Sodor University Dorms, December 4th, 2012

"Man, am I bushed. Did I forget to mention how much I hate trigonometry?" Thomas groaned as he and Toby headed back to their dorm room.

Toby laughed. "Nope, especially since you said it about five times." He pulled out the key and unlocked the door. "Don't forget, next week is the tech exam."

"Ah, that'll be a breeze. It's the trig exam that I'm worried about," Thomas replied. When he and Toby walked in the door, they saw Percy on the couch, a plate of pasta in his lap and remote in hand. Dressed in a bright green shirt and dark blue sweats, he looked incredibly lazy, although Thomas knew that Percy was probably going over battle plans in his head. The blond mage turned when he heard the door close behind them.

"So, how did the exam go?" he asked.

"I think it went well," Toby said, "for me, at least. Thomas is freaking out over here."

"Well, what's a person who's terrible at math supposed to do?" his friend wailed. "It's because of the stupid system that I'm even in that class!"

"Hey, be happy you've got a friend in that class who's really good at math, Thomas," Toby said. He went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of orange juice. "So, have Edward or the other people at the Bureau said anything yet?"

Percy looked at Toby with a surprised expression. "I'm actually surprised that you'd ask about that, Toby. Normally, Thomas asks."

"I'm just as involved in this incident as well, Percy. I need to know what's going on," Toby replied.

"Okay, then. Duke had sent a message to me earlier and said that he and Edward would be appearing on video mail in an hour with a very important announcement. What it is, I'm not sure,"Percy explained.

"Well, let's hope that it's not going to be looking for any pages," Thomas explained. "We've already got enough to worry about as it is with exams."

"I wouldn't count on that, Thomas. You do know that the outcome of this is between life and death for everyone, right?"

Thomas groaned. "Yeah, I guess so. Here's to hoping things aren't too serious…"


(Many people think it'd be awesome to have magical powers. They usually forget the problems associated with them, however…)

Iheartgod175 proudly presents:

Sodor Magic Crusaders

Story Created: July 25th, 2012

Story Written: July 12th, 2013

Published: July 13th, 2013

This Chapter: October 24th, 2013

Rated: T (fight scenes, depressing moments, small romance)

Summary: A humanized fusion fic with Lyrical Nanoha, with a lot of twists from the original. Seven pages of an immensely powerful book called the Book of Transformation are stolen by two mages named Edward and Percy, and in an attempt to escape from a sworn enemy, Percy heads to the Island of Sodor to hide, causing mages- both good and evil- from another dimension to bring their dangerous war there. When university student Thomas gets caught up in the fight, he is soon forced to become a mage to protect himself- and help Edward and Percy prevent the end of the world as we know it.

Author's Note: Okay, so I was going to update Super Readers, but I just kept thinking about this story, and so this got updated first. Act 9 is possibly one of the better chapters that I've written so far, with a lot more spotlight on Diesel 10 and the others. Thomas and his friends will get their chance at spotlight, but around this point in the story, this is really Diesel 10's show.

Before I start, I just want to give thanks to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the reason that I'm still here and able to create stories like this one. Thank You for giving me this talent, which I will use to glorify Your name. Amen.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Thomas or Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, AT ALL. Thomas belongs to Hit Entertainment, Britt Allcroft and the Awdry family-the late Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry. Nanoha belongs to Masaki Tsuzuki and Seven Arcs. I only own this story, and my original character, Amy.


Act 9: Second Strike

Society of Darkness, 2:40 PM Dimensional Time

Diesel made his way down the hall to the labs where Whiff McPherson was working. His boss had asked him to check on their dear scientist and make sure he wasn't sleeping on the job. If that was the case, he was allowed to give him a rude awakening with his Device. Diesel smiled, and as he punched in the codes for the room he hoped that the scientist was asleep.

To his dismay, the scientist was hard at work, apparently in the middle of updating the forms for the Device. With deep bags under his eyes, it was easy to tell that he hadn't slept in days, but it was also easy to tell that he wasn't going to rest until he got his work done. Diesel cleared his throat, which caught his attention.

