Executing God's Will (Arc 3 Magic Side)

In the span of a few minutes Natsume's day, which had already gone from average to weird, went from weird to utterly awkward.

It certainly wasn't everyday you'd see a terrified young boy run in a convenience store after dealing with the "stalker without trousers that has problems executing his good intentions" as a result of meeting a girl seemingly too familiar with street-fighting.

And Natsume couldn't be said to have experience in dealing with a panicked person. But, despite her curiosity, what she could tell was that it was best for her to stay away from Milo as he already had Koyoko and Gou next to him and too many people could worsen the situation.

"Milo."

Feeling surprised then relieved at the sight of someone she was... kind of... familiar with, Natsume cautiously called out to Touko in a vain attempt to understand what's going on.

"Kamijou-san, what's going on?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Touko wondered if she could really divulge the truth Looking to Milo she was at least grateful that he seemed in no state to describe what had happened, much less understand it.

"Milo got into a fight." She decided that much at least was fine to reveal, though she was cage about exactly who he had fought with.

"That much is obvious..." Koyoko muttered softly to himself, as he slowly rose to his feet and let Milo alone to relax himself. Inside he still has the concerning idea that the one who attacked this boy, was the man who stopped him in front of the convenience store earlier. But he gave him information, so it'd be utterly stupid to just walk about looking for albinos and attack them on sight. Can that man really be so radical on his approach? He still had his doubts. However, the thought made him angry, more than just annoyance, but pure hatred. Perhaps it was because he and his past group tried to take on Accelerator before, but at least they planned their approach and used information other suffered to get. This man could be stomping all over him and those before, and doesn't even realize it. Don't get riled up...not yet.

"I'm guessing neither of you know who this attacker is, so can you at least tell us what he or she looked like?" As it was made clear to his perspective, Milo may still not be in any condition to speak. He simply directed the question to the girl named Kamijou.

"He was tall, a foreigner. With dark hair. I think he was wearing a cap or something. You can't miss him." Touko elaborated. With a Judgement member on scene it was likely they'd just pass on the details to Anti-Skill and they'd sort the matter out. Even if he was a Magician, he'd be no match for Academy City's peace keepers.

"He's dangerous, so keep away if you see him." She stated plainly. But it wasn't like Koyoko was going to take the attacker on, right? The look of hatred that showed through on his face troubled her and she was quick to add. "Leave it to Anti-Skill, okay?"

"That's right." Milo said in an eerily calm voice and he brushed Kamijou's right hand from his shoulder. "He's not someone to be trifled with." He continued, he previously terror stricken face had returned to his usual serene expression of placid calm with just a hint of a knowing smile.

"Milo?" Touko uttered.

"I'm fine, Kamijou-san. Sorry if my earlier behaviour worried you." He looked her dead in the eyes in a most unnerving way. "I was just shaken up by the experience. I should get going." He bowed politely to Touko and Koyoko before walking towards the door.

Whatever sudden childish terror had overcome Milo, it had vanished just as quickly.

Having finally caught up to Milo, who had, thankfully, stopped moving, Jack stood there and took the chance to catch his breath. As he did so, he surveyed the inside of the convenience store. Milo was kneeling on the floor, and standing beside him were the spiky-haired girl, who'd gotten a head start and arrived before him as a result, another girl who didn't seem to be doing anything of note, and two boys with gray hair. One of them seemed to be trying to calm Milo down, and the other... Seemed familiar. As that thought passed through his mind, their eyes met.

The change was palpable and immediate. Before the boy seemed to be focused on the situation at hand, and seemed quite agitated. Now, however, it was if Milo had ceased to exist, as he had focused one hundred percent of his attention onto Jack. In response, Jack slipped his left hand into his pocket, keeping his rune stones in easy reach. The boy walked out of the store, and in quite the aggressive tone of voice, he asked ”It’s you from back then, right? Do you remember me? Would you please be so kind to answer a few of my questions!?”

"From 'back then'?" he pondered. The boy did seem rather familiar, but where had he seen hi- Before he could finish his train of thought, however, he noticed the armband the boy was wearing. It denoted that he was a member of Judgement. To date he'd only come across two members of that specific organization. One was a short blonde haired girl, and the other... Was a gray haired boy. They had crossed paths in District 15, the place he'd been assaulted by a certain red nun, and all his troubles in this city had began.

In this city with a population of 2.3 million, it could be considered a veritable miracle for them to cross paths a second time. Jack, however, didn't believe in miracles (or at least not naturally occurring ones), so he could only attribute this to his own bad luck. The boy didn't seem like he would take no for an answer, but fortunately, it didn't look like Milo was going anywhere anytime soon, so he probably had the leeway to attempt to defuse this situation. He was already stuck in it, after all.

"If by 'back then' you're referring to how I was beaten black and blue by a little girl, and you're one of the Judgement members who arrived on the scene only to let me get kidnapped, then yes. It is 'me' from 'back then'. So, you have something you want to ask?" he said. He spoke in an intentionally belligerent tone, though not to the point of hostility. It evoked more of a 'You're supposed to be law enforcement, but instead you let me get beaten and then kidnapped, and now you're acting all uppity and questioning me?!' sort of feeling.

Before the grey haired boy could answer, however, something unexpected occurred. Milo, his demeanor having gone a 180 once again, was walking out of the store as though nothing had happened. "Ah, this could be annoying." he thought. If Milo left now, he'd lost track of him. And with the grey haired boy barring his path, he could neither intercept nor follow him. Thankfully, it seemed like he was dealing with Milo before he had arrived and caught his attention, so if he could refocus the boy's attention once more, he could kill two birds with one stone, assuming all went well. "But first, is it really okay for him to leave like that?" he asked, attempting to direct the boy's attention to Milo, who was about to walk out of the door behind him.

"If by 'back then' you're referring to how I was beaten black and blue by a little girl, and you're one of the Judgement members who arrived on the scene only to let me get kidnapped, then yes. It is 'me' from 'back then'. So, you have something you want to ask?"

Gou was gritting his teeth.
Those words sure were a dirty play. A reminder of how much they had screwed up on that day was definitely not enjoyable at all. Their failed attempt to stop the red nun, their quick and easy defeat and then the appearance of that red haired exhibitionist girl who had taken away the blonde man, all that felt like a full force kick between his legs.
Of course Judgement boy wasn’t proud of anything that had happened that day, which lead to the rather rough treatment that nameless foreigner was receiving. It wasn’t just right now. Ever since that day in May, Gou had been trying to work on that case, no matter how difficult it seemed and no matter how little information he would receive. After most of the traces he had hoped to find simply had disappeared into thin air, many questions were left unanswered. Questions he was now able to ask the victim himself.

