The Horrorverse, Part 4: The Sisters Project

Academy City, Japan

Academy City certainly felt like a Coruscant on Earth, minus the flying cars, aliens, and about 80% of the technology. A giant blimp loomed over the city with a TV on it. From Sandman's rooftop view of the vast, futuristic city, he dreaded the unavoidable Riddle Hunt.

"Academy City is the most technologically advanced city in Japan and most likely the world." Carol read from an article. "The goal of its top officials is to keep advancing both its technology and its people. For that reason, they celebrate both metahumans and benders and encourage them to develop their powers. They have a Power Level system of 1-5, with 5 being reserved for the strongest people in the city. However, people who don't have powers are called Level 0's."

"I can already feel the corruption." Sandman remarked. "But talking metahumans, this is definitely a town Caesar would love. Can you look up any buildings he may be associated with?"

"Sorry, nothing comes up. But I'll keep looking."

"Me, too. The local thugs could provide some decent intel." Sandman took flight and activated his Detective Vision. He already detected some green thugs and swooped down for some old-fashioned interrogation. "Know anything about Caesar?!"

"What?! Caesar Who?!"

"Never mind, just give me some Riddles!"

"O-Okay, sure!"

"Thanksies." And Sandman punched him senseless.

"Verse Number 4: A Person's Inner Beliefs." Affright's image displayed on the TVs, including the one on the blimp. "By watching the Kids Next Door's savage natures, have you noticed their aggression is targeted toward a specific subject? Some of them love Rainbow Monkeys, yet they rip the stuffing from those toys. Some of them enjoy knowledge, and now they set books to flames. This is because, deep inside their heart, they fear that their hobbies are meaningless. A waste of time in the grand scheme of fate. So, why not destroy those meaningless objects? Why accept that life has any meaning? This is what the Kids Next Door believe. Do you still deem them heroes, noble citizens? Or do you agree with them?"

"Mr. York, you don't think people are actually buying Affright's speeches, do you?" Carol asked.

"Not everyone. But I'm sure there are some people like Affright who want to give the Kids Next Door a bad name. It's all gonna come down to which people stay faithful to them in the end."

BOOM! Sandman immediately stopped and looked around at the sound of a gunshot. His goggles projected the source of the sound, 50 meters up the street. He called his Sandmobile to make the drive up there a bit quicker, parking beside an alley as the tracker seemed to lead there. He turned left down the dark alley and switched on Detective Vision, spotting a fallen body in the darkness.

When Sandman drew close, he switched back to normal vision. The body was that of a 14-year-old Japanese girl, with chestnut hair and a light-brown school uniform. A gun lay in her dead hand, black goggles covered her eyes, and her legs were arched up. Nolan calmly removed the goggles to see her dull chestnut eyes. "She's dead…"

"Oh, dear. That gun… was it a suicide?"

"I'm going to find out. Initiating Space-Time Detective Mode." Sandman projected a holographic rectangle around the area. He first zoomed in on the girl's face. "She's rather expressionless for someone about to be murdered." He scanned a round wound in her neck. "This wound certainly looks like it could come from a bullet. But let's study the gun itself…"

Nolan picked up the small, hi-tech weapon and picked out one of the bullets. It was shaped like a drill. Curious, he forced the bullet against the building on his left. "Incredible…" The bullet had pierced through the fortified structure. "These bullets have the potential to pierce through iron… and this gun seems like it can fire with twice the speed of a normal one." He set the gun back in her hand. "If she used this on herself, there would be a bullet in the back of her neck. But there isn't. Furthermore, these bullets are smaller than her neck wound. Yet, there's no bullet lodged in her throat, and it doesn't seem like anyone could have pried it out. It could be that she used this gun in self-defense. But if her body was facing this way…"

Nolan backtracked to the corner wall of the alley. He scanned a hole in the wall that seemed to go deep. His Space-Time Vision projected the girl getting up on her feet and a silhouette wielding its own gun. The girl fired, the silhouette dodged as the bullet pierced the wall, then he shot her. "No, that can't be right. I only heard one gunshot. If it came from her gun, that means the killer didn't use one. However, this wound… I can only think of one other thing that could make it." His Space-Time Vision portrayed the killer dodging the bullet, running up, and then slipping behind the girl as he punctured her neck with his own finger. "A Finger Pistol maneuver. One of the Six Powers of Rokushiki."

