Part 1
"I see."
The voice of Shiokishi, a member of the board of directors, filled the RV.
However, that leader of the city was not actually in the RV with Accelerator and the others.
He was speaking from a live video being displayed on the screen.
"Well, what matters most is that the Hula Hoop incident was resolved without any major damage done. …In fact, I saw the report on the battle, and your specs are as amazing as ever."
For once, Accelerator and the other three agreed on something, they did not want to hear that from him of all people.
It was not a gentle old man that would look good in a tuxedo being displayed on the screen.
Well, that might have been what he actually looked like, but that wasn't what one saw on the screen.
It was a powered suit.
A powered suit was a collection of highly elastic wires and powerful motors that aided in movement with thick armor covering it. The word "weapon" fit it better than the word "armor". The short and stout mecha creaked as it sat in an elegant chair.
"Does it bother you?" Shiokishi said in a light voice, although it was unclear which of the four he was speaking to.
He did not seem even remotely uncomfortable about having them look at him so oddly.
"If you think about it rationally, it makes sense. This world is overflowing with things that will kill a human. People often say that it will never happen to them or that no one has any reason to hold a grudge against them…but that's completely ridiculous. Whether there is some simple reason or not, when people die, they die. And the danger is even greater in a position like mine. If I want to escape any sudden misfortune, I believe I must always be on my guard."
Shiokishi used the back of his large hand to tap the amber-colored table in front of him.
"That is the main reason that I have been so rude as to do this over a video feed instead of meeting you directly. This way, you do not have to know where I am."
"What are you so fucking afraid of? You're probably in some dome-shaped facility that's on the level of a nuclear shelter."
"And you think that is enough for me to rest easy? Far from it. This is Academy City. Let's see, it's Musujime-kun, right? For people with abilities like hers, the thickness of the walls means nothing. I'm 'so fucking afraid' of having a bomb thrown into this room this very instant."
"…Despite both of you being on the board of directors, you give quite a different impression from Oyafune Monaka," said Unabara Mitsuki.
He had likely been in contact with her during the Hula Hoop incident.
In contrast to Shiokishi, Oyafune started with trusting others and continued on with harmony and cooperation, making her a rare type among the collection of black-hearted influential people who were known as the board of directors.
"No, Oyafune-kun has her own type of defense," said Shiokishi. "Much like with the JSDF, she shows off the fact that she is safe and has no ability to invade which keeps others from having a pretext on which to attack. In its own way, that is a very high level skill. I certainly couldn't emulate it. …Although, she used to be quite skilled at the art of conversation. I guess her daughter had a major effect on her..."
Shiokishi wrapped his arms around the short body of the powered suit.
"But this still leaves me a little uneasy. If I could, I would feel safer using cyborg technology to remake my body itself instead of wearing something, but it seems there are still various issues with that. I believe the delicate equipment has a lifespan of 5 years or thereabouts and having to undergo major surgery to switch out the artificial organs every 5 years is too heavy a burden. Having the individual artificial organs kept compact in a single life support system built into the powered suit lightens that burden and while a cyborg cannot overcome the barrier of the physical body's capacity, the devices in a powered suit can be easily replaced. I admit that it's actually just an advanced version of a hospital bed or handheld oxygen tank, but for me, it's—"
"Shiokishi-san," said Tsuchimikado cutting him off because he knew that idiots would go on forever when they got fixated on certain subjects. "I'm sure you did not go out of your way to contact us just to allow us to submit our battle reports. It would have been faster to do that via the 'voice on the phone'."
"You have probably vaguely picked up on it, but the agent that commands you four is otherwise occupied. There is more than one incident going on in Academy City right now. …I thought it would be taken care of already, but I never expected for that youth who sits at the same table to be done in."
"…"
"You don't need to be suspicious. You don't need to feel uneasy about the information that isn't disclosed to you, because it is all connected. If you do what you must do, you will gather all the information before long."
At that point, the camera shook. Shiokishi called for some people he referred to as "Sugitani-kun" and "Minobe-kun" and then someone from outside the view of the camera grabbed the camera and moved it back to its proper position.
"Anyway, I am here to ask you to carry out your next job."
"…Did something else happen so soon?" Tsuchimikado asked being reminded of the incident that had caused fights to the death to break out between the 5 organizations known as Group, School, Member, Item, and Block.
But Shiokishi shook the helmet of his powered suit back and forth.
