Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

She was fortunate it hadn’t been a laser bombing.

“Bwah!! With one of those, I’d’ve been killed before I even had a chance to dodge! Argh, curse Academy City and its love of using bizarre tech on you without any kind of warning!!”

Mikoto had just barely avoided harm by magnetically flinging herself to the side and attaching herself to a distant building, but her uniform and bangs were both soaked from steam. That must have been a weaker version of the attack, but even so, the park was just gone.

Mikoto didn’t know if Shokuhou had brainwashed the satellite controller into attacking or if whoever remained on the Academy City side was fighting back. Either way, Mikoto would have a hard time leisurely making astronomical observations with that targeting her. She had to assume staying still for five seconds would get her bombed from orbit.

(And I didn’t manage to get a good look at anything in space before I was attacked.)

She was on the run, so she would have a hard time stopping and making observations even if she did get her hands on another telescope. She couldn’t rely on the livestreamed satellite images that space development industry sites released. She needed to see it for herself, since she knew that was one source that couldn’t be modified.

Her plan would still work as long as it was a location outside of Academy City.

So instead of focusing so much on space up above, she could cut across Academy City and check things beyond the wall.

“What I want most right now is to avoid that satellite, so I guess I’ll head underground!!”

She flicked a coin from her thumb and launched a Railgun at the ground.

The hole she blasted in the asphalt revealed a massive underground shopping area that was likely part of the nearby train station. If you searched on your phone for “walking routes that stay out of the rain”, most any answer would have you go through there.

Mikoto didn’t hesitate to jump down through the hole.

“Oh, and they have a limited time Gekota shop in the event space! I need to make a mental note of that and stop by when peace has returned to the world.”

Of course, that shop might not exist in the real world if this was an illusion or a virtual reality.

''Boom!!

The concrete wall to the side was suddenly smashed through and a mass of steel continuous tracks and hydraulic cylinders emerged.

The machine had a giant pinecone-like drill on the front and work arms attached all around it, so it was probably an Anti-Skill tunnel excavation machine. That thing on tank-like tracks was used to create underground spaces like this one.

“Another inefficient and overly-romanticized vehicle!?”

“Hee hee, ha ha, Misaka-saaan☆ Academy City’s science ability is on another levellllllllllllllllll!!”

A strange shout came from the hole overhead.

Shokuhou must have been unexpectedly bad at adlibbing because she was gradually getting weirder.

That said, the heavy machine was powerful but slow. Mikoto ran through the vast underground train station to put distance between it and her.

She of course used her power to neutralize all of the security cameras as she went.

(And while I’m down here, whoever’s watching me from space should lose sight of me!)

An underground space this large would have more than 10 or even 20 stairway exits. She would eventually be located from orbit again, but she would take any head start she could get. If she could leave through an exit the attacker (whoever they were) didn’t expect, she would have some brief freedom.

Shokuhou was chasing after Mikoto, meaning she had forced herself to jump into the hole and managed not to sprain her ankle despite her lack of athleticism.

Mikoto worked her brain as she ran up the stairs to the surface.

When it came down to it…

(This will probably end up being a fight over a single Level 5 more than over ten thousand Level 0s. But which Level 5 would join me if I explained the threat Shokuhou poses? They’re all so weird I have a hard time imagining any of them doing it.)

That was when she spotted someone.

It was truly a coincidence.

He was as far as you could get from Academy City’s seven Level 5s.

He was the kind of perfectly ordinary high schooler you could find anywhere.

He was a pointy-haired boy.

“Hey, do you know what’s going on in the city?”

It wasn’t a logical conclusion.

But Mikoto knew whoever got him on her side would win this. She was certain of it.

“H-hey, are you two alright? There’s been trouble cropping up all over the city.”

He couldn’t have imagined the two girls standing in front of him were the cause of all that trouble.

He was truly worried for them.

He was the kind of person who could manage that in a crisis.

“Anyway, we should stick together. Splitting up just increases the risk of one of us getting lost. Don’t worry. If we all work together, I just know we can get through this!”

Mikoto and Shokuhou had someone who would worry for them.

For his sake, they knew they had to stop this fighting.

Then it hit.

A mysterious water bomb dropped straight down from the giant satellite in orbit.

With a deafening boom, Kamijou Touma was vaporized.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!?”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!?”

Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki both screamed.

And they forever lost the final thing that could have stopped them.