[SS] Intensify

"No, if this one understood the briefing this morning correctly, they have not learned anything new, other than the one who's remains had been found in the wreckage belonged to a known Skill-Out member."

"...if this one might so inquire...is...the Honorable Lady going to continue investigating on her own?"

Touko's attention peaked.

"Skill Out..." She repeated thoughtfully. Could this be linked to the same group that she had encountered last month? There were enough factions of the gang in Academy City that it may be a completely unconnected group.

She nodded.

"Even if I have to go against the rules, I can't allow something like that to happen if I have the power to stop it." She spoke with conviction. Whatever else one might say about the girl she stood by her morals. As soon as she'd spoken those words however, she realised it may not have been the smartest thing to say in front of a new member of the city's volunteer peace keepers.

"Uhh... You won't tell anyone about what I just said, right?" She asked. "I mean I'm not some vigilante or anything." She tried to explain herself, only to end up sounding more suspicious than ever.

"Even if I have to go against the rules, I can't allow something like that to happen if I have the power to stop it."

Ooh, excellent words!

Trystan's brows perked up slightly as the girl said these words. Her expression was dead serious, even after she spoke. It was clear that she meant every word that she uttered just now. He hadn't expected to find someone who shared convictions so similar to his own in this City. However, that wasn't to say that he didn't feel pleasantly surprised at this expectation which was not met.

"Uhh... You won't tell anyone about what I just said, right? I mean I'm not some vigilante or anything."

Well, it looks like everything worked out after all; here was the perfect extra push that he needed to finally set off on his path of temporary delinquency. After stroking his chin thoughtfully, Trystan began to speak again, a small tug forming at the corner of his lips as he tried to suppress an easy smile.

"Hm. So long as the honorable lady promises to not tell anyone about the two of us sneaking out of school during lunch to do some investigation of our own. This one assumes that this deal is a fairly good offer. What does the honorable lady think?"

“Yeah. Everyone there’s an esper actually. You need to be at least a level three to get in, so it’s pretty exclusive.” Karl stared with wonderment, not really at her explanation, but at the way she was devouring the food with such vigour. She appeared to possess a bottomless pit for a stomach and apparently really enjoyed food. Karl took a mental note of this.

"Most of us are level threes, but there's a few level fours too. And of course two of the seven level fives in the city study there too."

Karl nodded slowly, showing his understanding. Elite and exclusive, even within Academy City. It made sense that Tokiwadai was esper-only, he thought with bitterness.

Their plates were soon empty and Mai sat back with a content expression.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

Karl was taken back with surprise. Mai seemed extremely eager now, eyes shining with anticipation of fun. Her previous worry of missing her class seemed to have disappeared altogether, replaced by pure excitement.

What a strange girl…

Karl wondered for a moment what he should do. He had been planning to go and visit his Skill Out friends. They had hinted at him that they had discovered something interesting that could make them as powerful as the espers. It was probably illegal, but it had of course roused his curiosity. He glanced at Mai and wondered if he could trust her that far so suddenly. She was an esper after all, although she appeared to have self-doubts and suffered from a lack of self-confidence.

Would it make a difference?

He decided to take a chance. Something about the girl made him want to trust her, even though he wasn’t particularly comfortable with the idea.

‘She’s still an esper,’ he reminded himself.

“Well…” Karl slowly began. “I was going to visit some friends today.” He shrugged casually. “Maybe I could introduce you… Unless you have something better in mind.”

“Well… I was going to visit some friends today. Maybe I could introduce you… Unless you have something better in mind.”

"Friends?" She looked curious.

A short while later and the two of them were making their way towards the North of District 15. It hadn't taken much to convince her to join him. In fact Mai was so desperate for Karl's approval she would have probably followed him off the edge of a bridge if he'd suggested it. Still, she didn't like being somewhere so remote. Even for a 'city of the future', Academy City had more than its fair share of urban decay. Even during the day the hollow buildings with their rusted metal shutters and poorly maintained brickwork looked menacing to the naive girl. She hurried her steps to stay close to Karl and looked down at the floor as she walked as though to ignore out the world around her.

In the mouth of a darkened alleyway two youths were talking.

"Are you still complaining about that thing?" One of the boys laughed. The other scratched the cast on his wrist absent mindedly with a grunt.

