The Horrorverse, Part 5: Evil Twin

Academy City; District 6

Sandman parked the Sandmobile in an alley close to Academy Studios. They waited as a large GUN tank drove by and rotated 360 degrees with a scanner before proceeding. "Those are GUN Cobras." Nolan observed. "They're some of GUN's strongest. They're invincible from all sides except for the turret. Of course, you can't get in front without the scanner spotting you. The drones are unmanned, so they're probably being controlled by the Electro-Possessors."

"If I get on top of them, I can use my electricity to blind the scanners." Misaka said.

"That's what I was thinking. But do you think you can jump off before they explode?"

"You bet I can." Misaka smirked. "Let's get started."

Sandman smiled and opened the windshield to let her out. With Misaka squatted on the roof, he drove the Sandmobile to the first Cobra. She nimbly hopped onto the tank and used electricity to disable the scanner. Sandman drove in front, aimed his cannon, and blasted the Cobra's turret. In the second it took to explode, Misaka jumped off. Two more Cobras were alerted and made their way to its location. The Sandmobile went back to hiding and waited for the Cobras to separate. Using the same tactics, they were able to destroy these two.

"There's five of them in all. Two of them haven't moved. They must be guarding the entrance." Sandman drove the car up a sloped road leading to the entrance, parking it just under the top to stay out of their line of sight. "There's a chance neither of them will move from their post. Misaka, I don't suppose you would be able to disable two at once."

"No, but I have another plan." Misaka jumped off and approached the twin Cobras. Generating a static shield around her, Misaka bravely walked up undetected by the scanners. She hopped onto the left one and flicked a coin at the other, drawing its attention. With its turret facing the first tank, Misaka jumped to that one and stunned it in place. When the other reactivated, she caught its attention and tricked it into shooting the former in the turret, destroying it. She hopped on the remaining one and disabled it, letting Sandman take care of the rest.

"Hey, Mr. York." Carol spoke. "After you get inside, try to get Vanellope into the network. We'll be able to nab any secret files Caesar may be hiding."

"Good idea. But first comes the hard part." Nolan parked the Sandmobile and approached the entrance with Misaka. The entrance served as an elevator with 18 buttons to choose from. Sandman and Misaka entered the elevator. "18 floors, huh? Which one do you think they're on?" Misaka asked.

Nolan responded by clutching the sides of the panel and yanking it off. A new set of buttons was revealed underneath. "It's typical for underworld brokers to have hidden underground floors in their buildings. But these buttons won't take us to them. We'll have to input a code."

"Give me a minute." Misaka lit little sparks on her fingers and held it to the buttons.

"Access approved." the computer affirmed. The door shut and began to carry them down.

"Wow… you're pretty amazing at this." Nolan said, impressed.

"What, this whole 'breaking and entering' business? When I was trying to stop the tests the first time, stuff like this came natural. Even if they knew it was me, they couldn't arrest me without publicizing the project."

In fact, she would be really handy in finding the Riddler Trophies. …No, her Sisters take priority.

"Give in, Nolan. Embrace the selfishness." Revan taunted.

I think I should take off these Chi-block Gauntlets for now. Nolan thought, switching said gloves out with his normal ones. Wouldn't want to disrupt her powers. (Play "Dead Bird Studio" from A Hat in Time!)

The elevator stopped at the bottom and let them out. They quickly encountered ten Karate Guys, Shy Guys who were trained in the martial arts. Two of the little fighters flipped up and kicked Sandman, who blocked with Armament hands before kicking one, grabbing the other, and throwing it into another. A Shy Guy leapt at him, but Nolan grabbed it by the neck while Misaka shocked it unconscious. Sandman grabbed two more's faces and smashed them both against the floor, afterwards throwing his boomerang at a ceiling spotlight as it came down on another Shy Guy.

Misaka swiftly slipped coins into three Shy Guys' coats, then used electricity to draw them together. In this awkward state, Sandman could beat them into submission. The last three surrounded the duo, who fought back with Haki and electric punches. Two of them were knocked out, then Sandman and Misaka both swung a foot into the last one.

"HAH!" A Shy Guy in a suit and sunglasses leapt out and PUNCHED both heroes.

"Agh!" Nolan grunted. As the Shy Guy leapt away, a white, winged chibi-like creature with a counter on its forehead appeared beside them.

"You're trespassing on studio property." the Shy Guy stated. "You will be fined for any damage you commit."

