Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Fifty Four: Fate of an Avenger
Beta:
It was the second day of her captivity and Kazari found herself once more glaring up at one of her kidnappers - the latest in a line of the criminals to take over watching her - as he replaced her previous guard from the confines of the chair she'd been handcuffed to.
"You are all going to die," she told the man. "When Saten-san finds me, she'll kill the lot of you."
Now normally Kazari would never say something like this to anyone. Even if it was true. But these guys were just big stinky buttholes!
They had killed innocent people - She'd heard enough of their gloating to get an idea of what they'd done. - and all so they could hurt her best friend! And then there was what they'd done to her. They had kidnapped her! They didn't even have the decency to treat her well during her confinement either. They had beaten her into unconsciousness on more than one occasion, barely gave her anything to eat or drink and didn't let her use the toilet but chose instead to put her in a diaper! A diaper! She wasn't a baby Science damn it!
At least they had one of the women put it on me. Uiharu conceded. Even if letting anyone, even another woman, do that to me is mortifying!
Not that their wariness wasn't justified.
Okay, so the City's bidets all have WiFi and I could hack that and use it in an escape. Kazari allowed. But it's the principle of the matter!
Then again these were the same people that had snatched her from a public restroom, one of the few places that Kazari knew that Saten-san's nigh omnipresent surveillance network did not extend. They had taken her mid-pee damnit! Then drugged her into unconsciousness, stuffed her into a duffel bag and snuck her out right under Saten-san's surveillance. And if her admittedly wonky estimate of time was right, just before they went all in on their little revenge plot too, so her best friend hadn't even had time to notice she was missing before they'd got going.
The ba- cowards! Kazari cursed them mentally, refraining from using harsher language only at the very last second.
"Oh, we all expect to die alright." The man said, surprising Kazari. Most of the other kidnappers weren't quite so chatty. Some spoke a few words with her, usually cursing her and Saten-san but mostly they just kept quiet. "It's part of the plan actually."
"Part of the plan?" Kazari boggled. "Letting yourself get killed is part of your plan!? Are you lot insane?"
"You wouldn't understand, little bitch." The man said, glaring at her. "You Academy City bastards have no idea what it means to truly devote yourself to a cause. If you do, if you are truly committed, then dying for it isn't a hardship at all."
"And your cause is revenge?" Kazari retorted. "What an oh so noble cause to die for!"
"It is, if the one you are taking vengeance upon was the one responsible for trampling the cause for which you'd previously devoted your whole existence to."
"And everyone else you got caught up in it? Hope that was worth it too." Kazari sneered, but it came out more as a pouty glare.
"Collateral damage," the man dismissed easily. "War is never without it."
"Ah, the noble collateral damage clause. Cliche bad guy line number twelve!" The flower crown loving girl huffed.
"You should know. You City bastards use it often enough. Your best friend definitely does."
"Of course every ignorant civilian and Esper knows about every dark deed. So blow us all up for it."
"Missing the point bitch," the man said with a shrug.
"My point is you're a stupid jerk without a soul."
"Indeed, he is Uiharu." Saten-san's voice whispered into Kazari's ear through some audiokinesis suddenly just as the hotel was shaken by a powerful explosion.
Yes! My banter stall tactics never fail!
"What the hell was that?" The man said, reaching for his radio.
"That's Saten-san." Kazari told him with a vicious smirk. "Looks like it's time for you and your terrorist friends to die."
"Wha-"
Kazari never heard the rest of the kidnapper's sentence as she found herself abruptly teleported onto a gurney in the familiar lobby of Heaven Canceler's Hospital. She noticed she wasn't the only one either as a handful of people had arrived alongside her.
Must be civilians that got caught up in Saten-san's initial attack. Kazari reasoned. She's gotta be more careful.
"Get her examined immediately," the aforementioned frog faced doctor said unsurprised as he spotted her. "Now!"
"Yay! Hospital safe place." Kazari weakly cheered. "I have a diaper."
With that non sequitur, she promptly lost consciousness as she finally relaxed and stopped resisting the strain her repeated beatings had put on her body.
Found you. Ruiko declared triumphantly as she teleported in front of the hotel she'd finally tracked Gruber down to. It had taken tracking Uiharu's wavering AIM field, whatever suppressants they were using to keep it hidden from her senses weren't perfect it seemed, and cross-referencing to the movements of his minions but the [AIM Sovereign] had eventually managed it.
Speaking of her best friend, a quick glance with Clairvoyance showed her in a hotel room bantering with one of her captors. A quick reading of their lips clued her in on their conversation.
"My point is you're a stupid jerk without a soul." Her best friend said to the man.
"Indeed, he is Uiharu." Ruiko said in a whisper that she used some audiokinesis to make sure the other girl heard, even as she heralded her arrival by sending an explosive fireball slamming into the frontage of the hotel.
Without missing a beat, she unhurriedly walked through the wreckage of the ruined entrance to the hotel that she'd just created and surveyed her handiwork.
Good the innocents are alright. [Multi Skill] noted with satisfaction. She had been very careful in her control of the various aspects of the attack she'd unleashed, having directed it away from any bystanders even as she used it to eliminate the half dozen guards Gruber had discretely left loitering around the hotel entrance. A few were still injured by stray bits of shrapnel or suffered burns from proximity to her conjured flames, but nothing truly serious.
