Between the lines (Arc 4 Side Story)

This gaggle of guests to the country had very little coordination. If they were going to visit Japan, they really aught to have made sure to confirm which individuals spoke which languages, so that they could ensure ease of communication with locals. Trading languages in the middle of the conversation was a real pain, though Futaba grew up in a bilingual household, so it wasn't as though she wasn't used to hearing Japanese in one ear and English in the other. Well, maybe she was a little rusty on the skill, since she'd been in Academy City for several years now.

"Atsa, Sara, and Vita, huh? Your names are pretty strange, in my personal opinion anyways," she would say offhandedly in Japanese, shrugging her shoulders. She figured Furuhashi-san would be reasonably capable now that somebody spoke his language amongst these kids. The only reason she pulled him over to this group was to put him on the spot, after all. It was no fair that she was doing all the diplomatic stuff, not that she minded since she was, frankly, in love with her job.

Nevertheless she would gauge their surroundings to make sure they were fairly alone, before answering their questions. "Well, I should probably keep the exact reasons under wraps for professionalism's sake, but more or less we have to be suspicious of organized groups of people we don't recognize. We have a good reason to be on edge, but don't want to make a scene," she would blabber, taking care not to say anything that specifically indicated a terrorist threat. If they were here on business like they said they were, they didn't really need to know the particulars, it wouldn't matter to them in a few minutes.

It then dawned on her that somebody had mentioned that they were probably going to get chewed out for being late. If there was a cab waiting for them, perhaps it would be best to send one of them to explain the situation to their cab driver? After all, the cabs in Academy City were few and unforgivingly punctual. "Do you guys have a cab waiting for you? If so, one of you can volunteer to go and explain the situation, while you and the rest of us wait for Ms. Birdway," she would offer in English, so everyone would understand, except Gou, "Whoever volunteers must take my hand for this little plan to work. Oh, and promise to keep an open mind about it."

With a hand outstretched, she waited with a trustworthy glimmer in her eye, confident smile on her face. Were anyone to take her hand, as she suggested, she would momentarily concentrate and pull on their arm. However, instead of yanking whichever individual so boldly stepped forth like a martial artist showing off how bad a neutral stance is, her hand seemed to slide off, holding something else. Within an instant she had pulled a complete clone, down to the hair product, attire and accessories, even the possessions in their pockets, seemingly out of the person like a quick visual example of mitosis.

She would release that new person's wrist, and look at them, "You go talk to the cab driver..." Then she'd turn her attention to the original, and say, "And you stick with us, so we can meet with Ms. Birdway."

Of course, should no brave soul deign to trust the bunny-bowed officer, she'd wait a few awkward seconds, before asking, "No? Well alright then!" Her hand would fall to her hip and that'd be the end of it. After all, she didn't want to use her Ability on somebody who didn't ask for it.

Well, throw me in a river and call me a fish.

The fact that Atsa could also speak Japanese was another shock entirely. Was she the only one who had zero aptitude for the language? She may have been quadrilingual, but adding another language to her repertoire was an intensive investment.

Still, it was a good thing that the energetic one could speak English.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t privy to many details. She could only put a finger to her cheek and tilt her head a bit.

“Did we even have a taxi at the ready?”

Patience was a limited good. Eventually anyone’s would run out.

«I don’t. And I don’t wish for a chat. So unless you give me any reason to care, I would kindly ask you to get lost.»

That was her final verdict. The last straw she would allow that stranger to pull. A fact she would underline with an even sharper undertone than before.

«Fine. You are what I heard about you. A brat lacking the proper etiquette.»

Finally, that person seemed to have accepted reality. Finally, they would stop bugging her.

«Allow me only one last question: Did Mark Space not send you my regards?»

She could feel the stranger bowing over her shoulder. He was both tall and limber enough to have his face look down on hers. Their eyes met. A white painted face with purple highlights around the eyes and red lips. A black fool’s cap reminiscent of a devil’s horns. A face she recognised even though she had never met them face to face.

Things began to fall into place.

«He probably didn’t bother. He knows I’m too busy to bother with any lowly thug he comes across.»

However, that didn’t mean her demeanour towards that man would change. A stranger remained a stranger, even if it was an enemy. He was nothing but a mere thug. A speck of dirt they had forgotten to wipe away in the past.

And yet that jester remained persistent.

«As expected, Leivinia Birdway. How very unsurprising. The head of snake is of the same poisonous nature as the snake itself. But nonetheless I am happy. As after all those years I finally am granted the opportunity to come face to face with it.»

A mere moment later he moved his hand placing a red envelope in her field of vision while smiling in the most warm yet also sinister way.

«Take this as an expression of every single thought I have ever invested into you and the Dawn-Coloured Sunlight. All the grief, the anger and the hatred I may have felt. I wish for you to receive them all.»

A small glint had formed at the paper’s edge. He must have ignited it before. But in tandem to his speech ending he gracefully dropped the letter with a delicate finger movement. Only for it to land on the table.

A burning ritual? I see. He must have forged it into…

Just before she could conclude the quick analysis she had made, the letter was consumed by flames, only to be followed by an explosion that’d engulf the entire area in raging fire.

A simple ritual of invocation and release, performed upon an altar by burning a piece of paper and uttering an incantation which both covers the feelings one is aiming to rid themselves off as well as letting go of these. Twisted to embody the Magician’s will, only to unleash their wrath upon the very core of it all.

Wrath that would assume the shape of raging flames that’d consume their victim and by extension their entire surroundings whole. The act of directly invoking one’s internal hell to the external.