"Trespassing: -5,000 yen!" the creature said as the counter raised that high and he expanded. It spoke with a cheerful voice and happy smile.

"What is this thing?!" Nolan demanded.

"My name is Debt Guy, and I swallowed Dr. Clown's Debt-Debt Fruit. Any sort of crime you commit within a certain area will raise your debt. If APR grows too big, he will explode. There is no way to get rid of him unless you leave the area."

"What if we just knock you out?"

A sweatdrop dripped down Debt Guy's face. In a flash, he zipped away. "Oh, great. 'Guess I'll have to be careful what I zap." Misaka said.

"First a Devil Fruit that works depending on the holiday, now one that raises our debt based on what we do… I hate to say it, but Caesar's new production line is impressive."

Nolan and Misaka had to balance across electric wires over an electric chasm, jumping little sparks traveling the wires. One of the wires led through a sealed gate, but Misaka couldn't blow it open without raising their debt. That wire had no spark traveling it, so Misaka used her power to draw in one of the sparks from the previous wire and let it travel along the wire through the gate. It triggered a switch that rose the gate.

They balanced wires as they turned a corner and came to another sealed gate. "Hey, look, guys, it's the Sandman!" a Shy Guy guard taunted. "Go ahead, use your new girlfriend to blow down this door! It's worth five million yen!"

"Actually, it's only 1,000 yen." another Shy Guy contradicted.

"W-Well, the equipment in this room could be five million!"

"Misaka, back here." Sandman led her back around the corner. There was a small hole in an air vent, and Nolan slipped the Grapple-Cam into it. The Cam made its way to the room where the Shy Guys were, but Sandman kept it out of eyesight of them. "Oooooo… I am the Ghost of Academy Studios…" his transmitted voice echoed eerily.

"A G-G-G-GHOST?!" the Shy Guys panicked.

"Open the gate or I will eeeeaaat yoooouuu…"

"Well, we were keeping it closed for Sandman, but… Ah, screw it, nothing he does to us is worse than the wrath of a ghost!" With that, the Shy Guys pulled the lever and opened the gate. Misaka immediately ran across the wires and zapped the four Shy Guys unconscious.

"Shy Guy harassment: -9,000 yen!" APR said as the total subtracted to 14,000. Nolan and Misaka entered a narrow hall that turned right, and they immediately walked into a movie camera's yellow light as bullets fired. "Disrupting recording: -100,000 yen!" Their total went down to 114,000.

"What the hell are they recording?!" Misaka shouted.

"The Haunted Corner." Nolan remarked. "Still, 100,000 is a lot. I wonder if it'll explode if it hits a million?"

"Then we better not get caught." Misaka electrified her hands and feet and climbed up the wall and ceiling like a magnetic spider. She got behind the camera and grabbed a cardboard samurai, placing it in front of the light. The bullets didn't trigger, so Sandman could safely come around. They found an alternate doorway that led into a room with green paint and lights, likely set up by Riddler.

This puzzle involved a bunch of cameras pointing at posters. Nolan recognized the posters and instructed Misaka to zap the cameras on in order: one of Grandfather looming over the KND, one of Nigel Uno and his alien friends with the Irken Tallests looming over, one of Malladus' silhouette in a blazing fire, one of Nigel and Numbuh 10 looking at the sunset, one of the members of Team Gnaa against their respective enemies, one of Cheren Uno staring up at Majora's Mask, one of Nebula standing on an asteroid in space, one of Sheila sitting on the keel of a ship, and one featuring all the antagonists of the Seven Lights Quest. Once the cameras were activated in order, the trophy was theirs.

The duo continued down the hall and encountered two cameras facing each other and blocking a doorway. There was a vent above the door, but its floor was barbed. Misaka used Magnet Spider to crawl up and along the vent's ceiling. Evading the barbed wire, Misaka could drop out on the other side and use two cardboard Japanese temples to block the camera lights. The path led them to a chasm of electricity, and the hole in the electric pool was probably the way to go. Misaka used her bending to draw in a hook hanging over the pit. Sandman grabbed it and held Misaka in his other hand as they used the hook to descend.