"So, is it completely finished?" he asked. "Diesel 10 is getting impatient, you know."

"I've run the necessary last tests on the device to make sure that it was working properly, so yes, it's finished. You'll have to tell Diesel 10 that the cartridge system had to be replaced, since I had to accommodate the Sealing Mode into it," Whiff explained. "BD-01, are you ready?"

"Get set," came the robotic reply. In a flash of yellow light, BD-01 turned into its Device mode.

Compared to before, its design was heavily modified. The angular blade was gone, replaced by a smooth, elegant crescent. In addition to the first set of spikes, there were also another that were smaller and more rounded. At the end of the device, there was a black cap with a golden spike at the end.

Diesel was impressed. "Well, that's different. Diesel 10 showed me the original designs, and I have to say, this is an improvement," he said.

"Of course. Did you have any doubt of my abilities?" Whiff pushed away from the desk and turned to the Devious Count. "I haven't named the Device yet, but I figured that would be D-10's job. I'll start working on the other Count's devices to fit the cartridge system after I get some sleep."

"You know, I liked you better when you would cower in fear all the time. What happened?" Diesel sneered.

"Simple; I started working here more," Whiff replied curtly, and got up, heading to the other side of his room where a small bed had been placed. He fell face first onto the bed, relieved to be away from the desk.

"Oh, and by the way, Diesel 10 has one other job for you. You're going to the second base up in Cranagan and present this Device to Project E herself," he said.

That got Whiff to pay attention, and he sat up, staring at Diesel. "He wants me to do that?" he gasped.

"Yes. He figured that you should be the one to teach her about the forms and the nature of it, as well as any basic skills that you know," Diesel answered. "After that, he decided that you can leave."

Whiff stared at the other mage with scrutinizing eyes. He was finding it hard to believe Diesel, since his mad boss was intent on keeping him here. Then again, he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter at all.

"Fine, then. I'll go, but please let me get some sleep before I go. I don't think Diesel 10 needs me to faint from exhaustion when I do go," he said.

"Alright then. I'll tell him that, but I doubt he's going to be happy about it," Diesel said. He then made his way to the door. Before he went out, he turned around and smirked. "I think you're going to really like her, Whiff. She's a fighter, like D-10 said." Then he left.

Whiff decided to lie back down, but he couldn't help but think about the girl he was supposed to meet. What kind of magic skills would she have? Will she be just as strong as Gordon, resilient as James and powerful as Henry?

All of these questions raced through his mind as Whiff settled into the uneasy realm of sleep.


Sodor University Dorms

2 hours later…

"Hey Percy, aren't you done setting up the communications yet?" Thomas asked.

"Almost. Don't forget, this technology is completely different from yours," Percy said, "and much more complicated." He was punching in buttons on a holographic keyboard, setting up the link for Duke and the others. "I think that just about does it."

"That's what you said an hour ago," Thomas muttered, but Percy didn't answer as Duke's image came up on screen. Next to him were Charlie and Edward, sitting in chairs. They were still wrapped up in bandages because of their last mission, but Percy could tell that there weren't any serious problems between them.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Duke started. "I take it that your exams are going well?"

Thomas groaned. "We're getting there, I guess. I sure hope I passed that trigonometry exam," he replied.

Duke laughed. "Trust me, I was no math genius when I started out, but thanks to my expert training, I managed to get the hold of it. If you want to be a successful mage, Thomas, you'll have to work on your math. Creating new spells takes a lot of math formulas," he explained.

"Oh great," Thomas muttered.

"Anyway, was there something that you wanted to speak with us about, Captain?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Several of our top Enforcers have been scouting Sodor recently. Our energy readings indicate that the next page could possibly be in Wellsworth. You do know where that is, I presume?"

"Yeah, Toby and I used to go there all the time," Thomas explained.

"We've also got word that Diesel 10 is planning on fitting his Counts with the extremely powerful Crystal Dimension cartridge system," Charlie said. "The Crystal Dimension's magic is second to the powerful Magic Dimension's. If you were to be hit with that, you would very well be paralyzed for a month or so. And that's the magical damage we're talking about."

