[SS] A Certain Dangerous Intruder

June 20th

The young man looked to be in his late teens. A shock of dark brown hair stood up in thick quills and he swept his hand through it. He was tall and broad shouldered with a square jaw and strong features. Dark eyes glared with frightening intensity at the building in front of him. A towering skyscraper of steel and glass.

"Yeah, I got it." Minoru muttered into the phone at his ear. "Grab the files." His proud looking smirk cracked into a wicked grin. "Eliminate anyone in my way." He flipped the phone shut and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans.

The air seemed to hum in anticipation as he stepped towards the door. Inside a pair of guards watched him approach with curiosity. Minoru clenched his fist.

It didn't take long for the alarms to sound. The doors burst inwards on their steel frames, glass splintering the lobby with jagged fragments. The guards were knocked off of their feet and pulverised in an instant. Minoru stepped deliberately over the sharp glass that remained lodged in the crumpled entrance, striding confidently towards the elevator in the back of the lobby.

***

The 14th floor offices were empty. Minoru pressed open the door of the server room and glanced around in the gloomy darkness. Spotting what he had came for he chuckled to him self with satisfaction. This was proving to be easier than he had expected. The room lit up with the glow of a computer screen and he slid a USB stick into the machine. Minoru tapped away at the keyboard for a few moments and frowned. He flipped open his phone and dialed.

"The stupid thing's not working." He grumbled angrily. "No, I tried that." He listened for a moment before tapping at the keys again in frustration.

June 20th, 7:43 PM

On the bright lit TV Screen, the anchorman of channel 57 was relaying a news report of today. It was about some idiot thinking it would be hilarious to throw a grenade into the sewers and see what would have happened. Well unfortunately for him, a civilian witnessed his act and he immediately had gotten arrested by Judgement afterwards. Sewage water had overflown from the damage done by the grenade, making the area uncomfortable to be in.

In the darkened room, the viewer had been sitting with his legs spread towards the side of the couch. His face gave out an expressionless look at the TV. The only source of light in this room was the LED screen from the TV, which was suddenly dimmed black with the click of a button. This certain viewer was seen to be as a boy of age 16 with black moped hair, tired and was about to take rest to conserve his energy for later use.

That was supposed to be the plan until he felt something crawling up his leg. The feeling of two fingers was tracing upwards his chest and eventually made it towards his lips. A familiar voice was heard, "Ha-ra-gi-chaaan~" The name was spoken out as if it was a part of a musical tone. But it was now obvious who this person was, as he came face to face with his incestuous, good-for-nothing sister, Kaede Faye.

"Aneki....." A dark aura had suddenly overcome the boy that had been mounted on. His eyes sharpened towards his 22 year old sister as if a tiger had found his prey. Kaede had suddenly jumped off at the sight of his enraged little brother, "N-no need to be angry about it... I just came to tell you your shower was ready! If you want I'll wash your back for you~"

There she goes again. The nerve in his head struck, and he stood up from the couch with a menacing look on his face, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop disturbing me when I'm about to rest... huh?!" Before he could continue on lecturing her, the ringtone from his cellphone had played indicating that he was getting a call.

He gave a natural sigh before turning around to pick up the vibrating cellphone from the table beside the couch. Before he could say "Hello", a female voice was heard in a well-mannered tone, "Haragi Faye, My name is Diana Yervis, a representative of Academy City's Higher ups. This is a call to notify you of your new assignment courtesy of Aleister Crowley." Haragi became more and more irritated as he heard this. It looks like Academy City's Dark Side still hasn't left him alone.

The biggest mistake of his life was trusting those he brought him into the Dark Side, and working for them. Thinking he would be able to harness his esper power and avoid repeating the regretful act he made when he was 11, he accepted and listened to anything the higher ups would tell him to do. Maybe he did this to compensate for that regretful act, maybe he didn't. To be honest, recently he started to lose his reason for working under them. He only wanted to use his esper power to simply help people, but all he has been doing was dirty work for them. But all of this was kept secretly hidden from his sister. If she had known, she would have gotten herself involved, where she was only a Level 2 esper thus risking her life doing so.

Haragi turned around to face his elder sister who gave a confused look off her face. Speaking in a lighter tone, "Give me a moment." Immediately after, Haragi put the call on hold.

"Aneki, Im heading to the balcony. Please don't disturb me...."

"Haragi-chan! You're so rough with your nee-san, you know that?~"

Leaving the room displeased at his sister continuous immoral acts, he eventually found himself in the balcony of his house. The full view of Academy City downtown was shown bright lit in underneath the shining night sky. The cellphone was once again found beside his ear, with the call put back from hold. He answered in a irritated voice,

"Look... I'm sure you have others to piss off than me. Have one of the Level 5 espers do your fucking work for you. I'm even not in the mood..."

The woman on the phone had replied,

"Haragi Faye, being a highly skilled Level 4 Esper and one of Aleister's well praised assets to Academy City, you are specifically chosen to perform this particular task. If you choose not to, well all I can say is that consequences will fall both you and your loved ones. It is simply up to you."

This woman went as far as threatening the safety of his only sister, which had pissed him off further. Clenching his teeth in anger, he gripped onto his cell phone tightly to the point where a crack will be bound to appear on it. But he calmed down, understanding his position in this situation. He loses either way, but he chooses to carry it out only to keep his sister safe. He quietly responded to the woman,

"... What are the details?"

The details were simple enough, to pursue a suspicious individual who apparently got into Academy City without valid ID. Not only that, his intentions seemed to unknown at this point but potentially a threat to the higher ups. This person was last seen heading towards one of the buildings that archived Academy City's confidential information. The woman plainly gave her good luck and hung up. The 16 year old Level 4 Esper had been sliding across Academy City on thin air. This was possible by maintaining the constant solidification of Oxygen Radicals in it's Crystal Lattice form creating a thin and slippery path in the air. Its like someone skateboarding, but in thin air.


Only 20 minutes had passed since the Academy City Official had called him, and Haragi had found himself arriving at the destination. Shattered glass and corpses was found in his path towards the entrance. Not only that but the sound of the alarm was heard coming from inside and yet nobody had been running around the entrance or not even Judgement had shown up. This was really strange, especially if not even the public police force of Academy City weren't here yet. Haragi cautiously entered and followed the trail of dead bodies leading to the elevator. The last stop on the LED screen indicated was at the 14th floor. This was most likely the floor that had whatever this individual was after.

"Geez... What a pain... But complaining now won't get me anymore..."

Instead of taking the elevator, Haragi chose to take the emergency stairs. This way, this person would not know beforehand of who's to come. Without any effort, Haragi elevated himself up the middle of the stair case with his esper ability and reached the 14th floor. It wasn't too long after he enter the floor only to see the distinct source of light coming from one room. The only room with it's door halfway open with several computers turned on. A dark figure was hastily working away at the computers like it was a race to win.

"Oi... How about you stop pissing off the higher ups who're making me to do their grunt work for them and leave like nothing ever happened?"

Haragi was seen leaning his back against the doorway behind the figure, irritated like always.

