03x23 - Possession

[bunniefuu]

How is the worst-case scenario,

where Academy City's third-ranked
Level 5 is after us, happening?

What the hell is this?!

You wouldn't be some organization
that's up to no good, would you?

Take it easy. I haven't heard
of any rival organizations

who are after the results of
the Doppelganger research.

This is risky, since I don't know
the reason why she was fighting Seike, but...

Hold on. We're a recovery team,

formally hired by the research institution
that owns the Doppelganger.

The person you came across is indeed
probably one of our team members.

But I hope you realize that due
to the nature of our mission,

we're under mandatory orders to bar
any outsiders from getting involved.

If your presence here doesn't
run counter to our objective,

what would you say to a united front?

Huh?

I hate to do this to you, Seike,
but your revenge will have to wait.

We need to use her to complete the mission.

I understand that you have trouble trusting us.

So for now, I'm okay with just
providing what information we have.

What do you mean? Was the job
too much for you to handle alone?

Yes, unfortunately.
That thing has a strange capability.

When it gets damaged,
it controls the matter around it,

incorporating it into itself--

Damaged? You hurt the Doppelganger?

Huh?

Is she saying that a legitimate recovery team

wouldn't possibly damage their target?

Not good. How do I explain--?

We were surprised, too.

When we ran into her,
for some reason, she was already hurt.

You picked up on it?

Of course. We have to act
like we're not the bad guys here.

Hmm? What are you two talking about?

It was our att*cks that broke that thing!

--We forgot we had an idiot with us.
--We forgot we had an idiot with us.

Ah! I still need to get you bandaged up, Naru!

You must have hit your head
and scrambled your memory.

She did mention the soul diffusing
and possessing things.

Does that mean she can
control the things around her?

It sounded a little far-fetched at first,
but now I need to see for myself.

We may have gotten
beaten up by the first-ranked

and been reduced to being dark side stooges,

but now we're going to use the third-ranked

and stage our comeback!

"A Certain Scientific Railgun T"

Hey, Seike!

I know this is the right area...

There you are!

I can't believe Seike got beaten.

That really must be
the Level 5 Misaka Mikoto, huh?

I'll stay here. You two go and get Seike.
Then wait for my instructions.

Leader is hurt, too.
How can she let herself be alone with her?

I'm so worried about her.

She probably thinks that
having you around will give us away.

Here's our official work request.

Does that answer all your questions?

All right, let's get going.

Wait.

I believe that you've been hired by them.

But if you want to work together,
I need to know a little more about you.

While evaluating our time fighting Accelerator,

I went over some basic intel
on the other Level 5s.

Misaka Mikoto has bumped up
against dark side organizations before,

but she has never voluntarily
been involved with one.

Right now, what I need
to do is make an impression.

I just have to be careful not to reveal
that we're a dark side organization.

Oh, you mean, who I'm with?

The most accessible
and trustworthy one would be...

I'm with Judgment.

Judgment? You guys? I don't see an arm band.

I have one, of course.

But we're dealing with
something inhuman on this case,

so I wasn't wearing it since
we don't need to make any arrests.

It's a phony band, of course.
It's absurd that I'm pretending to be

a goody-two-shoes who sucks up to teachers.

The one in the sailor uniform
picked a fight with me.

That's not at all the way
I know Judgment to operate.

Huh?

Seike is the one who started it?

After promising never to get involved
with another Level 5 ever again?

You little troublemaker!

Th-That kid is a civilian!
It's not all that unusual for us to have cases

where we need to turn to those
with elevated abilities for help, you see.

However, that one has a nasty habit
of picking fights with strong people.

Th-That one might be too hard to swallow.

Oh, yeah? That makes sense.

Every time I stick my nose
into Judgment's business...

"Sissy, you are a civilian!"

...is all I ever hear.
I guess it's not all that unusual, is it?

That being said,
I don't like how this is being handled.

