Mikoto opened her eyes...everything was blurry. She couldn't remember what happened...her memory like her vision, was a complete blur for some reason...she couldn't figure out why. Her body felt sore and fatigued, as if she had been fighting for her life. She opened her eyes more, trying to let her vison clear.
"Urgh...wh-where am I?"
"Well well well..looks like the Big Sister look alike is awake.." said another familiar sounding voice.
Mikoto's vision came into focus. "K-Kuroko?"
Cronus slapped Mikoto across the face angrilly. "Don't get such a heavenly idea in your head you freaking lab rat! This isn't your world..and I'm not one of your little stupid friends...think like that again, and I'll kill you.."
"Ngghh.." Mikoto moaned weakly as she tried to move her hands but found she couldn't. Her wrists were currently retrained to by metal bonds as were her feet. As her mind managed to clear itself a bit more, she realized she was sitting in a large metal white room. She was sitting in a high tech looking chair that was attached to the floor. and other then her bonds restraining her, there was a strange mechanized contraption that seemed to be strapped to her head that was attatched to the chair by a mass of wires.
And other then the fact she couldn't seem to access her magic or esper ability, the most notably embarrassing thing about her situation at the moment, was instead of her normal clothes, she was wearing absolutely nothing except a light blue hospital gown. And while the gown pretty much covered a bunch, a breezy hospital gown over a completely nude body tended to feel extremely awkward. (To those of you who've had to go get something checked at the doctor's before..you get what I mean..yeesh, I do not like wearing the gown..)2
"Don't bother struggling." said Cronus who was standing in front of Mikoto. "That chair was specially redesigned to restrain magic as well as Esper abilities"
"Wh-why..?" muttered Mikoto. "What is this place?"
"WHAMM!!" Cronus slapped Mikoto in the face again. "Shut it! You're not here to ask questions, only to answer them!"
"Heh..strangest interrogation room I've ever seen.." muttered Mikoto.
"Is that back talk I hear!?" growled Cronus raising her hand again.
"Enough.." The door to the room slipped open and Mikaris walked in, bangages were all over her legs and left arm. "I find no point in not disclosing answers to her.."
"There you go again Big Sister!" said Cronus rolling her eyes. "You always let the prisoner scum run their mouths off to you! What's the point when they're going to die anyways!?"
"She's not here to die.." said Mikaris. "She's actually going to be living the rest of her pitiful existance here in this room....giving us more data on the nature of the ultimate esper theory then any other lab rat could.."
"...Ultimate Esper theory..?" Mikoto muttered. "Wh-what are you talking about?"
"Well isn't it obvious?" Mikaris brought her face close to Mikoto's so that it was only 3 inches away. "I'm talking about level 6. What you did during our battle...nothing like it has ever happened before in Psychic City."
"Glorious." muttered Mikoto. "At least that's 10,000 less people your Accelerator's murdered."
"Oh, don't misunderstand." said Mikaris. "We attempted Project Radio Noise..however, our resources were only able to produce 37 clones..and only the 37th survived."
Mikaris smiled slightly. "How nostalgic I feel watching you in that chair...that was the very chair I sat in when I first became a level 5..."
"Wait," said Mikoto feeling cold all of a sudden. "You said they mentally torture espers into level shifts..."
"Oh...yes..this room has been specially retrofitted from it's original design." said Mikaris. "While the mental intrusion device on your head has been altered in order to negate magic. the surrounding environment has been altered to handle more destructive power then usual."
"Then usual?"
"Well..when one levels up...the esper negation function tends to not have ability to hold back the next level that emerges.." said Mikaris. "Originally this room was meant to contain level 5s...but of course..that's not what we want...its it?"
"You don't know what you're doing!" said Mikoto. "This thing in me...it can't be contained..you'll only make it easier for the invasion when he comes!"
"He?" said Mikaris. "What are you talking about?
"Dravis!!" said Mikoto. "He's coming...and when he does, this dimension won't stand a chance! The only thing you can do now is hide as many lives as possible before he get's here! But if you shift me into level 6...trust me..there will be some premature deaths!! I've been level 6 before..you might as well be trying to eat a nuclear bomb!! PLEASE!!"
"Oh!! This is my favorite part!" squealed Cronus. "The part where they scream and beg with all their excuses...oh I wish I could stay in the room and watch rather then just staring at those stupid observation screens.."
"I do wonder what you'll see." said Mikaris. "They say what you see within while your mind is being expanded varies with the people you've met and your past..you see, there's a side effect to that device known as temporary omniscience..."
