Episode 07 - Abilities and Powers
The graviton bombings have been escalating in severity over the past week. Judgement and Anti-Skill are investigating, but they have no leads so far. Meanwhile, a familiar-looking student wearing glasses and headphones is being repeatedly bullied and beaten up.
Kuroko has been putting in many late nights, working on the bombing case. Uiharu is equally busy, and Saten hasn't been seeing much of her. The two Judgement members continue to review all the information, but there isn't much to go on. They've deduced that the culprit must be a Level 4 esper or higher — but the ability bank can't turn up a match. Kuroko wonders if it's someone who has rapidly increased their ability level, but Uiharu says that's impossible in such a short time.
Mikoto and Saten run into each other after school and commiserate about their busy friends. Saten says she feels like she can't contribute anything useful compared to the the others. She wishes she had an ability of some kind, and jokes that if she had "Level Upper", it might be more than just a dream. According to the urban legends she found, Level Upper is a tool that lets you easily raise your esper ability. After a moment, she laughs and says it's not important. Mikoto isn't fooled, and suggests getting everyone together for an afternoon of shopping.
Kuroko regretfully says she needs to continue working on the case, but Uiharu, Saten and Mikoto meet the following day to go shopping at the Seventh Mist department store. As the three girls head into the store, the glasses-wearing boy from earlier happens to pass by and notices Uiharu's Judgement armband. Muttering imprecations against Judgement, he follows them inside. He is carrying a large stuffed toy frog, and (as always) listening to headphones.
Inside, the girls have fun shopping for clothes. When Saten and Uiharu go off to look at swimsuits, Mikoto takes the opportunity to check out some rather childish pyjamas. She is interrupted, however, when a certain spiky-haired boy — Touma Kamijou — shows up and asks what she's doing. He's accompanied by the little girl from the last episode, who has been asking him for directions. They soon wander off, but by then Mikoto has rather lost interest in shopping for pyjamas. She visits the washrooms, then on the way back notices someone carrying a large stuffed frog. For a moment she thinks it's a Gekota toy, but quickly realizes it isn't; deflated, she goes back to rejoin Saten and Uiharu.
At the Judgement office, Kuroko and Konori are puzzling over the graviton bombings. Konori says they'd better catch the culprit quickly, noting that many Judgement officers have been hurt in the attacks to date. After she says this, it suddenly occurs to them that the bomber might be deliberately targeting members of Judgement. Just then, an alert sounds on the computer — their satellite is detecting elevated gravitons, meaning an attack is imminent.
Uiharu gets an urgent phone call from Kuroko — the bomb is located somewhere inside Seventh Mist. Uiharu says that she's already there, and will start evacuating the building; she hangs up before Kuroko can say anything else. Alarmed, Kuroko heads for the scene as fast as she can.
As the store is evacuated, Mikoto runs into Touma outside, who asks if she's seen the little girl from earlier. Worried that she might still be inside, both of them rush back into the store to search. Meanwhile, Uiharu calls Kuroko back to report on the evacuation. Kuroko tells her that they've realized the bomber is choosing locations based on the presence of Judgement officers — in other words, the bomber is targeting Uiharu.
At that moment, the little girl appears, carrying the stuffed frog, and says that a man with glasses told her to give it to Uiharu. Mikoto and Touma arrive on the scene just in time to see the frog start to collapse in on itself. Uiharu grabs it and flings it away, then turns to shield the girl. Mikoto rushes over and tries to use her railgun attack to destroy it, but in her haste she drops her arcade token. The bomb explodes just as another figure dives in front of them, right arm raised...
The people gathered in the street outside see the explosion and react with shock... except for one, the boy in the glasses. He smiles and walks off, gloating that his powers are getting stronger, and that he'll soon be able to destroy both his tormentors and the useless Judgement. As he passes through an alleyway, he failes to notice Mikoto coming up behind him. She knocks him into some trash cans with one kick, then tells him it's over. He tries to protest his innocence, but when Mikoto informs him that no-one was injured in the blast, his reaction gives him away. He pulls out a spoon to try and use as an explosive, but Mikoto simply vaporizes it with an electrical blast. Realizing she must be Railgun, he starts ranting about how people with power are the source of all his misery, and he wants to kill them all. Mikoto shuts him up with an old-fashioned punch to the face.
As Mikoto walks away, Kuroko emerges and scolds him for using power as an excuse. She informs him that Railgun herself used to be only Level 1, but rose to Level 5 through hard work. Then she adds that even if she was only Level 1, Mikoto would still have stopped him. Later, she goes to look at the scene of the explosion, and wonders why the blast seems not to have touched the area where Mikoto and the others were standing...
Some time later, Mikoto runs into Touma near her oft-frequented vending machine. She asks if he's OK with everyone thinking she saved the day, when it was actually he who blocked the explosion. He just shrugs and says he doesn't care who takes the credit as long as everyone is all right. As he walks off, humming, a frustrated Mikoto kicks the vending machine, exclaiming that he drives her crazy.
Tropes
- Chekhov's Gun: The camera repeatedly zooms in on Kaitabi's music player and headphones.
- Continuity Nod: The outdoor patio where Saten and Mikoto go for drinks appears to be the same place where Mikoto and Touma will later have hot dogs in A Certain Magical Index.
- Diabolus ex Machina: Mikoto uncharacteristically fumbles and drops her coin when she goes to use her railgun attack. This is what prompts Touma to jump in and save the day instead.
- Insane Troll Logic: Kaitabi's idea of getting revenge for being tormented by bullies is to attack... not the bullies, but rather Judgement, for failing to protect him. (Sadly, this kind of thinking is all too often Truth in Television.)
- No Name Given: In spite of being a major character, Kaitabi's name is not actually mentioned in this episode.
- Sanity Slippage: Heavily implied in Kaitabi's case; his constant bullying has not left him in a good place mentally, and as his powers increase and his bombing campaign continues, he seems to grow increasingly unhinged.
- Stepford Smiler: Saten's inferiority complex starts to show itself in this episode. At least twice during her conversation with Mikoto, she makes a brooding remark related to her lack of ability, then hastily laughs it off.
- The Stinger: For the second episode in a row, when Mikoto tries to confront Touma.
- The Unreveal: We never see how Mikoto manages to identify Kaitabi as the culprit and track him down right after the bombing; she did notice him with the toy earlier, but only from behind. Still, there are enough clues pointing to him that it isn't much of a stretch.
- Would Hurt a Child: Kaitabi tricks a young child into delivering the bomb to his target, apparently not caring if she's hurt or killed in the explosion.
