[SS] Intensify

As he continued to search through the man's pockets, Trystan could feel the man struggling faintly against the weight pushing down on him from above. As one of his hansha entered into one particular pocket, however, the man suddenly let out a strange groan. Trystan's eyebrows raised slightly at the sudden commotion, but quickly shrugged it off as the man simply trying to rouse himself from his undoubtedly groggy condition. Maybe he had accidentally poked him somewhere uncomfortable. His hansha did give sensory feedback, but it was slight. As such, while he was using them to search through the pockets, he had applied slightly more force than usual to make sure that he was grabbing the entire contents of that particular pocket. Trystan returned his attention to the man's heartbeat, and was slightly relieved that his heartbeat was slowly returning to a normal pace as well. Satisfied that it didn't seem like he was in any particular danger in dying, Trystan removed his finger from the man's throat, before searching through the front pockets on the man's shirt. However, this motion quickly stopped as an unfamiliar voice came ringing out from behind them.

Jerking his head up, Trystan saw a lone figure approaching from the distance. It was an androgynous voice paired with an equally androgynous figure, but that was hardly as important as the unfriendly message he or she was directing towards them. Spinning up and off of the man, Trystan turned to face the individual. Who was this person, and why was she approaching them? How had she found them in the first place? However, this quickly became the least of his worries as, from all directions, more and more people approached until they had completely blocked off any exit routes that might have existed earlier for Mikoto and himself with a wall of various individuals. There wasn't enough will to be called bloodlust in this group, but it would be obvious to anyone that they certainly weren't here to help.

"Well, well, well...It looks like my boys were telling the truth after all. We don't like strangers poking around our turf. Tell us what you're doing here and we may let you go...That is, if I like the answer."

Definitely not friendly...especially when right after she finished talking about wanting to listen to why they were here, the now-revealed female leader had signaled for the entire group to commence the attack. Not only that, the area around them was particularly disadvantageous - it was pretty much a wide open area, with no choke points to speak of, leaving them completely open to assault from all fronts. While he wasn't exactly sure whether the two of them could handle this amount of aggressors by themselves, to be doing so while protecting an injured individual was out of the question. Thankfully, the simple fact that the two were espers was enough to separate the fearless from the cautious, and gave them at least a bit of leeway in terms of time and concentration of aggressors. Ignoring the incoming individuals for now, Trystan ran over to Mikoto and patted her on the shoulder to call her attention.

"Misaka-dono, is your honorable acquaintance able to move? We must make haste to leave this place; this terrain is unfavorable for us!"

Having said this, Trystan grit his teeth and spun around, hands up in a defensive position. The more courageous ones were getting close. Whether they would escape or fight would have to be decided soon; if they waited much longer, they would no longer have the luxury of choice.

Mikoto felt her heart plummet as Mai flinched backwards and scurried onto the wall. Her junior was trembling in fear, staring up at Mikoto with terror-filled eyes. And this sent a terrible chill down Electromaster’s spine.

“W-why?” she heard Mai squeak. The girl’s eyes were confused, her body curling up tightly in pain and fear. Mikoto felt a lump in her throat.

Of course she’d be confused. The poor girl just got kidnapped…

“It’ll be okay… I promise I’ll-“

But she never got to finish her promise for at that moment, a deep, husky voice cut through the air.

"Well, well, well. It looks like my boys were telling the truth after all."

Mikoto quickly stood up, turning towards the newcomer with a frown. She stared at the androgynous figure coldly, knowing that whoever it was, was fully involved in this and was probably part of Skill Out.

"We don't like strangers poking around our turf. Tell us what you're doing here and we may let you go."

Mikoto watched with an unchanging expression as the figure lifted their hands from their pockets and tipped the cap upwards to reveal a feminine face.

"That is, if I like the answer."

A woman. It was quite a surprise. After all, Mikoto had always imagined the Skill Out to be a bunch of muscly guys.

"Don't rough 'em up too much."

Mikoto tensed at the icy cold voice as the full realisation of their current predicament hit her. These Skill Outs were extremely well organised, and Mikoto knew better than to underestimate them. They wanted a fight and the place gave them the advantage. The Skill Outs knew this and they swamped around them like an angry mob.

But I can’t even go all out. I might hit Trystan-san and Kashiwagi-san…

A pat on her shoulder brought her face to face with Yamato.

"Misaka-dono, is your honorable acquaintance able to move? We must make haste to leave this place; this terrain is unfavorable for us!"

“I don’t know,” Mikoto said honestly. Her eyes briefly turned to Mai still cowering against the wall.

“But I can’t leave my junior here.”

Her hard voice left no room for argument as she approached Mai with a new sense of urgency.

“Kashiwagi-san, we have to go!”

The Skill Outs were advancing upon them as they began to surround the two espers and block off their potential escape routes.

“It’ll be okay… I promise I’ll-"

Mai slowly softened at Mikoto's words, but the damage had been done and she reflexively recoiled from the girl's approach, as though getting too close might spark another shock.

She lifted herself gingerly to her feet, hugging her arms for comfort as they appeared to be surrounded.

What had she gotten herself into?

The first thug took a swing at Trystan with a baseball bat. The wood was worn and stained dark with something that had dried out long ago. It had obviously seen heavy use. It was a hard swing but clumsy, more force than technique and there was a deep rushing sound as it sailed in a wide arc towards Trystan's head.

While the first boy engaged Trystan two more tried to dash past him on a path for the two girls. They weren't armed save for the solid looking gloves they wore, the studded knuckles looked heavy enough to smash bricks and they clenched their fists, grinning in anticipation of an easy victory. Esper or not, the enemies were two teenaged girls.

ooc: spoiler'd for the faint-of-heart @.@...also....a'wwwhyea, cheesy lines~

“I don’t know...But I can’t leave my junior here."

Even if she wasn't someone somewhat related to them, there was no way that they could have left someone in this sort of situation and focus on their own escape. Well, he couldn't speak for Mikoto, but he was fairly certain that she would have expressed the same sort of thought. However, even a cursory glance at the girl's trembling spoke volumes about the situation; the trembling was not brought on solely by the aftereffects of being shocked - the root of it was now a mental or psychological issue. While he couldn't blame her for feeling as such after having been attacked out of the blue for seemingly no reason other than for have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, their situation would not allow them the luxury of sorting this out here and now. Trystan turned his back towards the pair, glaring at the Skill-Out charging in. Taking a deep breath to calm his breathing and mind, he started radiating an intense aura of bloodlust towards the incoming group. A few of those charging in were swayed by the unknown feeling crawling down their spines, but the rest were already so high on adrenaline that they simply brushed it off as part of the thrill of being the part of a mob about to distribute gang-styled justice on the snot-assed Espers.

"Kashiwagi-san, we have to go!”

He would leave the girl to Mikoto. Trystan quickly brainstormed some possible methods to buy time, absentmindedly taking in the fact that three of the Skill-Out had closed enough for melee and weapon combat. Simply breaking off into two groups wasn't going to do much, as Mikoto clearly had the greater reputation; since numbers clearly wasn't an issue they were almost certainly going to go for her first, especially if she had to protect an unable esper. Even a small portion of the large group gathered would be long enough for them to tie him down, and rendering it impossible for him to try to lend help to Mikoto without getting himself done in. As such, the only reasonable method was to stick together. However, if the public demonstrations and advertisements were to be believed, while Mikoto did have great destructive power, it seemed as if she favored more sweeping applications, which would inevitably get himself or the other girl caught up in the damage. On the other hand, simply taking the girl by force and fleeing the area to allow Mikoto the freedom of using all her skills didn't guarantee that they wouldn't eventually swarm her either. The Skill-Outs simply had too much of a field advantage here. His eyes took on a cold glint as he considered his final option.

