Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index

The Trinity of Tokiwadai

Chapter Forty Nine: Bitter Fruit of the Tree of Revelation

Beta:

Stepping off the skybridge that connected his private jet to the terminal of Academy City's airport, a tall Caucasian man with close cropped blonde hair surveyed his surroundings.

"So this is the Capital of Science?" Remy LeBeau said, sounding decidedly unimpressed. "It looks just like any other airport terminal. Changi is so much more impressive."

"Considering Changi is consistently voted one of, if not, the best airport in the world." His wife, a beautiful woman with long chestnut hair and eyes and endowed with a sizable bust, said with a chuckle. "That's hardly a fair comparison."

"Perhaps," Remy allowed. "But you'd expect Academy City to stand out a little. You've gotta agree with that, don'tcha Marie?"

"I suppose." Marie said with a nod. "Though honestly, I can't imagine what you were expecting. An airport terminal is an airport terminal."

Remy groaned and the last member of their little party, a ten year with messy blonde hair and chestnut eyes, giggled.

"And what is so funny, Eveline?" Marie asked the girl sternly.

"You and Daddy, Mummy." The girl said with a smile. "The way you two talk to each other is funny."

"Glad we could entertain you, Evie." Remy said with a chuckle even as he continued his survey of his surroundings.

It took him a moment but he spotted what he was looking for at last as a man in a stereotypical black suit made his way towards him and his family.

"Look sharp, girls." He ordered as the man closed. "Looks like our fixer is on the way."

Marie and Eveline immediately straightened and adopted a professional stance. They both knew how important this trip was, he'd made sure of that, and so knew better than to do anything to screw it up. Even something as small as giving a bad impression to their local fixer. The chance to procure some truly high quality goods was at stake and he would be very unhappy indeed if anything got in the way of that.

"Welcome to the City, Mr LeBeau," the local greeted as he got close. "If you'll follow me."

"No pleasantries?" Remy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not until we're somewhere more secure." The man said, purposely looking around to make his point. "Let's just say that some people don't appreciate that we deal in the goods that we do."

"Isn't that true everywhere," Remy replied with a shrug.

"Yes, but elsewhere you don't have to deal with the Trinity."

Naru felt her heart flutter excitedly as she sat down nice and close to Shutaura in a nice little cafe. The two were going on a date in the amusement park in School District 6, but before that they were having lunch nearby.

"This was a nice place you found. You've been taking me to all these little hidden gems a lot lately~" The blonde giggled as she eyed her girlfriend.

"I have it on good authority that a good meal is a must for a date." Shutaura replied.

Naru just nodded distractedly, too preoccupied with giving her girlfriend a once over. Shutaura was dressed up for the occasion in a O-neck irregular hem casual black shirt and a white high waist wrap skirt. It was certainly a flattering outfit, but…

"Ladylee dressed you up again?" The Number 2 couldn't help but tease.

The slight pout on Shutaura's face made her giggle a little.

"I can want to look good for you on my own accord, thank you."

The blonde felt a smirk grow on her face, "So is that the case this time or not?"

The brunette turned to look away, her eyes rolling, "A little of both. I had dressed up and was ready to go, but Ladylee-sama caught me before I could leave and demanded I dress fancier."

A snicker escaped the smaller girl and with her blue eyes shining with mirth she replied, "Well let Ladylee know I appreciate her exalted efforts~"

Her smile grew at seeing her girlfriend pout even more. "I tried too, you know."

"I know that, silly. But Ladylee just has a much better fashion sense. While fashion isn't your thing, I still love my Shu-chan regardless~"

The small blush she was rewarded with at that little tease made Naru giggle.

The older girl sighed, "I know, but I still feel it's… disheartening that I can't seem to dress up nicely for you on my own."

"Hey hey hey!" Naru waved her hand in the air. "Don't worry about it. I appreciate Ladylee's efforts when she helps out. You look fantastic! Though I do have to wonder what you consider dressing up."

"I was considering a casual look, so a simple dress blouse and jeans."

"That's dressing up?" Naru asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Would you rather I show up in my bodysuit or my uniform?" Shutaura said with a pout. "But could we talk about something else?"

"I mean, the uniform is hot. I was thinking of getting one so we could match. But if you want to change the topic, sure!"

Shutaura breathed a sigh of relief at that.

"I've been meaning to ask you something. Are you interested in upgrading the Black Crow Unit's mobile weapons?"

"Hm? Why?"

"Rui-chan is offering." Naru happily informed her girlfriend.

"I'll take it into consideration and speak with Ladylee-sama about it, though I doubt she would fork over the money for it."

"Aw! That's a shame." Naru pouted at this, her fellow blonde could be so stingy at times.

"Speaking of things that are a shame," Naru said as she moved to take one of her girlfriend's hands and very daringly put it over her left breast, a move that Shutaura was too stunned to react to. "It's a shame that we've been dating as long as we have and are still only at first base."

The older girl pulled her hand away so fast it was as if it had been scalded.

"T-That's too fast!" The brunette said as her face was lit up by a brilliant red blush. "W-What are you rushing for?!"

"I don't want to lose to Rui-chan." Naru informed sternly.

"The state of a relationship is not a competition! Our relationship is about us, not her and that crazed dog."

"Still~" Naru latched her arms around Shutaura's, hugging it tightly against her body and smiling up at her. "How about after our date we go back to your apartment for some ki-"

She was cut off by her cell phone going off.

Pouting, she released her girlfriend and picked up her phone, holding the thin device to her ear. "Rui-chan, what's up?"

