The second chapter of A Certain Mysterious Reality Warper was very difficult to write and it has been rewritten shortly before completion, because it is still too bound by Volume 3 of New Testament. However, focus here is on that everything leads to eucatastrophe at the end of this chapter.
Chapter 2: Hawaii in Flames:
It was the early morning of November 6. Touma was sitting in the airport hall with only a small backpack. In half an hour, his civilian plane will fly to Hawaii. He made sure Index has enough food for the next few days. Touma was only troubled by other questions, regarding the new threat, against which he is going to fight again. At least he thought so.
"Hey, here you are!"
Touma looked in surprise towards the right where the familiar voice was coming from.
"Biri-Biri?!"
"I told you clearly yesterday that I was going too."
Touma just sighed. "Such misfortune... You should have listened to me. How did you know I'd be here?"
"Becasue of this." Mikoto showed the ticket and the letter with his name on it that she found in the envelope. Touma thought for a while, replaying yesterday's conversation with Birdway before it occurred to him that Dawn-Colored Sunlight must be behind this.
"So, are you going to explain what's going on?" Mikoto asked.
"You really shouldn't have gotten involved."
"We already discussed this on the phone yesterday. Before we get to Hawaii, I want you to explain everything to me. And one more thing. Here." Mikoto took out a small Gekota keychain from her pocket. "Hmm? My keychain from our visit of underground mall? Where did you find it?"
"In Russia, on coast. How dare you lose it, moron." Mikoto grumbled with averted eyes as she handed it to him.
"Ah, thank you."
Mikoto sat down next to Touma and continued to urge Touma to clarify the situation. "So tell me what it's about."
Touma looked at the ground. He sighed, raised his head and looked ahead. "The people who pulled me out of the ocean off the coast of Russia told me that something was happening in Hawaii. Surely you know about it. "
"You mean a volcano? What does that have to do with you? "
"Its activity appears to be artificially induced. Someone is using some kind of object to cause it to erupt. We don't know why yet."
"Object? What is that object?"
"An object that causes volcanic eruptions. It is supposed to be shaped like atool and its of... occult origin."
"You know that sounds absurd?"
"I know. I told you on the phone that you wouldn't understand it."
"And why are you going there and not them?"
"Because it is not the only volcano that has been activated in this way. They are going to Europe.
"I don't quite get it, but from what you're saying, it seems that the scope of this problem is far greater than I assumed. So what's your plan? What are we supposed to do there?"
"I don't quite know that yet. But there should be someone waiting for us there to help us."
"That's very poor information."
"That's a common problem we have."
On the plane, Touma carefully explained everything in more detail. He tried not to talk about magic openly, he only hinted at it. Misaka interpreted most of what he was describing in the way any esper does – with a rational understanding of the world.
After landing at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Mikoto thought that she was finally not being 'watched' by Kuroko or the dorm supervisor. Touma fought the heat and wondered what to do next. "
"(Birdway said someone would be waiting for us, but no one is here.)"
Mikoto interrupted him. "Hey, so where should we go? What do your acquaintances expect from us?"
"I don't know, we were supposed to meet someone here."
"Those people are probably not very reliable."
"It's more like she has something in store for us. Or something happened. That would be aworse option."
As Touma spoke this sentence, he looked around. Suddenly, a shock wave passed through the floor of the entire airport hall, shaking the entire building. People swayed as if in an earthquake, some screamed and cowered on the ground.
"What was that? A bomb?!" Mikoto shouted.
"I doubt it, more like a magic attack!"
An urgent female voice could be heard from speakers of the airport hall.
"Misaka, what's she saying?!"
"You wanted to go here alone and you don't even know English?! What did you want to do here?! He's telling everyone to stay calm and evacuate the airport!"
"I was hoping to be able to rely on a person who was supposed to be here! Come on, we have to get out of here!"
"You don't have to tell me that!"
They ran to the nearest exit. There was noise everywhere, panicked people was running and bumping into each other. A crowd of people ran towards the exit of the airport hall, and airport staff ran from one place to another. Commands from airport staff trying to bring the situation under control were drowned out by the crowd's screams.
Some of the civilians were calmer than others. Instead of running away, they walked briskly to different parts of the airport hall.
Mikoto and Touma had only run a short distance across the great hall when suddenly Touma stopped.