The use of crippling force...

The human body is a peculiar thing. It is housed in a protective shell of skin, shock absorbing and power-generating muscles tendons and ligaments, and finally supported by an internal base of bones. All of it is commandeered by the brain. All of it is able to become trained to be like a weapon. As such, when people fought one another, damage is usually limited to simple cuts and bruises. If the combat is allowed to persist for a long while, broken bones and torn ligaments. All of this easily comes to pass given the right circumstances.

Trystan had named his Personal Reality Battou Kanon. It was an ironic name, really; half of it was the name of the most merciful in the pantheon of Buddhist gods. In reality, Battou Kanon was the name given to the same god when absolutely enraged. In this wrathful state, her all-seeing eyes locks in on the poor sods who had invoked her wrath, and her all-reaching arms, each picking out a different weapon, will pummel and pulverize the unfortunate fool until nothing remained. His Personal Reality, while a poor imitation when compared to that of a god, was similar. In any location within a certain range, Trystan's own perceived application of force is instantaneously manifested as a hansha, regardless of occupancy in the current manifested dimension, and will interact directly with and transfer the force to whatever the hansha comes in contact with.

In truth, the reason why his rank had never been promoted beyond Level 3 by the City tests was because he had placed a self-restriction on himself. Early on, he had realized the potentially despicable nature of this ability. However, this situation had turned into one where only such a drastic action would allow them to leave. In fact, the action itself might even have the ability to wrap the situation up without more bloodshed as an overwhelming show of escalating force. Despite knowing this, Trystan knew that doing such a thing would undoubtedly leave a bitter aftertaste. Steeling his heart and his mind, Trystan dropped himself into a loose and mobile stance, his hands clutched together like the claws of a tiger. His eyes lost their shine as he devoted himself entirely to the attack. There would be no mercy.No, he couldn't show any mercy. His pupils dilated slightly as the adrenaline began pumping through his veins. Any fatigue that he might have had earlier faded to the back of his mind.

"阿彌陀佛."

It wasn't a prayer for the incoming Skill-Outs; it was a prayer of forgiveness for the crime of violence he was about to commit. He wouldn't go so far as to claim that it was a forced action, but nevertheless, he felt as if he had to repent somehow to atone for what he was about to do. Unsure of whether the two behind him were ready to react to this attack, he simply decided to take care of all three who had charged in first.

As the group who had charged forwards most enthusiastically approached, one of them could feel the atmosphere changing. The tingle up and down his spine had completely transformed into a dull aching. He brushed it off as simply over-excitement. He swung his bat down with brute force. How he loved the feel of smashing Esper heads with his beloved bat. Another felt the world suddenly becoming more narrow, as if his vision had constricted inexplicably as he ran past Trystan. Perhaps he was feeling some sort of sick pleasure from expecting to feel the soft flesh of middle school girls crushed underneath his fist. The other even felt as if he had the butterflies, giddy as if this had been their first time on an assault as he ran along with the other. However, these feelings were all eviscerated as the three collapsed together in an unseemly pile, though all were seemingly still fine in the dim light.

Spoiler:

Another three who had followed them collapsed just a bit further back.

Spoiler:

Trystan took a deep breath before giving a guttural, animalistic roar out from where he stood. He spoke no words, for there was no need to speak; when one's power can but whisper, anything else was extraneous. Turning to the girl, while keeping an eye out on any other Skill-Out still approaching, Trystan began softly speaking. His eyes were still blank, but his words still held the strength of those that came from his heart.

"Excuse the shameful sight this one has shown you. Honorable lady, have you regained your courage? We must leave this area with haste, or neither Misaka-dono nor this one will be able to ensure your safety for much longer."

Now that he thought about it, where was Touko?

Mai watched in horror as the men who advanced were twisted and crumpled into unnatural forms under Trystan's power. She wanted to vomit. The strong sensation of disgust crept up in waves.

This was terrible. Overwhelming power struck them down, the boys helpless to respond.

This was cruel. The pain they must have felt... the fear and panic that must have gone through their minds.

This was wrong. In the end, was this what it meant to be an esper? The chance to abuse and bully others simply because you had more power than them?

"Karl!" Mai shook her head in rejection and she bolted past Mikoto towards the fallen boy. She lifted him as best she could and took a deep breath. In moments they were both intangible and with great effort Mai struggled to drag Karl through the wall of the alleyway.

Naoto tutted loudly as the first wave of her gang fell to Trystan's invisible power. The second wave were already advancing, leaving him no room to recover when the girl spoke.

"Looks like you need some help." She sighed with what sounded like disappointment. However the slight crack of a smile on her lips told a different story. Ice blue eyes flickered open, staring wide at Trystan. A thin red light glowed within like the light of a laser pointer.

The world started to shake.

Trystan and Mikoto's bodies grew heavier, as though their bones were being pulled into the ground beneath them. Movement became steadily more difficult, muscles no longer able to lift limbs that felt heavier than lead. Even the ground started to bow beneath them as the force bearing down on them steadily grew.

Those eyes stared down, unblinking as Naoto applied her power. The faint glow of a blue dot on her neck pulsed.

The remaining gang members rushed forward with renewed bloodlust.

Everything was happening too fast. Mikoto felt bile rise up watching Trystan’s power. So much violence- was this necessary? Did Trystan feel nothing at all? She contained the urge to retch with difficulty, trying to think about anything but the blood… Exactly what was Trystan’s power? Mikoto wasn’t sure if she even wanted to know.

"Excuse the shameful sight this one has shown you. Honorable lady, have you regained your courage? We must leave this area with haste, or neither Misaka-dono nor this one will be able to ensure your safety for much longer."

Before Mikoto could coax Mai into leaving again however, her junior suddenly leapt forward and bolted past the level 5. Mikoto felt a sense of betrayal fill her as her wide eyes saw Mai reach for Karl. Her feet felt frozen and her mind was numb.

Only when the pair passed through the wall of the alleyway did Mikoto seemed to have regained her capacity to think and move.

“No!” she yelled after Mai. Why was her junior doing this? Why was she helping her kidnapper, and a crime-riddled delinquent?

Bewilderment and confusion turned to anger and frustration. Blue electricity crackled and whipped around dangerously. Mikoto wanted to run after the pair, but then everything began to shake.

“What-?”

Her body suddenly felt heavier and she felt as if her very bones were being pulled into the ground. Mikoto gritted her teeth, chastising herself for not paying enough attention to what was happening around her. Mai and Karl though… She quickly shook her head mentally, that issue would have to be dealt with later.

Her muscles and limbs were also becoming heavy. As the remaining gang members rushed forward with renewed bloodlust, Mikoto wished they were on better ground so she could use iron sand. But that was impossible here.

Dang it, I’ll just have to take them out little by little.

Spears of electricity flew from her bangs, hitting the approaching gang members with ferocity. She kept tabs on the nearest ones with her electromagnetic perception, leaving no blank spots. But when one fell, two more replaced their spot and they were closing in fast.

Shit.

Glancing at Yamato, Mikoto made a swift decision. She trusted him to be able to defend himself.

After all, he hardly seems to have any kind of moral code when fighting, she thought almost bitterly.

With a deep breath, she changed the magnetic interaction between her body and the nearby wall, creating an extremely strong attractive force. Because her body was so heavy, it took more than usual, but it was enough.

