Episode 24 - Eternal Party
Thousands of powered suits pour out of the Academic Reach Assembly sites and head towards the campus gates. Before they can move out into the city, they find each of the four gates blocked by a handful of middle school girls. Konori, Kuroko, Uiharu, Saten, Kongou, Wannai and Awatsuki all have one message for STUDY: they shall not pass.
And they are joined en masse by hundreds of members of Judgement.
Armed with riot shields and lances, they try to hold back the powered suits at the campus gates. For her part, Uiharu controls a large number of security robots to confuse the suits' programming by darting in and out at them, while Saten does the same with her trusty baseball bat. In the meantime, Awatsuki, Wannai and Kongou make an effective combination using their esper abilities.
STUDY is surprised but not overly concerned, figuring the defenders will be soon overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Aritomi orders Nunotaba to monitor Janie as he increases her power ratio. Moments later, they hear an explosion — their monitors reveal that Mikoto has arrived on the premises with Febri in tow.
Mikoto enters the large sports stadium under which STUDY's base is hidden. The stadium's main TV screen comes on, displaying Aritomi; he sneers at her efforts and then drags Nunotaba, who has fresh bruises on her face, into view. Moments later, hundreds of powered suits pour into the stadium as Aritomi taunts her, saying the odds are beyond even her. Mikoto retorts that, unlike before, she's not fighting alone this time; she puts Febri onto her back and goes on the attack.
Back at the Reach Assembly sites, a jamming field activates, taking out all communications as well as Uiharu's control of the security robots. A pair of massive black mecha appear, piloted by STUDY members Kosako and Madarame. They charge at the defenders, scattering them with overwhelming force and firepower.
At the stadium, Mikoto has taken out scores of powered suits, but is quickly growing tired as more continue to pour in. Suddenly sensing something, she leaps out of the way as a familiar-looking green energy beam slices through where she was just standing. She turns to see three large unmanned mecha surround her. Aritomi, still mocking her through the stadium screen, says their weapons are based on data they obtained from analyzing the fourth-ranked esper, Meltdowner.
The battle at the Reach Assembly is going badly as the defenders are forced to retreat from the giant black mecha. Uiharu stumbles and falls as she flees — but is saved when an even bigger vehicle arrives on scene, driven by Aiho Yomikawa. It turns out to be a massive experimental mecha from Kongou's father's company: the "Ekaterina II Upgrade". In addition, Yomikawa has Erii Haruue with her, who says she and Banri Edasaki have brought in a group of telepaths to restore communications. Uiharu and Saten climb on board the Ekaterina II and take over the controls. Saten says she's done her best to memorize the manual, which is confirmed as they make short work of the two STUDY mecha.
Meanwhile, one of the Meltdowner-based mecha fires its electron beam at Mikoto — who simply deflects it into the stadium screen, cutting Aritomi off. She snarks that it's a pale imitation of the real Meltdowner... and an instant later, another electron beam slices it to pieces as Shizuri Mugino herself arrives, along with the rest of ITEM. Mugino is most unhappy about somebody trying to copy her powers, and quickly takes out the other mecha as well. As she turns her attention to the remaining powered suits, Takitsubou observes that somebody else was there, but Mugino says she has no time to waste on foolish brats. Mikoto, meanwhile, has hastily left the stadium with Febri and is now heading down into STUDY's base.
Reaching the control room, Mikoto confronts Aritomi and says he's lost. Snarling, he quickly enters a command on his computer to activate what he calls the "final phase", which can't be stopped without killing Janie. When Mikoto demands he explain, he just scoffs and pulls out a gun, pointing it at his own head and telling them to spend their last moments trembling in fear.
The gun goes off, but Mikoto has already rushed over and knocked it aside. She tells Aritomi he won't escape so easily, saying that after all of the twisted things she's seen people do, she won't let rage or despair win out. However, Sakurai, one of the remaining STUDY members, says the "final phase" means a missile has just been launched from a construction site in orbit, heading for Academy City. Once it reaches a certain altitude, it will break apart, scattering thousands of Diffusion Ghost filaments and triggering a catastrophic reaction that will incinerate Academy City.
Mikoto contacts Uiharu, who attempts to figure out some way of intercepting the missile. Unfortunately, Judgement's systems aren't powerful enough to calculate the necessary vectors. However, Mikoto gets a call on her cell phone from Misaka 10032 — she and the other Sisters have been monitoring the conversation, and offer to help.
The captured members of STUDY tell Mikoto where to find their remaining supply of Febri's lollipops; Saten, hurrying over from the now-concluded battle, picks them up and brings them to STUDY's control room. She and Nunotaba stay there with Febri to try and wake Janie up. In the meantime, Mikoto hurries back to the Reach Assembly site to rejoin Uiharu and the others. Armed with calculations provided by the Misaka Network, she has Kongou and Awatsuki use their abilities on the Ekaterina II to launch it into the sky with her and Kuroko on board. The impromptu rocket heads up into the stratosphere to try and intercept the missile.
Nunotaba, meanwhile, is desperately trying to suppress Janie's runaway powers and wake her up, but STUDY's computers don't have enough processing power. As she starts to despair, another system suddenly connects from outside, adding its power to hers. The voice of a Misaka Sister speaks over Nunotaba's earpiece, telling her they want to help. When a stunned Nunotaba asks why, the voice says the Sisters want to thank Nunotaba for everything she gave them... and identifies herself as Misaka 19090. Nunotaba recognizes the serial number of the Sister through whom she tried to upload the emotion program — it seems her attempt reached one of the Sisters after all. Misaka 19090 adds that Janie and Febri have the same base mental programming as the Sisters, which makes them their little sisters... and a big sister doesn't need a reason to help her little sisters. She wants them, too, to see how dazzling the world is.
