"Fate-chan, it is time to wake up."
Fate ignored the call and continued to sleep. She had being working overtimes ever since the incident concerning the mysterious stranger who had being stealing linker cores from other mages. Many similar incidents happened subsequently and despite the TSAB best effort, there had being no information gathered about this figure or group which had higher probability if people asked her opinion.
Fortunately, her work in the training field with Nanoha was reduced with the introduction of the new instructor, Shirou although she definetely missed the time training the Forwards with Nanoha.
" Mou, Fate-chan you will be late for your meeting with Hayate-chan." The voice got louder but Fate gave a small groan and covered her ears with the blanket, refusing to comply.
" Nanoha, go away and let me sleep in peace.." Fate mumbled when she felt Nanoha poking her through the blanket. " Fate-chan, your coffee will turn cold if you continue to sleep so come on."
" Fine, I can heat it up later anyway."
" The toasts and scrambled eggs will be cold too."
" I don't mind cold food if I can have more sleep."
" Mou... Fine, I will send to Chrono and Yuuno those photos taken the day before of you posing with th-"
" You won't dare!" Fate instantly woke up and glared at her girlfriend who gave a huge smile with her customary "nyahaha". " Mou.. You do know how tired I am recently so just give me extra time to sleep." She then gave a yawn to emphathsize her point.
Nanoha then sat on the bed and pulled Fate to her chest and kissed the forehead while stroking her long blonde hair lovingly while Fate closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. She gave a soft whimper when Nanoha stopped the stroking which made her laughed.
She really look like a cute kitten especially at moments like this. Sigh... if only we can do this everyday.
"Nanoha, what are you thinking?"
Nanoha looked at Fate's questioning red eyes then she tilted her head in a cute way and replied, " Nyahaha, nothing. So now let's go and have our breakfast or else we are going to be late."
At the training ground, the Lightning and Star squad members all gave groans as they collapsed into a heap. Even when both Nanoha and Vita took charge of the trainings together, they were still bearable but when Shirou alone took charge, it was literally hell.
He would have them to fight waves after waves of drones for warm-up then he would test their teamwork by fighting against them but without limiter so basically, it's a no win situation and they had never win him once. Then after the training battles, he would engage them in one versus two battle situation with different combinations as warm-down so it was understandable why they were exhausted after morning training.
And now, they had their lunch break but none of them had the energy to move. Vita gave an approving grin to Shirou then followed by a thumbs up while for Nanoha, she put a hand on her palm and gave a sigh. Great, now we have another Vita here and I got the feeling he's going to be worse than her.
" Instructor Emiya, aren't you abit too strict with them? They don't seem to have the energy to train in the afternoon." Nanoha whispered to Shirou while finally, the Forwards gathered the energy to drag their bodies towards the cafeteria.
" I rather them to get exhausted now during trainings rather than being tired and get killed in the battlefield. Their bodies need to be adapted towards such exhaustion and prevent their concentration and awareness from being wavered. I have seen too many comrades succumbing to this weakness and losing their lives which I'm sure you have also experience." Shirou answered matter-of-factly but the slight bitterness in his tone silenced Nanoha and Vita.
"But.. I agree that I have being abit too harsh so I won't train them so hard next time. Ah, here comes your friend." Nanoha turned around and saw Fate walking towards them with a tired smile. She then ran towards her and hugged her tightly, prompting an amused smile from Shirou and a groan from Vita.
" Man, this morning sucks. Meetings with those stupid old people with Hayate-chan followed by stackloads of paperworks. Then later on, I still have to do research on those incidents after this training session. I want to cry seriously." Fate then leaned onto Nanoha after letting out her frustration while Nanoha rubbed her back with a sympathetic look
Shirou thought for a while then an idea came to him. " How about this? Come to my house for dinner and I promise all of you will have the dinner of your life." Fate and Nanoha stared at him then with a smile, Fate nodded with a thanks.
