[Rail IC] Academy City III: Abusive Physics Never End!

Academy City-The fabled future city and the birthplace of the Esper, the psychic with supernatural abilities made possible through science. Thirty years ahead of the world, it is the shining example of progress made through science.

Or is it, really? The brighter the light, the darker the shadow; or so they say.

For within the population of 2.3 million, 80% of which are students, trouble is brewing. Dark, secretive organisations have begun to make their move. The fate of a nameless girl of unfathomable importance hangs in the balance. And, of greatest immediacy, there is a violent, bloody battle being fought on the sixth floor of District Six General Hospital.

There are many prayers at this moment; prayers for safety, for themselves and for others. Prayers for a cure. Prayers that this nightmare is going to end. One man prays for the successful capture of his target...

[Residental Area - Afternoon]

Katsu follows Ryuji and the Micros, skipping along while pondering whether to join in on the explaining-powers trend.

Deciding not to, the speedster instead focuses on the surrounding area. Knowing the layout of the city was a good idea even when you could move faster than most cars.

((Sorry for not responding sooner, I was busy. m(_ _)m))

Ren turns and raises an eyebrow, managing to get half a response out before every emergency radio in the room cackled to life. "That's just a shame isn't-"

"ALL JUDGMENT UNITS NEARBY, THIS IS 32745 TENNOUJI SAKAI. THERE'S A GUNFIGHT OUT IN THE DISTRICT 6 HOSPITAL! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, BUT THE ANTI-SKILL RADIO IS BUZZING LIKE CRAZY! ANYONE LEVEL 4 AND ABOVE, PLEASE HELP! THE AREA'S TOO HOT FOR ME TO MOVE! I'M BROADCASTING A LIVE VIDEO LINK, 10-33, 10-10. REPEAT, THIS IS 32745 TENNOUJI SAKAI-"

Ren looks at the holographic projection for a moment, then snaps it shut, speaking into the mouthpiece.

"Ten-Four. 40261 Shirogane Ren en route."

No time for thinking, no time for fear. Just as he mouths the last word, Ren vanishes.

In the background, Mei stared at the video feed, horrified. Bits of the pulped Anti-Skill officers and their armor were smeared all over the inner walls, with the outer wall of the Hospital being blasted clean open.

And on the wall, a half-blasted sign read "WARD 076:NIMORI SHOUGO"

The radio buzzes again. This time it's Ren. "This is 40261 Shirogane Ren, any Judgment members ranked level 3 and below are to STAY PUT. You'll only add to the body count. Same goes for those level 4s who haven't finished the crisis management course. Over and out."

"Probably just signed my own death warrant." Ren murmured to himself as he ran and teleported from rooftop to rooftop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atrum-Persavor

Ren turns and raises an eyebrow, managing to get half a response out before every emergency radio in the room cackled to life. "That's just a shame isn't-"

"ALL JUDGMENT UNITS NEARBY, THIS IS 32745 TENNOUJI SAKAI. THERE'S A GUNFIGHT OUT IN THE DISTRICT 6 HOSPITAL! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, BUT THE ANTI-SKILL RADIO IS BUZZING LIKE CRAZY! ANYONE LEVEL 4 AND ABOVE, PLEASE HELP! THE AREA'S TOO HOT FOR ME TO MOVE! I'M BROADCASTING A LIVE VIDEO LINK, 10-33, 10-10. REPEAT, THIS IS 32745 TENNOUJI SAKAI-"

Ren looks at the holographic projection for a moment, then snaps it shut, speaking into the mouthpiece.

"Ten-Four. 40261 Shirogane Ren en route."

No time for thinking, no time for fear. Just as he mouths the last word, Ren vanishes.

In the background, Mei stared at the video feed, horrified. Bits of the pulped Anti-Skill officers and their armor were smeared all over the walls.

The radio buzzes again. This time it's Ren. "This is 40261 Shirogane Ren, any Judgment members ranked level 3 and below are to STAY PUT. You'll only add to the body count. Same goes for those level 4s who haven't finished the crisis management course. Over and out."

"Probably just signed my own death warrant." Ren murmured to himself as he ran and teleported from rooftop to rooftop.

---

Tobio looks confusedly at Mei as he says, "Crisis Management Course? Is that a specialized course that level 4 members have to take? Cause if so, Ren taichou might be the only person on the scene. I know I'm a level 4 now but I haven't passed that management course."

