Curse of The Golden Seal

by Solarius Scorch

Konata, Hiyori and Patty visit the Comiket the night before it opens, only to find themselves in terrible danger. An action-oriented challenge fic for the MLSF forum competition!

This fic was written for the third fic challenge organised by the Mostly Lucky Star Forum here on FFN. The theme was: Konata, Patty, and Hiyori sneak into Comiket the night before it opens, and I think I barely met this requirement.

If you like the idea of having fan fiction challenges and would like to participate in the next edition, don't hesitate and join us! Check my profile for the forum link.

(No beta was harmed, or indeed used, when writing this fic. Deadlines, deadlines.)

---

It was already long after dusk when three brave souls entered the famous Ariake district. It wasn't actually that late yet as the traffic was still relentless, but the longest night of the year had only passed a week earlier or so. As one could expect, the night was cold and windy, but the three friends didn't seem to mind.

"I can't believe we're going to the place where Comiket starts tomorrow!", exclaimed Patricia, who was almost skipping. She was dressed in a khaki jacket and tight jeans.

Konata, who was wearing her usual jacket and bonnet combo, smiled and nodded. "You look really bouncy tonight, Patty-chan", she said approvingly. "But it's true that a great privilege was bestowed upon us."

Hiyori just coughed; Patricia was indeed bouncy in many ways.

"I would never have imagined you had such connections, Izumi-sempai!" Patty looked oblivious to the innuendo, or more likely too excited to care. "I knew you were kinda famous, but this... Oh, my!"

Konata was more than happy to wallow in the blonde's praises. "Yes, well, I'm a regular. No, a second generation of regulars! This kind of reputation just builds up, and then some day Lady Fortune smiles upon you."

"Are you sure we're not imposing?", uttered Hiyori. "I mean it's kinda scary to go there at this hour." She was looking younger than usual in her slightly oversized brown coat and a wool hat.

Patricia giggled. "You're just nervous about your new doujins, Hiyori-chan! Don't worry, you'll do great tomorrow."

Hiyori-chan opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Instead she asked, "Just who is that guy again?"

"You mean our benefactor? The Keeper of the Gates?" Konata was more composed than the American girl, but definitely as excited. "He's a Comiket veteran too, has been trying to sell his doujins for like ten years already. His works are crap, but at least he holds enough power among the organisers to let us in tonight, before it all starts."

Hiyori smiled faintly. "All right, all right. It is cool."

A minute later the three otaku were approaching Tokyo Big Sight, the huge convention centre which every one of them considered the greatest religious structure in Japan, if not the entire planet. Bright lights didn't hurt its aura of mystery at all; if anything, they added to the building's magnificence. Patricia actually moaned in delight, unable to tear her eyes from the ultra-modern construction, its four reversed pyramids sitting atop columns of glass and sheltering the lobby which was loosely based on an ancient Mediterranean temple. It looked like some kind of alien cathedral built at the bottom of the sea, and its eerie beauty captured the blonde's heart so strongly that for a moment she completely forgot why shy was here in the first place.

Still, some other people weren't affected by elation of any kind. "Let's go, Patty-chan! Kimizawa is waiting, and this time I don't wanna be late."

Patricia snapped out of her trance-like wonder and followed Konata, who seemed to be leading them into one of the nearby car parks. As soon as she caught up with the bluenette, they all heard a male voice:

"Good evening girls! Here, come here. Everything's ready!"

The voice turned out to belong to a young but already balding man with round glasses, who was waving towards them from the sidewalk, right next to the car park entry lane. He was wearing a long black coat and a green scarf, and he seemed to be trying to suppress a grin.

"Good evening, Kimizawa-san", greeted Konata, but made no attempt to bow (he did). "These are Tamura Hiyori and Martin Pa... I mean, Patricia Martin. How's the Comiket?"

"Pleased to meet you both. Oh well, there's still much work to do, but I have finished my part already. I'm providing stationery materials", he added and pointed towards the car park. "My truck is still there. Please follow me, I'll give you your pass permits."

"So you are a friend of Izumi-sempai?", asked Patricia as they indeed follow the Comiket officer across the car park.

The man smiled again, but he kept his eyes on the monumental building that was towering over them. Greenish light radiating from the crystal towers caused his glasses to flash for a second. "I would say so, after all we have known each other since she has been a toddler, the youngest person in the entire event. I was just a teenager then, trying to sell some doujins..."

"So what happened?" asked Patricia excitedly.

"Well, she looked at my album and immediately said she hated it." Kimizawa gave a quiet laugh. "Since that moment I've been trying every year to satisfy her reading needs, but never quite managed to. She still doesn't like my stories!"

"No hard feelings", said Konata patting his arm; the mangaka flinched visibly. "Not everyone can be a great artist. But we appreciate you anyway!"

"That's all right", he nodded, "it doesn't really matter anymore. Oh, there we are!"

At the end of the car park stood a rather unassuming and unlabelled white Mitsubishi Fuso. Kimizawa produced a set of keys from his pocket and proceeded to open the back door of the truck. "I have everything right here."

While Konata followed him inside without hesitation, Hiyori looked Patricia uncertainly. "You know, it somehow feels weird to follow a stranger to their truck..."

Patricia giggled. "Nah, it'll be fine. Normally I'd agree, but it's Izumi-sempai's friend... And besides, I have this." From her pocket she pulled something that looked like a small black bottle with a dispenser and quickly hid it back.

Hiyori's jaw dropped. "Is it tear gas or something?"

"Sure! I never leave home without it!"

"Hey you two, hurry up!", said Konata's voice from the loading platform. "We're on tight schedule here."

The inside of the truck looked very much like a miniature warehouse. It was mostly bare, save for a few crates and boxes that looked empty. The entire compartment was illuminated a large set of bulbs of various colours, and the walls were painted with some faint, but complicated patterns. It didn't look like an otaku space, but it certainly wasn't a regular truck either.

Out of one of the bigger boxes Kimizawa pulled a small black briefcase, which he promptly opened. It only contained a small sack made of black cloth, secured with a red string. From the sack, three small golden objects fell onto Kimizawa's palm.

"These are IDs of sorts", he explained. "I know they're different, but it's just for tonight, not the actual Comiket."

He attached one of those to Konata's chest, then proceeded to Patricia but immediately stopped. ""Uh, maybe you should do it yourself."

"Smart thinking", mumbled Hiyori under her breath. Normally she would have thought it funny, but tonight she felt a bit cranky. She accepted the 'ID' nonetheless; it looked like a brooch made of golden wire. Hiyori pinned it to her green sweater and looked at Patricia, who did the same. She noticed that every brooch was slightly different, and they all looked a bit like those floating runes that appeared in games and anime.

When they were examining each other's strange brooches, they heard Kimizawa's steps approaching the door. They turned to follow their guide... only to see him standing in the doorway, grinning. And it wasn't a nice grin.

"Have a good Comiket, girls", he said with a surprisingly convincing evil voice. Then he closed the door before they could react — even Konata, the fastest of them all.

This didn't prevent them from pounding at the door as soon as they snapped out of the initial shock.

"Kimizawa, what is this supposed to mean?" bellowed Konata in a very Haruhi-like voice. For once, she looked annoyed. Hiyori and Patricia started looking frightened.

There was no response; moreover, the door proved to be locked quite firmly.

"Oh no... What are we gonna do?" squealed Patricia.

"I... I bet he wants to do something awful to us!" moaned Hiyori.

"Calm down girls, and find me some leverage!" ordered Konata. "There must be some tool to get us out of here!"

Before they gathered their thought together, reality caught them off guard again. It was Konata who realised it first, but her completely out-of-character — even in this situation — panicked scream immediately alerted the others to the fact that the golden brooches were getting hotter very quickly.

"What's this?" yelled Hiyori, grabbing her own brooch. It was hot, but not enough to hurt her fingers. Taking it off prove to be impossible nonetheless, as the brooch's pin seemed to have been welded with its main body. "I can't get it off! Get it off meee...!"

The others didn't have any better luck with the objects. In a desperate attempt, Konata tried to remove her entire jacket, but it looked like it was glued to her body. "It's, it's a curse!", she wailed.

Suddenly a blinding bright exploded from between Patricia's fingers which were closed on the seemingly cursed object. The other two, completely blinded, could only hear her scream, but two seconds later it ended abruptly. Before they fully realised this new horror, they were promptly engulfed in two more silent explosions, which briefly made them feel like they were painfully but inevitably disintegrating into tiny particles.

And then there was silence.

ooOOoo

Konata stirred uneasily, wondering why her head hurt so badly. She felt she was laying on something hard and cold which made her think of hospital floor, but little light was getting through her closed eyelids and she was sure it was somewhere outside. Was it a street at night...?

Suddenly remembering what happened, Konata sat up groggily. To her relief, she wasn't tied up or chained to anything, and she was fully dressed. She was indeed lying on the asphalt covering the same car park she was at before, and she was surrounded by the normal Tokyo scenery... No, actually it was far from normal.

The surroundings were offensively black and white; not the black and white of an old movie, but actually black and white, with sparse instances of grey scale which upon closer inspection turned out to consist of masses of black dots with varying density. The night sky was completely black, with a white crescent moon hanging over equally white outlines of buildings. Every single detail, even a distant one, was absolutely sharp, and what was obscured by the shadows was completely invisible. Konata felt a stronger gust of wind, and she couldn't miss a caption saying "WHOOSH" in kanji, floating just above the surface in the same direction as the wind.

With her jaw wide open, Konata followed the caption before it disappeared behind a wall and finally turned the other way. Only then she noticed her two friends laying nearby. Or more precisely, Patricia was just laying there, while Hiyori was actually sitting motionlessly and staring at her own left hand.

Only a few seconds of blinking later Konata realised that her friends were actually coloured, unlike the rest of this landscape, which looked a bit weird. But what was even more weird, they also looked... chibified. It wasn't a full-blown chibification, but they were definitely cartoonish.

"Uh... guys?" Konata prodded Patricia in her side. "You there?" She turned to the meganekko. "Hiyorin?"

Hiyori mechanically turned her head towards the bluenette. "Aaaaaahhhh..."

"Uh... what?"

"Aaaaaaaaargh!" Hiyori screamed, comically squeezing her eyes into a long single X. She looked like she wanted to add something, and she decided to express it through another "Aaaaaaaaargh!".

Patricia stirred, slowly lifting her head from the asphalt. "Gnnn... What happened?"

Konata did her best to respond with one of her witty remarks. "I think Hiyorin is freaked out by her own hand, and I can see why."

Patricia took a very slow look around, and finally sputtered, "You're both animesque!"

Konata looked at herself; indeed, her clothing and hands looked very much like her companions'. "I guess you're right... And the same goes for the world, I guess."

Hiyori stood up; she was looking a bit more composed now. "This... this can't be real. Can't be!"

Konata and Patricia also got on their feet, trying to prevent them from shaking. "You know Hiyorin, this was kinda cliché", Konata observed. "But now I know why they always say so."

"Do you think there are any people here?", Patricia wondered. They couldn't see anybody, and there was not a single car in sight.

Konata scratched her chin; her mouth was shaped like a tiny triangle, which seemed to fit her expression patterns very well. "It looks abandoned... But I'm sure we're in the same place as before, right next to the Big Sight."

Suddenly they felt a movement right above their heads. A strange white sphere appeared noiselessly right above them, in a few seconds growing from a single white point to a flattened disc three meters wide. It looked strangely out of place in this drawn-but-mundane environment, and it cast no shadow at all. The girls stumbled backwards to get away, but then the strange bubble spoke.

And at the same time was filled with text.

"Welcome to my world, Izumi-san", it said with a booming but recognisable voice. "As you might have noticed, this is not the real world, but I can assure you it can be terribly real to you."

Konata stepped up a little, gazing at the strange object. "What... what do you mean, Kimizawa?"

"That's Kimizawa-san to you! But I guess you've never respected me. You have always mocked me and my works! You were blind to the messages I was trying to convey to my readers, and they were important and precious messages! You even used your Legendary Girl A's powers to make sure I never succeeded on the market!"