Mikoto had braced herself for the pain, but it still caught her by surprise, producing a yelp. Her side hit the wall hard, the impact winding her completely. Her left arm felt crushed, and she felt a trickle of something wet and warm slide down from her upper arm as a snapped piece of piping on the wall impaled it. Mikoto didn’t bother checking the wound; she had already known she would have to pay with injuries by choosing this method of escape.

Mikoto was now suspended on the building wall, a few metres above the ground. From the safety of distance, she began to fire electrical spears at the gang, adrenaline pumping in her veins.

Trystan held out a hand, trying to stop the girl as she fled. He couldn't blame her. The look of horrified disgust on her face was more than enough to tell him why she had escaped. What had caught him off guard, however, was that the girl had run towards the man that he had brought her here earlier, and had pulled him through the wall. Actually, the emphasis for that last thought had been incorrectly placed. It was that she had pulled him through the wall. Perhaps she hadn't been coerced here after all? As his thoughts wandered, the iron-wall that he had erected over his emotions started crumbling. He gagged slightly at the smell of blood. However, this really wasn't the time for this; the show of force had managed to slow the tide, but they were still slowly circling in.

N-..no mercy. I can't show mercy. I must harden my heart...

As he finally regained his composure, something sent the world around them shaking. Try as he might, he couldn't manage to keep his balance. It was only until a moment later that he realized that it wasn't that the earth was shaking - it was that he himself was trembling against a sudden weight thrust down on him from above. As he grit his teeth, struggling to stay upright, he took a quick look at Mikoto and the area around them. The ground was intact, though slightly depressed under where their feet were standing. While his vision was shaking, the approaching Skill-Out didn't look all that bothered by the sudden motion. In fact, it didn't look like they were affected at all. It looked like it was some sort of effect that was only focused on the two of them. But where was it coming from? Didn't Skill-Out only have individuals unable to generate a Personal Reality? Was this the product of a device as well that had so far eluded detection?

As he struggled with these thoughts, several reverberating zaps, a buzzing, then a violent banging noise from behind him forced his attention back onto the situation at hand. By this point, it was too much of a pointless struggle to look at just what was it exactly that had caused this noise, but he was still fairly certain that the cause was from Mikoto; the two twitching bodies that lay incapacitated on the ground was evidence enough of that. The electrical barrage continued to rain down from above, picking off and rendering more twitching roadblocks in the patch of the charging crowd. However, where one went down, two seemingly replaced the gap. From this distance, the expressions on their faces were strikingly clear even in the dark. The renewed confidence stemming from the visible activation of some sort of restraining power was obvious.

Normally, alone in this sort of situation, Trystan would have pushed himself up against the wall. It would have served a double purpose of luring the aggressors towards himself, as well as not allowing anyone to take his back. However, he was not alone - the strategy would have to be changed. Both of them had their movements shackled. Putting himself and their abilities aside, Mikoto still had the body of a middle-schooler; allowing anyone number of them to get to the wall could be the set up to a massive failure. If she was able to attack from afar like what she was doing now, then his job would have to be to ensure that no one get close to them. However, since he couldn't physically avoid any damage that broke through, he was going to have to do what he could to preserve his own stamina. Bringing his arms up, he crossed them over his chest, emitting another blast of bloodlust. While his legs were starting to feel the strain, his face remained in a fierce, intimidating expression, goading any who he made eye contact with to come initiate combat with him.

As one broke through the hail-mary from above, Trystan sent the man flying by a full-powered blow to the diaphragm, sending him arms flailing into another individual. On contact, the two sprawled out, both coughing for breath. Another's throat suddenly indented inwards, as he flipped heads over heels, a shocked expression on his face as he took an invisible lariat. These Skill-Out were sorely mistaken if they had thought that since his physical body had been shackled down he would let himself become an easy target.

Touko cursed her misfortune as she wound her way through the labyrinth of alleyways and half ruined buildings. She hadn't expected to get so lost in such a short distance.

She stopped, coming to a fork in the alley where it split off like a crossroads. She scratched her head, exasperated.

Where had those two gotten to?

That was when she heard it.

A scream of pain that was soon joined by others. Then the roar of countless voices filled with bloodlust.

That answered her question, she thought, hurrying towards the commotion. From a distance she could make out Trystan and Mikoto in the middle of the melee. But directly in front of her...

Directly in front of her a thin looking figure in a flat cap stood concentrating on the pair. From where she stood Touko could see that her eyes were glowing oddly. Was she using some sort of esper ability on the others? In any case she hadn't spotted Touko yet. The spiky haired girl crept towards her from the side. She pulled her right hand back.

In the split second that it took for her fist to fly forward the figure turned to look at her, registering Touko's presence for the first time as her knuckles cracked along the androgynous girl's cheekbone.

Naoto had turned instinctively, catching the glimmer of movement at the corner of her vision and in doing so had caught the full brunt of Touko's punch. Her head whipped back, her cheek already reddened and swollen and she staggered, bringing her hand up to her face.

At the moment of contact the pressure bearing down on Mikoto and Trystan had dissipated and the red inner light of Naoto's eyes had vanished. She wiped at her bloodied lip with her sleeve, spitting red onto the ground at her feet.

Her powers weren't working anymore. But that shouldn't be possible. She should still have time.

"Fall back!" Naoto yelled to the others, who were busy swarming Trystan and Mikoto's position. "I need to do 'that'." She declared.

"But Onee-chan..." One of the boys started to protest.

"Just do as I say, you idiots!" The masculine girl barked, immediately the gang broke into two. Those who fell away hurried back to where their boss and the spiky haired girl were doing battle while the others stayed to keep the two espers at bay. It was becoming increasingly obvious that despite their numbers the gang was having trouble dealing with two ability users in a well defended position.

***

Mai dragged Karl clear of the wall and fell onto her backside with a heaving breath.

"Hey." She tapped at his cheek. She had managed to drag him to safety at least. This much was enough. She looked around at the gloomy interior they now inhabited. It looked to be a disused clothing store, the racks and rails now empty and the old display stands stacked against the dusty, off colour walls. "Hey. We're safe." She patted his cheek again, harder this time. She didn't want to slap him awake, but...

Mai raised her hand, already apologising to the boy in her mind.

Mikoto felt her limbs grow lighter as she sent attacks from high above the wall, and she quickly surveyed the area to see what had changed.

Mikoto felt a smile grow; she didn’t think she would ever see the day she would be so happy to see that spiky haired girl again.

Perhaps now, they would gain the upper hand.

"Fall back!" Mikoto heard Naoto yell to the other Skill Outs, “I need to do 'that'."

Mikoto tensed, wondering what that woman had up her sleeve next.

After a brief argument, the gang broke into two. With less numbers crowding around them, Mikoto felt her confidence rise.

I’ll leave that girl to you, you spikey-haired dimwit. You can take care of yourself, right?

“Alright, let’s finish this!!!”

With renewed vigour, streaks of blue electricity rained down upon the gang, sizzling and crackling furiously.

***

Everything was a dull haze of pain.

He felt someone half-drag, half-carry him somewhere, but he couldn’t focus on who it was and where they were going. Darkness and light swirled behind his eyelids, a bewildering mass of shadows.

"Hey. We're safe."

Someone’s familiar voice called to him, and he felt them patting his cheek.

Who was it?

He was so tired… So tired… He didn’t want to wake up.

A sharp pain on his cheek jolted him from his hazy state, and Karl felt anger stir him. Who was this sadistic person that kept hurting him? Wasn’t it enough?

He cracked his eyes open. It took him a moment to realise who was staring back down at him.

“Ka…hi… wagi… san?”

He licked his dry lips, wondering if he was dreaming.

“Wha… going on?”