Not that said bystanders seemed to realize that if their screaming were any indication. Though they might just be shouting in horror as the terrorists she had caught in her opening move burned alive. Either way, Ruiko didn't care, instead beginning to use Move Point to teleport them out in rapid succession - starting with Uiharu of course - whilst being careful to use both Telepathy and Clairvoyance to make sure she didn't accidentally let one of her prey escape.
A number of the surviving terrorists in the lobby, those lucky enough to have been further in the lobby to escape her initial attack, tried to distract her from this with a hail of bullets but she silenced this feeble attempt easily enough with a barrage of particle beams of her own.
"Murderously efficient as always, eh [Army Slayer]?" Gruber taunted over the hotel's public address system. "Though I wonder about this new concern for civilians you're exhibiting. Think you can keep it up? There are plenty of them in the building after all."
"Are there now?" Ruiko replied with coy arrogance as she shot a smirk at the nearest surveillance camera through which she knew the terrorist leader was watching her.
"Of course there ar-" Gruber began only to suddenly be interrupted by what sounded like someone whispering something to him. Ruiko could have pierced together what he was being told but she already had a good idea so didn't bother. "You're teleporting out the hostages? I didn't know you could handle so many people in such a short amount of time. I applaud you for exceeding my expectations."
"You might have a decent understanding of my capabilities," Ruiko was honest enough to admit. It had been how the murderous ass managed to pull off his petty little revenge scheme right under her nose after all. "But you hardly know my limits."
"Perhaps," Gruber allowed. "But it seems I do know your thinking well enough to have you dancing to my tune. I knew you would attack me here and that doing so would be the perfect time to initiate the next phase of my plan."
"Is that the one where you send gunmen after my loved ones?" Ruiko asked with mock curiosity that quickly shifted into a sinister smirk. "Because if it is, then I assure you that I've got that covered."
"We've got multiple hostiles moving in through the front carpark." The voice of the security chief of Heaven Canceler's Hospital said through the radio earpiece that Accelerator had grudgingly accepted to wear.
"I'll deal with them." Accel hissed back as he got up from where he'd been lounging on one of the chairs in the hospital's reception area.
"As defenders of justice we will keep the innocents inside the hospital safe. Misaka promises." One of the Sisters replied even as the cocking of a gun could be heard in the background.
"You lot better," Accel shot back. "If even one hair on Last Order's head is out of place or any of Ruiko's family is hurt by these idiots, I will-"
"Good luck Papa. Misaka Misaka cheers." Last Order said, cutting off his threatening rant. "And don't worry, we Misakas will make sure that Uiharu-nee and Misaka's Bachans and Jichans are safe. Misaka Misaka assures."
Unable to come up with a scathing reply like he would like to what was essentially a scolding from his daughter, Accel just snorted in annoyance.
Thankfully it seemed that chance had provided him a nice little outlet for his pique as a group of the idiot terrorists targeting his family just stepped in front of him.
Usually he'd banter a little. Maybe sneer at their absolute weakness a bit, but honestly he wasn't in the mood today. Not against these imbeciles who were threatening those he loved. So instead of talking, he let his powers tell them all he had to say.
With a burst of calculations through the Misaka Network and an application of will, he sent a storm of razor sharp winds at them that cut the oncoming terrorists into unrecognizable chunks of flesh.
The sound of someone dry heaving had Accel looking off to the side only to spot a familiar spiky haired boy.
"Did you have to do that?" The hero said as he wiped a hand across his mouth and composed himself. "I get that they're trying to kill your family and all that, but could you I dunno be less bloody about finishing them off?"
"I ain't a hero," Accel shot back with a shrug. "A villain doesn't care about being a little bloody."
The damned hero just rolled his eyes. The gall of him. Then again, having beaten him, the boy did have the right.
Part of Accel wondered what the other boy was even doing there but he knew enough about his exploits that randomly showing up at the site of an Incident was par for the course for the hero.
"So, um, why are you here?" The spiky haired boy said. "It's all over the news that the Number 3 is fighting the terrorists down at a hotel in District 3. Shouldn't you be fighting with her over there?"
"Ruiko doesn't need a babysitter. Besides, she'd be panicking if her family didn't have someone watching out for them. Who better than me?"
The hero just frowned.
"What if I took over here?" He suggested.
"I'd ask what's your angle, but since you're a goodie-two-shoes hero, you won't have one." Accel scoffed in annoyance.
The hero chuckled self-deprecatingly but didn't deny it, instead mumbling about how this was his hospital too.
"Papa go! Misaka Misaka urges while stomping her feet." Last Order urged over the radio. "Kamijou-sama, Misaka's Sisters, Maniple and the guards the Superintendent sent over will keep everyone safe. Misaka Misaka reasons. Mama has no one. Misaka Misaka points out. Papa go help Mama. Misaka Misaka urges."
Accel frowned and considered the matter before he shot the hero a firm look.
"They better all be good when I get back," Accel warned. "Or hero or not, I'll kick your ass."
"If something happens to any of them, I'll let you." The hero replied with a confident nod.
Accel nodded and pulling off the earpiece, tossed it to the hero.