"That's not me, your work is just rubbish..." Konata started, but her voice immediately drowned in the crazy mangaka's monologue.

"But now it's time for retribution! I've been looking for revenge for years, studying the forbidden arts of dimensional magic, and finally mastered it at great cost. Now you are in my kingdom, and I will show you your mistakes! I admit I didn't intend to include your little friends, but it was too late to change the plan. Don't worry though, I'll take care of them too."

Hiyori gulped, while Patricia uncharacteristically clenched her fists.

"You told me once that my characters were one-dimensional and unrealistic", continued the voice. "Now we shall see how unrealistic they really are. I'll be waiting in the Western Hall. I hope for a long entertainment, so don't disappoint me... Legendary Girl A."

Having said that, the bubble went blank and started shrinking, after a few seconds disappearing completely. The three girls looked at each other's anime faces, now visibly paled.

"Wh... What was that?" Hiyori squeaked.

"I think it was a speech bubble", Konata responded. She looked like she was about to keel over.

"Izumi-sempai, what do we do?", asked Patricia with a desperate look in her big (especially now) blue eyes.

Konata managed to recover incredibly fast, which had always been one of her strengths. Her eyes flashed with concentration and grim excitement, typical of a hardcore gamer. "Well I'm not sure yet, but we have some clues to work with. The plot seems to be fairly straightforward, the boss is waiting in his tower and taunting us to go and get him. Which means it's going to be hard, but we have no other choice... So we must hope we'll get some side quests to improve our stats and inventories."

"So we need to... fight this guy?" Patricia looked not only frightened, but also lost.

"Isn't it obvious? He brought us here against our will, revealed his personality to be even weirder than I thought, and now is taunting us to go and get him! If it was someone else I wouldn't really believe it, but Kimizawa has no imagination. If he really turned into some kind of dark wizard, then that's exactly what I could expect from this loser."

"Then shouldn't we be starting with some starting weapons?" mumbled Patricia.

"I... I don't think these rules apply to our situation", Hiyori commented nervously.

Konata brought her hand to her forehead, even though there was no real light to shelter her eyes from. "Guys, there's someone."

At they all turned towards the Tokyo Big Sight, the others also noticed there was a lone figure standing on the roof of the East Hall. It was tall and slim, but also strangely angular, and it was holding a long and thin object. The silhouette seemed reddish, but it was hard to tell the colour from the distance. It also seemed to be carrying some sort of backpack, which looked a lot like a small pair of fighter wings.

"Do you think it's Kimizawa?" asked Hiyori.

Konata shook her head. "I don't think so... On the other hand we don't know what his powers here may be. He might be able to change his form!"

"You're taking it really calmly, Izumi-sempai", noticed Hiyori with a hint of despair in her voice.

Konata couldn't tell her that she was as lost and frightened as they were, so she resorted to the vague "I'm a pro."

"Uh... Isn't he... or whatever... taking an aim at us?" Patricia pointed out. Indeed, the object the character was holding was now directed at the three like a rifle, and the person was kneeling.

"Escape!" Konata bellowed, and the three of them scattered like frightened mice. Only a second later they heard a whistling sound and the spot where they've been before was engulfed in a pinkish explosion. Fortunately none of them was close enough to receive a direct hit, but the shockwave was strong enough to add to their speed and ruffle their hair. Barely managing to stay upright, the three of them ran like crazy until they were hidden from view.

They leaned against the wall of some random building, panting heavily.

"That... was... dangerous", uttered Hiyori. "Who was it anyway?"

Patricia raised her finger. "I think it looked a bit like one of those suits from Bubblegum Crisis, the original series, with some extra bits added."

Konata hit her open hand with a fist. "That's right! Believe it or not, it was one of Kimizawa characters. Yoko or Yuki, can't remember now. It was a mecha series, and a really bad one at that. This girl was a master sniper, and a mecha pilot of course."

In the face of what happened, Hiyori decided to ignore the issue of how nonsensical Konata's theory was. "For a master sniper, her aim isn't very good", she only observed.

Konata shrugged. "Rules of the genre."

"Oh, right."

After a moment of meaningful silence, Patricia said "So what do we do? Are we supposed to... go back there?"

Before Konata had the chance to respond, Hiyori cut her off. "No, let's not play into his game! I say we should leave this place as fast as we can, and try to find another way out."

"Hiyorin, do you mean cheating?" Konata asked.

Hiyorin sighed. "Yes, I think it qualifies."

Konata nodded. "There's no harm in trying. Let's see what happens if we go down the street."

"I hope that mecha girl isn't following us", Patricia shuddered.

They followed the empty street, trying to avoid making too much noise and stay as aware as possible. Nobody seemed to follow them though, and there was no movement in sight. But when they finally started relaxing, they came across a new weirdness on a scale was far greater than anything else they encountered here.

A screen of darkness was blocking the street. It was hard to say how high it was, since it was as pitch-black as the sky and the shadows, but there was no edge in sight. Moreover, it was also obscuring far ends of the buildings on both sides of the street, like the entire section of the world had been cut off and taken away. On the other hand the black wall seemed strangely unreal, as it wasn't blocking the faint wind at all.

"By Haruhi, what is this?", whispered Konata. None of her companions answered, similarly mystified by the strange phenomenon.

They approached the edge of darkness very carefully, like it could do some inexplicable things to them at any moment — which actually was a possibility they couldn't rule out completely. It gave off a feeling of being both solid and immaterial at the same time, which was truly unnerving, but remained motionless and as peaceful as a mountain when the girls stopped just a few meters from it.

"Do you think it's possible that this is our way out?" said Hiyori, careful not to raise her voice.

Konata thought for a while. "You know, I think it would be too easy. Kimizawa wouldn't have allowed us to get here if he thought we could escape, would he? And he wasn't really trying to stop us."

They stayed like this for a moment, contemplating the black wall. Finally Konata took out a mitten from her pocket and threw it against the wall. The mitten hit it with a soft thud and fell to the floor.

Konata visibly lightened up. "Hey, help me find some other object to throw, but one from this world."

There were no pebbles nor any debris on the cartoon street, but after a while Patricia found a small poster advertising some fictional sweets and tore it from the wall. Konata mercilessly squashed it into a ball and threw it against the black surface. The paper ball went through soundlessly, disappearing without a trace.

"Aha!" she said triumphantly, "I thought so. You know what this wall is? The edge of our frame."

Patricia took a step forward, regarding the black wall in awe. "Wow..."

"I can't say how you knew that, Izumi-sempai", said Hiyori, "but somehow I feel you're right."

"And it gives us some interesting info", continued Konata. "This wall seems to be immaterial, maybe even non-existent, to the manga matter, but not to us. And it seems..."

"...that while we look like manga characters, there's a big difference between us and this place!" finished Hiyori with a glint in her eye. "There are differences between how laws of physics apply to us and to people from here. And that means that while this Kimizawa may maintain total control over this environment, he probably doesn't have as much control over us."

Konata gave her an admiring look. "Wow Hiyori-chan, I didn't know you had such analytical abilities."

Hiyori fidgeted a little. "Well, I tend to think about such things... I like coming up with stories after all."

"Splendid. Anyway, I guess you're right. Who knows, maybe there are some rules here that Kimizawa wouldn't like us to know about." Konata smiled her trademark smile. While she was obviously distressed, she looked like she had fun, too.

Frankly, the same could be said about both Hiyori and Patty. They were otaku after all.

While the other two were pondering possible implications of their recent discovery, Patricia approached the mitten, picked it up, and examined it thoroughly. Having found no signs of damage, she tentatively touched the black surface with the mitten, but nothing special happened: the wall was just there. Encouraged, she extended her arm and touched the edge of the frame.

The feeling was very odd and a bit overwhelming. Saying that the surface was hard would have been a serious understatement; its solidity was so discernible that even basalt would have felt like a sponge in comparison. It was also incredibly smooth and more slippery than ice, but not any colder than the asphalt they were standing on. Patricia leaned forward and in her fascination brought her cheek to the surface, trying to learn as much as she could about this bizarre object.

"Patty-chan, what do you think you're doing?", Hiyori exclaimed.

"Don't worry guys, it seems safe! You must try it yourselves."

After a while, all three of them was examining the wall closely. While they all marvelled about its unusual properties, they eventually failed to get any useful information and, on by one, withdrew from the frame edge.

"And I really hoped it would have given in or something", complained Hiyori. Once she felt temporarily safe, she was getting frustrated.

Konata shrugged. "I guess we have no choice then... We need to force Kimizawa to let us out. Let's see if we can sneak in without being noticed."

"At least we know where he is", observed Patricia. "Unless he was lying..."

"...but we have no choice", Konata concluded.

After a short discussion, the party decided to return to The Big Sight, but choose a different street. They took a shortcut around the Gankenariake Hospital — which was adjacent to the complex — and took a careful peek from behind a corner. They could see a part of the Eastern Hall, but the anime sniper was nowhere in sight.

"Where the hell did she go?", Hiyori wondered. "Did she follow us?"

Patricia shook her head. "I bet she just changed her position. A sniper can never take two shots in a row from the same spot." She noticed the other two were looking at her like she had just grown horns. "What? I watch TV!"

Konata patted her shoulder. "Obviously having someone of an exotic race in your party gets you rare skills."

They observed the building for another several minutes, but couldn't see anything moving. Then Konata got another idea.

"How about we go through the hospital? Should be safer, and we might find some useful items on the way."

Since none of them objected, Konata went to check the entrance to the building. The door was made of glass, but it was completely opaque, basically just a regular recess in the wall of the building; the only feature that made it any different from the wall was lack of shadows. The door had no handle and it didn't react to the girls approaching. They tried opening it by force, but it didn't budge; it seemed just as integrated into the wall as every single brick.

"I think this hospital doesn't have the inside at all", Konata concluded.

Hiyori nodded grimly. "Makes sense... I mean, who would draw it if no scenes were supposed to happen inside?"

This time she was the one to receive weird looks.

ooOOoo

For now, everything was going smoothly.

The trio approached the East Hall by painstakingly crawling along the bank of Tokyo Bay. The water was as black as the sky, exactly as they had anticipated, so it gave them a rather good cover from the unwanted eyes. Now only a stretch of open land separated them from the building, and there was still nobody in sight.

Hiyori shuddered. "I can't believe we're doing this."

"But once we're inside, we should be safer from that sniper chick", Konata pointed out. "And I don't think she has her mecha nearby, we would've noticed."

"But the East Hall is rather spacey", whispered Patricia. "We should be careful."

Konata nodded. "We will. And I wouldn't be surprised if there were other, well, surprises once we're in."

They continued the observation for another minute, but were unable to pick up anything out of order. Not that this weird lighting made it and easier. Finally Konata said, "All right. When I say 'go!', we run as fast as possible. Got it?"

Hiyori was visibly nervous — she was the slowest of them, while Konata was definitely the fastest — but couldn't think of a better alternative. "Uh, okay. I hope her aim hasn't improved lately."

Patricia gave them thumbs-up. "Ready!"

"All right girls... Three... Two... One... GO!"

The three of them jumped out from behind a low wall and shot towards the building. Unsurprisingly, Konata was the first to reach their destination, but the other two didn't need much more time. They squatted near the entrance to an underground car park, hidden in the absolutely black shadow.

"Phase one, completed!" Konata announced with a quiet but proud voice.

"Uh, what's phase two?" Hiyori inquired, while Patricia was trying to sneak a peak inside.

Konata shrugged. "We'll have to improvise."

"So do we proceed, Captain?" Patricia smiled weakly.

"Sure. Just stay close to me, it's pitch black in there. I know the place inside out."

Fortunately, it turned out that the underground car park was not as dark as they had anticipated. There were some faint bulbs in the back, casting enough light to navigate the enormous, empty room. Konata pointed to one of the exits and they silently headed in that direction.