"No, I told you I can't see a damn ALT key. There's just some stupid squiggly line key." Minoru grumbled down the phone, angrily mashing the keyboard like he meant it physical harm.

"Huh?" He rolled his neck at the sound of Haragi's voice, coming to look at the boy with a dull look of irritation. "I'll call you back." He dropped snapped the phone shut, letting his arm drop loosely to his side as he squared up to face the boy. "Looks like I'll get to have some fun after all."

Minoru rolled his shoulders and dropped into a ready stance, his feet planting and knees bending as though bracing for something. The air around him buzzed with a low hum that could be felt in one's bones. Haragi would feel and odd tingle on his skin like goosebumps as the hum increased in intensity.

"Tsch. I dunno who the hell you are pal, but it was a mistake to come alone." Minoru grinned, the peculiar hum growing in intensity with every passing moment.

Bang!

Something behind Minoru blew, the servers sparking violently in the darkness. His face dropped and he glanced over his shoulder at the malfunctioning machines.

"Dammit!" He cursed loudly. "We'll have to take this outside, pretty-boy." He burst forward at a remarkable speed, his fist roaring through the still buzzing air towards Haragi's face. He didn't stop, his path carrying him through the doorway and into the empty offices of the 14th floor.

This shady individual seemed like the type of person who was in a hurry. Upon greeting him, he immediately chose to prepare for an attack. Even his manner and his way of talking made him look like a person who doesn't give a shit about someone like Haragi. The intent to kill rose in this individual's eyes, as he oddly changed the air around him.

Haragi quickly picked up on this as he quietly observed and heard the slight buzzing noise come to existence. His skin started to vibrate due to the change in the air around this area. This individual was no ordinary person, which was odd for someone outside of Academy City. Based on what Haragi has now seen, he can't assume that he is an esper or not, but nonetheless he had a special ability either with maintaining his personal reality or by something else.

BANG

The incredible speed at which he had traveled, just after the machines behind had malfunctioned, startled the Level 4 Esper as he quickly prepared for a defensive maneuver. The punch this person was about to throw wasn't a regular one, especially with the unusual preparation of his attack and with the sudden buzzing within the air.

Haragi's eyes had sharpened even more so, as he controlled his personal reality to enable his Esper ability, Solid Air. As he had done so before, Haragi simply breaks down several of the hundreds of thousands of Air molecules around him (Per Square Area) separating the Oxygen gas molecules (O2) from the rest. Now doing so, he then separates the Oxygen gas molecules to a single Oxygen molecule also known as Oxygen Radicals. Regardless of it's unstable nature, Haragi can stabilize and solidify the Oxygen Radical into it's Crystal Lattice form. This whole process is done merely within milliseconds as long as his Personal Reality allows him to do so.

As Haragi done so, he was able to hastily create 5 layers of crystallized "wall" made of stable Oxygen Radicals in front of him. No movement was made at all from him, his only focus was to how many layers his punch could break through. A normal punch couldn't even crack the layer. However if it was the help of supernatural aid, at most it was to break through only two if the magnitude of strength suffices that is.

As the punch landed, crystallized shards had scattered everywhere creating a mist, fogging Haragi's view in front. This meant at least one layer was broken, however he had not broken through it all but at this moment Haragi could not identify the actual damage done due to the shards of crystallized Oxygen Radical floating everywhere. In the very least, there was use of supernatural aid by this certain individual. However it will clear up in moments, thus answering Haragi's questions as he closely observes the results. But for the time, the Level 4 Esper had spoke,

"Let's be clear here.... it would be better if we don't fight at all because I personally don't want to... I'm giving you another chance, leave things as is and get the hell out of Academy City like nothing ever happened.... I'd rather conserve my energy for something worthwhile to do than wasting my time fighting someone like you... You'll regret your mistakes otherwise...."

As the mist had gradually cleared up, Haragi's eyes were centered towards his defensive walls and the results of this person's blow. He even wiped the irritated look on his face only to come up with counter strategy if something bad happens. The consumption of his long conserving energy had begun.

Minoru felt contact and the shatter of the surface beneath his fist. He smirked, confident that his punch had broken the shield. That expression faded quickly as the cloud of pulverised ice cleared. His arm lay buried elbow deep into the ice and he reared back, scowling in anger.

"Who the hell do you think you're dealing with, punk?" He tensed his arm and the ice vibrated, shattering apart with tremendous force and showering the room in jagged splinters. He stood up, dusting off his knuckles.

"You know, you don't have to fight if you don't want to." Minoru stepped towards Haragi. Some distance still separated them. "You could always just lay down and die!" He stepped forward with his right side, swivelling into a low stance and thrusting his fist forward sharply. A pulse of force like a soundwave blasted from his knuckles, shooting towards Haragi with the concussive power of a shotgun blast. He swivelled his hips, throwing his weight forward in a left straight. Again and again powerful shockwaves whipped towards the Esper.

In the end, this person was able to break through several layers of the Solidified Oxygen Radicals. It was then Haragi could look more into this phenomenon. This had meant that he wasn't a regular human being, and had to be using an esper ability related to the air. But other possibilities still remained, though Haragi was only taught of Science and the world around it. Regardless of all this information, this person was quick on the ball. His speed could outmatch Haragi's if he didn't keep his eye out.

There was only a certain distance between them, up until this intruder had hastily prepared a similar attack. This time, he jolted forward from his left side while thrusting his fist towards the Esper. Haragi knew if he had separated the oxygen gas from the air molecules in a significant amount from exact location, he would be left in a bad situation. Not only that, another attack had been just thrown against him leaving out even more opportunities to try and counter. His only option now was to relocate his position at least a safe distance away with minimal injuries.

Only choosing the safest strategy out of the several he had in mind, he immediately created six layers Solidified layers of Oxygen Radicals. Since this individual was able to break through many of the layers from before, Haragi had no chance of protecting himself if he continued to do so within the same position. Instead the layers he created just now was not for the purpose as a shield but as a way of escape. Since his layers cushioned most of the damage from the attack before, Haragi can use this next attack as something to blow him backwards to a different position. He couldn't guarantee if he could completely avoid it, but his injuries would not be fatal.

The second attack had landed, but something different was a midst. This blow was more powerful in thrust, as the forced air had blew through most of his layers, but reduced the applied force towards him. As this forced air came in contact with him, Haragi had felt like someone had punched him directly into his stomach. He was blown back immediately after he choked for air. But that wasn't only it, more of this particular attack had come towards him one after the other.

As he was flying backwards into the Hallway, he created more shield layers of Oxygen Radical, being able to carefully do so as different air molecules had been appearing around him each second while flying back. With this, he would at least slow down these incoming shockwaves only to give him time to regain balance of himself. He stomped both of his feet down onto the wooden ground, skidding backwards and gradually coming to a stop. As soon as he done so, he immediately dodge rolled towards the right side of the hallway outside the Server room. These shockwaves broke through the whole lot of layers Haragi created. A crater had been made on the wall beside him as a result even after his crystal layers had attempted to slow down his attack. If he hadn't dodged the way he did, his ribs would have gotten shattered or would have lost the lower half of his body.

