-----9th October 1:45p.m.-----
Musujime was inside the RV truck they had used as a mini hideout.
The RV rocked at every moment as it passed by the small bumps on the road which made it difficult for Musujime to close her eyes.
She had just wiped out one of the External Connection Terminals after it was infected with a virus by blowing it up. She couldn't do the tech stuff as she just didn't have enough knowledge. So she took the easiest route.
She scrolled through her phone to look at the latest news articles happening in Academy City.
"There's so much shit happening right now..." She whispered to herself.
The RV was just about to bring her to the rendezvous point where Accelerator and Unabara were waiting.
They had told her to meet at District 10, and that was where she was headed to now.
The RV was on the highway in District 7 where it would eventually lead her to District 10.
All of a sudden, the RV shook uncontrollably as she moved about in her seat, trying not to fall off.
"Tch there were no reports of earthquakes happening in Academy City. So what the fuck is this?"
The magnitude 4 earthquake lasted about 2 minutes before it finally stopped.
During that duration, Musujime had managed to hold her ground inside that RV. When she looked out through the driver's window, the ground didn't break apart, so the ride was still going smoothly.
"Damn it what was that?"
She didn't have to wait any longer for a reply though, as the Voice filled her in with his loud speakers.
"E-EMERGENCY AGAIN!!"
"What the fuck is it this time?!"
"Well, actually...it's not really an emergency."
"...Ha? Then why'd you turn up the speakers knowing it's on full blast?"
"No wait, Musujime there's something super important I have to tell you. That earthquake wasn't natural."
Musujime sat back on her seat as she casually looked over at her phone again, checking the news for any reports on the recent earthquake, but nothing came about.
"It was from Academy City's #2. Seems like he's gone berserk. Moreover, he's going after Accelerator I think."
"And? What does this have to do with me? Accelerator should be able to beat him if he's the #1 right?"
"No, I'm being hunted by another organization. They've made subtle moves ever since the sniping on Oyafune Monaka. Most likely, they are the ones staging the chaos all over Academy City right now."
"..."
It came as no surprise to Musujime as the Dark Side is always full of surprises. People come and go in the Dark Side.
It was normal.
Yet the Voice in the speakers made it sound unnatural.
"The #2 blew up Accelerator's residence the number of survivors are unknown, and Yomikawa was murdered."
"?! You can't be serious..." Musujime's body tensed up the moment she heard that.
"I'm serious. The explosion shook the whole of Academy City. I have not told Accelerator this yet, and Unabara doesn't know about it because he's with Accelerator right now. Calling him would be bad news for Accelerator."
"..." Musujime slotted her phone back inside her pocket as she stared at the middle of the RV.
"Most likely, they're trying to break him. And if there was anyone who remained in his apartment got killed, I fear Accelerator will really go on a rampage and all of Academy City will be destroyed."
"..."
"Because you're the only one I'm talking to about this, I want you to keep an eye out for him and if possible, don't let him use his phone. He may suddenly get unwanted messages."
"That's quite a heavy role to put on me, don't you think?" Musujime was smiling, but the sweat around her forehead did the exact opposite. "And what do you mean you're being hunted by another organization?"
"Yeah, this is the same organization that is trying to get to Accelerator. Their names are---" Before he could finish, a loud explosion could be heard through the loud speakers followed by gunshots and soon, squishing noises.
The speakers that were blasting through her ears have finally come to a halt.
"Shit...so that just leaves the three of us huh?"Musujime whispered as the RV continued strolling through the highway.
-----9th October 1:50p.m.------
The members of ITEM were in a section of a high-rise building in District 3. It was a facility full of indoor leisure items like a sports gym and a pool. The grade of the users was fairly high. To even enter the building, one needed a member ID and the rank of one's ID needed to be checked to use certain specific facilities. Apparently, it was a major sign of status among the upper echelons of the city to be a member.
They needed more resources and equipment to retrieve the corrupted video files inside that thumb drive.
Killing someone isn't anything out of the ordinary.
But to go out of their way to make a diversion for nothing is out of the question.
What were they after?
It took a little while for their team to recover the footage, but once they did, it was sent to them immediately by the Voice on the Phone who called them at the same time to review the camera footage with them.
"Geez, you girls are constantly creating trouble for me!! Why can't you guys do anything properly?!" The Voice on the Phone yelled as the frustration in her grew as the minute passes.
"Calm down, this'll help us hunt down the rats whose been setting all this shit up." Mugino calmly replied as ITEM sat in front of a laptop which they receive all their emails and missions from. "Now then, let's see who you really are!"