That jester’s wrath was strong. So strong even that these flames spread all over the VIP lounge, melting through glass and concrete as though they were mere butter. So strong even that nothing but ash would be left of his sworn enemy.

At least that was what he had hoped as he laid these feelings bare.

However, even if not. At the very least, it would get the job done.

《There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby. I repeat: There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby.》

That information was all it took for the gears to fall into their place and set into motion. Anti-Skill and Judgement had been on high alert the whole morning, meaning single message was all it took to skyrocket the security level.

From here on out the presence of terrorists had been confirmed.

Immediately after Code Red was put into place for the entirety of District 23.

All entry and exit points to the airport would be shut down.

All incoming and outgoing traffic would be shut down.

Reinforcements would come from the nearby districts setting up security check points.

And within the airport all present manpower would be informed.

Two protocols were now in effect.

1. Ensure the safety of the civilians within the airport’s structure.

2. Track down and neutralise the terrorist party.

Being the dedicated law enforcement they were, both Anti-Skill and Judgement would immediately run through all of today’s events. All simultaneously arriving at the same conclusion.

There had been a number of oddities.

The incident at the cargo collection.

The inconsistencies in testimonies.

The missing girl and their presence in the arrivals’ VIP lounge.

Word traveled fast.

Action came even faster.

Adding up all the oddities a single conclusion was drawn immediately after.

«I am sorry, but you are under arrest!»

Both Yomikawa Aiho and Furuhashi Gou had the same serious expressions form on their face, as they announced the turn of events to the prime suspects. Their readiness to take action was written all over their face.

« Hello. I’m Yomikawa Aiho. And you are Mister? Could you please shed a little more light on the organisation you are working for? From what I gathered you claimed that there was a missing girl going by the name Leivinia Birdway. However, according to the booking records, your entire group’s flights have been booked by said Leivinia Birdway.»

Heinrich's eyes narrowed at the words of this new face. He hadn't been expecting any trouble in the airport, at least not any which would lead to the search of the flight manifest. He certainly hadn't expected any trouble when booking his ticket under his actual name. And now he had to save the situation he had precariously placed himself in.

"Steinmann, Heinrich Steinmann. And please, no mister. I'm 23, you're making me feel like an old codger. Well then Miss Yomikawa, please allow me to explain this current misunderstanding. You see, I'm guessing that due to your position in the security force of this city, I am rather similar to you in that I'm a teacher. Now when I was getting my degree, I met and befriended a fellow high up in a company run by the Birdway family. They were starting a program, this internship for destitute children I mentioned earlier. They decided to appoint their daughter, Leivinia, to run this department, although purely in name. I was hired to be the one actually running things and teaching the children. So you see, the flights are booked in Miss Birdway's name as she's technically my boss. Now, the fact that she's both my immediate "boss" as well as the daughter of my overall boss is what makes it truly a priority that I find her, lest I find myself cast out on the streets. Honestly, she's a rather haughty type- she was probably just waiting in the VIP lounge and not even thinking about the fact that none of us had access to it.

Heinrich hoped the explanation would suffice, although he was slightly worried that his long-winded explanations were becoming a little too long-winded, losing their effect of confusing the target and instead opening themselves up to greater scrutiny of details.

"Say, it was a rather long flight. Would you mind if I got up and used that coffee machine? I'm dreadfully tired."

He folded his hands in his lap and looked at Yomikawa, smiling pleasantly, waiting for her response. A response that would never come.

《There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby. I repeat: There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby.》

Heinrich began silently fuming, wondering what those idiots, those fuckups, had done now. Their group was already of the utmost suspicion, and he had been detained, yet they possibly caused an explosion. He looked sharply at Yomikawa, waiting to see her reaction, what she would say next. He made a motion as if to scratch his hand, secretly pressing his ring and drawing blood, readying himself to gain a weapon. Heinrich was preparing to fight.

"Huh, hope things don't get too ugly. She's a bit of a beauty," He thought to himself.

And then the words came.

«I am sorry, but you are under arrest!»

Heinrich watched as Yomikawa prepared herself for action. As she began to walk towards him, he decided that it was time to act. With the catalyst of his blood from the earlier ring prick, Heinrich retrieved his gloves and pulled them on, slipping into a low fighting stance. He decided that at this point a weapon probably wasn't yet necessary. Surely to Yomikawa a pair of gloves appearing randomly in his hands was suspicious, although he could probably have passed them off as being missed in the search. But the stance was what truly made him suspicious.

"Before we do this, I'd just like to let you know something. I haven't told you any lies about my background or group's purpose. As the say, the devil is in the details, and so I am only guilty of lies of omission. I am most certainly uninvolved with that explosion. And I am slightly less but still confidently sure those idiots with me were also uninvolved. But you are the one who wants to do things the hard way, so let us begin."

“Did we even have a taxi at the ready?”

"I'm not sure, Heinrich has all the information about where we're suppose to be and when. I could go check if we have a cab waiting for us though. Maybe they'll have a sign or something?"

Atsa would switch back to english to talk to Sara but would stick to story Heinrich had made up. After all, the bubbly girl would still be able to understand him and it also made it far easier to deflect questions if it seemed like Heinrich had all the information. Now he just had to hope that Heinrich was a good storyteller. As long as they managed to hold their story together until Birdway arrived they could get out of here and get on with the rest of the mission.

With that in mind Atsa would walk up to Futaba and begin to reach out to grab her outstretched hand. Before the announcement over the intercom would stop him dead in his tracks.

