Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Fifty Eight: Selene Denied
Beta:
"Superintendent, I have to talk to yo-"
"About Ladylee kidnapping your girlfriend?" Aleister Crowley asked as he floated upside down like always inside his test tube in his hidden sanctum in the heart of the Windowless Building.
"She's what!?" Naru shouted, her eyes going wide in shock.
"Yes, she did so a few moments ago. She's sent her to one of the black prisons." The General Superintendent of Academy City informed her. "It seems she doesn't want her in Endymion quite yet. Probably something to do with the ritual she is attempting to work. Timing perhaps."
"Where is she?" Naru growled out, her fury at the situation overcoming her even though she knew better than to show it in front of the Silver Star.
"Calm yourself." The cool tone of Crowley said, washing over her like ice water. "I have already emailed you the location."
"...Thank you." Naru said in a soft tone.
"No thanks are necessary." Aleister told her. "It is merely needed intelligence for your mission."
"Mission?"
"Ladylee has gone rogue." The floating man in the test tube elaborated. "Or more accurately has always been a rogue element in this City, but I tolerated her schemes until now because of the resources she brought into it. However, now she has gone too far. I had believed her little ritual simply required the Endymion, but it's more than that. Based on the last minute modifications to the ritual elements that her robots are making throughout the structure, it seems she intends to use not only the two halves of the Saint of Miracles to fuel her ritual. She also intends to sacrifice the ten thousand or so attendees and participants in the space elevator's opening ceremony as well. The City cannot afford to let such a massacre happen on its grounds. Stop her."
"I'll have her locked up so she can live forever in a cell to be experimented on. After all, it's just what she's earned for her stupidity."
"Good, I do not like being played for a fool, Naru. Get her and break everything in her as you do so."
"And afterwards?"
"Afterwards, I shall show her what the curse of immortality really means."
The Level 5 could only smile. She couldn't wait to see what fate was in store for the immortal. But that could wait. She had a girlfriend to rescue first.
"I'll be back shortly, Superintendent." She told the man before she teleported away.
"Shu-chan, my girlfriend, is here?" Naru asked the man who she had pinned to the wall with a set of earthen bindings.
"Yes," the guard said nodding vigorously eying the dozens of automated Powered Suits - repurposed STUDY leftovers from the Silent Party Incident if their models were anything to go by - that Naru had wrecked nervously.
"If you're lying, I'll fill your marrow with lava." The blonde threatened softly. "And I'll make sure you live in agony for the rest of your days."
"She is! She is!" The man assured her in wide eyed panic. "It's why you came here, isn't it?"
"Yeah, the Superintendent sent me here." Naru said with a nod. "But I want to double check."
Especially since I didn't have time to double check with Rui-chan. Naru thought. She trusted Crowley's intel as far as she could throw the Windowless Building! He only ever told the truth when it suited his ends and it was never easy to discern what those might be.
"So what cell is she in?" She asked, gesturing down the hall of the the off-book prison masquerading as a private salon.
"Room twelve!" The guard shouted. "She's in room twelve!"
"You lot didn't touch her? Because if you did…" The Level 5 trailed off threateningly.
It wouldn't be the first time guards abused their authority or the scientists attached to a prison facility wanted to experiment.
"No! We didn't!" The guard reassured her. "Ladylee-sama warned us not to even try. She said she needed her in perfect shape. You can go see for herself."
"Good. She better be or…"
"She's fine. Fine! Really!"
Naru nodded and turned to walk towards the cell when suddenly the door to the salon burst open behind her. Spinning around she found a squad of Black Crows storming in.
"You guys here to stop me?" Naru asked hesitantly. Shu-chan loved her men and so she was leery of hurting them. But if they were here to stop her, she'd not hesitate to beat the crap out of them. "Because I am not feeling nice enough today to hold back."
"No ma'am." Crow Two said, looking firm. "We're here to save Crow Leader. And we need to be quick. We don't know why Ladylee didn't bring Crow Leader to Endymion-"
"She needs her to only show up at a certain time." Naru explained. "It's part of the ritual. The Superintendent gave me the bare bones of how it works."
Crow Two nodded and continued. "So she'd send something to secure her again soon?"
"Maybe, maybe not." Naru said with a shake of her head. "Let's go get her."
Crow Two nodded and his team followed behind him as she led the way to the cell that Shutaura was held in, indicating it with a nod towards the appropriate door. Naru prepared to rip the door open but Crow Two raised his hand to stop her.
"...Explain." Naru demanded from the leading agent, after she counted to three and curbed her urge to tear him to pieces.
"Crow Leader is our leader. Let us do this." The paramilitary agent said as one of his subordinates rushed to put a breaching charge on the door.
"Fine~!" Naru said with a growl. "Just hurry up."
The Crow at the door nodded and activated the detonator before pushing everyone back to a safe distance. Seconds later, the charge went off blowing the locking mechanism for the door to pieces. Immediately, a pair of Crows rushed forward and pulled the ruined door open.
"Crow Two," Shu-chan greeted as she stepped out of the surprisingly luxurious cell that she'd been confined within. "Naru-chan."
"Sorry about not shutting down the AIM Jammer." Naru said apologetically. "Your Crows showed up before I could."
"Don't worry about it," Shu-chan said as she pulled her into a tight hug that Naru eagerly returned. "I'll be fine once we leave here?"
"Yeah," Naru nodded.
"Good. Ladylee got my father killed." Shu-chan whispered coldly as she pulled away. "I want to ruin everything she ever held dear."
"I'll help." Naru said, causing Shu-chan to look to her in surprise so she quickly added. "Crowley ordered me to help."
Shu-chan frowned but nodded, before turning to her Crows.
"Black Crows?"
"We're with you ma'am." Crow Two said, as he and the other paramilitaries there saluted her.
Shu-chan nodded.
"Then let's go make Ladylee pay." She said to eager nods from everyone.
Accel and Ruiko were on a date at one of the many cafes that dotted the City and were enjoying some drinks - Coffee for him and tea for his girlfriend. - as they sat in its outdoor dining area at a wrought iron table. It was a pleasant summer day and they were seated next to a park which offered a nice, calming view.
Not that Accel noticed much of that. He had a much nicer view to look at than some scenery.
"Shouldn't you be wearing your school uniform?" Accel teased his girlfriend. "Doesn't Tokiwadai have a rule about always wearing it?"
Yup, Ruiko was not dressed in her Tokiwadai uniform today. And as cute as he thought that made her look, he appreciated it. She looked absolutely delicious in the yellow and white striped, collared blouse and grey skirt she was wearing for the day.
She is really dressing to impress huh? Accel thought with a grin. I know she usually likes her skirts longer than what she has on today.
Not that he was going to complain that Ruiko was feeling daring. Her legs were a sight to behold and he loved getting the chance to ogle them.
Don't forget she's still only twelve! A voice that sounded too much like that pesky Yomikawa reminded him and he hastily pulled his eyes away from Ruiko's gorgeous legs to her blushing face that was sporting a pleased grin. I know the pest is right, but damn is it hard to remember that when Ruiko is going out of her way to rev my engine.
"I thought you'd like it." Ruiko told him, still blushing. "Do I look good?"
"You didn't need to dress up for me." He told him with a roll of his eyes. "I think you look good whatever you're wearing."
Much to his consternation, instead of getting a positive response from his girlfriend, she instead pouted at him.
Shit! I screwed up. Time to course correct.
"But!" He said hastily. "I appreciate the effort you put in. You look great today! Better than usual!"
Ruiko offered him a shy, pleased smile and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"So the Daihaisei is coming up," Ruiko asked with an inquisitive look. "You competing, Accel? You're still nominally registered as a Nagatenjouki Academy student, right?"
"Nominally." Accel stressed. "I ain't gonna waste my time competing for a school I don't attend. Besides I'd have a medical exemption even if I was asked to."
Ruiko glanced at his cane which was leaning against their table and nodded.
"So you can cheer me on in the stands then. With the girls?"
"Uh, sure. Of course I would. I'll keep the gaggle in one place. Someone has to." He smirked with an amused look.
"Thank you, Accel. I'll be sure to show off for you and the girls, so you guys can have something to really cheer for."
"We'd cheer for you either way." Accel reassured her.
"Oh?" Ruiko said, shooting him a coy look. "Is that because I'll be in my gym clothes? Want to ogle me when I'm dressed up like that?"
"Ain't my fault they make those uniforms so streamlined." The albino shrugged.
Ruiko giggled.
"You do know you won't be the only one who gets to see me walking around dressed like that, right? Everyone will."
"I know," Accel said with a shrug. "But I don't exactly get much chance to actually ogle you when you're being sexy in public and not get scolded for it-"
"Yoshikawa-san and Yomikawa-san?"
"And the brat." Accel added with a nod. "So I'll take what I can get. Besides, it won't be only me ogling you."
"And you're okay with that?" Ruiko asked with a frown.
"I have enough confidence in myself to know they can only ogle but I'm the only one you'd allow to do more than that. Right?"