------------------------------------
While the girls in ITEM were reviewing the lost footage from the Virus Isolation Centre, Hamazura was tasked with disposing of Yomikawa's body.
He didn't want her to end this way, he wasn't happy that the thing which killed her was the Dark Side of Academy City. He simply couldn't believe it.
"Damn it! Why did it have to be you to die?!" Hamazura cursed under his breath as his teeth gritted harder with every second of looking at the body.
He wasn't mad that he had to dispose of the body, but he was rather accepting of this task as he wanted to give her a proper burial and also because it was what he was paid to do.
He was in an old abandoned building that wasn't used anymore. In the middle of the remnants of one of the building's floors, a huge device sat as if enshrined. The container- sized mass of thick metal was an electric furnace normally used to dispose of lab animals.
It used an enormous heat of approximately 3,500 degrees to sterilize and destroy the animal corpses, and the various germs they may have.
Despite being the former leader of a Skill-Out group, he had rarely seen cases of death in front of his eyes. He wasn't as thuggish as everyone thought he was. He was simply that of a normal Level 0 with no impact to the world itself.
"I'm sorry this had to happen to you." Hamazura frowned as he continued to inspect her body. "But what killed you to make your skin this way?"
Hamazura still wasn't convinced that it was really Yomikawa in front of him. Sure the eyes and body figure matches up, but something about her seemed awfully wrong. Even after death, no one's skin should have been as rough as hers.
That's when he started to peel away at her skin and that was when he realized something.
"No way..."
The next moment, the door which he came in from was blasted open. Debris flew past him as he quickly looked back at the entrance of the old building.
"I'm sick and tired of playing this game of hide and seek. Cooperate with me and I'll promise you, your death won't be as sad as that woman in front of you."
"?! Y-You're..."
From his point of view, only a dark silhouette stood in front of him with six white wings sprouted behind him.
"Academy City's 2nd ranked Level 5, Kakine Teitoku. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
A grin formed on Kakine's face as he stood there menacingly with his hands in his pockets.
"(Fuck! What is he doing here and what is he after?!)"
Without wasting a second, Hamazura got up on his feet and quickly dashed to the side.
"Don't even bother."
Soon after Kakine said that, a single white wing was all it took to stop Hamazura in his tracks.
"I'm not in a good mood right now, so I recommend you cooperate or die slowly by my hands, worm."
"W-What the fuck do you want?" Hamazura clenched his fists as he stared down the demon in front of him.
"It's simple, really. You're ITEM's lackey, aren't you?"
"So what if I am?"
"Good good."
Kakine slowly approached Hamazura as he retracted his white blade back to his side. "Tell me, where are they now?"
"Heh, that's all you want to know?" Hamazura grinned as Kakine approached even closer. He wasn't confident he could take him on, and he had no guarantee that he could win against him.
"Yeah."
"If I tell you, you'll let me walk away?"
"Depends. If you decide to waste any more of my time, then you'll die right now. Well actually, I don't even have to beat it out of you."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a few acquaintances who could get me what I want. So long as you're alive."
"So as long as I'm alive huh?" Hamazura's grin grew even wider and in a split second, he sprinted towards the furnace in the middle of the room.
"Oh no you don't."
It only took Kakine a single step for him to burst towards the direction where Hamazura was running to and just as Hamazura anticipated.
Hamazura twisted his body back as he leaned in for a punch to Kakine's face.
"?!"
A loud thud was heard as Kakine flew back with his feet still on the ground.
"Well shit."
The person who muttered that was Hamazura who now had a nervous smile on his face. Kakine had blocked his attack with his elbows and as he lowered his elbows down, his glare grew even sinister.
"So you're going to fight back huh?"
Hamazura didn't waste any time talking as he charged towards Kakine with his fists ready to sink into his face.
It was a simple tactic that a low Level 0 like him could use against espers. They had always relied on their powers so he did not expect them to have any knowledge when it came to hand-to-hand combat. He was even confident about his own power to beat espers.
But Kakine was a different breed.
Kakine hid his wings as he threw a quick right hook to Hamazura that it almost caught him off guard had he not lowered his center of gravity.
Hamazura quickly switched over to an uppercut but it was also futile as Kakine stepped out of the way before countering with his own punch.
Another thud was heard as Hamazura flew to the right.
"So you think I'm like all the other espers huh? Don't worry if you wanna settle this with fists, I'll happy comply to those terms."
"(Shit, couldn't ask for any better terms.)"
Hamazura's elbow was red from the impact of guarding the attack. He readied his fists yet again as Kakine slowly approached him.
