Teana's Travels Book 26-Point-5

by D.K.N

Here we have a few events that took place during the Time-Skip between Books 26 and 27. Between mock-battles, flashbacks, and intrigue, how did some of our heroes spend the time between the Malia Incident and the Reaper War? Rated M for violence and language

1. Mock Battle

I just can't help myself. While we wait for Legacy of the Void (which has been given the tentative and vague release period of "Q4 2015"), I've decided to give you folks some looks at things that took place during the 3-month 'Time Skip' between Books 26 and 27, a little more backstory, and bits of minor info about a few things. It's nothing major, really, probably only gonna be 3 or 4 chapters, but it's something to keep me occupied between other tasks while we wait for LOTV.

In other news, I have some future Books planned, but one of them I'm not sure about in terms of 'permission'. Specifically, I wanted to maybe make a Book involving the Sailor Nothing story by Stefan Gagne. But, I am wondering and worried about if sticking a disclaimer like I do for stuff owned by companies like what's done with most fanfic would be enough (i.e., what's right below here), or if I need to try to track him down and ask personal permission. He apparently has a Fanfiction-dot-net profile, but from the looks of it, it hasn't been touched in years, and I don't think trying to contact him via PM will work since it seems he doesn't pay attention to his profile here (hell, if that's even him and not somebody else).

Also, a minor unrelated message: it seems I've been calling Negi Springfield's Device/weapon a 'halberd' incorrectly; the proper term for the weapon I imagined and described is a 'glaive'.

THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY

Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread

Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'

Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries

StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

Naruto (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

Mahō Sensei Negima (characters, spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu

Kingdom Hearts (characters, weapons, enemies, concepts) – Square-Enix

Neon Genesis Evangelion (characters, concepts, tech) – Studio Gainax

Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Hasbro, Lauren Faust

Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay

Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment

Sonic the Hedgehog – SEGA

Gears of War – Epic Games

Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – Columbia Tristar (I think)

Mass Effect – Bioware

Metroid – Nintendo

Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT

The Legend of Zelda – Nintendo

Tōhō – ZUN

RWBY – Rooster Teeth

Pretty Cure / PreCure – Toei Animation

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

-BOOK 26.5 START-

Realm LN-34 – Beacon System – Midchilda

A sizable number of people were gathered in or around RF6 Headquarters, in anticipation of the upcoming four-way Mock Battle to be held in the city-scale training area. Right now, while the rest of their team was spread out as tourists or chatting with others, Erika & Mariko were together in the first-floor lounge, happy and content as they leaned against each other. Erika turned her head to face Mariko, and the pink-haired girl giggled softly and kissed her, earning a soft, happy little noise from the black-haired girl. Erika and Timmy loved each other truly and deeply, as did Mariko and Timmy, but the two girls had also come to feel that same deep, pure love for each other; gender didn't matter in the slightest (and thankfully, all of the DDF's members and member-states were similarly accepting of such things… Plus, they also liked to let Timmy watch them make out).

The two little girls shifted in their seats a little as they snuggled, producing matching quiet rustling/crinkling sounds from beneath their skirts. The fact that both girls needed diapers (Mariko from irreversible damage/atrophy from her life locked up at the Kamakura Facility, and Erika because of that reality-altering artifact 'rewriting' her past so that she'd been in an accident at 7 years old that permanently damaged her ability to control those functions) was one of the things that drew each other's attention when they first met. That had led to talking and getting to know each other, which led to deep friendship and quickly to love (with Timmy along for all that as well). …An interesting tidbit was that, unlike how many incontinent persons were not even aware if/when they were 'going', with Erika & Mariko it was different; sensory nerves still worked fine – whether '1' or '2', they could feel it coming (though with no more than a handful of seconds' warning) and feel it coming out – but the particular muscle actions that would enable them to 'hold it' were completely unresponsive, and would be so forever; they could feel it coming, but not do a damn thing to stop or even slow it.

Fortunately, the DDF provided special diapers for those who needed them (basically just these two girls and Nozomi from Mariko's world, for the moment), inpatients at (mostly TSAB) hospitals that required them for those below a certain age, and those few who – for whatever reasons – occasionally wore voluntarily. They had a few interwoven permanent enchantments – never-leak, smell cancellation – and were custom made/forged for each person they were meant for, to be absolutely perfect in size and comfort for each individual. And, in the event a wearer was in a battle or otherwise needed freedom of movement, a mild 'bigger on the inside' enchantment kicked in, and the normally-bulky outside of the diaper became smaller, only a bit thicker than normal underwear, allowing that freedom of movement. Of course, when not in such a situation, in their natural state, they were thick/bulky/puffy enough to give the wearer a constant, slight yet noticeable (and very cute) 'diaper waddle'. Though, there was also the enchantment that made it so once put on, the diaper could not be removed until it had been 'used'…

At the moment, beneath her lacy white skirt, Mariko was wearing one with the 'original' design that was the first to be introduced: a white 'base' (as was most common for diapers, what most people pictured when they thought about it), but with a light, soft 'baby' pink used for the tapes, the waistband part, and the tiny slightly lacy-looking 'frills' along the leg-holes, the front decal had a row of bright pink hearts on it, and all over the rest of the diaper were countless tiny pale-pink hearts, which would darken to a deeper, more visible pink if – rather, when – the diaper was 'used'. Recently, the manufacturers had started fielding new designs – bunnies, flowers, musical notes… Erika, meanwhile, was wearing the newest design, made as a 'color reversal' to the original: the base, the predominant color, was a soft, light pink, while the tapes, waistband, and leg-hole 'frills' were white, the hearts along the dark-pink-background front decal were pink-tinged white, and the tiny hearts all over were a darker pink than the base, and would turn an easily visible white when 'used'.

"S-So…" Erika spoke up. "You ready for this?"

"We'll do fine" Mariko replied with a grin.

"B-But… We're going up against s-such heavy hitters…"

"In a four-way team match, so they'll be going after each other as much as us. We've all become strong, and now it's time we show them just how much."

