And here we go with Book 5. Here's where Gamma Team has a bit more impact, levels up some more, gains some shiny new abilities, and (later on, late in the Magical World Arc) encounters a harbinger of future trouble…

And yes, in this alt-verse the events of Negima take place in 2011, not 2004 (basically, take all the events and backstory info – all of it – and push it forward seven years)

Random info: I imagine the Negima folks speaking English, but with their Japanese voices (Rina Sato as Negi, Yu Kobayashi as Setsuna, Mamiko Noto as Nodoka, etc).

Also, in my fics: ki/qi, chi, and chakra are all the same thing with different names.

-DISCLAIMERS-

Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, concept of Intelligent Devices, some magic) – 7Arcs

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

Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō) – Navel and Asread

Erika's New Perfume (Marie) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

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

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

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

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

Naruto (jutsu, abilities)– Masashi Kishimoto

Mahō Sensei Negima – Ken Akamatsu

A Day Indoors (fanfic found on this site) (Sebastian von Klaus) – Ambrant Arandel (with his permission)

Kingdom Hearts (boss battle music) – Disney and Square-Enix

-BOOK 5 START-

Mahora Academy

May 10th 2011

The group – Gamma Team (Ahsoka in a brown hooded cloak), Col. Holland, Ship-Master Zhal Arum (clad in a curtain-made-cloak), and Erohn Kilkar (active camouflage) - walked through the academy, past various students and other people, as a quartet of local mages escorted them to the Headmaster's Office. The Starshot currently hovered about 100 meters off the ground behind the mountains that bordered the city-sized academy's neighboring small forest, hidden by a Protoss-made cloaking device.

Teana didn't really know what to think. On one hand, visions foretold that their time in this realm would have more happen than any of the previous ones, they would make powerful new allies, and "truths" would come to light. The people seemed friendly enough – very professional. On the other hand… they were mages. Not just using magic-summoned projectile or directed-energy stuff like her and Marie, but actually using magic and spells. She sincerely doubted they could actually be of any help, excepting the slight possibility of them possessing lethal magic – which Teana's experiences on Midchilda had led her to deem an oxymoron.

Teana couldn't usemagic thanks to her self-placed Seal, but she most definitely could still sense it. And this academy was glowing with it. It seemed to permeate everything at nigh-incredibly high levels, the local average magic "density" exceeding even that of the planet Midchilda, and that titanic tree in the center of the campus/city was infused with so much magic it was almost unbelievable. What's more, according to scans the majority of people here had no magical skill, and many of them barely ranked a C- on the potential power scale… and according to their escorts, most of these "mundanes" did not know of magic; the mages of this campus kept magic's existence hidden from the outside world, as did the other mages operating on this Earth.

And if the case files regarding Takamachi-teme and Hayate-san were any indication, in a realm where mages are few and far between, the mages that do show up tend to be ridiculously powerful. Already she could faintly sense a few on the campus that were at least AAA in power.

They soon arrived at the office, being allowed in. They noticed the several figures already in the room. There was the Headmaster himself, an old man with an odd-shaped head seated at the desk, calmly appraising the new arrivals. There was a man who looked to be in his mid- or late-30s, tall and a little thin, with a fancy suit, short spiked hair, glasses, and some light stubble. There was a woman who looked to be in her late 20s, with glasses, long auburn hair, and… 'jeebus, look at those things! They're bigger than Fate's or Signum's!'

There was another old man, clad in an old dark-blue suit, his full head of short silver-gray hair sitting just above eyes that showed considerable wisdom, his hands resting atop a wooden staff-like cane. There was a young boy, around 10 years old with deep-red hair, who the very sight of made something seem to stir within the six girls' hearts, for some inexplicable reason. There was a young girl, around 14 or 15, with long brown hair and who seemed to have an aura of peace and cheer to her. There was a thin girl around the same age next to her, her black hair held in a wing-shaped side ponytail, a sheathed sword at her side. And there was a white… ferret? No; an ermine, who seemed to have a magical energy signature. A familiar, perhaps?

"Welcome to our world, travelers" Headmaster Konoemon said. "I trust you do not come here to cause trouble?"

"Of course" the uniformed man of the arrivals said. "I am Colonel Urban Holland, officer in the UNSC Army, superior officer of Gamma Team," he gestured to the six girls, "and the UNSC's unofficial ambassador to any new realms we come to, including this one."

"And I," the sheet-clad Sangheili began, shedding his impromptu cloak and revealing his resplendent white armor and non-human-ness to all, "am Zhal Arum, ship-master of the Starshot and representative of the Sangheili Alliance. The figure next to me," the other Sangheili un-cloaked, "is my guard and friend, Erohn Kilkar of the Alliance Special-Operations Division."