"Y-You don't think… CP10 could have…" Carol stuttered.

"CP10 was tried for their unjust actions after the Government's fall and were imprisoned. …Something else isn't right, either." Sandman studied the girl's arched-up legs. His Space-Time Vision played the murder again, but this time the killer was child-sized. "The hole in the building is shorter than the girl's arm if she were aiming straight." When the killer got behind the victim, he pulled her back to pierce his finger in her neck, causing her legs to be arched up when she fell. "Whoever the killer is, they're about a 10-year-old's height. They also seem to have large hands, judging by the wound. I don't think anyone in CP10 match the height, but assuming it is them, why would they target this girl? Let's see if her image comes up in any important databases."

"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" Sandman whipped around. A girl with light-red hair in very curly pigtails and the same uniform as the dead girl was wielding a green badge. "I am Shirai Kuroko of Judgment Branch 177. Explain your business in this alleyway or…or. . . !"

A wave of fear washed over her. Her light-red eyes focused on the dead body behind him. "S…Sissy…" She looked back up at Sandman. "You…YOU KILLED MY SISSY!!" Brimming with blue aura, she telekinetically grabbed the garbage cans and threw them at Sandman, who dodged. She then teleported a chunk of a waterspout behind him and tried to stab him, but Nolan dodged again. "AAAAAAHH!" The girl warped above him and tried to stomp the man, but Nolan jumped back and grabbed her by the arms in his Chi-block Gauntlets.

"Listen to me! I didn't kill your sister, I just found her-!"

"LET ME GO! AGH!" Kuroko struggled. "Why can't I teleport?! SOMEONE HELP!! MURDERER! HE KILLED MISAKA! HE KILLED MY PRECIOUS-!"

Sandman squirted knock-out gas in her face, the crying girl falling limp in his arms. "Put Kuroko down!" An electric surge lit up the alley. A new girl had arrived, wearing a black hat, black T-shirt with the word Spark, and short brown shorts with black sneakers. Her hat shading her eyes, she aimed an electrical finger at Sandman, an electric aura surrounding her body.

Sandman calmly set Kuroko on the ground and stood up fully. The girl grit her teeth and blasted a lightning bolt, Sandman blocking with his Chi Gauntlet and suffering no damage. He ran up to try and grab her, but the girl threw her hat, distracting him for a brief moment as she flipped behind and zapped another bolt, only to miss. Nolan could see the fury in her chestnut eyes, her same-colored hair moving in the electric.

"…" Nolan glanced at the dead body and back at her. "You look just like that girl…"

"Did you murder my sister?! Did you set up this experiment?!"

"No! I only just arrived in this city, I heard a gunshot, and I found this body when I came to investigate."

"Then who are you?"

"I'm Sandman. I'm on a mission to stop a villain called Affright."

"Affright?" Her lightning died down. "You mean… that man who keeps appearing on the TVs?"

"Yes, and I received a lead that brought me to this city. …But it looks like I'll be investigating a murder."

The statement seemed to surprise her. "What? But you don't have anything to do with this, do you?"

"I can't just let a murderer run loose. You should take your other sister someplace safe. I promise I'll find whoever did this."

"You won't be able to!"

"And why not?"

"Because…" Misaka looked down. "Because I think I already know…" Her voice fell quiet. Sandman cocked a brow. Misaka shook her head and stated, "Wait, why am I telling a stranger like you?! Just leave this to me, okay? You focus on your own mission."

"For all I know, you can be in danger, too. I can't just ignore this. If you know who could be behind this, you have to tell me."

"Grrrr! Fine! You wanna know what this is?! It's a mass murder project!"

"Did someone say MURDER?!" hissed a high-pitched voice. They both looked up, finding a lizard Nightmare with a human face crawling down the building. "I smell BLOOOOOD! I likes blood! I likes it in my BELLY!" He lashed a vacuum tongue down at the girl's sister, but Sandman grabbed it, pulled him down, and beat the monster senseless.

"Let's continue this discussion in the Sandmobile. Grab Kuroko."