Erika nodded in agreement; everyone had been training and helping each other train since the Malia Incident came to a close, in preparation for whatever came next. Among other things, Aqua had stepped up her and Kanba and Laicixa's training, and Naruto was soon going to work on teaching her the Ōdama Rasengan and the Rasenrengan (otherwise known as simply forming two Rasengans, one in each hand, simultaneously). Speaking of which, Naruto had finally become able to form a Rasengan one-handed in his base (as in, not Sage Mode or Tailed-Beast Chakra Mode) state, without using a Shadow Clone, though he still needed a Clone to help with forming a Rasenshuriken… which he had now become able to throw without being in Sage or Tailed-Beast Chakra Mode thanks to clever application of the Wind-type magic he'd started studying, just like Teana and Negi did.

Suddenly, there was a chime from the girls' Omnitools; it was time. Hand in hand, they got down off the couch and got moving.

-SCENE BREAK-

A multitude of people gathered in the magically-generated training ground the size of a small city (complete with abandoned/empty buildings), milling about and quietly discussing ideas with their teammates.

"Okay!" Nanoha clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "We're all here, so let's begin! Today we're all going to be participating in a four-way Team Mock Battle! The participants will be Gamma Team, Sigma Team, Theta Team, and…" she swept her arms out to gesture to herself, Fate, Signum, Vita, Shamal, Zafira, and Arf "Star Team."

"Um…" Mana Kirishima spoke up. "Everyone has seven members except for us. That isn't fair!"

"You're right," Nanoha replied, "which is why I called someone and asked her if she wanted to participate."

"Hey girls" the members of Sigma Team turned to see a girl with shoulder-length pink hair, wearing a dull-green flak-jacket over her red shirt and pink shorts, with green eyes and a green diamond-shaped seal on her forehead. "Mind if I join up with Sigma for this?"

Though a bit surprised, the girls soon smiled and nodded. "Happy to have you, Sakura" Aqua replied.

"A special energy field covering the battle area will make sure all non-magic techniques are converted to non-lethal damage," Nanoha said, "and everyone's magic is also set to deal magical damage rather than physical-type as well. For mock battles, you have 'Life Points'; if you're low, head for any of your team's healers for a refresh, but if you're taken down to zero, you're out of the battle. The primary healers for each team are Shamal for Team Star, Mai for Team Gamma, Asa for Team Sigma, and Caro for Team Theta; since Arf, Kaede Fuyō, and Sakura have some healing powers, while Fate, Aqua, Erika, and Laicixa have Cure spells with their Keyblades, they are all 'secondary healers', allowing them to partially restore teammates' Life Points, but not to the degree that the primary healers can. Finally, healers – both primary and secondary – cannot restore their own Life Points. The winning team will, of course, be the last one with at least one member still in possession of any Life Points. Now then, let's get the four teams to their places."

Lights enveloped everyone present, and the four teams were teleported to the four corners of the battlefield. Holographic Life-Point counters appeared floating by the heads of everyone for a few seconds before fading out, to be displayed on their Omnitools as needed as well as to show up whenever they took damage. A 10-second countdown appeared, and everyone prepared, ensuring weapons/Devices and transformations were done and ready.

The starting horn sounded out, and everyone sprang into action – Shamal, Mai, Asa, and Caro took position near the edges of the battlefield, ready to provide overwatch and healing as needed; Nanoha and Marie took their places low in the air, a bit further in than the healers, with Devices readied and magic charged, prepared to act as long-range bombardment/artillery; and everyone else rushed in to the battlefield proper, some splitting into teams of two or three while others moved solo.

Teana and Sarah moved deeper into the 'city' together, coordinating telepathically to ensure that one of them was always looking wherever the other wasn't. They stayed low, sticking close to structures & alleys, occasionally using flash-steps to cross larger sections of exposed open ground, exposing themselves as little as possible. After a few minutes, they sensed two power-levels flaring in close proximity to one another; from the 'feel' of it, Ginga and Arf had encountered and engaged each other.

As Teana & Sarah moved forward, Sakura suddenly leapt in from the side, landing a short distance ahead of them. She turned, noticing them, and immediately Teana fired a wave of Crossfire Shot bolts. Sakura stomped her foot to the ground, making a wall of rock form and shoot upward into the bolts' path, blocking them. She then punched the rock-wall from her side, converting it into a wave of stone shrapnel aimed at the Gamma duo. Teana used her Sharingan to track the ones heading for her and shoot them down with precision shots, while Sarah drew her gravity hammer and used a well-timed swing and gravitic pulse to deflect and pulverize the ones coming at her. A single one of Teana's bolts managed to sneak in through the dust from the rocks' pulverizations and nail Sakura with a glancing blow, and the pink-haired kunoichi's Life-Point display briefly appeared and showed a very slight decrease from its previously-full state.

Sakura bolted, with Teana moving in pursuit. Sarah was about to follow, when suddenly she spun and brought her hammer up horizontally to block a jumping downward strike from a Keyblade. She was a bit surprised at being ambush-attacked by her baby sister, but she knew she couldn't let that surprise stun her. Indeed, Erika had already leapt back and charged in lower, forcing Sarah to backpedal to avoid the swings from Stroke Of Midnight. Erika was striking fast and close, not giving her big sister room to swing her gravity-hammer, forcing the tall blonde to stay on the defensive. Erika managed to land a 'soft' strike on one of her sister's long legs, causing Sarah's Life-Point gauge to display a small but noticeable drop. In response, Sarah used a burst of Wind magic to send the little girl flying. But even as Erika arced through the air, her Life Points taking a small hit, she formed two quick hand-seals and 'spat' out a burst of Water Release concussive water projectiles. Sarah countered with Fūton: Shinkūgyoku, cancelling out the incoming attack but failing to hit the one who'd launched it, as Erika had used the opportunity to fall back.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the battlefield, Anya took a fighting stance, Fire magic surrounding her fists, as she stared down Kaede Kanade, who had two vectors – set to deal non-lethal / magical damage – out and ready. After several seconds, Anya made the first move, the fiery little girl thrusting her fists forward and launching a shotgun-esque cluster of little fireballs. Kaede quickly used her vectors to deflect the blasts, and then had to use one to block a super-strength, fire-wreathed punch from the other girl. Anya then lashed out with a flame-enhanced kick, but Kaede used another vector to block that, and a third to block a punch from the other fist. However, when she brought the fourth vector out, Anya aimed & timed her follow-up perfectly, the fiery kick knocking the spectral appendage back and away. She then twisted her limbs out of Kanade's vectors' grasp, and lashed out with a punch that hit the Diclonius dead-center of her gut, making her cry out in shocked pain as she was knocked back, a sizable chunk of her Life Points taken out. But Kaede managed to launch a counter, and her kick – enhanced in power by temporarily 'melding' a vector with her leg – launched Anya back a few meters and did some respectable Life-Point damage of her own.

