Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Nineteen: Big Trouble in Little Academy City
Beta:
Misaka Mikoto sighed as she put down the book she was reading.
The Level 5 was currently sitting in the grand library that Tokiwadai offered to her students. On the study table she'd commandeered were dozens of psychology books.
"Damn it! I'm not a psychologist and these books don't make me one, but this is disturbing." Mikoto hissed under her breath as she looked over the conclusions she'd written down in her notepad she'd used to summarise her research.
If I have to look at another 'ism', I swear I'm going to fry these things.
She didn't regret it though, the hours of study had let her understand Naru and especially Saten to a degree she didn't think she could have any other way. Which was exactly what she needed. After what they did during the Level 6 Shift experiment, she'd been driven to figure out what made them tick and motivated them to do what they did.
It wasn't much, mind you, but it was a starting point.
Alright, just calm down and review what you know. Mikoto pondered as she tapped her pen thoughtfully against her lip.
She hadn't managed to come up with much that helped her understand Naru better. Mostly looking through the literature and analyzing her interactions with the blonde just led her to conclude that she tended to get overly concerned about stuff and as a result overprotective. Her whole motivation during the Sisters Incident had been to stop Mikoto from doing what, in hindsight, even she thinks was stupid.
Though considering being overly concerned and overprotective about their friends basically described everyone in their group of friends that's not saying much. They really are birds of a feather.
Does that mean she sees me as someone close to her? What about the rest of her family? Mikoto mused worriedly. She knew that despite the overprotective natures, all her friends had family and other friends outside their circle. I know her parents are gone, but there has to be someone right? Surely, she's got someone to look out for her and for her to look out for… Maybe, she doesn't and as her friend I'm one of the few...
Whatever the case, what she did was still really overboard. Kidnapping me? Seriously!? Did her job as an agent of the City warp her that much?
"Come to think of it, what do I know about Naru's upbringing?" Naru pondered while leaning back to look out a nearby window to consider the issue. "I mean, I have some idea about Saten's childhood, crazy as it is, but I know next to nothing about the Chibi's."
Why oh why did that little blonde have to be such a mystery?
"All I know is that she was raised in labs until she enrolled into Tokiwadai."
That can't be good for anyone but there's gotta be something else that made her as, well, strange as she is.
Realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere, she flipped over her notepad to look over the notes of the surprisingly less mysterious but equally complex Saten.
Not that what I found makes that, in any way, a good thing. Mikoto thought with a frown as she read through her findings.
"Possible relationship obsessive–compulsive disorder" was written in bold and circled at the bottom of the page. While, it wasn't anywhere close to an exact fit, it was what seemed the best bet she could find.
Saten had an unwavering devotion to her family, Uiharu included. Heck, even Accelerator seemed to fall under the category. Even if Mikoto failed to understand why.
Has she formed a relationship like that with the rest of us? I know she and Naru are oddly close, but me and Kuroko too? Mikoto furrowed her brow in thought, Or will she soon?
An unsettling feeling filled the [Railgun]'s stomach at being a potential source of her kohai's mental dysfunctionality.
And what can I do about it? The chestnut haired girl thought to herself sourly. She didn't know how or even if she could help the fragile brunette. Maybe I can find a specialist for better advice. Hopefully then I can help Saten.
I've gotta come up with something to help the next time she finds herself caught between her loved ones. A determined gleam entered her eyes even as she shuddered at recalling the memory of Saten literally letting Accelerator pound away at her, battering her into a bloody pulp. It was something that she never wanted to see again.
"How the hell did she end up like that though?" Mikoto asked herself as she slammed the notepad onto the table forcefully. The noise rattling off in the quiet library, earning her a few looks from her fellow students but the Level 5 didn't care.
"Sure she had a traumatic childhood, but she's a Dark Sider! Namikaze too for that matter. Wouldn't their handlers, or whatever, give them counselling or something so they were more well-adjusted? As secret agents of the City wouldn't that make them more effective?"
"Shows that you don't know a thing about the Dark Side." Shokuhou Misaki said as she sautered down the aisle of the library to Mikoto's little study carrel. Her long straight golden hair swaying and her large bosom bouncing with every step and her star shaped eyes looking at her in uncharacteristic reproach.
When life gives you lemons, they send you devils. Mikoto sent a baleful glare at her fellow Level 5. Wait a minute! Don't I always say that if not for the eyes, she and Naru might as well be sisters with how often they hang out? I wonder if she's the reason Naru's so messed up. It's not the first time [Mental Out]'s done it. Or if not, maybe she at least has more of a clue than I do.
Looking at the books on Mikoto's table, the blonde actually frowned.
"Misaka-san~ What's this?" The older girl asked accusingly.
"None of your business, you fake middle schooler." Mikoto's tongue lashed out on reflex and she mentally cursed herself, No! She might be helpful… for a price.