"Geez, what is it with these destructive powers and stuff?" Toby asked.

"It's really got to do with the different types of people that live where we come from." Edward's expression was serious. "Since everyone is obsessed with trying to destroy each other, it makes sense that there are some dimensional magic systems stronger than others."

"However, there is no point in being a magic user if you don't know the basic training methods. Thomas, you were thrust into this situation, and as such, you were taught on the fly. While you had beginner's luck for the first two battles you fought, luck won't be able to get you out of taking a direct hit from Crystal Dimensional magic," Charlie explained. "You're going to have to be properly taught the inner workings of magic."

"That is why I have asked Edward to become your personal tutor," Duke added. "As Percy may have explained before, Edward was a mentor to not only him, but to Gordon, Henry and James. I have confidence that Percy and Edward will assist you in your magical studies."

That got Thomas excited. "That's awesome! So, when's Edward coming back?"

"Obviously not today," Edward replied, chuckling. "I'll have to wait about a week or so to get these casts off, and even then I can't move my arm that much. The only way I'll be able to mentor you is through vidscreen. As I explained before we came to the Bureau, you'll be training with me every day after you're done with school. What I did with Percy and the three Counts, I'm going to do the same thing for you."

"And to give you a heads up, Edward is known as the 'Demon Coach' for a good reason," Percy added.

"Just try not to drive Thomas into the ground, okay?" Toby requested. "It was enough when Sir Handel was beating the crap out of him!"

"Standard training for a mage is no easy task, but I'll try to teach him as gently as I can," Edward assured. "Besides, I don't think I was that bad when I taught Percy."

"Are you kidding? We nearly collapsed from exhaustion when you were finished with us!" Percy exclaimed.

Duke turned to Edward, an amused smirk on his face. "Is that so?" he asked. Beside him, Charlie held back a laugh.

Edward frantically waved his hands, completely embarrassed. "Wha-No! L-Like I said, that was standard training I put Percy and the others through!" he stammered.

Even as the conversation devolved into playful teasing, Thomas made a mental note to himself to be ready for the next few days ahead. Already, he was going to start working to the bone. During his training sessions he would give nothing but his absolute best.

Duke soon got everything back to normal, and turned to Thomas. "So, are you comfortable with the terms of agreement, Thomas?" he asked.

The reply was loaded and ready to go. "It beats staying in school for three hours and taking exams. I'm in."

"Good. I'll start the first lesson a day after tomorrow. That way, I can go over reviewing my old training book and figure out what to teach you," Edward said.

"Wait, I thought you knew this stuff right off the bat!"

"Are you kidding? Even teachers have to review stuff, Thomas!"


Society of Darkness-Diesel 10's meeting room

3:45 PM Dimensional Time

James, Gordon and Henry walked into their boss' meeting room, nervous. "Is there something going on, sir?" James asked.

Diesel 10 shook his head, although he was facing the computer screen. "No, not at all. I've actually got good news for you," he said. "I've found the other page in Wellsworth. However, the page seems to be…unstable."

"What do you mean by that?" Gordon asked.

"The magic in this particular page, known as the power of Control, is leaking to the outside world. Anything that it touches will sprout into a powerful monster, and if left unchecked, it could level an entire town," Diesel 10 explained.

James scoffed. "Who cares about a little town getting demolished? There are plenty on Sodor to choose from."

"That is true, but the main problem with this will be that the page of the Book will lose all of its magical power in the process, making it useless," Diesel 10 replied. "Even one page without magic will not make my wish come true."

"So, you want us to get in there and seal the page before it can lose its magic?" Henry asked.

"Precisely," Diesel 10 said. "Project E will not be joining you. Whiff will be staying with her for the next few days in order to make sure that her Device is in perfect condition."

"Off the record, I think that we can do a better job without her joining us," James said.

"I hope you can keep your word, James," Diesel 10 replied. "Now, I want you to head out, without delay!"

