Trinity of Tokiwadai

by Engineer4Ever

Three very different girls. Each a powerful Esper in the miraculous city of superhumans, Academy City. Together these heroines and their friends explore the wonder and mystery of their City and its Dark Side as the Trinity of Tokiwadai.

118. Chapter 118

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index

The Trinity of Tokiwadai

Chapter One Hundred Eighteen: Agitate Halation - The Hero Riot

---

As chaos increasing gripped Academy City as a result of Yakumi Hisako's Agitate Halation Project, Kiyama Harumi found herself in the Command Center in Maniple Headquarters and frowned as reviewed the information being displayed on the room's screens

"7,500? There are 7,500 rioters in the Learning Core?" She said with horrified disbelief at how bad things had become already.

"Not all of them are in the Learning Core." Ylva-san, Maniple's commander, corrected. "They are spread out in the area in School District 13 around the amusement park as well."

Harumi shot the other woman with an unimpressed look. The action prompted the strikingly beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and a statuesque, athletic build, accentuated by her bionic limbs crafted from advanced non-magnetic ceramics, to simply shrug.

"It behooves us to be accurate about the details when planning our response."

Harumi frowned. She had no counter to that. Instead, she let the matter drop and got down to giving orders. "Ylva-san, deploy the full scope of our forces to join our men already on the ground. We need to put down this riot. Contact our allies and ask for their assistance, that is if they haven't already mobilized and are already en route."

"Yes, ma'am!" Ylva-san said, offering her a crisp salute before turning to issue orders to her men to see Harumi's command carried out.

Upon seeing this, the City Director, with her long, wavy brown hair and distinctive bags under her eyes, sighed deeply. Upon hearing from Kaizumi Tsugutoshi about what Yakumi Hisako's Agitate Halation Project truly entailed, she had facepalmed. Even now, she couldn't help but berate herself for letting things escalate so far. Given that the project heavily utilized her own research on Ruiko's powers and her nature as an AIM lifeform, she should have anticipated Yakumi's intentions to become one herself, albeit as an intermediate step in her transformation into something even more esoteric. The very fact that the other Director's Rensa cyborgs were constructed around clones of her daughter's brain should have been a glaring indicator! Yet, she had missed all the signs that her fellow female Director was implementing her experiment.

She should have been more wary of what Yakumi Hisako was doing! Ruiko had even repeatedly told her to keep an eye on Yakumi. Despite that, Harumi had allowed the excuse that the other Directors had given Yakumi their backing to justify to herself that their hands were tied and they should just back off.

I totally deserve the 'I told you so' that Ruiko will throw at me when this is all done. Harumi thought with a sigh.

Turning towards a screen showing a live feed of the riot happening at the Learning Core being streamed in from a surveillance drone, Harumi saw a sizable contingent of Black Knights join the melee, in a bid to subdue it.

But we need to resolve this mess first.

---

As Kiyama Harumi's forces and its allies, both collectively and independently, mobilized to suppress the growing riot, Naru and her Faction arrived at the Learning Core's south gate, its nearest gate to the School Garden, in a transport she'd borrowed from the Tokiwadai Interior Dormitory. They found the gate defended by a mixed group of Anti-Skill, Judgment, Black Knight, Big Spider and Maniple forces led by Kurozuma-san and Konori-senpai. Defenders that were under attack by what Naru can only describe as rioters, who were randomly shouting about everyone getting out of their way so they could save Fremea-chan.

They must all be under the influence of the genjutsu. Kurama commented with a thoughtful hum.

No shit, Sherlock! Naru shot back, annoyed.

Given how hard it was to manage her Faction thanks to the genjutsu's influence, ensuring they worked together instead of impulsively trying to 'rescue' Fremea-chan on their own, she understood its formidable power. Frustratingly, the insidious nature of the genjutsu affected even those typically immune to such manipulations, like Electromasters such as Chao-chan. Its subtle alterations to their thoughts bypassed her automatic defenses, leaving her unaware and unable to correct it manually.

"Everyone out!" Naru ordered as the driverless bus, which was used to ferry the Tokiwadai Interior Dormitory's residents during events, pulled to a stop just short of the gate. "We need to suppress those rioters! We won't be able to rescue Fremea-chan in the mess they're creating!"

""Yes, Naru-sama!"" Her followers shouted enthusiastically as they began rushing off the bus.

"Remember to support the defenders! We're here to help them, not to add to the problem!" Naru added, using her powers to emulate some audiokinesis to project her voice to every member of her Faction. "We need to work together to save Fremea-chan!"

Kurama let out an annoyed growl. Bloody genjutsu.

Yeah. I know. Naru replied as she exited the bus, the last member of her Faction to do so. Adding references to how everything they were doing was to save Fremea-chan was the only way to get her followers to do what she wanted. Anything else, thanks to the genjutsu, tended to be ignored in favor of doing something that they thought would help to 'save' Naru's little friend. Usually something stupid.

"Chao-chan, Onaga-chan, Azumi-chan and Emily-chan!" She shouted at her lieutenants, causing them to turn to her expectantly. "Take command of your squads! Support the defenders! For Fremea-chan!"

""Yes, Naru-sama!"" The quartet of her closest followers replied together, their voices just barely avoiding being drowned out by the rest of her Faction as they let out an enthusiastic war cry.

""For Fremea-chan!""

As her lieutenants began organizing the mob of her followers into squads - a system they had established after the Silent Party Incident for effective group management - Naru took independent action. She acknowledged her own shortcomings as a battlefield commander; thankfully her lieutenants excelled in that role and could pick up the slack. Instead, her strength lay in leading from the front lines.

Stamping her foot hard, she channeled her chakra into the ground and caused earthen restraints to shoot out of it to trap a good chunk of the rioters that were attacking Learning Core's south gate. A surprisingly large number of her targets managed to evade her attempt to trap them or quickly break free, but Naru's geokinesis nonetheless took a good few dozen rioters out of the fight.

Good enough. Naru thought, surging chakra through her body to enhance her capabilities far beyond human limits. Thus enhanced, she blurred into the crowd of rioters like a bolt of crimson lightning, streaking through their ranks and reached out. She tapped any rioters she could get her hands on, using her touch to employ her emulated Divine Punishment technique, allowing her to draw out enough oxygen from their bodies to render them unconscious.

She had just finished a pass through the rioting masses when her Faction finally finished organizing themselves and proceeded to unleash a well coordinated barrage of attacks into the confused rioters. The carefully controlled volley, to ensure that no one got too hurt as result of the potentially deadly attacks, served to sow even more confusion and made the rioters even easier to take down.

"Good job, girls!" Naru shouted at her followers. "Keep it up!"

Hmph! They only took down a couple dozen at best. I'll give them a 6 out 10 at best. Kurama critiqued with a dismissive snort.

Oh! Shove it, Kurama! They're just a bunch of middle school ojou-sama, give them a break! Naru sniped back as she raced once more through the mob.

So are you.

And I'm also a Dark Sider. They're not. Naru told him with a roll of her eyes. So. Give. It. A. Break!

Alright. Alright. Kurama said with a shrug. I'll shut up for now.

Good. You do that. Naru replied as she finished another pass through the mob, knocking out dozens more rioters. 'Cause I have plenty more rioters to take down and you're being a distraction.

When Naru just received a mental image of Kurama running a hand across his mouth miming zipping his mouth closed, she couldn't help but giggle as she broke into yet another sprint to add her effort to putting down this riot. This was pretty much a walk in the park as far as an operation went and that meant things could very easily get boring, so joking around was a must to keep her going. She thus greatly appreciated Kurama's attempt at humor.

Thanks, Partner.

In reply, Kurama sent her the mental image of a thumbs up that brought a smile to Naru's face as she once more blitzed into the rioting mob. A crowd that under the concerted effort of all those working to suppress it, was rapidly thinning in numbers. Numbers that kept steadily declining, such that within a few minutes they were down to only less than a hundred active rioters. A number that saw them finally outnumbered by the defenders. Defenders that were prepared to move in to finish the job but were preempted when out of nowhere, a massive bolt of lightning streaked down from the clear night sky before forking into dozens of carefully controlled tongues of electricity that shocked the remaining rioters into unconsciousness.

Turning to the roof of a building overlooking the Learning Core's gate, Naru spotted exactly who she was expecting. Standing there accompanied by Kuroko-san was Academy City's most powerful Electromaster, the Number 5 Level 5, Mikoto-senpai.

"Senpai~! What took you so long? Were you taking your time putting on makeup or something?" Naru shouted up at the [Railgun].

As Kuroko-san teleported them both next to Naru, Mikoto-senpai retorted. "I rushed here as soon as I got Kiyama-sensei's alert. How did you get here first, Naru? And with your whole Faction no less?"

"I got moving even before Kiyama-sensei's alert. My partner," she explained to her senpai and her roommate, patting her tummy meaningfully. "Detected something strange affecting my mind just before everyone got a text about needing to save Fremea-chan. We pretty much knew an Incident was up by that point. So I contacted Maniple to raise the alarm and got on the move to go protect Fremea-chan. The alert only came after that."

Mikoto-senpai nodded in understanding. "Where's Ruiko?"

Naru shrugged. "Probably still on her date. It's not easy getting a reservation at La gastronomie de Pierre, even for a Director, and so it's a big deal for them. Kiyama-sensei knows that and so isn't going to spoil it for Rui-chan unless absolutely necessary."

"It's unfair that Ruiko gets preferential treatment because her mother is a Director." Mikoto-senpai said with a sigh.

"What can you do? The world's unfair." Naru told him with a shrug.

As she did, she caught sight of the sword belt that Mikoto was wearing and the sheathed sword hanging from it. "You finally got cleared to use your sword, Senpai?"

"Yup. I finally did." Mikoto-senpai confirmed with a proud grin.

"Onee-sama, Naru-san, looks like the situation here is under control." Kuroko-san said as she finished the survey of their surroundings she'd been doing whilst they talked. "What should we do now?"

"You should head to the Lightning Rod." Konori-senpai said as she came over with Kurozuma-san and gestured to the tallest building inside the educational theme park. "Yomikawa-san's forces at the north gate and Ylva-san's at the east gate are holding the rioters at bay thanks to support from the Black Crows but the west gate was overrun and the forces there have been engaged in a fighting retreat towards the Lightning Rod."

So Shu-chan and Arisa-chan are here too. Naru thought happily. She could practically feel Kurama itching to say something witty but he held back out of respect for his earlier promise to not be a distraction. A fact that had her sending him a mental smile.

"They could use some help." Kurozuma-san added with a frown. "From what we've heard from them, they've got it rough."

Naru nodded. "Chao-chan!"

The Level 4 Electromaster turned away from the small meeting she was having with Onaga-chan, Azumi-chan and Emily-chan, presumably to discuss what to do next now that the fight here at the south gate seemed to have come to an end. Offering her friends a nod, she ended their discussion and quickly came over to join Naru and the rest of them.