When the first of them noticed Karl and Mai approaching they turned, alert. Only as Karl drew close enough for them to make out his face did they relax.

"Friends?"

Karl nodded.

“They’re…” he stopped abruptly and stood up. “I’ll introduce you,” he said shortly.

Karl led her towards the North of District 15 where he knew the Skill Outs would be gathered. He was familiar with all the back alleyways and was at home in the darkest of Academy City's shadows. They were his territory- the level 0’s territory. Karl could almost taste Mai’s fear as she desperately kept close to him. Even an esper with a supernatural ability felt uneasy within his world. In some strange and sick way, Karl enjoyed that aura of fear surrounding the girl. It was almost a preview taste of what Karl envisioned his victory to be like- just scaled down a little. Karl knew it was wrong to feel like this, but he could not help himself. He even took a couple of unnecessary turns along the way just to lead them into a darker alley and deepen Mai’s nervousness. To make her dependent on him. To make her feel lost and desperate.

Karl had to give it to her though- she never once openly complained. When he looked at her, she was staring at the ground, posture hunched up more than ever as if trying to shut out the dismal world around her.

‘Look around you!’ Karl wanted to snarl at her, ‘This is the world I have to live in! This is the world you espers created for us!’

But he kept silent and continued to lead her to their destination. The time of truth would come later.

As they took the final turn into a dark alleyway, Karl heard two familiar voices conversing.

"Are you still complaining about that thing?"

He looked up, eyes brightening ever so slightly.

One of the figures turned to them, and they all followed, immediately taking a defensive stance.

Karl stepped out of the shadows first, keeping Mai behind him.

“Yo!” he said casually as he slowly approached them. His serious eyes scanned them all as they relaxed their stances, and he quickly pulled Mai along by her arm, gripping it more tightly than he realised.

“Man up, bro,” he said as a way of greeting to the one with the cast. The guy grunted again in reply.

“What’s up Karl?” asked another guy, chuckling and punching lightly on his arm. His friendly grin soon faded whoever when his eyes trailed down and found Mai.

“Eh?” He frowned, looking at Karl in confusion. “Who’s this?”

“Bahaha! Did Karl get himself a girlfriend at last?!” joked another with an amused laugh before Karl could reply.

A bulky guy walked right up to Mai and leered down at her, his slightly scarred face splitting into a toothy grin.

“Not a bad catch Karl. Not bad at all… Did you bring her to share with us?” His dark eyes glinted with sickening thoughts.

“Absolutely not,” Karl snapped, pulling Mai away from him. Some of the guys let out a disappointed groan and Karl rolled his eyes in exasperation.

He glared around at them, trying to gain some control of the situation.

“I just met her today by accident. I thought it might be nice to introduce her to my friends, but since some of you are so determined to be such gits…”

He narrowed his eyes at them pointedly.

"Hm. So long as the honorable lady promises to not tell anyone about the two of us sneaking out of school during lunch to do some investigation of our own. This one assumes that this deal is a fairly good offer. What does the honorable lady think?"

Honorable Lady? She puzzled over his odd choice of words. She was about as far from a Lady as anyone by most accounts, with her tomboyish attitude and rough behaviour.

"Please. Call me Touko." She corrected him. "IT feels weird being called a Lady." She gave him a humorous grin. "And normally I try to avoid skipping class..." She lied. Even her recent past was so spotty she couldn't exactly claim to be reformed. "But this is important." She eyed him seriously. "Where should we start?"

"Please. Call me Touko. It feels weird being called a Lady. And normally I try to avoid skipping class..."

Even he could tell from her almost transparent body language that the hurriedly tacked on second part of that statement was a lie. While he wouldn't go so far as to say that he would correct her about this later, he would at least try to get her to come to class more often. Being lazy or tired was no excuse! However, he was quickly shaken from this strange train of thought by the sudden change in attitude Touko showed.

"But this is important. Where should we start?"

Thinking for a bit, Trystan replied.

"A you wish, Touko-dono. Originally, this Yamato Trystan was supposed to meet up with his superior after school back at the location the incident from yesterday occurred. We were to search the surrounding areas to see if there was any evidence we missed, or if any of the perpetrators had returned to the scene. This one supposes that we should simply start there."

Turning to look at the clock on the wall, Trystan then turned back towards Touko.

