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Atomic Knight

Bear With Me
The Convergence Series GM
The ODMA headquarters was a sparse and sleek building, optimally designed for the needs of the organization and nothing more. There was little in the way of lounges or recreational areas, for an efficient work structure was the ideal for those among the group. Everyone had a job to do, and they had to see it through.

Miss Lalonde, called "Mom" by some, had happened upon a stake of this organization largely by circumstance. Her unique knowledge and her connection to a special girl named Ilona earned her a spot among ODMA's ranks. It was a preferable arrangement for the scientist, as it allowed her to work with a group that stood for the good of all rather than their own ends. She would provide her best help, and in turn, she would protect Ilona... and hopefully, one day find her daughter.

Lalonde currently had Ritsuko Akagi in a call, the woman staring at her through a communicator. Though she was known as a controversial figure, Lalonde felt she understood Ritsuko to a degree, even though the woman's history was largely unknown to her. She had suffered in the Coalition Civil War but largely came out unscathed regardless.

Lalonde wasn't sure if that was something to fear or respect.

The two women maintained a standard working relationship, Lalonde not particularly desiring to get to know the woman to a significant degree anyway. Didn't seem the type to offer that easily. For now, things were just respectful, which was good enough.

"... We can theorize as much as we want, but if what you say is true, then we have absolutely no choice in the matter, dear." Lalonde heaved a great sigh. "It could be months... years, even decades before we pinpoint Enoshima's signature a second time. No, all we can do in good conscience is put into motion what we've been planning."

She paused, feeling a nagging worry creeping up from deep within her. Messing with time could either be a very bad mistake or an inevitability. They had little experience with such multiversal dilemmas to be sure how it will go.

"... Do you want to be the one to tell them?" she asked, a little faint of breath. "I'll meet you in their chambers."

From one position of command to another, and not even with the smoothest of transitions. Ritsuko Akagi had quite the history as a figure of authority within the massive multiverse in which she existed.

Smoking a cigarette, violating a safety hazard that no one, not even the top organizers of ODMA, seemed to care for, Ritsuko stared back at Lalonde on the communicator somewhat blankly, as she usually looked in her day to day routine. She silently nodded in confirmation to Lalonde's words. Indeed, this was quite a breakthrough. Junko Enoshima was known to be quite an anomaly as of the Coalition Civil War, and the Coalition reports themselves had stated her involvement in events as early as the Arch Demon's Downfall. It was difficult to track the girl, if only because the more accurate account of her travels seemed to be read backward rather than forward.

If time was a river, she was going against the current, so to speak.

"Well, Ilona, and possibly the others, seem to like you just a bit more than me, so I'd appreciate it if you'd at least assist me in the explanations," Ritsuko said, before nodding once again, and then deactivating the communicator.

With that, she made her way towards the indicated destination. It was a strange feeling, carrying out ODMA's first major-scale operation, now that it was out in the open, having gathered all the power it could need. One could almost say she was excited about it, but such an emotion had been purged from her a long time ago...

The two women met in silence, giving each other only a cursory glance as they stepped into an elevator. There was nothing to say, so Lalonde said nothing as she punched a numbered code into an electronic device set into the wall, initiating the elevator's descent.

Though the initial plan was to monitor Ilona on an uninhabited planet while proper facilities could be made to contain her, ODMA were able to pull in enough resources to ensure that the containment was built at an accelerated rate. One could say what they will about Waller, but her ability to efficiently pull together the impossible was far beyond what Robin Aquilus or just about anyone in the United Nations was capable of.

So, instead of the isolated planet, Ilona had been moved to a secured space deep underneath ODMA headquarters. Though there was still some risk to the above building, enough contingencies were in place to ensure that any personnel inside would be evacuated safely. The only real structural weakness was present in the elevator, but even then, very few were allowed to ride it.

The darkness overtook the two woman eventually. They could not see or hear a thing beyond their own breathing, not until--

The elevator shuddered, and lights turned on around them. From there, the two women had to insert more codes as they passed through a number of checkpoints manned electronically, until finally, they came to the living quarters of Ilona... and a few special others.

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"... Huh?"

Misaka Mikoto, lounged on a large sofa, turned her head to look at the two woman, paused in motion as she held a can of soda to her lips. "What's the occasion?" she asked, raising one brow slightly.

Lalonde nodded to her before looking around the room for the others. They had a communal living space, ideal for all their needs for the time being. Ilona was the priority, but a friend of hers had been allowed to accompany her, as well as a few individuals that were of special interest to ODMA: They all had experienced moments of chronal displacement or had been known to exhibit what most would refer to as time-traveling powers.

Though they were not able to leave the underground bunker, they were all here voluntarily, and it was Mom's priority that they were happy.

... She just hoped the news they had to share did not distress the group.

"We need everyone gathered in the common room," Lalonde said. "It's very important, dear."

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"Yes, indeed. Quite a big occasion, to answer your question," Ritsuko added, taking a sip from her coffee mug that she had swapped out her cigarette for before getting into the elevator and meeting up with Lalonde earlier, "Specifically... Something that I think everyone will want to hear, so hop to it. Time is of the essence, Misaka-chan," she spoke. The usage of the endearing honorific contrasted against her flat speaking tone jarringly, but she thought nothing of it, as though this was far from her first time sending in 14-year old children off on highly important matters.

...

Well.

With that said, she turned around abruptly and made off to the common room, and from there, the operation could commence. Upon reaching her destination, Ritsuko walked over to the center, awaiting the others to appear, all the while a younger woman sporting purple clothing, already present when Ritsuko had entered, stood and leaned against a wall, waving around what seemed to be a long wire or rope around in a somewhat bored manner, letting out a restless sigh as she did so.

"..."
 
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Not much longer after Ritsuko a blue blur would appear inside the room.

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"'Ello there! Tracer reportin' for duty! I 'ope I'm not too late or anythin'! I got a bit a lost cause this place is huge!"

The woman called Tracer had a big goofy smile on her face as she glanced over the room and the few people that had gathered there. "Well guess I'm not late then! Unless the meetin's already over and I missed everythin'..."

She was her to repay a debt. Not too long ago Tracer had been lost in a game of horrors and would have stayed as such if not for the untimely intervention of ODMA literally bringing her back to life. Tracer decided to repay them in the only way she could, by offering her services where needed. The call for helped had been sent out and the proverbial cavalry had responded.
 
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Thom Kellor took a bite of food as he sat by his lonesome self. Watch the people come in, he kept eating. Why was he here? Simple. He was told to. The why and where and who get all jumbled up sometime, due the man's sickness. But he doing for the future, for the legion, for Nura. Seeing the British Overwatch member, the man smiled.

"Hi! I'm Starman from the 31th centry. I'm on a mission to save the multiverse, have to do this first. You want some fries? They're pretty good."

"Time traveller, eh? Fries you say?" She'd nab one of his fries and put it in her mouth. "Cheers, luv!"


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A girl trying her hardest to make lemons out of lemonade, that's who Ilona felt she had become from the moment she was placed in confinement. To say she liked being under a building, where she couldn't see sunlight or travel to her heart's content, would've been an outright lie. She hated it there. It was as if they had taken her entire being, her soul, and stuffed it into a tiny box with no room to breathe. Her spirit was wild, longing to constantly move and be free, so staying in such a place made the blonde feel as if she were constricted in a straight jacket.

However, that didn't exactly mean she wasn't happy.

Ilona was happy enough. She had her own methods of coping with her situation, secrets only contained in her own heart and the notebook pages of her favorite journal. But some of these methods weren't secrets at all. It helped to have the company that she did, namely Sophie. While she hadn't spoken with many of the others much, Ilona was about as geeked out over Sophie as she had been when she first met Shiki Tohno. Sophie was a kind individual, and the the blonde absolutely loved hearing the stories she had about the friendship Sophie and her mother, Elsa, had shared.

Presently, it just so happened Ilona was partaking in one of her usual methods to keep her spirits up: writing letters to her friends. Just as the young time traveler stated she would to Shiki, Sakuya, and Ruby, Ilona wrote them at least once a week. In fact, she had even begun writing to some of her other friends and even her family as well. She sat at a small desk in her room, neatly writing in her journal.

...I think my training is going well. The fact I'm still writing letters to you proves that. Had I blown up this place, I probably would not have had the time to write anymore. haha.

I hope you are doing well. The more time passes between us, the harder it is for me to even remember your face. In fact, I hardly remember anything about you. What color is your hair? What color are your eyes? I only remember how your friendship was a comfort to me during the Fiamma Incident and that is all. I hope my saying such a thing doesn't hurt your feelings...

No, of course it won't. It isn't as if you'll ever read this anyhow, will you, Ryan-shi? Anyhow, I wish you all the blessings in the world and most certainly hope you are having a wonderful life!

--Ilona

Ilona abruptly stopped writing, setting down her pencil. She flipped back a few pages, naming off all the people she had written to. "Mother, Father, Little brother, Miss Sakuya, Sir Shiki, Miss Ruby, Sir Mason-san, Minato-senpai, Ryan-shi, Shifu, and... I suppose that shall be all for now."

One by one, Ilona tore the letters out of her notebook and crumbled them up into balls, tossing them into a trash can by her desk. Yes, she told the others she would write letters to them, that much was true, but in the end she had never sent a single letter. It almost seemed like a silly action, writing letters that never were to be sent, but it genuinely made her feel good. She was able to write to everyone without writing to them.

No matter how hard she had cried her heart out during the Civil War Incident about how lonely she was, it didn't change facts.They were her friends, but it really was best if they lived their own lives without being involved with her too much. She was different than them, and Ilona felt it was best to leave all of them alone...

Ilona stopped at the last letter in her notebook, hesitating to tear it out. She sighed, closing her notebook without tearing the last one out. For some reason, it was hard to throw away the letters she wrote for Shiki. Maybe it was because he was more similar to her than her other friends were. She wasn't really sure. "One day, I'll throw these letters away too. I don't know why I only keep these ones. It isn't as if you'll ever read them, even if we do meet again..."

Closing her notebook, Ilona tucked it within her red jacket and slowly began to walk out of her room. She wandered to the common room, just in time to see several others gathering around. She adjusted the goggles on her head as she glanced around, wondering why these people were here. "My, it's rather lively in here, what might I ask is happening?" Ilona asked Lalonde since she was more comfortable with the woman than she was with Ritsuko.


"Long live fries!"

The man from the future shouted jollfully as he munched down again on his meal. Smiling from ear to ear, Starman's eyes stared at some sort of machine Tracer was wearing. Tilting his head, his eye's locked with Tracers.

"Say, What's that thing you're wearing? Look's like somethin' Brainy would make."

Noticing the blonde haired girl, Starman smiled, waving his hand back and forth widely.

"Hi! I'm Starman. I'm from the future."

Jumping up, he motion his hand towards her. His voice came off wobbly, goofy, but friendly. Like some cheesy sci-fi announcer.

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"Weeeeooooohh!"

"Dis little thing?" Tracer asked pointing towards the chronal accelerator. "Oh just some special somethin' dat allows me to stick around and talk with you fellas!"


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Before she could hear a response from Lalonde, Ilona was surprised by a seemingly hyper, excited man who waved toward her. She placed a hand against her mouth and giggled softly. Although it might have been rude to laugh, she couldn't help herself. He seemed rather silly. "Good day, Lord Starman! You may call me Ilona. I come from Aren-- all across time and space myself! What brings you here?" she questioned, tilting her head curiously.

While his presence surprised her, she wasn't worried by him. Miss Lalonde and Lady Ritsuko wouldn't have brought any ordinary guests to see her. Anyone they allowed into her presence would have to be a capable individual. Someone who could defend themselves if she were to make a mistake with her powers. But, thankfully, she had made few errors during her time in confinement so far. She was under a lot less stress than she had been during the Civil War Incident.


Sophie had been hesitant to leave Remnant at first... Having grown so accustomed to having an aura, and a weapon that was... Simultaneously three at the same time, somehow. The world was almost like something out of a fairytale, with a raging battle between light and darkess, and countless heroes and villains crossing paths with one another. The technologies, weapons, and even powers she bore witnessed to in her time there often defied the very understanding of physics and reality as she knew it.

All the same, while she was hesitant to leave ever since the events of the Ultimate Murder Game, and Elsa's death... Ruby's constant pestering finally caused her to give in, though it was largely because of he mention of Ilona, Elsa's daughter, who had been quite the center of attention since the events of the Civil War incident... One that Sophie herself regretted she was not there for, largely due to her reluctance to outright join the coalition, until now.

Her first steps outside of Remnant in what felt like months took a while to accustom to; the aura and even her semblance she had manifested in that world appeared to fade, unlike Ruby's innate one, and well... She quickly found that dust ammunition was not so abundant within the coalition itself, so, she decided to leave the weapon she had once carried around with her in Remnant, behind at Beacon Academy, where it belonged.

It was a little strange to adapt to a more "normal" way of living outside of Remnant, but, fortunately, it didn't take her long to acclimate to life in the Coalition, and... Soon enough, she worked up the courage to begin paying Ilona visits; what started as a small trip to say "Hello", quickly became a series of progressively lengthier trips, with the occasional gift or two Sophie managed to bring along with her.

Perhaps a huge part of the reason why they got along so well was thanks to Ilona's mother... And perhaps her father too. While they certainly had their differences, she could certainly tell the now young woman had inherited at least a few qualities from her mother, qualities that brought back some fond memories she had... Of the time she and Elsa had once spent together, and it wasn't long before she had developed a sort of bond with Ilona.

Slowly but surely, Sophie was beginning to feel like herself again.

As she made her way into the Common Room, having been apparently summoned for some sort of meeting, she couldn't help but notice the absense of Ruby... Who she hoped would show up sooner or later; Beacon took up alot of the huntress in training's time, but well, even so, Ruby always found a way to get around that sort of thing sooner or later.