"Oh?" The older girl held her silk covered hand over her mouth, "Researching your friends? Hmm~! You have such a low understanding ability when it comes to those two lonely girls!? I'm shocked to the maximum! And here I thought the Trinity was so tight knit."
There was genuine rebuke in that airily delivered jab and Mikoto winced.
Yeah, yeah, I'm an idiot for not doing this sooner. Sorry for not realizing my friends were sick in the head from the get go. Mikoto thought to herself self-deprecatingly even as she retorted with heat. "Shut up and get lost!"
There was no way she was letting this, this big boobed menace realize that she was getting to her.
"What sour people powers you have, Misaka-san." The telepath said with a malicious smirk. "No no, I can't help but feel my curiosity ability be piqued after all this gossip about my dear fellow Level 5s I've been hearing lately, so I came to see what was going on."
Dear my left foot! Mikoto held back a snort, "Yeah, so what did you and your gossiping hens have to say?"
Ignoring Mikoto's question, [Mental Out] continued speaking. "Imagine my surprise when I find you trying to be coward."
"What did you call me?" Mikoto demanded as she jumped to her feet and shot the other Level 5 a paint peeling glare.
Shokuhou giggled and smiled like a devil. Without so much as a reply, she turned on the balls of her feet and pranced away. Leaving a stunned Mikoto behind.
"W-What? Hey! You insult me and just walk away!?" The chestnut haired girl called after the voluptuous blonde. Seriously, how were those proportions real?!
Chasing after the girl, the [Railgun] managed to catch her upperclassman just before she disappeared around a corner. Turning to face the younger girl, [Mental Out] continued walking away while offering a final piece of advice. "I call you a coward because instead of asking your friends their intentions directly, you're trying to apply your research ability behind their backs to understand them. That is a pretty sketchy power, no?"
The chestnut haired girl was caught flat footed by this and could only stand there in silence as [Mental Out] walked out of sight.
Did, Did she just give me good advice? Mikoto wondered, but soon the condescending delivery hit her.
"Ugh! That lousy tramp!"
Heading back to her dorm a little while later, Mikoto was still fuming at the encounter with her least favourite blonde.
I really, really hate that woman! Mikoto ranted to herself. She kicked a nearby wall in anger, electricity jumping off her frame here and there.
"I swear, one of these days… Straight to the moon with her…"
Not that she could deliver on that threat, her powers could do lots of thing but firing a person to the moon wasn't one of them. Now, if only she could convince Naru or Saten to help...
That thought just brought her mind to something else that was bugging her and she sighed.
"I'm a Level 5 too, but why am I always so useless?"
It stung deep down. That for everything she knew, could do, and was willing to do, she still didn't seem to be as capable as Naru and Saten during Incidents. Just look at the Sisters Incident, where even when their hang ups were on full display, both of her kohai still managed to be more effective than she had.
"Am I really second tier?" Mikoto asked herself in a frustrated whisper. This question and the accompanying worry that she was exactly that had plagued her ever since Saten had called her this back during the Level Upper Incident, and was reinforced each time someone said the same. Saten, Naru and Accelerator… They all seemed to think so little of her ability.
Thinking about the Number 2 brought up something else that was bugging her.
I haven't seen the Chibi around for a while. She mused. Since the Incident, Namikaze had been pretty scarce. Who knows, maybe she's off trying to stop some world ending crisis here in the City. I wouldn't put it past her.
The whole gang was meeting up tomorrow, so maybe she could ask her then. That's if it's not classified. Again.
Kazari didn't know why she felt so nervous.
After all, it was just a regular meet up between her and her friends… to talk about the kidnapping of one of said friends by another two of their friends.
Oh why do I feel like I should have brought a riot shield?
It probably had something to do with the angry scowl on Shirai-san's face as they took their seats in the cafe where they'd agreed to meet.
After finding out what Namikaze-san and Saten-san had done, she was furious with the other two girls of their group. Imprisoning her 'dearest onee-sama' was a capital offense. Technically it was a crime, but with the revelation that Namikaze-san and Saten-san had been responsible, well… they had gotten away with way worse than simple kidnapping in the past.
And that scared the flower crown wearing girl the most.
Wringing her wrists, she saw Misaka-san enter the John's Cafe. She smiled weakly in greeting towards the older girl, who gave one in return.
"Onee-sama!" Shirai-san cheerfully greeted, but surprisingly enough did not jump her like she usually did. It seemed that after what happened in the railyard, the teleporter had decided to stop smothering the [Railgun].
Wonder, how long that'll last. Kazari thought to herself while hiding an amused grin.
"Please, come sit. I'll order you a refreshing drink."
"Thank you, Kuroko." The chestnut girl smiled and sat down in their booth as her roommate got up to place their orders. Looking around, she asked, "So where are my other two kohai?"
"Probably hiding in fright." Shirai-san scoffed with a grumpy pout on her face as she walked back.
