OC: Strike Magi

Being reborn into a world of magic is great. Unless you can't use it. Of course, since when has any Outsider obeyed the rules? This should be interesting.

So we're back. Nothing really to add here from the prior chapter, so lets dive straight in. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

I let out a groan at consciousness slowly returned. My entire body ached and I felt like I'd gone ten rounds in the ring with someone using me as a punching bag. The odd empty feeling in my chest certainly didn't help. I tried to open my eyes, only to find they were gummed shut. I let out another groan as I slowly forced my eyes open. For a moment, all I could see was a brown blur. I blinked and it resolved itself into a pair of green eyes inches away from my own.

"GYAHH!"

CRASH!

I jerked back from the eyes, only to find myself tumbling out of bed to land on the tiled floor with a crash.

"Ow…" I deadpanned.

"Nyahaha, nice reaction kid!" said the owner of the eyes as she crouched down next to me.

I opened one eye to glare at her. She was a pretty young woman with short, light brown hair and dark green eyes. She was wearing a black and grey uniform I had never seen before.

"Don't you think that was a little mean Lotte?" asked another voice.

I tilted my head to see another woman, identical to the first, apparently called Lotte, with the only difference between the two being the second one had longer hair. She was sat in the chair next to the bed with her cheek resting on her fist.

"Aw come on Aria, you can't deny that his reaction wasn't he-larious," said Lotte.

I let out a growl and hooked my foot around Lottes ankle. Lotte let out a yelp as her feet were suddenly yanked out from under her, dumping her on the floor. There was a moment's silence, before Aria burst out laughing.

"AHAHAH, now that was funny," she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Glad you're entertained," I said, pulling myself to my feet and scrambling back into bed, "Now who are you?"

"We're the Liese twins, Lotte and Aria," said Aria, "We work for Gil."

"You know, the guy who gave you Alpha?" said Lotte.

"I got it," I said, "So, exactly why are you two here?"

"Well, Fathers been keeping an eye on you since he left," said Lotte, "Since Alpha reacted to you, he knew that it was only a matter of time before you activated it."

"We didn't expect you to adapt to it so quickly though," said Aria, "That spell you used was off the charts in power."

"Yeah, but it also tapped me out," I said, "I won't be doing that again."

"Thats probably a good idea," said Aria, "You nearly ruptured your Linker Core."

"That would have been...bad," said Lotte, "Both for you and everyone around you."

"I'll believe you," I said.

Just then, a knock came from the door and the Liese twins vanished into thin air as the door opened to reveal a man in scrubs and a lab coat.

"Ah good, you're awake," he said, "Your parents have been quite worried about you young man."

"Joy," I muttered, "Mums gonna chew me out."

"Thats the impression I got," said the Doctor, "Still, you did a very brave thing, protecting that girl like you did."

"You heard about that?" I asked.

"Son, the whole towns heard about it," said the Doctor, pulling out a penlight and sitting down next to my bed, "You're something of a local hero right now after saving Mrs Bishops daughter."

"That so?" I said as the Doctor started on a number of tests.

"Yep," said the Doctor, "Well, you seem to be in perfect health, other than some rather impressive bruises. Are you feeling up to having visitors?"

I sighed.

"Better to get this over with," I said.

"Right ho, I'll let them know," he said, leaving the room.

Once the Doctor was gone, the air shimmered and the Twins reappeared.

"You snuck in here, didn't you?" I asked.

"Well, Father wanted to know that you were OK and this was the quickest way," said Lotte as Aria opened the window, "We'll be back later with Father. See ya kid!"

She grabbed me in a tight hug, dragging my face between her breasts, before skipping over to the window and jumping out after her sibling, leaving me blushing brightly and grumbling about irritating Catgirls. It took a minute for me to get my blood flow back under control, just as the door to my room slammed open and I found myself grabbed into a tight embrace as Mum came pelting into the room. She frantically checked me over, as if to make sure I was still (mostly) in one piece. Once she was done with that, she let me fall back onto my pillows and stepped back, hands on her hips and a glower on her face. I gulped and braced myself for the incoming explosion.

"ALEXANDER HENRY EVANS!"


It took ten minutes for Mum to vent her anger, although I'm pretty sure that she devolved into pure gibberish at one point. Not that that stopped me from coming out of it thoroughly chastised and with ringing ears. All throughout the tongue lashing, Dad kept well out of the way lest Mum turn her anger on him. Once Mum had calmed down and left the room in a huff to calm down, Dad sat down next to my bed and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm proud of you son," he said, "So's your Mother, even if she won't say it. We're not happy that you risked your life like that, but you came out alive and managed to save her, so there really isn't any reason not to be proud. Just don't do something that stupid again."

"Oh don't worry, I won't," I said, "By the way, what happened with the Neuroi?"

I knew of course, I want that badly hurt, but I wanted to know if I could expect to be hauled off to war or if I'd get some time to build up my Magic on my own terms.

"We're not sure," said Dad, "The official story is that the Strike Witches were able to destroy it, but your Mother was able to find out that it was actually destroyed shortly before they arrived. What actually did it isn't, other than it used a massively powerful spell unlike anything that has been seen before."

I resisted the urge to sigh with relief. While I didn't really have anything against helping out the Witches, I'd kinda like some time to adapt to my Magic before being thrown into a war thank you very much.

"Did you see anything?" asked Dad, "The Witches said that they found you in roughly the same area as the spell came from."

I shook my head.

"No, I must have been knocked out before the spell was cast," I said.

Dad gave me a sceptical look, but before he could comment, there was a knock at the door, that opened to reveal a woman who looked about 20 with dark blue eyes and light brown hair, worn long and lose. She was wearing a leather jacket over a white shirt, a red scarf and red and dark red striped stockings.