He waited for the other boy to stumblingly catch it before calling on his powers to conjure a tornado to carry him towards the hotel battlefield where Ruiko was fighting.
Shinobu sat inside the Kiyama household's panic room down in the bowels of the underground labs beneath their residence watching the news reporting on Saten-sama's very public attack on the terrorists at the hotel when the security systems beeped a warning. Turning to face the bank of screens showing the view from the closed circuit cameras, she saw the feed from the external cameras showing groups of gunmen suddenly pour out of a number of nondescript vehicles around the block and running towards the house.
"Idiots," she said with a shake of her head as she watched one group of them barely make it ten feet before a green beam of energy vaporized the entire lot of them. "Did they think Saten-sama would leave us undefended?"
Deciding that she had enough of watching fools get massacred, she turned to leave. It was time to start working on lunch anyways. The twins would be up from their naps soon after all and she would have to make something special for them if she was going to get them to eat properly. The poor girls had been so stressed by what was happening to their family that they were having trouble eating.
"And we can't have that," Shinobu declared firmly as she left the panic room to get started on cooking lunch.
"Mugino! That's the last of them." Frenda said happily through her earpiece as she put a bullet through the head of the last terrorist in the group she'd decided to go deal with.
Damn idiots didn't even have the decency to all go down when I shot them with my rocket! The Scandavian cursed mentally as she stowed away her pistol in the special holster under her skirt. I hate having to use guns.
"And with this that arrogant Number 3 will owe us one for a change!" Mugino crowed over the radio.
"Huh? Since when? Aren't we just returning a favour we owe her for the free intel she gave us last time?" Frenda couldn't help but blurt out.
"Frenda! Shut up and let me gloat a little!" Mugino hissed angrily, causing Frenda to whimper slightly.
Shit! Now Mugino's gonna be on my case for the next week. At least!
"You super shouldn't have said that." Saiai said with a shake of her head as she walked over.
Frenda shot her Level 4 teammate a pleading look.
"No way am I doing anything." The Dark May survivor said with another shake of her head. "You know how Mugino gets. I'm super not interested in getting her on my case."
Frenda just pouted.
"Just ignore her, Frenda." Rikou suggested as she joined the two of them from wherever she'd run off to hide from the fighting. "You know that works."
Frenda just nodded sadly, dutifully following through on the advice even as Mugino continued ranting over the radio.
"ITEM, I have some grilled cheese sandwiches cooking, you girls want some?" The voice of Nunotaba Shinobu, the Kiyamas' live in nanny, asked over some hidden speakers.
"ITEM, mobilize for lunch and defense." Mugino commanded as she finally joined the rest of the team.
Oh now of all times, that niche formation comes into play? Leave it to a perfectionist to have one for all occasions. Frenda thought as she withheld a snort.
"Why do they have hidden external speakers anyways?" Saiai asked curiously as they walked towards the Kiyama house.
"It came with the security system."
"What security system?" Rikou asked curiously.
"This one," Shinobu-san said as suddenly a host of previously hidden turrets revealed themselves. Some spun out of hidden alcoves in the walls of neighboring houses, all of which Frenda noted were mostly unoccupied and were in fact little more than decoys. Others popped out of holes in the ground. Regardless of where they were hidden, each one was undeniably deadly being armed with what ranged from machine guns to rocket pods to energy weapons.
Science! Did they buy out the whole block or something!? Frenda thought as she boggled at what she was seeing. Then again, maybe they rent them out to their employees or something to make some money back. Still crazy though.
"That's super overkill." Saiai said with an impressed whistle. "Why did you guys need us again?"
"Saten-sama is paranoid." Nunotaba said with a sigh. "She wanted insurance."
"At least we get a free meal?" Frenda suggested to Mugino whose eyebrow had been twitching in annoyance ever since the security system had revealed itself.
"It better be a good one." The Level 5 said. "Reducing me, us, to just insurance? I'll make you pay for this someday you bloody conceited Number 3. I swear on it!"
Frenda really hoped that those grilled cheese sandwiches were the best damned grilled cheese in the world because otherwise she would be hearing Mugino's ranting complaints till the end of the month. At least!
"Nice shot, Mii." Wataru praised over the radio as his not-girlfriend took down another of the gunmen with that fancy tranquilizer rifle of hers.
"Thanks Sempai." She replied even as Wataru himself knocked another of the goons out with a punch from the Power Fist built into his personal Powered Suit. That doing so also broke a fair few of the man's bones was no skin off Wataru's teeth.
"Why do I feel like I'm on defense a lot recently?" The most sound of mind of the Trinity's Level 5s questioned out loud from where she was using her electromastery to create a shield to deflect the terrorists' laser fire and bullets.
Yes, the damned idiots had lasers. Not many but apparently they'd managed to get some. Sometimes the City's black market really sucked.
"Isn't it just your imagination?" The blonde Level 5 shouted back as she teleported behind a pair of the terrorists and knocked their heads together hard enough to induce unconsciousness and likely give them concussions.
He was just glad the Blonde-jouchan wasn't popping them like grapes. Usually her temperament meant that in a situation like this she would be showing her more animalistic side.
"No, I'm pretty sure I've been doing it more than usual lately." The Sparky-Jouchan insisted.