However, her mind didn't linger on that for too long as she noticed, amongst the few others already gathered in the room... That Ilona was there. While she was still a bit timid about barging into conversations and the like, she nonetheless felt the need to make her presense known somehow, and so... She gave Ilona a friendly wave from where she was, hoping that her actions weren't too subtle to be noticed or anything.

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"... Excuse me."

In the midst of the conversation between Ilona, Starman, and Tracer, the girl in the corner appeared before them all, putting up the wire-like object that she'd been fiddling with moments earlier. "You must be our new operatives. And Miss Ilona. My name is Sion Eltnam Atlasia. Good to meet you all," she spoke. Though her words were friendly enough, it was difficult to get that impression from her tone, her stone-cold expression seeming to be the most distinctive thing about her mannerisms.

She gave a small bow, before her eyes briefly glossed over to Starman. "I hate to ask just after introducing myself, but... Have we met before, sir?"

"Hmm? Have we?"

Taking an awful long time to think about that, Starman shook his head.

"Nope! I think I would remember that snazzy hat! So I don't think we've met. Unless you're really Princess Projectra!"

Laughing loudly, Thom stopped suddenly. Now more worried in tone.

"Wait, are you? Jeckie, is that you? "

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"Eh? N-No... I do not recognize that name unfortunately,"
Sion blinked in surprise, almost intimidated by Starman's eccentric mannerisms as evidenced by her eyes suddenly widening a bit, though the young woman attempted to continue remaining professional, clearing her throat and shaking her head, her ponytail wagging a bit in the process.

"I-In any case, my mistake then. I suppose I must have imagined it," Sion spoke, recovering from what seemed to be a flash of embarrassment, before turning to Tracer and Ilona.

"Miss... Oxton, was it? Or do you prefer your codename, Tracer? I look forward to working with you. And Miss Ilona, I trust that your time at ODMA hasn't been too... strenuous?"

It was an almost awkward display of attempted conversation, comparable to a child being forced by her parent to socialize. One could almost think Waller or Ritsuko had put her up to it, but the thought almost seemed too crude to entertain.

"You can call me everythin' else but Miss Oxton, luv!" She responded and chuckled. "If you want to be a real chum then Lena or if you want to stick with codenames then yeah, just call me Tracer. Starman is right by the way. That's a really neat hat!"


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Before anyone else would reply to her, Ilona noticed Sophie come into the room. The blonde's face lit up with a smile, and she waved back to her friend. "Hello, dear Miss Sophie. We have many guests here today. I believe something is going on," she said, again glancing back to the people who were talking with one another.

"Good day, Milady Sion. While I must admit this isn't my favorite place to be, I have my ways of coping," she told the woman, saying nothing further on the matter. "Might I ask what's going on here? I cannot say the company is expected..." Ilona glanced around the room, again observing the other individuals inside it.


Sophie seemed to brighten up when Ilona did... Smiling herself before she finally decided to speak, she sure did take after Elsa... Perhaps that's why she always felt a degree of comfort around her...

"It certainly does seem that way..." She agreed, trailing off a little.

It was a bit of an adjustment, to say the least... With so many people here, some who she recognized... Others, not so much. In either case, it felt a bit more difficult to come up with something to say, but, she figured she'd try and carry on the conversation until their reason for being called here like this was revealed.

Perhaps the sudden presense of so many people had caused a little bit of a lapse into her old behavior, but whatever the case was... She was certainly making an effort to gather her thoughts again, trying her best to keep herself from falling back into old habbits, and while her conversational skills could certainly use some work, it was quite evident that she had come quite a long way from when she had first arrived here.

The worries that she had once had about joining the Coalition, had faded away... And she was finally beginning to feel at home here again. She just hoped that whatever reason they were called here for, wasn't about to change that.


"..."

"Understood. Roger that. And... Thank you."


Despite Tracer's casual and friendly demeanor, Sion seemed to maintain her wary one in contrast, remaining formal and reserved, the "thank you" tacked on at the end seeming rather out of place. No one had really complimented her hat before, or even her in general, so it was difficult to gauge a reaction to such a... such a useless thing to say, but it was no matter. Useless, but completely harmless, at least.

Turning to Ilona with that, the lavender-haired young woman gave a nod.

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"I see. Well... I regret that it can't be helped if things aren't to your exact liking, but if you are managing aptly..." Sion continued, seeming to come off more brusque than intended, but continuing as though she didn't notice, "As for what everyone is doing here... I think it would be best to wait for Ms. Lalonde and Akagi to gather their bearings and explain it themselves. I only know an inkling or so of the subject at hand, so I would not be able to give the full picture, unfortunately, so in the meantime, patience will be your best virtue."


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Misaka fixed Starman a look and shook her head. "Gee, where have they been keeping you people..."

Having waited for everyone to gather themselves, Lalonde finally spoke up. "As all of you should know by now, Ilona is with us as we try to figure out her powers together. So far, our training has prioritized the young woman's latent destructive abilities. Though Ilona has not yet achieved total control of this power, we believe training another aspect of her abilities will greatly advance her training. As it turns out, our goals with Ilona are in-line with our other interests."

She extended her hand toward Misaka. "This other young woman experienced a chronal anomaly when coming in contact with an individual named Junko Enoshima. She became misplaced in time due to what we have theorized to be latent energy from Miss Enoshima's abilities. Thankfully, she has become stabilized, but now possesses a link with Miss Enoshima that we have used to determine a point in time where Junko can be found."

"I've been wondering about that," Misaka said. She looked at both Lalonde and Ritsuko, not sure which one to address. "Do you think this link is ever going to go away? Will I start jumping through time again?"

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"Hm." Lalonde pondered on this for a moment. "... I can't say for sure at this time. What we desire, dear, is to bring Junko to us and put her through training, much like Ilona, for both of them carry a destructive power that can not be ignored, especially not after the destruction of the Coalition's headquarters. Perhaps then we can figure out your connection to her."

"Well, where is she then? What did you mean by 'a point in time?'"

"You see... Miss Enoshima is known to jump not only between dimensions but through time as well. This may sound strange, but we now know that she was present for an event some of you are familiar with. A Murder Game... The Fiamma Incident, in particular."

Misaka scoffed. "This some kind of joke?! I was there and I didn't see her!"

"It's not as simple as that," Lalonde said, sounding a bit unsure of herself for once. "Not every Murder Game has been perfectly documented, and some secrets could have eluded even the participants. Hopefully, these secrets will be revealed soon enough, as it is our desire to send Ilona to this point in time in order to retrieve Miss Enoshima." Lalonde paused, but before anyone could properly respond she quickly added, "And anyone who desires to go with her. This may be a difficult operation and we do request everyone's help. You are here today due in part do to your unique abilities and experiences with chronal matters."


Ilona gave Miss Sion a polite nod, waiting for a moment for Miss Lalonde to explain what exactly was going on. She listened patiently, her blue eyes slightly widened and her heart skipped a beat when she would hear the situation explained. Well, she certainly hadn't been expecting to hear anything like this...

"Miss Lalonde, much like Miss Mikasa, I too was involved in the Fiamma Incident. Could it not pose a problem if the two of us were to run into our younger selves by mistake? I have no memory of ever running into an older version of myself back then. Couldn't our presence in that time be dangerous?"

There was a problem Ilona could already feel brewing inside her just at the thought of returning to the Fiamma Incident: temptation. Back then, she met Ryan and Minato, two very precious people to her whom she would likely never see again. Sneaking a peek at them during this rare opportunity would be difficult for her not to do. Would she really be cut out for a job like this? Ilona wasn't entirely sure if she trusted herself...

Changing anything at all might be very bad for her to do. The end of the Fiamma Incident led to her ending up in a place called Alola, a place where she met the master who had trained her to properly use her teleportation powers. If this were to change, and for some reason she didn't end up meeting her master, Ilona didn't even want to think about how that would change her entire life...


"A very good question," Lalonde said as if she'd expected it. "While this is all highly theoretical, we believe the safest course of action is to make no attempt to change the course of known history. If you did not see yourself in the past, then you definitely want to avoid running into your younger self. As there's no account of either of you being seen in two places at once, it is best if all of you avoid any of the participants of that incident."

Misaka was shaking her head. "So you're going off the idea history was already written with us going back in time in mind?"

Lalonde shared a glance with Ritsuko. "... Sort of. We can't say for sure. Perhaps we are all here in this timeline after we have already sent you back to the past. An interesting idea, to be sure. Time manipulation seems to have different properties throughout universes, but we can't say what changing time on a multiversal level will bring."

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"But..." Misaka searched for the right words, her fists clenched. "... People died. We can't stop those deaths?"

"I'm... afraid not, dear. We simply do not know what would happen."


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"Sometimes, I almost miss the times when I wasn't even aware of the grand multiverse, let alone prospects of time travel," Ritsuko sighed, continuing to smoke her cigarette, puffing out the gray vapor that was almost able to be absorbed by a number of others in the room. After a moment of letting Lalonde and Misaka speak, Ritsuko put in her own two cents into the matter.

"From past experience, I can tell you, Miss Misaka, that I understand the greater good is seldom the most popular option, but... Are you willing to risk tearing apart the established fabric of space-time for just a few lives?" She questioned, "We all would love an outcome in which no one dies, but more often than not, we have to make do with what we can do. Otherwise, we'll lose everything while wasting time trying to stand upon the higher moral ground and fighting voices of reason with weapons of extreme naivety."

Those who were present could practically hear Ritsuko refer to the Coalition Civil War without even having to hear her utter the phrase, though her tone was more tired and cynical than irritated or so, as though she were no stranger to these ordeals. And certainly, while she almost felt like she was being too harsh to a child such as Misaka, though once again, considering 14 year old children in her world...

"In any case, this is a serious operation. And your mind should only be focused on nothing but the objective at hand which, as Ms. Lalonde had said, is to retrieve Junko Enoshima, the anomaly moving back through time in the Murder Games."

"And that is where I come in," Sion added, injecting herself into the conversation, "You see, everyone, I actually originate from the world in which the Fiamma Incident took place in. That is, the world that the true mastermind of the event, Kirei Kotomine, originated from. I understand the workings of the world better than everyone else here, so not only will I be acting as your supervisor during the mission, I'll do my best to simultaneously act as your guide through the world."
 
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Ilona quieted, as she listened to the others speak, trying to rein in her own thoughts. The young woman wasn't sure what to think about all of this. The temptation to save lives and to once more look upon friends of the past was so strong she could feel her heart palpitate with desire. Uncertainty clouded her mind. Was it really a good idea for her to go?

Avoiding such a place, in Ilona's mind, was just as important as it was for her to tear up the letters she wrote. Disconnecting was the only way she could do what was right, but it was difficult for her to do. She hadn't even been able to tear up all of her letters, after all. If she couldn't even do that, then how was she going to pull herself away from the temptation of looking upon the actual people when they were right in front of her own eyes?

Could she look past her desires and do what was right, to focus solely on finding Juko? Ilona never felt as if she had a perfectly noble heart like her parents. There was... too much malevolence inside her.

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Ilona cupped her hands over her heart before glancing over at Sion with serious eyes. "If I am to accompany you, I suggest you watch me closely, and not because of my destructive power. That particular place in time is a very... important one to me. Some of my most treasured friends exist there. I care deeply not to make any mistakes I will regret."


Tracer had so many questions. "I 'ave a ton of questions." But she just shrugged. "I suppose I got the gist of it though. Travelin' through time AND space to find a girl and bring her back here, yeah? I think we can do that. Ain't it right luvs?"


Sophie listened very closely to what was said... Quickly realizing the delicate nature of their mission; though the extraction of Junko would be, in theory... An easy task, the strange nature surrounding her powers could prove very difficult, and unpredictable indeed. However, with the combined efforts of Ritsuko, Sion, Ilona, the others and well... Herself, there was a good chance they might just be able to pull it off.

Though she hadn't exactly participated in the Fiamma incident, she had caught wind of the fact that Cinder Fall herself had attended... But the details had been kept rather hushed up, mostly because Cinder herself didn't seem very keen on revealing much. In the end, it looks like they'd find out more precise details the hard way, and by this point, Sophie knew perfectly well that she couldn't go back.

For Ilona's sake, and perhaps the sake of the others on this mission too, she had to go with her...

After a few moments of self reflection, Sophie brushed away her thoughts, trying to maintain a degree of focus on the task ahead. She placed a reassuring hand on Ilona's shoulder, mustering up the most encouraging smile she could manage.

"I'm sure you'll do fine..." She said, albeit a bit quietly.

Even if she herself wasn't completely sure about that, she figured this wasn't the best time for self doubt; despair would most definitely be their undoing... After all, it was what caused this malevolence within Ilona to run wild in the first place.


Ritsuko nodded towards Tracer, leaning against the wall. "That's the basic gist of it, yes. And should you fail in your journey, space-time itself may end up in ruins. After all, you're tampering with time on a multiversal level."

...

Ritsuko puffed out some more smoke.

"No pressure."

"... Understood. I shall keep you under supervision at all times," Sion promised, nodding towards Ilona, before turning to Lalonde, "In any case, when are we due to leave then?"

"Oh don't worry, luv!" Tracer exclaimed jovially to Ritsuko. "We got this covered!"


Taking off his mask, Starman's body language changed. When he spoke, his voice seemed calm, more centered. He seemed like he was aware. Present in the moment.

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"We're going to the pass save the future?"


A brief pause as he looked down.

"I apologize about earlier, ladies. Wh As some of you know, I suffer schizophrenia. My mind, it....it just wanders away at. It takes so much of my strength to fight to keep it. However, I am here now. "

Turning to Risuko, Thom stood firm.