"It is nothing that serious. Basically, I want you to take out some leftovers. It seems some comrades of the former Spark Signal members that attacked the Hula Hoop are still hiding within Academy City. If we do nothing about them, they could easily put together some kind of second plan."
There were comrades of the people who had wanted information on Dragon from the very depths of Academy City.
"I will send you data on the details of your target, but I think this will be much simpler than with Hula Hoop. …At the very least, you should be able to take them out with no preparation. Since you managed to get through that job before, I'm sure you can easily manage this."
Shiokishi then started to wrap up the conversation, but Accelerator suddenly spoke.
"…Does the term Dragon sound familiar to you?"
"It's a fairly famous word. I think it's used proudly in video game titles a lot."
"Tch," he clicked his tongue.
If Shiokishi had said he didn't know, he could have pressed further, but he had lost the opportunity. If he continued on, Shiokishi would just continue evading the question.
Whether he knew what Accelerator was after or not, Shiokishi tapped his thick metal palms together and then ended the discussion.
"You all are students, so finish up this boring work and get back to your own lives."
Part 2
The party to celebrate Takitsubo Rikou's release from the hospital was to be held that night.
Hamazura Shiage and Kinuhata Saiai had been forced to make the preparations for that party in a hurry, so they ended up buying various joke goods at a shopping area in District 7.
"…Hey, wait a second. How did we end up in a movie theater and why are we the only ones in the theater 2 minutes before the movie starts?"
"This place specializes in short films, so we're super okay. They show 10 minute long films with 5 minute breaks in between. By my calculations, we can watch two of them and still have super enough time to meet up with Takitsubo-san."
"That doesn't explain why we're the only two here."
"Shut up. I actually need to use the bathroom and am super holding it in, so don't talk to me, Hamazura."
"You want to see it that much?" Hamazura muttered as his shoulders drooped.
Kinuhata's hobby was watching movies, but she seemed to have no interest in major Hollywood hits. She only cared about the ones that were referred to as B or C movies.
"Gwah, this is no good. This film only just started showing, but it has a super shitty feel to it only 2 minutes in…"
"This is always how it is when you bring me along!! You're the one that dragged me in here!!"
Since they were the only two in the theater, Hamazura didn't hold back as he yelled at her.
However, Kinuhata shook her head with a grave look on her face, completely ignoring Hamazura.
"No, this super isn't it. I don't want to see this kind of super self-aware C movie where they decided to make a completely ridiculous C movie for fun. I want to super see something made to super seriously compete with Hollywood, but naturally turned into a C movie due to various circumstances."
"I see. Well, I can accept that the heroine is wearing a medieval-looking dress despite that fact that the movie takes place in the near future on the grounds that that's simply the world it takes place in, but I can't help being bothered by the fact that everyone is sweating as if it were filmed in summer even though the story takes place in the middle of winter."
"Hamazura, look at the left edge of the screen. You can super see what looks like smokestack from a thermal power station on the opposite shore over there."
"Seriously? That SF atmosphere they worked so hard to build up is completely gone! I've heard of airplanes flying by in the middle of a shot, but a preliminary inspection would make it obvious there was a building there!!"
Even Hamazura, who wasn't too picky about movies, covered his face with his hands over that one. Meanwhile, Kinuhata started fidgeting and rubbing her thighs together.
"…I can't do it. I've super lost the willpower needed to stay with this horrible film. I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Hopefully, the next short film will be super worth it."
"Eh? You're gonna leave this movie to me!?" said Hamazura, but Kinuhata had already left the theater.
He had little choice, so Hamazura watched the strategy meeting just before the climax being shown onscreen. He was watching it more to kill some time than to enjoy the film.
(…Huh? What's with that map on the wall behind her there?)
Hamazura's eyes had started to resemble those of a dead fish, but he suddenly started to pay attention again.
(…That's a map of the craters and mountain ranges on Mars. Why isn't it a normal world map? If they went out of their way to get a map like that, then…Waaahhhh!?)
His eyes widened like he had been hit by an electric shock.
(This story takes place in the middle of winter, but not in the middle of Earth's winter!! They were making us think that, but it was actually a story about a modern "what if" world where Mars was developed in an odd way!! In that case, the cast being so hot can be explained as a side effect of the terraforming. And that smokestack wasn't a mistake, it was…Gwahh!! They got me!!)