"I don't think so, Onee-sama." The girl's Teleporter roommate countered as she teleported to the Number 5's side. "Oh, and I took out the last of their lasers."
"And that's the last of them," The other Level 5 present said as she tossed a man three times her size, at least, through the air and into a very rough landing with the ground in front of her two schoolmates.
"I think you miscounted Blondie-jouchan." Wataru side as he kneed the man he was fighting in the groin and caused him to crumple to the ground in a fetal position. "'Cos I think I got the last guy."
"You're both wrong." Mii said over their radios. "The last few thugs are running. I'm out of darts, so if you wouldn't mind? Misaka-san, eight o'clock."
"I'll handle it." The aforementioned Level 5 said, shooting Mii's rooftop sniper nest a thumbs up.
"Man, you better take her out on a date when this is over. I can hear her frustration from here." Blondie-jouchan teased him even as the Sparky-Jouchan sent a powerful static surge in the direction Mii indicated that had the fleeing terrorists dancing for a minute before they collapsed to the ground as unconscious heaps.
"Thanks for the advice." Wataru said as he rolled his eyes.
Perfection takes time damnit.
"Anyone else annoyed that Saten-san barely gave us any signal when things would go crazy?" The Teleporter said with a tired sigh. "I know she likes her surprises but this is a little too much, no?"
"Hey, combat is a mess, you know that, Shirai-chan." Blondie-jouchan said, loyally defending her best friend. "Just be glad that Rui-chan was able to give us any warning at all."
"I guess," Teleporter-chan conceded.
"You know Namikaze-san is right." Mii chimed in. "On another note, now that things are settled here. What now?"
"Maybe we can follow his example?" Wataru suggested as he pointed off into the distance where there was a tornado shooting horizontally across the sky towards the hotel where the Stoic-jouchan was fighting.
"Kuroko," the Sparky-jouchan barked and seconds later she and the Teleporter were gone.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Blondie-jouchan shouted indignantly as she too teleported away.
"Uh, should we go too?" Wataru asked whilst scratching the back of his helmet.
"Let them handle it," Mii said as she walked out of the building they had been defending. "We have criminals to prepare to hand over to Anti-Skill. Besides, I think between her friends and her boyfriend Saten-san has more than enough help on the way."
"That's true." Wataru nodded. "I almost pity the idiot behind this, ya know?"
Mii shot him a sharp look at that and Wataru put his hands up in surrender.
"I said almost. Almost!"
Mii just nodded, satisfied.
"Help me get these men secured. Anti-Skill will be here soon."
Falling behind Mii, Wataru got to work.
"Sir, we just lost contact with Team C. Considering the circumstances-" The garbled voice of one of Hans' subordinates said over his radio.
"Then like the others, they've failed." He replied, with an annoyed click of his tongue. "Alright. The assault teams are lost. Fall back to the penthouse. It's time to prepare for our last stand. Delaying forces, keep it up."
His reply was met with a chorus of "Affirmative"s and he clicked his radio's receiver silent even as he shook his head in disappointment.
"Of course she'd mobilize her friends. Good work little doll." Gruber said, feeling genuinely impressed with his opponent. "But it's still not enough. You are still dancing to my tune and walking into the very heart of my web."
With how she's outmaneuvering me right now, she probably thinks she has outsmarted me. It's probably why she hasn't jammed our radio comms. She wants to rub it into my face that she's played me for a fool.
In spite of his thoughts though, a smile stretched across his face.
Perfect. Your overconfidence will be your undoing.
Picking up a different radio, he addressed his opponent in a jovial tone. "Greetings again [Army Slayer]. I must say, it's mighty impressive you roped your little friends into our game. So clever of you. I can see why you've lasted as the attack dog you were tailored to be for as long as you did."
"Shut up! I don't need praise from the likes of you." The [Army Slayer] shot back defiantly.
The emotion had Hans frowning slightly. It was a reminder that the girl wasn't quite the murderous robot she'd been when she'd been the [Army Slayer] and that triggered a tinge of conscience. One he ruthlessly crushed with a reminder of just what this monster had done. No amount of sympathy for what she'd been through would absolve her of her sins. Never!
"Shut up! I don't need praise from the likes of you." Ruiko shot back in reply to Gruber's latest taunt as she teleported into a room on the hotel's sixth floor and was instantly met with an IED going off in her face.
She easily weathered the explosion behind the barrier created from her tentacle-like wings of rainbow energy. She honestly didn't know why these appendages which should be unique to her Chrysalis Mode had spontaneously manifested as she began her ascent through the hotel, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth and was going to use these powerful tools to their maximum effect. A thought that she put into action by sending one of them that she wasn't using to defend herself shooting forward to cut the man who had just stepped out of the bathroom with his automatic rifle blazing in half.
Satisfied that the threat here was neutralized, she teleported to her next target even as Gruber continued taunting her over the hotel's intercom.
"That man you killed in Room 603 was named Benito Maroto. He was ex-Columbian Special Forces. His family was 'collateral damage' when you levelled a village fighting the cartels whilst conducting the anti-drug 'pacification' tour of Latin America you did for the Americans a couple years back." Gruber declared over the intercom.
