Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item2 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 1===

It was midnight on August 7.

All sound had vanished from the world in the brief respite of the typhoon’s eye.

Ainame Caroline disappeared.

“!!!???”

Mugino Shizuri felt a scrape.

She immediately swung her head to the side to dodge, but she couldn’t stop the icy pain on her neck. Even though just a 5mm difference would have cut open her carotid.

“Sample acquired☆”

She had seen this bizarre teleportation before.

After sharply moving past her, the little brown gyaru smiled and twirled her phone in her hand. Not only was it contained in a sturdy blast-resistant case, but the case’s decorative bunny ears were in fact razor blades.

(Her power is Thoughtography, which doesn’t explain how she can suddenly disappear! Damn!!)

But Mugino didn’t have time for a detailed analysis.

Before even holding a hand to her neck wound, she held her right hand directly behind her.

She launched a Meltdowner beam.

She heard a sizzling sound, but not from Meltdowner.

“Kee hee ha ha!!”

Dark scorch marks surrounded everything around the 10-year-old girl, including the walls, floor, and ceiling. The lines drew out some kind of pattern and they looked a lot like movie film chopped into pieces and scattered around.

Thoughtography.

That was all it was supposed to be, but Mugino’s attacks weren’t hitting.

“Lame! Did you forget? I’m the head researcher who was directly involved in developing you as a Level 5. This entire lab has essentially ceased to function without me around. And did you think Meltdowner was the only thing I worked on? Hee ha ha! It’s cool, really. So, so cool!! The seven Level 5s all influence each other. And! I’ve already acquired the essence of the #6!!!”

Ainame Caroline disappeared again. She approached while taking small steps to the right and left. If Mugino let herself be lured into firing a poorly-aimed Meltdowner blast, the girl would rush in all at once.

Mugino hated how her wet white clothing clung to her skin. And in this life-or-death situation, even a slight irritation could become a serious threat.

She had a blade slash with red blood dripping from it.

But that wasn’t about to extinguish Mugino’s rage.

“Ohhhh!!”

She thrust her palm out in front and fired Meltdowner.

But just when she assumed Ainame Caroline would disappear, the girl instead swung her body to easily dodge the deadly light and then rushed sharply in toward Mugino.

“Again!?”

Neck, wrist, and thigh.

The sharp bunny ears razor blade had plenty of vital points to choose from.

Even Mugino was forced to guard herself with her arms. A sharp scorching heat ran through her flank.

“Lame. I already have Meltdowner’s DNA map and duplicate samples are honestly a real letdown. But since I took it, I might as well archive it. Oh, I know. Wouldn’t it be hilariously cool if I preserved each drop of blood on a microscope slide and handed them out in front of the train station like tissues!? Ha ha ha. Now that would throw the world into chaos!!”

It wasn’t over yet.

Mugino couldn’t afford to collapse here.

Collapsed and abandoned Tachiuo Mary entered the corner of her vision. That girl had fought all four Item members at once to buy time, but then she was abandoned by the very person she had trusted to the end. A villain like Mugino regretted the loss of someone so deadly.

She wanted to do something for her.

Could the dark side really accept this sack of shit who wasn’t even a villain?

“You can’t possibly understand what it feels like to not just be a duplicate but to be discarded without even getting the chance to live up to your full potential. When I use those support organization delinquents, I at least make sure it’s part of a plan leading to victory. I might coldly consume their lives to win, but not even a villain would continue to throw them into the meat grinder while knowing from the beginning it was a dead end.”

“Ah ha ha☆ Deflate that ego, guinea pig. That’s something only us cool researchers can do.”

Mugino blinked in displeasure.

That girl could gather information through Thoughtography, she could mysteriously teleport, and she had her bunny razor blade.

If Mugino couldn’t reveal all of Ainame Caroline’s tricks and prevent her from using them, she would be carved up little by little!!