Trystan was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his face. The attacks the Skill-Out were carrying out, while well-coordinated, couldn't particularly make up for the simple fact that getting pelted from long range by electrical spears and getting punched out by invisible attacks was simply too much for normal people to do much about. While their numbers were still numerous, the invisible pressure formed from the resulting one-sided counter-attack had caused the situation to become a sort of stalemate. However, with the fact that the invisible something was still pushing down on them, the combined drain from resisting that and the stamina needed to continuously use their Personal Realities would probably be the clutch of the current predicament they were in. In a sense, if they weren't able to finish the group off soon, this place had a high likelihood of turning out to be the place of their last stand.

As Trystan briefly considered this, he saw a certain familiar toussled, spiky, blue haired individual approaching from behind the entire group. While he was glad that Touko hadn't gotten caught up in the mob as they approached, it looked as if she were about to something extremely foolish. However, before he could call out to her, she had already rushed towards the woman in the back, and threw a particularly admirable punch, throwing the woman's head back sharply. Oddly enough, as this happened, the pressure which had been weighing down on his body suddenly lifted.

It was an odd feeling, suddenly being liberated from the great weight; his body was so light. In this moment of surprise, one of the rushing individuals broke through the defense that they had set up. However, with a light side-step and a sharp chop into his throat, followed by a whipping mantis hook-hand stab to the underside of the jaw, and a hard the Skill-Out was lifted slightly off the ground, before quickly falling and collapsing face first into the ground. His body was light. He looked towards Touko. Was it possible? That she had something to do with this deactivation? In any case...

"Fall back! I need to do 'that'...Just do as I say, you idiots!"

At her sharp barked command, a great majority of the mob started breaking away, fleeing from the scene of carnage in front of them. They had come to beat the living crap out of two espers who had trespassed into their territory, but not only had a large number of them suffered a quick and brutal beatdown, they hadn't even managed to actually touch either of the two. The rest, who either were still confused by what was going on or were attempting to block the two espers from chasing them, had stood their ground. They bunched together more closely, their bodies physically impeding them from moving forwards. Trystan looked towards Touko once more, before turning his attention back towards the situation at hand. While he didn't know exactly how well she could fend for herself, since she had the guts to throw a punch in this kind of situation, just how bad could a one-on-one with that woman be? From behind him, a rather energetic-sounding Mikoto released a small surge of electricity, causing the hair on his head to stand up slightly from the charge. What a peculiarly prickly sensation.

“Alright, let’s finish this!!!”

"Understood!"

Though he had managed to stabilize his breathing some during the slight confusion, the fact remained that his pool of stamina was almost all gone. He would have to capitalize on the burst of lightness he felt in his physical body at the moment; he wasn't sure exactly how much longer he could hold on, so he would have to take as many out as he could while he could still move. Using two hansha, one on each of his visibly trembling legs to stabilize them, he then held up his hands in front of him, before dashing heads-first into the crowd.

After a few steps, Trystan lunged forwards, pushing off with his feet. He twisted his upper body around mid-thrust, before giving a loud kiai and whipping his elbow up as he neared the closest opponent. The force of the blow bent the man's body around Trystan's elbow, leaving him suspended midair, before sending him flying backwards into another individual behind him. After knocking said individual down, the man flailed, flipping onto the ground, before bouncing and skidding on the ground face-first and coming to a stop. At the same time, a dropped bat and a crowbar nearby picked themselves up aligning themselves with each other, the crowbar over the bat, before throwing themselves at another Skill-Out with a furious barrage of coordinated strikes. While he had a laminated and reinforced wooden sword in hand, the continuous high-speed down-up combinations from both left and right left him unable to defend himself, leaving his chest and face heavily bruised and bloodied as he fell as well.

"Fall back! I need to do 'that'

Touko's expression hardened in anticipation of whatever 'that' was. An ability of hers? A weapon? Or some sort of prearranged strategy perhaps? Whatever it was, Touko was certain that she had to stop this girl before she could do whatever it was she was trying to do.

...Just do as I say, you idiots!"

But that would be easier said than done as close to half the gang came charging her way. Even for her, someone who was used to unfair fights such odds were insurmountable. She had often said that she was capable of winning one on one, maybe two on one, but in a three on one fight her only option was to run.

Still, running wasn't an option here on enemy turf. The only option was to force a retreat by taking out the enemy boss. She compared the situation to a video game in her mind.

Touko stepped forward, her right hand raised, determined to take the Skill Out girl down as quickly as possible.

Naoto held up her hands as though in surrender. The rest of the gang members stood down reluctantly, still twitchy at the slightest sign of aggression.

"Wait." She said. "Look. I guess we underestimated you." She sounded surprisingly calm for someone who had just been punched square in the face. "But I assure you, if this carries on we will wear you down." She looked around at the broken and battered youths around her. Some singed by electricity, others twisted and crumpled by powerful blows. "The thing is I'm not willing to waste my men on something this trivial." She paused to see if her words were sinking in.

"So how about we all just go our separate ways." She offered a truce. "You guys go back to wherever it is you came from and leave us in peace and we'll..." She looked between the three of them. "Well, we'll let you go in one piece." She smirked confidently.

These were the options she presented. Mutually assured destruction or a ceasefire.

***

“Ka…hi… wagi… san? Wha… going on?”

She laughed a warm, heartfelt laugh of relief.

"I was worried you were braindead or something." She wiped the trace of a tear from the corner of her eye. "I managed to get away from..." She bit her lip, thinking back on their encounter with Mikoto. Had she really meant to hurt her? Mai shook her head, either way she had been trying to harm Karl. And for no reason the girl could see. She didn't want to think of her idol as a spiteful bully, but was there any other explanation. "It doesn't matter." She was quiet for a moment. "It looks like my ability came in handy after all." She joked half heartedly.

As the numbers decreased, Mikoto grew more and more confident, electricity surging recklessly. Although one arm was still lodged onto the pipe, She could move her other limbs freely now. She changed to a more comfortable position that the pipe would allow, ignoring the painful sting of the wound on her left upper arm and the blood dripping from it. Down below, Yamato also appeared to be doing well while Touko prepared for a face-down with the leader.

Just a few more… And when she takes down that woman…

But then something unexpected happened. Naoto held up her hands in a surrender position and her gang stopped their assault, although rather reluctantly.

Mikoto stopped firing, looking around from her position to see what was going on. Was this some trick? What was that woman planning? She regarded Naoto with a frown, as the woman began to speak.

"Wait. Look. I guess we underestimated you."

Her voice sounded calm, and Mikoto felt impressed despite herself. She was a natural leader, the electromaster could tell. And it made her actions all the more dangerous and suspicious in Mikoto’s eyes.

"But I assure you, if this carries on we will wear you down. The thing is I'm not willing to waste my men on something this trivial.

"So how about we all just go our separate ways. You guys go back to wherever it is you came from and leave us in peace and we'll..."

Mikoto felt a slight chill as Naoko’s eyes met hers briefly.

"Well, we'll let you go in one piece."

The electromaster didn’t like the confident smile that was growing on the leader’s face.

And to go back? Pretend this never happened?

Images of Mai and Karl flashed in her mind. Mai had been kidnapped, Mikoto still stubbornly convinced herself. There had to be some good explanation for her junior to have helped Karl. If this woman was the leader of Karl’s group, then she may also have played some part in it. Mikoto was determined to find out exactly what had happened.

The massive explosion that had occurred. Twelve to eighteen dead. There were no words to describe how unforgiveable it was. It was just exactly that. Unforgiveable. And the Skill Outs were most likely behind it.

And finally, surrendering here and now meant admitting defeat. And Misaka Mikoto never gave up.