"That actually doesn't sound so bad.." Mikoto muttered.
"Hehehehehe..." said Cronus. "That's what they all said at first..."
"Before we go.." said Mikaris. "Might I ask..who is this 'He' you're so afraid of?"
"Dravis.." Mikoto breathed. "Dravis is coming..."
Mikaris's eyes widened slightly, however, her expression remained indifferent. "I hope you remain sane after the shift...who knows..you might become a General after shift..of course we'd have to break you...but I don't think that would be a problem..
Mikaris and Cronus walked out of the room, leaving Mikoto alone and fearfull. "NO!! COME BACK!! YOU'RE GOING TO GET MILLIONS OF PEOPLE KILLED!!!"
Suddenly a intercom voice spoke out. "We now begin test #6,785,900, Project God Shift. Preparing mental intrusion in 5...4...3...2...1...
Pain...that was Mikoto's first impression. Utter unhinged, unending pain. Her mind seemed to explode as millions of colors and bright lights raced past her vision. Agony was only a small word used to substitute the unspeakable horror of what Mikoto was going through right now..
Suddenly the pain stopped. Mikoto opened her eyes to find that it was nighttime...she was standing in an area full of shipping crates..and there was a fight going on...a fight she herself had seen before.
Accelerator was there, only he didn't have his walking stick or choker...he was yelling angrilly as Touma Kamijou punched him in the face.
Mikoto was carrying Misaka Imouto, one of her Sisters on her shoulder.
I know this..Mikoto thought. This is where Touma wins and saves....
Before she could finish her thought however, Touma suddenly coughed up blood. Accelerator had just peirced his hand right through Touma's chest.
"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Mikoto screamed like she never had before, tears running down her face. This couldn't be happening..this didn't happen...did it...it can't have...Touma won...she knew he did..she had watched it happen...u-unless this was the real reality, unless all of all the other stuff she thought she knew had been a dream..her Sisters getting saved, Touma winning, meeting Fairy Tail..all just a pathetic dream.. that she had experienced within an eigth of a second.
Suddenly there was another burst of light and pain as the experience repeated itself again. Mikoto opened her eyes once more to find herself standing in a cave that had just had it's top blown off to reveal the blood red sky. She knew this place...this was where she and her friends had defeated Black Whisper for the first time...Gajeel, Wendy, Natsu, Erza, Laxus, Lucy, Gray, and Juvia were at her side.
"Come on Mikoto!!" shouted Natsu. "Let's get this guy!!!"
The purple dragon that was Black Whisper roared and flew at them. But wait..he was alot faster then he was last time...WAIT!
There was flash of blood and Natsu was crouched over Mikoto protectively as a single talon pierced his chest. His blood was dripping all over Mikoto's body..
"I-I'm sorry.." muttered Natsu as he died right on top of Mikoto.
Once again Mikoto let out a blood curdling scream as more colors and pain rushed through her mind.
It continued like this for ages and ages.. Her memories were turned against her, used as weapons to torture her in the most agonizing cruel method imaginable.
Eventually, Mikoto began to cry uncontrollably as each vision grew worse and worse...the next thing she knew she started to experience memories she knew weren't her own...painful memories that could have only belonged to those close to her and were now within her due to the temporary omniscience caused by the mental intrusion.
She was a small and young Erza, being whipped by masked men as they shouted at her to work faster.
"The Tower of Heaven isn't going to finish itself!! Work faster you scum!!" shouted the men.
She then befriended a boy named Jellal whom she fought with all her will to save...only to find that he been swallowed by a terrible darkness.
Colors and pain again
Now Mikoto was the young Natsu staring solemnly and silently into the wilderness as he waited for the father who would never return..
He searched and searched..trying to hold back his tears, as he looked for the only family he had ever known. "Igneel!! Igneel!! Where are you!? Please!! Tell me!!"
Colors and pain again.
Mikoto was Mirajane now...and she watched as her own brother, having failed to control the beast he turned into...smacking her little sister Lisanna aside with a sickenning crack.
"No!! No!!" She shouted as she held her precious sister in her arms. "Bring her back!! Bring her back!!" But Lisanna faded into sparkling dust...gone.
More colors and pain.
Mikoto was herself..but around her she was sinking into a pile of bloody bodies that all looked like her, all of them wearing goggles. One of the dead bodies groped at her legs. "All your fault.." it whispered
Eventually all the bodies started getting up and groping at her. "Misaka wonders." said one of the bodies. "Why did Big Sister give them her DNA?...Why was Misaka killed...was Misaka not good enough to live? Asks Misaka as she stares with disgust at Big Sister."