"The legion and I, we've done similar missions before, nothing like this. I know you're aware of how dangerous this is, but everyone? Everyone can claim they know how hot an oven is, but have they touched one? What is the worst case of what could happen here? What are we risking?"


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"I thank you, my friend," Ilona said in reply to Sophie, once more glancing to her friend. "Will you come with me? I'll feel much more at ease with going if I know you're there by my side." She wasn't sure if Sophie had been invited to come along, but should they refuse Sophie, Ilona would refuse to go herself. It was just that simple.

Trying to ignore the words Ritsuko said, the blonde decided to instead reply to Starman. She was already well aware how dangerous this mission would be and didn't want to stress over it more than she had to. After all, if she didn't keep her emotions in check there was still a chance she could have another accident with her powers.

"It's quite all right, Lord Starman. I'm one of the least judgmental people you'll meet. I understand what it feels like to have problems. Also, it's comforting to know you've done missions such as these yourself. I've traveled through the multiverse a lot myself, but I've always tried to avoid places and times I've gone to before. So going to the Fiamma Incident, an event I saw as a child, will be a first for me..."


Sophie smiled, seeming to brighten up a little as she spoke.

"Of course! I'll... Always be happy to come with you..." She said.

It was the truth after all; though she wasn't sure if she'd be permitted to accompany Ilona just yet on this venture, she certainly hoped so. Whatever perils awaited them, wherever they went... It didn't matter... She had to pull her weight around the Coalition sometime, and with Ilona's company... Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all?

Would they share the same ventures she and Elsa had had together? Well... It was certainly possible... Even if some details about her experiences in the third Murder Game are rather cloudy, she still remembered all those hardships they had gone through, and ultimately overcame...

She also stewed over Starman's concerns, as well as what she had heard from both Ritsuko and Sion; it seemed that if she were to be granted permission... They'd be sent back through time, potentially revisiting events in the past. However, the catch was that they had to avoid... Dying, lest they risk messing with space-time itself, a heavy burden to bear indeed.

But, considering what they had risk with Junko still off somewhere, in combination with all their skills and powers... They might just be able to pull this off, as long as they went about their business carefully...


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"Lord? Like, a star lord? I never thought looked like a lord. Huh. You don't have to call lord. Just Starman or Thom."

Starman smiled kindly as he slight paced the room. Shaking his head. Looking the young girl, Thom continued.

"The Legion normal doesn't mess with the multiverse, however this won't be the first time we'd have to intervene. My Nura's dream foretold the upcoming crisis. It foretold me being here. If that means I die here, so be it."


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Ilona shot a side-glance to Sophie, reaching down to take one of her hands and give it a squeeze. "Thank you, my friend, it means the world to me that I have your support and assistance." Knowing Sion and Sophie would be there to keep an eye on her made Ilona feel a little bit better about the whole thing. She still wasn't entirely comfortable, but at least now maybe her mind would be more at ease and she could try to focus on the mission. Junko needed to be found and helped just as Ilona had been.

As she thought about it more, weren't there others she could help too? One of the people who had protected her during the Civil War Incident, Train Heartnet, had been looking for his friend Eve. She remembered Eve had been involved in the Fiamma Incident, but couldn't exactly recall what had happened to her. The girl couldn't help but wonder if there was a way she could find out exactly what had happened to the female bioweapon without getting involved herself. Perhaps she would talk to Lalonde about it later...

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"A-Ah, my apologies, but you do look like a lord to me, sir," Ilona replied to Starman. "And forgive me for saying this too: I cannot call you by such an informal name. But perhaps I could call you Starman-san or Señior Starman..."

Neither was he Japanese nor Spanish, so the titles may not have made much sense, but Ilona could hardly stand to go without adding a title to someone's name. The titles were one of the many barriers she used to help keep herself from getting too close to anyone. She only recalled having called anyone by their name without a title if they were in trouble, if she was trying to catch their attention, or if she was trying to hide her identity from someone. It just wasn't something she was used to doing often.


Sophie squeezed Ilona's hand back, feeling considerably more reassured by the gesture.

"Anything for a... Friend..." She said.

Well, "friend" might not suffice in this case; Ilona felt almost like... Family these days.

Perhaps thanks to a very distinct lack of one back at "home", which had been part of the Silent Earth for a while now...

Her home was here, at the Coalition now, and... She hoped with all her heart that it wouldn't end up like her old one too; with all the ground that they had gained... With all the efforts the Coalition had gone through, she would do her best to make sure history wouldn't repeat itself once more. It was hard to say what Junko would do if they left her unchecked, and it was for the best that they (hopefully) didn't wait long enough to find out.

Though, Starman's prospect of... Potentially dying here seemed to worry her a little; she knew the risks of going back through time, yes... But... She wasn't really ready to lose someone again...

Even if she might not have formed the same sort of bond that she and Elsa had shared through the events of the third Murder Game with every single person in the Coalition... It still... Troubled her at the prospect of losing someone during this trip.

Yet even so, she decided to keep quiet about her troubles for now; she didn't want to risk bringing down the mood somehow... As it was hard to say how it could affect their mission.


Lalonde let out a deep sigh before uttering, "Very well."

She turned, gesturing for Ilona and the others to finally get moving. If they were to sit here talking about the dangers all day, they would never get anything done. Lalonde, at least, was confident the base idea of their plan was a viable one, for there was undeniable proof that time travel through the multiverse was very possible. The hard part, in the end, would be once they had already traveled.

"This is going to be so weird," Misaka muttered. She had little to say otherwise.

Built into the training facility was a secure, padded room. They had so far used it for focus exercises, but it was here that Lalonde felt they could achieve the best results. The entire group at least knew of it, and so would likely not find it strange that they were going to be using it. Lalonde passed Ilona device before opening the door to the chamber. "You should be able to transport that device with you. It's experimental so it may not work, but its intended use is to allow myself and Ritsuko to communicate with you. In any case, please proceed into the chamber and we will begin."

In a few moments, everyone was inside, while Lalonde and Ritsuko closed the chamber door behind them. Lalonde's voice then came in over a speaker. "Ilona... You'll have to recall the exercises we taught you. This should be a matter of focus... of tapping into your abilities to perform exactly the task you want to make happen. Recall your experiences of traveling through time, and recall your time spent as a child as a part of that incident. Keep the others in your thoughts as well. Now... everyone, please hold hands and form a circle. We believe this will be the easiest for Ilona to work with."

Tracer stepped into the circle and gave out her hands to however wanted to grasp them. "Come on then! I wont bite!"


When the group finished their conversations, Ilona took the small device Lalonde offered her, tucked it into her coat, and followed along after the others. Still slightly nervous about this situation, she was sorely tempted to say a quick, mental prayer to the Sun. She held herself back, however, hoping she would be able to rely on her own power rather than the power of a deity who hadn't been very helpful to her in the past.

The blonde felt her heart drop slightly when they entered into the padded room she was accustomed to using for training. She was a bit uncomfortable knowing they were leaving so soon, partly wishing Ritsuko and Lalonde would've told her about this trip sooner. Having more time to mentally prepare would've helped. Still, there was no use in complaining about it now.

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"Thank you for the advice, Miss Lalonde," Ilona replied, watching as the door to the room would be closed behind them once everyone was inside. "Admittedly, traveling through time isn't what makes me nervous about this. Out of all the powers I possess, my teleportation and time travel abilities are the ones I have the greatest mastery over. I only feel discomfort knowing..." she cut herself off, glancing around the room at the others. "...I'll be bringing so many people with me. At the most, I've teleported objects and perhaps one other person at a time. This group is larger than what I'm used to, however, I will do my best."

The girl took in a deep breath of air before offering her hands to the others. She extended one hand to Sophie in particular, leaving her remaining hand free for whoever wanted to take it. When the circle would be completed, Ilona would close her eyes and begin to focus. She tried to focus more on the location itself rather than the people she met there, hoping she could manage to bring them a good ways away from the group involved in the Fiamma Incident. Once she had prepared herself, she teleported everyone, the whole group vanishing faster than the blink of an eye.


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The sensation of being teleported was something Sion was not accustomed to. She didn't know what to expect out of it, but what she got was something even she couldn't prepare for. A feeling of... being displaced. And it was one thing to be displaced in location, only to find oneself somewhere else entirely, but it was another to be displaced in time, feeling oneself move somewhere they simply did not belong in. Of course, that was her own personal account of it. There was no telling what the likes of say, Ms. Oxton or so had to say of this, but perhaps that was another story for another day.

When everyone had come to again, they would all awaken in a grassy field, the setting of a cold night under a full moon being familiar and unfamiliar to the group at large. The gentle, yet bitingly chilly wind certainly shook Sion awake, her eyes snapping open as she let out a small grunt, struggling back to her feet, albeit with some difficulty, as though her legs felt like jelly in this moment, possibly some sort of side effect from the time displacement.

Wherever they were now, one could only hope that they had reached their destination.

The Fiamma Incident.

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"Tch... Is everyone alright? Present and accounted for?" Sion inquired to everyone, checking to make sure the group had been safely delivered to their destination, whilst also examining the area they were in.

"Tracer reportin' for duty!" The girl exclaimed giving Sion a salute.

Truth be told, she had only been to Misaki Town once, one of the three primary locations of the Fiamma Incident (alongside Fuyuki City of the same world and Academy City from the other world), but the fleeting memory was just enough to allow her to recognize the outskirts of the town, the grassy field beyond the urban town, and the biting full moon that seemed to perpetually haunt the town like an omen.

This was definitely it for her.

"Miss Ilona... Please use the device that Ms. Lalonde had handed you. We need to make sure immediately if we are able to contact her and Ms. Akagi through time with that."


Ilona opened her eyes.

When she had closed her eyes the girl wasn't exactly sure, but it must've been sometime shortly before teleporting. She would first glance down, looking to each one of her limbs. She counted them, as if hoping that each single part of her body had survived the trip. Afterwards, she would look up at the group and count each person, hoping that every member of the squad had been brought along. Once she was certain she saw everyone, Ilona sighed in relief and released Sophie's hand from her own.

"I'm okay. It looks like we're all here," the time traveler stated, next turning her gaze on their surroundings. She began to scan the area, trying to discern whether or not they had actually arrived at their target location. She brushed a hand over the grassy field, taking in a deep breath of the night air as she turned her head to the sky. The moon was familiar. The feel in the air was familiar too. It appeared as if they made it.

"I-I did it," Ilona stammered, a pleased smile tugging at her lips. She stood up from where she had been lying on the ground, stretching her arms as far as she could. The blonde continued to gaze around the area afterwards, an excited, almost wild look in her eyes. The field looked so wide open. It didn't have any walls or restrictions. If she wanted, she could just teleport away from the group and wander as she pleased. It was nice to know she could do that if she wanted to. She almost felt free again.

"Ahhh, this feels so nice," Ilona happily added, teleporting herself to another spot.

"So nice."

Again she teleported, as if gleefully exercising her powers.

"So very, very nice!"

She teleported again, but this time she appeared to be out of sight. Where she had gone could've been anyone's guess. It might've even been a bit unsettling to the others, as several seconds passed without her in sight of the group.

Thankfully, she would return again, but her coat appeared a bit tousled and her goggles crooked on her head. She would glance around anxiously after re-appearing, lightly biting down on her lower lip.

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"How... long was I gone?" she asked, a suspicious look in her eyes. After glancing around for a moment, and deciding that nobody had really even moved, Ilona sighed in relief.

"Wonderful, I didn't miss much," she mumbled to herself before sheepishly smiling at Sion. "S-So, what was it you wanted again? No, don't tell me, I know this." Ilona paused, as if trying to recall a long forgotten thought, before snapping her fingers. "Ah, this brain of mine hath not failed me yet! You wished to see the device."

The young woman would reach into her coat, pulling out the device. She fumbled with it, as if she wasn't entirely certain how to use it. She would offer it to Sion after a few moments, smiling awkwardly. "Mayhaps you should be the one to activate this device. Technology isn't my forte."


Misaka took in a sharp intake of breath when Ilona disappeared for a moment, staring at the spot she had once been. Her face grew hot, and the girl felt anger course through her once Ilona returned momentarily. "H-Hey!" she snapped. "You shouldn't fool around! What if... we..." Looking away, Misaka felt suddenly ill at ease. To be here all over again was unsettling enough, but the idea that running into their past selves could result in some kind of vague damage to reality was almost too much to bear.

Was it really possible to do this? What if they could never return to the future?

The device being passed around came to life, its view screen showing nothing but static at first. Lalonde's voice came through after a moment, sounding quiet beside the droning of static. "Dears, you seem to be... you... don't forget... will... and I will be... you understand?"

It was almost impossible to hear fully.

Oh that's not good. "Uuh ma'am you're breakin' up." Tracer scratched her head with a concerned look on her face. "'Ow are we gonna keep in contact if our communication's busted?"


Sophie followed Ilona's lead, eager, but at the same time... Quite nervous about what may happen next.

This would mark her first trip back into time, something that was not to be taken lightly, as unlike a trip across merely the multiverse, there was alot more at risk. One little slipup could very easily damage reality as they knew it.

With that in mind, as soon as they arrived in that chamber, Sophie kept a gentle, but firm grasp on Ilona's hand, forming a circle with the others, as she reached out a hand for anyone that might have decided to take it.

As Ilona started to tap into her powers, like she had during the training exercises, Sophie tried to keep a rather firm grip on Ilona's hand, as if she were afraid that they would somehow be separated if she were to even loosen it. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to mentally brace herself for that sudden feeling of being transported. Though she had no idea what it felt like to travel through time, she had distinctly remembered the strange feeling each time she was transported from one Universe into another; the sudden shift in atmosphere... The foreign surroundings...

When the process was complete, Sophie didn't realize it just yet, but she did notice a sudden shift in her surroundings; the familiar air about the training facility she had been staying in with Ilona was gone... Replaced with a cool, but not all unpleasant breeze.

