The curtain of rain, like a translucent veil, hindered their line of sight.
Drops of water fell incessantly from the pointed tips of their raincoat hoods, their damp bangs clinging stubbornly to their skin. Exchanging glances, they could all sense the unrest in each other's eyes.
So close by, the rain drummed against the Powered Suits, producing a rapid ping-ping-pong-pong sound.
Moving as if to the beat of this natural melody, Saten Ruiko, armed with her dismantling tool—a crowbar—stepped up to one of the suits.
"Big guys like these, you gotta open 'em like this!"
Saten climbed onto it, forcefully jamming the crowbar into the head section—right at the seam of the cockpit hatch.
She jumped, putting her whole weight into it with a mighty push, using all her strength. But luck wasn't on her side; Saten's first attempt was a bust, leaving her dangling awkwardly from the crowbar.
"Wait, miss—" a Judgment member beside her started to call out, only to realize her words were lost in the downpour.
While the Powered Suits could be opened from the outside like a car door, it required a specific radio wave to unlock them first.
The Judgment members naturally didn't have the unlocking radio wave, but they did have a substitute tool.
A tool that could trace its origins back to a certain Level 0 esper.
These suits were touted as unmanned models developed by 'STUDY-', but in reality, they were no different from the HsPS-15 model, merely remotely controlled via the Diffusion Ghost ability.
With that in mind, Uiharu had located the company providing the control system, exploited some vulnerabilities within it, and created a little gadget capable of hacking into the suits.
Of course, this gadget was useless against suits currently being controlled by the 'Diffusion Ghost' ability.
With a series of uniform, metallic clunks, the tightly sealed cockpit hatches of the Powered Suits swung open.
Caught completely off guard, Saten stumbled as she fell, only to be quickly steadied by the Judgment member beside her.
The moment the hatches opened, the interior lighting of the cockpits flicked on simultaneously.
These suits still had their internal power systems running; they weren't the specialized versions originally prepared to deal with Misaka-san.
"Found it."
Climbing into the cockpit, Saten picked up a purple container. Inside, clearly visible, was a single golden hair.
"Just as I thought. We need to pick up the pace."
Saten wiped the water droplets from her goggles, a sudden tension gripping her.
The cleanup operations in each sector were proceeding methodically. Even though trudging through the accumulated water was a struggle, no one dared to slack off.
Due to the shortage of personnel, they had to start from the higher ground, simultaneously clearing blockages from the drainage pipes to allow the water level to recede gradually.
The only two who seemed relatively at ease were the ones hovering in the air, keeping a tense watch over the scene below.
"The water's starting to go down," Shirai Kuroko noted.
She wasn't asking Natsume to increase the rain again, but rather reminding a certain someone to mind the rainfall's intensity.
Natsume, of course, was well aware of the plan's specific steps.
After she had proposed the idea, everyone had discussed it together to arrive at this final version.
Giving Shirai another 'OK' hand sign, Natsume noted that the rain cloud above her head had already expended nearly half its volume, but its reserves were still substantial.
By Natsume's estimate, the rainwater she'd brought along would be more than enough to last until all twenty thousand Powered Suits were dealt with, even with parts of the drainage system back online.
Yet, the scene before her sent her thoughts wandering.
It feels so familiar.
The girl with the bun inexplicably recalled a bizarre math problem about filling and draining a bathtub.
I guess this counts as applying theory to practice.
"Looks like about half the area's been cleared," Natsume murmured to herself, roughly gauging the points where the water level had dropped.
All things considered, Natsume's group only had a little over two hundred people.
Clearing nearly ten thousand Powered Suits in just twenty minutes—roughly fifty per person—was an immense workload.
And that was only half the total. They still likely faced counterattacks from their opponents.
"Timing it out… those Dark Side organizations should be reacting just about now," Natsume thought silently, a touch of seriousness crossing her face.
The weather today was exceptionally strange. From a distance, one could see a peculiarly shaped, dark cloud scuttling across the sky.
It drifted along, dumping heavy rain as it went, before finally disappearing to who-knows-where.
--+--
A certain spiky-haired high school boy was tossing broken eggshells into a trash can. Staring at the half-egg remaining in his hand, he couldn't help but let out a long, deep sigh.
His hair included, he was drenched from head to toe, a complete mess. Even the manga he'd bought for Index was now an abstract painting, ruined by the rain.
Just imagining Index chomping down on his head the moment he got back, a young man named Kamijou Touma's face clouded with a look of bewilderment and melancholy.
"Such misfortune! Why does this kinda thing happen on a perfectly sunny day?!"
Shoving his frustration aside, he shook his fist fiercely, as if throwing a punch at the world itself.
Screw you, world!
Right in the middle of his venting, a look of surprise flashed across Kamijou Touma's face. A familiar figure had just leapt down from the side of the building across the street.
The figure landed steadily along a graceful parabolic arc, stirring a faint, sweet-scented breeze in her wake.
The sheer visual impact made Kamijou's grip loosen involuntarily.
The other, still intact half of the egg in his hand plummeted to the ground, utterly shattering any remaining hope of a fried egg for dinner.
"Sorry, I'm in a real hurry!"
A girl named Misaka Mikoto flashed an apologetic look, barely managing a wave in Kamijou's direction before dashing off into the distance.
"Mikoto, over here, over here!"
Febrie, sucking on a lollipop with her arms wrapped around Misaka-san's neck, pointed a finger toward the end of the street.
Ever since they'd rescued Febrie, she and Misaka-san had gotten along famously.
"I know, Febrie. We'll find 'Janie' together."
Misaka-san nodded, her gaze filled with resolve and determination. She had her own mission to fulfill.
Securing Febrie firmly on her back, a crackle of electricity sparked at Misaka-san's feet. The power of electromagnetism granted her tremendous acceleration, and in an instant, she vanished from the end of the street.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.