Chapter XIII: To Those Who Abondoned Us

Starting off where we left earlier, Erza and the others came across an old abandoned factory that for some reason, appears to have been use recently. Basing on how quiet it is, it seems that no one is around, for now that is.

"Erza, are you really entering the building?" Lucy asked the scarlet haired mage in which she nodded in response.

"Like I said, something is in here."

"If you're saying other than some supernatural entities, then that is indeed worth investigating!" Ruiko said to her with a mix of excitement and nervous.

"You guys stay here." Erza ordered.

"We're not letting you go in there alone Erza." Lucy said to her.

"Alright." Erza smiled. "Just stay close. We still don't know what's in here."

The group entered the building and looking around the corridor. Some rooms are blocked by wooden planks while others are wide open but are empty or very messy. It doesn't seem to have any security system installed for it didn't went off after they entered but the electricity in this place is running smoothly despite it looking like a dump. They can hear some sort of machinery along the corridor and as they go further, the sound gets louder. The group soon reaches an open metallic door and just beyond it is the machine that's making that whirring noise connected to a control panel. Attached to it are thick wires that are connected to smaller containers just behind the panel. There isn't enough light here to brighten the whole room and this machine is doing something that they still don't know what.

"What is this place?" Lucy wondered as she looked around the facility. Erza and Ruiko are staring at the control panel then to the containers that it's connected to wondering on what they could be.

"It's more of a facility than a factory." Wendy commented.

"Well I heard that some people usually turn old factories to facilities." Ruiko said.

"You shouldn't go into places you aren't invited kids." A voice said coming from the entrance to the room. They all turned towards it and saw a man standing there. They recognize him as the same Aeromaster kidnapping students around Academy City.

"It's you." Erza stepped forward and Lucy held Ruiko and Wendy closer to her as they went behind Erza. "Is this your doing?"

"Take a guess?" he smirked. "Kids these days, sticking their nose where it shouldn't be. It is my fault for building a base in a place where people can accidently wander into in the first place but..." his face suddenly turned dark as he approached the mage. "It's already the final phase of our plan." He whispered. Erza quickly summoned one sword and swings it towards the man only to be avoided. He now stood near the control panel and still with a smile on his face. "Aren't you curious on where are the students that I kidnapped? Well, they are all here in this room." as soon as he said that, he pressed one of the buttons on the panel and the light got brighter. To the group's surprise, inside those containers are the missing students all in a sleeping state. "Oh don't worry, they are all alive." He assured them. "And their lives will be determined by the actions you will make from now on."

"What're you gonna do with them?" Lucy demanded.

"I'm sure you've heard about Multi-Skill."

"What's that?" Erza asked.

"It's a phenomenon where someone has the power of many different abilities at the same time which is impossible for each person can only use a single ability." Ruiko explained.

"Precisely." The Aeromaster said. "One person did manage to achieve that through the use of a device called as Level Upper by tuning the brainwaves of others to match theirs. It was hard really. After all, the data about that incident is hard to get so you could say that I got lucky."

"So are you planning on achieving this so called 'Multi-Skill'?" Erza asked once more.

"It's not me but rather something else. Humans have their own limitations so I'm thinking, what about a machine with Esper abilities.."

"That's impossible. Machines can't have Esper abilities!" Ruiko reasoned.

"I'm tired of hearing that word…" a voice resounded throughout the whole facility. A metal door opened from behind and there stood a white 7 feet robot. Its yellow eyes let out a menacing glow as it stepped out of the room that it was in. "Kyosuke, what are these kids doing here?" It spoke and judging by the tone in its voice, it sounds so unhappy.

"Sorry about that brother. They just happen to stumble upon our facilities." The Aeromaster named Kyosuke said with his unfading smile.

"Someone's actually controlling that thing?" Lucy wondered out loud.

"It's not as simple as that young lady for this machine and I are one." The robot said. "I'm not controlling the robot, I am the robot!" It raised its arms and shoots out strong electricity from it. Erza quickly Re-Equip into her Adamantine Armor and shielded their selves from the attack before turning back. That sure was shocking, no puns intended.

"Was that an ability just now?" Ruiko said with disbelief. The robot looked at its own hands then began to laugh.

"It… worked… Hahaha! This is amazing! With this, Academy City will finally have a taste of our revenge!"

"Not if we can help it!" Lucy shouted at him.

"I would be careful if I were you." Kyosuke warned them. "I told you, the lives of the 20 students here will depend on your actions from now."

"Destroying me will not just be the end of my life but also those students'. We're connected!" The robot told them. It noticed the bewildered look on their faces, waiting for some enlightenment in which they are willing to give. "It's alright to be confused ladies. Have you ever wondered on how I become one with this machine? We were a group once, a research group to be precise and we propose a very interesting topic: Machine Brain Implant."

"Brain implant? Are you saying that you-"

"That's right. I'm the result of that experiment. By doing this, humans can live as long as they want by transferring their brains inside machines like these. What's more, we could've produced an Esper void with these so called 'limitations'. But what did the Higher-Ups do? They just laugh at it!!" the robot angrily swings its arms out of anger releasing a wind current towards a pile of metal blocks sending them flying and crashing to the nearby wall. "Academy City's technology is far ahead than the ones outside. We have the most advance technology in the country but they still question the possibility of this experiment. They abandoned us, that is why it's time to pay them back and show them the mistake they had made. Now, about those students. I'm sure you know about the Level Upper by now. Those student's brainwaves matches my own, with that, I have gained access to 20 different Espers' ability. Still, not unlike the one with Lever Upper, ours is limited to 20 only. It still needs some more adjusting but you could say that I managed to achieve something impossible, a Multi-Skill and without human limitations, I'm invincible."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Erza told it.