《There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby. I repeat: There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby.》

Why did these situations always have to escalate? First getting grabbed by the cops the moment they got off the plane and now an explosion just when they were finally making some progress with the officers. Regardless there were far bigger issues at the moment than Atsa's frustration with their seemingly endless misfortune. There was no telling how many civilians could've been caught up in the explosion and considering that they hadn't seem Birdway yet it was very possible she had been there as well. Every instinct its Atsa's body told him they needed to get over to the lobby but any plans for that were quickly killed by the words that came out of the Judgement members mouth next.

«I am sorry, but you are under arrest!»

"Hold up, we aren't responsible for that! If you don't believe me fine but there is no telling how many people could've been caught up in that explosion. We need to get over there and see if anyone needs help. Its not like we can run away if your there the whole time."

As the magicians dealt with AntiSkill and Judgement Charlemagne was still roaming the skies with vengeance in his heart. At least he was until he caught sight of the fire exploding to life in the lobby. No matter how angry he was with the magicians below he didn't want them dead. Well maybe it was okay if the wannabe bird died but the rest of them hadn't done anything particular bad and if Atsa died who was going to buy his food. As such the golden eagle would finally jump into action diving from the sky and gliding through an open door just as someone was walking out.

Things had already escalated beyond the point where an exchange of words could turn the tides. The damage had been done.

«As I said. You are under arrest!»

As a result, the words of the foreigner only hit deaf ears with Furuhashi Gou, who had gone from announcement to active action. Quickly, jumping into the other boy’s path, the grey haired officer of student law, reached his right arm out to grab the other’s wrist whilst attempting to circle around him to execute a full form restraining grab. A textbook attack, combining his above average physical strength with effective technique.

Incapacitating one of three, however, was not going to lead anywhere. Therefore, he would turn to his partner, insisting they too used the momentum.

«Go, Futaba-san!»

Unfortunately, negotiations would no longer cut it.

«Before we do this, I'd just like to let you know something. I haven't told you any lies about my background or group's purpose. As the say, the devil is in the details, and so I am only guilty of lies of omission. I am most certainly uninvolved with that explosion. And I am slightly less but still confidently sure those idiots with me were also uninvolved.»

Yomikawa Aiho, on the other hand, had not been that hot-headed. Even in the eye of the storm, she was someone who could keep their calm and make good decisions. That was the least to expect of a teacher who had to protect the innocence of the youth.

That meant she based her judgement on facts over her gut feeling. However, both had shifted against that group. And they were still actively moving against them, as new information was communicated through Anti-Skill’s communication channels.

《The footage of the security cameras in the area confirms the presence of the passenger known as Leivinia Birdway at the centre of the explosion site. 》

Part of her may have wanted to believe Heinrich Steinmann here. Yet any new information built a wall of doubt around him and his group.

«But you are the one who wants to do things the hard way, so let us begin.»

The gloves suddenly appearing on his fingers and the combat stance he assumed were enough to  exclude all other outcomes. Thus, Yomikawa, too, reached out for her weapon: A riot shield she usually carried around, entering a combat stance of her own.

«We don’t have to do it this way. You can still just come along peacefully.»

These words were the last ounce of good faith she could place in this situation. Even now violence had been the last resort for her.

However, she had come to understand the situation to a point of no return.

As such she charged straight at Heinrich, ready to swing the riot shield down at his side with perfect timing the moment she made it into range, aiming to intercept his next move.

It was all enough. The explosion, the response. The headstrong teleporter had heard all she needed to know that this man who she and Yomikawa were in the process of questioning was indubitably suspicious. Between the story contradicting their boarding information and the suspicious attempt at denial, the man clearly was aware of something they weren’t.

Unlike Yomikawa who wanted to give the man the benefit of the doubt, Shirai Kuroko had very little room to spare. Her left hand had already slowly reached towards her leg.

“It would be easier for all of us if you actually listened to her.”

With a flick of her right wrist, the collapsible handcuffs she kept had clicked together and formed a rigid pair.

“Regardless of what you’re saying, I’m sure you should be aware of how things look to law enforcement right now.”

---

Yes, Sara was 100% certain of how they looked to law enforcement. They had been the most conspicuous group and were subsequently picked out.

An event that could only be described as an act of terror to the onlooker had occurred.

One of their own was missing.

While Sara, herself, doubted that the young blonde was the perpetrator of the inglorious cacophony taking place, there was no way to convince them that they were wrong now that the momentum was rolling.

Atsa’s failed attempt made that as plain as the sounds of combustion and roaring flames.

“Forget them and scatter!”

With a quick motion, she clasped the necklace and placed on two bracelets onto her arms.

“Birdway can deal with the cause so we’ll rendezvous later!”

But, contrary to her words, she would deal with the first threat to their safe escape.

Obstacle: Reaction Force.

The lilies were already in place underneath her clothes. She simply sped forward and thrust her hand at the boy who was threatening to enclose Atsa. A hundred kph was enough. She didn’t need to kill the kid. She didn’t need to pick up one of her concealed knives and throw it at him. She just needed to knock him out of Atsa’s way and then escape.

It was a friendly gesture which Futaba had offered. Of course she had been willing to help out some strange foreigners who were in a bad way, help them ensure that their taxi was available. But instead she heard a loud noise, and an announcement from the overhead.

