I made my miraculous entrance into the scene. I could see Misaka getting pushed back by the sketchy doctor. So I decided to intervene a little bit. Misaka just needs to get a good hit off her then our victory is confirmed. The Chains of Heaven shot forward, only to stop against her glowing barrier. "Tch," I muttered. "I was hoping to end this without any more property damage." Kiyama spun around, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and rage. "Who's there?! Another interference?!" I stepped out from my cover, keeping my posture relaxed but my gaze fixed on her. "Just a concerned citizen. Your little network is causing a lot of people a lot of pain, Doctor." Misaka Mikoto stared at me, completely bewildered. "Oogimiya? What are you doing here? And what was that?" "Let's just say I'm full of surprises," I said, not taking my eyes off Kiyama. "She's using a network of all the comatose users as a parallel processing unit. It makes her a lot tougher than she looks."
I launched a dozen legendary swords from my golden portals. They shattered harmlessly against Kiyama's glowing forcefield. Misaka followed up with a full-power lightning strike, but her attack also dispersed across the barrier's surface without leaving a scratch. A shockwave from Kiyama sent us both flying backward. I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me. Struggling to push myself up, I locked eyes with a frustrated Misaka. We were both powerful, but against her unified network's defense, we couldn't even touch her. She stood there, completely untouchable. I assumed having Gilgamesh's treasury would make this an easy win but that just proves how inexperienced I am with fighting.
"Are you finished? I only want to complete my research. I'll release everyone when it's done. No one will get hurt." A tense silence hung in the air for a split second before Misaka shot back her response."Who are you kidding? No one will get hurt? All those people mixed up in your selfish plan. You're playing with their hearts, their lives! Research that can only be done like that isn't worth doing! I'm not about to let you get away with it!"
Kiyama let out a cold, brittle laugh. "You think Academy City is all fun and games? A proud Level 5, showered in resources, telling me what's ethical? Do you have any idea what it's like for the rest of them? For those who break themselves day after day, pushing their minds to the limit for a scrap of power this city deems acceptable?"
"That sounds fascinating, I'll have to investigate that after I arrest you" Misaka retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Her hand shot out, and the air around her hummed with a new, darker energy. From the very ground, she pulled forth swirling black tendrils of iron sand. But to no one's surprise Kiyama was easily able to deflect it. "Be my guest but only if you get back home alive." With that she threw a can into the air. Before I could ever react Misaka grabbed me and used electromagnetism to make a shield we could hide behind. I forgot about those explosions, I might genuinely have to thank her later.
After that Kiyama threw multiple cans into the air. This time it was my turn to repay her. I used the Gates of Babylon to create multiple shields protecting us from said explosions. In the cover of the smoke and chaos, I grabbed Misaka's arm and pulled her close. "Play dead for a minute," I whispered urgently into her ear. "I have a plan."
Understanding flickered in her eyes. We both let ourselves fall back, slumping against the rubble as if finally overwhelmed. Through half-lidded eyes, I watched Kiyama lower her guard, a long breath of relief slipping past her lips. "Finally… it's over."
That was her mistake.
From the shadows, the Chains of Heaven lashed out. They struck like serpents, twisting upward with impossible speed. Before she could react, they coiled around her arms and torso, crushing tight.
"Wha—?!"
Misaka was already moving. A streak of light and motion, she closed the distance in an instant, her hand snapping onto Kiyama's shoulder. A surge of electricity cracked through the air, bright and sharp. The doctor convulsed, eyes rolling back as her body went limp in the chains' embrace.
After that Misaka hit me with a 100 yard stare. I think this is the part where she sees all her memories. I just waited for her to get jolted out of her little stupor.
A sharp crackle of electricity filled the air. For a moment, the only sound was the distant wail of sirens. Then, a broken whisper escaped Kiyama's lips as she began to stir back to consciousness, defeated and utterly spent. "Twenty-three times." Her voice was hollow. "Twenty-three times." She repeated it, as if the number was a curse burned into her soul. "That's the number of times my request to use the Tree Diagram was denied. I had hoped... I had hoped to run simulations to find a way to restore those children, to understand what truly caused that horrible accident..."
"The Board of Directors is already involved in the cover-up! Do you really think Anti-Skill would act in that situation?" Kiyama's voice was raw, fraying at the edges with a grief that had festered into fury. Misaka took a step forward, her own voice lowering, trying to reason through the storm. "But doesn't that make what you're doing the very same thing? You're hurting innocent people to get what you want!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" The scream tore from Kiyama's throat, a sound of pure, unadulterated anguish. Her body trembled, not from the remnants of the shock, but from the memory. "I won't let them repeat that tragedy. Never again. And in order to ensure that..." Her eyes, burning with a desperate, fanatical light, locked onto Misaka's. "I'll do whatever it takes."
Suddenly, she froze. All the anger and desperation vanished from her face, replaced by a terrifying, vacant stillness. For a few seconds, there was only the sound of her ragged breathing. Then, a low, guttural groan escaped her lips.Her hands flew to her head, fingers clawing at her temples as she screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground. Her body began to convulse, back arching violently against the pavement."What's happening to her?!" Misaka yelled, taking a defensive step back.Before I could answer, the air around Kiyama's head began to warp and shimmer. A grotesque, translucent form, massive and infant-like, erupted from her skull, its amorphous limbs flailing as it drew upon the rampaging network for its monstrous existence.
Misaka and I started attacking it but our attacks did nothing to it. It simply regrew anything we hit it with. In the background I could hear the sound of some anti-skill officers firing gunshots at the damn creature but they still weren't doing any damage. One of them shot a grenade launcher to shoot a projectile at it. The large explosion wrangled out in my eardrums and for a moment it looked like we'd beaten the damn thing.
