Last Order fell down. Fever seemed to have plagued her body out of nowhere, manifesting itself from the very core of her being.
Not ten seconds ago she was just eating a mint sundae, sucking up the melted ice cream with a childlike glee - not a telltale sign of even a slight indication of discomfort.
Now she lay motionless on the ground, her small form quivering as chills racked through her body. A thin sheen of sweat had already begun to glisten on her pale skin.
Aiho jumped from her seat and cradled the little girl in her arms, trying to comfort her as best she could, calling out for Kikyou to call for help.
Except the short haired scientist seems to be distracted by something. Truth be told, Aiho is surprised twice again when she sees the sky covered in dark clouds out of nowhere.
Fremea was right next to Aiho, pulling at Last Order's pale arm. Her face is marked by distress as she frantically shakes the fallen girl.
Last Order's condition seemed to have worsened in the span of seconds - with her skin turning an alarming shade of white and her temperature rising to dangerous levels. A fever this high could be deadly, especially for a child.
Kikyou finally snaps out of her trance, her face pale as she fumbles for her phone, fingers shaking, dialling the emergency number with unsteady hands.
The sky above grows darker, the clouds swirling ominously as if responding to the dire situation unfolding below. A chill wind whips through the air, carrying with it an eerie stillness that seems to mirror the gravity of the moment.
Cracks of thunder out of nowhere, lighting that seems to have manifested itself from the ground rather than the sky.
Aiho reacted in time as a dark figure in a black uniform emerged from behind a nearby building. They're after the little girl.
Nearby civilians witnessing the terrifying scene, flee in panic as lightning and thunder clash above. They run for shelter, their eyes fixed on the rapidly darkening sky with dread. It was especially worse when the men in black pulled out handguns, training them towards the two older women.
They didn't seem to have any hesitation, or at least not visibly showing any, whether or not they even had the slightest of chances of hitting either one or even two of the children present around the women.
And that enrages Aiho more than anything.
She doesn't have any concern regarding her own safety when there were children around - her only thought being that of protecting the vulnerable. In a swift, fluid motion, she lifted Last Order and Fremea, using her body as a shield while simultaneously reaching for her phone to call for help.
They didn't fire, at least. Not mere moments ago, their fingers were already on the trigger. Aiho concluded that they're after either one of them. And from what had happened as of now, and the status that the girl bears - Last Order is the target.
Fremea especially had it worse.
The other day, she'd look more traumatized than ever; something about her sister that she used to cling on up and about suddenly has the little girl eyed the older girl with distrust and betrayal and confusion etched on her face.
Fremea's eyes dart between the men in black and Last Order's pale, sweat-covered form, her lower lip quivering as she struggles to process the situation unfolding before her. For someone so young, witnessing turns of events one after the other can be overwhelming, and Fremea is no exception.
As Aiho's phone rings, the men in black take another step forward, their guns still trained on the group. The sky above darkens further, the swirling clouds now forming a vortex-like shape that seems to mirror the chaos on the ground.
Kikyou had pulled a gun of her own - well, Aiho's to be exact. She might've been just a researcher, but the likes of her were oftentimes hunted for the knowledge they possessed. Bounties put on them were uncommon, but it has happened. She used to carry a gun of her own. But living in a house with a bunch of children has her give up her weapon for their safety.
The more time passes, the closer the gunmen gets, the louder the shoutings, the darker the sky - precarious situation becomes. Cracking thunder did not help. And the screaming match between them certainly didn't either. Fremea's cries of confusion and fear only added to the cacophony. The little girl's grip on Aiho's sleeve tightens as she buries her face against the woman's chest, seeking comfort in the familiar scent and touch.
How did a festive day, a simple outing for ice cream, turn into this nightmare?
Gensei watches the darkening sky with glee - hands behind his back, white coat fluttering about by the wind. The old man really did look like a villain. As though it was intended to be, the lighting turned black casting the surrounding buildings in deep shadows, accentuating the ominous atmosphere, accentuates Gensei's own dark silhouette.
Even with his back turned onto her, Misaki could hear the grin, the cackle of his laughter. The old man seems to be enjoying this chaos, his twisted satisfaction evident in every gesture. He wasn't directly the one who made this chaos.
