Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item2 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 11===

After they ate dinner and took turns bathing, it was around 11 PM.

“They’re here,” Takitsubo said out of nowhere.

“Kh.”

“Something feels off to the south-southwest. This fluctuation has to be them.”

If Takitsubo Rikou was that certain, Mugino didn’t need to ask for her reasons or reasoning.

They really were here.

The entire giant building that resembled an airport terminal shook vertically. Sharp cracks ran through all the windows on one side.

But not because something had crashed into the front of the building.

It was more accurate to say, ''the roof had been torn away.'' Right after something pierced through a point in the lab ceiling with tremendous force, the typhoon winds tore the entire roof away. It came away as easily as the scored strip at the top of a plastic bag.

But they couldn’t afford to forget about the girl who had broken through a roof sturdier than tank armor at the very start of all this.

(It’s that mask girl.)

“Tachiuo Mary!!” shouted Mugino with a Meltdowner blast directed straight up, but it didn’t hit.

Tachiuo Mary didn’t hesitate to jump down the three-story drop of the central atrium. She used her body’s fearsome muscles and sturdy bones to forcefully absorb the shock of the landing and then adjusted her grip on the thing resting on her shoulder.

The weapon had a long shaft like a spear, but the long blade at the tip was even broader than an azure dragon sword.

It resembled a Chinese glaive called a Chang Bing Dao, but it was essentially different.

''She had taken a flat piece of metal and crushed it more than halfway to create a spear-like shaft.

“Is that a helicopter rotor? Where did you super get that!?”

“F-from the ‘hospital’ stopped on a nearby building roof.”

Tachiuo Mary politely answered the question before ''disappearing''.

She held the piece of metal weighing more than 100kg and used pure speed to approach Kinuhata Saiai. Before Kinuhata could raise her arms to guard herself, the makeshift Chang Bing Dao sliced through the air and struck Kinuhata in the torso, sweeping her aside. The follow through of the swing slammed Kinuhata back-first into a nearby wall.

This created a loud crash of destruction.

It made sense that girl could defeat all of the doped-up soldiers armed with full-auto shotguns loaded with tiny needles poisoned with habu venom coagulant or hornet venom acetylcholine.

But Kinuhata forcibly held the rotor in place with her hands, restricting the girl’s movement.

With Offense Armor, she didn’t have to worry about this slicing her in two.

“Super now!!”

Tachiuo Mary abandoned her weapon.

She let go of the Chang Bing Dao, grabbed two nearby wireless LAN antennae and used them to deflect Mugino’s kick and Frenda’s wrist coming in from the sides. With a swishing sound, she again readied the two antennae that branched out something like short tridents.

“In the end, are those supposed to be Bijiacha!? That’s the Chinese version of a parrying dagger!!”

Frenda’s shouted explanation was cut short.

A wire thicker than an index finger was wrapped around Tachiuo Mary’s ankle with a weight attached to the end. A sharp piece of metal more than 30cm long was attached to the other end. It was likely a ceiling crane used to unload industrial computers, materials, and other cargo from a truck parked in a garage.

A sharp kick sent the metal into the side of Frenda’s face, sending Frenda spinning to the floor. No, she had launched herself with a small explosive right before it hit, just barely eliminating its force. If not for that, half her face would have been torn right off.

Ferocious rain blew in through the torn-away ceiling. Mugino was so irritated by the wet clothing clinging to her skin she wanted to just strip it all off, but she only clicked her tongue instead.

“Tch!! A Sheng Biao too!? What doesn’t this Chinese weapon lover have!?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t actually know what any of these are called. I don’t recognize any of those names you’re using.”

Tachiuo Mary politely responded with the muffled voice behind her mask.

Was she saying she didn’t know the names or how they worked, but her body automatically selected any nearby object she could use as a weapon? Just like someone who folded a paper airplane or origami crane out of a random flier didn’t think too much about it? If so, how many reflexes and habits had Ainame Caroline ''written'' into her specimen’s brain and nerves?

“I do not mind.”

Tachiuo Mary must have realized the same thing, but she didn’t seem bothered by it.

The gloomy high schooler looked Mugino Shizuri directly in the eye.

“Lady Carol destroyed my ordinary world, which was so peaceful and boring but also so stifling it could kill you. But she never demanded I obey her. She treated everyone in Honey Queen as equals, both me…and ''him''. I like this little world. I’m happy as long as I can remain steeped in this wicked world. Unlike you, I won’t starve from any kind of deficiency!!”