"It is about time for us to depart if we would like to exit the premises without being noticed, Touko-dono. Please follow this one."

To the casual observer, he would start moving at a seemingly easy pace. However, the closer observer would find that his movements would capitalize on the smallest of openings, slipping easily through spaces where others would simply wait for the crowd to disperse, or in one moment finding strangely logic-defying paths around certain obstacles only to have these exact steps increase the distance covered all at once in the next. If one had to put it in words, one could only say that his movements were almost like those of an automaton, but still human enough that his steps settled cleanly into the grey area covered by the uncanny valley.

ooc: touko, go ahead and post what you want about the scene at where the incident happened yesterday. just assume that we traveled there already~

“Bahaha! Did Karl get himself a girlfriend at last?!”

“Not a bad catch Karl. Not bad at all… Did you bring her to share with us?”

“Absolutely not, I just met her today by accident. I thought it might be nice to introduce her to my friends, but since some of you are so determined to be such gits…”

Mai flinched, moving behind Karl as the others approached. His plan to isolate and intimidate her had succeeded and she clung to him tighter than ever, shadowing his movements to remain by his side. If he had been more bold she would have grabbed his hand. Thankfully she managed to maintain at least a semblance of self awareness, though her hands shook and her shallow breaths made her look rigid with fear.

"So what are you here for, apart from showing your new cutie around?" The boy with the cast spoke, cocking his head and casting Karl a lopsided, leering grin. His short cropped hair had been dyed a pale shade of green.

"So what are you here for, apart from showing your new cutie around?"

Karl ignored his jibes, knowing it was not worth it.

“I wasn’t there the other day with you guys, but I got your message that something new came up…”

Karl trailed off suddenly, frowning in realisation of someone missing.

“Where is Norio?” He asked. A sudden comprehension dawned on his face and he grimaced before anyone could answer.

“Don’t tell me he overdid it on the alcohol again. How many bottles did he lug down this time?”

“I wasn’t there the other day with you guys, but I got your message that something new came up… Where is Norio? Don’t tell me he overdid it on the alcohol again. How many bottles did he lug down this time?”

The green haired punk shrugged callously.

"He'll turn up somewhere, probably complaining about a hangover as always." He chuckled.

"Well he's not sleeping on my couch again." One of the others joined in to a chorus of amused cackles.

"Last I saw him, he was bar hopping in the 15th. Looked like he was having a hell of a time too. Kept showing off, breathing fire and stuff."

The larger gang member interrupted.

"Who cares? Let him pass out in an alley somewhere." He nudged Karl. "You missed out the other day." He opened up his jacket and reached inside for something.

In his hand he held a pair of auto-injectors. The small, pen like syringes looked innocuous enough, save for the faint pulsing light from what appeared to be a small seed suspended in liquid.

"After Kenji up and left last month I got in touch with a few of his boys." The bulky delinquent grinned. "Turns out he didn't get his ability the normal way." He rolled the pens in his fingers. "He was using these." His eyes studied Karl for his reaction. "With one dose from this stuff, anyone can get abilities like a level five."

Following hot on his heels Touko struggled to keep up with the agile boy who snaked his way effortlessly through the crowds.

"Why do I feel like I've let myself in for more than I can handle again?" She lamented.

***

The crater looked smaller in the light of day. The glassy surface gleamed horribly in Touko;s face and she squinted, shielding her eyes. Whatever had caused it had given off an incredible heat. More than any regular explosion that was for sure. As it was the ground hadn't been torn apart by the force of the explosion so much as the intense heat.

The Anti Skill barriers still cordoned off the area, but they were unmanned now. Clearly there wasn't much more to do at the scene than to patch it up and carry on. Touko observed the area from the street corner a block down.

"Should we be hiding or what?" She asked, unsure whether they were supposed to be keeping a low profile.

Karl shifted his weight forward subconsciously to get a better look at the syringes. His usually serious eyes suddenly sparked with unmasked eagerness and excitement. Karl’s already vice-like grip tightened on Mai’s arm even further, but he did not even notice. His hungry green eyes never left the injectors.

“You guys have tried it out already?” he asked, slight jealousy in his voice. He jerked his head up momentarily to look at his Skill Out friends. Karl held out his other hand, obviously demanding to hold and inspect the curious object.

**
Misaka glanced at the ticking clock on the wall with impatience. A few minutes left of class seemed like an eternity and she struggled to keep her patience at bay.

