Oopsie, disappeared again didn't I? My bad guys. I mean I don't know if anyone is even still reading this story, but if you are welcome back! I still hope to finish this story one day. When that'll be who knows, but I'm done abandoning work!

Enjoy!

"The event will begin in thirty seconds! All teams prepare yourselves!"

"Ready?" Mikoto asked, stretching her legs as Shokuhou just stood next to her, looking unimpressed.

"I apologise in advance if you have to carry me at some point," she said. "I'm not a runner."

"I'll just let them take your badge," Mikoto replied simply, ignoring the girls over the top surprised gasp.

"You wouldn't!" Shokuhou shouted. "That's cruel, leaving me behind!"

"Doesn't mean I won't do it if I feel like it," she said, smirking at the blonde as she pretended to faint.

"I can't believe I've been stuck with such a monster!" Shokuhou cried, clearly trying to get the drama departments attention with her performance. "What did I do to deserve this?!"

"Did you want a list?" Mikoto asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Nagatenjouki High, Hisakawa Prep! The Team Elimination Game was begun! The loser will be the first team to lose all of it's contestants, or if both teams survive, the one with more remaining students will win! Are you ready?! START!"

At this Mikoto took of down the street she and Shokuhou had been stationed on, ignoring the blonde's whining as she did so.

"So do we fight at all or what?" Shokuhou asked as she actually managed to catch up and keep pace.

"I don't see the issue if it's only a few people," Mikoto replied. "Besides, it's us. I think we can manage a group of four or five." Shokuhou nodded at this, sweat already dripping down her forehead.

"Let's hope this goes well," she said. "Last thing I want is to complain like that than actually let our team down."

"You trying to say you actually give a damn what they think of you?" Mikoto asked with a smirk, making Shokuhou scoff.

"Please," she replied. "I already know they all love me. Just like you do!"

"If my general treatment of you is what you call love I worry for your future." Mikoto said, making Shokuhou pout. Turning her attention back to the street, Mikoto realised that a group of three Hisakawa students were standing in front of them, abilities ready. One seemed to be able to produce fire, another was covering their body in what looked like iron, and the third just waiting ready.

"What to just take them out?" Shokuhou asked.

"Please do," Mikoto replied, neither girl slowly down. Shokuhou lifted the remote in her hand, aiming it at the three students. The three clearly panicked before their expressions died away, all three digging around their person. As Mikoto and Shokuhou reached them they handed their badges over, both girls grabbing them as they went on their way.

"That was easy," Shokuhou said, looking over her shoulder.

"If we need to get a groups attention we will," Mikoto replied. "Making ourselves a nuisance would do that the best."

"What am I supposed to do with these things anyway?" Shokuhou asked as they examined the Hisakawa badge in her hand. "I don't exactly have pockets."

"They send a signal when they detach from whoever was wearing them," Mikoto replied, tossing one of the badges she grabbed at her roommates head, making her whimper pathetically. "Toss it if you want." Nodding, the girls tossed the badges out and continued on their way, looking for whoever they could get the attention of. They noticed students from both schools sitting around missing badges, expressions ranging from angry to indifferent. Clearly battles were taking place all over the place regardless of their involvement.

"Misaka, look." Mikoto turned to look as Shokuhou called her, noticing the blonde boy in front of them. He was clearly from Hisakawa, was all by himself, and looked terrified.

"Ah man!" He shouted. "Of all people to run into on my own, it had to be you guys! Gah!" With this he turned and ran down a nearby alley, leaving both girls standing where they had been.

"Odds it's a trap?" Mikoto asked bluntly.

"Pretty high," Shokuhou replied, playing with her hair. "No way anyone in Hisakawa is dumb enough to be on their own in a game like this."

"Do we give chase?"

"Wasn't that our job?" Nodding at each other, both girls tore down the alley after the boy, who couldn't be more obvious in his act as lure. He had waited to see if they were following him, and made sure they saw him at every corner he took so they know where to follow him and what he was doing.

"This guy can't be for real," she hissed as she caught the smile on his face.

"I don't suppose he's an arts student," Shokuhou muttered, sounding slightly bemused. "Not with acting like that, anyway." Soon enough the boy rounded another corner, and Mikoto could hear shouting. Coming to a stop near the corner, she listened as muttering could be heard around the corner. Clearly the trap.

"Shall we?" She asked Shokuhou, who shrugged.

"I guess," she replied. Together the girls rounded the corner, and obviously right into the boys trap. Twenty or so Hisakawa students had been lying in wait for them, all of them with abilities charged up.