"Yes, Naru-sama?" Chao-chan said as reached them.

"Take command of my Faction." She ordered her chief lieutenant. "Help Kurozuma-san and Konori-senpai here," she said as she gestured at the two of them. "In keeping the south gate secure. Mikoto-senpai, Kuroko-san and I are heading in to help the guys at the Lightning Rod to save Fremea-chan."

"Got it, Naru-sama. Leave it to me." Chao-chan said whilst offering her a salute.

Giggling at her friend's antics, Naru turned to Mikoto-senpai and Kuroko-san. "Ready to go?"

"Waiting for you." Senpai said as Kuroko-san nodded in agreement.

Turning back to the others and receiving nods from all of them, Naru nodded back. "We'll be going now. Hold the fort here while we're gone?"

"Like your friend said, leave it to us." Konori-senpai said with a nod.

"We've got things covered here, ojou-samas. You guys go and put an end to this mess."

"Count on it. Believe it." Naru said, offering them a thumbs up before teleporting towards the Lightning Rod, prompting Kuroko-san to follow her with Mikoto-senpai in tow.

---

Some time earlier, Touma approached the Lightning Rod inside the Learning Core amusement park as part of his search for Fremea-chan, having deduced that's where she was thanks to the GPS tracker that Hamazura-san gave him, some inference on where she was headed when her tracker abruptly cut out, and, once he got to the park, a little help from one of its staff. A search that had not been easy. Not at all. Even discounting that fight with the cyborg that he defeated with help from Hamazura-san, he had been beset with more of the so-called "heroes" under the influence of Fremea-chan's Agitate Halation. Annoyingly, there was a whole group of them fighting around the Lightning Rod building.

I can't get a break, can I? Touma thought with a sigh as he hid behind a small rest area that consisted of a small bank of vending machines and a small pavilion built around them as he observed the area around the Lightning Rod and tried to come up with a way to get into the building without having to fight the gang of "heroes" brawling amongst themselves around it.

Wait! Is that? Yes, it is! Touma thought triumphantly as he spotted a manhole cover that based on the markings painted onto it was an entrance to underground tunnels that serviced the power lines leading into the Lightning Rod. Tunnels that could be used as passageways due to them needing to be big enough for people to enter for maintenance purposes. And so they could double as a secret route connecting the Lightning Rod to different facilities no doubt.

Considering Learning Core was an amusement park that likely wasn't even for malicious reasons. The tunnels were probably used by the park's staff to come and go from its various venues unseen by visitors.

Which is good for me, since it means it's the perfect way for me to get into the Lightning Rod. Touma thought with a faint grin as he quickly made his way towards the manhole.

He was just a couple of feet from it when his battle-honed instincts screamed a warning. Spinning around, he saw a long ribbon surrounded by sparks slicing through the air toward him. Reacting swiftly, he seized the ribbon with his right hand before it could strike, nullifying whatever Esper power it held and yanked hard. This action forced his attacker - a leotard-wearing girl - to release the ribbon and draw several batons and clubs from a bag at her side. And, of course, her latest toys were like the ribbon before he'd negated her power and were also surrounded by sparks.

Before the gymnast girl could press her attack on Touma however, she was knocked out by a tranquilizer bullet reminiscent of Shirai-san's tranquilizer nails. Turning to his rescuer, Touma saw that a large squad of Black Knights had arrived.

"By the order of the Board of Directors, all non-staff are to evacuate the Learning Core immediately!" A loudspeaker built into the buggy that the Black Knights had used to get there and had pulled to a stop to allow the paramilitaries to disembark boomed. "Failure to comply with this order will be considered a crime! Disperse now!"

Touma frowned. Based on what he'd learned about Fremea-chan's Agitate Halation, their calls were hopeless. Unless exceptionally strong willed, or immune to supernatural effects like he was, few could defy the subtle manipulations of her power once they were exposed to it. Not when its influence was enhanced by Yakumi Hisako's Shading Computer.

Thus, all the Black Knights' demands achieved was to present a good number of the "heroes" around the Lightning Rod with a common enemy to rally around. Seemingly mostly setting aside the differences that had got them fighting each other until now, the arrival of the Black Knights served to turn the collective attention of dozens of the squabbling "heroes" towards them and the mob charged at the paramilitaries. A charge that saw them attack each other as much as they did the Black Knights. Despite facing a formidable mob of powerful Espers, the paramilitaries maintained impressive discipline and held their ground. Heck! Their superior firepower, consisting of numerous high-powered guns, even allowed them to slowly gain ground and quell the riot.

Touma wanted to help. He really did. But he had no time. Not when there were already a number of the "heroes" who were slowly gathering and trying to open the manhole that he had spotted. He had to take them out before they could get into the underground power network and so he could use it to enter the Lightning Rod himself.

"Get away from that!" Touma ordered as he rushed the small crowd.

They turned to face Touma and he prepared himself to fight them when his instincts warned him of an incoming attack from behind. Spinning around, he brought his Imagine Breaker in front of him just in time to negate the sonic blast that was shot his way. A defense that served to leave him the only man standing as the "heroes" he'd been about to attack found themselves taken down by the sonic attack.

More important than that, standing a short distance behind where he had been hiding earlier and in front of a small fleet of trucks with massive speakers built into their trailers was the audiokinetic girl he'd almost got caught up in a fight with earlier in the day in all her purple haired, bikini top and baggy pants wearing glory. An outfit that mind you was wholly unsuitable for winter.

"I have no time to deal with you." Touma growled, shooting her a glare.

"Make time, villain." A pyrokinetic shouted at him as he shot a tongue of flame at him as he broke off from the fight with the Black Knights, who had been reinforced by the arrivals of more of their comrades, to come after him instead.

"You're both villains!" The audiokinetic countered. "And I'll defeat both of you before saving Fremea-chan!"

Fukou da! I just had to jinx myself!

Before they could actually start fighting however, the audiokinetic's speaker trucks were taken down by a barrage of what he recognized as Mugino Shizuri's Meltdowner beams. Turning towards where they came from, he saw that she and the other girls of ITEM had arrived.

"W-What!? More villains!? No! I won't stand for it! I won't let you ruin this live performance more than you villains already have!" The audiokinetic shouted defiantly as she pulled out a handheld megaphone from a hip pouch and brought it to her lips.

"Oh shut up!" Mugino-san said with a roll of her eyes as she fired off one of her carefully aimed lasers that destroyed the audiokinetic's megaphone. "Kinuhata! Deal with her!"

"Leave her to me!" The Level 4, who was dressed in an out of character outfit that consisted of a tailored plaid coat with a belted waist, a vibrant red top, slim-fit dark jeans and an out of place set of sneakers.

Mugino-san nodded as she watched her teammate charge the audiokinetic before she turned to Touma. "Kamijou! What are you still doing here? Hurry up and go rescue Fremea-chan already! That's what you're here to do isn't it?"

"What about you? You're not here to rescue Fremea-chan too?"

"ITEM is better at wrecking things than rescuing anyone." The [Meltdowner] said with a shrug even as Takitsubo-san nodded in agreement. "We'll stay out here to deal with the riot. So go live up to your epithet as the [Hero of Academy City] and go rescue Fremea-chan already!"

"Before that, can I get some confirmation, Takitsubo-san?" Touma asked, looking at the [AIM Stalker]. "Fremea-chan is inside the Lightning Rod?"

The tracker nodded. "Yes, but I can't narrow it down beyond that. Fremea-chan's AIM Field has always been super diffused and difficult to track but now it's so spread out that I can't pinpoint her location with any more precision than within the Lightning Rod."

"Alright. Thanks, Takitsubo-san. I'll be on my way now." Touma told the tracksuit wearing girl as he turned back towards the manhole, only to find a fresh group of "heroes" had once more gathered around it and were trying to open it.

"Tsk." Mugino-san clucked in distaste. "Leave them to me."

However, before she could do anything, a barrage of incoming attacks took a large number of the aforementioned "heroes" by the manhole down. Turning to the source of the friendly barrage, they discovered that the City's Sisters - if Touma remembered what he'd heard about them, they called themselves the Council of Misakas? - had joined the fray as well. Leading the charge were two Mobile Weapons: one piloted by a Sister in a standard Powered Suit equipped with a particle cannon that was docked from the waist down into a hovercraft-type Mobile Weapon in various shades of red, and another was one of the tricycle-type Mobile Weapon like those he'd seen used by the Black Crows but upgunned with a tank cannon.

Behind the cover provided by the armored bulk and impressive firepower of the Mobile Weapons - including micro missiles and the tricycle Mobile Weapon's large cannon, alongside the turreted heavy railgun mounted on the hovercraft Mobile Weapon and its pilot's particle cannon - the rest of the Council of Misakas advanced towards the seemingly ever growing group of "heroes" that was gathering at the manhole. Leading them was a Sister in a custom Powered Suit. This sleek, futuristic suit was adorned with segmented armor plates, a streamlined helmet, robust chest and torso armor, and well-guarded limbs, with a matte finish in various shades of gray and black.

"Hmm… Misaka hums contemplatively. I quite like this new cannon. Misaka muses." The pilot of the tricycle said through her machine's speakers as she fired a round at a thick clump of the "heroes" which burst over the heads of her targets and rained electroshock pellets on them that knocked most of them out. "But I still wish I had a more powerful gun. Misaka comments wistfully."

"Don't complain, Neko-chan! Misaka scolds her sister." One of the Sisters on foot, dressed in a blindingly cheerful outfit, said even as she fired at the rioters. By the tone she used to speak her sister's name, Touma presumed it was her name at least, she was quite angry with the pilot of the tricycle Mobile Weapon. "You already got an upgrade for your Mobile Weapon and you should be satisfied, most of us Misakas didn't get any new gear! Misaka points out."

"Hey! Misaka cries out. It's not fair to get upset with her. Misaka said in defense of 14091." The footbound Sister in a Powered Suit said as she continued firing electroshock bullets into the rioters' ranks as she and her sisters advanced. "14091 is not trying to deny her fellow Misakas' turn at getting an equipment upgrade. Misaka argued. Just look at myself, Misaka got my own Powered Suit. Misaka pointed out."

"Indeed. Misaka agrees." The other Powered Suit wearing Sister cut in whilst firing away with her handheld particle cannon and her Mobile Weapon's heavy railgun. "14091 is just expressing what upgrade she wants to get next time it's her turn for one. Misaka argues."

"Sentai-chan and Mecha Fan, stay out of this! Misaka warns." A Sister with uncharacteristically long hair in a ponytail said, putting a teasing, even chiding, edge to the names she used to address her Powered Suit clad sisters. "Both of you are just as bad at hogging the chance to get upgrades! Misaka complains."

