False Error (Arc 3 Science Side)

“Stop it right there!!!“

The strange boy wouldn’t be allowed to progress any further. Something would hit him from the side. Something would wrap itself around his form; something would pull him, push him and force him to travel into a single direction…down towards the ground.

And as he would, a tremor would travel through his body, leaving an impact paralysing him for a short moment.

He didn’t know how he made it, but Furuhashi Gou had given his all to do it either way. His body had surpassed its limits had he begun to sprint like a berserker in order to intercept the other’s path. He didn’t know how far he surpassed his own body’s limits, but he did so nonetheless.
He didn’t care if it was pointless or if he were to take damage from it. What mattered was only the fact that someone would be saved in the end. The prevention of any more disasters mattered more than the strain he put on himself.  

So he had gone for it.

The strategy he had was of rather simple nature. He charged straight for the boy, only to tackle him again. This time however he would also attempt to grab the boy in a similar motion to hugging him in order to drag him to the ground with all strength he had left, hoping to make the impact even tougher than it had been before, incapacitating him once and for all.
To ensure that the target would remain defenceless he had used his ability to channel vibrations through their body causing a similar effect to a heavy tremor.

”…You are...under arrest…”

Arriving near a parked bicycle to carefully observe its teenager-fitting black and red design was Hisakawa Miyako, Natsumi's unofficial partner-in crime. Also the woman who had almost gotten Keima killed not too long ago, he bitterly remembered.

“You were here all along?” At the sight of Natsumi's very annoyed expression, Miyako just smiled and tilted her way in a cute way. “Don't look at me like that, I was trying to gather info on our mystery kid.” However, she got closer and kneeled in front of Keima, showing her familiarity with Natsumi's flames by totally ignoring them. “Though it seems I've found a pearl and so I felt like coming out to play here. What do you say, kid? Feel like talking and telling us what's going on?”

“She's impulsive, but that girl wouldn't hold people at gun—fire-point, without a reason.” While correcting herself Miyako gestured towards the Tokiwadai student behind her with her thumb and grinned. In return Keima just groaned at her, which just amused her even further as she realised he probably felt quite pissed about last time.

“You plan on trying to get me killed again?”

He asked but worryingly so, that question didn't seem to meant to be answered as Keima cellphone vibrated, soon followed by his ringtone, an old classical piece that earned him Miyako's glances, which he disregarded with a slight blush.

“Answer, and talk casually if you don't want your face to come off.” Miyako threatened, her childish attitude suddenly being replaced with a now more serious, professional attitude.

"Status report." A woman said, her voice holding no kindness or compassion, only the cold professionalism Miyako knew well amongst the dark side. This sealed the deal, Keima wasn't just some bystander.

“...A man escaped with our female target, black-haired, wearing bartender-looking clothes, and about twenty years of age.” Keima spoke in the mouthpiece after picking up, with Miyako studying his face closely. “Relation to the target:--” 'Strangers', Natsumi carefully whispered, which Keima repeated almost immediately.

There was a pause in the discussion, and in that time Keima had decided one thing that he hoped he'd manage to achieve. “I will begin their pursuit.” He said, slowly hanging up after waiting for an answer. As soon as he hung up, though, Miyako suddenly rose and grabbed him by the collar to drag him up with her. "Afraid not, you'll be answering questions first."

Miyako had expected Keima to rebel, but noted him to be surprisingly obedient. It was a cause of concern, but it worked out pretty well right now. (This is serious, we need to move elsewhere.) Looking at Natsumi with an expression that clearly expressed what she was thinking, Natsumi nodded and the the fireballs extinguished themselves at surprising speed. They started to move away from the dorm, though without a precise goal in mind, only seeking for the first peaceful place they'd find.

Iori was on her knees, frantically tapping the buttons of an old phone she found on the ground in a vain attempt to bring it back to life. Come on, come on! Nothing happened. The cracked screen didn't light up from her fiddling with it. Like her phone, this one seems to have met its end to that boy's rock attack. She was still rather shaken by how suddenly the world flipped upside-down for her.

The rest of her day was supposed to be relaxing. Play some games, maybe go out somewhere. Iori didn't have a plan for what she should've done after she left her shift at work, but anything would have been better than being thrown into the air like a ragdoll and being attacked by a mentally unstable kid.

Of course, it must be worse for the Judgement Officer that came to help.

After she asked him what they would do about the kid ignoring their questions and pleas to stop, he came up with the only rational thing there was to do at that point. "Then we'll have to stop him with all we can!" Was what she heard before he rushed towards the dangerous kid like a cheetah after a gazelle.

Then the boy with Geokinesis, or what she assumed was Geokinesis, stopped the stone slabs that had fired away from him. Then they accelerated to twice the speed back towards him, and towards the gray-haired Judgement Officer. She couldn't watch, and quickly turned around and ran away. She didn't have to avoid the rubble walls the second time, she was still in the safespot between them. However she could feel the air rush past her as they whizzed by.

---

That's how Iori came about on the ground away from the danger of the fight still going on behind her. She wished she could help, but she'd be more of a handicap that a powerful force to fight with. The phone in her hand was useless, so she tossed--
...Wait, what if only the display was dead?

Iori didn't bother to try the phone with her power, since her phone was in a very similar condition and quite dead. What if...?

Yes! It did work. Granted, it was in very bad shape, but it still had power and most of the electronics were still intact. With a bit of rooting around the phone's files, she started to call Anti-Skill, and began telling them the situation. After, she hung up and let the phone clatter on the ground. Iori stood up and started calling to the Judgement Officer, until she saw the two in a scuffle on the ground. It looked like the fight was wrapping up.