Naoto was lying, Mikoto thought as her brown eyes quickly surveyed the remaining Skill Out members down below. They were losing badly and were desperately pretending they had some hidden weapon. Heck, none of them even had guns! It was all a lie, a stupid trick.

And Misaka Mikoto never gave up.

“Like hell we would!”

With the shout, the Level 5 electromaster let out a furious stream of electricity at Naoto.

**
As Mai laughed Karl cracked a smile, relief spreading through him. The sound of laughter was real and warm. Everything that had happened played in his mind like a fast-forwarded video. It was not a dream.

She was safe, he was safe, they were safe.

There was still pain, but he felt more lucid now, able to think clearer. He stayed quiet, listening to Mai’s explanation. Her soft voice calmed him.

"I was worried you were braindead or something."

Karl felt his heart soften as he saw Mai wipe a trace of a tear from the corner of her eye.

"I managed to get away from..." She bit her lip, and Karl knew exactly who Mai was referring to. A bitter feeling of spite rose. Not only had the railgun hurt him and his friends now, the monster had also hurt Mai.

"It doesn't matter." Mai was quiet for a moment before joking half-heartedly, "It looks like my ability came in handy after all."

Karl cracked another smile, looking up at Mai with a great sense of gratitude.

“Thank… you, Kashiwagi… san,” his throat still felt dry and raw, and he swallowed quickly, trying to ease the pain. “You… saved my… life.”

He let out a long shuddering breath, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them with renewed vitality.

He pulled himself to a sitting position slowly, wincing as needles of pain traveled up and down along his body. Karl sat with his back against the wall, concentrating on dulling the pain.

“I’m sorry… I got you… involved in all this,” Karl said quietly to Mai. He himself wasn’t even sure if he was being entirely sincere, but he knew the girl deserved an apology.

“What… happened as we left?” Karl asked Mai carefully.

“Like hell we would!”

Naoto yelled out as the bolt struck her and she fell to the ground, stunned as her underlings hurried to her side. The grim look on her face as she stared into Mikoto's eyes was enough to tell one that she had was no longer in the mood for playing games. Stubborn fools. Well, if that was how they wanted it. Then so be it.

"Hold them!" She yelled, turning on her heel to stagger away, still disoriented from the shock as the gang converged to cover her retreat. It was unusual for a gang to act with such cohesion. Despite their often formidable fighting ability, Skill Out gangs were hardly known for their organisation. Most of them were simply angry youths with nowhere else to go.

So it was surprising when they followed Naoto's orders with the precision of a military unit, ignoring Touko to instead close off the path Naoto had taken. Still, they were only a rag tag band of thugs, some still green and trembling. Those that remained were not eager to join their comrades in the hospital, but were even less eager to cross their 'Onee-chan'.

Behind them Naoto darted into the cover of a nearby warehouse, swiftly kicking the door open and darting for the shadows.

***
“Thank… you, Kashiwagi… san, You… saved my… life.”

Mai let out a small chuckle.

"I did what any friend would do." She offered as way of a reason.

“I’m sorry… I got you… involved in all this,"

She blinked back more tears.

"It's not your fault." After all, wasn't she the one who agreed to go with him, even though it meant breaking the rules? She had to take responsibility for her own actions.

"What… happened as we left?”

"More people showed up and were going to attack us when..."

Mai went quiet, still shaken up by the incident.

"The boy that was with Misaka-san." Her voice was hushed. "He- he did something to them." She remembered their twisted bodies. And the blood. She felt suddenly nauseous.

"Wait. Look. I guess we underestimated you. But I assure you, if this carries on we will wear you down. The thing is I'm not willing to waste my men on something this trivial."

The words sounded like the baying from a defeated dog, but the tone with which they were said were anything but that. Her tone was cool, calm, and confident; this entire debacle had been a calculated risk on her part. The small cold smile that was forming on her face was more than enough to convince Trystan that whatever words she was about to say would be ones which wouldn't sit particularly well with him.

"So how about we all just go our separate ways. You guys go back to wherever it is you came from and leave us in peace and we'll...Well, we'll let you go in one piece."

Honestly, that wasn't a bad proposition. The lightness from the sudden weight lifting had disappeared. His limbs were heavy, his breath short. He was physically wasted. However, there was something nagging at him in the back of his mind. Subconsciously, he felt as if if he accepted this offer, it would have been the same as having admitted to losing before he had even lost. At first, he couldn't quite place the reasoning, but it soon hit him as the smell of the blood that had splattered on him wafted into his nostrils. While they still had no new leads about the explosion from yesterday, the only thing they knew for sure was that Skill-Out was involved. Furthermore, there was a group of Skill-Out here that had introduced a vast amount of unknown variables into the equation of what they did know about them.

What was that mysterious pressure that had pushed down on them before? What had caused it?

Why did that mysterious pressure disappear as suddenly as it came on those two occasions?

Not only that, but these questions were the ones that were raised by today's encounter; the ones which had carried over from yesterday hadn't been answered in the least. Now that there was a Skill-Out who could use this sort of mysterious Personal Reality in front of them, there was no way that he could just let things be. His lungs and his body was tired; his physical and mental stamina were drained from the extended melee. However, his Justice simply wouldn't let him sit still like this when the one who potentially held the answers was right in front of him. No, she must have at least some of the answers; why else would the ones who fled go to her to begin with when there was trouble brewing? Certainly it could have been a simple case of coincidence and he had no idea how the hierarchy within the Skill-Out organization went, but...

....I'm thinking too much.

However, before he could speak, Mikoto had already yelled out a rather appropriate, if crass, response to the woman's offer, as well as sending a highly charged retort jolting her way.

“Like hell we would!”

"Hold them!"

Her face visibly contorting in pain from the bolt of lightning hitting her squarely, the woman quickly barked out her orders to her remaining forces, before making off with a staggering gait. The remaining Skill-Out that had gathered formed up almost immediately, ignoring Touko completely and physically blocking off the path towards the area where the woman was escaping towards. It surprised Trystan the way the group coordinated with each other. From the briefing, it had appeared as if Skill-Out were nothing more than classless thugs. This degree of organization and willing self-sacrifice wasn't something one would expect from hooligans.

However, the expressions on the remaining faces that made up the human wall told the rest of the story. The ones who were still physically able enough to form this obstruction were those who had been too afraid of the fighting to rush in during the initial charge and or were simply too new to the organization and had thus been instructed to stay back. Despite this, the wall they formed was solid, and didn't look like it would easily break to a charge. On the other hand, it didn't look like they were nearly as aggressive as the ones who had gone before them had been; Trystan could barely sense any bloodlust at all from the group. He would even go so far as to say that by now, they were stuck in between a rock and a hard place, being able to run, but unable to at the same time due to their leader's orders. After a moment's consideration, Trystan yelled out towards Touko.

"Touko-dono. We must not let her get away. We leave her to you!"

He quickly turned to look behind him to check on Mikoto's condition. When the fighting had started, he had trusted his back to her, but the reality was that, despite her reputation, he had no idea just how long she could last in a situation where she had to constantly use her ability. It wasn't out of conceit but of simple observation that he firmly believed that compared to most residents in the City, he had a much larger pool of physical and mental stamina than the others; if he was already in such a state, there was no telling how Mikoto, with a body of a middle-schooler, would fare. However, it seemed as if he had been worrying for nothing, as, from a cursory visual inspection, her breathing looked relatively stable and appeared to be no worse for the wear save for an injury on her ar-....

...Is that a pipe sticking out of her arm?!