"Misaka, stop!"
Mikoto turned in surprise. "Why, what's going on?!"
Touma didn't answer, just stared ahead. Mikoto noticed this and immediately turned to where Touma was looking. At that moment, three people stood motionless in the entire hall. On one side was Touma and Mikoto and facing them, perhaps twenty meters away, stood a short girl with long, wavy blonde hair. She was dressed in a princess costume like from a fairy tale. The most specific was the upper garment, which looked like a curtain made of silver fibers, but almost white in color. She was wearing shoes of same color.
"Who...is that?!" Mikoto said confused.
"A mage," Touma replied without moving his eyes.
When the girl appeared in the middle of the crowd, she slightly looked at her hands. Someone canceled her invisibility. But that was not her biggest problem. Those suspiciously peaceful civilians slowly began to approach her from different parts of the hall. It was obvious that they were trying to surround her unnoticed. But the girl smiled and started speaking French. With a beautiful voice and it looked like she was singing. "Old lady of the pumpkin carriage. Please give me the test of the glass slippers. Please give me the strict and cruel test of the glass slippers that dropped my selfish and dishonest mother and sisters to the bottom of the pit of despair."
When she finished her song, all the men who approached her fell to the ground. Each of them was clutching their leg and their expression said they were in severe pain.
"This was just a warning, I just sprained their ankle," she said in French.
Mikoto, fluent in several languages, quickly translated her words for Touma. Meanwhile, amage began to say another incantation. But she was interrupted by a magical attack. Another mage appeared behind her. He had blond hair and an elegant archaic suit. It was Mark Space. Touma was pleased to see him. Help at last! However, the girl was not hit by the attack. She was very fast. She dodged the attack, start running and in a short moment she reached Touma. Before he and Mikoto could react, she threw both him and Mikoto to the ground with a combination of speed and skill. Her grabs and movements looked as elegant as if she were dancing at a ball.
Meanwhile, Leivinie learned from Mark what had happened to the men who tried to surround the attacker and also her appearance.
"(That men are really most useful as bait. But her costume and powers…)" she thought before smiling. "Of course!" she said aloud to herself.
She understood why she had that costume and specific magic. It's Cinderella. Her appearance is enhanced by her magic, which imitates Cendrillon from the fairy tale.
Leivinia was outside the airport hall. Airport's security units began to gather around. Leivinia looked at the airport fuel tank on truck and got an idea.
"I started this game, and I have an idea as to how I'm going to end it."
In the hall, Cendrillon was standing over Mikoto and Touma who were lying on the ground. Her attention turned to Mark Space. But then the massive glass of the airport hall was broken by a truck for aviation fuel. The truck was moving at a speed of maybe 100 kmph. Birdway was the roof of the cabin in a daunting pose. She used some charms to protect against glass shards and to control the truck. Cendrillon froze.
"Grab her leg!" Birdway yelled.
When Cendrillon was distracted by the rushing truck, Touma immediately grabbed her leg with his right hand. Cendrillion was fast, but she didn't have time to escape now. She just gritted her teeth in response to the approaching mass of metal. The front of the truck hit her at full speed. The whole truck passed over the lying Mikoto and Touma. Vehicle continued with Cendrillion at its front until it hit a wall. Moments before impact, Leivinie jumped from the truck. She landed elegantly and slowly on the ground. Front and cabin of the truck was completely destroyed, a wall in the building partially collapsed and jet fuel began to flow on the floor.
Touma and Mikoto quickly got up from the ground and ran a little further away from the truck. They stopped for a few seconds. Touma spoke. "You're… what was that supposed to be? We have to..."
"Don't worry, I didn't kill her. It's not over yet."
"How do you know that she is alive? And what are you actually doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Norway?'
"Plans change."
The truck began to move as if it was being pushed and remains of the cab sheet metal began to be slowly torn to pieces like paper. Cendrillon was not weakened in any way. After getting out of the trap created by the wrecked truck, Birdway just said to Touma and Mikoto without batting an eye, "Maybe you should run."
"Why?!" Touma asked.
"I told you to run."
Touma and Mikoto turned and ran away knowing that Leivinia wasn't telling them this for no reason. As Cendrillon struggled to free herself from the wreckage, Birdway started speaking and twirled her wand. You could see that he was having fun.