The teacher was droning on about the finer details and examples of hydrogen bonding, but Mikoto couldn’t care less at the moment.

In fact, she just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Mikoto shifted in her seat, staring at the clock again.

Two minutes to go…

OOC: wee, >>detective conan/case closed<< reference!

"Should we be hiding or what?"

Trystan gave a cursory scan of their surroundings before responding.

"This one doesn't believe so; it looks like all the officials have left already too..."

He had sounded so confident earlier, spouting such things suggesting that they would investigate the scene, but what exactly does one do to investigate? Sure, he's seen some detective shows, but he didn't have a voice changer, a stun-dart watch, nor the intense critical thinking that came along with the high power soccer shoes! Just how was he supposed to do this? Well, common sense dictated that he simply ask around, but who was he going to ask? This place was practically deserted due to the very obvious area that was cordoned off. It wasn't like there were just groups of people around that -

Well speak of the devil...

Just as he was thinking this, an older male came along with a female, before the two both turned a corner and disappeared into an alley. Normally, he wouldn't have given this much thought, but the female's uniform struck him as being rather familiar. In fact, he could have sworn that both Mikoto and Kuroko were wearing that this morning. If so, what was a student of such a prestigious school doing at this time outside of class? Furthermore, they were even going into some shady alley! Call it his overly-zealous nature, or simply a misguided sense of Justice, but he decided that the situation was fishy enough to warrant further prying. Turning to Touko briefly, Trystan nodded towards the direction of the alley where the two had disappeared off to.

"Let's try asking them."

As he approached the alleyway, he started contemplating just how he was going to get information out of them. Should he try pretending to be a curious tourist? An innocent and naive child? Wait, wait, back up; there was no way someone of his size could get away with trying that trick. He'd only convince them that he was some sort of crazy person at best, and at worst obviously give away that he was doing some sort of investigating. He ruffled his hair in a slight, nervous gesture. He sighed in a silent admission that the silence in the air was getting to him. However, through this silence, just as he was about to turn the corner, a whisper from within the alley reached his ears.

"With one dose from this stuff, anyone can get abilities like a level five."

His body suddenly stiffened at these words. Something in his gut told him immediately that whatever was being discussed, it was dangerous. Stopping at the corner, Trystan stuck his head out slightly, peering into the dark alley. The sunlight was making it hard to see through the shadows, but it was still enough to let him see the silhouettes and slight details of the people within. There were several people gathered around, probably chatting. The girl was now huddled behind the man she had gone in with, as opposed to walking by his side as they were earlier. A movement, as one of the men closed his jacket, holding out an object. The slight, pulsating glint from the object caught his eye. He strained and squinted to get a better look. Trystan muttered under his breath as he tried to determine what exactly was the object that he had taken out.

A...syringe?

“You guys have tried it out already?”

The man the girl had entered with held out his hand, obviously demanding either a look or the object itself. If what had been said earlier was true, then this was no doubt a drug deal. And a drug that could instantly make anyone a Level 5? Ridiculous. However, it was obvious from the way the girl was still huddled behind the man that not everything was right with the situation. He decided that it was about time that he stepped in. Quickly turning the corner and appearing in full view, Trystan opted to simply go with a straightforwards approach. Striding rapidly towards the group, he started speaking in a loud and clear voice.

"This one does inquire, do any of you know what happened back there? It seems like a massive explosion took place. Someone named Norio...There was a syringe found at the scene. Would any of you mind letting this one take a closer look at that?"

Mai squirmed uncomfortably in Karl's grip as it tightened around her arm. A cold fear occupied her now, stiffening her body and numbing her limbs. Who were these people? Were they going to do anything to her? They didn't seem like normal students.

But what they said...

Her eyes lingered on the syringe.

The power of a level five? She couldn't tear her eyes away. The hunger in them was obvious.

"This one does inquire, do any of you know what happened back there? It seems like a massive explosion took place. Someone named Norio...There was a syringe found at the scene. Would any of you mind letting this one take a closer look at that?"

They turned as one to face the new arrival. Leaving the content of his question unanswered the larger boy of the group approached the front of the pack, pushing the others behind him defensively.

