Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter One Hundred Seventeen: Agitate Halation - Hero Riot's Opening Skirmishes
It was a shitty night in Academy City and Kuroyoru Umidori and her Freshmen partner, Silvercross Alpha, were driving through the well lit city as they headed back to their base. All around them, skyscrapers and buildings were illuminated, creating a stunning contrast against the dark sky. Streets and avenues were lined with glowing streetlights, neon signs, and the headlights of moving vehicles, limited though they were in the mainly residential area on the edge of School District 22 that they were driving through, painting a picture of vibrant nightlife and bustling activity. Why then did Umidori find the night shitty despite the captivating blend of architectural beauty and dynamic energy that they were driving past? Well, that was because of the bust of a job they were driving back from.
Ever since their foolish attack against Fremea Seivelun to hurt the Trinity, Freshmen's standing in the Dark Side had taken a dive into the gutter. Whilst her helping the Trinity and their allies out during their Hawaii operation had helped, it hadn't been anywhere near enough to restore their good standing and they'd been forced to do a whole bunch of crappy jobs to make ends meet and climb back up the ladder of Dark Side outfits. A process made all the harder by the reforms Oyafune-sama and the Board imposed, which meant that unless they wanted to run afoul of the new oversight authorities set up, something they could not risk at the moment, they had to play by the new, stricter rules that were being introduced.
It was why they had taken the suspicious courier job they just wasted a day on. The Director, Yakumi Hisako, had sent them to deliver an empty case to an abandoned building! Okay, maybe the latter was part of setting up a dead drop or something but delivering nothing just didn't make sense.
"You're still upset over the job, Umidori-san?" The perpetually Powered Suit clad Silvercross asked from behind the steering wheel.
Umidori just grunted in agreement.
"I don't know why you'd be unhappy with how things played out to be honest." Her partner said, without taking his eyes off the road. "I mean, yes, the job didn't really make sense but so what? We didn't need to fight anyone and we were paid upfront, so what's not to like about it?"
"We were only paid the deposit, we were supposed to be paid the rest upon completion of the job," Umidori reminded him.
"Well, we technically did finish the job, didn't we?"
"Technically only." Umidori said with a frown. "Do you honestly think we'll get the rest of our money?"
"No," Silvercross admitted. "But what can we do? Confront a Director and demand she pay up?"
Umidori snorted. "I'm not suicidal. But we can certainly find people who are antagonistic against Yakumi-sama that might be willing to back us as we pay her back for tricking us."
"True, but is that necessary?"
"Our reputation is in tatters you know." Umidori told him, her frown deepening. "We can't exactly afford to be made to look like jokes. Not even by a Director. At least, not without a meaningful attempt at retaliation."
"I suppose you're right." Silvercross agreed before suddenly gesturing to the sidewalk. "Wait! Isn't that Fremea Seivelun?"
Glancing to what her Powered Suit wearing partner was pointing at, Umidori saw the recognisable form of Fremea Seivelun urgently running down the sidewalk slightly further down the road. Judging by the frazzled air the blonde Norwegian girl was radiating and the fact she was clearly wearing her pajamas with little more than a coat thrown on despite it being winter, it seemed like something big had come up.
"What's she doing out this late? And in her nightclothes no less!?"
"No idea," Umidori told him. "But pull over. We need to make sure she's alright. We'll get brownie points with the Trinity if we do and by proxy, Kiyama Harumi too.
"Got it." Silvercross responded as he expertly maneuvered their truck to a stop next to the little Norwegian.
As soon as he did, Umidori popped her seatbelt free, opened her door and hopped out.
"Seivelun-chan?" Umidori called out to the girl who had been startled by them suddenly pulling to a stop next to her as she jumped over the barrier that separated the road from the sidewalk.
"Who?" Seivelun-chan asked, squinting in Umidori's direction, clearly struggling to see her in the dim lighting. Unfortunately for her, Umidori was standing right between the cones of light cast by the nearest streetlights, leaving her shrouded in shadows.
As Umidori walked into the light and the girl finally could make her out, she gasped. "Y-You're that wicked girl who tried to kidnap me that one time only to be beaten and forced to be a good girl by Shiage-nii and Ruiko-nee!"
Umidori couldn't help but twitch at being described that way by the little girl even if there was truth to what the blonde said. Just… Did she have phrase things that way!? Anyway, the cyborg kept her cool.
"Yeah, that's me." Umidori admitted however reluctantly. "What are you doing running around alone at night? In your pajamas no less?"
"I need to find Ruiko-nee!" The little girl said while clutching whatever she was cupping in her hands, she was holding it so close that Umidori couldn't make out what it was. "I know that she is on a date at a fancy restaurant called La gastronomie de Pierre with Onee-sama and Accel-nii but I don't know how to get there."
The Number 1 and 3 plus their side piece went to La gastronomie de Pierre!? Science! That's the best and most expensive restaurant in the City! And rightfully so in Umidori's opinion. Thanks to using the City's cutting edge technology to aid in its cooking, it has become the world's first restaurant to obtain four Michelin stars! It was a minor dream of hers to eat there but the waitlist for a reservation was so long and its prices were so high that it was likely to just be that, a dream. Damn! I can't imagine they want to be interrupted.
Shaking off that tangential thought, Umidori addressed Seivelun-chan. "What's so important that you need to find Saten-sama now? You said she's on a date, right? I doubt she wants to be interrupted."
Before the little girl could reply, the speakers of their truck came to life and Silvercross addressed them. "Umidori-san, we have company."
As he said that, the truck's trailer opened up and Silvercross hopped out in his FIVE_Over Modelcase_"RAILGUN." This Powered Suit resembled a five-meter-long praying mantis, equipped with two arms, two legs, and two sickles that could fold to help it stand. It had translucent wings spreading from the armor, a large cylinder on its back to store shells, and shields on the front side of each front leg. Between these shields was a 3-barrel gatling railgun. Supported by two drones, Silvercross landed smoothly. These drones were Enemy Blasters, headless eight-legged machines with lenses and sensors built into their bodies, including radar receivers on the bottom. These drones' left arms, twice the size of a human arm, held machine guns, while their right arms, four times larger, held smoothbore guns, similar to those used by tanks. As he landed, he lifted the gatling railgun of his Powered Suit and pointed it in the direction of a nearby alley.