Despite the devastating firepower that the Council of Misakas were unleashing, they were using it carefully. They only used their most powerful attacks - missiles, particle beams, and railgun shots - at targets that could take the hit. Either at the ground or the air above them to scatter and break up fights between the "heroes" or to batter down various barriers that those capable of throwing them up had created. Between the care they had to pay to do this and the argument that was raging between them, the Council was rather distracted. A distraction that they paid for when they allowed themselves to be attacked by a fresh group of "heroes" that suddenly appeared behind them.

"Leave it to me, Misakas. Misaka tells her sisters." The Sister in the sleek Powered Suit—Sentai-chan, was it?—said as she turned around. Using an incredible burst of speed, thanks to the enhancements provided by her Suit, she rushed forward. Employing a blend of martial arts and gunplay that Touma could only describe as gun-fu, she engaged the leading elements of the attacking group.

Her movements were a seamless integration of fluid martial arts techniques and precise shotgun blasts. She dodged and weaved through the enemy ranks with agility, striking with quick, powerful kicks and punches. Each physical strike was followed by the deafening roar of her shotgun, the blasts executed with pinpoint accuracy to disarm and disable her opponents. The choreography of her combat style was a breathtaking dance of destruction, a testament to her mastery of both hand-to-hand combat and firearm proficiency.

Science! That's cool. Touma could not help but think as she let out an appreciative whistle. I wonder how much of that is thanks to her own training and how much is the Suit.

"14091, let Misaka help. Misaka offers." The Sister with the long hair - It went all the way down to her butt! - said as she turned towards the attackers and using her hair as a medium, she fired a powerful railgun right into the middle of the ranks of the incoming "heroes". The shot left the Sister panting but it did scatter them.

"Thank you, 10287. Misaka tells her sister, offering her thanks." Sentai-chan said as with the help of a barrage of Mugino-san's beams, she took down the last of the "heroes" that had attacked the Council from the rear that 10287-san's railgun shot hadn't knocked out or sent fleeing.

"Hah! The railgun shot that the long haired Sister fired was almost enough to qualify her as a Level 5, at least in terms of destructive potential. She does need to work on her stamina though if one shot leaves her panting." Mugino-san remarked thoughtfully. 10287-san must've heard her despite the noisy battlefield because she blushed almost as soon as Mugino finished speaking.

Suddenly, a group of strange robots leaped onto the scene. These lightweight, lightly armored humanoid drones stood one and a half feet tall, with heads dominated by a single brightly glowing photoreceptor. Each hand had three thick fingers, including a thumb, an index finger, and a long middle finger, while each foot had three toes. The drones skittered ahead of the Council and used the claws on their hands and feet as well as the pair of small-caliber machine guns built into their heads on either side of their photoreceptors, and began supporting the Council's advance toward the manhole. An advance that due to their help rapidly accelerated.

That they were joining the fight on their side probably meant they were friendly but Touma tensed at their sudden arrival nonetheless. Especially when one of the robots landed next to him and Mugino-san and a group of them began guiding the visibly tired out 10287-san to safety beside the Number 6. He was the only one however. It seemed everyone else recognized them.

"Tsundere-chan, you've gotten really strong!" The familiar voice of the [Drone Queen] praised via one of the robots' speakers. If these robots were hers then it really did explain why everyone was so chill with them.

Wait! Both the Council with their fancy new weapons and the [Drone Queen] with her new robots are all the Trinity's allies aren't they!? Touma realized. Science! The Trinity just keeps getting more and more powerful don't they!? Seriously, how is that fair? Why can't I get an upgrade or two once in a while too!?

"Mugino-sama, Uiharu-san, you are too kind. Misaka says honestly." The Sister - Tsundere-san apparently. Seriously!? What's up with the Council's names? Was the one who named them being a dick or just super immature? - said with a blush. "Misaka could not have achieved what Misaka has without all the help Namikaze-sama and Onee-san gave me. Misaka confesses. Well, that, and some hair growth products. Misaka adds mischievously."

The Sister finished what she had to say with an exaggerated toss of her hair over her shoulder, much to the amusement of the other girls around him. Uiharu-san outright giggled whilst Mugino-san's lips twitched into a smile. Even the ever-stoic Takitsubo-san paused from using the submachine guns she had drawn and started dual-wielding to support Kinuhata-san - who was rampaging through the rioters' ranks after taking down the audiokinetic - to chuckle softly.

And how, by Science, had Takitsubo-san drawn guns without me noticing!? Was I really that tired!? Touma asked as he stared in disbelief at Hamazura-san's girlfriend firing precise bursts of electroshock bullets into the "heroes" that Kinuhata-san was facing. Or did I not register it simply because my subconscious knew she was a friend and so my instincts didn't register what she was doing as something worth paying attention to?

If it was the latter then his battle instincts were even more crazy than he thought they were. If the former then maybe he should take a break after all. He wouldn't be much good to Fremea-chan if he showed up to the rescue half-dead from exhaustion would he?

No! Time is of the essence here! I need to rescue her before Yakumi Hisako kills her like her plans outline as required for her transformation to be complete!

Touma had just reaffirmed his resolve when a beeping alarm in the background of wherever she was drowned off the [Drone Queen]'s giggles. This time, everyone did tense up and turned to look at the drone from which the sound had come from worriedly.

"What was that?" Mugino-san demanded.

"An alert. According to my sensor net, a massive group of at least two to three hundred "rioters" are moving towards your position." Uiharu-san informed them. "That you all can stand there largely unmolested is because the main body of the rioters are being held back. Anti-Skill, Judgment, Black Knight, Big Spider and Maniple forces are trying to hold them back. I've deployed my drones to help too but even then we won't be able to hold them off for long." Having the head of the drone turn towards him, and prompting everyone to do the same, Uiharu-san continued. "I know you've been fighting basically the whole day and you're probably exhausted, Kamijou-san, but if you're going to do something, you need to do it now."

"I can confirm the incoming mob." Kinuhata-san said as she jogged over to join them, neither herself or even her fancy clothes so much as scuffed by the intense close combat fighting she'd been engaged in for the past little while. Science, her Esper power sure was convenient! Using nitrogen to create a nigh impenetrable armor around her body!? Kamijou wished his power was that cool!

Well, maybe not. I wouldn't have survived half the things Imagine Breaker let me live through with Kinuata-san's Offense Armor instead, but still…

Unaware of Touma's petty, jealous thoughts, Kinuhata-san continued. "Some of the guys I beat up after dealing with the audiokinetic girl said they had buddies on the way and I'm pretty sure I saw the lead elements of the main mob."

Touma turned in the direction from where Kinuata-san had come and spotted a massive mob pushing against a increasing strained line of Uiharu-san's drones, including a number of her new hopping robots, and Anti-Skill, Judgement, and, unless his eyes were deceiving him, a large number of Tokiwadai girls. That and a whole bunch of paramilitaries, who he recognised based on their uniforms belonged to the Black Knights, Big Spider and Maniple. Even as he and the others watched, the straining defensive line was reinforced by a group of girls armed with various firearms led by a teenage Caucasian girl with fair skin and long, straight, blue-black hair.

Those must be the Giarraputo Social Welfare Agency. He mused. He'd heard of the bunch of schoolgirl Esper combat cyborgs from his interactions with their frequent allies, the Trinity.

Even with the Agency girls' help however, the lines were still struggling. The situation only changed when a man suddenly jumped into the melee to aid the defenders. He effortlessly knocked out one rioter after another with nothing but punches. That was impressive enough but the man's biggest impact wasn't in how many of the rioters he took down but rather in how much he seemed to scare them. At the sight of him, fearful cries of "The Number 8 is here!" and "One of the nine Level 5s!" suddenly spread out amidst the ranks of the "heroes" like a contagion, causing many of them to turn to flee.

A response that seemed to get a reaction from the man. Though it was one that Touma didn't expect. "Those epithets are meaningless to me! If you must address me, call me by my name! I am Aihana Etsu! Remember it!"

This loud, almost boastful, declaration of his name caused another ripple of fear to spread through the rioters, causing even more of them to run away.

"Fools," said a girl that Touma vaguely recognized as the Number 7, Shokuhou Misaki. She had long, straight blonde hair and eyes with star designs in them, and was dressed in the Tokiwadai winter uniform, complemented by white gloves and stockings adorned with lace, and a shoulder bag with a star emblem in the middle. Sauntering over and pointing at the self-declared Number 8, she continued, "That man is only using his acting power to play the role of the Number 8."

Shooting a barrage of her beams into the crowd to take out some of the heavy equipment - Was that a Mobile Weapon!? - some of the rioters had brought to bear, Mugino-san scoffed. "At least he's helping, Shokuhou. What are you doing?"

In response, the City's most powerful Telepath gestured to a large group of Tokiwadai girls that were just now joining the fight by attacking the rioters from their right flank.

"That's my Faction." Shokuhou-san said proudly. "They're my contribution ability to this fight."

"So what you're saying is that you're too much of an ojou-sama to lift a finger yourself?" Mugino-san accused with a roll of her eyes even as she herself fired off yet another salvo of her beams at the rioters, carefully modulating them so they shocked what they hit instead of disintegrating them like they usually did. A volley that covered Kinuhata-san as she charged back into the fray to help the Council finish clearing out the idiots still clustered around the manhole Touma was targeting while Takitsubo-san tended to a wilting Tsundere-san.

Clearly annoyed by the Number 6's accusation, the Tokiwadai ojou-sama shot her fellow Level 5 a glare. She might have said something too but before she was prevented from doing so by the arrival of a pair of her friends.

"Misaki-san! There you are! What did we say about running ahead without us!?" exclaimed Kouzaku Mitori as she drove a humvee up to where they were gathered. The girl with purple eyes and matching similarly colored hair, that she had styled into twin tails, pulled off an impressive drift to bring the vehicle to a stop when she did.

"Yeah, Misaki-chan!" Dolly-chan, a Sister with long brown hair that was at least partially stuffed under the large light brown newsboy cap she was wearing, said in agreement with Kouzaku-san as both of them hopped out of the humvee and rushed to Shokuhou-san's side. "Did you forget that you're squishy on your own?"

Shokuhou-san blushed hard at being called out by her clearly worried girlfriends. - And whether that was in a platonic or romantic sense was a topic of fervent discussion on the Level 5 discussion boards online, and in less reputable circles, if Touma's perverted classmate, Aogami Pierce, was to be believed. - Girlfriends that both looked her over for any possible injuries, breathing sighs of relief upon finding none.

"Mitori~! Dolly~! I have the power to take care of myself! Did you forget I'm a Level 5?"

"No, but what part of you're squishy did you forget"" Kouzaku-san countered, crossing her arms and glaring at the Number 6 even as Dolly-san nodded in agreement.

"Do they even realize they have an audience?" Mugino-san couldn't help saying what Touma was thinking, causing him to nod alongside Takitsubo-san, Tsundere-san and one of Uiharu-san's nearby drones.

