Episode 14 - Dragon Strike (Jaw of the Dragon King)
The Exterior tank has gone dark and lifeless. Upstairs, Gensei is sprawled senseless on the floor; Shokuhou shakily walks over and activates her remote control, saying she needs information on the virus that infected Misaka 10032. As soon as she reads his mind, her eyes widen in surprise and she mutters something about "that girl."
Down in the sewers, Kuroko finishes putting handcuffs on the unconscious Kouzaku. Lacking the strength to teleport her out, she decides she'll have to send someone to retrieve her. As she stands, the earth shakes, and she wonders what Mikoto's situation is.
Mikoto is no longer visible behind the massive sphere of crackling black energy. As Touma prepares to confront it, Gunha returns to his senses. Touma notes that Mikoto's transformation seems to have stopped its progression, but it looks as though she's no longer in control of the energy. Gunha advises Touma to keep back, saying the energy feels like something from another world. Touma replies that Mikoto is his friend and he wants to help her — all he needs is guts. Respecting this sentiment, Gunha musters all of his strength to clear a path through the wind and lightning, allowing Touma to charge in.
Meanwhile, Mikoto is struggling against the strange power controlling her body. She sees Touma running towards her and screams at him to stop, saying this power is a manifestation of her desire to destroy everything bad in Academy City. Ignoring her, Touma leaps at the black sphere and drives Imagine Breaker into it. Mikoto watches in horror as his right arm is completely ripped off.
And then eight giant dragon's heads emerge from his shoulder.
The dragons attack the black sphere, biting and tearing at it until it disintegrates, its remains vanishing into a pillar of light which drives the storm clouds away. The glowing substance covering Mikoto shatters, revealing her normal features. Touma comes up and lightly taps her on the forehead, saying he knows full well how much darkness there is in Academy City — but that destroying it with violence won't create an ideal world. He says he isn't the only one trying to help her... and together, maybe they can all improve things a little bit at a time. As he speaks, the glowing stuff slowly flakes off her; there is nothing left of her clothes underneath, so he gives her his jacket to wear. Mikoto suddenly remembers his injury and says he needs to go to the hospital... and then they both realize his right arm is now whole and apparently unharmed.
In the meantime, Gunha quietly slips away, remarking that this was quite a show... and that he'd quite like to challenge Touma himself someday. As he leaves, he wonders why there's some kind of strange metal covering the ground under Mikoto's feet...
Mikoto checks on Misaka 10032 in the hospital later. Heaven Canceller tells her she'll be fine — someone sent him information about the virus, and it's been safely purged with no lasting side effects. Next, Mikoto visits Kongou, who is now conscious and recovering from her injuries. Kongou is happy to hear that Mikoto's 'sister' is safe, but Mikoto apologizes for dragging Kongou into things and causing her to get hurt. Kongou tells her she has no regrets, and adds that she's become a better person for knowing Mikoto. She says she needed to learn that worthiness isn't something a person can claim for themselves; only those around them can decide that. Mikoto says that she, as well as Wannai and Awatsuki, do hold her in high regard. Kongou, touched, tells Mikoto she's happy she came to Tokiwadai.
As she leaves the hospital, Mikoto gets a message from Saten, suggesting they all watch the fireworks again that night. She smiles, realizing her friends' memories have been restored.
Down in the sewers, Kouzaku regains consciousness to find herself handcuffed and lying alone in the darkness. She realizes her plans have failed, and contemplates simply leaving herself for the rats. Once again, however, she hears footsteps approaching, and a figure emerges from the gloom to stand over her: Misaki Shokuhou.
Meeting up with her friends, Mikoto finds that their memories have indeed returned, albeit with a few minor edits. They remember the day's events only as an attempted terrorist attack — Mikoto's role, and those of Misaka 10032, Shokuhou, and Kouzaku, have been excised from the memories of everyone in the city. She reflects that Shokuhou does have her own sense of justice, and wonders if they might someday come to understand each other. Then she discovers that certain details of her own actions have been 'altered' in a somewhat less than flattering way...
Several days later, as the Daihasei Festival wraps up, the girls are watching an outdoor folk dance when Touma passes by. He recognizes Saten and thanks her again for lending him her good luck charm. When Saten and Uiharu notice Mikoto stammering and blushing in Touma's presence, they put two and two together. Saten manages to maneuver the pair of them into dancing with each other, while Uiharu restrains Kuroko (who is once again wheelchair-bound). Mikoto and Touma dance for a few minutes, and even manage a very brief heart to heart — of sorts — before Kuroko breaks free and drop-kicks Touma away.
Tropes
- An Arm and a Leg: Touma loses his right arm, revealing the entity inside it, an event that has occurred several times in the Index storyline, and first alluded to in the Index's Deep Blood arc.
- Brick Joke: After Mikoto returns to normal, Gunha notices the ground in the vicinity is covered with a strange metal. Perhaps the elusive "Shadow Metal" is real after all...
- Character Development: Kongou says she's finally realized that proclaiming her own worth is meaningless — that's something only the people around her can judge.
- Everyone Can See It: It only takes Saten and Uiharu a few seconds of watching Mikoto and Touma together to recognize the obvious.
- Gratuitous English: In the original Japanese, Saten confirms that Mikoto really does want to dance with Touma by adding "Don't you?" in English. Mikoto responds (again in English) with "Yes, I do..."
- Healing Factor: Gunha claims that he can stop bleeding and heal broken bones simply by putting "guts" into it.
- Obfuscating Disability: Saten briefly pretends to suffer a severe leg cramp after getting Touma to agree to dance. She then pushes Mikoto into taking her place, pointing out that she never told Touma who he'd be dancing with.
- On the Next: The one made to preview this episode has narration by Touma, who does in the style used for the Index anime, complete with the "When magic and science crosses paths, the story begins." catchphrase. Gunha points out that fact.
- Potty Emergency: Mikoto learns, to her dismay, that everyone's memory of her storming past Shokuhou's minions has been rewritten into this. And apparently it's all over the city's rumour mill.
- Resolved Noodle Incident: The bonfire folk dance was previously mentioned at the beginning of Index's Queen Of The Adriatic Sea arc as one of Touma's misfortunes during the Daihasei. This episode explains how Touma and Mikoto ended up dancing with each other, namely Saten setting them up.
- Shipper on Deck: As soon as Saten realizes what's up with Mikoto and Touma, she immediately and enthusiastically arranges to get them together for the folk dance, with Uiharu's skillful support.
- The Teaser: Averted — uncharacteristically, this episode has no teaser but goes immediately into the OP.
