At long last, I've completed the seventh chapter of the "Antifreeze fox". Hopefully, I won't make you wait this long for the next update, but with how my semester at university is turning out, I'm not sure I will be able to update soon... Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* Review response:
karthik9, edboy4926, Wyrtha, Dark Insomniacs, Dymian, Nanashi113, Dragonskyt, sh8ad8ow, BattleCharger, wayswitch, Toby860, Cloves, BladePhoenix41, ForeverYoung97, KailSakray, Dudtheman, OverPowered, Antoinette Castellan, Cenright, DarkPirateKing69, harlequin320, dangerverse, jebest, missourijack, wankelrotaryengine, thanks for your reviews, folks!
Hellfire44, to be honest, I don't know what to think about this all. Though it's quite clear now that Kazuha was quite a pervy girl for she was the one who 'organized' this whole thing.
kalakauai, 1) on the ship en route to the turtle island. 2) it may be possible, but I do not plan on going anywhere near it in the story. 3) Freezing field as a telepathy medium doesn't work on Naruto as he has no stigmata in his body. 3a) what secrets? 4) not anymore, though it took me some time to completely recover from the hardware failure in early June.
RE5 forever, u-um... this review needs some proper punctuation. But, anyway, no: I do not have time to write yet another story at the moment, and I didn't find Highschool DxD interesting, so I do not intend to write anything connected with it.
Gbds, well, there aren't many of these to begin with ;)

* Jutsu list: Shinobi techniques:
Rougoku no fuuin - (unknown rank) Prison seal - Prevents target from moving (in any way). Essentially, the same seal that Danzou used on Sasuke.
* Jutsu list: Pandora-Limiter techniques:
Accel turn - increases speed of a Pandora. 5x acceleration allows one to move with a speed close to sound barrier. Not all Pandora can use this technique.
Tempest turn - 'cloning' through sheer speed. So far the shown limit is 10 copies. Not all Pandora can use this technique.


Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Naruto" or "Freezing". No profit is being made. Oh, and I borrowed some names from other anime & manga. I don't own those either.

"speaking"
'thinking'
"speaking of the higher beings / jutsu / speaking in power mode"
'thinking of the higher beings'


chapter VII: Mark IV

Naruto wasn't sure how this did happen so fast, but by the morning after the mini-carnival he already had a new and well-known among others moniker: the Editor. It was a rather nice one – especially compared to the names he had been called before becoming Konoha genin – so the blond sage didn't mind it. But it still made him wonder, how so many different people could agree on something so quickly.

Aside from that, though, nothing of interest was happening at the base, nor was scheduled to happen in the next couple of days: the technicians needed time to finish the preparations for some synchronization tests, while the high-ups of the Chevalier organization were discussing the finer details of the said tests. This, of course, gave the E-Pandora some time to recover from their, often quite devastating loses, in the mock battles. The rest of the base's guests though... well, while those more sapient were making use of the local training facilities, most were just reclining, confident in themselves.

Maria, not being a part of the later group, when she wasn't busy with her duties as a colonel, could be found either in the gym or at the pool, and Naruto, who himself never shied away from training, was all too happy to join his red-haired partner there. Though, while he was concentrating more on his shinobi skills, 'the Goddess' was working mostly on her plasticity, and she did that in a way that sometimes left the blond sage in the need of a cold shower...

~/ *** \~

It was evening of the third day since the mini-carnival, when the young sage decided to have another talk with the Kyuubi. This time, Naruto was hoping to talk the mighty demon into willingly helping him, should he find himself facing Novas that were beyond his capabilities. No, sure, if its container's life was in danger, the nine-tails would step in, even if just to keep itself from perishing as well, but the blond sage was positive that if the Kyuubi was actually working with him, they could achieve better results... He just needed to explain this to the bijuu.


Arriving to the maze of the dreary corridors that were the representation of his subconscious, Naruto headed straight to where the Kyuubi's cage was. And the mighty beast appeared to be expecting him, its two huge blood-red eyes staring intently at the blond sage.

"What brings you here this time, flesh bag?" The bijuu asked rather rudely, getting straight to the point. Sighing softly, the young jinchuuriki answered:

"Well..." Despite having an idea what he wanted from the demon, Naruto actually haven't thought about the words that he should use in his negotiations with it. Thus, right now he found himself not really sure about what he should say. And, of course, the Kyuubi wasn't exactly alright with it.

"Out with it, ningen, or I'm going back to sleep!" The nine-tails said as it glared at its container. The blond shinobi sighed again.