"That was too close..."

The Level 4 Esper had wiped the spit coughed out from his mouth as he stood up firmly. This intruder was serious about fighting Haragi, and not only that he had the ability to break through his crystal shields. His strength was something on a different level, but not as strong as the Accelerator's. His natural sigh was seen, as he got ready to fight back.

"You made your choice...Don't blame me for what happens..."

Haragi was a safe distance away from him. He was outside in the hallway, while the intruding individual was "trapped" inside the Server room. Everything was set. The crystals made of stable Oxygen Radicals were scattered all around the intruders surroundings. But these shards only were stable from Haragi's Personal Reality. If he wanted, a reverse process was possible. That was to change the molecules back into it's original unstable state.

Tiny bright light suddenly shined from each shattered crystal shard within the target's vicinity. Haragi stared in this person's eyes with pity before assimilation began. Two seconds after each shattered pieces lit, a series of explosions occurred with the magnitude of blowing up the whole Server room. It was enough to kill at least 15 people within this explosion.

This was why Haragi made it to Level 4. The stabilization of Oxygen Radicals and rendering explosions from it's extremely unstable nature. This was the true power of Solid Air.

The faint glow of the shards caught Minoru's attention and he realised immediately the nature of the trap that had been set around him.

"Shit!" He growled as the explosions began. The entire area was engulfed in the blast, a cloud of shrapnel and smoke obscuring what remained under a thick, dark veil. It cleared gradually to reveal the fate of the intruder.

There was nothing. Only a wide, gaping hole of twisted metal and concrete remained in the floor. For a beat there was nothing.

The floor erupted just in front of Haragi as a blind shot burst through in chunks of rubble. More and more of the floor was decimated as Minoru stood below, launching powerful uppercuts to the ceiling, hunting down the Level 4 with single minded ferocity. The onslaught paused for a moment before the floor was rocked with violent tremors. Beneath Haragi, Minoru stood against a supporting pillar, his hands pressed to the wall. The tremors were only amplified by the solid surface and were now shaking the building apart. It wouldn't be long until the entire 14th floor collapsed completely.

Crossing his arms, he observed the catastrophic damage he had caused to a room valued towards the higher ups. The only thought that came to his head is how much he'll get yelled at by them. But he purposely didn't want it to end this way. He scratched his head wondering what his opponent's state was.

"Did I overkill it?"

But as the smoke had cleared from within the room, there was no scent of him. Did he manage to completely avoid the explosion? That couldn't be possible if he was caught in it off guard. Where did this person exactly go?


Silence was golden, until Haragi had heard a distinct thumping noise from beneath the floor in front of him. A small moment afterwards, the same applied force of air from before had ripped through the floor, as more and more continued attempting to find it's prey. Haragi was like a mouse trapped in a maze trying to find a way out, except there was obstacles that could prove fatal if not overcome.

This meant that the person had escaped somehow to a lower level. He was planning to catching Haragi from a blind spot. The only hint Haragi was given was the sound of the thumping noises and the time at which this force had burst through the ground. As of now, Haragi was in no condition to avoid these blind shockwaves with his speed. However, the level 4 had a convenient means of transportation through his esper ability. With this and his sharp observations, he would be able to possibly overcome such a situation.

He suddenly heard the thumping noise beneath him. By the time he heard that, Haragi swiftly skidded on thin "air" through the hallway of deathly burst of shockwaves. Haragi managed to avoid the shockwaves by just listening to the thumping noises in front of him, while skidding on thin air. It was like a realistic situation of avoiding volcanic eruptions from the ground in some kind of fantasy racing game.

But soon, these shockwaves had halted as he felt a slight tremor coming from the ground. He felt the whole building shake while trying to find the exit staircase. At any moment, the 14th floor could collapse. Haragi had thought, "What? How can he make something shake violently to something big as this?! Air won't be able to do this alone. Unless his ability is to apply force to anything around him. This isn't good..." There was no sign of any nearby exit staircase. Even if he did find out, he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to make it without getting buried alive. Luckily he spotted a nearby window to the outside, but the distance between it was questioning to his possible fate. Skidding through the narrow hall, Haragi was keeping his eyes open left and right for falling rubble to avoid.

As soon as he neared the window, he saw premature rubble collapsing in front of his only way out. At this point, his escape could possibly be an illusion if that rubble covers the window to the outside. His chance of escaping was dimming, was he going to die?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hara-chan, you shouldn't run off like that otherwise Mommy would get sick worried."

*ZzZzZzZzZzZ*

"Hara-chan, what's wrong?! Are you feeling alright?"

*ZzZzZzZzZzZ*

"Wait, no! Stop!!"

*ZzZzZzZzZzZ*

"Your mother's death was unfortunate. If you do not want to repeat such an occurrence again, help us help you maintain your power... Join us..."