Before he could ask, however, his attention was turned away by a quick manoeuvre. The words the other man used were simply, yet brilliant. By shifting Gou’s attention back towards a certain albino boy, he made him realise another fatal flaw he had done. ”Oh right…” It was a rather painful realisation. In his agitation Gou simply had run off, leaving that panicked boy, whose life seemed to be threatened by someone, behind, simply to take care of some personal matters. Ouch, that was rather harsh breach of Judgement rules and protocols. His poor teeth were gritted even more forceful.
But…Furuhashi Gou wasn’t sure. Was that really that boy? A minute ago he had seemed as if negative emotions of fear and suffering were overflowing and now…now it seemed as if nothing had ever happened. ”What the hell is going on…?”

However Mr. suspicious foreigner over there wouldn’t get a chance to simply run off. After all Gou’s mind had begun to work pretty quickly, leading to new conclusions. So even though his glance was following the boy’s movements, his thoughts were still focusing on the one right next to him.
”I wonder, the way you were trying to catch a glance at that boy was quite suspicious, don’t you think so, too? So that leads me to ask: How deep were you involved in what happened to him? And don’t even try to fool me! We at Judgement are trained at detecting lies.” While asking that sharp question, Furuhashi had turned around to take a deep and direct look into the emerald eyes of the opposite party, as if he was taking a direct look into his soul. A simply technique to put pressure on other people – especially once combined with a bluff like the one he had used – yet one that would only mostly work out when used on simple people, like ordinary students and the like.
Considering green eyes was involved into a case of attempted murder also lead Gou to be a little bit more alarmed than usual, clenching his fists as a preparation for a possible fight. Of course it was also another means of pressuring the suspect. Who wouldn’t be afraid of a rather tall and muscular grunt like guy like Gou?

”I can smell that there is something more to you than you want me to believe, sir.”

"He was tall, a foreigner. With dark hair. I think he was wearing a cap or something. You can't miss him." And there, coming from the the girl named Kamijou, was all the evidence Koyoko needed. He gripped his fist tightly, hopefully unnoticed considering he had already planned out his next set of actions. And as if the girl had read his mind, she then said "Leave it to Anti-skill, okay?" Milo stepped in and agreed with Kamijou, before giving her a reassuring statement and headed for the exit. Koyoko's eyebrows remained furrowed, as he contemplated what he should do. But one thing's for sure, he isn't going to let someone else deal with this fool. It's not that he feels obligated or responsible, or that he needs to do this. He wants to fight him. He wants to drive this radical down to the ground, for going at his objective in such an idiotic manner, that it insults those who came before him.

"Tch...whatever." Koyoko simply replied, as he turned to the cashier. "Oi, you got a bathroom here somewhere, right?" The cashier was taken a back slightly before jolting his thumb behind him, toward the back. Apparently they never thought about putting a public bathroom in the store, only for employees. Being that this is just a small convenience store, it wasn't all the big of a deal. The cashier wasn't all that pleased, but it's not like he was going to force the boy to run out to find one, especially when he's supposed to be under custody of Gou. "Thanks.." Koyoko stepped around the counter and headed over. He has high doubts that any one of these guys would follow him to the bathroom. That's just gross and weird. And it's not like he can escape, right? As he turned the corner to where no one can actually see him, he walks passed the door labeled 'Employee Bathroom' and went straight for the back door.

"...No way to unlock it from the inside without a key, huh?" He whispered to himself. The door was rather lowly secured for a business in academy city, and it was a simple key lock. Koyoko simply put his thumb over the keyhole and examined the structure of the lock with his sixth sense. With this, he could figure out how to unlock it using pressurized air. That, or he can break the lock, but he doesn't want to be cited for property damage. Sadly, this was going to take a minute to calculate how to unlock this door safely without breaking the lock. And he really doesn't have a lot of time.

However, he managed to unlock the door safely and opened it into a back alley, slowly closing it behind him. "That Milo kid must be heading back toward the school...I'll tail him away from the store before actually asking where the school is. Can't afford to get caught by Judgement this time." As he remembered looking out the window, there was three additional officers camped outside the store, so he needs to act natural or they are going to get suspicious. He quickly jogged down the alley and spotted Milo going down the road, to his right, and an officer at the corner on the way left. Koyoko bit his lip slightly, and put on a cool face, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking out. They don't know he left yet, so he was hopefully in the clear. He can feel the judgement officer's eyes on him, feeling the tension of his gaze. Just keep walking...don't look at him...

The judgment officer waiting on the corner caught his eye on Koyoko, and turns his head completely in curiosity. His figure looked familiar, and it didn't take him too long to recognize that was the culprit they came here for. All the officers were given the physical description and a security camera photo of the person they were looking for, hence why he spotted him so quickly. He can't say 100% sure, so he took the polite approach. "Hey! You there! Can you come here for a second, if you don't mind?!" He yelled out. Koyoko cursed under his breath and scratched his plan. He can't go up to Milo now, because then they'd know for sure what he was planning to do. So he immediately began running into the nearest alleyway. "He- OI!" The officer waved over to the others and one of them came to assist while the one directly outside the store went in to inform Gou while he was talking to the others.

(Clannad OST ~ Phases of the moon)

Koyoko needed a chance to get on the roof he concluded. However, with these two judgement officers tailing right behind him, it will prove difficult, and sadly he was not entirely familiar with this area, so he was running at it blind. In the mean time, he needed to slow them down. He'd quickly use the air to push and move obstacles in their way. Dumpsters, Trash bins etc.

"I'm not letting these guys catch up...Wait!" He immediately saw it, a quick way to the roof. There were some built in edges and some technician boxes making a clear bath for him to take with his power. But before he could actually use it, the first officer had caught up.

"Hold it!!"

"Tch. Don't get in my way." Koyoko warned, as he grabbed a trash lid and spun his arm around quickly, sending it at him like a frisby. It was going at him high, so his first instinct was to duck. But when he did, it drastically changed course downwards.