"Cinderella's dress has a time limit of midnight. The date change has meaning, but if you take it as a reference to the end of a one-night dream, there is a simpler symbol we can use. That is…" As Birdway spoke, she stopped twirling her wand and pointed it at the cistern. Around her magical wand was wrapped a gold pocket watch.
"Dawn, of course."
Leivinia ignited the jet fuel with her magic. There was a blazing fiery explosion. Flames from the explosion engulfed the entire airport hall. Everything glass in the entire building shattered. Debris flew through the air.
Touma and Mikoto hid behind a pillar. The civilians were already gone by that time, but airport security forces were nearby. Just before the explosion, Mikoto covered them with metal panels, which she quickly moved to them with her magnetism.
"These are your friends?! They're crazy!" Mikoto said, almost shouting.
As they looked at the flames, they saw Birdway walk away from them with a dispassionate expression. She was holding her wand in her right hand and holding Cendrillon's hair with her left hand as she dragged her along the ground. She offered no resistance. Parts of the clothing were burned. Only part of her clothing remained on her, which resembled a diving suit.
"We finally have a Gremlin member in our hands," Leivinia said as she prepared to interrogate her captive. But after that, Cendrillon was hit by a bullet from a gun. Leivinia was surprised. She looked at the bleeding girl and then to the direction the shot had come from. An armed team in the uniforms of police tactical unit began to surround the airport hall. Leivinia let go of Cendrillon's hair without even looking at her. Men fired more bullets, but they had no effect on the British mage. She responded with a wave of her wand and Mark Space, who had also taken cover due to the jet fuel explosion, responded as well. He helped Leivinia pacify the squad members with his tarot card magic.
Touma and Mikoto were swept away as were the pair of mages. Leivinia walked up to one of the squad members that attacked them. Before she could ask a question, the lying man smiled and began to speak in unnatural way.
"Well, well, well… Isn't that the boss of Dawn-colored Sunlight herself?"
"(Mind controlling magic?)" Leivinia thought to herself before speaking out loud. "Do any of you Gremlin members want to talk in person? Maybe your leader, like a boss with a boss?"
"You are quite bold," she received as an answer.
"You're trying to kill one of your members because she would give me information. You are quite determined, I must admit."
Then the man under control tried to point the gun at his head. Leivinia stopped him and canceled the magic controlling people. Mark Space slowly approached her. She turned back towards the hall where Mikoto and Touma were standing. She spoke to them. "Now the cards are dealt. We have to finish this game."
The sound of helicopters could be heard in the background. As they looked in the direction of the sound, a salvo of missiles hit the airport hall. The attack was carried out by the American army. Mikoto shielded Touma nad herself from the impact of the missiles with iron plates.
"Why are they attacking us?! Do they really think we are terrorists?" Mikoto shouted.
"Such attack would not be carried out by the army on a small group of people in the middle of airport. They would send a response team! Maybe even their minds are under control. " Leivinia said aloud.
Touma ran away from Mikoto, towards where the jet fuel was burning.
"Where are you going?!" Mikoto shouted in worry.
"I'm not leaving her here!"
Touma covered his mouth with his hand. The acrid smell and heat prevented him from breathing. He ran to the lying and bleeding Cendrillon. She was unconscious. He took her in his arms and quickly ran away with her, back to Mikoto.
"We have to get out of here, another attack could come at any moment!" he said while holding the injured girl in his arms.
Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were already approaching in the distance, accompanied by one AH-64 Apache, which attacked them.
Leivina cast a spell that created a flash and the helicopters began to descend towards the ground. They were forced to make an emergency landing on the airport area. But the police tactical unit in armored vehicles were approaching. Ambulances and police cars stopped by crowds of civilians who escaped from the airport, and police officers started coming out of them to take situation under control.
Touma and Mikoto was running from airport. They ran out and mingled with the crowd. Touma looked for the nearest ambulance and handed the injured girl over to the doctor.
Then his cell phone rang. It was a call from Leivinia. As he took the call, he covered his other ear with one hand so he could hear what she was saying over the noise.
"Kamijou. We have to track down a mage who controls people. It is now our only clue to the Gremlin. We'll meet in Honolulu, at a mall near the airport. You will find it."
"Wait, where—"
Before Touma could ask a question, Leivinia ended the call.