The three Counts bowed in respect. "Yes sir!"


(Eyecatch 1: In a bright blue background, a star flies out of the upper left hand corner of the screen, landing on the lower right hand corner. The Sodor Magic Crusaders logo appears after the star lands in place.)

(Eyecatch 2: James is seen holding Graf Eisen in Raketenform, Henry is pointing his guns at the screen, and Gordon brandishes Levantine. On the lower right hand corner, the Sodor Magic Crusaders logo appears.)


DDAB Main HQ- Captain's Office

3:50 PM Dimensional Time

Duke looked over at the picture on his desk. It was a picture taken four years ago, when he'd worked at Sodor for the Duke. The Duke, his wife and their small children were standing together, smiling happily. Duke wasn't there as he had taken the picture. When they had been killed in the fire, he'd gone through the wreckage to find anything left in the fire. Upon seeing the partially singed picture, he'd fallen to his knees and cried his heart out.

He hastily wiped away his tears, and swallowed a hard lump in his throat. "How could I have been so stupid? If it weren't for me, you all would still be alive…" he murmured. Tears fell from his eyes, and splashed onto his paperwork.

"I have no reason to blame you for being upset, sir." Duke looked up, surprised, to see Charlie standing there. In his grief, the captain hadn't heard him come in. The Enforcer wore a sympathetic expression on his face. "I…I lost people to Diesel as well."

"Yes, I do believe you told me that. One thing that we both have in common during those incidents is that we never got justice for either," Duke replied. "But I swear this, Charlie, once we get this incident cleared up, we will put Diesel behind bars for a long time for what he did…to both of us."

"I understand, sir," the Enforcer replied. Despite himself, a bright smile came on his face.

"Was there a reason why you came in, though? I'm pretty sure it wasn't to offer your condolences," Duke said, getting business like again.

"Oh, yes. Peter Sam and Sir Handel caught some footage in Wellsworth," Charlie explained. "There's a monster that's just shown up out of freaking nowhere."

Duke chuckled at Charlie's description, but only for a moment. "What does it look like?"

Charlie pressed a button on the captain's desk, summoning a holographic screen. Immediately, the lights in the room dimmed. "This is just unbelievable, on all levels, sir," he said, and pressed play.

A large orange blob with long arms and huge teeth was ravaging through town, leveling anything that it came into contact with. The air was filled with roars and screams as the people ran from the terrifying creature. The monster swung an arm at the camera's direction. There was a loud scream, and then static. Charlie hit the pause button.

Duke was aghast. "Where in the world did that thing come from? It certainly isn't Diesel 10's doing…" His eyes widened as it came up with the answer. "It can't be!"

"It can't be what, sir?" Charlie asked, alarmed. Duke didn't answer, but threw on his suit jacket before he started walking to the door. Charlie hightailed after him.

The captain stopped abruptly, causing Charlie to slam into him. "Charlie, run over to Peter Sam and tell him to contact Thomas and Percy immediately. This is an emergency!"

"Right!" Charlie rushed past his superior, nearly crashing into people as he left. Duke stormed past, heading directly to the bridge where the others were waiting.

"If Diesel 10 knows about this, it could be no surprise that he's sent his Counts to deal with the problem. However, I'm not letting them get ahold of the page!" Duke muttered.


Wellsworth Station

3:12 PM

James, Henry and Gordon arrived only for chaos to greet them. Many of the people who had gotten off of their trains were running for their lives, screaming. The railroad tracks were damaged, and several of the steam engines were off the rails, smashed beyond recognition.

"It's like something beat us here!" Henry wailed.

"You're definitely right about that," James answered, pointing in front of him. "Look at that!"

Gordon and Henry followed James' line of vision, where they saw a huge orange creature with eight metal arms coming in their direction. With beady eyes, it looked like a large, harmless octopus, but the rows of sharp blades on its metal arms were no joke.

"That… is the strangest thing I've ever seen," Gordon noted after a moment of stunned silence. "But, what is that thing doing here?"