Turning towards the direction he was indicating, Umidori spotted a woman with long dark hair worn up and dressed in a pink nurse uniform and a purple cardigan. A woman that the Bomber Lance Esper recognised as Yakumi Hisako's assistant and her fellow cyborg: Rensa #28.
"On your way to pick up the package your boss had us deliver?" Umidori asked the other woman as she moved so she was between her and Seivelun-chan.
"Freshmen, I will collect your delivery later. My primary objective here is to deal with Fremea Seivelun."
Out of the corner of her eye, Umidori saw Silvercross using the fact she had Rensa distracted to urge Fremea to run away. Not that the girl needed much prompting from the looks of it. She looked terrified as she fled.
"Your jokes are terrible, Rensa-san." Umidori told her with a frown as she gathered nitrogen together with her Esper ability. "You shouldn't look down on Freshmen. On the Dark Side reputation is more important than money and the positive rep we'd get for defending one of the Trinity's loved ones is worth more than any amount of money that your boss can pay us."
"I wouldn't go that far." Silvercross cut in. "But you're not getting to that girl without going through us first. We owe the Trinity that much."
Rensa shot them a look that made it seem she was seeing them as little more than lab animals before offering them a disconcerting smile and said, "I see. The situation is progressing well. It seems the artificial protection target has enough control over her enemies to create dark heroes."
What, by Science, is she talking about?
"Cut the technobabble."
Her smile turning malicious, Rensa #28 continued. "It is straightforward. Yakumi-sensei orchestrated the kidnapping of Fremea Seivelun by Freshmen a few weeks ago. This attempt was designed to instill fear and anger at her attempted kidnapping and joy at her rescue into her mind. All for the purposes of honing the Esper ability we implanted into her during her regular medical checkups."
"Are you insinuating what I think you are?"
"That is correct, Silvercross-san. The mission was intended to fail from the beginning, and you fulfilled your role perfectly."
"What did you say!?" Umidori demanded with a growl. "Your boss played us for fools not once, but twice!? Getting us on the bad side of the Trinity no less!?"
"Calm down, Umidori-san! Don't lose your cool!" Silvercross warned.
It was too little too late however. Umidori was too pissed to listen to reason and with an angry growl, she charged Rensa.
Shaking her head as if she thought Umidori was a fool, her fellow cyborg just raised a hand, palm out, at the Level 4. A gesture that seemed to serve as a mnemonic that allowed her to launch a telekinetic push that sent the loli goth flying away from her.
"Shit! She's an Esper," Umidori cursed as her beloved large dolphin-shaped backpack unfolded into dozens of long tentacles with a glossy coating ending in mechanical hands, each the size of a child's. The mechanical arms caught her, allowing her to land on her feet next to their truck rather than being sent flying.
"And that's why I told you to not lose your cool! We know nothing about what she's capable of." Silvercross scolded her as he ordered his drones forward, forming a wall of armor between them and their opponent. Drones that even as they moved into position, opened fire with the full fury of their weapons. The bullets from the Enemy Blasters' heavy machine guns and the shells from their smoothbore guns flew at Rensa #28, only to smash harmlessly against a wall of earth that the other cyborg had seemingly pulled out of the ground using geokinesis.
"By Science!? You secretly being an Esper is one thing but how are you a Multi-Skill!?" Umidori cursed even as the two Enemy Blasters started to glow increasingly hot until they suddenly detonated in a decently sized explosion as their ammunition cooked off, presumably due to an application of Thermal Hand.
At the same time as the explosion, Rensa #28 used some telekinesis to rip her earthen wall apart and sent the remains hurling towards the two Freshmen agents. Though Silvercross easily shot them to harmless pieces with shots from his FIVE_Over's rotary railgun.
"That was a surprisingly small explosion." Rensa #28 commented idly as she glanced at the wrecks of Silvercross' Enemy Blasters.
"You can thank my use of CASE (Cellular Ammunition Storage Equipment) for that." Silvercross told her as he turned to level his railgun at the older looking cyborg. "It contains internal explosions. I'm honestly surprised you didn't know about it. You can't operate heavy ordnance in the City without it, there are regulations against it."
"A Dark Sider being held back by regulations?" Rensa #28 asked with a disbelieving look on her face as Umidori thrust dozens of the nitrogen lances she created via her Bomber Lance and her tentacle-like prosthetic arms. Not that her attacks did any good, with the other cyborg gracefully dancing around all of Rensa #28's thrusts. They did their job though and successfully herded the Director's dog right where Freshmen wanted her.
"Being held back by regulations? No. But holding back out of a desire to not blow up or setting the City on fire as a result of collateral damage during a firefight? That's just self-preservation." Silvercross countered as he fired off a volley of railgun shots at Rensa #28, who had been pushed right into his sights.
Much to Freshmen's frustration however, despite the shots being on target, just before they hit, their course was suddenly altered and the rounds quickly streaked off course.
"Science! That was Accelerator-sama's Redirection! What is she? Saten-sama lite!?" Umidori cursed as she pulled her robot arms back as she tensed to reconsider her options.
"Yes, it was and that description fits." Silvercross agreed. "It looks like she is using AIM Sovereign. I suppose the rumor that Yakumi Hisako-sama had cracked the code of how to make clones of Saten Ruiko-sama that can use her Esper ability is true."
"It is." Rensa #28 agreed with a nod as she gathered a couple orbs of plasma around her akin to those gathered by the Number 6 before she fired her signature Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannons. "The trick, as my sister describes it, was just to clone the brain and stuff it into a body that is mostly just an ability enhancing device as without those enhancements we're barely a Level 2."
Using the shields on the front side of each of his Five_OVER's front legs, Silvercross blocked the electron beam shot his way. Shields that warped slightly from the shot but held. Not that Umidori had much wherewithal to notice that, not when she was forced to use the agility her many mechanical arms granted her to evade the two beams that were shot her way.
Their opponent cared for none of that however and just proudly continued her explanation about her origins. "With my body's enhancements, I am equivalent to a Level 4 with a whole catalog of Esper abilities. A catalog that might not be anywhere as vast as Onee-sama's but which nevertheless includes those of the other Level 5s. In fact, the only thing that stops me from being considered a Level 5 is my inability to manipulate others' AIM Fields."