"We need to have a meeting." The no nonsense tone made Naru purse her lips.

"I'm on a date."

"It's urgent."

"What's going on?" Shutaura asked, leaning closer to the blonde.

"Rui-chan says we need to have an urgent meeting."

"If she says it's urgent, it must be important. You should go." The brunette told her professionally.

Naru's pout grew at this.

On the one hand, she knew her girlfriend was right. Rui-chan wouldn't spoil her date unless it was really important. But on the other hand, she really didn't want to leave.

And if you don't your girlfriend will be pissed. Kurama told her with a roll of his eyes. You know how responsible she is.

Sighing unhappily as she conceded that her tenant had a point, she turned to her girlfriend.

"Fine." She told the older girl with resignation, before returning her attention to her phone. "Hey, Rui-chan, I'll be there soon."

Hanging up the phone, she pecked Shutaura on the lips and said. "Love ya~"

And she teleported away after seeing the pink on her girlfriend's cheeks.

Worth it!

Not for the first time as Mikoto walked into the command centre inside the underground complex under Saten's house, she couldn't help but find the fact that Saten having something like this was insane. Then again, considering who she was talking about it was probably one of the least crazy things about her kohai.

"So Rui-chan, why did you call this meeting?" The Chibi asked, sounding cranky. "What's so urgent that you had to make me ditch a date with my girlfriend to attend?"

Mikoto blinked in surprise. If Saten had really done that then whatever she had to tell them must really be important.

"I called you all here," the Number 3 said as she nodded at Mikoto, Namikaze, Kuroko and Uiharu in turn. "To inform you that this man, Remy "Gambit" LeBeau, has just arrived in the City."

As she spoke, a picture of a tall Caucasian man with close cropped blonde hair appeared on the command centre's main screen.

"He is a black market arms dealer specializing in high tech weaponry especially bioweapons."

"And this is important to us how?" Namikaze said with an irritated frown. "Just call Anti-Skill on him."

"Namikaze-san, I know you're upset that Saten-san interrupted your date." Uiharu piped up appeasingly. "But if you'd be patient and let her finish explaining maybe we'd get why she did that?"

"Fine~!" The blonde said with a pout.

"Thank you, Uiharu." Saten said with a grateful nod to their resident computer whiz before continuing. "Maybe this picture will explain why I called you all here."

With that the image on the main screen was replaced with another. The new image still contained the arms dealer from earlier but now also included a busty woman and a young girl.

"That woman looks just like Mama!" Mikoto couldn't help but gasp at the picture. The resemblance with her mother was truly uncanny.

"Actually," Saten said, sounding pained. "It would be more accurate to say that the woman looks like you, Sempai."

"What do you mean?" Kuroko asked, even as Mikoto developed a nasty suspicion that she knew what Saten was about to tell them.

"That woman is Marie, LeBeau's wife, and the girl is their daughter Eveline." Saten said, clearly talking around the main point. "And they are-"

"Clones," Mikoto said, her gut churning at the very idea.

Saten nodded.

"They both appear to be clones made using data and material LeBeau obtained from Parasol remnants."

Mikoto tensed and her eyes narrowed as sparks arced off her body in response to her agitation.

She'd known that destroying Parasol was likely not the end of their twisted clones of herself, but being confronted by the fact was deeply upsetting.

"Onee-sama," Kuroko said as she teleported over to her side. "It's alright. We'll save these clones just like how we saved the Sisters."

"You bet we will," Mikoto said, her voice brimming with determination.

"Of course we will, Misaka-san." Uiharu said, adding her own reassurance before gesturing to the picture of the arms dealer and Mikoto's clones. "But I do have a question, Saten-san. Why did he create the clones to pose as his family?"

"That's just their cover," Kurozuma-san said as he walked into the room. "I just got off the phone with your contact in Louisiana, Saten-jouchan, and he confirms that the two of them are mainly his bodyguards."

"Mainly?" Namikaze asked, her eyes narrowed and a deep frown on her face.

At the Number 2's question, Kurozuma-san shot Mikoto, of all people, a look.

"Answer her," Mikoto told the former Skill-Out firmly. "Whatever you have to say, I can take it."

"You sure? You're not gonna like this." The redhead warned.

"I'm sure," Mikoto replied confidently.

Kurozuma-san shook his head but nevertheless complied.

"Well besides being his bodyguards, the two girls also double as his harem."

There was stunned silence in the room at that bombshell.

"The little girl too?" Mikoto found herself breaking the silence to ask.

Kurozuma-san just nodded.

Mikoto's stomach churned at the very idea and she dashed out of the room for the nearest bathroom. She was going to be sick.

Unaware of the hornet's nest that her very existence had stirred up, inside a hotel room across the City from where the Trinity were meeting, a nude Eveline LeBeau snuggled into her Daddy's side while on the large king-sized bed of the suite's bedroom. Across from her and on Daddy's other side was Mummy, who like her was pressing into his side and enjoying the afterglow of the fantastic threesome they had just enjoyed.

Sadly, their snugglefest was interrupted by a phone call.

"Marie, pass me my phone." Daddy ordered as he nudged Mummy.

Mummy sighed in disappointment but nevertheless sat up and reached over to pick up his phone from the bedside counter and passed it to him. In the process, she gave Evie a great view of her yummy breasts and she couldn't help but lick her lips in anticipation of the next chance she would have to suck on them again.

While Evie was fantasizing about that delicious thought, Daddy answered his phone.

