Chapter 114
[146]
“Ms. Kawakami, I think you should leave now.” Ann stated, pointing her batons at Kamoshida. “I’d like a word with him.”
“Ann you can’t-” Kawakami began but was cut off as Kamoshida stepped in front of her.
“Why don’t we all stick around and ‘chat’ for a bit?” The electric villain suggested, smugly grinning as he strode confidently down the stage. “That’s quite the outfit you’ve got there Takamaki, very form fitting. Did you put it on just for me? I have to say, I’m flattered.”
“Well if you like that, you’re gonna love THIS!” Ann said before throwing another baton aimed directly at Kamoshida’s head.
The metal rod flew straight toward the villain’s face at a high speed, against a normal foe, such a projectile would break the opponent’s nose and most likely knock them out cold. But Kamoshida was no normal foe. Just before the baton could reach the man’s face however, it came to a sudden halt in mid air.
“Wha?” Ann stared at the floating object in disbelief before hearing Kamoshida let out a loud chuckle.
“You know, ever since my ‘accident’ I’ve gained some new abilities that you might find interesting. Namely, I can control electromagnetic fields now.” He gave a smug grin before placing a finger against the suspended baton. “Basically, your new toys are now my playthings.”
Upon tapping his finger against the iron rod, it was sent flying back toward Ann at a high speed. The blonde managed to roll out of the way in the nick of time, the projectile grazing her hair as it flew past and embedded itself in the wall behind her.
‘Damn, I knew this was going to be difficult, but at this rate I may not even stand a chance against him!’ Ann thought to herself as she looked up at Electro’s menacing grin. ‘I just have to hope Morgana fulfills his part of the plan while I keep him busy.’
“Y’know Takamaki, it’s been so long since I’ve gotten to see your pretty face, and I don’t see as well as I used to. Why don’t you come a little closer?” The villain suggested before raising a hand toward Ann. Suddenly, an invisible force lifted Ann’s arms and began dragging her toward the man.
‘What? How is he…My gloves! The electromagnets Futaba built in, he must be pulling on those!’ She realized. Before she could do anything however, she was already inches away from Kamoshida.
“Hello girlie, ready for-AH!?” The man was cut off as Ann landed a roundhouse kick directly against the side of his head, causing him to stumble.
“You aren’t the only one who’s learned some new tricks, Kamoshida!” Ann yelled at the man before delivering another kick to his gut.
Meanwhile, as Kawakami watched the scene unfold, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a door to the hallway open and a figure peek through. It was Morgana Philemon, the first year boy who was always declaring his love for Takamaki. And from the gestures he was making toward Kawakami, he wanted the teacher to discreetly exit the gymnasium with him. She did as instructed and approached the boy, reaching the door while Ann continued to fight against Kamoshida hand-to-hand.
“C’mon, you’ve got to get out of here.” Morgana stated, uncharacteristically serious for once.
“What? I can’t just leave! Takamaki is my student, I won’t leave her alone with-”
“Trust me, Lady Ann has it covered.” The boy assured her before reaching into his bag and pulling two large containers out. “Besides, in a minute nobody’s gonna want to be in there.”
Back with Ann, as she landed another punch across Kamoshida’s face, the man sent out a large blast of electricity, sending her flying back and onto the gym floor. The villain wiped away the blood dripping from his nose before examining it.
“You little BITCH!” He shouted, sending another bolt of electricity at the girl. “You have ALWAYS been such a thorn in my side! Do you have any idea…!?” He trailed off as he heard Ann begin laughing to herself. “What!? What’s so funny!? What is so damn FUNNY about this!?”
“This.” Ann said before pressing a button on her wrist.
Suddenly, a beeping noise sounded from Kamoshida’s chest. Looking down, he spotted a small metallic device that Ann must’ve stuck to him during their fight. Before he could remove it, the device went off, shooting a blast of black smoke directly into Kamoshida’s face, blinding him.
The man stumbled backward, coughing as he ripped the smoke bomb off of his chest. When his sight returned to him, he spotted Takamaki placing a respirator mask over her face, the kind a painter would use to avoid inhaling toxic fumes. Confused, Kamoshida began to notice his eyes beginning to burn and his throat becoming more and more irritated.
“Getting hard to breathe Kamoshida?” Ann asked, her voice muffled by the mask.
“You *cough* bitch! What was *cough* in that smoke bomb!?” He asked, collapsing to one knee.
“It wasn’t that, the smoke bomb was just to distract you.” The blonde vigilante explained. “I was never the best chemistry student, but even I know what happens when you mix bleach with ammonia. And luckily, I just happened to find them both in the janitor’s closet earlier!”