They weren't meant to get there peacefully though. Suddenly another, less distant door burst open and they saw a person emerge from the shadow. It was a tall and muscular man dressed in some loose garment, reminiscent of a ninja suit but with a quite modern looking camouflage. His young, brutal face was exposed, and he was wearing a kamikaze-like band on his forehead. The most worrisome fact was that he was holding a katana, and his gaze was murderous.

Konata didn't have to signal a retreat; they turned around and ran back to the entrance, screaming. However the entrance was not safe either: there was another figure standing there now, this one quite small and girly, but carrying some sort of giant poleaxe.

"That way, that way! Hurry!" Konata bellowed, pointing to the opposite side of the parking. They miraculously managed to follow her coherently, instead of scattering in panic. They heard a triumphant roar behind them though, and one glance above her shoulder told Patricia that the warrior would catch up with Hiyori in just a few seconds.

Hiyori's eyes widened as she understood that the mad swordsman would impale her like a butterfly any second now. Everything slowed down to a standstill; she could hear her own heartbeat, her ragged breath, and the terrible battle roar right behind her back. She could see Konata's absurdly long, blue hair waving in the air, and Patricia's voluptuous body which was coming to a halt. She registered Patty reaching into her pocket and pulling out some angular object, then promptly throwing it in Hiyori's general direction. She felt it go right past her cheek, noticing there were some colourful patterns on it...

Then she heard a scream of pain and anger from behind. The killer who had just been about to end her life suddenly gave up the chase, and Hiyori allowed herself one look. He was kneeling on the concrete floor in a pool of some liquid, holding his face with one palm and leaning on his sword. The liquid seemed to be reacting with the floor violently, releasing wisps of smoke and bubbles.

She heard Konata's voice. "What was that, Patty-chan?"

"Uh... a half-finished orange juice!"

Hiyori sped up, unwilling to wait if the warrior would recover anytime soon. Finally they all reached the door, which was thankfully unlocked, and escaped to the other side.

The door had a lock, which Hiyori immediately engaged with trembling hands. They were in an empty corridor leading up to a staircase, and an elevator was situated nearby; there were also two doors, most likely to some technical facilities. Hiyori allowed her legs to buckle under her and collapsed to the floor, feeling really sick. Patricia leaned against the wall, gasping for air and unwittingly exposing her busty figure pretty well, while Konata was frantically rubbing her eyes.

"That... was... close", mumbled Hiyori, trying to keep her dinner in.

"Yeah." Even Konata was looking a bit winded, or perhaps just frightened. "I wonder what happened though. You said it was orange juice, Patty-chan?"

"That's right! I wasn't really thinking, I just saw that Hiyori-chan was in trouble, so I, uh..."

"Mmm. Good reactions, Patty! Maybe you have some ninja blood in you as well."

Despite her current state, Patty beamed.

"I take it... these two were Kimizawa's characters, too?", inquired Hiyori.

Konata nodded. "Yeah, or at least the guy was. It was his old work, I think he was ripping off Berserk. As for that other person, I couldn't see her well but I think it was from that horror story he never finished."

Hiyori wiped her glasses with a handkerchief; her hands were still trembling. "I wonder why the juice worked..."

Their conversation was mercilessly interrupted by a loud thudding sound coming from the door. Hiyori rolled away from them with a shriek, and the other two jumped to their feet. Another thud, and an end of a crescent blade appeared in the middle of the door.

The three backed away, looking at the door in confusion. Were they supposed to run? Or stop the attacker from breaking in? The dangerous events were getting nauseously frequent, and they were all so stupefied that for a moment they simply watched two new holes appearing in the door, each time accompanied by a brief sight of the end of the weapon. Only then instinct and movie memory kicked in, prompting them to burst into both rooms in search of some objects to support the door. One room was a broom compartment and had nothing of use to them, but the other was some kind of a tiny office — probably a night watchman's — with a solid-looking desk. They hauled it out of the room in record time and propped it against the now miserably-looking door.

Still with no verbal commands issued, they all started pushing at the piece of furniture, hoping that it would stop the assault. They soon felt a nasty tremor as the blade hit the desk for the first time.

"This... won't hold... forever", stated Hiyori, doubling her efforts to hold the desk in place.

"It... has to!", groaned Patricia, who had it hardest since she was in the middle.

"Hey, I just remembered", said Konata triumphantly, "Kimizawa hates orange juice!"

"What...?" Hiyori found it increasingly difficult to catch up with the news. Another strike of the oversized weapon almost sent her flying, but she managed to hold onto the desk.

"Patty-chan! do you have more juice?", Konata asked.

"No, sorry but I don't have any!"

Suddenly they heard a loud crack of broken wood and the huge axe appeared above them, sticking out of a sizeable hole in the door. In order to avoid decapitation they had to jump away, and in the next second the desk was nearly cut in half. On the other side of the ruined door they saw a young girl dressed in a very elaborate dress, retracting her huge weapon to strike again. The girl's face was pale and blank, and she had two blonde braids hanging neatly on both sides of her face. Despite her small stature she looked almost as terrifying as the swordsman, especially considering her poleaxe that probably equalled her in weight.

"Uh, Izumi-sempai... Is there anything else that guy dislikes?", asked Patricia, taking a step back.

"Well, there's yuri. But I can't see..."

Not waiting for Konata to finish, Patricia grabbed Hiyori by her shoulders, pressed her against the wall, and brought her lips to the black-haired artist's. Hiyori's eyes went wide open, but she didn't resist Patricia's sudden move... And she noticed that the American girl's lips very soft and warm.

Overwhelmed, she didn't notice at first that the murderous gothic lolita stopped on the spot, grimaced and raised her hand like she was sheltering her eyes from some insufferable light. She visibly tried to fight this, but as the girls kept kissing, she finally relented and slowly withdrew from the door.

"Girls, you were great!" said Konata, grabbing their shoulders and knocking them out of their impromptu ritual of protection. "Now let's get out of here before they regroup."

They obeyed without complaining.

ooOOoo

They found a refuge in a technical room further down the corridor. They didn't dare to go any higher before catching their breath, and the door to this room was made of steel which was probably capable of stopping the lolita's terrifying weapon. It was cramped with unidentified boxes and initially very dark, but luckily there was a light switch that worked.

Patricia was rather surprised with how well they were all holding up. She knew that a confrontation with this kind of danger would have reduced most teenagers to trembling victims by now, but she mostly felt excited and worked up. She was not a violent person, but she had a strong sense of justice which was telling her to take some action against their pursuers. Besides, this weird situation was really playing into her otaku tastes; she had always enjoyed action stories, and this adventure was very shōnen-like.

Of course she would also have expected to be more awkward around Hiyori, whom she recently had used as a last-resort weapon against the enemy, but she wasn't really embarrassed at all despite how direct her action was. A different person might have rationalised that it was simply necessary, but Patricia simply thought it was too fun to be concerned with.

She glanced at Hiyori, who was sitting on a box with a somewhat troubled look. Patricia hoped that the meganekko wasn't upset with her. She smiled ad Hiyori brightly; Hiyori blinked, like she was snapped out of some deep reflection, and blushed in response.

Konata, who was sitting at the far end of the room (which wasn't far at all considering how small it was), smirked at this charming display of innocence. However, despite her aura of casual confidence, she wasn't as fine as she pretended to be. She couldn't figure out how to deal with the problem, and she felt sort of guilty about the fact that the other two had been included in her punishment. She wondered whether they would survive long enough for someone to finally find them here, bur she wasn't sure if emergency services were able to cross dimensions.

As for Hiyori, she was mostly unsure about herself. She had always been a person who preferred watching from the side lines, and now she was right in the middle of the deadliest action imaginable. They were stranded, they only had themselves to rely upon, and what awaited them was violence, terror and very likely death. There was a story of heroism, drama, struggle, and possibly... romance... unveiling here, and she wasn't sure if she could handle this as a character, not an author. On the other hand, this experience could prove invaluable in the future, provided that they survive this ordeal. Since both Patty and Konata seemed pretty relaxed, maybe it would all work out?

Their musings were interrupted by a thunderous sound of metal hitting metal coming from the door. They all jumped to their feet again, but the door didn't budge at all. The teeth-shattering clang sounded again, and again, and again; small dents appeared on the door, but there was no sign of any real damage.

"Well", Konata commented, "I think it's a real steel."

As the enemy on the other side kept banging on the door to no avail, they relaxed a little; Konata even retuned to the box. Still, the incessant noise was both irritating and worrisome.

Patricia shifted uneasily. "Uh, maybe it's a bad time to ask... But what do we do when we find Kimizawa?

Konata stroke her chin. "I don't really know, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. There's a chance he's not any stronger than before, and then we'll just kick his ass. If he is stronger... then we'll have to do it the smart way."

"In other words, we need to solve one problem at a time!", Patricia smiled brightly, which under the circumstances might have been disconcerting if it wasn't for her cute anime appearance.

They were completely surprised by an all-too-familiar flat bubble that appeared just under the ceiling. Three pairs of eyes darted upwards, the girls readying for yet another dose of mortal danger.

"Well, well", said the bubble with Kimizawa's voice, "I am surprised you made it this far. I feel grateful for not disappointing me, I've really had much fun watching you. But this is as far as you go; after all, I am God here..."

Patricia threw a small toolbox she had found at the bubble, but the box went right through it, bounced off the ceiling, and crashed to the floor.

"...and I have three angels of death at my command", Kimizawa continued like nothing happened. "One for each of you, isn't it nice? They will not be stopped by a mere door. You better ready yourself to meet your ends... it's going to be even more fun than before."

"You bastard!" Konata shook his fist at the already disappearing bubble, but then she noticed a new development. "Oh, crap."

On the front wall, a bit to the right from the door, a dark line appeared. It went from the floor level directly upwards, and half a meter below the ceiling it rapidly turned left. A few seconds later it turned again, this time downwards. After another few seconds more lines appeared, soon taking shape of a new door, complete with a handle and hinges.

The girls watched in horror as the handle turned and the door opened slowly, revealing the huge form of the same crazy swordsman who had almost killed Hiyori before. He was grinning maniacally, his eyes darting between his targets, the katana raised for the kill.

Konata gulped. "It was an honour to serve with you guys..."

Hiyori, on the other hand, looked like she was struck by lightning. "I'm so stupid", she groaned, "why didn't I think of it earlier?" She jumped behind Konata. "Keep him busy for a second, I have an idea!"

"What?" exclaimed Konata, but she had no time to ask specific questions, because the swordsman decided that she was primary target and moved towards the bluenette, taking a strong swing.

Konata squeezed her eyes tightly and gestured towards her assaulter. "Uh... Hey, you! You're looking for your brother, don't you? If you keep me alive, I'll tell you where he is!"

The giant warrior stopped and slowly lowered his weapon, its tip now hovering in front of Konata's eye. He didn't say a word, but his frenzy seemed temporarily put on hold. He leaned toward Konata with a vicious glint in his eye, waiting for her to continue.

"Uh, so... remember that daimyo castle where you killed the shugenja?" Konata noticed the gothic lolita standing in the door, but the warrior's huge body prevented her from entering. "Right, so this shugenja had a sister, and that sister lived on a ship, and that ship... uh..." Konata felt her mind going blank.

"The ship frequently goes to an island where your brother is kept!", Patricia butted in. "It's called Alcatraz and it's the best secured jail in the world! However there is a way to get in and out. You see, the air vents are rather big, and I know a guy named Ramirez who did escape from there, and he's a swordsman too, you will probably get along. So if you want to meet this Ramirez..."

"Guys, here, quick!" hissed Hiyori from behind. "This way, come on!"

"...then you're lucky, because he's right behind you!" Konata finished. When the swordsman glanced back, Konata grabbed Patty's shoulder and threw herself towards Hiyori, who was standing in an open door which surely hadn't existed a minute ago, holding her pencil.

Nobody asked her any questions. They shot out of the room and into another one, this time some kind of a boiler plant. They heard a furious roar, but they just continued between the pieces of machinery and to a corridor outside. Patricia, who was last this time, locked the metal door behind them with a loose padlock and followed the others towards the stairs. No enemy could be seen at the moment, but the girls all knew they would be here soon.