"Listen! The page is INSIDE the creature. It's been in contact with things in Wellsworth, and thus it morphed into this thing!"

The three nearly fell out of the sky upon hearing their boss' shout in their heads. "So, what is the course of action that we must take?" Gordon asked, recovering quickly.

"Weaken it, and then seal the page away! Use whatever forms necessary!"

"… …That's going to be a lot harder than it sounds," James replied. "That thing's got magic from the Book of Transformation."

"Don't give me lowly excuses! Destroy that thing and recover that page!" And then the link went off. The three Counts snapped back to reality as a huge crash resounded from below, coupled with terrified screams of the townspeople.

Gordon brandished Levantine. "You heard him you two! Give it everything you've got to seal this thing!" he said. James and Henry nodded, loading cartridges into their Devices.

"Levantine, Cartridge Load!" Gordon shouted.

"Explosion," the sword Device replied. There was an explosive crack as the cartridge fired. "Schlangenform!" In a bright blue glow, the Device had changed into a broad chain-whip. Gordon wasted no time in swinging his sword around. The long chain encircled the large creature, wrapping around it and binding its arms.

"Henry! James! Hurry up!" he grunted as he wrestled to control the large creature.

Five cracks filled the air as Cross Mirage loaded its cartridges. In front of Henry was a massive entourage of green bullets, which were sparking with energy. Power running up and down his arms, the Crossfire Count aimed at the creature's head, where he guessed the page was supposed to be.

"Crossfire Shoot!" he commanded, and pulled the trigger. The array of bullets thundered forward slamming into the creature's head. It let out an agonizing scream as the attack came in contact with it.

"James!" Henry turned towards the Iron Count, but at the sound of cartridges firing, he knew which form James was planning on using.

"Raketenform!" Graf Eisen called, and the hammer changed forms. A golden spike extended from the front head, while three large thrusters emerged from the back. A burst of flame appeared as James took hold of the hammer, and rocketed towards his target.

"Raketen…HAMMER!" James yelled, spinning around rapidly before allowing himself to be swung towards the monster, which struggled to remove itself from Gordon's chain.

The hammer made contact with the soft, squishy flesh, tearing it straight open and propelling James straight through its body. The monster howled in pain, and Gordon quickly removed the chain. Another cartridge fired into the chamber as the Sword Count leapt into the air, fire forming on his blade.

"Henry, James, prepare to fire on my mark!" he called to his fellow Counts.

"All right then!" James pulled out four metal spheres. Graf Eisen was back in Hammer Form and poised to strike.

"Way ahead of you, Gordon!" Henry loaded another cartridge into Cross Mirage, and started to charge his next attack.

Gordon watched the creature squirm around at the sight of the attacks. He frowned at it, and raised his sword in the air.

"Are you ready?" he asked telepathically.

"Get it over with already, Gordon!" James replied angrily.

"One hit is all it'll take! Phantom Blazer!"

"Roar towards the open sky! Flying Dragon Flash!"

"Fly, my swallows! Schwable Fliegen!"

A torrent of fire rained from above, four red missiles slammed into the monster's sides, and the Phantom Blazer went through the monster once again. The contact from three attacks created a massive explosion that enveloped the city in bright white light. The monster screamed in agony as it dissolved into nothingness.

And then, in the middle of it, there was a worn-down page from a book. Gordon readied Levantine for another strike.

"Let's seal this quickly, you two. I don't want another incident happening again," Gordon said to James and Henry in his mind.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" James ordered.

With fire on his blade, Gordon leaped towards the page at the same time Henry did, knives at the barrels of Cross Mirage. A loud war cry let them know that James was coming on the other side. In less than a few seconds, they were nearing the page.

"Dimensional Page, obey my command!" all three yelled. "SEAL!"

The moment their Devices made contact, there was a moment where there was simply nothing to be heard. And then, the page started glowing bright white, to the point where everyone had to cover their eyes.

