A Certain Experiment's End (Arc 3 Epilogue)

August 3rd. Elsewhere, that night...

Footsteps resounded throughout hallways occupied by wiring and various control panels as the only light that shone through them came from a compact flashlight that was occasionally moved around and reflected the metallic grey of the layout. Such was the nature of underground facilities that were home to experiments that could never be exposed to the public eye: their appearance were cold and unwelcoming as if to ward off anyone who didn't have the courage to leave any semblance of human emotion behind.

Though she currently had no way of seeing it, the sun had set a long time ago to welcome the night that was proving itself to be quite young; for it was host to an incident that was at the same time isolated yet was not.

Advancing deeper into the hidden and unwelcoming parts of the facility she was far too well acquainted with, the girl switched off the flashlight as she approached a door that smoothly slid open upon her identification.

This incident had ended up as such a contradiction because the people who fought in it understood its origins and circumstances as well as the consequences for changing its predicted outcome, while the people who didn't would only hear of its outcome and live through said consequences without ever being aware of the truth.

The truth behind the contradicting incident that beckoned the sound of a clash of beliefs and convictions meant to change the outcome of a tragic situation that would never stop on its own.

“Well, let's get started.”

Setting her hand on a switch, she turned on the lights that revealed a room equipped with a set of computers monitoring and controlling what laid beyond the window that sat at her side; the slumbering bodies of Misaka Mikoto's many clones relied to Testament via a capsule and a helmet.

With these computers directly controlling the information Testament sent out to the Sisters, and therefore all of the network, she aimed to finally achieve the goal she had set for herself as she approached the set of constantly active machines that would lead her towards her goal and started inputting various command with a degree of speed worthy of Testament's creator and of her status as a bio-psychology prodigy.

People didn't necessarily “fight” in the way the group of fools that were risking their lives did; some people could affirm their convictions in many other ways than just a brawl where everything was put on the line if they had the proper talents to do so.

Yes, on this damned night, one of those people were carrying out their own fight for the sake of that very same goal: this girl who bore what could be described as nothing other than “fish eyes”.

She was a researcher, one of the rare few allowed within these grounds, who had gone around trying to foil the Level 6 Shift experiments by any way she could for what was months at this point, and her name was Nunotaba Shinobu.

Filled with a certain amount of dread accompanied with what she found to be a rather perplexing amount of anticipation abnormal for a usually stoic girl like her, Shinobu bit her lip as she pulled away from one of the computer that rested in the room, finally done inputting commands.

Now she only needed to insert the key element to her plan and this mess would finally be over.

(Misaka Mikoto's terrorist attempts against the facilities involved in Level 6 Shift, and now yet another outright attempt against the subject of the experiment himself...)

A frown shaped her eyebrows as she reflected on the reported actions of that reckless Level 5.

(Indeed, it is impossible for her to win that battle, but at the very least I can take advantage of it.)

Shinobu pulled out a small USB flash drive out of her pocket, glancing at it briefly before inserting it in its corresponding slot and pressing the enter key on the keyboard that appeared on a touch surface device.

Earlier that day, she had been called in by the facility she used to work with when she actively participated in the Level 6 Shift project. It seemed that over the course of the past few days, the Sisters' had had some interactions that caused their mental states had to fluctuate and cause odd behaviours for those usually obedient girls that had the scientists worry as to their ability to carry out the experiments as efficiently as they did before.

While they weren't concerned for Accelerator and his bodyguard in the slightest, and who would even be when one considered that small fries were the ones to go against the strongest Esper in Academy City, they were most certainly a lot more attentive to any deviation coming from the clones themselves and as such could only call in Shinobu to lend a hand in rectifying the situation. She was the researcher who knew the Sisters best, after all.

(All the data on human emotions I've gathered during my research... If I install this into their brain...)

But her feelings towards the matter hadn't changed and she had taken the slight moment where she had been left unattended as a window to execute her plan.

(Of course, I doubt such a primitive program could awaken true emotions within them, but it should at least trigger similar reactions.)

A window flashed on-screen to show the progress of an installation via the flash drive. It wouldn't even need a few minutes before being complete, and when it would finally be...

(I don't know if this is enough to stop the project, but I'm sure it'll show them that there's a path that doesn't lead to hopeless death. Those Sisters who believe that their death is only natural... Now some of them may fear that fate, and if they do then perhaps the researchers will see them as more than just guinea pigs.)

Unusually hopeful thoughts filled her mind as she witnessed the rapid progress of the install bar.

(And, as slim as the chances may be, their cries that they don't want to fight anymore may move someone's heart...

Maybe I'm being naïve. I know that there may be no point in doing this. However, what I felt in that instant...)

...was something she could only describe as...

The girl at the computer was acting in the hope of not merely saving one, but many, many lives. She had been immersed in the slime of the the city's underbelly, but she still had the purity of heart to act on what she felt was right without fearing for the danger to her own life. Surely, were her tale to be told, she would be cheered and applauded as a righteous person who had had the courage to act where all others had remained silent. Though some might call her actions, which made enemies of many with powers far beyond her own, foolish, Nunotaba Shinobu's will and conviction were not so fragile as to be stifled by such whispers. No matter the consequences, no matter what the obstacle, no matter who stood in her path, she would continue fighting in her own way. Therefore, there was no one to blame here. There was no villain in this story.

One could only blame the land within which she had discovered her battle. It was not a place where an individual could attain victory, no matter how righteous they were. It was not the fault of Shinobu for being careless in her actions, nor was it the fault of the executioner who had come to strike down that virtuous heart. For here, in this land beneath the prosperous surface of the city, heaven and earth had been overturned. Purity had no power here, good did not triumph over evil. Surely, even the great heroes of old would have been felled with ease had they sought their glory here. In this place, the wicked reigned supreme and justice withered away in rotten soil. So this ending was preordained at the moment of her birth; it was undeniable fate. Nunotaba Shinobu's very nature meant that her victory was impossible from the very beginning.

In an instant, two slender hands grasped Shinobu's head and arm from behind, slamming the former against the console and wrenching the latter painfully behind her back. She had been rendered helpless instantly, manhandled as if she were a rag doll. Right behind her, the culprit stood in plain sight with an aloof expression adorning her face and an orange hood obscuring the majority of her features. Even with that, however, it was clear simply from her build that she was a small girl no older than twelve; her body couldn't possibly have held the requisite power to overpower her like she had. And yet she had easily intruded into the room where Shinobu had thought herself alone, and took her by surprise from behind, subduing her in mere seconds.

After a moment, having confirmed that her hold on Shinobu was firm, Kinuhata Saiai removed her hand from Shinobu's head and used it to remove the hood obscuring her face. There was neither guilt nor disdain in her mien. She simply looked down upon Shinobu with cold eyes that gave the impression she couldn't possibly care less about her if she tried. Normally, a girl her age would have had a much happier expression, lived a much kinder life, and enjoyed much sunnier surroundings. That would have been her way of life had she been a normal child living in the world above. But her very presence here meant that she was one of the wicked, her hands stained by countless sins. She had come here as an executioner, to deliver Shinobu's fate.

For in this place, the wicked would always triumph over the just.

"The client thought you seemed super suspicious, so they purposefully made a super hole in the security to see if you would take the bait. Don't struggle. We'll hand you over to the client. Resistance is super futile."

As she stoically explained the situation to her captive without the slightest change in her expression, two tall men entered the room. With their footsteps echoing loudly throughout the room, it became clear that they didn't have the expertise that Saiai had, which had allowed her to silently enter the room without her target noticing. They were simple thugs; mere handymen whose only role was to support the executioner. But to someone like Shinobu, who had neither the strength to oppose the strong nor the depravity to to match the evil, their appearance merely served to further affirm her defeat. Now, all the light of hope had been buried in the deepest of darkness.

“Ghk...?!”

The next thing she knew, Shinobu found her entire upper body forced against the cold console as pain shot from her left arm and her back. Slowly tilting her head to get a better glance at her aggressor, her eyes widened as a girl of very petite stature compared to what she was used to seeing entered her field of vision.

She was the one restraining her in an absurdly painful armlock.

With that kind of strength and her presence within these forbidden experimental grounds, such a small child was very likely one of Academy City's executioners. Not only that, but thugs much alike the ones she had almost torched alive when she was caught as the one spreading the credit cards around were accompanying her, likely to assist what would be the scene of Shinobu's execution, if not worse...

It was yet another proof that went to show that this city had no understanding of the concept of "morality" whatsoever...

But in any cases, Nunotaba Shinobu had finally been caught messing around with what she shouldn't have.

As the small girl spoke, she merely dropped her head in defeat at that realisation while her arm was twisted more and more to stop any signs of resisting. “Futile resistance... Maybe, that's the case...” Ignoring the throbbing pain running through her arm, Shinobu absent-mindedly reflected on the actions she had carried out at what she knew to be the risk of her own life and the consequences that would arise from them.

Maybe she should just stop while they could all still get away with it relatively... "easy".

(This project isn't the only problem. Even if it were to end, could the clones find a way to live normal lives? With emotionless eyes and short lives... what awaits them could be an unforgiving and harsher fate than this.)