"Um... You see, so far the enemies I had to face weren't beyond my own capabilities..." The bijuu nodded, mostly to itself. "But no one said that the things will be like this forever. One day, I may find myself facing something that I can't beat without resorting to your power." The Kyuubi lowered its head to bring it closer to the level of the piny human that was in front of it.

"And? We both know that I will not perish this soon, even if it means I have to help the waste of space that you are." The demon growled, making Naruto unconsciously take a step away from the beast's cage.

"That may be so, but we both know that when you try to force your 'help' into me, it has some serious aftereffects. Wouldn't it be better, if you allowed me to use your power more freely, if the situation requires it?" The blond sage asked. The Kyuubi was silent for a moment, before it spoke again:

"And what is in for me there, ningen?" The nine-tailed demon asked. "I won't have you leeching my power without giving anything back." Naruto paused, trying to think of something that he could offer to the bijuu.

"What about the knowledge that you're the strongest being in not one but two universes?" He tried weakly... The Kyuubi let out a deep sigh, before crossing its front paws and laying its head atop of them.

"And that is all you can offer? It absolutely won't do!" A pause. "And I never was the strongest one in our home world. Both the father and the mother of mine and my brethren were on the whole different level from me. And let's not forget the whole court of Kami." The blond shinobi looked quite confused by what he had just heard.

"Father? Mother?" He asked and, before he could say anything else, the Kyuubi growled at him, making him shut up quickly.

"You should have at least heard about the father, ningen. After all, he did create the world of shinobi as you know it." For several seconds Naruto had a puzzled expression on his face as he tried to recall anything and everything he did learn in the history classes. And he couldn't find anything about the man the Kyuubi was talking about in those memories. Then his brief meeting with 'Tobi' during the times of the Kage summit came to his mind.

"You're talking about Rikkudou Sennin?" The young sage asked.

"...It appears that there is some brain in that head of yours." The nine-tails replied. "Yes, the sage of six paths was the one who created me and eight of my brethren from the being we call the mother." It continued. "You might have heard about her as well: Ame no Hitotsu no Kami, Atara Deidara-Bocchi, the Juubi – you, humans, gave her many names." Then the Kyuubi shook his head. "And why I am even telling you all this, flesh bag?" Naruto just shrugged as he knew no answer to this question... There was an uneasy silence that lasted for several seconds, before the bijuu spoke again: "But I do know with what you can pay me back for my ...assistance in your fights." The blonde perked up upon hearing this.

"Yes?"

"Those sages gave you the key to my seal, did they not?" The mighty beast spoke. "Yes, right now is not the time for it, but once this wave of alien attackers end, you will release from the seal." Ignoring shocked and fearful face of its container, the Kyuubi continued. "I still feel my connection to that damn ox of eight tails, meaning if I were to 'die' here, I'd reform back in the world where I was created. I will even promise not to attack anyone here... So, my power for your freedom from me, how does it sound?" Naruto thought about this for some time, which felt like eternity in the dreary world of his subconscious. Of course, the blonde knew that he shouldn't trust the beast this much, but as he himself said, soon he may found himself facing an enemy that he wouldn't be able to defeat without resorting to using the Kyuubi's power. Maybe he should accept this deal...

"Alright, I'll do that." He said, looking into the demon's red eyes.

"Very well. The deal is concluded." And following those words, the young sage once again experienced less than pleasant feeling of being booted out of his own subconscious...

~/ *** \~

A quiet ringing of her intercom made doctor Scarlet O'Hara look away from her computer monitors, habitually minimizing all of the windows with the information that was for her eyes only: there were some things that even the Chevalier organization leaders didn't need to know about. Not yet, at least.

"What's it?" She asked as she pressed a button on the intercom... Apparently, Amelia was here to see her. 'This was bound to happen sooner or later' The red-haired scientist thought, shaking her head. Then she gave her reply: "Let her in, please." Just a couple of seconds later the doors of her office slid open, allowing the white-haired girl in.

"Ah... I can come back later if you're busy..." Amelia said in a hushed voice when she saw the head of the E-Pandora project sitting behind her monitors with a slight frown on her face.

"It's fine." Doctor O'Hara said, standing up from her armchair. To be honest, she was even thankful that ms. Evans chose this time to pay her a visit – all those data she had to sort through was giving her a headache, so a small break was quite welcome. "Sit down." The red-haired scientist said, gesturing for her guest to take a seat on the armchair in front of her table... Of course, Amelia remained standing. "Coffee?"

"Ah, I'm fine!" She replied hastily, waving her hands in front of herself. The head of the E-Pandora project just shrugged, before pouring herself a mug.