"What on-" Gordon started, but he didn't get to finish. There was a bright flash, and then an explosion of power that sent a pillar of white light shooting into the sky. In an instant, all of the blue was sucked from the sky, leaving it black as night.

It took all of Gordon's strength not to get blown away from the outpour of power. Henry screamed, while James tried to hold his back. Gordon let a yell escape his mouth, as the white beams were washing over his body. His hands were going numb from the amount of power seeping into them.

Just when it looked like Gordon and the others would hold out, the page created a massive force field that blew all of them backwards tens of feet. Henry crashed into one of the locomotives, James spun out on the train tracks, and Gordon slammed onto the loading platform of the station. The page was still leaking out power, and white beams of energy shout out at odd directions, creating holes in the ground several feet deep.

Oddly enough, Henry was the first to recover before either Gordon or James. He narrowly missed getting hit by one of the beams, which sailed over his head and crashed into the next steam engine behind him. The vehicle quickly erupted into flames, and Henry turned to see the page start to throw everything at him.

Cross Mirage is in no shape to attempt another sealing. That means I'll have to do it with only my raw power, he thought. Climbing out of the locomotive, he applied a Blitzkrieg and dashed over to the out of control page, hands outstretched. Swallowing heavily, he grabbed the page with both hands, and it reacted by trying to blow him into the concrete.

Henry summoned every ounce of magic into his hands, and at once, the Crystal Dimension magic circle appeared under him. He ground his teeth together as he fought back every last attempt to scream, especially when his fingers started to bend uncontrollably. A scream finally come loose from his throat as his knuckles broke, blood flying into his face. He could barely make out the shouts from his teammates over the excruciating pain and the deafening power surge.

Straining to hold out for one moment longer, he spoke directly to the page. "Page of the Book of Transformation, obey my command. Control your power and sleep! SEAL!"

There was another burst of deafening feedback, and then the winds around him started to go down. When Henry opened his eyes, he saw the page start to shrink to where it could easily fit in his hands. The outburst of power gone, he carefully grasped it in his bloody left hand, grabbing Cross Mirage with his right.

"Cross Mirage…seal it completely," he breathed. The page shrunk into a tiny orb of light and it flew into the barrel of Cross Mirage.

"Serial Number 2," the Device replied. "Power levels stabilizing."

"Thank goodness for that…" he said silently, and he fell forward. The effects of both the magic of the page and pouring out that much power to seal the page was catching up with him, creating a numbing effect on his body.

His teammates' shouts were the last thing his mind registered before he blacked out.


Above Wellsworth, Thomas and Percy saw the massive destruction that the page had caused. Hundreds of homes were destroyed, as were the steam engines and the station. One of the engines had erupted into flames, and another was going up like a matchstick. Majority of the trees had been flattened, and there were massive holes in the ground and in the railroad.

Percy didn't even want to think about the casualties, as he knew that a lot of people lived in Wellsworth. If it turned out that many people had gotten killed because they hadn't gotten there fast enough…

Thomas quickly interrupted his thoughts. "Percy, look over there!" Percy followed Thomas' line of vision, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

In the center of the railroad, where the destruction was biggest, the three Counts were sitting in a crater about ten feet deep. Gordon was trying to wake up an unconscious Henry, and James was standing away from them, talking on his wrist communicator. Neither Thomas nor Percy could make out what they were saying, but from the decrease in energy, they had managed to snag the page before they did.

And it had come with a price, as Henry had proved. Even from here, Raising Heart could identify the serious injuries all three had sustained from trying to seal the page. Henry's injuries, however, were far more severe.

"What do we do?" Thomas asked.

"There's nothing we can do, Thomas." Percy's hands were trembling, and to stop them, he clenched them into fists. "They've already got the page. I think it would be wrong to add more to the destruction by fighting them."

Gordon soon picked up Henry and then snapped something at James. The Iron Count walked over to both of them and pointed Graf Eisen at the ground. A red portal appeared under their feet, and they all sunk into the ground, disappearing. In a matter of seconds, they were completely gone.