" You can cook?" Nanoha enquired curiously. Shirou nodded with an afterthought, he said, " Invite Commander Yagami and all of your family members too."
" Hayate is part of my family and thanks for your offer." Vita gave a small grin which Shirou grinned back.
" Alright then, lunch hour should be over. Let's prepare for more training for those young kids." Shirou cracked his fists and said with a gleam in his eyes, the same gleam Nanoha and Vita tend to have when they want to give the Forwards hellish training.
" What? Why should I shop for groceries for you?" A man with blue hair which was spiked said with a glare at a tanned man with white hair that was also spiked but in a different way.
" Otherwise, everyone will have no dinner and trust me, you will not like it when everyone knows you are the reason for this." He replied while pondering over what dishes to cook for dinner and writing the list of ingredients down.
" Damm, why can't you ask those women to do it. That witch over there is watching freaking soap operas and that shortie king is eating... whatever that is. I've still have to hunt some people down or else that bastard will punish me." He gave a shudder at the image of the punishment he would get if he failed his mission.
" Oh? Who are those people you are targeting now? I bet they are some hot babes right?" The white hair man gave a smirk then his eyes widened when the blue hair man showed his his targets with a laptop.
" Nanoha Takamachi and Fate... Wait a minute, aren't they the Aces of the TSAB? Man, I wish you good luck." He slapped the blue hair man back which shoot him back with an arrogant smirk.
" Hah, no babes have ever defeat me man. Beside, too many weak targets will make you weak although I like the feeling of killing them. Alright, I'm off then." He turned his back on the white hair man and raised his hand to give a short wave.
" Right. By the way, about the gro-", before he could complete the sentence the blue hair man had already activated his runes and teleported away.
He facepalmed then shaking his head, he shouted to the people in the living room. " Oi, who wants to volunteer to buy groceries."
Minutes later, he went out of their house grumbling that no top-class chef ever shopped for his own ingredient.
" Man, I'm so tired.." Subaru gave a loud yawn as she stretched her arms, resulting in some popping sounds at the joint area. Tea just rolled her eyes but she had to admit she was glad that her work had ended and she could go home and have a nice soak in her bathtub.
" Haha, that's true Subaru onee-chan." Caro raised her head and gave a cute smile at the two seniors while Eriol copied Subaru action and stretched his hands too.
" Eh, Strada has a message for us. Let me see... Hmm, Fate onee-chan tells us to go Instructor Shirou house as he's preparing dinner for us. Oh wow, I don't know that Instructor Shirou cooks. That's kind of cool and here's a map for us in case we don't know how to go." Eriol then showed a miniature digital map which Strada beamed to them.
" YES, Insructor Shirou is the best!" Subaru raised up her hands and shouted loudly while Caro also cheered but at a lower volume. Teana rolled her eyes again and gave a light punch on Subaru head, cutting off her words and causing her to look at her with a tearful expression. She gave a sigh then said with a small smile, " Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go then."
The four of them then walked towards the Shirou house while discussing happily what dishes their strict instructor will cook for them. While walking through the park which the map said they have to, a man suddenly appeared in front of them.
" Hey kids, are you all the Forwards of the 6th division Riot force?" He asked casually with a relaxed pose. The four of them looked at each other then Teana asked, " Yes, we are the Forwards. May I know what's your reason for enquiring?"
" Haha, no reason... Except that I'm here for your linker CORES!" A red spear materialised in his hand then he thrusted out with great precision and speed that aimed at Subaru's stomach.
If it was normal people or mages, they would have being fatally speared without fail but unfortunately, these are the cream of the crops among the new generation of mages and they had endure training sessions under the three strictest instructors in the whole military base.
" Hey, what's your problem mister?" Subaru asked with a wary expression as she and her three friends all leapt backward from the attack.
" The problem here is that I want your linker cores and I bet that none of you will hand it to me voluntarily." He gave a smirk as he swung his spear with practised ease.