*ZzZzZzZzZzZ*

"The regrets I've made in the past... are what keep telling me to live on..."
~~~~~~~

The essence of reality came back to Haragi's eyes. His skidding speed picked up as he oddly remembered once again what he can't forget. He closed his eyes to concentrate on his Personal Reality.

"Like hell I'll die in the place like this... Im not planning to die until I'll be able to forgive myself..."

The premature rubble had collapsed in front of his only way of escape, the shattering of glass was heard. On that moment, he opened his eyes to find himself looking at the moon. The 14th floor of the building behind him was buried in rubble of the like. Haragi was still alive. This had meant he still had to live to compensate for the regretful mistakes he caused.

While he was standing on crystalllized Oxygen Radicals, he turned around to see he still had unfinished business. His enemy was lurking in the thirteenth floor and approaching him carelessly could get himself killed. Especially with his ability to apply significant force to matter. Haragi had an idea to stopping him which required expertise on his own part. As of now, this person was probably thinking that he had buried the level 4 alive which brings the advantage to Haragi.

At least 5 minutes passed, and the level 4 had managed to get onto the thirteenth floor from taking the emergency staircase yet again. This person could be anywhere on the thirteenth floor, but Haragi did not know where exactly. To keep himself safe, he produced layers of Crystallized Oxygen Radicals at each end of the hallway on this floor mirroring his own image. This intruder was sure enough to run into one of his mirrored selves, and destroy it. By then, his exact location would be revealed.

The 14th floor crumbled inward in a plume of thick, dusty smoke. Minoru stood back and dusted off his hands with a satisfied smirk. That had been easier than he'd expected. But he'd still demolished the server room with the information he was sent to retrieve. He grumbled quietly to himself. He'd definitely get it in the neck for this. Minoru swung the door open, slamming it into the wall as he strolled out without a care. He stopped abruptly, his lips twisted in a confused pout.

"What?" The dark haired boy uttered, deadpan. There in front of him stood the meddlesome Level 4. Still intact, no less. He clenched his fist and he ice mirror began to quake before shattering. Minoru stood for a moment in disbelief. "A fake, huh?" He growled. "Screw it, this is too annoying." He spat, marching towards the mirror. He buried his arm into it, smashing it. One after the other he hunted the images down. Eventually he'd find the original, he thought to himself .

***

The lone albino boy was walking slowly along the deserted streets. The night air was still and quiet. The shopping bag in his hand swung lightly with each step. He was staring absent mindedly into the middle distance, his thoughts occupied with a growing boredom. It had been some days since his last 'encounter'. And longer still since anyone had put up anything resembling a real fight. Still, the thought amused him. That alone surely meant that he was unassailable.

The booming explosion didn't go unnoticed. Nor did the rumble of falling concrete. A demolition? At this hour? He frowned. No. This was definitely something else.

Accelerator turned his head slowly in the direction of the sound.

The shattering of his crystal mirrors were heard echoing from the other end of the hallway. More and more of his mirrors were getting easily destroyed by him. It wouldn't be too long before he had destroyed them all. As he had finally reached the last one, Haragi came face to face with this person. Haragi would easily have been able to render an explosion from just separating the Oxygen Gas molecules into Oxygen Radicals and not bothering to stabilize it. However, if he wanted to avoid himself getting caught in the explosion, he would have to create a small scale one which would be enough to give someone second degree burns.

"I'd suggest you cut the crap... Make one move and I'll make sure your face doesn't look like it is right now."

Haragi was quick with separating the Oxygen gas molecules around the individual. The same tiny bright light had shined but from different points in the air this time but around this individual. He wouldn't be able to escape something thats almost touching him. Haragi did not need to crystallize the Oxygen Radicals this time around since it was only used for Defense Tactics. He just only wanted to intimidate this person by keeping the Oxygen Radicals at the state before entering Entropy, which would render the explosion.

"There's been something bugging me ya know? You seem to be able to make applied force towards your surroundings. But being able to bring down a whole floor is something higher level espers are able to do. If that was the case, you wouldn't be against Academy City after making so much progress. Mind telling me who exactly are you?.."

Haragi was ready to trigger the explosions at any time, though he had a feeling that something else was about to happen.

The instant the air around him illuminated with that dim glow, Minoru realised his mistake and he tutted loudly, gritting his teeth. Forethought and caution had never been his greatest attributes and now he had walked into an obvious trap. He slowly turned to face the boy, Haragi.

"I'd suggest you cut the crap... Make one move and I'll make sure your face doesn't look like it is right now."

The threat only seemed to inflame Minoru, who bristled, rolling his shoulders and clenching his fists with barely restrained aggression.

"There's been something bugging me ya know? You seem to be able to make applied force towards your surroundings. But being able to bring down a whole floor is something higher level espers are able to do. If that was the case, you wouldn't be against Academy City after making so much progress. Mind telling me who exactly are you?...

The question seemed to surprise Minoru, at least if his guileless facial expression was any indication. The tall boy's shoulders shook in a rumbling laugh.

"Oh, man." He brought his hand to his head as he calmed himself. "If you don't already know then there's no point in telling you." He shook his head, chuckling as though at the antics of a child. "Applied force." He cocked his head, smirking down at Haragi once more. "Yeah. Something like that." Something about him was off. He seemed almost resigned, as though he had accepted his fate. Then, without hesitation he stepped forward towards Haragi and threw out both hands in a strong double punch.

The shockwave was missing the intensity of the previous blasts, but what it lacked in power it made up for in range. Far from the shotgun like shocks of concussive force, this felt like a wall of air knocking one backwards. It engulfed the entire corridor in a wave of pressure. The windows behind Haragi blew out, sprinkling glass onto the empty streets below.

Minoru gritted his teeth for the enemy's retaliation. With luck they would both be injured equally. Either way, Minrou was determined to deal with Haragi. There was no retreat even in the face of death.

***

Accelerator heard another explosion and he raised his eyes to watch the shimmering above. Sparkling like stars they fell about him, bouncing off of his skin and scattering in the air. Was it raining? He glanced down at the ground about his feet.

Glass.

It was raining glass.

Looking back skyward, Accelerator frowned. Maybe if he stuck around something interesting might happen, he thought, standing amidst the glittering shards that littered the pavement.

Without any fear, he simply refused to reveal his identity. Not only that but he scoffed at the idea of him using Applied Force on matter, which somehow enabled him to ignore his threatening surroundings. He was preparing to attempt another attack as he thrust both of his fists forward.

"Stubborn Bastard..."

Haragi had his mind ready to trigger the small scale explosions, but something strange had happened. The unstable Oxygen Radical Molecules had moved it's way towards Haragi within a quick instant. Within that moment, an invisible wall had pushed onto Haragi sending him flying backwards with the surrounding Oxygen Radicals entering Entropy. At this point, Haragi would not be able to stabilize these Oxygen Radicals once Entropy began, meaning he would get caught in his own explosion.

This person had somehow managed to produce a wall of applied force onto the air, blowing the dangerous Oxygen Radicals towards the Level 4. "Shit!" Haragi grit his teeth as he saw the bright light grew wider and the series of explosions occur. The resulting outcome was second degree burns on his right arm and his left leg, as well as being knocked unconscious. Not too long afterwards, the windows shattered throwing Haragi out of the building and falling 13 floors down whilst not being able to do anything.

A few seconds afterwards, Haragi had opened his eyes only to feel the constant occurring pain sore through his recent injuries. But not only that he looked directly at the bright moon as before. It was then he realized he was free falling to his death from 13th floors if he hadn't done something soon. At this point, he couldn't move his body from the shock after getting hurt by his own power. As of now he had to overcome gravity by producing crystal layers from under him, reducing his fall momentum.