As the two circled each other and occasionally tested each other with 'light' magical projectiles, Ahsoka stood watching atop a nearby two-story building, wondering which one to go after first. She was forced to halt her considerations, however, when Aqua announced her sudden arrival nearby in the form of a Prism Rain barrage. Ahsoka cursed under her breath and used her lightsabers to deflect some of the multi-colored magic blasts, but a few of them got through and hit, taking some of her Life Points. She focused her mind & her energies and charged, locking blades with the Keyblade Mistress. After several seconds of dueling, they both jumped back to dodge an orange Lightning magic blast, as Laicixa leapt into the fray. It quickly became a three-way fight, Keyblades and lightsabers clashing in blurs of movement. And the fact that Fate was close enough to sense the two battles and was moving to investigate meant it was probably about to get even more complicated.

Timmy Robbins and Erio Mondial stuck together as they moved through the sizable mock-battle zone. Even by the standards of being teammates and close friends, the two boys worked well together; they were both melee-oriented Lightning specialists, one with a spear and the other with a specially-forged short-sword, and they even had very similar personalities and understood each other's thought processes. …In addition, despite being in a dedicated three-way relationship with Caro and Laicixa, Erio had become attracted – physically and emotionally – to Timmy. And Timmy, despite being in a dedicated three-way relationship with Erika & Mariko, was not only not put off by this in the slightest, but actually seemed to reciprocate to some degree (it helped a little that, when his hair was down and hanging loose instead of spiked up by his natural Lightning magic energy, Erio looked kinda girly).

"See anything yet?" Timmy asked.

"No," Erio replied, "but I can sense that a few fights have started already."

"And another one's about to start right now" a new voice chimed in.

The two boys spun around, seeing Mana Kirishima – Sigma-4 – standing there with arms crossed and a confident grin as her chakra flared up. She gave the boys a 'Bring It' gesture, and they charged their weapons with Lightning chakra and moved in.

Moving together, Shion and Kaede Fuyō suddenly had to jump back to dodge a slicing wall of flame that cut into the ground in front of them. Signum came in for a landing, Leavantein at the ready, and the two Gamma members felt wary as they remembered who they were up against. But they had an ace available.

'Marie,' Shion contacted telepathically, 'We need an H.E. strike – Danger Close, about 15 meters ahead of us. It's Signum.'

"Got it" the team's designated bombardment mage replied. "I have your coordinates. Firing!"

Signum readied her blade, slowly walking forward and preparing to break out into a flash-step spring to catch the two (comparatively) less-experienced girls off guard, maybe take out both at once. However, she was the one who ended up being caught off guard, as a sizable purple 'shell' of explosive magical energy came sailing in at high speed in an arc, detonating right over her head with considerable force. She managed to toss up a quick Shield, but she still took some Life-Point damage. Furthermore, Shion & Kaede had disappeared. Already, the duo was a good distance away.

"Shit, that was close" Shion breathed out. "I'd need Khan's power to take her on, and I'm not so sure she'd give me the time to bring it out."

"At least we got away for now" Kaede said.

"Oh come on, now" a new, young voice chimed in. "Shouldn't you know by this point how bad it is to tempt fate, carrot-top?"

The two girls looked behind and up, seeing Vita grinning at them, Graf Eisen readied. Sighing, they got ready to fight, readying Void Blade and bone-blade, knowing there was no getting out of this one.

Three figures moved about, in blurs of auras silver, blue, and bright pink. Zafira, Subaru, and Mariko were frequently trading attacks with each other, melee blows along with ranged attacks. Mariko used her vectors to withstand a Divine Burst from Subaru, only to barely dodge an electrified lariat from Zafira, who was then hit by a Revolver-Knuckle punch from Subaru, who then took a blast of slicing Wind chakra from Mariko, who then found a silver chain of magic wrap around her ankle and toss her into the side of a nearby building. Eventually, the three of them did enough damage to each other that they were forced to retreat, heading back toward their teams' respective healers for a Life-Point recharge.

Various skirmishes broke out and broke apart over the next several minutes as the Mock Battle wore on. From her position near the north of the battlefield, Nanoha watched them all, and occasionally added her input in the form of long-range beams and blasts of bright-pink magical power. She also saw as purple-hued blasts flew out as well; at the moment, she had a Search Drone trying to find Marie's precise location, but the petite girl (or her arm-cannon Device) had some form of low-level obfuscation field going that hindered Nanoha's searching. At the moment, she was watching as Teana, Fate, and Aqua zoomed about in the air, firing blasts at one another.

Suddenly, Nanoha brought up a quick-formed shield to block an electrified Ki blast; it had come from close by, and her hastily-formed shield wasn't able to stop 100% of the damage, taking a little chunk out of her Life Points. She then brought Raising Heart up to block a strike from Ahsoka's lightsabers, and countered with a kick. The alien girl rolled with the blow and came back for more, engaging Nanoha in a duel. Thanks to her adept training in the family kenjutsu and her own plentiful personal experience, Nanoha was able to keep up with the former Jedi, even putting her on the defensive at some points. As she fought, she had data briefly projected onto her retina by Raising Heart: Ahsoka's Life-Point count was a little below 50%, having lost some in her earlier four-way fight with Aqua, Laicixa, and Fate. The girl had forged ahead without going back to Mai for healing, believing that what she had left was plenty for this.