《There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby. I repeat: There has been an explosion in the arrival’s lobby.》

Furuhashi-san was the first to really go ahead and speak, because Futaba found herself speechless for a moment. There was no grim expression that washed over her, but a momentary pause in her actions. She was switching gears. Were these foreigners playing her for a fool? It all seemed pretty cut and dry so far. A gang of suspicious foreigners occupy the officials' attention while another member sets the bomb up and makes her way out. Indeed, this plan had been executed quite well so far.

Futaba would retract her hand silently, it falling to her side, resting atop her duffel bag, as the nearby young man would start immediately pleading his case, trying to paint himself as a good guy. A textbook reaction from a man who knows he's taking the fall. "We'll learn what is true and what is false during questioning," she said with an altogether less cheerful voice, yet a smile remained plastered on her face. Or perhaps it was that it seemed too cheerful?

Furuhashi-san went about standard arresting procedures for the young man who was pleading his case. It wasn't until young Ms. Sara began barking orders like a trained operative that Futaba was absolutely certain that they were the culprits. As Sara sprung into action, a swipe of Futaba's hand through her now-opened duffel bag would appear to send small group of three hefty baby dolls flying through the air, darting about like insects as they shot forward.

Within the short time she had been given to react in this instance Futaba had only momentarily held her hand forward, three fingers extended, namely her pinky, ring, and middle fingers on her right hand. One baby doll would be seeking to grapple Sara's arm, its own arms wrapping around hers in a flash, before Futaba flicked on pinky down, and the exotic maiden would find her weight and momentum being redirected towards the ground just shy of Furuhashi, and then properly pinned to the ground by some supernatural force.

The other two dolls were being used thusly: One remained hovering menacingly near Sara, ready to pin down any further offending limbs or even attack her full force if it came to that; while the other would aim to thwart the escape of the third member of the younger foreigners, Vita, who despite remaining all but silent throughout the event, had been present and unforgotten by the wonderful host and Judgement agent known as Futaba. Were Vita to even try to make a run for it, the third doll would seek to entangle her legs, grappling and reeling her back in kicking and screaming if she had to.

Futaba's voice grew stern yet excited, as though she was happy that they were resisting to some extent, "Come now, people, you must know that running from the authorities makes you look guilty no matter what culture you're in." Despite how cruel she seemed to be, she was still polite enough to speak proper English for their foreign guests.

«As I said. You are under arrest! Go, Futaba-san!»

Wel all attempts to reason with them had failed but Atsa guessed that was to be expected. They were already under suspicion before the explosion went off and with the airport under attack there was no way they were getting out of this now. The plan had been to enter the city undetected, take out the target, and get out all without causing a commotion. Needless to say they had failed horrendously at the stealth part and capture at this point would likely mean being cast out of and completely abandoned by Necessarius.

“Forget them and scatter! Birdway can deal with the cause so we’ll rendezvous later!”

There was no need to hear that twice and Atsa had already gone into action the moment Gou responded to his plea with a threat of arrest. His original plan had been to simply run away before the officer could intercept them. If he could get out of the officers' eyesight even for just a moment he was certain he could get away, after all stealth was one of his specialities.

Unfortunately, the moment Gou reached for his waist getting away without any kind of fight was no longer an option. Without a moment of hesitation Atsa would attempt to grab Gou's wrist as he reached out for him. The moment he got ahold of the officer's wrist he'd pull their arm forward and downwards taking advantage of his targets momentum to try to drag him into the next attack, which was a strong high kick directed at his jaw.

If all that succeeded Atsa's attacks on the officer would stop there and he'd immediately attempt to make another run for it only to find himself with a whole new problem, A raged filled bird named Charlemagne heading straight for the group.

Charlemagne had finally located his targets just as they were getting jumped by whoever these green armband wearing strangers were. The eagle's very first thoughts upon seeing the scene unfold in front of him was something around the lines of That's karma for you, bunch of ungrateful brats. In fact, Charlemagne was almost tempted to leave them to this fate but changed his plan when he realized he'd have no way to seek out his personal vengeance if they were taken into custody. They'd be protected by the cops and he doubted he could get to them once they were in a cell.

Regardless of whether Atsa managed to break away from Gou or not Charlemagne would target the girl wearing the bunny ear like ribbon in her hair. The reason for this was simple; if Atsa was getting away Charlemagne could always hunt him down later(he known the magician's hiding habits well enough) and if Atsa was still trapped as far as Charlemagne was concerned he deserved to be hit around a bit. Furthermore, the similarity between Futaba's ribbon and a rabbit tapped into the eagle's predatory nature. So Charlemagne would dive towards the girl's head before reeling up and attempting to claw at her face with his claws.

A couple of weeks ago Furuhashi Gou may have fallen as a result of the counter, however, he had grown out of his past self. He, too, had learned his lessons from the countless defeats. He, taking them all by heart, had trained as hard as he could.

Thus, when the foreign boy had gained hold of his wrist before he could grab theirs and pulled him in, the Judgement officer immediately adjusted to the situation, anticipating the turnout of the counter by moving his free hand to catch the knee before it could make contact with his jaw, altering the path of its motion first and foremost.

And building the foundation for his finishing counter on top of it all.

From here on out all it took were quick calculations and an ounce of focus.

«Resistance is futile!»

Then he sent a powerful cocktail of the right vibrations emerging from his palm into the foreigner’s body, directly attacking his knee cap by causing it to brittle. An attack carefully executed to cause a clean fracture, sufficient to slow him down temporarily while startling his mind with pain yet nothing an Academy City hospital couldn’t deal with.