"H-Hold on a minute! What if this is a trap, how do I know I can trust you?!"

Nolan took off his mask and looked her in the eye. "I can only give you my word…"

"…Sigh, well I could at least get some information out of you." She mumbled. The girl lifted her friend while Sandman carried the corpse. She followed him outside to the Sandmobile, where he laid the body in the trunk strap. He then lifted Kuroko into the backseat and invited his guest to sit in the passenger seat.

"Ow!" The girl sat on Revan. "Darn it, Nolan, another side mission?! You can't just go around helping people all night, you need to learn how to prioritize! Heck, I'm only gonna commit 10 times the crimes you solve."

"No one should disturb us in here." Nolan said, driving leisurely around the city. "You can start explaining now."

"Sigh… It's kind of a long story."

"I bet I know longer stories."

"Man, you're pushy. Okay, where do I start… Well, my name is Mikoto Misaka. A few years ago, I signed up for a program where I hand over pieces of my DNA. The doctors said they wanted to use the Lightning Chi in my DNA to create cures for disease. But one day, I found out why they really wanted it: they wanted to make clones."

"Clones? Then, that girl in the back…"

"Is one of my 20,000 clones."

"Twenty-thousand?! But… why?"

"It's called the Sisters Project. The strongest person in our city is a metahuman called Accelerator. The top officials take pride in breeding powerful benders or metahumans, so they wanted to make him stronger. But no one could challenge him. So, they made clones of me, the 3rd-strongest person. They would be put into various combat scenarios, each learning from the others and stronger than the last. And if Accelerator could defeat every single one, he would become the first 'Level 6.'"

"But this Accelerator… was he assigned to kill you, too?"

"No. Only my sisters. Look, I know what you're thinking: 'they're just clones, so I shouldn't care too much.' But-"

"But they're like sisters to you. They have hearts and souls like real people. And you want to save them."

"Y…Yeah. How'd you know I was gonna say that?"

"I can sorta relate."

"Aww, you're thinking of Vanellope!" Carol cooed.

Misaka cracked a light smile. "Well, anyway, I learned about all this about a year ago. Accelerator had killed half of my sisters. Despite all my hard work, I couldn't stop the project. So, I decided to confront him."

"I'm NOT going to let you hurt her!" vowed Misaka, shielding her sister from him. "You'll have to get through me first!"

"I don't have time for this, you little brat." Accelerator stated. He was a white-haired boy of 15, wearing a black- and white-striped shirt, blue jeans, and a vicious glare. "Move out of the way or I'll blow through you both."

Misaka brimmed with lightning and readied to flick a coin at him. Accelerator was about to make his move. "Excuse me!" He stopped and looked to his left.

A caped, bald man in a yellow suit stood there with the blankest of expressions. "Hey, do you kids know the way to the video store? I think I'm lost…" They were at a train yard.

"Does this look like a video store to you?! Get lost, I'm in the middle of something!" Accelerator ran at the Misakas with super speed.

"AAAAAH!" Misaka quickly repositioned her coin, but it was too late—

The caped baldy zipped up and PUNCHED Accelerator, blowing him through several freights with the force of a man-sized bullet. Misaka fell speechless before the sight, dropping the coin.

"So, where's the video store?" asked the man.

"I know." Misaka chuckled. "It was pretty random. But as quickly as it happened, the project was over. The strongest man in the city was beaten by a Level 0, ordinary human with no powers. Bones broken and everything. I was so happy… but last month, I felt my sisters dying all over again. The tests resumed, and I have no idea why!"

"Do you think Accelerator has recovered?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't know much about him, where he lives or anything. …!" She gasped. "Watch out! Those are patrol tanks." She pointed at a squad of four white tanks. "They were sent out as soon as the monsters showed up."

"What are those things?!" Nolan spotted a swarm of electrical spheres with evil faces fly down toward the tanks.

"Hak kak kak kak!" laughed one of the creatures before they all entered a tank, electrifying them as they formed red, evil eyes. The tanks began blasting the Sandmobile, Nolan dodging the vehicle.

"Misaka, are those tanks manned?"

"No, they're controlled remotely!"