"Oh! Stop gloating, you brain in a jar!" Umidori spat at her fellow cyborg as she finally successfully evaded the beams shot at her.
"Why should I listen to a failed pawn?" Rensa #28 asked with a cocked head in confusion as she deflected another salvo of railgun shots fired at her by Silvercross, only to retaliate afterward with a telekinetic push that sent him flying. "You, a dark hero, should have been pitted against a normal hero but now that appears impossible. Though… Perhaps the situation can be salvaged."
"Oh! Shut up!" Umidori shouted angrily as she used her Bomber Lance to forge a single massive nitrogen lance that she used to try to cleave Rensa #28 in twain.
"Did you think that would be enough, Kuroyoru Umidori?" Rensa #28 asked with a shake of her head as she deflected Umidori's attack with an application of Accelerator-sama's vector manipulation before following that up by using Aero Hand to conjure a brace of vacuum blades that cut dozens of the Dark May survivor's prosthetic arms to pieces.
"You're only using one emulated ability at a time. Why? Your version isn't good enough to actually make you a Multi-Skill?" Umidori taunted angrily.
Rensa #28 scowled at that statement even as she shot bolts of lightning with some emulated Electromastery at Umidori but did not deny it, instead replying, "You have a good eye, Umidori-san. That is indeed another reason why I am a Level 4 and not a Level 5, but one of my younger sisters can and she's also only a Level 4. The City's ranking system is thoroughly unfair."
"Oh! Stop whining." Silvercross shot back as he made it back from wherever he had landed and rejoined the fight.
"I am not whining. I am merely stating facts." Rensa #28 countered. "Argh! Why am I even arguing with you? I shouldn't be wasting time on you. I have other objectives to complete. I should just defeat you and move on!"
With that angry statement, the other cyborg seemed to decide to stop holding back. Using some of her emulated Electromastery, she began calling down a storm's worth of lightning bolts at Umidori and Silvercross.
Shit! Umidori cursed in her mind as she desperately used all the agility she possessed to evade the lightning shooting down at her from the sky, only the fact that it took a moment or two for Rensa #28 to build up enough of a charge to actually conjure bolts saving her from being electrocuted.
"Umidori-san! Seivelun-chan has escaped. We should retreat." Silvercross urged. "We can't beat her."
She wanted to deny it. To argue that they could beat this knockoff of the Number 3, but she wasn't stupid. Silvercross was right. They couldn't beat her.
"Do you believe you would be able to escape?" Rensa #28 asked, sounding almost curious. "I was created to have the power needed to defeat all nine of the Level 5s on my own and whilst I readily admit I hardly possess quite that level of power, I am still within the power bracket that I am considered to be a counter to them going rogue. Do you honestly think that you can escape from someone of my capability?"
"We won't know until we try!" Umidori told her gamely as she shot a dozen nitrogen lances at the other cyborg.
"I suppose that makes sense," Rensa #28 remarked as she teleported into the sky above their streetside battlefield and extracted a coin from her uniform pocket.
"Let us test your capability to achieve your objective, shall we?" She continued, launching the coin as a railgun round, mimicking the Number 5's signature technique, targeting the two Freshmen below.
A shot that had Umidori's eyes widening in alarm. Fuck! We're screwed!
Leaving Kinuhata behind to face the crazy cockroach woman, Shiage raced towards the site of the explosion that he and his ITEM teammate had heard earlier. A teammate that had been dressed quite uncharacteristically for their supposedly peaceful night staking out potential spies targeting Kiyama-sensei and her Eden Corp. Now, even Shiage would confess that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but even he could tell by the smart, and sexy, outfit that Kinuhata had been sporting tonight and the sexy poses she'd been occasionally sporting when she saw him looking at her, that she wanted a piece of him. It didn't take a genius to figure out. And honestly he didn't know what to think about that. Yes, he was happily in a relationship with Rikou and had no intentions to break up with her but he also knew that she wasn't against opening up their relationship a little to other girls. They'd even talked about it. They'd not come to an agreement on the matter because they didn't think it was on the table, they were categorically against having an entirely open relationship, but were willing to consider it if someone they trusted, say their teammates, wanted in.
Now that it is clear that Kinuhata is interested… I'll need to talk to Rikou and see what she has to say about it.
Why were they even talking about something like that? Blame Saten-sama and her throuple. It had come up once and they talked about whether they were open to something similar. More importantly, why was he thinking about his relationship problems when running towards the site of an explosion whilst chasing after a little girl who was in danger? Well, simple. You try running non-stop for minutes on end and not let your mind wander a bit! Some people could probably do it, but Shiage sure couldn't. Without letting his thoughts drift and distract him from the strain on his body, he'd probably have been swiftly reduced to a huffing and puffing mess.
He was just nearing the site of the explosion when there was a second more powerful blast at the same location. One big enough that if Shiage hadn't had a sturdy building between him and ground zero would've likely killed him. As it was, it was enough to leave his ears ringing and leave him stumbling around the corner of the building that had shielded him.
He staggered onto a sea of glass. Not just from the innumerable glass shards that littered the ground due to all the windows that had been shattered by the explosions but also due to the literal crater of glass at ground zero. Outside the crater, was the crumpled form of someone in a badly mangled FIVE_Over Modelcase_"RAILGUN" that identified him as Silvercross Alpha from Freshmen. A fact confirmed by the presence of a badly injured Kuroyoru Umidori laying partially underneath some rubble that might've been a building she'd taken cover behind to avoid whatever had created the explosion earlier. Shiage doubted she'd been in the actual blast zone. She'd been glassed if that was the case.
"Yo! Silvercross can you hear me!?" Kinuhata's little sister called out worriedly at her teammate.
"I am afraid Silvercross-san is currently unconscious." A nurse in a pink uniform and a purple cardigan said as she teleported next to the man in the damaged Powered Suit.
"You get away from him now or I'll kill you!" Kuroyoru-san threatened as she struggled to push herself out of the pile of rubble she was partially trapped under. "Don't you dare touch him!"
I don't know what's going on here but if Kuroyoru-san says that the nurse is their enemy then I'm gonna follow her lead. Shiage concluded as he drew his pistol and slowing his run to a casual walk, he leveled it at the dark haired woman.
"I don't know who you are, lady, but listen to the girl and back away from the man."