They could maneuver the hook around and slip through the hole in the electric. Three more layers of the energy lay below them, and each had a hole. Past the third one, Sandman spotted a Riddler Trophy on a wall and told Misaka to draw it in. With that, they set foot on the safe walkway below and entered another passage. The passage continued over another chasm, which Sandman could zoom across with the Line Launcher. However, there were platforms with tables of very expensive vases and china. "They clearly planted those there so we would hit them and raise our debt. I'm going to use the Remote Boomerang to scout ahead."

Nolan threw said boomerang across the chasm. Past the first section, the hall would turn right, and Sandman would have to Line Launch along the very left to avoid a series of stain-glass windows. The hall would turn left and take them through some camera searchlights, the first bit being low while the next ones were higher. With that, Misaka held onto him as Sandman Line Launched through the first round, stayed on the left for the second round, and for the third round, he quickly pulled himself and Misaka up onto the zipline. "Dude, you have some crazy fast reflexes." Misaka said.

They balanced on the zipline and went over the first cameras, but for the higher cameras, they had to drop and resume zipping across normally. They set foot on a platform and entered the next room. This room had tall platforms and cardboard buildings, and one look through Detective Vision told Sandman this room was filled with armed Shy Guys. "Why is there a secret studio under the old one?" a Shy Guy asked.

"The boss says they used this place for advanced special effects too great for the world to know about. We oughta take some of this junk when we're done here."

? He wanted to become a movie star, but this little Bean did not get far. ?

Sandman pulled Misaka up to a hanging airplane model. Other such airplanes would serve as their gargoyles. However, the strings holding this one up were tearing. "This thing isn't supporting both our weight. We'll have to attack separately, but wait for my signal." Misaka nodded, and Nolan grappled to another plane. There were 10 Shy Guys around the room and some cameras. One of the guards was a Big Guy, wielding a minigun. The guns also had chi-blocks, so Misaka couldn't use her lightning on them. He spotted two Shy Guys walking side-by-side and facing opposite directions. "Misaka, we'll take those two together!"

Nolan landed behind one Shy Guy and gassed him at the same time Misaka landed behind the other and softly shocked him. Nolan grappled back up while Misaka magneted up to the ceiling. "Shy Guy assault: -18,000 yen!"

"Hey, I heard a voice!" The Shy Guys looked up to where Sandman was, due to APR's loud voice. He quickly grappled to another plane before they could notice him. Three Shy Guys gathered and looked up at the previous plane, so Sandman signaled Misaka to go down and slip coins in their pockets. She returned to the ceiling and used magnetism to yank the Shy Guys up and drop them as they were KO'ed. "Shy Guy assault: -27,000 yen!" APR spoke near Misaka, so she was required to switch planes lest they find her.

There were five left, but Sandman warned Misaka not to attack the green Shy Guy. One Shy Guy stood beside a searchlight camera under a bridge, so he couldn't be ambushed from above, and he faced the opposite direction of the camera in anticipation of rear attacks. Nolan dropped down and picked up a cardboard house, using it as a shield to approach the Shy Guy from in front of the camera. "Meer?" The Shy Guy looked back, so Nolan stopped. "Oh, just a house." He faced forward again. Nolan snuck closer. "Meer?" Nolan stopped. "House, stop creeping me out." Nolan snuck closer and got behind the Shy Guy. "Meer?" He looked back again, but was too late as Nolan SMASHED the house over his head.

"House K.O. and Shy Guy harassment: -14,000 yen!" APR said, increasing their debt to 192,000. Sandman returned to the ceiling as the four remaining Shy Guys gathered to where their latest friend fell. The three smaller Shy Guys stood together, leaving the minigunner by himself.

"Misaka, we can take the Big Guy easy." Nolan said. Misaka watched as he dropped behind the Big Guy and jumped on his back, ripping off the chi-block sticker on his gun. Misaka dropped in front, and Sandman got off as she zapped him via his minigun, then she stopped so Sandman could do an aerial knock-out kick. "Big Shy Guy assault: -100,000 yen!"

"What?! Big Shy Guy assault?!" another Shy Guy panicked.

"Oh, Stars, they knocked out the Big Guy! We're screwed! Quick, shoot your guns around aimlessly!"

"Nananananananananana…" Their bullets flew in any direction they pleased. Sandman threw the Grapple-Cam down and called, "Over here, suckers!" The Shy Guys immediately shot in its direction. Sandman and Misaka landed behind two of the Shy Guys and Silent KO'ed them. With only the green Shy Guy remaining, Nolan grabbed him by the scruff. "Give me some Riddler Trophies or I'll…I'll think of a witty threatening line!"