And the latter 5 minutes of the story were a sight to behold. The dullness of the first half had been intentional on the part of the director. That dullness had made the second half shine even brighter. It was like a glass of cold water after an exhausting marathon.
If that trick had been used in a 100 minute movie, the viewers would have given up, but this was a short film. After the first five minutes, the viewers would tend to reluctantly watch the rest of it even if the beginning was incredibly boring, so they would make it to the second half. That was how calculated that film had been.
(Wow! Wow!! Wooowww!!!!! What is this? This isn't a C film. This was definitely made with the intention of defeating Hollywood!!! What the hell? This was only a 10 minute film, right? This was nothing like the world from some regular, everyday trilogy!! They made this with such depth but also made it so you couldn't tell!)
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" Hamazura Shiage started laughing without realizing it. He was seriously thinking of kissing Kinuhata Saiai on the back of the leg.
(I see, I see. So this is why seeing low-budget short films made by new directors can be worthwhile.)
Hamazura simply could not keep from smiling at the experience he had just had.
But then a chill ran down his back.
He felt someone's gaze.
He timidly turned around and found the girl who loved movies more than anyone else who had returned from the bathroom.
Her trembling face could be seen peering in through the gap in the slightly opened door. Her expression seemed to be saying, "Nooo!! How could I have missed such an interesting film!?"
After the film was over, Hamazura was walking along next to Kinuhata.
(I see. So the director is called Beverly Seethrough. I need to keep an eye on her stuff…)
Kinuhata was walking along limply as if she had no strength left. She was surrounded by a dark thundercloud-like aura and had an expression as if she felt the world was ending.
"Kinuhata. C'mon, Kinuhata, it's not so bad. You still win out overall. I never would have come across that film without you. Your antenna that allows you to search out a film like that among the countless films out there is the real deal."
"…I can't believe this super Hamazura is feeling sorry for me. With C movies, it's all about luck. This could be a sign that my sense is starting to become super distorted…"
They exited the movie theater as Kinuhata muttered to herself.
They were on their way back to the hospital to meet up with Takitsubo now that they had killed some time, but then Kinuhata's cell phone started to ring.
For a short time, Kinuhata did not respond and continued looking on with her dead looking eyes, but she finally answered it with oddly slow movements.
After a short conversation, Kinuhata hung up and looked towards Hamazura.
"Hamazura, go on ahead and super pick up Takitsubo-san. You super know the place, right? If you super take her over to the private salon in District 3, it would be a super help."
"Ahn?"
"I have a job. The new team is finally being started, so we have to super gather together and then kill all of the former Spark Signal terrorists who are super targeting Academy City."
Part 3
"…I thought you had gone off to some secret meeting point."
"…I went off to the secret meeting point and got sick of it in 5 minutes, so I super came back."
Hamazura and Kinuhata looked at each other as they had this exchange.
Kinuhata had returned before Hamazura had even made it to the hospital. Hamazura started to wonder if there was a transmitter hidden on him somewhere, but it didn't seem so.
It was past the time all students were supposed to have left school and the last train and last bus had already left, so they were walking to the hospital.
"Hey, so what happened? Weren't you supposed to go fight some terrorists with this new team?"
"I was, but something happened."
Kinuhata then started telling him what had happened.
Kinuhata Saiai had gone to a dimly lit underground area and looked around at the various people waiting there. She had frowned and a well-timed cell phone call had come.
"Thanks for coming, everyone. Item, School, Block, and Member were destroyed a while back. It's always like that with you people.☆ Anyway, this new team was created from the leftovers, so please get along with your comrades who you tried to kill before!"
"Hey, wait a second! I doubt that!! What kind of memory is that to start with!?"
"I thought it was a joke at first too, but it seems she was super serious. I super couldn't stand it, so I ran off. Oh, right. The Measure Heart girl in the dress asked me to say hi to you, Hamazura."
"…Dammit, I have nothing but bad memories of her," Hamazura said dejectedly, but then he suddenly raised his head. "But wait. Was that really okay? Those people on the phone have a lot of power, right? Will you be okay having ignored one of their orders?"
"It's super not okay. That's why I want a bit of help, Hamazura. If I super carry out my assignment before I'm brought back to that new team, they can't complain."
"Hah?" said the boy in shock, but Kinuhata continued on readily.