Shokuhou-san was definitely aware they were there by the way her blush went atomic as she glanced towards them, lingering on Touma in particular for a moment as she did. But despite that, she didn't turn her attention away from her concerned girlfriends. Instead, she meekly nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Good." Dolly-san said with a nod and leaned forward to give Shokuhou-san a hug. "You made us worried, going ahead on your own like that."

It was Kouzaku-san's turn to nod in agreement as she too joined the hug. She seemed a touch awkward about it, but quickly relaxed into it.

"Aww~! They look so cute together." Uiharu-san commented.

"Misaka is happy for Onee-san. Misaka says sincerely."

Mugino-san just snorted and exchanged amused grins with Takitsubo-san.

Touma just fidgeted awkwardly. Partly because the scene playing out before him felt a little too intimate and him witnessing it felt like he was violating something that should've been private. Partly because they were in the middle of an Incident and they really should be focused on resolving it, not taking breaks out of it to watch their acquaintances have romantic moments!

"GUTS!" A voice thundered as suddenly a guy with windswept and spiky black hair in a modified white uniform whose jacket he wore over his shoulders as a make-shift cape, a white headband on his forehead and a Rising Sun shirt, fell towards them as if he'd dropped from the sky or leapt towards them from a great distance.

"Sogiita Gunha has arrived!" The Number 9 Level 5 declared as he pulled off a classic three-point landing next to them from whatever insane leap he did to get here whilst unleashing a gust to extinguish the blazes started all around them thanks to the riot.

"What is this Level 5 fest?" Takitsubo-san said with a smirk that had Mugino-san and Touma turning to look at her in surprise even as Tsundere-san and Uiharu-san giggled. "What? Shiage would say something like that if he was here. Outside of the Trinity calling you guys together, when was the last time so many of the Level 5s were together in the same place?"

"Point, Takitsubo-san." Sogiita-san said with a nod before turning to glare at Mugino-san and Shokuhou-san. "That shows just how unprecedented today's Incident is and why we need to work together to resolve it. We Level 5s need to show the world that we have the GUTS to put an end to this riot!"

"I agree with you on principle, Sogiita-san." Shokuhou-san, having managed to squirm her way out of her girlfriends' worried embrace, said. "But we should wait a bit."

"Wait for what exactly?" Mugino-san asked, cocking an eyebrow skeptically.

The [Queen of Tokiwadai] just pointed up towards the sky.

Looking up, Touma and the others could see an unnatural tornado descending towards them. A twister that was serving as the mount for Accelerator-san, Saten-san and Frenda-san. That was an impressive enough sight but not one that would awe him or any of them watching with him into silence. They'd all seen the Number 1 use this unusual mode of locomotion before and often in the accompaniment of his two girlfriends. No, what everyone was stunned by were what the throuple were wearing!

In a departure from his typical t-shirt and slacks, Accelerator-san was wearing a full suit! The silver pants, jacket, and waistcoat contrast with the dark colors of his black shirt and purple tie. Over this, the Number 1 had added a gray single-breasted trench coat. All in all, the outfit transformed the usually punkish Level 5 into a sophisticated gentleman.

Not to be outdone, Saten-san was also dressed like she was going to a ball. Though considering she was an ojou-sama, that was perhaps not that unexpected. Nonetheless, the orange dress that was held up by spaghetti straps with a single breasted bodice and black bow embellishments on the sides that flowed out from her waist into a tiered skirt which she wore made her look absolutely stunning!

If Saten-san looking gorgeous was expected, unkind as it was, Touma was floored by Frenda-san's appearance. Like her partners she was dressed up for the occasion. In her case this meant a blue dress with a blue vest-like jacket featuring long sleeves that ended in frilled cuffs, a short black inner skirt that was only just long enough to protect her modesty and a longer overskirt that fell to midthigh that was open in the front to allow her to show off her black pantyhose. In contrast to her normal, generally loose attire, the dress was figure hugging and very much showed off her surprisingly substantial bust. All of which was capped off with black gloves, a blue beret and a fancy orange trimmed white cravat.

That's Frenda-san!? Seriously!? Does she usually bind her breasts or something!? Touma couldn't help but think as he stared at the Norwegian's chest with disbelief. He knew the right cut of clothes could hide or accentuate things a lot but this was ridiculous! Frenda-san usually seemed almost flat but here she was having boobs that were rivaling her girlfriend's! And Saten-san had used Bust Upper to enhance her already not insubstantial bustline!

Ignoring everyone else there, Accelerator glared at the rioters and with a snap of his fingers and an application of his powers to enhance the volume of the sound created, he gathered the attention of the remaining rioters who hadn't already been looking at him and his girlfriends thanks to their dramatic entrance. A snap that thankfully also reminded Touma about whose girlfriend's breasts he was all but leering at.

Thank Science that Accelerator-san can't read minds! Touma thought with a sigh of relief. If he did… I'd already be beaten black and blue by now.

Though by the slight glare that Saten-san, who could read minds, shot his way, he probably only delayed his inevitable thrashing.

Sigh. It's not like I don't deserve it.

"Do you know how difficult it was to get a reservation at that restaurant?" Accelerator-san boomed angrily, with what was assuredly some use of his power to better project his voice.

"Or how much effort it took to convince him to take us out on a proper date in the first place?" Saten-san added, turning away from glaring at Touma to direct her anger, which she kicked up several notches, at the rioters.

"It was to properly celebrate my admittance to the relationship too!" Frenda-san said in an angry voice that held a tinge of sadness at the ruining of her special moment.

Touma understood that. He could even empathize with it. He'd had plenty of special moments of his ruined due to one Incident or another. Despite that however, he could not help the guttural reaction he felt at hearing the reminder that Frenda-san had joined Accelerator-san and Saten-san's relationship and they had become a throuple. Just like every time he'd heard it since learning about it thanks to the notorious gossip, at least when it came to all things to do with the female Level 5s, that was Aogami Pierce, he couldn't shake the feeling it was something that was just… wrong. As always, he knew better than to say anything. A throuple might not be for him but it wasn't his business what other people got up to in their own relationships.

Even as Touma worked through his qualms about their relationship, the throuple occupying his thoughts unleashed a combined attack into the mob of rioters. An attack that was a show of remarkable teamwork that saw Frenda-san toss what looked like a handful of bottles of what looked like perfume towards the rioters. Bottles that were caught by some telekinesis, probably Saten-san's doing, and sent flying into the biggest clusters of the rioters before detonating with enhanced but carefully controlled force by who Touma assumed to be Accelerator-san. Force that was just enough to send the rioters to the ground and possibly into unconsciousness but not cause permanent harm. This had the effect of taking out more than half of the rioters in the field and allowing the defensive line holding them back to finally begin to push them back.

It was an impressive display and it should've warned Touma off from asking stupid questions. He was however, unable to quell his curiosity and could not help but ask about something that had been bothering him. "Um, Saten-san, mind if I ask you something?"

"Yes, Kamijou-san?" The Number 3 asked, shooting Touma a look that reminded him that she had not forgotten that he had been leering at her girlfriend's boobs just a moment ago.

"Well, I, uh, am just curious why you're wearing something that's exposing your shoulders like that in the middle of winter." Touma asked, eyeing the Level 5's exposed shoulders. "And why aren't you wearing a coat either?"

Touma knew giving into his curiosity was a mistake almost as soon as the words finished tumbling out of his mouth. Especially when all the girls shot him a mix of disbelieving or hostile looks at his question and even Sogiita-san facepalmed. Of all the responses however, Saten-san's glare was practically murderous. Thankfully, she didn't choose to act on her anger, instead simply pointedly looked away whilst Frenda-san put a comforting arm over her shoulders whilst shooting Touma a glare of her own that was only marginally filled with less deadly intent.

"Argh! Seriously, Kamijou!" Accelerator-san said, shaking his head in exasperation. "It's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

Touma just blinked in confusion. What did that have to do with his question?

Seemingly taking pity on him, the Number 1 explained. "Look, Ruiko is dressed like that because she wanted to impress me and Frenda, her boyfriend and girlfriend. As for dealing with the cold, she is keeping warm thanks to her powers."

"A girl shouldn't need to do something like that just to impress a gu-" Touma paused, noticing the glare Ruiko and Frenda were shooting him.

"Uh, her significant others?" He finished lamely.

Accelerator-san sighed and looked ready to reply but Saten-san cut him off. "Accel, stop entertaining Kamijou-san. He's clueless and won't get it."

Touma wanted to take offense but he couldn't. Not when they were right. He really had no idea about what they were talking about.

"Yeah, Accelerator. He's an idiot. Just ignore him and focus on putting down this riot." Frenda-san urged.

"Yeah, you're right." Accelerator-san said with a nod before he turned his attention to the rioters, whose numbers had somehow swollen once more despite being cut down tremendously just moments before. "Ruiko, I'll handle pulling out the oxygen. You catch them? Frenda, you take out those Mobile Weapons I see some of them have at the back?"

"Sounds good." Saten-san agreed.

"Sure, Accelerator." Frenda-san said as she reached under the skirt of her dress and pulled out a brace of what seemed like metal rods about thirty centimeters long with masses of metal about the size of a drink can at its end that resembled maracas. "I'll kick us off?"

"Yeah, the explosions will be a good distraction."

"It'll make things easier. We might even catch some of those who might've been resistant."

"Now!" Frenda-san shouted as she let her weapons fly, revealing them to be rockets. Missiles that streaked through the air and slammed into the Mobile Weapons - that the rioters had indeed somehow got their hands on and were bringing to bear - at the rear of the mob. The spider-like machines were promptly wrecked by the explosive yields of the Level 0's rockets.

Their fiery destruction caused many among the rioters to turn towards the flaming wrecks in alarm. A urge that Touma shared, only the confidence that his friends knew what they were doing prevented him from panicking over whether the machines' pilots were safe.

"The pilots are fine." Takitsubo-san assured him. "Most Mobile Weapons are designed to have the safety of their pilots as one of their top priorities, even disabling hits like that isn't enough to threaten their lives. If any of them were in danger, Saten-san would've teleported them out. Now watch, Kamijou-san, or you'll miss the main act of their attack."

Turning back to the mob, Touma watched as suddenly a good two thirds of the rioters began dropping like flies. Some managed to clutch at their throats before they toppled over, giving Touma a clue as to what was going on. It seemed Accelerator-san was emulating Vento of the Front's Divine Punishment spell. This version was a lot nicer to its victims however as true to the plan they'd worked out between them, Saten-san proceeded to catch them as they collapsed into unconsciousness with what Touma presumed was telekinesis and lowered them gently to the ground.

"Bullshit! You two are just bullshit, you know that?" Mugino-san said with a huff of irritation as she fired a salvo of her watered down beams at the remaining rioters, shocking a good chunk of them into unconsciousness. All part of redoubled efforts on the part of the defenders to put down the rioters. Unfortunately, even as they took what looked like hundreds of rioters out of the fight, they could already see a fresh wave of them on their way.

