Disclaimer:

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is the creative property of Seven Arcs, whom created this wonderful anime/manga series. Anything not attributed to Seven Arcs belongs to their respective owners, such as other series, references, and vice-versa. This story is written purely just for fun, guys; please for God's sake, don't sue us! We're just college students with too much free time on our hands! On the other hand, any specific author created characters we created for this fic (despite how unoriginal they may be at times) are ours. So without further ado, let's get on with the show!

The Surgeon General's Warning:

Read at your own risk.


BE BORN! / MANLY! MASKED! MAGICAL! GUY Nanohiko

Show me the way to you...!

Prologue 02:

From the Flames / ANOTHER CRISIS?!

A Genderbending Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha AU fanfic co-produced by the evil genius of Tempest Dynasty and James "Ray" Edwards


Ashes.

Smoke.

Embers.

Fire.

Air.

Choking.

Blood.

Sweat.

Tears.

Pain.

There was no mistake. It was real. He knew he should have been horrified, reviled by the scene of wanton destruction: a strange world that blinked and twisted, like white noise and snow from the television. Everything in the area, the buildings, the streets, the sidewalks, and Uminari Marine Tower seemed to flicker back and forth, between a state of burning ruin and the pristine condition they were in before the climax of the battle.

How strange. How fascinating. How magical! These were Nanohiko's thoughts of wonder, as he struggled to his feet, favoring his bruised side. He was covered from head to toe soot from debris; the explosion must have floored him, and even now, the sizzling asphalt bore an imprint of himself. Oh, and that awful irritating smell! Had he been burned too? Oh well, it could not be helped.

Why did he think of such foreign thoughts? Because his body at present was the only proof that the unreal battle had taken place; something, some power seemed to be wiping it away, or at least trying to, as if an artist were erasing sketch lines on a sheet of paper with an eraser. Marvelous! He had no fear; only a burning curiosity, an unquenchable desire to understand the wondrous and dangerous forces at work here.

The boy, ignoring his injuries, walked, wading into the tumultuous maelstrom: sometimes chaos, sometimes order. Shadows, lights, flame, static, and all sensations flickered. The only thing he could trust was his instincts. What had become of the two stars? One had fallen, surely, but what of the other? The Blue Star?

They urged him onwards, his gut feelings to the burning and not burning wreckage and no wreckage, at the foot of there and not there Uminari Marine Tower. It was most surreal sight, like walking in a waking dream. He ran the risk of being burned at anytime but still he walked onwards into the hell of smoke, fire, and metal.

"Some-one! Any, ughk-ha, an-anyone," coughed Nanohiko, as he cried out over the roar of the molten inferno. Talking it seemed was not such a good idea, for it was already hard enough just to breathe. Still, he had to try; he had to be certain no one had been left behind. "H-Hey!"

For his good intentions, perhaps, the boy found himself rewarded: a pained moan, accompanied by a groggy curse spoken in a foreign, yet melodic language greeted his ears. The person must be close by, and thus encourage, he called out again to follow. Through the haze, Nanohiko soon came across a figure buried under some oddly permanent rubble. The stuff, a mix of metal and concrete, was red hot, burning, and the poor person was too weak to free himself.

It was a crisis, and one the boy rose to challenge, eagerly. Knowing it was a race against time, for even his own health was at risk here. There was an unhealthy stench in the already suffocating scorched air. Perhaps, a gas main underground had been broken and was now fueling the fires, but it did not matter. He needed to rescue the survivor and get them away from here as soon as possible.

The twisted rubble looked too heavy, not to mention too hot, for him to physically move alone. However, there seemed to be plenty of spots where he could stick in some manner of support and leverage the pile up, with his own body weight. It ought to hold long enough for him to his person out, and the rest was question of either of walking them or dragging them. He hoped it would not come down to the latter.

All right. Time to go to work, Nanohiko!


He had done it, sure enough; all that martial training and physical drills his father and siblings put him through regularly at the dojo had paid off at last. Rescuing people was sure hard work. The person was totally out of it, and though they tried to help by moving on their own, it really got more in Nanohiko's way than anything helpful. Fortunately, despite whatever delirium, the person seemed to be capable of walking, so it was much simpler matter of throwing their arm over his shoulder and getting them away from ground zero.

