56 All Because Of Mackerel

-----5th October 2:15p.m.-----

A park is a place where people can go and enjoy themselves either by running around or simply just relaxing under a tree while they read a book. A perfect place to relax where you have a good shade from the trees and the breeze is cooling.

However, what laid upon the people at the park were two people in the centre of it all.

A blonde haired girl whose proportions and beauty befit those from a foreign country and a pale, skinny boy with white hair and red eyes wearing a track suit.

There was one thing about them that people realized from a glance.

They weren't relaxing under a tree together.

They weren't playing around under the hot sun.

Instead, they were beating each other up. Specifically, the foreigner beating the pale boy up.

*TSSHH*

"Again."

*TSSHH*

"Again."

*TSSHH*

"Come on, you're the strongest esper in Academy City, aren't you? Show Nee-chan what you can really do~~"

"Damn it! If I was using my power you'd be dead right now."

"Oh but that's not the point of calling me out here, is it?"

It was Oriana Thomson and Accelerator at the park. However, it was a one sided battle every time he got up.

Even when she was on the defensive, a single low sweep from her was enough to knock him and his cane over.

It was simply humiliating for the strongest esper in Academy City. However, he didn't care how it made him look. He simply cared whether it would improve his battle prowess and techniques.

He wanted to learn from her as he knew from his fight with her that she was talented in hand-to-hand combat so he had to put his pride of the 'strongest esper' down and accepted every loss.

"What the hell do you think I can do with a cane?" Accelerator remarked as he shot her a glare.

"I don't know. That's for you to figure out. I'm not the one who's handicapped." Oriana smirked as an aura of confidence surrounded her.

This time, Oriana was on the offensive. She simply walked up to him and tried to kick him in the head with the back of her heels, but he lowered his centre of gravity to dodge it as he prepared to lunge at her by pushing himself forward with his legs. However, she was prepared for that as she quickly placed her leg down and gracefully turned 360 to kick him in the gut with her other leg.

"Pwah!!?"

It caught him off guard but he prepared himself for that as he grabbed her leg with his left arm but took a second to think what he could do next before Oriana gave him the timeout with a spinning kick to his jaw, sending him flying to the side.

"Damnit...!!" Accelerator cursed as he slams his fist on the dirt.

"You were close this time around, but maybe react a bit faster okay? Your enemies won't be as forgiving as nee-chan~"

Accelerator turned his body upside to look at her as she extended a hand to him.

However, he smacked her hand away.

"Heheh nee-chan thinks you need to put on a bit of muscle before you start going into hand-to-hand combat." Oriana crouches down as she lifts up his skinny legs that were covered up from his baggy tracksuit. "These sticks won't harm nee-chan as long as they don't have any power in them."

"Shut up, let's go one more round."

"Anything for you~"

When he got up, his tracksuit was covered in dirt and grass from all the times he fell during the practice with her while she remained the same with no sign of damages. Only a bit of glistening skin from the heat causing her to sweat.

"Shall nee-chan give you a proper demonstration of what an expert fighter would do to you?"

"Bring it on." Accelerator said as he forcefully clenched his left fist.

This time, Oriana came running at him at full speed and he was prepared this time. 

Was what he thought.

The moment she threw her right fist at him, he would deflect it with his left hand while dodging however, the moment he hit her right fist away, she formed it into a palm with all five fingers sticking together as she drove it sideways to his neck.

Her wrist pushed his left arm down as her palm connected with his neck. That stunned him for a moment as she drove her left fist this time straight to the side of his temple afterwards, she did a low sweep knocking him off his feet before shooting him back up with a knee to the side of his head yet again.

However, he didn't even have time to experience a fall before she locked his head under her right arm and drove her knee into his stomach.

"Now say 'Nee-chan please release me~' and also 'nee-chan is the prettiest woman in the world~' then I'll let you go~"

She stopped her attacks for a while as she locked him in. While this may be a dream for some guys to be so close to a woman that he can smell the scent of her sweat while being so close to her chest, this was a nightmare for Accelerator.

He didn't give in so easily however, as he shot back with," Let go of me, you ugly bitch!"

But that only encouraged her more to inflict him with even more pain as she drove her knee into his stomach two more times.

"Say it nicely now~"

"Go fuck your--Oof puh!!"