"Misaka. We have to get away from this crowd, according to the attacks in the hall, we are a target. This is how we put innocent people at risk."
"Sure," Mikoto agreed. "What did thath girl say?"
Touma put his phone back in his pocket. "That we need to find a mage who controls people. Adn we are supposed to meet her near the mall. Please ask someone from the police or paramedics where it is."
"By the way, about that person we're supposed to find. Ithink it is just a powerful telepath, not a mage," said Mikoto, still explaining the world of unnatural abilities through espers and gemstones.
When one of the officers said where the mall was, becasue two people from Japan was 'looking for a lost friend', the two set off in that direction. As they walked quickly away from the burning airport, entire convoys of police, fire and rescue vehicles passed them by. The army was also deployed.
They were not far from amall when police 4x4 armored vehicles came at full speed in front of them and also behind them. One appeared behind them, two in front of them. Cars stopped with screeching tires and one destroyed a small wooden stand before stopping. Men in balaclava and full police gear, armed with assault rifles and shotguns, immediately got out of their cars.
Mikoto frowned at them. "I see you have no idea who you're messing with."
Then she used electromagnetism to rip the weapons out of their hands. Their shock was even stronger when Mikoto lifted their cars up about ten meters as well. As she droped them, the vehicles crashed into the road. Before the enemies could flee, she stunned them with a single electrical charge. Touma and Mikoto quickly ran to where they were supposed to meet Leivinia and Mark Space. When they got there, those two mages weren't there. Touma quickly tried to call Leivinia.
"Birdway, we are at the agreed location, but we can't see you anywhere! The local security forces attacked us for the second time!"
"I know. We were also attacked, specifically by members of the Marine Corps. But thanks to that, I figured out the character of the mage. He is someone who uses an imitation of Lesha, imitating the Slavic mythology of the lord of the forest. Anyone who touches a certain wood or becomes part of a habitat enclave comes under her control, as he is considered a resident of the forest and she is the master. I contacted the Russian Orthodox Church and according to them it is Saronia Irivika. She is of Russian nationality and was deployed during the Third world war. Her disappointment must have led to her joining the Gremlins."
"Do you know where to find her? Where are we supposed to go anyway?!" Touma asked.
"To a military base of the US Army. That mage is probably hiding there. A device may also be present at the same location."
"A device? You mean aTool of—"
"Kamijou. There are no Tools of Hephaestus. At least we don't know of Gremlin creating one. We are looking for an army device that was used a few days ago. Therefore, the activity of the volcano increased. Now they want to finish the work they started."
"What?! Why didn't you tell me right away?!"
"Because it made more sense for you to destroy the magical item than to stop the army's equipment. The Gremlin must not have known that we knew what they were after."
"I would help anyway. You know that. So no volcano has been activated elsewhere? Why that talk about Norway and Java?!"
"Because that way the Gremlin didn't know I came here. They thouhgt only you came. On airport they just used second class mages against you."
"Against me? So they knew about me."
"Of course. Before we came to Academy City with you, we spread rumors in other Magic cabals that someone else was going to take care of Hawaii. Gremlin thus let his guard down. They didn't expect Dawn-Colored Sunlight."
"And what that army attack? Apparently, the unknown mage using a forest concept of Leshy to control authorities. Army commanders, policemen, politicians. Anyone could be under spell. Therefore, they were able to conduct their operations in Hawaii and use the US military to use their equipment and resources. And you Touma, you got Gremlin interested, that's why the whole incident at the airport."
"Are you telling me that you used me as bait to draw a Gremlin out of the shadows?!" Touma slightly and ironically laughed and placed a hand on his face. "Look, I'm here to help people, so I don't care. But what I won't forgive you is that Misaka was dragged into this because of you!"
"We all have a role to play, Kamijou Touma." Leivinia said in a calm voice, almost compassionately.
She felt no remorse. Her goal succeeded and the Gremlin finally began to emerge.
Kamijou continued. "So tell me finally what we're looking for."
"The Trigger. It is a system of smaller devices that are supposed to cause an artificial vulcanic explosion. We don't know much about it, we first heard about its existence a few days ago when it was used to a small extent, which increased activity of Kilauea."
"And that thing supposed to be at that military base?"
"Maybe. We have no other clue."
After the call ended, Touma looked at his cell phone for a while.