"Grah! I only know this much!"

"Well, you'll have to make up for it. Where's the Debt Guy hiding?!"

"He's in the Tax Evader's Den! It's over there!" Nolan followed his direction to a hatch on the floor. Misaka used her power to rip it open, exposing the Debt Guy in a tiny computer room.

"Ehhhh… pay no attention to the obvious reference?"

Nolan smashed the other Shy Guy onto Debt Guy and knocked them both out. The APR disappeared. "This is perfect. Vanellope, think you can use this computer?"

"Well, it's a bit shabby, but I can make do." Vanellope jumped from his wristwatch into the computer. "Don't worry, I'll find dirt on Caesar in no time! Speaking of, it seems like he's just one floor down. I'll open the elevator."

"Thanks, Vanel. But I guess I'll look for this Riddle before I forget." Nolan searched around the studio and located a cardboard model of Wuya. Next to it was a table with a tiny camera and equipment, and the label The Bean and the Babe. "So, Hannibal Bean used to come here, eh? Sigh, poor guy." He snapped the picture and solved the Riddle.

"Great, so let's head down and help my sister." Misaka insisted.

"Hold on. It'll be too obvious if we just ride the elevator down. Can you use your power to lift it up?"

"Gee, how could you get this far without me?" asked Misaka as she channeled her lightning to make the elevator raise up. It remained in place as they grabbed the rope and slid down. After hitting the bottom, Nolan switched on Detective Vision and detected a figure in the next room, along with a staticky mass. "He's in there. Caesar Clown. And I think that's your sister beside him."

"So, what's the plan?"

"Well, there's a convenient vent here, so we'll do what I always do." Sandman changed back to his Chi-block Gloves. "This vent has electrical beams to block out intruders. You'll have to go in front and disable them. Once we're in position, I'll grab Caesar while you free the Sister."

The vent was sort of maze-like, and the end point was conveniently behind Caesar. The Misaka clone was strapped to a metal bed. "'Please release me. This was not part of the experiment,' Misaka 19887 asks with pleading eyes."

"Oh, silly clone, it's common knowledge that plans are meant to derail." Caesar said with his usual maniacal grin. "Why, it's pointless to even plan them at all. Just dive in headfirst, that's what I say."

"'My sister will rescue me. Your plans will fail,' says Misaka with faith in her older sister."

"Well, I doubt your sister knows my real name. The second she steps in here, I'll choke the living daylights out of her with my Airless World! And I'll do the same to those wretched Kids Next Door, once Affright is done playing with them. They'll RUE the day they tied me to a leash like a rabid dog!"

At that instant, Sandman popped out of the vent and grabbed Caesar by the neck. "We'll see about THAT, Caesar Dimalanta!"

"Ack! S-S-Sandman!…"

"Don't worry, Sis, I'm here!" Misaka began to free her sister from the binds.

"Tell me where Affright is, Caesar! Or I WON'T go easy on you!"

"Aaaack! Okay, okay, I'll tell you! A-Affright… is at… 4-5-6-25-7-15-4!" He spoke this in a low voice.

The chi-block symbols turned into mist. "What?!"

"SHURORO!" Caesar turned into gas and flew 20 feet high. "Your petty chi-blocks don't scare ME, anymore! You may begin the test, Misaka 20003!"

"AAAH!" The clone blasted her sister away with a powerful bolt.

"I knew you would come, Sister." The clone said with malice. When Misaka recovered, she examined the clone more thoroughly: she was slightly taller and had messy hair and orange irises, along with bags under her eyes that went with her psychotic smile. …Yet, what really caught Misaka's eyes was the larger chest area.

"You're a new clone… aren't you?" Misaka asked.

"After reading the original blueprints to the machine and making a few tweaks, I decided to create a clone myself!" Caesar explained. "I mean, a clone of yourself. Only I wanted this one to be a little more evil. I present Misaka Worst! Or 'Worst Misaka' if you're American. And her skillset is far above those of the other clones. Her speed, for instance!"

In a flash, Misaka Worst yanked Sandman's mask away with electricity, then zipped behind to wrap her right arm around his neck. She used the left hand to grab a silver spray can and try to hold it in front of him, but Nolan struggled and tried to push the arm back. "More Fear Gas?!"

"Even better!" Caesar grinned. "Bang Gas!"