But I knew better. I used the chains of heaven to pull out the 3 soldiers that were hiding before it could counterattack that exact same spot. To my knowledge it attempted to attack those 3 hiding and it would've hit its mark if it wasn't for me. The anti skill officers just looked at me in awe before one of them actually caught their voice
One of the Anti-Skill officers, a woman with a pale face, shouted from behind me. "Wh-who are you? What's a civilian doing in a place like this?" "Just get up and go," I shot back, my attention fixed on Kiyama's writhing form. "You're clearly in over your head." "We were tasked with the arrest of Kiyama Harumi!" she stuttered out, her voice a mix of fear and frustration. "We weren't equipped with anti-esper gear. That's the only reason why this is happening!"
Before we could continue our conversation, Misaka grabbed the collar of one of the officers and jumped back while I just used my Gates Of Babylon to get a shield to block the attack. A large explosion impacted my shield. "None of our attacks are doing any damage. I'll distract it, you should grab the rest of the civilians and get them outta here." Misaka yelled out to the soldiers. "We wished it were that easy. Do you know what that building is? It's an experimental nuclear reactor."
Misaka just looked at the soldier wide eyed in pure horror. I ran back my memories of this episode in my head trying to remember how exactly they won this battle. Then I heard a loud loli scream "NOOO" at someone. I looked down and saw Uiharu tackling Kiyama. It seemed she was about to kill herself to easily put an end to this issue. Now I remembered, we need to put a small chip inside of the computer and inside that chip is the cure to this whole mess. She's currently talking to Kiyama, I just have to protect her on her way up and when she can access a computer we'll be alright. Well I'm pretty sure the comatose patient issue will be solved but this specific monster isn't something I think I can defeat. Seeing as I don't have access to EA, I'll just have to let Misaka use her railgun on it.
As Uiharu was making her way up the stairs a stray attack was about to hit her. I quickly used my gate of Babylon to project a shield for her so she wouldn't get hurt. She looked at me and muttered a soft thank you under her breath before continuing to run up the stairs. She quickly made her way into the anti-skill truck and shut the door. I focused back on the monstrosity before me and figured out that I needed to instruct Misaka on what to do and give her an opening.
I open about 46 portals and hit it with multiple projectiles. Sword's, spears and axes all hit it with the force of a damn truck. I immediately call out to Misaka, "Misaka I need you to destroy its forcefield and then hit it with your strongest attack. I'll keep it distracted. " Misaka was a little wide eyed with the amount of projectiles I was shooting at it but quickly caught back her composure before giving me a firm nod. She sent out a firm blast of electricity at it that defused the forcefield. Then she took out a coin from her pocket and blasted it through what I presume was its core. The figure slowly disintegrated into thin air, while I closed the Gates Of Babylon and let out a slow breath of relief.
Misaka quickly collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. "W-what just happened?" Kiyama asked. "I ran out of batteries." Misaka replied back. For a few seconds there was a tense silence between us 3 before Misaka broke it. "So what are you going to do? I don't have the power to stop you and goldie back there is probably exhausted too."
Kiyama Harumi looked at us, her expression weary but resolved. "With the network gone, I don't have the means to get away from Anti-Skill," she stated calmly. She tapped a finger to her temple. "I can construct a theory from anywhere. I'm just going to start over again, from square one." Her gaze hardened with a quiet determination. "That being said, I'm not giving up on those kids. Whether that be from within a prison's walls or at the very ends of the earth." A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips. "After all, my brain is right here with me, wherever I go."
Anti-skill quickly cuffed Kiyama before escorting her to the truck. Misaka and Kiyama both had said their farewells before she was brought into the truck. Before I could help Misaka up since she was exhausted a car pulled up and a tawny haired middle schooler stepped out. She immediately rushed to Misaka's side and started hugging her. "Oh so you're exhausted? That means you can't shock me, which means I can do whatever I want to you."
After Kuroko slightly violated Misaka, Uiharu stepped out of the anti-skill vehicle. She waved her hand above Misaka's face but didn't get a single response from the girl that looked that dead. "Uiharu!" "Feel free to take off from here once you get your injuries looked at." "Eh? But—" "It seems the victims of the 'Level Upper' are all slowly regaining consciousness. I received word from the hospital." "And it's all thanks to you, Uiharu. You did very well." Uiharu just blushed a little bit before looking back at Kuroko. Then their gaze fell upon me.
I gave a small, tired smile and a slight bow. "Oogimiya Kousei. We, uh, ran into each other earlier with those thugs." I gestured vaguely in the direction of the alley. "I'm glad I could help out a little at the end here, too." I saw Uiharu blush a little from my introduction. It's probably my A+ rank charisma skill at work. "I'm new to the city and I hope we can become friends in the future."
…
END OF CHAPTER WOOOOOO. Took long to get out ik. I was working on a different fanfic for like the whole week. I'll probably not release it until the first arc is complete. I'll start putting my effort into this fanfic, I was just eager to finish this specific arc. I have no uni classes this upcoming week so I'll work on this more. I plan on my OC Also following the railgun timeline instead of index. I hope you guys enjoyed the fanfic so far.
Child Gilgamesh (Ko-Gil) - Parameters Are
Strength: C
Endurance: C
Agility: C
Mana: B
Luck: A+
Noble Phantasm: EX
Class Skills Are
Independent Action: A
Magic Resistance: E
Divinity: B
Personal Skills Are
Charisma: A+
Rosy-Cheeked Youth Sprout of the Wise King: B
Golden Rule: A
Collector: EX
Noble Phantasms Are
Gate Of Babylon (Anti Unit): B++
Enkidu (Anti Unit): ???
Sha Naqba Imuru (Anti Unit): EX