"So I was right. There are no tools of any kind, but an army weapon," Mikoto said with her arms crossed.
"She could have been more honest with her plans. I would go help. This way you are also in danger.''
"You mean I wouldn't go help people otherwise? I don't care under what circumstances I am here and for what reasons. I came to help you and others. As I said yesterday, this time I don't want to be left out. If I was in Russia with you then..." Mikoto fell silent, didn't finish the sentence and averted her eyes.
Touma looked at Mikoto. "Misaka…" he said with silence voice. "All right. We will go where she told us. But Gremlin will try to prevent us from doing that. "
"We'll fight our way through them!" Mikoto said in a fighting mood.
"We must be careful, two their members have already caused us enough trouble. I can't imagine if they have other members here. So, that base is near Honolulu. If the local commander is in control, it would be an ideal place to transport Trigger."
The pair ran towards the American military base. But on street, they came under attack again. This time, not the security forces of Hawaii. It was an army, but different from the American one. They had civilian vehicles. They were vans and American GMC SUVs. When they stopped and enemies got out, they were wearing silver suits resembling CD-discs. Instead of American assault rifles, they were holding European weapons.
"What are these suits?!" Mikoto asked.
"I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this."
The soldiers immediately aimed their guns at the encircled couple and opened fire but Mikoto stopped all bullets with her electromagnetism. This way she protected herself and Touma.
When she was about to snatch the weapons from their hands, a new variable came into the fight.
Suddnely, a boy with white hair landed on the roof of one of their cars. Mikoto froze. Mikoto could already make out the white-haired boy from a distance. When she saw him, a look of shock appeared on her face, as if after a trauma. "Why… is he here…?"
The soldiers quickly turned weapons on this boy and opened fire. But it had no effect. The bullets ricocheted back and destroyed the soldiers' weapons. Then he just gently stomped on the massive GMC, which exploded beneath him. Then he jumped from the burning wreck to the ground and immediately controlled the air flows and threw the men into the walls of the surrounding buildings. Mikoto and Touma was not affected by flows.
While he took care of the rest of the enemy forces in front of them, Mikoto wasted no time in taking out several soldiers behind them with her electrical charge. Only in afew seconds, two Level 5 espers completely dominated the battlefield.
Leivinia Birdway's words had an effect on Accelerator. The connection of so-called magic with the Last Order and the Sisters, the new, inexplicable rules of the world he encountered in Russia, Aiwass, the angel of water and the angel of science, ewrything he saw while helping Esther Rosenthal, even when he thougth she was an esper... And now he has been sought out by someone who knows the nooks and crannies of the magical world as he knows the dark corners of Academy City. He decided to use the opportunity brought by the mage from Britain to find out more.
"Accelerator?" Touma asked with a surprised expression.
Accelerator turned off his esper-mod to save battery and walked towards them using his crutch. Mikoto and Accelerator exchanged a wordless glance before Accelerator looked back at Touma.
"Why are you here?" Touma asked.
"I got talked into it by some girl who says she's a mage."
"Leivinia Birdway…" Touma said half to himself.
"Yes. So tell me what needs to be done so I can get out of here. It is said to be a magical item. "
"Well… the thing is, more precisely, we need to find the military device that triggers the volcanic eruption. The so-called Trigger. The problem is that there is a group of mages involved in everything, who control the army and police forces."
"Someone is playing again... And where do we find that thing?"
"According to Birdway at one US base near Honolulu."
"Do you still trust her?"
"We have no other option," Touma answered.
Accelerator turned and looked at the soldiers lying unconscious. "And who are they? What kind of suits do they have?"
"I have no idea. We see them for the first time. Apparently they don't belong to the US military," Touma replied.
Accelerator then turned around. Mikoto was looking away with in whole time, when they talk to each other. Her face show that she has emotions of anger and sadness.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Touma asked.
"Find your Trigger at that base." At that moment, using the vectors, he jumped hundreds of meters high and flew towards the base.
Touma looked at Mikoto. "Are you okay?"
Mikoto nodded. "Yeah, just… let's just say there are some I don't want to see."
On the way, they saw two destroyed cars and again soldiers in the same silver suits. But this unit was not destroyed by Accelerator.
"They're so annoying," Misaka Worst grumbled.