Turning to him, the nurse gave him a long assessing look before shaking her head. "It would be difficult to convince the low level problem, Hamazura Shiage, that Kuroyoru Umidori is the aggressor here. Concluding that and his relative expendability to the Agitate Halation Project, I suppose I should just eliminate him."
"Hamazura, watch out! She's an advanced cyborg that can use AIM Sovereign!" Kuroyoru-san shouted belatedly as Hamazura found himself having to dodge a fireball that the nurse cyborg tossed at him but not before getting a shot off that harmlessly bounced off the woman's clearly armored head.
"What can she do?" Shiage asked calmly. Amidst dodging an array of icicles and vacuum blades, he swiftly swapped the ammo in his pistol, switching from standard bullets to the City's special AP (armor-piercing) rounds.
"She's Saten-sama lite basically. She just can't mess with AIM Fields and can only use one emulated ability at a time." Umidori informed him as he dove under an arc of fire that had aimed to decapitate him and fired off a shot at his opponent.
Deflecting the bullet with what he recognised as Accelerator-sama's Redirection, the cyborg nurse offered him an apologetic smile. "Abilities that I will use to kill you to fix the error and then continue as planned to frame Kuroyoru Umidori for killing Fremea Seivelun."
"What!? Since when was that part of your plan!?" Kuroyoru-san shouted. She managed to add a few of her prosthetic arms to the task of freeing herself from the rubble prison by using them as vectors for her ability, conjuring nitrogen lances that she used to cut away chunks of debris.
"Since a moment ago." The crazy nurse said as she abruptly threw her arm out in Shiage's direction. He could guess she was using it as a mnemonic for some emulated ability or other though. He'd seen Espers use similar moves to guide their ability expression thousands of times. He was thus able to leap out of the way of whatever attack she attempted to use against him without being affected and fire off another shot at her.
Annoyingly, she just used Redirection to once more deflect the bullet and continued as if their exchange hadn't even happened. "I have just realized that providing the heroes with a villain to face might prove productive in drawing them out. A role that you, Koruyoru Umidori, would fit perfectly."
No, that's not it. Shiage thought with a frown as he jumped to his right just as the ground beneath him softened like when most geokinetics used their ability, allowing him to just barely escape being impaled on the stone spikes that shot out of the ground where he'd been standing just a second ago. She's messing with us.
"What are you really after?" He asked as he rolled out of the way of the fireball his opponent shot at him as a follow up. "Why, by Science, are you trying to kill Fremea-chan in such an over the top way as this? Especially when something more covert would work a lot better? Are you trying to make a point? No, that doesn't make sense either. If that was the case, you wouldn't need to frame Kuroyoru-san. And why do that at all? There's no way that would stand up to Saten-sama's scrutiny and if anything happened to Fremea-chan, she and her intelligence outfit would be all over the case."
The nurse didn't say anything, though her eyes did narrow at being called out.
"Exactly! I betcha it has something to do with that bit about luring out heroes, whatever that means, and the Agitate Halation Project she mentioned." Kuroyoru-san said as she rejoined the fight by stabbing a dozen nitrogen lances at the other cyborg, having successfully dug herself out of the rubble pile she'd been trapped under.
Again the other woman didn't say anything. She simply raised an earthen barrier out of the ground to shield herself from Kinuhata's sister's attack.
"I'm actually more curious about why she hasn't killed the three of us yet." Shiage confessed as he leapt inside a wrecked restaurant to avoid the earthen projectiles that his opponent had turned her earth wall into now that it had finished serving its purpose. "She certainly seems powerful enough to manage that handily if she wanted to."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right," Kuroyoru-san said as she came over, dragging Silvercross-san's unconscious body along. Her cyborg enhancements made her much stronger than she looked, allowing her to drag her Powered Suit partner effortlessly. Using a combination of her mechanical arms and nitrogen lances to keep the other cyborg busy, she added, "Why do you think she hasn't?"
"She wants us to run away in order for them to draw out Fremea for her." Shiage concluded as he fired a shot at their opponent just as she finished using Redirection to block one of Kuroyoru's lances, only to have it deflected with the same ability.
Okay. It looks like if she doesn't change abilities she can just keep using them without lag in their expression. Shiage reasoned. I'm gonna have to try hitting her when she's swapping abilities and see if that works.
"She's probably holding back so she doesn't accidentally kill us."
And that's something we can take advantage of.
"I have a plan." He told Kuroyoru-san. "It's gonna be reckless in the extreme. If it fails, as a backup I want you to take the chance that my getting her attention will give you to go in for the kill. Even if it means you need to stab one of your spears through me from behind me, do it. It'll be all good so long as you don't kill me."
"What's your plan?" Kuroyoru-san shouted at him urgently but Shiage ignored her and raced out to confront their opponent.
It's now or never, Shiage!
"What's your plan?" Umidori shouted after Hamazura as her sister's prospective boyfriend suddenly charged at Rensa #28. Of course, as sisters, Onee-san had told her about her intentions toward the boy, which only heightened her concern.
Heedless of her worry, she could only watch as the former Skill-Out shot at the other cyborg repeatedly whilst dodging the varied attacks that the other woman shot at him courtesy of her emulated Esper abilities. Though, Umidori noted, she was rather noticeably avoiding using any of her particularly powerful abilities against Hamazura. Outside of using Accelerator-sama's Redirection defensively, she wasn't using any of the other Level 5s' powers like she had when she'd been fighting her and Silvercross.
But what the hell does he even think he's doing attacking her head on like this!? Umidori thought as she struggled to make sense of Hamazura's seemingly futile efforts. His shots weren't even connecting, instead being consistently deflected by Rensa #28's use of Accelerator-sama's Redirection. Yet, he continued to press his attack.
It was maddening! With each deflected shot or narrowly evaded counterattack from Rensa #28, Umidori felt a greater urge to do something to help. But she couldn't. Not when she didn't know Hamazura's plan. What if her intervening screwed it all up and got him killed? Onee-san would kill her if that happened!
And asking me to stab you if necessary!? Are you crazy, Hamazura!? Or do you expect me to be some idiot who just dances to the tune of anyone who tells her what to do?
"You are trying to exploit the gap in my capability to defend myself that presents itself when I swap between my emulated abilities, aren't you?" Rensa #28 asked suddenly as she deflected yet another rapid burst of three shots from Hamazura. He had been consistently firing the same three-shot bursts whenever she finished attacking or defending herself. This pattern was clear in hindsight.