Brave, but maybe not the smartest decision.

Nanoha pressed her attack, soon locking her staff against Ahsoka's blades, pushing, trying to outmuscle her. Then, however, Ahsoka grinned, and Nanoha cried out in surprise and pain as the alien girl's Chidori Nagashi transferred a nasty shock, taking a bite out of Nanoha's Life Points. Ahsoka followed with a kick that did some more damage, but was then hit by Nanoha's countering magic-charged left hook that did plenty of LP damage of her own. Undeterred, Ahsoka charged in again… but this time, as Nanoha blocked the girl's next attack, pink chains of magic light sprang into being, wrapping around Ahsoka's arms and holding her in place. Nanoha floated up and back, pointed Raising Heart at the girl and started rapidly charging power, injecting four mana cartridges into it. Ahsoka frantically tried to break free as she saw and sensed Nanoha's magic gathering. After a few seconds she succeeded, and launched herself right at the older girl, hoping to reach and counterattack in time.

She was too slow.

Multiple small pink beams of Light magic shot out around the growing central sphere, grazing Ahsoka and boxing her in. Then, the main beam fired. Ahsoka was completely engulfed by Nanoha's newest technique: Strike Stars. When the dust faded, the Togrutan teen lay splayed out on the pavement, her Life-Point counter reading zero.

Nanoha sighed. "If you'd gone back to get healed, and taken me on with max Life Points, you probably could've withstood that" she said to the dazed girl as she floated back to her original position, waiting for when her bombardment magic was needed again. "Of course, I don't have the time right now to go get myself a recharge…"

"Gamma-6 is down" a robotic announcer's voice rang out over everyone's communicators. "Star-1 has taken out Gamma-6."

From her position near the battlefield's eastern edge, Mai Kitagawa frowned; their team had been the first to lose a member. So far, she was still going strong, though not for lack of trying by the enemy's part; she'd had to fend off two attacks, one by Anya and one by Ginga, the latter being chased off by Sarah when the tall blonde came in for a Life-Point recharge after managing to drive her baby sister to retreat. Mai's Life Points had a bit of a dent in them, but she still had plenty left. She took a deep breath…

…And then eyes widened in shock as she hurriedly leapt to the side, barely dodging a pavement-shattering heel drop from Sakura. The shockwave and proximity was enough to shave a tiny sliver off her Life Points.

"It took me some time and some Life Points to slip away from Teana," the combat medic said, "but now I can get back to my goal for this battle: taking out the other teams' healers!"

Mai took a defensive stance in response, a light aura of red chakra flaring around her as she called upon a small fraction of the Hachibi's power. The two girls rushed in, blocking each other's first punches as they met in the middle. The girls exchanged blows, blocking and dodging. Mai landed a right straight that dealt a blow to Sakura's Life Points, only for a rising knee from Sakura to deal some damage right back. They kept blocking and occasionally hitting each other, their Life Points steadily declining; they seemed to be evenly matched.

As the two started to get low in LP, Mai managed to block a strike from Sakura and use a counter to throw the other girl off-balance. Quickly, she then charged power into her right arm, and rushed forward with a powerful Lariat attack. It struck Sakura head-on… but Sakura managed to just barely block it, lessening the damage so that her Life Points withstood the hit. The pink-haired kunoichi grinned, and launched a rising counter-strike that stunned Mai and left her a couple feet in the air, right at the perfect height for the follow-up. Sakura let out a mighty kiai as she brought a full-strength punch downward. The impact of Mai's body with the ground produced a sizable crater, shaking the earth and rattling windows over a dozen meters away. When the dust settled, Mai was laying face-down in the new crater, her Life Point display reading zero. Taking a breath, Sakura headed out to look for Aqua for a partial LP recharge.

"Gamma-5 is down. Sigma-7 has taken out Gamma-5."

Marie scanned the battlefield, searching for targets. In addition to firing off occasional blasts when she saw targets of opportunity or was directed as an artillery strike by her teammates, she'd also been in a couple direct fights; Anya had tried tackling her and had to be chased off, and Arf had responded to Marie shooting at her & Ginga's fight by going after her instead, and had taken some effort and some Life Points to drive back. Now, she kept an eye out, with Charon providing a HUD with a zoom function to assist her. The searching paid off before long, as she spotted something to the southwest: Erika, perched on a rooftop, pointing her Keyblade at something off to her northwest (Marie's west) and just starting to charge up what looked like was going to be a pretty sizable amount of pink-hued magic.

"Sorry, sis" Marie remarked as she pointed Charon and began charging power, injecting a couple mana cartridges. "I'll get you some ice cream afterwards to make it up to you for this…"

Erika took a deep breath as she focused on her target and on charging magical power. She'd managed to pinpoint Nanoha's location to the northwest while the white-clad young woman was distracted by something else, and she fully intended to take advantage of this opportunity. Her Life Points were a bit low after fights against Sarah and Subaru that she'd managed to pull back from, but thankfully that didn't affect her offensive abilities.

'I-If I can take out their bombardment mage,' she thought, 'it'll m-make things easier for us…'

"Found you~"

Nanoha murmured in a sing-song tone as her search finally paid off, pinpointing Marie's location to the east. Readying Raising Heart in long-range mode, she began quickly readying an attack powerful enough to close the deal, injecting a few cartridges to boost the process.

Soon, three large and powerful beams of Light magic fired, cutting through the air as they careened towards their targets. …And only now, when they couldn't move, did the trio notice the attacks heading towards them.

"Hm. Well-played, Erika-chan."

"Well, I'll be damned. The same time Erika had her zeroed, she had me zeroed."

"Eh? …M-Marie, huh? Guess I shoulda watched my back more…"

Three attacks hit, three explosions rang out, and three Life Point counters dropped to zero.

"Star-1, Gamma-4, and Theta-2 are all down. They have taken each other out."

