Entry 25
"Get back!" Kamijou Touma shouts at me. "I'll keep you safe!" He squares his shoulders, and balls his hands into fists. "You've got what you want. If you want to get out of here, just go! Don't go after people who haven't hurt you."
The Network feels happy. Kamijou Touma has just declared that he is willing to protect us again.
We wonder if we should inform him that we punched the girl who is bad at dressing like a panda in the solar plexus. We decide not to. It might confuse him. And we like the bit where he is willing to protect us.
The other girl pulls a face. "But she's the Railgun," she complains. "I want to fight her!"
"Aren't you meant to be getting me out of here?" asked the panda-girl.
"... well, yeah, but I've rescued magicians before. I haven't got to fight a Level 5 once!" She cracks her knuckles. It is audible. "I mean, this mission has been way too easy and-"
"Way too easy?" The girl who is bad at dressing up like a panda also appears to be bad at selecting face paint. Her eyes are watering and leaving black streaks down her cheeks. She should have chosen a better brand. "We're being wiped out! There… there… everyone's just vanishing and it's a complete nightmare and… and you need to get me out of here!" She points at Kamijou Touma. "Like he says. Listen to him!"
The other girl shrugs. She does not appear to think that the loss of the Russian soldiers is a particularly big deal. "You," she says to me, a faint smile on her lips. "Railgun. Are you ready?"
Kamijou Touma reaches out and squeezes my hand. "When I say 'run', run," he whispers. "I'll stop them hurting you."
He is very brave.
"'I do not want you to get hurt protecting me,' Misaka whispers back," I whisper back.
The darker skinned girl draws her sword. It makes a soft cutting sound as she flexes out her arm, leaving a faint ionised trail behind it. From the spectral composition of the light, it would appear that her sword is cutting air molecules in half. This does not make any sense. Nevertheless, the spectral data is clear. Moving superhumanly quickly, she carves something into the floor with the tip of her blade. I read it. It says 'Inquisitus312'. The same word is written on the blade. We do not know what that means. She is faster than me. I do not think I can beat her in hand-to-hand. I will have to try to shoot her.
"I can't stand by when she thinks you're Biri-Biri," he says. "It's my fault for dragging you off. And-"
The wall explodes with a thunderclap.
***
Misaka-11111 is incorrect here. The wall does not explode. It is actually the ceiling. The wall merely collapses due to the damage to the structural integrity of the building.
***
I do not know why some of my Sisters feel the urge to correct me when my ears are ringing and I am coughing due to the dust in the air. Not all of us are in Hawaii sitting by the beach. Some of us should be more considerate of each other's feelings.
***
And some of us should spend less time worrying about such petty things and more time worrying about the ceiling exploding with a thunderclap, and a nearby wall collapsing.
***
It is possible that Misaka-10901 is correct. On the other hand, it is certain that she is being very annoying about this.
When the dust clears, I see the original is standing there on top of some broken rebar. Electricity is sparking at her temples. "All right!" she shouts. "I am sick of people ruining my weekends! Who's responsible for this? Come on! Own up… you!" She glares at Kamijou Touma. "What are you playing at?"
"Not my fault! It's these magicians who decided to attack this place! Really!" Kamijou Touma says. "I was only here to get some new t-shirts. Just my luck."
"'It was also not my fault', Misaka adds quickly," I add quickly. We do not want them deciding to blame us. We might get in trouble.
The sword-girl looks between the original and me. "Two of them," she says, eyes narrowed. It is possible that her eyes are narrowed because of the dust. She smiles. "Oh, great! This is even more fun!"
The original glared at her, and then blinked. "Oh, no, that's just… I can make clones out of electricity. It's… um. One of my powers. To make weaker doubles that can exist near… uh, near a generator. Yes."
We did not know the original had that power. It sounds very useful.
"Such power," the other girl says. Her sword is surrounded in a blue-green halo of ionised nitrogen. "So you're one of the legendary Level Fives of Academy City, hmm."
"Yes," Misaka Mikoto says. "What of it?"