Her upper arm was, for the lack of a better term, impaled onto some rusty broken piping that had lined the wall. Perhaps it had served as some sort of drainage system before. However, this was an entirely different matter altogether. The crimson dripping down the pipe and her arm indicated that while it was obviously recently formed, the injury itself wasn't exactly small. He couldn't tell from here, but she would probably know her body best; it would probably be quickest to simply ask. Betting on the chance that, for now, if they made no movements, the wall wouldn't charge them in a blitzkreig-type attack either, Trystan spoke with his head tilted upwards towards Mikoto, while directing his gaze pointedly towards her arm. As he considered their options to break through the wall, he activated two hansha, using an image of someone whispering something to another while cupping their hands to avoid curious passerby to form a similar 'channel', and directed his voice up towards her general direction. It should be enough to prevent the Skill-Out in front of them from hearing much, if at all.

"Misaka-dono, your condition?"

Mikoto watched with satisfaction as Naoto retreated, although the brief but cold glare stayed with her.

Assessing the situation now, Mikoto was surprised at how coordinated these thugs actually were. At their leader’s order, they had immediately entered into a wall-like formation to block off the passage Naoto had escaped through. At closer look though, Mikoto could see some looked frightened even as they stood to carry out the icy-eyed woman’s bidding.

The corner of her mouth quirked into a slight smirk, knowing that they now had the upper hand.

"Touko-dono. We must not let her get away. We leave her to you!"

Mikoto glanced down at Yamato, considering her options.

"Misaka-dono, your condition?"

Confused for a moment at what Yamato was referring to, Mikoto blanched. Then her eyes traced the direction he was looking at. For the first time, she came face-to-face with her own wound on her upper arm. She felt herself grew cold at the sight of the dripping blood and the metallic pipe lodged deep within. The pain she had so far blocked off with adrenaline suddenly came flooding into her consciousness, forcing her to close her eyes briefly.

Shit, it was worse than I thought…

Her head spun and she blinked furiously against it. What a stupid situation to get herself into. She could have chosen any other spot of the wall to stick onto, and she just had to choose this exact spot with the stupid pipe? And who was the idiot decided the construct the pipe here only to have it shattered?

But none of that mattered now; Yamato was waiting for her reply.

“I’m fine,” Mikoto said through gritted teeth.

Her voice sounded weak and tired even to her own ears. Trying not to think too much about it, she quickly pulled her arm out before she could change her mind. A loud, pained cry escaped from between her lips. Breathing heavily, she leaned her back against the wall, faint blue arcs zigzagging across her body to keep her suspended there. She could now move freely, but felt
the blood flow down faster now without the pipe holding it in.

Resisting the urge to vomit, Mikoto wished Yamato had not drawn her thoughts to her wound. Now that she knew how bad it was, it kept nagging at her, begging for her attention. It throbbed and burned painfully, grotesquely twisting in her mind. She could almost feel each drop of blood that bled away drain her strength little by little.

She was now working against time.

I’ve got to finish this NOW!

A sudden sense of urgency leapt upon her and her trembling right hand fished out some coins from her pocket. A couple slipped out, bounding on the concrete ground with clear clanging noises.

“Stay baaaack!” Mikoto shouted. Her eyes were almost wild.

With flicks of her thumb, the electromaster fired three electromagnetic cannons in succession, the defeaning boomings ringing out terribly through the area. They were not targeted at the human wall, of course, for Mikoto would never aim to kill directly… But the orange lights at three times the speed of light hit the nearby walls and ground, shattering the concrete and creating fireworks of debris. Walls started to crack and crumble, large pieces of metal and rock falling over the Skill Outs dangerously.

Mikoto was left breathing heavily, eyes forced open against the drooping exhaustion. The crackling of electricity around her faded alarmingly, leaving her literally hanging from the wall only by mere threads. She watched as the rocks fell, hoping that her move would trigger a panic response which would make them easy targets for Yamato and allow a safer passage for Touko to get to Naoko.

I don’t know how much longer I can last like this… I might have to leave this to the two of them after all…

**

"More people showed up and were going to attack us when..."

Mai went quiet, as if some memory disturbed her greatly.

"The boy that was with Misaka-san." Her hushed voice sent icy shivers down Karl’s spine. "He- he did something to them."

Mai suddenly looked green, as if the memory triggered nausea. Her lips were tight as if she couldn’t even begin to talk about it.

“He was an esper,” Karl said, venom entering his crackling voice. He quickly swallowed again, wetting his lips. He wished he could have a drink of water.

“All- most espers are like that. One they get to a high level, that’s what happens! They use their powers to bully others, and think the world should be laid at their feet!” Noticing how loud and angry his voice was getting, Karl quickly calmed his tone and continued, “They… have no morality whatsoever, attacking whoever stands in their way mercilessly. Just because they have some special power, they think they can use it and abuse it whenever they wished! They think they are greater than us! But that’s not true!”

Before he knew it, his voice had risen up in volumes again, passion lacing his every word. He was breathing hard, and he let his head fall back, suddenly feeling drained. He looked at Mai, trying to read her expression.

“I’m fine.”

That's what she had said, but the expression on her face after having taken a look at the wound, coupled with cry of pain that had escaped her lips when she pulled her arm free from the piping said otherwise. As she pulled her arm out, a fresh spurt of blood spattered out from the wound, before drawing a separate bloody path down her arm. She leaned back into the wall, the crackling from the electricity which seemingly kept herself willingly pinned there increasing slightly. Was it due to the extra limb she now had to support, or from some sort of extra willpower she needed to keep conscious? As she reached into her pocket, she clumsily brought out some objects. Her grip was failing. The slight clinking as some of them fell to the ground from between her fingers marked them as some sort of small, metallic item. However, his attention was quickly brought back to the sudden gathering of orange sparks along her arm and hands as Mikoto shouted out to him.

“Stay baaaack!”

Quickly rolling forwards and covering his head, Trystan heard three booming and resounding staccatos. Turning around, he was instantly showered by a cloud of debris and dust that had exploded their way from the impact of whatever it was that Mikoto had done. However, even through the smoke, he could see that the human wall had lost their composure. Not only were these greenhorns and more cautious Skill-Out visually shocked by the massive destruction they had just seen, the fact that the walls and mortar from the shoddy building around them were coming down was something that they couldn't ignore easily. Even as the shock sank in, a few of the Skill-Out had already been stoned by the bricks which were now raining freely down upon them.

Seizing this opportunity as their human wall broke form from the vicious assault by a stone wall, Trystan dashed headfirst into the fray with a loud roar, aiming to swiftly put this encounter to an end. With this many panicked people around, even if he fired off punches willy-nilly, a vast majority would still connect and cause enough of a shock to destroy any last fighting spirit and formation the group might have had. In a confused group melee, speed was of the essence. As had been stated in the Strategy of War by Moon-Tsu, if the group somehow regained their composure, the smaller force who had been trying to take advantage of the situation could easily be demolished.

However, this wasn't the only reason why he felt the need to hurry. He couldn't tell the exact severity of the wound itself, but if the paling complexion and the spurt of blood when she had removed the piping that was impaling her arm was any indication, the blood loss was more than likely quickly becoming more and more of a burden on Mikoto's physical body. If the bleeding were allowed to continue, the results could be disastrous. He continued his random lashing with renewed vigour, silently urging his aching body to hold out. He bellowed out loudly, hoping that his voice would further add to the confusion and clear the rest of the Skill-Out from the area. The original intent had been to shout something to make them leave the area faster; however, due to his shortness of breath, only one word of the original phrase came out strongly.

"RETREAT!"

"Touko-dono. We must not let her get away. We leave her to you!"