More so, he was the one who had created the thing that caused this chaos. The wind howls, its icy fingers caressing Misaki's skin, her wrist bound together with a cuff, one eye closed to prevent blood from getting into it.
Misaki had blundered, and she blundered badly.
She wasn't in the right mindset for just less than 20 minutes. And she had to pay for it by watching as everything fell apart. Her getting here was a part of Gensei's plan. One that she hadn't anticipated due to the fear of the Exterior being used by him; her fear for the safety of her friends; and most of all, her fear of getting replaced - more than likely, killed.
The City doesn't need her if they had the Exterior. Why would they need her when they had a 'Mental Out' that they can control on their own whims? One that is not only similar in power to her, but can also give her power to others? It was that survival instinct that got her falling into this trap of his. And it was that very instinct that led to this situation.
"How'd you do it," Misaki's own voice breaks as she asks, quiet and resigned. "How'd you get them, the SISTERs?"
"I didn't," Gensei's voice carries a subtle undertone of satisfaction. "Amai Ao, fool as he is, had done the job even without me asking." He turns, a malevolent grin spreading across his face as he regards Misaki. "Accelerator merely overwrites it. The connection wasn't made in the codes - it was in the Network."
"Oh." Misaki had heard of that event. Just two or so weeks back. Hirano was in the hospital because of it. It's not like she did some digging to find out - the whole thing was so quiet, that even her informant hadn't gotten a whiff of it except for a few useless scraps.
It wasn't planned by the city, but rather by an independent scientist who thought they knew better than to mess with the Strongest with a bunch of oversized robots. Challenging Hirano to begin with was never a good idea. That guy, Accelerator as Gensei had referred to him as, was simply too powerful. Crazy powerful in fact, there isn't a single other Level 5 that could match him other than the 2nd Ranked.
Even then, it wasn't even a matter of debate. Hirano might not be superior when it comes to firepower compared to Kakine. But he had the brain to counter anything and everything the other man threw at him. That and his vector control was on a whole different level compared to the other's ability. Hirano had won that battle. It wasn't even a fight.
But what Gensei was saying... It wasn't about the battle at all. It was about the aftermath. The connection that was made. A virus.
Knowing that, everything just starts to piece itself together. Misaki lets out a wry laugh. "So you brought me here because I could've overwritten that virus and stopped it all...?"
Gensei's grin widens, his eyes twinkling with malicious glee. "Clever girl. You've always been a quick study, Misaki." He turned towards her. Walking slow enough that it takes time. It was hard to tell whether he's doing this on purpose or he's mocking her at his easy victory. He was an old man with a back that bent.
"You're also thinking that Accelerator could still erase it if he were to reach at least one of the SISTERs, yes?" She wasn't exactly thinking about that. Gensei couldn't read her mind - yet.
The limiter on the Exterior made it nearly impossible to break past her mental barrier. He must find the release code. His men were already doing that in the meantime.
She could remember there being somewhere around 2 dozen men armed to the teeth. They had a weird contraption on their shoulders. "They're here for that boy," Gensei did read her mind on that one; though not literally. "The weapons they had - they're the same thing that put that boy in the hospital."
Gensei seems to have planned everything, for, well, everything.
Getting Misaki out of the way, securing the Exterior to control the shifting Railgun and the SISTERs, Level Upper, even getting Hirano some ragdolls to mess around with later.
The old man is several steps ahead. Always. It's almost frustrating how smart he is.
She's got to wonder though - will Hirano and Touma be okay from all these man-made horrors that they had to handle in such a short amount of time?
Touma is not okay.
Even after negating the sheer, monstrous energy that had just blasted off out of nowhere with his right hand, he could still feel the tingling all over his body. Such electrical charges could power-up his apartment, probably for hundreds of years.
There was smoke coming from the ground - he looked back and saw that those other two were fine, Uiharu and Ruiko. He had been worried for a moment there, looking at the nature of electricity and how it was conducted.
He was thankful for his precognition and for the Imagine Breaker. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to react to a fucking lightning bolt that came out of nowhere. He looked up at the darkening sky, body still tingling.