"What the-GAaaaaaahk!" It caught right at his ankles and he fell flat on the ground, hitting his head a bit and disorienting him. Koyoko quickly jumped up, using the air he controlled to boost him up and landed on a small slim edge against the wall carefully.

"Changing the course of the object using the air under it is a simple trick. Not a lot of people fall for that if they knew what I could do." Koyoko explained, seeing how he might be puzzled. Going to the lengths of explaining it was just out of sheer pity of how hard the officer tried to catch him, only for him to be on the ground like that. "Tell the annoying leader of yours that I'll be dealing with this guy myself. Not because I'm being a vigilante, but because I want to beat him down myself!" He yelled down as he finally made it to the rooftop and started running in no direction specific.

Alright Koyoko...what do we do now...?

His ploys had worked as he'd intended, more or less. The attempt to redirect his attention had worked particularly well, judging from the boy's reaction. He seemed to have a fairly strong of duty, if what he'd seen of the boy so far was any indication, so it seemed like he'd simply let his emotions run away with him when he stormed out of the store. ”What the hell is going on…?” he muttered with a bewildered expression upon seeing Milo. His reaction to seeing Milo's 180 was much more pronounced than Jack's own, but then again, he was just a civilian, so in retrospect, that sort of reaction is actually normal.

As would prove annoying shortly, when the grey haired boy came down from his emotional high, he'd also regained his wits. Though he still reserved some of his attention for Milo, he proceeded to launch into a tirade, and said, while staring straight into his eyes, ”I wonder, the way you were trying to catch a glance at that boy was quite suspicious, don’t you think so, too? So that leads me to ask: How deep were you involved in what happened to him? And don’t even try to fool me! We at Judgement are trained at detecting lies. I can smell that there is something more to you than you want me to believe, sir.”

They boy's body language was intended to pressure him and make him slip up. It might have worked on an ordinary person, but Jack was a magician who had escaped many life-threatening situations in the past. He wouldn't slip up due to something of this level.  Well, whether it was because the boy'd simply made a lucky guess or had surprisingly good instincts, his suspicions were right on the mark.

"How bothersome..." he thought. The boy was annoyingly tenacious, and the longer he held Jack up, the further away Milo would get. Well, now that the grey haired boy had remembered Milo's existence, it wasn't likely that he'd let him just walk off like that, so for now it seemed like the best option would be to just play along with the boy, though he was a bit tempted to just use a runestone to get away. But with all the witnesses, and considering how suspicious the boy was already, using magic here probably wouldn't do him any favors.

"Suspicious? Deeply involved? What are you talking about? I was just passing by and saw the boy get attacked, so when he ran off I got worried and chased after him. How is that suspicious? Frankly, it'd have been more suspicious if I'd just stayed put." Purposefully misrepresenting the truth was a common tactic that any liar worth his salt knew how to use, and also comes with a built-in fail-safe. Because there's no falsehoods, even if they hear the story from someone else's point of view later, it'd just be chalked up to difference of opinion.

“Don’t even try to fool me” seemed to be words that became an invitation to start a fooling festival other than anything else. Of course that meant for his poor teeth to be gritted again, even more forceful.

"Suspicious? Deeply involved? What are you talking about? I was just passing by and saw the boy get attacked, so when he ran off I got worried and chased after him. How is that suspicious? Frankly, it'd have been more suspicious if I'd just stayed put."

He was so close to jumping at that man’s throat, but common sense prevented him from doing so. Anyway, he didn’t believe any spoken word coming from that person’s mouth, after all something seemed to be very fishy about him. Not to forget that he had a devilish sense of wording. Sadly that meant any attempt to get something out of that foreigner would be in vain.
Oh and there was this other problem approaching…


This was getting worse second by second. Now that the glasses boy had made his appearance again, there were even more bad news coming in. Not only was he unable to receive any useful information from that blonde man, no, someone was literally asking to be arrested. Gou sighed. ”Damn it. Couldn’t you bring any good news…?”

The glasses boy seemed to receive information via the Bluetooth headset he was wearing on his ear.
”What!?”
With a nod Gou took out his phone and wireless headset and placed the latter on his ear, while receiving a call from his colleague.
”Furuhashi speaking. I need you guys to give me all information you got about his current position. Information from the bank would be nice as well. Oh and before I forget it. Operator-san? Can you access some tracking methods like cameras or maybe even satellite images?”

A few seconds later his phone received a message featuring a bunch of information. A short excerpt of the bank, featuring a summary of the target’s ability, as well as his crime history, however Gou didn’t care that much, a satellite image showing the building where that boy was seen last and of course a GPS connection allowing him to see the position of his comrades on his phones GPS map, as well as showing his own on the others’.
Everything was ready then. So there was no need to stay still any longer. It saddened him a little that he was unable to continue his questioning, but that sadness would turn into anger towards Koyoko Damion, granting him some additional working spirit!

Before he started anything, he turned towards the glasses boy again. ”You, stay here and keep an eye on that blonde man over there, question him a little if you like. But I still need to interrogate him, as well. Oh and while you’re at it, you should also call Anti-Skill, if things get worse. Inform them about that boy on the run.
I mean he has been resisting Judgement after all, as well as interfering with our investigation, not to forget that he even attacked one of us using his ability, which makes him a danger for himself and others, too. Looking at that asking for their support wouldn’t be all to wrong, would it?

Anyway, I’m going now. I’ll be trusting you, understand?!” “Ye-yes sir! Good luck Furuhashi-san!”

And so they parted ways. While the glasses boy would stay back and immediately prepare to make his phone call, Gou would be running along the streets following the locations of his colleagues, while also listening carefully to the information given to him over the phone.

The only thing that was lacking was a plan, yet it seemed like he would work something out while on his way. “Think Gou…what do we do now…?!”

"Is it a habit of yours to be regularly involved in fights in such short spans of time?" She said with a sigh. Koyoko had left in search of a bathroom, but Natsume suspected this unlucky boy was off to try to bring justice by himself again.

Although Milo had clearly been disturbed by the encounter, this was just an unfortunately all-too-common fight between two men, right? In that case, it was best to not play heroes leave it up to Anti-Skill as Touko had suggested. Besides, Natsume doubted she'd be of any real use even if she were to involve herself, so she sighed and flashed a small smile at Touko.

"I'll be taking my leave now. I hope you'll be careful and still have all your limbs and organs by the next time we meet." Natsume said somewhat sarcastically but kindly and went to resume her grocery shopping.