Mikoto and Touma had a second surprise. "Oh, hey. Onee-sama… and Kamijou!"
"Huh? You're... One of the Sisters? " Mikoto said in surprise. "But you look... older."
"From the third season. Call me Misaka Worst. Misaka likes meeting you in person, hehe. "
"Third season?"
"Don't worry, the project is closed. I'm the only one."
"Another project... And why are you even here?"
"For the same reason why you. I chase away boredom. So sorry, we're trying to stop the bad guys."
When the trio arrived near the base there was a fight going on. Accelerator took out an entire squad of soldiers in CD-like suits. He then turned to the trio who had just arrived at the main gate.
"I see you've already met."
"I want to deal with this whole situation as soon as possible. I have a lot to tell you, so I don't want to get stuck here."
"I intend to repay my debt to the clones, but I have no intention of apologizing to you. I guess you don't forget that you were also one of those responsible for the experiment."
"Of course I intend to make amends, but it annoys me to hear this from someone who was the experiment's mascot."
"I of course intend to make up for that, but but it annoys me to hear it from the poster boy of the experiment."
Misaka Worst was standing nearby and mockingly reacted to their conversation. "Hey, just don't start fighting here now! Although it would really get this party going!"
Accelerator just turned away from Mikoto and Worst. Mikoto just lowered her head and averted her eyes.
Touma didn't say anything, just looked to the side. After everything that had happened, he was glad that this makeshift alliance was still working at all. Accelerator looked at one of the CD-like suited soldiers lying down. "I conducted a 'minor' interrogation. They are said to belong to PMC Trident."
"Trident?" Misaka Worst asked.
"Birdway might know something," Touma said, taking a cell phone out of his pocket. While looking for the number, he asked himself, "Where is she anyway?"
Before he could call, two F/A-18 fighter jets flew over their heads at low altitude. After a while, one of them was shot down by MANPADS. Everyone looked up to the sky where the burning plane was falling.
"What? The Trident also has more advanced weapons" This is no longer just an ordinary military organization!" Mikoto said.
"It seems that the US military is responding to the situation. Apparently only a small part of the army was under control," Touma mused.
In the background of the base, on the runway, about four hundred meters away, a C-130 cargo plane took off.
"Perhaps Trigger is there?" Touma shouted.
"We'll find out." Mikoto didn't hesitate and sent a powerful electric shock at the plane. She disabled all the plane's electronics and it stopped on the runway.
Mikoto wanted to be drawn to the plane by magnetism. However, Touma grabbed her hand. "Wait. If Irivika is over there, what if she take control over you?"
"Don't worry. There is one telepath in Academy City who occasionally tries that, but she can't."
"But we are not against espers. You must finally understand that." Touma looked towards the plane. "I'll go with you, my hand negates her ability." He looked on Accelerator. "Accelerator, you and Misaka Worst take care of the rest of the base."
"I don't take orders from anyone."
"Please," Touma said looking into his eyes.
Accelerator sighed. "I had no other plan anyway."
Misaka Worst just smiled in her typical way. With a grin.
While Accelerator and Misaka Worst burst into the base, Mikoto and Touma ran to the plane. As they ran, Mikoto used magnetism to open the rear loading ramp and the ramp fell.
Inside of C-130 stood a girl with short blonde hair, wearing green clothes and a green headband. She was looking directly at the couple standing on the ground.
"You're really persistent," she said with anoyned expression.
"You lost Irivika! Stop this!" Touma yelled.
Mikoto immediately used a piece of metal and knocked Irivka to the ground. She and Touma started running across the ramp towards lying Irivika. Before Irivika could react, he noticed that her headband contained twigs from a living tree. The twigs were just small pieces, maybe half a centimeter long.
"Maybe..." said Touma and he touched her headband with his right hand. The sound of Imagine breaker was heard and the small twigs on the headband were destroyed.
The plane was full of metal crates. Mikoto assumed that Trigger was placed in containers and crates. She began to tear them to pieces with electromagnetism. But they contained various daily necessities for the army, such as uniforms and food packages.
"There's nothing here," Mikoto said.