The boy had walked them a good block or two away, and yet behind him, the strange flickering of a burning reality continued. More curious, the city was unnaturally quiet, not a sound was heard but the moan of the wind, and the sporadic churning of the dissonant flames. It was about then he finally fixed his attention upon his charge, stopping at an empty bench on the sidewalk to set them upon it in the neon shadow of a bland low-rise building. His throat was parched, and he was rather thirsty, which he imagined the delirious person shared the same condition from their hoarse, dry coughs.

Luckily, there was a vending machine nearby, and he dressed with the appropriate set of trousers, containing his wallet and keys, he had prepared for his Sunday outing with the girls. Bottled water never tasted so good. Nanohiko returned swiftly, with an extra for his charge, wherefore he found himself surprised in a number of ways.

It seemed he had rescued "The Blue Star", and this person seemed to be attuned to the same phenomenon occurring just a block away. Their burnt, sooty form flickered, too, but instead of in state of fine condition or ruin, the Blue Star shifted between a boy and a girl, right about his age, and maybe a little taller. He and she had short dark blue hair, a cut respectable for the boy but a little on the tomboy side for the girl. Both of them were wearing some kind of military battledress uniform: gloves, dark combat boots, belt, trousers, the blouse tucked in, and a fitted, high neck overcoat with odd spikes on the sleeves right on his upper arms. The girl "version", though, eschewed the trousers in favor of, well, a "battle miniskirt" and shear thigh-high stockings of an unknown material, leaving...

Was this the fabled "Zettai Ryouiki" he heard some of the boys gossiping about?

Suddenly, Nanohiko felt his nose burning, his cheeks aflame, and a rather bizarre, "uncomfortableness" from his head to his toes. Perhaps, it would be wise to divert his observations elsewhere, for that mesmerizing space of exposed skin seemed to be undermining his better judgment...erm. Anyways, ahem! That was not the true object of his fascination: the "glowing veins of rainbow" that was what captured his imagination about this person.

With the air abuzz, they blazed brightly, lines, visible even through his and her uniform that formed geometric patterns, reminding of the pictures he had seen of the Nazca Lines in a book. However, the boy sensed these "lines of symmetry" he saw were much closer to something like, the human nervous system or the veins and arteries in his own body. The best analogy, likely, was what he perceived were "Circuits" for these patterns, radiating out from a singular center, had no curves: only lines that would intersect at planes and junctions, forming angles, zigzags, and figures.

A pitiful moan snapped Nanohiko out of his contemplations. A wave of guilt washed over the young boy's consciousness, as he come to a terrible realization: they were in pain, beads of sweat of trickled down their seething faces, as they spasmed sporadically on the bench. How insensitive, how shameful of him to be so caught up in the wonder of his own curiosity that he would forget that the human being here needed his help.

But, wait: how could he even be certain they were human? The things that happened just moments ago at Uminari Marine Tower, everything he had experienced this night...could humans accomplish such things? Of course not, so what did that make the stranger in his care?

"It doesn't matter," Nanohiko told himself, firmly. He buried the wave of fear and suspicion that threatened to steal his heart, by thumping a clenched fist to his chest; the spark of pain, steeling his resolve. "This person fought for the city, for everyone's sake. I don't know what they plan to do after this, but right now, I owe them one, and I've got to do what I can to take care of him, er, her, uhh, it."

He and she seemed to be fighting something, a fever perhaps judging by the worsening of their delirium. Now that the boy thought about it, the symptoms had been pretty bad already on their way over. There was little doubt that his charge was ill, the sickly pallor of their face a dead giveaway. What was he to do? There were not many options available to him.

So Nanohiko did the only thing he could: he stayed by their side, gave them water to drink, and held their quivering gloved hands. It was a long, lonesome time that seemed to go on forever, punctuated only unintelligible murmurs and curses, and the immense heat! Oh, he thought the blaze back at the chaotic zone of Uminari Marine Tower had been hot; he and she in comparison was setting brand new records for human body temperature. The boy was astonished they had not caught on fire yet.

Fortunately, his and her condition stabilized, to Nanohiko's relief, until a sudden violent spasm of coughs and flailing limbs broke out. The latter he could have passed on, definitely, and it was all he could do to keep them from potentially harming himself. Despite being barely lucid and weakened, he and she were still much stronger than appearances gave otherwise. Now, he was not a stranger to blood, but the unexpected and unpleasant splatter of the stuff, drooling out of his charge's mouth, onto his clothes left a definite souring on the young boy's mood.

How was he supposed to explain this in the morning?