Tobio looks furious with himself and slams his fist into a desk. "Dammit! You better not die out there Taichou!

Meis' mouth worked noiselessly as she pointed to the video feed.

"N...Nimori Shougo? Tobio-kun, wasn't that your friend..."

And then she stared as the feed moved to focus on the outside-in view of the room through the destroyed wall, the blood draining from her face as she took it in.

Inside the room was her brother, Kamakura Kouta.

"K...Kouta-nii!"

Tobio's eyes widen as he gets another look at the footage feed and grits his teeth, "Kuso! Can things possibly get any worse than this! Tobio's hands clench the desk he is leaning on to the point that his knuckles turn white. Everyone around might note that the office has become just a little nippy.

Tobio unaware of his slipping control as he is not in a combat or crisis situation simply stares into the feed with rapt attention only taking his eyes off of it to look at Mei.

Mei began hyperventilating reflexively, the pupils of her eyes dilating massively out of fear. Without even really meaning to, her legs began moving towards the front door. She had to help Kouta-nii. Had to. He was in danger, and he wasn't even an Esper (She did, of course, neglect the fact that her brother could quite easily beat her in a fight, with or without her powers)! No way the dumbass alone could solve the situation...

She couldn't...She couldn't do nothing...Had to do something...

Seeing Mei's fear Tobio snapped out of his miniature crisis and actually noticed that he was chilling the room. He forced himself to calm down as he started paying more attention to Mei. 'Idiot! That's her brother out there in that chaos. Hear you are throwing an inner b*tch fit over not being able to help because of a lousy course while Mei is fearing for her brother's life.

You say your her friend? Then get over there and do something to help her dumb*ss.'

Once Tobio's inner rant against himself was finished he walked over to Mei and put two comforting hands on her shoulders. When she looked up at him Tobio would then say, "Things are going to be alright Mei-san. After all Ren-taichou is headed to the scene. Plus if Kouta Called Kensuke then he might have even more backup soon."

Hajime's bullets tear through the air, roaring towards their intended targets with lightning speed. Reacting instinctively, the air around Yori heaves and buckles, and the trajectories of the projectiles shifts, sending the three deadly missiles skyward, leaving behind a pillar of ionized gasses and plasma visible for miles as the three bullets streak into the atmosphere.

Yori grinds his teeth as his flicks his knife into a ready position. Why would he try to run? He could bend SPACE, for god's sake, it's not like the brat could get away with his prize. He rubs the flash burn along his shin gingerly-he'd misjudged the speed of that coilgun attack and it had nearly cost him. He swallows his rage and takes a deep breath, calming himself.

"I still hate children."

Yori reaches out with his mind and starts pulling on the fabric of reality, the streets around him shifting like the pieces of a sliding block puzzle. As he pans through the rushing crowds, he catches a glimpse of a silver-haired boy lugging a small girl through the crowd with a determined look on his face-and springs into action.

There's a rush of air as space sags back into place with a relieved gust of wind, and then the sidewalk underneath Hajime bucks like the sea in a violent storm. As the concrete underneath him heaves like the deck of a ship, a cybernetic arm reaches through one of the folds in space and grabs the unconscious girl that he carries by the collar, hauling the precious child back away from his grip. Yori braces himself against a nearby wall and flips his knife around, readying the blade for a scorpion-like strike at any frantically grasping hands trying to save his target.

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

Back in the hospital room, complete chaos reigns as people scramble for safety. The three remaining G.E.A.R. agents (one having been killed as Tai's parting shot pierced through a gap in his neck armor, blowing out his throat; and the other having taken lethal shrapnel to the chest from the exploding window) have taken up positions behind Shougo's hospital bed and his life support machines, on the theory that while they are perfectly willing to shoot small children to compete their objectives, the other people in the room are probably not so keen on accidentally shooting one of the people they're trying to save.

"Kill the remaining Antiskill first, then target the girl-she's armed. I want this wrapped up before the boss gets back-I hear sirens, and they'll be able to cut through that blocked corridor eventually."

Two acknowledging nods, and then the three thugs open fire, trying to gun down the only things standing between them and three or four zip-tied captives.