"N-no.." sobbed Mikoto. "I didn't want you to die.." Not any of you!! MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOP!!"
Back in a dark room where one could use computer monitors to observe all the test subjects, Mikaris watched on the screen as her Earthland self cried out with tears pouring down her face.
"Ehhh?" said Cronus who was standing next to her. "What's with you? I mean I know you've always acted like a stoic whenever you observed the experiments...what's with the sudden look of emotion?"
"Emotion?" Mikaris asked. "I feel no such thing in such a trivial torture as this.."
"Really?" said Cronus. "Then what's that bit of moisture I see going down your cheek?"
Mikaris touched a hand to her face and was utterly surprised to find a warm tear resting there. "What? Maybe I'm just tired.."
"Oh look!! I think she's entered the Omnicient stage." said Cronus laughing gleefully. "See how she's shouting 'Igneel Igneel! Where's Igneel!?' Ha! How much you wanna bet she doesn't even know who Igneel is? That's why friendships never work..there's always going to be some stupid secrets nobody ever tells anybody."
"Quiet Cronus!" said Mikaris
Cronus looked at Mikaris with a bit of a stunned look on her face. "What's with you? First there's that tear..now you act like you actually care what happens to her!"
Mikaris didn't answer, instead she looked at one of the scientists working the control panel and said. "Status report?"
"It's slow..but her level's slowly spiking alright." said the scientist. "Incredible..I've never seen such readings...this has never happened before...the only explanation would have to be she's actually gone level 6 before...there's not telling what could be the reason to this..but that's what we're here to find out of course."
"How long do you estimate she has?" asked Mikaris.
"Three hours.." said another scientist. "Pretty harsh if you ask me..the longest we've ever put anyone in there was about one hour, and that's how we got Domus Accelerator."
As Mikoto continued to cry out on the screen, black plasma horns began to slowly form on her head as black electric ribbons began flying out of her hair...3 hours...3 hours of utter torment.
Mikaris noticed her fist was clenched and shaking. Why? She cared nothing for her...so why?
Mikoto's voice echoed in her head. "I guess when I look at you...I still see Nicole..and maybe the possibility that you can come out of the darkness too."
"Shut up.." said Mikaris to herself. "You're wrong...I can't be saved...and now neither can you."
At the moment however, several miles away from the secret lab, was somebody who severely dissagreed with Mikaris's earlier statement.
Natsu Dragneel ran through the city with Elli and Happy flying close behind. Everytime he came near a soldier, Natsu would let out some powerful flames and blow them all away. Scales now covered his arms and the edges of his eyes...veins were popping on his muscles as anger overtook his body.
"Just you wait Mikoto!!!" shouted Natsu as he pounded two soldier's heads together. "I'm gonna save ya no matter how much of my power it takes!!!"
As Natsu continued to follow his nose, a massive army of mechs suddenly appeared in his way, their guns trained on Natsu.
"OUT OF MY WAY!!!!" roared Natsu as he shot at the massive house sized robots like a flaming meteor.
Explosions littered the area as Natsu pummeled and pounded his way through the drones. Each mech which was designed to take the force of any weapon or explosive were all reduced to scraps by the single Dragon Slayer in a fit of fury.
"MIKOTO!!" Natsu continued to scream as all the military drones were spectacularly overwhelmed.
One of the drones Natsu hadn't destroyed came up from behind him and pointed it's charging cannons at him. But before the drone could fire, a shout rang out through the air. "AMAZING PUNCH!!!!"
The drone exploded into oblivion as Gunha Sogiita landed on the scene with a grin. "Did I miss the party!?"
"Gunha!!" Natsu looked at his friend with a grin. "Just the guy I need!! They took Mikoto!! Think you're up for a rescue!!?"
"Ya kidding!?" said Gunha. "Anywhere where there's something to smash, I'm there!!"
Natsu grinned back. "Let's take these punks down!!"
"Targets detected." muttered the drones in their monotone voices as they pointed their massive guns at Natsu and Gunha. "Commence Elimination.."
"Elimination?" growled Natsu. "Considering you just took my friend..I think there's a whole lot worse then that in store for you!!"
"Consider this an example!" said Gunha cracking his knuckles.
Both Natsu and Gunha jumped at the drones, determined to tear their way to Mikoto Misaka...