Unlike the Silent Earth, or the place she had once called home... It did not have such a sorrowfull atmosphere... One that would more often than not, bring back rather painful memories, but on the other hand... It was not quite as whimsical or fantastical as Remnant often felt like.

It was only when Ilona let go of her hand that she finally opened her eyes, snapping out of her trance to find herself in an open field... A place that at least seemed relatively peacefull at the moment, but one that struck her as a little familiar. Perhaps she recognized a few details, from the little Cinder had revealed about her experience in one of these "murder games".

"I... I'm okay..." She murmured softly, as her gaze flitted amongst the horizon, looking for any sign of civilization.

Though it wasn't long before she was distracted by Ilona's more joyfull demeanor all of a sudden, teleporting all over the place and... Exercising her powers for the first time. It brought a small smile to her face knowing that at least her friend was having a good time, even if that disappeared for a moment, as Ilona vanished for a bit longer than usual, before (fortunately) appearing again.

Her focus went to the communication device Ilona had brought with her though, noticing the apparent amount of interference it was receiving... Perhaps from having to reach across both space and time, rather than just dimensions, causing Sophie to frown a little... It didn't quite bode well for their trip if their communication with Lalonde was trained like this, but... Some signal was better than none, and with any luck, it would at the very least retain a signal strong enough to be able to hear anything important that thye were being told.


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Although relieved when the device would be taken away from her, Ilona still managed to frown when Mikasa would scold her for messing around. "Oh, Miss Mikasa, I meant no harm. It's been a while since I've been out so I wanted to have a bit of fun. I promise you, I didn't interfere with anyone or anything in this world." Ilona adjusted her goggles and brushed her hands down her coat to wipe some dirt off it before continuing to speak. "I didn't miss anything either. Time manipulation has its advantages." She didn't expect anyone would be pleased with her, but then again, few understood how she really felt about such things.

When the group would focus on their communication device, Ilona was disappointed to hear it cut out. "Ah, would there be any way for us to fix our communicator? If not, I can only hope we're prepared with a backup plan, yes?" she questioned, sounding uncertain. It wasn't as if Ilona had directly teleported them to Junko's location, so they would have to locate her somehow. With no guide how would they find her? And what if she switched locations before they did? "If we have no plan, it may take us quite a while to find her location."


Unlike most of the group, Starman seemed in effected by traveling back into the past. Adjusting his mask, The legionnaire's eyes gazed at the moon. Randomly, Thom questioned his tea

"Did you feel that? It's pulling us. It's wrapping around us. Neat."

Thom didn't clarify what "it" was. Slightly getting back on focus, Starman pointed at his legion ring

"I think I can pick up the signal better with my Legion ring. It's designed to be used for missions like this. Let's I can clear that audio up."

"We will figure something out... hopefully," Sion responded to Tracer's inquiry, closing her eyes and taking a brief breath in an attempt to compose herself.

Traveling through time was indeed quite the experience. She would have to recount what it felt like as soon as possible in a journal or so. Her mind flashed to what this could mean for science... and the stability of the multiverse. There had been theories in the past, she remembered, that true "time traveling" didn't exist, and that the act of it was simply traveling to (if not outright creating) a new timeline in which the differences are applied, such as the individuals appearing in the specified time and the ramifications of their actions going on to affect the future. Sometimes mutually exclusive.

However, if it wasn't before, the young woman could imagine that those kinds of theories were effectively debunked. If there only existed one kind of Murder Game going on within the multiverse, as in there could not be two Fiamma Incidents going on at the same time in the same multiverse, then the only plausible path to go from here for someone who disbelieved in time travel would be that Ilona instead possessed the ability to travel to entirely different multiverses. It was not a completely baseless and unheard of claim; she recalled one Ludger Will Kresnik of the Coalition being able to muster enough power (through... unconventional means) to perform inter-multiversal travel, and one Connor Duchannes, whose existence possibly was the sole piece of evidence for such a theory, as he was the result of an alternate version of the Arch Demon's Downfall in which two participants had mated rather than separated.

...

But it was far easier to simply conclude that Ilona was able to time travel instead. Especially with a curious case, an anomaly, a strange factor like Junko Enoshima present. Speaking of which.

"If you believe you can help, then by all means, Mister Starman, though I doubt it will amount to much if we are being honest here," Sion spoke, handing him the communicator and paying little mind to his words, her attention more focused on the task at hand at the moment.

Turning to the others, she cleared her throat. "If worst comes to worst, we may have to depend on you to detect Enoshima's energy, Miss Ilona. But then... Crude as it may sound, perhaps we are simply in an area in which the connection is faulty. If we move someplace else, maybe we'd be able to get a better reception. Shall we?" She inquired, beginning to move, acting as the de facto field leader for the time being.

She knew it was a somewhat silly thing to say; what difference would it make to inter-universal communicators if one party moved to another location? However, if nothing else, it would likely be best to not remain in one place for an extended period of time, lest they accidentally end up bumping into someone from the past, considering the amount of activity in this world happening at this point in time...

Tracer time skipped next to Sion with her guns drawn. "Lead the way luv! Better be on the safe side. Never know what we'll stumble upon." She let out a small giggle you could tell Tracer was excited over what they were doing right now.


After musing over the whole situation with the communicator, it seemed that Sophie was next to clueless about what could be affecting it... From a multiversal standpoint anyways, but it was evident that Sion at least had a backup plan, should communication with "home base" become difficult.

Besides, she did also think it was a good idea to try and get a move on perhaps, as it could potentially clear up the signal a little. That and she was beginning to get a little antsy just from standing around idly, so with that in mind, she nodded... Eyeing the area for a moment before she finally spoke.

"Perhaps we can... Work on the communicator on the move..." She said quietly, looking towards Starman for a moment.

If his Legion Ring was able to help fix the communicator, it would definitely be a start, but staying in one place just for that might pose a very real risk of someone else, or perhaps a whole group running into them. Something else seemed to cross her mind, as she realized how much of a disadvantage she might be at, having to rely on someone else to navigate a place like this.

"Is there... A map of this place?" She asked suddenly.

The question came out of the blue, but not entirely without reason; it was pretty obvious that Sophie intended to get her bearings of this place one way of another... And a map happened to be her go-to way of doing this...


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With an uncertain glance, Ilona would nod to Starman. She honestly hoped he would be able to do something about fixing their device, especially after hearing Sion's alternative idea. When it came to her training, the young time traveler had spent most of her time learning to control and harness her abilities, but finding someone wasn't really her forte.

Tracking another individual was far outside of her range of comprehension, especially without guidance and a gentle hand of support from Lalonde. Her encouragement had played a big part in helping Ilona achieve all she had learned thus far. Could Ilona really figure out how to do this on her own? The girl wasn't entirely sure, and never had been too confident in herself.

"Mayhaps we should see if Sir Starman is able to fix the device while we continue to move along. Also, Sophie's idea of searching for a map isn't a bad plan either if such a map exists," Ilona replied. "Just another thought, but is it possible we have contacts in this time and place who may be able to provide us with assistance?"

While they walked along, the blonde reached into her coat and pulled out her journal. She leafed through a few pages, feeling sorely tempted to harness a bit of her powers to create a light she could use to read. Ilona had documented many of her travels, and she wondered if she could find anything of use about their current location in her writing. If not, at least she could reminisce, right?​
 
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As the group moved on, tentatively led by Sion, they eventually came across a small field of trees. A very small one at that, as those with keener eyesight would be able to spot what seemed to be... buildings in the far distance beyond the trees. The pink-haired young woman let out a breath, before continuing to traverse forward. She recognized this place, even though she had never been there. Misaki Town.

A place that resonated with her past deeply, and she hadn't even been there before.

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Leading them through the trees, Sion stopped at the edge of the trees that led into another wide clearing, which in turn would have led into the back alleys of Misaki Town. As they drew closer and closer to the town, a number of individuals came into view. One strange, pink-bodied entity here, a white-haired young man in purple robes there... An old, American man in black clothing and a skull painted onto his shirt, a pale little girl in purple clothing, a student with short blue hair and black clothing, and another student with the reverse color scheme; black hair and blue clothing.

If Ilona's and Misaka's memory of the Fiamma Incident served her well, she would recognize them all respectively as Kirby, Robin Tact, Frank Castle, Illyasviel von Einzbern, Minato Arisato, and Shiki Tohno. And they were all speaking to a mysterious woman with vibrant red hair that flowed gracefully in the cold, autumn wind.

It was then that it would have hit them, along with possibly everyone else around, that they were this close from interfering not just with the past, but with an infamous event set firmly into the stone. A Murder Game, but not just any Murder Game. The Fiamma Incident itself.

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"... Tch."


Hiding behind one of the trees, Sion scowled, attempting to keep calm. She was riled up more than she ought to be, especially for someone who prided herself in her ability to keep calm and collected under even the most dire of situations. But then, no situation was quite as dire as this. After all, it went without saying that interacting with these people from the past, accidentally or not, would result in immense consequences. Best-case scenario, just one rip in the space-time continuum.

In the distance, as the people spoke, their voices were indistinct for the most part, a few words could be made out in the distance, notably by the aforementioned redhead, who seemed to just naturally speak rather loud. Judging from the confident way she held herself, from her chin that was perpetually kept up to her hands casually kept to her hips, she was undoubtedly someone who was incapable of being any manner of subtle.

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"Ara, looks like I've overstayed my welcome. I've kept you all here long enough; you should probably reunite with your buddies if you're supposed to be part of that Murder Game," the woman spoke with a small laugh, patting the bespectacled young man on the back with enough force that it caused him to blink in surprise and stumble forward, not expecting the slap on the back, "Little Shiki here will lead you back to town. Just follow him and you should be well on your way back!"

"What, you're not coming with us, Sensei?" The boy named Shiki spoke, his voice... full of uncertainty and hesitation. Much less self-assured, much less... comfortable, than Ilona might have been used to if she'd compared how it to how he sounded during the Coalition Civil War.

More vulnerable, in other words.

"Nah, I've got other business to attend to. The Association is really up in arms around this time, y'know. You guys aren't the only ones this Murder Game is affecting after all, alright? Now get outta here, we all got places to be!~" The woman exclaimed, giving a wave to send them on their way, the group quickly deciding to take off and walk back towards town with that, before she turned around and began walking in the opposite direction... toward the small area of trees that everyone resided within.

"Damn, she's coming this way...!" Sion whispered, gritting her teeth as the woman drew ever closer to their relative position, before glancing at everyone around, "Embarrassing to say but... This outcome wasn't within my calculations."


Ilona quickened her steps. There was something adventurous about moving through the dark of night in this place. The feeling of a grassy field under her feet, cool air, and a tense aura brought on by the Murder Game taking place nearby made Ilona's heart flutter. Tracer wasn't the only one excited.

Being here was almost like being free. She always felt most at home while she moved along an unknown path having no clue as to what would happen next. It was the way she had spent a good majority of her life. Although they had a job to do, Ilona couldn't help but already feel better here than she ever had under the ODMA's care.

The girl began to hum as Misaki Town came into view. Being here brought back so many memories that her heart overflowed with a whirlwind of emotions. Details she had written in her journal as a child seemed real again, as if the story had leapt off its pages and transformed into the world around her. But this place was no mere figment of her imagination or hallucination. She was here again, at a time and place she had vowed never to visit again.

The time traveler ceased her humming and began to put her journal away when she would sense the presence of others in the distance. So long as these people were not participants of the Murder Game, the wouldn't have to worry. However, that wasn't the case. Every movement of her body, including the beat of her heart, halted when they became close enough for her to discern the identities of the people before her. The blonde's journal slipped through her fingers and tumbled onto the ground, her mouth hanging open afterwards.

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"Ahhhh!"

Ilona's cheeks flushed immediately, and she scrambled to cover her mouth, embarrassed she had been unable to hold herself back in time from giving a shout. Adding a noise to the fact they had already been noticed by one of the individuals was notthe best move she could've made. But how could she not react?

Some of the most precious people to Ilona were standing in that group. She remembered most of them, especially Sir Kirby, Sir Frank Castle, and... Sir Minato. Her heart fluttered in her chest upon seeing Sir Minato, and she couldn't help but outstretch a hand. The selfish part of Ilona wanted to call out to him, to run to him and hug him tightly.

"Sir... Minato..."

Inwardly struggling, Ilona reminded herself of the words she had written in her letter to Minato before ever setting out on this trip with the others.

Staying away from you is the only worthwhile gift I can give you, so I intend to do just that.

Ilona began to drop her hand, stopping when she would see Shiki next. He was here too. There was so much she still wanted to say to Shiki, but this Shiki probably didn't know her, right? They met during the Civil War Incident, and this point in time was long before it.

"Sir... Shiki..."

How ironic was it that two of the most important people to her were standing right in front of her, right within her reach, and she couldn't reach out to touch either of them?

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Murder Games truly are vile. I'm not even a participant right now and this game has still found a way to hurt me.

Ilona would turn away and keep her eyes closed, dealing with her inner struggle until she would realize what Sion had whispered. Someone was coming and they needed to prepare. Fumbling anxious, Ilona glanced between the others.

"O-Oh no! What should we do? I-I, um..."

There was no way they had enough time for Ilona to teleport everyone away. She could possibly escape in time, but she couldn't just abandon everyone! Thoughts jumbled, Ilona began to tap on the side of her goggles. "No, no, why aren't they working?!"

Although she hadn't told anyone about them, Ilona's goggles were special. They were sonic goggles with the power to turn into various other forms of eyewear, so Ilona's thought was that she could turn them into some disguise to hide her eyes from the approaching stranger. They could be controlled mentally, but with how scrambled Ilona's thoughts were she couldn't get them to work right now.