"Language~" Oriana said with a gleeful smile, unfazed by his insults as she drove her knee in two more times. "Is it so hard to call nee-chan pretty?"

"Let me go!!"

Accelerator tried to reach for his switch, but she immediately pulled his battery out as she finally frees him.

"And that is how an enemy would incapacitate you." She mockingly says as she starts to throw his battery up and down like it was a ball. Accelerator crawled on the grass as he tried to reach her but to no avail.

It was only when she crouched down to put it back that he finally regained his bodily functions.

"I'll kill--"

"Let's rest for a while, shall we?" Oriana says as she sat down beside him, the calm breeze of the wind blowing her hair back.

"It's unusual for you to call me out like this. What brought it on?" Oriana fans herself using her own top as she questions him.

Accelerator kept his cane up as he placed it in his arms, the wind blowing his hair as he looked at the other park goers do their routine.

"You know about the recent events happening in Academy City, don't you?"

"Of course not~ Nee-chan has been at home babysitting the little girl and Misaka, you know? Nee-chan doesn't have time to be looking at the news or whatever~" Oriana replies as she hugs herself just to provide a bit of comfort for her own struggles. "And it's all because of this meanie right here~" She pokes the side of his cheeks, but he doesn't budge a single muscle.

"Well, you're absolutely useless."

"You can't blame nee-chan for this, y'know~"

"...Whatever." Accelerator exhausts a deep breath as he looked at the sun above as he laid down on the grass. "For the past few months, I've been meeting some weird people. People who aren't from Academy City. People who possess magic powers." He points to the choker on his neck as he continues, "I can't rely on this thing to keep me alive. In the first place, there have been some people who managed to bypass my vector control and there are some things that are even out of my control."

Accelerator raises his left hand in the air as he slowly clenched it down on the sun above.

"I need to utilize this, but in order to do so I need experience. Experience to get close to them. Sure I could accelerate myself behind them, but even then I still have to be prepare for a surprise attack. And even then, if my vector control can do me no good, I'll have to go toe to toe with them."

"That's nice and all, but don't you think you're relying on yourself too much? You have plenty of support from the people around you. Nee-chan is always here for you, remember that."

Oriana was now laying down beside him as she whispers into his ear but he simply pushed her away.

"That's the thing. I can't rely on anyone to fight with me. They won't be able to keep up."

"But that's not the case, is it? You're just giving yourself a reason to not hurt those around you. Just like her."

-----5th October 3:10p.m.-----

A blonde little girl stood in front of a clock shop. A regular clock shop that has been selling antiques like these for about a decade now. Inside the clock shop they even had grandfather clocks for the old-fashioned people in Academy City.

However, this girl was just looking for a clock for her little sister at home who has trouble waking up in the morning. Her little sister was like a cat at home, always lazing around and sleeping whenever she had the time or when she's not doing anything. It was like second nature to her.

"This one? No, maybe this one?"

The shop had displays behind a glass window, so it showed her a bit of what they had and the price tag for them.

"Will this even be enough to wake Fremea up?"

This blonde little girl was Frenda as she strokes her chin while scrutinizing every single one of the alarm clocks they had on display.

Frenda was part of ITEM. A group of four girls focused on bringing in wealth by working in the underbelly of Academy City. Their group consisted of Frenda Seivulen, the Level 0 bomb handling maniac. Kinuhata Saiai, a victim of the Dark May project and a Level 4. Takitsubo Rikou, a Level 4 capable of sensing others' AIM fields from a distance but that was only on paper. And finally, the leader of their group, the infamous Level 5, Mugino Shizuri, or otherwise known as Meltdowner.

They recently hired a brand new lackey to work for them. He goes by the name of Hamazura Shiage, a no-name former Skill-Out member looking for a job in the Dark Side.

Being a part of Dark Side meant they had to be extra careful of their surroundings and be wary of oncoming attacks at any time. That includes their leisure time.

So she could even tell who was from the Dark Side in a single glance. Being well-known has its flaws as you never know would attack you especially when they're blending in with a crowd.

She turned her eyeballs to the left to see two thugs casually walking down the pavement. One of them had a cap and a tracksuit. His right hand hid inside the pockets of his tracksuit.

"(A stun gun? No, too flashy. A knife? Possibly. But too open. Reconnaissance perhaps?)"

