Index Manga 143

Chapter 143

01

Top: Center color pages for the release of Volume 23

Margin: Dark Matter Kakine Teitoku vs. Meltdowner Mugino Shizuri! Who will survive!?

Mugino: That right hand.
Mugino: Is that the Tweezers?

02-03

Title: #143 District 3 Hideout 2
Text: Their thoughts are on who they want to protect
Credit: Story: Kamachi Kazuma  Art: Kogino Chuuya Character Designs: Haimura Kiyotaka
Circle: Volume 23 goes on sale 11/12!
Below Circle: New Testament - A Certain Magical Index 22 Reverse is on sale now from Dengeki Bunko!

04

Kakine: Pretty cool, right?
Kakine: I'm here to announce my victory.

Mugino(edge): Ha
Mugino: Says the spare plan rejected by Aleister.
Mugino: Let's not forget all the running away you were just doing.

Kakine: Now, now.
Kakine: I had to repay you for what you did at the particle engineering lab.

Kakine: We lost one of School's four main members.
Mugino: Aren't you forgetting...
Mugino: that we killed your sniper a few days ago?

Kakine: We got a new one.
SFX: Wham

05

SFX: Bam

Kakine: That hurt.

Kakine: Pissed me off too.
Kakine: I'm killing you first.

06

SFX: Crash

Shiage: Eh?

SFX: Wham crash
Men: Hgeh!

Saiai: Hamazura.
Saiai: Go find a car in a super hurry.

07

Saiai: School is after Takitsubo-san.
Shiage: What?

Saiai: Since they knew where our hideout is, it would be super prudent to assume they know other things too.
Saiai: And if they know how troublesome her power is, they'll want to take her out first. So she can't track them.

Shiage: You mean her searching power?

Saiai: What we can do will be super limited without her.
Saiai: But if we have her, we can recover from most anything.
Saiai: So find a car and get her out of here!

08

Saiai: Takitsubo-san.

Saiai: This is enough of a weapon for you since anything else would be super dangerous given how you zone out.
Saiai(small): Accidentally triggering a stun gun won't kill you.

SFX: Kaboom

SFX: Rumble rumble

Saiai: Please get going.
Saiai: Super hurry!!

09

Crowd: Wah!
Crowd: Kyaaah!

Saiai: Where's Mugino?

Saiai: Given what happened at the particle engineering lab...
Saiai: attacking Dark Matter head on would be a super bad idea even for Mugino!

10

SFX: Pow

11

12

SFX: Boom boom boom boom

13

Kakine: Ohh, ohh. Impressive.

Kakine: Sunazara was probably torn up along with his magnetic sniper cannon.
Kakine: I guess that's what happens when you replace your people in a hurry.

Kakine: Hah.

Kakine: A remnant of the Dark May Project, huh?
Kakine: That couldn't have been fun.
Kakine: That was where they tried to optimize some espers' Personal Realities using Accelerator's calculation patterns, right?

Kakine: That gave you an automatic defense power.
Kakine: A defense field opens automatically, just like with Accelerator's reflection, but nothing more than that.
Kakine(outside): Looks like you originally controlled the air or something.

14

Kakine: Do you ever feel sorry for yourself?

Saiai: Not really.

Saiai: I'm super lucky compared to the people used for the Produce Project.
Saiai: They apparently had their brains sliced open like a Christmas cake to figure out where in the brain their Personal Reality lived.

Saiai: What happened to Mugino?

Kakine(edge): Oh.
Kakine: Nothing really.

Kakine: Where is the AIM Stalker?
Kakine: That's all I want to know.
Kakine: Tell me where she is and I'll let you go.

Saiai: Who would be dumb enough to give into threats like that?

15

Kakine: Oh, I dunno.
Kakine: Frenda maybe?

Kakine: To be clear, your Level 4 Offense Armor can't beat my Dark Matter.
Kakine: This isn't something you can overcome by being clever.

Kakine: Where is the AIM Stalker?

16

Saiai: Looks like...
Saiai: I don't get to say no.

SFX: Throw

17

18

SFX: Wham

Kakine: Hey.
Guy: Yes?
Kakine: Retrieve her.

Guy: Retrieve her? You sayin' she's still alive?

Kakine: That's just the kind of esper...
Kakine: she is.

19

Shiage: Damn, it's stopped up above.
Shiage(small): Hurry up!

Rikou: Hamazura.

Kakine: There you are.

20

Kakine: I was looking...
Kakine: and looking...
Kakine: and looking for you.

Shiage: Kinuhata!!

Kakine: You're the searching esper, right?

SFX: Ding

Shiage: Takitsubo.
Shiage: You get on the elevator and head down.
Rikou: But Hamazura.
Shiage: Just do it.

21

Shiage: Even if I did abandon you here...
Shiage: it would be Item killing me next! Goddammit!!

Kakine: Sorry to interrupt...
Kakine: but how long are the goodbyes going to take?

Shiage: Go!!

Shiage: Huh?

SFX: Push

22

SFX: Thud

Shiage: What are you-

Rikou: Sorry,
Rikou: Hamazura.

Rikou: But.
SFX: Rumble
Rikou: I've been thinking since that furnace.

23

Rikou: And I don't want you to end up as ashes like that.

24

Rikou: Don't worry.

Rikou: I'm a Level 4.

Rikou: So I can protect a Level 0 like you.

25

Kakine: Hey, AIM Stalker.

Kakine: What do you hope to accomplish with your power?
Kakine(small): Is this some kinda joke?

Saiai: Ta...
Saiai: kitsubo-sa...

SFX: Pour

26

SFX: Heartbeat

SFX: Gather...

27

Kakine: You...

Kakine: Are you interfering with my AIM Diffusion Field...
Kakine: to hijack my power!?

SFX: Pant pant pant

28

Shiage: What the hell?
Shiage(outside): I thought espers didn't give a rat's ass about the rest of us.

29

Shiage: Like we were garbage.
Shiage: Or a disposable convenience store umbrella.

Shiage: Takitsubo Rikou...
Shiage: went to face Academy City's #2 all on her own.
Shiage: Even though she has almost no chance of winning.

Shiage: All to save a Level 0 like me.

30

Touma: What about you?

Touma: Did Skill Out ever reach out a helping hand to the weak?
Touma: You say people make fun of you, but that has nothing to do with having a power or not!

SFX: Bang

Shiage: Yeah.

31

Shiage: That's goddamn right!!!

Shiage: Takitsubo!!

Text: Faced with a heartless scene...

Bottom: To be continued in the Shounen Gan Gan January Issue - Thursday, December 12