In the middle of her fight against Vita, Mariko winced a little at the announcement. Erika was Theta Team's number-one heavy hitter; despite the girl's shy and humble self-view, they all knew she had become more powerful than Laicixa by now, and she was well on the way to surpassing Theta's leader in combat skill as well. Laicixa was mainly still the leader because of superior tactical leadership skill. And she was working on helping Erika become equal to or perhaps a little better than her at that as well; in the event that happened, Laicixa would likely make it so she and Erika shared joint command of the squad, or even 'demote' herself and give Erika command of Theta Team. Losing her meant Theta's chances of coming out the victor in this four-way Mock Battle had just taken a noticeable drop; if they lost Laicixa as well…

The pint-sized powerhouse of a Diclonius returned her attention to her similarly-sized yet much older opponent. Vita may have had the eternally un-aging body of a little girl, but she had over four centuries of experience under her belt; thus, Mariko had to give it her all in this fight against the Wolkenritter's Iron Hammer Knight. It wasn't one-sided, however; Vita was missing a good amount of Life Points. In fact, after fending off Timmy & Erio, and now this present battle, her LP count was actually a little lower than Mariko's current count. But she wasn't going to let that slow her down.

Mariko grunted as she used several vectors to block a strike from Graf Eisen, and then cried out as a few remote-guided Schwalbe-Fliegen struck her from behind, draining her LP some more. She growled and flash-stepped in, and a vector-strengthened heavy punch to Vita's jaw rocked the redhead back and took another chunk of her Life Points. A kick followed, but Vita managed to reduce it to a glancing blow, dash in past the pink-haired girl's spectral appendages, and land a blow from Graf Eisen. Mariko was sent skidding back, a sizable amount of her Life Points taken out; her LP was at 22% now. Vita came in for a follow-up attack… only to charge right into a quick-formed, point-blank ki blast from Mariko that blew her back, dealing enough damage to bring her Life Points down to only 17%.

Vita let out an angry war-cry as she injected a cartridge into Graf Eisen. The enchanted hammer then grew several times larger, and she swung with all her might. However, Mariko then formed 20 of her vectors into four extra-large, Susanō-esque 'super vectors', and the four of them just barely managed to catch the blow, holding it in place. Then, her remaining six vectors – rendered invisible until now – grabbed hold of Vita and yanked her in at high speed, straight into a max-force punch from one of the super-vectors. The massive blow took out most of Vita's remaining Life Points and sent her hurtling into the side of a building, the impact taking out what was left.

"Star-4 is down. Theta-6 has taken out Star-4."

Mariko let out a cheer at her little victory. She turned around, preparing to head back to Caro for a recharge… and the smile on her face just barely had enough time to drop as she saw the huge beam of red-orange energy careening towards her. When the ensuing explosion faded, Mariko was half-lying on a piece of rubble, with comically swirly eyes, her head and upper body hanging over the chunk of rubble's edge and lower half propped up on the rubble chunk, her diapered butt sticking up in the air.

"Theta-6 is down. Gamma-1 has taken out Theta-6."

Asa Shigure, designated healer of Sigma Team, kept her eyes on the holo-screen displays showing the ongoing battle from her post near the south edge of the battlefield. So far, her team was the only one not to have lost any members… yet. It wasn't for lack of trying, though; already she'd had to heal a few of her teammates, as well as hide to avoid being found and attacked by Arf when she passed by overhead a little while ago. If Sigma Team's luck could just hold out…

Suddenly, Asa sensed something nearby. She turned, and tossed up a Shield spell just in time to block a barrage of Chidori Senbon. Another one was used to block a strike from Erio, his spear Strada crackling with Lightning magic as he pushed against her defense, and then she cried out in surprise and pain as Timmy landed a heavy electrified slash across her unprotected back, dealing a significant blow to her Life Points. She gritted her teeth and retaliated with a two-direction shockwave, blowing both boys back and dealing a little LP damage.

Asa then drew her two-pronged plasma sword, its different-colored glow from normal denoting it being changed by the convert-to-magic-damage field that surrounded the battle zone. She fired a wave of green-hued, Light-type Sagitta Magica at the two boys, which they dodged and countered with their own Lightning-variant magic arrows that she stopped cold with her Shield spell. She moved in with a Round Shield spell 'mounted' to her left forearm and her energy blade in her right hand, attacking Erio. The red-haired boy used the shaft of his Device to block her strikes, until Timmy came to his aid and pushed Asa back a little, though failing to get past her defense. Asa kicked it up a notch, showing the results of the training she'd had herself put through since joining Sigma Team, actually managing to match both boys at once. Soon, she had an opening. She ducked under a horizontal swing of Timmy's short-sword and landed a rising slash on Erio, and followed this by quickly deactivating her blade, stunning Timmy with a shield-bash, and hitting him with a magic-supercharged punch. Both boys fell back a few meters, now missing quite a bit of Life Points.

After telepathically discussing things, Erio & Timmy moved in again. This time they changed tactics, sacrificing attack power for speed, enabling them to land a handful of blows that were weak, but plentiful and too fast for Asa to completely block, chipping away at her LP count. Erio then jumped back and attacked with Stahlmesser, a red-hued slicing wave of magic cutting through Asa's defense and dealing more damage. A Raikahōken from Timmy was next, shattering her damaged Round Shield. Finally, the boys gathered their energies, using the powerful Vetus-system spell Negi had taught the both of them, and unleashed it on the still-off-balance Asa:

"Dios Tukos!"

Being hit by two 'Axe of Lightning' spells simultaneously was too much for Asa's remaining Life Points to take. She fell to her knees, her counter now reading zero.

"Sigma-6 is down. Theta-3 and Theta-4 have taken out Sigma-6."

Both boys stopped to catch their breath, and looked at their own Life-Point gauges.

"That was a little tough" Timmy said. "For now, let's head back to-"

"Theta-5 is down. Sigma-2 and Sigma-4 have taken out Theta-5."

'Sorry, everyone…' Caro's telepathic voice came to her teammates, sounding weary. 'They were too much for me at the same time…'

"I guess Ginga and Mana had the same idea as you two…" Asa said to them.