Hamazura tsked loudly, clearly having been caught out. Shooting Umidori a meaningful glance, he broke into a run toward their opponent, firing his gun at her with abandon.
Oh no! You can't seriously want me to pull off that crazy backup plan of yours! Umidori thought as she shook her head in disbelief.
Oblivious to her feelings, Rensa #28 just shook her head. "You do realize that I can just use an ability that allows me to effectively defend myself and attack at the same time, correct?"
At this, hundreds of Dark Matter wings suddenly materialized from her back and stretched forward at blinding speeds. Some moved to shield her, deflecting Hamazura's bullets. Others lanced forward like the deadly weapons they were and struck him down. They pierced his flesh like deadly lances, impaling themselves deep into his flesh and as they withdrew, left gaping wounds that fountained blood in their wake.
"HAMAZURA!"
Ignoring her outburst, Rensa #28 turned to look down at the severely wounded Hamazura with disappointment.
"Considering how injured you are, Hamazura-san, you cannot lead me to Fremea Seivelun." Rensa #28 said, confirming that the former Skill-Out was right and all she really wanted was to use them to lure out Seivelun-chan. "I suppose I will have to use another acquaintance to find my objective."
"S-Sorry, K-Kuroyoru-san, I-I guess I sh-should've worked harder to ga-gain your trust." The heavily injured Hamazura said from where he lay defeated on the ground. "Guess it's to-too late for that now. Abandon me! Sh-She needs you a-alive to frame you for killing Fr-Fremea-chan, so make use of that! Go f-find ITEM. T-They'll help you."
"Don't talk like you're dying, you dipshit!" Umidori shouted as she charged Rensa #28. "You're not dying until you at least give Onee-san a kiss! At least not if I have anything to say about it!"
"Do not try your luck, Kuroyoru Umidori. Your survival, while preferred, is not essential," Rensa #28 said derisively. She turned toward Umidori with a glare and hit her with a blast of raw telekinesis that struck with the force of a freight train, sending her flying. Umidori crashed into the side of a building with enough of an impact to create a crater and surely break several limbs. As she coughed up a healthy dollop of blood, she was fairly sure one of her broken ribs had punctured a lung.
As the edges of her vision turned black and unconsciousness threatened to overtake her, Umidori couldn't help but curse herself. If she had been stronger then they wouldn't be in this situation. Heck! If she'd listened to Hamazura and went with his crazy plan and just stabbed him alongside Rensa #28 then maybe they could've beaten her too. She sure as Science would've managed to get the other cyborg without killing him.
If only I trusted him! Umidori lamented. Damnnit! Damn it all!
Even as Umidori was overcome with guilt and regret, Rensa #28 turned her merciless attention back towards Hamazura.
"Now, where was I? Ah. It is time for your execution, Hamazura Shiage." The cyborg nurse raised her Dark Matter wings, preparing to deliver the finishing blow to the former Skill-Out.
Before she could however, a furious voice shouted at them from the edge of the battlefield. "I don't know what's going on here, but whatever it is, you better stop it now. If you think you have the right to hurt my friends, I will shatter that illusion for you."
Kamijou Touma was having a terrible day so far. First, he had been sent to the School Garden of all places and tasked by his friend Tsuchimikado Motoharu with hunting down a magician supposedly using a spiritual item to suck out all the knowledge and skills of everyone within a five-kilometer radius, permanently depriving their original owners of said knowledge and skills. Thankfully, that turned out to be a lie concocted by Tsuchimikado to keep him preoccupied while he pursued revenge against those behind an experiment known as the Agitate Halation Project. Tsuchimikado's reckless research into the experiment having put both him and, more importantly, his sister Maika in danger from those conducting the experiment. The Esper-Magician Hybrid was determined to crush this threat while Touma was distracted. Fortunately, Touma managed to stop him before things escalated too far. However, with Motoharu too injured to continue and Director Kaizumi Tsugutoshi's resources crippled by Motoharu's misdirected revenge, the responsibility of stopping the Agitate Halation Project, and saving both the city and its central victim, Fremea Seivelun, fell solely on Touma's shoulders.
I know my catchphrase is 'Fukou da' and all, but seriously! How is it that I always end up in situations like this!? Touma thought with a tired sigh as he glanced down at the cellphone app pointing him in the rough direction of Fremea-chan's location. A cellphone that he had acquired whilst narrowly avoiding getting caught up in a fight between a pair of "heroes," who, if his suspicions and understanding of her ability were correct, were under the inadvertent influence of Fremea-chan's Agitate Halation.
Directions that were concerningly leading him toward what he was pretty sure was another fight. One that, judging by the sounds of explosions he'd heard as he approached, was a lot more intense than the last one he'd skirted around
I dunno if that's because the effect of Fremea-chan's Agitate Halation is making those under its influence fight harder as it becomes more powerful or that it's just influencing more powerful people now. Maybe both? Whatever the case, is that a good or a bad thing?
On one hand, Agitate Halation becoming stronger played into the evil Director behind this madness, Yakumi Hisako's plans. Yet, on the other hand, even by the projections of the madwoman's own experimental brief, the more powerful Agitate Halation became, the more likely its user, Fremea-chan, would be able to properly control it and put a stop to things.
Argh! My brain isn't made for making these kinds of choices! Damnit! I'll just focus on putting a stop to this madness and not care about things like that!
It was with this thought still percolating through his mind that Touma made it to the site of the latest battle of the day and found a scene that filled him with anger: lying defeated on the ground in various states of serious injury were Kuroyoru Umidori, Silvercross Alpha, and Hamazura Shiage and standing triumphant over the latter in particular with Dark Matter wings poised to impale him and finish him off was a darked haired nurse with her hair tied up in an updo.
Without hesitation and his justifiable anger flowing freely into his tone, Touma addressed the woman. "I don't know what's going on here, but whatever it is, you better stop it now. If you think you have the right to hurt my friends, I will shatter that illusion for you."
The woman looked up at his words and her eyes widened in surprise for a moment as she spotted him. Clearly she recognised him.
Good. That means she knows she's in for a beating.