Ruiko's happy nod had Accel smiling with pride.
"Besides, at least it ain't like the Usagi. Doesn't she have a cult following or something? People take pics of her doing something as simple as buying a soda."
"They do," Ruiko agreed. "Sometimes being less popular helps. That said, I do have some fans too. Not as many but I do. Don't kill them, okay?"
"Only if they don't cross the line." Accel told her honestly. "If they do-"
"Then as my boyfriend, go ahead and beat them to a bloody pulp. No killing though." Ruiko reminded him. "We don't need more trouble from the Board."
"Yeah, yeah. Restraint will be my middle name." Accel said with a roll of his eyes.
Ruiko giggled at his joke and Accel smiled in satisfaction.
He was just trying to come up with something to say to keep the conversation going when suddenly Ruiko's phone rang and with a frown on her face, she pulled it out of her skirt pocket to see who had interrupted their date.
"It's from Mikoto-sempai," Ruiko said, her frown deepening.
"She knows you're on a date?" He asked and Ruiko nodded. "Then answer it. She knows better than to interrupt if it wasn't important."
He might not think all that highly of the [Railgun] when it came down to a fight. She was second tier trash when it came down to it. But she was a good friend as far as he could tell from both his limited personal experience with friendship and interactions with her.
Ruiko looked surprised by what he said, but offered him a smile before doing as he suggested.
"Mikoto-sempai?" Ruiko asked, sounding just a tad bit annoyed. "What is it? I'm on a date."
Whatever the [Railgun] had to say, got Ruiko's eyes to widen in shock for a brief moment before she nodded.
"We'll be right there." Ruiko said firmly as she hung up.
"What happened?" Accel said as he gulped down the rest of his coffee - It was a good brew and he wasn't about to let it go to waste - before standing.
"Tangleroad just kidnapped Naru-chan's girlfriend and is attempting something with Endymion that might destroy the City."
"So basically except for kidnapping Number 2's girlfriend, it's a Tuesday?" He asked jokingly.
"Pretty much," Ruiko said with a shrug before she reached over and grabbed his arm. "Let's go save the City."
"Let's." Accel agreed as she teleported them to the base of the space elevator.
Riding one of the maglev high speed trains used as transport throughout the space elevator up the base section of Endymion to the first major observation deck cum interchange to the trains that would take them up to the top, Naru looked to Shu-chan for confirmation of what they'd likely face.
"So she'd almost certainly have something waiting for us at the interchange." Naru observed. "More than the Powered Suits she salvaged from Silent Party at least."
"Definitely," Shu-chan agreed and Crow Two nodded. "And it could be anything. The interchange is designed, among other functions, to serve as a collection point for goods going up and down the elevator so it's a massive open area. Which means-"
"She'd have more than enough space to deploy who knows what against us." Naru said with a sigh. "Any chance she might be there?"
"No," Shu-chan said with a shake of her head. "The ritual is centered at the Relay Station at the top of the elevator. She'd be there."
"So whatever's at the interchange will be there just to delay us?"
"More likely it will be designed to delay you and us, Naru-sama." Crow Two corrected. "She needs Crow Leader up top, but the rest of us-"
"Are hindrances she'd rather not be there." Naru nodded in understanding. "I can only wonder what toys she possibly could have for me."
"Sirs! We're almost there!" One of the lesser Crows shouted, and the three of them nodded and split up to get ready.
It's time to rumble. Naru thought as the scenery outside the train windows changed from wispy clouds to the darkness of space illuminated by the light reflected off the Earth's atmosphere and the artificial light from Endymion. Kurama. Be prepared for anything.
I should be the one telling you that. The demon fox replied with a snort as Naru, Shu-chan and the Crows advanced cautiously off the train and into the cavernous hall that served as the interchange. The roof must've been at least half a mile above their heads and there were literal buildings built inside it, a whole small town full of warehouses on one side and the full amenities of a tourist town on the other.
"This sight never fails to amaze me." Naru commented absently.
"Same." Shu-chan as her spider tank rolled up next to her. "The rest of my men and our equipment are off the train. I've sent scouts ahead. Whatever Ladylee left to delay us, it's not shown itself yet."
"Any sign of civilians?"
"Some," Shu-chan replied, sounding worried. "Thankfully since this is only the first day that Endymion is in operation there aren't as many of them as there could be."
"Most of them are probably up at Relay enjoying the opening ceremony."
"That too. Regardless, my men have started evacuating those on this level just like they have the ones below."
"Good," Naru nodded. "Now if only that bitch springs her trap already so we can smash it to pieces!"
Almost as if on cue, there was a rumble and they all spun to see one of the warehouses explode and a giant step out of the wreckage.
"Holy crap…" Naru admitted as she witnessed what that immortal loli designed to delay her.
It was certainly some kind of automation, though it was shaped like a Buddhist Asura. And from the whiff of divine energies seeping from it, the immortal bitch managed to stick one of those gods into this testosterone heavy shell. At ten feet tall, three wicked look faces looking off in different directions and six bulging arms that'd snap a regular joe, it was a sight to behold.
"Okay." Naru cracked her knuckles, a feral grin on her lips. "Let's dance and see where enlightenment got you, ya hunk of metal."
Kurama let out a growl of annoyance, but didn't seem to comment why. Meh, they all had their distastes. Asuras were apparent Kurama's.
"Naru-"
"No," Naru shouted at her girlfriend before she could finish whatever she was saying. "You and the majority of your Crows keep heading up. I'll handle this. Just leave behind some guys to continue with the evacuation. Take the rest with you."
"But-"
"Doubting me? I'll demand extra kisses for that once I break this doll." Naru smuggly informed her as a blade of Chakra formed in her hand.
"Y-You'll get them." Shu-chan assured her, stuttering slightly in embarrassment. "I'll see you later."
"Count on it!" Naru shouted as with a quick application of her version of Move Point, the blonde was above the construct and swinging her blade of chakra in a bid to carve off one of its faces.
The esoteric energy collided with some type of divine shielding, sparks flying as the eyes of the face she'd attacked swiveled to stare up at her. They glowed brightly as fiery energy blasted from them.
"Shit!" The blonde exclaimed as she twisted to the side, a portion of the left side of her uniform burned through entirely as the unexpected eye beams took a chunk of her skin.
"Those aren't cheap, you know!" Naru shouted angrily as she leapt at the automaton and kicked it hard, causing it to stagger from her monstrous strength.
It tried to retaliate by swatting at her with its powerful arms, but Naru teleported out of the way to recover for a bit.
Hissing in annoyance, her flesh knitted back together nearly effortlessly and within seconds there was no sign of her injury beyond some slightly raw looking skin. "Yeah, that felt like a divine blast. Okay, no more nice Esper."
It seemed the automaton was of a similar mindset as it upped the intensity of its attack by firing beams from all its eyes at Naru.
"Catch me if you can!" Naru taunted as she used a quick series of teleports to evade the automaton's eye beams when they suddenly cut off abruptly. Glancing behind her, Naru saw why. Her teleporting had put her directly in between the automaton and Shu-chan who was busy leading the bulk of her forces to the trains heading further up Endymion.
"Guess the loli hag doesn't want you to hurt Shu-chan, huh?" Naru noted. "On that I guess we can agree. Won't stop me from wrecking you though, you tin can! Even if you have excellent taste!"
The golem's only response was to materialize a bow and fire an arrow of divine energy at Naru. One that as she teleported to evade it, she was annoyed to discover had homing properties.
"Like Rui-chan always says, 'magic is bullshit!'" Naru whined as she hurled a lance of Kurama's chakra at the arrow, causing both to dispel each other in a powerful explosion that shook the whole of Endymion.
"Fuck yes to demonic energy. Come on, holy can. Let's rip you open!" The Number 2 said in a graveled tone as she flashed her canines and her nails extended even as a shroud of vermillion energy wrapped itself around her body.
If the automaton was intimidated, it did not show it. Instead with the calm that befit a machine, it dismissed the bow and replaced it with a warhammer. One that radiated divine energy and which it promptly slammed into the ground, shaking the whole space elevator and sending a wave of energy surging towards Naru.
Naru responded by simply roaring, channeling all of Kurama's demonic power into it. The chakra infused soundwaves slamming into and negating the tsunami of holy power but not before once more violently shaking Endymion.
"You don't care for the civilians here at all do you, holy can, Tangleroad?" Naru concluded with a growl as the automaton dismissed its warhammer and replaced it with a sword in each hand. She ignored it though, instead watching as the many civilians, hundreds of them, still on the floor, scrambled to flee under the guidance of the Black Crows who had been left behind to assist them. "Well, you know what I do to monsters like you? I break them!"
With that angry declaration, Naru leapt at the Asura automaton.
"Shit, the entire place is shaking. What's going on up there?" One of the Anti-Skill officers asked as he fired upon the defenses set up by Tangelroad at Endymion's entrance.
"Who cares? Just focus on the asses in front of us." A member of the Black Knights told him.