"Perfect." With that, Nolan blasted his car's laser at the tanks. He expertly maneuvered the Sandmobile to evade their fire and strike back, but the tanks were surprisingly durable. Sandman destroyed two, but three more approached him from behind.

Misaka unbuckled her seatbelt. "Mr. Sandman, let me out! I can help fight them!"

"My cannon is barely penetrating them, what can you do?!"

"Just do it!" Seeing the passion in her eyes, Sandman opened the windshield. Misaka put her hat back on and hopped on the car's roof, the windshield closing. Misaka drew a coin from her pocket and positioned it to flick with her thumb. Locking onto a tank, lightning coursing through her body, she flicked the coin with the force of a cannon and destroyed the tank.

"WHOA!" exclaimed Sandman.

"Around here, they call me the Railgun!" Misaka leapt onto another tank and surged electricity through it. She drew out the Nightmare spirit possessing it and filled it with too much electricity that it popped. She flicked another coin into the next tank and exploded it. Sandman had been focusing on another tank and destroyed it, leaving Misaka to jump on the last one, draw out the Electro Possessor, and destroy it. "Well, sorry, but I think the score is 4 to 3." she said perkily, a small spark on her fingertip.

"That was amazing…!" Sandman said with awe.

The roaring of a helicopter caught their attention. Above them was a G.U.N. helicopter with two propellers. "Who are they?" Misaka asked.

"It's GUN. I signaled them." Sandman answered.

He climbed out of the Sandmobile as the craft landed beside them. A soldier stepped off the helicopter and saluted. "Sandman: we have received your signal and are here to assist with the monster control in this city. Is there anything we can help you with?"

"Yes. There's a dead middle school girl and an unconscious girl in the car. I want you to take them back to base for protection. I've already done the autopsy and I'll send you the report."

"Understood. What about this girl?"

Sandman spared a glance at Misaka, detecting the inquiring look in her shaded eyes. "I need her with me. She's vital for the mission."

"Very well." With that, Sandman let them collect the dead clone and the sleeping Kuroko, the helicopter taking off afterwards.

"I don't understand… How am I vital for your mission?" Misaka asked.

"I was talking about your mission."

"But I thought you were trying to stop Affright. Why go out of your way to help me? Some girl you don't even know?"

"Because he's a creeper who picks up young girls at night." Revan said, peeping up behind her. "I'd say this is your last chance to run."

"There's a slim chance that this experiment could tie in with Affright's plans somehow." Nolan answered. "It couldn't just be a coincidence. But even if it was… well…"

Misaka tilted her head back further to see his mask. Nolan removed the mask and looked her in the eye. "I'm a Kids Next Door operative at heart. My job is to save kids. Even if they were clones."

"…Kids Next Door? Hmm… I've heard of them, but I never thought about joining them." Misaka gave a soft smile. "And I never thought about asking them for help. I always thought they had more important things to worry about."

"What could be more important than preventing mass murder?" Misaka sported a light chuckle at the realization. "This project won't be complete under my watch. The Kids Next Door are helping you now. But I need you to help me, too. Do you know who else was involved in the project? Where they were keeping the data?"

Misaka frowned, thinking back to last year's endeavors. "I think the whole city government was in on the project. Back then, I destroyed all their labs and all the data, but it was all being backed up in the Master Computer."

"The Master Computer?"

"Up there." Misaka pointed at the blimp looming over the city. "Way too high for me to reach. Unfortunately, I'm not a Birkan; I can't grow electric wings and fly."

Sandman put his mask back on. "But I can. Whaddya say we give them a surprise?"

"…" Misaka smirked. "I don't know what it is about you… but you seem like a guy who could do anything."

"You're doomed." Revan said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Let me ride on the top." Misaka said. "I can use my bending to stay attached to the car, and I'll be able to shoot its defense missiles."

"Okay, but be careful." Nolan hopped in the Sandmobile and Misaka climbed on the roof. It transformed into the Sandwing and took flight toward the giant blimp. Sensing the incoming threat, the blimp launched missiles at the aircraft, Nolan blasting some with its lasers and Misaka blasting others with lightning bolts. When they drew close to the blimp, an energy barrier materialized around it.