"And why would we be afraid of you, Shirai-chan?" Namikaze-san said as she teleported in alongside Saten-san.
Shirai-san bristled at the barb but didn't take issue as the blonde took a seat and Saten-san wandered off to the counter to place their orders. She shot Kazari a questioning look and pointed to the other early arrivals too, but she just shook her head indicating they'd already placed their orders.
"Not at us per se," The teleporter replied. "But our reactions."
Misaka-san nodded and Kazari barely resisted doing the same. She would be worried if she were in the Level 5s' shoes. After doing something like kidnapping a friend, surely they felt guilty and were leery about how their other friends would respond.
"Hmm." The blonde merely hummed, one of her fingers twirling a twintail.
"I wouldn't say we are afraid." Saten-san opined as she returned with their drinks on a tray. Distributing the drinks, she continued. "We honestly think we were justified in doing what we did. So we can't really agree with what you have to say."
"You know what we're going to say?" Shirai-san asked belligerently.
"Of course," Namikaze-san joined in, as Saten-san sat down. "We're not stupid. Seeing you all gathered up, it's obvious where this conversation will lead to. You're all gonna gang up on us and tell us how kidnapping Sempai was a bad thing and we shouldn't have done it, etc., etc."
"Look, we know you two meant well doing that." Misaka-san said with a frown. "You just wanted me to be safe, but you've gotta see where you went overboard."
"Considering what you did immediately after escaping, do you really think you have a right to say that?" The blonde shot back, a fierceness in her cerulean blue eyes.
Misaka-san paled and looked away.
"Onee-sama, what does she mean?"
"Sempai was pla-"
"No, Saten, I'll tell them." Misaka-san said before taking a fortifying breath. Once ready, she continued. "I-I thought, that if maybe… If I maybe ended up like one of my clones… It would force the experiment to end."
Silence washed over the group for a moment as that bomb dropped.
"M-Misaka-san, you were planning to commit suicide!?" Kazari gasped out in shock. Her heart pounded in her chest and her palms grew slick with sweat as the short haired brunette's mind blanked out.
Namikaze-san spoke, her tone icy and stern, "Which was beyond stupid. Even beyond anything that we did to protect you. The moment you interfered, the calculations for the experiment were already ruined. The idiots in charge just didn't want to give up. So sacrificing yourself wouldn't have done any good whatsoever."
"Onee-sama! You made me help you!" Shirai-san said as she shot to her feet to glare at her roommate. "You had me teleport you to that fight with Accelerator!"
"I know…"
"Why!" Shirai-san had tears in her eyes, a look of betrayal on her face, "Why would you let me do that? H-How could you?"
Her whispered question left the [Railgun] looking like she'd been shot, as her entire demeanour screamed guilt.
"It was just a bout of temporary insanity, okay?" Misaka-san said at last, unable to come up with a proper explanation for what she'd tried to do. "I'm over it. It won't happen again."
"It most certainly will not." Shirai-san sniffed, "Not as long as I am around. Never, ever again. Do you understand, Onee-sama?"
"Yes." Misaka-san said looking like a deer in the highlights as she was overwhelmed by the Level 4's intensity.
"And we're talking more about this later when we get back to the dorms." Shirai-san demanded. "You're going to explain to me everything that went through your head when you planned that."
Misaka-san just meekly nodded.
I think Shirai-san has that front handled. Kazari noted, even as her stomach churned with fear as this revelation once more showed her how the Dark Side could destroy people. She understood its power, seen its aftermath in the form of what it did to Saten-san, but seeing what it had made Misaka-san do… It just stuck home once more, just what kind of horror her best friend had undergone.
If even someone as strong as Misaka-san can break...
"At least someone can get her to listen." Namikaze-san wrinkled her nose, crossing her arms tightly around her chest.
"Oh don't act so haughty, you." Shirai-san turned her fiery gaze onto the petite blonde.
"Hey, Kuroko, cut them some slack okay?" Misaka-san expectedly said. "You know what I was researching yesterday, don't you? And what I found out?"
Kazari joined Shirai-san in nodding. The [Railgun] had shared her findings from her research on their friends' psyches last night and it had made for some unsettling reading. To think that whatever they'd been through on the Dark Side had wrapped their mindsets that badly. That it had possibly left Saten-san with a mental disorder. It was horrifying.
"Fine…" The fierce auburn girl deflated.
"And what did you find out?" Namikaze asked accusingly. "Ruiko-chan told me you went to the library to look through a bunch of books on psychology. Trying to profile us?"
"Something like that." Misaka-san admitted.
"So what did you discover?" Saten-san asked, looking genuinely curious.
"That you two might not exactly have the same standards of right and wrong as normal people." Misaka-san hedged. If what she'd shared was anything to go by, she'd found out a whole lot more than just that.
"That doesn't excuse what you did though!" She added angrily. Despite what she'd found out, she clearly wasn't in a forgiving mood.