Anti-Skill had cordoned off the base of Endymion just like the Board of Directors had ordered and was coordinating its evacuation. They however had no idea what was going on and were even more confused when the Black Knights led by Zero himself had arrived to assist them in their efforts.
Despite Aiho vouching for them, her Anti-Skill colleagues had been uneasy to get help from what amounted to hooligans at worst, vigilanties at best, but were forced to do so when Endymion began to shudder dangerously and it became clear the damned thing could be collapsing. With the scale of the possible disaster, they had finally set aside their concerns and accepted the help offered by the well organized and equipped group. Something Aiho, at least, was particularly thankful for when Tangleroad suddenly activated the space elevator's defenses and had them open fire on everyone indiscriminately.
"This is a delaying tactic," Zero observed to Aiho and his second in command as they and a mixed group of Anti-Skill and Black Knights helped protect a group of civilians as they fled to safety. "She doesn't want us interfering with whatever she's doing inside."
"Not like we have the firepower to get through this slog anyway." Aiho grunted as she checked her phone. "Good thing we got some outside help for that."
"Who?" Zero's second in command asked as she used her Hydro Hand ability to bash an automated Powered Suit to pieces with water whips she'd formed from the liquid inside the water bag she carried on her back.
"Who else but the best?" The Anti-Skill officer told her with a smirk.
Without fanfare the Trinity Crew plus Accelerator arrived on the scene. The Number 1 swept up at least a dozen Powered Suits into a tornado and shredded them. The Number 5 used her railgun in quick succession and blasted apart at least a dozen more. Their friend, the Teleporter, filled eight automated turrets with explosive nails that reduced them to scrap whilst the Number 3 hacked and disabled the remainder of their enemies.
"Someone blow them up before Ladylee reactivates them." Saten Ruiko said with a frown. "The bitch's programming has a shit ton of failsafes against unauthorized shutdown, including automatic reactivation protocols."
This was met with a chorus of agreement from the various combatants in the area as they happily wrecked the hapless machines that had been giving them so much grief just moments ago.
It took them a few minutes to clear Endymion's entrance of active hostiles but once that was done, Aiho, the Trinity crew and the Black Knights leadership convened in the command tent that had been set up, leaving the continuing evacuation of civilians from the space elevator to the men, so they could discuss the situation.
Maybe now, I'll finally get an idea on what the hell is going on.
"Is your family up there for the opening ceremony?" Misaka-san asked the [AIM Sovereign].
"My family decided against it in the end. Kaasan couldn't get enough tickets and we didn't want to go if everyone couldn't go. We're going on a picnic in the mountains of District 21 next weekend instead."
"That's good." Aiho chimed in. The Mercenary Terrorist Incident was proof enough of what the Number 3 would do if her family was in danger and it was something Aiho hoped to never have to see again. "By the way, where's Namikaze-san?"
"Inside," Shirai-san said, thumbing at Endymion behind them. "She and Sequenzia-san, along with the Black Crows are climbing it to stop Tangleroad's plan."
"Knowing her, those shockwaves are her doing. Somehow." The [Railgun] snorted with amusement.
"Probably," Uiharu-san said from her recently arrived combat drone. "Though they are evacuating the inside of the elevator as they go. And I'm sure she's not doing it on purpose. So let's not blame her too much."
"Hey, is this thing working? Anti-Skill, respond?" A voice asked over the speaker of the radio in the corner of the tent that had suddenly come to life.
"Leader, you have to say 'over' when you're done, like in the movies." Another voice, a girl this time in contrast to the man from earlier, said.
"Oh. Over?" The first voice said.
"I recognize that voice," Saten-san said, glaring at the radio. "Stiyl Magnus is that you?"
"Is that the [Army Slayer]?"
"Don't call her that!" Shouted almost everyone in the tent.
"Gah! Fine, fine! Yeah, it's me. We're enroute to assist. Just make sure the guys with guns don't point them our way."
"Sure," Saten-san said dismissively. "Just don't have your Saint try to cut me to pieces this time."
"It was the one time!" The man, Stiyl apparently, said with a groan. "And we mistook you for the enemy! We apologized! Uh, over."
"And these guys are who exactly?" Aiho asked the brunette.
"Magical cabal of the Anglican Church that's visiting the City on business. They're allies."
Accelerator and Aiho both shot Saten-san disbelieving looks at her calling these unknowns magicians. No one else did though and that gave the Anti-Skill officer pause.
Don't tell me… Magic is real isn't it? Damnit! As if this world wasn't crazy enough already.
"Low key please! ...Over."
"And them trying to kill you?" Misaka-san asked, sparks arcing off her body erratically.
"Water under the bridge. Though their Saint is really stab happy. She's a freak." Saten-san said with a smirk.
"I can hear you, but you know that." A female voice said over the radio.
"That's for attacking me without even doing a friend or foe ident check." Saten-san shot back. "Next time we share a battlefield, be more professional."
"For the thousandth time, sorry!" The man said, irritably. "And people ask me why I smoke."
"You should just save it, Saten-san holds grudges like Thorgrim Grudgebearer." Uiharu added to the surreal conversation, which much to Aiho's disappointment was being treated by the Trinity crew as completely normal.
"Figures," the man said with a sigh. "And nice Warhammer Fantasy ref."
"Thank you." The infamous Goalie said, sounding pleased.
"There," Saten-san said suddenly as everyone's phones beeped. "I've sent you photos of the five Necessarius' agents. Don't attack them. Disseminate it to your men if you have them."
"Ruiko, you're sure we can trust these 'magicians'?" Accelerator asked, his eyes narrowed probably furious at having to work with people who had tried to kill his girlfriend in the past.
"We have the same goals. As long as we do, we can trust them."
"What are those goals exactly?" Zero asked, cutting through to the heart of the matter.
"Well, first off, Tangleroad is trying to work some kind of dangerous magic at the top of Endymion but Naru-chan and the Black Crows have that handled."
"Also just to double check, do we have eyes on [Imagine Breaker]?" The magician named Stiyl asked.
Saten-san froze for a moment before palming her face in exasperation.
"...Oh fuck me."
"He's up there, isn't he?" Misaka-san said with a sigh.
"Yeah," Saten-san said with a sigh of her own. "The Superintendent sent him up there in one of the Ballistic Slider space shuttles."
"That hero always ends up in these messes huh?" Accelerator said, chuckling.
There were nods from everyone there.
"Okay, back on topic." Zero's second in command said. "We can leave dismantling the ritual to those already inside Endymion. What do we do?"
"Endymion is collapsing." Saten-san said, glancing at the space elevator behind them as if to check for a moment. "Those shockwaves have caused structural damage which in turn has upset the delicate equilibrium that keeps it standing and if we do nothing, it'll fall onto the City destroying large parts of it and killing untold numbers of people."
"Doesn't it have self-repair systems?" Uiharu-san asked.
"It does. Tangleroad repurposed them to attack us." Zero said with a shake of his head. "They're the robot army we've been fighting so far."
"Which means we either repair it ourselves, something we cannot do in the time we have." Saten-san informed them with a frown. "Or we activate Endymion's failsafe for just this situation."
"We need approval from the Board of Directors for that." Zero pointed out.
"Uh, Yomikawa-san?" Tessou-san, one of her Anti-Skill colleagues, said hesitantly as she came in. "We just got a message from HQ. They said 'blow the bolts', whatever that means."
"Awfully good timing," Accelerator noted suspiciously.
"Not really, I called Oyafune-sama to ask her to get their permission whilst we were talking." Saten-san said with a shrug. "Okay, now we have permission. We can launch the elevator into space."
"Wait what!?" Aiho asked, flabbergasted.
"It's Endymion's ultimate failsafe." Misaka-san explained. "In the event of a collapse or other emergency of a similar scale, Endymion is fitted with systems that are designed to launch it into space on an escape trajectory."
"It's included in the safety measures portion of its promotional materials." Shirai-san added.
"Do we have access to these systems?" Zero asked, looking towards Endymion.
"Most of them. However, the three explosive bolts, specially designed shaped explosive charges that were built into the base of the space elevator, are resisting all external commands to activate them. I've been trying to activate them since I got the go ahead." Saten-san said with a shake of her head. "Without triggering them, we can't carry out the launch."
"She's essentially blocked off all access, correct? Ladylee must have allowed access to the other systems to hide that the key failsafe is disabled." Shirai-san said with a frown. "That sneaky bitch."
"Plus she probably doesn't want us to interfere with whatever ritual she's got going on. Why can't anything ever be simple when we come to this nuthouse of a city?" Stiyl added with a growl.
"That's our charm point." Zero jested with bemusement. "We most likely will have to trigger the bolts manually. In fact, probably at the same time as well or with a very small margin of error, to get the blast just right."
"Psh, we can manage that just fine." Accelerator grunted as he flicked on his choker. "Let's get this shit show on the road, people."
"I guess we should've expected she'd throw more of her robots at us." Accel noted as he used Redirection to tear the robots standing in their way apart with the very bullets and energy beams they were firing at them.