"Nonsense! The three of them just have plenty of GUTS!" Sogiita-san said, offering the throuple a grin and a thumbs up after tossing a large chunk of wreckage that looked like it might've come from one of the audiokinetic girl's speaker trucks like a shot put at a Mobile Weapon that seemed to have escaped the throuple's wrath. A machine that was soon squashed like a bug.

Seemingly reminded by the Number 9's reminder that they were a throuple, not a couple, Mugino-san quickly shot a look at Frenda-san to see if she took offense to her leaving her out, but the blonde was too distracted to have even noticed. Instead, she was patting herself and reaching under her dress with a frown.

"Dritt! I'm empty." She lamented when she couldn't find what she was looking for. "Argh! This is why I hate dressing up! I can't carry even half my usual weapons load in a dress like this!"

That you managed to carry as much equipment as you did is already crazy enough as is! Touma thought to himself. I sure as Science don't want to see how many bombs you can carry in what you consider your full load. Wait! Now's not the time for this!

Shaking his head, to get his mind back on track, Touma turned to the [AIM Sovereign]. "Saten-san, serious question. Can you use your power to shut the whole AIM Shading Computer down and stop Yakumi Hisako's plan?"

"I probably could." The Number 3 replied without asking for any clarifications. Clearly she was already familiar with what was going on, which was perhaps to be expected of the City's premiere info broker. All the while, she was conjuring some kind of goo with what he presumed was her emulation of the Number 4's Dark Matter ability and using it to imprison whole groups of the rioters in the sticky stuff. "But that would require me to affect the City-wide AIM field. Operating on such a scale would make it impossible for any precision on my part. As a result, the disruptions to the AIM fields of individual Espers would likely cause injury, possibly to many people."

"Uh…"

"What Ruiko means is that she can't do it without hurting lots of people." Accelerator clarified.

Touma had gotten that part! It was the rest he didn't get! He didn't quibble the details though. He'd wasted enough time catching his breath here already. If he wanted to save Fremea-chan, he needed to pick up the pace now.

"I'm sorry, Kamijou-san, but I can't offer you a quick fix to this Incident." Saten-san told him, offering him an apologetic nod. "What Frenda-chan, Accel and I can do is work with the other Level 5s-"

"Except that lazy Number 4 and Number 8!" Frenda-chan interrupted.

Aren't the rest of the Trinity missing too? Though, I imagine they can't be too far…

Ignoring her, even as the corners of her mouth twitched, betraying her amusement, Saten-san continued. "-to contain the riot instead."

"So we're leaving the rescue of my sister to you, you got it Kamijou!?" Frenda-san told him sternly. "So you better succeed or I'll have your head!"

"Uh, maybe you should come with me to make sure?" Kamijou suggested warily.

"I would love to, I really would." Frenda-san admitted, dropping her mask a moment to reveal the anxiety that lay underneath. "But I know that I would just slow you down or be a liability to you if I did. No, I can do the most good here. I know my limits."

In response, Saten-san gave her girlfriend a comforting hug.

"So please, Kamijou-sama. Save my sister." Frenda-san begged.

Touma nodded in understanding. "I promise that I'll bring her back safe and sound."

"Then stop wasting time." Accelerator-san scolded him as he pulled off another smaller scale use of his version of the Divine Punishment technique. "You've caught your breath by now and your attempt at an easy solution to the Incident just got shut down so it's time to be who you are: a hero."

Touma smiled, but retorted. "I'm not a hero. I'm just a guy doing what he can to help those around him."

Accelerator-san chuckled and the manhole that Touma had been eyeing as his way into the Lightning Rod without having to fight through the mob surrounding it popped open, the cover slamming into a "hero" in a bulky homemade Powered Suit that had been trying to pry it open. Accelerator-san didn't stop there though and had the manhole cover fly through the entire group of rioters that had been stubbornly holding their ground around the manhole despite Uiharu-san's drones and the Council of Misakas' attempts to dislodge them, hitting each and every one of them hard enough to if not outright knock them out then at least disorientate them enough to make them easy pickings for the others to take down.

"Go."

"Thanks, Accelerator-san!" Touma offered distractedly as he ran towards the manhole intent on finally continuing his rescue of Fremea-chan, ignoring how his allies rushed forward to secure the area around it and thus cover his escape route should he need it.

It was good to have friends he could trust to watch his back.

---

As Kamijou-san descended down the manhole into the tunnels that would allow him to sneak past the riot into the Lightning Rod to save Fremea-chan, Ruiko turned to Accel and continued the conversation that they had started with the [Imagine Breaker].

"Accel, you called Kamijou-san a hero." She said, looking at him with all the sincerity she could muster. "Well, after Russia, you're my hero."

For some reason, Accel was thrown by this, to her, self-evident opinion. Smiling at getting this reaction from her boyfriend, Ruiko turned to her girlfriend as she teleported in some of Frenda-chan's weapons from her nearest cache. A girlfriend who, with her mask back in place, skipped over to the crate of weapons and whilst using her biometrics to unlock it, jokingly added to the conversation. "What about me then? What am I?"

Playing along with the attempt to divert things away from serious topics, including Frenda-chan's genuine fear for Fremea-chan, Ruiko giggled and answered. "Why? You're our plus one of course."

Frenda-chan chuckled at that teasing reply even as she rearmed herself. "I can live with that."

Ruiko's smile widened at her girlfriend seemingly regaining her equilibrium. A sense of relief that she celebrated by using some emulated Divine Punishment to knock out a good chunk of the rioters. She was just using some emulated telekinesis to lower them to the ground so that they wouldn't get hurt and conjured Dark Matter restraints to keep them under control should they unexpectedly wake up, when Naru-chan arrived via teleport with Mikoto-senpai and Kuroko-senpai in tow.

"Yo~! Are you three really flirting in the middle of a riot?" Naru teased the moment she materialized.

"So what if we were? You'd do the same if Shutaura-san and Arisa-san were here."

"She totally would." Mikoto agreed. "Naru, do you know where they are?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Naru admitted with a shrug. "All I know is that the Black Crows are deployed at the Learning Core's north and east gates supporting the defenses so they are probably at one or the other."

"Actually, based on my surveillance network they are fighting to regain control of the Learning Core's west gate and stem the flow of rioters into the park." Ruiko informed them.

"Oh? Well, Naru, what do you think? Do you want to go join them?" Mikoto asked them with a teasing smirk.

"Nah." Naru said, shaking her head. "I would just crib their style. Besides, they are where they should be: with their team."

"Hey! Trinity!" Mugino shouted at them angrily as she fired off toned down versions of her Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannons such that they were more electroshock beams rather than disintegration beams. "Stop slacking off! A fresh wave of rioters are inbound."

Chastised, the Trinity blushed and turned towards the incoming mob. A mob that was being pummeled by a whole host of carefully controlled attacks from the various defenders to knock the rioters unconscious without causing them permanent harm. Despite that, there were still hundreds of would-be "heroes" influenced by Fremea-chan's Agitate Halation charging towards them. Preparing to do their part, Ruiko began shaping her AIM Fields to deploy some of the emulated abilities she intended to use and Naru began shaping her chakra to use her own powers. However, before they could unleash anything, Mikoto-senpai put a restraining hand on their shoulders.

"Kuroko, go help hold the line with everyone else." She ordered her roommate, receiving a nod from the Level 4 before she teleported away to join the line trying to contain the rioters. That done, she turned towards Ruiko and Naru-chan. "Leave this wave to me. I've got it covered."

---

"Thanks, girls." Mikoto said, offering her friends a smile as they nodded their acceptance of her request and allowed her to take an enthusiastic step forward. Smiling almost giddily at the chance to use it, she put her hands on the hilt of Worochi-no-Aramasa (蛇之麁正, Rough and True Blade of the Serpent) which she had finally got cleared for field use.

A clearance that she had achieved after her Power Development Team had compared notes with those of the right hand woman of Shokohou's Faction, Hokaze Junko, - Yes! In the time since Sushestvovanie Island, she'd finally bothered figuring out which Electromaster her team was borrowing this technique from - and taught her the Level 4's Rampage Dress ability. A specialized application of Electromastery that allowed her senpai with long lavender hair styled in ringlet curls to manipulate the electrical signals in her cells and allowed her to emulate biokinesis.

With only a few weeks of training, she didn't have anywhere the level of mastery in this technique as Hokaze-san but she was good enough to massively expand her reflexes, strength, and even give her minor regeneration. Beyond that she had also quickly mastered Hokaze-san's Ion Sheath, A technique that allowed her to wreathe her body, or parts thereof, in negatively-charged electrons that could serve as makeshift armor. Already familiar with a similar technique, she had mastered this fairly quickly. This similarity in techniques she was already familiar with also translated somewhat to her quick mastery of Rampage Dress. The Electromastery assisted gymnastics that she so frequently used in battle wasn't entirely possible without some enhancement to her physical strength after all. So her learning Rampage Dress was basically just her refining techniques she'd already been using for ages.

Only after mastering Rampage Dress, or as far as she could do so far, had she been able to possess the physical strength to properly wield Worochi-no-Aramasa. Unlike the typical iron sand swords that were the most common blades she'd typically used in the past, the magical sword was a lot heavier and that made using it properly something that she had needed to work hard to get used to. Without using Rampage Dress to enhance her strength, she honestly struggled to use it. And of course the fine control required to use Rampage Dress at all served as excellent practice that helped her better master the powerful electricity that Worochi-no-Aramasa produced. So thanks to all her work with Rampage Dress and some additional training in swordplay, she was finally given permission by her Power Development team to use her sword in the field.

Something that she was currently pleased to do. Drawing the Worochi-no-Aramasa, she swung the blade and unleashed a wave of raw energy imbued with the concept of cutting. A wave that shot out in an arc in accordance with the swing. This was the Kusakarisen (草刈り閃, Grass-cutting Flash) technique that she'd developed and it was a very good crowd clearing technique as proven when in one swing she managed to knock out over four dozen rioters.

"Wow! That's an amazing technique, Senpai!" Naru praised.

"Agreed, Mikoto-senpai. That was most impressive." Ruiko agreed.

The people gathered around them offered her their praise too. Some like Mugino more grudgingly than others. She mostly ignored them. Mostly because there was no way to ignore Sogiita Gunha as the Number 9 responded to Mikoto's technique with an ear splitting shout that drowned everyone else out, "What a GUTS filled display! I must work harder to top that showing with even more of my GUTS!"

With that insane declaration the crazy high schooler promptly launched himself at the riot, seemingly with the intent to do something to overshadow what Mikoto had accomplished. He wasn't the only one with that idea either.

"Rui-chan! We can't let Senpai outshine us, can we?" Naru said with a playful grin.