"Yes, it's me." Daddy said, sounding wholly professional and hiding his irritation at the interruption. "Yes, that's fine. I'll meet you then."

"What was that about?" Mummy asked as she took the phone back from Daddy and put it back on the side counter.

"It was our fixer," Daddy told them as he sat up. "We're meeting the supplier in an hour. We need to get cleaned up."

"An hour?" Mummy said, looking at Daddy coyly as she pushed him lightly back onto his back. "That's more than enough time for another round. Right, Evie?"

"Totally." Evie agreed enthusiastically.

"I suppose you're right," Daddy chuckled as he reached up with one hand to pull Mummy into a kiss whilst his other hand began trailing pleasantly down Evie's back.

Thanks to their last minute round of lovemaking, it would be a struggle for the family to make their appointment. Somehow though they managed and despite the rush, none of them complained. The sex was simply too amazing!

Some time later, Naru and the rest of the Trinity gang, including Kurozuma-san in his Powered Suit and Uiharu through her robots, were camping out at an abandoned warehouse in District 11 that Rui-chan's intel had identified as the location of whatever trade that the LeBeau bastard was organizing was going to take place.

Looking over the crate that she was hiding behind, the blonde spotted a man surrounded by some armed goons. The man was pacing nervously between two large cryogenic capsules and what looked like a small collection of weapons crates.

Her finger tapping her thigh impatiently, Naru resisted the urge to jump in there and rip them all apart. This arms dealer was clearly illegally selling restricted Academy City weapons to an external party. That alone warranted his execution and she was struggling to fight the desire to fulfill that action.

The worst part was, according to Rui-chan, this wasn't the only arms dealer in this illegal trade.

I swear I'm going to do a fucking purge this weekend. You'd think after you kill the last thirty of these idiots they'd wisen up! Idiots be idiots I guess.

Of course, you humans are always idiots when it involves your greed.

Perking up at her inner demon, Naru replied. Yeah, I'll agree with you on that.

What really pissed her off was that if Rui-chan knew about this deal, then so did the Directors and Aleister too. Thus, the fact that they hadn't cracked down on it meant they condoned it in a way. Considering they're the ones who branded such sales as treasonous crimes punishable by death in the first place, [ManiForce] felt annoyed at their blatant hypocrisy.

Her sharp ears picked up a vehicle coming close to the location and as she looked around the crate once more, she spied LeBeau exit the car that had just parked outside the warehouse. Not only did he have his small harem with him, but a small retinue of four pale skinned giants with oversized muscles that were dressed in trench coats that she immediately recognized as Tyrant bioweapons posing as guards.

Fantastic, more biological nightmares. The blonde thought as she wrinkled her nose at the sight of the monstrosities.

Watching as the deal began with false pleasantries and verification of the trade items in question. Naru looked on with increasing annoyance as the weapons crates were opened to reveal a cache of the newest model laser rifles that the City had to offer while the local dealer informed everyone listening in that the cryogenic capsules contained some new bioweapon that was codenamed [Hunter].

Naru felt her smile turn manic at the confirmation, not that they needed anymore of it, of the illegal nature of the exchange and let LeBeau begin asking his local counterpart questions about the goods he was selling. She chanced a glance at Rui-chan who was hiding behind another nearby crate but the girl raised a hand in a signal to wait and gestured to the other side of the warehouse with a tilt of her head.

The others must be shifting position.

Moving to cut off escape routes most likely. Kurama added his two cents and Naru sent him a burst of agreement.

Just a little longer I guess… Naru thought impatiently, as she itched to sink her proverbial claws into the smug fuckers they were there to deal with.

Enough time passed for LeBeau to finish asking his questions and looking satisfied, began haggling on price. Glancing once more in the direction of Rui-chan, she shot her a questioning look and this time received a nod in reply.

Smirking, Naru used her chakra to enhance the strength of her legs and she leapt over her cover to land right in the middle of the bunch of walking dead men.

"Time to face the music, you suckers!" Naru declared ominously as the rest of the friends followed her lead to pounce on them without mercy.

As Ruiko and her friends made their move, the local arms dealer cried out in alarm and fled. But not before he ran past the two cyro capsules and triggered their activation sequences, thus releasing the two humanoid reptiles with scaly skin akin to a crocodile, talons for hands and feet and fang filled mouths that were contained within.

Oh, you won't be getting away so easily. Ruiko thought with an arched eyebrow as she used a quick application of some telepathy to knock the coward out.

She was just about to turn her attention to deal with the man's goons and the bioweapons when Eveline LeBeau, suddenly sporting a cat's tail, ears and clawed paws, leapt at her.

"You're not going to ruin Daddy's deal." The catgirl hissed as she tried to swipe at her with her claws.

Ruiko just quirked an eyebrow and simply teleported away from the attack.

"I think your 'Daddy's' deal has thoroughly fallen through." Ruiko said as she rematerialized a good distance away from her original location and once more reached out with her telepathy towards her targets. Targets which were trying to shoot at her only for their bullets to be casually deflected by an emulation of Accel's Redirection barrier.

Her mental attack ran into opposition though as the catgirl used her own Electromastery based telepathy to counter her efforts.

"Do you want them to get killed?" Ruiko asked with a raised eyebrow as she casually spun out of the way of the catgirl's lunge and sent bursts of electricity to knock out the gunmen instead.

"You're the one who wants that." The inhuman telepath shot back gesturing with her tail at the pair of the reptilian bioweapons advancing with obvious predatory intent on the mercenaries that Ruiko had just knocked out.