"Yes, though I could do without her copying my designs." Ruiko replied as she noted with annoyance how mixed in among the repurposed former STUDY Powered Suits that made up the majority of Ladylee's forces were also knockoffs of the combat drones she'd gifted Uiharu.
"Well, you know what they say about imitation." Accel said with a shrug. "It's the highest form of flattery."
We're still only encountering robots. Anyone run into anything else? Ruiko asked the leaders of the other insertion teams and got negative replies.
"This is flattery I could do without," Ruiko shot back as she used a burst of Telekinesis to literally dissemble all the three dozen or so robots in their way.
"Now you're just showing off," Accel said with a smirk. "I like it."
"Thank you," Ruiko said with a slight blush at the praise. "Oh, and I've checked in with the others. They've run into these robots. Just like expected."
"They having trouble?" Accel asked as they sauntered down the corridor, clearing a path through the plethora of robot parts that now covered the floor with gusts of wind.
"A little," Ruiko said with a nod. "But nothing that they can't handle."
"So no sign of any surprises?"
"No," Ruiko said with a shake of her head. "Just robots. We're not the main show. I doubt Ladylee would bother preparing anything special for us. Not when just throwing conventional robots to delay us would work just as well."
"Che, she's underestimating us."
"More like she's just being practical." Ruiko countered. "And looks like the robots have regrouped enough to attempt to engage again. Let me handle it this time."
"As my lady demands," Accel said with a gracious bow that had Ruiko giggling even as she stepped forward and unleashed a storm of exotic energies at the robots trying to waylay them.
"Looks like these robots are all she has," Yomikawa-san informed Zero, Fennette-san, Kuroko and Mikoto herself as Ruiko cut off her telepathic communication.
"Looks like," Mikoto agreed before turning to look at the Sisters who had arrived as they were entering into Endymion and then insisted on coming along. "So you all aren't really needed here."
"Onee-sama should not try to turn away military power when engaging in an operation, Misaka counters." Military Otaku said as she and the other Sisters added the weight of their firepower to the fire that the combined Anti-Skill and Black Knight members of the insertion team sent downrange at the robots opposing them.
"You lot shouldn't be putting yourselves into danger unnecessarily." Mikoto insisted as she distractedly shot a railgun into a particularly tightly packed group of Ladylee's robots, destroying them.
"Onee-sama, maybe we should focus on the fight instead?" Kuroko suggested as she took out a pair of the knockoffs of Uiharu's drones with her explosive nails, depriving the enemy of the majority of their heavy weapons.
"I gotta agree with Shirai-san here, Misaka-san." Uiharu added as her drones blasted away at the remaining robots in their way, suppressing them with their heavy energy weapons and allowing the rest of their team to advance a little.
"I've gotta agree with your friends here also." Yomikawa-san said as she took a break to reload her assault rifle.
"The same," Zero added as he finished giving orders for his men to toss some grenades at a bunch of newly arrived robots to soften them up before everyone opened up on them.
"Fine~!" Mikoto said, pouting at being piled on by everyone.
"But," she added, shooting the Sisters a stern look. "We're talking about this later."
As one the Sisters gulped but nodded.
Satisfied, Mikoto returned her full attention to the robotic army keeping them from their objective.
"Get out of our way already, you stupid tin cans!" She shouted, venting her anger at her sisters' recklessness into a powerful wave of electricity that shut down all the robots for a good hundred meters down the corridor they were advancing down.
"And that's why we didn't make an enemy of the Trinity." Fennette-san said with a nervous chuckle as Zero and Yomikawa-san nodded.
Mikoto ignored them and just marched ahead.
The sooner they got this done, the sooner she could give her sisters the scolding they rightly deserved.
"Master Stiyl, at this rate there's nothing for us to do!" Mallybath whined on behalf of herself and her fellow apprentice witches as they advanced down the corridor to the explosive bolt that was their target.
"And that's a problem?" Stiyl asked, genuinely confused as he tossed a few more rune cards ahead of them to allow Innocentius to advance whilst said fire elemental reduced another group of robots into slag with its flames.
"We're supposed to be shadowing you on this mission to gain field experience." Marie argued. "How is doing nothing helping us gain that experience?"
"Nanasen," Kanzaki whispered the name of her technique as she used her wires to cut a group of robots to pieces before she turned to address the trio of overeager girls. "Sometimes observing your seniors as they complete their tasks is more than enough."
"But-" Jane began but Stiyl shut her up by flicking the butt of his finished cigarette at her and pulling another out of his pack.
"This was supposed to be a non-combat mission," Stiyl reminded the brats. "So keeping you out of it is the right thing to do. The last thing I want to do is explain to Archbishop Stuart that you three got hurt on my watch when there wasn't supposed to be any fighting."
"But there is fighting. I'm sure her excellency would understand." Mallybath said, even as Stiyl directed Innocentius to destroy a trio of robots trying to flank them from behind using a side passage, causing the elemental to wink out of existence only to reform directly in front of the offending machines which it promptly melted with a fireball.
"Not taking the risk," Stiyl said firmly. "Stop asking. If I didn't think you three would run off and do something stupid if I didn't bring you along, I'd have left you back at the safehouse."
All three apprentices winced at the rebuke and rightfully so. They had not impressed him on this mission so far and he'd happily tell their superiors that when he got back to London.
"Stiyl, we can discipline them later." Kanzaki said as she danced back to their little group after having sliced one of the enemy heavy weapons drones in half with Shichiten Shichitou. "Do not forget that we're in combat."
"Yeah, against piss poor opposition which if the [Ar-], uh sorry, [Multi Skill] is right is all we're likely to face." Stiyl said, quickly correcting himself on what to call the third ranked Level 5 Esper when Kanzaki shot him a chiding look. "This is a cakewalk."
"Even then," Kanzaki insisted before nodding towards their three tagalongs. "Do not set a bad example for the students."
"Oh fine~! I'll take this more seriously." Stiyl said, taking a frustrated huff from his cigarette and sending Innocentius forward once more to unleash a firestorm to clear the way ahead. "There! Happy?"
All he got in reply from his partner was a nod as she too leapt back into the fight.
Women! He said with a mental huff of annoyance.
Ducking under a swing of one of the Asura's six swords, a move that contained so much force behind it that the passage of the blade alone created enough of a gust that her hair was ruffled by it, Naru put all her strength into a kick to strike its robo-ribs. The bot staggered back five feet and the blonde fired a frigid blast of cold at its left arm joints.
The arms were stuck for only a fraction of a second before its divine energy thawed the ice. That was however plenty of time for the Level 5 to roar and slash at it with her corrosive claws, rending its armor.
Sadly, the automaton wasn't damaged much and she was forced to teleport away before its counterattack skewered her. The six blades slamming into the ground where she once stood so hard that it shattered.
"Grr, this thing is annoying. I'm ripping off one of Ladylee's legs for this." She growled menacingly as she noted that the automation seemed to be just as agitated as she was.
Somehow.
And then the blasted thing roared and its divine energy doubled. Because of course it did.
Teleporting out of the way as a barrage of eye beams rained down on her, Naru fired a barrage of Spiral Forces at its faces, hoping that the spinning orbs of chakra would damage them enough to disable its eye beams or at least hamper its targeting. It didn't go any good though as it simply flared its divine aura and smothered her projectiles before they even got close to its metallic skin.
Wait a minute! It's made of metal! Naru thought as she was hit with an idea. Seems that talk with Sempai is gonna be worthwhile after all.
If it's one thing that sparky girl knows it's her electromagnetic sciences. Kurama agreed with her.
Charging the nature of her chakra to lightning with her Esper ability, fighting through the resistance she always felt when using lightning, she manipulated the electromagnetic fields around the Asura automaton just like Sempai recommended and she'd been practising lately.
Caught in the powerful grip of the electromagnetic vice she'd created, the metallic automaton found itself unable to move. Seeing her opponent at her mercy, the blonde let a wide, feral grin spread across her face as she rushed forward, vermillion energy gathering in her hand as she charged a medicine ball sized Demonic Force.
"DIE!" She snarled as she drove the sphere of swirling demonic chakra into the thing's head, the sheer concentrated power of the technique easily blasting through its divine protection and allowing it to grind first the head, then the chest into broken bits.
"Finally! That was getting annoying." The blonde huffed as she dusted her skirt off and examined the state of her clothes. Her shirt was ruined and half her bra was gone. Frowning, she used her chakra to cover it up in a plate armor chestplate.
Stylish and practical all at once. Naru nodded in approval as she patted down her construct for a second. But I can admire my handiwork later. I've gotta hurry!
With that thought in mind, she ran to find the nearest train heading up to Relay Station. She had a girlfriend she had to make sure was safe from all this madness.
"Ma'am, was it really a good idea to leave the Mobile Weapons behind?" Crow Two asked as he, Shutaura and their men cautiously advanced through the Relay Station towards the Core Room where they were sure Ladylee was hiding.
