Disclaimers: I do not own Negima or High School DxD. For that matter, I technically do not own this story either.

This story was originally called "The Wildcard" and was written by kroz phantomville here on . Real Life however, decided to interfere with his storytelling, and thus he decided to put the story up for adoption. Since I enjoyed the story he had started, I decided to adopt it and asked permission to do so.

That was several months ago. He was quicker to respond in the affirmative than I have been in rewriting the story. I've been slow to write this only because I have two large projects I am working on already. If you've read my profile, you can already guess what those two projects are.

So why add this to my workload? Because I liked it enough to ask permission to write this my own way.

Reviews encourage me to keep writing. So please read and review.

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Chapter 1

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God of Lighting Meets Dragon of Dragons.

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"Drat."

Negi Springfield looked around. He was floating someplace alien to him. It was completely devoid of anything except color. Every color from the darkest reds all the way to shades of violet swirled around him. Nothing existed to serve as an indicator of where he was.

"Where am I?" he muttered aloud.

He looked around again, trying to focus his vision on anything that he could see. After a moment, he gave up the search, closed his eyes and tried to think.

He had been testing a new spell he created that would allow for instant travel from Mundus Magicus to Mundus Vetus. Instead of using the gates between the two realms, which took up far too much time in his opinion, the spell would use trans-dimensional dislocation to allow a mage in one realm to 'step' through to a location of his choosing in the other realm. He had obviously messed up in his calculations and was now struck in this place.

Negi sighed and tried to extend his senses outward. He kept his eyes shut so that he would not rely on vision alone. Especially since that vision was shaping up to appear as if he was trapped inside some sort of lava lamp.

After a moment, Negi felt a presence behind him. He willed his body to turn and opened his eyes.

A dragon floated before him. He couldn't tell it's size as there was nothing nearby to use for comparison, but it appeared to be quite large, if he had to guess. Its scales were the color of rust, which told him that it wasn't a newborn dragon at any rate.

The other indication that told Negi that this wasn't a newborn dragon was it's presence. This dragon exuded power and authority. This was it's realm, Negi realized, and he was intruding in it. This dragon could fight with him if it wanted, and perhaps even overpower him.

For the first time in ages, Negi was excited. He had fought the Lifemaker three times before his arrival here in this place, and each time felt the exhilaration of the fight. He had not needed to fight in a long time, as his powers had never diminished. Most of the fights he had involved himself in were more political than physical, and he missed the act of physical combat.

Negi fought to keep his excitement from reaching his face as he greeted the dragon before him, "Hello?"

The greeting came out more questioning than he would have liked, but if that annoyed the dragon, it did not show on his face, "What are you doing in this place, brat?"

"If I knew how I arrived here in this place, I would tell you. I am Negi Springfield," Negi bowed, "Who are you, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

"I am called Great Red among other names. Though what are you anyway? You seem like a human yet you are not. Neither are you a devil, angel, fallen angel or any matter of being I know of." The dragon narrowed his eyes as he continued to speak, "You feel more like a spirit of darkness than anything else."

"The description is near enough, though I am a vampire shinso," Negi replied. He was surprised that the dragon was able to tell his true nature. Negi appeared to be a young man fresh from high school or college, but he was something else. Great Red calling him a spirit of darkness was a close description but not exact. He was confused about the mention of angels and devils though.

Great Red snorted before replying, "Vampire? You are no vampire, brat. You are easily as powerful as those annoying red and white dragons, if not more."

That settled it for Negi. It was obvious to him that he wasn't in his native realm, though whether he was in another dimension parallel to his own or another universe entirely remained to be seen. All he knew was that he might not be able to go home again.

That realization, combined with the answers he was being given, made Negi feel frustrated, "Dragons? Devils? Do forgive me, but I do not even know where I am. Could you please tell me that much?"

Great Red snorted once more,"If you don't know, you can forget about it. I don't feel like answering your questions." The dragon dismissed him and turned to leave.

Frustration turned to annoyance as Negi watched Great Red turn from him. He had finally found an equal to himself in power, strength and ability. Now he was in danger of losing that equal. He hesitated on what to do.

Fortunately, he carried a being with him that wasn't known for hesitation or subtlety at all. "Fight him, Master! Show him what you're made of!" came the battle cry from his inner coat pocket.

Great Red turned around and observed him with renewed interest, "You keep surprising me boy. But do you seriously intend to fight me?"

Negi stared at him before replying, "I am a stranger to this place. Where I come from, both in the land of my birth and in the land of my training, it was accepted that being polite to strangers was proper. I have tried to treat you with respect equal to the presence that I can feel from you. This is obviously your realm, and you do not wish to be disturbed. As you have not wished to reciprocate my kindness and respect, perhaps force will get your attention." Negi crossed his arms before resuming, "However, I am not eager to fight. I fight only if there is a good cause, or if my friends or family are threatened."

The dragon seemed to grin, "To fearlessly challenge me. Diplomacy, but with the hint of Force, as well as the will to use that Force if necessary. Though your magic itself is different than any I have ever witnessed." The grin widened as Great Red continued, "Fine then, brat. Come at me. I have not fought in ages because I have not found a worthy opponent. Let us see how long you last against me. If you last long enough to amuse me, then I shall tell you everything you wish to know."

An enormous red aura of power exploded from the dragon and collected into a ball at the tip of its horn. Wordlessly, Negi summoned a ball of lightning in each hand before absorbing them into himself, transforming him into his Constant Lightning form. Again silently, he summoned a spear of lightning. The spear was the same size as Great Red's ball.

Both Negi and Great Red nodded to each other before loosing their attacks.

The spear of lighting met the red ball of destruction.

The realm exploded into blinding light.