"Stop." He issued a warning. He was no idiot. If this newcomer had some sort of power then they were woefully unprepared. "Who are you?" He growled, sounding more like a cornered animal ready to pounce than a typical posturing thug. His eyes narrowed as he glared at Trystan.

Touko followed Trystan and as he announced their presence she reached out to try and stop him. Too late her hand grasped at thin air and shestood, dumbfounded as he strolled into the midst of the gang.

This guy must either be some sort of movie hero or a total moron. She decided. His straightforward attitude made it difficult to decide which.

With no point in hiding any longer she announced herself with a confused looking wave.

Karl’s outstretched hand froze in midair as the newcomers exposed themselves. Curious yet angry at the sudden interruption, he glared at the two strangers with his intense eyes.

"Stop. Who are you?”

One of his friends stepped out, growling in warning. Karl knew that they were well aware how unprepared they were if these newcomers turned out to be threatening espers. Karl glanced at the syringe still in his friend’s hand. If it could really make him a Level 5…

He took a defensive stance next to his friend, keeping Mai behind him while still holding onto her arm tightly. There was a high level of protectiveness in the way he held himself and the way he shielded Mai from the intruders. Strangely enough, Karl felt responsible for her should anything happen; it had been his idea to bring her along in the first place. Even though he knew that Mai was a Level 3 and could probably look after herself, some small yet honourable part of him was weighed down by the feeling of responsibility.

**
Mikoto hummed a little as she walked along the streets in district 15. Just a short while ago, her morning class had finished and Mikoto had rushed out to begin her investigation. As she had discussed with her junior and the strange guy earlier, starting from where the incident had taken place seemed the most logical way to go.

It was obvious where the blast had occurred- the area was still taped off to prevent people entering. From afar, Mikoto could see destruction left behind by the massive explosion. Black chunks of stone and debris lay scattered everywhere in a chaotic mess. Anti-skill units were roaming about within the taped off area, most of them crowding around a particular spot.

Wanting to get a closer look, Mikoto slipped forward, hoping that no one would notice.

“Hey you! Don’t loiter around here!”

Mikoto whipped her head around towards the voice, and found herself face-to-face with a rather angry looking woman staring down at her.

Mikoto laughed nervously, not particularly wanting to draw attention to herself or get into trouble with Antiskill. “Sorry,” she said politely, bowing her head, “I was just wondering what happened--.”

The woman nodded distractedly, “Good- move along then,” she interrupted curtly in a no-nonsense voice.

Inwardly cursing her bad luck and the Anti-skill, Mikoto forced herself to walk away from the scene into the darker alleyways.

‘Well then, maybe I’ll have better luck finding where the Skill Out’s base is.’

Mikoto continued deeper into the maze of small and dark alleyways, littered with bottles, cigarettes and graffiti on the walls. She wasn’t afraid though, her power ready to burst forward at any moment as she kept her ears and eyes open for clues and possibilities of danger.

ooc: short post @.@

"Stop. Who are you?"

From what his gut could tell, there was no bloodlust within his words. If his body language were any indication, it seemed that this rather large individual was simply on high alert. Still, it wasn't exactly an alertness borne from caution - it was more akin to that of one who was on the tipping point of choosing whether to fight or run. His eyes scanned the rest of the group, confirming that their responses were pretty much the same as well. However, there was one within the group towards the back, the one who had brought the girl, who met his gaze with one of much greater ferocity than those his peers were shooting back towards Trystan. Quickly turning his gaze back to the one who had put himself forwards as a shield, Trystan started speaking once more.

"This one is but a curious passerby who wonders why this one's harmless, if slightly pointed questions were left unanswered... "

As he spoke, he started subtly applying pressure, leaking bloodlust and directing it towards the thug, while keeping his expression flat; he had found that the dissonance between the uncomfortable pressure and the physical lack of emotional indicators was one which worked the best to induce an exaggerated fight or flight response within people.

"This one is but a curious passerby who wonders why this one's harmless, if slightly pointed questions were left unanswered... "

The young man emanated an intense aura of cold aggression.

That had been a mistake. The delinquent speaking with Trystan responded in kind, his heckles rising in the face of a possible danger to him and his comrades.

"Look. I don't like your questions and I don't like you." He scowled. "We Skill Out stick together." It seemed that camaraderie was strong between this particular group. That, combined with the subtle threat in Trystan's approach had triggered something in the boy. With his back against the wall and the enemy at his throat he saw no choice but to bark back. "Scatter!" He yelled and immediately the group dispersed. Some scrambled for the safety of the alleyways, others clambered over fences and walls to make their getaway.

