Disclaimer: I do not own Freezing and I'm making no profit off this fanfiction work.
AN: Just read this totally awesome and totally insane manwha, which is a Korean comic. It has good art, meaning beautiful and ridiculously endowed girls, a solid plot, and a cool if contrived gender reversed war theme while remaining unusually gruesome. When I say these girls are glass cannons, I don't mean it in the cutesy Nanoha sense, but in the "break into a million pieces when smashed" kind.
The only negative, though this is a deal breaker, is that the male protagonist sucks. Surprise, surprise. But hey, that's why we have fanfiction.
Summary: It began with a promise to his sister. Kazuya Aoi finds himself thrust into the Nova conflict with no recourse but to survive. Rated M for gratuitous violence and sex.
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Limiter of Pandoras
By Mrriddler
"Onee-chan! Onee-chan!"
The little tyke tried to limp forward, only to topple over. Huge tears leaked from both eyes as he gazed pleadingly at his sister.
"It's all right. It's only a scratch," the tall girl replied, not unkindly. "Your sister is here." Kazuha Aoi hugged her sibling warmly, uttering consoling words. But all too soon, she moved to leave.
"You have to let go, otouto, or else I'll be late."
"I don't wanna," the little boy whined. This happened every time, but Kazuha never begrudged her sibling's clinginess.
"I know, but I really will be late and I'll get in trouble. You don't want to get your nee-chan in trouble, do you?"
Kazuya looked absolutely miserable and loosened, but not removed his arms. The elder sibling was seriously tempted to stay, to remain by her precious brother's side. But she restrained that urge. She was a Pandora. Duty and sacrifice were a part of what it meant to be one of the chosen. After all, this was why she fought. For Kazuya, and for all the little brothers and sisters who had no one because of the Nova invaders.
"I promise I'll make it up to you, ok?"
Kazuya nodded, but remained unconvinced. "Please take me with you next time, onee-chan. I promise I won't be a burden!"
The elite female warrior didn't have the heart to say no, so she merely smiled, hoping the little child would've forgotten before long. Only he didn't forget.
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"Kazuha-san, you understand that this area is off limits to civilians."
"I apologize, colonel, but I was merely showing my brother around. I made a promise I shouldn't have and he hasn't stopped pestering me. I thought I would just show him the training ground," the Pandora explained, looking abashed.
The military brass smiled slightly. Never a stickler for the rules, he was perfectly willing to bend the rules a bit to accommodate his best soldier and the single greatest asset humanity had in the war against the Novas.
"That's fine. Bring him anytime you wish."
"Yeah! I'm going to be the best Pandora ever and help onee-chan!"
Curious onlookers laughed while Kazuya's fellow Pandoras cooed about what a cute brother she had.
After explaining the requirements and realities of Pandoras, and drawing a disappointed pout from the boy, which only inflamed the fawning girls further, the colonel provided a tempting offer.
"Of course, we could always use a talented Limiter."
Kazuya's eyes literally lit up when it was explained to him that Limiters were paired up with Pandoras to form teams.
"Ok, I'll be the best Limiter ever for my onee-chan."
The young boy watched with a puzzled expression as everyone convulsed with laughter.
"Aw, how cute."
"Oh, but I'm afraid your sister already has a Limiter of her own, but I'll be happy to take you up. In fact, I'm in between—"
"Shut up, Sakura!" Kazuha shouted, her eyes filled with storm. "There's no way I'm letting you sink your claws in my little brother!" A good friend and comrade she may be, but her friend was notorious for her dalliances with younger boys.
The redhead smiled with good cheer, not the least offended.
"Don't listen to her, Kazuya-kun. I promise to take good care of you!"
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Kazuya returned regularly to the Pandora training school, known as Genetics. Sakura and the other Pandoras did take good care of him, but not in the manner Kazuha had feared. They befriended him, treated him like the younger brother they never had (or had lost) and shared secrets with him. The Pandoras of Genetics became the family Kazuya had always wanted whenever Kazuha wasn't around.
When his sister was around, however, Kazuya made no pretense of wanting to be by her side.
"How's it going, short stuff!"