Touko was already giving chase. She barged through the line of Skill Outs while they were still distracted by the Railgun's attacks. She felt stone splintering above her head, raining down like hail and she ducked under her arms as she ran, pebbles and cracked chunks bouncing off. She would definitely have her fair share of bruises tomorrow. But right now that was the least of their concerns.

She could hear the battle raging behind her even as she rounded the corner after Naoto. The inside of the warehouse was pitch black, but Touko could taste the dust in the air without seeing it. She held a hand to her mouth as she ventured deeper inside.

"Give up! You don't want your friends to get hurt, right?" She tried to reason with the other girl. "We only want answers." She called out again. "Please. We just want to talk."

"RETREAT!"

The remaining gang members hesitated, unsure for a moment but ultimately stood their ground. Their discipline had been drilled into them well.

***

There was a muffled sound, quiet but melodic, like a song being sung hurriedly.

"Give up! You don't want your friends to get hurt, right? We only want answers. Please. We just want to talk."

The sound stopped abruptly as Touko stepped deeper into the shadows of the warehouse.

Two dots of red shone in the darkness.

The blow seemed to come out of nowhere. A foot slamming into Touko's chest so hard it knocked her clear out of the door and into the wall outside.

Or rather it felt as though she was falling into the wall. As though the world had been tilted to one side.

Naoto followed behind, the glow of her eyes fading.

"This should do for now at least." She smiled faintly to herself. Her head snapped to the side, her piercing gaze locking on Trystan and Mikoto like a hawk spotting its prey. The light in her eyes emerged again as the two would find themselves rooted to the spot. The pressure was not as severe this time, Naoto's concentration maintained on keeping them in place rather than crushing the life from them.

"Get out of here." She jerked her head, gesturing for the remaining members of the gang to leave. They gave little in the way of protest, lifting their injured comrades as they hurried behind Naoto and scattered among the alleyways.

"Now, enough of this bullshit." Naoto spoke clearly. "If you won't leave us in peace I'll make sure you never forget your mistake." She gritted her teeth, sweeping her arm to the side.

***

“He was an esper, All- most espers are like that. One they get to a high level, that’s what happens! They use their powers to bully others, and think the world should be laid at their feet!”

Mai wanted to protest. But she couldn't find the strength to disagree. Not after what she'd just witnessed. She'd heard the rumours. That the Esper program was just a way to develop powers for the military. That the Ace of Tokiwadai, Misaka Mikoto was being used as the basis for cloned soldiers.

She'd have never believed it before, but now...

"They… have no morality whatsoever, attacking whoever stands in their way mercilessly. Just because they have some special power, they think they can use it and abuse it whenever they wished! They think they are greater than us! But that’s not true!”

Mai sat, staring at the floor as his words sunk in.

Maybe he was right.

It was chaos. Shouts, cries of pain, dust and flying pieces of matter everywhere… Bodies scattering to get away, becoming clouded by the particles in the air… Or was it just her eyes becoming fuzzy?

Mikoto blinked steadily, her breathing laboured. It was taking much of her energy just to keep herself stuck on the wall. She doubted she could do another proper electrical attack let alone fire a railgun. The electromaster was literally running out of battery.

Mikoto tried to keep her mind focused on the scene before her, even as the haziness persistently tried to creep in. She couldn’t see what was going on down below properly.

"RETREAT!"

Mikoto tensed. That was Yamato’s voice. Was he in trouble? Was he calling out to her or to Touko? Pain was dulling her mind, a jumble of mixed thoughts, senses and feelings. It was only the stubborn frustrations that kept her conscious- she just had to find out what was going on.

She fought against the waves of blackness on the edges of her vision, and felt herself grow cold at the sight of Naoto appearing. Yamato stood among the Skill Outs, still tangled up in a fight.

No… It looked like her plan hadn’t worked after all…

What happened to that dimwit?

Mikoto worried for Touko, growing paler with her anxiety. The woman’s piercing gaze made the electromaster shudder despite herself. Was this fear she was feeling? No… why would she be scared of a Skill Out…?

Some kind of pressure pushed on her then, and Mikoto’s confused and fearful state heightened. It was a familiar sensation… And it took her much longer than it would have done usually to realise that it was a similar sensation to the predicament she had found herself in earlier. The uncomfortable feeling made her want to move, but she couldn’t. No matter how hard she tried, her limbs simply refused her commands.

No good…

Mikoto struggled desperately against the wall, jaws clenched tightly. She did not even notice how much more bleeding her attempts were causing. Only the thought of escaping the pressure consumed her.

"Get out of here."

Mikoto vaguely heard the woman command the rest of the gang to depart. Her dilated pupils drifted towards them as she continued to struggle, her disjointed thoughts unable to comprehend why they were leaving.

Were they retreating…?

"Now, enough of this bullshit." Naoto’s clear voice invaded Mikoto’s ears sharply. "If you won't leave us in peace I'll make sure you never forget your mistake."

“Mistake…?” Mikoto questioned out loud through clenched jaws, before she could stop herself. A small part of her mind warned her of these rash actions, but the more stubborn portion encouraged the electromaster onwards. Her voice was obviously dripping with exhaustion- a weakness that she could no longer hide.

“What… mistake?”

Even then, her sarcasm managed to ooze out.

**

Karl watched silently as Mai stared at the floor wordlessly. He knew his words were having an effect on her, sinking into the depths of her mind to be forever imprinted within. It was the result he desired- to spread the hatred he felt for espers, to gain allies for his cause. He had originally thought it would be impossible to convince someone like Mai- who was already a level 3 esper. But perhaps he had underestimated his own abilities. It was only the beginning though, and Karl knew Mai needed time to digest the harsh realities she had faced for the first time and think on her own. A comrade who was only half-hearted to a belief was worse than an enemy, Karl believed.

“I’m sorry,” Karl said again, and this time he almost meant it.

“The whole thing probably shocked you-“ He coughed violently, took a deep breath and continued in a shaky voice, “- but that’s the reality.” His green eyes grew hard. “You can run away from it, if you like. Pretend that it doesn’t exist, ignore the inconvenient truth…” He took another deep breath, almost sounding like a sigh. “Or you can embrace it and do something about it.”

Karl slowly stood up, sliding up the wall for support. He stood on shaky legs, holding onto a wall to keep himself steady. His green orbs met Mai’s brown ones, shining with some dark determination, forever there.

“It’s ultimately your decision to make.”

With that Karl began to walk away, using the alley wall as his support.

Trystan cursed under his breath as his loud shout did nothing more than make the group hesitate a little. Just what was driving their loyalty towards that woman? Skill-Out was described as nothing more than a rag-tag group of delinquents, but he was doubting whoever was the source that was providing this information to begin with. Obviously, it could very well be that this one single group was the exception to the rule. However, even if this were the case, from this one single encounter, it was obvious that there were far too many factors that Judgement had overlooked in their investigation. As the dust settled down, the confusion which permeated the group lifted as well. They could see clearly now - it was just one tired esper sitting right smack dab in the middle of them. Their confidence rose. They could do this. They already had him surrounded; it would be like all the other times they had surrounded and finished off these pompous assholes. However, before they could do so, a loud crashing sound filled the air as Touko's body flew through a door and impacted with the wall. The group cheered, recognizing this as one of their leader's talents.

"Get out of here."