Misaka Worst zapped Nolan to weaken him and succeeded in spraying the Bang Gas in his face. "Aaagh! Cough! ERRRGH!" Nolan knocked off his hat and grabbed his head.

"Sandman!" shouted Misaka.

"Ha ha ha HAH! Now THIS is the kind of juice I NEEDED!" declared Revan as his mismatched eyes shone clearly. "Hey, Caesar, fire up some special effects! We're in a movie studio, right?!"

"Shuroro! Of course, My Lord!" Caesar flew over to a lever and pulled.

A holographic projection displayed, of giant robots setting Washington D.C. to ashes. "Ahhhh, one of my finest moments." Revan sighed, awash in memories. "One of the first things I wanna do is destroy this place all over again. The new president is some Indian boy, isn't that right, Nolan?"

"S-Sandman?" Misaka stuttered. "Are you… okay?"

She was startled when Nolan's psychotic visage whipped her direction. "Oh, right. Let's make this quick, shall we?" He quickly threw a Psycho Sphere at her, but Misaka dodged with a skip of the heart. "You're supposed to try and hit it BACK!" Nolan flew up and zapped Force Lightning, which injured Misaka due to the conflicting chi. He then raised the girl into the air by her neck, using the classic Force Choke.

"Oh, it feels so good to be doing this again!" said a Revan clone on Nolan's left.

"And in such a beautiful new body." A clone on Nolan's right stroked his facial hair.

"Who do you think we should kill next?" A clone plopped his head on Nolan's.

"Hi, Nolan." Peter Griffin said. "I'm in your horrific vision, too."

"Embrace the Dark Side, Nolan." spoke Darth Genious as hundreds of brains in canisters surrounded them. "My anger is your anger. Let it grow and consume you. Just as Darkness is destined to consume the Light."

Meanwhile, Misaka tried to grab the invisible force around her neck, but was helpless to his power as she flailed her hanging feet. Is this what Sandman was talking about?! About being a different person? He told me to use my lightning if I need to… I guess I have no choice. She positioned her fingers. Psychicbenders concentrate chi in the brain… so I'll aim there! She fired a quick jolt at Nolan's brain.

"ZZZZZZZZZ-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-TTTTTT!" Revan jittered, his ghost stunned in place as electricity coursed through Nolan's brain. Misaka dropped and fell on her knees, quickly standing as she gasped for breath and kept her fingers aimed.

"Oh, come on, old boy. It should take more than a little lightning to do you in." Caesar said. "Shake it off and kill that annoying pest!"

If it seems like I become a totally different person, I want you to leave me behind and get out of there. Nolan's words repeated in Misaka's mind.

The meaning of his words was unfurling before her eyes, but why wasn't she running? After all, this man was still a stranger. …And yet, he helped rescue her sisters. And judging by his warning, he tried to rescue this new sister at the risk that something like this would happen. "…Nolan, snap out of it!" Misaka zapped another jolt at his brain, but Revan felt all the pain.

"Bzzzzzzzzzzttttttt! You're a very disrespectful young lady… Kill her, Nolan! K-K-K-Kill her!"

"C-C-C…C-C…CAESAR!" Nolan whipped in the clown's direction, still jittery from the lightning. "Whatever you're doing to me… whatever you HAVE done… IT WON'T WORK! I'll defeat Affright… and save the Kids Next Door!"

"Ho boy. 'Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way. Misaka Worst, attack them!"

The evil clone flipped a coin and charged her Railgun to blast both opponents. "It was nice knowing you, Sis!" (Play "Thunderblight Ganon" from Zelda: Breath of the Wild!)

Boss fight: Misaka Worst

Nolan and Misaka dodged just a millisecond before Worst blasted the coin with incredible velocity. She lit her body with lightning, zipped a few meters back in a zigzaggy fashion, then returned for a quick kick to Sandman's head. Misaka aimed lightning at her, but Worst zipped circles around her before zapping the original in the back. The evil twin attacked them two more times with the same maneuvers. Afterwards, she ran several meters across the holographic room and sent giant electrical spheres into the air, homing in on her enemies as Misaka shot them down with her own lightning.

"Misaka, can you run as fast as she can?!" Nolan shouted.

"Uh, I don't have much practice with Lightning Speed."

"Nolan, use my power!" Revan said. "My psychicbending can anticipate her actions! Come on, Nolan, I taught you everything I know about psychic. Sure, you couldn't use it at the time, but something in my spinal cord told me it would be useful to you some day."