"I know why you are here." Doctor O'Hara said with a small sigh, causing Amelia to stiffen even more. "The use of Mark IV was decided by the committee and it is going to happen no matter what." The white-head seemed to shrink when she heard those word.

"I didn't come here... to ask for something as selfish as not using it. I... was ready for everything when I became a part of this project..." Amelia whispered while looking down and to the side, while hugging herself with her right hand. It made her look so small and vulnerable that even doctor O'Hara, who prided herself on being a cold-hearted scientist, couldn't help but want to comfort the girl as the 'mother' aspect of her acted up... Still, the red-haired researcher had an image to uphold.

"So then what? What is it you wanted?" She asked, maybe unnecessarily-harshly, succeeding only in making the whitehead even more uncomfortable.

"Is... Is Mark IV a revised version of... the Mark III you used before?" Amelia asked, gradually switching from whispering to all but shouting. The white-haired E-Pandora certainly had no good memories about Mark III – while it did boost her powers, it almost killed her too, and it took away her pretty red hair, leaving just a single lock as a reminder of the pains she had to live through... Doctor O'Hara patiently listened to the girl's rant with a neutral expression on her face.

"Mark IV is completely different from Mark III." She finally said when Amelia ran out of breath. "It was created based on the original Pandora's official data the Committee gave us. And while I can't completely guarantee lack of side-effects, nothing like that should happen this time. Mark IV is much safer and quite more efficient than III. It's a whole new medicine... Don't worry, I will do everything in my power to keep you all safe – you're all my precious test subjects after all." The whitehead was quite for several seconds, while the red-haired researcher was trying to figure out what possessed her to use these reassurances, instead of just ordering the E-Pandora to go into the test. Regardless, Amelia seemed to have accepted her answer.

"Thank you, professor. I'll explain this to the girls." The white-haired E-Pandora said with a small bow, before turning around and walking up to the door. She paused there. "And... professor, let's make the E-Project a success, alright?" She added with a small gentle smile, before walking out, the mechanical door slamming close behind her...

Doctor O'Hara placed her mug on the table and sighed, seemingly shrinking as she did that. She managed to avert the fall out between the E-Pandora and the Chevaliers this time, but she also knew that Mark IV was not as perfect as she said it was. And while the chances that something similar to what had happened with Amelia will occur again were low, Murphy will ensure that the catastrophe will happen at the worst possible time, possibly placing hundreds of innocent lives in danger.

The red-haired scientist balled her hands into fists. Even if the E-Project was interesting and she could honestly say that she liked working on it, she knew that the E-Pandora will never truly be a match to the real ones, and with how Nova attacks were getting more and more powerful, Scarlet wasn't sure that even someone as strong as Amelia will be of any help on the battlefield...

No, the humanity needed a far more powerful weapon against the alien invaders, and she was creating it, hiding her true works behind the E-Project as that fool, Gendo Aoi, and his fraction of the Chevalier organization will never allow her to do that officially. Idiots! Do they not understand that only by using all available resources to create a perfect weapon against Nova the humanity could survive?

Sighing again, doctor O'Hara decided that she should visit her secret laboratory, where that weapon was being created. Of course, she was sure that nothing noteworthy had happened there in those fifteen minutes that passed since she last viewed the data feedback from there; and the girls there weren't alive yet – they will never know whether their creator came to visit them or not – but the red-haired scientist decided to do that anyway, more for the peace of her own mind...

It took her a couple of minutes of walking through some 'secret' corridors of the base, but Scarlet eventually found herself in a large hall, filled with loads of expensive equipment and three dozens of tanks. Inside each of these tanks there was a girl, appearing to be seventeen or so, with red hair and aristocratic face: a clone of Maria 'the Goddess' Lancelot. They were to be humanity's ultimate weapon against the Nova... Doctor O'Hara approached the nearest tank and gently placed her hand on the cool glass near to where the clone's – her child's, almost – hand was.

"Soon, it will be your time to shine..."

~/ *** \~

Even though Maria was a colonel and just a highly respected Chevaliers operative, even she – and Naruto by extension – wasn't allowed into the area where the synchronization tests were held. So, she knew about as much as the next person about what was going on there. Namely, that the Mark IV could boost E-Pandora's abilities to the levels of the normal one. Still, the redhead wasn't stupid enough to believe that this boost could be permanent: human body had its limits, and pushing someone over those limits for a prolonged time eventually led to the subject's mutilation or even death.