"...A man escaped with our female target, black-haired, bartender-looking clothing, and about twenty-years of age. Relation to target: strangers." There was a short pause as Naoki waited for an answer. She had no comments to make, so she remained silent, and he finished the report a moment later.

"I will begin their pursuit." Report finished, he hung up.

"That piece of trash." Irritated. Very irritated. Though there was also a bit anger and disdain swirling around, calling her irritated was the easiest way to describe her current state of mind.

Naoki's report had been fairly standard, up until the end. But then, he mentioned that he would 'begin their pursuit'. If he had been calling her, on his own terms, like usual, then that wouldn't have been something to look twice at.

But she was the one who had called him, in the middle of a job, no less. She should have caught him right in the middle of whatever it was that was delaying him, but he answered her immediately, and said that he was going to begin the pursuit. Why wasn't he already in the middle of it? There was no reason to wait for her to call him.

The long wait, immediate answer, and odd response. Something was wrong. It was a distinct possibility that Naoki had been captured or otherwise compromised, which would render any and all of the information gleaned from his report just now untrustworthy. She needed to call in someone else.

As she picked up the phone once more, however, she was interrupted by a notification before she could begin the call. It was an email containing the transcript of a call to Anti-Skill. She had already learned that the escapees were somewhat unstable and have a tendency to go berserk when put under great stress, courtesy of the female escapee.

As a result, expecting that any further episodes would attract the attention of the authorities, she had tapped the lines of Judgement and Anti-Skill (though there was one Judgement office with oddly strong defenses that she was unable to tap) and arranged it so that she would be forwarded the transcripts of any calls that contained certain keywords.

Calls such as this one. It seemed that the male escapee had gone berserk and was captured by a Judgement officer. For a moment she debated whether to send the other agent to retrieve him instead of Naoki, but ultimately decided against it.

The escapee would be either be sent to the hospital or put into custody, so it'll be child's play to track him down whenever she wishes now, but if things are as she suspects, she may soon lose Naoki's trail. And that carries the risk of revealing her location to her enemies. With that in mind, she dialed the number.

"Eto, I have a job for you. Naoki may have been compromised. Go and check out the situation. If you encounter any enemies, you may deal with them at your own discretion. I'll email you his last reported location now." Without waiting for a response, she hung up and sent the email. She didn't want to speak to that thing any longer than she had to.

Her business with them finished for the moment, she stood and removed her lab coat from the chair she'd placed it on, and donned it as she walked toward a set of unmarked double doors. Swinging them open, she entered a world of pure white. As she gazed at it, her expression relaxed and a serene smile settled on her face.

"There's science to be done."

As her jubilant voice echoed throughout the lab, its inhabitants shivered in fear, anticipating what would come next.

---

For an instant, he was confused. One moment, Iresia was right before his eyes, within arm's reach, and the next, all he could see was the blue sky.

Huh?

As he hit the ground, a powerful tremor ravaged his body, robbing him of consciousness.

He had heard someone cry out from inside the thick plume of dust. Running blind down what he hoped wouldn't be a dead end he briefly turned to see someone charging from the opposite direction. He was about to brce for collision before another figure burst in from the side, flattening the oncoming stranger against the floor. Guy momentarily glanced at them with passing curiosity as he passed.

In another part of the city, back in a dark alley away from the rays of the sun that shone down on the city, a dim sounding ringtone of a cell phone alerted a lone girl of work to be done. Eto Fuuka produced the phone from her jacket and swiftly hit the call button to answer the ring. Before she had a chance to even make a greeting she was given the rundown of her assignment. That worked out fine. She liked staying quiet if she could.

"Eto, I have a job for you. Naoki may have been compromised. Go and check out the situation. If you encounter any enemies, you may deal with them at your own discretion. I'll email you his last reported location now."

The call gave an immediate click as it disconnected. It seemed that this client wasn't too fond of Fuuka's company. Not that that bothered her. She could go and die for all she cared. Of course, she'd have to save it until after Fuuka's assignment for assisting her was complete. It didn't help to have failures like the death of a client on your record.

"Stuck up ***** " Fuuka muttered toward the ground with an oddly placed grin spreading itself across the half of her face not covered by her long hair. As annoying as a call like this was, it meant that it was time to hurt people again. It had been too long since her last job, and the urge to torment was welling inside of her like crazy. Her breath escaped in quick huffs that gave a disturbing sound of maniacal cackling. As her phone beeped and received the email, she confirmed the location of her charge and emerged from her alley. She held up a hand to shield herself from the sun's rays, growling with contempt for the big fiery sphere. If only there were a way to put it out for good. But let's think of that another time. There was...work to be done.

------------

She arrived near a dorm that seemed to be the setting of some sort of scuffle. She was in the right spot, but Naoki was nowhere to be found. Probably captured and moved. But it hadn't been long since the reported time of his being at this location. Fuuka was positive they couldn't have moved him far. But in what direction had they gone? Fuuka hadn't come across anyone on her way here, so she selected a quiet looking street in the other direction, dashing to try and catch sight of Naoki and his captors.

Finally it was over.

His clothes were torn, he was lacking a button here and there, his white shirt’s colour had been corrupted by brown dirt and he was most likely bleeding at one place or the other, but it was over.

For a second Furuhashi Gou truly felt like one of these world champions you’d often see on TV, exhaling slowly and directing his glance towards the sky. He would have loved to raise his arms as well, but they were busy hugging his former opponent.