{OOC: Let me know if the following isn't to your liking. It's just one possible way for the the scene to progress.}

Yori's ability truly was fearsome to behold. With such power at his command, it seemed that there was no escape for poor little Shiki. Despite the best efforts of her protector, capturing her was simply a matter of reaching out a hand...

...Or at least it would have been, if the wall against which Yori was braced hadn't suddenly given way. Without warning, the whole thing curved backwards, bending in the middle as if it was made of rubber, before separating into a horizontal hail of bricks. On the off-chance that Yori was unmoved by this, the same force which demolished the wall would yank him into the newly created opening. From within the darkness, a familiar voice drifted towards his ear.

"Finally found you. Sorry to interrupt, but I really need to finish this inspection. Can we just get it over with?"

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

The agents were absolutely right. Despite the dire situation, Moroe wouldn't even consider shooting through Shougo. Killing him (whether accidentally or deliberately) simply wasn't an option; However, that fact didn't discourage her from firing at the people hiding behind him. Moroe had absolute confidence in her own marksmanship. If she didn't want to shoot Shougo, then she wouldn't, even if she sent bullets flying at every point which surrounded him; Which she did.

Even as Yori warped away from his 'throwing lighter' attack, Kouta was moving. His heart was bursting in his chest and he didn't really know what he was doing, but it was his best bet at survival; and with the most dangerous man in the room suddenly having disappeared, the odds of that had improved tremendously.

Kouta wasn't about to squander his luck.

Slinking low and behind a GEAR soldier, he immediately hooked an arm around his neck and dragged him back. Correctly expecting fierce resistance, Kouta drew the mans' sidearm and shot him in the armpit, wincing from the strain that firing from such an awkward position put on his wrist. How long had it been since he'd fired a gun...? Too long, he'd thought; the last time he'd done so was when his dad was still alive, when he'd followed him to work.

Despite the pain, Kouta continued pulling the trigger, using the armored soldier as a shield as bullets rained, probably ineffectually, down on the protected skulls of the GEAR soldiers. And if they fired back, they would likely have clipped his left shoulder, tearing a good chunk of flesh out of it and eliciting a grunt of pain. Still, Kouta refused to let go of his human shield-Better to lose an arm than his life, after all.

The Judgment video feed shook a little, then split as another joined it- Ren had switched his phone's recorder on and hooked it to his Judgment armband.

"Sakai, stay here. Don't let any one of those gunmen out. Any other reinforcements get here, tell them to cover all the exits. I'm going to see what I can do."

With that, Ren vanished, appearing on the roof for awhile before vanishing from Sakai's video feed.

Ren's feed shows a very disorienting view, bobbing up and down and having his location change abruptly. Soon, his view snaps into a hallway. The recorder records Ren muttering a line as he takes cover behind a wall.

"****, where is Kouta- there."

The sound of rattling gunfire goes through the video feed as Ren teleports in short hops towards the door on the opposite side.

Good- the GEAR soldiers hadn't noticed him yet.

Ren took a breath, then teleported the midsection of each gun away, cleaving them neatly in half, before lunging at Kouta and dragging him to cover.

"I heard you were in trouble, Mr. Incompetent." Ren grunted as he dug into the gear of the soldier Kouta was holding. He drew out the man's knife, then stabbed him hard in the neck, wincing a little as the blood spurted out.

"That leaves two..."

Ren sets the handphone to transmit on a Anti-Skill frequency. "This is 40261, to any Anti-Skill in my immediate vicinity, I have two armed hostiles I need eliminated. Their rifles have been neutralized, but they should have sidearms. I also need a medical team here, we have a few casualties- mostly bullet wounds."

Tobio cracks a small smile as he looks back from the feed to Mei as he says, "See? Ren-taichou is already helping out big time. Kouta will be just fine. Now all we have to do is wait. Hopefully Anti-Skill's response time will be up to par." As he says this he is comfortingly rubbing Mei's back to try and assuage any panic she might be feeling from her brother's situation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AnimeKid

Crocell just smirked as he cracked his knuckles ans says, "So doggy wants to play does he? alright then just remember Puppy-chan here your bark has nowhere near as much power as your bite." With that Crocell walked up to the machine and also inserted a coin. Seeing as he choose Ragna Crocell rolled his eyes and thought in his head, 'Typical well then if he wants to play with power then I'll just run circles around him with speed' It was then that the announcers voice shouted "Taokaka!" as he selected his usual speedster character.