"No, indeed, we cannot." Ruiko agreed with a matching grin of her own. "Let's go wild."

Smirking, Naru shrouded herself in chakra as she enhanced her body and using the opening in the rioters' ranks created by Mikoto's Kusakarisen, she blitzed into the heart of the crowd. Wherever she passed, rioters dropped unconscious as she tapped them and used her version of Divine Punishment to drop them.

"Hey, Naru! Don't just run ahead without us!" Mikoto shouted as she pointed her sword at the mob, channeling the massive amounts of electricity it generated into a powerful lightning bolt shooting into the ranks of the "heroes" that proceeded as it neared the enemy to branch into dozens of smaller bolts that she used to shock an equal number of rioters into unconsciousness.

"Accel, Frenda-chan, follow me!" Ruiko shouted at her partners before shooting Mikoto an impish grin and using what she recognized as an emulation of Stick Slip to manipulate the frictional coefficients under her feet and thus allow her to literally skate across the ground at high speed into the mob's ranks. "And thanks Senpai, for keeping the opening in the enemy lines open!"

If it was earlier in their friendship, Mikoto's competitive nature would've caused her to get angry with Ruiko for behaving the way she did. Instead, as she watched Ruiko disappear into the chaotic ranks of the rioters using the opening she'd inadvertently created for her and was followed in doing so by Accelerator and Frenda-san, the latter carried along by the Number 1 so she wouldn't have to leg it, the Number 5 just shook her head in fond exasperation.

"Glad to be of help." She said sincerely and turned to the gaggle of Level 5s standing around her. "So I'm going to follow my team into the belly of the beast, as it were. Do any of you want to join me?"

Mugino immediately shook her head. "No, as much as I hate to admit it. I'm probably more useful providing long range fire support from here. Takitsubo, what about you?"

"I'll stay. I haven't been training long enough to feel comfortable getting into this scrum. I'm not invulnerable like Saiai."

Glancing at the riot, where the rioters were just as likely to attack each other as they were to assault the defenders trying to rein them in, Mikoto could understand. Considering Takitsubo-san had basically only started proper combat training after World War 3 ended about a month ago, getting caught up in that would be incredibly intimidating. Especially, when unlike her teammate, Kinuhata-san, who was somewhere deep in the mess, she didn't have a powerful defensive Esper ability and was just as vulnerable as your average human.

"I'll stay here too." Shokuhou said with a shrug. "My direct combat ability is low."

"Mii-chan and I will stay here too, Onee-sama." Dolly-chan informed her. "We'll also work with my imouto-chans to keep Misaki-chan safe and keep the tunnel entrance Kamijou-sama used secure."

"You do that." Mikoto nodded, pleased that her sisters would be staying away from the fighting. As capable as they were, Mikoto still worried for their safety every time they got into a fight. She was thus relieved that they would be mostly sitting this one out. Sure, a few stragglers were getting past the defensive line and attacking them but they were few and far between and with both [Meltdowner] and [Mental Out], and their own teammates/hangers on, here to back them up if need be, she was confident that they could handle anything that came their way. Case in point, just then Takitsubo-san turned her submachine gun on a fool who was attempting to use some kind of ability that made him invisible, but which failed to trick the Level 4's AIM Stalker, to sneak past them and towards the manhole that Kamijou had gone down, and put a electroshock round into him that knocked him out cold.

"Okay. Then I'll be going now." Mikoto told them as she pointed her blade at the ground beneath her, prompting Mugino's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do…"

"Then I won't tell you." Mikoto quipped back in imitation of Naru. Seeing the hilarious look of flabbergasted annoyance on the Number 6's face, Mikoto could understand why her blonde teammate loved throwing barbs at others.

Maybe I should do it more often. Mikoto mused as she began pulling electricity out of Worochi-no-Aramasa and began gathering it around the blade, causing it to crackle with pent up electrical energy. Nah. That's Naru schtick. It would be bad form to steal it from her.

Shaking her head to dismiss the idea entirely, Mikoto unleashed the pent up energy she'd been gathering in her sword. It discharged in the form of a single massive lightning bolt that propelled her skyward and which she guided through careful manipulation of the surrounding electromagnetic fields into a unnatural parabolic arc so that like an artillery shell, or perhaps more appropriately a railgun round, she crashed right into the thick of the riot right next to where Naru and Ruiko were busy going ham on the idiots foolish enough to not immediately surrender at the sight of them. A task that the [Railgun] was more than happy to assist with.

It's time to show the world why they shouldn't mess with the Trinity. Again.

---

The rioters drawn in by whatever strange genjutsu type effect that Fremea-chan's ability was causing ran the full gamut of Academy City. There were Espers who ranged from Level 0s all the way up to Level 4s. There were scientists showing up with various crazy weapons. But against the might of almost all of the City's Level 5s and their allies united against them, they stood no chance. So, it was within minutes of her diving deep into the latest wave of rioters attempting to get into the Lightning Rod that the fun was already over, with only a handful of them still standing.

Things were winding down enough that Naru allowed herself the luxury of having some fun with Saten Hiroki, the Level 4 Thermal Hand user formerly allied to Shundan Kimi during the New Juvenile Hall Incident, that she'd come across among the rioters. She was just knocking the silver haired poser out with a Divine Punishment imbued uppercut after defeating him in an elemental faceoff when Naru heard Rui-chan's voice whisper into her ear using audiokinesis. "I just got word from the south gate. It seems Shutaura-san and her Black Crows have successfully regained control of it. That should stem the tide of rioters getting into the Learning Core."

"Ruiko, does that mean there wouldn't be any more of these waves for now?" Accelerator asked, his voice likewise reaching everyone in their impromptu team for this mission via her bestie's trusty audiokinesis.

"Except for the group of them making their way towards us from the south gate right now? Yes, it does." Rui-chan explained even as Saten Hiroki collapsed and Naru was gracious enough to catch and gently lower him to the ground so he wouldn't hurt himself from the fall. "That is if we can hold onto the gates until Kamijou-san succeeds in shutting down Yakumi Hisako's experiment."

"You're so sure Kamijou will succeed, Ruiko?" Mikoto-senpai asked teasingly, even as she dueled a fellow Tokiwadai student using her magical sword. Naru recognized the [Railgun]'s opponent as Yumiya Iruka, a third-year and captain of the Archery Club, who was a Level 4 with the ability Wave Conductor that allowed her to control anything with wave properties. An Esper ability that she was currently using to concentrate the power from a military flashlight she had into a lightsaber of sorts that she used to cross blades with Worochi-no-Aramasa.

They are surprisingly evenly matched, Naru observed as the redhead with long, wavy hair tied with a ribbon at the back, her fringes covering the right side of her face, and which she complemented with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament, and Mikoto-senpai danced around each other expertly. They slashed, thrust, and parried, probing for weaknesses in each other's guard. Considering how little training Mikoto-senpai has received, that speaks well for her. She really does have quite the talent for the blade, huh? Who would've thought it?

Indeed. Especially since the other girl is clearly well trained. Kurama offered his two cents. Just look at how fluid her motions are.

Weren't you keeping quiet so you wouldn't distract me? Naru asked her partner as she leapt away from a guy that tried to crush her with the weight of the suit of armor he'd surrounded himself in that seemed to be made of crystals he'd probably pulled out of the ground using some variant of geokinesis.

Well, considering the quality of the opposition you're facing, I judged that breaking my promise to keep quiet wasn't a bad thing. Kurama told her with a shrug. I mean it's not like these guys are any real threat.

Fair enough. Naru allowed as she leapt at her latest opponent, manifested just the right arm of her Panzer Demon Frame as she was in the air mid jump and slugged the guy with it as she came down. Even as she dismissed her partially summoned Demon Frame, the blow sent the "hero" crashing into the ground hard enough to not only shatter his crystalline armor but crater the concrete. Surprisingly, it did not however manage to knock the weedy guy inside the armor out. Though Naru easily rectified that with a quick tap of his cheek and an application of Divine Punishment.

It wasn't just her having an easy time of it either. Her teammates and allies were too. Just look at Mikoto-senpai who, finding that she could not beat Yumiya-senpai in swordplay, simply resorted to using raw electricity to shock her into unconsciousness. Yes, the Level 4's Wave Conductor gave control over electromagnetic waves and meant she was resistant to it but that just meant the Level 5 had to pump her full with enough electricity to overcome said resistance. And that was just the [Railgun] did. All around them, everyone was having an easy time too as with at least this wave of rioters cut down to size, they shifted into clean up mode. Kuroko was almost lazily teleporting her tranquilizer nails into any particularly annoying rioters still standing. Meanwhile, Rui-chan and Frenda-chan had shifted from fighting the still active rioters to policing the unconscious ones as they checked them before handing them over to their allies along the defensive line for further processing. A process helped along by a number of Kazari-san's drones. Heck! Things were so in control that Accelerator was just standing there doing nothing. Of course, this was the precise moment when things turned south.

Naru! Kurama shouted urgently all of a sudden as Naru was busy pulling the geokinetic free of the remains of his crystal armor. There's something-

Before her partner could finish his warning, someone else did it for him.

"Everyone! Something massive is moving through the upper dimensions towards us!" Kuroko-san shouted urgently over the audiokinetic channel Rui-chan was maintaining.

-teleporting in!

Naru had just finished hearing the twin warnings when they proved redundant. Out of nowhere, a massive, predominantly red machine with black accents, sporting a militaristic and formidable appearance, materialized on the battlefield. Its sheer bulk occupied nearly all the space between Naru and her friends. The machine had a unique, almost amphibious shape with a rounded, heavily armored main body. It featured a mono-eye sensor mounted on a teardrop-shaped head atop a long neck, a pair of long, segmented arms ending in claw-like appendages, and a trio of massive, sturdy legs.

As soon as it materialized, the machine launched a dozen missiles from vertical launch systems built along its back that flew straight up before popping open to reveal small rotorcraft within. Craft with an underslung three prong array that spun up their rotors and quickly dispersed into the airspace around their mothermachine.

"Everyone!" Rui-chan shouted urgently. "Be careful of those Bits! They can reflect the machine's particle beams!"

"What particle beams?" Mikoto-senpai asked, jinxing them.

As, seemingly in direct response to the [Railgun]'s question, the mothermachine fired out a spray of particle beams from the cannons built into its shoulders, the wide firing arc of which was expanded even further by the Bits using the fields of electromagnetic energy their underslung arrays could generate to deflect them outside its initial range. An attack that promptly had everyone jumping into evasions, well everyone except for Accelerator and his girlfriends, for whom the beams headed their way was deflected by the Number 1's Redirection.

"Kuroko! Kazari-san! Get the civvies out of her!" Mikoto-senpai ordered even as the two Judgment partners were already doing as she commanded.

"On it, Onee-sama!"

"Leave it to us, Mikoto-san!"