Breathing in and out slowly he finally came to rest his exhausted body. At least he was close to doing so, but his attention would be occupied with the new task ahead.
Before anything else could happen the Judgement boy took a metallic object from his pants’ pocket and used it in the exact way it was supposed to be used; in short he used the highly modern Academy City first grade handcuffs every Judgement member was allowed to carry around in order to chain the hands of the defeated criminal behind their back, finally wrapping up this part of his duty.

This had taken less than 10 seconds.

With it done, he finally found the time to return his body into an upright position, allowing for him to somehow kneel on the ground, more wasn’t in the realm of the possible, as standing up would consume too much of his little strength.
However that didn’t stop him from scanning environment, checking on the damage it had taken. Doing so he saw that man wearing a red shirt yet again. He didn’t pay that much attention to the child he had been carrying around just like that, was there actually something else that bothered our servant of justice more than anything else…

“Uhhm. Hey mister…

…I know I warned you to stay away from here, but that was only due to the danger, which is gone now.
So Judgement protocols aren’t against it…
And as you can see, there are still injured people around here, as well as a criminal that needs to be taken care of. While I am a member of Judgement I remain the only one present for now.
I think even common sense, society’s overall rules and even the law would tell you so, but…

…would you please mind actually…helping!?” This last word was spoken with some oddly strong emphasis and aggressiveness, reminiscent of a fighting dog.

Iresia felt sick, not only from the earlier experience but from how much Guy was shaking her around as he ran, and as if that wasn't enough, he had to run into a wall of dust causing Iresia to have severe coughing.

Though after a while, the wall of dust had started to settle down and Iresia tried to stable her breathing while vaguely hearing someone talk. “…would you please mind actually…helping!?” But the sudden yell had surprised Iresia out of her coughing fit as she snapped her head to locate the source of the scary voice, a white-haired boy in tattered clothes restraining another person.

For a second, Iresia had assumed she didn't know either of the two boys, but as she closely observed the unconscious boy, her eyes widened in realisation.

“Kin...” She shook as tears gradually poured out of her eyes, fear and anger overcoming her along with various memories of the same boy being mistreated by other, very bad people. “Let go of him...” And suddenly she started growling ever so slightly, as a newly formed bright white ball of energy rapidly increasing in volume buzzed to show it's ready to release in the form of a disaster in just a few seconds, not too far away from Gou.

**

Their pace was rapid in this mostly deserted side walk, save for a few cars now and then, nearly running as they tried to get the furthest away from the now dangerous site of the dormitory before enemies came after them, sometimes sneaking through alleys though mostly staying on normal streets as they whispered to each other and kept quiet when people or cars came near.

In the fifteen minutes they had been walk-running around, Keima had started a plan of his as he explained the situation with Iresia unbeknownst to Natsumi and Miyako, though they had trouble entirely buying the story.

According to him, Iresia and other children from her class had been on the run for a week as people tried to kidnap them due their status of child errors making experimentations convenient on them. Keima was then, according to the story, recruited by harsh school administration, hence the woman's harsh voice during the call, to locate the children as fast as possible without leaving any trails to avoid the embarrassing proof that they were unable to care for their students' safety.

“So basically, after all that story you want us to help you return her to her proper school which will keep her safe from the enemy?” Natsumi asked, distrust invading her whispering tones, even though she couldn't put a finger on what exactly was bothering her. To that, Keima only shrugged.

“We're both trying to get that child out of trouble, wouldn't it merely be a temporary alliance by common goals?” He cut himself temporarily, looking at Miyako who was walking behind him. “And I never said I don't expect you to betray me when you see fit.”

Hearing this, Natsumi couldn't help but feel sceptical. As a Tokiwadai student she knew that schools often had the priority of keeping their image, but she couldn't put a finger on what was bothering her in the middle of that story.

“Very well” Miyako said and Natsumi, who was in front of Keima as a set-up to prevent him from pulling anything on them, suddenly turned around with an expression of shock on her face. Miyako's only answer was to raise a hand to tell her to keep it quiet, and so she growled.

“...I don't have a choice, do I?” Natsumi sighed, to which Miyako grinned and nodded, and so they continued walking as Miyako looked for places that could be used as possible hideout.

"Heheheheh..." Renavin grinned wider as he'd watch all the chaos happen with in such a short distance between the dorms. Not only did he and Laetitia's enemy seemed to have made a quick turn around and recruited a young looking girl and the gullible flame was seemed to accept the story, for now that is. Things were getting so interesting that he started to feel a bit impatient for a battle, but he sucked it up as the short blonde begin to speak, putting two water bottles in her bag that he had purchased for her.

"Why did you let them go? Didn't you have the advantage?" She asked, as she walked along with the pack of wolves mysteriously gone. When she found a vending machine she could use to get her 'weapon', the wolves quickly ran into an alley way and just up and vanished. Renavin went in soon after but came back rather quickly after stuffing something in his pocket. It was too odd for her to make out what his power really was. On top of that his hand was completely healed from the cut he inflicted on himself.

"The deal was to get you, not to attack them. If I were to attack, I'm sure she would do something to attract a lot of attention, and we can't have that.~" Renavin never looked toward her, only ahead with his eyes glowing an unnatural red as he watched the many scenes of information unfold before him. The crows he had sent out was watching everything, and this was valuable considering even he wasn't sure what to do next.  "Hooo?~" His confident smile grew ever the more wider as another chess piece had entered the board. That would be the scarred voodoo doll herself, though having no knowledge of her.