"I can't believe we actually failed," Percy muttered. "And to think that so many people will be either seriously injured or dead because we didn't make it here fast enough…"

Thomas put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "We can't always get the pages, Percy. Toby told me that you win some, you lose some. In fact, the only reason we came out here was because Duke saw the page going out of control when the Counts couldn't stop it. Nobody expected Henry to suddenly jump in and use his bare hands to seal it," he said.

"And apparently, neither did Gordon and James," Percy replied. He then turned to Thomas. "But you're right. It was a situation that we couldn't control, especially since we're dealing with a magical artifact. However, I don't want to use that as an excuse when we can't retrieve a page. From now on, I'm going to give every fight my very best."

"So am I, Percy," Thomas said, and the two soon turned around and left the scene when the fire department started to show up. "So am I."


Society of Darkness' Cranagan Base

4:30 PM Dimensional Time

Whiff held his breath as he showed his ID to the guard at the front desk. He was big and muscular, which made Whiff look like a shrimp in comparison. However, the guard immediately let him in, walking alongside him as they made their way to the labs.

"The experiment room is right down this hall. Afterwards, make a left," he said.

"Thank you," Whiff replied. After the guard walked away, the scientist made his way down the long halls and made a left as the guard had said. He soon came face to face with two large grey doors. 'Project E' was written on the doors in big, black letters.

Swallowing, he was about to scan his ID card in the slot, but was surprised when the door gave way and opened. He was greeted by ten guards carrying massive guns and wearing grim expressions.

"Ah, Mr. McPherson. We've been expecting you," the one on the right said.

"I can tell," Whiff replied, and shuffled his way inside.

"Let's get down to business. I think you're pretty anxious to meet Project E, aren't you?" he said. Wordless, Whiff nodded, and the guard pointed to his right. The scientist turned, and who he saw made him gasp in surprise.

Standing before him was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had dark brown hair, emerald eyes, and a touch of lipstick. She was wearing a white turtleneck and black pants that went down to her ankles. She looked up at Whiff with a smile, and the scientist blushed madly. He couldn't help it; no girl had ever smiled at him before.

"Whiff, this is Emily Sterlington," the guard said, "otherwise known as 'Project E'."

At once, the happy feeling disappeared from both Emily and Whiff, as they remembered why they were meeting in the first place. Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled out the Device he'd made for Emily.

"This is the Device?" The guard stared at BD-01's Standby mode. "Diesel 10 said this thing turned into an axe."

"Ah, it does. But its Standby form is meant to conceal it's true power," Whiff said. "BD-01, set up!"

"Get set." In a flash of yellow light, BD-01 transformed into its Device mode. All of the guards and even Emily stared in surprise.

"Well, now I know what you mean. Although, it looks like one of those ancient axes from Earth," the guard said.

"It's a bardiche, to be exact," Whiff explained. Just then, he realized that he'd found the perfect name for his device. "That's it! I'll call it 'Bardiche'!" he added. "It looks exactly like its namesake."

"Well, I can trust that you'll be able to help Emily work with…Bardiche until it's time for her to leave?" the guard said. "Diesel 10 wants this done in a certain amount of time, you know. So you need to skip the beginner's stuff and get right to the meat of the matter."

"I understand. I've already got the lessons planned anyway," he said.

"Good. I'm sure Emily won't disappoint. She's raced through the beginner's stuff in no time at all," he said. "In an hour, I expect you to begin training. Is that understood, both of you?"

"Yes," both Emily and Whiff replied.

"Diesel 10 looks forward to your progress, Emily," the guard replied. He then turned on his heels, and walked out the door. The other guards quickly walked out as well.

When the doors had hissed closed, Whiff turned to Emily. She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him as though she were meeting with a total stranger. And Whiff couldn't blame her; she didn't know him at all, except as that scientist from Diesel 10's.

He cleared his throat to clear the tension in the air. "Well, Emily, I know that we have a deadline to follow, so I'm going to try and squeeze as many lessons into our daily training sessions as possible. The training for a mage is pretty difficult, but I will do my best to teach you as gently and as fast as I can," he said. "Do you think you can handle this?"