Despite all the anger sent her way, the blonde shrugged, "That's how things are done in the Dark Side. Besides, all's well that ends well."
"That's no excuse." Shirai-san returned, her fire back and fiercer than ever, "To mistreat friends like that is just wrong."
Namikaze-san bore her eyes into Shirai-san's. They were unflinching as she said, "I would do it again in a heartbeat."
"What did you just say?" Misaka-san said while slamming her hands onto the table as she stood up to glare down at the shorter Level 5.
"In. A. Heartbeat." The blonde ojou-sama said slowly.
"Look," The chestnut haired Level 5 said as she grit her teeth in frustration. "That's not how things work."
The Number 2 just shrugged. "It is on the Dark Side."
"You're saying kidnapping your friends, changing their clothes against their will - which can be considered sexual assault mind you - and a whole load of other laws you two broke pulling off what you did is supposed to be normal!?" The Number 5 asked rhetorically, an angry scowl on her face.
"You're making a mountain out of a molehill." Saten-san murmured.
The petite blonde chuckled humorlessly, "Welcome to Academy City. Leave your morals at the gate."
Misaka-san growled at this and for a moment she looked so angry that Kazari feared she would attack Namikaze-san. The mere thought terrified the Level 1, not just because it would be a very dangerous fight. While she couldn't say she wasn't worried about getting caught in the crossfire in a fight between Level 5s, she was sure that her friends would do their absolute best to make sure she was safe even if they were fighting each other. Plus Saten-san was there and she trusted that her best friend, if no one else, would look out for her.
Instead her worries mainly revolved around whether an actual fight would split up their group. She-She didn't want that to happen! Not after they survived such a terrifying event!
"Enough. No fighting." Saten-san said in a monotone and let herself be encased in a rainbow aura while looking at both Misaka-san and Namikaze-san warningly. Both aforementioned girls stood down, breaking their staring contest. Despite that, the tension remained thick.
Satisfied by this, Saten-san let her aura fade and decided to take the reins of the conversation.
"Imprisoning you was my idea. To better keep you safe, Sempai." Saten-san said, her tone barely above a whisper, "The development for the prison is actually part of the City's means to counteract Level 5s should they… rebel. When we were brainstorming how to handle the Incident, Naru-san asked if we could do something to make sure you couldn't act freely and I made the suggestion. It was the best option to keep you safe. I-I could not l-let you throw away your life."
"Saten-" Misaka-san said with a sad shake of her head. Kazari could relate, the way her best friend was describing her logic was exactly what the literature suggested people with obsessive attachments might have.
"And did you consider less extreme options?" Shirai-san asked, as neutrally as possible. No easy feat considering how angry her tells were letting know Kazari she was.
"You didn't did you?"
Kazari sighed, already knowing the answer even as Saten-san confirmed it with a nod.
"What time did we have? Our hardheaded Sempai was determined to screw up whatever chance Accelerator had to become Level 6. That was the so called 'best' method she could think of." Namikaze-san defended Saten-san readily.
"Yeah," Misaka-san unexpectedly joined in on Saten-san's defense. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight and Saten was pretty much out of options."
"No duh." The blonde scornfully snorted at the chestnut haired girl.
"You weren't though." The [Railgun] said shooting the blonde a glare. "Unlike Saten, you still had your fancy connections to the Superintendent didn't you?"
"Who do you think came up with the idea to use the Level 0, Baka-Sempai?"
The two looked ready to start arguing again, but Saten-san deliberately put her drink down on the table with too much force causing a loud bang. Namikaze-san and Misaka-san both took the cue and settled down once more.
"Onee-sama, you seem particularly ready to forgive Saten-san. Why?"
At Shirai-san's question, the Electromaster shot Saten-san a look before shuddering slightly but refused to answer.
"Onee-sama?"
"Leave it, Shirai-san." Namikaze-san demanded sternly. "You weren't conscious to see just how crazy the situation was leaving Ruiko-chan and you should be glad that's the case."
Misaka-san nodded and Shirai-san frowned but didn't press the issue further.
Kazari meanwhile already had a rough idea of what the Level 5s were talking about. While she hadn't been there, she had recovered plenty of footage of the fight. Most of it was from far away cameras whichever Dark Side cleanup outfit was in charge of the task had missed and had only marginally useful footage, but she'd constructed enough of what happened to get the gist of it.
She really wished she could call what she'd recovered fake like the authorities were doing, but she knew it wasn't and that made her heart sink just thinking about what Saten-san put herself through.
And all for...
"Accelerator." The Level 1 whispered with venom. For someone that was supposed to be Saten-san's friend, he certainly didn't act like one!
Oh! She was going to send him so much malware that he'd wouldn't be able to use a computer for a week!
Misaka-san sighed in her seat and looked tiredly at her two kohai, "Can you two at least promise not to do something like that again?"
Saten-san fidgeted in her seat but hesitantly nodded, "I promise to try."