Now, hoping to free his other hand from the suspect’s grip, he would aim to throw a punch – of course enhanced by his ability to maximise its impact – straight at the foreigner’s face, aiming to incapacitate them in a swift counter of his own. One exploiting the surprise moment to a point where it would rob him of all defence.

The silver-haired nun in white could not have stood out more as she strolled at a leisurely pace through the city streets surrounding the dormitory. More than her curious attire and her obviously foreign features, it was her behaviour that caused her to stand out the most. Most people in the city walked with purpose. Even when they weren't hurrying they were walking 'to' somewhere. But this foreign girl was different. She had no obvious destination and like a tourist, her gaze never lingered in once place long. Somewhere between childish awe and befuddled confusion, she looked about at the mundane and everyday things around her that most people paid no heed to.

Index stopped at a traffic light. She was familiar enough with them to know that people stopped when they reached them, but beyond that, she didn't really understand their purpose. There was no traffic, but it was the done thing in this country, so she stood dutifully on the crossing and waited.

The light turned green and she waited. Back to red. Still waiting.

When was she supposed to cross again? There was supposed to be some sort of sign. But she didn't know what that would be. Something hummed lightly as it passed her, a waist-high cylindrical object that looked to her like some sort of trash can. She knew these. They were the cleaning robots.

"Oh. Excuse me." She apologised to the machine as it sped past her and the green light. Index decided that was as good a signal as any other and ran to keep up.

It was not just idle boredom that had drawn Index out of Kamijou's apartment (though that was definitely a part of it. She'd practically devoured the few books the other girl owned in a matter of days and the television could only provide her with so many episodes of magical girl Kanamin.) Touko was gone on some errand. Guy had been strangely absent, too. Maika was busy with her maid duties. Who knew where Himegami was. And she couldn't figure out how to work the cell phone Touko had given her well enough to call Komoe-sensei. That meant one thing.

No food.

For Index's titanic appetite, this would not do. So she had come hunting. And now, finally, the young girl found what she had been looking for.

The vending machine held many intriguing looking items, but Index decided that she would have to try them another time. For now, it was best to rely on something she was familiar with. Ramen would do. The packet was right there. She fished in her pocket for coins. 500 yen. She had enough.

"Hello." She addressed the machine politely with a smile. There was no reply. "Excuse me." She tried again to get its attention. She'd heard the machines talk before, so she assumed they were intelligent enough to understand what she was saying. Like some sort of mechanised shopkeeper. "Umm..."

Even if her second move had failed, her opening move was the right choice. Her body was knocked off balance as she had accelerated and her body fell to the ground. The fact that friction from the sudden deceleration had not been burned her face as it slammed onto the floor was only thanks to that.

No reaction force meant no pain as she hit the ground. She had not even reacted once as a blow that should have knocked the wind out of her failed to do a thing beyond keep her pinned down.

Yet, even that…

“Since you’re so focused on us, I’ll give you a hint. We’re not the only aberrations here.” She spoke in English to the girl who had pinned her down. In the meantime, her free hand minutely shifting to let a small knife fall into her palm.

“If you keep your eyes on something as benign as us, you’ll lose sight of reality. Take a step back and focus on what’s more important, otherwise the things you need to look out for will all become nothing but embers.”

Her eyes constricted as she glared at the girl who had attempted to keep her down. Nothing but pure venom came from her voice as she spoke to Futaba. Neither of the girls had any idea who the culprit was, but Sara could still do one thing.

A little vagueness here.

A little nudging there.

With a few words, she could bluff her way out an opening for her and the others. But even she knew that mere words would not be enough to convince them and getting held up here any longer would have a steep price.

“With that...” With a quick flick, the knife in her hand flew. Even with her hand on the ground and with minimal movement, she could still bring that knife to high speeds. And yet, she made sure it would hit her target. The small blade would fly in between ‘FURUHASHI’ and Atsa, just barely missing the former. There would be no intent to kill. There would be no intent to harm.

She would merely be providing an opening.

And even if they were amateurs, there was still the possibility to gauge her intent...or lack thereof.

“I bid you farewell, Miss Law Enforcerment.”

Obstacle: The floor/ceiling.

It was finally time to play that card.

With a big grin on her face, she started to sink into the floor for a couple of seconds until her body pushed forward so she could accelerate to the next floor. The doll hand that had been trying to pin her would fail to hold on as she forced herself down to the next floor and possibly break.

She just needed to unclasp and reclasp her necklace to reset the obstacles and escape.

What bliss? What excitement? What splendid occasion! Oh, if things always went this smoothly.

Dancing across the streets of Academy City like a star struck tourist, was Stella Dellinger di Ariana, a woman in a gorgeous victorian dress of black and white colour with red accents. An individual so foreign to this city, that her light skin colour, blonde hair and purple eyes were only secondary aspects to pick up on. And yet, she had somehow made it past the impossible to penetrate borders of the capital of science.

It had all been thanks to her anonymous backer and his handy man; that jester.

And there she was, on the move towards her next point on the perfectly ordered checklist that had been her grand scheme. Within only a few hours she had found and now spotted the target of her search.

It was time to make an appearance!

«Fear not young lady~! Allow a true connoisseur to lend you a hand in your time of peril~!»

Announced by an oddly elevating scent reminiscent of incense underlined by a soul soothing sensation, that woman in all her palatial glory would lean over the nun’s shoulder. And as she did, she would continue to spout more of her ‹educated› knowledge.