Doing so, he shattered through each crystal layer of Oxygen Radical he produced which reduced the speed of his fall. Pain in his back surged through his whole body as the the concrete broke his fall. However, a worse fate would become him if he hadn't done what he did. Released from his paralyzed state, he found himself outside the building with shattered glass scattered on the ground. He then saw the smoke appearing outside of the thirteenth floor window, while clenching his fist in anger by realizing his opponent somehow got the upperhand.

Ignoring the remaining pain, he hesitantly stood up and recapped his actions. The Oxygen Radical molecules were blown away by his applied force, thus this person had the advantage over him if he were to do the same thing again. If Haragi wanted to carry out his plan to defeat him, he would need at least 5 seconds to stop his ability since he had a way to do so. Haragi slowly recovered from his pain, and waited for his confrontation yet again.

The backlash from his suicidal attack hit Minoru with the force of a jackhammer. The tiny, dust like particles of ice in the air about him ignited in a powerful chemical reaction, blasting him with heat and concussive force in equal measure. Try as he might to brace himself against the explosion's force, Minoru was thrown back. It was only his hands in front of his face that saved him from being rendered unconscious. It felt to the boy as though he had tried to block a moving car with his forearms.

Throughout this, Minoru watched Haragi spill from the building's shattered windows and into the streets below. With a grim expression he resolved to track down what remained of his enemy and leave nothing behind.

***

Accelerator watched as the dark shape plummeted towards him. It was difficult to make out against the night sky, but the city's lights cast against it as it fell and it slowly became apparent to Accelerator that the object hurtling towards him was not debris, but a person.

He didn't move, staring with deadpan bemusement at the soon to be grisly sight. He cocked an eyebrow in surprise when the tumbling body started to slow its descent. One after another it shattered through crystalline panes like a stone through glass.

He hit the ground with audible force. The noise was enough to make even Accelerator wince. Especially when it became obvious that the boy was not only still alive, bur more remarkably, still conscious.

"Impressive landing. Too bad there were no cameras to catch it." Accelerator spoke his mind, immediately comparing Haragi to a stunt man in his mind. It seemed about the only way his mind could parse what it had just witnessed.

From inside the building came another booming thud. The ceiling opened up explosively, showering the already wrecked lobby with more dust and debris.

"Oi!" Minoru's voice shouted through the thinning cloud. "Where are you?" He marched forward out of the swirling dust. His clothing was tattered, singed and smoking from Haragi's explosion. His skin was the same, with patches of alternating soot black and angry red.

His eyes fell on Haragi and Accelerator and he grinned.

The falling debris and rising smoke continued from the thirteenth floor as Haragi had closely watched on the ground below. He was getting irritated because of the fact his target was able to hurt him and used more energy than he expected to, thinking he would be done sooner. It was then distinct footsteps were heard approaching behind him.


A dark voice came from behind the Level 4 esper. Haragi Faye turned his head slightly to take a glimpse of someone he had never imagined would show up. The sight of an pure white haired boy with albino characteristics. More clearly, Haragi hasn't seen him much since he was let go from the Special Ability Institute.

From Age 11, Haragi was enrolled in the Special Ability Institute where he coincidentally happened to be as well. However, he had never spoke with him the 3 years he's been there, in which he had reached level 4 by the end. But after that, he never really saw him instead he heard stories and rumours about him. "What the hell is he doing here? Is he a reinforcement? No, there's no way those asshole higher ups would be so kind to me, and I doubt he would even bother to do this kind of mission, regardless of the higher ups threatening him..." Speaking to himself in his head, Haragi sighed in disappointment, turning to face him completely.

"What are you doing here?... Shouldn't you find a better place that your cocky presence can be in rather than sticking your head into something you shouldn't, Accelerator?...."

There was no intimidation between them, even though Haragi should have been afraid like anyone else. Accelerator was someone on a completely different level compared to him. The number one probably doesn't even remember the Level 4, but it didn't matter. Haragi was more focused on doing what he came here to do. Before Accelerator could respond, a thudding noise was present for a single moment.

Right afterwards, the ceiling in the lobby inside the front entrance broke down. Debris and dust spread, with a dark figure drop down from above it.

"Oi! Where are you?"

The same voice belonging to his mysterious opponent had slowly walked outside only to find both Haragi and a third party. The Level 4 Esper, had to end this fight now. With the time he had while the intruder was standing firmly still, the Level 4 proceeded with the plan he attempted from before before he chose to interrogate him.

From what Haragi had seen, his ability was to apply force towards the material around him, there was no doubt since that was all he was using the whole battle. The idea that Haragi came up with only needed 5 seconds for a still standing opponent. This was to break down the Air molecules around him by separating the Oxygen gas from the air itself and breaking it down even further to stable Oxygen Radicals. He didn't intend to create explosions or crystal shields but to take away the essential need for his ability.


The Level 4 Esper need not to move to be able to do this, only the concentration on his Personal Reality. Since this person was more of the aggressive type, Haragi didn't need to worry about him moving away for defense thus leaving the area in which the air molecules were broken down. 2 seconds pass, this person needed the air to provide the deadly shockwaves but without air he would do nothing more than a regular physical attack. 4 seconds pass, with the air molecules almost broken down in his vicinity, he would most likely notice a loss of air and have trouble breathing.

"I'll finish this now..."

His eyes preyed on his only target. At the 5 second mark, Haragi stepped onto thin air and charged towards him ignoring Accelerator's presence. The level 4 Esper would know that his opponent would retaliate by using his ability. But he wouldn't be able to since he couldn't possibly reproduce air from nothing. As Solid Air skid towards his target, a bright white object appeared out of existence and gripped tightly in his right hand. This object looked to be like a lengthy spear being made up of crystallized Oxygen radicals, with it's sharpness outmatching a real one's but not as sturdy.

With the velocity picking up from skidding on thin air, Haragi forcefully hurled the sharpened weapon precisely aimed towards the opponent with the strength he had. The spear had burst forward with immense speed solely able to pierce through his target. It wasn't only that when Haragi had considered the possibility of him avoiding his attack like how he miraculously escaped his large scaled explosion unscathed. So if that did occur, Haragi would be able to catch him off guard immediately afterwards as he still was travelling on thin air towards him.

He thought what the person said back then about his identity. How Haragi should have known his existence. Was he someone the level 4 had met before, he couldn't remember. But this should be the last thing on his mind while seeing the approaching target.

"What are you doing here?... Shouldn't you find a better place that your cocky presence can be in rather than sticking your head into something you shouldn't, Accelerator?...."

Accelerator simply fixed the other boy with a look of unconcealed disdain. Who the hell did this punk think he was, talking to the most powerful Esper in Academy City like they were on the same level? He felt a strong urge to mop up the broken glass with Haragi's face.

The thundering crash distracted him from that thought and he looked up to see the imposing figure of Haragi's opponent.

"A friend of yours?" The albino boy cocked his eyebrow.

"You're gonna pay for that little trick." Minoru's fingers traced along the burnt skin of his face. He lunged forward with another blast of kinetic force that rippled visibly through the air. Then, much to his surprise it dissipated at almost half the distance to its target. "The hell?" Minoru looked down at his fist with confusion. He glanced back to Haragi just in time to see the other boy launch his javelin of ice.