"W-what j... just... happened...?" Uiharu asks with a voice that resembles that of a kitten - barely a whisper, on the ground in which she'd fallen. Her hair was a bit disheveled, but otherwise fine. Ruiko seems to be having a bit of trouble standing. Colours seemed to be absent across their faces.
The ravenette helped the short haired girl get up. Their eyes seemingly never leaving Mikoto's... charged up person? She doesn't look like the Mikoto they knew - this one's absolutely powered up. They didn't know if this was a conscious power up or if something had happened to her.
...
"Where's Frenda and Kuroko...?" Ruiko's voice was laced with concern. The mention of those two, who had been fighting just mere moments earlier up on the street, had the three of them dreading for the worst.
There's no sign of them - not even a trace except for a fallen beret. You couldn't even call it 'charred'. It was more like a carbonized, blackened remains of what used to be a simple beret. The wind was starting to pick up and had only amplified the comical remains; it was ashes, not a beret anymore.
That lighting that Mikoto might've summoned has got to be the largest, most powerful in any recorded history. They could hardly breathe, those three. Even their ears were ringing from the sheer sound it had produced... they were lucky they hadn't gotten their eardrums busted.
Touma felt the air shift behind him and heard a quiet thud. Kuroko's here. And surprisingly, Frenda.
"You two are okay, thank God!" Uiharu could've just cried from how relieved she was, the small girl pulling the twin tailed girl into a hug. "I was so scared!"
The two newcomers were just as shaken as they were. Kuroko, still reeling back from the near death experience, and Frenda, looking like she'd just gotten hit by a truck. The Norwegian girl was limping, her clothes torn and disheveled, and was looking pretty pale.
"How'd you get away, Kuroko?" Ruiko's voice was still laced with worry, but she was trying to sound strong for her friends' sake. The twin tailed girl only looked past Uiharu's shoulder - there was still blood running down her nose. It seemed to be staining Uiharu's P.E Uniform.
Kuroko's answer was a simple shrug. "I don't even know." Truthfully. She doesn't even know how she got away. Only that she and Frenda noticed the tingling in the air merely 1 second before the electrical blast.
Thinking about that, Kuroko turned her gaze towards Misaka Mikoto.
She'd been standing there this entire time; seemingly getting more and more powerful by the seconds.
She was correct to assume that. She could feel herself bracing for more when something else formed behind the older girl. A sphere of sort, brimming with raw, unbridled power. The air around it was crackling, like how it does when lightning strikes, and the atmosphere was getting thicker.
The pressure was building up, and Kuroko could tell that Mikoto's power level was surging. She could feel the energy coursing through the very air they're breathing, ionizing everything. This much energy is more than enough to level this entire block.
"Run," Touma shouted, an uncharacteristic urgency that broke everyone out of their trance. "Get everyone out of here!" That was directed at the twin tailed girl, as he had turned to look at her and shouted those words.
She doesn't have to be told twice. She's been shouted at by her superiors more times than she could count when the situations were dire - most of those orders were to have her run and get help. She knew exactly what to do. The only difference now is that she had to run away from the danger, not towards it.
She appeared and disappeared perhaps a dozen times in the next 2 seconds. This was the fastest she's ever teleported, covering more distance than she usually could. The frequency of it did send a splitting headache across her temple.
She hadn't hesitated to grab Frenda. Even when they'd been at each other's throat not 2 minutes earlier. She'd nearly broken her arm fighting the blond - now here she is, trying to save her life. The irony wasn't lost on her.
They were far enough. At least, Kuroko hoped so. She had gotten them all in the middle of a road. A place where the thunderbolt hadn't reached. There were still hundreds of pedestrians here; most of which are outsiders, standing in surprise and fear at the earlier blast.
They were even more surprised when all four of them appeared out of nowhere. They'd seen esper powers at the games and all, but never this close.
Especially when a Level 5, Gunha, was running in the air past them, breaking the air with kicks after kicks.
Hirano doesn't like what he is doing. Not to the person he was doing it to, though he doesn't like the guy that he was subjecting such a thing to either. He doesn't like a lot of things.