"I am Teana Uchiha-Lanstar, Warrant Officer Grade 5 of the UNSC, Tokubetsu Jōnin of the Leaf Village, sniper and swordsmanship specialist, and leader of Gamma Team."

"I am Shion of the Voidwalkers, Warrant Officer Grade 4 of the UNSC, Tokubetsu Jōnin of the Leaf Village, wielder of the Void, and Gamma-2 – Teana-san's second-in-command."

"I am Kaede Fuyō, Warrant Officer Grade 3 of the UNSC, Chūnin of the Leaf Village, marksman – markswoman, rather - of Gamma Team, Gamma-3."

"I'm Marie Swanson, Warrant Officer Grade 3 of the UNSC, Chūnin of the Leaf Village, and demolitions and explosives expert of Gamma Team, Gamma-4."

"I am Mai Kitagawa, Warrant Officer Grade 3 of the UNSC, Chūnin of the Leaf Village, and combat medic of Gamma Team, Gamma-5."

"I'm Ahsoka Tano, Warrant Officer Grade 3 of the UNSC, Chūnin of the Leaf Village, and the other swordsmanship specialist of Gamma Team, Gamma-6."

That last one caught some of the locals by surprise, especially when she removed her hood. "Let me guess" she said upon noticing them staring. "In this universe, just like in Teana's, Shion's, Kaede's, and Marie & Mai's, the various happenings in my universe are a work of fiction they call 'Star Wars', right?"

They all nodded. "Figures…" the Togrutan said. "How far along is the one with me in it?"

"Uh…" the cute little red-headed boy said. "Season 3 finished a bit ago. The incident on Mortis was part of that season."

"Ah, yes" Ahsoka said. "Not one of our more fun missions – very creepy place. Though my memory is… oddly fuzzy of a part toward the end, and whenever I asked Sky-Guy about it he got all shifty and changed the subject. So… you guys' turn for introductions, right?"

"Quite" the Headmaster replied. "I am Konoemon Konoe, Headmaster of Mahora Academy."

"My name is Takamichi Takahata."

"I am Shizuna Minamoto, head nurse of the academy and the Headmaster's & Negi-kun's aide."

"Greetings. My name is Sebastian von Klaus, dean of engineering and… security correspondent."

"By security, you mean wards and barriers?" Teana asked.

Klaus smiled. "So you are familiar with magic. I had a feeling..."

"I'm Negi Springfield, teacher of Class 3-A and mage-in-training."

"In training?" Marie said. "From what I can sense, you're way too strong to be a student."

"Well, I'm not officially a student in magic anymore, since I graduated from the academy I attended, but I'm always training to improve – to catch up to my top-class father."

Teana gave a dismissive scoff.

"I'm Konoka Konoe, one of Negi-kun's Ministra and his best medic mage! Well, actually I'm his only medic mage right now, but…"

"…Ministra?"

"We will explain shortly."

"I am Setsuna Sakurazaki. I am Ojō-sama's-"

"Secchan…"

"…Konoka-san's bodyguard, and another of Negi-sensei's Ministra. I'm a swordswoman of the Shinmei-ryū."

"Ojō-sama?"

"Konoka-san's family is descended from the Fujiwara Clan" Negi explained. Shion, Kaede, and Mai widened eyes in surprise. It took Shion all she had not to kneel before Konoka – the Sonozaki Clan had, in olden days, been protectors of her Earth's Fujiwara Clan.

"So… if you could explain a little more about your previous endeavors and how they may connect with our world?" Konoemon asked, using magic to summon a series of comfy chairs for each of them, which they all graciously took seats in.

Over the next 40 or so minutes, Holland, Teana, and Arum gave a condensed explanation of their previous endeavors, finishing with the recent vision of the future foretelling a horrible battle on Mundus Magicus that will spill over onto this Earth.

"You magic-users," Teana had audible disgust in that part of her words, "will need our help – to take out whatever shows up and to help minimize casualties."

Negi was confused upon hearing the vitriol in the red-orange-haired girl's tone, but Konoemon beat him to it.

"I have noticed a form of magic flowing through the bodies of you and Ms. Swanson, Teana-san, as well as those of your currently-inactive weapons" the old man said. "Oddly, there is none in yours, barring your muscles. It feels different from our own system of magic. It also feels familiar to me. …You see, we have not yet achieved true, 100% fusion of magic and technology, but we are well on the way. I have lived quite a long time, and one of the few spells I have personally developed is an undetectable, trans-dimensional scrying technique."

"And this is leading where?"

"I recognize those weapons you two carry as Intelligent Devices. I have known of Midchilda and their system of magic for about 24 years now."

You could've heard a pin drop in the office.