Touma didn't go around picking fights. Any fights he got into usually found him, not the other way around. There was one exception, though, and that was when someone hurt his friends. And here this woman was, standing in front of him, having beaten the tar out of three of his friends. Okay, calling Silvercross Alpha his friend was a stretch! But he felt fairly sure he could count Kuroyoru-san and especially Hamazura-san as his friends at least! Regardless, the point stood. This nurse was asking for it.
"Kamijou Touma. Mid-level problem." The nurse said with a frown. "I have orders to eliminate or at least incapacitate you until the completion of the Agitate Halation Project if I encounter you."
Agitate Halation Project? She must be one of those psychos behind the sick experiment. Touma reasoned as he charged her. That means she's going down doubly hard!
As the Dark Matter that made up the wings growing from her back fell away, the woman raised a hand in his direction and an orb of plasma reminiscent of those that Mugino-san used to charge up her Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannons formed in front of her open palm. Plasma that proceeded to shoot at him just like one of the Number 6's lasers as he closed. His battle instincts allowed him to unconsciously sense the subtle shift in the woman's AIM Field and let him predict the path of her beam and he was able to slap his Imagine Breaker at it before it could hit him. The supernatural canceling power of his right hand promptly dispelled the beam with the sound of shattering glass.
Wait! That wasn't just like Mugino-san's technique! It was an exact copy of her technique! Touma realized. At least that's what his instincts told him. They didn't exactly give him a clear picture of things but he trusted them with his life. That he wasn't dead was proof enough of their reliability.
Unfazed by the failure of her attack, the woman just tried another tack. Suddenly, the consistency of the ground under Touma's feet changed. Whatever geokinesis powered trick she was attempting was too slow however as clued in by his instincts, the [Imagine Breaker] had leapt to the side and outside of the area of effect of the sinkhole that that the woman created.
"Are you using multiple Esper abilities? What are you? A knockoff of Saten-san?"
"I am honored to be compared to Onee-sama." The woman said with a smile as she sent a brace of vacuum blades at Touma that he dispelled with his right hand.
Onee-sama!? Don't tell me she's a clone of Saten-san!? Do all the Level 5s have their own batch of clones now!? Touma thought incredulously as getting past the Aero Hand attack brought him within punching range of the woman's face.
"Eat fist, woman!" Touma told her as she jabbed at her face with the most powerful punch he could muster.
Sadly the only one seemingly hurt by his punch was himself. "Owww~! What, by Science, is your face made off? Metal!?"
"Yes. It is made out of a composite containing a significant metallic content as well as a number of ceramics." The woman said as she reached out, grabbed Touma by his left arm and tossed him over her shoulder in what to his untrained eye reminded him of a judo throw.
"Oof!" Touma gasped even as he scrambled to his feet and backed away slightly from his opponent. He needed to know what she was before he attempted to take her on in close quarters again. "So you're a robot? Since when did the City figure out how to give robots Esper abilities?"
"K-Kamijou! S-She's a cy-cyborg!" Hamazura-san wheezed out from where he was lying on the ground and was busy liberally applying Medigel to his wounds. "She's a clone of- Ah! -Saten-sama's brain operating a robotic body."
"You tell me this now?" Touma said with an exasperated hiss as he negated a close range fireball that the cyborg tossed at him,
"Sorry for being half-dead till now." Hamazura sniped back. "I'll go check on the others. You think you can handle her on your own?"
"I'll manage." Touma assured him as he got in close and negating what he was pretty sure was a copy of Accelerator's Redirection, he came in with a punch. This time he knew to expect that he'd be hitting something hard so had adjusted his blow accordingly, so it struck home just how he wanted and turned the cyborg's body thanks to the momentum transferred into her body by the blow. Taking advantage of this, whilst she was still off balance, he lashed out with his leg and sent her tumbling to the ground.
Once she was down, Touma was immediately on her. Pinning her down with his body weight and making sure to keep his right hand firmly in contact with her head to shut down her Esper ability. Hamazura-san had said that she was basically a brain piloting a mech suit, so it behooved him to play it safe and keep his Imagine Breaker as close to to the source of her Esper power as possible. Just in case. Unfortunately, that still meant he had to deal with trying to keep a cyborg with presumably superhuman strength pinned.
As the cyborg lady bucked hard enough to literally send Touma flying off her, he corrected himself. Scratch that! Make that a cyborg who definitely has superhuman strength.
Considering how petite her body was, there was no other way to explain how the woman could have tossed him off her like that.
"What you did borders on sexual assault, Kamijou Touma." The cyborg nurse said as she used telekinesis to pick up random debris from the messed up battlefield around them and began pelting him with them.
"You were trying to kill me, so I think any judge in the City would rule what I did as self-defense." Touma retorted as he let his instincts guide him to dodge everything thrown his way as he once more charged his opponent. "By the way, were you the one that made Tsuchimikado Motoharu do what he did and the one who was targeting his sister?"
"Tsuchimikado Motoharu attacked first. It is only fair to pay him back a hundredfold for it." The woman retorted as she conjured Dark Matter wings that streaked forward at impossible speeds to impale him. Thanks to his instincts however, Touma knew where they were coming from and was easily able to use his Imagine Breaker to negate them.
"Is that so?" Touma asked, his eyes narrowing in anger. "Then I'll be sure to make you feel a hundredfold of the agony you put him through."
"You may try, Kamijou Touma. You will not succeed." She told him as she tried a lightning bolt straight out of Misaka-san's playbook next which he causally negated too.
"Are you trying to copy the Level 5s or something? Because if you are, you're a pretty lousy copycat at best." Touma retorted as he closed into punching range once more. "They're loads more dangerous than you are. You may have the abilities of a Level 5, but you definitely aren't a Level 5 yourself."
"I am aware of that." The woman said as her arm shot out like a snake and grabbed him by his neck before using the superhuman strength of her robotic body to lift him off the ground. "I never claimed to be a Level 5. I know my place. Do you, Kamijou Touma?"
"What are you talking about?" Touma asked as he struggled to escape the woman's inhuman grip.
"By our calculations, you were only supposed to defeat Tsuchimikado Motoharu, and then exit the stage. Why are you still interfering in the Agitate Halation Project despite completing that goal?"
Touma couldn't help it. He laughed at this woman's ego!
"You don't get it. People like you never do." Touma said as he laughed uproariously. "Despite trying and sometimes succeeding to control people like in a game of billiards, you never realize that you can't really control everyone and everything. All it takes is someone saying "help," and I and other people will act."
