When one holds the title of being the strongest, one does not explicitly realize just how much power that person holds. Simply stating the fact never really allows you to truly grasp the situation. Only through actual battles do you know just how strong they are.
And, seeing the battles Accelerator participated in, Haru was able to confidently say that he was really, really screwed. Like, totally screwed. This guy so far got hit by: military weapons, mines, electricity, heavy debris, explosions, shrapnel, and etc, and he never received a single scratch. He never had a single injury. According to the records he had seen before the entire military of Academy City went against him when he was a mere child.
Deciding to fight Accelerator was a very foolish move, no doubt, but it wasn't like he could back out of it now. In her every action, the clone literally radiated hope and deep relief at his decision of intervention. That alone probably kept him from running away. He would probably not be able to stand the thought of the despair she would feel if he didn't help.
It was very odd, in a way. What was his exact reason for doing this?
And there was another question of why this particular clone suddenly had felt waves of emotions for the first time. He couldn't surmise what exactly happened, but he theorized that, since the wacky gadget Zoremos wielded was designed to amplify the negative emotions one had in themselves (temporally, it seemed), it somehow unlocked the emotions the clone had inside her the entire time. The way the human mind worked was still subjected toward discussion and conjectures, and he could possibly be very wrong about what exactly happened, but the fact was, this clone now had her own unique emotions that she expressed. The inhumane experiment she and thousand others were subjected to naturally clashed against the self-preservation she felt. Now only if he could enable that emotion all across the network...
But there was a more serious problem at hand. In less than 5 hours he had to face the esper with game-breaking power. It appeared that no amount of physical force would be able to go through him; he had this impenetrable barrier around him that made him immune to heavy force. So physical combat was out of the way.
Then, a more unconventional warfare was required; he was still a human (or so he assumed). He needed to breathe, possibly, and he needed every other human requirement to live. He needed to somehow exploit that. He still had five senses of a normal human being, he also assumed, and that meant that he could possibly use other types of weaponry. Flashbangs, poison gas, irritating noises, etc. The main problem was that he also was subjected toward whatever weapons he was going to use to change the environment. He needed to pack requirements for the protection against the harmful substances he would bring. And even still he doubted their effectiveness against someone like him. He was not burned by the explosions, which meant that his barrier worked on heat, and therefore airborne particles. But could he possibly filter out harmful substances while also managing to supply his lungs with oxygen?
Was Accelerator being clever with his powers? If he had much more potential than he actually showed, and if he was aware of them, then the battle itself would become much harder.
Many people within this world give their best effort to protect other people. Whether it involved becoming a firefighter, a part of military, medic, or even a member of a clergy. They tirelessly work around the clock to save and rescue people they have no relation with, and have no pleasure of knowing each other. Some do it out of necessity for a job, but others do it because they wish to save others. They are normal, regular human beings, with no abilities to rely upon.
And then there are people with supernatural powers, and most of them can be compared to a child with dangerous weapons they do not comprehend about. Separated from the regular world they seek to find a place for themselves using their abilities. Either to destroy others... or to save them.
A silent figure with a white hair stood leaning against one of the many metal shipping containers scattered around the railway cargo holding area. He was chewing something in his mouth like a gum, and based on his expression, he disliked the flavor.
It was 9:50. The 10,030th experiment was due to begin in T-Minus 10 minutes. The teen leisurely waited for the time, not giving much thought into this particular upcoming experiment. He did these literally over ten thousand times. His expression did not change until he observed a figure slowly walking up toward him. While the time was correct, this time a girl with goggles on her head did not approach him. It was someone else.
One would describe his hair longer than normal, but not by much. His hair started out smooth at the top and formed into spikes around his ears. He wore a long navy blue jacket, clearly larger than his stature. His walk was unlike someone who was headed toward inevitable doom; rather, he walked straight and tall, with confidence visibly showing in each of his steps.
Accelerator raised his eyebrows, interested in this turn of events. The clones were always early and punctual, but now only he approached the cargo area. He was clearly not involved with this experiment.
"Oi, you over there, I would run if I were you." Accelerator called out, smiling with malice. "You wouldn't want to get involved with this place for the next few hours."
The mysterious person smiled. "It's a no-show." He called out. "I'm her replacement for this experiment."
Accelerator stood still, hardly believing his ears. Turning around, trying to spot the clone, he called out loud: "Oh, come on! Don't go involving random civilians in this! I suppose I have to kill him now, since he is aware of the experiment, but that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"See, now, that interests me." the approaching figure replied. "Based on what I have seen, I would have expected you to be happy to be able to kill one more person."
"Well, I don't mind killing people." Accelerator grinned. "But I do mind having the experiment being screwed up. Where is she hiding?"
"Sorry," Haru replied, revealing himself from behind the large container. "She does not want to take part in this experiment, and I am not about to sell her out."