Not wasting time prove to be a good idea: as soon as they were on the stairs, the corridor flashed with pinkish light from an energy ray as thick as a telegraph pole. It hit the end of the corridor with a distant explosion, but the girls were already hidden from the sharpshooter's view.

"The... surprises... never end", huffed Hiyori, reaching the top of the stairs. This time the others made sure not to get too far ahead of her.

"We need to hide. Follow me!" Konata commanded.

They soon found themselves in the West Hall 3, a large and spacious gallery with a number of small shops which seemed perfect for a temporary refuge. They chose one shop at random — they were all empty anyway — and crawled inside, trying to remain silent. Konata crept under a white desk, while Hiyori and Patricia hid behind it.

They held their breath in anticipation and a minute later they heard footsteps. They were loud and clanking, reminiscent of some graceful giantess walking in high heels. They didn't have to see her to know that the cybernetic sniper was out there, looking for a chance to vaporise them with one shot.

After another minute or two, the sound of her armoured boots was enough to indicate that she was slowly going back and forth, not bothering to check every single room. Still, her presence was more than a little unsettling.

"What is she waiting for?" whispered Patricia, finally breaking the silence among them.

"I think she doesn't know if we're still here", offered Hiyori. "Maybe she just keeps an eye on this section, in case we show up."

"That's what I'd do", nodded Konata. "But more importantly Hiyori-chan, you're brilliant! If it weren't for you, it would have been game over. Also, think about what we can do with that!"

"Yay!" squealed Patricia (very quietly), and gave Hiyori a hug. Hiyori's face reddened, and she hastily took her glasses off to wipe them.

"Does it mean you can create whatever you want with this?", Konata continued.

Hiyori put her glasses back on. "Pretty much, I think."

"Cool! Can you make us some guns? Or maybe a tank?"

Hiyori hesitated. "I can try, but I can't really remember how exactly a gun looks like, with all those little bits and pieces. So I don't know if it would work, or if it wouldn't explode in your hands or something. But I'm sure I could draw a sword."

"Only once you have one", Konata joked. "Uh, sorry for the lame pun. But I guess it's a start."

Hiyori produced her favourite pencil — or at least one of them — from the pocket where she also kept her sketchbook and started drawing on the floor. A minute later she picked up an elegant-looking, if a bit fancy, pirate cutlass.

They too turns in admiring Hiyori's work. "Nice blade", nodded Konata, "seems real enough. Ow, and sharp too."

Patricia took it carefully. "Ooooh, it's wonderful. Can I keep it?"

Hiyori looked embarrassed again. "Oh sure... if you like it..."

"For me something lighter please", Konata ordered. "And I can think of a few other items that might be useful."

While Hiyori started drawing another weapon, Konata glanced at Patricia. "Good fast-talking skills back there."

"Uh, thanks!" Patricia smiled. "I was just helping out. But how did you know he would fall for something that simple?"

"Easy... He might be big, but he's from a shōnen after all."

"Oh... I see."

Several minutes later Konata was admiring a narrow-edged short sword, or perhaps a short rapier, and Patricia was trying on a round metal shield that seemed unnaturally shiny. Hiyori also drew a short bow for herself, explaining she had briefly attended an archery club in her middle school, which came as a surprise to everyone.

"Now I feel much better", Konata declared. "Now, there are things that no adventurer can leave home without. I mean things like a rope, a torch, a healing potion..."

"Uh, hold on please", Hiyori raised her palm. "I don't know if I can do a healing potion. And even if I could, I don't know how it's supposed to look like."

"How about a slice of cake?" offered Patricia. "Or a chicken drumstick?"

"Yeah, and a medikit for the extra strong ones!" said Konata, getting even more excited.

Hiyori sighed, then nodded. "I'll give it a try."

A minute later, each of them was holding a plate with a sizeable slice of strawberry tart, of course with a strawberry on top. It looked tasty, so they didn't waste their time sampling it.

"Mmmm, it's delicious", said Patty. "Exactly how I like it."

"Do you feel any... healthier?" asked Hiyori hesitantly.

Patricia shrugged. "I was fine to begin with, but I think I feel a little better now!"

"I'm afraid it might be just sugar rush", Hiyori muttered. But she also took a bite from her own slice, which was delicious indeed.

Since cake was obviously difficult to carry around for emergency, they decided on a different take. Once the tart was consumed, Hiyori drew ten round bottles with a murky liquid inside which each of them pocketed, but they had no way of testing it properly. Their best bet was avoiding a situation when they might come in handy; the metallic sound of footsteps outside was constantly reminding them how deadly this place was.

Having finished drawing a variety of objects that Konata had deemed instrumental in any adventuring activity, Hiyori groaned and stretched her palm. "Large-size drawing is harder than I thought."

"But now we have a lot of gear to use! And thanks to you, Hiyori-chan!" Patricia beamed at her.

"Aye, my dearest friend, you're a worthy companion!" added Konata, patting Hiyori's shoulder.

Hiyori looked at them and then at the floor. "I thought about this and, well... I hate to disappoint you, but how exactly are we going to use these weapons against those guys out there? I mean, that axe girl maybe... But this lady here has an effing huge gun, and she's armoured too! And that guy... Well, which one of you wants a swordfight with him?"

Konata scratched her head. "I thought about it too, but now that you've said it, it sounds like an even bigger problem."

Patricia took on a pensive expression, which wasn't a common occurrence. "But you don't have a degree in human biology, do you, Hiyori-chan? Yet you can draw people really well."

"Uh... I guess. But what does it have to do with our situation? Do you want me to... draw some people?"

"Uh, maybe not", Konata interrupted, "We don't know what would happen. They might betray us or something... Besides I'm not one to play God!", she finished as dramatically as she could without raising her voice.

Patricia waved her hand. "But that's not what I meant, Izumi-sempai. I just thought that these people must have all those veins inside, and blood, and internal organs... Yet you don't need to draw them to make realistic-looking characters."

Hiyori was rolling the pencil between her fingers nervously. "I think I understand your point. You don't have to draw it perfectly well to make it workable, it only needs to look like it would. Do you... want me to draw the gun inside something else?

"Yeah! Just like in Le P*tit Prince. Have you read it?"

"Not really..."

"Well, the guy wants to draw a sheep and it doesn't come out right. He tries again and again, but he keeps screwing up. So he finally draws a box and says the sheep is inside."

"I see... But I don't think it would work that way. It's a... feeling I have."

"Wow, that's pretty bad", Konata commented, "but still we might have something here. Hey, try drawing a ray gun. You know, a classic one."

Hiyori bit her lip, thinking intensively for a moment. "That... That is worth trying, at least."

This task took a bit longer, since Hiyori had to do a quick design sketch first. While she was working, the others were keeping watch, clutching their swords awkwardly and listening to the metallic noises made by the female soldier patrolling the hall. After ten minutes or so they were relieved to see that Hiyori finally had the prototype.

The prototype looked a bit like an oversized and bulky hair dryer, ending with a short pipe with a crosshair attached. There was also a trigger and a battery hatch below it... and not much else. However it looked rather elegant in a way, if extremely anachronistic.

Patricia giggled. "Wow, just like from the Jets*ns."

"I say Astr*boy", spoke Konata. "But more importantly, does it work?"

Hiyori shrugged. "I think it should. But there's only one way to know..."

Konata took a chance and glanced above the desk at their pursuer. She could see her better now: the metallic dominatrix had a rather tight, but at some places well-armoured suit, which was black underneath and red on the armour bits, and a matching insectoid helmet. On her back there was a pair of small mechanical wings, seemingly of no practical use, and she was carrying her high-powered laser rifle. A number of power clips were hanging from her belt, next to a small tube that was probably containing a monofilament whip for close quarter encounters.

"Here's the plan", Konata whispered. "Hiyorin, make us a small exit in the back, there's an external exposition spot on the other side. Patty, lend me your shield."

Patricia nodded and passed her shield to Konata without hesitation, while Hiyori crawled to the back. Konata took the shield and almost collapsed to the ground. "Ooh, this is heavy. Patty-chan, we need to do this together."

"Sure thing!"

Hiyori finished her quick work. "Is this okay?" she asked, revealing something resembling a cat flap, only bigger.

"Perfect!" Konata gave her a thumb-up. "She would never fit in here, and the same goes for the big guy. Still can't remember his name..."

Patricia scurried over to Konata's impromptu firing range and took her shield again, positioning it between them and the hall. "Ready-steady!"

Konata nodded. "Okay. Now I'm going to shoot this... uh, blaster... and see if it works. If things go wrong, we escape through Hiyori's hatch. Got it?"

They both nodded.

"Please, be careful..." Hiyori whispered.

Konata held the extravagant ray gun with both hands and aimed it at the futuristic warrior. As she concentrated on choosing the weakest point, her face became that motionless mask with a vague smile that everyone associated with her playing games. When her target stopped for a moment to look out of a window, she pulled he trigger.

There was a strange whistling sound and a bright yellow ray of light hit the sniper in the right cheek, protected by the oval helmet. The woman shrieked and staggered, obviously blinded; Konata didn't miss this opportunity and landed a few more shots at her body, but to no further effect. The sniper dropped to the floor in confusion, but she was not completely powerless: she expertly rolled under the barrage, getting hit only one more time before disappearing from their view.

"Well, it kinda worked", Konata concluded, "but we'd better get out of here before she recovers." She retreated with the blaster in hand, not bothering to pick up her rapier.

Patty lowered her shield and followed the Blue Leader through the flap. Hiyori who was still checking the results was last to go through; she also decided to abandon her bow, which would be cumbersome to carry and probably useless anyway.

They were outside again, and the night was no different than before. There was no enemy in sight, but that could change at any moment. "Let's go to the Entrance Hall before they find us", suggested Konata.

The Entrance Hall was a logical choice, since the only other reasonable option was returning to the East Hall, which was completely off their course to the West Hall. The main problem was that it made easy for their pursuers to find them — or perhaps the swordsman showing up right where they were was simply lucky.

Either way, the man in front of them seemed determined to be sure that nothing would prevent him from finishing his job this time. He immediately rushed towards the party, swinging his curved sword like crazy. Just like before, there was madness in his eyes, and he didn't seem interested in listening to their stories any more.

Konata raised her ray gun and simply started shooting. Golden beams collided with the warrior, but he simply deflected them with his katana, and one shot that went through was pretty much ignored. He kept charging through the barrage, even if he had to slow down a little to protect himself.

"This won't work on him", Hiyori hissed. "We need to run!"

"How do you know?" Konata started retreating slowly, still firing at the man who kept advancing, deflecting her beams left and right.

"I just know. It's the wrong genre."

"Oh... Okay, I don't fully get it, but I think you're right. Go to the East Hall, I'll keep him busy and then join you!"

ooOOoo

Hiyori and Patricia didn't see how Konata dealt with the warrior, because they were busy running for their lives. They were of course worried about their older friend, but they couldn't defy the fact that she was the only one of them who could do anything against him... and besides, they were used to her being the commander by now. There was so much confidence in Konata's words that it just didn't occur to them she could lose, not before they were too far to see what happens.

They ran around the East Hall and Hiyori quickly made a new entrance in its outer wall. This part of building actually consisted of six large exhibition rooms, and they all seemed empty and deserted. Fortunately there was some furniture inside, so they hid behind a filling cabinet, gasping for breath.

"I... hope... Izumi-sempai... is all right", said Patricia quietly. Hiyori, who was too winded to talk, only nodded.

Patricia propped her heavy shield against the wall. "Who would have thought it would happen?", she asked wistfully. "I certainly didn't."

Hiyori sighed. "I didn't either. I guess if we knew, it wouldn't have happened, because we wouldn't have come."

"I hope Izumi-sempai is okay", said Patricia after a moment of silence, "but I'll keep you safe either way."

"Uh..." Hiyori was genuinely speechless, and not just because of the physical exercise. "I... thanks, Patty."

Patricia squeezed Hiyori's shoulder, and a moment later pulled her into a hug. "We'll figure something out. You're smart, and you... know things."