Her thoughts ran wild as she inspected the other guy with a black jacket. He was on the phone with someone but he was slightly too far to overhear his conversation. But she had to be ready.

"(Calling for backup? Calling to say 'target spotted'? Commencing operation? Smoke bombs.)"

She was wearing a winter uniform with a buttoned up blazer with a white shirt inside, while her red checkered skirt was short enough to reveal her thighs but underneath her skirt was a small strap bag which she kept her small explosives at.

She had her bombs at the ready in her hands preparing to press the button which would activate a timer.

All that was left for them to act first.

However, when they passed her, they didn't do anything. In fact, the guy in the black jacket just continued talking on his phone.

"Yeah, we'll reach the source of the signal soon."

"..."

That sparked a bit of curiosity in her as she continued observing them as they carried on with their business.

That was when she decided to follow them to see what was up with them. No normal person would just follow a signal given to them on a phone. Moreover, it couldn't hurt her to find out more about what was happening in the Dark Side.

-----5th October 3:30p.m.-----

In District 7, a lone girl was walking down an open pavement with literally no traffic. The road beside her was not even fenced in probably due to construction work happening around that district. It seems like prioritizing buildings was more important than safety rails for the students in Academy City. She had just left the house after school and was on her way to buy some groceries for a night time party with her newfound best friend, Frenda.

All because of a single mackerel dish she cooked up for her after fighting over cans of mackerel. It was a complicated situation at that time, but they worked it out and eventually became friends after a week of talking.

This lonesome girl was the powerless Saten Ruiko.

She was an avid reader of articles that depicted paranormal activities in Academy City so whenever she had nothing to do, she would just be online looking out for any articles on the paranormal.

Today was no different as well as she scrolled through her phone.

But that was when it happened.

She couldn't even process what was happening right before her eyes.

*SCREEEEECH*

The sound of tires screeching could be heard behind her and before she could even react, a van stopped right in front of her, blocking her path forward. She looked up at her phone, awaiting an impact as she guarded herself with her forearms, but nothing came of it.

Instead, she immediately felt a tug on her arm as she was pulled in front and a thud beside her. Without even getting a look at who that person was, she was sprayed with a gas of some sort. The rush of events made her breathing harder, eventually breathing in that gas and in less than 3 seconds, she felt herself feeling giddy as she struggled to stay on her feet.

Her eyes closed as she fell into a cushion. A human cushion.

"Quick quick before someone notices us."

Her body was carried inside the white van which had stopped in front of her earlier as a man in a black jacket looked back to ensure no one was looking at them.

"Alright coast is clear, hurry no time to waste."

The moment the two men got in, the van reversed as it positioned itself nicely on the road before driving away as if nothing happened all while other students and adults continued on with their normal lives.

Except for the blonde haired little girl.

"Hamazura, bring me a car. I need to pay her back for the food."

------------------------

"And so it begins huh?"

The voice sat on a single chair in a luxurious hotel room as she inspected a ring with a needle on top.

The hotel room was lined up with branded clothes and expensive wine probably in courtesy of the hotel staffs and manager as the bottles were lined up neatly in the cabinet yet had dust on them. Meaning they only cared about the appearance from the outside rather than the inside.

The girl was far from home and that room was not even hers to begin with yet she was sitting on the chair, spinning it around as if she was a little girl and finally placing her legs on top of a table.

However, what came to be of that room was reddish liquid on the carpets of the room. A singular wine bottle dripping as it laid on the table in front of her.

"Ah~ isn't this wonderful? The material this ring was made with really sparkles like me. I think it suits me better than you, doesn't it☆"

The girl clasped her hands together as she looked at a singular body on the other side of the room. The body was barely conscious as the arms of that person was tied back with a singular blindfold on and a cloth wrapped around the mouth. Her legs were even tied up and filled with holes and bruises. The room was littered with broken glass bottles, lamps, spoons, forks and even plates.

The cloth around the person's mouth was colored red, either from the wine or blood and it all happened within a span of an hour.

"Ah~ what a wonderful reunion we have after a year." The girl says as she licks her lips, her ecstasy bursting from within her.

"Isn't that right?"