"...So I can trust you?" Laetitia figured that he was seeing something she can't, but doesn't pry anymore than she has to since he explained he was of higher rank than her, whether it'd be authority or power. Most likely both.

"I will do whatever I can to save the damsel in distress, but remember what comes first, okay?~" He winked at her in return to try and get some assurance from her, when she shivered a bit and took a side step away form him. He was way too creepy to be normal. "However...It seems the boy who got you last time had recruited some foolish allies to his aid..." He'd then take out his phone and start dialing something.

VRRRRRRRRRRRR

"Eh?!" Laetitia went into a mid-panic as her phone would suddenly go off. Which was strange since hardly anyone had her number and wouldn't call her at this time. When he'd open it the text was rather simple.

Interrogate the boy once he separates. Find out what he knows.

While she wasn't paying attention, Renavin cut his hand again rather quickly as she fumbled for her phone to read the text. He stuffed his bleeding hand into the pocket in which he retrieved his familiars back from the alley way. After ensured his blood was on all of them he threw them down and just like that, poof, the pack was back in a puff of fog and smoke. Laetitia was confused and awestruck as she had no familiarity with an esper ability like this. The wolves jogged up to her and sniffed her, before sitting around her waiting.

"When the boy separates from his new colleagues, be sure to follow him for an opportunity. If he tries anything disadvantageous, these lovely guys will take care of it.~" He smiled at her confidently as he slowly took steps backwards, fading into the shadows. "Call me, if you need anything. Good luuuuck~." He was gone with that moment, it felt like his very presence had disappeared, even though she can still hear his footsteps.

Who the hell is that creep... Laetitia thought as she watched the wolves wait for her move.

Now...What should I do...Follow the man? Or get the other child?...

-------------------------------------------------

The perception manipulator, the torch, and the silent boombox. All walking around to find a place to hold up. Laetitia was not too far off as a wolf was quietly guiding her back to the location. The rest stuck to the shadows, only allowed to come out when necessary. Grabbing too much attention would be a definite bad.

A lone sparrow, looking down at the three from a flag pole, it's black eyes had a gleam of red to them as Renavin was watching their movements in order for to keep their location known to the wolves. It squawked toward them, taunting and asking for attention for no real reason, but to mainly do something other than stare. To Natsumi, one might pick up that whoever was controlling the wolves may still be watching, possibly using this very bird. It quickly flew away, but never out of sight, only switching positions. Keima may not notice considering he was in a tight spot and is under pressure even after giving a decently constructed alibi.

This was getting her nowhere. Fuuka took a moment to catch her breath, leaning against a passing street light. For a split second, she almost wished she had telepathic abilities similar to others. Sure she loved what her gift could do to others. But on jobs like this it would be beneficial to actually feel the minds and whereabouts of other people. This game of detective was doing nothing more than riling her up. Whoever had Naoki would be sure to pay for making things this difficult for Fuuka. Figuring she had no other option, she flipped out her phone again and called back the last incoming number. Waiting for the line to be answered, Fuuka gave barely any time for a greeting before getting to her very unprofessional method of business.

"Hey hag, Naoki wasn't at the spot you sent me to. Whoever got him has moved to a different spot and left no clue of where they went. Any bright ideas in that smarty pants head of yours as to how we can find him now?"

“Uhhm. Hey mister…

Guy turned to face the rowdy looking youth and prepared for a face off. But instead...

"…I know I warned you to stay away from here, but that was only due to the danger, which is gone now.

The surprisingly vocal delinquent started to speak.

So Judgement protocols aren’t against it…
And as you can see, there are still injured people around here, as well as a criminal that needs to be taken care of. While I am a member of Judgement I remain the only one present for now.
I think even common sense, society’s overall rules and even the law would tell you so, but…

The young teacher's expression had dulled from a look of alarmed readiness into one of bored, distant boredom.

…would you please mind actually…helping!?”

"Uh, isn't that your job?" He pointed to Gou's judgement armband laconically. "Or Anti-Skill's?" He held up Iresia like a human shield of sorts. "I'm already taking care of this kid, see? It's in my best interest to get her to safety rather than risk getting her hurt, right?" He somehow managed to turn his apparent cowardice into a virtue.

“Let go of him...” The ball of light swelled in front of Gou. Still holding Iresia tightly he leapt through the window beside him, the glass splintering as he tucked the both of them behind the wall of the building for shelter from the inevitable explosion.

"Uh, isn't that your job?"

«…»

Truly, they were about to become the best friends ever. Gou’s irritated expression would say more than any word could ever do.

"I'm already taking care of this kid, see? It's in my best interest to get her to safety rather than risk getting her hurt, right?"

However in the end the Judgement boy couldn’t deny that this situation was rather problematic. If this man was truly guarding that girl he was presenting him – even though this method wasn’t child friendly at all – then he would have to agree with the idea of ranking her protection higher than anything else.
Still, something about this man bugged him too strongly.

«Hold on…this girl…!?» With his eyes widening as a sign of realisation, his breath was caught in his throat. A second later however another realisation was bound to come.
A sudden source of unease had appeared, a ball of light floating in the air not too far away from Gou. It was flickering, the kind of sign anybody would understand.

No matter what he would have tried to pull, Furuhashi Gou was already in a state that wouldn’t allow for him to perform any extreme movements anymore. That “fight” had driven him to cross his own limits more than once and now the time had come to taste what stretching ones limits would feel like. To top it all tough, Gou wasn’t alone.
…so instead of barrel rolling for his life, the grey haired delinquent like boy had thrown his body on top of his defeated opponent, sacrificing himself for the goal of shielding a precious citizen – even criminals were no exception.