Those girls were able to see far more beauty in this world than any other people.

If so, maybe she should indeed stop resisting; let this project carry on to its end to at least allow the Sisters to die while still viewing the world as a beautiful thing, untainted by what could prove to be a reality crueller than anything Accelerator could ever do to them?

Mankind's ugliness didn't limit itself to being confined within the secret parts of what Academy City's walls contained, after all...

Yet...

(That girl tried to shoulder it all by herself...)

The foolish girl named Misaka Mikoto who had been running around and exhausting herself for far too long trying to put an end to, what was...

(...Yes. The sin that we were meant to bear.)

The sound of typing could be heard from beneath Shinobu as she had unpleasantly twisted her remaining arm to type a final command on the keyboard. No matter what, she would checkmate this executioner by accomplishing her goal alone even if she had to die to do so...!

(We must give them a chance to break free from their fate!)

Nunotaba Shinobu had finally stopped resisting.

“Futile resistance... Maybe, that's the case...”

After glancing back to look at the face of the one who had restrained her, Saiai's target had gone completely limp. If that was a sign that she had given up hope, then all was well. Saiai would simply carry her away, deliver her to the client, and complete the job. ITEM would receive the reward, she would receive her compensation, and they would all return to their everyday life until they were called upon once more. That would be the best scenario. But she overheard Shinobu's quiet, absent-minded utterances, and took a closer look. With a slightly skeptical expression, as if she wasn't quite clear what she was looking for, she scanned her captive for anything unusual. She had no real evidence that something was off; she merely had a premonition, a gut feeling that something was off. Even so, she saw nothing. But just when she was about to toss her concerns away, she heard it. The sound of keys being pressed.

Physically tearing Shinobu away from the console without the slightest hesitation, Saiai forcibly revealed what she had been hiding with her body. It was just as she'd feared. With her arm concealed, Shinobu had managed to begin inputting something into the control panel. She hadn't been concerned with the install bar since just the program being entered into the system wouldn't be enough; some kind of further confirmation or direction would be needed afterwards to have it actually do something. But because of her carelessness, Shinobu had gotten the chance to try and complete whatever it was she was doing. Saiai had no idea whether or not Shinobu had managed to finish or not, but she tossed her away all the same. As she fell to the ground at the feet of one of the thugs, who quickly dragged her to her feet and restrained her, Saiai decided upon her course of action. No matter what she'd done, if there was any time left at all, destroying the drive would solve everything!

With strength that clearly couldn't be exhibited by a human, much less a young girl of twelve, Saiai's small fist utterly demolished the small stick of plastic and metal. Splinters scattered across the room and a smoking crater was left on the console. But there was still no telling if she'd been in time or not. The install bar was flashing, completed, but she couldn't tell if the program had been activated. Briskly turning one hundred eighty degrees, Saiai locked eyes with Shinobu. There was no need for words; her message was clear.

What did you super do?

Despite being violently thrown away only to be restrained again by a delinquent wearing sunglasses, a smile graced Shinobu's lips as she witnessed this panicked action of resorting to violence to destroy the flash drive and its port. “It's pointless.” She daringly taunted that executioner, uncaring of what would become of her should she be of short temper. “The installation was completed.”

The display reflected the status bar and its attempted connection to the brainwave link named the Misaka Network. Once that connection went through, the program would transfer all of the emotional data to that network and it would spread to all the Sisters, finally putting an end to this madness she had started.

“No one can stop it now.”

This would be the end...

A mysterious sense of anxiety made beads of sweat roll down her face, but Shinobu's heart kept racing in hopeful anticipation...

Yet, as if she had ingeniously predicted it somewhere in her mind, her anxiety proved itself to be justified as her heart sank when a continually loud beep resonated throughout the room while the status bar and display as a whole became intruded with windows that glared of red.






The screen was filled with this error code that kept duplicating itself without end.

(What... is this?)

In the time she had spent working on the Sisters, not once did she recall installing such a prevention against connection to the network. And even if she did, these computers specifically should have had full access to it...!

(That can't be... When did they install this security?)

Had they simply known from the get-go they would have betrayers? Or was it simply another part to the plan she had not known anything about? In her shock and confusion, Shinobu had completely omitted the most curious part of that error message. Or, rather, the most curious number of it.

“What should we do with her?” The delinquent asked the young girl as Shinobu bit her lip and almost drew blood from it before being heaved upwards by her arm and lab coat

However, this was an opportunity to fight back; for she had to do something. Anything.

The sight of the gun holstered on the delinquent's waist prompted Shinobu to take advantage of the looseness of her coat to turn around, throwing a sharp kick behind his knee to throw him off-balance before smashing the open palm of her right hand against his jaw, sending his glasses flying to God knows where.

Without wasting a single second while the delinquent slightly doubled over, she followed up and grabbed him by the neck to knee him in the stomach before grabbing the gun that she immediately aimed at the young, orange-clad girl after mercilessly throwing the delinquent aside.

She found herself thankful now more than ever that she had pretty good physical abilities for a girl of her age.

“You...” The delinquent growled as he forced himself up.

“Don't move. Do me a favour and leave, I don't want to have to use this.”

Filled with hesitation, her hand trembled at the reply the young girl had given her.

This was absolutely suicidal nonsense; she found herself doing something that very stupid girl would end up doing by confronting an executioner Academy City itself had sent after her.

Yet, she would still do it. Shinobu would drive her away and find the source of the error to work around it and finally save the Sisters.

No matter what.

So, she simply pulled the trigger despite her fear of doing so as a person who was a mere researcher; not an outright murderer...

***

In a room that was far more secluded than any other experimental ground Shinobu had ever known of, the source of that error laid peacefully dormant within the orange liquid-filled incubator tank it was connected to...

It was a small girl who appeared to be ten years old, though was in full likeliness only a few months old. This girl resembled quite strongly what Misaka Mikoto herself would have looked at her age.

Out of the mass-produced 20,000 Sisters, her serial number was 20,001.

“It's pointless. The installation was completed. No one can stop it now.”

That was the worst possible answer. If what she said was true, then even if the capture was successful she would not be receiving any sort of reward for her effort. On the contrary, they might even be slapped with a penalty of some sort. Shinobu obviously intended on interfering with this experiment, and she highly doubted those researchers would think highly of them for allowing what was certainly a great impediment to their work to set in their path.

She didn't believe ITEM would lose even if they made a few more enemies, but if the higher-ups made a decision then even they might end up in trouble. And that's not even considering what Mugino would have to say... However, fortune shined on her. From the console, a long irritating beep resounded throughout the room as dozens of bright red errors filled the screen. Saiai had no idea what had gone wrong, but the result was clear.

"I don't really get it, but it looks like your plan just super failed."

"What should we do with her?"

As Saiai pulled her hood back over her head, the sunglasses wearing thug who was restraining Shinobu spoke up, requesting her instruction on what to do next. He spoke In a manner utterly contrary to their respective appearances, addressing Saiai with the sort of respect you would address to your clear superior. There was no hesitation or indignation in his doing so; he had completely accepted his position beneath her. And in response, Saiai spoke as casually and coolly as usual.

"Super take her up upstairs."

"Got it. Now get walkin'!"

Harshly addressing Shinobu in a tone that was better suited to his appearance, he began pushing her towards the door in accordance with Saiai's orders. But Shinobu, perhaps foolishly, perhaps bravely, refused to believe that she had reached the end of the line. Even in this situation, she had yet to give up hope. Saiai watched calmly as her target spun around and easily incapacitated the thug holding her with a series of kicks and punches, and even went so far as to steal his gun. But she gave no reaction.

“Don't move. Do me a favour and leave, I don't want to have to use this.”

Not even when that same gun was pointed in her face.

"I super can't do that."

Saiai responded to Shinobu's threat without hesitation. There was no shift in the intonation of her voice, there was no trembling in her hands or legs. She seemed completely without fear, as if it didn't matter to her whether the gun was fired or not. She didn't even bother to remove her hands from the pouches in her hoody. Saiai simply stared down the barrel of the gun, and watched as the bullet left its chamber.

The blast of the gunshot seemed to echo in the small room, and the sound of the discarded shell falling to the ground rung in everyone's ears like a bell. Saiai looked down at her shoulder, where the bullet still stood. At the last moment, Shinobu had changed her aim and chose a non-vital point. But the bullet had never reached its new target. It was pressing again an invisible barrier, unable to even penetrate the thin fabric of the clothes its target wore. After a moment, it seemed to run out of steam and fell to the floor. Harmlessly.

"Super respect for aiming away from the vitals in this situation, but a gun can't break through my Offence Armor."

Indeed, Shinobu's heart was pure. Purer than most's. But in this place, that meant less than nothing. Far from offering an advantage, it sealed her defeat from the beginning. The moment she had entered this room, she had lost. Seeing the sheer difference in strength between her and Saiai would impress that fact upon her once and for all. So as Shinobu stood, staring, Saiai stepped forward and slammed her fist straight into the girl's gut. With the same strength that had shattered the data drive and left a crater in the console, she drove the air out of Shinobu's lungs and sent her consciousness someplace far away.