Crocell grinned as the announcer signaled the start of the fight. In an instant Crocell's character Taokaka was on Ragna and spitting out combos at an insane speed. However he only keeps up the heat for a few moments before he tries to back off to avoid any counter attacks. Unlike Mahjong fighting games couldn't be won with just luck. And Crocell put in a lot of hours on many of the games to up his skill.

---

As it turned out, this caution was unneeded. It soon became clear that, when it came to BlazBlue, Jirou was all talk. He may have been a skilled Mahjong player, but in this arena he was just a midbie. His character proved defenceless against Crocell's blistering combo assault. In what seemed like no time at all, he'd already lost half of his health. When Crocell backed off, Jirou's counter-attack was far less impressive: His combos were just the standard, intermediate Ragna strings that were used by average players the world over. While they were well executed and showed a good grasp of the game's mechanics, they were still painfully limited in scope.

From that point on, the outcome was already decided. The following games were merely a grisly formality. In the end, Jirou suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat; He'd never stood a chance.

"...Not bad."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duos

Hajime's bullets tear through the air, roaring towards their intended targets with lightning speed. Reacting instinctively, the air around Yori heaves and buckles, and the trajectories of the projectiles shifts, sending the three deadly missiles skyward, leaving behind a pillar of ionized gasses and plasma visible for miles as the three bullets streak into the atmosphere.

Yori grinds his teeth as his flicks his knife into a ready position. Why would he try to run? He could bend SPACE, for god's sake, it's not like the brat could get away with his prize. He rubs the flash burn along his shin gingerly-he'd misjudged the speed of that coilgun attack and it had nearly cost him. He swallows his rage and takes a deep breath, calming himself.

"I still hate children."-

Yori reaches out with his mind and starts pulling on the fabric of reality, the streets around him shifting like the pieces of a sliding block puzzle. As he pans through the rushing crowds, he catches a glimpse of a silver-haired boy lugging a small girl through the crowd with a determined look on his face-and springs into action.

There's a rush of air as space sags back into place with a relieved gust of wind, and then the sidewalk underneath Hajime bucks like the sea in a violent storm. As the concrete underneath him heaves like the deck of a ship, a cybernetic arm reaches through one of the folds in space and grabs the unconscious girl that he carries by the collar, hauling the precious child back away from his grip. Yori braces himself against a nearby wall and flips his knife around, readying the blade for a scorpion-like strike at any frantically grasping hands trying to save his target.

---

The girl is taken, and Hajime staggers, the sidewalk shaking underneath him, unable to keep his balance.

And she's gone, and he can do nothing to stop it.

Crocell cockily rolled his neck as he says, "Well that is that as they say. Hey look on the bright side at least you didn't bet any money on this game. And next time? Try not to go with the most obvious character choices. Be a little more off the wall." Deciding that he has Taken Jirou down a peg he heads to one of the nearby shooter games to keep his skills up.

"Hey! Wait up!"

The speaker was yet another Tokiwadai student, who was coming up from behind the group at a rapid pace. Miura Kin had been strolling home from school, despondent at having to do so alone, when she'd caught sight of a group of girls following...wait, was that...Yes! Yes it was! Now there was a stroke of luck. In the space of a second her mood swung from 'depressed' to 'hyper', as it was often wont to do. With newfound energy, she launched into her signature running dance hop, and rapidly closed the distance between herself and her target. She gracefully spun past the irrelevant sideliners blocking her path, and twirled to a halt in front of him.

"Ahah! I thought it was you! It's hard to forget someone who drops cats on people and moves like a greased bullet. So, what crazy antics are you involved in today?"

Yes, running into Katsu had certainly been a stroke of luck. Though their first meeting hadn't exactly gone well, she'd still been impressed by his energy and talent for strangeness. Apparently she wasn't the only one, either, judging by those other girls; Or were they with the boring-looking guy standing next to him? It was hard to tell.

Yori's satisfaction at finally catching his prey is short lived as he's suddenly sucked backwards through a collapsing wall. He reflexively shuts the open rift and wraps himself in a cocoon of space, bricks sailing past him and the comatose girl he's carrying. As he gives the bubble a little twist to land himself upright, he finds himself staring at somebody he hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with ever again. Yori's jaw clenches and un-clenches as he tries to keep his voice level.