Hiyori blinked. "Yes... I..." She embraced Patricia even more, feeling her anxiety lessen a little. "Thank you... I'm fine now. I must get to work."

Patricia released her embrace. "All right. Can I help you somehow?"

Hiyori took her pencil again and started tapping the floor with it, as she often did when thinking. "What was escaping us since the beginning was the fact this world isn't real. It's a manga. And it's not just how things look like, or that the area here is limited... There are certain laws that aren't obvious but certainly work, just like the laws of physics. That's why that ray gun worked on the cybergirl, but not the warrior, despite the fact he didn't even have any armour."

"You were speaking of the genre... Is that what you meant? The type of manga?"

"Exactly. The gun is shooting an energy beam, not a very strong one because it is a fairly abstract and sketchy weapon, but an energy beam nonetheless. And beams, while generally powerful in the cyberpunk genre, in shōnens are mostly just a nuisance. So it didn't work very well on a shōnen type."

"Well then, do you mean we need to deal with him with powerful shōnen weapons?"

"Yes, that's basically that. But I'm not that good with shōnens... do you have any ideas?"

Patty thought or a moment. "I think the only weapons that count in shōnens are techniques. You know, special moves and abilities, and of course self-confidence. Equipment is just flavour."

"Right. Then I think I know how to counter that guy."

"That's great, Hiyori-chan!" Patricia was beaming again; Hiyori thought she was possibly the most positive person she'd ever met, and suddenly felt very warm inside. "Then let's do it and go help Izumi-sempai!", finished the blonde enthusiastically.

Hiyori gulped. "Actually... only one of us can go. And it might be... painful."

"I don't like the painful part, but I can live with this! But why just one of us?"

"Because there are three opponents, and also three of us. So each one of us must face exactly one of them, as dumb as it may sound, because each of us must be equipped to win against a particular enemy. So... will you help me get ready?"

Patricia's eyebrows narrowed. "There's no way you'd go against that bastard! Leave him to me, he's pissing me off anyway." There was a sudden glint of anger in her blue eyes. "He almost killed you, you know."

Hiyori found no argument to counter her friend, especially since she was a bit shocked by Patricia's strong reaction. Besides, she knew both of them would have to do their respective battles anyway. "All right then... Stay still. I need to modify you."

Patricia didn't flinch when Hiyori's pencil gently touched her anime eye. It didn't hurt much.

"What exactly are you doing?" she asked casually.

"If everything goes well, you'll see for yourself. Do you like Nar*to?"

"I prefer Bl*ach, but Nar*to is okay."

"Good. Will you, umm, take off your jacket?" I need a better access to your... body."

Patricia smirked. "Whatever you say." She obeyed and sat on the floor again in her pink t-shirt.

"Okay... Now let me draw and, for God's sake, don't move. I think the eraser wouldn't work on you."

Patricia's treatment lasted about ten minutes, during which Hiyori didn't say a single word. They both knew that after so much time had passed it was likely that their rescue effort would be in vain, but none of them dared to voice this opinion. Hiyori was concentrating on her work, and Patricia did what she could to make it easier on the meganekko.

„There", said Hiyori finally, „I think you're ready."

Patricia had already known that something was very different about her. She didn't feel much stronger or more graceful than before, but she could recognize some new things about her body. She felt like she had been grafted with some sort of secondary bloodstream, and her perception was also altering... the black-and-white world was gaining strange, unnatural colors, as if she was wearing some bizarre termovision goggles. When she concentrated on this colourful background, certain details became sharper and brighter: she could see, or perhaps sense, how thick the walls were, or how many lamps there were on the ceiling without actually counting them. And when she looked at Hiyori, she saw not only the well-known person, even if currently in the form of an anime character, but also a silhouette of pure white light just under her normal skin.

„You changed my eyes, right?", asked Patricia. It certainly didn't feel as frightening as it sounded.

Hiyori nodded. „I gave you some dōjutsu I just thought of, inspired by Nar*to but not exactly copied. It's mainly to give you an advantage against his combat skills, and can also be used to track down things." Like Izumi-sempai, she added in her thoughts. "I also gave you an energy field that acts like a barrier and should power up your attacks. I'm not sure how exactly it would work so watch out, but it should work."

Patricia stood up and stretched. "It feels rather good." Only then she noticed that her clothes were also slightly modified, similar to what she had been wearing before but a bit more revealing and vaguely aggressive.

Hiyori picked up Patricia's curved blade and tapped it with her pencil like it was a magic wand. "And now your sword is connected to you, so it's not just a piece of metal anymore. Do you want me to include your shield as well?"

Patricia shook her head. "No, thanks. It was useful, but now I can also feel some... flow of this place, and I have a feeling that the shield wouldn't be appropriate."

Hiyori smiled weakly. "I know you have a talent for drawing. Maybe you should give it a try when we're safe."

Patricia smiled too. „I'll be going now."

„Yes... I'll be waiting. I mean, on you both."

Still, they wouldn't part before they could have another hug.

ooOOoo

The mad warrior wasn't difficult to find; he was standing in almost the same place as when they saw him last. He was as still as a statue, but when he heard Patricia approaching, he turned to face her. His lips immediately stretched in anticipation of bloodshed.

The Patricia from before would have fled at the mere sight of his slasher smile, but this person was different. She felt strong and ready, but most of all she knew that she was the only one who could win against this enemy. So many times she had heard that she was wasting her life away watching stupid anime; now she had the chance to save lives with this experience.

"Hello big boy", she said casually, "I believe we have a business to discuss."

The swordsman didn't charge immediately this time; seeing that his opponent wasn't running away, he opted for a careful advance. Despite his size, he moved like a leopard, but his eyes were more like a demon's. Patricia remained in place, carefully examining the place where she would meet her enemy, a stretch of land between the water and a wall of the Eastern Hall.

When the man jumped forwards to strike her, Patricia actually saw his movement a little in advance, therefore having enough time to block it with her own blade. His strike was powerful, but Patricia's sword was almost acting on its own and deflected the attack without much effort. The warrior continued with two more attacks, but they were also blocked or diverted in time.

A moment later the two fighters were exchanging blows with a deadly precision, their blades clanking against each other and glittering in the moonlight. The silent warrior was fighting carefully, trying to figure out his opponent's techniques and weak points instead of fully engaging in battle, but Patricia had no combat experience and could only keep him at bay with her unnatural reflexes. She wasn't worried though, she just kept thinking about hundreds of other duels she had watched on screen and felt that flow control her emotions. It's not so difficult to act like a shōnen hero when you actually are one, she thought, and then devoted all her concentration on the battle.

Their fight got strangely rhythmical despite the random intervals between their strikes, but Patricia wasted no time to decide if it was her own impression or some profound understanding provided by her 'shōnen senses'. Instead she focused on her timing, trying to find an opening in her opponent's movement. Despite his careful stance, the warrior was still bigger and stronger than her, so she had to move more than him, but her body enhanced with mystical energy had no problem with this. Still it was very dangerous: one slow reaction cost her a few strands of her blond hair, cut by the katana off the top of her head.

Finally the warrior must have decided that he had learned enough, because his fighting style became more aggressive, and his smile got even wider. Patricia suddenly found it difficult to keep up and she was forced to give ground. Her opponent immediately made sure that she had her back towards the water, which spelled even more trouble.

Not good... I must fight back, she thought. She could feel first strands of panic pushing their way through the mind shield she was maintaining, but she managed to isolate and neutralise them. The only thing that one shouldn't do in a fight is to give up! I'm protecting my friends... I must give it my all!

With this new strength, she pushed the other blade back and then performed an impressive kick to the warrior's stomach. It wasn't enough to stop him, but he was thrown a good three meters back and she could see his energy field violently disturbed for a moment. With an intimidating growl she moved forward to follow up on her attack, but the man jumped to the side, trying to get some space and at the same time flank her. When Patricia turned to face him again, he was grinned maliciously and quickly swallowed something that looked like a small black bubble. A combat drug...?

Before Patricia could analyse what she'd seen, the warrior's aura suddenly got at least twice as bright as before, almost blinding her second sight. His roar was as powerful as an elephant's call, and she felt something like a forcefield pushing at her unpleasantly. She saw him raise his sword...

...and only managed to avoid the attack by a hair's breadth, literally. She felt her t-shirt losing a good part of sleeve when something that felt like an avalanche composed of half-molten rock ran through the place she had been half a second before. Patricia tripped and rolled on the asphalt, doing her best not to lose her sword. The fall itself wasn't really painful, but the brief contact with the man's emanation left her in a state of shock.

Knowing that another attack would be inevitable, Patricia stood up on her now slightly shaky legs. The surface of the asphalt looked like it was shredded by some titanic knife. She heard a laugh; the bastard was obviously high on power.

"I should have known", she said aloud to help herself regain control, "the battle must escalate." She raised her cutlass and held it horizontally until it was completely still, and then said "Bankai".

Patricia felt a surge of energy that seemed to run from the sword to her arm and further, in a few seconds engulfing her entire body in a sheath of golden light. This process was almost painful, but it also made her head light and a bit foggy. She heard a ripping sound and realised that the back of her t-shirt was missing, ripped away by something that was now protruding from her shoulder blades. Her weapon became much bigger, but she felt no difference in weight. She was also aware of more subtle modifications all over her body, which mainly consisted of many strands of cloth whirling around her.

The entire process only took a moment, but to Patricia it felt like a minute at least. When she could see again, she saw herself dressed in a white and overly elegant version of her old clothes, and she was holding a huge, golden, lavishly decorated cross with the bottom arm replaced by a broad blade. She couldn't miss a pair of white feathery wings, flapping gently on her both sides and keeping her afloat just above the ground, or a golden halo above her head.

So I'm an angel, she thought briefly. I wonder if it was Hiyori's idea, or was it me? She didn't dwell on that question though; there was a fight to be won.

Her eyes focused on the swordsman again. His inner aura was still bright, but he didn't seem as intimidating now; he wasn't laughing either. "You hurt my friends", Patricia heard her own unemotional voice. "Now you will be punished... in the name of the Moon!"

With a single thought she rose in the air, feeling her power overflowing her body. She needed to expel it soon, but this was exactly what she wanted to do.

"DIVINE... BUSTER... SHOOT!"

Although painless, the feeling of power leaving her body was comparable to having a limb cut off. Patricia couldn't see, hear, or even think, paralysed by the nasty shock as her energy system seemed to shatter. Only after a moment she understood that she had collapsed to the ground and was now kneeling, while a large part of the battleground was engulfed in fire. She couldn't see her enemy anywhere, but a broken katana laying on the ground was a hint of what had just happened to the owner.

Patricia tried to stand, but immediately collapsed to her knees again. "Oh man, I'm wasted", she groaned. She also noticed that her clothes were back to normal and looked rather worn; her back was definitely exposed. Then she heard footsteps, quickly running towards her.

"Patty-chan! Are you okay?" Hiyori called, jumping between dying flames. "You won! You actually did it!"

Patricia stayed where she was and allowed Hiyori to give her a big hug. "Uh, yeah... I did it. Wasn't that difficult if you knew what to do", she smiled.

Hiyori pressed her lips against hers for a short moment. "You were magnificent. Can you see Izumi-sempai anywhere?"

Only then Patricia remembered. "Wait a second, honey..." Her power was mostly spent, but she could see Konata's silhouette just by the wall of the Eastern Hall. "She's over there... And she's alive, but I think we must hurry. Go, I'll catch up."

Hiyori nodded and took off in the direction Patricia showed her. Once she cleared the area affected by Patricia's spell, she saw Konata and it almost made gave her a heart attack: the bluenette was hanging from the wall, held in place by a katana going straight through her body.

"Konataaaaaaaaaa!" she wailed running towards her sempai, who was just hanging there like an unfortunate butterfly. She could clearly see a pool of blood gathering under the body, but what was probably even more shocking was that Konata returned her gaze with a pained smile.

"I'll get you down. Just don't die!" Hiyori cried while grabbing the hilt of the sword.

"Don't worry... I'm mostly okay..." said Konata and coughed. "Well, I've been better."