"Uh-oh! I don't remember it having a shield!"

"Scan shows the shield is connected to three generators around the outside. Misaka, do you think your bending can penetrate it?"

Misaka channeled lightning at the force-field. "No, it's too powerful. But those missiles seem to get through just fine. If you can line us up with the generators, I can use my lightning to redirect them!"

"Okay! Here they come!" Sandman steered the ship near the first generator, which was under the TV. Misaka channeled a smaller surge of electricity and hacked the missile into redirecting and targeting the generator. As if by coincidence, when the generator was destroyed, The Riddler appeared on the TV, sobbing into his arm.

"Boo hoo hoo! Why doesn't anyone like my riddles?! Sniff sniff, boo hoo hoo! …" He opened his eyes. "Oh… is this thing on? Ahem, disregard this message… please." And the TV switched back.

The next generator was at the top of the blimp, but it was no hard task for Misaka to redirect the missiles. The last generator was at the bottom, and with one last redirection, it was destroyed and the barrier was down. "Great job, Misaka. It looks like the missiles have stopped, too. Let's get inside."

Sandman flew the Sandwing beside the blimp's entrance and they climbed inside. A control station under a wall-size computer was at the front, and a pigtailed girl sat there. Nolan recognized her. "…Haruka… is that you?" Nolan calmly approached her. His vision flashed and Haruka became a blue hologram like his Space-Time Vision.

A hologram that resembled Nolan approached her. "Huh? Oh, hi, Mr. York! What's up?"

"Hi, Haruka. Listen, I…I'm here for a check-up."

"Ha ha! Sheesh, I know I'm great, but shouldn't you see a professional doctor?"

"I can't think of any doctor more qualified. I need you to look at this sample of my blood…" He handed her a vial.

Haruka dipped a drop under a microscope and examined it. "…That's weird… there is something strange inside it, but I'm not sure what…"

"I don't know, either. But I keep having hallucinations. I…I keep seeing Revan…"

"Oh, I remember this." Revan said. "My favorite part's coming up!"

"Do you want me to try to absorb it?" Haruka asked.

"Yes. Maybe that would be best."

Nolan bent down as Haruka prepared to stick her fingers in his neck. In a split second, Nolan GRABBED Haruka by the neck and strangled her. "Don't you DARE touch him!" Revan and Nolan spoke in unison. "He's MINE, you hear me?! If you ever come near him again, I'll…"

"No! Stop!" Nolan tried to pry his hologram off Haruka's. He succeeded, Haruka gasping for breath. Nolan turned away in shame, staring at his gloved hands. "It wasn't me… It wasn't…" He looked up, seeing The Brain in his canister.

The Brain spoke in his robotic voice, "Now, Nolan… there is no need to get others involved with our relationship…"

Plagued with guilt, Nolan turned back to Haruka, but Misaka was there instead. "Mr. Sandman? Are you… okay?"

"I'm fine. I just have… episodes… sometimes. So, is this the Master Computer? It's a little smaller than I was expecting."

"Well, the real Master Computer is all the way up in space, but I heard they control it from here. Sigh, you know, my hacking skills are the best in the business, but even I don't think I can crack this one."

"Step aside, sister." Misaka gasped when Vanellope jumped out of Sandman's wristwatch and into the computer. The screen turned glitchy as she began her work.

"Good work, Vanellope. Look up any information on the Sisters Project. See if you can find out who's behind it."

"Got it!" They waited for a few moments. An article was brought up onscreen. It was Japanese, but Nolan could use a translator to read it.

"'Accelerator was chosen to be the first Level 6 in Academy City, but due to his defeat at the hands of a Level 0, the project was frozen. However, another candidate had arrived and the project could be resumed. We are currently gathering the scattered Sisters and moving them to their designated areas. We hope that this new candidate will fulfill our goals.'"

"But who is it?!" Misaka asked impatiently.

"It doesn't say. Sorry. Oh, but I do have this schedule!" Vanellope brought up a list of times and locations.

"District 1, District 4, District 17… London, Rhode Island… wait a sec: they're taking my sisters to other parts of the world! But it doesn't name any specific areas! They must've been expecting me to interfere!"