Rather upset at having let their healer be taken down while they were busy elsewhere, the two boys headed back deeper into the battle-zone, now knowing they'd need to be more cautious with their below-50% Life Points and no way to recover any unless they found Laicixa.

In another section of the battle-zone, two calm, cool, experienced (and tall & buxom) mage-swordswomen stared each other down, blades held at the ready. Neither Signum nor Aqua moved for several seconds. Then, in a flash of movement, they rushed in at each other, Laevantine and the Master Keeper meeting with the sound of clashing metal. The two young women moved with swiftness and grace as well as force and refined ferocity, neither one able to overcome the defense of the other. After several seconds of intense dueling, the two of them leapt back from each other, gathering magical power. Aqua fired three waves of Ragnarok blasts, the little bolts of Light magic spiraling through the air. Signum managed to block some with her Shield-spell and sword, but others got around her defense, taking away some Life Points. However, she then fired off a Hiryū Issen, dealing damage to Aqua's LP count in turn.

Signum fired a Ki blast, but Aqua blocked it with a Reflega spell. Aqua then tossed out two Suikōdan no Jutsu, but Signum cut the water-sharks apart with her blade. The 'Blazing General' then formed a large, serpentine dragon of flame and unleashed it on Aqua, who in turn conjured and sent out a tiger made of Ice magic, which was melted on impact with the fire-dragon into a torrent of water that doused the flames. A Thundaga from Aqua and a low-power (compared to its normal, 'Limit Break' level of power) Sturmfalke from Signum impacted their respective targets, taking out more Life Points. The two charged each other, and Signum's fighting style gradually became more aggressive as the duel began to wear on; this enabled her to start landing solid blows on Aqua, but at the same time the increased aggressive offense came at the cost of some defense, enabling Aqua – who was becoming able to pick up on the pink-haired young woman's moves and style – to land some good hits of her own.

After a few minutes of intense dueling, both young women were panting lightly for breath, numerous instances of damage to their outfits; their Life Points were in the red. Channeling their power into their blades, such that Laevantine and the Master Keeper glowed faintly with power, they charged at each other for a final, single-stroke clash. There was a flash of light as they struck, stopping in place just past each other, leaned forward with blades held out. Then, they both collapsed, their Life-Point counts hitting zero together.

"Sigma-1 and Star-3 are both down. They have taken each other out."

Standing atop a rooftop near the battlefield's western edge, Shamal sighed as she oversaw the battle; things weren't going as well for Team Star as was hoped, what with already having lost Nanoha, Vita, and now Signum – three of the team's heaviest hitters. At least, though, the other teams were taking losses as well; among other things, she was the last 'primary healer' still active. Of course, she knew full well this made her an attractive target, so she needed to be on her guard.

Even so, she was almost caught completely unprepared by the sizable Katon: Gōkakyū that came sailing in at her. Letting out a startled squeak, she blasted it with a wave of Wind magic that managed to slow and partially blow away the fireball, but not stop or completely dispel it. The somewhat-weakened fireball hit her, knocking her back and taking a chunk out of her Life Points. The perpetrator came into view, Shion landing on the rooftop with Void Blade ready.

Shion tried to charge in, zigzagging, but Shamal predicted her movements and blasted her with a focused wave of blowing and slicing wind, taking multiple bites out of the green-haired girl's Life Points. Shion planted her feet to avoid being blown away, though, and as soon as the attack cut out she rapidly closed the distance and attacked with an energy-blade slash that Shamal only partially dodged, losing more LP from the glancing hit. Shamal countered with a punch of surprising strength, taking out more of Shion's Life Points, and Shion's return was a powerful headbutt that lowered Shamal's Life Points some more while also shaving off a little of her own as 'recoil'.

Shion suddenly vanished, a 'whorl' of black smoke signaling her Void Jump. Shamal looked around, waiting for the inevitable follow-up… but she neglected to look up until she heard the sudden whirling sound dropping from above, seeing Shion falling at her with Rasengan in hand. Shamal could not get out of the way in time, and the Shield she quickly tossed up had been formed too quickly to be durable enough to withstand the sphere of compressed, chaotically rotating chakra. The green Round Shield shattered, and Shion's Rasengan slammed Shamal straight down into the rooftop, making it buckle from the force. By the time the attack cut out, Shamal's Life Points had been reduced to zero, leaving her lying dazed in the center of the small crater.

"Star-5 is down. Gamma-2 has taken out Star-5."

Shion barely had time to dwell on her accomplishment before she had to toss up a quick-formed shield of her own to block a heavy punch from Subaru.

"I guess you had the same idea as me, huh?" the blue-haired girl asked. "A shame you beat me to it. I guess I'll have to take you out instead!"

"Don't think it'll be that easy" Shion replied as she Void-Jumped out of Subaru's way, reappearing to strike from the other girl's seven-o-clock. Subaru managed to twist to the side, turning Shion's Void-Blade thrust into a glancing blow that dealt less Life-Point damage than Shion had wanted. She followed with a kick that did a little more damage, but Subaru then ducked under the follow-up horizontal chop and hit Shion with a rising elbow strike, lowering her LP count further.

Shion growled, and then pulled her right arm back, forming another Rasengan. Subaru did the same with her left, the two girls forming their techniques, and then they charged in, slamming their Rasengans against each other. They planted their feet and pushed hard, trying to outmuscle the other, the two spheres of power distorting slightly as they were pressed against each other, neither one giving. Shion and Subaru's bodies flared with green and blue chakra auras as they called upon their Tailed Beasts' power, making the Rasengans grow larger and tinting them with their respective owners' colors. The ground beneath them started to crack and buckle.

Then, a grin took shape on Subaru's face. Shion's eyes widened, as she heard the distinctive sound of another Rasengan being formed. She barely had time to see Subaru's Revolver Knuckle-clad right hand coming in before it slammed the second Rasengan into her torso just below her breasts, grinding into her and then detonating with spiraling concussive force that launched her hurtling backwards, tumbling to a stop over a dozen meters away, her Life-Point display dropping to zero.

"Gamma-2 is down. Sigma-3 has taken out Gamma-2."