As they continued to move along, Sophie fell strangely silent all of a sudden, appearing to have become a lot more attentive to her surroundings. It seemed that her alertness was not misplaced though, as she spotted a group of people in the distance, a group of people she recognized a bit, from the Fiamma Right incident. Participants of the murder game to be exact, but at the very least, Cinder wasn't amongst them. Seems like she had ended up somewhere else.

Nevertheless, it was pretty blatantly obvious that they needed to be careful out here, considering just how close they were to accidentally tampering with the set timeline in some way. However, before she could even focus on figuring out a way to deal with the approaching situation at hand, she found herself startled by Ilona's sudden cry, making her turn to her direction... And it was only then that she noticed just how much she had longed to... Interact with those in the game...

In all fairness though, even if time travel had a part to play in it, she would have felt these same temptations if she ever had the chance to re-unite with one of her lost friends once again, or even... Simon.

But, looking at Ilona before her now, she knew she had to be stronger than that... They all were, if they were to get through this whole experience safely. With that in mind, Sophie prepared to say something in an effort to put Ilona at east, but before she could even utter a single word, she noticed that red haired woman coming their way, only further confirmed by Sion, an unexpected development, even to her it seemed.

With little time to act, and Ilona seeming to fiddle with her goggles for a reason Sophie couldn't quite be sure about, she realized she had to act, fast!

Seeing that they risked jeopardizing their entire mission if they were to run into that woman coming towards them, she acted the only way she felt she could in this situation. With a swift motion, she grabbed Ilona's free hand, motioning towards the others in an effort to get them to move, quietly mouthing a single word.

"Hide"

With the little window of time she had, it would be hard to find a good hiding place, but she figured if she couldn't find a rock, or some shrubbery suitable enough... She could try and pull Ilona behind a tree that was large enough, and pray that the red haired girl didn't happen to stumble across them.

All she could hope was that they all could find a place to hide in time...


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What is the point in wearing these silly goggles if they do not even function!?

Continuing to fumble with her goggles, Ilona wouldn't notice the words Sophie would mouth to them. Regardless, after a moment, the blonde began to realize on her own that they should be hiding. Rushing, the girl hid behind a tree, gesturing for the others to follow her. She took in a deep breath afterwards, holding it as if the stranger could be alerted to their presence by a single huff of air from her lungs.

At this point, I almost feel it is pointless to hide from this woman. I fear she is going to see us no matter what we do. I can only pray that it is meant for her to see us... so that we do not ruin the timeline!

Having traveled all across the universe, this was the first time Ilona had actually ever been concerned about interfering with the timeline of any world she visited. She had always figured her powers brought her to places she was meant to visit and anything that happened there was meant to occur. This situation, however, being closely tied to a Murder Game was different.

While hiding, the girl's goggles would finally respond to the various commands she had given them. Changing form, the goggles would appear as a clown mask on the girl's face.

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"Foul hardware," Ilona hissed quietly under her breath. "A clown mask again?" she questioned, as if this had happened to her more than once before.

I didn't ask for this!

"Don't ask,"
she mouthed to the others.


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Sion could feel her heart beat in her chest, so hard that it practically threatened to burst out. As she pressed her back against the tree, beads of sweat appearing on her face as she tried her best to remain calm, though knowing the consequences of disrupting the timeline, it was a task that the serious-minded young woman found rather difficult. She prepared for the worst, putting one hand on her whip-like weapon, as though willing to incapacitate the woman with vibrant red hair that contrasted greatly with the evening sky. She waited and waited for the woman to get close enough, and then...

...

And then the woman stopped in place, standing just out of the range Sion would have been comfortable with. It was an awkward display, silence permeating the cold air like a hot knife through butter. Before long, the woman would clear her throat, and then speak, her voice almost instantly causing Sion's heart to drop for a moment.

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"... Ahem. Hellooooo. Any of you gonna say hi to me, or are ya just gonna stay there like this is hide and seek?"
The woman asked playfully, making it abundantly clear that she was indeed acutely aware of everyone's presence beyond, "It's not like I'll--"

"Haaaah!"

"--bite."

After making a judgment call, Sion dashed deftly from around the tree, weapon in hand, and leapt for the woman, swinging her whip at her, only for the red-headed woman to swiftly and easily grab the weapon out of the air and yank at it, causing Sion to stumble and slide over below the other woman's position on her chest, being kept in place as the woman placed her foot down on Sion's back with strength unusual of an ordinary human, moving in this unorthodox manner practically as though it were second nature to her.

"Alright... Guess I look like the stranger here. Here, let me start again; they call me Miss Blue or Sensei, and... I suppose friends call me Aoko, 'cause that's my name, loath as I am to accept it," the woman sighed with mild exasperation as she rubbed her head in a jarringly nonchalant manner, making no move to harm Sion, but making sure she stayed on the ground just in case, "I assume you people aren't from around here?"

"Gnngh! Get... Get off! You don't realize what you've just done!"

"Ara? Have I? Any one of you willing to explain then?"


This isn't going to help! Ilona mentally complained to herself, reaching up to try and yank the mask off her face. She grunted, however, when she would find herself unable to pull it on. It was as if the mask had been glued to her face, or was hanging on somehow. Idiotic malfunctioning contraption, release me!

After a moment of repeating her last thought in her mind, Ilona's goggles finally obeyed her. The mask came off, feeling equivalent to the sensation of ripping duct tape off one's face. The blonde let out a yelp, rubbing her cheek with one of her hands before thumping the mask with an index finger.

"Change back into goggles," she whispered to the mask afterwards, relieved when the device would listen and return to its original form. She placed them atop her head once more, however, found herself caught off guard when one of the straps would whip her right eye.

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Goodness, that hurt. I've never known an inanimate object to have sass before...

Once she had reined in her goggles and re-focused her attention on the others, she would be just in time to see Sion try to attack Aoko. Ilona flinched, pressing her back up against a tree when the red-haired woman would easily take down her attacker.

The name Aoko sounds very familiar to me. Who might this woman be?


"Miss Sion, I fear it may be too late for us to escape this situation without explaining ourselves somewhat. She's already seen us, after all." Ilona glanced to the red-haired woman, letting out a sigh. "Miss Aoko, yes? Um, as you've suspected, we're not really from around here. We're simply searching for someone is all. Would you perhaps release our comrade and allow us to leave? It would likely be best if we went our separate ways."

Vague, yes, but she had just spoken the truth. Somehow, Ilona had a feeling that this wouldn't be enough to satisfy this woman, but it was still worth a try...


As Sion was grabbed by Aoko, Tracer blipped out of her hiding spot with her guns pointed towards the red haired woman. "We're just on a recognizance mission, luv! Nothin' a civilian needs to know about. Honest!" Tracer said still with her guns aimed at the woman. She really wasn't going to shoot her or anything, but her Aoko didn't know that...right?


Sophie closed her eyes, her heart pounding as she tried her best not to make a sound... Not to blow her cover, but evidently, it was all for naught; the woman came closer, and closer... And-... Wait, a minute. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sion was poised to strike, to which Sophie frantically tried to gesture not to... Without making noise that is.

Since the last thing she wanted was for them to blow their... Cover.

Unfortunately, it looks like that red haired woman was already aware of their presense, and in that moment, Sion struck, or at least, she tried to. It turns out, Aoko, as she had then identified herself as afterwards, was quite strong, strong enough to render Sion's efforts in vain, and... She was looking for an explanation as to why they were here... Uh oh.

Realizing that it was no longer an option to remain hidden, Sophie hesitantly stepped out from behind her cover, swallowing a little before she decided to speak up, especially since Ilona and Tracer had already taken the liberty to do so themselves.

"Visitiors... We're... Visitors, from abroad. But... We would like our presense to be kept... Discreet..." She said quietly.

Her eyes darted around the forest, as she tried to discern if there was anyone else coming their way, before she decided not to say anything more...After all, they were not supposed to call attention to the fact that they were... Not from this time, and she was honestly afraid that by some bad fumble with her words, that she would let that little detail slip...


Like the others, Misaka grew tense at them being seen at all. Static bristled around her as if she was to explode at any moment, but after a moment, she realized this wasn't as terrible as it could be.

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"Huh. We haven't even met before, have we?"


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"My, my... Visitors on a mission from somewhere else, huh? Sounds exciting~"
The bold woman spoke, still warily keeping her foot on Sion, who didn't seem as eager to talk as the others were. Haughtily putting her hands on her hips, she tilted her head. "Pardon if I might be intruding, but... When you all say that you're indeed not from around here, you wouldn't happen to mean that you're... not from this specific time, would you?" She inquired.

"!"

Sion gasped softly, ceasing to move in an instant as though the shock of an outsider knowing about their trek through time, but that should have been impossible! Unless...

"Ah, I suppose I should explain after dropping a bombshell like that on you all. See here... I'm a magician. But not just any old magician. Time is my specialty, and not only am I not bound to its rules, I always know when something distorts it even just a little bit," Aoko spoke, before clearing her throat, "You don't have to be so stiff around me. The fact of the matter is... You all look like pretty good people, but if you had to go ahead and distort space and time, you'd have to have a good reason, right? Oh, right... Sorry about this."

Eventually, Aoko lifted her foot, prompting Sion to swiftly roll away from the taller woman and back towards the group, before hopping back to her feet, still heavily wary of the redhead before them all.

"Anyway, yeah. Mind telling me who it is you're looking for? Perhaps I could be of some help. The world is so fragile right now... So many forces threatening its existence. What a paiiiin~," she sighed, stretching her arms above her head with a long-winded breath, her nonchalance seeming to have no end.

"..."


Sion remained apprehensive of the woman claiming to be a magician, her eyes staying narrowed as she continued to stand in front of everyone, as though intending to keep in charge of the group, further evidenced when she took it upon herself to be the first to speak in response to Aoko. "You, one of the five Magicians in known history, standing right before us? You couldn't really expect me to believe that without sufficient proof, could you?" The younger woman asked.

If Aoko was native to this world that the squad had traveled to, then that was something that she had in common with Sion, and thus, the two of them must know the same things in terms of the world's rules, and what the Five Magics of the Modern Age entailed if the woman's claim was true.

"Mmm... Hmm? You want proof? Well, I suppose I could show you a bit of my magic, but... Ah, it's such a pain. I don't think I've actively used it often in... it'll be ten years soon, I imagine. I never did enjoy the process, so how about this instead," Aoko spoke, before clearing her throat and facing the others, specifically Misaka and Ilona.

"Nope. Never seen you before in my life, little girl, or the pretty blonde one, but... I can still feel something from you. A distortion from your presence, as if it's to say... There's two of you here running around in this world. And the other you's pretty close to us as well, even,"
Aoko spoke to the girls, before glancing at the rest of the group, "As for the rest of you... Well, like I said, the identity of who you're looking for would be useful. That is, if you're willing to take me along your little journey. I'm always up for some fun~"

Sion only looked at the others uneasily, as though unsure of what to make of Aoko, and wondering what the others had to say about her.


Tracer got the impression that Aoko wasn't going to be a hindrance to them, but damn if she wasn't making Tracer feel uneasy right now, though she had lowered her weapons. "Honestly not up to me if we bring you along, innit?" Tracer responded to the crimson haired woman. "Can I just say while I totally back the whole more the merrier thing...it's kind of weird to just nab someone along for the ride, yeah?"


Like Sion, Ilona would find herself wary of the red-haired stranger before them. She tilted her head and gazed at the woman, humming thoughtfully in the back of her throat. It was unclear if this woman was a threat, but if she did intend to attack them she probably would've done so already, right? Then there was the fact that Ilona felt her to be familiar. But, then again, Ilona had met so many different people and read books at the Coalition about so many individuals that a lot of their faces had begun to blur in her mind over time.

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"Are you certain we should trust her?" Ilona softly questioned Tracer, who seemed pretty laid back with the idea of the mysterious woman joining their group. "She opted not to give us proof of her identity. That in itself is a bit concerning, even if she does seem familiar in some manner..."

Clearing her throat she would address Aoko. "Miss Aoko, if your abilities involve time, I'm certain you're aware it could be dangerous for us to interfere with any individuals in this world other than the one person we're looking for. We're already interfering just by speaking with you. I can't imagine how much it would change things if we actually brought you with us. Are you certain that would be all right?" the girl questioned.

As for Aoko's curiosity about who they were looking for, well, Ilona said nothing on the matter. As far as she was concerned, the blonde was only along for the ride and not in charge of this mission. She would leave it to Sion or one of the others to tell Aoko that information if they decided it was okay. Besides, Ilona had gotten herself into trouble many times in the past due to opening her big mouth. Knowing this situation was delicate, Ilona was determined to try her hardest and not get them into trouble with her words.


Seeming lost in his own mind, Starman scathed his head. Looking at the large moon, he smiled behind the mask.

"Who is to say she's not supposed to come with us?"


It was clear by his more assured tone, Tom was in his right mind for the moment. Turning the ladies, Thom made his case.

"Let's all take a step back. If there one thing I know from traveling time is that sometime people and things and people need to be interacted wit. If we ignore her help, that might not be what's in the cards. What if ignoring her makes things worse. Sometimes risks need to be taken."


"Beardy kinda sayin' what I was goin' to say." Tracer replied motioning towards Starman. "Like can't say I fully trust her or somethin' but if all she's sayin' is true, can we really stop her from comin' with us without a fight?"


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"Mayhaps," Ilona would utter after hearing what Starman and Tracer would say, her stance on the situation softening. "Everyone deserves a chance, I suppose. If all of you believe it best to have her come with us, I will wholeheartedly accept. Before now, I have always been fine with letting things play out without worrying about affecting the future. I was only being cautious because of the warnings our superiors gave us. If all of you decide it to be worth the risk, I will fully support the decision," she replied with a nod.