He moved, but it was not far or fast enough. He felt the cold sting of the spear jam into his abdomen. Minoru stumbled backwards, rocking on his feet. Looking down at the wound his face twisted into a furious grimace. He gripped the shaft of the javelin tightly and crushed it in his grip. Only a short, jagged stump still jutted from his side.

This was now a battle to the death. But a wound like this wouldn't stop him. For someone like himself, this was only an invitation to fight in earnest. He felt the rush of adrenaline in his system. Now things were getting interesting.

He lunged at Haragi, shooting his hands out to grab a hold of the other boy by whatever he could grasp.

Direct Hit.

The weapon of death had pierced through the side of his target's abdomen. Haragi's intents of defeating him were now known. He could safely conclude that his target needed the air particles to perform his attacks otherwise he would be just using regular physical attacks that a mere human could do.

With his target taking the blow, something unexpected happened. There no was expressions of pain or any kind of aftershock from critical damage he just received. There was only risen anger. Grabbing the part of the spear embedded inside his chest, he shattered the component that was exposed leaving a chunk of the crystal spear inside. Just what exactly was he? He couldn't have been able to use Applied Force to suppress a pain like that. Unless, Applied Force was only a part of his ability. There was that possibility Haragi never considered, making this fight even more dangerous since Haragi has already exposed most of his strategies towards him.

The Level 4 Esper needed to end this fight, and by observing the chunk of crystallized stable Oxygen Radicals embedded within his stomach, he could be able to blow his whole body apart. His target was basically a living bomb now. However, there was only one flaw to doing this. The Level 4 Esper couldn't render the explosion if he was near him otherwise he would get caught within it. And he was sure his target was aware of this as well.

Just within the moment the spear had been destroyed, the mysterious individual had dashed towards the Esper with unbelievable speed with his hands reaching out as if he were to grab something. Haragi didn't have time to escape, nor could he render an explosion which would brutally kill both of them. If he stood where he was, he was surely to get fatally injured by his target's ability especially if it's something that hasn't been used yet by him. All Haragi could do now was to assume he will use the air to attack which then he would break down the Air particles to counter.

Though Haragi wasn't a skilled fighter, he was pretty agile towards incoming physical blows. As the individual approached him at great speed, Haragi immediately broke down the air particles only in front of him, leaving every other side exposed with air with the time he had. If the esper's instincts were correct, this person was attempting to grab him and apply pressure within him likewise with the 14th floor. If that had happened, he would be done for.

The black haired Esper could only rely on his agility. As of now, Haragi's eyes were set on his wound. If he could somehow deal a great blow to his wound while attempting to avoid his approach, his opponent's reaction to the blow would probably give him enough time to distance himself from him.

The distance between the two closed, while Haragi closely observed the incoming grab. Whilst attempting direct himself towards the right, his opponent's hand was about to come in contact with his left shoulder while his other hand missed. At the same time, the esper attempted to knee the injured abdomen. There was no air to be present within the short vicinity. This situation was a trial of death towards the Esper.

Minoru closed the distance in the blink of an eye. Haragi's movements, though nimble were those of a novice. It was a simple matter for Minoru to read him. The instant Haragi had committed to his strike Minoru dropped low, slamming his palms to the floor as Haragi's knee whipped narrowly past his head. The glass scattered about the floor jumped into the air suddenly.

This had been his intention all along. To lead Haragi into this minefield. A killing ground. The air was now filled with a thousand blades. The glass hummed with stored energy.

The already shattered glass splintered into a thousand shards that whirred away at neck height.

Some distance away Accelerator watched impassively. It was only when he felt a sharp sting in his cheek that he moved, wincing as he pressed his finger to his face. When he removed it he was stunned.

"Blood?" He muttered, half in awe and half in growing fury. How could an attack bypass his shield? His perfect shield! Who the hell dared attack him?

"Hey!" The albino screamed at the two combatants. His expression was truly frightening. He was smiling.

There was no thinking, but merely acts of desperation. Haragi chose to risk his situation by attempting to attack head on since it was the only option to think of. During his attempt to knee the opponent's wound, his opponent was undoubtedly skilled enough dodge such a pathetic strike. Noticing this, Haragi had seen his failure while his opponent had swiftly dropped below his incoming leg while slamming his palms onto the ground.

In that small moment, Haragi could think of nothing else but a counter attack from him, like his usual shockwaves. Why did he slam his palms onto the ground instead? It had to be some sort of counter, but it wasn't applied force on air. If it was a similar tactic like bringing down the 14th floor, Haragi would have been easily able to escape by skidding on thin air.

But all that he thought was not what this person intended to use. It was something different. The shattered glass from the remains of the windows of the thirteenth floor started to vibrate. Each shard of glass had picked itself up onto the still air, surrounding the Level 4 Esper. To add to more of the Esper's frustration, the shards of glass broke into even smaller shards.

There was no choice left. Haragi had to use "it". In most situations, Haragi had did all he could to avoid using what would possibly lead to his downfall if he wasn't lucky. His ultimate defense was to use all the air molecules around him as consumers, which would lack his own breathing space. He had only done this twice before, thinking he would never have been brought to such a situation again. This was why Haragi avoided to stay within the same area whenever he used his esper ability to manipulate the Air molecules around him. This was one of the two flaws to his ability.

However Haragi was prepared since he improved his lung capacity to holding in breath up to 3 minutes. But even so with his ultimate defense, he would not have known if the glass shards would pierce through it. Even so, it would be better than standing still waiting to get killed. As his focused his personal reality, a dome of crystallized Oxygen Radicals was created in his surrounding along with very many layered domes beneath. The timer of 3 minutes began to count down.

As the shards of glass started to surround him, Haragi relied deep in his thought. "This person's ability was not only to apply force into matter but to excite and manipulate molecules inside that matter. What exactly is his ability?!" The incoming shards of glass broke his thought before he would have been able to figure him out. As the thousands of shards collided through his dome of crystallized oxygen radicals, the outer dome seemed sturdy enough to take some of the hits, until it started to crack. The shards pierced through the first layer. As each dome had been pierced through, the number of the shards of glass had been decreasing steadily.

Sweat had dripped down from the esper's head as the second last dome had been hit, looking like it was about to be shattered. At that point there was still a decent amount of glass incoming, more than enough to pierce through the last remaining dome. No way he was leaving this unharmed. The remaining shards were enough to shot through his vital points, thus killing him. It was then, that same dark voice had been heard,

"Hey!"

The small glimpse of the smiling Accelerator was seen behind him. It had looked like he wanted to get involved. Haragi's possibility of getting killed shot up.

It started slowly. The first shard broke through the outermost layer, fragmenting against the next and ricocheting around the thin walls. Then another, and another, slowly eroding the shells from within. For a moment it seemed as though the protective shell might crack, worn down by millions of tiny blades. Then, just as the final layer began to crack the last of the shards lost its energy.

"Hey!"

Accelerator's yell did nothing to distract Minoru. The intruder was lost in his rage, ready to pounce on whatever mangled remains emerged from that shell.

Accelerator's temper flared. First this punk cut him and now he was ignoring him!? His eyes widened until it seemed they would pop from his skull.

"Hey! Who the hell are you ignoring, you piece of shit!" He screamed. It sounded like the crazed howl of a rabid beast. It certainly wasn't the voice of a sane human being. Minoru spun, startled by the sound.