Sakura playfully ruffled the boy's hair, before dropping in the seat beside him. Kazuya's eyes briefly seesawed between the older girl's impressive cleavages before turning away. The girl followed his line of sight to see Kazuha sparring against another one of their friends, Mei.
As usual, Kazuha was winning, a fact easily seen by her brother's enthusiastic cheers. But Mei pulled off a brilliant feint, tricking her opponent into accelerating at her while a large cider tree was behind her. The nimble girl dodged away in the last second, causing a surprised Kazuha to crash full force into the immobile lumber.
"Ugh, good move," the larger girl admitted as Mei helped her to her feet.
"Onee-chan, why didn't you stop?" Kazuya asked.
"That's the weakness with the Accel technique. It boosts your speed tremendously, but once you're committed to it, you can't change your direction of motion."
That Kazuya understood. But the question was why that must be the case. Was there no possible counter for such an obvious flaw?
"Onee-chan, remember when you fell from that tree two weeks ago. You managed to shoot back up the tree. You accelerated against gravity, which accelerates downward. Can't you do the same here?"
A fascinating theoretical extrapolation. Of course, accelerating against an external force was quite a different thing from accelerating against an internally generated force. The Pandoras considered the idea and, under Kazuha's direction, tested the idea: an anti-directional acceleration within the time frame of an activated Accel. Two hours later, the exhausted forms of Mei and Sakura collapsed to the ground and admitted defeat… but not Kazuha.
Over and over, she tried. Too slow, too fast, too much energy, too little energy, over and over, until…
With one final burst of energy, Kazuha tried for the last time. From rest, Kazuha accelerated in one direction and before she came to a stop, accelerated in the opposite direction, appearing behind her original starting location. All this in the blink of an eye, so that it appeared as if she had moved in one direction and then appeared in another.
A tired, but triumphant, Kazuha turned toward her stunned friends and the cheering face of a brother too young to understand the significance of what was accomplished.
The double acceleration, the first of the famed "high-end skills," was born.
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"Just be careful."
"You worry too much, Kazuha. Your brother's safe with us. It's a routine exercise. What could possibly go wrong?" Sakura boasted, emphasizing her point by burying the younger boy in her cleavage. The elite Pandora growled, but nodded. If Kazuya was to be a competent Limiter, then he would need experience. Barring actual combat, what better experience was there than participating with an active Pandora platoon?
"Ok, gang, spread two by twos." Sakura called out, taking point. "You can stick with me and Jiro, Kazuya. Just try to keep up."
Piece of cake, until disaster struck.
"Code 1 Alert! This is not a drill! Code 1 Alert! Nova forms sighted in Sector 2B!"
"Listen up! We need to buy time until Kazuha and the 2nd Chevalier Platoon arrives." Sakura ordered. "Decoys, spread out and deflect the attacks. Strikers, engage from the flanks. Finishers and all rounders, wait for an opening! Let's go!"
The attack went awry almost immediately. The decoys failed to guide the attacks away, causing the main screen to scatter. Mei, the petite girl who sneaked him sweets whenever she could, was impaled through the chest by one of the flying appendages of the unholy creature. The girl emitted a gurgled scream as the Nova eviscerated and then flung her corpse twenty feet away.
"Mei, damn it! Fall back to the second line. Kazuya, I'm so sorry for failing your sister. Please run with the others while I cover you," Sakura pleaded. Her dead eyes surveying the unfolding slaughter of her comrades and friends. "Jiro-kun, to me one last time!"
Kazuya watched with horror as his friend charged to her doom.
Jiro, her valiant Limiter, charged right alongside his partner and was the first to fall. The Pandora captain had but a moment to digest her partner's demise before his murderer descended on her. Sakura's body disintegrated into a shower of body parts and guts.
Kazuya watched in paralyzed shock. Only the quick action of a surviving Pandora prevented a gruesome decapitation. Yet, such a rescue only forestalled the inevitable. The battle line had completely collapsed. Those who have not or were unable to flee only awaited death.
The bloodied Pandora who rescued Kazuya, collapsed in exhaustion. Tears flowed freely from the frightened girl. Kazuya's heart went out to her, realizing that beneath their tough, disciplined exterior, the Pandora soldiers weren't much different from himself. Most were mere academy students and not seasoned chevaliers like his sister.
