[Rail IC] Academy City II: Electrokinesis Is Love~

[Lady Serpentine]

Ryuu is, in fact, caught off guard by the speed of the heating, and doesn't manage to prevent it from catching fire entirely, though there are small parts of it that simply float down as dust, since she did manage to get some, though not the majority, of it.

"Smart move. Of course, if your opponent is constantly drawing heat from it, speed of transfer isn't going to do much... Let's see if you can get a solution to that."

And, naturally enough, on the next flash-bag, she'll be doing just that, though it's worth noting that she's more like a level three than a level four when it comes to stopping things from catching fire.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio's mind was moving again. This was almost like chess, fun and challenging. Lets see, if she was constantly drawing heat from it then she had to deposit it somewhere right? So as he tosses the bag into the air he uses his heat sense to see where she is depositing the heat she is draining. He then proceeds to leach off of that source and then leach of the unit in his house that contains his family's hot water and funnels the two into the bag trying to counter Ryuu's heat drainage by funneling the same heat back into the bag.

[Lady Serpentine]

It works quite well, until she starts randomly changing where she's dumping the heat, while still maintaining a constant draw. Apparently, there's some other solution to the problem facing him. Probably, considering that she knows it, one she used when they first met.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio's eyes narrow as he tries to think of what...he...could possibly... Suddenly Tobio gets an idea and makes a note to apologize to Ryuu as soon as he is done. He then shifts his concentration from Ryuu's heat deposits, to Ryuu herself. The human body produced it's own heat as mammals were warm blooded. So Tobio starts chilling Ryuu and using her heat to funnel into the bag. This would have the bonus effect of throwing off her concentration, therefore making easier to heat up the bag.

[Lady Serpentine]

Ryuu nods in approval, and there's a sudden lack of chilling in the bag, accompanied by a start of it in the places Ryuu had stuck the heat from the bag.

"Not what I was thinking, but it worked, so nice job," she says, going back over to the bag, pulling out a pair of thin black gloves, that appear to be about the right size for Tobio, and tossing them towards him. "Put those on. Heat-sticks, especially ones hot enough for this, can be dangerous if you're not used to them."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio gratefully takes the gloves and puts them on. He then mutters a quick 'sorry' and using his powers leeches the excess heat from the bag and transfers it to Ryuu to warm her up. He finishes pulling on the gloves as he says, "So what do I do for this exercise?"

[Lady Serpentine]

"Don't worry about it. You did what you had to," she says, handing him one of the things that look like glowsticks. "As for what you do for this one, snap that, then throw it, and tap into the heat while it's going, using it to light one of the red flash-bags. Then, once you've got using heat-sticks down, you'll need to do the same thing, but keeping me from stealing the heat at the same time, rather than channeling it from where I dump it."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio nods as he grabs one of the sticks and snaps it. He then throws it onto the concrete porch and throws up a red flash-bag. He then uses his powers to chill the heat stick and channels the subtracted heat into the red flash-bag. As he did he had to wonder what was so special about the red ones.

[Lady Serpentine]

For one thing, they burn at a much higher temperature, which is why they need a heat-stick - nine-hundred to a thousand degrees Celsius, as opposed to two-hundred-and-thirty-two. For another, they're filled with powdered brass instead of powdered tin, making it produce a red sphere of flames, that quickly separates into quite a lot of drifting red sparks, like a miniature firework.

[Anyr]

Kensuke was already leaving the room as Moroe was entering it, a mixture of disbelief and fury visibly expressed on his face. Inside, the temperature was somewhat higher than usual, odd as none of the heaters, or, indeed, any electronic equipment save Shougos' alarm clock and the various cameras watching him were active. The curtains still pulled across the windows, it was dark, but not too dark as to really obscure anything; least of all the sudden twitchiness that Shougo had apparently gained recently and was trying to hide. Still, despite an involuntary red flush to his cheeks that he was obviously quite chagrined about, he looked pleased to see her even as he struggled to look her straight in the eye, a combination of embarrassment and a hyperaccelerated metabolism causing his eyes to dart to and fro, unable to really focus on the person at hand.

"Ah...Ishimaru-senpai, thank you for visiting me. You weren't at school today, were you? And did you find anything?"

The occasionally spastic movements of his body irregularly caused his torso to move against his will, pressing up against what Moroe knew was his bruised rib. Yet, for now, he seemed to feel no pain.

Moroe briefly glanced back at Kensuke's retreating figure as they passed each other. Though she didn't know for certain what had put him in such a mood, it wasn't hard to make an educated guess. Right now, though, she had more important things to worry about: Like Shougo. Her partner definitely didn't look well. She took a seat by his bed and regarded him with a critical eye that couldn't quite hide the genuine worry which lurked behind it.