"Hmm?" Touko barely caught the vaguely ominous parting words that Natsume left her with. Looking back towards the automatic doors of the storefront she could not see Milo.

In the impossibly brief instant that her attention had left him the boy had seemingly vanished into thin air. Kamijou hurried after the boy, pushing through the crowds only to find herself jostled amongst them as she looked to and fro for sign of her classmate.

Nothing.

Touko looked to Gou nearby, grabbing the boy's arm to get his attention as he passed.

"Hey, did you see which way the white-haired boy went?" She asked him. She was surprised to spot the blonde 'tourist' from earlier in the crowd. Had he followed them here out of concern? Or was he involved somehow? Experience told her that it was the latter, even if the former sounded far more logical.

Seeing the blank look on Gou's face, Kamijou released him with a frustrated exhale.

"Gah. Nevermind." She took off in the direction Milo had been heading. Though it occurred to her that she had no idea what his ability might be. If he was a teleporter then finding him now would be next to impossible...

***

"What the fuck was that?" Shinichiro cursed in his native tongue as the full effects of his brush with death set in. He was panting, his heart was beating like a two stroke engine in his chest and his hands were quivering. Shinichiro slumped into the seat of Joseph's diner and clutched his hands together.

He was no assassin.

Shinichiro wiped the cold sweat from his brow and tried to look casual, like he belonged.

"That kid was a magician. And no ordinary one at that..." He uttered to himself under his breath. As though saying those words would make the truth more believable. What was someone like that doing in Academy City?

What was his next move? He looked down at the necklace he had torn from Milo's neck and licked his lips nervously, unaware that Milo watched from across the street...

Koyoko jumped down a couple feet down to a lower rooftop running at a decent pace to he doesn't waste all his energy. The air pulled his hair back naturally, and the sun shined above him, causing him to work a bit of a sweat being that there is no covering whatsoever unless a building happen to be tall enough to hide it's punishing shine. He breathed lightly as he turned the corner he slides to a halt as he senses something rushing behind him. He quickly rolls out of the way, as a some sort of spherical ball collides with the ground rather ferociously, leaving a mini crater on the roof, before it bounces off to the side. 'The hell?!' He stared in astonishment before turning in the trajectory of where it came from.

"Jeez. You're a fast runner!" A female Judgement officer, carry a waist bag full of baseballs, and a smirk on her face, exposes herself with an entrance, standing on the above rooftop. She pulled her sash wide enough to show the glorious green symbol of judgement. "I'm from Judgement, now I'll have to ask you to willfully turn yourself in and you won't be harmed!"

"YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME WITH THAT, ARE YOU JOKING?!" He pointed to the crater next to him, a 18 inches in diameter, the concrete cracked and let loose.

"Iyaaaa...A couple broken ribs maybe..." She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, probably wasn't trying to miss and was hoping she didn't throw it hard enough for her ability to do that amount of damage. "A-anyway just turn yourself in, and you won't have to worry about that! You won't be able to stop my projectiles while I have Equal Speed on my side!"

"Equal...speed?" He repeated it to himself silently, trying to see if he was familiar with that name. Koyoko remembered an old news article about someone using that ability to rob a bank. The ability involves forcing an object to maintain a constant speed, and is unable to stop unless it is stopped by the user itself, or destroyed. Of course, the object has to be whole, so using baseballs was an easy and portable way to use to catch criminals. 'Her ability is either a low level, unable to fully penetrate the ceiling, or she held back just in time to save it from causing further property damage.' Koyoko concluded either way, if he gets hit by one of those things, he's going to be in for some heavy damage. He probably won't be able to fight with such an injury. Before he can formulate himself a plan, he saw something, vaguely shadowed. Showing a dim blue and white horizontal pattern.

"W-what are you staring at?" The girl became uneasy, not sure why he was making such an awkward silence. "Are you going to come willfully or not?"

"...Striped...Panties?" Koyoko replied rather softly, probably didn't mean to say it out loud, but it was clear enough for her to hear. The first moment, she didn't know what he meant, until she took a glance down. She was high enough for him to see up her skirt. The officer turned a crimson red and cried out helplessly as she pulled her skirt down and went to her knees to hide what has, sadly, been already shown.

(Clannad OST ~ Phases of the moon)

"D-DON'T LOOK, YOU DISTASTEFUL CRIMINAL!" She yelled out with embarrassment, her eyes slightly teary.

"THAT'S MY CUE TO LEAVE!" He suddenly sprinted off in another direction, leaving the officer stunned for a decent amount of time before she moderately recovered. Even though Koyoko was a bit pitiful of using this against her, he didn't want to get picky on his escapes.

"H-HEY!" She yelled furiously as she jumped down and turned the corner seeing him jump to an equally elevated roof top. "I'm not the pitcher for the softball team for no REASON!" She spun her arm in a clockwise rotation twice before catapulting the ball right at his back. Her ability activated, the ball maintaining it's velocity and it's curve disappearing making a dead on trajectory toward him. "I'll definitely kill you now, you hear me?!"

Koyoko quickly sensed it and rolled at the right moment to go fly over his head, the ball suddenly gaining a heavy curve and rolling against the ground, no longer able to hit it's target. Because he rolled, he managed to keep his speed and continued on, but noticed one of the buildings ahead suddenly gain a lot of elevation. Although he can escape that way, he'd also be a dead give away to any other officers nearby. As another ball flew by, taking a side step away from it, he began losing a lot of ground. His sixth sense keeping him from taking any direct hits.

'...Wait a minute.' Koyoko notices something and begins pressurizing hair under by his right heel, being careful not to rupture or release it while running toward the tall towering building. The judgment officer notices he picks up speed and stares widely as she runs after, with a ball in her hand.

'He's not seriously going to jump that, is he?! Can a level 2 even make it that high?!' She panics a bit, not sure what she should do if he were to try. All she could do is try to stop him, and quickly pitched another ball as he began approaching the edge of what remaining roof he had.

"Shit, I won't make it!" Koyoko cursed. He notices to the ball coming towards him and turns his head and contorts his body around in order to dodge it, but the ball came rather fast and makes a solid graze to his side. "GAAAAHAAAA!" He cried out felt a searing pain through out his left abdomen. She overdone her throw a bit in order to get the speed required to catch up to him, and it could've done some serious damage, but with the graze he shouldn't get more than a broken rib. The force itself was enough to send him off his feet and over the edge.