Hiyori pulled with all her might, but the sword was thrust deeply into the concrete. The fact that the hilt was covered with blood didn't help either.

"He left me to die..." said Konata quietly. There was a trickle of blood coming from her mouth.

"Let me help", said Patricia from behind Hiyori. She also grabbed the sword with her hands, definitely bigger than the artist's, and gave it a strong pull. Reluctantly and noisily, the blade started coming out from the wall until finally it was pulled free.

Konata fell into the pool of blood like a sack of potatoes. Patricia also collapsed, now completely drained.

Konata's lips moved, but no sound came. Hiyori felt panic overwhelming her, but then a thought struck her. She checked her pocket for the small bottle she had created not long ago; it was intact.

Hiyori pulled out the cork and immediately forced the liquid between Konata's lips. Now we'll see if I can draw convincing healing potions.

ooOOoo

The next fifteen minutes the girls spent on resting, regenerating, and updating Konata on their situation. Fortunately the potions and medpacks were enough to completely heal Konata's wound, but the bluenette admitted it wasn't as severe as it should realistically be. Hiyori thought about it briefly and called it a "shōnen wound".

Oddly, Patricia's strength wasn't returning as fast. She could talk and even walk, but she was severely weakened and constantly on the verge of dozing off. The only logical explanation was that Patty's body was not only benefitting from the "shōnen effects", but also became subject to certain limitations pertaining to the genre, something she compared to "chakra depletion". It wasn't a major problem though, since Patricia had already fulfilled her role and could be allowed to rest.

While Patricia was resting with her head on Hiyori's thighs, Konata was getting back to being the commander. "I don't know how you can be so sure about all that, but I have no doubts you know what you're talking about. So basically I need to battle one of them, and Hiyorin here will take the other, right?"

"That's exactly how it is", confirmed Hiyori. "And as Patty-chan proved, we can win if we play by the rules."

"That means it would be best to fight each of them separately", Konata concluded. "If they can team up against us, things may turn bad."

Hiyori nodded. "Well, that makes me wonder why they're not here yet. Patty-chan almost ruined half the Tokyo Big Sight, it's not like we're that hard to find..."

"I'm sure they were recalled to the command centre", Konata suggested. "Kimizawa is obviously a coward, so when he saw Mr. Muscle shredded to pieces, he must have gone crazy."

"But they will be back sooner or later", said Hiyori very seriously, "and even if they don't, we must be ready to confront them, you and me."

Even the utterly pragmatic (in her own way) Konata couldn't miss the sudden change in her kouhai: her voice was steady, her face determined, and her logic sound. Gone was the timid, neurotic, unorganised meganekko; who sat before had an unmistakeable aura of a, well, warrior. Was she always like that, and only needed the right the circumstances to find it in herself? Or maybe it was Patty-chan's doing? She took a glance at the blonde's face, who was now fast asleep on Hiyori's lap. Is there really something between them? That would be totally awesome.

Putting her thoughts back in control, Konata cleared her throat. "I think we should go inside, there's no need to make it easier for the enemy to attack us. We also need to prepare ourselves, and I already have a few ideas."

Hiyori was reluctant to waking Patty up, but after a moment they all collected their gear and went inside the Eastern Hall, this time using the normal door. There was no one inside, and Patty murmured she couldn't see anyone nearby but wasn't completely sure due to her sight not being at its best. So they were all careful, but not overly paranoid: the enemy wasn't trying to get initiative.

They settled in an empty booth in the middle of one of the sub-halls. It wasn't durable at all, but it gave a nice shelter from unwanted eyes, so they decided to make it their temporary base. Patricia immediately sat down in the corner, not wanting to disrupt the others' preparations but trying to keep an eye on Hiyori.

"So whom do you want to fight?" Hiyori asked. She knew it was a blunt question, but couldn't think of a more subtle way of asking. And she didn't really feel like trying.

Konata didn't care either. "The sniper. The reason is I know her better than that hell girl, so I guess it would be a waste not to use this knowledge. And since you don't know either of them, you don't really mind, do you?"

Hiyori nodded. "I don't mind. Actually, I think I prefer to fight against that girl... She worries me for some reason."

"So your ability might be a bonus if something unexpected happens... Yeah, this is a good plan. So prepare me for battle, Hiyorin! I'll give you specific instructions."

"So what would you like? A power suit?"

"Hell yeah! But not one like hers, I want something more military!"

"You mean... something like Briareos from the Appl*seed?"

"Uh, no... That would be creepy. I thought more of a power armour."

"To be honest, I don't like this idea. The problem is the same as with traditional weapons, I have no idea how it's supposed to look like in details. I'd prefer something I can draw on your body."

"Hmm... That means we need to go cyber. Make me a deadly cyborg!"

Hiyori sighed, then smirked. "You're awfully eager to become a deadly cyborg, Izumi-sempai."

"Well, who wouldn't be? Just don't make me ugly!"

After Konata stripped down to her underwear (not that she was asked to), Hiyori started with some exposed metallic parts protruding from under Konata's skin here and there. Then she proceeded with designing a tight, green suit loosely based on the Ne*n Gen*sis Evang*lion ones, although it looked much different on Konata's flat body. Then came the additions, all of them blue: a small pair of wings with a miniature jump pack to match her opponent's, two protective gauntlets with short blades for close combat situations, an open helmet with a transparent faceplate, and a wrist-mounted minilaser. Konata also insisted on a web launcher, but Hiyori had to inform her that this kind of mechanism exceeded her abilities.

"Anyway, the most important part is the integrated neural system", Hiyori explained. "Make yourself familiar with that. Judging from Patty-chan's experience, it should react to your will and adjust to your instincts."

Konata smiled. "You've totally taken the role of an engineer. Would you mind working in our café as Mary Atenza?"

"I'll consider that", Hiyori smiled briefly. "Okay, how do you feel?"

Konata focused more on her body. The suit was pleasantly tight, and the additional pieces didn't get in the way much. Then she reached deeper, her thoughts searching for the cybernetic connections that were supposed to be there. And there they were, sparkling like vessels of silvery blood, longing for a connection with her.

Konata's mind was momentarily overwhelmed as a stream of data surged through her consciousness. Suddenly she was so much more than before: her senses became attuned to new stimuli, her brain seemed to work at a double pace, and she became instantly aware of a large number of bionic implants in her body. She blinked. "Wow... I feel like I could beat Ninja G*iden with my eyes closed."

"Oh my, Izumi-sempai, your eyes are glowing", said Patricia in awe.

Hiyori, who was looking at her newest creation like it was some kind of a dangerous lab experiment, relaxed visibly. "Good, now as I said you should test your abilities before the fight. After all she has the experience... Is something wrong?" she asked seeing Konata suddenly stiffening.

"I saw her for a moment", Konata explained. "I tracked down her signal, she was in the Western Hall again... but then she disappeared. She must have seen me too. I'd better go now, or you'll be in big trouble!" She moved for the exit, then took the last glance toward her friends. "Stay safe! I'll be back."

Patricia waved. "Good luck, Izumi-sempai!" Hiyori could only look at her pleadingly. Please, be careful.

After Konata disappeared from view, Hiyori plopped down next to Patricia. There was no need to attract attention... Besides, this spot seemed like a natural place to sit.

"So it's started", said Patricia quietly. "I'd like to go and watch how Izumi-sempai's doing ."

Hiyori shook her head. "At their power level, I think it wouldn't be a good idea."

They both went silent, hoping to catch any sign of the inevitable confrontation. Or at least Patricia did, since Hiyori's mind was focused on something else entirely.

How am I supposed to fight that girl?

ooOOoo

The sheer amount of data Konata was being fed was incredible. She was standing in the West Hall, but she was well aware of any living being in the building, including the creepy girl located upstairs, next to a weird node of light that might have been Kimizawa's command centre. She could also see power lines and heat sources, and even receive radio signals — which of course didn't exist in this pocket dimension, but still. However, the person she was looking for was nowhere to be seen, and it worried Konata a little. The bluenette herself wasn't slacking off either, maintaining an active stealth field and at the moment staying deep in the shadows of the hall, but she knew she had to find her opponent first: time was not on her side.

She knows I'm after her, she thought. What will she do?

Konata tried to remember that character, trying to find a clue about her behaviour and combat habits. However, the problem with badly done characters was that their personalities were flat and hard to define, and this heroine was no different. Konata could recall various action scenes, unfunny jokes and some basic facts involving Yoko or whatever her name was, perhaps even list her family members if she thought really hard about it, but there was no clue about what she actually was like. According to the official material, she was supposed to be cold-blooded and have a strong sense of justice, but there was very little evidence to support these characteristics and put them in context. With no real emotions, the character was empty; just a name with some meaningless tags.

Damn it, Kimizawa's incompetence as an artist works in his favour for once.

Konata took a deeper breath though the mask hidden inside the helmet. Okay, so Kimizawa is incompetent. He isn't very bright, either. What if it carries to his characters, too? Konata pondered this for some time. I'll have to put a bet on this. After all she was pretty stupid in the manga.

The first question was whether the enemy was able to see Konata right now or not. Konata supposed she didn't, or she would have fired already. Is my camouflage that good? Or has she given up on looking for me and went for the girls instead? That last thought wasn't pleasant, but Konata didn't think that her opponent would make it from where she was seen the last time.

Okay, so there's a good chance she can't see me. I need to lure her out then. Konata smiled, as a plan began forming in her head.

A minute later, the little green-and-blue combat cyborg was sneaking down the external wall of the Western Hall. She did her best to conceal her presence, but there was a small resonance in her stealth field that was giving a faint buzz that could be detected by a sufficiently acute sensor. There was also another slight modification, which the buzz was making virtually impossible to detect: the entire power available was directed to maximise shield output at the cost of other vital equipment.

When Konata reached a ladder leading to the roof, she was already feeling this last modification taking its toll on her body: her breath became ragged, and she was starting seeing dark spots. There was no sign of the sniper though, so she had to continue her little ruse. She started climbing the ladder, trying to look as natural as possible. The suit was powered of course, but still she found climbing more difficult than walking. Damn, it's harder than I thought.

When she finally reached the roof, she was ready to pass out at any moment. She kneeled at the very edge, pretending to look around, and used this moment to secretly drop several tiny capsules. She new from her previous scan that there was a hatch here, a perfect shortcut to Kimizawa's hideout which couldn't be ignored by his lackeys. With her last bit of strength, Konata moved along the edge of the roof towards the place where the hatch was supposed to be, hoping that she hadn't miscalculated.

When the shot came, it almost felt like a bliss to the fatigued cybernetic body which didn't have to pretend any more. The pink ray hit her right in the breastplate, exploding in a lilac fireball and literally sweeping Konata off the roof. She fell with her limbs wide open, black smoke coming out of a hole in her torso. A long moment later she hit the ground like a rag doll with a horrible crack and stayed motionless, with her faceplate turned towards the starless sky.

Thump, thump, thump, a sound of metallic steps was perfectly audible in the dark. A tiny silhouette appeared at the edge of the roof, coldly staring down at her fallen prey. She casually lifted her long sniper rifle and aimed it at Konata, perhaps to shoot her again just in case, or maybe simply to use the scope to get a better look.

Before she noticed that Konata was smirking, the smaller cyborg's built-in transmitter sent a short radio signal. It was very weak, but strong enough to reach the roof.

A series of explosions shook the building, and several small fireballs erupted from the roof, just where Konata had planted her capsules. The sniper was caught completely off-guard as the shockwaves hit her in the back, hurling her in the air like a giant baseball bat. The sniper flailed her limbs erratically, losing her rifle in the process, and failed to initiate her repulsor backpack in time She hit the ground with another loud crack, sending bits of asphalt in the air.

Konata coughed and grimaced, but she already felt power flowing back into all her systems. She sat groggily, waited for the black spots and the static to go away, and finally rose to her feet. The enemy cyborg was laying in a shallow crater in the asphalt, twitching uncontrollably.