Ruiko didn't react, relying on the self-control she'd learned from being [The Robot] to fight back the frown that threatened to spread across her face at the revelation and focused instead on dealing with the pair of terrorists into whose room she had just teleported into.
Reacting with impressive speed they spun towards her the moment she teleported in and opened up with their rifles. Not that it did them any good as the bullets flattened themselves harmlessly against the barrier she'd created around herself and she retaliated by using her wings to snap the gunmen's necks.
"Those men you just killed were Daniel Cherkezishvili and Dmitry Zurabashvili. They were the sole survivors of a unit of the Georgian army you helped the Russians crush in the latest Russo-Georgian War."
Even as Ruiko felt a growing feeling of unease as it dawned on her that this enemy was one of her own making in more ways than one, she kept up her mask of indifference and teleported into the next room of terrorists. Only to be met with a man wearing a suicide vest who upon spotting her pressed the detonator causing the entire hotel room to be engulfed in a powerful explosion.
Protected as she was by her wings, Ruiko was unscathed and was left standing in the wreckage of the room only to be greeted by more of Gruber's taunting revelations.
"That was Haneef el-Noori," the terror leader informed her. "He was one of the few survivors of the Taliban that survived your purge of their organization."
Still ignoring the man and maintaining her mask of indifference she wordlessly moved onto her next target and found herself face to face with a woman armed with a rocket-propelled grenade. She thankfully reacted more slowly than her fellow terrorists and Ruiko's wings tore her and her weapon apart before it could fire.
"The lady you just sliced to pieces was Win Phyu. Her husband used to be a leader of the Kachin Independence Army before you wiped them out."
Ruiko continued ignoring him and just teleported to the next little terrorist nest. There weren't many left. Soon, it would be time to put an end to this. She couldn't wait. Gruber's taunts were getting annoying.
At least that's what Ruiko told herself as she teleported between her last few targets before Gruber himself, all whilst listening to him wax lyrical about how she'd wronged the people she was killing.
"Admit it Saten Ruiko, you like being the [Army Slayer]." Gruber taunted as she killed the last of the man's subordinates outside of the penthouse where he was hiding, a former CIA operative whose son she'd killed whilst he was serving as a CIA trainer for a group of insurgents in Libya.
"No I don't! Just shut up, shut up!" Ruiko screamed out in denial, her voice carrying unnaturally and causing all the windows throughout the building to crack.
"Really? Because you certainly seemed to be enjoying murdering all my men."
"I did not enjoy killing them." Ruiko insisted. "I merely did what was necessary."
"Oh really? Then why were you so brutal in their executions? After all, considering the powers at your disposal couldn't you have made their deaths painless?"
"I-"
"You didn't think of it?" Gruber guessed correctly before Ruiko could even reply. "Of course you didn't. You enjoy seeing your enemies suffer. That's why you didn't even consider giving them the mercy of a painless death. Only a monster is like that. A monster like the [Army Slayer]."
Ruiko frowned as the truth in his words ate at her. Not all of it was correct, at least she hoped not. But enough of it was that it stung nonetheless. She pushed the pain aside however. There were more important things to do right now.
"Enough chit chat Gruber," Ruiko said, glaring at the security camera through which the man was observing her. "It is time to end this."
"Indeed, it is [Slayer]." Gruber agreed. "Come on up. I am waiting."
Naru, Sempai and Shirai-chan arrived at the hotel Rui-chan was raiding to see explosions going off every so often, climbing up the height of the building. It was surrounded by a ring of Anti-Skill that were busy processing a crowd of terrified people that the Number 3 had presumably teleported out before she went postal on the terrorists.
"Why isn't anyone rushing in to help?" Shirai-chan asked with a frown.
"You want to jump in there when she's flipping out?" Naru snorted. "I can taste her emotions from here, she's as jumbled up as a puzzle. I don't know if she might do friendly-fire right now."
"Plus there's whatever is keeping him out." Sempai said, pointing skyward.
Naru looked up and saw Accelerator battering away at what looked like an energy barrier of some kind that surrounded the top of the hotel with repeated blasts of air.
"We have shield generators now?" Naru blinked in confusion. "Since when?"
I think it's magic actually. Kurama chimed in. At least I'm eighty percent sure that it is.
"If you don't know about it, I doubt it." Shirai-chan reasoned. "And if Accelerator, of all people, can't break through it then-"
"Magic," Naru and Sempai groaned at the same time.
"I hate the Magic Side." Shirai-chan pinched her nose. "It feels so, so cheap!"
"Alright, Chibi, any ideas on how to get in? You're the expert here." Sempai said, shooting her a hopeful look.
"Hm." Naru crossed her arms, tilting her head as she pondered. "It depends on the type of field it is. If it were regular magic, destroying some type of seal around the area or item of importance would be my first guess. If this guy is half as good as he appears to be, I'm guessing it's some kinda hax magic."
"Hax magic?" Shirai-chan asked. "Is that a type of magic?"
"Nah, just what I call the magical equivalent of Level 5 stuff. They call it all sorts of names like Saint and whatnot but I don't care enough to remember all of them, so I just call it as I see it. Hax. Hence hax magic."
"Right," Sempai nodded with a frown. "So any way to break this barrier?"