"Oh, I have that under control." Ruiko said with a roll of her eyes as she used telekinesis to pull the Hunters towards them, whilst at the same time sealing all four of them inside a cage of barriers.

She didn't want those things getting out and killing anyone after all.

"Satisfied?" Ruiko asked with a smirk as the catgirl squeaked and leapt away from a Hunter that crashed into where she was standing.

Another landed just feet in front of Ruiko herself and almost immediately leapt at her. Unfazed, the Number 3 just froze it in midair with some telekinesis which she proceeded to use to crush into a bloody pile of blood and gore.

In contrast to her rather easy takedown of the Hunter attacking her, the catgirl was having real trouble. Her feline agility allowed her to keep away from the deadly claws and jaws of the reptilian monster but that was about it. She seemed utterly unable to take the offensive.

"Why can't I take over it's mind!?" The girl whined as she rolled out a sweep of the Hunter's claws.

"Failsafes to prevent any old telepath taking control of them." Ruiko explained with a shrug as she used some Pyrokinesis to set the humanoid reptile on fire. "They are controlled by a specific set of pheromones if I remember correctly. Reasonably secure control mechanism since it would be hard to duplicate on the fly even if you figured out what compounds are being used."

"You talk too much!" The catgirl shrieked as she leapt at Ruiko's back.

"Really?" Ruiko said as she froze the girl in midair with her telekinesis. "I think you're the first person to say that. Most people complain that I'm a robot."

Her opponent didn't bother to reply, instead struggling futilely to fight against Ruiko's telekinetic hold. The lack of a response irked Ruiko a little. She was hoping for some banter. She needed the practice.

"Well, if you don't want to play then I guess I should just knock you out." Ruiko said as she turned away from the catgirl with a dramatic flick of her hair, something she had been practising for days, even as she used some Electromastery to knock her opponent out.

Thinking that the catgirl was unconscious, Ruiko released her telekinetic hold but it seemed she'd underestimated the girl's Electromastery and its ability to negate the taser shock.

"Die!" The feline girl shouted as she lunged at Ruiko.

"How about no?" Ruiko said with a sigh as she caught the girl in another telekinetic hold, utterly unconcerned about how the girl's claws were inches from slashing her face apart. "Now nighty, night."

With that she used Dark Matter to conjure a cloud of aerosolized contact sedative around the catgirl. To Ruiko's slight surprise, the girl's inhuman physiology actually allowed her to resist the sedative for a second or two but soon the sheer dosage took its toll and she finally passed out. Something that Ruiko confirmed this time. She wasn't taking chances. As the saying went, 'once bitten, twice shy.'

Only once she was sure the catgirl was unconscious did Ruiko finally release her from her telekinetic grip and began to dismiss her barrier cage.

I wonder if anyone needs my help.

"Okay, I guess I'll just cull you little shits." Naru said as she shook her head and twisted out of the way of a jabbing punch belonging to one of LeBeau's Tyrants that had intended to knock her head off. The monstrosities having zeroed in on her almost immediately after she'd made her entrance.

She retorted by spitting out a barrage of swirling water bullets by the hundreds. Each coated in electricity.

The watery bullets knocked the four monsters off their feet even as the centrifugal force Naru had mixed into them drilled a little into their bodies whilst the electricity shocked them. All together, the attack left them twitching as their muscles spasmed and struggling to get back to their feet.

"Aw, look at you guys. Did that hurt? Man, your model must suck if that's all it takes to put you down."

Huh, it seemed mocking them somehow managed to get a response out of them as they started to intensify their attempts to get back to their spasming feet, one or two even falling down only to rise again.

Since they're so weak… Chance! Time for some experimentation!

With a casual tap of her foot, the ground around her rumbled as spears of earth shot out of the floor and flew towards the Tyrants at blistering speeds.

Naru hadn't targeted the Tyrants directly though, instead the spears slammed into the earth in between the pack of bioweapons where they proceeded to explode into dozens of razor sharp shrapnel fragments that tore and carved into their flesh.

That was effective, but… It was a little too troublesome. Naru concluded as she assessed how her attack had turned out with an observant tilt of her head. Having to put in extra effort to cause the spears to explode isn't really worth it. Not when a simple fire and forget technique probably could have done just as much damage.

The damage seemed to stagger the Tyrants all over again and Naru frowned. Sure she was using them as convenient living targets to test out new techniques but if they were this weak then they were useless!

Guess, I should just finish this. Naru said with a disappointed sigh as she spat out a barrage of fireballs whilst simultaneously manipulating the winds in her surroundings to create a flaming tornado.

The billowing fiery vortex spun into being and immediately headed for the Tyrants, consuming them and causing their screams to fill the area. The light of the fire reflected off Naru's eyes, betraying the utter amusement she was having at the moment.

Amazingly, one of the Tyrants actually managed to stumble out of the inferno. The flames had burned away the trench coat and other clothing the abomination had been dressed in and revealed its very inhuman nature, with its bulging muscles crisscrossed with what looked like tentacles. Not that this affected Naru at all.

"Oh, no you don't!" Naru said with a shake of her head as she thought about how exactly she wanted to finish this.

"Oh! I have an idea!" Naru declared with a clap of her hands.

At that with a smile of dark amusement, she used her Move Point to teleport the remains of the last Tyrant's dead fellows inside its body, reducing it into a pile of twisted gore.

Surprisingly, this somehow didn't kill the damned thing and it continued to stumble towards her.