Gritting his teeth, Accelerator began to walk toward him. "Why not? None of those dolls minded getting their spines ripped out. Why did this particular one chicken out?"
"Who knows? Perhaps because it was about time someone said no?"
"Say no? None of those clones ever refused." Accelerator chuckled. "Even at the verge of their painful death did any of them protest. Why would they do now?"
"Does it even matter to you if they do protest?" Haru replied. "If one of them said no, would you still have gone on with the experiment?"
"Are you joking? Did they ever say no to me? Day by day they throw themselves at me, hoping to give me at least a scratch just for the sake of this experiment. It's totally insane. They give up their lives like it's nothing; it's getting very old." Accelerator grinned and scowled at the same time, giving off an eerie look. "They treat themselves with no dignity, and they have no concern for their own life whatsoever. I'll never understand that. Let me ask you a question. I already killed over ten thousand of those clones. What's the difference between saving one clone out of twenty thousand?"
"What's the difference?" Haru replied. "Everything."
"Heh... Hahahahaha!" Accelerator scoffed in response. "See, you are the most idiotic person I've laid my eyes on. Those clones attack me because they are mere dolls, they are of no loss. You, on the other hand, attack me fully knowing what will happen. And as an additional twist of irony, the very clone you are protecting ran away precisely because she fears for her life! Does your own life mean that little to you? Now, I'll only ask you one more time." He spat out something from his mouth. An insane smile sketched on his lips. "WHERE. IS. SHE? AHHHHHHHHH!" Raising his leg he stomped on the ground; the entire cargo area shook as various surrounding debris began to simultaneously fly toward Haru.
Conjuring up his sword, Haru gave a diagonal slash toward the flying projectiles; split in half, their momentum gone, they harmlessly fell to the ground.
"Interesting. So their overall decision does matter, in some way." Haru raised his eyebrows. "And here I thought you killed them for fun!"
Accelerator stomped on the ground again, and the floor rumbled, visible cracks appearing on the ground. Spikes of dirt popped from the ground dangerously as Haru began to run.
"Aw, what the hell." Accelerator yelled in the midst of chaos. "Since you're here, might as well have fun with you!"
Forming his hands into a gun shape, Haru began to fire a beam of particles as a test; as expected they flew back before even touching Accelerator, reflected. So that method was out of the question. Plan B, then.
But before he could initiate his plan Accelerator jumped forward seven meters across in one step. Haru had already theorized that Accelerator would be able to mutilate his body just like the ground if he touched him; his future-self appearing behind them and understanding his own intentions he transmigrated. Accelerator grasped on thin air as he just missed Haru by mere milliseconds. Intrigued, he turned around.
"What, teleportation?" Accelerator said, boredom clearly showing on his face. "Oh come on, that ability is boring to fight against."
"Close, but no cigar." Haru went into a battle stance. "Try again." He transmigrated once, and twice. Three copies of Haru were now visible, running amok.
"What is this, illusion?" Accelerator smiled. "Whatever this is, I like it. I like it very much. This is very refreshing compared to having to fight those clones thousands of times." Flying forward, he chased one of the copies; he touched various obstacles as he flew by, and they flung outward as if they were struck by an explosion. Doppelgangers of Haru quickly disappeared one by one as they were under the limitations of transmigration.
Unfortunately, Accelerator picked on the one that transmigrated last, ignoring the other two earlier clones. He quickly conjured up his sword just before Accelerator made his contact with him. His blade shattered on Accelerator's mere touch; frown of disappointment appeared on Haru's face as he transmigrated again to avoid the impact.
He was visibly panting at this point from the exertion of his energy. Taking out a respirator he quickly attached it to his face, and taking out a grenade from his jacket, he pulled the pin before throwing it on the ground. Gaseous poison began to spray from the grenade as Accelerator observed the situation, interested as to what he was up to at this point.
Respirator with P100 rating filtered out 99.97% of airborne particles. At the present state Haru was safe from the poisonous fumes for some time.
"Oi, running out of ideas?" Accelerator asked in a bored voice. "If poison worked, they would have used it by now, eh?"
But a strange thing happened; Accelerator began to run short of breath as he talked. He observed himself surrounded by poisonous yellow fumes of gas. Then he understood; while he automatically reflected any of the harmful substances from his body, he could not reflect gas unless he also reflected most of the surrounding air.
"Hahaha..." Accelerator began to cackle. "Kekekekekeke! Amazing! See, you're actually clever!" Delight filled his face despite the lack of air. "This is much better than fighting thousands of clones! Brilliant! But there is one flaw!" Accelerator grinned wildly as he launched himself from the ground toward the air. "Your plan fails once I move!" Accelerator smashed to the ground from the air, covering the distance of 10 meters in one second. A large crater formed over the impact area; resulting rocks and gravel flew all over the place. A large piece of stone struck Haru, not on his jaw, thankfully, but on his cheekbones, sharply scratching the skin open; he flew outwards, landing hard on his back. The mask fell to the ground, broken.