Strapped to a wooden chair was a girl but her condition was far better from her older sister who was lying on the ground. She only had her limbs tied to the chair and a singular cloth wrapped around her mouth as well, as tears poured out from her eyes.

"...Gokusai sisters☆" The girl got up from the chair as she slowly approached the body sitting on the floor. Every step from her shook the younger sister. "You know, I can see why Kamijou Touma relied on the both of you. You guys make everything so much more easier☆"

She took another glass of wine from the cabinet as she hit her hand like it was a baseball bat and the moment she was in front of the older sister, she swung it down on her head as forcefully as she could.

To her dismay, it didn't break.

Yet.

"Be a good dog and stay here, okay? I'll be back soon☆"

However, she didn't put the bottle down yet as she lifts it up once more.

"After this breaks!!"

A loud thud was made as a monstrous laugh came from the girl in the room.

-----5th October 3:40p.m.-----

Two men sat around an unconscious middle school girl inside of a van as the guy in the black jacket made a call to report on his mission.

"Yeah, we neutralized her and are currently on our way."

Lackeys like them are just like mercenaries on the battlefield. They are only in it for the money and if they die, they'll just be replaced by someone else. That is how the Dark Side operates on a micro scale.

They searched her body and found one of those Indian poker cards that they were instructed to find.

"What are we going to do to the girl? I hope we don't have to torture her."

"Hm? Oh right I guess you're still pretty new here. There's this chick in SCHOOL that can make anyone confess. I don't know how she does it, but it's probably some esper trick."

"Being an esper must be nice, isn't it?"

While the two guys were talking in the van, another car was in pursuit of them.

"Nyah you took too long to get here, Hamazura. As a new member of ITEM you need to be fast and reliable nyah~"

"It didn't even take me five minutes to get this car and get to you though..."

"Nyah you need to be faster!!! Two minutes is your maximum nyah!!!"

Hamazura was driving the car with a face devoid of life as he effortlessly steered the wheel. On the other hand, Frenda was on her phone looking at the map which was leading her to the tracker which she placed on the van before they left.

"Seems like we're catching up--HOH?!?!" Frenda poked her head outside the window, blocking Hamazura's field of vision as she looked below the highway they were on. "YOU WENT THE WRONG WAY, HAMAZURAAAAAA!!!"

"You're the one with the directions!!!!"

"sigh Do I have to do everything myself? Support me while I stick my body out a bit."

"Grrgh...?!"

In front of Hamazura was a little girl's butt as her supple calves rested on his lap but instead of taking in the view, he had to turn his head left and right to desperately find a proper way through the highway. Fortunately for him, the road wasn't filled with cars so he was thankful for that.

But he still had to take precautions while driving down the road.

Frenda took out two sticks with rockets strapped to the end as if they were fireworks but their tips had some design like a shark but Hamazura focused on a different fact.

"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU KEEP THOSE?!"

"Wind speed 2m/s, distance about 80m...Bingo."

She aimed in front of her and when she pulled the stick out, the rocket at the end started flying forward where it would hit a construction site.

It wasn't long before an explosion roar could be heard and steel beams made their way down, causing the van to stop as it crushed the floor in front of them while blocking the way.

In the next moment, another rocket was shot and this time it hit the other end of the construction building, cutting them off from their escape.

"Nyah I scored! Okay, you can leave now Hamazura."

Hamazura stopped the car as he pondered the meaning of his life now. "I was supposed to be a Skill-Out leader...how did this happen to me..."

From the highway railings, she took out two smoke bombs and tossed one at each side of the van, completely shrouding them in greyness.

Then she elegantly jumped down while bending her legs to make sure she doesn't break her legs while falling.

She landed on top of the van and when she heard the doors to the van open, she immediately hid herself in the smoke.

"This is F team! We're being attacked by someone!"

At that moment, Frenda threw her dolls which were filled to the brim with explosives at him and the moment they came into contact with his back, his once black jacket was now stained with the color of red and the scent of iron.

One of them came out from the driver's seat and she simply ran past him as she dropped one of her smaller bombs inside his shirt. The explosion made sure that his torso can never be found as the van rocked from side to side and as for the last one, she simply snuck up on him and tapped him on the shoulder.

And when he opened his mouth to scream, she calmly placed a bomb on his tongue as she walked to the back of the van.

The ensuing explosion ensured that he wouldn't be talking after that.