«Watch closely~! All you need to do is dial the number and then utter your command~♫»

Entirely convinced of the knowledge she had drawn from absolutely nowhere, that bragging expert hit the buttons with her jumpy but delicate fingers, making the right number up as she moved. After all, these treasures troves of modern science somehow had to work, right? Such was the promise of 100% customer satisfaction!

«Deliver us the…right…actually, what did you want to buy?»

So much dedication, she nearly was unable to fall out of her jolly sing song character.

For a moments Atsa's mind would numb as pain roaring through his body from his knee washed over it. Based on the level of pain alone the white haired foreigner could tell that his knee had been broken or at the very least fractured. What was more worrying though was he had no idea how Furuhashi had managed to break his knee with so little effort. Sure, he now knew that the officer was an esper but he had no idea how his power worked and that made it all the more dangerous. The only thing that seem to be certain now was physical contact seemed to be part of it, which meant Atsa had to get as far away as possible.

Unfortunately, with the sudden pain clouding his senses there was no way for him to think out a proper plan nor time to process the next in attack. At least there wouldn't have been if it wasn't for Sara's throwing knife, which gave him the moment he needed to get away. As the knife passed between them Atsa would jump back using his still good leg. He managed to shift most of his weight on to his good leg upon landing but another roar of pain shot through him as the pressure from landing on the ground traveled through fractured knee unlike the first time though he wouldn't let this pain cloud his mind. Instead he'd power through it and quickly initiated his escape plan by opening his carry on bag and grabbing at the mask inside.

The mask Atsa pulled out was one of the select few magic items he had decided to keep with him instead of living in his luggage, it was the mask of Áłtsé Hastiin(First Man). Without a moment of hesitation he'd pull the mask over his face and the moment his head had been completely covered he'd seemingly vanish into thin air. In reality he hadn't moved at all, the spell simply gave him the same properties as air including invisibility. With the fight seemingly over Atsa would simply limp away from the scene.

Meanwhile Charlemagne would end his assault on Futaba and begin flying away the moment he saw the mask Atsa pulled out of his bag. There was no point in staying around anymore after all. Sara had escaped and there was no way for him to find or even touch Atsa once the mask was on. Everyone he had come to get revenge on had left and while he still felt like attacking the judgement officer who looked like a bunny there really was no reason to. Instead he'd simply try to avoid the entire situation and escape to the skies until the traitors revealed themselves again.

As Heinrich watched Yomikawa charge in with her raised shield, he was acutely aware of the young esper nearby preparing a pair of handcuffs. He knew that no matter what happened, he could not let that girl catch him. But her presence also presented an altogether different problem. There was no way to safely use her as a hostage without knowing what kind of ability she had. Heinrich was no coward, but he knew that in this situation, the best solution was to run. If he could escape long enough to use Transformation without being seen, he was golden. As Yomikawa brought her shield crashing down towards him, he sidestepped and threw a quick punch at her face, quickly turning towards the door and moving without knowing if he had gotten a good hit in. As he ran and tackled his way through the door, he used his ring to retrieve the snakeskin necessary for the ritual and wrapped it around his face. He looked back at his opponents and made a declaration before sprinting down the halls:

"I'm sorry ladies, but the fun ends here. In a short amount of time, this appearance will have disappeared from this earth. You'll never be able to recognize me again- you'll spend the rest of the days wondering about every man, woman, or child who passes you on the street. Auf wiedersehen!"

Gou's punch sailed past its mark. It had been a last-minute counter thrown out of opportunity from an already compromised stance and he was no trained boxer. Overreaching had robbed him of his already precarious balance and he staggered to catch himself. It only took him a couple of seconds to recover but in that time the white-haired youth had vanished into thin air in front of his face.

These people...

They were ability users!

No matter how unlikely, or even impossible such a thing may have been, Gou could not spare the time to think about how or why. He could not ignore his own eyes.

He turned to warn Futaba just as the woman pinned beneath her sank through the floor.

And if those two had abilities...

Gou reached for his earpiece and yelled out a warning.

"Shirai, Yomikawa-san. They're ability users! These people have esper powers!" He hoped his warning would be in time. "Futaba-san!" He called out to his colleague. "We need to regroup with the others."

***

Yomikawa rolled her shoulder to deflect the punch coming from her open side, sapping the blow of much of its power and his knuckles only managed to graze her cheek. Moving swiftly and nimbly on her feet the woman pivoted about and gave chase. And as she did so Gou's warning reached her ears.

"Shirai, Yomikawa-san. They're ability users! These people have esper powers!" Her lips curled in a grimace. This changed things. This man was no longer a regular combatant. He was au unknown quantity, an unknown danger. She could no longer approach him without caution, much less allow Shirai to. But before she could decide on the best course of action Heinrich announced to her;

"I'm sorry ladies, but the fun ends here. In a short amount of time, this appearance will have disappeared from this earth. You'll never be able to recognize me again- you'll spend the rest of the days wondering about every man, woman, or child who passes you on the street. Auf wiedersehen!"

Was it a bluff? Misdirection? Or was he so confident in this ability of his that he would tell them outright? She kept running, because if he was telling the truth, losing sight of him for even a second would be the end of it.

It had been quite seamless. Once she had dropped through the floor, she had no longer found even the slightest hint of resistance. It was likely that the feds had reorganized once the chaos had erupted towards both the site of the incident itself and towards site where the suspicious characters (like her) had been declared under arrest.

Sara had hated the fact that she was abandoning the others, but they were all competent magicians from Necessarius. Supposedly.

She was still working on determining the status of the “competent” epithet.