Alright... Plan C. Taking out a sleep blindfold he placed it over his eyes. Taking out a cylindrical grenade he pulled the pin and threw it far away to the ground. He plugged his ears, turned around, and made sure to open his mouth.
The preparation against his own weapon was not as effective as he would have hoped. Merely 2 seconds after the throw the flashbang went off, and afterward Haru went practically deaf from the resulting detonation. Pain began to burn brightly from his ear. Tiny spots of light pierced through the mask despite the mask and having his back toward the explosion. Thankfully, the resulting shockwave failed to rupture his eardrums despite the heavy pressure due to his opened mouth.
Of course, neither the flash nor the sounds ever reached Accelerator; subconsciously he had already reflected all of them. But subconscious reflections had its limits; had he actually concentrated on separating the harmful effects from normal effects he would still be able to hear and see to a very little extent. But subconscious reflection blocked out most if not all of the lightshow. For a few seconds Accelerator could neither see nor hear, his senses completely blocked by his reflection. But he was still safe from all the negative effects.
"Good, this is great!" Accelerator yelled out loud after the explosion, but Haru was unable to hear him. "Finally, after boring fight after another, I finally meet a worthy opponent! Hahahahhahahaha! Alright, no limits now!" He flew forward from his spot toward Haru, fully aiming to unleash the worst effects of his ability upon him. Haru sensed the killing intent from Accelerator, and ripping his mask off, he dragged his fingers in the thin air; tachyon particles began to swirl from his fingertips going beyond the speed of light. Bluish glow emitted from the wall he created.
"Tachyon Shield!"
Truth to be told, this was a curb stomp battle from the beginning. He had no hopes of winning. But that did not negate the fact that Haru enjoyed this battle immensely, almost as much as Accelerator did.
The shield Haru set in front of him shattered from a mere touch from Accelerator; they both knew that he had only seconds left of his life as Accelerator reached for his face.
Then at the next moment, Accelerator was peppered with gun shots; confusion sketched across his face as the bullets harmlessly bounced away from his reflection. He turned to see the clone with goggles walking out from behind one of the many metal containers, this particular one receiving all the reflected bullets head on.
Accelerator's fingers were mere inches away from Haru's face. They both stared at the approaching girl, dumbfounded.
Finally, Haru spoke. "Why the hell are you here?" anger and fear was visible on his face. "Can't you see that I am fighting instead of you? Go!"
"Well, this is interesting!" Accelerator glanced at Haru. "She chickened out, according to you."
Haru stayed silent, staring at Misaka 10030. The next moment, he disappeared, having already transmigrated behind the clone before he even began to travel.
"I saw fear in your eyes." Haru whispered as he stood behind the surprised clone. "Your newfound sense of self-preservation should have kept you away. Why did you come back?"
Did the effects of the magical weapon wear off?
"..."
"Because of the same reason you are here."
She did not end her sentence referring to herself. The human emotions were still inside her, running strong. And yet, she came.
"Well, this is touching and all..." Accelerator drawled while walking toward them, hands in pockets. "But now since she is here, I'll just kill you both." In one moment, he was walking; in the next, he was flying toward them.
The clone attempted to shield Haru with her body, but he already predicted her intentions; roughly grabbing her cuff with his hands he brushed her aside, and met Accelerator head on.
His fingertips touched Haru's forehead.
One thing you should ask yourself while trying to protect others: Are you willing to sacrifice yourself?
It's a tough question to answer. When actually faced with the reality of dying, people converge into two distinct categories. Either to save others, or to run away.
But then it doesn't matter either way. Choosing not to save others out of fear of your own life does not mean that you are a coward and choosing to sacrifice yourself for others does not mean that you are an idiot. In the end, we all have our unique choices to make. So, going back to his question: Why was he doing this?
Was it because the clone asked him to? Was it out of pity and concern? Was it because of his own conscience? Well, mix of those three...
… But he was doing this mainly because he could.
Pain.
Agony.
Disappointment.
Blood freshly came flying from his split forehead. He was flung back many meters straight into a wall of metal containers, denting one of them. Even after the hard impact his grasp on the clone never faltered; Misaka 10030 was dragged along, slamming right into already injured Haru, his body used as a shield for impact.
He was knocked out cold, and despite the heavy battle he faced, he still held a peaceful countenance.
Placing his hands upon one of the many containers, Accelerator began to force his hand through the metal cover. His opponent was unconscious, and now he had no chance to escape. Lifting up the entire box with one arm, he slammed it toward them; the object traveled toward the two at hundreds miles per hour.
The clone gently began to caress his face, her face filled with numerous expressions, ranging from sorrow to regret.
The cargo crashed against the containers and the wheat flour inside them burst out from the pierced openings.
The End?