The moment she got to the back of the van, she found Saten lying on the van as drool escaped her mouth. 

"Hey, wake up."

"Uhhh...now I can't flip it up..."

What was she thinking about was all Frenda focused on.

But she set her mind straight as she tapper her face continuously until she sipped her drool back and looked up in a lazy yet faint face.

"Eh? Eh? What am I doing here?!"

Frenda flipped her down as she took out a lighter from her pocket.

"Sit still while I burn through those handcuffs. Stay still or you might lose a finger."

-----5th October 3:55p.m.-----

The both of them were back at the area where Saten was kidnapped as they passed by the shops earlier. There were plenty of shops around the place selling watches, bags, and even a convenience store.

However, Frenda was leading her someplace else.

No, it was not for her safety.

Rather, she was bringing her to a supermarket.

On the way, Saten was touching her pockets and that's when she realized...

"I lost my phone. I think it's still back there."

"Nyah it's fine. You can always buy a new one."

"But I need to call Anti-Skill..."

"I-It's fine I already contacted them. By the way, do you have any idea what they wanted from you?"

"None! I don't know what they would want from me anyway. All I had was an Indian Poker card, but it seems I lost that as well..."

Frenda cheekily places her arms behind her back as she leans forward a bit, "Well you gotta thank me for saving your life, right? So let's head to the supermarket and buy some---"

Before she could even finish, a soft bursting sound came from her left shoulder, but it was not one of her mini bombs detonating.

Blood sprayed out and immediately she could tell it was a gunshot. But it was so quiet. Even in a crowd, a gun is always louder so how?

Her blood gushed out as some of it spilled onto Saten's face. Frenda immediately covered up the wound with her hand, but that was not what shocked her.

The crowd didn't even seem to know what was happening to her as they continued walking by without a trace of care.

"Hurry!"

Frenda grabbed Saten's wrist as she hid behind a large pillar in the market square as she tried to see where her attacker was. But the crowd was too dense to see who had done it.

"(Long range? No, this wasn't a sniper round. A normal sniper round would have made me bleed out more and caused an even bigger commotion.)"

Before she had anymore time to think, she was grazed on her left arm with another bullet.

With no hesitation, she grabbed Saten's wrist tightly as she fled into the nearby department store.

"(Escalator? Lift? We would be sitting ducks running up the escalator. Lift it is.)"

She made a decision after a few seconds of walking back and forth before turning right for the open lift.

While they ascended to the top floor on the lift, she took out a bottle of petroleum jelly as she unbuttoned the first two buttons of her white shirt. The moment they got out of the lift and hid behind a nearby pillar, she applied the petroleum jelly on her shoulder.

"Are they after me?"

"Probably. In the end, coming here gives us a lot of exit opportunities. If we can blend into the crowd, we can most likely---"

*BWOOSH*

Another bullet hit the side of her other arm this time, and she immediately panicked as she looked to the right to find who the attacker was but all she could see was the crowd in front of her. No one seemed to care.

In fact, no one heard the shot.

"(No way...the enemy is hiding in the crowd?!)"

She slid the petroleum jelly back into her skirt as she pulled Saten again.

"Can we ask anyone for help or at least call someone?!"

"I can't think of anyone who would come so quickly. Moreover, someone might die if this persists!"

They continued running and Frenda wasn't even paying attention to where she was running at that point. But all she knew was that she had to bring the shooter to a quiet place and isolate them from there.

"(This sadistic freak. They could have killed me a long time ago but chose not to. They're enjoying this. But with this plan, we're sure to catch you now.)"

The both of them hid in the aisle where they sold gloves for sports or recreational activities.

No one in this time of day would come looking for gloves.

Especially a four-eyed man holding a large duffle bag around his shoulder.

The moment he popped into the aisle, the side of his head was greeted with a knee from a small girl.

A loud thud could be heard. Even louder than the gun he was firing.

"W-What are you doing?!" The poor man begged as he was lying on his butt on the ground.

"Quit playing dumb with me!! You shot me three times!!"

"What?!"

Frenda used her little legs to overwhelm him as she he tried to helplessly defend himself, but that was when Saten stepped in to stop her.

"Wait, it seems like he really knows nothing."

"How can you be so sure!! That big bag of his must be holding the gun he was shooting at me!!"