"Or maybe they were expecting me…" Nolan thought aloud. "…! Misaka! According to this, the next murder is going to happen in seven minutes! We need to get to District 1!"

"You're right! Let's hurry!" They ran back into the Sandwing and followed the map. (Play the Chase Theme from Jak II!)

Remote-controlled airships were pursuing the heroes, and as indicated by their red eyes, Electro Possessors were controlling them. Sandman dodged the craft under the first two ships, and Misaka about-faced to use her Railgun, exploding them both. "Hey, Mr. Sandman, do you have any spare coins? I've only got two left."

"I'll hand you some once we're on the ground."

Three more ships got behind them. Misaka carefully aimed her coin and fired, only destroying two of them. She had to expend her last coin to destroy the last one. "Well, that'll have to be soon!"

Once in District 1, the Sandwing landed on the street and reverted back into a car. "We have six minutes, where do you think your sister is?!"

"How is SHE supposed to know, Nolan?!" Revan shouted. "Not every twin has telepathic magnetic connections, you know."

"My sisters emit a similar telepathic frequency that allows them to communicate with and trace each other. I've been learning to trace that frequency myself." Misaka tipped a sparking finger to her forehead and closed her eyes. "She's on a small building surrounded by some taller buildings. That way!" Nolan grabbed her and grappled up to a building, and they jumped a few rooftops before finding the short building in question. "There she is!" Misaka spotted her sister crouched behind a vent.

The clone gasped when they dropped onto the roof, but realizing it was the original, she lifted her goggles. "'Hello, Sister. I am surprised to see you here,' says Misaka 10042, who is also surprised by the masked stranger behind her."

"We're getting you out of here." Misaka stated, grabbing her arm.

"Carol, are there any suspicious people in the vicinity?" Nolan asked.

"None that I can see." Carol said, viewing the satellite's overhead image of the city.

"'I am given to understand that if unexpected circumstances come up, the subject is required to vacate the phase of the project in question,' Misaka 10042 says, providing clarity. 'If this happens, they must prepare for the next test quickly.'"

"These next two are in seven-minute intervals." Sandman observed. "Let's hurry!" He called the Sandwing up and threw the Sister into the passenger seat, crushing Revan again. With Misaka on the roof, they flew the aircraft to District 4.

"Watch out! Surface-to-air missiles!" Misaka yelled.

"Fine! Then we'll travel on the roads!" Sandman about-faced and landed on a road in District 1, using it to safely enter District 4 without being targeted.

"My sister's in the northwest area, inside of a small building." Misaka reported. Sandman studied the map, seeing that area of District 4 was rather enclosed, so they shouldn't have to search far. Unfortunately, four possessed tanks impeded their progress. Sandman tossed some change up to Misaka, who hopped off and lined up all the tanks in front of her. She destroyed them all with the flick of a single coin. She got back on the Sandmobile as they drove to the designated area.

There were numerous restaurants in District 4, and there was an abandoned one in the area in question. The exterior was electrified, but like the blimp, there were three generators hidden around the area. There was one underneath a sewer grate, one hidden under a pile of crates, and one hidden in a tree, and Misaka could destroy them by overcharging them with lightning. They hurried inside the restaurant and found the Sister hiding behind the counter.

"'Sister? Why are you here?' asks Misaka 10043 with a glimmer of hope in her dull eyes."

"Do all of them talk like that?" Nolan asked.

"Yep. Come on, let's save the last one! District 17, let's go!"

District 17 was west-northwest of the city, and the drive was a bit more complicated. Nolan avoided as many tanks as possible, and with five minutes to go, they made it to the district. Misaka sensed her sister's location and gasped: "She's in the switchyard! The same place where that Caped Baldy defeated Accelerator before…"

Five tanks tried to stop them, and they moved around to prevent Misaka from destroying them all at once. She destroyed the first one, then leapt to the second to draw out the Possessor. Sandman focused fire on another one and destroyed it, and then Misaka was able to line up the last two and destroy them. They hurried to the switchyard, only to immediately be bombarded by laser turrets from all over the gravelly ground. Sandman parked the car behind a freight, but the lasers were penetrating it.

"We've only got 3-and-a-half minutes!" Misaka yelled. "Sisters, can you contact her?!"