Unfortunately, covering for their asses was not what she needed to do now. No matter what, they would likely not talk, so she didn’t have to worry about any intelligence leaks.

She just needed to focus on guaranteeing her safety first. Magicians were truly a selfish lot.

So, she simply found her way into a crowd, keeping at the normal walking pace. Keeping pace, she would head towards the arrivals lobby with all of the normal people before diverging and escaping to another place. Preferably, high up.

But as she did, she placed a hand in her pocket and felt around for the notepad and pen within. Covering their asses may not have been her responsibility, but she figured she could at least try to communicate and coordinate with the others.

The pain was still roaring in Atsa now fractured knee as he limbed his way through the airport completely invisible to everyone around him. First thing first, he was going to have to fix up his leg. There was no way he was going to be able to take on a rogue magician who had managed to break into multiple cabals and the british library in his current state, a busted leg and with little to no materials to cast his spells with. As such Atsa new plan was quite simply, to get all the luggage he had played to pick up at the baggage claim before everything fell into chaos. All he really needed to do now was figure out just where they were keeping it. Fortunately now that he was under the effects of the four worlds spell he wasn't in nearly as much as a rush as he had been in just a few minutes before. Everything was so much more peaceful when you didn't have a student police force breathing down your neck. As that thought passed through his mind he had to wonder if Heinrich was okay, given that he had been taken in by the actually police instead of a student group.

With his current goal inside the now wanted criminal would spend his time limping around the airport in what almost seemed like a futile attempt to find his luggage amidst the chaos. Eventually luck would take his side and he'd find where his objective was being kept. He'd slide his way past any security along the way and while he accidentally bumped into them one or twice all they'd feel was a small breeze has just gone by them. Once he got to the all the bags he'd look around the pile until he eventually caught sight of his own navy blue bag buried just below the surface of the pile. Without a moments of hesitation he'd make his way over to it and slide his hand through a gap in the pile, wrapping one of his hands around the handle while the other went up to the mask on his face. In one quick motion he'd remove the mask breaking the spell while also yanking his bag out from below the pile creating a ruckus as bags tumble down the pule on to the floor, most definitely grabbing the attention of the nearby security in the process.

"Thanks for taking my bag! See ya!"

With his bag now in his possession Atsa would say his farewell before pulling his mask over his face and vanishing into thin air again. With his first mission accomplish he'd then move on to his second; getting the hell out of this airport as soon as possible. Unlike the first plan though he wouldn't have to take his mask off to accomplish this mission allowing him to simply limp out of the airport unnoticed. Once he was a good distance from the airport and out of sight from the general public he'd take his mask off again before pulling out his phone and texting the only person he knew had gotten away so far, Sara.

You make it out yet?

Index looked on as the woman beside her displayed her expertise. She must be a veteran of using these kinds of devices, the nun thought as she observed the refined-looking lady operate the vending machine.

«Deliver us the…right…actually, what did you want to buy?»

"The spicy ramen, please!" Index hurriedly answered, trying not to salivate in anticipation. With the object of her desire so close, the walk home seemed so long. But wait! She'd have to figure out how to operate the microwave, too! She might waste away by then!

Something red caught Index's eye. The slender figure came to a halt at the end of the street.

She was about 13 by the looks of her, with long, wavy blonde hair and a strange outfit of black straps and braces that was almost indecent in the way it revealed her young body. At her waist hung metal tools that resembled those a carpenter might use. Saws, pincers, hammers and the like. But they were no mere tradesman's tools. These were instruments of torture.

Her lowered her head remained expressionless, only revealing her small lips that sighed slightly.

She reached for her back pocket and removed something. A mini flare gun. It was a tool mainly issued out to members of the Anti-Skill and Judgment to clear out civilians from the field of strife.

The red nun raised the gun and pointed it at the sky then squeezed the trigger and with a  loud popping sound, a lipstick-size metal cylinder slowly rose into the air.

Then, with a sudden boom, the glaring flash scattered from the metal container.

It was a warning to those around her that a dangerous incident was about to occur. Those who saw it scattered immediately.

Only Index, the red nun and the refined-looking lady were left on the empty street.

The red nun asked with a flat robotic-like tone, "My first question: What is your objective as an intruder?"

Through the long bangs, one could see that her eyes had no hint of hesitation as she reached for the tools at her waist.

Only a moment more and that true connoisseur’s act would have fallen apart like a badly folded paper crane. However, a new competitor entered the arena, announcing their presence by underlining their already theatric appearance with fitting action.

«My first question: What is your objective as an intruder?»

Under any normal circumstance the criminal would have found themselves cornered under the ice cold spotlight. However, this hadn’t been a normal playing field. No, quite visibly, it was a clash between two masters of theatrics.

«My objective? Not even that did you figure out? And yet you found me? And yet you cross my path? My my my, and here I was all worried in face of the challenge imposed by the coalition force formed between Academy City and the Anglican Church~!»

Dramatic to the core, Stella’s response was another uncontrolled dance of her tongue. Overly unnecessary and nonsensical, but always jumping straight to the point when needed.

«Hold on. These robes. These insignia. You’re Russian Orthodox? My my my, what list of allies you hold, Academy City~!»

By nature that woman’s willingness to engage in the most simple act of politeness was decisively limited by her love for her own voice. Devoid of any sense for danger, she would simply swing her hips to transition into a wholly different pose of grande bravado.

But that wasn’t it. That wasn’t the fishy thing about it all.

Her elevating scent still lingering in the air all around, that woman who seemed like one entirely lost in fantasy, was in fact grounded in reality. So much so that all that posing was only frame surrounding the picture that was one who was inviting in trouble, prepared to take it any moment.