"Since you have a lot of grit in you, why don't I show you what the 2nd ranked Level 5 can do?"
Kakine ran towards him as he pulled his fist back and Hamazura did the same. Their fists crossed each other but the only difference was one of them managed to hit the other.
It was Hamazura who got hit as Kakine narrowly dodged his punch as he quickly followed suite with a left hook. But Hamazura was quick to react as he ducked down and quickly tackled the #2 down.
That was when he used the opportunity to ground and pound him.
Kakine was put on the defensive this time as he put up his elbows to guard his face.
Thud after thud resounded in the old building as Hamazura landed every hit but it was only for three seconds before Kakine caught the timing and he quickly gripped Hamazura by the neck and tossed him to the floor.
"You call that a punch? Let me show you what a real punch looks like!"
It was Kakine's turn to unleash his attack on Hamazura.
Even with Hamazura's guard up, he could only last for so long as the #2's attacks felt like falling bricks on his elbows.
He let down his guard as he narrowly kicked his feet up to his chest.
"(I got him!)"
He pushed his legs up as he tried to kick Kakine backwards but Kakine had expected it as he moved out of the way and pulled his legs even further until his face was just in front of Kakine's feet.
"(Oh fuck.)"
Kakine raised his leg as he tried to stomp on Hamazura but he quickly rolled to the side as he got back up.
Without wasting a single second, he charged straight at the #2 with his center of gravity lowered.
His fist aimed straight at the #2's crotch area and he let his full power out in that single strike.
"!!"
Kakine twisted his leg up as he just barely blocked the attack and Hamazura quickly followed up with a punch to his mid section.
"Gh!!"
Kakine took it on as he stumbled backwards but even he didn't waste a single opportunity as he swung his leg to the side and with a thud, his kick had connected to Hamazura's face.
He placed his hand down to support him from falling but Kakine let out a single kick upwards to his chin and it sent him flying back.
"(Shit! He's good, I need to run while I still can.)"
Hamazura pushed himself off the ground as he used whatever energy and adrenaline that was in his body to run straight towards the open exit.
"(Come on, just a bit more!)"
Just as he was 10 meters away from the door, another silhouette appeared in front of him, this time it was a girl who looked like she was 14 years old. She raised her arm up and the next moment felt like an eternity.
A single 'bang' was all it took for him to fall back as a bullet pierced his stomach and the next moment another one to his shoulder.
"(Fuck...so this is it for me huh?)"
Hamazura fell to the ground with a thud as he heard footsteps approaching him from both sides.
"So we fought on your terms and yet you still chose to run. Really, how pathetic can you Skill-Out thugs get?"
"F-Fuck you..."
"Now then, I want some answers." Kakine whispered as he looked at the teenage boy in front of him.
---9th October 1:45p.m.---
Although Block had around 50 members remaining, 2 of them stayed behind at their base to look after Tetsumou who was not recovering anytime soon after she was burnt by the spell that Unabara had set.
"I wonder how the main team is doing?"
"We'll be fine, Tatsuhiko-san is really good at leading the team, soon we'll be leading Academy City to a greater place!"
"Really? But I'm sure we're not the only ones who wants an audience with Aleister. I heard ITEM and SCHOOL are going around causing havoc around Academy City. Are you sure they'll be fine?"
"Well, if it comes down to it, at least it will just be the three of us left. We can just rebuild the team, hell we can even become the new leaders of Block!"
"Really? The two of us? Aren't we the weakest in the whole group seeing as how they put the two of us on guard duty?"
The two of them were optimistic and pessimistic people respectively but not only that, they were the weakest two people in Block. They had weapons and a bunch of equipment around them but they had no idea how to use most of them. They only knew how to shoot a gun and that was it. Even then, it wasn't guaranteed that they would hit anyone even if they shot a bullet.
"Tetsumou, how are you feeling?"
Tetsumou was sitting on the ground as she looked up at them and replied with a forced smile, "I'm getting better, thanks for asking."
"Haha no problem! Once you're back in shape we can support the main forces again!"
"I doubt there's much we can do though..." The pessimistic one replied.
In the next moment, the door to their base creaked open as two people walked in.
Tetsumou's eyes opened wide as she saw the two people who walked in but the two others didn't turn their backs yet as they had expected it to be Teshio and Saku who had walked in.
"Oh guys! You're back already? How did the plan go? Did you guys negotiate with the..."
The optimistic one talked as he turned around but he was cut short when he saw the two people who had walked in.
"Oh? What plan could you guys possibly have? Destroying the antenna was part of your plan to bring in 5,000 mercenaries. So what's next?"