Something hit him square in the nose. He flew, tumbling backwards as the chunk of concrete smashed into his skull. In front of Accelerator a portion of the floor had been uprooted and the albino boy stood, staring madly at his victim. Surely that blow had killed the intruder? Any normal person's neck would have been snapped in an instant.

Accelerator's head turned slowly to Haragi. Was he looking for another victim now his bloodlust was aroused?

Something ricocheted off his shield, scattering across the ground and his expression changed. He traced the path of the projectile back to its origin. The look of confusion was writ large across Accelerator's features.

Minoru stood, clutching his side where Haragi's crystalline blade had lodged. The weapon now lay scattered in pieces at Accelerator's feet.

"Dammit! " He rolled his neck and clasped his nose, snapping it back into position with only a grunt. "No one told me they had guys like you here." He sounded disgruntled. Accelerator's face twisted into a scowling frown. Was this some sort of sick joke? How was he still alive? He looked to Haragi as though expecting some answer.

The feeling of relief was felt just when the shards had lost their will to pierce through Haragi's "Ultimate" Defense. But he couldn't be safe yet. After ignoring Accelerator's aggressive attitude, the person, who was able to control the glass shards, had swung his fists towards the remaining and almost broken barrier to finish the job. The feeling of uneasiness overcame the esper's confidence as he was running out of opportunities to counter his next move. It was then something shot past the trapped Level 4 at the speed of light, directly smashing into his opponent's face. This then sent him flying back and eventually smashing himself into the hard concrete.

Shocked at the unexpected outcome, Haragi used this chance to immediately dissolve his shield and leave the zone he broke down the air molecules in. Heavily taking in the air he so needed, his hands met his kneecaps so that he could calmly recover himself. As he looked upward, he saw the albino boy expecting some sort of explanation. As soon as Solid Air caught enough breath, he stood up firmly with his arms crossed and facing the Number one,

"Geez... You didn't have to interrupt my fight... I was doing fine by myself...."

Lying to himself, Haragi wanted to keep himself some pride while not looking like he needed help from the cockiest douche bag of Academy City. However now that the Level 4 was safe, he would be able to reorganize his thoughts of where he left off. As Haragi thought to recapture what had happened, the object that shot past him and hit the target was most likely done by Accelerator. From that collision, his face would have been smashed inwards and died meaning Haragi would have been able to call it a day. But a loud and distinct grunt had been heard as something had been thrown at Haragi in an attempt to retaliate. From across both espers, that same person, who took a full on hit by the strongest esper in the city, emerged from the ground complaining about the current situation. How was this possible? Could have this been related to the gigantic explosion he had escaped unharmed? The esper thought he had an ace up his sleeve remembering the fact that he needed at least a distance from his opponent to end this fight rather quickly. The latter of Crystallized Oxygen Radicals embedded inside his opponent was enough to render an explosion, killing him inside out.

However, Haragi realized that the remains of his lance was still inside him until he had seen a noticeable, bloody hole from within his abdomen. No traces of his crystallized Oxygen Radicals were found inside of him. The object that was thrown towards them turned to be the remains of Haragi's artificially made weapon. But what questioned Haragi the most was why had some of the glass shards, that flew past him, ignore the Number One's esper ability, Vector Control? Was this person able to ignore the laws of Physics and do as he pleases? No, but a more logical answer would have been his ability to excite particles around him, enabling him to create high pressured shockwaves or bring down floors. But that wasn't enough to explain how he was able to break through the Ultimate Esper Ability Accelerator wields. Accelerator was still waiting for some sort of explanation from Haragi. The Level 4 did not want to get help from someone like the Number one, but seeing how difficult this fight was going to be, he didn't have many options.

"Can this get anymore annoying.... Ugh...If you want to kick this guy's ass, you have to figure out this esper ability. From what I saw so far... He's able apply force onto air and create deadly shockwaves... Not only that he brought down a whole fucking floor in the building in front of us... I'm still stumped on how he actually was able to control those glass shards but I do have some sort of theory.... He can excite particles past a stable state, and into entropy.... But that still doesn't explain how he managed to screw over your esper ability nor how he survived your shot...."

Then Haragi had thought about who this person really was. If he's able to counter Vector Control and he's an esper, why isn't he with Academy city instead of against it? Did this person leave the scientific city for a different purpose? Aleister and his men wouldn't have let him leave that easily if he was this strong. "Accelerator... do you know any other espers that can break through your Vector Control? Or had the potential to?" Haragi questioned the albino boy as if it were of an investigation of sorts, though he himself did not keep track of these kind of things.

Accelerator scoffed at the question. Someone who could bypass his ability? Such a person didn't exist. And yet... this boy in front of him had done just that. Accelerator's fingers were still streaked by his own blood. What more evidence did he need?

"Can this get anymore annoying.... Ugh...If you want to kick this guy's ass, you have to figure out this esper ability. From what I saw so far... He's able apply force onto air and create deadly shockwaves... Not only that he brought down a whole fucking floor in the building in front of us... I'm still stumped on how he actually was able to control those glass shards but I do have some sort of theory.... He can excite particles past a stable state, and into entropy.... But that still doesn't explain how he managed to screw over your esper ability nor how he survived your shot...."

Accelerator ignored Haragi's words with a dismissive grunt. After all, what did a warning mean to him?

"Whatever. Lets get this over with." He leaned forward, falling into a lunge. His back foot pressed off from the ground and he was gone. Like a bullet the 'Strongest Esper' sped towards Minoru with long, loping strides. Each step carried him for meters, never once losing speed.

Minoru, for his part seemed to accept his fate. He closed his eyes, standing rooted to the spot. His breathing was measured and slow. He was right to pray, Accelerator laughed as he prepared to take the boy's head off with one perfectly timed swing.

The air started to hum.

"What the hell?" Accelerator sneered with a look of abject disgust. All at once his plan fell to pieces. The air around him, the ground, everything was vibrating at a molecular level. Vibrating. Far too fast for his mental calculations to follow. There were too many variables. Changing direction, colliding with one another, altering the vectors around him too quickly for him to compensate. This was the intruder's ability. The perfect counter to his own.

Without his ability Accelerator's speed faded and he tumbled to the ground, unable to control his momentum.

"This isn't over..." Minoru looked winded. The concentration required to use his ability, plus the wounds inflicted on him were taking their toll. He would take this opportunity to escape. The young man eyed Haragi and the fallen Accelerator warily as he retreated. He stamped down hard, the ground erupting around him in a shower of debris.

When it cleared he was gone.

Accelerator was resting on hands and knees, staring with terrifying intensity as his quarry escaped him. His fingers gripped, biting deep into the concrete as he threw his head back, letting out a bestial scream into the night air.

"You son of a bitch!" He bellowed in his rage, beckoning his opponent to confront him again.

The sight of this mysterious person's presence disappear from existence pissed off the Level 4 Esper. Not even the #1 Level 5 Esper was able to stop him. Clenching his teeth, wondering how angry the higher ups will get because of his abrupt retreat. Haragi has the potential of stopping him, but it would be hard since he exposed alot of his esper ability along with it's tactics. "Well shiit!" He cursed at his uselessness.

It was that same noise that was heard, the same sound of the silent air humming from before. Similar to the time when this person had first made his attack, his initial forced shockwave. It needed several moments to occur before actually releasing it. That similar approach had somehow disabled the Vectors around Accelerator just as he reached his prey. If Haragi's theory was correct, his ability to force molecular substance into entropy was close to what exactly his ability truly was.