"Oh no!" The officer realizes her mistake as Koyoko silently starts falling over the edge. She grits her speed and drops her bag and starts sprinting toward the alley way in which he fell into. 'I screwed up! I screwed up! Please be okay, please be okay!' She worried in her mind, because if he was knocked unconscious from that collision, that fall could definitely be fatal. The officer panted, as she clumsily got on her knees to look over the edge and finds....

'Nothing....?!' She was shocked, he wasn't even in the alley way at all. Koyoko completely disappeared. "So he got away..." She sighed with relief, knowing he didn't just seriously injure the person she tried to pursuit. "...Ah...AAH! He got away! Dammit, I need to catch up!" The Officer snapped out of her relief and ran to the fire escape, climbing down and running down the alley way, figuring he wouldn't risk going into the crowd where other judgement officers are patrolling.

Sadly her intuition was off. When she climbed down the fire escape, she didn't notice on of the window's were open to someone's apartment living room. The residents had forgot to check the locks on said windows. and on top of that failed to completely shut it. Koyoko noticed the window was slightly open using his sixth sense to see ahead. Taking the hit, wasn't really part of the plan, but he was still able to take advantage of it. With what pressured air he had under his heel, Koyoko flipped his body over, still injured, but managed to get his heel under him to boost back up to the window and climb in before she managed to catch up on foot. Currently, he laid against the wall, under the half opened window. He panted, sweat dripping off his chin, his hand gripping his side with discomfort. Something definitely fractured in his rib cage, or all his muscles in that region are sprained. Either way, he felt a bit drained.

"Haaa...haaa...haa...Damnit...That sucked..." He breathed heavily. "Flipping my body like that did a real number on me...I need relax first..." He reassured himself that he'd continue his hunt, when he is rested up. Looks like the residents haven't returned yet so he should at least have some moments to himself before he needs to keep moving.

"...Haaa...haaa...What a drag..."

"Hey, did you see which way the white-haired boy went?"
Gou didn’t know. His mind was occupied with too many things to remember anyway. How was he supposed to catch up to that fleeing idiot? How was he supposed to corner him? What escape route would that boy take? And what about that blonde foreigner? Would he simply get away, too? So many thoughts, and then another question was asked.
It wasn’t strange that Furuhashi Gou could only present a blank expression as the reply to said question, considering what had been going on inside his head. He didn’t know. He didn’t even have the time to know or find out.

When the spiky haired girl had simply disappeared Gou finally realised what had happened. ”Damn…” Being unable to help others, he hated that feeling. Then again those things that were occupying his mind had turned into a great source of annoyance as well.
”What am I supposed to do…?” Bringing his mind back on track Furuhashi took a look at the GPS map again. That Koyoko was supposed to be fleeing along the roof tops, so of course he had much freedom on his site. On the other hand that also meant that there weren’t that many escape routes. Not to forget that there was someone chasing him. Someone Gou could actually communicate with, if he wanted to.
He began to run, trying to follow the chaser’s position that was shown on the GPS map.

A few minutes later the message came in.


The chaser had lost their prey. Damion Koyoko had escaped. ”DAAAAAMN IIIIIIT!!!” He couldn’t help but shout once he had come to a stop. The few passers-by around distanced themselves. Well, who wouldn’t be afraid of someone who was literally seething with rage?
His mind didn’t leave him a chance to recover, as he had realised that everything had ended up in failure. Not only did he lose his only opportunity to investigate further into the events of a few months ago, no, he wasn’t even able to catch a single delinquent who was putting his own life into danger and also ignored a boy who had seemed to be caught in a dangerous situation. His fist hit a nearby wall. It hurt.
Frustration. He was about to drown in that feeling. Should he simply quit?


The operator’s voice reached his ear.



Right…I remember…damn it…!
Once that realisation had come over Furuhashi the chaos in his head had been returned to order. There was something that Koyoko had been trying before and that was probably what he had been after now, too. There was something he had been very eager about…could it be…?

There was a certain panicked white-haired boy, whose face crossed Gou’s mind. Could it be that Koyoko was trying to find said person in order to find out what had been going on? Well actually: What was actually going on? And who had caused all this!?

Now that Gou had thought about it: ”What’s even going on…!?” A late realisation.

[OOC: Since Jack didn't post in a looooong while, I will be making a post in his stead. Sorry for doubleposting, but this is for continuation's sake.]

Within the blink of an eye, Jack Nightingale had escaped from Judgement’s grasp. Once the annoyingly forceful boy had disappeared from his vision, leaving the job of guarding Jack to his glasses wearing friend, everything had turned into a child’s game.
He felt a little sorry for what he had to do to that weak little boy, but there was no helping it. Both had their own business to deal with and both were interfering with the other’s.
Thus he simply had made his escape by relying on deceptive words once again. This time it was too easy to even be worth of mentioning. In short: He had found a way to convince his guardian to make a phone call in order to use the short time of distraction for quick escape around the corner and right into the back alleys.

Being at least a little cautious Jack had taken a lengthy detour before he had returned back to the main street only a distance away from the convenience store, yet outside the glasses boy’s reach of vision. Even though they didn’t appear like it was necessary, the Magician had already felt that being cautious about Judgement wasn’t anything bad or stupid. Having listened to their conversation before, he was able to tell that they at least had some effective means of tracking and tailing.

Tracking and tailing was exactly what he had to do now. Finding Milo again and recommencing his mission was the most important task ahead. No more mistakes, no more distractions. Whatever was about to happen, Jack had to catch up again. Not only for the sake of completing his task, no, the other Magician’s appearance had shaken this scenario quite a lot.
Found ya! Finding Milo by himself was close to impossible. Even if the streets weren’t as filled as they were today, there would be no way of winning this game of hide and seek. However there was someone else he had could keep an eye open for.
A pointy haired girl like her was someone you couldn’t simply miss out. She was still a lot more difficult to distinguish from the masses compared to the albino boy Milo, however the way of finding her was a lot easier, once you had a guess of where to look.

So for now Jack Nightingale was on that girl’s heels, hoping for her to get her back on track.

Shinichiro raised his gaze from the table to meet the slit-like fox eyes of a strange boy sitting opposite him. When had he arrived? The still shaken young Brazilian stared with wide eyed confusion, unable to find words.