The boy tossed the syringes to Karl, never taking his eyes off of the interloper, Trystan. A noble gesture. He was volunteering to stay behind to ensure his friends' escape.

Touko watched as the situation escalated in a matter of moments. The gang had broken apart, vanishing into the back streets of their home turf. It would be impossible to catch them if Touko managed to lose them. And if any of them got in contact with the rest of the gang...

Touko took off, sprinting past the remaining thug. She ducked past his clumsy swing and called back to Trystan.

"Keep him occupied. I'll follow the others!" She ran after the last remaining figures to disappear from sight.

"Look. I don't like your questions and I don't like you. We Skill Out stick together."

Trystan maintained his composure, continuing to radiate the sakki. The body language of the one who had stepped forwards betrayed his tough demeanor - it was merely the loud barking of a clearly intimidated individual. However, as Trystan was about to attempt to intimidate him further, he finally snapped under the pressure, and quickly hollered out an order to the rest of the Skill-Out behind him.

"Scatter!"

Before Trystan could react, the one who had stepped forwards had already tossed what looked like all the glowing syringes he had on him towards the one who had brought the girl in. Trystan stepped forwards to give chase, assuming that when the one who had stepped forwards and shouted that command would also flee, but was instead met with an action that, even under the given circumstances, even he found slightly respectable. As he was thinking this, Touko scrambled out from behind, ducking lithely under and around an awkwardly placed hook attempting to stop her, then dashed off, while yelling her intentions towards Trystan.

"Keep him occupied. I'll follow the others!"

As she said this, the only one remaining turned towards Trystan, a mean scowl on his face. He advanced with his shoulders hunched over, maximizing the amount of space that he took up in the narrow alleyway, blocking off. Normally Trystan would have taken this as a challenge, and engaged in a one-on-one, but now wasn't the time for this.

Roaring, the large-bodied Skill-Out charged towards Trystan, aiming to close the distance in one fell swoop. It was an admirable gesture, to be sure, but the failure to even gauge his opponent's strength would be this unlucky individual's downfall. His brows narrowing, and a dangerous glint coming to his eyes, Trystan quickly took a fighting stance, before yelling out a loud kiai, throwing out a straight palm strike towards the Skill-Out's torso. The Skill-Out dodged this, twisting to the side, but didn't realize that this was merely a feint to set up the real attack. He let out a loud, high-pitched yelp as the attack hit him, knocking the Skill-Out clear out of the path his momentum should have taken him, instead sending him flying sideways into and toppling over a few wooden crates. The last things the Skill-Out felt before collapsing and blacking out foaming at the mouth would be suddenly having the breath knocked out of him, something chopping into his throat, his vision going white as something pushed his eyes in, and simultaneous bursts of intense pain in his groin and around his temples.

Heaving a heavy sigh as he recovered his stance and his breath, Trystan then bent down and gave the Skill-Out a thorough pat-down, stripping him naked before starting to check inside all the pockets on his clothes.

With a sudden burst of impulsiveness Mai tugged at Karl's hand, still wrapped around her wrist as she dragged him off into the alleys. Her heart was pounding as she ran. She spared a glance behind her at the boy.

"Do you know anywhere we can hide?" She asked, her thoughts panicked and racing. They were quickly approaching a branch in the path and she could hear someone close behind. For a fraction of a second Mai thought of what her family would think if they heard she's been missing classes to hang around with gangs. She shook her head.

"What luck!" She yelled, cursing her choices.

As his friends scattered, Karl felt his heart drop. His barely managed catch the syringe thrown at him before he felt a desperate tug of his hand. He let himself be led off by Mai, his head swirling with various emotions and thoughts.

He hardly knew where they were going, but it didn’t even matter. His green eyes were fixed hungrily on the syringe clutched in his hand and he let himself be pulled away like a dog on a leash. The syringe consumed his mind: the promise of power equivalent of a level 5. Everything he had dreamed of could come true via such a small, insignificant object.

"Do you know anywhere we can hide?"

Karl snapped his head up at the sudden question, but his eyes were blank. He blinked confusedly as if he had been abruptly thrown into some strange reality.