More importantly, Nanohiko wished he knew how to treat them of their ailment, but it was unlike any sickness he had ever encountered before. Thankfully, after this dark turn, he and she's condition showed a dramatic improvement: the rainbow circuits bled red and simmered to an azure blue, before fading away altogether. The sweltering waves of heat died away, and their breathing and pulse slowing down to a more regular rhythm, as their forms finally settled down into something definite: a boy, so it seemed.

His charge relaxed, and deeming it safe, the elementary schoolboy released the foreigner. He still seemed out of it, very tired, but lucid, for he opened his eyes to reveal dark pools of blue, bearing a presence that appeared to be barely contained. A storm, perhaps? The fellow took in his surroundings, quickly, wincing with a pitiable groan, as he made to stand.

Instinctively, Nanohiko helped the cursing boy up to his feet, though common sense stated he should not be letting his charge move around at all after such a traumatic episode. However, strange was the way of boys and men, and he did not wish to make insult on the foreigner's personal sense of honor or worth. It was when the exhausted boy laid those storming eyes on him that he figured now was a good time as any to speak, with his attention on him.

"Uh, h-hey, you okay, man?" Nanohiko began, somewhat lamely.

The boy replied, much more forcefully, in his foreign tongue, a sharp questioning look in his eyes.

"Er...excuse me?"

Alas, Nanohiko did not understand a single word of what he was saying. Not quite understanding his own predicament, the boy repeated himself to him, for which he could only reply with a helpless expression. With a frustrated cringe on his face, the dark blue-haired boy repeated himself again, speaking slowly and very emphatically. It was obvious he was becoming angry judging by his increasingly irate tone and body language.

Nanohiko tried to assuage him, as best as he could, waving his hand and shaking his head apologetically in an effort to communicate his own awkward feelings, but... "Anou, I don't under-" ...well, the foreign boy was dissatisfied to say the least. Shooting him a sharp look, it was all the warning Nanohiko got, before the boy, quicker and more strongly than he could have anticipated in a near-invalid individual, grabbed a fistful of his shirt and hauled him in. The slap of their foreheads colliding registered an instant later across his own slate blue eyes, before pain erupted, his eyes seeing double, as he flinched and tried to jump back, only to find himself held fast.

An infuriated, broiling snarl assaulted his ear the next, saying:

"That's because you're NOT listening to me, YOU MOTHAXXX-SCUM-SUCKING, GLOW STICK RIDING, VANILLA SMELLIN' ABO! Hah...E CHUUUUUUUUUU TAAAAAAAA!"

With an earful of that was Nanohiko released -- more like pushed to the ground -- to nurse his aching forehead, behind, and assaulted ear, not to mention try to piece together everything that just happened. How on Earth can a head butt make him understand a foreign language just like that? Does it work with English too (that way he would not have to take that stinking class anymore)? And...

"Owowow! Th-that, that really hurt nano da yo!" he cried pathetically, feeling tears come to his eyes.

That person did not even feel an ounce of remorse. What he got instead was a totally dark -- dark as in darker than even boiling tar, darkness evil -- look that made him feel very small and effeminate.

"Ehhhhhhhh? That. THAT. Hurt, you say?" the foreigner replied all surly like, with a grinning aside, "well, BOY (you sure you even got a pair down there?), GUESS HOW I FEEL, HUH?! You wanna be in the Great Enforcer Chrono's... bleeding boots...gah-rughkk...khak!"

"Uwah! You're coughing up blood..."

"Thank you, Abo Nut...ugh... Wh-What are you? Some kind of Master of the Obvious?! Rrrghh, stupid Temporal Force Field protocol...won't..."

Wow, this guy sure is a lot like Arisa when she throws a tantrum and goes into Burning Arisa mode, thought Nanohiko with an inner face fault, the sweat clinging to the back of his head. Wait, what's this about a Temporal Force Field?

"N-No. But we should get you..."

"WAIT!" cut in the dark blue-haired boy suddenly, with a howl, his eyes wide in a frenzy, as if he were seeing truly for the first time.

"Y-Yes?" Nanohiko replied, uneasily. He prayed to Kami-sama this was not a sign that the fellow across from him was about to attack him in a rabid rage… or worse.

"...Who are you?"

"Uh, me?"

"Yes, you!"

"Anou, Takamachi Nanohiko, nine years old, erm, I go to-"

"Stereotypical short auburn, maybe honey brown hair, style: gel would make it look stupid -- reminds me of that one Kyo-lucky-something Nanbu fella (must be nightmares for the barber keeping it that way). Eye color: slate blue, kinda of a cute kid (could be a handsome man some day), good shape actually for a nine-year-old, and seems like you can handle yourself in a scrap. Nothin'-special civilian summer attire: short sleeves, trousers, sneakers... Got'cha."