Yomikawa gave chase to the foreign man through the corridors of the airport. She may have been an athletic woman in her prime, but the man had a significant headstart on her. She had to catch up to him before he reached a populated area. As soon as that happened, if his words were true, then all hope of catching him would be gone. But the passages branched through the large building like arteries in a body and it would only take one corner for her to lose sight of him. The one advantage she had over him now was the fact that the alarm would have triggered an evacuation. He couldn't fade away so easily if there was no one to blend in with.

And she had another ace up her sleeve.

The girl alongside her had a convenient ability. She may not have been able to cut him off without seeing where she was going, but Kuroko's teleportation would let her cut down the distance between them by jumping instantly from one end of the corridors to the next. She just had to hope the girl could catch up to her before she lost sight of the man...

Up ahead the passage branched off, taking a sharp turn to the left. And as Heinrich reached that junction another figure emerged from the other direction. The shot haired boy and his bow-wearing companion.

"Furuhashi-san! Don't let him out of your sight!" She called out to the boy. She knew the boy was tenacious like a hound dog. He'd keep chasing the stranger until his legs gave up.

***

"Oh, Sasha!" Index recognised the girl and waved towards her, apparently missing the tension in the air. "It's Sasha!" She started to wave at the Russian girl.

«Hold on. These robes. These insignia. You’re Russian Orthodox? My my my, what list of allies you hold, Academy City~!»

Sasha ignored the woman's ramblings. Instead, she slowly and deliberately removed one of the tools from her belt and took a step towards the woman.

Slow and indomitable. There was a sense that the girl wouldn't be stopped even if she were to run into a steel wall. She gripped the steel tool in her hand so hard the metal seemed to creak and strain. Then, as if responding to a starter pistol, she swooped low into a dash, sprinting towards the oddly dressed woman. The L-shaped metal crowbar roared as she swung it down towards Stella with enough strength to bisect her if it made contact.

Before she could even remove the notepad and pen, she felt a vibration in another pocket. Quickly abandoning her attempt to draw out the notepad and pen, she picked up a smartphone that was in her other pocket on her blazer.

The girl swiped her finger around a couple of times aimlessly while trying to parse out the controls on the device.

“This is...to unlock? Ugh. Why does technology keep getting more unnecessarily complicated?”

After a few furious slides and taps, she finally found the message that she had been sent.

Was this really the best way to ask? Couldn’t this communication be tracked?

Unfortunately, since he already initiated this, the best she could do was try to create as vague an answer as she could while still sounding like a civilian.

I’m still stuck within the crowd. It’ll take some time to escape. I’m shutting my phone off until everyone has escaped to safety.

Hopefully, that would implore him to engage in alternate methods for communication. It would be quite pathetic for magicians to rely on phones, after all.

Atsa felt relieved when Sara got back to him, at the very least it seemed she had managed to get away. That just left Birdway, Vita, and Heinrich left. He was fairly certain Birdway would be fine on her own. In fact, he was more worried about the people who tried to stop her. It wouldn't surprise him if the explosion in the airport had been Birdway turning someone into ash after they inconvenience her. If it wasn't for the fact that Vita was with him she would've been a suspect as well given the explosion spell she had shown at the King's Cross and her overall attitude. Heinrich seemed fairly profession so for now he'd just have to assume that they managed to get away as well. Now his only problem was figuring out how exactly he was going to meet up with everyone else.

After getting the message from Sara he'd turn his phone off as well. He hadn't thought about it when he messaged Sara but after reading that she was turning her phone off it occurred to him that maybe using technology to communicate while running away from the tech hub of the world likely wasn't a good idea. Not being able to use his phone did create a new problem though, he had no way to communicate with the rest of the party and was beginning to regret not learning any communication spells. If Charlemagne wasn't throwing a tantrum he could've just sent him with messages. Hopefully one of the other members of the group has a communication spell of some sort.

Just in case they didn't though Atsa would try to think of where everyone would go in this situation. Had Birdway gotten them hotel rooms? Surely they had picked out some place to stay while they were here? He just needed to remember where, surely he had written it down it down somewhere. Once he found the small slip of paper he had written the name down on he'd move to the next step, finding a map. Since he was likely wanted now he slipped his mask back disappearing into the air again as he wandered the streets for Academy City until he found a place with a map. Since he was likely a wanted man now simply purchasing the map was likely to risky so instead he would swipe it while no one was looking and leave some money in its place. After that he'd head out towards what he hoped would be the meeting place.

Heinrich continued running through the halls of the airport. He just need to find a small, empty closet or room and pop into it for a second. He was aware that his number of pursuers had grown. But he knew that as long as he was out of their sight for just a second, he could transform and escape unnoticed. Running towards the baggage claim and exit, Heinrich saw just what he needed: a janitor's closet. He quickly used retrieve to grab packets of chalk and threw them to the ground to act as a smokescreen, before crossing to the room and shutting himself inside. As the transformation spell continued its work throughout the whole journey, it was nearly fully prepared. He decided that his appearance would be a young, unsuspicious one: a high school girl, one of millions in the city. As the spell finished, he stepped out of the room confident in his escape: it was impossible to figure out the true identity of this new stranger. Even DNA tests were powerless compared to the changes brought about transformation. As he stepped outside, he immediately cowered to the ground. The second one of his pursuers approached, he would simply act terrified, point in a random direction, and cry "He threatened me with a knife and then ran that way!"