He was barely putting in forces around his fingers - he wasn't even making contact with the guy; yet the guy was still choking from being held up against the wall.
The pressure was coming close to rupturing his lungs, Hirano could tell. He could feel it. The man's eyes were bulging, his face reddening slowly turning blue, and his tongue was starting to loll out of his mouth, all the while staring at Hirano with sheer horror.
The man's blood pressure was rising to dangerous levels, his heart straining to push blood through his constricted arteries. His brain was starting to swell from lack of oxygen, and his consciousness was slowly fading.
The white haired boy doesn't like doing this one bit. Taking lives as quickly as pulling a trigger differs greatly from doing it with your bare hands.
You feel the willpower slow eroding, the survival instinct fading away, and you get to experience that moment when life leaves the body. When the soul decides to move on. It's a terrible thing to experience.
Hirano lets go.
The man slides down the wall with a loud thud, and onto the ground. He's still breathing, but it's shallow and erratic. He's lucky. Hirano could've ended him there and then, but he chose not to. The man's a researcher. If there's one thing Hirano's sure of, any researcher that isn't Kikyou, he despises.
"Well?" Hirano asks, enunciating the displeasure in his tone. The man opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. His throat is too damaged.
The man speaks in a jagged, raw and broken sound. He coughs as he speaks, bits of blood spattering the ground. It more closely resembles a wheeze than that of a talking person. Perhaps he'd treated him too harshly.
To say that it was cohesive would be an understatement. The man's eyes were bloodshot, and his whole face was a mess of red and purple bruises. His body was shaking - probably from shock, from the close brush with death.
Hirano could feel the man's heart beat irregularly. There was a 30-50% chance that he might suffer cardiac arrest, or even a stroke. The damage that Hirano had inflicted was severe. Perhaps even permanent.
"Where is she?" Hirano tried to speak as calmly as he could. But the uncomfortable sense of impending doom made him sound more agitated than he intended to. Misaki is missing. He doesn't like the idea of a friend going missing. He doesn't like the idea of anyone he's close with being in danger.
The man's gaze is downcast, his body still shaking. He spits out some blood, and then clears his throat. "I don't know. No one does." He speaks again, this time in a slightly clearer manner. "They won't tell us a thing, I swear! We're just here for work!"
"L-look - those people have been pissed off beyond compare since the last Level 6 SHIFT," The man raises his head, looking at Hirano with desperation and genuine fear. "They just called and want us to stay here today in particular! I-I just do maintenance on the machines! That's all I do! They don't tell us anything, I swear!" He starts coughing again, wincing as he does so.
His humanity be damned. Hirano felt bad a lot of the time and knowing the things he was involved in, he couldn't help but wonder if this would one day be the cause of his downfall.
"Give me your phone," The man flinches, but slowly fishes out his phone from his pocket with shaky hands. He holds it out to Hirano, who plucks it from his grasp with his free hand.
The screen is cracked, probably from his rough handling. There were passwords - typical for researchers who wanted to protect their data. Blame the muscle memory that he started to brute forcing into it already, but he ended up telling the man to open it up when he realized that he didn't have to hack in yet again.
He looked up through the contacts and immediately he found that number.
True, the man had received a call this morning at around 4 and a half AM. There was no name nor profile tied to the number. Not even a unique ringtone or vibrations pattern. Just a blacklisted number. The person who called him was being deliberately secretive.
But then again, Hirano already knew who it was. He'd memorised that number years ago, actually. Up until now, he could still remember it in its integrity. He lets out a sigh. "I'm not even surprised..."
Hirano backed away as he dialled the number. He still kept his eyes on the researcher; mostly to make sure that he didn't do anything foolish. The man seems to sense this, and sits still as a statue, looking far too weak to even stand up.
The phone rings twice, and then connects. Neither spoke for a while - just letting the silence sit between them as the wind whistled by. Hirano could hear the other person breathing - slow, measured, and deliberate.
"You have her." Hirano says flatly, without a hint of emotion. The other person doesn't say anything for a moment, and then lets out a dry chuckle.