"Take her upstairs super fast.

"G-Got it."

Saiai repeated her orders from before, and the other thug came to carry them out. He was heavier set than the first, who was still lying on the ground, and completely bald. She didn't know whether he'd inherited a bad set of genes or if that was just his preferred fashion, and frankly she didn't care. What she did care about was that he do his job.

"Hey, there's someone in that capsule..."

The sunglasses wearing thug, who'd been sent flying by Shinobu, had landed against an observation window to another room below. Filled with capsules, she didn't know what was inside them, and it wasn't her business to know. She had neither a desire nor a need to know But the thug had taken a glance, and asked a question. That kind of curiosity would get him killed someday. So Saiai decided to give him a piece of advice.

"If you super stare at shit that's not part of your job, then I'll super erase you to keep your mouth shut."

"Sorry!"

As the man hurriedly followed her advice in a small panic, she turned back to the bald one and saw that he was still trying to apply the handcuffs. Allowing a hint of dissatisfaction to seep into her tone, she addressed him again to have him remedy this. She wanted to hurry and get out of this sterile looking room, and he was unnecessarily delaying that.

"Come on. Pick up the pace."

At her imperative, he quickly finished and pulled Shinobu's unconscious form over his shoulder. Leading the way, Saiai began walking toward the exit as the two thugs fell in line behind her, without any orders necessary. But along the way, one them spoke up once more. Though it was another question, it wasn't nearly so hazardous as the one that had been asked before. There was no harm in answering it.

"What's gonna happen to her?"

"Who cares? We just did our super job. If she's useful, they may let her live. But..."

Her words sounded almost positive. It sounded like there was maybe some avenue of hope left for Shinobu, where she could continue living. But then Saiai paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder, addressing the two of them directly. And her voice took on an obviously harsher, even disdainful tone. Like she was looking down at something truly unpleasant.

"She'll lose everything except her super shitty life."

She delivered the harshest verdict as she left the room.

Before Frenda was a large hospital, with lights glowing through the window and piercing the night sky. However, she was not at this hospital as a patient, but as a special type of visitor. Normally, unannounced visitors would have to wait for some time before they could see their respective friend, relative, or acquaintance. However, visitor hours were normally closed off long before this time of night. But, to Frenda, all of that was meaningless.

"Mmmmmm…this is going to be a boring job…" She muttered while flipping through pages on the smart phone in her hand. "So, the main security and camera room is…there." She continued to mutter as she stopped upon the floor plans for the first floor. Having confirmed the location of her first target, she put the phone back into one of her skirt pockets and made her way through the main entrance.

Rather than going straight past the reception desk at the entrance, she meandered around various chairs in the waiting area while slowly progressing further and further back until she could see the back of the reception lady. It was a blind spot that she or even any amateur could exploit. But, regardless, she was definitely caught on camera. So, rather than using the same meandering method, she quickly made her way over to the door behind which the security and camera office was.

She turned the knob, opened the door and made her way in. As she closed the door behind her, she saw a shadow moving from a chair sitting in front of the many screens showing the various camera views.

"YOU! What are you doing he--"

His question was immediately cut short as the small girl ran to him, picked him up, lifted him above her head, and slammed his back onto the floor.

That was all she wrote for that man. He was out cold.

"Gah. Too heavy~" Frenda waved her hands as she tried to relieve the muscle strain she had gotten from performing such a flashy move. Once she no longer felt the pain at her joints, she dragged the unconscious man back up and pushed him back onto the chair into what looked like an alert position.

"Now then, time to destroy any security footage." She rummaged through the computer's files while looking for the camera feed. After shutting off the cameras, she deleted the camera feed from the last hour.

"That should be enough damage." She picked out one of a set of syringes in a case hidden in her skirt and then injected half of the contents into the man's arm before putting it back and heading out.

"Now, then…Mugino said the target was in Room 413…" She muttered to herself again. With the confirmation of that room number, she made her way to the elevators closest to the back exit while avoiding the view of the occasional nurse in each area. As she made her way to the area where Room 413 was located, she was glad to see that the elevator had ended up taking her near the 415 end of the Room 401-415 Block.

She sneaked in and without alerting the nurse of her existence, she slid the door to the room open and entered.

As she made her way to the bed, she began to go over the details of this boring, boring mission in her head again.

I just need to take this Kaede girl back to the van without being seen.

She made her way over to Kaede Faye, the lone patient in the room and got a good look at her face and her long golden hair.

Geh…sleeping beauty, here, actually looks better than she did in the photo. She even looks decent in a hospital gown. Frenda unconsciously balled her right hand into a fist. Being the end of your own fate would have been a wonderful pleasure…Tch…why do I have to actually capture you alive?

Frenda let out a deep sigh. It was a simple job and the payoff was good, but there was still that lack of satisfaction that would plague her for this one mission. In the end, kill missions were far more fulfilling.

She took out the case of syringes and pulled one of them out. Inside of each of them was a dose of morphine that was more than enough to knock out a human for at least half a day. She unscrewed the IV drip that was connected Kaede's arm and then screwed the morphine syringe into the already inserted needle. With a quick push, she pushed the entirety of the morphine dose into the girl's veins and then removed the syringe.

In the end, you didn't even react. A look of dissatisfaction spread across her face. This really is a boring job…Even that job in the maintenance shaft was more enjoyable and that had weird results in the end…Oh well. Mugino said I needed to get you into the van so here I go.

Frenda took the syringe out and placed it back into the case. She picked Kaede up without even the slightest bit of care given to her target's well-being, slamming her legs on the edge of the bed before putting the far too pretty girl on her back. She was not too heavy, so Frenda walked at a normal pace and once again sneaked out of Room 413, out of the wing, and back into the elevator.

As the doors to the elevator re-opened, she snuck to the back entrance and walked straight out. In the parking lot was the lone back van used frequently by ITEM. She made her way to the vehicle without a single bit of difficulty, opened the back door, and tossed the unconscious, drugged girl into the back of the trunk.

"In the end…that was far too easy…"

Mission complete.

The moment she had been captured, Kaede Faye’s destiny had been sealed. Fairly spoken it may even have been the very moment her beloved brother had failed the expectations the higher ups had placed into him. Whatever it was, the chain reaction had lead to an outright explosion nearly instantaneously and now she had been captured.

As her limp body slammed against the cold floor of the van’s back interior, a voice spoke up:

«Good, Frenda, very goo~d»

It was a voice filled with joy, a very malicious kind of joy.

The weak lights entering from outside would reveal the presence of seats installed into the van to allow for people to actually ride in the heavily armoured vehicle’s large trunk. And currently two girls were fully enjoying the quite comfy seatings.

One of them was Takitsubo Riko, holder of the rare gem that was the ability AIM Stalker, the other Mugino Shizuri, Academy City’s #4.

And while Takitsubo’s glance was devoid of any and all emotional reaction, Mugino’s was sinfully overflowing with joy.

Now everything had been set up truly perfectly.

It didn’t matter whether this was a proper job or just the small fry work it actually really was, the enthusiasm and motivation were still the same. Merciless with a hint of bloodlust.

For a while now the #4 had been toying with a small object, a perfect example for modern standard technology’s advancement, a thing that accompanied people through their everyday lives. It was something that wouldn’t have been treasured as much only a few years ago, but now had grown into some kind of lifeline, something people would really go nuts without.
It was a mobile phone, the classic among communication devices. The design was quite cute, yet to further that appeal it was covered with a variety of childishly flashy stickers. Judging from that nature it obviously wouldn’t fit anywhere into upper class girl Mugino Shizuri’s possessions.

However, even though it wasn’t hers, she bluntly overstepped any and all boundaries of privacy, by simply browsing through its contents as if it were her own.

That she did until she found what she was looking for.

A simple press of a button was all it took. She made a call.

It rang, she waited.

It rang again, she kept waiting.

It stopped ringing, someone answered.

«Gree~tings, Haragi Faye~~!»

They weren’t even given the time to reply.

«I know, you expected someone else, didn’t you~? But you should know nobody notices a phone disappearing from a patient’s personal belongings. That happens quite often actually, especially if the patient’s in coma. How would they file a complaint after all~?»

She casually rose from her seat.

«But you know, I was kind enough to use it for Kaede-chan’s sake. You know, she got herself abducted by some really bad people. And now, because her little brother is such an incompetent failure, those bad people will have to attempt waking her up, to help them scold that little shit.»

Then she took the few steps necessary to close in to the captive girl’s limp body.

«Sooo~ I wonder how much pain would actually be needed to wake someone up from such deep sleep~ Why don’t we find out together~?»

Speaking those words, that girl overflowing with malice pressed her white leather boot’s pointy heel right against the sleeping beauty’s shoulder, not holding back on the exertion of unnecessary force.

Really…lately she just would go even more overboard than usual…

In the hospital room he had been admitted to only mere days ago in the aftermath of his fight against the Level 5 Railgun, that had unfortunately resulted in a complete and utter defeat, the eyes of the blue-haired boy named Haragi Faye shot open as a cold sweat broke out throughout his body.