"Since it's hax magic, it'll be stupidly tough to counter if we don't know how it works."
"Oh."
"And even if it's the first option, if Gruber is smart, the focus will be inside the hotel."
"It is," Tsuchimikado Motoharu said as he sauntered over.
"What do you know, you hybrid siscon?" Naru demanded. "If you don't talk I'm going to kick your ass."
The older teen backed up, hands in the air in mock surrender.
"He's using sealed space logic. It's pretty high tier stuff that basically partially imitates Phases." The Haiwaiian shirt wearing bleached blonde explained with an easy grin.
"Phases?! Oh come on, how'd he get his hands on that stuff?" Naru threw her arms in the air. "That's magic god territory!"
"It might be high-tier but it's really just a poor imitation and actually pretty mundane. It's how magicians fight in populated areas. Not cheap to produce by any means but easy enough to get if you have enough cash to burn. Like literally tons of it." Tsuchimikado said with a thoughtful frown. "Gruber must really want this one-on-one with Saten-san."
"So it's basically an expensive knockoff of some super high tier magical bullshit?" Sempai asked the siscon jackass.
"Yep!" The faux blond chirped with that smug grin of his.
Must. Not. Punch.
"Can't you do some of that fungshuah origami of yours?"
"Sorry, no can do." Tsuchimikado said with a shrug. "Our best bet is if Saten-san destroys the idol sustaining the barrier. But I doubt she even knows to do that. She looks very focused on just killing the terrorists to be honest."
"Got anything useful besides exposition?" Naru growled with annoyance, worried for her bestie.
"Nope," the magician-esper hybrid said with a taunting shrug. "I'm mostly just here to help with the cleanup afterwards and thought I would be helpful and explain things to you lot."
"Fat load of good that does us," Sempai said, sparks rolling off her forehead.
The ass just smirked at her irritation.
Any further conversation was interrupted by a large explosion up at the penthouse that had everyone looking skyward.
"Looks like the final act just started." Tsuchimikado said a grin. "Really wish I could actually see what's going on up there. Betcha it's going to be epic."
Neither Naru or her friends shared his enthusiasm. They were instead consumed by worry for Rui-chan. It didn't take a genius to figure out that if Gruber was keeping them out with magic then that meant he was a magician too. And they all knew that Rui-chan was weak against them.
"Please be alright." Sempai whispered.
"She will be," Naru said, as much to herself as to the others. "One shitty magician won't be able to kill her. Rui-chan is better than that."
Shirai-chan just bit her thumb, looking displeased. Her eyes shimmering with worry.
Hell, they were all worried. But all they could do was have faith in Rui-chan.
Ruiko teleported just outside the doors to the penthouse and was immediately met with a hail of gunfire from the inside.
"What a hearty welcome," Ruiko commented with a roll of her eyes as she allowed the bullets to flatten themselves harmlessly against her wings she had wrapped around herself. "Let me return the favour."
With that she took a deep breath and breathed out a large fireball to cover her entrance into the suite.
As she stepped into the room, she did a quick count and noticed that she'd managed to finish off a half dozen men but that there were another two dozen more still standing and firing away at her with abandon. And standing at the far end of the room was none other than Gruber himself.
If Ruiko was being fair, she would acknowledge that the blue eyed blonde haired man in his well tailored suit looked handsome. But as he was a murderous terrorist targeting her family she was feeling no such compunction.
"Hello you piece of shit," Ruiko greeted the man. "Time to die."
At that, she sent out some of her wings to tear the gunmen apart one by one but made it a point to leave Gruber alone. She wanted to be thorough in destroying the man. After everything he'd put her through in the last two days, she deserved that much.
Gruber just watched with a smirk on his face even as the last of his men died.
"What are you planning, you sick bastard?" Ruiko demanded of the man, her face stoic as she tried to keep her rage in check.
"Oh my dear, it's very simple. After this very public display of over the top violence? People will know just what kind of monster you are now." He looked gleeful. "That careful image you tried to cultivate has crumbled to ruin."
The brunette barked out a laugh. "Really? That's all? As if I care."
"So you say, so you say."
"I do," Ruiko insisted. "After all, what do I care what the fickle public thinks of me?"
"Even if it will make the lives of your family more difficult?"
Ruiko hesitated for a moment at that barb and that was precisely the opening it seemed that Gruber was looking for.
With a flick of his wrist he sent a fast moving dart of energy at Ruiko.
Acting without her conscious intent, one of her wings deflected the attack and sent it flying off to the side.
He's got no AIM field. That means-
"You're a magician!?" Ruiko gasped in shock.
"Indeed." Gruber admitted with a confident smirk. "It took me years to master the skills necessary to do this. But it'll be worth it!"
"That remains to be seen," Ruiko countered, her eyes narrowing. "I've defeated plenty of magicians before."
"I know," Gruber retorted as he swept his hands through the air and sent a barrage of energy darts flying at her. "But they nevertheless remain one of your greatest weaknesses are they not?"
Once again, her wings acted without her thinking about it and automatically moved to deflect the attacks. Even doing so for a bolt that had somehow, magic was bullshit, teleported behind her.
"Those wings of yours are fully autonomous it seems. Impressive." Gruber said with a grin.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't need praise from the likes of you." Ruiko shot back even as she literally fired off a salvo of her version of [Meltdowner]'s Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannon at the man.