"That I do." The voice is raspy. Far too arrogant for it to belong to the calm, calculative old man that Hirano had come to despise. "I presume you're at J-96?"
"Yes." Hirano's gaze flicks to the researcher on the ground, who's still breathing heavily. "I'm going to kill you." The silence that follows is longer than the previous one. There's a pause, and then that same dry chuckle.
"Your little friend here has a secret," Hirano scoffed. The longer he speaks, the more he feels his rage building up. "Everyone has one, you might think. It's not as bad as that other blond friend of yours. Just one that she's been meaning to keep secret."
Hirano's grip on the phone tightens. The sound of breathing on the other end becomes more pronounced, almost taunting. "What do you want?" Hirano's voice cracks slightly, his composure slipping.
"Nothing much." The voice is cool and collected, with a slight smirk underlying each word. "Just for you to come here and talk about Misaki's Exterior. I'm sure you'd be interested to know."
The line clicks as the call disconnects. Hirano stares at the phone for a long moment. His muscles were as still as the researcher on the ground, but his thoughts were racing. The implications of what he just heard were staggering.
Hirano pockets the phone and looks back at the researcher, who hadn't moved an inch. In the end Hirano clicked his tongue, rubbing the back of his neck with a visible sign of frustration. The researcher looks up at him, confusion and fear etched on his face.
"Stay put." Hirano says, his words leaving no room for argument. "Wherever that old fart is, it has something to do with an Exterior."
He opened one eye towards him - the red orb that is Hirano's eyes due to the lack of pigments in his iris gave the man a good scare. "Be useful and I'll spare you - what does he mean by an Exterior?"
"I-I don't know much," he stammers, his voice hoarse from the damage to his throat. "But I heard rumors about it. He... the K-K-Kihara... he's been meaning to find out for some time now." He winces as he speaks, clearly in pain from the earlier encounter. "It's... a power-up of sorts for Mental Out. It boosted her power to a different magnitude."
They were cut off by lighting on the outside. It caused a tremor all over the underground facility they were in. It was strong enough to catch Hirano's attention as he looked up at the ceiling. The power flickers a few times, casting an eerie, strobing light on the walls.
Hirano scoffs, but not unkindly. "You're lucky." He mutters, turning to leave. "Stay put, and you'll live. That's not normal lighting that just struck." He passed the man back his phone. He's heard enough. He'll just have to find Gensei with his terminal once he finds out what was going on outside.
Hirano bursts through the door and out into the outside world. The lighting strikes seem to be getting stronger, and the tremors more frequent. He can hear the Anti-Skill and Ambulance trucks wailing outside on the street. Something was clearly very wrong.
As he strides down the empty street, he couldn't help but note how dark the sky is. He was pretty sure, not 5 minutes ago it was completely sunny and clear. But now, a storm of unprecedented intensity is rolling in.
The clouds above were dark and ominous, and the lightning strikes were getting more frequent, their flashes becoming blinding even in the middle of the day. The wind howled through the empty streets, carrying with it the distinct smell of ozone.
There was a particular spot where it was swirling violently, like a miniature tornado.
Not 10 seconds after his mental observation, a distant rumble as a blinding explosion engulfed that particular area. It came out weirdly, the explosion. It was harsh and screeching, like someone was tearing the fabric of reality itself. And just as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared just as fast.
Someone or something is clearly at play.
Hirano was even more agitated when he realized that the general direction it was from - the others were just hanging out there. He broke into a full sprint, his mind racing with possibilities. What if it wasn't a coincidence? What if this was all part of some plan? The timing was just too perfect.
It really shouldn't be surprising if Gensei had planned for this to happen; whether he had deliberately involved them. If yes, the resulting effect was that it was making Hirano think irrationally.
Right now, all he could think of were two things - getting his hands on that old bastard's neck, to do the exact same thing he'd done to that poor man earlier on him. Except maybe he wouldn't let go.
The other thoughts were the well-being of his friends. He worries for them all. Touma, that dude kept getting into the crossfire from what he had heard. It would upset him if he were to get him hurt from this.
Uiharu and Ruiko most especially. They know of his secrets, things he had kept to himself other than a select few. All they wanted to do was help. He could feel his own hands go clammy just at the thought of them hurting all over again.