“Hah. You’re wasted as a villain!!”

Meltdowner shot from Mugino Shizuri’s palm.

However, it failed to connect with Tachiuo Mary who stood straight in front of her. It flew right past her cheek.

Mugino’s aim had not been off.

Tachiuo Mary had sharply thrown her makeshift Bijiacha with the power of explosives and one of them stabbed into Mugino’s thigh.

“Gah!!”

“Like I told you, if Lady Carol asks me to, I will win even if it means fighting you.”

(She has guts. What kind of idiot would challenge me of all people to a head-on shootout!?)

Mugino clenched her teeth at the pain that felt like being stabbed by building rebar, but the corners of her lips also rose.

She formed a violent smile. She revealed her identity as a battle freak who didn’t care what she gained or lost from the fight.

She had determined this girl was worth fighting.

The air roared as it blew down from above.

The Sheng Biao, a large piece of metal attached to a thick wire, flew towards Mugino’s head like an axe kick.

She had no choice but to jump back and bear with the pain.

The attached wire gave this weapon a different trajectory from an ordinary projectile, but that also limited its range.

“Tch!!”

Mugino raised her right hand and took aim with Meltdowner, while Tachiuo Mary used a swing of her slender ankle to cut away the Sheng Biao, abandoning it on the wet floor.

Unarmed Tachiuo Mary walked slowly forward. Her long braid swayed side to side, sending water droplets scattering as she approached Mugino with no hesitation whatsoever.

This was no ordinary person.

For one, no one with a stable mind would block Mugino Shizuri’s way in an open space with no cover. This was obviously suicide, but she boasted the specs needed to survive it. She was even more of a threat unarmed than with those brutal weapons because she was now free to move however she liked.

Mugino was having fun.

She enjoyed feeling the chill of death crawl up her spine.

It had been far too long since someone had forced her to push past her limits!!

(Tachiuo Mary. When your enemy’s options are unlimited, thinking too hard is a good way to lose!!)

“Ha ha!!”

Mugino arrived at that answer and held her palm straight out.

She heard a lot of high-pitched metallic clinking sounds and noticed Tachiuo Mary had kicked up some junk and scrap metal from the wet floor and grabbed it in her hands.

The large paper airplane surrounding an explosive lithium ion battery was a Shen Huo Fei Ya.

Was the old-fashioned grenade made by forcibly opening a hole in a spray can and stuffing tissues inside supposed to be a Zhen Tian Lei?

“Ohhhh!!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Neither one ran or hid.

They launched their attacks from head on. A beam surged out and triggered an explosion in midair. The exploding paper airplane erupted with flames like a firework to weave through a gap in the explosion, sharply curving in toward Mugino.

Fighting this girl was ''fun''.

She was a being of pure death and violence who dragged out enough of Mugino’s endorphins to put her in extreme battle freak mode. At this point, Kinuhata and Frenda were reluctant to try and assist. An explosion sent talon-like metal shards slicing through the air, grazing Mugino’s cheek and stabbing into her upper arm, but Mugino only corrected Meltdowner’s aim. Instead of aiming for the vitals, she aimed where she expected Tachiuo Mary to be after a jump to the right.

However…

“Hm!?”

She missed.

Her Meltdowner beam unnaturally veered off course and very nearly grazed Kinuhata Saiai who had been preparing a surprise attack on Tachiuo Mary from the side.

(I didn’t screw that up. ''She did something to me''!?)

“We are both giving this our all, so I will hold nothing back. These projectiles are not my only weapons.”

This was supposed to be a clash between espers, after all.

Meanwhile, Tachiuo Mary slammed her fist into a nearby wall and yanked out a thick steel beam. Since the end was split and spread out like a palm tree, it looked a lot like a Chinese Zhuazi Bang. A hit from the steel beam itself would kill instantly and even a graze from the many “talons” at the end would tear the flesh away like a bear slashing a human.

It scored a direct hit.

Kinuhata’s range of motion had been severely restricted thanks to her teammate’s Meltdowner beam, so she was caught in the flank. This time, she was knocked to the floor. If not for Offense Armor, her upper and lower halves would have been torn apart.

“Check.”

As a deterrent, Mugino launched two blasts without trying to hit, but the beams exploded in her palm.

Her attack had failed.

She was blasted to the wall, but Tachiuo Mary didn’t even bother looking while she spoke to Takitsubo.

