"How many months has it been? Three? Four? ...I can't even remember such trivial things anymore."
A boy with chalk-white hair and red eyes stood under a flickering streetlight. He kept his hands in his pockets, a chilling, twisted smile playing on his lips.
Even just standing there, his oppressive aura was enough to make the air feel heavy.
Accelerator. The Academy City's Strongest.
"So, this experiment is outdoors, huh? I hope it won't be too boring. Every session is so repetitive I want to yawn."
He cracked his neck.
"Any experiment can be ended with a flick of a finger."
"But in the end... it's all to reach Level 6."
"Tsk. The project should be halfway through. I've killed thousands of them. So why don't I feel any improvement?"
As he thought about the piles of corpses he had created, a flash of red gore crossed his mind. A sudden wave of nausea hit him. He covered his mouth with his hand, suppressing the urge to vomit.
"Tch. Disgusting. I need coffee to rinse this taste out of my mouth."
He clicked his tongue, his red eyes filled with a mix of madness and self-loathing.
...
Evening.
Yuuya wandered aimlessly through the streets, waiting for Nunotaba's message. He felt a mix of impatience and adrenaline.
He was running simulations in his head.
'Accelerator's reflection reverses the vector of anything that touches his skin. To hit him, I need the Kihara Counter.'
'The Kihara Counter relies on pulling the fist back at the exact nanosecond of impact. It tricks his AIM field into reflecting the "pulling away" vector, which actually pulls the fist into his face.'
'With Xiao-Li, I have perfect control over my muscle fibers and nerve responses. I can execute that timing.'
'And even if I fail, the Star Grail gives me damage immunity. He can reflect the planet at me, and I won't die. I just need to wear him down.'
Buzz.
A message arrived on his phone.
[Sender: Nunotaba Shinobu]
[Location: District 10. Abandoned Nuclear Waste Facility. Time: 20:00.]
Yuuya grinned. He shoved the phone into his pocket and headed toward the border of the district.
District 10.
It was located right next to District 7, but it was a different world.
District 10 had the cheapest land and the worst crime rate in the city. It was the dumping ground for everything the city didn't want: nuclear research facilities, germ warfare labs, experimental animal incineration plants... and the only cemetery in Academy City.
It was the perfect place for a massacre.
"Throwing the body into the incinerator right after the kill... efficient," Yuuya muttered.
The district was dark and silent. Few people lived here. Even if someone screamed, no one would come.
To ensure the experiment went undetected, the Board of Directors had likely redirected the satellite surveillance and ordered the local Anti-Skill units to stand down under the guise of a "Chemical Leak Drill."
Yuuya moved into the shadows, his eyes scanning the industrial wasteland.
...
The Experiment Site.
The twilight faded, leaving District 10 in pitch blackness, illuminated only by the occasional flickering streetlight.
In the courtyard of an abandoned facility, a girl stood alone.
She wore the beige Tokiwadai uniform, but unlike the original, she wore military-grade goggles on her forehead and carried a heavy guitar case.
She set the case down, opened it, and began assembling the contents with mechanical precision.
"Special armament inspection. Misaka conducts final diagnostics," she said in a monotone voice.
Click. Clack.
The parts clicked together to form a heavy anti-material rifle—a Metal Eater. She then lined up several grenades on her belt.
"Test results confirmed. Do. Misaka is ready for combat."
Thump... Thump...
Footsteps echoed in the open space.
A slender, white-haired boy walked out from the shadows. He looked frail, like a strong wind could blow him over. He walked casually, hands deep in his pockets, slouching.
He stopped ten meters away from the clone.
"The time is 19:58. Experiment 9982 will begin in two minutes," the clone said, checking her internal clock. She pulled her goggles down over her eyes and cocked the heavy rifle.
A murderous glint appeared at the corner of the boy's mouth.
"Is it still the same? Nothing has changed at all. Just a different backdrop."
Accelerator looked at the girl—identical to the thousands he had already killed—and sighed.
"How many times have we done this? I can't even remember the number."
His tone was thick with disappointment. The expectation of an "outdoor" variable had vanished, replaced by bored annoyance.
"Hey. It's happened thousands of times. Haven't you learned your lesson yet? You dolls break so easily."
He stared at her with crazed, predatory eyes.
The girl just stood there blankly. She didn't answer. She was just waiting for the clock.
"Well... if I'd known it would turn out like this... why did I expect a heartless puppet to make conversation? Tch."
Accelerator clicked his tongue, disappointed.
"Please have the test subject take their position," the clone intoned. "Misaka relays the protocol. Experiment countdown: 10, 9, 8..."
"Tsk!" Accelerator didn't even take his hands out of his pockets.
"0."
BOOM!
The darkness was torn apart by a blinding muzzle flash.
A high-caliber armor-piercing bullet erupted from the rifle, traveling at supersonic speeds straight toward Accelerator's skull.
It struck him right between the eyes.
And then—
ZING!
The bullet didn't flatten. It didn't penetrate.
It reversed.
With double the speed, the bullet flew back along its exact trajectory.
CRACK!
The rifle in the clone's hands exploded. The reflected bullet sheared through the barrel and the receiver, turning the weapon into shrapnel.
"Ah..."
Metal shards sliced into the clone's hands and arms. Red blood sprayed into the air.
She was thrown backward by the force of the explosion, tumbling across the concrete.
"Ha... Boring. Boring. Utterly boring."
Accelerator sighed. He walked slowly toward the fallen clone, a cruel smile stretching his face.
"These toys are useless against me. You know that. I control the vectors. Magnitude and direction... they're all mine to play with."
The clone scrambled up from the ground, ignoring her bleeding arms. She turned and ran deeper into the facility.
Accelerator raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
"Escape? Is this the extra entertainment added to the outdoor experiments?"
"Heh. Hahahaha! Now this looks like a hunt!"
....
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