"We had no choice. They wouldn't have fit through these corridors." Shutaura reminded him as she got the all clear from the squad ahead of them and she, Crow Two and their attached squad leapfrogged ahead of the other squad whilst the other team maintained overwatch.
She waited till they were all safely behind some cover before she continued her reply. "With Ladylee sealing the doors to the cargo shaft up to the Core Room, it would take too long to cut through it."
"I know," Crow Two acknowledged as the other squad ran past them to positions ahead. "But I can't help but feel we'll need the extra firepower."
"You're not the only one." Shutaura returned as they received the other squad's signal and once more moved ahead. "But time is of the essence."
"Crow Leader, this Crow Six. Do you copy?" Shutaura's radio chirped to life with the voice of the leader of the team she'd sent to evacuate the Endymion opening ceremony.
"I copy Crow Six. Report." She said as she toggled the device to speak mode whilst simultaneously moving up to some new cover.
"We've made it to the auditorium and have begun the evacuation." Crow Six reported whilst in the background the other team she'd taken with her ran past Shutaura's position. "I must report Meigo Arisa is not here. I repeat Meigo Arisa is not here. It's an intermission in the concert, but she is not backstage. Her whereabouts are unknown."
"Copy that," Shutaura said, even as she exchanged a look with Crow Two. "Focus on evacuating the civilians."
"Affirmative. Crow Six out."
"Ladylee must've moved her," the man said as they advanced once more.
"To the Core Room," Shutaura said with certainty. "She'll need her there for the ritual anyway."
Crow Two nodded in agreement.
"And lucky us, it's just up ahead." Shutaura said with a smirk of anticipation as she and her men finally reached the doors leading into the aforementioned room.
Doors that much to her annoyance slid open as they approached.
"It seems she's inviting us in." Crow Two said with a frown. "Ma'am, this is-"
"A trap." Shutaura said with a nod. "But we have no choice. We can't turn back now. We don't have time. There's no way we can evacuate Endymion before the ritual is complete. That means we need to stop it and we can only do that by confronting Ladylee."
Crow Two's frown deepened but he nodded as behind them the other team formed up behind them.
"Everyone," Shutaura said, addressing her men. "Be prepared for anything in there. Who knows what Ladylee has prepared for us."
Her men all nodded, showing that they were ready.
Shutaura offered them a proud smile before she adjusted her grip on her assault rifle and led them cautiously into the Core Room.
The chamber they entered was a beautiful space. At the center of the room stood a large crystalline structure that was in turn surrounded by glass work like those that was common throughout Endymion and which Shutaura knew were components of the ritual. Standing just in front of the central crystal was Ladylee and Meigo Arisa. Who according to Naru-chan was Shutaura's own supposed magically separated other half. The latter of whom seemed to be giving the immortal a private performance, one that was triggering the grand ritual that Endymion had been created to carry out if the magic circles that filled the room's floor was any indication.
The idol shrieked in alarm though when she saw Shutaura and her armed men enter the room, but Ladylee just looked pleased.
"Nice of you to join us Shutaura," the immortal greeted and the Level 4 returned it by putting a round into her head, causing the idol to scream.
Ladylee barely even registered the bullet wound though beyond staggering back slightly, instead continuing to speak as if she wasn't missing a good chunk of her head.
"You're right on time too," the demented magic user said with a smirk as her injury healed. "Now that you are, all the ingredients for my ritual are in place."
"I won't let you kill all those people," Shutaura said defiantly as she shot Ladylee's legs out from under her. "I won't let you kill anyone else in your mad quest to die like you did my Father. No more!"
"'All those people'? What do you mean?" Meigo Arisa surprisingly containing her hysterics enough to ask.
"Don't you already know, Arisa-chan?" Ladylee taunted as she pushed herself back onto her feet, the injuries to her legs already healed. "After all, you're the focus of the ritual. Surely, you've grasped at least some of the magic involved as it courses through you."
The idol looked confused for a moment before she gasped in horrified shock.
"All those people at the concert! Everyone in Endymion! You're going to sacrifice them all!"
"Yes! All so that I can finally die!" Ladylee said before breaking into a malicious laugh that Shutaura silenced with a burst from her gun that ripped the immortal's neck to shreds.
"D-Do you think s-shooting me will stop me?" The bitch wheezed out as she healed. "Do you think anything you and your men do here will manage to even hinder my plans?"
"Crow Leader, the explosives are set." Crow Two said as he returned to her side alongside the rest of the Crows who had spread out whilst Shutaura had kept Ladylee distracted to plant explosives all over the Core Room.
"This room is the heart of your ritual. If we destroy it, it'll put an end to everything."
"That's true I suppose," Ladylee said with an unconcerned shrug. "But that's if you manage to detonate it."
If Shutaura was anyone else she would've countered the immortal's statement about how she had her cornered, but she was too professional for that, so she simply gave the order.
"Deto-" She began only for Ladylee to slam her teeth together, triggering something that filled the room with a terrible sound that had Shutaura been a lesser person would've had her covering her ears in pain.
"Like the power of my Bell of Medusa?" Ladylee said with a grin. "It immobilizes anyone who hears the sound of its chiming. Impressive, no?"
"I can move just fine," Shutaura said as she raised her rifle and fired a burst at Ladylee, only for the bullets to bounce off a barrier of magic circles that wrapped around the immortal's body like chainmail.
"Bullets won't cut it against my Nemean Mail, Shutaura." The immortal said as she pulled out a pistol causing Shutaura to dodge out of the way and find cover behind one of the glass sculptures that littered the room. "And I was talking about your men. After all, as one half of the Saint of Miracles such petty magic is hardly going to work on you."
Shutaura looked towards her men and found that much to her dismay, Ladylee was right. They were all standing frozen like statues. The only ones still capable of movement in the room were herself, the blasted immortal and Meigo Arisa. The latter of which had the good sense to run for cover and was hiding behind one of the glass statues.
"Your magic tools won't save you, Ladylee." Shutaura shouted defiantly as she discarded her rifle and pulled out a handful of her rare earth disks. "If bullets won't work, try this!"
With that war cry, Shutaura jumped out from behind her cover and threw her disks at Ladylee. Only to glimpse as she ducked behind another glass statue how thanks to her damnable magical armor the immortal easily weathered the explosions her ability created.
"Why are you even still resisting, Shutaura?" Ladylee asked with a victorious smirk. "You've already lost. With both halves of the Saint of Miracles here, with the thousands of human sacrifices inside Endymion even if they are fleeing like rats, and with myself outside of Earth's atmosphere, I have everything in place. My ritual is already well underway! There is no point to any more futile resistance."
"That's big talk coming from a loli," a familiar spiky haired Level 0 said as he stepped into the room alongside a short silver haired nun in a white habit with gold highlights held together by safety pins of all things. "Nice little dream scenario you've drawn up there. It's such a shame that I'm going to shatter it!"
"Kamijou-san!" Meigo-san said excitedly after he'd finished his declaration and Touma spared enough attention to give her a reassuring nod before he got serious. "Index, go guide those two in using their powers to teleport everyone off this deathtrap just like we discussed back on the shuttle."
Discussed might've been too strong a word. That part of the plan was entirely Index's idea. He'd just nodded along to everything she said as she'd worked it out on the trip.
"Yes Touma," the nun said as she ran towards Meigo-san and Sequenzia-san. "Don't die."
"I'll try not to," Touma said with a chuckle even as he continued his stare down with the evil immortal loli witch that was behind this whole Incident. "Going to shoot me with that gun of yours?"
"Maybe," Ladylee said with a confident grin, looking absolutely certain in her victory. "But I think I'm in no real hurry. Not when I've already won. At this stage, not even you, [Imagine Breaker], can stop me. The ritual is too grand, too powerful for even that right hand of yours to completely negate. But just in case, why don't you play with my failsafe for a little while."
At this she snapped a finger and a section of the room's wall opened to allow a giant, which must've been an automaton of some kind, that looked like the Buddhist demon Mara he'd seen when visiting temples with his parents as a kid to charge out. It was an eight feet tall giant with pitch black skin, three eyes, tusk like teeth that jutted out of the grimace etched into its face. It wore armor adorned with a multitude of skulls, and was riding a golden chariot fronted by a set of swirling blades instead of horses. Not that the lack of animals to pull it seemed to hinder the chariot as it charged straight at him. He would've attempted to use his [Imagine Breaker] to dispel whatever magic was empowering the thing but it had plenty of spikes and blades sticking out of its chariot that would probably cut him to ribbons before he could touch it!
"Fukou da~!" Touma cried out in dismay as he dodged out of the way of its charge, narrowly missing being cut in half by the elongated spike affixed to the wheel hubs of the vehicle.
"Fukou da~!" Index heard Touma shout and almost facepalmed. Seriously, could he pick a better catchphrase? Something more heroic or manly maybe?
The only thing that stopped her from expressing her exasperation was the seriousness of the situation. So instead of letting out her very well deserved annoyance at her guardian's antics, she instead addressed the two halves of the Saint of Miracles standing before her.