" That's obvious right? Linker cores are the one that made us mages so why the hell will we hand them over to you. Also, you are the person behind all the recent spates of attacks right?" Teana narrowed her eyes as the man laughed then he gave a thumb up.
" Right you are, lady. You are a smart one, that I got to admit. Now, please hand over your linker cores and I promise I won't harm you all." He opened his arms wide as a gesture of peace with the smirk.
" Yeah right. CROSS MIRAGE!" " MACH CALIBER" " STRADA" " FRIEDRICH, HEED MY CALL"
Four of their uniforms transformed into their barrel jackets with their weapons at hands and Friedrich flying beside Caro's head and the four of them took a battle stance against the man.
" Alright, so we have to do the violent way. Time to warm up." He cracked his neck then in an instant, Teana and Caro flew into a tree behind them with such a force that the tree broke into half.
The man had place his spear beside him like a pole then he grinned at the surprised expression on the blue hair and red hair mages.
" Damm it, how dare you hurt Teana." Subaru shouted then using Wing road, she skated towards the man who was still standing nonchantly and with a ball of energy glowing at her fist and two catridges loaded into Mach calibur, she then shouted, " DIVINE BUSTER!"
The fist was about to hit his face when instead, the spell hit an invisible barrier surrounding the man. Ripples caused by the force of the spell appeared on the barrier which still unfazed the man then with making a sign with his finger, the spell deflected back to Subaru and flung her further than Teana and Caro.
" Runic.. ugh... magic... How..can ahh...it...be..." Subaru gasped in pain in between her words then she lost consciousness.
It can't be... Even Subaru onee chan Divine buster is easily deflected instead of shattering the barrier.. Eriol then gritted his teeth then swinging his Strada, he charged towards the man with Sonic move.
"Lightning spear!"
"Explosion." His device pronounced then electricity started to gather at the tip of the spear before spearing through the barrier.. Or attempted to spear through.
" Cool, you are a spear user too? Man, it's rare to find mages wielding spear-like weapons nowadays. Maybe one day, I can teach you..Or maybe not." With a cruel smile, he made the same sign and Eriol was flung aside from the force of his own attack.
"Eriol! Friedrich, heed my call. Grant me the power to heal the knight before me." Caro quickly ran to Eriol's side and started to heal his injuries while Teana stood up and aimed her Cross Mirage at the man in case he attacked Caro.
The man just leaned against his own spear and waited for the whole healing process to end then he pointed at Subaru who was still lying unconsciously on the ground. " Hey, aren't you going to heal that girl over there too?"
Damm it, he's totally not taking us seriously... Caro looked at Teana who nodded and she quickly ran to Subaru and healed her after Eriol stood up with little injuries.
" Guh.. thanks Caro.." Subaru blinked her eyes after recovering her conciousness then she gave a grateful smile to the pink hair mage. She then stood up and walked to the front of her fellow Forwards.
" Hey Teana, Caro and Eriol. Battle formation ready? Let's teach this punk some lessons for messing with us."
Teana grinned at her best friend confidence then she shifted a bit back, just in front of Caro who already started to chant buffing spells for them. Eriol then stood at the wing and then he said, " Ready Subaru-san."
Subaru nodded then blue long trails emerged fron her which twisted and elongated into a mazy ladybrinth in the sky. " Alright..."
Teana then shouted, " GO!" Subaru and Eriol then charged towards the man who had a bored expression on his face.
" Revolver Cannon!"
" Thunder Rage!"
Catridges were loaded into their respective devices and both of the spells slammed into the barrier, creating a strong backlash wave which tore into the trees in the park and almost blew Caro away if not for her barrier reducing the impact.
" Ancient dragons of the past, heed my call. Grant the youngling in front of thee to destroy who dare to threaten us." Friedrich started to glow as red light streamed into it then a large stream of fire was fired towards the barrier from its mouth.