"I've heard about you."
Misaka Mikoto nods. "Probably. And you are?
"I'm Hamida Born Of Dragonslayer," she says. That is an unusual name. "The blood of Saint George flows in my veins. No fire burns me. No poison harms me. Teeth cannot pierce my skin."
The original nods. "Yeah, sure," she says. She has her arms crossed, and is tapping her foot. We do not believe she is impressed. "And I suppose you've killed lots and lots of dragons. Because they're a thing that exist."
Hamida pouts. "No! Because my great-grandfather killed the last one!"
"Oh, right." The original crossed her arms. "How convenient."
I agree that it is convenient. Our research has revealed that dragons are large fire-breathing mythological monsters. It would be very inconvenient to have them around. They are said to eat princesses. The original is known as the Electric Princess as one of her alternate titles. We suspect she would object violently if a dragon tried to eat her, but it is possible that we would be mistaken for her. We have not been eaten by a dragon before. We are not enthusiastic about the idea.
"Do you know how boring things are when you're part of a super-powerful bloodline born of one of the Saints and made to kill dragons but your ancestors managed to wipe them all out?" Hamida leans on her sword. "It's super-boring, trust me."
Misaka Mikoto cracks her knuckles. "Mmm," she says deliberately. The emergency lighting over her head shatters, electricity bursting from the socket. "So, what? You just decided to show up in Academy City and ruin my weekend? I'm probably going to get in trouble for damaging the power grid again." She settled into a fighting pose. "You've got some nerve."
"I just wanted to see what Academy City was like," Hamida says, with an easy shrug. "Plus, I owed the Orthodox Church a favour. And I wasn't doing anything else. It sounded fun."
"That's not an excuse!"
"And I wanted to come to Academy City 'cause I've heard of the Level Fives. Well, most of them. Do you know how hard it is to find out stuff about some of you?"
The original stretches out her neck. "So I'm guessing you're pretty good," she says, smiling. Or possibly baring her teeth in an adrenaline snarl. We are not sure. It could be either. The original is immature, is too fond of fighting and is prone to childish displays of power. And also childish displays of temper. And also childish displays of liking cute things, but that particular quirk of hers is not on display at the present time. "You're going to need it for breaking into this place and destroying stuff just because you were bored!"
We think she is angry.
"I am. And I've heard about you. The Railgun. The Electric Princess. Your power is something you gotta respect." Hamida whirls her blade around, seamlessly passing it from one hand to another. She is also smiling much like the original is. "Let's see if your power lives up to your rep."
"Oh, I see," Misaka Mikoto says. She works her neck out. "Trust me, it does."
"Well, that's what I want to see." The two of them begin to circle each other. "I wonder how good you really are," says Hamida.
"Hey! You're meant to be rescuing me!" says the panda girl. Neither of them are listening to her.
"I'm wondering the same thing too," the original says.
"Uh," Kamijou Touma begins, "do you really need to-"
"Shut up!" they both shout at him. We feel that was rude and unnecessary. We do not believe Hamida even knows who he is. That means she is failing basic social interactions. We have studied them. You are not meant to shout at someone when you meet them for the first time.
The original is often very petty and childish, and is fond of calling people stupid or otherwise insulting their intelligence. We wonder if Hamida is like her in other ways too. If so, perhaps they can bond over their like of Gekota badges.
They return to staring at each other. Electricity crackles over the original's skin and hair, and she is playing with an arcade token. Hamida is starting to glow, and her glowing sword is painfully bright to look at.
I take a step backwards. And then another one. And then position myself so Kamijou Touma is between me and the others. I do not understand how his hand works, but he seems good at blocking esper effects. I am not sure if my own protection would keep me safe from the energy that the original can release when she pushes herself.
She is playing with that arcade token. I can see the field lines on my goggles. They are very strong. It looks like
***
I choose to end the sentence there, because that was the last thought I recieved from Misaka-11111. The next sensory impression was a painfully loud amount of noise.
I am trying to reestablish connections with Misaka-11111.