Instinctively, he knew something was wrong. Though he couldn't tell what it was, something was very wrong.

Looking around the small but comfortable and modern hospital room he had quickly acknowledged as his new environment until he would be finally discharged and had fully recovered from the blunt of Misaka Mikoto's attacks, Haragi found that there had been no intruders in this room and for a moment his mind laid in peace as he wondered if it was just his imagination.

(Have I just been resting poorly...? Well, whatever... In the end I was completely unable to confirm anything with her...)

His body still fairly ached from the impact the electricity had had on him, and the amount of times he had pushed himself since finding out about the maddening project that was Level 6 Shift had resulted in him spending a good chunk of his hospital time unconscious as his body and brain recovered the rest they much needed against Haragi's will.

Thanks to that and both the hospital staff's and his own sister's insistence on him at least remotely trying to respect the amount of time he had been admitted to his hospital room for after he finally awoke, Haragi had found himself unable to flee his hospital room and as a result was completely out of touch with anything regarding the situation. It was very likely to be over, and he felt choked by the very idea of not knowing whether it had ended positively even without his help or if the city's evil had triumphed after all.

For a brief moment he recalled the face of the clone to whom he offered a plush Gekota, and with a sigh he dropped his head back down on the sweat-drenched pillow.

At the very least, he had confirmed with his own eyes that Kaede was safe and sound the moment he had regained consciousness at the price of being mercilessly clung on to by her when he forced his way to visit her. That was all that truly mattered; though Kaede had been drugged and Haragi had yet to figure out the truth behind that crime, at the very least she was now in the safe hands of the hospital staff that would be much more cautious after that whole ordeal while he recovered enough to take over once more...

...He was an idiot.

(Was that girl being honest, after all...? Was I merely venting my fear of Aneki's endangered state on her...? No, she definitely had at least something to do with it... but it already took me that long to locate her... and I doubt such a convenient job to go after her will come up again...)

Truly, the boy named Haragi Faye was an idiot.

He wasn't an idiot due to a lack of academic intelligence or of a grasp over social cues, no. He was an idiot because he should have listened to his instincts as he would have had, had he not been interrupted in his constant involvement with Academy City's ugly face that had and would always oversee his life.

The phone rang in a closet where his belongings such as his clothes were currently stored in. Curious, Haragi rose from his bed and opened the closet to confirm whether dark side operatives had more jobs for him; he had been too out of it for jobs after all and they would be the only ones ever daring to call at this time of the night...

Or so he thought, but the OSD reflected a name he had grown up with. The number that called was that of his sister's and Haragi could feel a pit forming in his stomach as he dubiously raised an eyebrow at the sight; they were admitted to the same hospital so why would she call him?

“Aneki...? What are you...” Haragi answered his phone in a questioning manner, almost ready to tell Kaede off for using her phone in a hospital.

His heart sank right down in the said pit.

«Gree~tings, Haragi Faye~~!»

The words died on his lips as he felt that all of the blood in his body had turned to sheer ice, and with the following words of the mysterious caller Haragi did not recognise, the world surrounding him became a blur as he cursed himself for his carelessness. The comfort he had gained in that hospital room over the course of the past few days had dulled far too much his usually sharp senses as an underdog...!

«I know, you expected someone else, didn’t you~? But you should know nobody notices a phone disappearing from a patient’s personal belongings. That happens quite often actually, especially if the patient’s in coma. How would they file a complaint after all~?

But you know, I was kind enough to use it for Kaede-chan’s sake. You know, she got herself abducted by some really bad people. And now, because her little brother is such an incompetent failure, those bad people will have to attempt waking her up, to help them scold that little shit.»

This was nothing as kind as a warning. That teasing tone that reeked of death behind could be none other than the voice of the person that had abducted Kaede. God dammit all to hell, this hospital's security had been breached once again and the staff had been too incompetent to prevent it?!

«Sooo~ I wonder how much pain would actually be needed to wake someone up from such deep sleep~ Why don’t we find out together~?»

“You bitch...!” Haragi cursed out desperately, fully aware that the situation had been born from him failing the dark side by being defeated despite his assigned mission, as he heard the sound of an impact that had simply emptied his mind of any further attempts at cursing the woman out. If he gave her what she wanted, Haragi would surely be shown the price of uselessness in this merciless world.

Yet it had been entirely his fault, as always, that Kaede was currently endangered. And so he had no choice but to reluctantly accept the female voice's offer at the risk of his life.

“Where is she...?”

There would be no fleeing for this foolish boy.

**

He finally experienced the cold nights of Academy City, not that he particularly msised them, once more as Haragi walked towards the indicated meet-up location for him and Kaede's abductor. Having not been given time to prepare himself for what was ahead, Haragi had fled the hospital on a time limit he had to respect lest he would find his sister as a mess of crushed flesh. Haragi had to prevent that, no matter what.

His feet finally stopped as he looked onwards with determination. Haragi had not been prepared, but even if his foe was the dark side itself then he would reclaim his sister's safety. She did not belong in the same world as Haragi did and he would certainly keep it that way even if the price was his death...

He had arrived at the remains of a building that had very recently been destroyed. It was surrounded by police tape to prevent the civilians from adventuring themselves there, though he had passed under anyway. It was likely Anti-Skill's doing as measures until they pinpointed the source of the destruction.

A few metres away from him was a group of four girls that seemed to share his age range, save for one who looked far younger than anyone should ever be when being a part of this side of the world. His heart skipped a bit and he drew a sharp breath when he noted the sight of that child holding her hand out above his dear sister's throat.

This had limited his options considerably as he realised he did not know what kind of cards the abductor, or abductors in this case, held.

Yet in that group, the girl who stood out the most had a refined appearance that reeked of elegance from how she styled her hair, down to how she would dress and the type of shoes she would pick out. Truly, she was the type of woman that any respectable man would fall over for if if it weren't for the maniacal world she stood in. That dignified presence allowed Haragi to easily discern that she was the leader amidst the subordinates.

"What do you want from me...? Let her go... He directly asked that leader in a low growl made as threatening as it could be.

From one moment to the other everything had become a deep mess for Haragi Faye. He hadn’t become a traitor, he had always tried his most, maybe been filled with arrogance, but still not giving in. His tale had been one of exceptional results, even though at times filled with his own narrow minded signature. That was probably the first thing that had pissed the higher ups off, yet they had never done enough to pursue it, likely because he had succeeded in the end.
That was until he had messed up.

Mugino Shizuri wasn’t a stupid girl. She had been able to figure those things out with great ease and she was enjoying every little tiny bit of it, knowing fully well that her freedom in punishment was limitless.

The moment he had stepped in front of the group, it had become truly hard for her to suppress that smile overflowing with vigorous joy.

«What do you want from me...? Let her go…»

As she stood at the center of the group amidst the wasteland, the girl gifted with everything, took a single step forward, to partially leave the shadows looming around.

«My my my, aren’t we a little full of ourselves, you scum?»

There was no fear, neither in her voice, nor in her posture. Rather she was obviously looking down onto him.

«Right now we have your nee-chan at point blank range. Just a snap of my finger and she’s dead for good. And here you are, threatening us, believing that you could actually…put a scratch on me?»

This went beyond the usual arrogant brat looking down on someone they considered inferior. That cruelly mocking tone of her voice, the implications she made, all made it obvious that to her Haragi Faye was nothing but a speck of dust, a thing so minuscule and unimportant, so close to nothingness, its very existence was just ridiculous. It wasn’t even because they had his sister, she was so convinced of her advantage, it made her truly terrifying.

The air was freezing. Mugino Shizuri took another step towards him and then another.

Tremendous pressure.

As she moved, she grabbed something that stuck out of the floor, a long piece of rusty iron, some sort of building material usually used to fortify a wall’s structure.

Holding it in one of her hands, she slowly but surely would close the distance.

«What we want, you’re asking? We want to break you, tear you apart, smash you to pieces, until there will be no greater joy for you but to lick those old bastards’ asses shiny clean with a big fat smile on your face, saying Itadakimasu before every go~»

A smile had finally surfaced, it spoke of carnage.

Carnage that came with the first swing of the iron rod, delivering an absurd amount of brute force straight into him. Then another, followed by another. Smashing smashing smashing. Butchering butchering butchering.

She wasn’t aiming, she was just letting it loose.

Though he knew much better than to actually do so with how delicate his situation was, Haragi almost wanted to spit at Mugino's face in disgust; nearly all of the dark side operatives he had met lamented or mindlessly accepted their lost freedom and the resulting slavery to the most twisted sides of AC at the risk of execution, or worse, yet this woman looked as if she revelled in it and always longed for more of it...

Maybe she had been forced in this world and had lost her mind as a result, but if she hadn't, what kind of insane person would willingly step in a world that reeked of death and treatment far more inhuman that torture for the sake of scientific progress at any cost? He knew Academy City was host to particularly deranged individuals, hell, he was being controlled by them, but this repugnant sight always made him want to vomit no matter how much he saw it...

...Then again, he had been the one to relentlessly go all-out against a middle-schooler, even if a ridiculously powerful one, and threatened to kill her while hardly listening to her side of the story, so perhaps he was just as scum as she appeared to be...?