But for now, Accelerator's beastly howl interrupted his thoughts from the results of his retaliation. Haragi pulled his hand up to his forehead, giving some thought how the cocky esper wasn't the only one at loss. His burnt forearm and leg were also things to consider, as well as his long conserved energy was used unnecessarily. Haragi's lung shot.

"Oi! Accelerator... Crying won't help you make him come back... It's better off having the Academy City's assholes to track him down... Im sure that 'Bitch' would be able to help us out...."

By "bitch", Haragi was referring to that woman, Diana Yervis, who claimed to be a representative for Academy City's Dark side. A vibration was felt from the side pocket of his black jeans. His cell phone shot off a ring tone similar to a school's bell. As he dragged the phone out of his rugged dirty jeans, the caller was coincidentally that "bitch".

"Solid Air, You nearly made things noticeable from afar. What's your status?"

The annoying sound of her voice made him even more irritated.

"We lost him..."

"What do you mean lost him?! Aren't you the one specialized in these kind of assignments? And who is "we"?!"

The loudness of her voice made the nearby birds fly away.

"Geez... You ask alot of questions... It's hard for me to kick his ass when he has an ability that can take out the Number One's Vector control... Oh yeah... the number one also dropped by to say hi to me..."

"What? The Accelerator is there with you? And even he couldn't stop him? Well this just made things more interesting. I'll try and locate this intruder's location and send you the details via phone in a short bit. In the meantime, you are to group with the Accelerator and pursue this target immediately afterwards. Good luck."

"Wait?! What! No way! I run solo, you crazy bi-"

The call had been hung up abruptly before he was able to call her what he had always prompted to. This was unbelievable. Not only he had to continue the assignment, but he had to pair up with the Accelerator, one of the most obnoxious and cocky espers he had ever seen. But he couldn't change his situation, so he had to accept things as they were.

Approaching the number one, who looked completely irritated almost like he himself was, Haragi had wanted to question the fine details of his previous attack.

"As much as I don't like it... Looks like that bitch has us working together... So... Do you got any idea how he passed through your vectors like that? Or at least see what went wrong?"

"Oi! Accelerator... Crying won't help you make him come back... It's better off having the Academy City's assholes to track him down... Im sure that 'Bitch' would be able to help us out...."

Accelerator's head snapped upwards as he shot Haragi a look of unbridled rage. Would he turn on his 'ally' now that his prey had escaped him? If the rumours were to be believed, Accelerator had a tendency for wild behaviour at the best of times. Now that his notoriously short temper had been triggered who could tell what he would do?

Haragi continued talking on the phone, though Accelerator barely heard his words. His thoughts were preoccupied by his 'defeat'. Someone had bypassed his shield. Survived his attack. In short, they'd disgraced him. Even though they were unable to harm him seriously they had proven that it was possible. They had proven that the Accelerator could be touched. They had still dealt a dangerous blow to his reputation.

And it would only be a matter of time before the scum of Academy City reared their heads to challenge him. A pack of Hyenas to a wounded Gazelle, they would descend from every dark corner of this place. And their would be blood. They were worms emerging from their burrows only to be trodden on.

This intruder would pay for his insult.

"As much as I don't like it... Looks like that bitch has us working together... So... Do you got any idea how he passed through your vectors like that? Or at least see what went wrong?"

While Accelerator had been debating the ramifications of this incident, Haragi had apparently concluded his conversation with his mysterious employer. The albino weighed his options carefully. He needed to find this stranger, and fast.

Unfortunately for Haragi, he was the only person who could now help Accelerator locate his prey.

"Wrong." The Level 5 stated bluntly. He locked eyes with Haragi. "You're working for me." His posture suggested a barely restrained hostility that was just waiting for Haragi step out of line. An excuse was all Accelerator needed at this point. "...And you're going to help me find that son of a bitch."

The content of Haragi's question remained unanswered. Accelerator had no intention of revealing any weakness in his ability. For now he was going to play his cards close to his chest.

The ignorance of Accelerator was unbelievable. It was clear that being the strongest had corrupted his mind to thinking that he has to be superior in every situation. The fact that he ignored Haragi's simple question continued the Level 4's irritation. All that came to Haragi's mind was, "Stubborn bastard." His eyes shot an expressionless look that gazed upon the Level 5.

"Wrong. You're working for me."

Those words were muttered from Accelerator's own cocky mouth adding onto his obnoxious attitude. A slight grunt came from the Solid Air, as he shook his head from side to side as if something meaningless had been heard. Raising his hand towards his forehead once again, he took a moment to realize what Accelerator had meant.

"Doesn't make a difference to me.... We're after the same target in the end, which is all that matters....."

Accelerator was avoiding the possible flaw to his esper ability. The control of the vectors around his authority was what made him unique. Without those vectors, he would be just a regular person. This meant that that person had somehow disabled the use of his own power. The air had hummed like before during that time, meaning he was exciting the particles in the air, if Haragi's theory was correct. However particles with high potential energy wouldn't be able to destroy vectors. So it had to be something else.

The point that connection between the excited particles and the inability of vector control were clear. Solid Air grabbed the front bang of his black moped hair, and started to rub his thumb and index finger up and down its stature, like it was some sort of method to help him think deeper. The person who broke through Accelerator's shield had to either destroy the air around Accelerator or manipulated the vectors to point in other directiosn. Since this person showed no sign of breaking down air molecules other than Haragi, he had to use entropy on highly excited particles and manipulate his vectors.

Once particles enter Entropy, there's no coming back, as if it were a one-way road trip. There's alot of phenomenal possibilities that occur when a particular particle gets excited past Entropy. Most of them have been known to be dangerous. Haragi's use of this is his signature large scale explosions. His target uses them to create harmful forced projectiles or breakdown of third party molecules (ie. Collapsing a whole floor). In a way, he himself and the target were similar. This was how he managed to escape unscathed from his explosions and pass through the number one's shield. He misdirected all the vectors that went towards him, thus escaping fatal situations in which he could have been in.

His train of thought had broke after he created a logical and concise theory. As his eyes left looking at blank space, he refocused them on the number one.

"I think I know what that asshole did.... But I can't say for sure, though it seems like the only logical answer from what I've seen so far.... My other theory about excited particles is probably right... He used that to misdirect all your vectors in random directions, making you completely vulnerable...... That's how you felt when you charged him, right?"

"Doesn't make a difference to me.... We're after the same target in the end, which is all that matters....."

Accelerator gave a non committal grunt in reply. He turned his back to Haragi, pondering his encounter with as close to a cool head as he could muster.

"I think I know what that asshole did.... But I can't say for sure, though it seems like the only logical answer from what I've seen so far.... My other theory about excited particles is probably right... He used that to misdirect all your vectors in random directions, making you completely vulnerable...... That's how you felt when you charged him, right?"

Accelerator's expression dropped into an irritated frown. He was close. It hadn't been that Accelerator's control over Vectors had been interfered with, so much as his ability to calculate. Even a mind like Accelerator's had limits and when his enemy's power had bombarded him with such an incredible volume of unknown variables to account for, he hadn't been able to keep up. His ability had shut down.

"Say you were right." He said ominously. "That doesn't change what's going to happen next." The atmosphere changed suddenly. "I'm going to tear that bastard apart." He bared his teeth in a shark like grin and began to laugh. A horrible, scraping laugh like rusty metal grinding.