Ear-wrecking noise.

It was only natural. Furuhashi Gou was not some action hero from the movies. So unlike them he would fly through the air, bounce off the ground once and then crash into the rubble with heavy impact, losing all consciousness.

…please…someone…

For the most part, the laboratory was quiet, and the only noises one could hear were the dull burn of a Bunsen burner, bubbling chemicals, quiet whimpers, and the constant whirr of machinery. At the moment, however, there was a shrill noise echoing throughout the lab, disrupting what should have been a peaceable quiet.

Rrrrrrr-rring! Rrrrrrr-rring! Rrrrrrr-rring! Rrr-

Upon the fourth iteration of the irritating noise, it was abruptly cut off as a door leading to an adjacent room was violently slammed open, heralding Kisue's entrance. Her earlier joyful expression could no longer be seen, replaced once more by the angry mask she wore whenever she was forced to interact with the trash that populated the world outside her haven. The moment she put the device to her ear, the other party began speaking, robbing her of the chance to belt out the choice quips she'd thought up on the way to the phone.

"Hey hag, Naoki wasn't at the spot you sent me to. Whoever got him has moved to a different spot and left no clue of where they went. Any bright ideas in that smarty pants head of yours as to how we can find him now?"

As she took this in, her expression deteriorated more and more. Being forced to interact with trash was bad enough. But this brand of it? It was even more detestable than the majority. It was only the fact that she was acutely aware that she was relying on this trash to retrieve her escaped test subjects that prevented her from simply hanging up then and there.

"So, the bitch couldn't sniff out her prey? I didn't realize you were such a poorly trained mutt. Well, I suppose it was my fault for overestimating your abilities, so don't worry about it. I'll just go ahead and take care of everything for you."

The entire time, her voice was positively dripping with sarcasm and contempt. It would have been obvious to even the most oblivious person that Kisue held nothing but contempt for Eto, and that there was nothing that she'd have liked more than to just end the call and move on with her life as if the entire incident had never happened. But even so, she didn't, opting instead to dutifully accept the request, however potent her distaste may have been.

There was a pause in the conversation as she moved back to the previous room, phone still in hand, where a computer with a screen laden with graphs and charts, half-finished, was waiting. She plopped down onto the chair, and with the phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder, she minimized the screen's current contents, and then filled the void they left with a map of Academy City, zoomed into the area where Keima had been when he last checked in.

"Let's see... It hasn't been long, so the maximum relevant distance should be about... They're poking their noses into my business, so they're most likely from that side. Taking that into consideration, these routes are..."

Anything further was too quiet to be heard over the line, and just came across as incoherent muttering. This continued for about another half minute before it was abruptly cut off by a series of rapid mouse clicks that were then promptly ended by the quiet beep that indicated a successfully sent email.

What was sent was a file filled with several dozen possible routes that Keima and his abductors could have taken, neatly arranged so that the more promising routes were situated at the top of the mail, and the most farfetched at the very bottom.

"Try not to screw it up this time, mutt."

With the email sent, any attempts on Eto's part to rile her up ignored, one last verbal blow thrown, and all reasons to abstain from her work any longer exhausted, Kisue promptly ended the call.

Iori was still a ways away from the Judgement Officer and the other kid, but as she started walking closer she saw someone emerge from the cloud of dust, carrying somethi--someone in his arms. The someone was a man in a red shirt.

The Judgement officer started to get up, but it was obvious his battered body needed a quick rest. She saw something reflect sunlight in his hands, and he started doing something with the boy's body. She could only assume he was handcuffing the boy, who hadn't gotten up yet. Did he lose consciousness?

The officer got up on his knees, and started looking around. He then turned to the man in the red-shirt. She didn't catch the entire conversation, but she faintly heard, "...would you please mind actually... helping?" over the wind.

Suddenly, a bright ball of light began forming not too far away from the officer. It didn't look like the kind of ball one would try and play with. She still was walking towards them, but she could hear the energy buzzing from the weird orb. She picked up her pace, "H-hey!"

The man in the red shirt ran to leap through a nearby window, which hardly looked safe for him or his passenger. At least he could dive for cover, with the gray-haired boy's condition all he could manage was to dive on top of his defeated opponent.

Iori had to stop and shield her eyes from the explosion, which caused a deafening sound. The force of the blast toppled her over, but she was still relatively unharmed.

If her ears weren't still ringing, she might've heard the 'thump' of the officer's body colliding with the ground.

When she looked up, she couldn't see anyone at first. She spotted the defeated boy still laying on the ground, but it took her a while to spot the officer. He was laying a fair distance away from the other body; unmoving. She stayed still, glad he was safe, until... he still wasn't moving. "Oi..." She found herself running to the gray-haired boy, running to kneel down at his side.

"Oi, officer!" She didn't even know his name!

She went to her knees, looking him over. He had cuts and bruises all over, but he was still breathing. Despite everything that happened, he was still breathing. If only her ability wasn't so useless, maybe she could've done something to help him fight!

She reached to take her phone out, but realized hers was still broken, and stupidly enough she left the other one on the ground where she was standing watching them fight. How can I be so stupid!? She put her dirty, scraped hands to her face in frustration.

Glass hollowly dug into Iresia's arm as they jumped through a window to safety, though she didn't understand why due to struggling with calming her growing panic attack down.

But she failed, and a second before the catastrophe occurred Iresia had seemingly entered a trance; the ear-shattering disaster sent pieces of asphalt flying in all directions, some shooting inside the building with bullet speed as the earth rumbled.