"Even robots have their own limitations and they can easily be destroyed." Wendy followed up.

"True but like I said, destroy me, you'll kill the 20 students in here. This body is connected to that panel over there wirelessly. Destroying this will send a signal to it, then those capsules over there will release a strong voltage of electricity enough to fry the brains of the ones lying inside those."

"You… you would go that far just to complete your revenge story?!" Erza shouted at it.

"Of course and with those students acting as my hostage, no one can stop me. After all, Academy City will lose some of its precious guinea pigs although I'm sure that they'll gladly sacrifice them when they don't have a chance! After all, it'll cost them only 20 Espers but even Academy City isn't too foolish to take that risk.."

"That's it for the lesson kids. If you still insist on stopping us, we'll be in the city." Kyosuke grabbed onto the robot as it blasted through the roof.

"I have to inform Uiharu and Shirai-san about this!" Ruiko quickly said and quickly called the Judgement's office.

"Erza, what'll we do?" Lucy asked.

"We need to find a way to disable this machine." Wendy said.

"But they wouldn't let it unguarded if it was that easy. Call Natsu and the others. Tell them what happened and no matter what, don't let them destroy the robot."

-XXX-

"What?" Natsu just received Lucy's call and was completely surprised by what she told him. Kuroko is still with them and she somehow knew that something is going on. Her phone began to ring and it was Kazari calling her. Kuroko quickly answered it.

"What's wrong Uiharu?" she asked.

"Saten-san just called. They discovered the kidnapper's base!" Uiharu answered.

"Really?! Where?!"

"I'll be sending you the coordinates after this call. I've already contacted Anti-Skill but they'll be late. A robot just appeared in the city and began rampaging around along with the Aeromaster and Anti-Skill is dealing with them."

"What about the missing students?"

"That's one of the problems. Saten-san told me that they are hostages. No one can attack the robot without risking their lives. If it goes down, so are the students."

"That jerk!!" Natsu yelled "He'll definitely pay for this!"

"Oi, calm down Natsu. If what they said is true, attacking that robot will put those students' in danger." Gray told him.

"Then we need to find a way to release them first." Mikoto suggested. "Kuroko, you're going to the site right? Take me with you. I can help and don't give me that crap about being a civilian or whatever, there are lives at stakes here." The Railgun said seriously. Kuroko nodded in agreement. As much as she doesn't want her precious Onee-sama getting involved in this kind of thing, they need all the help they can get. "Uiharu-san is also good at these things."

"Yes. We'll make a quick stop and onto the site." Kuroko then turned to the boys.

"You guys should-"

"We'll go stop that guy." Touma said to her.

"Don't worry; we'll just make sure it won't trash the whole city." Gray assured them.

"Okay. Even if I try to stop you, you won't listen anyway." Kuroko agreed.

"We'll tell you when we managed to release the hostages." Mikoto told them.

"Alright. Keep us updated." Touma said with a smile before they ran out of the park. Kuroko then proceeded to teleport herself and Mikoto to do their duties.

People began to panic at the sight of the strange robot in the city blasting everything in its path without any sign of mercy. Anti-Skill is already in the scene but what bad luck they have. Even if they arrived early this time, they can't do anything against this robot if everything that's been reported is true. All they can do now is to try and slow it down until someone rescues the hostages but even that proves to very tricky. Natsu and the others eventually arrived at the scene and saw how messy the place is. They don't even know if someone got caught up with this.

"Hey you bastard!" Natsu shouted catching the robot's attention. "Instead of taking hostages and destroying your home, why don't you just fight me like a man!"

The robot seems impressed by Natsu's bravado. "You say some interesting things there boy but this place isn't my home. It's not worth calling it like that anymore after it abandoned us. People with no power are trash here. They can't contribute to this city anymore. They can't be used as test subjects and they are here just waiting for disposal."

"You better stop talking like that!" Natsu warned and his body burst into flames responding to his anger.

"But it's all true. People with high Esper powers get more attention than those who have nothing."

"Even so, you're still talking about people who are living here! They are not just something you can toy around with!!"

"Why don't you tell that to the Higher-Ups then? It's no use getting angry at me. We're also victims of discrimination here in the city. Skill-Out is also part of that population. Like us, they hate this city."

"But still…" Touma began. "Despite this city's darkness, there are people who still call it their home. If this city's destruction will be the cause of their sadness, then I'll save this place and finally break that stupid illusion of yours!" he shouted with a raised clenched fist.

"I'm more powerful than you are boy! You can't beat me."

"Not on his own that is!" Gray just removed his shirt. "We're here too."

"We'll beat you up you stupid pile of scrap metal!" the Fire Dragon Slayer shouted and started running towards the robot with flaming fist then jumped into the air ready to clash in a fight where they can't afford to lose.

-END OF CHAPTER-

A/N: Hey guys! It's me again! I really like writing these things before and after every chapter I make. You know, I just realized that… I haven't given this arc that much thought yet so I'm very sorry if it turned out very bad. That was my mistake. Actually, I want to know what you think of it so don't be afraid in giving criticism in your reviews. If it disappoints you, then I'll make it up to you guys in the main arc which is probably next since I can't think of nice plots for some side arcs. Anyway, I still hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to update as soon as I can. I'll see you guys next time! Electro out! Awoooo!P.S: I originally planned on creating this chapter after our graduation but laziness got the best of me. Sorry for that everybody _V