The two people who entered the room was Unabara and Accelerator.
"I-Intruder!!" They both ran for their weapons, but they were shot down by Accelerator who pulled out his pistol.
With the two of them gone, Unabara and Accelerator looked back at Tetsumou who was shivering with fear.
"S-Stay back! I won't say a word of this to anyone!" Tetsumou begged as she tried to cower up even more to the wall but it was pointless.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you...yet. We just wanna talk for a bit." Unabara said with a friendly smile on his face.
The sound of a metal clunk could be heard as Accelerator raised his gun at her.
"Eek! D-District 10! We wanted to get to Move Point by holding her allies in the Juvenile Hall hostage! But that's all."
The both of them raised their eyebrow in suspicion and Accelerator raised the gun pointed to her forehead.
"What did you guys need her for?"
"We wanted to get to the Windowless Building. We wanted to blow it up from the inside with a synchronous multilayer bomb. Since it can't be scratched from the outside, we at least know it can be damaged from the inside. Thus we needed her to get us in."
A synchronous multilayer bomb was a large bomb that had high power explosives arranged in a regulated manner.
A normal tactical weapon spread an enormous blast over a large area while the synchronous multilayer bomb was made to focus a highly destructive blast on one small target so as to utterly destroy it. It was created in order to bomb an enemy stronghold in an urban environment with no civilian sacrifices.
"C-Come on, you've heard about the ongoing riots around the world. You've heard about the situation in Avignon. It won't be long before Academy City will be the center of attention to the whole world. W-We're going to die if we don't do something about it that's why we've taken the initiative to reach Aleister and give the world what they want."
"By using others and threatening them to reach your goals?" Accelerator spoke in a low voice. "I know the Dark Side of Academy City isn't a kind place, and as much as I despise the fucker inside that building as well, using others who aren't even involved in this mess as bargaining chips is fucked up."
The moment he said that, the fear in her rose even more. She knew what was coming next.
It was simply inevitable.
"Trash like you should just disappear."
The next gunshot decided her fate.
-------------------------
Block's base went up in ablaze soon after Unabara and Accelerator left the premise.
"We should probably contact Awaki-san about this. This concerns her after all." Unabara said as he opens up his phone.
The both of them were now sitting on the bike which he had parked back in District 23. The moment Unabara dialed in the number to Musujime Awaki, she picked up almost instantly.
Accelerator revved up the engines as they started to drive towards District 23.
"Awaki-san, it's time for our next action."
"Yeah, I've been waiting ages."
"Haha, sorry about that. Things got quite messy back here."
"What's the plan?"
"District 10, the Juvenile Hall. That's where Block is attacking next. There's no certainty that they might be there waiting for us. But just be careful. If you see anyone, just back off, we'll rendezvous with you wherever if you reach there first."
There was a small pause in between the call, but Musujime soon spoke up again.
"What do they even want from the Juvenile Hall anyway?"
"It seems like they wanted you as an ally since you were the guide to the Windowless Building."
"Tch. Alright, I got it. I'll meet you guys there."
"Sure. Don't do anything to reckless until we arrive, alright?"
"Copy that."
There was a small silence lingering in the air and Unabara was about to hang up the phone until Musujime continued talking.
"By the way, is Accelerator with you?"
"Yeah, I'm on his bike right now. Need anything from him?"
"No, it's fine. But has he opened up his phone yet?"
"Hm? Not that I noticed. Why?" Unabara's eyebrows furrowed as she continued. It was strange for her to ask about his phone so he expected the situation to be pretty bad right now.
"Alright, just make sure he doesn't open it up. He's living with Yomikawa and Last Order, isn't he?"
"That's right. Did something happen?"
"The Voice on the Phone."
There was another pause before she finished her sentence. Even with the wind blowing past his face as well as the oncoming traffic ahead of them, it still felt silent.
"He's not responding anymore."
"...Fuck." It took Unabara a while to realize what was happening. "So they've started to make their move on GROUP as well?"
"I'm not sure which group is behind the attacks but I suspect it's either SCHOOL or ITEM. But it doesn't seem like they're aiming for any of us."
"Then it's..."
"That's right. The place that he was living in was blown up. Currently Anti-Skill and Judgement are investigating the explosion. But the casualties are unknown."
"Alright. I'll keep an eye out."
"Thanks."
The call ended and Unabara looked at Accelerator who was more focused on riding the bike than anything at the moment.
"What did she say?" Accelerator asked without looking at Unabara who was unsettled by what Musujime said earlier. Unabara knew about Accelerator's situation before he joined GROUP so he knows how much grief he felt at the moment. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, Accelerator was still bothered by Ester's death.