I gulped as I suddenly found myself pinned to the bed by a set of sharp eyes that seemed to be sizing me up.

"Huh, I thought you'd be taller," said the woman after a moment.

And just like that, all the tension in my body vanished as I stared at her incredulously.

"What does my height have to do with anything?"

The woman shrugged.

"Nothing much," she said with a grin, "I'm Wilma Bishop by the way. Thanks for saving my Sister."

"Eh?"

"That girl you saved during the Neuroi attack."

"Ah, right," I mumbled while rubbing my temples in an attempt to stave off the sudden headache I was afflicted with.

I knew that girl had looked familiar, but I was more focused on trying to keep us from going the same way as extras in the War of the World's so I hadn't really had chance to consider why. Now I knew. Apparently I had saved the life of a future member of the Strike Witches and best friend of the main character. Although I suppose that I'm technically the main character now… But I digress.

"How is she by the way?" I asked, "It looked like she hurt her leg pretty badly and I doubt all the running and getting thrown around did much good."

"She's fine," said Wilma, "A bit shook up, but fine. She'll probably come and thank you herself once she can walk."

"Thats a relief," I said.

"You know, we could use men like you in the Military," said Wilma, "Ever thought of enlisting when you're older?"

"I refuse to answer that on the grounds that Mum's already chewed me out once today," I deadpanned, much to Dad's amusement if his quiet chuckling was anything to go by.

"Fair enough," said Wilma, who was also smirking, "Anyway, I need to go. I got a report to file about the attack."

She grimaced and waved as she headed out the door.

"I need to go too," said Dad, "The Doctors say you should be alright to leave tomorrow, they just want to keep you in for observation. Do you need anything?"

"Nah, not if its just for tonight," I said, "Dad, could you tell Mum that I'm sorry for worrying her?"

"Sure thing Son," said Dad, ruffling my hair with a smile, "Sleep well."

I batted Dads hand away with a fake glare, making him laugh as he exited the room. Now alone, I let myself fall back against my pillows and stared up at the ceiling. Lets recap. Yesterday I saved the future sharpshooter of the Strike Witches from a flying, laser shooting alien using a form of Magic from another world and a Focus I got from a man from Earth. I shook my head. My life is utterly insane.

"Whatcha thinkin bout?"

"GAH!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Apparently I was more distracted than I thought because I had somehow missed the door opening and the Liese twins and Gil entering the room. Well, either that or they had teleported in which wasn't entirely off the cards.

"Do you take pleasure from scaring the life out of people?" I growled.

Lotte just gave a catty grin.

"Alright Lotte, thats enough," said Gil, putting a hand on the girls head.

"Sorry Father," she mumbled, backing off to join her sister.

"Father?" I asked, "They don't look like your daughters."

"Its a long story," said Gil, "One I'll be happy to tell another time. How are you feeling?"

"Like something changed me around a city for half an hour, periodically blowing me through walls," I said, "Next stupid question?"

Gil chuckled.

"Alright, no need for the sarcasm," he said, "I understand that you activated Alpha, correct?"

"Yep," I said, "Now do you mind filling me in?"

Gil let out a huff and sat in the chair next to my bed.

"Where to begin," he mumbled.

"From the beginning is usually a good start," I said.

Gil smiled thinly, but lent forwards and began his tale. Most of what he told me I already knew, Devices, the TSAB, Magic, Linker Cores etc. Then the conversation turned to my Device.

"That gem I gave you is actually Alpha, an experimental Device that was designed to allow even a Mage with low Mana reserves to cast high level Bombardment spells," said Gil, "It didn't work, but that doesn't stop it from being a very effective Device. If we can find a suitable wielder for it."

"Why would that be a problem?" I asked.

"Alpha is equipped with an advanced AI algorithm," said Gil, "Out of all of the Intelligent Devices, it is the closest to true Intelligence, rather than a good approximation. That has lead to it developing a rather specific set of criteria for a wielder. I was surprised when it reacted to you so strongly."

"So what now?" I asked after a short pause, "Are you going to press me into service or something?"

"Good lord, of course not!," said Gil, looking horrified at the very idea, "You are just a child and even if you were an adult, the TSAB would never force someone into service. We are a peacekeeping force, not an army. I will offer you training though, as well as an offer for a job serving under me, should you decide to take it."

I remained silent, staring down at my hands. This...was actually a great opportunity. Not only would I get to learn magic, which was an idea that nearly had my inner Fantasy geek drooling, but the idea of working for an organization that spanned Space and Time was one that was remarkably tempting. Plus, I could use that training to make a difference in the war with the Neuroi.

"If I agree to this training, would I be able to use it to help out with the War here?" I asked slowly.

"Of course," said Gil, "Your magic is your own and this world isn't under the jurisdiction of the TSAB anyway. We would step in if you started doing something that put this and other worlds in danger or started committing mass murder."

"Thats fair enough I guess," I said, still deep in thought.

I could probably figure out how to use my magic on my own, given enough time, but with a teacher it would be so much easier. In the end, the choice was obvious. I looked up at Gil, who had a slight smirk on his face as if he had no doubt what I'd decided.

"I'll do it," I said, "Please train me."

And I'm going to end it there. I hope you liked this entry. Next time, Alex heads of to Earth for some training. I probably won't cover all of it since its going to be a total of three years and I want to get onto the actual Strike Witches canon sometime this century.

You know how in the Vault Entry version of Chapter one how I said that this story has nothing to do with Harry Potter? Well, I'm making my past self a liar. Its not going to be anything massive like Alex going to Hogwarts or anything, but lets just say that Gil lives somewhere that'll be quite familiar. As an added bonus, I'm playing with the idea of alternate worlds. Eagle eyed readers may be able to figure out what I mean by that.

And with that, I'm done. Please leave me a review!