With that problem being dealt with by trustworthy hands, the rest of them could focus on the fight and that meant understanding their opponent. To that end, even as she continued to evade the machine's unrelenting particle cannon barrage, Naru queried the Number 3, their resident girl in the know, about what she knew about the machine.

"Rui-chan, how can something that big teleport!? Isn't it way past the mass limit of even the most powerful Teleporters like Kuroko-san?" Naru asked as she pulled up a wall of earth to shield a number of Kazari-san's drones as they hurriedly evacuated a trio of unconscious rioters. A shield that soon crumbled under the assault of the exotic particles directed towards it by the attacking machine but which nonetheless held long enough for the drones to get out of there with their cargo and Naru herself could teleport to safety.

"Maybe it's like Hishigata Mikihiko's Coffin? That thing definitely topped Kuroko's mass limit but the teleporter among them could still teleport." Mikoto-senpai offered as she used Worochi-no-Aramasa to literally cut a particle beam shot her way and in the process preventing it from hitting the group of unconscious "heroes" behind her that Kuroko was teleporting to safety as fast as she could.

"But those had a dead Esper as its core and said Esper's ability was artificially boosted to Level 5. No living Teleporter can manage to teleport something with as much mass as this thing! It's as big as a building!" Naru shot back as she herself teleported in front of one of the Bits with the intent to take it out, only for it to suddenly turn its array towards her and hit her with what she recognized from sparring with Rui-chan as a telekinetic push. "What by Science!? It can use multiple Esper abilities!?"

"Yes," Ruiko said, sounding pained, whilst she used Move Point to aid in the evacuation of the civvies. "And as for teleporting something above the mass limit, I can do it if I use sufficient computational power and take enough time to run the calculations. I reason that's what it did. That's why it hasn't teleported again since arriving on the battlefield. Fighting us with its other emulated Esper abilities is consuming too much computational power to contemplate using teleportation again."

"Ruiko, how do you know this!?" Accelerator asked even as he shielded Frenda-san from a concentrated barrage of particle beams directed her way in retaliation of the blonde Level 0 attempting to shoot down one of the Bits with a Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warhead. An attempt that was foiled when the missile was intercepted by a beam of exotic particles. "Actually, how do you know so much about this damned machine in general!?"

Rui-chan let out a defeated sounding sigh that Naru felt a jolt of pain just hearing before replying. "Because this thing is the FIVE_Over Modelcase_"Multi-Skill" and its core is a clone of my brain. I even helped develop it as a counter against myself as part of the City's contingency should I ever go rogue. Isn't that right, Rensa #30?"

"Konbanwa, Onee-sama." A feminine voice addressed them from the FIVE_Over's speakers. "It's all true. Though, I am deployed today not in response to you going rogue but quite the opposite. Yakumi-sama has decided to go rogue and has ordered me to kill you and your friends to eliminate threats against her project."

Undeterred by the failure of its initial attack and seeking to exploit the shock that had been caused by the revelation of its relationship with Rui-chan, the machine - No, Rui-chan's clone. Her little sister. - opened the bottom side of its head like some monstrous mouth to reveal a large particle cannon that it was charging.

"Take out that cannon!" Naru shouted even as she herself conjured and hurled a lance of white hot flame at it, only for Rui-chan's rogue imouto to use a combination of its legs and a number of hover jets scattered throughout its frame to move with surprising grace and evade the attack. Naru's fire lance thus joined a brace of vacuum blades from Accelerator and a lightning bolt from Senpai in missing its target entirely. Only Rui-chan's particle beam got anywhere close but even was blocked by Rensa #30 raising one of its claw-like arms to shield its head. Rui-chan's beam melted through much of the arm's armor and the damage meant it probably couldn't articulate its claws anymore but it nevertheless did its job. Shielded from harm, the FIVE_Over's main cannon fired.

A beam as powerful as what the FIVE_Over fired would've been deadly enough but that wasn't enough. Of course it wasn't. Instead, using its Bits deflectors, Rensa #30 sent the beam shooting through the air in a chaotic pattern. Well, chaotic if you weren't a Level 5 and running the computations to track it was as easy as breathing. To them, its path was easily plotted and Mikoto-senpai was able to, with help from Kuroko-san, get in front of it and with a swing of Worochi-no-Aramasa literally cut the beam in half and disperse the charged particles that made it up.

Nice! Kurama said with an impressed whistle. That's one powerful sword that your Senpai has got there.

Yeah. Naru replied, still reeling from Rui-chan's revelation about their opponent - that they were literally fighting one of her little sisters - to say more, much less banter with her partner like she usually did. She'd seen how a Level 5 could see their clones as family, as little sisters. Mikoto-senpai and Shokuhou-senpai were proof of that. Yet, now they were fighting one as an enemy? Something they'd never done. Not really at least. Naru was finding it hard to wrap her head around the idea.

Does this mean if someone clones me… That I might have to fight my imoutos? That I might have to kill them!? Naru thought, her mind rebelling against the very idea even though she knew based on the evidence in front of her that it was a very real possibility.

Naru! Snap out of it! Kurama shouted into her mind as he enshrouded her in a cloak of his chakra just in time to shield her from the fireball that consumed where she was standing while she'd been distracted. A fireball that had part of a barrage of attacks presumably derived from her emulated Esper abilities that Rensa #30 was raining down on them via her Bits whilst, if the gathering particles around their muzzles were any indication, she recharged the FIVE_Over's particle cannons.

Right! Naru thought back as she fed chakra into the flames blazing around her, seizing control of them and concentrating them together into a beam of raw heat that she shot at Rensa #30. Likely realizing that evading the attack was futile - having witnessed Naru's ability to track her target despite its bulk - Rui-chan's clone correctly reasoned that Naru would redirect the beam to follow her. Thus, taking after her Onee-sama, she responded by raising a series of barriers, one behind the other, to absorb Naru's attack. Six of the eight barriers the clone conjured failed but the seventh held against the beam, dissipating its destructive power, weakened by having to first pierce through its six brothers, without it so much as touching the FIVE_Over's paint.

The failure of her barriers was an opportunity that Rui-chan pounced on however and she fired off a rainbow colored beam of raw AIM at her clone. The massive FIVE_Over was consumed in a colorful explosion as the beam struck home. A blast that threw up an impressive cloud of dust. However, as said obscuring cloud cleared, helped along by its Bits flying close and using the drafts created by their rotors to speed the process along, it revealed Rensa #30's machine to be entirely unscathed. Though by the multiple panels of barriers that hugged its body, which were either invisible or previously not there, shattering, it seemed like the clone had only just barely managed to do so.

"Ruiko! How can you just attack a clone of yourself like it's nothing!" Mikoto-senpai demanded as she used Worochi-no-Aramasa to call down a powerful bolt of lightning that she branched into lesser bolts and tried to take out the FIVE_Over's Bits. However, her efforts were thwarted by the bubble barriers that Rensa #30 conjured to shield them.

"Why should I care about a brain in a jar even if it's a copy of my own brain?" Rui-chan shot back as she did something, probably messing with Rensa #30's AIM Field and caused the barriers protecting the Bits to abruptly fail. Immediately capitalizing on this, everyone threw attacks their way. Thus four of the lesser machines fell to Accel's vacuum blades, a lightning bolt from Senpai, an earthen bullet from Naru and a Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warhead from Frenda-san. Eight more to go.

"Yeah, blood doesn't mean squat. A relationship is built through love." Naru's fellow blonde said in support of her girlfriend.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Accelerator added loyally as he deflected a fresh barrage of particle beams shot at them by Rensa #30.

What they're saying… It's right. Naru mused. She barely knew her parents, only having briefly met echoes of them that Kurama had saved from destruction when the seal containing him was torn apart during the attempt to force her through a Level 6 Shift during the Mutagen Incident. She might've connected to them in that short time, but she hesitated to call the people who sired and birthed her as family. They certainly gave her life and seemed to care for her, but… She had almost no connection with them. If she was talking about family then… The closest thing I have are my friends. No. They are my family.

Having come to that realization, there was only one thing Naru could say. "Yeah, they're right, Senpai. Blood doesn't make a family. Love does."

She had just finished saying this when Frenda-san fired off a salvo of Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warheads at the Bits. Again, Rensa #30 tried to throw up barriers to shield them. However, Rui-chan had clearly predicted this and disrupting the power creating them, popped them as soon as they came into being. This left them vulnerable and the Norwegian's rockets hit home, taking down another five of the Bits. Three left.

That this also effectively thinned out the rain of varied attacks, conjured from a dizzying host of Esper abilities that Rensa #30 had cataloged, was just a bonus. It seemed like just like Kihara Gensei had with Rui-chan's Power Development, Yakumi Hisako had also exposed her war dog to as many Espers as possible to make them as deadly as she could.

Exploiting the reduced barrage of elemental attacks both predictable and esoteric - that ranged from standard fireballs to acid bolts to strange beams of what seemed like raw darkness - and another wide variety of other Esper abilities - such as Telekinesis and other exotic expressions of Psychokinesis -, they all went on the counterattack. Mikoto-senpai used Kusakarisen to send an arc in line with a swing of her magical sword at the FIVE_Over, grunting in unhappy acceptance of Rui-chan's point of view even as she did so. Accelerator in turn sent horizontal tornadoes at it instead, the churning twisters flying at the machine like a brace of lances. Much to their vocal annoyance, their attacks were tanked by a set of robust multilayered barriers that Rensa #30 conjured around her machine.

In contrast, Rui-chan and Frenda-san repeated their successful tactic from earlier as they targeted the Bits once more. They twisted the formula a little however and it was Rui-chan who provoked Rensa #30 to attempt to shield them this time as she tried to impale them with Dark Matter darts. Falling hook, line and sinker for the trick, instead of evading them or firing something to perhaps intercept them like Naru would've done, the clone shielded her Bits only to have them pop. Maybe Rensa #30 thought Rui-chan couldn't disrupt an AIM Field whilst she was using an offensive ability. If so, she really underestimated her Onee-sama. She wasn't called [Multi-Skill] for no reason! Whatever the reason for the clone's foolish decision, with the Bits' shields shattered, they were easy pickings for the Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warheads that Frenda-san shot at them. And then there was none.

As for Naru? Well, she decided to be a little extravagant in her counterattack. Calling on a mixture of both her own and Kurama's chakra, Naru donned her upgraded Hexe Frame. Ever since her battle with Mugino during the Battle Royale Incident and the realization of how much of a weakness its lack of any midtier weaponry was, Naru had been planning to attach some armaments to the Frame. And now, at least, she had done so in the form of weapon pods connected to its waist just as it transitioned into the flower-like skirt. Weapon pods from which Naru let fly a barrage of chakra projectiles at Rensa #30. A salvo that joined the powerful wind hammers and conjured high pressure jets of caustic liquid that Accelerator and Rui-chan respectively shot at the FIVE_Over in their second wave of counterattacks.