"Shinichiro." Itsuki smiled amiably. "You've had quite a bit of trouble, haven't you?"

"Who- Who are you?" Shinichiro asked, shaken further by the fact that this stranger knew him by name.

"And you're still no closer to finding the Number One." Itsuki continued, waving off the other's question. "You Catholics have no sense of subtlety. The Crusades. The Inquisition. If you're not careful here you might have another international incident on your hands." He leaned back in his seat with an amused smirk.

Shinichiro straightened up, adopting a more guarded posture.

"You're going to kill me then?"

"If I wanted you dead you wouldn't have seen me." Itsuki smiled with eerie tranquillity. Has. Placed something on the table. Milo's necklace.

"What? When did you?" Shinichiro glanced at his hands, astounded.

"My 'talent'." Itsuki chimed cheerfully. "The plans for the Level Six Shift, including Accelerator's whereabouts are in your pocket. I don't need to tell you what to do with them, do I? Just get moving before your new friend across the street comes to settle the score."

Shinichiro looked out the window and spotted Milo immediately.

"Take these too." Itsuki placed a handful of hair on the table. "I collected them from the customers here. Put them to good use. Won't you?"

When Shinichiro turned back to him the stranger was already gone.

Across the street screams erupted as Milo Lorelei raised a pistol towards the window of the restaurant...

***

Touko heard distant screams but as she tried to locate their source the air shook with the force of a powerful explosion.

Even without seeing him, Touko knew that Milo was up ahead. Racing forward she witnessed the white haired youth marching towards the blasted storefront. Within moments the deserted street swelled with clamouring hordes of lumbering, thrashing civilians surging at Milo like a tidal wave.

Koyoko opened his eyes slowly, feeling like he'd been asleep for hours, when it's only been a couple minutes. He was exhausted, tired, and in pain. The warm summer air brushed over his head from the crack of the window that stood above him. He looked around to recognize his surroundings. Koyoko remembered his little encounter with the judgement officer upon trying to get up, a strong surge of pain going through his side. She had broken on of his ribs, that's for sure. He instinctively digs into his pocket for his phone, only to find it missing.

"...Haaaaa...that's right..." Koyoko recalled the incident at the convenience store a while ago. Now unable to use his phone to check the time, he looks around the room and finds an electronic clock. "...Ten minutes?..." He pondered. Perhaps he just lost his sense of time when he tried to recuperate. But he knew that his body was taking a bigger toll than he originally thought. Getting attacked was somewhat normal for him, but exhaustion just keeps building up from previous encounters. He rubbed his shoulder a bit. The bullet wound from his Skill-Out encounter still felt sore, even though it had been treated days ago. Not only that, he hasn't had a decent sleep for the past couple days, and now that he's out of adrenaline and proper energy, he might as well be running on fumes. "...Why now?" Koyoko complained to himself, slowly getting to a proper stance and wiping sweat off his forehead. He's no longer in the condition to fight that foreign 'asshole' as he would've put it.

Either way Koyoko couldn't stay any longer. He slowly climbed out of the window before any of the residents returned and climbed down the fire escape, not wanting to use his power at the moment. Upon reaching the ground, he hesitated to leave the alley way. There was no cameras around him right now, but once he's out in the open, he'll be a sitting duck with a broken wing at that.

Suddenly he heard distant screams not too far off, people around him looking confused and concerned. Some taking out their phones to call emergency services. Koyoko wasn't sure what was going on, but his concern on the situation took a drastic leap forward when he sensed the air taking a violent shift in the direction of the screams. Something much more serious must be taking place. He gritted his teeth, knowing he's in no condition to do anything without causing physical harm to himself, let alone he's being hunted down by Judgment. He tried to convince himself the best option was to just go home, and forget everything. After he believed he convinced himself to leave, Koyoko began moving quickly through the crowds...towards the chaos.

"I'm so screwed..." Koyoko cursed to himself in frustration, as he kept a decent pace as to limit the risk of hurting himself anymore. What was pushing him to get involved in these situations? Was it because he felt he was already involved? Did he feel obligated to help? He wasn't sure, but he was going there anyway.

Running.

Furuhashi Gou had been running ever since the message had entered his ears.


Gou had told the person on the other side of the connection about the 2nd trace he had come across, yet forgotten to pursue before. He had filled to operator in about everything that had happened back in the convenience store, focusing on the incident involving the panicked albino boy.
He had given a thorough explanation for why that boy could be final puzzle piece allowing them to catch Damion Koyoko and the operator had done everything within their reach of possibilities to search for both Koyoko and the albino boy Milo – they had decided to at least search for his name, to ease things up a little.
Sadly it appeared as if they were unable to catch destiny…

And now he was running, driven by the terrifying news that had reached his ears shortly after they had intensified their search.
He wouldn’t make it? He could make it? It wasn’t too far away, only a few blocks. If he ran with all his might – like he did just now – he may make it in time! But only if he pulled through with it till the end!
His breathing grew irregular, he was sweating, his heart was pounding as if the drummer of a rock band was giving a powerful solo performance and his stomach felt as if it were the stormy sea taken straight from a pirate blockbuster movie. It wasn’t exhaustion. He had grown nervous. Fear. A disaster was about to happen, he was sure of it.
That boy, Milo, he had gun, he had simply taken it out in public, prepared to shoot, he may have even shot already. It didn’t matter why it had come this far. Well, it actually did. Furuhashi wasn’t afraid of a gun, Judgement members learned how to handle those, however he was afraid of the danger such a gun could cause for civilians. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to make it in time. Only one shot and the world would drown in misery. He was pushing harder. After all everything was his fault to begin with. Faster! Faster! Faaaasteeeerrrr!
His head displayed the sound of a clock ticking. Would he be in time…? Would he be able to fulfil his duty…? Would he be able to prevent the worst event possible…? Or would this whole world fall into misery, even if only one person wouldn’t be saved…?

Furuhashi Gou had been running ever since the message had entered his ears.

Running. Running. Running. RUNNING!

Following the girl with the spiky hair turned out to be a very good move on his part, as when the gunshot sounded, it wasn't all that far off. Just a short jog away, from the sound of it. What good luck. How very exciting. The crescendo that had been building since his encounter with that trio on the street earlier appeared to be rising to a climax, and he was going to make damn well sure that he made a sizable contribution to the performance.