Now, those observations made Nanohiko sweat a little. "Um, I-I saw that fight earlier." Why would a guy think of him as "cute", y'know?

"AH-!" the foreign boy's jaw dropped, eyes wide as saucers. "YOU'RE THE ONE?!"

"Huh?"

"You heard it, you heard it, you heard it... YOU HEARD MY VOICE, DIDN'T YOU?" the boy, erm, Chrono (so Nanohiko thought his name was) shouted at him accusingly, a panicked doom seeming to glaze over his storming eyes.

"H-Hai, it was me," he answered, suddenly feeling guilty. Was he not supposed to have heard it?

"Ah ha! ...ahahahahhahah! UWAH-AHAHhahahahah! GREAT! Just WICKED GREAT! Of all the people in this freaking town, it had to be a kid! A KID! Even if you mean it as a joke, this is way out of line, Goddess of Mysteries!"

"Anou, you're not okay, are you...?"

"Of course not! You green as goblin moss, backwater Abo civilian! And neither is anyone else in this city, either!"

"B-But... But you won, didn't you?"

"Ah ha ha, I'm flattered you've got so much faith in a magician of my shining prominence. But! The reality is different from your naive wishes, Little Blue Eyes. I only-!"

Suddenly, an electric squeal cried out, almost as if in protest, for the world warped: the night transforming into something far more sinister. It was as if they had stepped into the twilight zone. Everything froze, truly. The distant fires, the rising plumes of smoke, the clouds in the night sky, and the waning moon; they all stopped. An unnatural evil glow seemed to emanate all around, painting the once finished, well kept building in an eerie varnish that ate away at the things men had made and crafted. Accelerated decay and erosion set in all around, and the landscape turned into a dilapidated slum, a haunting sight devoid of life that tore the courage from the human heart through the windows of the soul.

Nanohiko gasped, seething as he felt icy daggers of fear rip into his resolve. There was an overwhelming aura of menace in the air, suffocating, like the world was caving in on him. He did not like it at all. He hated it; this unreasonable...hostility.

Oddly, the foreigner boy, Chrono, did not seem perturbed in the slightest, ignoring even the crash from the hopelessly rusted bench collapsing in itself in a heap. He was on high alert, storming eyes scanning, with marked caution. "What the hell? A T.F.F.? Damn, talk about gloomy! Sure as a shotlancer it ain't mine. ...tsk, it's not like any spec that Yuuno showed me from the Liber Goetia, or the subcompact ones Chrono-nii uses either... Geez, has it found a host already, or...?"

A feral scream cut through the night, reverberating through the many gutted buildings surrounding them. It seemed to come from all directions, and alas, Nanohiko felt even more of his courage drain away. Yes, it was a fantastic situation. Everything he had wished for, but with his life hanging in the balance, and no way to defend himself, except to flee, the boy felt so very helpless. The drama, the story, suddenly, was not so fun anymore.

"Ho? Here it comes, here it comes," smiled Chrono, wiping the staining blood from his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

How did he do it? Was he crazy? How could he be enjoying all of this? This...this-!

"GET DOWN!"

It happened in a split instant, the blue blur that was the foreign boy slamming into him, pushing Nanohiko away, before something else passed through the space he once occupied. Three whistling impacts rang out, and time was so slow, he swore he could see the wrench of pain surge across Chrono's snarling face, before...

Flash.

Flame.

White.

Smoke.

The shockwave of the explosion flattened him to the sidewalk. It probably was not that big, but Nanohiko felt his nose burning, perhaps it was bleeding, and his ears rang incessantly with a pitched whine. He was breathless; stunned. A perfect stranger had saved his life just like that... Why? Why did he do it?

The Takamachi boy struggled to his feet in the clearing smoke, coughing. Th-That Chrono...! He had better be all right! How else was he supposed to explain his condition to Otou-san and Okaa-san in the morning?

Fortunately (or unfortunately), he did not have a look far for a familiar irate cry came screaming from across the street, except it was several octaves higher... In fact, it sounded like a...

"I-Idiot! Nincompoop! Now, isn't the time to be spacing...gah. Damn, now, there goes the Glamour! I so should've taken it off during the fight. Me and my vanity; what a waste of good mana!"