"So even though this ritual of Ladylee's ritual won't work as she intends for it to-"
"Oh, and why do you think that?" The aforementioned immortal said as she sauntered over, looking completely unconcerned that she was standing amongst enemies.
Sequenzia-san even moved to attack her with those explosive disks of hers but Meigo-san grabbing her hand stopped her. That or the way Ladylee was pointing her gun at the idol threateningly.
"It's simple," Index said, unfazed by the weapon and turning to face the immortal. "Based on everything that I've learned about your ritual from Stiyl and the others and what I've seen of Endymion myself, even if it is successful, it will not be enough to counter the power of the Ambrosia that granted you your immortality."
"What do you know!?" Ladylee shot back defiantly. "You might be the vessel of 103,000 magical grimoires, but that pales in comparison to the sum of knowledge that I've accumulated in the thousand years that I've lived. This will work!"
"It won't." Index insisted. "Now Sequenzia-san, please get rid of this woman please."
The immortal tried to fire a shot but the Level 4 was faster on the draw and one of her disks had hit the blonde's hand and exploded, shredding it before she could properly line up a shot. This was little more than a minor inconvenience to Ladylee whose hand was already regenerating but it gave Sequenzia-san the time she needed to kick her hard enough to send her flying. A flight she extended by tossing a few more explosive disks in her direction.
"Now that she's out of the way," Index said as if she hadn't just seen someone being sent explosively flying across the room. "Let me get back to explaining to you two how only you can save everyone inside Endymion."
"Crap, crap, crap!" Touma exclaimed as he jumped out of the way of the charging chariot that tried to turn him into mincemeat. Rolling along the ground, he sprung back to his feet and tried to rush the Mara shaped robot - At least he thought it was a robot, though since Ladylee apparently used magic it might be a golem. Not that it really mattered either way. - whilst its back was turned.
Sadly that wasn't in the cards however because it was like the chariot was on some kind of gravity gear as it did a 180 turn on a Yen!
Pivoting on his feet, he dodged out of the way again as the whirling blades nearly took his arm off.
Okay, what do I have to work with? What to do, what to do… get it in the air? The spiky haired teenager thought as he saw some collapsed debris and with a smirk ran towards it.
"Oi! You bucket of bolts! Come and get me!" Hearing the closing sounds of the whirring and grinding blades as the robot chased him, he ran up the ramp of fallen debris and as soon as he made it to the edge, he dropped off and held on.
Robo-Mara rode up the rubble ramp at high speed and just like physics dictated was sent airborne by its momentum. Grinning, Touma let go of the edge and fell to the ground safely, seeing that just like he'd planned the thing couldn't quite react in time to its unexpected air time and had crashed into the ground.
Running over he hoped to catch it before it recovered but the damn thing did so before he could reach it, leaping off the chariot to evade him. For a brief moment he considered taking control of the now abandoned chariot but he quickly shelved the idea. He had no idea how to drive the thing! So instead he just touched it with his [Imagine Breaker] and with the sound of shattering glass, negated the magic that allowed it to move and thus rendering it inert.
"At least that's one thing gone." He grunted and turned to see Robo-Mara eying him. The automaton having deployed a set of disturbingly phallic tipped tentacles that sprouted from its back whilst he'd been dealing with its chariot. Tentacles which were now shooting energy beams at him.
"It has tentacles now!? Fukou da~!" Touma shouted as he dodged the storm of beams shot at him, negating the handful he couldn't evade with his right hand.
At least he wasn't a school girl. That would have made this even more terrifying!
Arisa watched in awe as Sequenzia-san blasted the crazy, apparently immortal, Ladylee flying.
"Now that she's out of the way," The nun that had introduced herself as Index Librorum Prohibitorum or as she preferred Index-san, continued as if the display was completely normal which might just be the case on the side of the world she and Sequenzia-san operated in. "Let me get back to explaining to you two how only you can save everyone inside Endymion."
"And how exactly can we do that? My men are already evacuating it, but there's no way they'll manage to empty it in time before it collapses much less before Ladylee's ritual is complete and it kills everyone." Sequenzia-san said pessimistically.
"Yes," Index-san said with a nod. "Which is why we need the magic of the Saint of Miracles which means the two of you need to become one again."
That struck a chord with Arisa. It shouldn't have and she honestly didn't know why but it did!
"Are you sure that this, this idol," Sequenzia-san said, gesturing at Arisa skeptically. "Is part of me? That I created her with my supposed power as a Saint?"
"After meeting both of you? Yes." Index-san affirmed.
All this was news to Arisa. The others had seemed to mention something along this line earlier, but no one had actually spelled things out clearly like this till now. And now that they had… Arisa knew it was true. She didn't know why she felt this way. But she did. From the very depths of her being, she knew that she and Sequenzia-san were two parts of the same whole. That together they were the Saint of Miracles.
This alien sureness should have scared her. Instead, it just filled her with confidence and determination.
"It's true," she told her other half. "I know it is."
Sequenzia-san looked at her like she was crazy.
She still can't accept the truth. She's in denial. Arisa realized.
"Crazy or not, it's our only option to save the people inside Endymion." Index-san told Sequenzia-san bluntly. "So why not just play along? It's not like we have other options."
"You're sure we have no other options?" Sequenzia-san asked with a raised eyebrow. "We could destroy this room-"
"And kill us all and accomplish nothing." Index-san said with a shake of her head. "Ladylee's ritual is too far along. And once it's complete, it will kill everything inside Endymion. Not even [Imagine Breaker] can stop it. Ladylee has taken it into account and set up the ritual such that it is compartmentalized. Touma could negate one section but another will just reactivate that portion when he moves to another one."
"So there's no way?" Sequenzia-san almost pleaded. "No other options?"
"I'm afraid so," Index-san confirmed.
"You need to stop being afraid, Shutaura," Arisa said, addressing her other half as familiarly as she knew they truly were as she let her feelings and the strange knowing coursing through her guide her words. "I know that you fear what using our magic might mean. What becoming one might lead to."
"And what do you know about that?" Shutaura demanded.
"She's your side as a Saint," Index-san explained. "Your magical abilities made manifest. That includes a deep empathic understanding of others. Add that she's part of you, of course she knows what you're thinking. Especially, since her latent power has been awakened by her activating the ritual."
It had? Well, that explained the tingly feeling I've been feeling since a little while ago.
Arisa nodded even as she kept trying to comfort her other half. "Ever since you heard we were two parts of a whole, you've feared us becoming one again. I'm not just your magic and your love of music, I'm also your fear. The fear you felt as the Orion exploded around you. You always knew you were a little emotionally stunted since Father died. You thought it was because of the trauma, but you know it isn't. It's because I'm those feelings you gave up. You're afraid of taking them back. You're afraid of what rejoining with me will mean for your mind. You're afraid of losing your sense of self. Of being Sequenzia Shutaura. But you don't need to be."
"I don't?" Her other self said, the cool exterior of a warrior she's been wearing up till now crumbling and allowing the vulnerability she hid underneath it to show.
"No," Arisa reassured her. "Not if you don't want to. We're the Saint of Miracles. If we can't work miracles for ourselves then we aren't worth the name. We've done it before when I was created. So trust in our power. Trust in us."
"It didn't save Father."
"No power is omnipotent," Index-san cut in. "Besides, you were a child acting on instinct then. This time, you'll literally have a manifestation of your power guiding you through using it."
"Even if I'm really just winging it," Arisa said offering Shutaura a playful wink.
"It has tentacles now!? Fukou da~!" Kamijou-san shouted and all three of them turned to look as he dodged the storm of beams shot at him, negating the handful he couldn't evade with his right hand that only now with her powers awoken did Arisa realize radiated power on a scale she could barely comprehend.
"We better hurry," Index-san urged. "I don't know how long even Touma can fend that thing off."
"No confidence in his ability to beat it?" Shutaura asked with a frown.
"Oh, he'll beat it. Eventually." Index-san reassured them. "But there's no guarantee he'll manage it before it can interrupt you two while you're working your magic and make things harder."
"Shutaura," Arisa said, grabbing her other half's hands. "She's right. We should hurry while Kamijou-san has whatever that is distracted."
Shutaura nodded. "What do we need to do?"
Arisa blinked for a moment as despite all she'd said she didn't really know. That is until like a miracle, she was hit with a bolt of inspiration.
"Sing with me," she said, smiling invitingly at her other half.
"What? That's stupid. I re-"
"Please Shutaura! Tens of thousands of lives are at stake."
Gritting her teeth, Shutaura nodded and Arisa smiled.
Hands clasped tightly, the two halves of the Saint of Miracles began to sing.
"Unmei no Koukyoukyoku (Destiny's symphony)
Ikue mo no kizuato no (I can see the fates)
Saigo o mitorukara… (Of a myriad of scars…)"
"Watashi wa utaou (And so I sing)
Ima hikari o atsumete (Gathering light to myself)"
It was to these words being sung by the melodious voice of her girlfriend that Naru walked into the Core Room of Endymion.