Over the next minute or so, combatants hunted for each other or engaged in skirmishes. Then, however, a lone figure soared up into the air, taking position high over the center of the battlefield. Teana's aura of magic and ki/chakra flared as she charged up a very large amount of power, hands held out to her sides as energy gathered in her palms. Finally, she released in the form of a powerful and massive energy bombardment, covering a very wide range across the battlefield. The barrage of magic and ki blasts kept going for some time, taking down buildings and kicking up smoke and debris. The other teams' remaining members were sent scattering to try and avoid it, and many were not successful, as she methodically swept the area.

Finally, when the barrage ended and the dust began to fade, Teana floated in place in the air, panting for breath. Her Life-Points were now below 50%; she'd sacrificed a portion of her Life Points to fuel the enormous bombardment. Down below, eight figures – Ginga, Mana, Kaede K., Sakura, Timmy, Erio, Anya, and Arf – lay about, groaning softly as Life-Point holo-displays above them read 'zero'.

"Sigma-2, Sigma-4, Sigma-5, Sigma-7, Theta-3, Theta-4, Theta-7, and Star-7 are all down. Gamma-1 has taken them all out."

Now, Gamma was down to three members, Sigma had just one left, Theta had one, and Star had two. Sarah and Kaede Fuyō, warned beforehand of what was coming, had taken shelter, but even they had lost a little LP as collateral damage (though they did not begrudge Teana for that, and were in fact surprised they hadn't lose more after such a heavy bombardment). The other teams' 'survivors' – Fate, Zafira, Subaru, and Laicixa – had also lost some Life Points as they avoided as much of the barrage as they could. Now, as Teana floated back down, the remaining combatants were already resuming their hunt for one another.

Kaede and Fate almost literally ran into each other as their perpendicular paths crossed. Skidding to a stop, Kaede immediately fired off a Teshi Sendan, which Fate blocked with a Round Shield and countered with Photon Lancer. Kaede withdrew a bone-blade and channeled her Lightning chakra through it, cutting through the golden energy bolts. She formed another blade, and it became darker in color as she channeled Earth chakra through it. She then charged at Fate, the clang of metal sounding out as she used axe-form Bardiche to block the orange-haired girl's blows. The buxom blonde winced as a grazing strike from the Earth-enhanced boneblade took out a little of her Life-Points, but then she hit Fuyō with a leg-sweep followed by smacking her with the broad side of her Device, dealing respectable LP damage.

Fate then switched Bardiche to Zanbar Form, a long blade of golden magical energy taking shape. A heavy jab with the pommel of her Device-blade knocked the wind out of Kaede and did more LP damage, but the smaller girl bent over backwards to dodge a follow-up horizontal swing, and lashed out with a double-kick. Fate rolled with the blow, lessening the Life-Point loss, and before Kaede could get fully back on her feet the Lightning mage fired a few Photon Lancer bolts, the impact of which sent Kaede rolling. Kaede came to a stop, springing to her feet, but Fate was already right there. Fate spun, using a strike from her Barrier Jacket's cape to briefly stun and disorient Kaede, and then dashed forward with a full-power swing of Bardiche Zanbar. There was a flash of golden light, and Kaede collapsed in Fate's wake, her Life Points at zero.

"Gamma-3 is down. Star-2 has taken down Gamma-3."

Zafira had his super-sharp senses tuned as he slowly wandered through the rubble-strewn battle-zone. As such, he was able to react in time to block a falling strike, his gauntlet blocking the gravity-assisted downward swing of Midnight Roar. Laicixa leapt back, firing a wave of orange-hued Photon Lancer shots, and Zafira's powerful Shield spell tanked them effortlessly. He had a bit more trouble, though, with the sizable serpent made of Lighting magic (the Raihebidan wasn't as powerful as the Rairyūdan, but it still packed quite a punch). The Guardian Beast of the Wolkenritter leapt back to dodge the thunder-snake after it bit his Round Shield in two, and then he slammed his palms to the ground, casting Steel Yoke; the silvery-white spears of magic shot up from the ground, impaling the construct and dispelling it.

Zafira then went on the attack, moving with surprising speed as he lashed out with an electrified punch that broke through Laicixa's hasty shield and knocked her back, taking out some of her Life Points. His tall, muscled body was then enveloped in a surging, sparking aura of blue Lightning chakra – Raiton no Yoroi. Laicixa flashed in, landing a solid, magic-charged strike with her Keyblade, but the increased defense of Zafira's chakra armor reduced the Life-Point loss enough for him to withstand it. He then grabbed hold of her, lifted her high overhead…

"Raiton: Liger Bomb!-!"

…and power-bombed her so hard the ground beneath him shattered. With her Life Points already reduced by the previous battles and the bombardment, this was more than enough to bring Laicixa down to zero.

"Theta-1 is down. Star-6 has taken down Theta-1. No members of Theta Team remain active."

The wolf-man carefully laid Laicixa down, checking her over to make sure the battle-zone-encompassing field was still working and she hadn't actually been hurt. Satisfied, he dispelled his Lightning Release Armor… and eyes widened as he turned and formed a Shield just in time to stop a full-powered, Revolver Knuckle punch from a charging Subaru. The blue-haired girl gritted her teeth as she pushed against Zafira's shield, the gears of her right arm's Device spinning. Slowly, she pushed part of her fist through, and then she forced her fingers open, making a hole in the shield. With a sudden application of force on the new weak point, she shattered the solid-magic barrier, and then with her other hand she took a compressed ball of bluish-white magical energy – her 'Divine Burst' – and rammed it into Zafira's chest. The Guardian Beast cried out as the blast sent him flying back, his already-low Life Points dropping to zero.

"Star-6 is down. Sigma-3 has taken down Star-6."

Subaru was about to start looking for Fate or Teana, when a different tall blonde dropped in. She and Sarah looked at each other, and then identical grins formed on their faces as they readied themselves and charged in, Subaru dispelling her boots' wheels so she could get more traction and kick better. Subaru managed to land a rising kick that knocked Sarah's hammer up and away, and Sarah responded by grabbing an overextended right arm and yanking Subaru's power-glove off, tossing it aside. It became a bare-fisted battle, dodging and blocking and countering, the two girls gradually wearing each other's Life Points down.