"Gah!" Shokuhou cried out, hamming it up. "It was a trap!"

"Really?!" Mikoto demanded, playing up her false irritation to make it seem the two weren't on the same page. "I couldn't tell that myself, thanks!"

"Sorry girls!" A boy in the formation said. "But we can't very well let you sow destruction in our ranks! Get em!"

"Run!" Mikoto said, turning to see her teammate was already abandoning her. Turning the corner just in time, the two ran as fast as they could as they heard their enemy chasing after them.

"Where did Kongou say to go again?!" Shokuhou asked.

"It's like three blocks away from here!" Mikoto replied as she ducked a fire blast. "She said we'll see a signal once they've noticed us! Follow my lead!" Running ahead of Shokuhou, Mikoto led them out of the alleyways and back onto the street, where more signs of battle had already accrued. Taking a harsh left, Mikoto ran down the street as fast as she could, hoping Shokuhou was behind her. This was going to be the hardest leg of the trip so far. Dodging more attacks sent at her by carving them to pieces with her iron sand, she turned to see Shokuhou lagging behind considerably.

"Hurry up!" She shouted as she aimed her hand outward, making the Hisakawa students duck and cover as if a Railgun was coming. "We don't have time to play around!"

"I told you I'm not a runner!" Shokuhou hissed irritably. "I'm pushing it as is!" Mikoto just let out an irritated sigh at this, deciding now was not the time for snarky words.

"Go on ahead of me!" She said. "Keep looking for Kongou's signal, it'll be nearby!"

"What about you?" Mikoto just looked back at the recovering team, a grin forming on her face.

"I'll slow them down," she said. "It's time the hunters become the prey." Rolling her eyes, Shokuhou thankfully kept quiet as she ran off in the direction they had been heading, leaving Mikoto with Hisakawa. After realising she had no intention of actually firing off a railgun, the group seemed to have quickly recovered from their panic. They seemed to notice quickly as she was standing on her own, and didn't seem interested in taking in easy on her. Good, that just meant that she didn't need too either.

Summoning her power, Mikoto send out wave after wave of electricity. Not enough to do any lasting damage, but enough that everyone was slowly down and wincing. Mikoto began to back up slowly as she kept this attack up, making sure that no one slipped past her. After all, that was the last thing she needed.

"Yo, Misaka!" Mikoto spared a look over her shoulder as Shokuhou called her.

"What?!" She demanded. Shokuhou pointed up into the sky, and Mikoto followed her finger. Up ahead, a transport truck was floating in the air. It stayed in it's cyclone for a few seconds before descending again, clearly being used as Kongou's signal. That meant that the rest of the team was nearby.

"Is that our signal?" Shokuhou asked. Mikoto smirked at this as she lessened her electricity just a bit.

"Damn right it is," she said. "Alright, I'm gonna release them and then we-!"

Mikoto jumped as sparks flew past her, her powers suddenly fluctuating and flying all over the place. She had only lowered the voltage slightly, so what was going on? It had to be someone on Hisakawa's team messing with her. Just as this thought occurred to her, her powers blowback flew past her and nearly struck Shokuhou, causing the blonde to jump in surprise.

"Hey watch it Sparky!" She shouted irritably as she turned to Mikoto. "I'm not the one you're aiming at!"

"Someone had Hisakawa has signal interruption abilities!" Mikoto replied as she did her best to regain control of her power. "There messing with my frequency!"

"Well let go and let's hurry the hell up already!" Nodding in agreement, Mikoto sent out final wave of electricity, which caused the team chasing them to flinch. With this she released her powers, turning and sprinting after Shokuhou. It obviously didn't take the team long to recover, but by then Mikoto and Shokuhou were already rounding the next corner.

"How far away did that truck look?!" Mikoto shouted over the angry roars from Hisakawa.

"A few blocks!" Shokuhou replied, already starting to lag behind again as Mikoto slightly overtook her. "So we'll probably have to contend with even more idiots trying to stop us!"

"Well I figured as much!" Still overtaking Shokuhou, Mikoto kept an eye out for anyone that decided to challenge them head on. After all, there was no way Hisakawa only wanted to chase after them all day. Chancing a look over her shoulder, Mikoto found that the team behind them was already advancing.

"Misaka, up ahead!" Now having to look forward again, Mikoto noted another smaller group was looking to intercept them. Now they were stuck with a team on either side, and both girls slid to a halt in the middle of the street.

"I take it we have to fight out way out, yeah?" Mikoto asked as she readied herself.

