03x20 - A Reason to Protect

[bunniefuu]

[MISAKA WORST gasps]

[MISAKA WORST] The bleeding has stopped.

But why?

Misaka should not have survived that att*ck.

Impossible!

There's no way he would save Misaka!

What's wrong? [grunts]

What reason do you have to protect this Misaka?!

[MISAKA WORST yells, grunts]

[ACCELERATOR laughing]

Vento.

It's Fiamma. I don't like the way he does things. Period.

He seemed to disappear quite suddenly.

Do you know where he went?

Yeah.

I have a pretty good guess.

Maybe you've convinced yourself that you're not doing it

for your own self-satisfaction.

But when all is said and done,

will your hypothetically noble act actually be her salvation?

I can't wait for the judgment to come down.

[LESSAR] I can't tell what you're hiding,

but whatever it is...

Remember that you didn't stop dead in your tracks

when difficult situations came up.

You still continued to move forward and give it

everything you had, no matter what.

And as a result, you've saved a number of people's lives.

Take some credit.

I mean, you even managed to stop the coup

back in Britain.

What I'm saying is you've lived a life

that you can be proud of.

That's nice of you.

But...

...whatever my intentions may have been,

the decisions I made affected Index.

And the fact is...

I'm not the one who gets to decide what's best for her.

[t*nk DRIVER A chuckling]

Just keep on running!

[CHILD A gasps]

[CITIZEN A, CHILD A gasp]

[HAMAZURA yelling]

[yelling]

Go! Now!

I'm sorry.

I hate that I'm the one who dragged you into all this.

Now is not a good time for apologies!

Besides, you've given Takitsubo a spot

in your underground shelter.

Consider this payback.

[HAMAZURA] Why're they stopping?

They're not.

[HAMAZURA, DIGURV grunting]

They really do enjoy k*lling people, don't they?

At this rate, everyone in the village will be dead soon.

[HAMAZURA] Not if we can help it.

Weapons.

Don't you have anything stored away for emergencies?

We don't have anything that would cut through

that kind of armor.

I think you do!

The landmines.

You said you were saving them so you could

turn them over to an NGO, right?

[KNIGHT LEADER] Can we really hold the line?

[CARISSA] I wouldn't exactly call this a defensive w*r

of attrition.

It's more of a mop-up battle to prepare for our att*ck.

Glastonbury, the mobile fortress.

By taking control of the area around it and claiming it

as British territory, we are able to dramatically

extend Curtana's range of usage.

And it truly is a larger-scale magical item for invasions.

The intent of the enemy doesn't even matter in this case,

don't you agree?

Yes.

[CARISSA] There's one more thing I'd like to try.

[yells]

Somebody please help me!

If those evil French bastards win,

I'll be captured and violated before I die!

[BRITISH SORCERERS yelling]

We must keep Princess Carissa safe!

That's more like it. Where was this kind of enthusiasm

when you first started fighting?

[KNIGHT LEADER] That's right.

Could you please put me in touch with Queen Elizard?

As soon as possible.

I want to ask her permission to punish Princess Carissa.

[CARISSA] What do you think you're doing?

Come on, you know how my mother can be.

She would probably bestow all of Curtana Second's power

to you just so you could humiliate me.

[FEMME FATALE] Second Princess Carissa?

I thought that was you.

It's The holy maiden of Versailles.

[CARISSA] Your body has undergone conditioning

at the visceral level.

It's prevented you from being able to live

outside the confines of Versailles.

Your power's been curtailed by idiotic French heavyweights

who fear you.

Therefore, victory is ours!

If you were able to come out here directly,

the battle might have ended differently.

[FEMME FATALE chuckles]

[CARISSA grunts]

[FEMME FATALE] Actually, I am able to move about.

And that will become known as France's mightiest move to date.

[KANZAKI gasps]

What's that?

Don't tell me you're wielding a fragment of Curtana Second!

It's a result of my fight with Mother.

During which, Curtana Original and Curtana Second

endured a heavy-handed clash, and this is the result.

Like you, I am also free to move about,

and that is the greatest move Britain ever made!

--[KAMIJO grunts] --[LESSAR] What the--?

[DRIVER A] Look! Over there!

[ACCELERATOR laughing]

That's it! I can't hold it in any longer!

It's gonna take more than that kid's precious smile

to stop it now!

[laughing]

I wanna see every last inch of it destroyed!

[laughing]

I wanna mow down everything in existence!

[laughing]

I want to rid this world of people who would create

such a thing!

Put an end to the jerks who benefit from it.

Forever!

And I mean all of them!

Every last disgusting one! [laughing]

[KAMIJO] Accelerator!

No way.

Why're you here?

Tell me. Tell me!

Tell me why!

Well, if it isn't the so-called hero who gave enough of a damn

to save all those sisters.

What the hell are you talking about?

[ACCELERATOR] But what about the kid, huh?

She's never done anything to hurt anyone

in her entire existence!

So what sense does it make for someone like her

to suffer like that?!

[yelling]

[KAMIJO grunts]

[LESSAR whimpering]

[KAMIJO yells]

[t*nk DRIVER A laughs]

Where are you hiding, little kitties?

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

[laughs]

We don't know which route they're using,

and there's not a lot of time to set things up.

[HAMAZURA] There's not much else we can do.

So toss them like grenades when they get close.

Oh, you're heading my way first, are you?

That's fine with me!

I'm ready for it.

Come at me any way you like!

[HAMAZURA grunts]

[DIGURV] Did that do it?