Konata took a step towards her enemy. Her customised energy integrity field which had saved her life was already inactive, but the effects still hurt a lot. Konata couldn't move very fast, her electronic sensors were only giving her a headache, and using energy-based equipment like the minilaser was out of the question. So she could only head towards the enemy, hoping the woman was already knocked out for good.

If she was, she was recovering quickly. Her spasmodic twitching subsided and then stopped completely. She lifted her head, showing Konata a large hole in her helmet where a part had broken off, now making her red eye visible. As she sat up, Konata noticed that one of her arms was torn off and only hanging on two cables, but was quickly being pulled into place. It was clear, or at least likely, that her coming back to being fully functional was a matter of seconds.

Konata launched herself at the recovering cyborg, hoping to disrupt the process before it completed, but her own body was still rather sore and the attack ended up really clumsy. She landed next to her enemy and collapsed to the floor, fighting her own weakness instead of the cyborg. The sniper used this time to roll away from Konata and also toward her discarded weapon. Konata managed to catch her feet though, and with a vicious pull almost hurled her away from the rifle.

However, the silent cyborg wasn't done yet. Straining her damaged but mostly recovered cybernetic flesh, she turned her upper body backwards and a cylinder appeared in her hand, one that Konata immediately recognised as the deadly monofilament. The bluenette barely managed to rise to her feet and get away before the invisible blade noiselessly made a deep cut in the asphalt where Konata was.

Konata landed on her feet, managing to remain upwards. Her strength was still below maximum, but she was feeling better with every passing second. She could feel her various subcomponents awakening to life, filling empty places in her system. The energy flowed steadily, moving from her vast storage unit to the damaged components, being processed into highly organised matter by her nanotechnological repair bots. I hope it doesn't go this smooth for her, or she'll cut me with those monoblades... Oh, wait!

Konata jumped out of her foe's attack range and sent more power to her replicator unit, located in her left forearm. It wasn't a very efficient tool since its power consumption was enormous, but it could generate simple chemicals like the explosives Konata had used before. Isn't a monofilament just a very long molecule of carbon?

The other cyborg finally managed to stand, but apparently decided against fetching her rifle. Instead she slowly made her way towards Konata, repeatedly slashing the air with mechanical precision. Konata found herself retreating slowly, hoping that she wouldn't be cornered before her plan was ready.

When she felt her preparations complete, she wondered briefly if she was afraid, since one miscalculation would be enough to kill her. She found no fear though; she was too eager to prove her ability to allow for it. She knew she had the best reflexes, and if anyone was to beat her in a game of skill, it certainly wouldn't be some stupid character from a third-rate mangaka with delusions. She wanted to keep this privilege to a certain lilac-haired tsundere.

With a smug expression, Konata waited for yet another flailing attack to come at her and in the precisely calculated moment thrust her right arm against the monofilament. The deadly thread wrapped around her forearm and a moment later separated it from her body, but this gave Konata enough time to retaliate. Her left arm shot towards her opponent's head, releasing her own strand of monoblade. The cyborg tried to dodge, but ultimately failed: the thread went through one side of her helmet and neatly cut it off, together with the most external part of her skull. A shining crystalline structure appeared underneath, and the cyborg stopped in shock.

When the fragment of helmet hit the ground, their eyes met. Konata was almost taken aback; she knew this character was fictional, and actually quite poorly written, but pain and fear seemed to be a common feeling between all beings, no matter if they were real or not. Konata might have hesitated then if it wasn't for another primal feeling: care for one's important people. Therefore she blocked cybergirl's clumsy attack with her left hand, and raised the stump of her right one to thrust it into the crystalline brain.

Her now loose cables launched themselves at the shining substance, sending a jolt after jolt of electricity through the girl's head. Konata watched with morbid fascination as she open her mouth and her eyes inhumanly wide, which looked not like pain but rather awe or ecstasy, and after a few seconds suddenly collapsed like a broken doll.

Konata collapsed right next to her, retracting her cables and falling on her back. "I think I'm gonna need a day off", she said aloud.

ooOOoo

"How do you feel, Izumi-sempai?"

"Ughhhh..."

"Don't worry, you won! You did it! Yay!"

"Patty-chan... Am I dead?"

"No, of course not! Just a little... uh, tired."

"I see. Is Hiyori here?"

"I'm right here. You did great, Izumi-sempai."

"Uh... Thanks."

Konata's world filled with painful light as her visual circuits came back online. Indeed she was tired... more like, she was too weak to move a finger. Her power levels were all in the red, and it wasn't a nice feeling. When the light subsided, she saw Patricia's and Hiyori's concerned faces, looking at her from the above under the black sky. "I need... energy."

Hiyori nodded. "I figured you would, so I made you a battery. I hope it's compatible."

"Thanks... Plug it in."

Hiyori reddened, but managed to keep her composure. "I'm afraid I haven't thought of that. This can be changed though. Where do you want the, umm, socket?"

Konata was too tired for lewd jokes. "Anywhere's fine."

Hiyori drew an elaborate pattern on Konata's solar plexus, and her patient only then realised she had been stripped down to her underwear. A moment later a huge cylinder was brought closer by Patricia, and Hiyori attached a thick power cable to Konata's battered body. The little cyborg's right hand had already been attached, but for now it was completely lifeless.

"Uh Hiyorin?"

Hiyori looked up. "Yes, Izumi-sempai?"

"Your blood pressure is 160/115, and your heartbeat is 87", said Konata in her best unemotional voice. "My sensors tell me you are troubled."

"O... of course I am. I will meet my opponent soon, and I don't understand her like I understood yours. She can be anything... If I make a mistake, I won't be able to beat her."

Konata was considering her response, but it was Patricia who took the initiative by seizing Hiyori's wrists. "No! You will win. Actually Hiyori-chan, you're the only one of us who can do it! You are an artist, a creator, and you understand people! You don't have to know her beforehand, you will know her as soon as you face her, I'm sure of that."

Hiyori seemed at a loss again, which at this stage was a feat in itself. "You... really think it would work?"

Patricia nodded and smiled. "Just use your heart. Isn't it the only thing that works in any genre?"

"Good thinking, Patty-chan!" Konata grinned and gave her a weak thumb-up. Hiyori looked pensive.

"Well, I guess I can try", meganekko said finally, "but I've never had much practice with understanding people. I am more used to creating them, even if they are sometimes based on what I really saw."

"But this isn't a real person", Patricia observed, "she's a character. This should be easier for you."

"Yeah... thanks, Patty." Only now Hiyori noticed she was holding Patricia's hands; she went a bit stiff, but immediately allowed herself to relax. "Still, I'd like to know anything I can about her. Izumi-sempai?"

Konata bit her lip, her memory running back to the only time she'd actually seen that manga. "Well she was possessed by a demon who had killed her mother earlier. That demon convinced her that is was all her fault and he would make her strong. So she grew dependent on that demon, and gradually lost her humanity. Not a bad story concept really, but poorly executed."

"So the first guy fought to find his brother", Hiyori recalled, "and the sniper fight for money because she was a mercenary. And this girl... She fights out of fear."

Her sentence was emphasised by long silence, where only Konata's buzzing battery was being heard. Finally Hiyori rose to her feet. "I'd better go and prepare myself."

Patricia also got up. "I' wish I could go with you... Well, take this instead." She lowered her face to Hiyori's, and placed a wet kiss on her lips. "For luck."

"Thanks, Patty... I'll use it well", Hiyori smiled, and embraced the blonde. Konata winked at her from her ground level.

Because I'm going to do something I haven't tried before, Hiyori added to herself.

ooOOoo

As far as the girls could tell, the Tokyo Big Sight and its surroundings were recreated accurately, even if some details were omitted. This didn't apply to the upper part of the West Hall though. The structure looked the same on the outside, but the interior design was completely different, and who knew if it was actually allowed by the laws of physics.

The entire section of the building was cut off, surrounded by a completely black wall which looked very similar to the one which determined the limits of this pocket dimension. The only accessible part was just one big room surrounding the stairs, acting as an entry hall to the protected area. This room had no special protection, but a large double door in the back — the only entrance to the restricted area — was not only as strong as a vault's, but also seemed imbued with some otherworldly powers, which did not manifest physically but could easily be perceived with manga sight.

Of course one should revise that earlier remark about no special protection after it was mentioned that the poleaxe girl was stationed in the middle of the hall, facing the staircase like a statue. Her eyes remained still as they regarded a figure coming up, but her fingers seemed to clench around the shaft of her deadly weapon.

The human form that emerged looked a lot like a grim, brutalised version of the Statue of Liberty. She was clad in a loose black robe which seemed to have a faint dark-blueish glow around the edges, and wore a crown of spikes surrounding her head. Her face was hidden under an iron mask, bearing no distinct features save for two eye slits. There was no weapon visible, but it could have been easily hidden under the robe, and even her hands were concealed in the long sleeves.

"You've been very bad, little girl", she said with Hiyori's voice, but it sounded metallic and hollow. "I came to punish you for what you did."

The girl hid her emotions well, but there was a trace of shock and anger. Perhaps in order to mask it, she immediately took off and charged at the intruder, taking a huge side swing with her bardiche. The other figure responded by swirling her clothes and stepping to the side, at the same time releasing a long chain covered with vicious barbs from her right sleeve. The chain caught the weapon in midair, knocking the charging lolita off balance and swinging her towards the wall. She fell, but didn't give up her weapon, which flashed with an evil purplish glow. The chain let go and retracted, while its mistress laughed harshly.

"Is this all you can do? I am disappointed."

The girl gathered herself; a permanent angry scowl appeared on her disturbingly cute face. She raised her weapon to eye level and charged again, this time more carefully.

The axe blade fell, but it was stopped by two barbed chains running between the ends of the sleeves. The iron lady pushed it aside and slashed at her little foe; she narrowly missed, but one barb tore a sizeable piece from the girl's elaborate sleeve.

"You are pathetic. Don't you know that your mother is looking at you now through your own eyes? Do you think she's happy with what she sees?"

The girl screamed and her eyes flashed blood red. She threw herself at her opponent, slashing with her huge weapon left and right like she was fighting a legion. A pair of chains went to counter it, soon multiplying to a full six. Still the girl's charge wasn't stopped this time, and it turned into a furious exchange of blows. Sparks were flying from where metal collided with metal, and soon pieces of fabric started flying too.

Both combatants were holding their positions despite minor cuts appearing on them, but the more and more enraged lolita seemed to be gaining an upper hand. Her body was being engulfed by a sinister reddish aura which strengthened her attacks and improved her reflexes.

This didn't stop her opponent from mocking her. "You are too weak. At this rate your mother will remain imprisoned forever, and she will hate you for letting her down. I bet she already regrets that you were born in the first place!"

The girl gave an inhuman screech and the evil energy seemed to flow out of her like molten lava, taking a blurred shape of some terrible horned being. Her long weapon struck the chain-wielding fighter with an audible crack, sending her flying and hitting the wall seven metres away. The cloaked figure fell with her chains sprawled around.

The demon-enveloped girl quickly approached her fallen enemy, ready to continue her assault. The cloaked figure stirred and gave a dry laugh. "This didn't hurt at all."

The girl's blade fell upon the fallen body, tearing a wound so deep that a fountain of blood splashed at her. Then she picked up her enemy by her neck and thrust her forcefully against the wall, ignoring the gushing stream. The terribly wounded cloaked woman was hanging there like a broken doll, but words from under the mask kept coming like a recording on permanent loop: "You are weak. You are weak. You are weak. You are weak..."

Something snapped in the girl as her fury seemed to mix her with the demon that possessed her. The aural creature roared and then launched at the victim, who didn't want to shut up, half-submerging itself in her body. The figure thrashed around as the invading force seemed to burn it up from the inside, her repeated insult finally dying in her throat.

The real Hiyori sighed with relief as she severed the magical link between her puppet and herself. This kind of fighting was extremely difficult, and the very act of creating the realistic puppet took out most of her power. Sending the puppet to fight in order to provoke the demon was a vicious tactics that didn't sit well with her, but she knew the only way to separate the demon from the possessed girl was to make it excited with fury. She also knew what she had to do now, and was ready for it.