I didn't think you brought
them in on arrest orders.

Y-Yeah, I'll be more careful.

I'm not sure how,
but I think I got through that safely.

O-Okay then...

Excuse me a second.

Did you manage to find Kuriba-san?

Shokuho...?

--Shokuho?!
--How did she get my number?
Oh, during the Daihasei Festival.

--Shokuho Misaki? Another Level 5?!
--How did she get my number?
Oh, during the Daihasei Festival.

What was I thinking? The third-ranked
and fifth-ranked go to the same school!

Naturally, the two Level 5s
would know each other!

I did happen to see Kuriba Ryoko,

but right before I did, she had
a run-in with the Doppelganger.

Now I'm chasing the Doppelganger down.

Need some of my help finding it?

No thank you to dragging in
anyone else who's uninvolved.

Well, okay then.
Maybe I should meet up with you.

Where are you?

The redevelopment district
behind the airport bus terminal.

Don't tell me she's coming here, too!
This is bad! This is really bad!

The fifth-ranked is a mental ability esper!

She'll know I'm lying without a single word!

Th-There's no need for that!

My ability is of the searching variety.

It's more than enough
to simply track someone down.

In fact, if a mental
manipulator esper is around,

--the interference makes my sensitivity drop!
--Aw, I was hoping to keep my ability a secret!

Is there someone else there?

Mm-hmm, someone from Judgment is helping me.

Judgment? Well, whatever. And while I have you,

let me tell you about another
lead I forgot to mention earlier.

It's a secret about the folks in the tall
building the Doppelganger escaped from.

What is it?

Institutions that do this kind of shady research

tend to back up their data all over.

But this place is a little strange.

Apparently, their top-secret stuff
is up in the skies.

The skies?

More precisely, an airship.

Once per month,
they contact it directly via laser,

as it passes over a designated location.

But other than that,
its course is entirely random.

Not even the institution
is sure where it is flying.

And apparently, the ship itself is
jam-packed with polarizing trickery

and all kinds of other masking.

Oh, yeah?

So, just file that away, okay?

It sounds like the
fifth-ranked isn't showing up.

That was Miss Shokuho Misaki
you were speaking with, right?

Hm? Mm-hmm.

I saw her at the Daihasei
Festival closing ceremonies.

I was surprised by how glamorous
she looks for a middle-schooler.

She stands alongside you as
one of Tokiwadai's brightest jewels.

The way she exposed that
scandal with the governing board

is still fresh in my mind.
When I found out she uses her ability

to transcribe letters for
severely handicapped students,

I couldn't help but respect her.

There, by complimenting your partner,
it puts me in a better light--

Huh? How come?
That isn't the reaction I was hoping for.

She does more charity work than I expected.

Could she actually be a good person?

--No, there's no way--
--Ah, I-I just remembered,

we need a way to contact
each other in case of an emergency!

Here, use this.

It may be a toy,
but it has a considerable range,

and it only picks up
the registered user's voice,

so even if there's a lot of noise,
you'll come in clearly.

And, being a child's toy,
it's tough, and hard to break.

Why... this character...?

Oh, crap! She must be at that age
where she hates being treated like a kid!

What do I do? Can I play it off
like it was just a joke?

Er, I mean...

No, wait!

I was so rattled by hearing Shokuho Misaki,

and it was hard to see
against the light from behind her,

but Misaka Mikoto's cell phone case
must be the same character! Probably!

Which is it? The instincts
I developed from the dark side

are telling me that the next words out
of my mouth could mean life or death!

Which is it?!

O-Oh, I don't know much about this character,

but it's so cute, I fell in love
with it right away. It's my favorite...

I mean...

You've got good taste!

Safe!

I peed myself a little.

Okay, how about we go after...

"#23 Possession"

...the Doppelganger?

Over there.

D-Did you crush it?

I just trapped her inside a concrete cage.

Level 5...

That is some incredible power, all right.

Get back!