As she did, she saw Kamijou running around like a chicken with its head cut off as he evaded energy beams shot at him from what looked like a Mara demon - What is with all this Buddhist symbology that Ladylee was using lately. Wasn't she Greek? - with disturbingly phallic headed tentacles growing out of its back.
Naru was just about to move to help the [Imagine Breaker] when Ladylee stepped out from behind some rumble and fired a shot from a pistol at Kamijou's leg, leaving the boy's mobility dead in the water. The automation capitalized on this and shoulder tackled him, sending the spiky haired boy spiraling into the air.
Teleporting behind him, she caught the boy as she kept that damned right arm of his as far as she could from her body and using some fancy acrobatics and bursts of careful bursts of fire, she brought them both in for a safe landing.
Laying him down, she checked him over and was relieved to find that besides having been knocked out and the gunshot wound, really only a graze actually, on his right leg, the poor guy seemed alright.
Propping him against the wall he nearly splatted against, she sighed. "Stay. Good boy."
She turned against the automation and charged at it, firing off Spiral Forces at it as she closed.
"Mugen e kaetta ai o (To grant peaceful rest)
Shizuka ni nemura sete (To the love returned to eternity)" Naru heard Shutaura continue singing in the background and she let the sound of her voice help her keep her cool even as she grew increasingly frustrated at how despite how she was hitting the damn thing with enough firepower to level a mountain, it kept shrugging it off and coming at her firing its pesky beams all the while.
"Just stay down!" Naru snarled as she formed her Panzer Frame around her body and smashed into the tentacle fetish Buddhist demon with a Sudden Impact, the piston enhanced force of the blow, sending it flying.
She wasn't through with her attack yet though and whilst the automaton was still in midair, she shifted to Jager. Using the phenomenal speed of the sleek Demon Frame, she closed the distance with the reeling and still airborne automation in a blink of the eye.
Drawing one of the many corrosive swords available to her in this Frame, she swung it at blinding speeds, delivering over twenty slashes in the span of just three seconds. In the process she managed to cut off several of the automaton's tentacles, but she was forced to teleport away before she could finish it when the remaining ones focused their beams in her direction.
The force of her slashes diverted the momentum of its flight and the Mara automaton dropped to the ground like a stone. It wasn't down for long though and almost immediately jumped back to its feet. But the delay was more than enough time for Naru to switch to Festung and line up and lock-on her Frame's myriad weapons.
"FIRE!" She declared as she unleashed a full salvo of Festung's impressive arsenal. The still recovering Mara-bot was hit dead on and the onslaught proved too much for the construct, leading to its obliteration in a truly epic explosion.
Guess all that practice to speed up switching Frames finally paid off. Kurama commented idly as he admired the scorched remains of the Mara automaton. I give your performance today a 8/10.
Naru mentally flipped the bird at her tenant as she drew the chakra that made up her Demon Frame back into her body and she fell on her back, panting.
Her ears filled with the sweet sounds of her girlfriend's voice as she continued her song.
"Anata e utaou (I sing to you)"
"Kanzaki, do you feel it?" Stiyl asked as he used his flame sword to cut a sneaky little robot that had almost succeeded in getting by him to attack his apprentices in half. "The magic in this song?"
"Yes," the Saint nodded as she used her Nanasen technique to destroy a dozen enemy machines. "It seems the Saint of Miracles is working their magic."
"Seems like," Stiyl agreed. "You three. Done with the spells?"
"Yes, Master Magnus." Marie said as she and her fellow apprentices backed away from the array of explosive spells they'd just finished creating around the bolt - He could see where it got its name. The damned thing looked like a gigantic bolt screw! - that they'd been asked to help blow up. "We've set them to go off at the appointed time."
"Good then, let's go."
"You're sure that's okay?" Mallybath asked nervously.
"Yes," Kanzaki reassured them. "These robots do not possess the means to disable the spells."
"Exactly," Stiyl said as he had Innocentius incinerate another pack of robots. "Now let's get out of here or do you want to get caught up in the explosion when the spells go off?"
All three apprentice witches shook their heads and Stiyl smirked as he and Kanzaki led them out the way they'd come but not before he contacted their allies to let them know they'd done their job.
"Mou nani mo ushinawazu (So that nothing will be lost)."
"The Necessarius magicians just checked in over radio," Zero informed their group which had taken defensive positions around a team of Anti-Skill munitions experts as they set up timed explosives around the bolt they'd been assigned. "They've finished setting up the explosives on their end. How long more on ours?"
"My men are just finishing the last few bombs," Yomikawa-san replied before turning to look at the explosives experts. "How long?"
"Done," the man said as he stepped away from the device he'd been fiddling with just moments ago. "Let's get out of here."
"You lot go," Mikoto said, whilst absently frying the circuits on a dozen incoming robots. "And take my Sisters with you. Kuroko and I will stay to make sure the bombs go off."
"Onee-sama! I must objec-" Military Otaku began only for Mikoto to silence her with a look.
"No, you lot are leaving." Mikoto insisted, even as she looked to her roommate and got a confident nod in reply to her wordless question. "Kuroko will teleport us out at the last minute."
Yomikawa-san looked ready to argue but Zero put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
"Trust them," he urged the Anti-Skill officier. "You know how capable they are."
The teacher sighed but nodded. "Alright, but you two better get out of this or else I'll find a way to punish you for your recklessness."
Mikoto couldn't resist smiling at that.
"We will, Yomikawa-sensei." Kuroko reassured the woman on their behalf.
"Daremoga egao ni nareru (So that everyone can smile)"
As she watched the rest of their team leave, Mikoto turned to Kuroko.
"Shutaura-san's singing voice is pretty nice, huh?"
"Yeah," Kuroko agreed as she took out a pair of adventurous Powered Suits that were trying their luck now that almost everyone had left. "It really is."
Mikoto just nodded as she sent a lightning bolt to take out a heavy weapons drone.
"Tashikana hibi ga (So that we can live our lives)"
"Where the hell is this singing coming from?" Accel complained as he and Ruiko lounged on top of the explosive bolt they'd be destroying shortly.
"It's Sequenzia-san," Ruiko explained as she reduced a squad of Ladylee's robots to slag with a fireball. "She's using her magic."
"To what? Give us some musical accompaniment?" Accel snorted as he redirected a particle beam back at the robot which had shot it at them, destroying it.
"It's the prelude to her working a spell, I imagine." Ruiko said with a shrug. "Magic isn't my cup of tea. It's more Naru-chan's wheelhouse."
"I can totally see the Usagi being in charge of magic shit." Accel said, rolling his eyes. "She's gullible enough to believe it's real."
It's amusing to watch his denial in action. Ruiko thought as she hummed noncommittally. She was too amused by Accel's continuing denial of the existence of magic to hammer it home to him that it was truly real.
"So you sure we can tank the explosion?"
"We should," Ruiko assured him. "Between my barriers and your Redirection, we should weather it fine. And perchance should my calculations be wrong, I'll just teleport us out. I'm fast enough on the draw with that to get us out in time."
"Okay, just checking." Accel nodded. "How long more?"
"Just a few more minutes."
"Should've brought along a coffee."
"Zutto tsudzuku yō ni… (Without worry forever)" Shutaura sang alongside Meigo-san, a light that had been building since they began the song becoming blinding.
It should have startled Shutaura but it didn't. Instead she embraced the light, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that it embraced her. As it surrounded her, she was filled with a feeling of welcome. It was as if she'd come home after being away for a long time. And as she realized what the light was, she realized that the analogy was not too far off from the truth. For the light was her magic and it was welcoming her back as she absorbed it once more into her being.
As she did, she felt Meigo-san's fingers, that had been clutching hers so firmly when their duet first began, grow ever more incorporeal. It should've scared her or at least worried her, but again it didn't. Instead she only felt happiness as the part of herself that she'd accidentally excised in a moment of desperation so long ago flowed back into her being once more.
She was so caught up in the strange experience she was having that she barely registered as everything suddenly lurched skyward for an instant before everything was sent slamming into the floor. Distantly, she realized this must mean that Endymion's launch failsafe had been triggered.
But she quickly dismissed that thought and just continued singing. Continuing to fuel and shape the magic that was remaking her whole world.
"Get over again
Tenkuu Sorae to mukatte (Look to the sky)"
Aiho was the last of the insertion team she'd been working with to run out of Endymion and she was still halfway across the bridge that separated the entrance of the space elevator to the rest of the City when a series of powerful explosions went off behind them.
That's the explosive bolts going off. The Anti-Skill officer noted as Misaka-san and Shirai-san teleported to her right and was followed moments later by Saten-san and Accelerator.
"What happened to tanking the blasts with your barriers?" Misaka-san asked her fellow Level 5s with a raised eyebrow.
"Our barriers worked just fine. We just didn't fancy blasting our way out of the wreckage," Saten-san said with a shrug.