Namikaze-san on the other hand looked bored, "I make no promises. Like always, I'll do what I have to do get the job done. That's that."
"Why you-" The furious [Railgun] shouted as she began to reach over the table to grab Namikaze-san, only to be restrained by Shirai-san.
"Let me go!"
"Calm down, Onee-sama." The tawny haired Level 4 hissed.
"Calm down?!"
"You are creating a scene!" The Judgement Field Agent whispered heatedly.
"I don't care! How can you expect to just sit here and do nothing when she's so dismissive of the fact that she's done done something wrong? The ends don't justify the means."
"Hypocrite." The blonde huffed in reply, causing sparks to dance across the [Railgun]'s forehead.
The cafe's other patrons were looking on at the brewing fight warily now. Kazari would have wondered why no one had intervened yet. Then again from the way they were whispering the names of the Level 5s in their group with trepidation, she got a fairly good idea.
Suddenly the space around their table distorted and the two hostile Level 5s found themselves on opposite sides of the cafe as space returned to normal.
"No. Fighting." Saten-san commanded with a glare at both of her fellow Level 5s.
In response, the two just exchanged another glare before picking up their chairs and returning to the table.
Soon, people began to stand up and leave in a hurry. That wasn't good, not at all.
I hope they don't ban us for this, Kazari fretted. She didn't want to lose her favorite parfait establishment! Though if they were… well, a few viruses to mess with the store's accounting software would certainly convince them to reconsider.
Still, at least Saten-san is acting responsible for the two. Though it's surprising to see her act as a mediator.
"Why don't we compromise?" Kazari suggested, deciding she should help her friend. "Can you promise to at least tell us when something on the Dark Side that might involve us is going on?"
Saten-san paused, as if calculating something in her head. Namikaze-san just hummed in thought, curling one of her twintails with her finger.
"I'll try, but for various reasons I may not be able to unless you figure it out for yourself." Saten-san robotically answered.
She nudged Namikaze-san, who sighed in response.
"I promise to do the same." She said before shooting an annoyed glance at Saten-san.
Shirai-san gave a frustrated sigh and shot her yearmates an exasperated look.
"That's the best we're going to get out of you isn't it?"
"Ye~p!" Namikaze-san said, popping the p. Saten-san just nodded apologetically.
Misaka-san still didn't seem satisfied, but was resigned to this outcome.
"That's a compromise for you." The oldest girl said with a annoyed shake of her head. "Most of the time no one walks away happy."
Kazari didn't really agree. She was perfectly pleased with the promise they'd extracted from the Dark Siders. It at least had them try to be more open about their activities and at the same time wasn't too demanding to the point that they refused to accept it.
If that happened, then their group was as good as over. At least this way, their little group was sticking together and that was most important.
Now, Kazari wondered where was that parfait she'd ordered?
Mikoto was miffed.
The Level 5 was walking down the street, her body rigid and her strides heavy.
"I can't believe I followed the lousy bimbo's advice." She chided herself, of course that starry eyed schemer would give her advice that would backfire on her. It was how she thrived!
Chaos, thy name is Shokuhou Misaki.
Though to be fair, she had to concede that it was likely just poor timing on her part. Maybe asking when they were grilling her friends and tensions were high was not the best idea.
Even when trying to be helpful that hussy just ruins things.
Pushing aside the failure of the meeting, she did remember how that little Usagi had brought up the Sisters to deflect things after they'd finally managed to get the two Dark Siders to agree to the compromise that Uiharu suggested.
It had been hard to handle. Kuroko was beside herself at their very existence, which was surprising since it meant that she had more 'Onee-samas' in the City. Uiharu-san was just curious what happened to them after the failed Level 6 Shift.
Thankfully, she only had to say that Heaven's Canceler had taken them in and most were set to leave the City.
Hopefully to live their own lives. They deserve that much. Mikoto thought wistfully.
Though she was a little worried when Saten expressed suspicions about the dispersal arguing that there was no real need for something like that.
A pit formed in her stomach as Namikaze all but confirmed that something was amiss and added that the Superintendent had been the one who proposed the dispersal of the clones worldwide. He had even overruled Heaven Canceler on the matter.
What could even come out of them going their own way? As Level 3s, it's not like they can produce effects that can be of use to him. Right?
Mikoto was so concerned and distracted by thinking about what all this could mean that she that she completely failed to notice that she was on a collision course with a fellow pedestrian until someone ran right into her.
"Ooof!" She grunted as she landed on her rear. Wincing, she shouted, "Hey! Watch where you're going you-!"
Her angry tone died in her throat as she looked to the person who'd ran into her to find him.
"Atatata." He said as he rubbed his own bottom. It was her old nemesis, the guy who helped save her and the Sisters. Kamijou Touma.
Mikoto didn't know why her heart started to beat faster, or why her face started to heat up, but she stammered out, "N-N-Nothing! Just watch where you're going, baka!"