I thought that she...

...was only supposed to affect materials
around her when she's damaged.

What's more,

I wasn't expecting her to bounce
this back to me with even greater power.

Is this soul possession?
It does indeed look as though her will

can have an effect on the things around her.

Wha--?!

Uh-oh!

From the time we crossed paths at the facility,

I considered the possibility
that we would end up fighting,

but now, I'd welcome the opportunity,
once I advance a few more stages,

Railgun.

Th-Thanks, you saved me.

What are you talking about?
You're the one who proposed a united front.

And I would have done so
even if we didn't have that.

It's lucky for us the t*nk she threw at us
didn't have much fuel remaining.

On the other hand, all of the plans
I had to tie her up just got trashed.

This is bad, though.
If even a Level 5 has her hands full with this...

Anyhow, let's get after her.
Do you know where she went?

Huh? Y-Yeah...

There. Moving north-northeast.

If she keeps going that way,
she'll hit a high-density student dorm area.

Is she trying to blend
into the crowd there? No...

What have we here? A radar facility?

"Academy City Airport
Administration Tracking Center"

Come to think of it, that airship
is carrying all their top-secret info.

Well, yeah. With all of the equipment there,

she just might be able to expose the airship.

So, what reason would she have for doing so?

If it's all based on Miss Kuriba's knowledge,

then the airship may be part of
their whole system for storing her data.

By blowing the airship to pieces,

maybe it will affect a diffusion of her soul.

Whatever the case,

it sounds like we're better off stopping her.

But once she gets downtown,
the damage will be...

This radar facility--

"Radar facility" "Warehouse 8086"

it's close to where we were supposed
to deliver the Doppelganger.

E-Even if we can't restrain it,
could we change the direction it's heading?

If it keeps going straight,
we won't be able to avoid any casualties,

but if we lead it over here,

this area is full of warehouses
and abandoned facilities.

About the only ones there
would be Skill Out, using it for a hideout.

I get you. Okay, can I assume you'll
issue the evacuation order to Skill Out?

Huh?

Oh, that's right,
I'm supposed to be in Judgment.

Y-Yeah, got it. I'll contact you when I'm done.

Okay, I'll leave you to it.

Huh? Skill Out? Who cares about them?

I agree, but it actually works
in our favor to get Misaka Mikoto

to go through the route we set.
I'm counting on you.

Fine.

Relocate the Skill Outs in this whole area?
Do we kick them out one by one?

That would take too much time,
and if we aren't careful,

we could provoke them into coming after us,

which is the opposite of what we want.

Look, just go hide and watch me.

So then, you know what I told him?
I don't care if I'm up against a Level 5...

Hmm? Hey, it's a girl!

You're right!

It's actually a girl!

--Hey you, do you know whose territory this is--

--Please... run...!
--Hey you, do you know whose territory this is--

--She's a hottie!
--She's a hottie!

There was an industrial accident.

Some toxic gas leaked out. It's only
a matter of time before it spreads here.

You have to leave now--

H-Hold on just a second.

That's quite a story you're dropping on us.

Yeah.

The factory plans on covering it up!

If Skill Out gets hurt,
they were illegally squatting here anyway,

so they say it's not that big an issue. Ow!

H-Hey, are you hurt?

I'm fine. I have to hurry
and go tell the others, too!

As hurt as you are, you're more
concerned about people like us?

A-All right, we'll go and tell the others.

Yeah. You hurry on and get to safety.

Thank you!

--Go around to the rival teams, too!
--Don't overlook even a single kitty!

Good grief. Naru, you can come out now.

You don't ask for anything yourself,
you merely put on a brave front,

and look just miserable enough that
it doesn't compromise your cuteness.

They didn't stand a chance.

Which one of you hurt my Yakkun?!

I was pretending!

Let's pull this a few more times.
Having multiple witnesses lends credibility,

and word will spread faster.

Evacuation complete.

There isn't a single person along
the route we discussed earlier.