By now, the three of them had gained the attention of the crowd and people were looking their way.

Saten grabbed the black duffle bag from the man as she opened it up and she found a long, hard...

"It's a golfclub. There are multiple golf clubs here."

With a final stomp to his groin, she looked at Saten with a blank yet serious expression.

"Why are you even carrying that many golfclubs!?" She continued to stomp on his groin as he wallowed in pain.

Saten wrapped her arms around Frenda's shoulders as she drags her away from the man's groin while apologizing.

The moment they escaped the aisle and lost the crowd's attention, Saten heaved a sigh of relief as she asked Frenda, "What are you going to do now?"

"Wait, I'm thinking..."

ITEM's Frenda was in the Dark Side for a reason for a few years now. She had survived every sort of calamity that came her way up until now. She always has a plan for everything.

You needed more than Levels in Academy City to survive the Dark Side, especially when you're a Level 0 like her.

----------------------------

"(Hm? Seems like something happened)"

This boy was just strolling the department store looking for water, and hopefully some materials for building his battery from new.

He had just finished his practice with a foreign girl and was minding his business as he caught the attention of some people because of his distinct white hair and unique appearance.

When he took a single step forward, and another, he realized that he couldn't walk anymore. The cane in his left arm was also stuck.

"Ahn?" He looked at the ground and realized something.

There was some sticky substance on the floor, and he was caught in it.

"(Such fucking misfortune.)"

There were two high-school girls behind him as well and they stopped in their tracks the moment they saw him standing still.

"Don't come any closer."

A single beep was all that it took for him to walk again.

"(Altering the vectors of me and this substance is one hell of a pain in the ass. Whoever did this better be ready to pay.)"

He was the Accelerator.

"Oi, go this way. There's some sort of glue that someone threw out as a prank."

Accelerator pointed to the open space where the glue wasn't thrown as he continued walking around the department store.

------------------------

Another soft bursting sound was heard and this time it came from Frenda's right ear as she desperately continued running.

Despite the bomb trap that she had set earlier going off.

"(Damnit they know our every move. Tch, and how did they survive that bomb?!)"

The loud explosion that occurred caused a wide panic within the department store as everyone ran down the emergency exits, leaving Saten and Frenda alone in the department store.

Whoever was hunting them should have shown themselves by now.

TSSHH TSSHH TSSHH

Three more silent shots could be heard and this time they were aimed at her torso. Her body slumped forward as she turned her head back to look at who it was that had been hunting them down all this while.

"I have to say. If it wasn't for that idiot that tripped off the bomb, none of this would have happened. I really wanted to kill you as slowly and quietly as possible."

"You...!!"

The girl looked to be a high schooler, being slightly taller than Saten herself with two pigtails behind her. She had a white shirt on with a brown vest below her chest that had multiple pockets possibly containing her ammunition or other healing remedies. She had black stockings on with a skirt flowing all the way down to her knee level.

"Yumiya Rakko, is the name."

The moment Frenda stood up, she flipped her wrist up to reveal a gun barrel. Two silent shots came flying out of the barrel and went right through her legs.

"Run!! You have to get out of here or she'll kill you too!!"

Saten stood still as she looked at the floor as she bit her lip. Her fists clenched with anger and fear.

She didn't want to abandon her friend after what she had gone through with her in the past week. She didn't want to lose a friend. But at the same time, the thought of dying scared her.

So she did what no one else would.

With her arms to her side, she stood in front of Frenda.

"If you want to kill her, you'll have to kill me first."

Rakko raised her eyebrows as she tilted her head up while still maintaining eye contact with her.

"Ehhh...you barely even know her. Do you even know what her job is like? Oh wait, you're involved with the Dark Side of Academy City, aren't you?"

She continued walking forward with her palm out.

"I may not know much about her, and I don't know what you guys are after, but doing this to my friend is cruel!!"

"Hehhh...what nice friendship you have with each other. I envy the both of you. Oh, I know! How about once SCHOOL gets what we need, I'll send you to where your friend is!"

Before she took another step, multiple small bombs flew towards her from behind Saten followed by a smoke bomb to cover her vision.

"Quick, you have to run now!! Now's your chance!"

But instead of running alone, Saten wrapped her arms around Frenda's arms once more as she tried to carry her.