...a girl's voice!?

"...wh-whu-WHAAaahhhhhhhhhh!? You're a Girl?!" Nanohiko spluttered in wide-eyed astonishment. He never spluttered!

Miraculously, Chrono...erm...Chrono-chan was not in the slightest bit harmed, though she was sans her overcoat, which had likely taken the brunt of the earlier attack. Nanohiko never heard of exploding clothes but he could believe the notion sincerely now that he had a living example in front of him. If they all survived the night, he would make a note to ask her why she wore explosive clothes in the first place, because did that not contradict the whole purpose of wearing anything at all?

"WHAAaahhhhhhhhhh?!" the girl hollered back, with an indignant shake of a balled fist. "ARE YOU A PRICKLESS PRETTYFLY?! DUH! TWO X CHROMOSOMES! SMELLS LIKE SUGAR 'N' SPICE, EVERYTHING NICE, AND CHEMICAL X! JYAAOO! BOOBS! BUSTLINE! HOURGLASS FIGURE! WAIST! HIPS! GIRLY PARTS! A SWEET DERRIERE! AND SILKY THIGHS! A thousand-percent satisfaction guaranteed, or I'll beat you down silly (made only in Mid-Childa)! BE-LIEVE IT!"

It was obvious her brush with death had not cooled down her spitfire tongue at all. With the overcoat gone though, Nanohiko saw that she was not entirely unarmed, for she wore a pair of high-tech looking metal bracers with plated shields.

"AH-uh-Wuh-whaa...HUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHhhhuh!?"

"Don't just stand there lollygagging! Move it!" she shouted at him, "He's coming right-"

TWHACK!

"KID!"

S-Some-thing hit him -- this time, massive like a rhino or a bull; it just smashed him aside, disdainfully, a mere insignificant prop that happened to be in the way. He was airborne, hurtling beyond control, senses ablaze with pain.

"Slash Harken: FAIA!"

Twin sharp hydraulic hisses echoed forth, followed by meaty thuds, but he could hear the stampede of the thing's many scuttling footfalls still pounding forward unhindered.

"IMPULSE BITE!"

An electric crack pierced the din, as he returned to earth as well, breaking, flopping, and rolling finally to a stop a seemingly impossible distance from where he once stood. Something screamed, an inhuman chittering squeal, accompanied by a flash of bluish-white. The stench of burnt flesh and ozone propagated through the air faster than his hazy mind could possibly be bothered to comprehend, drowning in a sea of painkillers, agony, and denial.

The rush of running booted feet came and stopped beside him, with excited breaths, "C'mon, Little Blue Eyes! Stay with me on this."

It was a familiar presence at least, and it rolled him carefully on to his back, but with an equal sense of urgency over the continuing din of -- something -- horrible in the background. The person was prodding and checking him presumably, muttering aloud in a clinical fashion, "Fractures. Incomplete Fracture for the Humerus. Bruising. Maybe internal bleeding. No splinters, I think. Good, nothing I can't fix." Satisfied, apparently so with the diagnosis of his condition; they took a deep breath before placing an open palm flat upon his sternum.

"Healing Sign: FIRST AID!"

A blue light enveloped him, and suddenly, Nanohiko felt wide awake, gasping, as if he had been dumped into a pool of freezing water. Bone, sinew, arteries, and veins; the boy could feel his entire body knitting itself back together into shape at speeds far exceeding what was considered human. It was a miracle, surely, for he was whole again, though it was an experience he would rather not repeat. However, there was little time for contemplation.

Sweating profusely, thirsty strangely, and more than just a little hungry, he was hauled up to his feet, with a familiar voice screaming at him:

"Get up...ugh, get up! You're not allowed...to die, unless I say so, got it?! SUCK IT UP LIKE A MAN, DAMMIT!"

He seemed to be getting screamed at an awful lot today, which he hoped was not about to become something of a regular facet in his life.

"Ch-Chrono-san," Nanohiko addressed his savior, blinking. He was a touch out of it thanks everything that was happening so quickly. Moments ago, he practically thought he was dead, and yet now... "What did you...ah! You're-"

Chrono looked horrible, all the symptoms she had before (then apparently as boy) during her "red fever" had come back.

"Don't worry about me. Here: take it," the blue-haired girl brushed his self-evident concern off and roughly pressed something into his hands with her own bloodstained ones. It was a jewel of some kind; a perfect ruby, shaped into a sphere, with a most unusual brilliance and clarity that shined through even in the gloom of the nightmare world they were in.