As Kamoshida struggled to breathe Ann turned to leave the gym, not wanting to risk breathing in the toxic fumes. Unexpectedly however, Kamoshida wasn’t willing to give up without a fight. With the last burst of energy that he could muster, the electric villain blasted himself forward toward Takamaki tackling into her as the two busted through the gym doors and outside into the open air.
Now out of the gym, Kamoshida inhaled deeply, coughing as he took in the fresh air. Struggling to his feet, he spotted Takamaki lying on the ground near him, unconscious from the hit she took but still breathing. After everything he’d fired at her, it was surprising that she was still alive. The suit she was wearing must’ve been insulated.
This girl, the object of his desire in his time at Shujin and a part of the reason he was fired in the first place, here she was finally, alone and defenseless. Between maintaining the EM field around the school and the electric current keeping everyone in, as well as the fight just now, Kamoshida didn’t have much juice left in him. However, he was sure could manage enough to finish the job on Ann.
Charging up his hands, he was caught off guard when a voice suddenly spoke in Kamoshida’s head.
“Suguru Kamoshida, this is not what you were instructed to do.” The voice told him.
“What the?” Kamoshida began looking around for the voice’s source. “Who are you?”
“You don’t know me personally, but I’m your employer. I’m the reason you escaped from The Raft in the first place. I’m the reason that you’re alive right now. But this is not what I rescued you for.”
“Why the hell should I listen to you? As a matter of fact, how am I hearing you in the first place?”
“The reason you can hear me is because of an earpiece built into your suit’s mask. As for why you should listen…That new suit of your’s is quite nice, so nice in fact, that it comes with a built-in insurance policy. To put it in terms that you’ll understand, you’re wearing a full body suicide vest that ensures you do as instructed.”
“S-S-Suicide vest?” Kamoshida’s heart stopped for a moment.
“You see, I hate to say it, but I just can’t trust someone with a track record like your’s. So, to make sure that you follow orders, I had the ‘insurance policy’ installed in your costume.” Suddenly a click sounded from Kamoshida’s suit as it began to beep. “Which I have just activated. Now you have two choices, use the last few seconds of your life to exact petty revenge, or get back to the safehouse and do as you are fucking told. The choice is yours.”
Kamoshida stood still for a moment, his heart racing as the beeping coming from his suit became quicker and quicker. Looking between the unconscious Ann and his sparking hands, beads of sweat began to run down his face before he finally shouted.
“ALRIGHT YOU WIN!” Kamoshida let his hands drop before looking down.
“Good. I expect you to arrive at the safehouse in 5 minutes. And remember, the next time you disobey orders, there won’t be a countdown.” The voice stated before going quiet.
Kamoshida looked at the unconscious Ann one more time before using the last of his power to take off flying in the direction of the safehouse. A few minutes later, Ann found herself being shaken awake by a concerned looking Morgana with Kawakami next to him.
“Lady Ann! Thank goodness you’re okay!” He smiled before enveloping the girl in a hug.
“Morgana? What happened? Did the plan work? Is Kamoshida-”
“We don’t know where he is, but the police are on their way here. And that means we’ve got to get you out of here now.” The boy said as he and the teacher helped Ann to her feet.
“Hehe, guess I didn’t do too bad for my first gig as a superhero.” The blonde said before wincing from pain as she stood up. “Looks like we didn’t need Ren to come and save us afterall.”
“Wait, Ren? Ren Amamiya?” Kawakami asked. “Why would he…Oh my god.” Realization suddenly flashed in the woman’s eyes.
“Uh oh.” Morgana winced as he turned to Ann who facepalmed.
“Great, now I’m no better than Ryuji.”
Meanwhile, back inside the school, Haru and an ashamed looking Dr. Maruki reached the first floor where they found Takemi tending to the injured students. Haru immediately ran to embrace the woman as Maruki looked to a nearby wall where Yamagishi laid with her eyes closed.
“Fuuka…no…” The man ran over to his colleague with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He said, hugging her body with his one good arm. “I’m so so sorry, I should have stayed to help, I should’ve-”
“Um…Takuto?” A confused voice asked. Separating from the woman, Maruki saw Yamagishi staring at him with an odd expression. “What are you doing?”
“O-Oh! Y-You’re okay!” The biologist blushed, embarrassed. “I…I saw you laying here and uhhh…”
“I just wanted to rest my eyes for a moment. After everything that happened, it was a bit too much excitement for me.” The woman explained.
“Ah, I see…” Maruki looked around, seeing the students staring at him and whispering. “N-Nothing to see here! Move along please!”
“So,” Haru began, speaking to Takemi. “Is it over then?”
“Yeah, it’s over.” Takemi assured her. “At least for now. But if Kamoshida is back then-”
“Then we need to tell Ren right away. If he escaped The Raft then there could be others too.” Haru finished for her.
“Yeah,” Takemi nodded. “I have a feeling something big is coming.”
“And we need to start preparing for it.”