Much to her annoyance, the man dove with supernatural speed out of the way.
"Between that and whatever strange aura that you have shrouded yourself with, my curses aren't even affecting you are they?"
Ruiko allowed herself to blink once in confusion at that. He was trying to curse her? She wasn't feeling anything. Then again her body was being suffused by the strange power of her Angel Mode for some reason. Maybe it was protecting her?
Something to research later. Ruiko decided as she conjured a hundred javelins out of Dark Matter and sent them flying in Gruber's direction with some Telekinesis.
"It appears I will have to up my game." The man said as in a feat of impossible acrobatics, he dodged out of the way of the forest of projectiles sent his way even as he activated some new spell. "Oh, mächtiger Erlkönig, höre meinen Ruf! Hören Sie die Geräusche dieser Jagd und lassen Sie die Hunde frei! Lass die wilde Jagd los! (Oh, mighty Erlking, hear my call! Hear the sounds of this hunt and release the hounds! Let loose the Wild Hunt!)"
As he spoke, a glow began to emanate from under his clothes in patterns that Ruiko vaguely recognized as being Germanic in origin and as he finished his invocation the whole suite was suddenly enshrouded in an eerie mist that gave off a toxic green glow. It was from this unnatural mist that stepped forth the wispy shades of Gruber's dead men.
"Some new minions won't help you," Ruiko taunted back even as she had her wings cut the newly summoned shades in half.
Much to her annoyance, whilst her wings easily did so the blasted things simply repaired their bodies the moment her wings finished passing through them, stitching themselves back together by pulling on the ambient mist in the room as they did so.
"We'll see about that, shall we?" Gruber taunted. "Fire!"
At this command, the misty magical constructs opened fire with their spectral guns.
Ruiko's wings reacted instantly, cocooning her in their protective embrace as the magical bolts the shades shot at her battered against them.
"Is this the best you can do?" Ruiko taunted back. "Because I can keep this up all day. You?"
"You think this is all I have in store?" Gruber said from wherever he'd disappeared to. Ruiko having lost his exact position as the room had filled with the magical mist and the shades it brought with it due to them somehow messing with her senses.
"No, but if this is anything to go by then I'm not worried." Ruiko shot back as she used her emulation of Aero Hand to create a blast of air that dispersed all the shades that filled the suite all at once and blasted out all its windows.
Predictably though, the mist defied the laws of physics and clung tenaciously to the room despite the powerful air currents now flowing through the room through the openings she'd created and the shades begin to reform.
Like I always say, magic is bullshit! Ruiko allowed herself the luxury of complaining as she tried to think up some plan to break the current stalemate.
Gruber couldn't hurt her but with the irritating mist and his shades in the way, she couldn't find him either.
If I want to win this, I've gotta understand his magic. Ruiko concluded as she tried to clear the mist again this time by sucking it all away through a wind funnel only for the damned thing to just completely ignore her attempt.
It's got to have something to do with the Erlkönig he mentioned and those patterns I briefly saw glowing under his clothes.
Recalling the memory of those patterns, [Multi Skill] rapidly began analyzing the designs. Pouring all her substantial computational ability into the task and leaving her defense solely to her autonomous wings.
The patterns and shapes! They're related to the Der Erlkönig poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Ruiko realized as she began to see the hidden meaning behind them. They're the lines of the poem in code! Repeated time and again whilst interspersed with various symbols associated with the Erlkönig! They're his Idol!
Her distraction with trying to decipher his magic gave Gruber an opportunity to attack that it seemed he couldn't pass up as he leapt out from behind a wall of his shades with an arm outstretched towards her.
Her wings reacted quickly and tried to intercept him but the mist behaved in a new way and solidified into barriers that blocked them. They shattered easily enough but they nevertheless bought Gruber enough time to lay a hand on the distracted Level 5.
The misty barriers were however not enough to save him from losing the arm he'd touched her with as one of her wings shot down from on high as he leapt back, severing it at the shoulder.
He screamed in agony but Ruiko was too busy collapsing into a crying fetal ball as he did to notice as her mind was bombarded by what seemed like every horrible memory she'd ever had.
Thankfully, it lasted for only a moment before with a burst of prismatic light the curse that Gruber had laid upon her was broken by the mysterious power she was borrowing from her Angel Mode.
"You bastard," Ruiko snarled as she pulled herself back to her feet. "You will pay for that!"
"Worth it." Gruber said with a pained grin as he used some kind of healing spell to close the wound the severing of his right arm had created.
Ruiko strongly disagreed and sent a trio of her wings alongside a barrage of various energy beams at him to make that known but the bastard's mist just hardened into a thick barrier that blocked the attack long enough for him to disappear from her senses once more. All whilst a new army of shades formed to distract her.
Calm. I need to remain calm. Ruiko reminded herself. I can't let him get to my head.
Taking a few deep breaths, Ruiko recentred herself.
Good. So what's the best way to deal with magicians again?
Even as she asked herself the question, a memory of a conversation she'd had with Naru-chan on this topic came to mind and with a smile she recalled their mutual conclusion.
When in doubt, destroy their idol!