"Just leave me! You're only going to slow yourself down!"

However, three more silent shots came flying through the smoke and it managed to land on Saten's arms. One in her left shoulder and two in her right arm.

Saten fell back onto the floor as she groaned in pain from the feeling of being shot for the first time.

The pain was excruciating for her that she wanted to scream but held back. Yet Frenda managed to withstand all that with little no effort despite being a Level 0 like her.

"You know, Teitoku-san only told me to bring you alive. He never specified what kind of condition you'd have to be in. Maybe I'll have a bit of fun before bringing you to him."

Slowly, the footsteps grew louder and louder until it stopped right in front of them.

She threw her palm in front of Frenda's face as her sadistic smile became even more grotesque. But instead of firing, she stomped on Frenda's fingers, which produced a cracking sound that echoed all throughout the empty department store.

"Those itchy hands of yours were really troubling, you know that? But unfortunately, your traps were futile against me. I can sense and smell everything and anything I want to track which leads to..."

"Checkmate."

That voice didn't come from the two girls on the floor. Instead, it came from the side of her ear. She slowly turned her head to see who it was, but she already knew who it was from his raspy voice. Her eyes widened with a mixture of terror and disbelief as her heart raced, and an icy shiver crawled down her spine, a stark realization of fear gripping her every nerve.

"Was that what you wanted to say? You know, I wondered who was that fucking idiot who set up those bombs in the department store. So it was you huh?"

The Accelerator looked at Frenda as he assessed her condition.

"Oi, you still alive? Your bombs could have hurt innocent people, you know? That's not how we do things here."

"(Th-The Accelerator?! B-But I didn't even sense his presence at all!! No...he has absolutely no scent!! I need to grab the girl and---)"

"Oi."

The moment Rakko turned her back on him, he called out to her.

"That Level 0 girl. The black hair one. Did you..." His voice went low as every word became slower but even without looking at him, she could sense something from him now. "...do that to her?"

She didn't even want to turn back instead she started running away. Running for the windows in the department store. He was bad news. If she was a penguin, her primal instincts were telling her to run from the orca in front of her.

That's how much killing intent he was outputting. But even when she was running, she only blinked once before crashing into him.

In front of her, his face twisted into a malevolent canvas of cruelty, the sadistic killer reveled in the macabre theater of pain. His cold, calculating red eyes gleamed with wicked delight, and a sinister smile, etched on his lips, bespoke the malevolence that fueled his every sinister act.

He was the true sadist here.

If she was an animal, he was a monster.

A monster only seen in nightmares.

"Come on, where's all your confidence from earlier?"

"Ha-ha...S-stay away from me!"

"Come on, after saying all that confident bullshit this is all you have to offer? THIS?!"

A simple stomp on the groin was enough for her to feel immense pain. The loud thud was immediately by the ground crushing just from her being pushed to the floor. His power was immense, that she knew.

She knew that a Level 0 such as herself could do nothing but wallow in fear of the Level 5 in front of her. He was worse than Kakine Teitoku himself.

His emotions had nothing but death written all over them.

He grabbed her by the throat and simply threw her forward like a ragged doll.

"What did she do to deserve that huh?"

"Khh...ah!!"

Before she could even start crawling away, he stepped on her spine. But not only that, he started to twist his foot left and right like a screwdriver.

"Come on. Show me those hiding skills that you possessed and were so proud of."

"Ahhh...!!"

"Here, let me show you an example."

The moment he released his foot, a great impact sounded out.

The moment she turned her head up, she noticed dust all around her.

It seemed like he had stomped on the ground so hard that the floor cracked and broke into multiple pieces of dust and debris.

"Come on, get up."

His voice was distorted all around the smoke and she couldn't tell whether it was because of his speed or her mind still being in a disarray. However, with her disheveled hair, and paranoid eyes, she was turning to look at every direction.

"I'll even give you a handicap. If you manage to find me in this smoke, you'll be able to tackle me and beat me up however you like. But, if I catch you, it's game over."

The moment she heard that, another great impact sounded out around her. He was creating more dust. This was bad news for her.

She relied on her natural instincts as a human to track down and hunt people. But when her sense of smell, sight and hearing was cut off, she was as harmless as a newborn.

And Accelerator knew it.