Scum that had failed to protect his own sister correctly despite threatening everyone who could cause her harm...

Approaching him with an iron rod in her hand, Mugino made it very clear that he would not even get to participate in a show-off of abilities even though he was convinced she must have had a fascinating one if she was the leader of those executioners.

(What do I do...? If I try to resist, Aneki will...)

Before he could even finish his thought, saliva flew out of his mouth as the ice cold object harshly sank in his stomach, forcibly emptying his lungs and making it very, very damn hard to refill them. “Ugh..!” Haragi grunted at the impact, followed by many others that he made no attempts to avoid.

This wasn't simple punishment

With those ruthless blows he had come to understand that even if he did not resist, this woman would show no mercy towards him and Kaede simply because of the pleasure she would get out of not doing so... she would keep dragging Kaede further down the rabbit hole called the "dark side"...

His only option to save her, even if not himself, was to become Academy City's enemy...

(OST: The Power of God)

...And he would, even if he had to escape and flee to the ends of the earth for the rest of his life as the consequence of his rebellion.

Collecting injuries one after the other as the rod relentlessly hit him with no consideration for his physical state whatsoever, Haragi showed no attempts at fighting back and was in fact welcoming the blows as if he had asked for this treatment even though he couldn't stop the restrained moans of pain Mugino was getting out of him as she writhed on the ground.

Yet he didn't give in to the tempting unconsciousness, and he wouldn't.

(Good... Just a... little bit more...!)

She just had to continue maddeningly hitting him without noticing anything else and everything would be fine, Haragi thought as a small smile almost graced his lips before his still ongoing pain made him stop himself.

This was their only available path if they wanted to survive, for no mercy would be shown to Kaede alone even if Haragi were to trade all of his individuality for it and become the most obedient dog Academy City could ever create

Because of that realisation the seconds, that felt like minutes, he had passed enduring this nonsensical amount of pain had been used efficiently forthat boy to whom calculation and careful planning would almost always lead him to victory: Next to the young girl who was restraining Kaede, a small ball of radiating light had appeared and it would only be mere seconds before it went off.

They had probably already been briefed on his ability, but Haragi hoped that none of his enemies hold means to counter his OFR bombs. He was truly underestimating them to an absurd level, but at this point this was better than nothing and it was growing too late to stop the bomb.

To where and how, he didn't know, but when the radiant light would go off it would give Haragi an opening to grab Kaede and run until he finally knew...

As a Level 4 Esper, he would triumph this one time to make up for his utter loss against the Railgun and his subsequent failure to protect Kaede...!

Mugino's in a super bad mood...

The choice of venue had made it perfectly clear to her what the intent of their small group's leader was. Mugino's current display of brutality, which Saiai looked on upon gloomily from her position beside their hostage, was something she had seen often. Anyone who stuck around her long enough would eventually notice that tendency of hers to go wild when worked up, though the people who had the good fortune to witness it more than once were few.

But the circumstances behind her current fit were somewhat different from the norm. Mugino hadn't been enthralled with the thrill of the hunt, and she wasn't enjoying crushing the will of some poor soul who'd overestimated their own abilities. Instead, she was simply venting. In the gloomy boy they'd drawn out using his sister as bait, she had found a punching bag to release her anger upon in the absence of a more suitable target.

Just a few days before, at this very same location, Mugino had been defeated. At first she had hardly believed her ears, but when she remembered that the target was Academy City's #3, the Railgun, the news finally gained a small semblance of reality. Of all the people in the city, only she and the two above her held a chance of defeating Mugino. Fortunately, it didn't seem that Mugino had sustained any serious injuries in the wake of her defeat. The Railgun had merely managed to knock her unconscious and use the opportunity to flee.

However, none of that had managed to absolve her worries even the slightest bit. After all, she'd known. She'd known very well. That when Mugino woke up, she was going to be super pissed...

Saiai had managed to avoid the majority of Mugino's wrath upon and after immediately her awakening, but the girl had been irritable ever since. She had acquired an itch that she couldn't scratch no matter what she did. Tokiwadai's Railgun was the face of the city, in a way, so they couldn't simply go after her without approval. She was off-limits. And so, unable to send her rage toward the most suitable target, the bomb that was Mugino's temper grew more and more volatile by the day. Saiai and her fellow members of ITEM could do nothing but watch nervously and avoid attracting her attention.

When ITEM finally received another assignment, the reaction among the group was completely unanimous. They all heaved deep sighs of relief. It was a chance for Mugino to vent all that pent up rage on someone other than them. Though Mugino's mood was still super bad, Saiai couldn't help but feel joy at the prospect of a Mugino with an even mood. Though she still did what she could to avoid drawing her attention. Their leader was currently busying herself with painting a steel rod with blood, so that wasn't a particularly daunting task at the moment, however.

As she watched the way the color of the rod gradually change from a dull grey to a dull red, something appeared in the corner of her eye. It was a small ball of shining blue light. Saiai instantly recognized it from the description in the files they'd been given on their target, but there was no time for her to move away. It was already too late. Saiai's surprise dulled to resignation as she accepted her fate. After having been in this line of work for so long, she'd long since accepted this sort of thing as reality. Yes...

It wasn't something to brag about, but she couldn't even count the number of explosions she'd endured at this point.

Saiai thrust her free hand down towards the concrete, and with incredible strength, she dug her fingertips into it, forming a makeshift handhold. Not a second later, the blue light ignited and the explosion's rocked her small body. But it failed to inflict even the slightest burn or cut on her skin, and even the shockwave failed to move her thanks to her timely reaction. The defensive capabilities of Saiai's Offense Armor were great, but her small stature was a weakness. Even if it couldn't pierce her barrier, if the force of an impact was great enough it could knock her off her feet and send her flying.

But Saiai knew the weaknesses of her ability well, and through countless battles she had formed measures to supplement the areas where she was lacking. To counter this particular vulnerability, she merely had to anchor herself to something. After compressing a portion of the nitrogen she used to form her armor, she could manipulate the resulting mass of dense air to emulate superhuman strength. So all she had needed to do here was grip the floor and let her armor take care of the rest.

"Well, that was super useless."

That had surely been Haragi's last ditch effort. It was amazing that he'd managed to use his ability at all under these circumstances, much less plan a counterattack. Truly worthy of commendation. But it was all completely useless in the end. After all, ITEM would never lose against such a weak foe. It didn't matter what kinds of foes he'd bested in the past. Now that he was facing ITEM, he couldn't even flee. That, combined with her knowledge of what kind of reaction Mugino would surely have in response to his attempt at rebellion, Saiai almost felt sorry for him.

Not as much as she was glad that he was the one attracting all of his attention, though.

There was no resistance.

Had she broken him? Had the hint of an idea what this city would do to him if he did resist broken him? Or had he simply realised how little power he held in comparison to those foes he was faced with? Or could it have been that he was plotting something?

Actually Mugino Shizuri wasn’t the type to think that far. She only saw the first two as possibilities, but even ignored those; simply because she didn’t care. All that mattered was the execution of said punishment, hit by hit. She didn’t bother with what would follow afterwards, she didn’t even bother to limit herself. She didn’t care if she would physically ruin him to too great an extent. All that mattered was inflicting more harm. Blinding carnage.

That was when the explosion happened.

A sudden shockwave hitting her from behind, not strong enough to really throw her away, yet still strong enough to knock her off balance.  A slight shift in her posture. She had quickly been able to adapt to the situation, had she already faced various kinds of explosives, not to forget that her very ability made her deal with explosive shockwaves on routine.

Still that small window, that tiny opening had been enough for that boy to make his move.

Instead of going for an open attack on his tormentor, he quickly passed by her, rushing towards the only thing in the world he cared for. He was desperate, arrogant and naive; traits of a hero and a fool. He had put everything on this last scale, set everything he had up his sleeve and tried to make the most out of it. At least his legs were fast. Fast enough to make it, before his enemies would even catch up with the current events.

«…that’s what you think.»

The next instance there was a perfectly round hole in his leg.


It was as if a punch press machine had done it, only that that the area surrounding that circle was burned to black crisp.

That was her power. That was Meltdowner, the power of Academy City’s #4.

He may not even have noticed, but for a split second there had been a green beam of light, crossing the air, easily passing through his leg, travelling through the ground and leaving nothing behind but a straight cut, burned by a few thousand degrees.

«Ridiculous. That is all you can do? That is all the foolish scum that was daring enough to challenge the #3 can do? Not surprising that you were spared. Even I would feel bothered with squashing such a pitiful little tick.»

No need to check for her comrades, no need to even bother checking if he had set up more of his traps.

«Solid Air was it? Did you really think an ability like that would be all that’s needed to survive in this world? Did you think, just because you’re a level 4 you’re the greatest? The ace? The big hero? The great saviour? How pathetic. Learn your place, low level scum.»

Yes, Mugino Shizuri had known about his ability. She had known everything there was to know. She knew that he could manipulate OFR molecules to pull a few tricks with them, she knew how great the extent of his power was and she didn’t even bother with it. After all…

…it was nothing special.

