Prologue: Crimson Darkness Gives Way to New Light

The scene could only have been described with a single word.

Hell.

No sounds were audible, as the true severity of the situation began to sink into the nine people who'd so coincidentally chanced upon this morbid happening.

Or to be more accurate, no sounds had been uttered.

In the face of such a gruesome scene, it seemed that even breath had been pulled from the lungs of these individuals.

The person responsible for such a travesty looked up, her mouth glistening and wet with blood, as she beheld the ones who'd so unfortunately discovered her.

Unfortunately in their case, rather than hers, though no one present was aware of that fact.

Regardless, Fraulein Kreutune allowed her single, decapitated victim to fall to the ground.

For a moment, no one moved. It was as though even time had stopped, for these unfortunate individuals.

Then, as though a silent signal had been given, a monstrous, feral cry pierced through the evening, November atmosphere. The owner of this cry leapt forward, his cane falling to the ground with a deafening ring.

The remaining eight bystanders stood by, completely unmoving, as Accelerator's hand struck Fraulein Kreutune's bloodstained lips. Even as his lips pulled back into a scream, no tones were audible.

It was as though the horror of the situation had robbed him of all speech. He could only snarl and screech like the wildest of beasts, as he repeatedly smashed his hands into Fraulein Kreutune's body.

Lying upon the asphalt road, the single victim of this tragedy lay. The girl looked around ten years old.

Her toes and fingers twitched and shuddered, as though she were experiencing a nightmare. Blood gushed from her neck, tainting the ground a vivid crimson.

The sight of Last Order's murdered, decapitated form seemed to continue to tear into Accelerator's mind, and the albino's attacks became more and more animalistic, as he repeatedly struck the woman responsible for his child's demise.

The other eight bystanders were so overwhelmed by the sight before them that they made no attempt to aid or stop Accelerator's rampage. Even the recently resurrected Kakine Teitoku found himself unable to move at the sight of the strongest esper's mindless slaughter.

"Bring her back!" even as the desperate, enraged plea left Accelerator's mouth, he knew that his wish would not be granted. Despite that, that did not stop him from continuously pleading with every smash to Fraulein Kreutune's body. "Bring her back!"

Her spine shattered beneath his fist.

"Bring her back!"

He tore her heart from her chest, and crushed it in his grasp.

"Bring her back!"

He plunged a hand into her regenerating chest, and reversed the blood flow. However, even as her blood splattered the road, Accelerator was still not sated. "BRING HER BACK!"

Throughout the repeated, savage bludgeoning, Fraulein Kreutune did not even bat an eye. Neither pain nor emotion struck her gaze, even as Accelerator killed her repeatedly, without restraint.

It was as though death did not hold any meaning for her.

However, she finally gasped when Accelerator reached out and grabbed the skin of her neck. For a moment, she wondered if he would choke her to death, only to be surprised.

Pulling her close, the Number One of Academy City gazed into her eyes. It was only then did she notice a different fluid upon his cheeks.

It was not blood.

It was not sweat.

In a voice so low that only she could hear, Accelerator murmured, "Bring my daughter back to me." Tears spilled from his eyes, as he felt the last of his anger abate, leaving him with a cold emptiness.

"You…you're crying?" The sight of this albino's tears evoked a faraway, reminiscent sense deep within Fraulein Kreutune's mind, as she remembered one of her earliest memories, a memory that had taken place over several centuries ago, during a time known as the Salem Witch Trials.

She remembered how her mother had once cried for her, when she had died that very first time. The memory her mother's tears, they mirrored this young boy's tears so much. Even though this person was brutally killing her, Fraulein Kreutune had never felt this way before.

She had never felt such sorrow for another human being. She had always regarded other people as petty, fleeting things. She had seen many humans come and go, live and die, and none of them had ever touched her heart like this boy's tears had.

Even though this boy and her mother were nowhere near similar, Fraulein could almost envision her long-dead mother's desperate pleas and cries, as though her mother's begging was reaching through this white-haired boy and into her lost, entrenched soul.

She could almost feel a strange revival take place deep within her, as she glimpsed fragments of light begin to surround her body.

In his mindless, fervent pleas, Accelerator was oblivious to this same change, and his narrow gaze paid no attention to these forming lights.

"The evolution…it's beginning." Even as the words left her mouth, her voice adopted an artificial, inhuman edge, as she slowly pulled herself from Accelerator's grasp.

She had consumed Last Order's brain, and thus, the evolution into a holistic esper would take place. The nine observers, ignorant of this fact, could only watch with awed gazes, as Fraulein Kreutune rose into the air without the need for AIM, magic, or technology. She simply hovered into the air, held aloft by nothing at all.