"Seriously!? It can still move after that!?" Naru shouted in disbelief as she teleported out of the way of the Tyrant's powerful swing. "Let's try if you can survive this!"

With that declaration, she teleported the bioweapon head first into the ground with the effect of mixing its brain matter with the concrete of the floor.

The monster's body twitched for a second or two but quickly stilled.

"Good creature, stay dead." Naru said with a chuckle before turning to survey the rest of the fight and saw Ruiko walking towards her.

"And we managed to kick their asses in skirts too," Rui-chan said with a smirk.

Naru just quirked her eyebrow. "Are you still salty about the whole 'desexualizing' your favourite video game character thing?"

Rui-chan growled. Actually growled!

"Misha looked so much better in her original outfit! And girls can totally kick ass in a skirt too! There was no reason to change her outfit in the remake!"

"You are getting too into Horror Hills." Naru said with a shake of her head. "I should never have introduced you to the franchise."

Told you that something like this would happen. Kurama chimed in with a mental smirk. Trying to get her to expand her video game tastes so she wasn't entirely beholden to her boyfriend's tastes was stupid.

Yeah, well, it's worth it if it gets her to have more agency in her gaming. Naru shot back. By the way, how do you rate my techniques just now?

You've still got work to do. The ancient fox said with a mental shrug.

That's all you gotta say?

No. But your bestie is going to say what else I had in mind for me.

Huh? Whatcha me-

"You're lucky Shirai-san and Uiharu are too busy to notice you were having so much fun with killing those things," her best friend said with an amused smile, pulling Naru from her conversation with her tenant.

"I guess they wouldn't be too wrong," Naru allowed with a shrug. "But a girl needs some fun, right? Give me this."

"I agree with you but the others likely wouldn't," Rui-chan said gesturing towards where Uiharu-chan's robots, Kuroko-chan and Kurozuma-san were still fighting against the remaining conscious armed goons. "So, like I said, you're lucky they didn't notice."

"Yeah," Naru said with a sigh. "So, uh, should we help them? With those goons?"

"Nah," Rui-chan said as she sat down on top of a crate. "They have things under control. Besides, like you said, people need some fun. We should give them the chance too."

"'Kay," Naru said as she teleported to sit next to her bestie and joined her in watching the show.

Kazari pursed her lips as her eyes glided across the multiple screens in the little workspace she'd commandeered inside the command centre in Saten-san's labs.

Kazari watched through the camera feeds from her combat robots as they, Shirai-san and Kurozuma-san mopped up the armed goons that her best friend hadn't already knocked out. It was so utterly one-sided! None of them were having any trouble at all as they kept the gunmen from interfering with Namikaze-san's takedown of those giant bioweapons. Her robots for example were knocking out enemy goons with every shot of their particle cannons without any need for input from her.

"I don't have to do anything." Kazari said with a pout as she snacked on some crisps, pouting around each bite. "My robots' AI is more than enough to handle these thugs. Are thugs always so weak?"

"Most criminals rarely pose much of a challenge," Shirai-san replied over the comms as she Teleported a set of her nails to disable the firearms of those shooting at her and her new tranquilizer nails, special gifts from Namikaze-san with built in syringes loaded with a dose of potent knockout drugs, into the bodies of their owners to induce unconsciousness.

"You girls can only say that because you're overpowered." Kurozuma-san chimed in as he knocked a gunman out with a punch to his face, probably breaking quite a few bones in the man's face thanks to the Power Fist built into the gauntlet of his Powered Suit.

"Considering that Suit of yours means their bullets are basically just bouncing off, you have no room to criticize." Shirai-san retorted as she took out another group of thugs.

"At least I recognize that I am overpowered." Kurozuma-san said as he kicked one of the goons into a wall and unconsciousness. "You guys have no self-awareness at all."

"I take offense to that!" Shirai-san replied with a growl. "At least we aren't the ones just sitting there watching while our friends are fighting for their lives."

"I don't think the fighting is that tough." Kazari said defensively as she swallowed a mouthful of crisps.

"Still!" Shirai-san said with an annoyed whine even as Kurozuma-san chuckled.

Kazari joined him, even as she put a couple packets of crisps in a spot next to her table just like Saten-san asked her to through an email.

"Here ya go, Saten-san, Namikaze-san. Enjoy." Kazari said, waving to the webcam of the computer console she was using.

"Thanks, Uiharu-chan~!" Namikaze-san said over the comms as the snacks disappeared.

"Yes, thanks Uiharu." Saten-san added.

"You two are snacking now!?" Shirai-san shouted angrily as she glanced at the two Level 5s who were opening the packets of crisps they'd just teleported to their location.

"You want some, Shirai-san?" Kazari-san asked cheekily. "I'm sure they're willing to share."

"Save me some! I'm almost done!" Kurozuma-san said happily as he folded a goon in half with a punch.

"Sure!" Namikaze-san said cheerfully. "You want any Kuroko-chan?"

Shirai-san was silent for a long moment before she breathed out an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah. Just let me finish these idiots up."

LeBeau had, of course, feld the very moment Namikaze showed their hand by triggering their ambush, hiding behind his Tyrant bodyguards as he made his escape. Whilst the Number 2 took care of those abominations, Mikoto made a beeline for the bastard himself. Sadly, she was quickly cut off by the aged up clone of herself that if she recalled correctly was going by Marie.

"You're not getting in Remy's way." The clone declared as in a grotesque display of bubbling flesh, the clone spontaneously grew a cat tail, ears and her hands transformed into paws.