"Of course, though I have knowledge of the Time-Space Administration Bureau and their mission of ensuring the stability of space-time, and of their system of magic and much of its workings and principles, my knowledge is not complete; I can see the forest, but not the trees, so to speak. I have little knowledge of the finer points of their government, and know nothing of the "Four Legendary Aces" other than second-hand reports that the living-artillery White Ace, the lightning-fast Golden Ace, and the tactical-warhead Black-Feather Ace are 19-year-old young women of considerable power, and the Flame Ace is a supposedly-21 fire-wielding master swordswoman-mage, while my knowledge of other important figures is more or less nonexistent. And yet, Ms. Lanstar, I sense something odd in you; where there should be at least a small amount of magic – the amount nearly every person has – I sense a void; nothing, where there used to be something. Tell me… why is this? Where has your magic gone?"

"…I got rid of it" Teana said quietly. "Because it was weak. Because it was worthless. Because my magical ability was pathetic, with channeling any magic causing much more strain than "normal" with much lower corresponding results. Because relying on magic kept me weak. Because my instructors knew this, but they kept pushing me to train in it just so they could laugh at me behind my back, keep me as a weak link, suppress my potential, keep me from redeeming my family's reputation, keep me as an example to others of weakness and the futility of trying to become strong without an innate gift of some sort! My experiences – my life – have led me to see just how weak and worthless magic really is! It can't even cause actual damage to someone; how can one fight for one's life if one can't even kill the person trying to kill them?~! So… to rid myself of that weakness, and start along the new road to my current strength of cybernetic enhancements and top-class weapons and ninjutsu, the power that my UNSC training and my enhancements and my chakra and my kekkei genkai give me…"

She unbuttoned the first few buttons of her shirt, opening to reveal a now-visible small black seven-pointed star just below her neck, a series of thin chain-like marks on her wrists fading into visibility as well.

"I sealed my Linker Core."

Konoemon's, Klaus', Shizuna's, and Takahata's eyes widened in surprise, while Negi, Konoka, Setsuna, and Chamo gasped in horror-shock. After several seconds, Konoemon spoke.

"I think I know what your problem was" he said. "I can sense the truly extraordinary amount of chakra you possess, flowing in a controlled manner within you. You had this chakra within you this whole time, correct? Chakra and magic do not get along very well. Normally, this is not a problem; many ki-users are also adept mages, in particular a fellow by the name of Jack Rakan, whose skills with both magic and with chakra are equally – and ridiculously - high. But Midchildan magic's properties differ from Vetus magic's in several ways. The most noticeable is that it has more… hostility… to chakra. As you had those tremendous reserves of chakra all your life, but never learned how to tap into them or control them, the chakra in your body was untrained, untamed, and unfocused… enough to interfere with your body's ability to channel magic."

"…What?"

"That strain you mentioned having to go through whenever channeling magic – how you had to struggle more than others and still got lesser results – was because you had to actively fight to channel magic past all that wild chakra. Now that you have undergone extensive training with your chakra, magical energy should come several orders of magnitude easier for you, flowing smoothly through your body without the obstruction of disordered, uncontrolled chakra. By Midchilda's power scale, you could probably easily hit AAA, and possibly even S."

"…That… that still doesn't change the fact that magic can't actually hurt people! I'm a soldier now! I've fought in several wars since I left my homeworld!"

"Just because your homeworld's magic can't kill," von Klaus cut in, "doesn't mean that no magic can. Vetus magic can be… quite lethal. In most cases, Vetus relies upon elemental manipulation, but even blasts of pure magic can be fatal. I have seen people incinerated by fire spells, electrocuted by lightning spells, impaled by spears of magic ice, crushed by magic-crafted stone pillars, drowned by water magic, and obliterated by blasts, bolts, and waves of raw magical energy. I have seen people grant themselves incredible physical capabilities by channeling magic directly into their bodies, such that they can move at the speed of sound, shatter stone with a light punch, leave bullets bouncing off of flesh, keep going for days on end without tiring… or shatter an enemy's skull with a single blow, or – amongst more violent users – rip foes in two with bare hands. If you seek magic that can truly make a difference in war, the Vetus system is perfect for you."

"And no, using magic would not interfere with your ability to use chakra at all; see Mr. Rakan or Takahata-san or Setsuna-chan here for example." Konoemon cut in before Teana could speak. "Also, my dear, you are gravely mistaken in one thing. It seems that your instructors, for whatever reason, never showed you how to switch Midchildan magic from 'stun' to 'kill'."

"Okay, now you're just screwing with me!" Teana shouted, leaping to her feet. "I can accept that an entirely separate class of magic can be lethal, but Midchildan?~! That's a sick joke, man!"