Shoving his way through the crowd, paying no heed to the undignified shouts and yells of those who were unfortunate enough to find themselves in his path, he eventually entered into a clearing that was growing wider by the second as the panicked crowd drew further and further away. And at the center of that clearing was Milo Lorelei. They boy had started the day as a shy timid boy. Then he had a panic attack after nearly being killed. Afterward, his mental age seemed to have regressed to that of a child. And now, he seemed calm and collected, completely at ease. Almost professional. At this point, it didn't seem like watching from the sidelines would allow him to glean any more information, so he decided to step on stage.

After all, with something this interesting going on, there's no way he'd be content to remain a spectator, right?

"Oi, you over there! What's with the gun? You'll get into a lot of trouble if the authorities catch you with that thing, you know." He spoke with seemingly genuine concern in his voice, without a hint of sarcasm. But the casual tone he had was in stark contrast to the tense situation. His stance was relaxed, but he had his full attention on Milo, and wouldn't miss so much as the slightest twitch of a muscle. All in all, though he might appear to be a fool who walked up to psycho with a gun, someone with a trained eye would find that there was more to him than was immediately apparent.

"Hmm?" Milo cocked his head slowly and deliberately in Jack's direction.

The surge of running humans did not slow or disperse through the streets as one would expect from a panicked mob but instead made straight for the gunman, heaving and clambering over one another like stampeding animals.

Milo pulled on the trigger of the gun, now pointed into the crowd. All the while he stared at Jack without blinking. The 'zombies' didn't flinch and Milo was forced to dart backwards out of reach from their flailing grasp.

The doll in Shinichiro's hand exploded and strands of hair sprinkled from his hand along with the scattered effigy.

"What? How did he-?" He glanced towards the swelling horde that threatened to envelop Milo. There was no way he had a clear shot from there. Thankfully the curse h had placed on those people would remain despite the destruction of the doll. It was would give him ample time to escape his pursuer.

Milo twisted, dipping his free hand into his coat whilst keeping the other trained on the mindless wave that approached without fear. His hand gripped cold metal and he levelled the second pistol at Jack. He fired in one swift motion.

A hand appeared in front of Jack's eyes with the sound like breaking glass. Touko opened her hand to drop the the hot slug of metal.

Milo paused, visibly stunned. How had that girl stopped the 'Freeshooter's' bullet, capable of impossible feats. He snarled and levelled both pistols at the two interlopers.

(OOC: Because I'm sure someone will ask. No Touko did not just stop a bullet with her hand. The bullet itself is not actually 'fired' from this weapon in a traditional sense, but instead is.propelled by magic. But mainly I thought it would look cool.)

D-Dangerous...

That was the first thought to through his mind. Initially, while Milo had taken note of his presence, he didn't seem to giving off any hostile intent. What happened next, however, was a sequence of events that he'd berate himself for having allowed to have occurred for months onward. The crowd running away from Milo became a mob that began to swarm him. In response the boy raised one of his guns, pointed into the mob and fired, even as he backed out of their grasp. Jack didn't see anyone's brains get blown out, so he assumed it must of been a spell of some sort. Regardless, whatever he did didn't appear to have had the intended effect, as nothing appeared to have happened.

Then Milo whipped out another gun and shot at him.

Jack had made not one, but two rookie mistakes in quick succession. First he'd let his emotions go to his head and affect his judgement. That caused him step forward and expose himself, letting his face become known, and giving the other party a reason to be wary of him. And then he underestimated his quarry. He made the naive assumption that Milo wouldn't just attack him, and in the end, he'd been killed. His life may have been saved by the timely intervention of the spiky haired girl from earlier, but for all intents and purposes, he'd been killed just now.

At any rate, he could ponder things like how the girl managed to block the bullet with her bare hand and what caused the mob's sudden shift in behavior later. At the moment, making reparations for his previous mistakes took priority. First he lowered his stance and abandoned any pretext of harmlessness. Next he stepped back two steps to give him a bit more room to maneuver in. And finally, he placed a single hand into his right pocket, grasping the hilt of Tyrfing. Then, and only then, did he speak. "Oi oi oi, what was that for? I don't think I did anything to provoke you." his tone was obviously wary, a bit bewildered. Even as he spoke, however, Milo snarled and raised both pistols in his direction.

The boy was completely in combat mode now. He'd recognized the two of them as threats, and any chances for negotiation had now been thrown out the window. There was only one course of action left to him. Tactical retreat. The situation had decayed to the point that it was too dangerous to try and salvage, so he had to disengage immediately. So without another word, he grabbed the girl by her collar and leapt backwards into the mob, dragging her along with him.

And then there was a wall of people.

However it was weird. Usually a crowd would flee during such an event. This one on the other hand did quite the opposite. All of them were pulled into one direction, as if they were like an angry mob from an old horror movie trying to impale the inhuman creature.

He was forced to stop. ”What the hell…?” There were about 9 metres between him and the human wall. What was he supposed to do? On one side people’s safety held the greatest importance, on the other there was this thing they were charging for.  


His heart felt like stopping, again. The stain of weirdness was all around. He couldn’t understand, he couldn’t believe and as he could tell not even the helpful voice on the other end of the phone had an answer for anything right now. Judgement had experienced a lot, yet this was an extraordinary case.
”Could this be a mental Esper’s work? I mean would that even be possible?”, he asked the one on the connection’s other end, only to be left without an answer.
From what Gou knew there was only one mental Esper capable of such feats, the #5 Level 5 Mental Out. No other Esper should be capable of grasping control over so many people. So was it really her or was there another one with similar abilities? Was this even caused by the phenomenon of mind control? Checking the bank for more information would be worth a try, but would it really be helpful?

Furuhashi Gou was in need of a plan. He wasn’t any kind of super hero, nor was he brave enough to face such danger alone. To be honest: He even felt as if whatever he would try to do, it wouldn’t be of any use. This situation was simply to big a deal for him to handle. Too many lives were on stake.

Rules. He took a step forward. Rules. He started walking. Rules. He grew faster. Rules. He was running. Rules. He didn’t have a plan. Rules, they were pushing him forward!
”RUUULEEES!”

”I’M FROM JUDGEMENT! AND I’M TELLING YOU TO BACK OOOOFF!”

Shouting out his heart’s contents, he was throwing his hat into the ring, hoping to gain the mob’s attention. That was all he was capable of, nothing more, nothing less.
What the hell are you even doing Gou…!?