Subaru landed a right cross that knocked Sarah's head to the side, a shockwave continuing on past her, and Sarah retaliated with a straight side-kick that made Subaru double over, producing the same effect. They kept going, bringing each other into the red. Finally, Subaru ducked under a swing and landed a full-force punch with her bare right fist that knocked Sarah back …However, even as she began to fall, Sarah brought her leg around for a powerful kick to the side of Subaru's head, knocking her away as well. The two girls hit the ground, their Life-Point counters reading zero.

"Gamma-7 and Sigma-3 are both down. They have taken each other out. No members of Sigma Team remain active."

Seconds later, the final two combatants arrived on the scene. Teana and Fate stared each other down, energy blades ready, as their hair was blown by a dramatic wind. Then, they charged in, and sparks flew as their blades met over and over, golden and red-orange lights dancing. Block, parry, thrust, swing, sway, dodge… The two of them looked rather graceful as they dueled, but there was obvious intensity as well. They both managed to land plenty of lighter blows, wearing each other's Life Points down into the red before too long.

Finally, Teana managed a rising strike that knocked Bardiche Zanbar out of Fate's grasp, sending it sailing through the air. When she went for a follow-up downward strike with her Mirage Longswords, however, Fate caught her wrists and squeezed, forcing her to drop the weapons, which deactivated as they fell to the ground. It became an unarmed duel, the two of them proving just as skilled bare-handed as they were with swords. Soon, they knocked each other back, and both of them focused their energies, readying everything they had left to spare into one fist. They charged in, lashing out, and the sound of two simultaneous impacts rang out.

The two stood in place for a few seconds. Fate had managed to partially twist to the side, avoiding the full force of Teana's blow; she had a bare sliver of Life Points left. Teana, in contrast, had taken the full force of Fate's strike, and as she fell forward into Fate's arms, her Life-Point counter dropped to zero.

"Gamma-1 is down. Star-2 has taken out Gamma-1. No members of Gamma Team remain active. Star-2 is the sole remaining combatant. Team Star is the winner of the Four-Way Mock Battle!"

"Nice job…" Teana said weakly, a small smile on her tired face.

"You almost had me" Fate replied, sounding rather tired herself. "If I'd taken the entirety of that blow, this match would've been a draw."

Little fanfare victory music played over some of the speakers, as the defeated combatants helped themselves and each other to their feet. Even the losing team members had to admit: this whole thing had been pretty fun.

-Scene Break-

Everybody hung out in various little groupings, discussing various things, comparing notes and offering commentary on techniques & strategies used in the Mock Battle, that sort of thing.

"I watched you in action" Sakura said to Sarah. "Now I know for sure: you're definitely using the same type of strength-enhancement technique that Tsunade-sama and I use – building up your chakra and unleashing it at the exact point & time of impact. …Sarah, if you have the chakra control for that, you also have the chakra control to be a good medic-nin."

"Huh? But… Gamma Team already has two healers. Wouldn't three out of seven be too many?"

"You can never have too many combatants with medical training in a squad, especially one that routinely sees heavy combat like Gamma Team does. …When you have some free time, come by Konoha; I'd like to see what Tsunade-sama thinks."

Meanwhile, two tall, well-built individuals with lupine ears and tails stood back and observed.

"It's kinda hard to believe sometimes…" Arf sighed. "How much Fate has grown…"

"Indeed" Zafira rumbled. "She has come a long way since the quiet, traumatized child I first met a decade ago."

"Even so, there are still bits of that in her, ones that'll never go away, most likely. …I'm not sure she'd be quite so gentle and motherly otherwise…" the wolf-girl grinned. "Or such a worrywart…"

Zafira let out a soft chuckle.

"You really got me good out there" Nanoha said with a smile as she petted Erika on the head. "I see you've got the hang of the Divine Buster already…"

"Eheheh…" Erika blushed at the praise. "I've b-been working as hard as I can on a l-lot of things. …It was k-kinda funny that you, me, a-and Marie all took each other out like that at the s-same time…"

A breeze swept by, and Erika let out a soft 'Eeep' as her skirt briefly fluttered upward. Nanoha made a soft questioning noise, and then she kneeled down and lifted the girl's skirt, earning another squeak.

"Oh, Erika-chan, this is such a cute diapie! Is this one of the new designs?"

"Y-Yeah…" the little girl murmured, blushing rather brightly now.

Nanoha let out a cuteness-struck giggle as she pulled Erika into a close, loving hug, one hand petting the girl's head while the other slid beneath Erika's skirt to softly pat her padded bottom. Erika was blushing, but at the same time she wrapped her arms around the auburn-haired young woman and let out a soft, content sigh, feeling safe and soothed. Fate was very, very maternal and soft and gentle for all to see, with powerful maternal instincts and a loving demeanor. But although Fate looked more like Erika's big sister, Nanoha was actually more like Sarah in personality: cheerful, friendly, playful and a bit mischievous, but with all that hiding extremely powerful maternal instincts and the deep desire to mother and take care of and fawn on those younger than her, even stronger (a little) than Fate's. All this meant that after starting to associate with Nanoha more due to her bonding with little Vivio, Erika had become very taken with her, very quickly. Sarah didn't really mind at all, happy to see the shy and withdrawn Erika open her heart to more people (though Sarah's status of being younger than Nanoha & Fate meant that the two of them were quite happy to subtly do the same with her as well). And of course, Timmy & Mariko's closeness with Erika meant they were both 'subjected' to it also, not that they minded; the same went for how Fate's guardianship of Erio & Caro had led Nanoha to help in taking care of them.

"We should do this again sometime," Teana spoke up, "maybe switch the teams around – mix & match."

"That sounds good" Fate replied.

"It should be interesting" Aqua added.

-CHAPTER END-

Next Time, we got into the (fairly recent) past, and see how the final battles of the NTO-Verse, against Madara and Kaguya, went differently from canon in the Travels timeline.