"She told us to power off our phones."
"Ha? Why?"
"Academy City will probably be put in code red with all the chaos happening around the city, they might start to see the pattern in our communications and track us down. Thus we'll have to power off our phones."
"Tch, fine whatever. My phone's in my right pocket."
"Alright."
Unabara reached for his right pocket and pulled out his cellphone. When he turned it on to power it off, there was a message and an attachment sent to him by an unknown number.
"(Let's check it out.)"
When he opened the message, he saw a picture of Kakine Teitoku, the #2 Level 5 stabbing Yomikawa with one of his white wings. Below, the message sent was 'Accelerator...Yomikawa...she's dead...'
"(So I guess it was true...damn it!)" Unabara quickly cleared the chat with this mysterious person and powered off the phone before slipping it back into Accelerator's pocket.
---------------------
Back at ITEM's hotel room, they had finished reviewing the footage from the cameras and they were shocked to say the least.
"Tch, why is that bitch interfering in the Dark Side. It's unusual for her to step foot, so why now?" Mugino thought as she placed a finger on her chin.
The other girls were quiet as they couldn't say much about the person they saw.
"But if she's involved, what does she even want with the Tweezers?"
Before anyone else could cut in, the door to their hotel room was kicked down and there appeared Kakine Teitoku.
"How are you ladies doing? Having fun tracking me down?"
"Dark Matter..." Mugino spoke in annoyance.
"I'd prefer it if you called me by my name, Kakine Teitoku."
-------------------
When Accelerator and Unabara reached the Juvenile Hall, Musujime was already there leaned up against the 15 meter wall in front of them.
"You guys smell that?" Musujime asked as they approached her.
A pungent smell filled their noses the closer they went to the walls.
"Blood..." Unabara muttered as Musujime gritted her teeth.
"More than that, it's too quiet." Accelerator frowned while leaning onto his cane.
"Maybe they're setting up an ambush or something."
The three of them walked through the gate that doubled as an inspection point and came to a traffic circle for the vehicles that shuttled prisoners around. When he stepped onto the twenty meter across area of flat asphalt, Accelerator felt a slight pain in his temple.
"So that's the AIM jammer."
He looked up and saw a number of thin wires stretched out between the almost fifteen meter walls covering the entire facility. They must have been emitting a special electromagnetic wave.
It was most likely set up so it would diffusely reflect an esper's AIM diffusion field causing the esper to interfere with his own power. Accelerator had never heard of Anti-Skill being equipped with it, so it must need a large amount of electricity and processing power and thus could only be used in a limited area.
The moment they entered, there was another thing they noticed.
The bodies.
Each of them had a hole through their head or they were headless from a shotgun or had their throats slit. However, there was one thing in common with every one of them.
"They died from their own weapons."
"Was it suicide...? No, this was-..." muttered Unabara.
And then...
"Found you," said a voice behind them.
Accelerator spun around and saw a girl blocking the destroyed gate. The short girl was wearing a red sailor uniform that must have been some school's uniform. But there was an odd light in her eyes. It wasn't just the look of a killer.
"I assume you're one of the fuckers from Block."
"No, I'm from Member. I just used them; I had no interest in joining them." Responded the girl carelessly.
She had most likely attacked the mercenaries who were collapsed around the area. That would mean she had defeated almost fifty mercenaries without receiving a single scratch, but she made no attempt to claim the act as her own. She seemed to truly have no interest in the mercenaries or in Block.
"(Member again...!?)"
Accelerator had run into someone from Member back at District 23, but they didn't seem to be moving as allies of Block. In fact, he had no idea what they were after or which organizations they saw as their enemies. But it didn't really matter because he would deal with anyone who made themselves his enemy the same way.
However, there was one person who reacted upon seeing her.
"...It couldn't be. Are you...?"
It was Unabara Mitsuki, an agent whose real name and face were unknown.
"So you're finally going to ask who I am, are you, Etzali?"
She looked at Unabara Mitsuki and called him a completely different name.
Or maybe that was his real name.
Unabara was so shocked he couldn't move and the girl wiped her face with a hand. Her face disappeared. Her Asian looks were gone and she now stood there with dark skin and finely chiseled features.
"I need to thank Block. Esper powers are halved here, so I don't have to worry so much about your companions getting in the way."
After seeing that face and hearing that voice, Unabara's expression distorted.
"Xochitl, why are you here? I thought you didn't have a spell that could do this. And you were supposed to be in a position in the organization that kept you away from any dirty work!!"