Misaka blasted her Railgun at the clone, but Worst easily dodged and dashed to her enemies with Lightning Speed. Misaka closed her eyes and tried to telepathically trace her movements, but was met with a kick to the back of the head. "If you're trying to track me, it won't work." Worst said. "I've learned to block you and the other sisters out. AGH!" She was grabbed by Nolan's psychic.

"You'll have to give me some tips." Nolan remarked. Misaka quickly dealt a powerful shock to her sister, then Nolan yanked her over, pinned her to the ground, and laid a beatdown. Worst zapped him off and zipped away again. Nolan tried to grab her with psychic, but her speed prevented him from focusing on her. She was able to kick him off his feet twice.

"Nolan, she's moving in a pattern, silly!" Revan retorted. "First she does obtuse angles, then she does 8-point star! Now, stop being so obtuse and choke her ass!"

Indeed, Worst's zigzag patterns came in obtuse angles, then she would circle Misaka at eight different turns. She was targeting Sandman again, and judging by her distance, he anticipated where she would stop and grabbed her with psychic. Misaka zapped her again, then Sandman brought her over for a beatdown. However, Worst recovered quickly and zipped behind to wrap arms around his neck, but Nolan threw his own arms back and grabbed her neck in turn. Both enemies exchanged lightning, Revan's eyes igniting as Nolan fell back and crushed Worst.

Nolan then rolled over and grabbed her by the neck. "I don't need you burning my brain cells, bitch! I'll choke you AND your sister! ZZZT!" Misaka zapped Nolan's head.

"I don't know what kind of demon is possessing you, but you aren't killing MY sisters. But what I don't understand is why you're working for this man!" Misaka said to Worst. "I mean, are you alright with him killing all of our sisters?! Are YOU the Level 6 subject?!"

"We're not really 'sisters.' All we are are mindless tools, meant to help breed powerful fighters like you. When all the other clones have perished, I will have inherited all their experience, and I'll be stronger than you! That means the Level 6 will target ME, and if he succeeds, he will prove himself as the Ultimate Life Form!"

Misaka charged her Railgun, and Misaka Worst ran 30 meters away to charge her own. "Whoever this 'Ultimate Life Form' is, I'll never let him hurt you! And I'll blast these twisted thoughts out of your mind!"

"We'll see about that! Perhaps we'll see who's stronger right now, with my Triple Coin Gun!" Misaka Worst had three coins in her hand, blasting them with wind breaking speed.

"Like I don't know my own power." Misaka smirked. "You may fire coins at the speed of sound." Misaka blasted her single coin and easily blew through the triple coins. "But I can fire with three times that speed!"

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Misaka Worst was blown against the wall of the hologram. With the last of her strength knocked out, the clone fell. (End song.)

"Sigh… I can't believe that man could just decide her personality like that. …! Sandman!" She rushed over to him, remembering Nolan's condition.

Nolan was keeping a hand over his face and gasping, his insane eyes staring sharply at Misaka through the fingers. "Mi…Misaka…" The madness died down as Nolan lowered his hand. "Thanks. If not for your lightning… I don't know what would've happened."

"Sandm-… Nolan… what happened to you just then?"

"It was… an episode… Ahem." Nolan looked up and around. Caesar was gone. "Damn coward."

His wristwatch rang. Nolan happily answered to Carol, hoping for good news. "Good news! Vanellope snatched the secret files! We'll present them to GUN once you get back."

"Then it's time to leave this place for now. I'll take this Misaka clone to GUN myself. The soldiers can come and clean out the Shy Guys."

"Are you going to help me save the rest of them?" Misaka asked.

"Of course I will. But it seems that your sisters were shipped to other parts of the world. This is where we part ways, for now."

"Take me with you!" she pled.

Surprised by her proposal, Nolan faced the talented bender. In a split second, she was split down the middle, her halves falling apart as Revan stood behind her, lightsaber in hand and eyes full of malice. "I'll kill her the second she looks away. I'll kill her while she's sleeping! You and me don't need to sleep, Nolan. We always keep our eyes open."

"…You have to stay here, Misaka. This city will need a powerful bender like you to protect it. I'll keep you updated on the Sisters case, but you call if something comes up."

"I guess you're right…" She spoke with clear disappointment. "Just, please… try to save them."