The sight was so disgusting that Mikoto couldn't help it, she flinched back. This created an opening that the opponent immediately exploited.

Caught by surprise, Mikoto only narrowly dodged the strike. So narrowly in fact that the catwoman's claws managed to cut open her uniform vest and dress shirt, just barely avoiding piercing her skin.

Mikoto squeaked as she leapt back and pulled her ruined top closed in a desperate bid to protect her modesty.

"Aw~! Embarrassed?" The clone taunted. "You shouldn't be. You might be as tiny as my daughter but that's fine. It's cute. In fact, if you're willing, I'm sure Remy would love to have you join us tonight."

Not only had her lacklasture bust been called out, something she had always been sensitive about. But the woman even had the nerve to insinuate that she would be willing to sleep with her sicko creator!?

"Like hell I will!" Mikoto growled, absolutely furious as she waved the free hand that she wasn't using to keep her torn top closed to direct a whip of iron sand in an attempt to sweep the catwoman off her feet.

In an admittedly rather impressive display of agility, the clone simply skipped over Mikoto's attack and retaliated with a static burst.

"Wow, that was weak." Mikoto snarked as the electricity splashed over her without a hint of discomfort. "I think my Sisters can produce a burst with more oomph than that. You seem to be designed for all kinds of disappointment, congrats!"

Mikoto usually wasn't so snarky, but she was angry. Everything about this clone made her angry. Yet, she didn't really blame her either and so couldn't unload on her in the same coldly furious way she usually did. So she'd resorted to snark instead. Guess, she was picking up some bad habits from the Usagi.

I really should rectify that.

Seeing that melee was the only chance she had against her progenitor, the clone charged at Mikoto with her claws extended. In response, Mikoto just raised an eyebrow and used her electromagnetism to gather together a literal wave of iron sand that swept towards the clone. The catwoman used all of her feline agility to try to evade from the tsunami of metallic fillings, leaping from one stack of crates to another in a desperate bid to find high ground.

"Guess the cat features weren't just cosmetic," Mikoto said, as her teeth ground against each other in annoyance at the perversion of her DNA.

The catwoman's impressive evasion wasn't enough though and she eventually ran out of places to escape to.

"No!" The woman cried out in alarm as Mikoto's iron sand swept her off her latest perch and promptly solidified around her in a cocoon that left her almost entirely restrained, leaving only her head free.

"T-This won't hold me!" The catwoman hissed angrily as she tried to use her own Electromastery to tear her prison apart.

Mikoto was having none of it though and used her electromagnetism to cross the distance in one giant leap.

"Yeah no," The [Railgun] said angrily as she punched her out with a good electrically enhanced, right hook.

Checking to make sure that the woman was unconscious, Mikoto turned to continue pursuing her creator. There was no way she was letting that piece of shit escape!

"Son of a bitch!" Mikoto spat as she dashed out of the warehouse, spotting LeBeau's car already speeding away. "Like hell you fucker!"

Flicking her free hand forward, a bolt of electricity raced down her arm and struck the car in an attempt to short circuit its electronics.

Mikoto felt her jaw drop a bit when even struck, the car kept moving. "The hell- it's a vintage model?! Ugh!"

Stomping her food, she leapt into the air, using her electromagnetism to attract herself to a nearby street light. She continued to fling herself in the air, hopping from street light to street light or the occasional other high vantage point as she rapidly began to close the gap between herself and LeBeau. It was a little harder doing this while also keeping her torn top closed to protect her modesty, but she managed. Like hell she was going to give strangers a peek at her bra! It wasn't that she was embarrassed at being a late bloomer. That was totally not the reason. Not at all!

"Got you now, you bastard!" Mikoto felt a wicked sneer on her face as she took one final leap and finally landed on top of the moving vehicle, using her ability to stick to its roof. "Pull over and I'll only break your legs, you sick fuck!"

At her fairly reasonable demand, LeBeau counter offered by pulling out a gun and firing through the roof. "Like hell I'm going to let you and your cute little friends catch me!"

Deftly avoiding the bullets whilst still clinging to the car thanks to a little gymnastics, she shouted back as the car picked up speed. "We already have you, pedophile!"

He responded by firing a few more shots at her. How big was that freaking clip?!

"You haven't caught me yet and since you're making such a big deal about me liking little girls, when I do get away I'll be sure to make a whole new batch of clones. Each one looking like you and your little gal pals. Don't worry, I'll give each of them the experience of their tiny life times!"

"You sick piece of shit!" The chestnut haired girl snarled, her vision red as she leaned back to avoid another gunshot. Her fury clouding her mind threw her off though and the follow up shot managed to catch her off guard as it almost went through her cheek. A fate she avoided by one desperate last second dodge out of the way.

Sadly, this left her tumbling off the car and onto the road. She curled up into a ball and hastily wrapped an electromagnetic shield around her whole body. Her shielded body caught on the asphalt and tumbled along the road, preventing her from taking the most likely worst road rash she would have ever gotten. Even then between the suddenness of the tumble and the anger clouding her judgement, her shield ended up a little understrength and she still got quite a few nasty friction burns and bruises.

"Gah! Asshole!" Mikoto glowered and ignoring her injuries, she pushed to her feet as her eyes locked onto the fleeing vehicle.

"Bye bye, [Railgun]!" The bastard shouted as he drove away. "Maybe you'll have better luck catching me next time!"

"How about no," Mikoto said in quiet fury, her eyes narrowed angrily as she dug furiously through her skirt pocket with her free hand. "Time to stop playing nice."