"Probably," Shokuhou replied, watching the team from behind and readying her remote. "Wanna see how takes out more people?"

"Not really, but I know you'll Lord it over me forever if I lose." Taking the blonde;s laugh as a confirmation of that fact, Mikoto watched as both teams finally encircled them, making it impossible to escape without a fight.

"Just hand the badges over slowly, girls." One said. "And no one has to get hurt."

"You guys really thought sending almost your entire team after some Level 5's was the best strategy you had?" Mikoto asked. "Come on, you all know we could both level all of you with a snap of our fingers." This caused a few chuckles amidst the Hisakawa students

"We know that," Another said. "Which is why we can't just let you both run rampant on us. We're just counting our lucky stars that Number 1 didn't want to participate."

"Where is that guy anyway?" Shokuhou asked. "We really could of used his help. What a dummy."

Accelerator sneezed, which was odd. Getting sick wasn't something he was capable of doing.

"Who cares," Mikoto replied. "I'll take these guys, you handle our back. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Shokuhou replied. "Ready?"

"When you are." Without another word spoken between them, both Level 5's sprung into action. Mikoto raised iron sand from the earth and whipped it into a frenzy, causing the group to dissipate around them pretty quickly. Shokuhou raised her remote and clocked some buttons, causing everyone she aimed at to grow enslaved to her. These students turned to attacks their own teammates, and before long all hell broke loose on the street. Mikoto wasn't paying close enough attention to see whose badge had been knocked off already, but she could see a few on the ground around her. Really, who here thought that contesting demigods was a good idea?

Mikoto send out wave after wave of electricity from her body, making sure to alternate her frequency so that their signal interrupter esper had a hard time. She used them to try and locate the signal of the badges everyone had, and then did her best to manipulate the sand to knock it off. She knocked off badge after badge, but it was clear that her annihilation of their ranks wasn't going to go uncontested. She could feel her electricity fighting back, the signal interrupter working is ability around her. She did her best to fight him off, but it was clear to her that capping herself at a Level 4's abilities wasn't going to cut if with such high level espers here. She'd need to bump herself to her max.

"Gah!" Mikoto turned at this cry, and watched as Shokuhou's remote was ripped out of her hand by a web like ability. The device was then slammed into the dirt, causing it to shatter into a million pieces.

"Try to keep us at bay without your precious remote!" The girl with the web ability said. Shokuhou clicked her teeth at this, and Mikoto barely got another seconds glance before she had to dodge a stream of fire sent her way.

"You okay?!" She asked over the chaos. "I can't baby you all the time, you know!"

"I've got it under control!" Shokuhou replied in a snarl. "I've still got brainwashed students knocking off badges, so-!" Mikoto spared another look as Shokuhou was cut off, watching the blonde perform gymnastics to avoid getting hit by the volley of attacks heading her way. Mikoto's body urged her to help her roommate, but she wasn't allowed to do that was the other side of the enemy now closed in on her. Shokuhou had given them an opening by having her controller sent away, now was the time to capitalise. Kicking her ability up to it's max level, Mikoto now easily fended off the attacks coming at her, her electricity and sand doing more than enough to keep her safe. She spared a look for Shokuhou ever so often, but it seemed to girl was doing okay dodging the attacks sent at her. Looking back, Mikoto blew a way another few students, and her eyes widened as a path opened up out of the circle.

"Shokuhou, now!" She shouted, making a mad dash for the hole in the entrapment. She made it out easily enough, the few espers left not nearly enough to contest her from getting away. She laughed like a maniac and turned over her shoulder, expecting to see Shokuhou right behind her.

Instead her stomach dropped as she watched the blonde get pinned to the ground, the webbing girl from before keeping her pinned there with her power. The roommate's eyes met, and Mikoto's felt a growl come from her throat.

She had reached for her pocket before the situation even fully registered.

"And it looks like Hisakawa's strategy to knock out the Level 5's of Nagatenjouki was failed spectacularly so far!" The announcer said, making Uiharu smile. Even though they were on duty, she could still see the event transpiring thanks to the massive screens broadcasting it everywhere.

"They're doing good, aren't they?" She asked. Shirai just huffed from beside her.

"They were dumb to think even with numbers they could take on one Level 5, but two? Come on now, that's just wishful thinking." Uiharu just laughed at this. She was right, after all. One Level 5 had enough power to fight off a small nations military solo, what could a team of lower level espers do? "Focus on your duty Uiharu, we've still got work to do."