"I want you to super steal a car like normal and help me out. We'll use it to chase after the former Spark Signal members who were with the group that attacked the Hula Hoop and then super finish them off. We can't leave Takitsubo-san waiting too long, so let's finish this off super quickly."
"Wait just a damn second. Weren't you just saying that I didn't have to obey Item anymore? What happened to the Hamazura Shiage who would wash his hands of all that dirty business and support his lovely Takitsubo-chan?"
"Then you can just super leave me be and go with Takitsubo-san to the private salon. She'll likely be worried about me when I super don't show up, but you can just super enjoy yourself on your own."
"Fuck!! This is her party and you're just going to leave!?"
"If you don't like it, then super hurry up and get us a car already. Let's super kill those former Spark Signal bastards and then get to the party, okay? Okay, Hamazura, okay?"
At the end, she started using a sweet, coaxing voice and Hamazura ended up clicking his tongue and sticking his hand in his pocket while half in tears. He pulled out the wire-like tools he used to unlock cars.
While glancing over at Kinuhata who was calling Takitsubo to tell her to head to the private salon in District 3 ahead of them, Hamazura easily opened the door of a family car parked on the street.
"You really are the type that relies on the people you know, aren't you?"
"Did you super say something, Subordinate Hamazura?"
Part 4
The RV Accelerator, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Musujime Awaki, and Unabara Mitsuki were riding in headed to District 3 where celebrities tended to gather.
Tsuchimikado displayed the order data Shiokishi had sent over on the large screen.
"There are 20 of them. It seems they have sub-machine guns and grenades prepared for that many, but…well, Shiokishi was right about this being an easy job. It seems their job was mainly to provide support for the main group."
"Sure, killing them will be easy," said Accelerator while sitting on a cot and glaring at Tsuchimikado. "But are we just going to do what those fuckers on the board of directors say? If we play this right, we might be able to press them for some information on Dragon."
"So are you saying we join the former Spark Signal terrorists, the people who occupied the Hula Hoop and used a child as a hostage for their negotiations?"
"…"
"In our position, we of course do need to search for information on Dragon, but we can't do it the wrong way. Those former Spark Signal members are just a bunch of terrible bastards. If nothing is done about them, they could easily occupy some other building and take more hostages. …And if you truly want to press for information on the mystery of Dragon by dragging complete strangers into the mix, then the four of us will have to split."
"Tch," said Accelerator clicking his tongue disinterestedly.
He was a truly fearsome Level 5 who had even been dropped from a bomber as a strategic weapon, but he truly hated causing damage to civilians (or more accurately, to the peaceful world in which a certain little girl lived).
Now that Accelerator had been silenced, Musujime opened her mouth.
"Where are these remnants of the former Spark Signal members hiding?"
"They're moving through an underground mall directly below a train station. The place has already closed, so there aren't any other people there. Since they're going out of their way to head through there, it must not be too much trouble for them to break through the security."
Most shopping districts stayed open late into the night, but the ones in the same facility as a train station were different. When the last train left, the underground mall below it would close too.
Tsuchimikado operated a remote control and a map of the underground mall appeared on the screen.
"They most likely know that the main force at the Hula Hoop was defeated. It seems they are moving through the underground mall to get to a vehicle they have parked elsewhere to move to yet another location. It isn't clear if they are purely attempting to flee or if they are switching to a secondary plan that uses an even more destructive weapon."
"So where is their getaway vehicle located?" asked Unabara, but Tsuchimikado merely pointed towards the wall of the RV.
"There."
"…What?"
"I instructed the driver to circle around ahead of them. If we destroy the vehicle and have someone wait for them, we can prevent things from going the way the former Spark Signal members want it to. …Of course, it won't end there. We will leave an anchor here and the other three will perform a sweep of the underground mall. If we use some pinpoint shooting with Musujime's Move Point and then have Unabara and me take them out while they're confused, this will be over before you know it."
Accelerator frowned upon hearing that.
A faint smile appeared on Tsuchimikado's face when he saw the #1 glaring at him. He lightly tapped his own neck and spoke.
"With the Depart and Hula Hoop battles back-to-back like that, you need to conserve your electrode's battery."
"Tch."
He had no real reason to obey him, but he had no real reason to help them either. Accelerator decided that if those idiots were going to take care of the odd jobs on their own, he would just let them.
At that point, the RV stopped moving.
Tsuchimikado reached his hand out towards the back door that led outside.
"C'mon, let's go. Time for a regular everyday fight to the death."