Touma looked at Saronia Irivika. "Why would you go to such lengths to protect the decoy? You didn't know about that either, did you? Like Cindrella, you are just an expendable pawn. If it helps, I know what it's like. "
Mikoto started to speak. "If Trigger isn't here, that means they already–"
She was interrupted by the ironic laughter of the girl lying on the ground. Irivika began to speak. "You know, Gremlin had to act in hurry. The first attempt was a preliminary preparation. But it lured you and Birdway here. This whole operation in Hawaii, Trigger and the volcano, Trident and their conflict with the US military... It was all supposed to start in a few days, around November 10th. But now Gremlin won. And you lost. If it helps, I know what it's like." She laughed ironically once again. "Maybe Iwas apawn, but you lost. Just like mein Third world war."
Touma crouched down to Irivika and began to find out more. "Then why did you start it now?"
"Because someone destroyed our flying fortress that Gremlin sent to reach Academy City and you."
"What flying fortress? Who destroyed it? "
"Hehe... you have no idea? Neither do we."
"You don't? And why is Trident here? Why this military operation?"
"You really don't understand anything without Birdway? Isn't it obvious? Destabilize the United States of America, which is cooperating with Academy City."
"Why?"
"You have to find the answer to that yourself."
"How we stop the Trigger? Where is it? Tell me!"
"You can't. Even if you could, do you think I will tell you?"
Touma looked at Mikoto. "Let's hand her over to the army as a prisoner. If Trigger is already ready, we need to go to Mount Kilauea and stop it."
"How do you want to get there? Even if some pilot with help us to get there, Trident would shoot us down."
Touma looked towards the harbor. "What about the ship?"
And so, amidst the chaos, the couple went to the harbor where they chose a smaller boat. They were taken on board by a smaller ship whose owner fled the island due to the conflict. They convinced him to take them to the island of Hawaii. He was one of many. On the way, they saw salvos of guided missiles and fighter jets flying above them. The conflict with Trident was not limited to Honolulu. It spread to all of Hawaii.
When they arrived at the small port on Hawaii island, they found out from the local people that the army had placed drum-shaped objects all over the island in recent days. Officially, these were probes for measuring volcanic activity.
Touma and Mikoto left the small port town to find one of these facilities and explore it better. After maybe two hours, they found one in a small area for tourists. The trigger was in the form of massive drums placed on stands. They were firmly attached to the ground. Mikoto had no problem destroying them, but there were too many of this device. Dozens of these things were spread over a large area, many of them hidden in forest thickets. Mikoto destroyed the first device they found, but there was another nearby.
"Having such groups of these devices spread all over the island, we have no chance to destroy all of them! We don't have time to solve this! We have to leave!" said Mikoto.
Touma turned towards the peaks of Kilauea with a worried expression. "I won't allow it. I can't. Ican't..."
"Kamijou! " Mikoto shouted. Touma raised his head slightly, it was the first time she had addressed him by his name. "Nothing can be done! Let's get out from here!"
And then... they felt a muffled tremor go through the ground. In a few seconds, a deep rumbling began to be heard from beneath the ground, faintly audible but echoing throughout the mountain. Then the ground began to shake. They lost their balance and fell to their knees. They both understood what had happened. With frightened eyes, they looked at the volcano and saw a huge volcanic explosion. A gigantic column of ash and mass of rock was thrown skyward. Lightning could be seen inside, created by the friction of small pieces of ash and rock. At first the explosion seemed to have no sound. But after a while the sound and wave of hot air arrived. A cloud of ash began to cover the sky. Rivers of lava began to flow from the volcano.
It was still possible to run away. But a huge pyroclastic flow was heading towards them. Hundreds of meters high and a kilometers wide cloud of hot gases and volcanic matter rolled at a speed of at least 300 kmph. It made a noise like a hurricane mixed with a forest fire.
"We must run!" Mikoto shouted. Tears welling up in her eyes.
Touma just stood and watched the destruction come. The forces of nature were not mages or espers. You couldn't fight, you couldn't run, you couldn't hide. He asked in his mind if it would hurt. He then took Mikoto by the hand. She looked slightly at their hands and then back at him. He turned to her with sad expression.
"I'm sorry, Misaka. It's... my fault. It's all my fault." He said it with sad voice, a voice of resignation and guilt.
Mikoto shook her head in protest. "No, it's not. I'm glad I could be here with you," she said as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Touma just smiled slightly in farewell. "Forgiv me," he whispered and look back on pyroclastic flow.