When the catastrophe had finally settled down after what felt like an eternity, a young girl's shouting voice had snapped her out of her trance. Looking up, all she could see from beyond the window was thin clouds of dirt, making it harder to see from their distance.

“No way, they're after us...” Iresia muttered anxiously, wondering what had happened to Kin as she started coughing and felt strangely tired.

Yomikawa Aiho, a beauty clad in a green tracksuit had been working since early in the morning. As a P.E. teacher she was also a member of Academy City’s equivalent to the police, Anti-Skill, however currently she was one of only a hand full on office duty. Therefore this Sunday morning had been a rather tough one for her and the few other colleagues at the rather empty office.

She had been answering calls for hours, checking on reports and calling other members that were the closest to the locations the calls had come from, sending them wherever necessary. All in all it wouldn’t have been as stressful if there had been a few more helping hands, just like it on any other weekday, but Sunday morning truly was an unfortunate time.

The teacher in her late twenties had just now dialled a number into the phone and was waiting for the other end to pick up.

«Saito-kun? It’s Aiho speaking. A few minutes ago someone reported an out of control Esper close to your current position. I know you are in an investigation right now, but could you go there and check on the situation?»

Her voice lacked all her typical laid back attitude, filled with cold professionalism and a great amount of tension. It wasn’t too surprising though. One who knew Yomikawa Aiho would know that she was deeply worried about the students endangered by that kind of situation, not making a difference between the victims and the one that had gone out of control; in the end everyone involved was nothing but a child that needed to be kept unharmed.

«I'll send you the coordinates. Please be cautious. There are also reports about an explosion in the same area.»

While her own inability to move out angered her to quite an extent, she at least was a little content about the fact that she had been able to leave the task to someone she could have faith in.

Fuuka took the moment to rest as her client worked, making no efforts to hide her disappointment in Fuuka as she worked. The retorts that came lashing through the phone brought a grimace to the mad esper's face. She wouldn't be so high and mighty if this were face to face. It was her fault for sending Fuuka out on reconnaissance. She was more of a guard or attacker than a seeking scout. But in the interest of keeping the possibility of assistance open, Fuuka kept her mouth shut and let her work. The call paid off a minute later when Fuuka's phone beeped to signal the arrival of a new mail.

She disregarded Kisue's last comment and clicked off the call and opened the mail, scanning the contents of the list. Since she had no other leads to go off right now, she began to move in the direction of the first possible location, intent on visiting each spot until she found her prey. The tension built up by that phone call would soon have an outlet to be relieved through.

The explosion sent Guy's ears ringing and he stood up, his body feeling shaken and numb. He spoke, but couldn't her his own voice. Slowly the sound reached him, muted like an echo from the far end of a corridor.

"Oi- Oi! Oi!" He repeated, frustrated at his own inability to hear. "Dammit! What was that just now?" He looked around for the girl in the murky darkness. She didn't seem to be injured. That was a relief. He could see her lips move to say something but his hearing was fading in too slowly to make out her words.

"What? What did you say?" He stumbled after her, propping himself up on the doorframe of the damaged building that he had flung the pair of them into. His hearing was coming back now. And he was starting to regret it. The ringing was so piercing and intense he could have sworn it shook his vision. It drowned out all other sounds.

If Iresia was lucky she would be suffering from the same problem. Or tooinnocent to understand his violent stream of cursing.

"Am I not going to be told where we're going?" Keima groaned, getting slightly annoyed at how randomly they walked around for the ten following minutes since Miyako had agreed to help. Though the lack of answers told him he wouldn't be allowed such knowledge, and as such he didn't even bother trying again.

But suddenly, he bumped right into Natsumi who had stopped walking, with Miyako following suit to prevent herself from bumping into Keima.

"Why, hello there." Keima couldn't understand why Natsumi was greeting the empty side-walk, until she turned around and moved away, leaving him in Miyako's sole surveillance. Both Keima and Miyako followed her with their eyes, finding Natsumi to be heading towards a newcomer; a girl whose aura gave off painful mystery even from a distance.

Natsumi stopped, a few metres away from the young girl whose face was scarred and hidden under hair, her eyebrow shooting for a slight second in surprise to the girl's unusual appearance, but otherwise just shrugging it off.

"You need something?"

{OOC: Hiroshi Saito NPC Post}

"So, sifting through a bunch of cats to find a little girl. Did you ever think you'd be doing something like this when you were signing out those papers to join judgement, Saito?

"Well, I don't really see how I could've..." He said, more than a little weirded out. The other guy had a cat clinging to his face, after all (though one wouldn't be able to tell from his demeanor), and as such, he wasn't really sure if it was a good idea to interact with him...

Before he could ponder the subject further, however, he was distracted by a vibration from his phone. Pulling it out of his pocket, the caller ID informed him that it was his senior officer and aunt, Aiho, on the line, and he answered the call immediately after.

«Saito-kun? It’s Aiho speaking. A few minutes ago someone reported an out of control Esper close to your current position. I know you are in an investigation right now, but could you go there and check on the situation?»

«I'll send you the coordinates. Please be cautious. There are also reports about an explosion in the same area.»

"No problem. I'll be sure to be careful." He hung up after having confirmed that he'd received his orders, and moved to relay the information to his partner.

"Hey, a new order just came in. Apparently there's an esper rampaging not far from here, and we've been asked to go deal with it. It looks like we'll have to suspend the investigation for a bit. Ah, here's the location." As he finished his sentence, he showed the notification his phone had just received to Kerri, with the location clearly underlined at the bottom of the screen.