Part 5
From the standpoint of one's wallet, the underground mall in District 3 was a place that required some courage to step into.
The area the former Spark Signal members were heading through was already closed, so there were no other people there. They were more specifically in an area that had many different sports brands of clothing. They had an entire eras worth of uniforms from a world famous soccer league lined up. People who understood that type of thing could accept how much they cost, but those who did not understand would be at a loss as to why anyone would pay that much. The place was filled with items that had that sort of value.
"(…Oh, there they are. Hm, they have light weight low recoil submachine guns that can be used with one hand, but they've ruined them by putting heavy grenade launchers on them. This might be even easier than expected.)"
"(…Have they not thought about how dangerous it is to use grenades in an enclosed space?)"
While peering around the corner of a corridor, Tsuchimikado and Unabara spoke to each other.
They used a cell phone to call Musujime who was waiting a little ways away.
"The targets have been spotted at Point BBE. Can you confirm?"
"I want to just go ahead and kill them. Could you give me the signal?"
"We'll begin on the count of 5. Start with the outer edges."
Tsuchimikado hung up the phone and gripped his handgun with both hands.
The 20 former Spark Signal terrorists headed towards them through the darkness.
At exactly 5 seconds after he had hung up, a corkscrew pierced the shoulder of one of the armed members making almost no noise.
Musujime Awaki's Move Point made no noise in and of itself. The slight sound that had been made was most likely the sound of the flesh around the wound being spread out by the corkscrew appearing having ignored the third dimension.
A scream resounded through the area.
However, the former Spark Signal group did not realize they were being attacked at first.
A second, a third, and then a fourth corkscrew attacked them.
People on the outer edges of the group simultaneously fell to the ground and writhed around. The former Spark Signal group finally figured out what was going on and stood stock still as they were unsure which direction to run in since people on all sides of them had been hit.
That confused motionlessness lasted only 2 or 3 seconds, but Tsuchimikado did not overlook it.
"Let's go," he said quietly to Unabara and held his gun around the corner.
He unhesitatingly pulled the trigger.
Unlike before, a clear gunshot and muzzle flash was created and more of the terrorists collapsed. Perhaps because this was not a mysterious attack and they were able to comprehend what had happened, the remaining targets returned fire with their submachine guns in Tsuchimikado's direction as they searched for something to hide behind.
Tsuchimikado and Unabara fired from the front and Musujime used her Move Point from a different direction, so the former Spark Signal members continued to go down.
In no time at all, half of them had been taken out.
"(…Oh, shit. A grenade!!)"
Tsuchimikado saw one of them reaching a finger towards the other trigger near the trigger to the submachine gun, so he concentrated his fire there.
However, the former Spark Signal members were good.
All ten of them aimed their grenades towards Tsuchimikado and Unabara in unison. The 10 explosives were fired at once and coffee can-like objects flew through the air in an arc.
"(…Jump!!)" Tsuchimikado yelled as he broke a window on the side of the corridor and jumped through into a store.
But Unabara did not follow.
Instead, he reached for a large button on the wall. It activated a security/fire shutter. When he pressed the button with his palm, a thick metal barrier wall fell down just before the grenades hit.
It stopped the explosives.
A number of large explosions could be heard on the other side of the wall and the shutters became warped in his direction. However, the explosions and fragments did not injure Unabara.
"You dumbass!!" Tsuchimikado yelled at him. "Now we can't attack them!! Giving them time only lets them gather more firepower for a counterattack!!"
The two of them moved around the shop with the broken window in an attempt to circumvent the shutter and return to the battlefield, but that time lag of a few seconds greatly affected the next turn of events.
A new explosion reverberated through the underground area.
It had not been created in an attempt to attack Tsuchimikado, Musujime, or Unabara.
"!!"
Tsuchimikado hurriedly checked on the state of the passageway and saw that a large hole had been opened in the ceiling on the other side of a cloud of dust. It was in the exact place the former Spark Signal group had previously been. The fallen rubble had piled up like a staircase making a perfect route to the surface.
And the former Spark Signal group had completely vanished.
They had clearly escaped.
"Dammit!!" Tsuchimikado swore as he grabbed his cell phone.
He was calling Accelerator who was waiting on the surface.
"They escaped from the underground mall!! There are about 10 of them! We'll be heading up with Musujime's Move Point, but you head out to intercept them!! I doubt they're still headed there!!"