Make sure you come through here.

Especially Warehouse 8086.

Copy that!

I told you, it's too soon.

She's being provided with my location.

Is it that girl in the mask?

I knew I should have eliminated her earlier.

It seems like...

I fought something like you
at the end of summer vacation.

Friend of yours?

"Warehouse 8086"

Hey there.

Sorry to keep you waiting so long.

You're late! Do you know how long you've taken?!

This is why I can't stand B-ranked--

So, where is the Doppelganger?

It will be arriving shortly, don't you worry.

What do you mean, arriving?

What is making all that noise?

Oh, here it comes.
The Doppelganger you requested.

Huh?! How so?!

Oh, it must have put on some weight.

You seem to have neglected to inform us,

but it has the ability
to suck in the objects around it.

It has no such bug--

No, it couldn't be!

If there is a soul within the Doppelganger,

there's no telling how the soul
will act if its vessel ever breaks.

Is that what Kuriba was saying?

Okay, but even so, this is...

Our mission...

was to "return the Doppelganger to
the designated location fully operational."

Oh, and the Doppelganger's current condition

derives from its original functionality,

so we do not recognize it as being abnormal.

So, if you will just sign off this receipt...

There's no way I'm accepting this!

Enough! Start driving!

Y-Yes, ma'am.

Huh?

What are you waiting for? Hurry and get going!

I have the pedal to the floor,
but we aren't going anywhere.

Sign right here.

Is this your doing?!

Stop screwing around!
You'll be stuck in here, too!

Screwing around?

If we fail, we don't get any more chances!

We've been risking our lives from the start!

But if you prefer, the more
the merrier when we cash in our chips!

Oh, all right, fine!

There, good enough?

Indeed, it is.

Yakumaru!

Okay!

--We're outta here!
--We're outta here!

Bye-bye!

We did it, Leader!

That was pretty aggressive, though.

Hey, we got her signature, so...

This way.

The Doppelganger is up ahead--

Doesn't your arm hurt?

If you want, I can take it from here alone.

I-I took a painkiller, so pay it no mind.

If you bail on me in
the middle of this, we're screwed.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Wh-What does?

Some of my friends are in Judgment, too.

Even if they get hurt,
they still try to carry out their duties.

On the one hand, I worry and think
that they don't have to try so hard,

but on the other, when they
stick their necks out for others,

I can respect them and put my trust in them.

So I'm going to rely on you, too.

The teacher said she doesn't want you anymore.

She said you don't show any potential,
so you can't be in the special class.

You poor thing, you!

Forgive me, Misaka Mikoto,
but my duty isn't to Judgment--

it's to the dark side.

No matter how much I bust her up,

she just keeps regenerating immediately.

That was close! But,

I'm quickly starting to get this.

While my magnetism gets
more powerful the closer I am,

this thing isn't affected by distance at all.

While I had the upper hand with the steel beams,

and she had it over me
with the hunks of concrete,

I can only exert force
through things made of iron,

while I guess she can exert her
influence over all sorts of matter.

Also...

...whatever burns up becomes
charred and crumbles away.

The patina on this "soul possession" business...

...is quickly starting to rub off, isn't it?

Real-time analysis in the middle of combat...

You're more trouble than I expected, Railgun.

So now...

H-Huh?

Soul possession? Ah,

that thing that Kuriba was talking about.

The whole idea is absurd.

B-But, sir, if that isn't it,
how else can you explain...

Hello? Hello?

You can't burn all of this away.

Nor can you break it apart.

When faced with such an
overwhelming amount of mass...

...what do you do?

"Next episode preview"

The soul diffuses and possesses stuff?

"Next episode preview"
"#24 Diffusion"

Is that what that
colossal monster-like thing is?

Could there be anything more dodgy than that?

People tend to believe
in what they want to believe.

Like Indian Poker cards
that make your bust grow bigger.

You're bringing that up again?!