"No, I wasn't at school; And if you had an ounce of sense, you wouldn't have been there either! What were you thinking, you moronic...

Oh what's the use. It's not as if you're going to listen. Let's just pretend I've given you the full lecture and move on. In answer to your second question, yes, I found something."

She proceeded to give a heavily edited account of her encounter with Jounouchi. It went into plenty of detail about his identity and crimes, but was rather more vague about the 'change of heart' which had caused him to confess those crimes to the authorities. Moroe simply said that she'd done him a favour and left it at that. She then relayed Kouta's words, laced with anger which hadn't had a chance to subside yet.

"...he really was completely useless. All he could offer was some pathetic lead (which I'd probably have noticed myself when I got around to viewing the footage) and a few apologies. So much for the long arm of the law."

She paused, having realised just how agitated she was getting. It wasn't fair to push all those feelings onto Shougo. Before continuing Moroe took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Sorry, I'm just a little frustrated. For a while there, it really looked as if your happy ending was only a few hours away. Serves me right for celebrating before the victory. Mark my words, though: That happy ending is coming. It may take a while, but it will happen."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio's eyes widen at seeing the effects of the red flash-bag, that and how much heat it took to combust it in the first place. He then nods his head as he says, "Okay then. This will be a lot harder than last time. I just hope I can do it."

With that he snaps another heat stick and throws it onto his porch. He then channels the heat from it into the flash-bag. Once he does so he seeks to try and control the heat in the bag to keep it tightly compacted and fighting against Ryuu's attempts to siphon away the heat. However it becomes rapidly apparent that he is not very good at it.

[Lady Serpentine]

Ryuu, isn't actually going after the flash-bag - she's instead attempting to cut him off at the source of the heat, sometimes letting him block her off even when she wouldn't have to, and then suddenly switching to draining it from the bag, so that he'll rapidly have to switch gears. It seems that, now that they're actually practicing, she's a fairly hard teacher. Still, at least he'll be getting plenty of practice, whether or not he's good at it now, so she's not being pointlessly hard on him, at least.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio does switch gears adn he splits his focus between the bag and the heat stick. As he does so attempts to use himself as a medium so that the heat makes quick short jumps to himself and then to the bag instead of a long drawn out route. Combine that with the fact that he is trying to do that and keep Ryuu from drawing heat from the stick, bag, and himself he is getting a thorough work out. That is of course what he wants as he can't get better if he doesn't push himself.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Crocell nods as he says, "True they are very cool. Wolverine is functionally immortal and Venom is just plain bad*ss. Though I like Deadpool better. I mean seriously the guy is comedic gold. I actually heard that he is getting his own comic series."

Krystal nods. I like him, too. He's had his own series for a while, but I think they're gonna start spending more time with it now. Try and make him a more important character.

[AnimeKid]

It's a few hours later when Tobio is gulping down a Sprite as the workout he had with Ryuu concludes itself. He grins as he feels that he made some real progress with his powers today. He turns towards Ryuu as he says, "Thank you a lot for the help Ryuu-san. I hope that I didn't waste your time or anything." Seeing that it was getting dark Tobio stands as he says, "Would you like me to walk you home? I-I mean i-it's just because there are some crimes going around town and there are some rumors."
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Crocell nods his head appraisingly. He had honestly only expected to be good acquaintances with these girls, but he found himself hoping to be genuine friends with them. It didn't hurt that they were both rather cute. After hearing Krystal's statement he says, "Good, it's about time he started getting the respect he deserved. On another note what do you think of Quicksilver? I means seriously I hear that the guy is fast enough to travel through time now and if not that then at least mach 5. That is overdoing it a bit don't you think? I mean with The Flash in DC comics that is the standard but in Marvel? Just seems like overkill."

[Lady Serpentine]

Ryuu shrugs, and grins at him, probably fresher than he is, though still rather tired from the training session.

"It wasn't a waste of time. If nothing else, I got a workout too. As for walking me home, sure, if you want to. What crimes, and what kinds of rumors are going around?"

[AnimeKid]

Tobio looks at her as he says, "Well Yesterday I came across come Anti-Skill officers that were investigating the disappearances of several people in District six. The believe it to be Skill Out as the disappearances are mostly espers and they have racked up.

As for the rumors well... A relatively recent urban legend, it is said that pedestrians in District 7, particularly those in School Garden, will sometimes have their clothes (usually underwear) disappear right off their bodies in broad daylight. So far, all of the victims have been high school or middle school females known for being relatively attractive according to their peers. Witnesses claim that a figure wearing a girl's school uniform appears for a split second then disappears before the victim discovers that her undergarments are missing, but so far no one has been able to clearly identify the suspect.