"There is only one reason," said the brown girl called Xochitl as her expression remained unchanged. "I abandoned everything to come take you out because you went over to Academy City's side, you damn traitor!"
"..."
Musujime and Accelerator were ready to attack despite their disadvantages, but Unabara placed his arm out.
"This is my fight. The two of you go on ahead."
"Don't worry about the members of Block, I've already dealt with most of them. The rest of them are in the secret passageways."
Accelerator and Musujime nodded at each other before they proceeded on.
"Are you so impolite as to face me with a false face, Etzali?"
"Sorry, but I like this face. And I have no right to use that face since I left the organization."
"You're wrong about that," said Xochitl quietly as if to cut him off. "Right now, you don't even have the right to live."
--------------------
The more Accelerator and Musujime progressed through the Juvenile Hall, the stronger the effects of the AIM jammer got.
There were a few more members from Block but Accelerator easily disposed of them with his pistol.
"Feels like this AIM jammer is affecting my aim more than it is my power."
"You got that right." Musujime replied as they continued moving forward.
"You don't even have a gun, what the fuck do you understand."
"Hey, I'm still an esper I'm still feeling the effects of the AIM jammer, it hurts my head."
Suddenly, Accelerator pushed his arm against her. The sound of metal could be heard in the hallway ahead of them.
It was the sound of someone forcing open a bolted-on metal panel by sticking a metal stake in the gap.
The both of them jumped out at the same time.
It was a narrow passageway. Metal solitary confinement doors lined both sides and a large bear-like man was sticking something that looked like clay on one of them. A muscular woman was watching his progress from the side.
"GROUP is it?" Said the bear-like man.
Musujime couldn't do anything because of the multiple Anti-esper devices but Accelerator could as he pointed the pistol in the middle of his head.
But before he could fire, the man stuck a wire in the clay stuck to the door.\
"This is a plastic explosive and this is an electric fuse."
A stern expression appeared on the muscular woman's face.
"Saku!!"
"It's no use, Teshio. We have to use a hostage here."
The large man named Saku slowly removed his hand from the bomb with the fuse stuck in it.
He was holding a device in his hand. It was the switch to detonate the bomb.
"The amount of explosive is set and I've adjusted the directionality some. The blast will all go into the door." Saku pointed towards the bomb stuck to the door. "But the shockwave will wreak havoc inside that cell. And the pieces of the destroyed door won't help matters. Destroying the door is easy, but ensuring the safety of the person inside is quite difficult. And since you two showed up to get in my way, I can't finish."
"Hold on. Your objective is Move Point, isn't it?" Musujime said as her palms became sweatier with every minute that passes. "I'm right here."
As she said that, a bolt from one of the cell doors appeared in her hand.
Saku had a wide grin on his face as he looked at her.
"Well well, how wonderful for you to come to us. Don't worry, as long as you cooperate with us no one will get hurt here."
"Before that, tell me why are you going to such extreme lengths to kill Aleister?"
"You've heard about the 0930 incident, haven't you? You've seen how Aleister controls everything from end-to-end. But with the riots going on around the world and the 0930 incident. This is our chance to escape this darned city and his grasp!"
"I see." This time it was Accelerator who stepped in to confront Saku. His pistol was facing the floor in order not to antagonize him even further. "The 0930 incident. I was a key player on that day."
"Then you should understand, Accelerator! YOU of all people should know what that man is doing to us! So why sit back and let it happen?!"
"That's right. I know what's happening behind the scenes. But as much as I hate that fucking bastard in that building, Academy City is the only place where she can belong and as long as he can provide that refuge and keep the city intact, I don't mind letting him live."
"I see...so you decide to turn down our offer. How unfortunate, I would have really liked the strongest esper to be by my side when I rule Academy City."
"Don't even bother with your plan." Accelerator calmly spoke as he limped towards the two of them. "If you've seen the things that were happening during the 0930 incident you would know that there are external powers at hand, don't you? So let's say you do kill Aleister. Then what? Another threat comes, and Academy City is overruled by another incompetent fuck."
"External powers?" Saku asked as Accelerator continued to progress towards him.
"That's right. Powers so strong that it even makes me look like a joke. Give it up, you can't win against him."
Once Accelerator was in his face, the height difference was clear. Saku towered over him like a behemoth but that didn't stop Accelerator from throwing a hook to his face.
Saku took it head on as he knew Accelerator wasn't using his powers and from his body, he could tell Accelerator wasn't as strong without his power.
There wasn't even a single sound from the impact.
"Was that supposed to be your best shot?" Saku asked with a smirk on his face.