«So…where were we again?»

Kaede was within his grasp.

He only needed to grab her and get out of there as fast as he could and he would finally be able to escape the clutches of the dark side.

It was that simple.

It was that simple, yet...

«…that’s what you think.»

Following that mutter, a mortified shout resonated throughout the night sky as the sound of a falling body could be heard colliding against concrete only instants after. The body in question wriggled in an amount of pain that it would have never imagined ever going through and its whimpers were more pitiable than a starved puppy's.

Haragi Faye had been stopped in his tracks as he had aimed to save his sister's life from these executioners.

«Ridiculous. That is all you can do? That is all the foolish scum that was daring enough to challenge the #3 can do? Not surprising that you were spared. Even I would feel bothered with squashing such a pitiful little tick.»

While his pride was being mercilessly bashed by the mature woman, Haragi tried to understand what had happened: just before he reached Kaede, a mysterious green beam had pierced through his leg and blood was freely flowing out of the wound as the hole the beam had formed was so clean you could see through it. No matter how hard he tried to hold his leg to stop the bleeding and attenuate the pain, Haragi Faye could not help his situation.

«Solid Air was it? Did you really think an ability like that would be all that’s needed to survive in this world? Did you think, just because you’re a level 4 you’re the greatest? The ace? The big hero? The great saviour? How pathetic. Learn your place, low level scum.»

How had this happened? How had his OFR bomb been counter-attacked with such ease? Had his plan really been too rushed to work out, or had he simply underestimated his opponents to in fact truly deadly opponents much like he had with the Level 5 Railgun? He was in far too much pain to rationalise any of this.

«So…where were we again?»

All he could tell with crystal clear clarity, however, was that the leader of those executioners would likely make his fate hell and he had yet to figure out if he preferred being left dead or alive right now.

And so, only one option presented itself to him if he wanted to make it right for Kaede, a final card that he had never even imagined he'd use before but he would this one time just to ensure the safety of his sister.

In his foetus-like position, Haragi slightly released his badly injured leg and took a deep breathe that stunk of the stench of his own blood before coughing out to the demon wearing heels that could almost represent death itself. “...Do whatever you want... with me...” His words were a mix between a threat and a desperate plea for she who was certainly far more stronger than himself. “But she's got nothing to do with this...”

Haragi would have never imagined being subdued to the point where he had to plead for his wish, but now that he had been forced to do so and there wasn't anything he could currently do for his currently shattered pride, it was best to leave it all aside for Kaede's sake...

«…Do whatever you want... with me…»

Oh what pure and satisfying melody.

«But she's got nothing to do with this…»

Haragi Faye had truly been crushed, just as expected. Mugino Shizuri was truly a vicious woman. The truth was so simple, yet so cruel. She had waited out for him to show his real face, to put forth one last struggle; only to chop him down in an instant. There hadn’t even been anything she had considered a risk. She had just assumed it would go the way it would, naturally.
Really, there was nothing that could contain her cruelty any longer. All of this had just happened to fully devastate the human that was Haragi Faye. To crush every little bit of his very existence.

And now as he lay before her, giving up on his own self, begging for her to at least show mercy to what was his last sanctuary, a smile formed on the lips of his tormentor.

«Sorry, but that won’t be possible~»

Right after her teasingly cutesy reply, she simply stabbed the tip of that iron rod into the bleeding flesh of his wound, having that ice cold rusty object dig deep into it.

«You see, if I simply let her go just like this, you wouldn’t learn your le~sson.»

Joyfully turning and twisting the rod, her eyes would take in all of his sufferings with great pleasure. His shouts she would absorb, in his screams she would bathe. And if he would resist, she would hurt him some more. A few more wounds weren’t considered bothersome, if he would still be intact enough to serve.

However, before he would truly serve free of disobedience, he had to be broken just a tad more. Therefore…

«Kinuhata, bring her overhere~ I want our guest to…see. it. all. From up close ☆»

Truly as of late Mugino Shizuri would go loose on any occasion.

If the enemy wouldn’t put up a fight, she would simply seek other ways to please herself. Ways that were much grittier than anything one could imagine. Ordinary torture long since missed that point. A person’s physical pain alone didn’t suffice any longer.

Only if they truly shattered, she could feel compensation.

Oh poor Haragi Faye. Even his last sanctuary, that woman would make sure to demolish it until there was only a tiny grain to salvage.

The night was still so young, yet the joyride had only just begun.

Accelerator's head throbbed and his vision was blurred. Sounds came like waves through a wall of murky, muddied noise. He rolled onto his side, pushed himself up off the ground. How long had he been unconscious? It was still night, and the cleanup crew had yet to arrive. Clearly not much time had passed.

The pain was the only thing left to remind Accelerator of the night's events. Pain he hadn't felt in a long time. It was something he was unaccustomed to and so he found himself dwelling on it. The swelling in his cheek where the fist had twisted and crushed his flesh. The dull ache of his diaphragm where a surprise blow had rendered him helpless for the first time in years. Accelerator started to piece together what had happened from his spotty memory.

He looked around. There was no sign of the Railgun or her motley crew. There wasn't even a body left by the bastard who knocked him down.

He'd lost.

What the hell?

He'd really lost.

What happened?

Something impossible had occurred. A miracle one might have called it. Accelerator. Academy City's top Level Five, the Strongest Esper, had been defeated. That alone should have been an distant, infinitesimally small chance that didn't bear considering.

But stranger still, he had been defeated by one boy. One boy without any ability to speak of.

He hadn't been beaten by the Railgun, his self styled 'rival' or even one of the other Level Fives. His downfall hadn't come at the hands of some hero with a mysterious power that rivalled his own. Nor had it come from the higher ups, who he'd often suspected would turn on him once he proved himself no longer useful.

He had been beaten by no one. No one that mattered anyway.

I'm still alive?

Nothing except the collapsed steel mill remained to mark the events that had just occurred.

Accelerator sat back onto his knees and looked up at the sky. It was a moment of unusual tranquillity for the albino boy. He looked up and the realisation sunk in. His hopes. His dreams. All lay in ruins about him. If he couldn't be the strongest... if he could still be threatened despite the power he wields... then what was left? All the deaths and all the pain he'd caused had been for nothing.

He should have cried out, screamed and railed against the heavens for this injustice with a torrent of curses. But he hadn't the heart for it. All he felt was emptiness.

He couldn't tell how long he sat there staring into the empty sky. But at some point he had started to walk, trudging along without direction or purpose until he came by chance to the place where Mari lay buried.

How much longer would this silence last?

How much longer until something would shatter this nerve wrecking peace?

Only an instance and it all had turned.

Mari Illustrious Makinami had been staring at the sky for as long as she could remember. It wasn’t a clear sky, but the minuscule part of a view she could achieve through a gap in the broken down ceiling. She had been staring there since she had awoken, ever since she had realised.

Her body didn’t allow for her to move, not a single step, was it partially buried underneath a heavy chunk of concrete that should easily have crushed some bones with its weight. While her power’s protection would usually guard here from such danger, it had proven useless just this once. The damage she had taken before had been to great and her mind had lost its peace long ago.

Too much had been going on in her head, as the peaceful silence had slowly begun to drive her mad. It had been the worst possible outcome, by far the worst she could have imagined. Much worse than she had considered only a moment ago. Questions shot through her mind, images, possible futures. She didn’t want to know, yet it was inescapable.

That was when the simple sound of a shoe crushing a tiny rock underneath shattered it all.

Immediately, driven by her honed reflexes, Mari turned her gaze. It hurt somewhere, somewhere she was no longer able to pinpoint. Her eyes tried to focus, but it was hard with a crack running through one of her glasses’ lenses.

However there was no need for eyesight, no need for ears to listen, that presence alone was all it took. Even now it would shake her very existence.

«…so…you’re alive…Accelerator?»

A weak voice, at loss of any air, was all she could use to form her words. It was a voice seeped by pain, fear and yet shone of happiness.

«…at least that is off the list…»

She was sure, even that bit of happiness would brighten up that deep ocean of hopelessness she was slowly sinking into. Slowly but surely she would fall apart, yet at least she was given that one thing to cling to.

It didn’t fit her to feel this way, she knew. It didn’t fit her to rejoice over some little punk’s life. It didn’t fit her at all. There was no reason for her to act this way, there was no reason to show any of these emotions, to unveil her weakest side.

But it was too late to consider any of that any way.

A thought crossed her mind. Born from her own foolish desire, born from the unnecessary emotion of hope that was clouding her judgement, that thought quickly built up inside her head.

«…so…what happened to you? That didn’t happen, did it!?»

Only for a moment, for a slight moment. No matter how sure she had been about it, no matter how much everything screamed of it, she had to check. She had to make sure. It could be! It could truly be!! There was hope!!! If he really was standing there…if…he…really…was still alive…maybe. Just maybe.

That disaster had never occurred.

Maybe…everything was actually…fine?

His lack of a reply said more than words could. That uneasy silence lasted until Accelerator effortlessly peeled away the slab of concrete and bent metal supports that formed the lid to Mari's twisted sarcophagus.