Even as her body was surrounded in a cocoon of blinding, white light, she looked to Accelerator with an almost mournful gaze. "Forgive me," she whispered, her robotic voice echoing. "but I cannot bring her back to life. Even for what I have become, such a task is impossible."

This morbid news aroused a change within the Accelerator.

Without conscious thought, two, pristine angel wings erupted from his back, putting even Fraulein Kreutune's shining cocoon to shame.

It was similar to the occasions when he had activated the Aeon of Osiris, the black wings, except there was a fundamental difference.

Rather than pitch despair, a pale hope lingered on Accelerator's face, as he too rose off the ground, soon meeting Fraulein Kreutune's height. "Whatever price," he whispered, his eyes never leaving the blinding cocoon. "I'm willing to pay it."

To these courageous, determined words, she made no response for a moment. Then: "…You are quite interesting." From within the white shell that surrounded Fraulein Kreutune, a groping tentacle reached out, and prodded Accelerator's chest, nearly breaking the skin. The albino cried and retched at the fleeting, uncomfortable contact.

"From everyone I've seen, from everyone I've devoured—none of them have ever been like you." A sound escaped the cocoon, and Accelerator soon discovered it to be a sigh. Then: "There is one way to save her."

"What do I have to do."

For a moment, Fraulein Kreutune appeared taken aback by Accelerator's sudden, servile willingness, and was struck dumb for a moment. When she regained her voice, she whispered: "It may cost the lives of these lives present, even your own. Are you still willing to accept this?"

"Are you deaf?" As the words left his lips, Accelerator clenched his fists till his pale nails broke the skin of his palms, shedding several drops of blood. As these droplets fell to the ground below, he remained focused upon the ensnared form of Fraulein Kreutune. "Didn't I say that I'd pay whatever price it would take?"

"Even other people? People who have no idea of the fate that might await them?"

There was no need for Accelerator to think of his response.

"They don't matter. Last Order…she must live, no matter what. Even if the world is the cost, then it's worth it." Accelerator may have been a hero, but he also had priorities, and his first and foremost was undoubtedly Last Order, the one that he sought to protect at all costs. For her sake, even his own life was forfeit.

"The knowledge I imparted to you; that's the key to your own evolution."

"The knowledge?" Accelerator remembered the tentacle that had prodded his chest only five seconds ago, and winced at the memory. "What was that?"

"The knowledge," answered Fraulein simply, as she began to drift away from the albino. As she receded into the sky, she continued: "You weren't complete. You weren't able to understand the key to your own evolution. However, I changed that, and gave you the necessary ability to understand."

Before Accelerator could ask what this new ability actually was, he felt a burning, fiery sensation flood his entire being, nearly sweeping him in a maelstrom of heat. Clutching his head, he collapsed to the ground in an unceremonious heap, growling and writhing in a fit of agony.

The other eight bystanders made to flee this twisted sight, but Accelerator's angel wings changed from white to a blinding gold.

This was the change in his ideals, a change that could not be gained through natural means. The push that had been dealt by Fraulein Kreutune had forced the esper to evolve in a new way, a method that had never been seen before.

As the angel wings morphed and twisted into golden tentacles, the separate, stringy attachments reached out with deft quickness, and wrapped themselves around the eight remaining bystanders.

"Such misfortune! Index is gonna kill me when this is over!"

"Damn you, Hamazura! What the hell is happening here?"

"How should I know? Why did Fremea have us do this?!"

"Hamazura, stay with me!"

"I'll kill you for this, Number 1!"

"Whatever this is, I'll plow through this with guts!"

"Why did I have to follow that idiot around? Look where he got me this time!"

"No! My remote!"

"ADJ 抑える HFA."

When the golden tentacles had finally taken hold of the nine individuals, their owner screamed out a single, explosive vector.

It could only have been described as the very fabric of space and time breaking and tearing themselves apart beneath the Accelerator's very will. The strongest esper in Academy City was forcibly bringing the very fabric of the universe under his control, and manipulating it in ways that should never have been possible in the natural world.

With this impossible control, Accelerator teleported himself and Mugino Shizuri, Takitsubo Rikou, Shiage Hamazura, Touma Kamijou, Misaka Mikoto, Misaki Shokuhou, Gunha Sogiita, and Kakine Teitoku through the boundaries of time and space.

When the dust finally cleared, only Last Order was visible, her body completely healed and her eyes moving about curiously. "Misaka wonders where Accelerator went, as Misaka looks around in a confused manner."

Author's Note

What do you think of the beginning? This idea struck me before, but I didn't have time to write it. Now though, I think I finally have the concepts and the future storyline down pat. I chose the Level 5s because they're personalities are the most…intriguing. I chose Touma because…he's Touma, and Shiage for the same reason.

Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and there will be plenty of character development in this story. Like the summary said, this is going to be an ambitious, long-term project, and any pointers and tips are always welcome, as well as reviews.