"No, but this is."
A small metallic clunk could be heard below Saku's head and the next thing he knew, a bullet had pierced through his heart.
"Y-You...?!"
Accelerator had his other hand on his gun instead as he smirked.
The gunshot did not have that much recoil so he didn't fall back immediately. He used that opportunity to continue firing shots into his body before turning the barrel upwards to his head.
"Your ambition was simply too ambitious to say the least."
Saku's final moments was turning his head to see Teshio looking at him, unsurprised by his consequence. Had he simply not used a hostage, they probably wouldn't have been forced to kill him.
"Tr-Traitor...!"
Teshio turned towards the bomb stuck on the door as she took out the fuse and tossed it over to Musujime.
With the final shot, Saku slowly fell back to the door behind him where the bomb was placed.
"Satisfied?" Teshio asked as she turned her attention to Musujime.
"What's the meaning of this?" Musujime asked with a scornful look on her face.
"I wasn't into the idea of using hostages as bargaining chips. But I did however, want to meet Aleister. I too faced a tragedy in Academy City and I want to ask him whether he was involved in it or not. It's no secret that he sees everything that happens in Academy City, so I just want to confirm whether he was or not."
"And then what? What if he wasn't involved? Would you accept that?"
"Even after all that, you're still stubborn. Fine then, let's settle this once and for all."
Teshio looked over at Accelerator who didn't budge a muscle even after hearing that.
"Don't need to worry about me, this is her fight. I don't plan to get involved in this mess."
"Thanks for your concern, but I was never planning on asking for your help." Musujime said as she grinned in the face of her opponent.
Then Teshio and Musujime kicked off the ground at the same time.
Musujime had no strategy in how to take her down because she was not well versed when it came to hand-to-hand combat. She only knew how to pull tricks out of her sleeves with her abilities in order to gain an advantage.
In a situation like this, she was most likely going to die if she even tried to use her abilities.
But that didn't stop her from trying.
The moment they were an arm's reach from each other, Musujime tried to use the door pin she had grabbed earlier and stab Teshio with her ability but it was futile as it landed right behind her.
"Don't bother."
Teshio lowered her center of gravity even lower until she was right in front of Musujime's knees.
"Shit!"
Musujime teleported backwards after stepping back, but Teshio kept her momentum up as she speared herself into Musujime.
"Bfh?!"
Musujime was lucky enough already that she had not stuck herself into a wall when she teleported but she made sure the distance she teleported to did not require too many calculations.
"You're brave, Move Point. But it's not enough."
Teshio had Musujime pinned down and just as she was about to throw a punch, Musujime pulled out her flashlight as she shone the light at her face.
Although they were in a lit environment, the light that was coming out of it was so bright that it blinded her momentarily that it gave Musujime enough time to hit her in the head with the bottom of the flashlight.
Afterwards, she quickly teleported herself out of the pin.
"Petty tricks."
"Anything to win, right?"
"Heh, yeah that's the way."
Teshio ran towards her again, but this time, Musujime teleported the lights and lamps on the ceiling down onto her. The glasses holding the light shattered as sparks of small electricity shocked Teshio, but she still pushed through the attack as she pushed her elbow out.
A loud thud could be heard as Musujime was sent flying back with a red mark on her nose followed by bleeding.
Teshio wasn't unharmed though as the shards of glass had left cuts on her face.
Although Musujime had taken very little hits from Teshio, she was already feeling the fatigue of being in the Juvenile Hall as well as from the attacks. Whereas Teshio was still going strong as she barely had any signs of fatigue showing from her face.
"HRRRAAAGHHH!!"
Musujime got up from the ground as she sprinted towards Teshio once again. This time, however, Teshio stood still as she readied herself in a boxing stance. Musujime grit her teeth as she vanished into thin air.
But Teshio already expected the attack as she smirked.
"Too predictable."
She threw her elbow behind her without ever looking back and it connected with Musujime's face once more, followed by a swift turn as she launched a punch straight to Musujime's gut.
"Puh...!!"
Saliva came out of Musujime's mouth as the attack stunned her for a while mid-air. Her punch was hard-hitting. It felt like she had a stone thrown into her gut.
In that one instance, Teshio threw a left hook to the side of her head, followed by another punch to her gut, as she finished it off with a straight cross to her face.
Musujime flew back with a thud as her breathing got disheveled. But she didn't stay down for too long as she quickly got back up.
She knew if she stayed on the ground, the beating would be worse for her.
But that would mean there was no time for her to rest.
"Your tactics are too predictable, Move Point. Just give up and tell me how can I get into the Windowless Building. Or even better, take me to him."