"You look like shit." He said in lethargic monotone. He didn't look much better. The swelling around his cheek and eyesocket had started to turn a nasty mottled yellow and purple where the bruise was forming. A trickle of blood ran down his upper lip. He could taste the coppery tang in his mouth. When was the last time he'd tasted his own blood? When was the last time he'd even bled?

Without bothering to free Mari completely, Accelerator slumped down beside her in a sitting position, looking out over the remains of the facility and the city beyond.

"I-" He started to answer the girl's question, but he still couldn't order his thoughts correctly. Nothing made sense. "I guess I lost." Saying those words was like another blow to the gut. What did that mean? If he wasn't the strongest... then he was just another worthless nobody like the rest of them. That's what it meant.

This was it.

Just from the lack of words, her mind could automatically figure it all out.

Just from that lack of words, every sign of anything like hope utterly annihilated.

She could feel her own heart throbbing, her very existence falling apart.

As the silence had gotten to her, delivering its impactful message…

Mari Illustrious Makinami fell into despair.

She didn’t feel anything anymore.

Not when he raised that large chunk, to lighten the burden on her body.

«You look like shit.» Not when he said that.

She didn’t even fight back at those words like she would usually do.

It was over. Everything she had worked so hard for would simply crumble apart with this.

This was the end. For both the Deep-Six and her own self.

Frozen in the fearful expression that realisation had caused, her face would remain fully unprotected from the light of the moon, baring it all.

Silence lay in the air.

…

«I-»

…

«I guess I lost.»

…

The moments passed.

…

«So what?»

Only faintly she spoke up in the usual manner of that sharp tongue of hers. She was unable to understand why she’d put forth the struggle to even speak, nor was she able to grasp the reason for her to choose such words. It wasn’t that she had overcome the cold despair that had consumed her. Yet she still spoke. She simply shot forth spontaneously, just like her usual self. There wasn’t even much thought put behind what she said, but…

«What’s so good about winning anyway? People like you may not realise it, but what makes people stronger isn’t winning again and again. It’s losing. It’s getting a fist slammed in your face and being forced to crouch before a stronger opponent. It’s getting the shit beaten out of you that makes you grit your teeth, curse them. It’s that what makes you wanna wipe their asses. It’s exactly that anger, that frustration that makes you work harder. Grow.»

Why would she of all people seek words to comfort this person? After all he had done, all his selfish actions, why did she still care?

Pity…

«Now wash the tears off your face, you wuzz, and embrace the EXP you got. ’s not like the #1 asshole already reached the level cap.»

Accelerator's despondent thousand yard stare had started to shift as Mari spoke.

"What’s so good about winning anyway? People like you may not realise it, but what makes people stronger isn’t winning again and again. It’s losing..."

What the fuck was she talking about?

"...It’s losing. It’s getting a fist slammed in your face and being forced to crouch before a stronger opponent. It’s getting the shit beaten out of you that makes you grit your teeth, curse them. It’s that what makes you wanna wipe their asses. It’s exactly that anger, that frustration that makes you work harder. Grow."

Was she being fucking serious?

His brow lowered into an angry glare and his top lip curled with disgust as the expression on his face shifted further into a disdainful glower.

This girl, beneath him in all respects, was lecturing him. Consoling him with tired platitudes. That stung more than the dull ache of his fractured cheek. Accelerator's hand was shaking with quiet anger, building like steam in a kettle until it could be contained no longer.

After everything else tonight he would not stand for this.

"Now wash the tears off your face, you wuzz, and embrace the EXP you got. ’s not like the #1 asshole already reached the level cap"

"Shut the fuck up!" He rose up suddenly with a roar aimed into the night sky. "You think I'm just going to curl up and die after this!?" He flung out his arms in wild gestures. "Like hell I will! I didn't come this far just to give up!" From his earliest memories of the institute up to the advent of the Level Six Shift, his life up until now had been one indignity after another. One more insult meant nothing. He flung himself to his knees on top of Mari's 'grave', face to face with her as he continued to rant. "You think I don't know about getting stronger? About struggling and suffering and dragging yourself screaming to a new level!?" He was barking at her, eyes wild and staring. "I've been through more than people like you could ever realise! All in the pursuit of power." He found himself shaking, fingers buried in solid metal. "Who cares if the higher ups consider me a failure? I don't need them!" She could see a zeal in his eyes usually reserved for fanatics. Perhaps Accelerator was slipping further into madness, but from where he stood his path was surer than ever. "I'll find my own way. I'll reach the top!" Leaning back to look up at the sky again he felt a kind of clarity, exhaling a long, drawn out sigh that sounded more like a growl.

Accelerator stamped his foot hard and the ground around him cracked open in a wide fissure, debris launching skywards like a geyser of concrete and ironwork that split the ground holding Mari down. Perhaps her message hadn't reached his ears in the way she intended. But those words had ignited something within him.

"Get lost." He glanced over his shoulder at the girl. "If someone does turn up to deal with this mess then you don't want to be here." The mad fury had gone, replaced with something cold and utterly, utterly ruthless. And somehow that made him more terrifying than ever.

«Shut the fuck up!»

A heavy tremor ran through her very core.

«You think I'm just going to curl up and die after this!?»

She could feel the fear stabbing straight through her heart.

«Like hell I will! I didn't come this far just to give up!»

This was fear. Of course it was. This was the one thing everyone, her included, would associate with the strongest Esper in Academy City. This explosion of his anger brought back the emotion that had been lost just a moment ago. It brought back all the horrors she had felt when confronting him before, back when he had made clear how easily he could take away her life any moment, any second, for any stupid itsy-bitsy reason. She could feel it flowing into her, shaking everything she was. That bravery, that loose tongue they were simply washed away. This fury, it just annihilated every slight hint of peacefulness.

It was so utterly terrifying that she lost all ability to keep track of his words.

She just started at him blankly, unable to muster the strength necessary for a single movement.

True terror.

As his ability burst out once again, she found herself enveloped by the feeling of enclosing death.

But it never came.

Not a single scratch had been added, the pain she felt was still the same as before. Actually she even felt a little relieved. He hadn’t crushed her, no, he had actually freed her of all her sufferings. After all that, this incarnation of fear had granted her something…out of good will?

Without speaking a single word she rose from the ground, fighting both the pain and the weakness of her body. Truly, if it wasn’t for the fear driving her, she would have never gotten back to her legs again.

Taking whatever force was necessary to build up as great a distance possible, Mari was not even daring enough to look back. She knew if she did, someone’s mood could possibly sway again.

However as she kept moving, the emotion she had felt at her deepest depths, disclosed from that monster’s piercing glance, would finally surface. A broad grin had formed on her lips, joyous, overflowing with satisfaction.

This is how it’s supposed to be! Exactly this!!!

Never had she expected her words to touch Accelerator in any way. Hell, it would have been way too out of character for him to cling to her like a little kid to their nee-chan. She knew that something like this would have been even wronger than what she had caused her to step up in the beginning. However when he had unleashed that explosion of pure rage, of insanity, of madness, when she had felt that dread she had never felt before in her whole life, it had felt the most perfect. This was what she had wanted. Exactly this. Nothing else.
This really was how it was supposed to be!

«People like you don’t even have a fucking single clue what people like us have to go through…, you asshole.»

Once she had made it far enough to be out of his ears’ range she would finally open her trap again.

«‹Get lost› he says. ‹If someone does turn up to deal with this mess then you don't want to be here›. Who does he think I am? Some amateur? Haha…as if running away would solve anything.»

Accelerator may have thought differently, but Mari knew all to well that their worlds were incomparable. He may have believed that he had gone through a hellish life with whatever those men in white had forced upon him, but that wasn’t all this city’s darkness was made of. It was crueler than just that. He may have never learned or seen it, since he was too important; he wasn’t expendable after all. However, unlike him everyone else was. Mari was, those clones were and even the fools that had tried to stop the experiment. Unlike her, though, everyone involved in this had some sort of safe zone that by the end would come to their rescue. Someone like Mari was the only loser there was; actually she really was the only loser of this night. Accelerator would grow, the Railgun would get away, that hero would soon be forgotten all over again, but she, she was screwed.

That was all there was to it.

Mari Illustrious Makinami hadn’t voiced those thoughts to Accelerator. Foremost because she feared his reaction, but there was more to even that. She knew he would never understand. After all he was just some dumb inexperienced kid in terms of the world she belonged to.

«Now let’s see where I can drag my sorry ass before this night ends…»

With that it was over. Everything was. The days of the Deep-Six, the days of her «freedom» and the days where she could smile.

She was still proceeding, limping, towards somewhere else.

A very long time ago.

Small stifled cries emanated from a small brown-haired girl who couldn't possibly be older than five and clad in pyjamas that resembled a panda. All alone as she sat surrounded with her toys, tears were lining and then free-falling from her eyes as she held a frog plush whose finger had been torn off; the filling was visibly falling out of the toy so the girl took extra care not to treat it any rougher despite her sadness.

Though the small girl wouldn't be alone for much longer as the sound of an opening and closing door reflected her mother's return.