"And RUN! I never thought I, eh-hehehe, the Marvelous Brave Chrono Lindy Harlaown, would sell her life like this... But the choice is between me, and this city, no, this entire planet. You have to make it! GO!"

By some inexplicable willpower, she turned away and began to march straight back the way she had ran from, coughing harshly into her hand that soon stained with fresh crimson.

"Run for your life! Don't look back! That Device, I can only hope you are a compatible Devicer. After that...heh, I guess it'll be up to you two to save the world! Don't you feel lucky, Little Blue Eyes? You're going to be a Hero! Now, RUN!"

It was obvious Chrono was going to her doom, swathed in the angry red veins again. The subtle tremor to her limbs and gait, and the unnaturally white pallor of her skin spoke volumes that she would not likely return, but how -- what manner of courage was this that she would be willing to bet so recklessly against such unreasonable odds? Madness. She had to be crazy!

Takamachi Nanohiko could not help but be angry and envious. Was this Kami-sama's way of testing him, after granting his hopeful wish? Fine. Fine then, no more screwing around; it was time for him to get serious too. He would show her, and everyone watching who the hell he really was:

"Hey, kisama! That's IMPOSSIBLE! You're asking this one, this Takamachi Nanohiko-sama, to run away, without even trying to fight? On top of that, urgh, you want this Takamachi Nanohiko-sama to leave a hurt, tired girl to fight all by herself! An-And! It hurt me! That freaking, stupid, bl-black thingie!"

It was the first time he actually saw his assailant, and gosh, it was huge: some misshapen cross between a spider and a scorpion, blown up to the size of a white rhinoceros (and then some) that favored the armored chitin of the latter. Unlike a spider though, the head was a big, oblong articulated thing on a long flexible neck, revealing a slavering maw full of razor sharp teeth. The monster appeared a nightmarishly formidable beast that oozed an oily layer of darkness, like an aura, from its plated hide. Perhaps, nothing short of explosives or anti-tank weaponry would be able to stop such a thing.

"Don't joke with me; don't look down on me! I carry a soul within me too: a Warrior's Soul! And I'm going to get even, so tell me how to fight with this thing, Woman! That's why you gave it to me, didn't you?"

The incorrigible, impetuous girl from wherever, actually, stopped in her tracks. Nanohiko had to admit he was gladdened by the sight, and felt the tiniest hope she would acknowledge his resolve right there. Reality, though, was very much different from his expectations.

"EHHHHH!? Now, you show your balls because I am a girl, you chauvinist, conceited bastard?!"

What!?

"B-But, uh! If a girl, I mean, er...!" the boy, positively, flushed beet red at the unexpected slight from left field. He had not seen that coming, definitely not; how on Earth can anyone be so...erm... Aren't people supposed to be grateful, especially in a crisis, when you offer them help?

"Mystra, YOU SUCK (and just when I thought you actually had some potential too)!" she snapped at him, her tone thuggish and disdainful, effectively ending at hope of him salvaging his dignity.

"J-J-Just tell me how!"

"Fine then, Wannabe-sama: focus! And ask for a pact! You already got the freaking potential because there's no other reason you'd be here, otherwise. The rest is up to Her, that snotty, prissy kid!"

Nanohiko blinked.

"Wha? H-Her?"

The black thing, no, the monster at the end of the street howled and rose to its feet. It had finally recovered from whatever attack Chrono had used to disable it, earlier. He could not see her face, but he sensed a surge of emotion about her, for against all reason, the possibility of imminent death, the blue-haired girl became even more emboldened. She gave a loud, strong whoop impossibly, in spite of her weak condition, and broke into a sprint headlong, as she called back to him, cheerfully.

"Did I forget to mention Raising Heart's a girl too? Good luck, Little Blue Eyes! I'm going on ahead!"

To Nanohiko's horror, the monster, too, responded in kind, with a bone chilling screech that felt like hundreds of razor blades, shaving him alive to the bone. There was no time left. If he messed up this process of "asking for a pact", for which he had no training or experience at all, except for the somewhat words of encouragement from Chrono that such a thing was possible...they were both effectively dead meat.

"Ah! W-Wait a second... D-Damn it! Raising Heart, I am counting on you..."

It can't be helped, so to Hell with it: Let's Go for It! Together!

"So please, ANSWER ME!"


To be continued...


Author's Notes:

Heh heh. We're actually still going on with this.