"I think those weapons pods make your butt look big." Mikoto-senpai teased as she sent another Kusakarisen at Rensa #30 while Frenda-san frowned at finding herself out of weapons and rushed off to a fresh crate of weapons that Rui-chan wordlessly teleported in for her.

"Shut up Senpai!"

"Seriously though, Naru, why are you using your Hexe Frame?" Mikoto-senpai asked, her tone turning kinder even as she frowned in annoyance at her technique once more cutting through most of the layers of Rensa #30's barriers but ultimately fizzling out before they could get through to the actual FIVE_Over underneath.

"To do this!" Naru declared as she used her Micro-Phase, Recursive Temporal State, to trap their opponent in a time loop. She was hoping to trap Rensa #30 inside, so that they could have the time to figure out some way to humanely deal with her.

However, almost as soon as her Micro-Phase snapped into place around the FIVE_Over, it shattered with the sound of breaking glass. A sound not unlike when a supernatural phenomenon was negated by the Imagine Breaker.

"Wha-" Naru shouted as she had to teleport out of the way of a direct shot from Rensa #30's heavy particle cannon.

You should have asked me before you tried that, Naru. Kurama scolded her as she rematerialized. I could've told you your Micro-Phase wouldn't work on the clone. Her consciousness is just like your bestie's. She's an AIM entity, one that is stretched not just here in the physical world but also into whatever AIM-based Phase entities like them inhabit.. So long as you don't trap all of her within one of your loops, they won't hold.

Well, damn. Naru cursed. Guess I'll just have to go with your Micro-Phases then. Whatever it takes, this bitch is going down!

Preferably without us having to kill her. Naru added to herself privately. As much as she could tell Rui-chan was willing to do the deed if need be, as her best friend, Naru could also tell that the Number 2 was reluctant to have to do so. That she desperately wanted to resolve this in some other way besides Rensa #30's death. A desire that Naru was duty bound as Rui-chan's best friend to see fulfilled to the best of her considerable ability.

Before she could have another go at Rensa #30 however, Rui-chan teleported behind Naru and put a hand on her shoulder to signal her to stop. As they watched Kuroko-san join the fight by carrying out a rapid series of teleports around the FIVE_Over's bulk to make sure her coordinates were accurate as she teleported explosive nails into what she hoped were vital systems, causing a number of small detonations across the crimson machine's immense chassis. An effort that sadly did little more than scorch the thing's paint.

"Thank you, Naru." Her bestie told her. "I appreciate the effort you are making but there's no need to go to these lengths to spare my feelings. Like I said, I have no feelings towards this clone."

Naru wanted to call bullshit on Rui-chan's lies. Lies that the Number 2 could tell her friend was telling herself as much as she was telling them to Naru. But before she could say a word, the [AIM Sovereign] shifted to her Angel Mode. At once, she was transformed into an ethereal being of AIM with golden wings and a halo over her head. It was in this shape that she regally raised her free arm above her head and brought it down in a sharp cutting motion.

In response to her action, a narrow, translucent, rainbow colored wall of AIM energy fell down from the sky like a guillotine and sheared off the entire right side of the FIVE_Over Modelcase_"Multi-Skill" in spite of the barriers that Rensa #30 threw up before dissipating. There were gasps from the mob around them, the last wave of rioters having seemingly arrived to attempt to breach the Lightning Rod whilst they had been battling Rensa #30, even as all their allies simply looked at Rui-chan grimly.

Ignoring everyone, Rui-chan raised her arm a second time and once more brought it down in one swift motion. Another wall-sized blade of AIM manifested and sheared the left side of the FIVE_Over off, leaving only its central block intact. For a moment, Rui-chan looked poised to finish the deed with one final gesture. But she just sighed and dismissed her Angel Mode.

"Accel, Frenda-chan, finish her please." She said, her voice steady except for the slightest wobble that betrayed her discomfort at what she asked to be done.

"Got it." Accelerator replied with a grim frown as he narrowed his eyes at the wrecked remains of the FIVE_Over. The machine desperately tried to charge up its heavy particle cannon in a last gasp of defiance but the Number 1 was having none of that. Manipulating gravity, he greatly increased its localized influence around the machine, causing its long neck to all but snap as it was forced to the ground and its remains began to be crushed by the powerful gravitic forces it was being subjected to. Forces well beyond what it was designed to survive. Even then, defiant to the last, Rui-chan's clone fired its particle cannon. However, this last effort was futile as it was simply deflected safely away by Accelerator's Redirection.

To add insult to injury, Frenda-san, freshly resupplied from the weapons cache that Rui-chan had teleported in for her, promptly intensified Rensa #30's misery. "Time to die!"

With that deadly promise, she began firing off every Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warhead she had on hand. Volleys of six of the rockets flew from the blonde one after the other until the sky was filled with no less than thirty of the missiles. Projectiles that slammed into the by then crumpled machine without even an attempt by their beleaguered opponent to intercept them. The blasts wrecked what little structure the FIVE_Over still had and it practically crumpled into itself as it finally, hopefully, died.

The moment it did, Rui-chan teleported over to the pile of wrapped metal and began searching through the wreck. She seemed to know roughly where what she was looking for could be found, as it only took her a minute before she found it. Pulling a large dented black box out of the carcass of the once mighty FIVE_Over with Telekinesis, she set it down in front of her with an expression that was a mix of relief and trepidation. At least that's what Naru saw. To most, the Number 2 was sure all they could see was the blank mask that Rui-chan had perfected from her time as the [Robot].

"Ruiko, is that what I think it is?" Mikoto-senpai asked as she walked over to join Rui-chan and Naru, dismissing her Demon Frame as she did, also did the same.

Rui-chan nodded. "Rensa #30, I know you're still alive. Can you hear me?"

"I can, Onee-sama." The clone replied via audiokinesis even as she shot a particle beam at Rui-chan.

The [Multi-Skill] deflected the beam. But, likely in retaliation for the attack against her girlfriend, an approaching Frenda-san fired off a Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warhead she must've been holding back in reserve at the box.

"No!" Accelerator shouted from Frenda-san's side as he barely managed to cover the box with his Redirection in time to deflect Frenda-san's missile away.

"What are you doing?" Frenda-san asked, shooting her boyfriend a confused look.

"Look at Ruiko." He replied, gesturing at their girlfriend.

For her part, Rui-chan had ignored all this, her attention entirely focused on her clone. "Are you really going to keep fighting even after your body has been destroyed?"

"Of course." Rensa #30 said airily even as she conjured and shot a torrent of flame at Rui-chan, forcing the Number 2 to raise barriers to protect herself. All the while continuing to talk like some deranged fanatic. "Yakumi-sama ordered me to kill you and your friends and I will accomplish that task or die in the attempt."

Rui-chan sighed and visibly gathering AIM around her, prepared to finish off Rensa #30. Wearing an anguished look on her face as she did so.

"Ruiko-" Mikoto-senpai began but found herself unable to say anything.

Neither could Naru. As she desperately looked between her gathered friends, including by now Kuroko-san and a number of Kazari-san's drones, she just saw a sea of pained and resigned faces. None of them knew what to say or do to spare Rui-chan from what she was about to do.

Although Naru had thought so from almost the beginning, it was now clear to all that despite her protestations otherwise, Rui-chan did care for her clones. She wouldn't have bothered to check if Rensa #30 was alive if she didn't. She'd have just destroyed the wreck of the FIVE_Over to make sure she was dead and leave it at that. But instead, she'd recovered her from its wreckage and offered her a chance to live.

I can't let her kill her sister! Naru realized. She couldn't let her bestie become burdened with a sin like that. She was weighed down by her past sins as the [Army Slayer] enough already! She couldn't take anymore burdens!

And she would have to kill Rensa #30. If she tried to knock her unconscious with something like Divine Punishment, the life support systems that the brain in a jar was hooked up to would just shock her back to consciousness almost immediately and taking those out would kill her in seconds. She simply had no other choice. They had to kill Rensa #30 and Naru wouldn't allow Rui-chan to do the deed.

She was about to step in to perform the bitter necessity for Rui-chan when suddenly Kurama cut in. There's no need, Naru. You're not the only one who thinks the way you do. Someone more fitting than you is coming.

Confused by Kurama's cryptic statement, Naru began to ask. Wha-

However, before she could even finish the thought or, Science forbid, Rui-can could deal the killing blow to Rensa #30, Kazakiri Hyouka materialized in her full Angel Mode directly over the box containing the clone's brain and plunged a lance of AIM into the case. As if that was not enough, even as everyone was shocked by this turn of events, Hyouka-san proceeded to literally stomp the box containing Rensa #30 flat

"Hyouka? Wha-" Rui-chan said, looking at her sister in shock.

"I'm not letting you dirty your hands with the clone's blood, Onee-sama." The other AIM Angel said as she dropped her Angel Mode and pulled Rui-chan into a hug. "I will not allow you to give yourself yet another traumatic burden to bear. Let me bear it instead, Onee-sama. Let me share your burdens."

Rui-chan stood frozen in Hyouka-san's embrace for a long moment as she processed this before finally returning the hug. "Thank you, Hyouka. Thank you.".

---

Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!

Hot damn! Here we have, the forces of good (and maybe evil or just gray?) coming together to do god's work! Save the loli! We got the Mental Gang, we have the Breaker Faction, with got our Trinity, ITEM and whatnots! We got them coming out the woodworks for the biggest teamup/beatdown of all time in the series! All because some dumb ass had to play around and find out. Oh well, jokes on them.

Nameless: I hope this chapter explains 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. The answer is simple: there were always two Rensas in a body at all times and thus with access to a powerful enough [AIM Sovereign] to use Dark Matter to incapacitate him. One was Rensa #28 and #29 in their humanoid cyborg body and the other was Rensa #30 in the FIVE_Over Modelcase_"Multi-Skill". Furthermore, like mentioned, unlike her fellow clones, Rensa #30 is capable of Multi-Skill. How many of you figured out we'd try something like this, I wonder?

On another note, I must say I loved writing this chapter. Two parts in particular stand out to me:

1) when the throuple made their dramatic entrance. The way they show up and basically turn the tide was satisfying if difficult to write. Hope it came out well enough.

2) Hyouka showing up to deal the coup de grâce to Rensa #30. Considering the fact the Rensas were adamantly playing up how they were Ruiko's sisters, it felt fitting to have one of her actual sisters show up to put the fakes in their place. It would've been even better if it was one of her less powerful sisters like say Edasaki but unfortunately they are just too weak for that to be believable without a lot of plot contrivance. Hopefully, Hyouka doing so instead was satisfying enough.

E4E: Have to agree, 1 was ultra hype because dramatic entrances are the bomb. 2 was good, giving Hyouka some time to shine and slam down them was priceless! Personally for me, Touma's POV was kinda unironically hilarious. We may shit on him a lot with other characters, but him getting some payback in his own head? Funny.

You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!