[PRIVATEER DRIVER A] Damn it, move!

[HAMAZURA] It's chilly out today, huh?

That's my favorite kind of weather for a barbecue.

It's not over.

[PRIVATEER PILOT A laughs]

I'll blast ya full of holes!

Damn it!

[ACCELERATOR laughing]

[ACCELERATOR laughs]

[KAMIJO yelling]

[KAMIJO yelling]

[KAMIJO yelling]

[ACCELERATOR yelling]

You're supposed to be the big hero!

If you've got special powers no one else has,

then share the damn wealth!

Why not use some to help that kid, huh?!

How crazy is it that a villainous bastard like me

is the only one who's ever cared enough

to stick up for her all this time?

Just look at me! There's no way I could be a hero!

I don't save anyone! Ever!

When I wanna fix something,

I do it with blood and pain!

I shouldn't have to go through this crap!

You're the damn hero!

It's your job to rush to the rescue!

[ACCELERATOR coughs]

If damn heroes would do their job and show up

when they're supposed to, stupid mistakes like this

never would've been possible in the first place!

That kid might be okay!

If you had been there, she wouldn't have had to

suffer like that!

You're kidding me. What the hell?!

Hero or not, that should've k*lled you!

[KAMIJO] What's a hero to you anyway?

An average Level Zero like me?

Do I really look like I'm that big of a deal to anyone?

Good guys? Bad guys?

Come on, grow up!

Are you saying that in order to help someone,

you have to meet specific qualifications?

If someone you know is crying and you wish they weren't,

or if someone struggling to hold on needs help

but doesn't have the strength to ask...

Isn't that reason enough?

What more do you need to step up?

You want special permission or some kind of label?

It's no skin off your nose to try and help.

If they're important, what's stopping you?

[ACCELERATOR grunts]

[grunts]

I don't know what it is you're afraid of or how badly

you've been b*rned by others in the past,

but if you wanted to protect that kid,

then you should've just done so with your head held high!

You have the strength and ability to keep her safe

right now! Be proud of that!

[KAMIJO grunts]

[KAMIJO] The choice is yours.

You can continue protecting her on your own.

You can run away and leave it for someone else.

Or you can ask for help and we can do this together!

[ACCELERATOR] I don't--

I am not going to make this decision for you.

Call it arrogance or whatever you want.

You're the only one who can decide if she's worth it.

No one else can tell you what to do!

[ACCELERATOR] I wanted to defend her.

No matter the cost.

I had to do something.

So I rushed down the only path I knew I could take.

I chose the path of evil, and I excelled at living that life.

However...

In the end, it was the guy who never once had to question

whether he was good or evil who managed to come through.

Turned out that he was the strongest one of all.

I can't protect her with pure evil.

Fighting for those suffering from inexcusable savagery.

And giving everything you have to stop unnecessary tears.

These are what I would call very admirable actions, indeed.

[PRIVATEER PILOTS gasp]

[ACQUA] I am Aqua of the Rear.

May I be so presumptuous as to offer you a hand?

[weapons clash]

What did you just say?

[CARISSA] The Kremlin Report.

It's Russia's first-priority national defense manual.

If the mainland is invaded by force,

and the nuclear launch facilities are about to be

taken over,

do you have any idea what means they'll adopt

in order to prevent that from happening?

Give up?

They'll disperse a bacterial wall to act

as an airborne k*ller!

There won't be a single evacuation order issued.

Not for the Russian soldiers who are working in the facility,

or the people who live nearby.

The manual's sole priority is to ensure the security

of the nuclear launch sites.

It doesn't matter how many times you brag

about how just your cause is.

The fact remains that you're using French soil

as a springboard to intervene in Russia.

France has enjoyed many benefits from growth

under the protection of the Roman Orthodox Church.

So now we can't afford to cast aside their orders.

Everyone knows the truth about this w*r.

We're all very much aware that it wasn't caused

by the Roman Orthodoxy, but by Fiamma.

And now we have the opportunity to avoid

a worst-case scenario.

So what'll it be?

You know, there was a time when I considered France

to be my archenemy.

Hard to believe they can really be this pathetic and useless.

[KUROKO] Hey, Sissy!

[KUROKO] Look!

Wait, why are you packing?

[KUROKO] Can you at least tell me what your plan is?

You're not going there, are you?

Uh...

But why? It's a w*r zone.

And how do you even expect to get in?

Oh. Um... Well...

There are ways.

[MUGINO humming]

I can't wait to see you again, Hamazura.

[ACCELERATOR] "Index Librorum Prohibitorum."

Welcome to the Elizalina Alliance of Independent Nations.

[ACCELERATOR] Maybe it is all connected somehow.

[KAMIJO] I was probably too hard on Accelerator back there.

I don't get shuffling around looking for a logical reason

to help.

I don't do it because it's right.

The only reason I helped her is because I wanted to.

[LESSAR laughs]

One minute you're stressed out, and the next you bounce back!

That must keep you pretty busy.

[KAMIJO] I realize that I'm a real lowlife.

I'm a worthless jerk who's been deceiving Index.

But as bad as I may be,

I know for sure it's not Fiamma I should be bowing to.

Well, now.

I'd say it's a perfect time to begin the delightful

Project B'Tselem.

[KAMIJO] The project kicks off at last.

The earth shakes, the skies turn pitch-black,

and strange objects rise.

The light of destruction descends.

Next time, "The Star of Bethlehem."

When science and magic cross paths, a story is born.