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"Aww, don't be like that! Besides, you haven't seen why I should come with you all!"
Aoko said, her cheer not seeming to waver even as the rest of the group displayed a degree of apprehension to the idea of her company, as she hit her left fist against her right palm, an almost universal sign of being pepped up despite nothing in the conversation intending to do so, or so it seemed.

Turning to Ilona, she put her hands back to her hips. "Interfering? How do you know it wasn't meant to happen? It isn't like anybody is here to see us. What's that saying again... If a tree falls and no one's around to hear it, does it really make a sound?" She replied, briefly rubbing the side of her head, as though she couldn't simply stand still, "For all you know, maybe something like this was meant to happen," Aoko went on, her sentiments reinforced by Starman, who had a more enthusiastic response, before clearing her throat.

"But of course, if you want a more definite reason why I should come along, lemme show you a little something that I picked up earlier that I could sense was displaced from wherever it came from, just conveniently placed on a rock in these plains," Aoko exclaimed, before digging through her pocket, and producing a rather strange looking object.

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"Ta-daaaa! I'm sure this cute little guy is sure to ring some bells!"

...

It didn't. At least, for most of the group.

In the uncomfortable silence as Sion attempted to ascertain the meaning behind the keychain, she slowly leaned over to Ilona, Sophie, and Tracer.

"... What is that thing?"


"Maybe," Ilona would reply, much less defensive of Aoko than she had been before. "I'm not going to worry about it anymore regardless. If the others are fine with you coming along, I will be as well," Ilona added. She felt much better about the situation now that she had convinced herself that the decision wasn't in her hands.

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When Aoko would pull the charm from her pocket, however, Ilona's blue eyes would light up. "Ah, yes it does ring a bell! I know what it is!" the teen exclaimed joyfully, clasping her hands together as she would lean in closer to look at it. She seemed almost charmed by the item, finding it really adorable.

"Miss Sion, it's a frog in a suit," Ilona replied with a smile. The girl had clearly stated the obvious, but acted as if she had just solved an uncovered mystery of life. "Why, someone who owns such an adorable item can't be bad at all. Miss Aoko must be a good, trustworthy person after all!" the girl added, suddenly sounding rather convinced. But, then again, bad people could own cute items too, couldn't they? Regardless, it was something Ilona decided not to worry about for the time being.​
 
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Misaka's mouth dropped open when she initially saw the cute little frog mascot. "So you have one too..." she said quietly, just low enough so most of the group couldn't hear her. She stared for a moment longer, before a realization hit her: it was just like one of the Gekota straps in her possession! And this one was pretty limited, as far as she knew. If Saten had not given her the last one, who knows if she would even have it to this day...

Of the few things Misaka had managed to get ODMA to bring her was her bag, along with a lot of the Gekota merchandise she had acquired throughout the years (the last thing she needed was Kuroko going through her stuff and finding it all!). She made a careful point of hiding it from the others during her stay in ODMA, so they wouldn't know about the strap upon initially seeing it. Strangely enough, the one this girl had was the precise Gekota Misaka had decided to bring along on this adventure. The fancy little suit and mustache... it was unmistakable!

She reached under her collar and gripped tightly at the little frog mascot strapped to the inside. It was the very same one. If the Gekota in this girl's possession was supposed to mean something, was it that Misaka would give her that very same Gekota later? The thought of parting with the limited edition frog was nothing short of frightening, but no other explanation was clear to her. It couldn't have been the Gekota she would give one of the sisters later, for it just wasn't the same kind. A paradox wasn't a paradox if it was supposed to happen anyway.

With all that in mind, Misaka couldn't help but break out into a blush.

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"W-Well, Ilona is right, that does it for me too! I think she knows what she's talking about!" Misaka stepped forward and turn around, putting herself between Aoko and the others in order to block their view of the frog strap. "I think we've wasted enough time here, guys! Let's get going and find our target!"


The color seemed to drain from Sophie's face as she realized they had evidently been busted, not too long after their arrival here no less... But it was soon made clear why; she was a magician, one that appeared to specialize in time.

Honestly, it almost frightened her how easy it was to accept something like this was a thing now. Something like this would have seemed like borderline madness back before she was thrown into her first Murder Game... When she still lived a relatively 'normal' life. At least as normal as it could have been, given the circumstances.

Now, here she was, traveling back in time in search of a girl with some seemingly unstable powers that allowed her to traverse dimensions, and even time... Or so it seemed.

Back to the situation at hand though, it would appear that the woman that had approached them wanted to help them find Junko, the person they were looking for, but even so, Sophie was not sure it was a good idea disclosing the identity of the person they were seeking just yet... Even if she did possess an item that while in itself seemed benign... Had struck a chord with Misaka, as she suddenly appeared to side with that red haired woman in a heartbeat...

Seeing that Ilona was onboard with this too, albeit it was a little difficult to follow the reasoning, Sophie just ended up smiling, almost helplessly as she nodded.

"Of course. We should... Get moving..." She said, rubbing the back of her neck.

At the very least though, the color was returning to her face as she realized that they may not have caused much temporal harm... Yet, and maybe, as the red haired woman who had decided to accompany them said, this was meant to happen?

Regardless though, they had to take care not to alert anyone else to their presense, as while this particular incident may not have caused any immediate damage to the timeline... There was no telling what another unexpected encounter with those in the past may lead to...


"Huh, I was expecting a more... different response," Aoko said, seemingly surprised, but nonetheless pleased that either way, she was accepted into the group. At least, on popular opinion if nothing else. Pursing her lips slightly, she put the little frog keychain back in her pocket, before putting a hand on her hip.

"Anyway... So, where exactly are we headed then? And who sentcha? I imagine whatever or whoever we're looking for, the objective is really important if you gotta travel through time for it! You know what they say about time travel! You violate the laws of physics and reality just a little bit and then all of a sudden everyone thinks you're a danger to the fabric of space-time itself, am I right?" She let out a small laugh, spouting out some sort of anecdote.

...

She really was a strange woman.

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"We can answer all your... non-classified questions later, but for now... Ah, we're admittedly at a bit of a loss right now. Ilona, Misaka, for now, can you try to hone in on where Ms. Enoshima might be? Hopefully, now that we're in the right time period, it'll be an easier time detecting the destructive power she holds."


"Ohh, we're on this kind of mission!"

"Yes! A top secret one!" Tracer exclaimed. "Though I guess it's not so secret anymore, with you known' about it and everythin', yeah?"


Having gathered herself slightly, Misaka scoffed a bit at this new idea. "You know it's not something I just... turn on, right? If anything, that girl is always bringing herself to me!" Sighing, Misaka closed her eyes and did what she imagined she was supposed to do in this situation. She focused on the image of that strange girl with the large blonde hair, trying to focus on where she might be.

Electricity sparked around Misaka, rising in intensity as she tried harder and harder to focus on Junko Enoshima.

"Come on...!"

She opened her eyes, staring down nothing in particular.

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"I... I don't know if this is working! You feel anything, Ilona?"


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When tasked with locating Junko, Ilona straightened her back and folded her hands in front of her. "I believe I'm in a position similiar to Miss Mikasa's. Detecting Miss Junko is not something I can easily do, at least not yet. I've spent a majority of my training on containing my power, and less of it on tracking others." The blonde smiled sheepishly, knowing that her statement wasn't much of an excuse. She had come on this mission and would need to try her best.

"B-But, her power is similar to mine, so perhaps that will make it easier to locate her!" Ilona added, trying to be positive about this. "I shall give this my best try. Here goes..."

The girl closed her eyes just as Mikasa did, trying to focus her thoughts solely on Junko. She pictured the other girl's face in her mind, doing whatever she could to figure out her location. After a moment or two, Ilona stumbled back, dazed as if she had been pushed aside by some invisible force. She then took in a deep breath, as if all of the wind had been knocked out of her.

"I... don't know. Forgive me, there seems to be many powerful signatures of energy around here. I imagine this is due to the fact we are in the very location of a Murder Game containing various people with unique signatures of energy." Ilona frowned. She could've been wrong, but this was her best guess. Maybe she wasn't sensing any sort of power at all and was just... confused. "My younger self is even here somewhere. Her presence is difficult to look past. But I... won't mince words. This is mainly difficult due to my lack of experience with this sort of thing. Mayhaps we should try this again... from another location?" she questioned, honestly not entirely sure what to do.

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"If you believe that would be of help, then by all means,"
Sion nodded to Ilona, focusing her attention to a nearby hill in the empty field they all stood in, "Let's try again when we relocate up there. The area we've landed in isn't optimal, being so remote, but we'll have to make do. If only I calculated our landing better..." She simply said with a sigh.

With that, the group, led by Sion, began to travel up the nearby hill the young woman gestured toward before, the shine of the bright full moon almost blinding to anyone who spent too much time looking up. In fact, it was actually rather abnormal for the moon to appear so big in the sky on a night like this.

Rrrrrumble rumble.

A brief rumble in the land, akin to that of a quake, impeded the progress of the group for a brief while. Anyone who would venture to look behind them would be met by the sight of Misaki Town in the distance, an ominous dark red color infecting the otherwise deep blue sky. To Ilona and Misaka, who had been there back then, they'd be able to recall the source of the infectious red from their time in the Fiamma Incident, as the illusion-conjuring, reality bending vampire Night of Wallachia who had been awakened by Fiamma of the Right's power and began terrorizing the group at his whim. Of course, he was defeated promptly, but even so, Sion seemed troubled by the sight of the creature's return in this time period, her brow furrowing even deeper than it usually did as she looked back, but did little more than sigh, turning around and continuing to face forward.

"Difficult as it might be, try not to pay much mind to what's going on in the town. Wallachia was defeated well enough, so to interfere would likely yield dire consequences," the alchemist spoke, continuing to move forward.

As they continued to traverse upward, eventually reaching the summit of the steep hill, there was just enough space for everyone to stand on steadily, though... it seemed like they weren't the only ones there.

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"..."


There stood a strange girl, whom Ilona and Misaka might have vaguely remembered accompanying them to the Church back in the other city early into the Fiamma Incident, though evidently she'd managed to slip away from the rest of the group under everyone's noses.

Without any sort of greeting, a neutral expression on her face, she quickly spoke.

"You would do well to leave now, intruders of this time, and never come back to this time," the girl said in a benign, yet also threatening tone. It seemed like this was the only warning she was willing to give, but one had to wonder, why was she standing against them anyway? If not the other question "who even was she?" And how did she know about the time travel?


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Ilona nodded before starting to head up the hill with the others, shaking her head when Sion would seem to regret where they had landed. "You aren't to blame, Miss Sion. After all, I'm the one who teleported us here in the first place. Not only that, but had we not landed here we wouldn't have come into contact with Miss Aoko. Everything happens for a reason, and it was probably a good thing that we met with her." The blonde quieted after speaking, eyes gazing upward by the radiant moonlight bathing the hill. She stared upward for quite some time, probably able to look upon it longer than an ordinary person because of all the time she had spent gazing at the sun in the past.

The time traveler would only pause for a brief moment in her walking when their group would feel a rumble in the distance. She nodded at what Sion would say, agreeing that her suggestion was probably for the best. "Indeed, we shouldn't make too many unnecessary changes."

When they arrived to the very top of the hill, Ilona tilted her head upon seeing the girl. She did seem familiar, in a way, but Ilona had been so young when she first saw this person that she didn't remember anything about her. What surprised Ilona most, however, was not who this girl was, but what she knew.

"Ah, how do you know we're not from this time?" Ilona questioned her, stepping forward. "I assure you, we mean no harm to this time period. We are merely searching for someone. Might you be so kind as to tell us who you are? What is your name?"

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"No harm... The only way that would be possible..."
She murmured in response to Ilona, narrowing her eyes in something of a threatening manner to her and the rest of the group, trailing off for a brief moment before what appeared to be a red shroud appeared out of thin air, snaking around her body like an agile serpent, "... is if you're dead. After all, is it not a sin to exist somewhere you're not supposed to?"

"You must be looking for the girl, aren't you? The one who, when left unchecked, has the power to destroy worlds... I'm afraid I can't let you do that,"
the young woman giggled, a sinister smile creeping on her lips, "It matters not who I am, for I am no one. Rather, you should be asking what I am, and that is... an agent of destruction, created by the will of the Night of Wallachia in the image of another woman who knows not that I even exist," she spoke, gesturing nonchalantly toward the evil presence within Misaki Town in the distance, identifying herself as one of the phenomena's so-called creations, "I'd ask why you would want to snuff out such a beautiful display of destruction, but we both have different values, so if you don't mind..."

Whoosh.

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Maneuvering her arms about, the red shroud suddenly springs forward, its movements consistently like a snake, before it wraps itself around Starman's body and lifts him up into the air, before throwing him like a rag doll right toward Sophie!

"!"

With a gasp, Sion gritted her teeth and drew her handgun, firing a barrage of bullets at the young woman, though the projectiles were easily deflected by the red shroud.


Before the strange girl would even attack them, Ilona flinched at the sight of her red shroud appearing. The blonde then took a step back when, in addition, the girl would suggest they were sinners merely because they existed.

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"Why are you saying such things?" Ilona questioned. "Why can't you let us look for her? We have good reason for what we're doing. We have to--" The time traveler cut herself off, gasping when the female would begin to wrap her shroud around Starman and attack their group. Ilona had meant what she said when she told the girl that they meant her no harm but, apparently, she meant them harm.

Ilona quickly teleported herself into mid-air, attempting to catch Starman when their enemy would try to fling her right into Sophie. If successful, Ilona would then teleport herself back onto the ground and release her hold on the man she had tried to rescue. Afterwards, the girl shot a look to her comrades before disappearing and reappearing with a sword in her hands. It was a sword special to the girl, one she had picked up during one of her various adventures through the multiverse.