Judgment and Anti-Skill have initiated investigations into these rumors, but due to the nature of the pervert's abilities, it has been impossible to identify any prime suspects. Any inquiries into Tokiwadai have been firmly rebuffed by dormitory supervisors, who claim that such "witch hunts" are "violating the harmony of the campus and the young ladies here".

Civilians are advised to travel in groups and to never go into an isolated area alone. Anti-Skill officials also suggest carrying multiple pieces of underwear at all times." As he finishes Ryuu might be looking at him strangely.

He then says, "I just want to make sure that your okay. After all you are my newest friend and rumors have a way of being true in Academy City. What with esper at every corner."

[Anyr]

Kin sat nibbling a pastry as her lunchtime companions debated the merits of their favourite superheroes. She felt no need to join the spirited discussion; Not because of any residual bad feeling (which by now had completely evaporated), but because she had almost no idea what they were talking about. Western comics weren't something in which she'd ever had an interest, so names like 'Quicksilver' and 'Wolverine' sailed right over her head.

Still, she wasn't going to let trivialities like that spoil her increasingly good mood. Krystal was happy, so Kin was happy too. Seeing her friend getting to discuss one of her passions with a fellow aficionado was more than enough to ensure that Kin's lunch would be a pleasant one.

[Duos]

Yori hefts his messenger bag as he limps down the sidewalk, the satchel clinking lightly, and he stares at the folder he holds, reading a scribbled set of nearly illegible instructions from the top of a stack of papers.

"How can anybody possibly believe that directions like these are understandable? 'Turn left at the street?' Which street? I disapprove."

His face pinches into a a scowl as he tries to make sense of the nonsense he's reading. He is late, and this is the first time in a long while he's had the chance to find this man. It would be immensely troublesome if he got away, and he'd have to start his search over again...

"I really should invest in a GPS one of these days."

He's still trying to decipher the note as he rounds a corner, his attention focused almost entirely on the directions, which is why he runs nearly headfirst into Ryuu and Tobio.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio had just been leading Ryuu home when he was telling her of the crime and rumor that he had heard when he bumped into a man when turning the corner and fell straight onto his back as a result of talking to Ryuu and not expecting it. When he gets up he dusts himself off a bit and looks at the person who also fell down.

He...wasn't much of a looker that's for sure but he couldn't let that stop him from helping the man up and being polite. So he grabs one of the man's arms and helps him up as he says, "A-Ano, gomenasai s-sir. I-It was m-my fault. I-I didn't mean to knock y-you down like that. I-I should have p-paid better attention t-to where I was g-going. That d*mnable stutter of his again, and just when he had learned to control it in front of Ryuu as well.
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Crocell laughs a little as he enjoys the company of the two girls before he decides to check the time. He pulls out an antique pocket watch, a memento of his grandfather as a matter of fact, and checks it. His eyes then widen as he says, "Ummm, girls how long is your lunchbreak?" After saying that he turns the watch around to show them the time. They had been talking here and having a good time for close to two hours.

(Is this acceptable guys or did you want only a few minutes to have passed so that they get back on time?)

[Anyr]

Kin paused in the act of reaching for another pastry. She glanced absently at the watch, then gave Crocell a very sceptical look. Rather than being panicked, she simply seemed unimpressed.

"Bit of a prankster, are we? Nice try, but you'll need to do better than that if you want to fool us. There's no way we could have been here for...that...long..."

A sliver of doubt found its way onto her face. Now that she came to think of it, there had been a surprising amount of pastries consumed during this supposedly brief lunch...

[AnimeKid]

Crocell raises an eyebrow this time as he looks at Kin. "I just got out of the red zone with you. Do you really think that I would risk pranking you with something this serious?" He sighs as he rubs his face thinking of a way to avoid the girls having too much trouble.

After a while he says, "Look I... You guys can say that you saw me leaving Tokiwadi with a handful of lunches and in order to honor you school you chased after me in order to bring me back to Tokiwadi. I mean that would curry you some favor right? I mean I would be in trouble but you guys would be good right?"

[Lady Serpentine]

Ryuu's first response, brought on by the fact that they're going through a section with known attacks by Espers and Skill Out, combined with the events of the past few days, is 'Gah! Attack! Kill it with fire!'.

Fortunately, her second response is to hold off on that, as it seems to actually just be a guy that bumped into them. Still, her body temperature drops rather drastically, though she hastily changed targets so that it was put into the ground nearby.

