Disclaimer : All characters and places belong to whoever owns them, ©2004-2008.
A/N: Because even underdogs have their shining moments. The title comes from the track of the same name from a band called The Cynic Project.
So please enjoy. Constructive criticism is appreciated and reviews are welcomed.
SideWINDER
"I don't know how I got this way.
I know it's not alright,
So I'm breaking the habit.
I'm breaking the habit tonight."
-- "Breaking the Habit", Linkin Park
This is how superheroes fly. This is how superheroes rise from their fiery ruins and whip out a can of whup-ass. Stylish, graceful; rugged, down-right dirty. It all depends on the individual.
To Private First Class Subaru Nakajima of the 386th Battalion, it's about honor. Honor, pride and dignity of oneself.
Screw cowardice.
This is what it means to be Free.
Because the Sky's the Limit, and being up in the air with the strong winds tossing her hair back and that sense of weightlessness surrounding her makes her feel like there's No Tomorrow, like she can brace it and touch the heavens.
Bring down the Moon and show the World for what it is. Large, beautiful, glittering silver. Breach the horizon and deliver unto them the Dawn of a New Era.
(It was psychedelic!)
And she would bring down the Moon, this monstrous, razor sharp tooth-filled maw that towered her fellow men and women like God to the Tower of Babel. This wyrm that thought they were more appetizing than those desert-dwelling villagers below. This thing that had made her blood freeze and bowels waiting the get-go to let loose.
Not anymore.
At one point in time (several minutes into the mission) she would have bailed (like she did) and cower in the trench shadowed by the tall boulder (which she did), away from the fight. Shake, shake, shake and bring the house to the ground along with every viable sense of affliction. Shake, shake, shake and let those tears flow!
No more.
Her purpose, she realized three years ago, is to evolve. To transcend the existential plane she lingered in. To become harder, better, faster, stronger than what she is, what she will be and when she will be.
Forsake the old, forge anew.
That day is still fresh in her mind, still resides in dreams often lost upon awakening. Because the dark holds many secrets it gives her two choices, gives her one to make and seal her fate with.
Do or die. Punch through the stone circle or hit the invisible wall.
Will I sit and fear or will I grow and rise?
(Your choice reflects YOU.)
And she remembers all too well the face of the person who pulled her from the engulfing inferno. She remembers the feather-light sensation of being in the air, the strength of being held in those arms, the tender warmth of those cosmic blue eyes . . . .
No more doubt! No more fear!
To forget is to regret, and to forget the most important lesson in one's short life is to suffer the consequences of falling away from that endless, cloudless horizon, into the gaping maw of the unknown.
No more!
Because it's either strike at the unknown or be consumed by the known.
It's with this thought that drives Subaru -- young, foolish, reckless Subaru -- out of hiding and toward the wyrm and its snapping jaws. Picking up momentum and loading cartridges, she calls out the creature in a voice as loud as possible. Its head lifts from the sand, an unsuccessful attempt at crushing its enemies. Piercing black orbs on the human, it roars its challenge and rockets across the desert.
(Come at me!)
Fingers fold and clench into a fist. Magic leaks from Mach Calibur's body, leaving a billowing teal trail in its wake. The scenery becomes a colorless blur.
(COME AT ME!)
Somewhere in the distance she hears her superiors yell. Somewhere near, somewhere close by, she hears Private First Class Teana Lanstar scream her name.
'Don't do it!' says the little voice in the back of her head. But Subaru pays it no mind. You're in or you're out. Strike or die. It's now or never.
(Watch me defy the laws of gravity!)
Both human and wyrm jump at the same time; one whose fist howls with unrestrained energy, the other lashing forth its long tongue and bearing salivating teeth. Everything slows down--
(It's like floating over a rainbow, way up high above earth and heaven in that slice of paradise no sound ever penetrates. Quiet as the lull of death, quiet as the calm of the storm, quiet as the morning eve of meadowlarks and babbling brooks . . . .)
"DIVINE BUSTER!"
--And there was light!
The ground stops rumbling after two full minutes. When the blinding cloak fades the 386th Battalion of the Time-Space Administration Bureau are treated to the sight of a massive mile-long creature ripped in half. Its innards and life fluids stain the arid landscape and the rotten stench of death hits them with full force.
What spurs them into action, though, is their comrade laying and covered in the pool of gore. The girl who just saved their lives.
Who just mimicked the Ace of Aces' most infamous technique.
When Subaru reawakens seconds later, there's a montage of noise she can pick apart and separate. The shouts of soldiers and villagers. The rough dragging of the serpentine carcass. The pitter-pattering of footsteps. The rustling of armor and tapping of weapons. The harsh, ragged pants passing her lips.
Her chest feels like it's going to burst.
Someone takes a hold of her shoulders and turns her on her back. Through heavy lids she can barely see Teana, whose fierce handling is causing her heart to pound faster than it should be.
"You almost got yourself killed, dammit!" screams the redhead. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
Subaru registers that thought through a cloudy haze. Indeed, what was she thinking?
A wide smile stretches across her face. Her frame wracks with soft giggles, which in turn comes out as full blown laughter before a series of coughs erupts and splatters blood on her chin. The PFC grabs her fellow mage's collar and pulls her down to her level.
"Silly Tea," she rasps, all the while reflecting on that night. "I was thinking . . . this is how superheroes fly." And her grip loosens, eyes fluttering shut.
Falling into sweet, sweet oblivion has never felt this welcoming.
At the end of the day, three facts are made apparent to Officer Hayate Yagami as she pores over the mission report.
One: It's the first time Subaru's pulled off the Divine Buster, and at maximum power.
Two: The impact of tapping that much strength in a Double-A technique alone would have fried a normal mage's organs to paste and torn said victim from the inside out. For Subaru to survive it is an incredibly remarkable feat in and of itself.
And three: This warrants the attention of one Nanoha Takamachi, the Ace of Aces. Considering the recent founding of Riot Force Six, the next Exam is but half a year away.
This calls for some future plan-making . . . .