"I don't care for fighting," the girl said, twirling her sword once in her hand before teleporting behind their attacker. "But I will if I must." Ilona teleported once more, standing to the side of their enemy. She would then lash out at the other female with her sword. No lightning miracles or explosive malevolent powers. Just a sword and her own skills with it.


Sophie just nodded towards Aoko, silently confirming her offhanded comment about the sort of task they were here for; it looks like there was little else she had to say on the matter, for now.

Instead, she looked on as both Ilona and Misaka tried their best to locate Junko, but unfortunately... They were unsuccessfull, at least not from here. Thus, the logical conclusion was to head to the nearby hill to hopefully get to a better signal, but for a moment, she felt inclined to turn around upon hearing a distinct rumbling noise.

Looking back, she notice the sky was turning red over Misaki Town; though Cinder hadn't really revealed much about this portion of her time at this incident... Sophie knew that whatever was happening over there, was reaching its end... And this was the part where Cinder's powers were dwarfed by Kotomine, and who knows who else was involved in that mess.

Shaking her head, Sophie focused her attention back on the climb up the hill, knowing better than to interrupt the series of events that would ultimately end the Fiamma Right incident... But it was only then that she noticed someone standing atop the hill, someone who she didn't recognize, but at least two others did. When she demanded them to leave, Sophie raised her hands, trying to diffuse the situation along with the others.

"It's... We're not-..." But Sophie didn't even have time to finish.

Whoever this woman was, her response to Ilona quickly made her realize she wasn't here to "protect" anything, like she had thought at first. Well, minus Junko's presense here that is; it looks like she was here to facilitate the ensuing destruction Junko was going to cause...

However, before she could reach for her pistol, Starman was suddenly flung in her direction, in which she attempted to jump out of the way quickly. Fortunately, Ilona was able to intervene and (hopefully) catch Starman one way or another, allowing Sophie time to quickly draw her pistol, carefully taking aim at their apparent aggressor... Though honestly, she wasn't sure what she hoped to do with it, given how easily their opponent had deflected Sion's bullets...

"Is that... All you've got?!" She taunted, as a quick plan of action formed in her head.

Her bullets likely would get deflected too, but if she were able to distract their opponent for long enough, perhaps the stronger members of their group could score a hit or two... Though she had a feeling this wouldn't end much better than her fight against Claire way back in the third murdergame, but... With the few skills that she had picked up on since then, maybe she had a better chance?


Like a robot, the silver-haired woman said nothing in response to Ilona and Sophie, set on accomplishing her objective of doing away with the group. As predicted, her red shroud easily deflected Sophie's bullets, the projectiles bouncing off the cloth as though it were metal. Fortunately, this proved to be an ample distraction that allowed for Ilona to teleport behind her and attack, a clean slice cutting into the woman's back. Strangely enough, even though the slash was deep enough to cut through flesh, there was no blood in the open wound. Only blackness.

Still, there was no time to be mystified by that. As Ilona teleported again and moved to the woman's side, she was ready this time, catching Ilona's blade with her bare hand. Like before, in place of blood being drawn from the sword slitting the palm, the opening wound revealed only darkness, as though clearly demonstrating that there was no humanity in this entity. Maintaining a cold, frozen stare, the woman used her other hand to backhand Ilona in hopes of knocking her away!

CRACK!

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From behind, Aoko delivered a superhuman punch at the back of the woman's skull, an audible crack sound being heard that might have been able to break the neck of just any normal person. However, aside from a small pause, it didn't seem to put down the enemy, the snake-like shroud on her moving to wrap around Aoko's body and lifting her up, before throwing her right at Misaka!

Without missing a beat, the shroud moved back over to wrap around Ilona and squeezed tightly, hoping to crush the blonde girl in its grasp!

@York @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi
 
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Starman was flung in the air in the flash, however, he easily gained control of his self via his flight ring. Floating in the air, Starman regained his center as he floated towards the chaos. scooping up Ilona, Starman land a safe distance away, placing the young girl down. Again, now back in the air, Starman forced, trying increase the shrouded woman's gravity that she'd be unable to move!
@York @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Atomic Knight @verite @Jeremi
 
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"

So it seems, you are not much for conversation,"
Ilona mused to herself after landing a well-timed hit against her opponent's back. Though she found herself momentarily mesmerized by the dark essence the creature's wound revealed, she would not remain so fixated on it that she wouldn't be unable to move again after this individual tried to backhand her. Ilona teleported again, entirely evading her enemy's attempt to knock her away.

But she wouldn't be able to avoid getting attacked forever.

Before the blonde time traveler knew what hit her, the shroud curled around her body and wrapped her tightly, an audible crack heard from those around her. The girl let out a pained gasp afterwards, but would have no time to move before Starman swept her up into his arms and placed her a safe distance away from the skirmish. Ilona quickly checked herself over to see what damage had been done, finding that her left arm had been snapped at the elbow and now throbbed painfully. She contorted her expression in discontent and nearly dropped the sword she held in her right hand, but tightened her grip before she would lose hold of it.

Bracing herself, Ilona would teleport yet again and prepare to attack despite the fact she now nursed an injury. She appeared to the side of their foe, hoping to get in another clean hit with her sword while Starman would tamper with the woman's gravity.

@Ver @York @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi
 
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As the battle commenced Tracer twirled her guns around. "'ere we go again..." A quick assessment of made Tracer think that their opponent was not human, which meant that she was not going to feel bad when she did this.

Using her powers she'd zip behind the white haired woman and opened fire on her. "Could you make this easy for us? We're in a bit of a hurry!"
 
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"Tch!"


The silver-haired woman visibly struggled as Starman increased the gravity around her, making it difficult for her to move at all, rendering her quite vulnerable to Tracer's shots, on top of Sion's own bullets as she opened fire, as well as Ilona's sword strike, letting out a pained yelp in response that almost sounded human. As she was struck by Ilona's sword notably, something perhaps mildly surprising happened.

While no blood had appeared the last time she was struck by Ilona's blade, now, red liquid practically flew out of her wound like a fountain, drenching her own outfit in red. She briefly fell to her knees, as though the onslaught of attacks against her managed to get the best of her after what seemed to be a first and only wind in retrospect, unable to retaliate as Starman continued to apply pressure.

"That blood... That's not blood at all!" Sion exclaimed. Indeed, anyone who fancied themselves to have a keen eye that the red liquid that gushed out of the woman's being was brighter than the red that blood usually tended to be, whatever that may have meant, "She really isn't human! That... That has to be concentrated mana!"

"W-Well... Guess that's what you expect from someone who can create such elaborate illusions as the Night of Wallachia," Aoko grunted, leaping to her feet and helping Misaka up.

The silver-haired woman continued to writhe in pain, clutching her wound briefly, before she suddenly went silent. Then... strangely enough, like a robot, her face suddenly became stone cold, erasing itself of any remnant of pain, and stood straight up, as though gravity was no longer a factor that could affect her.

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"Ah, perhaps I should have expected such an outcome, considering how outnumbered I was from the start. Still, it wasn't as though I couldn't not carry out my mission. Free will is something I do not have after all, and something humans always forsake,"
the woman calmly spoke, her intent gaze fixated solely on Ilona as she spoke, a sly, fox-like smirk tugging at her lips as she looked to the blonde young woman, "Of course, even with such a concept as free will, humans are prone to meeting a predetermined fate, aren't they? I can see it in the future - this future - your destiny, girl. Death and destruction. That is what you will bring to those around you. Or am I wrong?"

"The power you hold inside... It's the same as the power from the one you seek, isn't it? A human like yourself... You try and try to detain such power, like caging an animal, but... You cannot deny your nature forever. Just as it is in the nature of animals to slaughter each other, man is no different. You, girl, are destined to be such a harbinger of death, aren't you?"

"Y'know, I've had enough of this fate talk. Life is something you make up as you go along, so don't fill any kids' heads with stuff like that!"
Aoko exclaimed, a blue energy charging from her palm as she grinned, "So just disappear already, monster! HAAAAAAAAAH!"

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WHOOSH!

Firing a great beam of pure energy, Aoko practically disentegrated the silver-haired woman, her form visibly crumbling into dust and debris from the beam until she was no more, and before anyone knew it, the entity ceased to be entirely. Taking a breath, Aoko briefly patted her palms against each other, as though she had just taken out the trash, before speaking again.

"Is everyone alright? Hey hey, did I prove myself yet?"

"I'm fine. Let's just think of that as a minor setback, a consequence of traveling to a dangerous time. We'll have to keep our wits about us," Sion responded, letting out a sigh, "I just hope that we didn't muck anything up by engaging with that entity. But if she acted as though she were waiting for us... Who knows what else we might encounter on this mission?"

Clearing her throat, she approached Misaka and Ilona. "You two aren't too badly banged up, are you? Now that we're at the hilltop, there's no time to waste. Let's try looking for an energy signal again. Shall we?"

"One of you guys are gonna get around to explaining the whole gist of everything to me eventually, right? Maybe we can chat about it when we set up camp on our travels!" Aoko said idly in the meantime.

@Atomic Knight @Neko Shogun @York @Jeremi @Josh
 
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Memories that felt both familiar and somehow new flooded into Misaka as she recalled the the dangers of her time spent in this world. It felt like yesterday, but also like ages ago. Whatever had happened between herself and Junko Enoshima had caused Misaka to move across time in a manner that she still had yet to understand. She felt as if she had repeated these moments before, spending countless times traversing Misaki Town.

Not that it mattered, in the end. Misaka had a tendency to hyper focus on the task at hand, which is entirely what she planned to do. It helped to imagine that finding Junko would result in her soon reuniting with her friends.

What awaited the group was not something Misaka could have anticipated. She did not know who this woman was, but it meant nothing good for them. The matter was solved quickly, considering the group's strength, but it was clearly just the start of their troubles.

"I'm fine, but..."

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"This isn't at all what we were expecting. It'd be nice if we could get a message through to ODMA..." The girl crossed her arms in thought. "Maybe I could... Hm..." Taking the communication device, Misaka started to bristle with electrical energy. "If you're against me trying to force this thing to work, better speak up now!"

@Ver @Neko Shogun @York @Jeremi @Josh
 
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"Tch!"


The silver-haired woman visibly struggled as Starman increased the gravity around her, making it difficult for her to move at all, rendering her quite vulnerable to Tracer's shots, on top of Sion's own bullets as she opened fire, as well as Ilona's sword strike, letting out a pained yelp in response that almost sounded human. As she was struck by Ilona's sword notably, something perhaps mildly surprising happened.

While no blood had appeared the last time she was struck by Ilona's blade, now, red liquid practically flew out of her wound like a fountain, drenching her own outfit in red. She briefly fell to her knees, as though the onslaught of attacks against her managed to get the best of her after what seemed to be a first and only wind in retrospect, unable to retaliate as Starman continued to apply pressure.

"That blood... That's not blood at all!" Sion exclaimed. Indeed, anyone who fancied themselves to have a keen eye that the red liquid that gushed out of the woman's being was brighter than the red that blood usually tended to be, whatever that may have meant, "She really isn't human! That... That has to be concentrated mana!"

"W-Well... Guess that's what you expect from someone who can create such elaborate illusions as the Night of Wallachia," Aoko grunted, leaping to her feet and helping Misaka up.

The silver-haired woman continued to writhe in pain, clutching her wound briefly, before she suddenly went silent. Then... strangely enough, like a robot, her face suddenly became stone cold, erasing itself of any remnant of pain, and stood straight up, as though gravity was no longer a factor that could affect her.

image.png


"Ah, perhaps I should have expected such an outcome, considering how outnumbered I was from the start. Still, it wasn't as though I couldn't not carry out my mission. Free will is something I do not have after all, and something humans always forsake," the woman calmly spoke, her intent gaze fixated solely on Ilona as she spoke, a sly, fox-like smirk tugging at her lips as she looked to the blonde young woman, "Of course, even with such a concept as free will, humans are prone to meeting a predetermined fate, aren't they? I can see it in the future - this future - your destiny, girl. Death and destruction. That is what you will bring to those around you. Or am I wrong?"

"The power you hold inside... It's the same as the power from the one you seek, isn't it? A human like yourself... You try and try to detain such power, like caging an animal, but... You cannot deny your nature forever. Just as it is in the nature of animals to slaughter each other, man is no different. You, girl, are destined to be such a harbinger of death, aren't you?"

"Y'know, I've had enough of this fate talk. Life is something you make up as you go along, so don't fill any kids' heads with stuff like that!"
Aoko exclaimed, a blue energy charging from her palm as she grinned, "So just disappear already, monster! HAAAAAAAAAH!"

aok6007.png
aok5169.png


WHOOSH!

Firing a great beam of pure energy, Aoko practically disentegrated the silver-haired woman, her form visibly crumbling into dust and debris from the beam until she was no more, and before anyone knew it, the entity ceased to be entirely. Taking a breath, Aoko briefly patted her palms against each other, as though she had just taken out the trash, before speaking again.

"Is everyone alright? Hey hey, did I prove myself yet?"

"I'm fine. Let's just think of that as a minor setback, a consequence of traveling to a dangerous time. We'll have to keep our wits about us," Sion responded, letting out a sigh, "I just hope that we didn't muck anything up by engaging with that entity. But if she acted as though she were waiting for us... Who knows what else we might encounter on this mission?"

Clearing her throat, she approached Misaka and Ilona. "You two aren't too badly banged up, are you? Now that we're at the hilltop, there's no time to waste. Let's try looking for an energy signal again. Shall we?"

"One of you guys are gonna get around to explaining the whole gist of everything to me eventually, right? Maybe we can chat about it when we set up camp on our travels!" Aoko said idly in the meantime.

@Atomic Knight @Neko Shogun @York @Jeremi @Josh

"Woohoo! We did it guys! Pat yourselves on the back everyone!"
Tracer twirled her guns around in victory before she re-holstered them. The foe they faced was something that she had no interest of facing again. "That depends on if the brass allows sharin' information!" Came her response to Aoko. "It's not like this is an important mission or anythin'!"