"Tch, like Accelerator said. What good does it bring you to talk to him. What if the answer he gave you wasn't what you were expecting. What will you do then? Will you still accept it?"
Musujime had to use this time talking to her in order to recover her energy as well as find a way to win against her.
"...It doesn't matter what he will say. I just want a peace of mind, I won't accept this loss until I hear it from his mouth."
"Then if he does say he had something to do with it, what will you do then? You won't even know if he will tell the truth."
"Then so be it. I'll do everything in my power to destroy him. I'll never stop until I reach the truth."
"If this is your best, then sorry, the truth is too far for you." Beads of sweat mixed with blood dripped from her nose as she teleported the fallen door pin straight into Teshio's shoulder blade.
But she simply gritted her teeth as she pulled it out and threw it straight towards Musujime. The door pin was thrown in a way that it felt more like a bullet than a simple door pin.
As soon as it was thrown, Teshio followed up with it. She ran forward once more with her arm pulled back. Musujime stepped to the side to dodge the oncoming door pin. But for the oncoming attack, there was no way to dodge it.
But there was still a way out.
She pulled out the electrodes behind her head which was supposed to manage her stress caused by her own power and trauma and with her eyes focused on Teshio, a single object came into contact with her fist.
A metal clank could be heard in the very next instance, as Teshio saw a 5kg tonfa cane right in front of her fist.
The impact caused her wrist to twist in a very weird manner as she screamed in agony.
"Muscles are something that you can harden, but bones are a whole different matter." Musujime said as the tonfa cane dropped to her hand level. She picked it up with her two hands as she swung it down onto Teshio like a baseball bat.
She was still feeling the pain of punching the 5kg tonfa cane, but it didn't stop her from moving. A single push from her leg was all it took to avoid that devastating strike.
"This time, it's you who's predictable!!"
"?!"
Musujime vanished into thin air again as Teshio backed up into a wall. Or what she thought was a wall.
But a shadow appeared in front of her. The ground behind her broke as cracks could be heard behind her. When she looked up, she saw Musujime still in the motion of swinging down the tonfa cane right onto her face.
"Oh shit..."
The next moment, blood splattered all over the cane, followed by digestive fluids, but Musujime didn't care. She lifted the cane up again to see Teshio's nose smashed flat as a mix of blood and vomit covered her face.
Her vision turned red.
She dropped it down again and again until it turned from metal clanks to mushing sounds all the while she kept pulling her leg out of the concrete floor as her bones cracked with every movement.
"Die! Die! DIE!!!! This is what you get for targeting them!! THIS is what you get for messing with me!!"
By the time she felt relieved, her shoulders and arms drooped down as the final strike hit the headless body right in front of her.
As her breathing got heavier, her consciousness was also wavering. It was all a blur to her, but when it was all over, she fell backwards but was caught by the spectator who had lent her his cane.
"Tch, don't just steal someone's cane and dirty it with your own vomit. Fuck, I don't even feel like picking it up anymore."
"Ha...ha...sorry about...that. I just happened to see an...opportunity."
Musujime couldn't see the look on his face so she couldn't tell whether he was smiling or disgusted, but one thing was for sure, he took the cane from her hands and supported her on his shoulder.
"Come on, let's go. My head hurts from staying inside here."
"Yeah...same. Sorry about this, and thanks. You really helped me there."
Accelerator clicked his tongue and said nothing back, but Musujime finished it off with a light tap on his chest with her fist.
"I still hate you for punching me in the face."
"...Do you want me to drop you?"
"But, you're not such a bad person after all."
-----------------------
With Block's eradication, the incident had ended for the time being. Musujime was waiting outside the Juvenile Hall as Accelerator explored the Juvenile Hall for any remaining Block members in hiding. While Unabara disappeared with his friend.
Musujime rested her head against the wall as she closed her eyes.
"(I wonder how long can we hide him from the truth. I almost feel bad for doing this.)" Musujime opened her eyes as she looked at her hands.
"(How long more will it be until he sees the truth...)"
That was the only thing that was running in her mind. He was already as chaotic as he could be, but once he hears about the whole mess that happened to his home, how would he react?
How many people was going to die when he finds out?
Who will he even blame?
Suddenly, she heard footsteps closing in on her as well as the sound of a cane tapping on the floor.
"Oi, wake up. We're going off."
"...Right."
For once, Accelerator shot his hand out towards her as she stared at it.
"Hurry up, I don't want to waste my time in this shithole any longer."
"...Heh." A smile split across her face as she took his hand. "(I just want this moment to last...)"