With a thought she called on the Hydro Hand ability and had all the water vapor in the air condense into a liquid state. Next she used Thermal Hand to make it scalding hot while simultaneously using Mix Master to change its pH to the point where it would become corrosive.
"Now burn, scream and burn you petty little man." She hissed like a viper, her wings twisting as the corrosive cloudbank she'd created in the room started to eat away at Gruber's skin.
His screams of agony were music to Ruiko's ears.
The way he flailed as his concentration broke and his mist and shades blinked out of existence?
It was delicious. Righteously so. It made her heart swell!
As his idol, a set of tattoos apparently, literally melted away along with the skin they had been inked into, Gruber's screams grew even more intense.
"No snide comeback?" Ruiko asked, with a vicious smirk. "No healing spell to fight off the effects of my attack?"
Ruiko's only reply was more agonized screams.
"Die, sad and alone, you filthy piece of shit." She hissed into the vapors, her wings protecting her from the corrosive cloud of death as she looked down at the melted puddle of flesh and hate.
As for whose hate, Ruiko's or Gruber's, she honestly couldn't tell anymore.
Naru, Mikoto-Sempai and Shirai-chan teleported up to the ruined penthouse suite to see Rui-chan standing over an unrecognizable puddle of melted flesh and bone that must've once been Gruber
The Number 3 looked like something out of a movie. With her tentacle like wings of rainbow light fanning out behind her and writhing in what could only be described as glee, she looked like a pristine avenging angel standing victorious over some vanquished demon.
The only thing that spoiled that image was the way that Rui-chan was fingering the hairpin that Uiharu had given her
"That's what you get for hurting Uiharu," she said as she gave the corpse a vicious kick and dispelled her wings at the same time, causing them to disperse into motes of prismatic light.
As they disappeared however, it seemed like all the energy inside Ruiko's body drained out of her and she stumbled back, thrown off balance by her own kick.
"Rui-chan!" Naru cried out in alarm as she rushed to catch her best friend before she fell.
She was a little too slow though as with a sudden explosion the Number 1 burst into the building and caught his girlfriend.
"Hi Accel, Naru-chan, Sempai, Shirai-san," a slightly delirious sounding Rui-chan said with a tired wave even as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out.
"'Hi'!?" Accelerator growled as he hugged his girlfriend tightly to his chest. "Damnit Ruiko! Is that all you can say?"
"Yo, Accelerator. Get her home. Have the kiddies cuddle with her… She's probably going to need it." Naru advised.
"She wouldn't if she allowed me to fight by her side!" The albino grumbled as he lifted up into the air on a spiraling column of wind with Rui-chan held firmly in his arms.
"And she didn't want you to. What-ifs and all that, just get her home. Please?" The blonde asked nicely.
The Number 1 just nodded and shot out of the room like a speeding bullet.
"Man, looks like Saten-san really went overboard with these guys." Shirai-chan said as she gingerly toed one of the many corpses that filled the suite. At least one that wasn't mostly melted.
"Yeah," Sempai said as she wiped her mouth clean of any leftover vomit. "But can you blame her?"
Huh? Sempai and Shirai-chan aren't making a fuss? That's kinda surprising.
They've been you and Angel girl's friends long enough to know this happens when you two lose your cool. They're used to it.
Didn't stop Sempai from losing her lunch.
Mostly. Kurama corrected with a shrug. It's a work in progress.
"I'll call my cleaner." Naru pulled out her cellphone. "Science knows we're going to take a PR hit for this one, but it's not like we had a choice with what the bad guy wanted. Best not leave evidence like this around though."
"It won't be that bad," Shirai-chan insisted. "They were terrorists and as far as I can tell, outside of a few minor injuries when she blew up the front of the hotel, Saten-san didn't even hurt any innocent people."
"But she did go on a murderous rampage of destruction," Sempai reminded them with a tired sigh. "Justified or not. Restrained or not. That'll scare people."
"Exactly, we need to get the story straight. Trust me, PR is my bread and butter." Naru insisted with a winsome smile. "But that's for later. Let's go to Rui-chan's house and check up on her alright? I want to make sure she's okay."
"Finally!" Sempai exclaimed. "Hurry up and teleport us over already."
"Hai, hai," Naru replied with a chuckle as she and Shirai-chan began the trip to the Kiyama house.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Well, murder angel death time happened! Was it satisfying to Saten? Did it fill the void of her rage? Will extra hugs be needed? Maybe. Then again, this ain't going to blow over anytime soon. The public reaction is going to be… interesting? Yeah, that word.
Nameless: Then again this is Academy City. It's a place where things like a rampaging Level 5.5 right in the middle of a major event like the Daihaisei can be ignored, so whilst there will be PR fallout it won't be as bad as some of you might be expecting. The greatest consequence to all this is to Saten's psyche. She won't regress into [The Robot] but her response, as I'm sure you all can imagine, isn't going to be healthy either.
By the way, anyone out there who liked our little dig at how Touma always just stumbles onto the scene for one Incident after another? Yeah, yeah, he's super unfortunate thanks to the Imagine Breaker but that excuse to justify plot contrivance only works for so long! At least try and justify some of his interventions more! Though, I will admit this is less of a problem in later arcs. But still! It never completely goes away!
E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!