 
Sophie smiled, seeing that her diversion tactic had worked, but her smile faded... As it turns out, even with Ilona and Aoko's attacks, their assailant was unphased. She... No... It... Didn't even seem to bleed; her gaping wounds revealed nothing but what seemed like an empty void... And then, her red, snake-like shroud suddenly enveloped Ilona, in a clear effort to crush her in its grasp.

With a quick motion, Sophie raised her gun again, squeezing the trigger, only to be met with a clicking noise that made her blood run cold.

She was out of ammo.

Realizing that she had no time to reload, Sophie quickly holstered the weapon, and yanked out the switchblade she had always carried with her... Letting out a shrill warcry as she charged towards their assailant, attempting to slash at the shroud that had enveloped Ilona... Only for Ilona to teleport away, which left Sophie slashing away at nothing but the shroud.

It was then that Starman did something, which appeared to have debilitated their assailant, as when Ilona and the others began to attack her... She actually bled... Well, sort of. Sophie took this opportunity to quickly reload her glock, putting away her knife for now as she locked her gaze on their assailant... Who's words seemed to have struck a nerve with Sophie.

"... You're wrong! No matter what you see in her future... I know things don't have to turn out that way..." She yelled defiantly, raising her freshly loaded glock.

"So long as I draw breath, I'll make sure of-..." She said, but her brief monologue was abruptly cut off by Aoko, who more or less cut straight to the chase, with a few words of her own, disintegrating their assailant.

Her hands shook a little as she lowered her pistol for now... Drawing in a few, unsteady breaths; her mind flashed back once again, to the time she had stood defiantly against Claire... Who at the time, possessed powers that made her weapon seem like a mere toy at best, who could probably have killed her in an instant.

Once again though... Somehow... She... No... They... Survived.

When Sion asked if Misaka and Ilona were hurt too badly... Sophie quickly looked the two over, a concerned look replacing the more fearful one she had earlier, as she sighed a little. It was probably for the best that they focus on getting a good signal, as it was evident that Junko wasn't here, at least as far as she knew.

"... You'll be okay... Right?" She asked Ilona quietly.

While Ilona did seem reasonably okay, Sophie couldn't be sure just how much their assailant may have hurt her; it looked like Ilona had been its target, and considering that the attacker was formed out of pure mana, it does beg the question of who could have formed her... After all, such mana must have its source, right?

@Verite @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi
 
Once their tussle with the mysterious enemy had been ended, Ilona immediately sheathed her weapon and moved her newly freed hand to grasp onto her left arm. She gritted her teeth, a small groan escaping her lips when she found the simple touch from her hand to be more than enough to send a darting pain through her arm. Touching it seemed to be painful, as did moving it. This led the blonde to believe that her arm was in fact broken. Her blue eyes watered in response to the uncomfortable sensation, but outwardly she refrained from panicking. Instead, she focused on the others as they regrouped after the battle.

She ignored Aoko's question when the woman asked if they were alright and instead focused on what Mikasa said regarding the communication device. "If the device can be fixed, we should indeed do it. If it cannot be repaired, I suppose we should indeed continue searching for those energy signatures on our own," she stated, moving to stand behind Mikasa and watch what she was doing. She would only acknowledge the others again when Sophie would ask if she was going to be alright. The blonde would immediately respond with a confident smile, masking whatever pain she felt.

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"Oh, did you notice my arm? Ah, I'm afraid I may have broken it. I cannot move it and it's rather painful to the touch," she answered, continuing to hold the smile on her lips. She spoke with a bit of pep in her voice, as if having a pleasant conversation. In truth, she wanted to do her best not to worry the others. They still had an important mission to take care of, and the last thing the needed to do was worry over an injury of her's.

A thought suddenly occurred to her, and the smile on her lips widened. "My power, I can use it to heal my arm at a faster rate than normal. I will allow it to do so slowly, however, because it will be safer not to force it. I can assure you that I will be fine in a little while."

@Ver @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi @York
 
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"Yeah, yeah, I getcha. Classified mission and all that. I promise I won't say a single peep if you tell me!" Aoko said playfully in response to Tracer, raising a finger in front of her lips to signify her adept skill of keeping a secret, closing one eye briefly as she did so, before continuing again, "But of course, if you're reluctant, I completely understand. I could play hardball and say that I'll go around telling people that there's people out of time running amok, but if there's a little chain of command that extends further than you lot, guess that'd be more trouble in the long run for all of us, huh?" She said with a small laugh, hoping that no one would take her words too seriously.

With a long, drawn out sigh, Sion scratched the back of her head.

"We'll... see about that," the younger woman responded. In the event that they'd all be unable to reach ODMA from here, Sion imagined that the burden of assuming command would fall on her shoulders then, but she stopped right there, figuring that they should at least take things one step at a time first.

Sion01.png


While Sophie and Ilona talked to each other concerning how they were doing, Sion nodded toward Misaka. "Go ahead. Shouldn't be any harm in it," she spoke, granting her permission.

@Atomic Knight @Neko Shogun @Jeremi @Josh @York
 
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After speaking with Sophie, Ilona sparred a glance to Aoko and Tracer, listening to what they were speaking about. While she intended to speak with them straight away, the blonde found it a bit difficult to come up with a quick reply due to being more fixated on keeping her left arm still. The appendage hurt badly even while not moving it so she wanted to try and keep it as stationary as possible. "Why, may I ask, are you interesting in learning of our business, Miss Aoko?" the girl calmly asked, masking a slight grimace of pain that would twitch at the left corner of her mouth.

@Ver @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi @York
 
With no one having any qualms about it, Misaka nodded and stared down at the communication device in her hands. Static electricity crackled around her as she built up a charge, intending to hack into the device via electronic waves in order to brute force it to work properly. Her lips parted slightly as she concentrated on channeling a minuscule amount of power, not wanting to blow the device up.

"Just a little bit here..."

The device's view screen came to life, still showing static, but now also showing the outline of a person. Something about the person's frame gave the impression they were female. The outline of their hair was reminiscent of Miss Lalonde's, leading Misaka to believe her hacking had worked. She smiled and said, "Hello?"

"Hello?" the woman on the other end said back. Her voice was tinged with static, but it definitely seemed to be Lalonde. "Ohhh... that's awesome. Great. I got through!" Lalonde let out a laugh. "But you can't see me, right? I can't see you... Huh... Man, I hate dealing with technology like this..."

@Ver @Neko Shogun @Jeremi @Josh @York
 
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"Mm? Well, it's like I figured. You guys aren't from around this time period, are you? You're from somewhere else. And I imagine you gotta have a good reason for being in a place where you're not supposed to, right?"
Aoko inquired in response to Ilona, patting her legs off, before haughtily pointing a thumb at herself, "I like to fancy myself a guardian of space-time around these parts! Seeing as how I think I've done my fair share of world preservation before, y'know? Makes me sound just a little more exciting than nomadic traveler, at least," She said, letting out a short laugh as she thought back to her recent past.

It really has been a wild past year for her, hasn't it?

"And another thing. That cute little frog toy I showed you guys earlier? I couldn't have stumbled upon that by accident. More like... fate, if you ask me!" She said, waving around the Gekota keychain again that really only Misaka seemed to have a strong reaction to, "Says on the back that it's from some place called... Academy City? I might not be any sort of geography expert, but a place like that, I don't think really exists, at least in my world. But once you go through a Murder Game or two -- or whatever the blasted Association wants to call them now these days -- your mind gets a little more open on what's real and what's not. And... what's coincidence, and what isn't."

"So. Don't you think it's all suspect?"


As Misaka managed to get into contact back with ODMA meanwhile, the faint shape and voice of Lalonde barely managing to reach them from the future, Sion stepped to the Electromaster's side, clearing her throat and hoping to cut to the chase.

Sion01.png


"Ms. Lalonde! I don't know how much more time we have, but I think it's safe to say, we're off to a rough start. Things haven't exactly fallen to my calculations,"
Sion spoke sternly, her strict tone almost making it hard to remember for some that, for all accounts, she was essentially Lalonde's subordinate, "However, I'll try my best to follow the mission as instructed and pinpoint Enoshima's location as quickly as possible. Until then, we'll have to maintain radio silence. Do you copy?"

@Atomic Knight @Neko Shogun @York @Jeremi @Josh
 
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"Ah, you have us pegged, don't you? Ha ha," said Ilona in response, smiling sheepishly at Aoko. "We aren't from this time period. In fact, most of the people in our group are from different places and times entirely. We do have a reason as to why we're here, although I don't feel it's my place to completely explain our situation."

Absentmindedly, the time traveler began to rub her injured arm as she continued to speak. Without realizing it, she felt personally effected by something Aoko had said. "Being a protecter of time and space is noble, if that's what you are." She hesitated before adding, "But there isn't anything wrong with being a nomadic traveler either, right?"

A traveler was exactly what Ilona had been before coming into contact with the Coalition and the ODMA. By working together with them, she was technically doing a service to the multiverse. She knew it was a selfish thought, but being with them wasn't what she wanted. In truth, she didn't really even want to be on this mission. She still longed for freedom, to aimlessly travel the multiverse like a nomad as she used to. The girl found comfort in this lifestyle, or maybe just found it to be easier than attempting to fit in somewhere. Never had she found a place where she felt as if she entirely fit in. She had found people who were easier to feel at ease with, such as Shiki or even Mason, but they hadn't contacted her in quite some time so she didn't want to bother them. Although, Mason had sent her a letter, she just isn't aware of it yet. : ' ) rip.

"So you know about Murder Games too," Ilona replied, arching her brows thoughtfully. "...and I cannot stop thinking about how familiar your name sounds to me." The girl sighed. "Woe is me. It's hard to remember every person, place, and thing I've read when I've been to so many locations. Faces and events tend to blur together after a while."

@Ver @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi @York
 
Aoko08.png


"Mm? Well, it's like I figured. You guys aren't from around this time period, are you? You're from somewhere else. And I imagine you gotta have a good reason for being in a place where you're not supposed to, right?" Aoko inquired in response to Ilona, patting her legs off, before haughtily pointing a thumb at herself, "I like to fancy myself a guardian of space-time around these parts! Seeing as how I think I've done my fair share of world preservation before, y'know? Makes me sound just a little more exciting than nomadic traveler, at least," She said, letting out a short laugh as she thought back to her recent past.

It really has been a wild past year for her, hasn't it?

"And another thing. That cute little frog toy I showed you guys earlier? I couldn't have stumbled upon that by accident. More like... fate, if you ask me!" She said, waving around the Gekota keychain again that really only Misaka seemed to have a strong reaction to, "Says on the back that it's from some place called... Academy City? I might not be any sort of geography expert, but a place like that, I don't think really exists, at least in my world. But once you go through a Murder Game or two -- or whatever the blasted Association wants to call them now these days -- your mind gets a little more open on what's real and what's not. And... what's coincidence, and what isn't."

"So. Don't you think it's all suspect?"


As Misaka managed to get into contact back with ODMA meanwhile, the faint shape and voice of Lalonde barely managing to reach them from the future, Sion stepped to the Electromaster's side, clearing her throat and hoping to cut to the chase.

Sion03.png


"Ms. Lalonde! I don't know how much more time we have, but I think it's safe to say, we're off to a rough start. Things haven't exactly fallen to my calculations," Sion spoke sternly, her strict tone almost making it hard to remember for some that, for all accounts, she was essentially Lalonde's subordinate, "However, I'll try my best to follow the mission as instructed and pinpoint Enoshima's location as quickly as possible. Until then, we'll have to maintain radio silence. Do you copy?"

@Atomic Knight @Neko Shogun @York @Jeremi @Josh

Tracer just chuckled nervously at Aoko's deductions. "Ha ha ha...well we're just on this little mission." She still wasn't quite sure how much they could and could not share with her. Even if she was a protector of space time whatever she was still a civilian.

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"Ah, you have us pegged, don't you? Ha ha," said Ilona in response, smiling sheepishly at Aoko. "We aren't from this time period. In fact, most of the people in our group are from different places and times entirely. We do have a reason as to why we're here, although I don't feel it's my place to completely explain our situation."

Absentmindedly, the time traveler began to rub her injured arm as she continued to speak. Without realizing it, she felt personally effected by something Aoko had said. "Being a protecter of time and space is noble, if that's what you are." She hesitated before adding, "But there isn't anything wrong with being a nomadic traveler either, right?"

A traveler was exactly what Ilona had been before coming into contact with the Coalition and the ODMA. By working together with them, she was technically doing a service to the multiverse. She knew it was a selfish thought, but being with them wasn't what she wanted. In truth, she didn't really even want to be on this mission. She still longed for freedom, to aimlessly travel the multiverse like a nomad as she used to. The girl found comfort in this lifestyle, or maybe just found it to be easier than attempting to fit in somewhere. Never had she found a place where she felt as if she entirely fit in. She had found people who were easier to feel at ease with, such as Shiki or even Mason, but they hadn't contacted her in quite some time so she didn't want to bother them. Although, Mason had sent her a letter, she just isn't aware of it yet. : ' ) rip.

"So you know about Murder Games too," Ilona replied, arching her brows thoughtfully. "...and I cannot stop thinking about how familiar your name sounds to me." The girl sighed. "Woe is me. It's hard to remember every person, place, and thing I've read when I've been to so many locations. Faces and events tend to blur together after a while."

@Ver @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi @York

Oh...I guess everything then. "Well sorry about that then luv," Tracer replied to Aoko. "I guess the cat's out of the bag about everythin'. Not that I was tryin' to hide it from you or anythin'. Just didn't know what we could tell you about really."

@Ver @Atomic Knight @Josh @Jeremi @Ver @York
 
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