"Do you TRY to have such infuriatingly poor timing, or does it come naturally? The tour is over, you cyclopean dunce. I showed you everything we had operational."

Yori hefts the unconscious little girl over his shoulder and flips his knife away. He twists the first joint off of the thumb on his artificial hand, revealing a needle, and stabs it into an exposed vein on Shiki's leg to make sure she stays asleep-the last thing he needs is the brat waking up halfway back to the lab and throwing a fit.

"You're welcome to come back to the lab never. You can go tell the board that the project is moving into it's final stage, though. I'm happy to report that, at least. Now piss off, I have important things to do that don't involve you."

Turning away from the bored-looking man picking his way through the rubble, Yori folds the end of the alleyway in on itself, and it stops opening up onto a street filled with panicked civilians and convincing it to instead show the inside of a truck, more G.E.A.R. agents sitting along one side if the interior on a metal bench and a few scientists holding a gurney stable on the other end. He hauls Shiki over and lays her onto the wheeled bed as the technicians strap her in to keep her from falling off, then bangs on the divider between the driver's cab and the cargo area, shouting to the driver.

"I'll meet you back at the facility, I need to go pick up the agents I left in the hospital."

Yori steps back out of the truck and lets go of space, the world shrugging as the truck's interior disappears and is once again replaced by a sane location filled with screaming civilians. He breaths a sigh of relief-the important part was done, and all that was left was cleanup. He hoped that his men in the hospital were done cleaning up. Yori pauses for a second before opening another rift. He had to be careful not to overexert himself...

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

Back in the hospital, the situation was reapidly degrading for the G.E.A.R. operatives-the sudden arrival of the ESPer had thrown them off their game considerably, especially since he had disabled their rifles. The man Ren stabbed wriggles feebly as he bleeds out, gurgling as blood fills his throat.

"Swap targets, hit the ESPer!"

The two remaining dark-clad soldiers hunker down behind the life support equipment and draw high-caliber handguns, opening fire on the man and his downed comrade. Things were not looking good-and then the view from the shattered window is replaced with an alleyway, light bending strangely around the windowframe. Yori stands outside, tapping his sidearm against his leg.

"Wow, you guys are still fighting? I'm going to have to send you back to training if you can't disable one antiskill and a little girl."

Then he spots Ren.

"Ahaaaaa. Nevermind. Well, I need you two to fall back-I got what we came for."

The two thugs nod and dive for the window, rolling as they hit the ground in the alleyway, and come up firing, trying to keep heads down and cover their boss. One of them grunts as he takes an expertly-placed bullet in the chest from Moroe, his armor the only thing stopping his rapid transformation into a corpse. As the air bucks and the window snaps back to a more standard view, Yori tosses a grenade into the room. His voice echoes above the gunfire, sounding distorted and distant as space returns to normal.

"A parting gift, for wasting so much of my time."

The explosive thuds onto the floor, the sound cold and heavy, and rolls under Shougo's bed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duos

As the air bucks and the window snaps back to a more standard view, Yori tosses a grenade into the room. His voice echoes above the gunfire, sounding distorted and distant as space returns to normal.

"A parting gift, for wasting so much of my time."

The explosive thuds onto the floor, the sound cold and heavy, and rolls under Shougo's bed.

---

Or at least, it would have done, had Moroe not shot it out of the air. Her accuracy with a gun was one of the few things in which she still took pride. She sent a few more bullets flying into the portal as it closed, even though she knew they wouldn't do any good. Then, when the room was finally devoid of enemies, she allowed herself to slump wearily against the dresser.

"Damn it."

'I got what we came for'; There were no prizes for guessing what that meant.

Ryuji looks at Kin as he thinks to himself 'Another Tokiwadai student? She barely even glanced at me too... Oh well everyone has their types I suppose. After all I can't have all the girls, what would the other guys be left with if I did.'

Ryuji not to bothered by the girl overlooking him. He wasn't going to go out of his way in order to gain her affections. He instead put a friendly hand forward as he smiles charmingly at her and says, Nice to meet you Tokiwadai-san, my name is Ryuji Matsuda. May I know your name?" The Micro sisters actually aren't to bothered by Ryuji talking to Kin. They all knew that Ryuji was a really nice person.They would be more put off if he rudely refused to introduce himself.

Kin looked a little surprised, as if she hadn't been expecting Ryuji to speak. She half glanced in his direction (without even noticing the outstretched hand) and mumbled a quick reply.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm Kin; Miura Kin."