Hiyori emerged from the shadows near the staircase, wearing her normal clothes and carrying no weapon at all. She casually approached the girl, who was still crushing her puppet's throat as her tormentor was ravaging it. Hiyori took a deep breath and stopped right behind them.

"It's not true", she whispered. "Your mother loves you very much."

The girl didn't move, but Hiyori felt a subtle change in her aura. So she was reacting after all.

"You are not weak", she continued, gently placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl went stiff, but fortunately she seemed mostly free of the demon's taint at the moment. Hiyori squeezed her shoulder a bit more. "You are very strong and brave, fighting for your mother for so long. Maybe you loved her so much that you forgot how she loved you as well?"

The girl turned towards Hiyori, her eyes as big as saucers. She seemed on the verge of some violent outburst, but for now she was listening intently.

"What you see here is not your mother. There never was. Even if you want her to come back, do you think she would be happy about you listening to this creature?"

The girl kept staring at her with such intensity like she could snap at any moment. Her blue eyes were shaking slightly, blurring the lights that reflected in them.

"If you remember your mother, how she loved and cared for you, how happy you were together, then you will know what to do", said Hiyori quietly but firmly. "I know you are strong enough to see it, to make her proud."

The raging demon, who was still feasting on the remains of the false Hiyori, suddenly raised its ugly head. He must have felt something was going on, because it started crawling out of the puppet. In this very moment the girl screamed like a banshee and grabbed her head. Hiyori felt an almost physical shock as their minds collided, but she remained in place; determined to support the girl as best she could, she pulled her into a hug.

Then something suddenly shifted inside the girl, and Hiyori felt the oppressive presence of the demon vanish as his last strands left the little body. The girl immediately collapsed, but Hiyori held her firmly, then slowly lowered her to the ground.

As she had predicted, the demon wasn't gone after being banished from the girl; instead it settled in the only body available, which was the broken puppet. Hiyori saw it undergoing a fast and horrible transformation, as parts of the puppet were being reorganised and holes closed, turning the mangled body into a fully functional but crude imitation of a human being. The demon, now completely hidden inside the puppet, floated up and spread its new arms with a sickening crunch. Finally the iron mask fell from its face, revealing only a patch of darkness with a pair of glowing red eyes.

Hiyori looked with fascination as the demon slowly floated towards her with obviously evil intentions. She was ready to call for help, but she decided to change her plan a little.

"I know what you feel", she said as calmly as she could. "Something stole your tool, and you want it tool back. But am I really responsible for your loss? Wasn't it all set up long ago?"

The creature looked at her curiously. Its fury did not subside, but at least it seemed interested for a moment.

"Why don't you direct your anger to the real source of what happened?", Hiyori continued. "You are a demon, so you must do what you do. You were created that way, and if there's anyone to blame, it's God!"

Judging from its movements, the demon seemed intrigued. Its hatred toward Hiyori was obvious, but it wasn't a problem; she just had to use that hatred.

"If you want true revenge, the kill God himself!" she exclaimed dramatically. "If you spare me, I will show you the way." She gave it her best smirk. "Can't we be partners... at least for now?"

An unarticulated, blood-freezing gurgle came from the demon's throat. Hiyori interpreted it as a "yes".

This was all she needed. She turned towards the staircase. "All right, Patty-chan!", she called, "get the door, not the demon!"

Patricia's transformed figure rose above the stairs, complete with her white wings, ceremonial clothing and strange sword. "I get it. I have just enough power for this", she said and aimed her weapon at the entrance to Kimizawa's hideout, closing her eyes in concentration. "DIVINE...BUSTER... SHOOT!"

A ray of golden light, almost as wide as Patricia was tall, hit the door with a powerful whoosh. This time there was no huge explosion though: the door seemed to absorb the tremendous amount of energy, getting increasingly brighter as the power flowed into it. Finally it gave in, deforming like a burning sheet of paper and then disappearing like an imploding star.

Patricia's weapon went silent, and so did everything else — including Konata, who was observing the scene from the stairs and cheering Patricia on. Where the door had been, now there was a passage to what looked like some enormous cavern, despite being located high above the ground and inside a building. They could see glowing lines running along the surfaces of the walls, the floor and the ceiling, woven into intricate patterns that pulsed with some sinister power. Only a small portion of the cavern was visible from the outside, but they could see a man lying on the floor, clutching his head and twitching with pain.

"Bloody hell, it's him!" exclaimed Konata. "It's Kimizawa!"

Before anyone else could react, the demon suddenly gave a triumphant roar and dashed for the door, floating just above the surface. As it approached Kimizawa, it seemed to grow larger and larger, finally obscuring the view with its robe, now stretched to the sides like a pair of black wings.

"No! Hold it right there!" came Kimizawa's screeching voice. "Get away from me! Listen, I created you...! I...! I...!"

The girls watched in morbid curiosity as the black mass that was the demon engulfed the place where Kimizawa was standing, muffling his commands which soon turned to panicked screams. Patricia had a shock clearly visible on her face, while Konata just stared with her mouth half open, but Hiyori observed at the scene with cold fury. Soon the screams subsided, and the demon lowered itself to feast.

"Is... is that it?" asked Konata weakly. "Is this game over?"

Hiyori turned to her. "I don't know, because it's real magic, not a part of this manga. I don't know what's gonna happen now... But I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Oh look!" Patricia cried out. "Something's happening!"

As they turned to look, they noticed a grey crack on the wall which was growing quickly. As it got longer and wider, they noticed that it wasn't in the wall itself but somewhere in midair, like the reality itself was dividing. Soon more such cracks appeared, covering the entire place in a web of jagged grey lines, like edges of a torn paper sheet.

"I hope it's supposed to happen", said Konata.

Patricia grabbed Hiyori's hand and brought her closer, soon pulling her into a hug. Konata noticed and joined them immediately. Around them the reality was disintegrating in seconds; they couldn't even see the walls or the unconscious girl. There was no sound, but they felt strange vibrations spreading throughout the entire world.

Soon everything was filled with grey light. They couldn't even see each other, but they didn't let go.

ooOOoo

Hiyori felt someone poking her shoulder in a very irritating and slightly painful manner. She groaned and opened her eyes, only to see Konata's smiling face and metallic ceiling in the background. When she adjusted her glasses, she noticed Patricia rubbing her eyes and yawning shamelessly.

"Uh... what happened?"

"We're back, Hiyorin!" Konata announced. "The fight was hard, but our teamwork and spirit prevailed! Now we know we're invincible."

Hiyori sat up. They were in the truck again, and the only source of light was sunlight coming through a set of small, rectangular holes near the ceiling. In the next moment she couldn't see anything though, because her vision was obscured by a mass of blonde hair.

Konata took a moment to watch her friends' morning kiss which didn't seem to end, and then stood up to assess their situation. She saw Kimizawa's black coat hanging on a screw sticking from the wall, but there was no trace of the psycho mangaka himself. Not that Konata expected to see him again, but it paid to be careful.

"Uh... I don't suppose it was all a dream or some hallucination?", asked Hiyori, when her mouth was finally free to speak.

"Don't think so", Konata answered, "Look at Patty's clothes."

Indeed, Patricia's t-shirt had its back ruined where her wings had appeared, one of her sleeves was missing, and her coat was nowhere in sight. On the other hand, none of them wore any sign of changes that Hiyori had subjected them to; they both felt absolutely normal.

"It looks like you're right", Hiyori concluded. "Then I think it's time... uh..."

"To be traumatised?" Patricia offered.

"No my friends", said Konata while waving a set of keys she had just found in Kimizawa's coat, "to go to Comiket!"

ooOOoo

Getting out of the car wasn't a problem; the fact they were stranded in some remote Tokyo suburbs was. The truck was parked by the sea, on a hill that was overseeing a beach that was completely empty at this time of year. First they briefly considered taking the entire truck, but since none of them could actually drive they dismissed it as a bad idea; after all this was the real world. Therefore they used Kimizawa's money to get on a train instead, which luckily wasn't very far from there and would take them back to the city centre. Before leaving, Patricia borrowed Kimizawa's winter coat.

With the three of them, they managed to secure a compartment for themselves. The journey was eerily relaxing, but despite their fatigue they weren't thinking of sleeping. Konata gazed dreamily out the window, probably reliving their adventure, while Patricia and Hiyori cuddled together on the opposite seat. They didn't talk.

After almost an hour passed, Patricia finally broke the silence. "Hiyori-chan, are you okay? You look sad."

Hiyori looked up at her friend, or rather girlfriend. "Well, I was thinking... I know it may be silly, but I can't stop thinking about that girl. She was just a character... but I really feel bad about what happened to her."

Konata nodded. "Yeah, I remember I felt a bit uncomfortable about killing that chick too."

"Oh, you didn't kill her", Patricia smiled. "You only knocked her out good. Hiyori-chan said she wouldn't be moving any time soon."

Konata smiled. "All right! And since we never saw that samurai's body, and the Divine Buster isn't very lethal, we can assume he survived as well."

"That's good", said Hiyori. "But I also thought about something else... I want to take over as the author of that manga. You said it was never completed, and I feel it deserves to be. This story must be concluded, or she'll be stuck with that monstrosity forever."

"Spoken like a true mangaka!" Konata applauded, while Patricia just embraced Hiyori even tighter.

ooOOoo

When they finally got to the Comiket, it was already afternoon. They noticed the queue in front of the building, inevitably forming even at this late hour, as well as the usual Ariake crowd. What they also noticed was an abnormally high number of wardens around the Tokyo Big Sight.

"Wow, the security is really tight this year", Konata observed. "Maybe there was a bomb threat or something?"

They directed their steps towards the main entrance to queue and also ask for news, but they were surprised by a male voice calling "Konata! Konata! Over here!" They stopped and saw Konata's father, who was quickly approaching and waving at them enthusiastically. He was wearing his old green coat and had a rather large camera hanging from his neck.

As soon as Sōjirō caught up with them, he picked his daughter up and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Ow dad!", she wailed, "it hurts! Also is kinda embarrassing." But she didn't sound angry at all.

Sōjirō put her down and looked at her friends; for a moment he seemed to want to give them a hug too, but thought better of it. Instead he assumed a stern expression. "Would you be so kind to tell me where have you all been?" he demanded. "The entire city is looking for us!"

Konata took a look around. "Do you mean all these police officers are here because of us three?"

"Of course they are! After you three haven't returned yesterday evening, I naturally called the police, and the Tamuras did the same. And now you're just strolling in here like nothing happened... Right, as I was asking: what happened to you?"

Konata tilted her head. "Well, we've been kidnapped by one crazy otaku who wanted revenge for my criticism of his works, and very well-grounded criticism I may add. It took us some time, but we managed to kick his ass and come here before they closed." Seeing his father's shocked expression, she added "Don't worry, he didn't violate us or anything like that. We're fine."

Sōjirō was visibly torn between being happy and furious, but did his best to act rationally. "All right, the most important thing right now is that you're all in one piece. Let's go to the police, we need to inform them you were found."

"What? But dad, they're gonna ask us lots of questions! They'll never let us go before midnight, and we've missed most of the day already!"

Sōjirō found himself lost for words. "You... you really want to go to the Comiket now? After all you've been through?"

All of them nodded vigorously.

Konata's father sighed, and then a devilish smile appeared on his lips. "All right. I'll let you know that Yui is stationed at one of the entrances... I'm sure we can talk her into looking the other way for a second."

"Yay, dad! You're the best!"

"Yes sir, thank you so very much!" Patricia beamed at him. Hiyori nodded vigorously. Sōjirō's smile was becoming more like a superhero's grin of victory.

"Dad... What do you need this camera for? Don't tell me you were hunting cosplayers despite what happened."

"Oh well... I was so distressed that I did it subconsciously."

"I... see."

"Well... I wasn't acting rationally. But I managed to get a few nice pics anyway, I'll show you later."

"Uh, we'll talk about that later. Hey, Hiyorin, Patty-chan!"

"Yes, Izumi-sempai?"

"I wonder if we find any good doujins today."

THE END