“Now she can’t move. You’re only meant to locate the enemy, right? Y-you can’t do anything without your attackers.”

“What did you do?”

“''I used Angelica. That allows me to do more than raise an esper’s level. I can lower it too. That is my esper power. The chemical secreted inside me is dangerous in much the same way as Body Crystal. Touch that chemical and it will destroy your genetic sequence. The rainwater dripping from my skin is probably a threat too. I-I’m not talking about anything as simple as losing control of your power. This will destroy your DNA and transform all of your cells into a lesion''.”

“Kh.”

“J-just kidding?”

Tachiuo Mary thew away her makeshift Zhuazi Bang with a heavy clank and stuck out her tongue a little.

She was so bad at making jokes that the very air seemed tense.

She had said Ainame Caroline had saved her, but this weight showed just how bad her previous life had been.

And the tall, soaked high schooler readily denied everything she had just said.

“I can’t actually do any of that yet. My Anything Link is still only Level 4. Besides, we’re here right now to complete Angelica. All I can do now is send an electron beam through the skull and into the brain to throw off the balance of brain chemicals. It’s not quite the same thing as electrolysis. Still, it is enough to make an esper lose control of their power.”

She grabbed something next to her without even looking in Takitsubo’s direction. It was a hat rack that looked a lot like a Christmas tree made of wires. But by attaching the long, skinny support of a floor lamp by wrapping duct tape around them, it turned into a Chinese spear known as a Xian Qiang. If she stabbed that into immobilized Mugino’s back, the multiple branches of the thick wires would stir up her insides, making a mess of her bones and organs.

“It’s time I lost my murder virginity.”

Tachiuo Mary knew what this meant.

She put on a resolute face and took another step forward.

“She taught me there was more to the world than the supposedly peaceful classroom where the popular are in control and not even the air molecules can move freely. I’m happy as long as I can stay in this wicked world. I’m willing to kill to stay here.”

“Do you think you’re more noble and special because you’re reluctant about the killing you do? If so, you should already know you’re making a mistake.”

“Shut up. I won’t let anyone call me a murder virgin again. I will live in the same world as Lady Carol forevermore. And this is what that will take.”

“”That’s too bad. That shame and guilt are a luxury those of us with no choice but to live on the dark side can’t afford. If you’re going to throw that away without even understanding its value, then you’re only a smalltime villain.”

Track Suit Girl Takitsubo spoke quietly in the rain.

She held a small case in her hand. The white powder sprinkled on the back of her hand was Body Crystal.

“I won’t let you kill Mugino.”

“S-so what? You can talk big all you want, but no matter how much of your lifespan you sacrifice, a targetter like you can’t harm me without an attacker. Who is going to obey your accurate instructions? There’s no one left. You’re out of ammo and only have the scope left, so what can you do?”

“''I’m not worried.''” Takitsubo was confident. “I know Mugino will get back up. I trust the Level 5 Meltdowner.”

A scraping sound followed.

Mugino Shizuri’s right hand was dragging along the floor while she remained collapsed with her bangs covering her face.

But…was she even conscious?

“You know I provide targeting support for Mugino because you researched us before this attack, right?”

The Level 5’s palm was aimed precisely at Tachiuo Mary.

Tachiuo Mary should have written it off as impossible.

She was watching something that shouldn’t be happening.

“Sh-she can’t do it.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I already broke down Mugino Shizuri’s brain chemicals using the electron beam I sent through her skull, so if she fires Meltdowner now, it will only blow up in her face!”

“If you really believe that, then you can just stand there and wait for your win.”

Make no mistake.

Takitsubo Rikou was not a kind person. Nor was she harmless.

She was just as messed up as the other members of Item.

That plain track suit girl was also a villain whose only home was on the dark side.

Meaning…

“Kh.”

Tachiuo Mary spun around.

She focused on Takitsubo for the first time.

She was forced to.

Takitsuo’s pupils were unnaturally dilated. She had already used the Body Crystal, meaning she had intentionally pushed AIM Stalker beyond the limits of what she could control.

But more than that…

“I don’t believe it…”

Tachiuo Mary was aware of the deadly light gathering in a corner of her vision, but she did not remove her gaze from Takitsubo.

The obvious Level 5 wasn’t the real threat here.

She focused on the person who inspired far greater terror in her.

“Does this mean…observing and tracking AIM Diffusion Fields ''isn’t the true form of your pow''-”

The light that should have exploded instead shot out as a beam and pierced Tachiuo Mary.