Thus, as three days had passed since the (successful) synchronization test and the E-Pandora used in it wasn't seen anywhere, 'the Goddess' had her strong suspicions about what state the poor girl was in at the moment. At best, Gina will have to spend some time recovering from the ordeal, at worst, she will have to pay for those minutes of being powerful with her life...

Still, even if she was worrying about the girl – it reminded her all too much about the first experiments in creating Pandora, through which she alone lived – Maria knew she could do nothing to help Gina, and so she continued with her daily routines as if everything was alright.

Thus, at the moment, the redhead having her nightly relaxation at the pool, floating lazily in the warm water on her back. Yet, she couldn't find any peace for her heart, as some sense of foreboding kept returning to her. And her partner – who, apparently, couldn't keep his eyes away from her scantly-clad body – was in pretty much the same situation with his sixth sense acting up. Their intuition, as it turned out, wasn't mistaken this time: suddenly a siren sounded throughout the entire base.

"This is an announcement about the state of emergency!" A loud artificial voice said, completely drowning all other sounds, even the alarm siren. "All Pandora have to stand by their designated positions! This is not a drill! All Pandora, except for those whose names will be called should stand by their designated positions! Repeat, this is not a drill!" Somehow, it took Maria just six seconds to reach the edge of the pool from its center, and get out of the water. And by the time she was finally standing on a solid surface again, Naruto had already created an solid illusion of his battle gear over himself and he also had entered his sage mode already.

"Where is it?" 'The Goddess' asked, ignoring the order to head to her designated position, aka, the command center. Even if the base buildings were very sturdy, that momentary flicker of the lights was enough to tell everyone with half a brain that Nova was attacking already. And there was only one explanation as to how it could appear without a warning: this 'Nova' was actually a Pandora whose stigmata corrosion went past the point of no return... Naruto scanned the area of the base, quickly finding the Nova-like signature.

"Left the test chambers of the laboratories, and, if I'm not mistaken, she is heading towards the E-Pandora's quarters." He made a short pause, before adding: "And it looks like she still has her human mind, even if her body is corrupted." Maria nodded, before materializing some clothes for herself. Sure, these would never be a match for the real ones, but going to the lockers and putting those on will be such a waste of time right now... "She goes in a straight line, and the walls are slowing her down quite a bit. If we head to the E-Pandora's quarters, we will get there at about the same time with her."

"Let's go." The redhead said, and the two of them hurried towards their chosen destination...


Needless to say, the E-Pandora were the scared the most when the alarm sounded. And they too, Amelia especially, had their suspicions about what or, rather, who that 'Nova' was. Yet, they had to follow the orders, which in their case meant that they were to guard their living quarters and the nearby storage area. Not the most glorious task, but...

It all became even worse, when they felt the 'Nova' approaching: the weak freezing field that did nothing more that chill them up, and the sounds of the stone being smashed as the thing was laying its own way through the base's buildings.

The Evolutionary Pandora readied themselves for a fight as they could feel the 'Nova' getting close, but something destroying the wall into the room where they were was enough to stun them for a second, and the sight that greeted them, once the dust began settling, completely destroyed their not so high to begin with morale. The 'Nova' was no one other than Gina, deformed but still recognizable. Her skin was turning crystallized and light blue, falling off in some places, and there was a number of crystalline outgrowths on her back. Yet, despite her less than human appearance, one could see that her eyes were still those of a human...

"You..." Gina whispered in a raspy voice. "Could it be that you're..." She coughed up some blood, which was already losing its human red color. "A... Amelia..." Apparently, the fight to stay conscious was also making the poor girl unable to hold onto any thought of hers for long. "Mark... Mark IV was..." She got interrupted again, this time by a door to her right being blown off its hinges.

"Looks like we're right on time." Naruto said as he walked into the room with Maria being just a step behind him. Gina seemed to be less than pleased with the appearance of these two, and so she attacked, her suddenly materialized long katar blade aimed towards the blond sage's head. But despite her speed that easily rivaled that of a triple Accel, she couldn't land a hit: the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sidestepped the attack, before sending her crashing into the wall with a palm strike to her back.

"Wha-?" Amelia and four other E-Pandora who were in the room gasped. They could barely follow Gina's movements, yet the blond newcomer appeared to have no problems with the girl's speed and treated her attack like it was nothing.

"Rougoku no fuuin!" Naruto said, landing another palm strike on the almost-turned-Nova girl, this time though, she wasn't thrown anywhere. Instead, black lines, formed by multitudes of small characters formed on her body, magically rooting her to the floor where she stood. 'Hey, Kyuubi!'

'What do you need, fleshbag?' The nine-tails replied from within the depths of its cage. 'Need my help already? Against her? You're even more pathetic than I though.' Naruto's eye twitched.