Her attitude was that of someone who'd just been asked to pass the salt.

Koutas' chest was heaving as Yori and his henchmen left. What was that!? What did he come for!? He struggled to his feet, pushing the dead GEAR soldier he had been using as a shield to the ground, beginning to dust himself off before realising that blood did not, in fact, come off that easily. Turning slightly to glance at the corridor, his face paled as he took in what had just happened to his men in the corridor; the whole place appeared splattered with blood, gore and shredded bits of armor. Six men came with him, and only Tai had survived-And only just. Fortunately, he could hear paramedics coming to assist Tai, who was yelling something about stopping the bleeding, quickly. He was vaguely aware of Nimori Koizumi sobbing quietly in fear, the blood splatters on his face and the gaping hole in the wall. The wound in his left shoulder throbbed dully and he realised, in a detached manner, that it would probably flare into searing pain once the adrenaline wore off.

Still shellshocked, Kouta turned his gaze towards Ren. He figured he probably owed him his life; Ren had disabled their rifles, after all. Then he angled his head to face Moroe. She had saved their lives too-He had seen how she had knocked that grenade out of the air with a bullet. That was some marksmanship, although it was a little eerie as to why she even had a gun on her at the time. He figured he should thank them-It was the least he could do. Still, it looked like Daisuke wouldn't be brought to justice today; though after this debacle, they were lucky to simply be alive.

"Too damned close..."

Huh? That croak didn't even sound like his voice, nor were they the words he had intended to say. With a wince, he realised just how dry his mouth had been and tapped a hand to his throat.

"Kamakura-san! Are you...Is everybody okay?"

Still shaken by the ordeal, Mogami Jounouchi made his way through the doorway covered in flecks of blood and core. His face paled further once he noted the carnage in the room and the bodies of the four dead henchman; he looked like he wanted to lose his lunch. He had come here to relay a message to Mrs Nimori and the comatose Shougo, not be witness to the scene of a bloody massacre! Still, he grit his teeth and continued, teeth chattering audibly.

"A...Anti-Skill is here. So is Judgement...We're safe, I...I think...Who were those people...?"

Despite the carnage that literally occurred within twenty feet of himself, and despite being all but sprayed in blood, Shougo was still unconscious-Fast asleep as his subconscious mind tried frantically to sort out the disordered mess that was his memories. Shiki had repaired his body and much of his mind, it was true, but his memories were all disjointed and out of sync. He knew his father, he knew Daisuke and he knew the face of a green-eyed girl to whom he owed everything, but....

He didn't know who he was.

In addition, he still bore that hand-shaped scar on his neck from 'Boil'-Shiki had repaired the damage there, that was true, but the scar tissue remained and would likely remain there for the rest of his life.

A long sigh drifted out from behind the dresser. It was followed by Ishimaru Moroe, who (with some effort) rose to her feet once again. Much as she would have preferred to sit and mope a while longer, this was neither the time or the place. It was time to get back to work. First order of business: Shougo. Yes, he was okay, at least in body. His psyche was another matter, and one she tried not to think about.

"Sorry for the mess. Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon."

Second order of business: Searching the bodies. With callous speed, Moroe made her way through the carnage that surrounded her. She didn't move like someone trying to suppress their revulsion and fear in order to do their job; Rather, she moved like someone for whom scenes like this had long ago become dull routine...Except for last night, when Shougo had been the victim. But this time Shougo was okay, so she was too.

She kneeled down over the enemy corpses and started to search them methodically. Nope, still no emotional response. Apparently last night had just been a fluke.

Kouta said nothing as Moroe went about her work; he'd already figured her to be elbow-deep in Dark Side business, which was something he'd like to be involved in as little as possible. Behind him, Anti-Skill was already cordoning off the corridor, taking photos and asking questions. It was only a matter of time before they came into the room and did the same in there-Something which Kouta was quite compliant with the idea of doing. He did not, however, know if Moroe would be quite so comfortable with the idea. Even still...

Even still, he figured that Moroe was somehow involved in that attack-With the disappearance of the little girl and the loss of his men. It was his responsibility to get to the root of the problem; especially after what just happened. The thought of letting such a man walk free set his teeth on edge, level five Esper or no. He would find him. He would find him and bring him to justice. But first, he would need to confront Ishimaru Moroe. He reached out his hand to place it on her shoulder-

"Hey...Uh...Is Shougo bleeding out of his nose?"