"Eat my railgun, you sick ass!" Mikoto declared as she pulled out one of her Dark Matter coins from the special pouch for them stitched into her pocket, brought it up into firing position and used her powers to prime her shot.

LeBeau was too far away to hear her so he didn't take evasive action even as Mikoto's railgun got ready to fire. As such, it was an easy shot on the Number 5's part and leaving a trail of superheated air, her railgun shot travelled unerringly into a direct hit on LeBeau's fleeing car. The shot totaled the car's engine block, Mikoto had carefully controlled the power behind her shot so that was the limit to the damage it caused, but she'd underestimated the kinetic force that it imparted. As a result, she was surprised as the car flipped as a result of her shot.

It was very much a pleasant surprise though.

Though Mikoto had to wonder if her friends were starting to be a bad influence on her as her heart relished seeing the car flip in the air. The monster in human skin screamed for his life as it landed on its roof with a heavy impact and skidded right into a fire hydrant.

Still protecting her modesty with one arm, Mikoto pumped her free arm in the air in celebration.

"Told you we'd caught you." The [Railgun] said with a smirk as she stalked over to the ruined car to extract the bastard from the wreck.

The night after their successful sting operation, Ruiko and the rest of the gang were visiting Mikoto-Sempai in Heaven Canceller's hospital where she was recovering overnight from her injuries.

"Onee-sama, did you really have to resort to your railgun?" Shirai-san said as she poured their Sempai the cup of water, cutting the [Railgun] off as the older girl reached towards the flask on her own. "You know how likely it is to cause serious injury, collateral damage or even death."

Her eyebrow twitching in annoyance even as she accepted the cup of water, Mikoto-Sempai replied. "He was getting away. I didn't have a choice."

"I suppose you're right," Shirai-san acknowledged. "You did try to hold back from doing so as long as possible."

"And you did manage to stop him from getting away," Konori-Sempai said as she entered the room.

"If you're here, Konori-Sempai, then that means-" Naru said, trailing off meaningfully.

"Yup," the high schooler said with a nod. "Anti-Skill finished booking both the local arms dealer and LeBeau. Yomikawa-san promised they'll be locked up for a long time."

"That's good," Mikoto-Sempai said with a satisfied grin. "What about those catgirl clones?"

"The Superintendent took them both into custody," Ruiko explained as she turned to Naru meaningfully.

"I have no clue why he would do that," the blonde said with a shrug. "You know he barely tells me anything."

"Well, I can answer that question." Heaven Canceller said as he arrived. "But perhaps after I have finished checking up on my patient?"

"Actually, mind answering first?" Mikoto-Sempai said. "I'd appreciate the peace of mind."

"I suppose there is logic to that," the legendary physician said with a nod. "Well, both girls have been entrusted to my care after undergoing examination by the Superintendent's researchers who decided they contained nothing they considered particularly useful."

"And what do you plan to do with them?" Uiharu asked, curiously. "Rehabilitate them like you did the Sisters?"

"Exactly," Heaven Canceller nodded with a smile.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that. None more so than Mikoto-Sempai though, which wasn't surprising.

It was for that reason that Ruiko didn't have the heart to tell her that neither clone was likely to live long. As they were designed, unlike the Sisters, with a short shelf life and based on what she'd discovered they were already nearing the end of their life expectancy.

She discreetly shared a look with Naru, who clearly also realized this. The blonde nodded and they both shared a silent agreement to keep this secret.

I hope that like with the Sisters, Heaven Canceller will pull off another miracle. Ruiko hoped, even as she feared that the felinoid clones might be too inhuman to fit within the scope of his abilities.

The next day, shortly after she had been discharged, Mikoto sat with Namikaze in a small cafe. For some time now, there had been a question that she'd wanted to ask her blonde friend and sipping on her drink, the [Railgun] finally decided to give voice to her curiosity.

"Hey, Namikaze, how is it that you're so sane from all of this? Saten is broken, yet you seem all together. How the heck can you be so relatively normal?"

The sad laugh she got in reply didn't fill her with hope as the shorter girl looked at her with an uncharacteristic distant look in her blue eyes. "Why do you think I'm normal?"

"Oi, I said relatively."

The Usagi seemed to ponder this, her head tilted to the side before an explosive sigh escaped her.

"Are you asking because you're still shaken up over that LaBeau shit?"

"Over what he did? ...Yeah, I am." Mikoto grunted, gripping her drink tightly.

"Hey, you can't let it affect you." Namikaze wagged a finger in the air before taking a gluttonous swig of her milkshake. "Ah! You just need to take it in stride, like you did with Parasol."

Mikoto couldn't help but wince at the reminder. Another reminder of how her stupid childhood self's decision to share her DNA Map had led to the ruination of so many lives.

"Okay, bad example." The blonde twintail said with a frown. "But you get my drift."

"Yeah," Mikoto said, sounding pitifully sad even to her own ears. "But…"

"You could always call up the Sisters for a big ol' sisterly cuddle hug time. Comfort in others helps, I think. It's new for me too."

"Thanks for the suggestion, I might do that." Mikoto admitted with a sheepish smile. "But I really would like to know. How do you manage it?"

Namikaze looked torn for a long moment, before asking, "You really want to know?"

Shaken by the question, Mikoto takes a fortifying breath before nodding in confirmation.

"Then…" Naru said as she looked down, hiding her face from view whilst sounding so sad that Mikoto had to resist the urge to pull her into a hug and give her a head pat. "The answer is… I don't."