Konoemon's response was to turn to Konoka, who responded to his telepathic command and called up her artifact. He then pointed a finger at Teana's left shoulder, and soon a tennis-ball-sized sphere of magic appeared at his finger, the energy of which was instantly recognizable as Midchildan shooting magic. He let it fly, and Teana did not move to avoid, expecting the familiar sting but nothing more.

So it was with great surprise that she cried out in as the minimum-power physical-damage-mode sphere impacted, leaving a nasty bruise and a bleeding tear in the skin. Another bolt grazed her arm, leaving a bleeding cut where it hit. Teana stared in dumbfounded shock as one of her strong-held beliefs was proven utterly false. Konoka promptly walked up and waved her healing-magic-hypercharged fan, and the injuries vanished. Konoemon then projected a scene from his scrying ball, showing Tiida Uchiha-Lanstar in his final battle years earlier, fighting three Paths of Pain. A Crossfire Shot barrage smashed into the previous Preta Path (the one he would later destroy with Amaterasu before Deva killed him, to be later replaced by the fat one that Naruto encountered), audibly breaking several bones, damaging flesh, and oh yeah tearing its arm off.

"So you see," he said, "it's likely not because they wished to keep you helpless that they did not teach you how to use physical-damage-mode magic; perhaps this Instructor Takamachi I gleamed from your surface thoughts is personally averse to killing? Or maybe they were going to teach you eventually, had you not left Midchilda when you did?"

"Also, Master," Cross Mirage suddenly spoke up, "I believe that the deception that Dr. Halsey and I agreed on due to your distrust of magic at the time should now be lifted. My blade is not high-energized particles; it is condensed, superheated physical-damage magical energy. Charon's energy bolts and blade are also physical-damage magic… enhanced by the Khaydarin and Jorium crystals inside Charon's structure, of course."

Teana was sent reeling. All those times… all those kills, with limbs and heads and bisected bodies split cleanly, their points of severing flash-cauterized like from a plasma sword as the mighty weapon ended their lives with effortless ease… that was magic? She fell back, her bottom sinking in slightly into the soft cushion of the chair as her entire weight came down all at once, like her legs had suddenly forgot how to work. Those who were paying attention saw as the black seal below her neck began to waver, and turned grey.

"Sebastian, if you would…"

Klaus nodded and raised his arm, pointing his palm with slightly curved fingers at Teana. He closed his eyes, focusing his energy, feeling the intricate seal and the Linker Core beneath. A Vetus magic circle formed in front of his palm, slowly spinning and glowing white.

"Fūin, kai!"

Teana startled as she felt the Seal on her chest and wrists "shatter", the fine fabric of magical energy dissipating into nothingness.

"Now…" Konoemon said. "Try channeling a little magic – say, the amount you would formerly have used to call up a C-rank attack."

It had been a long time, but Teana calmed herself and called up that little bit… and was thoroughly surprised as a large amount of magical power came through, a very bright Midchildan circle forming on the ground beneath her. What's more, unlike before, she felt no strain – absolutely none at all! Calling up this B+ amount of power wasn't any more effort than what it took to breathe or activate her basic Sharingan! She stood up, and put in the effort that forming a B- level spell used to take. Those few who were standing were knocked off their feet by the resulting rush of energy from Teana's body, easily AA+, probably AAA. As a test, she cut her magical output and called up an equal amount of chakra with only slightly less effort. She switched back and forth between magic and chakra a few times, calling up different amounts of power (nothing bigger than her AAA amount, though; she didn't want to level the office), and with each attempt she felt joy and elation slowly but unstoppably building in her heart.

"This… this is incredible!" she said. "There's so much, and it's so easy! I'm not having to strain or struggle at all!" A grin – not a sly or 'evil' one, but a genuine happy one – spread on her face. Konoemon, Klaus, and Takahata smiled as well.

'Her magical potential might even match Negi-kun's' Takahata thought. 'I can't believe her untrained chakra was holding back so much power…'

"Whoa, sugoi!" Konoka exclaimed.

"Not only magic, but so much chakra…" Setsuna said.

"This ane-san's gifted!" Chamo shouted. "And her magic power ain't bad, either!"

Shizuna used two fingers to thump the perverted ermine-fey on the head.

After a considerably-better-mood Teana sat back down, the group got to continuing and finalizing discussions. It was settled that they could stay so long as they helped deal with any future threats, and that they were careful to keep on the down-low when around the mundanes. Furthermore, as the Halo series and StarCraft existed in this world, any Sangheili Alliance personnel or Protoss would have to either remain active-camo'd when out & about or wear a custom-fit magical 'don't-notice-my-oddness' cloak; Ahsoka would also have to wear such a cloak, thought she wasn't too upset about it. The girls of Gamma would pose as new students in 3-A for now.

-CHAPTER 1 END-