"Should've thought of that beforehand," Misaka-san teased and Saten-san nodded.
"Something to consider if we encounter a similar situation in the future."
"Uh, not to interrupt or anything," Aiho said, cutting in. "But what about the people still inside Endymion?"
As she said this, she gestured skyward where thanks to the combination of the explosive detonation of the bolts and a series of thrusters activating throughout its incredible height, the space elevator was shooting up into space.
"Leave that to Sequenzia-san," Saten-san said dismissively. "Up for some coffee while we wait, Accel?"
Aiho could only boogle at the lack of concern on display by the Level 5. Did she not care about the thousands still stuck in the rapidly ascending remnants of the space elevator?
"Get over again
Habata kou (And beat your wings)" Shutuara, the once more whole Saint of Miracles, finished her song and thus activating her spell, causing Endymion to be suffused in the light of her magic.
Engulfed in the rainbow light, everyone still on Relay Station or inside Endymion was teleported into the open plaza that surrounded what had once been the base of the space elevator.
"What the-?" Kamijou said from a short distance away as he felt his body, looking for injuries and finding none. "How in the world was I healed?"
"She is the Saint of Miracles," Index-san said as she walked over to him. "So it's a miracle. Duh!"
Shutaura smiled at the interaction even as she turned her attention away from the duo to join everyone as they watched the remains of Endymion fly off into the sky. Someone suddenly walked over as she did and snuggled into her side. Glancing down, she was pleasantly surprised to find it was Naru-chan.
A giggling Naru-chan.
"What?" The brunette asked curiously.
"You know, you're wearing Arisa-chan's performance dress." The blonde said, leering at her whilst paying special attention to her exposed thighs, her cleavage on display and her uncovered belly. All of which were free for all to see thanks to the vivid scarlet outfit. "And I have to say, I think I'm falling for you all over again, my Saint~"
Shutaura looked down at what she was wearing and sighed. It was something she'd never wear. It was just so over the top! The skirt was so bloody wide and what was with the shiny inner lining? And why was it so bloody revealing? She appreciated that Naru-chan liked the view but this was just too much!
Wait! I've never cared for modesty before-
Uh, that's me. Sorry. Arisa's tired whisper spoke up from the depths of her mind.
Arisa? You're still there?
Yeah, somehow. I told you we could work miracles. Even for ourselves.
I'm glad. Shutaura told her other half sincerely.
Me too. Arisa said with a mental yawn.
So, um, mind telling me what's with the headdress? Shutaura asked as she registered the slight weight of the flower shaped headdress worked into her hair.
Not sure, but I'm going to take a nap. I'm really *yawn* tired.
Okay, um, I hope we can talk some more later.
Nighty night~
"Wanna sneak away for a private show?" Shutaura's blonde girlfriend flirted happily.
"N-Not now, you deviant!" Shutaura blushed hotly, but didn't move away from Naru's side. Feeling quite content.
"Mmrgh~ Hold on, I gotta go do something." The petite blonde grumbled and teleported away.
"Huh?" Shutaura blinked and turned to see her girlfriend on top of Ladylee, who it seemed she'd teleported just a stone's throw away from where she had ended up, and was repeatedly bashing the immortal's head into the ground in what the Saint believed was likely the pursuit of catharsis. The bitch's protective magic item activated, but didn't seem enough, or maybe just wasn't optimized for protecting against blunt force, and she steadily gained a host of injuries.
Seeing her girlfriend abuse the bitch was the most romantic sight Shutaura had ever seen.
"I hope they open you up while awake." [The Alien] told Ladylee as she delivered her to a Dark Side team.
"How rude." She replied in a nasally tone that was a result of her broken nose. It was only one of the numerous injuries she was slowly regenerating courtesy of the damned Number 2.
As she was handed off to the group, she eyed their tag and rolled her eyes.
FLANGE.
She waited a moment for them to get on their way to what she had no doubt was the darkest pit Aleister had before she bit down hard making sure to apply the majority of the pressure of the action on a specific tooth.This triggered the magical tool she'd hidden inside the molar and caused a sweet scent to burst out from the small tooth. The magical gas easily bypassed the masks that the paramilitaries were wearing and sent them into sweet unconscious sleep. Even the driver up front.
Of course, this meant they promptly crashed. But that was an unimportant detail to an immortal and with the activation of a handful of other carefully hidden holdout magic items, Ladylee had extricated herself from the wreck.
"Really, Aleister? I knew you were perverse but this is just childish." A smirk growing on her face as she began to walk away from the crash. "Looks like your FLANGE just got itself fucked over."
She froze as the words left her mouth as she realized what she'd just said, before she groaned in mortification.
"I cannot believe I just said that."
Shaking her head she continued walking away even as behind her the van that had been transporting her to her doom exploded thanks to one of her magic items.
"You call these pros?" She said, honest disappointment seeping into her tone. "They should have searched me more thoroughly. I am an expert at crafting magical tools. Of course, I'd have some hidden as backup. Speaking of hidden backups, it's time to fall back on them I guess."
It took Ladylee almost a full day of skulking through the shadows, and much to her chagrin even through the sewers at one point, to make it to her destination undetected. But as she stepped into the abandoned lab overgrown with bioluminescent flowers, she finally allowed herself the luxury to breathe a sigh of relief.
Entering the main part of the old lab, she found its current occupants, all four of them, sitting in lotus position across the hall. Their forms dimly illuminated by nought but the weak light given off by the glowing flowers that were everywhere in the room.
"I'm surprised you lot haven't cleared out the leftover stuff from the previous owners," Ladylee commented idly as she walked towards the quartet using a path through the field of flowers that dominated the room.
"Why would we?" One of the figures said. "They give the place a special ambiance. It is a genuine pity that there wasn't enough of a market for the flowers to allow the lab to finish their research on them, but their loss is our gain."
"Must you be so philosophical about everything, Duō Wén?" Ladylee asked, irritated.
Duō Wén, leader of Heavenly Kings monks, stepped forward to meet her halfway through the flower field.
"If you have come to our Glowing Garden in person instead of speaking to us remotely then that must mean that not only have your plans failed but your whole operation has gone up in flames. Am I wrong?"
"Don't sound so happy about it," Ladylee told him with a glare.
"Happy? Hardly." Duō Wén said with a shake of his head. "How could I be happy at such misfortune befalling our benefactor. Thank you by the way for the wheelchair you provided us for Zēng Zhǎng-Shī Dì."
As he spoke, he gestured behind him at his aforementioned brother monk who was being helped into his chair by Guăng Mù.
Hmm… Guăng Mù's recovered surprisingly well. Then again he wasn't physically injured in the first place, so it's only natural that he's not showing any signs of physical injury.
"Shī Xiōng, get things over with and get this lǎo yāo pó [(老妖婆)/evil old witch] out of here already!" Zēng Zhǎng shouted, causing Duō Wén to sigh in exasperation whilst in the background Guăng Mù and Chí Guó tried to soothe their volatile brother's temper.
I'm glad at having the foresight to save these fools from the dissection table. Ladylee reminded herself to curb her annoyance at Zēng Zhǎng. Their assistance will prove invaluable in the days to come. I just wish they didn't come as a package. I could really do without having to deal with that hothead Zēng Zhǎng.
"Stop wasting my time Duō Wén," Ladylee hissed, her irritation getting the better of her. "Are you willing to live up to your end of our deal or not?"
"Of course," the monk said with an easy smile."You helped us set up shop here right under Crowley's nose, where our enemies can't touch us. Returning the favor and helping you now is the least we can do."
Under her breath, Ladylee added, "That and you know what I'd do to you if you refused."
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless always!
And here we go, the conclusion to Endymion movie along with Shutaura finally becoming whole again. And Naru of course being there for her girl. Man, this one was just a wild ride.
Nameless: So some might be wondering about the chapter titles for this arc. If you are just search Aletheia and Selene. They are from Greek mythology. Aletheia is the goddess of truth and that alone should explain our choice. Selene on the other hand was Endymion's wife, so her being denied is a reference to the fall of Endymion.
The fights though, mhm, those were some of the most fun. While we did our best to give Touma his due as a protag, someone like Ladylee would honestly just shoot him. I swear she's a legit villain for doing it straight and not just throwing supernatural stuff at him! So Naru gave him a hand as it were after dealing with Asura and then punting Mara's butt.
Nameless: Some might recognize the Glowing Garden. To those of you who do, congratulations on having read one of the best pair of Saten-centric fics on FFN. I would like to give credit where credit is due to Kyle Castorena for originally coming up with the idea for the place. We borrowed it with permission from his Never the Twain Shall Meet and Echo of a Lost World.
Just to make things clear ahead of time, we know that the Daihaisei arc immediately follows after the Miracle of Endymion in canon however we have decided to play a little loose with the timeline here and add some original arcs beforehand. So hold your horses, the Daihaisei arc is coming. Just not yet.
E4E: Which we are uber hyped for. We got some plans for the sportsfest and it is going to rock!
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!