"Your words and actions are meaningless. I will put no more effort into analyzing them." She retorted coldly. "I will end you now."
With this grim declaration, she began tightening the grip on Touma's neck. However, not before Touma reached out and slammed his right hand onto the cyborg's face even as she simultaneously gave the signal to end this farce. "Hamazura-san!"
At his shout, a rapid series of gunshots rang out. The first bullet, an Armor Piercing round, struck the cyborg's shoulder joint, wrecking it and causing her to drop Touma. The shot also tore a sizable hole into the cyborg's exterior armor. The subsequent shots, demonstrating an impressive level of accuracy, flew into this hole. These bullets, if the arcs of electricity across the cyborg's body were any indication, were Electroshock rounds, unleashing enough electricity directly into her internal electronics to scramble them, making her spasm uncontrollably.
"Thanks for the assist, Hamazura-san." Touma told the other guy honestly as he got up to his feet and looked down at the spasming but otherwise insensate cyborg lady. "Think she's down for the count?"
"Want me to put a few more rounds into her to make sure?" Hamazura-san asked, completely serious.
Touma kicked the cyborg a few times and when he got no response, shook his head. "Nah. I think we're good."
Turning away from his latest defeated foe, he began walking towards where Hamazura-san had laid out Kuroyoru-san and Silvercross-san.
"How are they?"
"Like me they'll live. We have enough medigel to make sure of that." Hamazura-san told him with a sigh as he collapsed onto a convenient piece of rubble. "But we're all out of the fight. If we continue, we'd just be a burden. I'll take them and go find a place where we can recover. Kinuhata will be fine without me. She can take care of herself."
"Kinuhata-san?" Touma asked, looking at the former Skill-Out curiously.
"We were on a mission together when we got dragged into this mess."
Touma just nodded. From what he knew of her, yeah, the Level 4 could indeed take care of herself.
Looking at Touma meaningfully, Hamazura-san continued. "The real problem is that we still need someone to go protect Fremea-chan. I don't know what this whole Agitate Halation is all about but it's clear it involves putting her in danger and that means someone has gotta go keep her safe. So take this."
"Why are you giving me your phone?" Touma asked as he accepted the device.
"You see the app that I left open?" Hamazura-san asked and Touma nodded. "That allows you to follow the GPS signal of Fremea-chan's security buzzer."
"I understand." Touma told him, before turning to look at the other guy seriously. "I'll step in this time but I'm not the one that Fremea-chan is waiting for, just the replacement. You can't die and leave her with me."
"Rest assured, I have no intention to die." Hamazura-san said with a chuckle as he offered Touma a hand.
Accepting the offer, Touma gave it a firm shake. "Then count on me to save Fremea-chan. She'll be back home safe and sound before you know it."
Hamazura-san nodded. "I'm sure she will be."
Despite his own injuries, Shiage had somehow managed to throw the more heavily injured Kuroyoru Umidori and Silvercross Alpha into the Freshmen's battered but still functional truck. The truck had flipped on its side at some point, but Shiage used its automated systems to right the vehicle before getting into the driver's seat. He had considered taking the insensate body of the enemy cyborg too but getting his allies into the vehicle had already left him on the verge of blacking out. Attempting to move the nurse cyborg as well would have been too much. Besides, there was a risk of her waking up before they could safely secure her, a nightmare scenario he would rather avoid.
It would be best if we could kill her…
That said, the very idea of killing anyone whilst they were defenseless didn't sit well with Shiage. Not that it was even an option this time. Whatever her skull was made out it was super tough. He'd stomached his unease and tried to put an AP round through it and all that he managed to do was dent her forehead. If he wanted to finish her off, he'd need something a lot more substantial than he had on hand.
Well, I could run her over with this truck. Shiage thought as he started the engine.
"W-Where are y-you taking us?" Silvercross-san wheezed out painfully from the seat that Shiage had buckled him into, clearing having finally regained consciousness. It seemed the Medigel that his Suit probably administered as first aid had done its job.
"To Heaven Canceller's Hospital."
"Is that all then?" Kuroyoru-san said from her own seat, also having reawakened thanks to the use of copious amounts of Medigel Shiage had applied to her wounds. "Are we really just gonna bow out like this? Are we really just going to leave Rensa #28 back there?"
"You want to take a potentially dangerous enemy with us when we're all already injured? An enemy, that need I remind you, already kicked our asses once?" Shiage told him as he began driving them towards the hospital. "Or maybe delay getting ourselves looked at to work out a way to put her down permanently? Whilst she's unconscious and defenseless mind you."
When he received no reply, he snorted and continued. "I thought so. As for abandoning the fight? There's no way we're doing that. Just like handing over my phone to Kamijou-san, it's time to call in the big guns for backup."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me show you what I mean. You guys have a phone?"
"Who you gonna call?" Kuroyoru-san asked with a frown as she used one of her few mechanical arms that were still operable to fiddle with the controls of the truck's dashboard computer and unlocked its inbuilt phone.
"Oh, no one that important." Shiage said with a smirk, "I just thought it's about time that the Number 6 joined the party."
"Ha, ha, ha!" Fremea panted as her little legs ran as far away as she could from the fight between Freshmen and that weirdo lady in the nurse outfit.
She'd been at it for a good few minutes already and despite her best efforts, she was tiring. So much so that she soon found herself losing steam and slowing down. Exhausted, the little blonde stumbled her way over to the wall of a nearby building and leaned against it, panting.
Ah~ I-I wish I was taller. My legs feel like pudding. The girl bemoaned in her noggin.
Yet, I wouldn't be running for my life while others are fighting for me if I didn't cause this Incident in the first place. She lamented as tears pricked her large blue eyes as she pressed her head against the wall. After all, I'm the stupid target! The nurse lady had said so!
"Mrah!" She whined out, just fed up with all that was happening around her. She looked at her friend, Kakine-san and pouted worriedly at how unresponsive he was, Clutching him closer to her chest, fear, frustration, and fleeting hope welled within her and she opened her mouth and shouted out to anyone that would listen. "PLEASE! PLEASE SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP ME!"
