Episode 15 - Skill Out
In an alley, Mitsuko Kongou is accosted by some anti-esper street gangsters. She confidently prepares to take them on, but a strange sound suddenly starts playing. Dizzy and unable to focus, she falls to the ground. Then she hears another man enter the alley and scold the hoodlums for attacking a woman. A short time later, when Judgement and Anti-Skill arrive on-scene, they have little to do beside cart the unconscious thugs off on stretchers. Mii Konori, who is supervising the scene, seems to recognize one of them. Meanwhile, Kongou isn't quite sure what happened — all she remembers seeing is a man with a leather jacket and the tattoo of a spider on his back.
Elsewhere, in the gang's base, their leader gets word of the incident. He recognizes the description of the man and freaks out, insisting that person is dead. At his prompting, his gang members start chanting his name — Kurozuma Wataru — and he takes off his jacket to reveal that he, too, has a spider tattoo on his back.
Talking to Kuroko later, Mikoto is upset to hear that someone would attack Kongou. Kuroko says that recently there have been a lot of attacks by the anti-esper gangs collectively known as Skill Out. It seems that a particularly aggressive gang called Big Spider is responsible. Konori mentions that Big Spider was once a fairly honourable group, but that seems to have changed recently. Doing some research, Uiharu learns that about two years ago they started attacking espers. Rumor has it that someone is supplying them with imported weapons. Big Spider's leader is a man named Wataru Kurozuma, who has a reputation for treachery and violence; he is said to have a spider tattoo on his back. Konori looks startled and upset at this. Mikoto and Kuroko are confused, since he doesn't sound like the type who would rescue Kongou, but they wonder if it might have been a falling out between gang members. Uiharu says their base is in District 10, in a run-down area known as "Strange". Kuroko proposes to investigate, but Konori, who seems agitated, says she needs to finish some reports. Mikoto volunteers to go along.
Arriving in Strange, Mikoto and Kuroko are soon threatened by some toughs. Before they can deal with them, a red-haired man in a black leather jacket shows up and scolds the men for threatening girls. He is carrying a carton of Musashino Milk, which one of the thugs knocks out of his hand. This is something he soon regrets, as a short time later all the thugs are bruised and beaten.
Kuroko and Mikoto chase after the man before he can disappear. He brings them to a rooftop with an impressive view of Academy City, and says the sight hasn't changed much in the two years he's been away. They ask if he's heard of Big Spider, but he tells them it's unwise to throw that name around. Then they ask if he knows the name Wataru Kurozuma, but he denies it and leaves.
Meanwhile, Konori has returned home and is looking pensively at a red leather jacket hanging in her closet. Her roommate, Aomi, comes in and asks what's bothering her, but she says it's nothing.
Back in Strange, Mikoto and Kuroko dispatch some more hoodlums, then force one to take them to Big Spider's base. Big Spider's leader, the man identified as Kurozoma, dismissively tells them to leave. When they try to arrest him, he laughs and has one of his minions turn on a machine in a nearby van. A strange sound starts playing, and the two girls become disoriented, losing the ability to control their powers. The gang leader brags that this is a special sound wave called "Capacity Down", which debilitates espers and interferes with their calculation abilities; Level 0s like Skill Out, on the other hand, just hear it as a high-pitched noise.
Things looks bad for Kuroko and Mikoto, but just then the red-haired man appears and unplugs the Capacity Down machine. Then he greets the gang leader, calling him "Hebitani" and remarking that he's fallen far in the past two years. Shocked, the gang leader calls the man "Kurozoma". The latter easily beats up most of the thugs; the leader and a few others flee.
The red-haired man asks Mikoto and Kuroko if they're all right. In response to their questions, he tells them that Hebitani is the gang leader's real name, although he seems to be calling himself "Kurozuma" now. The two girls ask the man if he's the real Kurozoma and he admits that he is.
At that moment, Konori suddenly shows up at the scene. Kurozuma turns around and addresses her as "Mii", saying it's been a long time...
Tropes
- Badass Normal: In terms of sheer bare-knuckle street fighting skills, Kurozuma puts virtually every other character in the franchise to shame.
- Bad Boss: Hebitani berates and abuses his gang members, even threatening them with loaded guns if they don't instantly follow his every order.
- Brown Note: Capacity Down, a special sound wave that not only interferes with esper abilities, but causes them to become weak and dizzy as well. It has no effect on Level 0s or non-espers.
- Chekhov's Gun: Both Capacity Down, and the fact that it doesn't affect Level 0s, will show up again in the future.
- First-Name Basis: Kurozuma addresses Konori as "Mii", without even an honorific. This implies a very close relationship, hence Mikoto and Kuroko's shocked reactions.
- Foreshadowing: It's mentioned that someone is rumored to be supplying Big Spider with their weapons and equipment. This isn't further addressed here or in the next episode, but it's a hint that the gang has powerful connections.
- Power Nullifier: Capacity Down again.
- Tattooed Crook: Hebitani and Kurozuma both have spider tattoos on their backs, although Hebitani's is smaller and less impressive.