"Yes Mom," Uiharu said, rolling her eyes. She turned to follow Shirai as they did another sweep of the bakery's perimeter, but a gasp from the announcer caught her off guard. Turning, she soon saw why.

Shokuhou had been pinned to the ground by someone's ability, and judging from what she could see she had also lost her remote. Mikoto had created an opening and had started to run through it, but that meant she would be leaving Shokuhou behind. But, that didn't seem to be the girls plan at all.

"It seems Misaka Mikoto is going back for her comrade!" The announcer said. "What a show of comra-?! Wait! What is she doing?!" Uiharu eye's widened as well at this, watching Mikoto dig into her pocket.

"Is she about too...?" She asked weakly. Shirai looked up, also looking surprised.

"Really?" She asked. "She's gonna use her Railgun?"

The coin was already flipping through the air before Mikoto had a moment to think.

What am I doing?

She stood still and outstretched her arm, waiting for the coin to come back.

She's one person, I could have escaped and led the rest to Kongou on my own. Why did I turn back? And why am I firing a railgun?

"Get out of the way!" Someone from Hisakawa shouted. "She's firing a railgun! Don't let her hit you!" The students from Hisakawa fled in terror from her stance, leaving only a few trying to find Shokuhou's badge from her under the webbing. Speaking of the blonde, she was just watching in surprise, starry eyes wide.

I'm risking losing my own badge to a surprise attack if I do this, so why am I not leaving.

Confused, Mikoto looked back down at her roommate, who was watching her in shock. Of all the thoughts that raced through her head, a memory stuck out to her. It was one from after the dance a while ago, when she'd tried to take care of drunk Shokuhou.

"I wanted to hug my best friend!"

Mikoto pressed her lips into a thin line at this memory. Friends. It wasn't a term she herself had even considered using in relation to Shokuhou. And yet, as she stood there firing a railgun to protect her from a simple elimination game, she knew she'd been lying to herself.

You have to be one of the most insufferable human beings I have ever met, but...After all this, we got to close to each other. I'll never in my life save this to your face, but I feel disgusted at the thought of leaving you behind. I'm going to reprimand you for this later, but for now I'm going to do my best to help you no matter what!

"Duck down, you damn airhead!" She shouted, knowing Shokuhou could hear her. She did as instructed, and the coin finally reached Mikoto's charged hand. The remaining students trying to pry the badge out of the webs ducked for cover as well, and Mikoto felt the jolt of power reach the coin.

BOOM!

The railgun soared over Shokuhou's head and towards the remainder of the Hisakawa students, exploding as someone raised the earth to defend them from it. The shockwave from such a blast threw anyone not behind cover into their back in surprise, save for Mikoto. She watched as everyone was sent flying, and she wasted no time in running to Shokuhou's aid. The webs covering her back had been seared by the sheer power, making it easy to rip them away.

"Still got your badge?" Mikoto asked, disgusted at the feeling of it against her fingers.

"Why did you come back?" Shokuhou asked, sounding shocked. "You had an out!"

"Shut up and get on your feet you damn liability!" Mikoto shouted, feeling heat rush to her cheeks at the question. Don't make me regret saving you!" Soon both girls had got to their feet, and Mikoto made absolutely sure Shokuhou got away ahead of her. The other students were already recovering, but it wasn't going to matter soon.

After all, the Nagatenjouki students hadn't been able to sit still. As they both rounded the corner, Mikoto saw people dressed in her schools colours tearing past them, and right for the confused Hisakawa team. The explosions must have drawn them out of their hiding spot, and now they seemed raring to go.

"Hey girls!" It was Kongou who spoke to them, breaking away from the crowd as she reached the confused Level 5's. I saw a railgun go off, so we decided to become to cavalry! Good job for bringing so many here! With this, we'll be able to win for sure!" Without saying much more their friend took off, leaving the roommates to their own devices. Mikoto cast a look over at Shokuhou, who just looked confused.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Mikoto said loudly. "I only saved you to prevent you embarrassing yourself to the whole city. Lord knows you wouldn't have liked that." Shokuhou watched her for a moment with serious eyes, before she too turned playful.

"Thank you so much Misaka-sama!" She said, oozing fake thanks. The blonde threw her arms around Mikoto and hugged her tightly. "Who knew you cared so much about me to come back for me!" This just made Mikoto's cheeks flush a deeper colour than before.

"I should have left you there, you airhead!"

Even as she said this, Mikoto knew she couldn't have.

That seems like a good place to leave it for today! I'll be doing my best to once again update every Wednesday, so I hope you enjoyed! Remember to leave me a review, and I'll see you guys next time!