Kerri listened to Saito saying goodbye to the person on the phone as he pried the cat off of him.

"Hey, a new order just came in. Apparently there's an esper rampaging not far from here, and we've been asked to go deal with it. It looks like we'll have to suspend the investigation for a bit. Ah, here's the location."

Kerri walked over to Saito and observed the location on his phone. It was pretty close to their location, so getting there wouldn't be too difficult.

This had better not be a complete waste of our time, we still have no leads on that kid or bus explosion.

"Well, if it's just enough for the two of us, it shouldn't take too long. We'll break up a fight, and then be on our merry way."

As the two of them set off, Kerri made a quick run into a hardware store and grabbed a few stun gun batteries for him to use in conjunction with his power, should anything go wrong.

Can't be too careful. The whole situation could be a lot worse than I could ever imagine. Got to stay safe, and ready to take an esper down.

---

As the two of them arrived on the scene, Kerri was surprised to see the devastation that had occurred. For him, this was actually one of the more miled scenes, but it was also the kind of case Anti-Skill themselves managed.

Were they seriously that undermanned, or just this clueless about the situation?!

"Alright Saito, call Anti-Skill, focus on the people closest to the blast point and then fan out. Those are the most likely to be in danger. Check the boy out, I'll check the guy up there. And have a chat with the girl." Kerri said mechanically as he fast-walked to the center, evaluating the situation.

Alright, it looks like there were two major occurrences here. The rocks thrown everywhere seem to have been ripped out of the ground, rather than blown away, since they'd probably be smaller and more burned. That probably knocked most of the crowd out.

The explosion itself happened afterwards for some reason, with approximately three people caught close to it. The rocks were most likely caused by the esper, but the explosion... Kerri reached the center, and looked around at the sight, noting the strange signs in the ruined rocks. Similar to the area where the explosion with the bus occurred. Was there a bomb? Or was it another esper?

Kerri knelt down and gave the girl a quick once-over, seeing that she wasn't injured. Normally he'd ask her how she was feeling himself, but he had a feeling she probably hadn't gotten any life-threatening injuries.

Probably.

Instead, he immediately turned his attention to...

"Gou?" Recognizing his colleague, Kerri decided to give Gou a more thorough look over, and saw just how much of a wreck he was. He was bleeding with bruises all over his body, and he flat out looked exhausted. Kerri was cautious to move him, save that he accidentally shifted a broken bone he couldn't see.

Did you jump onto the explosion, dude? Seriously, you look half-dead!

As he examined him, Kerri tried questioning the girl. This wasn't exactly the best time to do so, but e figured he'd at least try while the situation was fresh in her mind.

"Oh-Judgement member Kerri McKinley at your service. Sorry about that, I wanted to make sure this guy was alright due to his worse condition. I want you to tell me about the situation here, and also about what caused this explosion... if you think you're up to it. Also, are you feeling alright?" Kerri stated, tacking on the last part of his statement.

He needed to at least try to be amiable if he wanted some cooperation, especially since he wasn't even maintaining eye contact.

He was making sure an injured person could still breath, but the gesture is still rude.

Consumed by her intent on checking out Kihara's mailed list of locations, Fuuka had almost missed the three of them walking along. But something about their formation walking down the street single file like that made her stop and take a second look. Which was good, because there stood her target. How sad was this? Naoki had let himself get captured and led around by the nose by two girls? Not that a girl like Fuuka should be thinking such things. People could be quite scary regardless of gender. And now it was Fuuka's turn. Still a ways from the three, she grabbed her phone and addressed a message to Kihara. She pressed the record button and simply spoke into the phone: "Target located. Proceeding with recovery." She pressed send and neatly put away her phone as the girl in front approached her.

'You need something?'

The girl's question dripped with suspicion and curiosity. Fuuka was sure her guard was up even now. But she couldn't hide her surprise about Fuuka's distorted appearance. Nobody could completely hide the reaction from this face. Fuuka smirked as she reached into her bag and grabbed a combat knife, which she brandished in the three's direction. She wasn't the type to try and deceive or converse with a target. It made much more sense to get to the point with no deception involved.


"Yes. I'll be taking him off your hands. Just leave now and I won't have to completely destroy you both."

The threat came with a purpose. Fuuka scanned the group again, locking her focus on the girl at her front and the one behind Naoki. They were both in her vision now, but things would get tricky if she allowed herself to be surrounded. Her psychic wires shot out, linking with her targets almost immediately. As she spoke, she integrated with their brains, setting up the connection that would be used to make them writhe in agony.

(OOC: Miyako and Keima are further away than you've written them to be, Kuro. Natsumi only headed towards Fuuka, but both didn't follow closely.)

The newcomer arrived and Keima frowned as he positioned his Hearing Headpiece Enhancement Device, or H.H.E.D, from his bag; this was the infamous “backup” girl he'd been told about when briefed about his mission. It sounded like the girl had a rough past and many scars from it, her ability reflecting as such, though he lacked the exact details. “Whatever you do,” He whispered to Miyako to make sure Fuuka wouldn't hear him. “do not let her injure herself.”

Miyako was confused, but as she saw the knife Fuuka pulled out, she stared deeply at Fuuka and used her ability, losing focus on Keima. Time would slow down for Fuuka, granting them a chance to disarm her. “Disarm her!”

Reacting quickly, Natsumi conjured a fireball that aimed for the tip of the blade in Fuuka's hand, taking advantage of Miyako's ability. Though what she didn't know was what would happen if the fireball connected with the hand itself.