"Sorry, but I have to get to the Third Resource Recycling Processing Facility! A trashbot took my wallet. Fukou da." He rubbed the back of his head, "I was in such a rush I didn't see you, sorry."
"Geez, you really are an idiot." She sighed, but she didn't say it harshly. Looking at him closely, he still had some bandages on his person and she winced with guilt, "So how are you doing?"
They both moved to stand up. The taller boy rotated his arm, wincing just a little, "Not much pain anymore, but I'm still pretty sore. I guess I got off lucky after dealing with the Number 1 Esper in Academy City."
Shyness overcoming her, she looked up at him through her bangs unable to make direct eye contact. Why did she feel so flustered?!
"Um, do you want to get a drink or something?" At his cocked brow, she stammered, "I-I-It's to thank you! Nothing else. Got it?"
"I kind of have to get my wallet though." He pointed out dryly, making Mikoto feel like an utter idiot.
What was wrong with her?
"F-Fine! I might as well go help you since you're utterly hopeless."
"Hehe, thanks!" He smiled with that goofy look of his. He started to take off, the Level 5 trailing behind him.
Ugh, what a baka.
Mikoto and Kamijou were running down the streets of District 7, desperate to get to the Third Resource Recycling Processing Facility before the boy's wallet got recycled. And it inexplicably made her happy. They had been racing down the streets, pushing through the thin crowds when suddenly an explosion rocked the entire area.
The explosion jarred Mikoto out of the happiness she felt while running with the boy. Though that might have been due to the force of the explosion tripping them up. Mikoto groaned as she regained her senses after her fall, only to notice that she didn't land on the ground this time but something else.
"Ow." A pained groan came from below her. Looking down, Mikoto found herself sprawled over Kamijou. A fact that had her blushing furiously.
"B-B-Baka!" She squeaked and scurried off of him, holding a hand to her heart in a desperate bid to calm it down as it raced at a mile a minute.
Another explosion went off and the two turned to see what the cause was.
A block away, a fantastical fight was going on as a group of what looked to be Buddhist monks and mythical creatures were attacking what appeared to be a nondescript office building. That was however proved to be a lie as it was sporting automated machine gun turrets and heavily armed guards.
"A Dark Side base." Mikoto whispered in disbelief at her misfortune to be dragged into another Dark Side Incident so soon after saving the Sisters.
At the head of the attacking force were four guardian lions the size of cars directly out of folklore. The bullets ricocheted off what seemed to be bronze skin. The lions clearly was some construct of sorts. They were the spearhead of the attack, shielding six horse like creatures with dragon heads and deer antlers that appeared to be surrounded by an aura of fire that lobbed fireballs at the defenders. In the air, ten winged antlered lions swooped through the air to attack the guards with their razor sharp talons. In the rear, the monks stood watching as the beasts tore into their enemies.
It was as if it was the march of some strange chimera-eque parade that assaulted the building.
"What's going on?" She asked aloud, but Kamijou didn't answer her. Instead he looked around and muttered a "Fukou da" before rushing towards the battle.
That idiot! He's already hurt as is, what is he thinking?! Mikoto thought stunned even as she began fishing in her pockets for ammo for her railgun. These weren't her standard arcade tokens though, instead they were a little gift from Saten given to her in recompense for upsetting her during the Sisters Incident. Not Mikoto remembered with a frown for kidnapping her.
Pulling one out of the special coins made out of Dark Matter that took twice as long to burn up as her old arcade tokens thus effectively doubling her range, Mikoto levelled it at the nearest creature.
Let's show these Dark Siders why it's a bad idea to mess with a Level 5! Mikoto mused darkly.
Shaping the magnetic fields along her arm into a barrel, she flipped the coin into the air and let the forces she'd created grab hold of the coin. With a flick of her thumb, the Dark Matter coin rocketed forward to slam into one of the bronze lions.
The force of her shot sent the construct staggering even as it blew off a sizable part of it body in rocky chunks. This bought the hapless soldier it was about to maul the time he needed to pull back, but much to her dismay failed to take the thing down.
To Mikoto's surprise, the thing began to regenerate. The pieces of its body that had been blasted off floating into the air and quickly reattaching themselves to the creature, with missing bits filled in by fresh bits of stone that seemed to materialize from nowhere.
"Hax." The Level 5 hissed in displeasure.
"[轨道炮]! ([Guǐdào pào]/[Railgun]!)" One of the monks shouted, even as the lion continued to rapidly repair itself and a number of the creatures turned their attention in her direction.
"Great. I hate regeneration." Mikoto's lips turned into a thin line.
That the enemy had an annoying ability was the least of her problems at the moment however as one of the lions, three of the horse things and five of the flying lions rushed towards her. She readied another railgun and quickly let it rip, aiming for the hopefully more fragile dragon horses this time. She wasn't the only one to open fire though and the flaming chimera began breathing fireballs at her.