As the Ekaterina II reaches the edge of space, Mikoto and Kuroko climb out into the thinning air. Mikoto checks the final calculations on her phone, then magnetically positions the huge machine in front of her and uses her railgun to fire it into the distant missile. As the explosion fills the sky, she falls back into Kuroko's arms and the pair of them teleport away.
Down on the surface, Janie opens her eyes to see Febri watching her. Febri wishes her a good morning, then calls Nunotaba over. She presents a huge rice ball, saying she made this for both Janie and Shinobu. Thanking her tearfully, Shinobu says she, too, has a lot of things she wants the twin girls to see.
Some days later, the girls gather at an airport in District 23 to say goodbye to Nunotaba, Febri and Janie. An overseas research oganization will be working on reconditioning the two girls so they won't need the lollipops anymore. Nunotaba remarks that her role in events seems to have disappeared from the record somehow. In fact, not only have the electronic records been altered, but it appears that certain people's memories have also changed. Mikoto admits nothing, but enigmatically says that various things are possible if she puts her pride aside... and, somewhere in the Garden of Learning, Misaki Shokuhou is wearing a characteristically self-satisfied expression. Smiling, Shinobu says she'll be fine from now on — after all, she's not alone anymore.
As they watch the plane disappear into the sky, Mikoto starts to say there's never a dull moment — to which the others add (in unison): not with her around. As she demands to know what they mean, the subject hastily turns to their school trip to Liberal Arts City... which starts tomorrow.
Tropes
- Badass Creed: Judgement.Uiharu: Those who disrupt the public morals of Academy City...Saten: And anyone who's mean to Febri...Mii and Aomi: ...by the mark of this shield...Kuroko: ...you will not be tolerated!
- Borrowed Catch Phrase:''' All of Judgement in unison, "Shirai-style":Judgement (desu no)!
- Bullying a Dragon: STUDY's extremely ill-advised attempt to manipulate Shizuri Mugino comes back to bite them in a big way. They are probably very lucky that Mikoto got to them first.
- Call-Back: Edasaki says being able to help Judgement out is like a dream come true. In episode 18 she told Mikoto she admires Judgement and wondered if she could join.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Misaka 19090, the Sister from episode 9, returns to reveal that Nunotaba's emotion program really did work — if only on her, for now.
- Continuity Nod: It's not explicitly identified as such, but the "orbital construction site" where STUDY has hidden their missile is the platform of the Endymion Space Elevator. During the battle, attentive viewers may also notice a window with the title "Endymion Tower" briefly visible on Aritomi's computer screen. There are a few shots showing the base of the elevator as well.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Nunotaba clearly still favours this style, as her outfit in the epilogue shows. In an earlier flashback, we see several similar dresses in her closet (alongside her Nagatenjouki school uniform) as she's dressing Febri.
- Flash Step: Mikoto uses one to stop Aritomi's shot. note It's so fast that Febri, standing next to her, doesn't even see her move.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: We find out what those phone calls last episode were for, as (what is heavily implied to be) all of Judgement shows up to stop STUDY. Other reinforcements include Erii Haruue and Banri Edasaki with several other telepaths, Aiho Yomikawa, and (unseen by the others) a group of Misaka Sisters note . ITEM also contributes, although in this case it's a coincidence as they're pursuing their own agenda. Conversely, characters notable for their absence include Touma (probably still in hospital from the Angel Fall incident), Tsuzuri Tessou, and Wataru Kurozuma. Misaki Shokuhou isn't involved in the climax (for obvious reasons), but is implied to have covertly helped in other ways later.
- Humongous Mecha: STUDY has several. Our heroes get an even bigger one, the "Ekaterina II Upgrade", courtesy of Kongou Airlines.
- Right Now Montage: Doubles as a low-key "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue.
- Mii Konori and Aomi Yanagisako in a hallway at school.
- Kongou, Wannai and Awatsuki hanging out at Tokiwadai.
- Haruue and Edasaki sitting together in their Sakugawa school uniforms.
- ITEM relaxing at the swimming pool.
- Last Order with Accelerator in hospital.
- Aiho and Tsuzuri at work in Anti-Skill.
- Heaven Canceller watching four Misaka Sisters relaxing on the hospital terrace, as Misaka 19090 drinks milk tea and smiles.
- Touma sitting in class and staring out the window.
- Sequel Hook: The episode ends with the girls anticipating their imminent school trip to Liberal Arts City. This refers to the plot of the first Railgun Side Story novel, which was presumably being considered for an animated adaptation. In the end, however, it was skipped, and the next season starts with the subsequent Daihaseisai arc.
- As noted above, there are also a few subtle references to the Endymion Space Elevator. The movie A Certain Magical Index: Miracle of Endymion is set a couple of weeks after this story.
- Tears of Joy: Nunotaba is clearly fighting a losing battle against tears when the Sisters join in to help, when Misaka 19090 thanks her, and when Janie opens her eyes at last. She finally loses it completely when Febri gives her one of the rice balls she made.
- The Cameo: Several characters who have been otherwise absent during this story arc get brief non-speaking cameos near the end, including Misaki Shokuhou, Last Order, Accelerator, Tsuzuri Tessou, and Touma.
- Theme Music Power-Up: Sister's Noise plays through the first phase of the battle, followed up by Eternal Reality. Then, as the plan to stop the missile is put into action, Future Gazer note and LEVEL5—Judgelight— play.
- Villainous Breakdown: Aritomi's smug facade slowly becomes more and more fractured as the episode goes on.
- When She Smiles: Nunotaba is actually smiling in the epilogue scene. The Right Now Montage also shows Misaka 19090 drinking tea and smiling happily.