During that moment, Keima only slightly pulled his phone out of his pocket, pressing one of the keys to a contact shortcut; Kihara Kisue. 「Situation's under control; I've found a shortcut to our goal, so lay off.」 The text said, quickly being sent as Keima slid the phone back in his pocket unnoticed by either Natsumi or Miyako.

{OOC: Am NPCing Saito and Iori because one is sick and the other missed the deadline.}

Devastation. That was the only way to describe it.

He had come expecting a rampaging esper, but instead found what looked like a small scale warzone. Dozens of people lying unconscious, bleeding with varying levels of severity, the street piled over with rubble, and signs of an explosion nearby. Needless to say, it was far beyond what he'd expected when he heard the report.

During the short time it took for him to take that all in, however, Kerri had already done so, and even taken action.

"Alright Saito, call Anti-Skill, focus on the people closest to the blast point and then fan out. Those are the most likely to be in danger. Check the boy out, I'll check the guy up there. And have a chat with the girl."

"Roger that."

As he applied in the affirmative, not seeing any issues with his partner's plan of action, he began making his way to the unconscious boy, having to step over rubble and even a few students along the way. As he did so, he took his phone back out, and called the Anti-Skill base again to update them.

"This is Hiroshi Saito. I was called in to check on a reported rampaging esper, but the situation is much more serious than the report made out. There are several dozen unconscious civilians, with unknown but varying degrees of injury. Requesting additional support, and several ambulances."

At that, he made it to the boy. Holding the phone between his ear and shoulder, he knelt down and inspected the extent of his injuries. He didn't seem to be too injured, but he was quite emaciated.

Not finding any obvious external wounds, he stood back up went to check up on the other civilians while waiting for a reply. He couldn't do anything beyond first aid, so despite his distress over the possibility of internal injuries, he decided to see if there was someone else he could help in the mean time.

---

"Oh-Judgement member Kerri McKinley at your service. Sorry about that, I wanted to make sure this guy was alright due to his worse condition. I want you to tell me about the situation here, and also about what caused this explosion... if you think you're up to it. Also, are you feeling alright?"

The introduction caught her by surprise, seeing as he seemed quite busy with the boy, not even bothering to look in her direction as he spoke. But despite this rudeness, he was looking after an injured party, and he seemed to be trying to at least sound friendly, so she decided to let him off.

After all, even if he only arrived after everything had already ended, he was still Judgement, after all.

"The situation... Well, I was just walking around town, but I saw this big crowd forming, so I went to see what all the fuss was about. When I managed to squeeze in, I saw that they were all crowded around that boy over there. And then, when I took out my phone to call the hospital..."

She'd spoken rather hesitantly at first, but at this point, the details just began pouring out. She explained how the boy, who had seemed quite unwell had used some sort of terrakinesis and caused most of the devastation. She described how the street itself lurched, and flung her and the rest of the crowd in the air. She told him how Gou had fought the boy, and restrained him, as well as of the boy's mad ramblings. She informed him of the man who'd arrived on the scene in the middle of the fight with a small girl, who had caused the explosion which'd knocked Gou unconscious.

In the space of single breath, she'd explained everything that had occurred.

---

Once, twice, and now three times, she had been interrupted. If the situation were any different, then at this point she'd simply turn off the phone and immerse herself in her work. However, her current circumstances did not allow for such leisure. The very thought of it made her blood boil, but it seemed she'd have to take a break and focus on monitoring the actions of those moving outside the lab.

「Situation's under control; I've found a shortcut to our goal, so lay off.」

So said the text she'd received from Keima. The issue with that, however, was that he had been rendered untrustworthy as source of information, and she had no way of verifying whether the message had even been sent by him.

Her hands were tied. There being nothing that could be done without leaving the safety offered by Nagatenjouki's school grounds, so she was left with no other recourse but to wait for Eto to report back.

"This is Hiroshi Saito. I was called in to check on a reported rampaging esper, but the situation is much more serious than the report made out. There are several dozen unconscious civilians, with unknown but varying degrees of injury. Requesting additional support, and several ambulances."

«…what…?»

Unable to hold her own emotions back anymore, Yomikawa Aiho simply let those words go, while staring at the screen in front of her with eyes of shock. No matter how common such events had been in this city, such a tragedy’s heaviness would never leave her unaffected.
Turning the shock into fuel for her working spirit she quickly began smacking a few commands into her computer, allowing for the sounds of clattering keys to reach the phone’s other end.

«Medical support is on the way, they will arrive shortly.»

Another interval of silence followed, more clattering.

«Is the situation under control?»

…

«Were you able to calm the culprit?»

…

«Is there anyone heavily injured?»

With the next few interruptions only silence would be heard by Saito, rendering him unaware of what was going on at her end.

Well he wouldn’t know that Yomikawa had quickly gotten rid of that green sporty jersey she had been wearing – much to her male colleagues’ joy – replacing it by the typical bullet proof vest making up Anti-Skill’s standard uniform’s top.
«I’ll be moving out as well. Tell Saigou to take over for me!», she yelled into the empty office, revealing an obvious sign of her current intentions. Intentions that weren’t all too surprising in the end. From the beginning on there had been absolutely no way for Yomikawa Aiho to sit by idly with such things going on. Never would she allow for children to get hurt and never would she let herself be bound by such minor chains as a shift plan. Luckily this had become an emergency situation allowing for her to slip into her Anti-Skill pants without any more reason to hesitate.

«Saito-kun, please make sure to tell me all you know.»