Trystan cursed as he saw a familiar form flying through the door, then started bringing up his hands into a defensive position as the group cleared away, before suddenly feeling his limbs lock. He tried struggling, but some strange form weight anchored him down. It wasn't the same kind of weight from before, which had threatened to crush him into the ground. This force seemingly just locked his motion into place, not allowing any further movement. He soon gave up trying to struggle, opting instead to save and regain some of his energy instead while the rest of the Skill-Out left the area. At the current moment, it didn't look like any of the members who had made up the wall were going to be attacking them; some stuck around for a bit longer as they collected the fallen and groaning bodies of the injured, before leaving as well. This left the only possible remaining aggressor the female leader of this group. He returned his attention to the woman as she began talking once more.

"Now, enough of this bullshit. If you won't leave us in peace I'll make sure you never forget your mistake."

“Mistake…? What… mistake?”

Trystan acted, scoffing at the woman's clear threat and continuing the chain of sarcasm. However, the reality was that the situation was honestly pretty bad for them. From what he could see, Touko appeared incapacitated, and Mikoto was sounding weaker with each passing second. The blood loss needed to be stopped soon and, doubtlessly, the woman could tell from Mikoto's voice alone; even if she couldn't, the bloody trail coming down her arm would. His language underwent a drastic change, clearly devoid of any of the honorifics which normally permeated his speech. For now, he would focus on goading her closer. He doubted that she had been able to see through his ability yet; even he himself didn't have a clear idea on what it was able to do until after a lengthy period of trial and error.

On the other hand, it was pretty clear already that she didn't need to come in close to use her ability, however it was gained. He coated three layers of hansha into himself, reinforcing his body's innards and skeletal structure in case she decided to crush him again. He honestly had no idea how to get her to come closer. However, if diverting her attention to himself caused her to start neglecting Touko and easing up on Mikoto to put more pressure onto himself, it would be a start. He just hoped his body wouldn't give out before it happened.

"Leave you in peace? You make it sound like we were the ones disturbing the peace to begin with, Skill-Out. A bitch with sharp fangs pissing everywhere is marking territory only to its own kind; to everyone else, it's just piss on the ground by a pest with no bladder control that needs to be put down."

Touko groaned, dazed from the sudden attack that had knocked her back into the hard stone wall. She blinked hard, rubbing her head. She could hear people talking around her and her head started to clear, the fuzziness growing sharper until she could finally focus on what was happening.

The first thing she could make out was Naoto standing over her. With the help of the wall beside her Touko lifted herself to her feet. A quick look to her side told her that they were in a bad spot. Both Trystan and Mikoto were being affected by whatever ability the other girl was using.

"Hey. We're not done here." Touko said defiantly, rocking onto her feet and she lifted her right hand, ready to defend herself against Naoto's attack.

“Mistake…? What… mistake?”

Naoto couldn't help but admire the girl's fighting spirit. But it would do her no good here. The odds were too overwhelmingly against them. They were on Naoto's turf now. And they'd already showed their hand.

"Leave you in peace? You make it sound like we were the ones disturbing the peace to begin with, Skill-Out. A bitch with sharp fangs pissing everywhere is marking territory only to its own kind; to everyone else, it's just piss on the ground by a pest with no bladder control that needs to be put down."

'You too?' Naoto look almost disappointed in the two of them. Weren't Espers supposed to be the ones with the brains and talent? And here they were throwing away their lives for no reason. Well, maybe not. Killing them would be too harsh for her tastes. Better instead to give them a beating they'd never forget.

The world around Trystan tipped suddenly upside down and he found himself catapulted up into the air for a moment before the ground rushed up to meet him. As soon as he had landed gravity pulled him into the far wall. Then another and another, pin-balling him around the alleyway until he came to a rest some distance away, pinned like a butterfly on display with his arms spread eagle. She had them separated now.

"You should be grateful." Naoto cracked her knuckles. "It would be easy to kill you. It takes a lot of control to just smack you guys around." She gloated, approaching the injured Mikoto, still clinging to the wall. The red light in her eyes returned as the loose cloth of her jacket fluttered upwards. The rest of Naoto's body followed and she came to a rest, suspended in the air in front of Mikoto. She lashed out with a kick at the girl's ribs, toying with her enemy in an attempt to dislodge her. "Now don't disturb me or I may break something important."

"Hey. We're not done here."

"Sit back down!" Naoto glared at Touko as the troublesome girl stood. Her eyes glowed again.

But nothing happened.

"Huh?" Naoto frowned, tilting her head in confusion. Impossible. She'd done everything she was supposed to. It shouldn't run out this soon...

She stood, dumbfounded for a brief moment before anger flickered across her bored looking expression.

***

“I’m sorry,"

Mai's breath caught in her chest at those words. What was he apologising for?

“The whole thing probably shocked you- but that’s the reality.You can run away from it, if you like. Pretend that it doesn’t exist, ignore the inconvenient truth…Or you can embrace it and do something about it. It’s ultimately your decision to make.”

He turned to leave and before she even thought about what he had said she had called out to him.

"Wait!" She hurried after the troubled boy. "I-" She tried to come up with the right words to say. The words that would explain how she truly felt. But instead she followed behind him quietly. She had made her choice. Though whether she realised what that meant was unclear.

"Leave you in peace? You make it sound like we were the ones disturbing the peace to begin with, Skill-Out. A bitch with sharp fangs pissing everywhere is marking territory only to its own kind; to everyone else, it's just piss on the ground by a pest with no bladder control that needs to be put down."

Mikoto vaguely heard Yamato say all this as blood violently pounded in her ears. She was still struggling in the invisible grip, pinned to the wall. Her electricity faintly traveled along her body, trying to find something to shock and release her, but its attempts continued to fail.

'You too?”

Loud thumps and grunts invaded her ears, and she knew the woman was attacking Yamato without even having to look. She wanted to shout out to Trystan, to tell him to run and inform the other Judgement members, but she hardly had enough strength to lift her head up and search for him properly.

"You should be grateful. It would be easy to kill you. It takes a lot of control to just smack you guys around."

Mikoto hardly heard Naoto’s words. Her eyes were scrunched shut, trying to concentrate on what she could do now- to focus on keeping herself conscious…

Her eyes flew open wildly as something violently hit her on the ribs. A pained cry escaped as she instinctively tried to curl inwards and clutch at the new site of pain, but could not because of the weird forces holding her spread to the wall. She coughed as the blazing fire ran up and down her ribs. Her blurry vision saw the wicked smile of Naoto, but she bleary told herself that couldn’t be possible.

“How… you… fly…” she muttered feverishly, “Not… es…er…”

But something didn’t add up… Something didn’t make sense…

As the pain wracked her body, she closed her eyes again and she lost her trail of thought.

"Now don't disturb me or I may break something important."

She heard the threat behind the meaningless words and impulsively tensed up. Her flickering electricity had died away to almost nothing after the last assault.

“Hey. We're not done here."

"Sit back down!"

"Huh?"

Mikoto didn’t know what was going on, but the new familiar voice both overwhelmed and relieved her. She heard the confusion in Naoto’s voice, felt the weird pressure lift from her. And she knew something had changed and that it was her final chance.

Her vision blurry, the electromaster summoned up every last ounce of energy she had left and pounced off the wall, leaping towards the foggy outline where Naoto’s voice had come from. Her hands were outstretched, intending to grab the leader and assault her with close contact electricity- with whatever she had left. She fell from the wall, jaws clenched, eyes unseeing yet wide with determination.

**

"Wait!"

Karl turned back, almost surprised as Mai hurried after him.

"I-"

She seemed to have no words to express what she wanted to say. But Karl thought he understood. From the look on her face, he knew she was final about her decision and would not sway from it. Perhaps there really was more hope than he had originally believed.

A smile curling his lips, he continued his way silently with Mai following behind him quietly. For now, they both needed rest. And then-

His hand clenched tightly around the syringe still in his pocket.