"What luck!"

Her cursing brought Karl to his senses, and their current situation suddenly hit him in a torrent of information. He rushed into delayed action, pulling against Mai’s lead and re-tightening his grip on her arm to gain control of the situation.

“In here,” he said roughly. He kicked a small door into a half-demolished, shabby building and pulled the girl inside.

It was dark inside and an unpleasant, stale smell lingered in the air. Rays of shadowy light shined in from the gaps of the blinds on the broken windows. Debris lay everywhere on the uneven concrete floor, piles of rubbish dominating the four corners of the small room.

Karl forced Mai onto a wall with excessive strength, leaning himself against it next to her. He tried to quiet his breathing, straining his ears for any noise. Briefly glancing at the syringe, he made himself drop it into his pocket. Although he wanted to test it out here and now, he didn’t want to waste it.

**

Everything was silent as Mikoto walked down the alleyway. Something felt strange though, and she found herself unable to relax. Electricity ran down her hair, expressing some of the tension in the air.

The alleyway split into two and she pondered which she should take. Both looked the same- rubbish and graffiti everywhere. With an annoyed huff, Mikoto was about to turn left when she heard yells from the right side.

Adrenaline flowing high, Mikoto broke into a run towards the noises. It sounded like a violent fight; Mikoto charged up her electricity, excitement running through her veins. It was highly likely she had found the Skill Out. Perhaps they started fighting amongst themselves and knocked each other out. A smirk formed at this thought- it would make her job so much easier.

As she rounded the corner, the Electromaster saw a figure lying on the ground and someone bent over him. It was too dark to see who it was from her distance, but Mikoto did not care nor did it matter to her. Her smirk grew wider; she had found her prey at last.

She lazily fished out a coin from her pocket before holding it up in her hand and taking aim. With careful but quick calculations, the coin fired at three times the speed of light in a burst of red light. It was aimed to just miss the bent-down figure’s head, to frighten and unbalance him. A terribly loud noise from her signature move boomed across the area a few miliseconds later, and by then, Mikoto had already taken out another coin with much practiced speed. She held the metallic object between her forefinger and her thumb, aimed carefully at the target.

“Don’t even think of moving, got it?” Mikoto said. Her voice was smug and confident, blue arcs of electricity running down her arm.

As the area brightened with the light from her power, Mikoto’s eyes widened in surprise as she caught sight of the person’s face. It was the peculiar guy from earlier- the one who had joined Judgement.

“You?! What the heck are you doing here?!” She yelled with unrestrained fury. The hand holding the coined dropped and heavy disappointment could be seen on her face.

As he finished his inspection, Trystan lay the last of the big man's clothes unceremoniously over his body. He turned to look to his side at the small pile of objects that he had fished out from the pockets. There was some loose change, a wallet, a cellphone, a comb, and a small variety of mish-mash that he couldn't be bothered to really inspect. In any case, there really wasn't anything else that seemed out of place on a back-alley thug; it seemed as if the syringes that he had tossed to the one who had brought the girl in here in the first place had been all that he had on his body. However, as he was about to get up, he sensed an eager bloodlust that was being aimed towards him. Before he could even react, he felt the projectiles rip through the air by his head, leaving three cuts on his face. He broke into a cold sweat as he realized that he couldn't even see who it was that was attacking him; how could he have been so careless that he had had let himself be blind-sided?! Could it be that the Skill-Out were actually keeping an armed watch over this area?

If so, then it isn't just me - Touko-dono is in danger as well!

“Don’t even think of moving, got it?”

Damn it! Wait...I've heard that voice before! Just who-

He turned his head slightly, just enough to let him see the approaching assailant from the corner of his eyes. The light that still shone through had illuminated her figure. Suddenly, sparks of light illuminated and drove away the remaining shadows in the area, bringing both of their faces into full view. Trystan's eyes widened in surprise as a familiar face appeared through the darkness. From the expression on Mikoto's face, it looked like he wasn't the only one who was shocked by the reveal.

“You?! What the heck are you doing here?!”

He cringed at the sudden outburst, and felt the expression of disappointment cut him to the core. However, this really wasn't the time for this. Steeling his expression, he stood up and squarely returned her crestfallen gaze with a calm, but serious, one of his own. Hopefully, this would be enough to convince her that he was telling the truth. While he was now certain that the individual who had assaulted him right now was not part of Skill-Out, he had no guarantee that she would trust his words.