He thought of Mikoto, he thought of Index and all his friends and family and those who until now helped him. He thought of everything that mattered. Touma held Mikoto close and they both closed their eyes, waiting for their shared end.
Small tufts began to appear around them. It was volcanic ash falling from the sky. The air was getting hotter and harder to breathe. A short moment passed. The cloud was already less than a kilometer away. It was seconds before he burned them. On their faces they felt a stream of hot air, pushed in front of the cloud. Through the growing noise, Touma could hear Mikoto silent crying and felt the grip of her hand growing stronger. he focused on that.
The end was about to come at any moment. But... suddenly the sound of the whole scene changed. Almost instantly there was silence. They didn't even feel the heat anymore. Touma cautiously opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Mikoto, who was clinging to him with her eyes closed. Then he looked towards the volcano. He couldn't believe his eyes. A lone figure stood about thirty meters in front of him. A girl with one half of her hair white and the other half black. She was facing the pyroclastic flow, with her hand stretched directly towards this destructive force. But it was almost as if this force was afraid to approach her. The whole cloud stopped in place, maybe only half a kilometer from the unknown girl.
"What… happened? " Touma said as if he wasn't even present in reality.
Mikoto slowly opened her eyes as well. She couldn't get her bearings for a brief moment, but almost immediately looked in the direction Touma was looking. She was speechless, only amazed.
The pyroclastic flow was stopped along the entire foot of the mountain. The unknown girl then slowly started to lower her hand towards the ground. The whole static pyroclastic flow began to descend, until finally it seemed to be grounded and disappeared. Only a few meters thick layer of volcanic material remained, covering the entire side of the mountain in the range of tens of square kilometers. Millions of tons of rock and ashes submitted to her will. Then she made a slow motion with her hand towards the distant streams of lava that began to flow down the mountainside. Touma and Mikoto could see the lava flows solidifying into stone rivers. The girl then crouched down and put her hand on the ground. The earth stopped shaking and the volcano stopped spewing lava and ash. The mountain began to calm down, until finally it seemed to fall asleep. Then the girl stood up and raised her hand towards the sky. The cloud of volcanic ash covering the sky began to twist into a gigantic vortex over the entire mountain. Shorty after that, volcanic ash falling from the sky turned into snow. Touma and Mikoto looked around, as cold snowflakes that were ashes a few seconds ago were falling on their faces.
The inferno was gone. The girl then turned slightly towards them. She gave them a brief glance and then disappeared.
The entire event, from the time the girl appeared to this moment, lasted maybe only three minutes. Mikoto and Touma were breathing fresh and crisp air, so different from the heat just a moment ago. But both were still shaking, still processing feelings and what happend.
"Are you okay?" Touma asked Mikoto.
Mikoto just nodded. Touma slowly and very gently let go of her hand.
"Do you know who it was?" she asked.
"I never saw her. I never even heard of anyone like that. But whoever she is, she saved us."
They came to their senses again. Only then did they fully realize what they had actually experienced. Touma stopped shaking, but Mikoto took longer to recover.
She was finally starting to calm down. "Let's get out of here."
Touma just nodded, still looking at the huge avalanche of rock and dust that was stopped less than kilometer from them.
. . .
A few hours later, evacuation planes from countries around the world were taking their citizens away. Mikoto, Touma, Accelerator, and Misaka Worst took off on a Supersonic Passenger Plane sent from Academy City, evacuating its citizens from Hawaii. Although Touma wasn't exactly glad for that, becasue he has bad memories of this model plane. Accelerator rather chose for himself and Misaka Worst seats quite far from Mikoto and Touma who were sitting next to each other.
Touma thought. Birdway used him as bait in her own game. What was worse, because of this, he put Mikoto in danger. The group also learned about the political ramifications of the Trident Private Army raiding Hawaii. Relations between the Academy City and the USA were disrupted. The world system after the Third world war began to fragment even more. Mikoto fell asleep, but Touma was looking from the window and tried to make sense of everything he saw on that volcano. Who was she?
Then he looked at the sleeping Mikoto and thought to himself that he must have been lucky now. It's usually a distant thought for him to be able to see her like this. If it weren't for the mysterious girl, he wouldn't be sitting here now, and neither would she. They are safe and they are going back home, to Academy City. That's what matters most now.