'Shut up, stupid kitsune!' Taking a deep breath to calm down – thankfully, the paralyzing seal worked on Gina pretty well, allowing his time to concentrate on other things – he continued: 'But I do indeed need your help, yet not against her. Her mind is still human, your power can restore her body as well. It takes more strength to heal than to destroy. Don't you want to have the knowledge that you're the strongest being out there, Kyuubi?' The bijuu growled back at him.

'You think that you can flatter me into following your bid, ningen?' A pause, long enough to make Naruto uncomfortable. 'Very well, I shall give you my power this one time. Show everyone my power!' With those words, the mightiest of the tailed demons gave its container a small fraction of its power. A fraction that was untainted by the beast's blood-thirsty conscious... In the real world, a demonic hand, made of light-orange, almost golden, energy formed around Naruto's right hand.

"Amelia-san." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said, turning to the said whitehead. "Since you're the apparent leader here, I shall let you decide your comrade's fate." The addressed E-Pandora gulped nervously. "You can let her die as a Pandora or live as a human." It was clear the Amelia wanted to say that she wanted Gina to live, but she herself was no fool...

"I sense a 'but' here." The white-haired girl said instead. Naruto sighed, lowering his head.

"Yes, there is one." A short pause. "I may be able to overcharge her immune system, forcing it to reject all Nova tissue, but the stress from this may be something that her body can't handle. And, should she survive, she will never be able to be a Pandora again." The blonde explained. Then he added: "And, try to make the choice soon, my seal can't keep her paralyzed forever, and her power as a Nova only grows with each passing second..." Amelia was thoughtful for a couple of moments, before giving her answer:

"Let her live as a human!" She said with determination burning in her amber eyes.

"Very well." The blonde stated, before turning back to Gina, who, by now, was visibly fighting against the paralysis of the seal. Yet, before he could do anything, someone else made their presence known.

"What are you waiting for? This is a Nova and it must be eliminated right away!" Charlotte Bonaparte said loudly. Then, seeing no immediate reaction to her words, she herself attacked, splitting easily into ten copies, each wielding a pair of knuckle knives... Unfortunately for her, Naruto was still in his sage mode and could easily pick out the real her among the 'illusions'... Master of Tempest turn she may be, Charlotte couldn't use even double Accel well, so, she couldn't do anything to escape the Kyuubi jinchuuriki grabbing her by her wrist. And a moment later she was flung against the wall with enough power to make the concrete dot and break, while her copies disappeared.

"Stand down, girl, the situation is being handled." Maria hissed as she moved in front of the younger Pandora, making it impossible for her to make another attempt at attacking Gina... Nodding a 'thank you' to his partner, Naruto turned his attention back to the struggling with her humanity E-Pandora. Placing his yoki-covered hand onto her chest, he willed the purified demonic energies into her body.

For several long moments nothing seemed to happen, but then the first signs of Gina's immune system fighting against the stigmata corrosion began appearing. At first it wasn't much, but as the blond sage pushed more of the Kyuubi's power into the girl's body, the results were getting more and more noticeable. And while seeing Gina's face twisted by a silent scream of pain was really tearing Amelia's heart apart, the white-haired E-Pandora could understand that she shouldn't interfere with this...

No one was sure, how much time had passed, but in the end Gina returned to being human again, though she still looked like shit with all those missing patches of her skin and other ugly reminders of how close she had come to becoming a Nova... Once Naruto was confident that his 'healing' had the desired effect on the girl, he stopped pushing the Kyuubi's yoki into her, allowing her to finally slip into peaceful unconsciousness. And just as Gina bonelessly slid down against the wall, he allowed the 'demonic arm' of his to dissipate. He felt so damn tired and a little numb in his right arm from this, yet he was smiling: the life he had just saved was worth all this!

~/ *** \~

In the dead of the night a shadow crept through the hospital wing of the Alaskan Chevalier base, looking for a certain person there. And finding the said person wasn't all that hard as, aside from a couple of technicians that had been harmed during her rampage, Gina was the only patient there... The shadow-covered figure approached the girl's bed an pulled a syringe filled with transparent liquid out of its pocket.

"This is nothing personal, but you know too much about the Mark IV fiasco... You must be silenced. Sorry." The figure said in a low whisper, before making an injection. The next morning Gina will be found dead, but without any evidence to prove it otherwise, it will be ruled out as an unfortunate but completely natural death... With its mission accomplished, the shadow turned around to leave, but paused to give the girl's hair a motherly stroke. Then it walked away, disappearing into the night...


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