Closing minutes

[ACSRT: Little by Little]

Through the cloud of smoke and shrapnel Misaka fell. Tears stung her eyes and they weren't just caused by the fires that had erupted from the airship's ignition.

Opening her eyes against the dark clouds, she saw a figure falling. The Doppelganger. Her legs had been destroyed by the force but her eyes were closed, a satisfied smile on her face.

Was this really the only way?

Misaka frowned and took aim. She repelled herself away from a bit of scrap she'd near and accelerated after the robot.

All motion was relative here. They were weightless even as they hurtled towards the ground.

Said ground was the shore of a river. Misaka reacted instinctively to protect herself before she crashed into solid ground. She pulled up iron sand while pushing against the solid bars of metal under the pavement. Together they'd work to cushion her impact.

The Doppelganger didn't do anything to stop its impact.

Misaka landed next to it and took in what had happened as she panted.

"Good work... Railgun."

Not just missing her legs anymore. Doppelganger's right arm had shattered on impact. That, along with everything else below the belt had apparently taken the hit for her so even with everything that had happened, she was still alive.

That said, she was now the only thing left of that project, minus Kuriba of course.

"You have my thanks."

Misaka gritted her teeth. She hadn't wanted this. it felt too much like a problem involving her sisters.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She yelled out into the night "You're Thanking me, for this?"

"If you're bothered by something this trivial, you are too soft for your own good."

Misaka's emotions were still running hot though "It's not softness!" She noted, anger born of worry in her voice "I've seen people like you before. If you can think like a person, then what does it matter?"

"I'm just a broken tool." It might seem strange but to an outside observer, it might seem like the Doppelganger was trying help Misaka find ways of getting past it. Could this person who worried over the suffering others experienced really be seen as 'just a tool?'

"I'll try to talk to Kuriba to make her give up on the project." Misaka noted quietly "And the scientists too if I- what?"

The squealing of wheels could be heard as a car ran down the side of the river's embankment and onto the flat area where the electric girl and the tool born of Academy city were talking.

Out of the car jumped Kuriba and a scientist. The scientist let out a scream of worry, not really for the Doppelganger, but rather for the work they'd be losing if she died.

[ACSRT: These Girls]

The first warning that they'd reached the destination too late was a gunshot.

Shokuhou instantly leaned forward "Towards that sound!"

They were on the right side of the river at least. They had all been driving around to try and find where Misaka and the Doppelganger landed.

As they drove, GV pointed out what appeared to be a scientist who was running away from the riverbank.

Shokuhou nodded.

"Stop the car, we're getting out."

She and GV ran after the scientist. Well, GV ran after the scientist and Shokuhou struggled to keep up.

"I got out too early." The telepath complained "Why couldn't I do the smart thing and stay in the car a bit longer. I didn't expect the scientist to have this much stamina."

GV actually chuckled at that. Shokuhou was growing on him, even if he still didn't like how she did things. He could almost imagine Joule in that position, that was the Joule before she'd taken up sport to stay healthy. Being an Idol also helped her keep in shape but she didn't really do that a lot nowdays.

As the scientist finally tired out, GV approached him.

"No soul? After everything we went through?" The scientist was asking himself in confusion and disbelief "That can't be true!"

The Scientist looked skyward.

"That's it! Even without Kuriba, I can just replicate the experiment! Who needs a willing participant? i can get myself a child error to save time."

"What was that?" GV asked, even as he threw a sweep at the scientist's legs to knock him over "Did I hear that right?"

The Scientist panicked as GV put a foot on him "Who are you? What? A child?"

He instantly tried to climb up to his feet, and to throw GV back but GV sent a charge through his foot to keep him paralysed on the ground "You're really awful, you know that. I must ask though, what was that about 'without Kuriba' earlier?"

The scientist began to laugh, his emotions finally overloading into chaos before a soft beep cracked the night and he stopped, stars appearing in his eyes.

"So even a man who dedicated his life to researching affordable cyborg treatments in order to save the lives of medical refugees can end up like this?" Shokuhou had caught up, still panting lightly but doing her best to look vaguely disinterested "Good to know even a noble person can't apply their breaks when they go astray. Human avarice is a frightening thing."

GV stepped back off the collapsed man "Are you worried of going down that path?"

"I'm not greedy." The Queen of Tokiwadai lied "But... yes. I am worried about going too far and being unable to stop."

She turned her attention to the fallen scientist "I think I'll rewind him back to when he still had noble intentions. If he still has the capacity to do good, we'll see if he redeems himself crawling himself up from square one again."

There was another beep and she spun on her foot.

"Well then." Shokuhou remarked "I think that really is everything now. I'll be heading back home. You probably should too."

GV nodded and sighed. He'd been doubting her a bit much but she had ended up doing good. He gave a second look at the scientist. He'd been thinking about killing the man, or at least wounding him badly. Shokuhou's methods were more merciful and yet also more effective.

The car arrived and Shokuhou asked if he wanted a lift home. GV thought about it for a moment. if he decided to take it, he'd probably tell her everything about Mitsuari and her plan for revenge but...

"No, I'll head home on my own."

Shokuhou still needed a lesson. She even asked for it in a way. She needs a wake-up call before she goes to far. He'd try and convince Mitsuari to limit her plan just to that.

If it would work... he couldn't tell. But he'd try.

End of chapter.

Only one more chapter left to do clean-up then we instantly start jail breaker. I wonder how many of my readers have read Jail breaker?

It feels strange that in-universe, the start of WW3 is less than a week away at this point.