"I will, Misaka. …Still… the 'Ultimate Life Form.'" Nolan thought back to the clone's words. "I feel like… I know that from somewhere…"

They both worked together to carry Misaka Worst out of the studio. Once outside, Nolan had her strapped in the back of the Sandmobile. "Well… see you later, Sandman."

"Until then, Railgun." With that, Nolan hopped into the Sandmobile, changed it to the Sandwing, and made the flight to America.

"Oooo, Nolan, we know the equation that disables chi-blocks!" Revan beamed. "We probably shouldn't tell anybody. If criminals knew about that, we'd have NO way to hold them! And worse, we couldn't hold nasty little children like Worst there."

G.U.N. H.Q.

Nolan parked the Sandmobile in the underground garage and dragged Misaka Worst inside. She was handcuffed with chi-blocks and thrown into the cell with Holiday. "I should hope you'll think long and hard about what you want out of this."

"Don't act like we can have a personality." Worst retorted. The cell's barrier reactivated, leaving the prisonmates trapped.

As Nolan passed through the prison wing, he caught sight of Ruby and Sapphire, watching their poisoned teammates of Sector KB. "So, you two weren't poisoned, either."

The aliens looked up at him. "Yes. It seems our non-organic bodies served us well." Sapphire replied. "I feel ashamed for not seeing this coming."

"NOBODY LOVES ME!" Bon Clay, Jr. cried. "Nobody loooooves meeeee…"

"I'm a terrible host, just terrible!" Hibiki cried.

"See, this is why Sector SA passed us." Ruby said. "Our team is so stupid."

"Mr. York, I can sense that your mind is troubled." Sapphire said. "There is… an unusual force."

"It's nothing I can't handle. But given your immunities, you two could help rescue the other sectors."

"Pssh, those guys can take care of themselves." Ruby scoffed.

Nolan borrowed replacement Chi-block Gauntlets and met with Gunkan in the computer room. Carol's face projected on the large screen. "According to the files, the underground film studio used technology that could hypnotize viewers through the airwaves. It wasn't used to actually brainwash them, but rather manipulate their thoughts in certain ways."

"I understand." Nolan replied. "Affright is probably using this technology to influence his audience. He can't rely on the world to hate the Kids Next Door by choice."

"You may be right." Gunkan said. "We've been watching the treehouses we haven't rescued, yet. I overheard a few of the soldiers saying bad things. 'I know Affright's the one behind this, but he has a point.' 'What if there's no way to fix the Kids Next Door?' That's what they said. We've rescued operatives from seven treehouses so far, but even if we save them all, Affright's words may still sink into their brains."

"Unfortunately, I can't find anything on the Sisters Project or anything else related to Affright's plans. But it's no doubt that that studio was used by the Criminal Underworld."

"In any case, I'll have soldiers sent out to rescue as many of the Misaka clones as we can." Gunkan assured. "Where will you be heading next, Nolan?"

"First I need to visit your lab. You still produce Anti-metahuman Antidote, don't you?"

"Y-Yes. …Why do you need it?"

"Caesar tried to gas me. I'd prefer if I didn't have any unnecessary mutations."

"Okay, then we'll get some for you."

Nolan waited by the Sandmobile as a soldier brought him some antidote. "Go ahead, Nolan." Revan smirked. "I dare you."

Nolan injected himself in the neck. A throbbing pain coursed through his head. "Are you… okay, sir?" the soldier asked.

"Ergh… Y…Yeah… whatever Caesar did, it was probably nothing." He gave the syringe back.

"Okay… Glad to be of help, sir." The soldier brought the antidote back.

"As if you could ever chase me away with something that simple." remarked Revan.

Nolan's watch rang once more. "Hey, Mr. York! It's me again! Listen, one of my teammates just contacted me. Ciel Phantomhive. He wants to talk to you."

"Put him on the line."

Carol's face was replaced with that of a shadowy figure. "Good evening, Mr. York. I was informed you seek the whereabouts of a man named Kelvin Renbourn."

"Yes… actually. I'm given to believe this man is involved with Affright's plans somehow."

"Mr. York, I would like to invite you to my manor in London. As for the location, well, I believe I'll let you determine that. I would say 'Don't be a stranger,' but then, where's the fun in that?" Nolan could detect a smirk before the transmission ended.

"He always was the shady one of our group. Honestly, he's really uncooperative sometimes."

"He sounds like he'd be fun to add to my circle of friends."