"Considering I was paying very good attention and didn't see him either, it's not your fault, it's his..."

[Duos]

Yori sighs and takes the boy's hand with his good arm as he hoists himself up. He dusts himself off, then kneels to pick up the papers that scattered everywhere after he dropped them in the collision, his false knee clunking against the ground. He gives a sour aside glace to Ryuu.

"Feh, if you were paying such rapt attention you probably could have pulled your friend out of the way. Nevertheless, I apologize for being in such a rush. I'm looking for someone and I'm running late due to some bad directions."

Yori pauses as he scoops up a sheet of paper with a photo paperclipped to it, standing to present it to the two younger espers.

"Actually, if you know this area, you may be able to help. Do you know this man? He teaches at a school near here, Onizuka, if I don't miss my guess, and has an apartment nearby. I believe he's a chemistry professor nowadays, although why he's teaching middle school classes with his skills is beyond me."

He hands them the photo with his prosthetic hand while he bends back down to finish collecting his papers, a slightly overweight, balding man with a kind smile and slightly bewildered look staring out of the picture.

"Either you know him or you don't, and I'm still in a rush. Well?"

[AnimeKid]

Tobio looks frazzeled by the man's haste but answers honestly and without stuttering since the man doesn't appear to be angry with him. "Yeah I know him. I actually go to Onizuka. He is one of my teachers though I never really remembered his name. No offense to the man but he seems to exude a forgettable presence. Almost like he doesn't want to be remembered. Though that is probably just the fact that I find chemistry a little dull so I doze some in his class."

He nods to himself as he remembers the man's face. He then looks at Yori and says, "Ano, excuse me for being brief but we must be going. The streets here can be dangerous at night." With he grabs Ryuu's hand and pulls her along to try to get to her house as safely and quickly as possible.

[Lady Serpentine]

Ryuu's hand, when he grabs it, is about half the temperature it should be, as she hasn't heated back up from her startlement yet.

Though she looks rather rebellious, she doesn't resist being pulled, as she does want to get home.

"I can too, you know..."

[Duos]

At least he's close.

"Perhaps I need to try a different approach if I can't find his address directly..."

Yori muses as the two scurry off. He flips through the stack of papers looking for a map. If the school was that way, and the sublet apartments were this way, then the closest place that he could be was here. But the shortest commute distance between an apartment and the school was there...

He's still pondering when the man drives past in an old pickup truck, window down, whistling tunelessly along with the radio. Yori stares.

"What are the odds? Well, it's as they say-better to be lucky than skilled."

He reaches out and clenches his fist, jerking it upwards, and the road in front of the old truck buckles for a second before snapping upwards, sheared in half, the sudden wall rising imposingly over the ruck, the pipes underneath the street gushing water as they are suddenly liberated from their connections. There's a screech of tires as the professor tries to brake, but the truck still careens into the sudden barrier, the hood buckling as it slams into the ground. Yori sweeps his hand sideways, and the air around the truck bulges obscenely, as though it were a funhouse mirror, and the truck suddenly jumps a hundred feet backwards, crunching onto the sidewalk next to Yori. He leans forward, eyes narrowing as the man shakes his head, dazed from the impact.

"No escape this time. You're going to finish your part of the deal, or I'm going to peel your skin off before I kill you."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio feeling how cold she is starts using his powers to warm her up as he says, "Trust me I know. Still it is better not to tempt fate on things like this. That and my luck is horrendous when it comes to things like this. It was then that they could hear what sounded like concrete tearing itself apart and coming from where they just came from. In a complete 180 from his usual self Tobio looks at her with a deadpan look as he says, "See what I mean?"

[Mina Kobold]

Elsbeth

Tap tap tap tap.

"Well!?! I'm waiting!"

[Katsu and Elsbeth]

Katsu tilts his head in confusion before replying.

"Waiting? On Wh-Oh! You mean this?"

At the last word, the eccentric Azabu student seemingly pulls a phone out of Elsbeth's own pocket!

"Did I do it right? I am not good at doing stuff right..."

The speedster adds, not sounding nearly as secure as usual. Luckily, the phone appears to be as close to Elsbeth's original as can be bought in Academy City.

(Sorry for my slow reply. I am terrible at managing my time some weeks m(_ _)m)

((If she has no pockets, Katsu will do the "Pull out of your ear" trick ))

[Lady Serpentine]

"Yeah, I get your point. And I'm fine, by the way... I cooled myself down, so unless you want the practice, you don't have to worry about heating me back up," she replies, smiling at him.

They can probably reach her house in the next post or two.