Her plea for aid spread out through the City's collective AIM Field and lured 'heroes' from its four corners to seek her out and offer their dubious aid. All due to her Agitate Halation and the Shading Computer amplifying its effects on the AIM diffusion fields of the City's Espers. And as a result? The chaos that her power had already caused all around Academy City intensified, as more and more 'heroes' began answering her plea.
Not that she was aware of any of that. The only sign to her that her cry was heeded at all was a weak stirring against her chest. Looking down, she saw Kakine-san twitching in reply as he spoke to her in a weak voice. "I-I know a place where you can be safe."
A frazzled, teary eyed Fremea sniffled and asked. "W-Where?"
If she had been less stressed, she might have realized that directing her to go anywhere but to where her sister and her partners were like she intended from the outset was highly suspicious. However, she unfortunately was not in a calm enough state to even think straight.
"We n-need to go to the Learning Core."
Fremea blinked her tears out in confusion. The Learning Core? The large educational theme park found in School District 13?
"Why there?"
"There is a safehouse hidden in the Lightning Rod building in the park. Y-You will be safe there."
Fremea nodded as she looked at her friend. "What about you though? Are you alright now?"
"Yes, I'm alright now." Kakine-san informed her, shivering a little in her arms like he was waking up from a long sleep. "It seems that Rensa woman was somehow messing with the Dark Matter that makes up my body, but it seems she has been defeated and I should be fully functional now."
The little blonde let out a sigh of relief, "That's good."
Kakine-san however was still tense and quickly added, "But there might be other enemies. It's not safe yet. We need to move now. The sooner we get to my safehouse, the better."
Fremea nodded in understanding and began sprinting once more, this time with the intent to head to School District 13.
As they ran, Kakine-san spoke from his spot cradled in her arms. "To preserve the security of my safehouse, you will need to get rid of the security buzzer that allows Hamazura-san to track you using GPS. Someone could possibly hack it and use it to hunt you down."
"Eh? Really?" the Finnish girl paused, frowning as she struggled to even consider that. Her sister and Shiage-nii had both told her that she should always have that on her.
"Please, Fremea-chan! If you get hurt because of it, Hamazura-san will blame himself for being the one to give it to you in the first place!"
Kakine-san suddenly froze and said, "Sto-"
He cut himself off though and suddenly relaxed and continued, "We should hurry! Toss away the buzzer and let's head to my safehouse."
Fremea pondered the matter for a moment.
"I can do better than just toss it, Nya~" She pulled out her egg-shaped buzzer from the pocket of the coat she had thrown on. Honestly, she had forgotten it was there until Kakine-san reminded her. With her mind made up, she didn't hesitate to toss it to the ground. Her little Mary Jane shoe slammed onto it, crushing it to pieces.
"Let's go!"
With Fremea's declaration, she headed off towards the Learning Core.
Standing at a helipad atop a building near the alley where Rensa #28 was defeated, Rensa #29, now in control of the cyborg body she shared with her older sister, let out a satisfied chuckle. Their emulated control over the Dark Matter body of Beetle 05 had allowed them to manipulate Fremea Seivelun easily. She didn't fully understand the mechanics, but her master had become an AIM Thought Being due to the destruction of her body, combined with Fremea Seivelun's Agitate Halation and the AIM-based Shading Computer. This computer used the fluidic movements of the City's collective AIM Field for calculations and by using it to somehow piggyback on the Esper ability they had implanted into the Norwegian girl, the consciousness transfer became possible. However, to achieve her master's true goal of becoming a thought entity using a broader medium like the winds or seas, they needed to kill Fremea Seivelun, who had become a ball and chain keeping her master's consciousness trapped in the AIM Field. Fortunately, thanks to how easily they could manipulate the girl, they would soon accomplish that.
All she needs to do is enter the Lightning Rod and… Boom! Problem solved! Rensa #29 thought with another pleased chuckle as she imagined all the bombs she placed throughout the building going off and taking out the little girl that had become the final loose end to her master's plan.
Of course, they could've just had a sniper take her out or eliminated her via one of any other much more discreet ways. However, annoyingly for maximum effectiveness Fremea Seivelun's death had to be dramatic enough to fit into the "heroic" theme that the entire Agitate Halation ability revolved around. And they definitely wanted maximum effectiveness. They would not cut any corners when it came to their master's ascension!
She was pulled from her thoughts when the helicopter she was waiting for finally landed. Without wasting a second, she immediately boarded and prepared to ride it to the Learning Core. It wasn't as efficient as the high-speed, highly maneuverable drones that transported alternate pilots for the current body she was controlling when an in-field switch was necessary. These drones also functioned as onsite repair bots hence the body was now once more in tip top shape despite the damage that Rensa #28 had allowed it to sustain. However, beggars couldn't be choosers; unfortunately, her body was too heavy for those drones and these helicopters were the fastest transportation her master could procure for transporting it.
Transportation that she needed at the moment if she wanted to be able to complete the task that her master had given her. Yakumi-sama had tasked her to bar the way into the Lightning Rod after the Fremea girl entered it so as to ensure that no one could interfere and to observe what would happen after the girl died.
And that's exactly what I'll do. Rensa #29 thought with a smirk as she strapped herself into a seat in the helicopter.
Everything's coming together! Soon Yakumi-sama's dream will be accomplished! Rensa #29 thought as the helicopter took off, feeling beyond pleased by the fact.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
And so, the calling to Heroes has started in full swing, Fremea running around at the speed of loli sound as she tries her best to be the damsel she was possibly born to be for the purposes of a plot she is nothing but a tool for. Will she be safe? Can she even catch a break?! Who knows! Hopefully, the Trinity can come and save her… but who will be the Hero for them? Gah! So many questions and only so many chapters to contain the madness of the Agitate Halation arc!
Nameless: So… Some of you might be confused by some of the contradictory things that Rensa #28 said during her fight. Well, I think it's obvious but basically she's a lying lair. She's trying to manipulate her opponents even as she is fighting them, so take everything she says with a pinch of salt. Some of it will be proven to be true, others will not. Just keep that in mind.
On another note, some of you might be wondering why Kakine/Beetle 05 was being affected by Rensa's emulated Dark Matter even when the TOT!Rensas can only use one emulated ability at a time. Let me just say that this isn't a plot hole on our part. There is a reason for this. If you want to make a guess what our solution to this problem is, drop us a review/comment. We look forward to seeing your answers.
E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!