" Cross Mirage, cannon mode."
" Cannon mode activated. Ready to engage."
" Phantom Blazer, Cross Mirage. Increases input at max level, remove safety limiter." Teana said as she aimed her device at the barrier which was straining under the spells.
"Max energy level reached. Safety limiter removed. Warning, spell begin in 5 seconds."
"5"
" Ahhhh!." Eriol was flung away again and this time, he hit 3 trees in a straight line and then he slumped to the ground.
"4"
" I will not give up!" Subaru continued to punch repeatedly with Revolver cannon despite the strain on her as catridges continued to load into it at a rapid pace, elicting sparks from the device.
"3"
The man suddenly thrusted out his spear towards Subaru and when both the spear and Mach Calibur collided, there was an explosion which caused Subaru to flew towards Eriol direction and hit the ground.
"2"
He glanced at the fire engulfing the barrier then with a different sign made, the fire was absorbed into the barrier, causing a look of astonishment from Caro and Friedrich.
"1"
Beads of sweat started to roll down Teana face but she continued to hold her device at the man direction as masses of energy were gathering around her device. The man lazily leaned against his spear which made her flared up.
"0"
A huge blast exploded from her device as 4 A class catridges were loaded then a huge mass of energy tore towards the man direction and hit the barrier.
There was a huge flash of light then when the temporary blindness disappeared from Teana, she saw that no traces of the man and the spear were there. Everything that stood in the way of the spell was destroyed and not even the man barrier could withstood her ultimate spell.. Or so she thought.
" Guh..." A red spear protruded from her chest as she choked out then turning her head, she saw her assailant being unharmed and with a bored look on his face.
" Damm... you..." Teana then fell onto the ground and slided off the spear which the man twirled it around his hand and then landed on his shoulder.
" One down, three to go.. Man, this is so boring.." He glanced at the three Forwards and noticed that two of them had fainted while the pink hair short girl was staring at him while trembling.
" Don't worry, kid. I will give you a painless death. I don't like to bully small girl, goes against my principle hehe." He walked towards the girl then he noticed a small white dragon appeared in front of him and growling at him.
He smirked and using the end of his spear, he hit the dragon away and then standing upon Caro, he raised his spear and said. " Well, this is goodbye."
Just when he was about to brought the spear down upon Caro, orbs of energy hit the man back and he paused his fatal blow. He turned around and saw Teana aiming Cross Mirage, which was barely functioning, and glaring at him as though telling him not to touch Caro.
The man gave a sigh then just when he was about to throw the spear at Teana, he felt a huge blow to his back. " What?" He spun around and noticed that his barrier had shattered and a fist was heading towards him with the cry, " Divine Buster!"
With unerring reflexes, he brought up his spear and bloke the fist then suddenly, he felt immobilised. Damm it, who is the one that cast the binding spell. He looked around and saw Caro chanting spells under her breath then he noticed a large concentration of energy around him.
Huh? That blue hair girl is lying on the ground, the pink hair girl is chanting that damm spell and the pigtail lady is dying so who can it be... Oh no, that boy!
He looked up and saw Eriol diving towards him with a large coat of electricity around him and the spear.
" Meteor Thunder!" He screamed then his whole body crashed into the man, causing a large outburst of electricity around the area where the collision took place.
" Do we made it?" Caro asked after a few seconds of silence as she waited for the smoke to clear away.
" Heheheheheh... Good one kids. I've never expected such resilence from ones as young as you all for a long time.. But now, everything ends." The man stood at the area with a small patch of burnt area on his blue armour and on his hand, he was holding Eriol by the throat while the other held his own spear.
We threw our best attacks against him and we only caused a small burn to his armour? Caro then slumped to the ground as she started to feel despair overtaking her and she could no longer sustain the energy needed for her legs.
" Now.. DIE!" The man pointed the tip of his spear at Eriol's throat and...
" NO, ERIOL-KUN!"