Hishigata laughed, "To bad you'll never make it in time to get the chance!"
While Hishigata was distracted at his monitor, he failed to notice that Esther had managed to sneak her way into his current lab. Having gone ahead while Houtou kept Hundun busy, Esther waited behind a support pillar and recycling bin for the chance to strike. With Emperor Shin's Blade drawn, the Necromancer eyed her target, the false Hirumi who rested in her capsule.
Just as the formula upload reached ninety-nine percent completion, Esther charged at Hirumi with Emperor Shin's Blade, determined to separate Taowu from the body. However, Hishigata caught notice of the Necromancer's charge and rushed in to stop her and protect what he thought was his little sister. The mad scientist did his damnedest to pry the dagger from Esther's grip, but Esther proved to be the more stubborn of the two. Powering through the struggle with closed eyes, the smaller girl tried to throw Hishigata off her before thrusting the dagger through the capsule and piercing through flesh. However, when Esther opened her eyes, she saw that she had stabbed the wrong sibling, who now stood in the opening of the capsule she had created.
"Look at what you've done, you murderer." Hishigata said weakly in spite as blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.
Baffled by what she had done, Esther pulled away, removing the dagger from Hishigata's abdomen. Meanwhile, Hishigata simply turned to face the sleeping Hirumi, not overly concerned by the wound that was now spilling blood out of his lower torso.
"Too bad for you, Esther. I'm afraid you weren't fast enough to stop the process." Hishigata gloated, "Behold, this is a Level 6."
Once again, no Animan Temple this time. Seriously struggling to come up with new scenarios for that segment.
I'm sure you all must have quite a few questions, especially regarding what happened with Touma's eye midway through. That's all related to my expanded lore, which will see even more revelations in the next chapter, and many more chapters after that. So for now, just wait patiently while I get those chapters written.
Anyway, next chapter is going to be a double length chapter since, once again, episode 10 of Accelerator was mostly backstory stuff that I can't really change and adapt in any interesting way. So you can expect two more chapters out of this arc. After this is the Orsola Arc, and I will be skipping the Nectar Arc as that happens concurrently and can't figure out a way to get Touma involved, nor do I want to continue having the Railgang absent for another ten or so chapters.
Until then, leave a review to tell me you thoughts. See you all next time.