She thankfully managed to get her shot off before being forced to take a power assisted leap out of the way of being cooked alive, barely managing to escape as all three fireballs hit the place she'd just been standing and creating a sizable bonfire.
Her target however wasn't so lucky and was hit dead on by her railgun, exploding into a pillar of flame upon impact.
Her evasion didn't go unnoticed however, and the lion leapt right at her. Once more Mikoto used her power to help her leap out of the way, only to be tackled right out of the air by one of the winged chimeras. The thing was eager to tear into her as they both fell towards the ground, but the Electromaster beat it to the punch and unleashed a massive electric shock that caused it to explode into a burst of wind and small clay fragments.
"What the hell?" The [Ace of Tokiwadai] noted in surprise at the strange death effect even as she used her powers to pull her to the side of a nearby building. The four remaining flyers attacking her dove towards her but a quick burst of lightning fried one and drove the remaining three off. They weren't the only things headed towards her position though, and Mikoto was forced to jump from her perch back to the ground to avoid twin streams of fire from the flaming beasts.
Rolling to bleed off the momentum, she stopped and got to her feet only to be greeted with the sight of the guardian lion leaping at her. Hastily reaching into her pocket, she fumbled for another coin already knowing she wouldn't make it in time and knowing she had nothing but her railgun that could even damage the construct.
Fortunately for the Number 5, she wasn't fighting alone. Even as she was beginning to panic, Kamijou slid in front of her and cocked his right arm back. Without any hesitation despite the intimidating sight of a massive lion leaping at him, the boy calmly punched it in the face.
The construct immediately shattered upon his very touch.
"啊! [幻觉杀手]! (A! [Huànjué shāshǒu]/Ah! [Imagine Breaker]!)" One of the monks shouted, his friends repeating his words almost fearfully before one of them rushed forward.
"让我来! (Ràng wǒ lái/Let me deal with him!)"
The monk looked like he had walked out of a cliche Kung-Fu movie. In his hands was a bo-staff that he twirled idly as he stepped up to confront the boy.
"Fukou da." Kamijou moaned even as he fell into a street fighting stance.
The monk ignored him and launched into a furious attack
"Whoa!" Kamijou exclaimed as he dodged the first blow, but failed to dodge the follow-up as he was struck across the face.
Staggering, the spiky haired boy wavered on his feet. This just left him open as the monk continued to push his advantage, hitting him repeatedly in quick succession all across his body even as he danced around the teenager while seemingly effortlessly evading the boy's much more clumsy attempts at counterattacking.
With one final powerful blow to the face, Kamijou began to collapse backwards. Adding insult to injury however, the monk proceeded to sweep his legs from under him even as he fell thus sending him crashing him to the ground with even more force.
The terrorist monk didn't relent as with a warcry he slammed the butt of his bo-staff into the battered high schooler's stomach.
"Gah!" Kamijou grunted as he spat out what looked like the blood tinged and half-digested remains of his breakfast and lay there in a pained daze.
Mikoto just watched all this in shock. The boy who had defeated her on multiple occasions and had defeated Accelerator had just been taken out just like that!
Note to self: Do NOT let them get close. Mikoto noted with trepidation as she flung a bolt of lightning at the monk. He somehow leapt back a few feet and avoided the bolt, but the Esper was unable to press the opening as she was forced to evade as well as the two surviving dragon horses began lobbing fireballs at her.
Reaching out with her powers she tried to grab hold of one of the three remaining lions to drag it in front of her as a shield, but frowned as she realized that despite their metallic appearance they weren't magnetic at all. This left her with no choice but to use her power to keep mobile while evading the attacks from the two firespitters and their three airborne friends. She retaliated with bolts of lightning, but the damn things somehow seemed to know where she was aiming even before she fired and moved out of the way.
Geez, talk about a tight pinch, Mikoto thought as she released a powerful static burst that took out the annoying winged lions.
"At least they're out the way." The Electromaster noted with satisfaction even as pulled herself out of the way from a fire blast unleashed by the flaming hybrid creatures. "Now there's just this two."
Sparing a glance at her ally, she saw him try to get up only for the monk to slam the butt of his staff into the boy's chest and send him back onto the ground.
"G-Great, we're in a Kung-Fu movie now and I'm the ignorant idiot getting his ass kicked by the master. Fukou da!" The unfortunate boy wheezed out as he tried to catch his breath.
Does he ever shut up? Mikoto thought to herself in amusement even as she fired a bolt at the monk.
Once again defying logic, the monk jumped to safety a moment ahead of the bolt's impact.
How are they doing that? The Electromaster asked herself in frustration, even as she surveyed her surroundings for another offensive option. Clearly her lightning bolts weren't working.
As if to prove her point, the two flaming horses casually trotted out of the way of another pair of lightning bolts she sent their way, all whilst they rained flaming attacks her way. Attacks that she evaded with far less ease.