Koyoko, althought pretty weak at this point, felt he had enough energy to at least investigate what event had occurred to cause such a disruption. Some people were leaving rather hastily, while others would want to investigate themselves, and will most likely require proper authorities to lead them away. None the less, traffic was at a halt do to the aggression ahead. He continued to push, breathing lightly as he moves around pedestrians, keeping his pace.

It must be pretty bad, given the circumstances. Tch, where's that useless judgement when you really nee-. Koyoko suddenly stopped in his tracks, when someone familiar looking caught his eye. A rather oddly dressed foreigner, specifically Shinichiro, hastily leaving the area. Koyoko's eyes widened a bit, his mind already racing with speculation. This man has been attacking Albinos for all he knows, all for the sake of finding and attacking Accelerator for whatever reason. But given the crowd and the traffic halt. ...Did he seriously..? Koyoko looked toward where the people were looking, screams still off in the distance. Would be odd to think that this guy had gotten someone seriously hurt, or killed even? Maybe even bringing others down with them?

Before he realized it, Koyoko was already running in the direction Shinichiro went, seeing him on the other side of the street. His eyes showed hatred and anger, eyes furrowed, teeth clenched tight, and he knew very well who to direct that rage to. He wasn't just going to let this guy get away, even if he's in no condition to fight. There was still a lot of people around, so he couldn't hope for doing any sort of range attack without hurting someone else, he'd have to get close. He continued to quicken his pace and in his rage started pressuring air under his left foot. Where do you think you're going you little-. Koyoko quicky released the pressure sending him quickly over the small street and right toward Shinichiro, he quickly adjusted his posture in the form of a right side kick in order to hit him in the back and send him to the ground, keeping him from leaving. That is, if he doesn't miss. This would also, hopefully, break his own speed without doing too much damage to his ribs. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Milo squinted down the sights of his pistols as he attempted to track Jack and Touko's movements. But he was a competent marksman at best. It was for that reason that the guns he used possessed such incredible properties. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the guns performed the hard work for their user.

But they were not important. He still had that disrespectful magician to take care of. Keeping one pistol trained in the direction of Touko and Jack's escape he gripped the other in the crook of his elbow and slid the magazine home.

To Gou's despair the blank eyed mob continued unfazed by his declaration or ultimatum. The first pair of hands swung at him with heavy, uncoordinated fists that clumsily swiped past his face. Shinichiro's 'zombies' moved with the speed and dexterity of drunkards, but their sheer numbers were what made them a force to be reckoned with. Another pair of grasping hands seized at Gou's collar and sleeve as their owner staggered and tripped to the floor. Already those behind were clambering over the poor soul, who continued to crawl and grasp at the boy's ankles.

"Furuhashi!" Touko ducked out of cover, swinging her right fist at the nearest lumbering puppet. As soon as her knuckles slapped against the zombie's cheek they fell to the floor, motionless. "This doesn't look good." She lashed out with another punch as one of the "We need to stop this before someone gets hurt!"

***

The kick caught Shinichiro in the upper back and he slammed forward into the floor.

"Meu Deus!" He coughed out, twisting about underneath his attacker. The boy from earlier. He scrambled backwards and pulled something from his rear pocket. He struck out with the tiny needle in blind panic, hoping to strike Koyoko somewhere painful.

Correction: This wasn’t an angry mob from a horror movie; this was the army of brain-dead zombies attempting to eat up the angry mob!

Just after he had made his great announcement, deciding to step in just like any hero would, he was faced with something incredibly horrifying when all those people’s attention was suddenly directed at him. In the cinema people would laugh while watching such a scene in some 3rd rate bad written horror movie nobody would ever consider frightening. However, real life experience was always a different story.

He was about to be overrun, hands were trying to grab him, pull him into the mass. They were trying to take him in. The army of the mindless was trying to consume him. Damn…what am I supposed to do…!? Unable to harm them after all, he was left with nothing as an option.
Having sworn to protect this city’s citizens there was no way he could ever lay a hand on them, not even in such a situation. So…? What do I do know…? All his ability could do was destroy, nothing more, nothing less. What a useless thing. He had thought his shouting would dissolve the masses, maybe use a quick scare to underline his statement and then drive them away from the person they were attacking. But there was obviously no way for such a trick to work on them, who were unable to even realise what was actually going on.
In the end he would leave himself to be consumed by their overwhelming numbers, just to buy some time for someone else. His beloved rules and morals kept him from going for any other option.

"Furuhashi!"
A new ray of hope. It was her; that spiky haired girl had once again crossed paths with him and had done what he was unable to do. ”You…!?” Surprise was written all over his face. Why was she here? Why did she always happen to be caught in such situations? What had she even done to that “zombie”; it didn’t look like she had knocked it out with an ordinary fist’s strength? What did it even matter right now! ”…thanks…and there I thought I was done for…”
To be honest, he had already given up, prepared to sacrifice himself for justice.

”But how do we stop it…?”, he replied voicing his concern about the hopeless situation, not expecting her to know about an actual way. Not even Judgement did know at the moment, so how should an ordinary girl with no access to the Bank know?
Gou couldn’t even concentrate, was he forced to dodge the zombie’s attacks at the same time. Unlike her he had no way of dealing with them in a such a simple manner. ”If we only knew who or what is the cause behind all this…” Oh, he would have loved to know and take action, but all flags were black.

Upon landing the kick on Shinichiro's upper back, Koyoko used it to also jump back several feet away. However, upon his landing, specifically with his left foot first, he felt the sharp pain of his ribs again, going down to his knee and grabbing his side. Although it could've been much worse had he missed, the pain was still unbearable when it came, keeping him locked in position to recover. But his mind was still set on the foreign asshole trying to get away. Koyoko looked up to try to get a clear eye on Shinichiro, only to find him approaching at an accelerated speed, with a small but threatening weapon at that. Koyoko tried to move quickly enough to avoid it, but his body was far too exhausted to let that happen so easily.

Shit! I'm not fast enough!! He screamed into his head, as he tried to pressure air into his palm as quickly as possible. There was no way he can give a decisive blow on time before that needle would plunge into his skin. Was he going to die like this? To some foreign guy with a tiny needle? Is that the death he deserved? These thoughts flashed into his mind as the needle approached his torso. Am I going to lose...To this bastard...?