"What do you me-"

Mikoto's question died on her tongue as Naru looked up.

Her eyes are red. Part of Mikoto's distracted mind noted. Most of it though was too shocked to process anything. Her usually bubbly friend was now radiating what Mikoto could only describe as killing intent that had left most of her mind a blubbering wreck.

Under Naru's crimson gaze she couldn't help but feel like prey caught within the sights of a deadly predator. Her hands were shaking, her fight or flight reflexes were kicking in as it took everything she had to not bolt for the door.

A part of her wondered how this being could exist while another questioned if the Naru she knew was even a real person or was it just a mask for this monster.

Still radiating that mind numbing killer intent, Namikaze -was it even really Namikaze? - spoke in a gravelly tone. "In my own little way, I'm not sane at all. Unlike Rui-chan, I genuinely enjoy the pleasure of the kill. The feeling of blood dripping down my hands as I carve up some stupid fool brings a smile to my face. Sure, I do it mainly to the bad guys, but most of the time I don't care. Does that make me sound sane, Sempai?"

It took all she could to breath as Mikoto dared a glance at this, this creature's eyes.

"I-I," The [Railgun] gulped and pushed her words out. "At least you only kill those that d-deserve it."

"Heh, cute. That only works when I have a choice."

Mikoto felt speechless as the blonde stood, placing a tip on the table and leaving her drink half finished.

"Sometimes Sempai, there are questions you shouldn't find the answers to." Namikaze told her, the killing intent gone and replaced with sadness once more and tired blue eyes. "You won't like the answers. I can't help you come to grips with what you're going through beyond my suggestion earlier."

"Naru-" Mikoto began to say but stopped herself.

What could she say? Comforting words? Anything she could say would just sound like hollow platitudes. After all, how could a simple girl like herself try to understand the mind of a self-styled monster?

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I feel dirty after dropping the mask." Naru said as she began to walk towards the door, her gait as graceful as always. "I'm gonna find Shu-chan and hang out to 'wash' the filth away. I suggest you find someone you care about to go do the same for your feelings."

With that the blonde teleported out of the cafe, leaving a [Railgun] behind that was even more shaken than when she'd first started the conversation.

Mikoto didn't know how long she just sat there staring at where Naru had disappeared, but she was finally pulled from her thoughts when someone called out to her.

"Biri Bi- Uh, I mean Misaka-san, you alright?"

Startled, Mikoto looked up to see the familiar face of Kamijou looking at her worriedly.

"W-What are you doing here?" Mikoto sputtered, shocked at his presence.

"Dunno to be honest," the spiky haired high schooler said with a shrug. "I was in the neighborhood and my gut just told me to be here and I've learned to listen to it. It's saved my life often enough."

Did he somehow sense Naru's killing intent from earlier? Mikoto pondered. I guess it's not that unbelievable of a skill for him to have considering that right hand of his…

"How far away were you?"

"A few blocks."

Mikoto tried to wrap her mind around his danger sense being that potent. No one in the cafe had reacted to Naur's killing intent, but Kamijou had picked it up from that far away!? Okay, she took it back. This ability of his was just as bullshit as that hand of his.

"Don't give me that look!" Kamijou said defensively. "It's not my fault that my gut is super sensitive."

Mikoto rolled her eyes at the boy. Did he even realize how bloody exceptional he was? Or was he really this self-deprecating?

"Anyways~!" Kamijou said in a desperate bid to change the subject. "So why were you looking so sad when I came in just now? Something happened?"

"Yeah," Mikoto admitted with a tired sigh. "You free now? 'Cos I'd really like to talk about it."

Naru did recommend spending time with people she liked after all. And even if she didn't like this fool that way. And she didn't! He was a friend she trusted.

"Sure thing." The boy shrugged. "Ah, um, let me just get a drink. I feel like it might be a long talk."

"Sure." Mikoto replied, with a sense of cheer that surprised her.

Guess Naru was right. Talking to people I trust does help. Mikoto thought to herself as she watched Kamijou go over to the cafe's counter to order a drink with a smile on her face.

Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!

Whoo! So a filler chapter, no, a whole OG arc this time around. With the recent RE game out, we thought to toss this in since 'Parasol' is a thing in our fic here. Yes, it was shiver inducing to write. Yes that was our aim. And yes, we do not endorse cloning for boning.

Nameless: This chapter is also set up for future OG plot lines going ahead that we hope will change up some canon arcs too. We try to avoid making our renditions of canon arcs as rehashes and for that we need OG elements to play with, hence stuff like this. And yes, we are in fact strongly against everything LeBeau did in this chapter. We made him do it to paint him as an absolutely morally reprehensible piece of shit and not as a seal of approval.

And well, Mikoto got a glimpse, and the rest of you, at just how much of a monster Naru makes herself out to be. Yes Mikoto was caught off guard, but anyone would be when dealing with something so deadly. Naru's bloodlust was a bleed over from Kurama and we know how mind numbing a biju's killing intent can be when they try. Naru barely tapped into it to lock Mikoto up. Hell, most of it was her own too, she just wanted to tap into the eye and voice effect to strengthen her point.

Nameless: And that neatly leads into what exactly the revelations implied by the chapter title are. Just in case some of you might not have gotten all of them, here they are from our POV (of course if you see more then let us know, we definitely could've missed something):

That Mikoto's troubles with bioweapons including her DNA aren't over

Mikoto has a peek into the true depths of how broken Naru really is

Mikoto develops a growing understanding of just how she feels towards Touma

You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!