Then there's Kuroko and Frenda. He was trying to keep his distance after what had happened - well, between them. He hates that he was the cause of that. But he'll hate himself even more if they were injured.
He felt his legs getting a tad bit jelly by the time he arrived at a crossing. There were lots of tourists around this particular section. Most of them appear to be foreigners.
He stopped in his tracks, relief crossing his facial expressions when he saw a familiar floral headwear amongst the sea of increasingly panicking crowds.
He shuffled past the people, brushing shoulder against shoulders to get there. They noticed him quickly enough.
He was surprised enough that he'd stumbled upon them on his way back. He was even more surprised to see two of them bruised up and swollen.
Kuroko had a broken nose whilst the blond appeared to be limping slightly. They don't look good. And frankly, they looked like shit.
They were trying to avoid his gaze. Their clenched hands were white - as it appears, they still held some grudge after what had happened.
"What happened...?" He couldn't believe his ears when the other two ravenettes merely glanced at the two.
"They got into a fight," Ruiko answered with a pointed finger. "Frenda won."
Hirano gawked at the two. He has more than a thousand things to say about them - to them. If this was because of him again, he'll seriously cut ties with them.
"Say what you say later. We have more urgent matters to attend to," Uiharu saved those two from what Hirano felt were some deserved words that he had bubbling up by pointing towards the centre of the storm. "Something's happening to Misaka-san, and it's taking control of her."
Hirano swallowed those words back when he realized what he'd been trying to do for the past 15 minutes. "Misaki," he murmured, turning to look at the younger girl.
"Uiharu," the girl flinched at the urgency at his tone; she felt herself tensing up. "I need you to track a number for me."
She nodded, soaking in the seriousness of the situation when he gave her the number. Even more so when he turned towards those two, "Kuroko, take Frenda with you and get her. Misaki should know what to do next,"
The twin tailed girl' eye widened at that. "Why does she have to go with me?" The girl exclaimed, taking a step forward with her hand pressing on her chest. "Can't you see what's been going on, Hirano-san...!"
"If you've been paying attention then you'll realize that if there's anyone who knows of this City's darker aspect, then that person would be her," He held Frenda's shoulder, and brought her just by Kuroko's side.
"I am aware that you two aren't in the best of relationships, but Misaki needs you two."
The two girls glanced at each other - a sudden scornful disdain visibly etched itself across their faces. They did not like this arrangement at all.
Uiharu's already working on her terminal, and it wouldn't do any good for them to waste any second than the amount they've already wasted. Misaki could've been injured.
"After all of this... I want us to talk."
Their eyes widened even further, changing its point of interest towards the white haired boy once more. Their eyes could tell that he was saddened - more than likely at the possible downfall of their friendship.
"Just us three."
"Okay." Frenda hadn't meant to answer so quickly. It was clear that it had been an impulsive answer; one born out of the implications of his words.
Immediately after, her gaze fell to his legs. She was thinking. Is he going to pick sides? That made her feel rather insecure. She hasn't been as constant as Kuroko was in his life - only appearing back in it just secret months prior.
If it really was a side that he was picking; she hoped that it was her that he'd pick. She's willing to do anything for that chance.
Her life and Fremea's depended on it.
I haven't been updating as much, now did I?
Well, It was the same reason why Kraffsole, author of 'The Number 1 Comeback', which personally think of one the best Accelerator fic there is, hadn't been updating all these years - 'College'.
It took me weeks to finish off all those documents. Took another 2 days to get all the signatures. The country's economy going to shits. My family bank account combined barely totaling over 150 bucks.
I can't just bring myself to do something that means nothing more than a hobby.
I'm not dropping it. But I won't publish as frequently. I'll still probably do 1 chapter/week. But there's no guarantee that there'll be an update.
Anyways... we'll just have to see if we'll have a chapter next week, shall we?
(P.S.) I was using my phone to update on FFN because for some reason mobile datas were blocked from accessing FFN webs. I had to manually copy and paste the whole thing from Docs.
If you know how hideous it is to write on the FFN app, you'd understand the pain.