"GYAHAHAHAHA!!" His demonic laugh surrounded the smoke in the same distorted manner. He was enjoying this. She was like a helpless fish waiting to be eaten by the bigger fish.

She stood still for a couple of seconds.

That was when she finally mustered up the courage to kick her feet off the ground and start running.

"(If he's not using his powers to try and catch me, I can escape!! And if he comes from behind, I'll just beat him. It's simple...hahaha...I can...I can do this!!)"

However, she was naïve for thinking he was kind.

Kind enough to play fair.

The moment she ran forward, her head bumped into what seemed like a stick. Her feet stumbled back as her smile grew wider.

If it was a wall she just bumped into, means she was close to the escalator.

Meaning she could escape.

But she thought wrong.

The dust and debris gathered in front of her, circling around the one single point in which she had bumped her head into.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. No, actually she could believe what she was seeing but she just didn't want to admit the fact.

The fact that she was going to die.

Accelerator was making a fake 'hand' gun with his fingers as he accumulated all the dust and small debris into his index finger.

"Ah ah ah, that's not how the game works. As punishment, you're going to---ah?"

Accelerator's eyes widened as his calculation got cut off.

His speech was also cut off. Moreover, his legs gave out.

He knew he had enough battery to make the fight last for 15 minutes at least. But he forgot to take some thing into consideration.

His misfortune.

Or rather, his miscalculation.

His battery dropped to the floor in a very awkward manner as the debris and dust that had accumulated in his fingers finally gave out their structure and dropped in front of both of them.

The dust and debris scattered everywhere, leaving the both of them alone in the centre of the mall.

Frenda and Saten Ruiko were not there anymore probably because Accelerator had already sent them out during the confusion and chaos with the dust.

So there was no one there to help.

Help the strongest monster.

Accelerator stood still for about 5 seconds as Yumiya Rakko thought about what had just ensued. But the moment his legs gave out, that was when she was back on the offensive with a demonic smile.

"Where did all of that confidence go huh?!"

She pounced on him like a leopard as he laid down on the floor. A scorn left on his face.

"What an example and game you had for me. For a second yeah you really got me. But now, it's my turn! Teitoku-san would love to have you as a reward, but first, I'll savor this kill."

She forcefully grabs his throat as she raised her right arm up. Her whole body was shaking with exhilaration. She couldn't contain her excitement of catching such a big prize.

She was going to enjoy every second torturing him.

Starting with his face.

She threw her fist down onto his face.

A loud thud was made.

Followed by another, and another until she had lost count.

The loud thuds were slowly and brutally changed to slapping noises as she continued to throw down every punch she could throw to the point her fists were starting to bleed.

However, Accelerator still didn't make a single noise. Nor did his face change. His scorn still plastered on his face despite being almost unrecognizable.

Then she bent down further until their noses were close to touching. She stuck her tongue out as she slowly licked the blood on his face.

"Mmmm so this is what victory tastes like. To have the strongest esper being defeated by a Level 0. This is what dominance feels like. It's so great."

Her eyes rolled up as she basked in the glorious light shining out from the windows behind her and in the mall.

"So this was what the researchers wanted. A DNA map of the strongest esper. But he was defeated against a Level 0!! So what does it matter?! I've made it here all on my own!! Yet, why won't anyone look at me?!"

The moment she looked back down, she could see Accelerator reaching for his battery just a few meters on the ground. The moment he was just a hair's away from touching it, she picked it off the ground and threw it backwards.

"These hands of yours..."

She picked up both of his hands as he tried to wriggle away but to no avail. She inspected them with a tight grip before smiling.

"You know, I wanted to know what it feels like to be loved. When Kaibi-san touched me with her hands, it felt really good. I wanted it more, but I couldn't ask her because it was embarrassing to do so. But with yours..."

She suddenly opened her mouth wide as she bit into his metacarpals. The blood from his hand squirting all over the floor and onto her face.

"I'll tear away these bloody hands of yours!!"

She bit down on his left hand again and again all the way until she reached the bone before giving it one last bite and tore it off like it was a piece of steak.

His dangled fingers laid in her mouth as an expression of glee waned over her.

She spat out his fingers as she looked at his other hand.

That was when a dark colored blanket was tossed over his head.

The aftermath was left to his imagination.