Intrigued by all the small whining sounds that could be heard in the living room despite having just arrived, the woman approached the small child as she put her hand on her thighs. “What's wrong, Mikoto-chan?” She calmly beckoned the petite Mikoto to turn around and she obediently did it so that Misuzu could assess the damage that had been inflicted on her favourite toy's hand. “Oh dear.” Whatever had she done to that frog, accidentally or not, it had certainly not escaped unscathed.

Hearing her mother's visibly troubled reply, Mikoto was almost tempted to start crying again but before she could do so, she found herself being carried away to bed against her will, eliciting a pout from the young girl as her mother tucked her in. “Don't worry, he'll be fine.” Misuzu gently reassured her before she could voice any protests. “He'll get all better if you're a good girl.”

“Really? Will Santa come and make him better?”

(S-Santa...?) Misuzu heavily sweatdropped at her daughter's interrogation: it was currently spring and long past Santa's visit times. Not to mention that Santa Claus wasn't exactly very well known in the field of fixing damaged toys all year round, so why Mikoto would ever choose him as the person that could make her beloved plush toy better was anyone's guess right now.

“Indeed, that old-timer's a friend of mine, so I'll see if he can drop by.” Though she ultimately concluded that it was fine, kids did have a lot of imagination to work with anyway, so if that was the idea that cheered Mikoto up the most, Misuzu could only comply.

“You're friends with Santa?!” Mikoto's eyes visibly sparkled at this as she excitedly asked, cheering even further when her mother gave her a reassuring thumbs up.

“Best friends!”

**

August 4th, 1:15 A.M.

(When I was a child, whenever I'd cry about something, Mom would always fix everything for me while I was asleep as if it had simply been a nightmare.)

**

When she woke up, slightly blinded by the brightness of the sun passing through the opened curtains, she sluggishly turned around to see her previously injured friend sitting right next to her with a patched up finger that she had ended up excitedly showing off to her mother who was preparing breakfast...

**

When she woke up, only barely making out her surroundings in the almost pitch-black dark of the hospital in the middle of the night, she found herself sitting on a bench near a hospital room she had yet to be granted permission to visit, fuelling her very reluctance at both waiting to and actually seeing him...

It seemed she had simply fallen asleep while waiting for said permission after receiving treatment herself, even if she wasn't too sure of what she'd do with it. Her back screamed out in protest of the position she had slept in as she rose and stretched, looking around to see a mostly deserted corridor. (When I think about it, that happened one hell of a long time ago, didn't it?) Mikoto thought as she reflected on the dream that made her recall quite a fair bit from her childhood that she had forgotten about with time.

"...It would be nice if this had all been a nightmare as well." She dejectedly muttered with a sigh as her arms returned to her side.

“And that should be it.” The doctor said as she cut the string on the last suture on her arm. “Let me just apply some antibiotics, dress that wound, and then enter that into the system and you should be on your way.” With that, she rubbed a thin layer of clear ointment before wrapping a small bandage around her arm in two layers.

As medicine and the conditions doctors treat evolves, so too do the techniques used. Yet, even in Academy City, the relatively old, yet functional technique of suturing was still the best thing for wounds like Kuroko’s. The doctors just merely had to flush out and sterilize it before application.

In the end, it was just a quick process and with that and a quick tap into the doctors’ electronic medical records from a tablet panel near the door, she was out of the door.

I guess it’s over…

Kuroko let out a deep sigh. She moved her now bandaged right arm slightly and clenched her fist as she walked. The doctor did not mention anything but she could only hope that none of the muscle atrophied due to lack of proper blood flow.

Well, at the very least, I don’t think I have any permanent damage.

Even with the situation having been resolved in favor of the Sisters’ survival, there were still things tugging at her mind. The exchange between Natsumi and the glasses girl still lingered in her head. Regardless of how much she tried to ignore it, the words Natsumi had spoken continued to resound in her mind. “But no matter what you think, time will eventually bring about change... no, rather, it already started... and I look forward to it."

In the end, she had no clue how to deal with that. Would she find herself confronting Natsumi? Would she warn Mikoto of the person who had used her of her own selfish needs? Would she act on her own?

“Ah…” But, her conundrum and worries washed away, albeit temporarily, at the sight of someone sitting down in the waiting area. “Onee-sa—“

The girl cut off her own call immediately as she saw what Mikoto was doing and just started to walk over to and sit next to her. “I guess this was a tiring ordeal…far more for you than it was for me.”

Mikoto had fallen asleep sitting up. She had more than likely dozed off while she was waiting, but that rest was definitely well-deserved. Her face seemed to be giving off an almost serene and peaceful aura.

“Really, your Kuroko likes it far better when you can sleep with that peaceful look on your face, Onee-sama.” Kuroko’s mouth relaxed into a simple smile with no burdens hidden behind it as her soft voice flowed through her mouth. “I’m your friend, after all. If sharing our burdens means we can share our smiles like this, then I think we’d both like it much better.”

It was highly unlikely that Mikoto would even hear it in her sleep. She was deep enough a sleeper after all that she could sleep through some of Kuroko’s…less than savory nighttime moments unaware.

But, even so, some things had to be said. Besides, she could simply say it again even after Mikoto woke up. It was from her own heart so she could say it no longer how much she needed to wait, even if she had to wait for Mikoto to wake back up.

So, she waited…and waited…and as her eyes closed, she felt her head tilting over slowly bit by bit until it landed softly on Mikoto's shoulder before her consciousness faded out.

---

Kuroko’s mind jolted into high alert as she felt her head slam into something hard. “GAH!”

She clutched at her head as tears welled up into her eyes to numb the pain as best she could. “Onee-samaaaaa!”

She stayed laid back on the waiting room bench as her reliable exterior melted into that more fitting on a primary school student. “Wake me up if you’re going to stand up next tiiiiime. Your Kuroko’s head should not be a nightmare.”

THUD!

“GAH!”

“?!”

Still fairly on edge from the events of the past few weeks that had her prepare to jump into action the moment any disturbing sound could be heard, Mikoto turned around as quickly as she could to locate the source of the sound that completely broke the silence she had been bathing in mere seconds ago.

However... for better or worse the only thing she could see in this nearly deserted corridor was Kuroko tearfully grasping her head in pain where Mikoto had previously been sitting, making all sense of tension immediately leave her body as she was left staring at the girl lying in a somewhat awkward position.

“Onee-samaaaaa! Wake me up if you’re going to stand up next tiiiiime. Your Kuroko’s head should not be a nightmare.”

A sweatdrop formed on her forehead as she realised she had just sent Kuroko's head to crash straight on the bench by how abruptly she woke and stood up. “A-Ahh, Kuroko? Sorry about that, but it wasn't your fa-... wait, what the hell were you doing on my shoulder anyway?” She had completely and utterly failed to acknowledge Kuroko's very presence in this room despite looking around... Mikoto could only find herself terrified by the effect proper rest had on her body and mind.

It was time for a subject-change to prevent any further awkwardness.

“Are your injuries okay?” She asked as she lent a hand to the twin-tailed girl, openly omitting any sort of mention that she had probably added more on top of her initial injuries with that lack of awareness of hers.

As Kuroko continued to cringe at the pain in the back and side of her head, she heard Mikoto speaking up. “A-Ahh, Kuroko? Sorry about that, but it wasn't your fa-... wait, what the hell were you doing on my shoulder anyway?”

Kuroko, after hearing the voice of her dear onee-sama directed towards her, slowly sat herself back up. The pain was still present, but it was at least subsiding with time. She wiped away at the tears forming at the base of her eyes with her left hand and looked back to Mikoto with a sheepish grin.

In all honestly, she did not remember, how her head had even fallen on Mikoto’s shoulder. “I came up here and sat next to you after I finished with the doctor…I may have nodded off.”

But, as Kuroko finished her little deduction, another thought came to her mind. The fact that Mikoto had gotten up and not even tried to shake Kuroko awake meant that she had failed to even notice her dear confidant’s presence.

“Ah…Onee-sama! Are you meaning to say that you didn’t even notice your dear Kuroko?!” She could feel the tears starting to flow out of her eyes. “How cruel…”

But, before Kuroko could get a response, Mikoto forcibly changed the subject. It seemed the concept of Kuroko sleeping on her shoulder and her not noticing Kuroko had not been a comfortable topic.

“Are your injuries okay?” Mikoto asked while holding out a hand to Kuroko.

Kuroko, quickly grabbed on with her left hand and pulled herself up before letting go. “They’re fine.” She said, starting to wave around her right arm, only to stop quickly as the feeling of flesh rubbing against flesh started to reach her brain. “Well, as long as I don’t move around too much. But, I’m more concerned about you, onee-sama. Your injuries were at least a magnitude worse than mine. Are you feeling alright?”

Of course, Kuroko was not simply referring to just physical injury. Mikoto had gone through a fair bit before Kuroko had even known about the experiment. That kind of thing had to grate at Mikoto’s mind, especially due to how deep-seated she was in the experiment. The worst thing for Kuroko would be seeing Mikoto in a depressed or altered state now that the ordeal was over.