A curious Jounouchi crept over to Shougo-He could feel flitting thoughts through his head; mostly of the chaos, but there was something about Shougo...Something from Shougo, which was something he was unable to feel prior to today if he didn't stretch himself to his limit trying to peer into his mind. He placed a finger on Shougos' forehead and gasped in astonishment.

"His mind...! It's back! Well....Almost."

Shougos' mothers' mouth opened in shock and Kouta stopped mid-action. Was there hope after all?

How? How had this happened? Just the day before, Shougos' mind was a wreck-Unable to form thoughts cohesively and kept barely together by inborn reflexes, Jounouchi had sworn that nothing than a medical miracle would see Shougo as anything other than a vegetable: and that even even with that, it was highly unlikely that he would return to the boy that he used to be. The thought of that sent shivers of remorse down Jounouchis' spine-After seeing what his 'beloved leader' was really capable of, he was no longer capable of looking at him in the same light.

But today...? Today, Shougo was thinking-Dreaming. Confusedly, perhaps, but that was because his memories were out of order. It would only take a few moments to rearrange them to get his life mostly back to normal and he began to do so reflexively, making good progress until he suddenly recoiled as if he hit a brick wall, clutching his head in the process.

"What in the...A mental projection...? Since when did he..."

__________________________________________________ _______________

In the Judgement office, members let out a brief cheer as the situation was deemed 'under control'. Hearing this, Mei sank into her chair, heaving a shaky sigh of utter relief. Kouta-nii was safe, and it looked like Ren might have just have had a hand in saving them all.

She would definitely give him another chance, and she didn't care what others might say. It was the very least she could do for her wonderful, idiot partner. As much as she quarreled with her older brother, she loved him dearly and the thought of losing him brought her close to tears.

"W....What a relief..."

And just like that, the emotion was back. Moroe's head snapped up, eyes filling with concern.

"What? What's wrong? What's going on?"

Blood.

Ren looked down at his right hand, still gripping the combat knife.

His hand was soaked in blood. Warm, slippery blood.

Just like two years ago, from the District 7 Arson Incident, where he drove a steel pipe into the chest of a level 4 pyrokinetic. He still wasn't used to it.

Ren looked at Kouta, his mask broken. He wore a look of revulsion as he removed the dead soldier's knife holster and holstered the knife. He continued searching the body, looking for identification, until Moroe came to search the same body he was checking. At that point, he merely removed the man's gun holster and spare pistol magazines and stuffed them into his jacket before standing up, massaging his right arm.

"Would've been easier if they just stood there and threatened me. More... Time, at least..."

He glanced at Shougo, a look of disdain on his face.

"Somehow, I knew that would happen. At least he's recovering. Kouta, give me that pistol. Before the rest of Anti-Skill gets here."

Ren walks over to the nearby sink, which had miraculously not been blasted apart- and begins washing his hands.

Jounouchi coughed, noting uncomfortably the small wet patch at the join of his pants that had formed during the altercation in the corridor. He was not a brave boy and he knew it; he hated dangerous situations like the one he was just involved in. But if he were to become part of Judgement and work closely with Anti-Skill, he would have to try; for his girlfriends' sake as well as his own.

"Forced me right out of his mind, he did...I'm...I'm not quite sure where he learned how to do that...Said something about 'not knowing me', and then he literally punched me right out of his head...."

Gathering his wits, he straightened his back while rubbing his temple, eyes searching through the room. After a brief moment of thought, he closed his eyes. A worried Koizumi pressed her lips tightly together, hoping and praying against all hope that having come this far, her son could be saved. Somehow. She wasn't sure what just happened-Or who that mysterious girl who seemed to be heavily involved in all this murderous nonsense was, but if it meant that her son could stand, walk, laugh and run again, she didn't really care.

"Is there anything we can do...?"

"He does recognise you, though, Mrs Nimori-san...And, uh, you too, Ishimaru Moroe-san. I can't enter his mind without him kicking me right back out, but he should allow you to at least interact with him. I mean...I could act as a bridge...Well, I should be able to act as one-I've never had to do this before..."

He finished his sentence, mumbling into his shoes.

"I'll do it."