"I can see her!" Sandman yelled, using Detective Vision. "We'll just have to destroy them all!" Sandman drove out and began blasting the turrets, quickly dodging their fire. "Dammit, there's too many!"

"See what happens when you get involved in other peoples' business?!" Revan shouted.

"If I use an electromagnetic pulse, I can shut them all down!" Misaka yelled. "It'll shut your car down, but I can always power it back up!"

"Alright, do it, I'll cover you!"

"You know, you can be too trusting for your own g-" Revan tried to say.

Misaka got behind the Sandmobile, charged energy in her enclosed hands, and smashed them into the ground, sending a shockwave that completely disabled all turrets. The Sandmobile deactivated as expected, but once Misaka analyzed the results, she powered the car back up. "Hm. I knew working with you would be a good idea." Nolan said.

"Hm hm! Well, I'm not the 3rd-strongest for nothing. …I'm still not sure if I can trust you, you know."

"It's good to stay alert." Sandman climbed out of the car as they headed to the Sister's location. "By the way, I forgot to ask, does your other sister know about this project?"

"Huh? Oh, no no, Kuroko's not really related to me, we're just roommates. …Very close roommates. But she doesn't know. None of my friends know."

"Why wouldn't you tell them?"

"Because I didn't wanna get them involved. I couldn't. I broke into private government facilities, I destroyed their equipment all for the sake of saving my sisters. If I were any less stealthy, I could be in major trouble." 'Course, for all I know, this guy is a cop. I guess now we'll find out…

"That kind of reminds me of Batman."

"Eh, really? How?"

"Batman has lots of friends that want to help him, but he's always afraid of getting them in trouble. He's too stubborn to let them help. But in reality, his friends were as involved as anyone else. Everyone in Gotham was in danger. So, despite the risks, they insisted on helping him. And even he couldn't deny his friends were capable. To be honest, getting a civilian like you mixed up in my mission was the last thing I wanted to do… but you're stronger than you look, Misaka. Having an ally like you with me is actually comforting."

"Oh… well, that… means a lot, actually." Misaka smiled. "So, is Sandman your real name?"

"No. It's actually Nolan. Nolan York."

"So, it's like a secret identity thing? Hm hm, well I guess I better stick to calling you Sandman."

They found the Misaka clone hiding under a secret hatch beneath a train rail. She had a small control room where she operated the cannons. "'Are you the Level 6 subject,' Misaka 10044 asks, showing slight fear at the thought of death."

"No, I'm here to save you. I brought the original Misaka." Said girl smiled and waved at her sister.

They brought the clone back to the Sandmobile to join the others. "It seems the next murder isn't scheduled to murder until two hours, and is set in London. I'll warn GUN about this and have these Sisters shipped to their base."

"Will they protect them?"

"Positive. And besides, one of my friends is monitoring their base, so she can tell if something suspicious comes up."

"Good. Thanks for the help, Sandman."

"Hm?" The screen on the panel turned static. "Someone's trying to contact me." He clicked 'Respond.'

A grinning mouth with purple lips appeared onscreen. "Shurororo. Good evening, Sandman. I can see you've been interfering with a rather important experiment. Some people are very unhappy with you, so I must personally ask you to stop. Come to Academy Studios in District 6. We have one of the clones and we'll kill her if you don't come. I'll be waiting, VERY eagerly. Shurorororororo!" Transmission ended.

"Caesar… I'd recognize that Joker-like voice anywhere."

"We have to go!" Misaka pled. "We have to save her!"

"Don't worry; he won't kill her if he can use her to lure me. But we'll have to play it carefully. Let's bring these three to GUN first. …" Nolan thought back to his encounter with Holiday. "Actually, Misaka, I need to ask you something."

"What?"

Without looking at her, he spoke. "…If, at any point, I start acting out of character… if it seems like I become a totally different person, I want you to leave me behind and get out of there. In fact, attack me with your lightning if you need to."

"W…Why…?"

"Just promise me you will. I need you to help me catch Caesar, but I don't want to endanger you."

"Okay… I will… We're still going to save my sister, right?"

"Hm." Nolan pulled off his mask and cracked a smile. "Of course we will."