"You heard the guy. The beginner's stuff was a breeze for me," Emily replied confidently.

"Ah, I see someone's confident today," Whiff said. "Well, I look forward to working with you, Emily."

Emily smiled, for real this time. "I look forward to it, too," she replied. Then without another word, she led him towards the training rooms.

Hopefully, this will turn out well, he thought. I really don't like the idea of Diesel 10 taking advantage of a girl like Emily, but…I really have no choice at this point. I will do my best to give her the necessary training as quickly as possible.


Next act:

Duke: We'll be sure to snag the page next time, everyone. On that note, how is training going so far, Thomas?

Thomas (breathing heavily and covered in dirt): I can see why Percy called Edward the 'Demon Coach' now.

Percy (shrugging): Hey, don't say I didn't warn you!

Henry: Guys, don't you think you're being a little overbearing?

Gordon: Don't forget that last week you nearly died. What were you thinking, using your bare hands to stop the page? You had me worried!

Henry: I couldn't let them get the page. And I couldn't go back on our goal.

James (shocked): Are you still trying to go with that rubbish again?!

Emily: So, how long will it be before the Master allows me to go out there and fight?

Whiff: It'll be some time, Emily. While you've managed to go through most of the training splendidly, there are two areas that you need to work on: control and speed.

Emily: Alright then. Are you a good enough mage, Whiff? Because if you are, I want to have a mock battle!

Whiff (aghast): I didn't say that I was a combat mage at all!

Diesel 10: So, how long will it take Whiff to upgrade my Counts' Devices?

Diesel: He said it'll only be in a couple of hours. The little guy works faster than I thought.

Diesel 10: His life depends on it, that's why. I'll personally check on his progress.

Stay tuned for Act 10: Progress

Lacywing, this chapter answers your question: Project E is in fact Emily. To fully understand her role in the story, you may want to watch Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. She's filling in for Fate Testarossa, who's Nanoha's best friend in the show. In MGLN, Nanoha pretty much dedicates her whole mission to make friends with Fate. As stated before, I'm going to follow a few things from the series, but this is more or less a divergence fic, with several original elements and concepts that weren't in Nanoha itself.

I was surprised by what I had Henry do in the story. At first, I was going to have Thomas and Percy attempt to seal it, but I was led to have Henry jump in and seal the page with his bare hands, since it would've involved a big battle if I'd done the first option.

Act 10's going to tone down the more serious aspects of the story. You could call it a "calm before the storm" chapter, because in Act 11, that's when things start getting serious.

This is the list of Device forms and attacks that appeared in this chapter:

Schlangeform (German for Snake Form): Levantine's mid-range combat mode. This converts the sword into a chain whip that Gordon can use to either snag or bind his opponents.

Raketenform (German for Rocket Form): Graf Eisen's secondary form, which converts the hammer into a rocket-propelled drill.

Crossfire Shoot: Henry's projectile attack, which earned him his title of Crossfire Count. He summons up to fifteen bullets of energy, and shoots them at his target. Unlike most of his spells, this one is relatively easy to cast.

Flying Dragon Flash: Gordon's standard attack while Levantine is in Schlangeform.

Raketen Hammer (Rocket Hammer): James' standard attack with Graf Eisen in Raketenform. James spins around rapidly and propels himself at a dizzying speed towards his target. This attack is very hard to avoid.

Phantom Blazer: Henry's signature attack. He creates a large bullet of energy and shoots it at his target. While it's extremely powerful, it suffers from a long loading time.

Schwable Fliegen (German for Swallow Flier): This is James' standard attack with Graf Eisen in Hammer Form (its default mode). Interestingly enough, James' incantation has him saying the name in English before saying it in German.

Bardiche: BD-01's new name given to him by Whiff McPherson.

I'm going to go through and edit the chapters for mistakes and adding the indexes to them. Also, if anyone's interested in drawing some artwork for this story, I'd appreciate it. I've been way too busy.

God bless, iheartgod175