"Do you know how to ward your thoughts, Mrs Nimori-san?"

"I...Uh...No."

"It's not an easy task-If you're not careful, your thoughts and memories could merge, especially if you're sorting his memories, which is what you'll be doing. That isn't a pleasant experience."

Jounouchi turned to Moroe.

"But I know you do, Ishimaru Moroe-san. Will you help me? I mean, I could probably work at it gradually, but that could take a number of months and I don't know how good of a job I could do given the circumstances...And brute-forcing a mind is really dangerous for both parties..."

__________________________________________________ _______________

Still a little stunned, Kouta wordlessly handed over the pistol to Ren. Evidence, he'd supposed, and it didn't really matter if it were him or himself who handed it to the authorities.

It didn't really occur to him at the time that Ren may have simply just wanted to keep the pistol; and it would not occur to him for quite some time, given his preoccupation with the recent crisis involving nine dead men and a level five Esper.

Katsu smiles at the recognition of Kin. People met while you fall from a tree with a cat in your hands were bound to be sources of adventure.

"Hi, Cat-Kin! There was the 'splosion in Chemistry, but it's been boring today. Azabu's getting slow-Or maybe I'm getting faster! But I most certainly don't move like a greased bullet."

The speedster gives Kin a fake offended look for a second.

"I am much better at not hitting things than bullets. Unless they were controlled by magnets, which Ryuji claims not to control. What 'bout you?"

The smile returns as Katsu asks. Clearly Kin must have had better luck, Academy City would implode without Adventure!

Kin twitched slightly at the nickname, but let it go. Instead she grinned right back at Katsu, impressed by his energy. It was a shame that he didn't have any hijinks brewing at the moment, but hopefully he'd still provide some much-needed amusement. She replied to his fake offence with some equally fake exasperation.

"Oh, you know, the usual: Climbing buildings, making capes, narrowly avoiding getting expelled. The daily grind can be such a drag sometimes..."

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

"I...I..."

Moroe hesitated. She was a little ashamed of herself for not immediately saying 'yes'. Shougo needed to be saved, and she was apparently the only one who could do it. Wasn't that enough? So what if the solution involved doing the scariest thing she could imagine right now; That was no reason to sit there stuttering like a coward.

"Why does it have to be this? Why can't I save him by fighting through a hundred guards, or stealing the plans to some forbidden medical device?"

This situation was so far out of her territory that it wasn't even on the map. A few days ago, taking such an insane, blind leap without a gun to her head would have been completely out of the question. But now (for reasons she still didn't fully comprehend), things had changed. She knew that, for all her hesitation and fear, she would eventually summon up the courage to say:

"I'll do it."

And then, because she was still herself, she'd say:

"...But not here. If I'm going to link minds with someone, I'd like to do it in a room that's intact, blood free and not a minute away from being swarmed by the authorities."

Jounouchi nodded, and internally congratulated himself for not shaking in terror at the girl who rescued him from unfathomable terror. He still got nightly terrors remembering the dungeon, and the memory of it all prompted a quickly suppressed shudder. It was a good thing Fumiko-chan was there for him; she put up with him despite all his flaws and he loved her dearly.

"Alright. I...Think we might need to move him, anyway. We'll tell you when we're ready."

By this time, 'the authorities' had indeed entered the room and were beginning to question those involved, beginning with Ren, a Judgement member apparently acting outside his jurisdiction. Tai was being carried away in a stretcher (to a room four floors down). Before Kouta could open his mouth to inform Moroe that he would, in fact, be detaining her 'for her own good', an Anti-Skill officer tapped him on the arm and began questioning him. Irritated, he turned to face him, 'coincidentally' bumping into Jounouchi in the process.

Unbeknownst to anyone but Jounouchi, Koutas' recent memory had been subtly altered by this brief contact to 'forget' that he had even been thinking about Moroe in the first place. In time, he would remember what he had wanted to do; but for now, Moroe was free to make an exit unnoticed by Kouta. Jounouchi indicated this by angling his head towards the direction of the door, mouthing the words 'go'.

If Moroe had indeed decided to leave, she would have been approached by Nimori Koizumi, head bowed deeply in gratitude as she took her hand momentarily. No words were exchanged on her part; but then again, words weren't really needed. She was saying 'thank you' in the most heartfelt way she knew how, and it was echoingly reminiscent of the way Shougo thanked her.