Looking behind Kamijou and the monk, Mikoto spotted something that she could use. With a pleased smirk, she began quickly formulating a plan.
Using her electromagnetism, she grabbed a nearby trashed security robot and sent it flying at the monk! The sound of the thing flying through the air had the monk spinning around to see what was happening, but it didn't trigger whatever preternatural sixth sense he had that let him evade her lightning. As such, he had barely registered the incoming attack before the large metal object hit him with bone breaking force. The force of the blow practically bent him in half, and he collapsed to the ground. Just as she did that, one of the horse chimeras that had been attacking her abruptly disappeared.
Wait, it vanished just as I took out one of the monks. Are they linked? If so… The [Railgun] thought and charged up a handful of lightning bolts. She flung them into a group of the monks.
Several of them were able to dodge the bolts, though a few weren't so lucky. As lightning coursed through their bodies, they crumpled to the ground in twitching messes. Her theory was proven true as with each fallen monk, one of the constructs disappeared. None of them however, Mikoto noted, were the horse things which now all turned to face her.
"Oh damn!" Mikoto cursed as the four creatures all focused their fire breaths at her. Combined the flames they created practically filled the whole street. Mikoto tried to pull herself up and above the firestorm by attracting herself to the roof of a nearby building but her computations told her she wouldn't clear it in time.
Thankfully for her, Kamijou had caught his second wind at last and stepped - limped really - into the path of the wall of fire and just tiredly stretched his right hand out. The moment the blaze touched his right hand, it vanished without a trace.
Seriously, what is the deal with that hand of his? Mikoto thought with wonder as she prepared to counterattack.
Just then a set of rockets screamed pass her and slammed into the ground around the monks.
"撤! (Chè/Retreat!)" The monks shouted as they fled, even as a trio of strange tanks with three wheeled legs screamed pass her on the side of the buildings all whilst firing a barrage of rockets at the retreating terrorists.
It looked like that for now the fight was over.
Mikoto sat in an ambulance across from Kamijou as the boy had his injuries looked at by a Anti-Skill medic. Shortly after those odd wall crawling tanks had shown up to drive the monks off, Anti-Skill and a squad of their medics - the City hadn't gotten around to replacing its emergency response force yet even though MAR had been gone for ages - had shown up to sort out the aftermath.
Neither of them had noticed during the fight, but plenty of innocent people had been injured in the attack. People who had just been minding their own business who had gotten dragged into whatever Dark Side disagreement that had led to those monk cosplayers to launch a surprise attack on their rivals in broad daylight. There had even been deaths… though one of them weighed especially on Mikoto's conscience.
The monk who she'd hit with the robot… he didn't make it. Apparently hitting someone with a few hundred pounds of metal and electronics at high speed wasn't exactly conducive to their good health. Though how that led to him burning to death like she'd been told didn't make sense to her.
She was still trying to figure it out when a group came up to the two and Mikoto immediately recognized the uniform they were all wearing. It was the Black Crows from the Big Spider Incident.
From what Saten told us, they're part of a Dark Side outfit. One that is friendly with Namikaze.
"Excuse us. Our unit leader would like a word with you two." He said, thumbing over his shoulder towards their base.
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Mikoto thought as steeled her rattled nerves.
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.
So just after her own Arc, Mikoto is getting one to explore her feelings. In more ways than one in this matter, lol.
Nameless: Well, first thing I want to say is a big thank you to our reviewers. A lot of the content in this arc actually came about as a result of me and E4E discussing some of your reviews. Things like the consequences for the Trinity group dynamic due to Mikoto's imprisonment in the last arc being harsher than anything we came up with initially and the fleshing out about how Dark Side assets/outfits are managed. So if you like these bits or find them helpful in understanding our take on canon/the Trinityverse, then it's all due to our helpful reviewers. Please keep the reviews coming!
Thank you very much! A lot of emotions were given out for everyone and I hope it was real enough. Saten of course seems remorseful but Naru, well, she's Naru. Whatever it takes to get the job done.
Nameless: Actually what I liked most about that was Saten being forced (as the only other Level 5) to play mediator. It's so OOC for her, but she had no choice but to do so. It's also a chance to have her use some powers she's been neglecting lately. Sure barriers and energy beams have become her mainstays but it's time to let her stretch her abilities a little.
We had a pretty interesting fight. Keeping up with the Chinese theme, we decided to use Shoalin monks (or at least based off them) with guardian animals. Foo Dogs, Qilins, and Pixius. As for Touma getting his butt whooped? Well, they're shaolin monks… he is not a kung-fu warrior, he's a street bawler.
Nameless: Talking about the Chinese theme, the chapter and the other chapters in this arc will be inspired by the classic Big Trouble in Little China. Oh! One last thing! We aren't mental health professionals and neither is Mikoto, so if our diagnosis is wrong and it probably is, that's why. We only had Google to rely on so we hope you can forgive us.
Well, you guys know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you think. No flames and peace off my peeps!