"This one believes the honorable lady is mistaken. This individual admitted to being a member of Skill-Out before assaulting this one, and was distributing syringes like the one this one saw last night at the scene. Furthermore, he had claimed that using the contents would allow any Esper to reach abilities akin to those of a Level 5. When this one tried to investi-..."

He paused mid-sentence as he stared at her uniform, before starting to speak again in a worried tone, his brows furrowing.

Damn it, I should have realized sooner! This was where I had seen the uniform before!

"Pardon this one for changing the subject, but was there any student that did not show up today? In truth, this one had followed a young lady, who was accompanying a friend of this -"

He jerked a finger towards the still-unconscious Skill-Out laid out before them.

"-individual, who was dressed in the same uniform as the honorable lady is wearing. From a distance, this one could only see that she had short, brown hair..."

Mikoto listened with mild impatience as the strange guy rambled on with his weird way of speech. Confusion swept her thoughts: syringes? Something that allowed anyone to reach Level 5?

“Ridiculous,” she muttered irritably. But the strange guy did not seem to notice her skepticism at all, diverting away mid-sentence as if another, more pressing issue had been realised.

"Pardon this one for changing the subject, but was there any student that did not show up today? In truth, this one had followed a young lady, who was accompanying a friend of this individual, who was dressed in the same uniform as the honorable lady is wearing. From a distance, this one could only see that she had short, brown hair..."

Mikoto’s eyebrows raised higher and higher as he continued. Was he suggesting that a Tokiwadai girl was part of Skill Out? Now THAT was just beyond ridiculous.

“Absolutely ridiculous,” Mikoto interrupted him loudly, “Skill Out are a bunch of level 0’s. If a Tokiwadai girl even WANTED to be part of it, which would never happen, the members would never let her join.”

Mikoto put the coin in her hand back into her pocket, her annoyance growing.

“Look here,” she said uncouthly, already turning away from him. “We- I’m waiting my time. I know you’re Judgement and all… But I think you should let me handle this one. I was just planning to poke around for some extra information, that’s all. You should wait and join up with Kuroko later, I’ll let you know anything I find then.”

A part of her realised that he was probably a pretty powerful esper (apparently having defeated a Skill Out member single handedly from the looks of it) and would probably be able to help her, but a greater part listened to her wounded pride that he had got there before her.

“Absolutely ridiculous, Skill Out are a bunch of level 0’s. If a Tokiwadai girl even WANTED to be part of it, which would never happen, the members would never let her join.”

A reasonable conclusion, but it seemed as if she had mistaken his inquiry as that of an accusation that someone from her school had decided to side with Skill-Out. However, before he could attempt to correct her, she had already turned to peruse the alley.

“Look here. We- I’m wasting my time. I know you’re Judgement and all… But I think you should let me handle this one. I was just planning to poke around for some extra information, that’s all. You should wait and join up with Kuroko later, I’ll let you know anything I find then.”

Trystan steeled his gaze as the annoyance in her voice clearly leaked through her tone. However, almost as soon as he did so, he dropped the expression in favor of a more neutral one. There was no point butting heads now; time was of the essence. Now that he thought about it, why was she so irritated in the first place?

"Unfortunately, this one can not comply for three reasons, at least one of which most likely coincides partially with the honorable lady's own motivations. Firstly, there was a group gathered here who have already started fleeing from this area. There is no guarantee that they will stay here now that they know someone is looking for them and the medication that they possess. It would be impractical to wait for at least another hour or two for Kuroko-dono with the situation at hand. Secondly, this one came with Touk-...a companion, someone else who was at the scene yesterday. She is chasing after the ones who fled now, but this one does not know how capable she would be in a situation such as this one. As the one who brought her here, this one has a responsibility to ensure her safety. And thirdly, the student of Tokiwadai this one saw earlier did not really seem to be at ease in the presence of the other Skill-Out, and was perhaps forced by the Skill-Out to show up here. This was the original reason why this one had followed her to this place to begin with."

As he finished, Trystan activated his hansha, using them to reinforce his legs as he prepared to sprint.

"This one does not mind if the honorable lady chooses to investigate on her own. However, this one beseeches the honorable lady to not refuse this one's need to give chase immediately."