Born out of desperation, and out of a desire to protect, Kazuya cried out for his sister, "Onee-chan!"
And just like that, silence fell across the battlefield. The hard pressed human survivors found themselves free from harassment.
"The Nova froze completely!"
"Unbelievable!"
And it quickly dawned on all who was responsible as they watched young Kazuya locked in concentration with his hands spread out. The exertion of holding such a powerful creature in place quickly exhausted the boy, but that brief time of respite was all that was needed. The long awaited relief force finally arrived and immediately pressed forward.
"Chevaliers, charge!" Kazuha cried out, leading the 2nd Platoon's attack.
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As Kazuya rested, dead to the world, a small circle of doctors, officials, Pandoras and his sister gathered by his bed side.
"It's unprecedented. A freezing force of such magnitude and without undergoing baptism!" Exclaimed a medic.
"He saved our lives," a grateful Pandora added.
"Kazuha, your brother could be the key to our war effort. The contributing factor seems to be the Stigmata growing inside his body. If we could extract those organic tissues, we could —"
"Absolutely not! You will not turn my brother into a science experiment."
"I could always petition the governing body of the alliance if necessary," the speaker pressed. Kazuha refused to budge and all but threatened to commit treason until the colonel intervened.
"Please think carefully, Kazuha-san. The fate of humanity itself may be at stake. What would your brother say?"
Kazuha knew what he would say. And so, she gave her reluctant consent for the medical staff to operate with one stipulation. "No harm better come to him."
The operation was successful and Kazuya went on a full recovery. The stigmata extracted proved to be a variable tool, superior in content to those manufactured previously and was over 50% compatible with the chosen test subject. It became the first of over a dozen tissue extracts.
Together, the Aoi siblings became a symbol of humanity's efforts against the Nova invaders. She, the Ultimate Pandora, the strongest of the strong, and he, the Ultimate Limiter, the barrier mage capable of bonding with an entire platoon of girls without an Ereinbar Set.
For Kazuya, it was a wondrous and happy time, despite the trials and inevitable headaches. That all changed with the 8th Nova Crash. Suddenly Kazuha was gone and he was once more reminded of reality's cruelties.
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"Kazuya-kun, it's time to wake up."
"I don't want to," the teen called out sleepiness before cocooning himself deeper into the bed sheets. The attending girl, already dressed in her Pandora uniform, rolled her eyes. She knew what to do to get him up. Reaching forward, she lifted one side of the blankets and dove forward.
"Nee-san, stop that," the teenage boy cried as he found himself being tickled. His laughter, however, quickly turned into moans.
"Ah, ah… I'm not, ah, going to last." Kazuya grunted and groaned before convulsing with a pleasurable sigh.
The older broke away before standing up, a serene smile spreading across her beautiful face.
"Are you awake now, Kazuya-kun?"
"Yeah…" The teenage boy wore a goofy expression all the way through breakfast. He allowed a brief blush to suffuse his cheeks when his companion remarked she already ate when he questioned her.
"Nee-san, how far are you coming with me?" Kazuya asked with a hint of anxiety. He has gotten used to the companionship his sister's comrades and subordinates across the globe provided, never mind that they were often the elite of the elite on the battlefield.
"All the way, Kazuya-kun," the girl answered. "I've been assigned as your Pandora for the duration."
The boy enveloped his older "sister" in a happy embrace. Even though he was, in fact, returning to his homeland, it felt like a foreign world to him.
The two quickly made their way across the campus ground, ignoring the curious looks of Pandoras and Limiters alike.
"Good morning," Kazuya's Pandora called out. "My name is Asuka Richter, Chevalier of the German Pandora Legion. I've brought a special guest to see Sister Margaret."
From far away, Yumi Kim and Elize Schmidtz of 8th Nova Crash fame, watched in silence.
"So it begins."
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AN: Asking yourself WTF was that? Don't worry too much. I don't know either. It was just fun to write. Asuka, Mei and Sakura are OCs so don't kill yourself trying to figure out who they are. I suspect I'll need a lot of red shirts.
