Red Jewel Diaries
Chapter 10: Vivio and Corona's Excellent Adventure
Xx~~*~~xX
Nanoha: "Sometimes I can't quite believe how much Vivio has grown, from the crying, shy child who used to clutch tearfully at my skirt, to the outgoing, friendly, and strong young girl she is today. Despite my concerns that I may not be a good enough mother, she seems to be doing well; Fate and Yuuno tell me often enough that I'm doing great, but I also think it's partly due to their support and teachings. I'd love for her to grow up without having to fight at all, but I know that probably won't be the case, and I often wonder if this is the way my own mother felt about me. Still, while I believed I could handle it, circumstances would show me just how much Vivio had become like me..."
x~~*~~x
The two 9-year-old girls circled each other warily, looking for any weakness in the other's stance. Sensing none, they leapt in, trading a furious volley of punches and kicks that were blocked or dodged by the other, then quickly returned. As they separated again, panting harder, the blonde-hair girl with pig-tails immediately charged in again, lancing out with highly aggressive moves that threw the pale-haired, twin pony-tailed girl on the defensive, as she threw up her forearms to block and protect her face. Vivio took the opportunity to move in close and grab an arm while placing her leg between her opponent's, flipping Corona onto her back and tapping the girl's chest.
Arisa blew a whistle. "Point! Match goes to Vivio!"
The young Takamachi girl smiled and released Corona, then extended a hand to help her up, while the latter sighed and took it.
"Very good form," Nove complimented, handing the pair a couple of towels.
"Yes, both of you have come very far in the year I've been teaching you," Arisa noted with a pleased smile. "That's it for today, though. Go get cleaned up!"
Nove frowned. "You mean 'we've' been teaching them."
The two younger girls looked at each other and sighed as they moved to the side of the room to retrieve their energy drinks for a revitalizing drink; they knew what was coming, and it was pointless to try and stop it. Plus, lessons were over for today, and they needed to head out to the pickup point.
"Sure, I suppose, although it was the karate moves and tai-kwon-do toss I taught them that finished it," Arisa replied, shrugging and waving her hand to brush off the correction.
"But it was the Strike Art combo that I showed them, that enabled Vivio to get close enough to use it in the first place!" Nove growled, poking the other teacher's chest. "You're just lucky I was able to fix your mistakes in teaching, when I caught Vivio practicing by herself!"
Vivio looked over at Corona's tug on her training outfit, who then pointed to the changing room doors. Vivio herself wasn't quite ready to get changed, figuring she could get a few pointers from the fight that was coming, but apparently Corona was ready to call it quits for now. Nodding at each other, the two headed for the doors.
Arisa whirled and went head-to-head with the redhead. "Mistakes!? Your so-called 'strike arts' are so clumsy and ineffectual, that it's no wonder you wouldn't recognize a true martial art!"
"Oh YEAH!?" Nove nearly shouted, rolling up her sleeves. "I fail to see how a dumb loudmouth knows anything about true fighting styles!"
"A lot more than a humorless idiot that couldn't hit a ball if her life depended on it!" Arisa sneered back, as the two younger girls paused in the doorway to look at each other and sigh again.
"THAT'S IT!" Nove growled loudly as she struck.
The sounds of female shrieks, taunts, insults, and fighting strikes echoed into the changing room, but the two girls tried to ignore it as they changed.
The adults could be such children sometimes.
x~~*~~x
"So why didn't you counter me back there?" Vivio asked, curious as the pair finished off the ice cream cones they picked up from the stand, now back in their normal school clothes. Despite the fact that her relic had been removed awhile ago, and thus she had less magic power available then she did before, she still felt her sparring partner was holding back in their matches.
Corona looked up, appearing a bit embarrassed. "W-what do you mean? You came on so strongly and it surprised me. I didn't have time to counter."
Vivio frowned at her. "You need to stop letting your opponent scare you like that. Sometimes you just have to bust through, even if you take a few hits!"
"I'll try to remember that," Corona replied softly looking, her gaze focused forward and down a bit, but then her head came up to smile at her. "I'm really glad that you liked Strike Arts, too. I was afraid I was the only girl who did."
"Me too, and I'm glad we got to know each other better as well!" Vivio agreed, then searched through her backpack. "Hmm, I seem to be out of bubblegum. Do you have any?"
"I think so," Corona answered, taking off her own backpack to check, then coming out with two sticks, handing one to her friend. "It looks like this is all I have."
Vivio beamed as she popped it in her mouth. "Thanks! This should do until we can pick up some more on the... ride... home..."
"Vivio?" Corona questioned as they had come around a corner, then followed her friend's gaze across the courtyard, past a few trees.
There was a lone girl with short, purple hair that looked about their age, walking across the empty courtyard, but what got her attention was the two adult males who were sneaking up behind her. Before she could process what was going on, the guys pounced on her. She whirled and delivered a kick to the groin of one and he crumpled like a house of cards, but his partner dropped a large sack over her head and grabbed her legs when he pulled it down that far.
"Lemme go you scumbags!" she shouted angrily, waving her hands through the sack and managed to smack the guy holding her on the head. "You made a big mistake coming after me! I'll bash your brains in when I get out of this! You'll be lucky to be able to drink food out of a straw when I'm done with you!"
The first guy recovered enough to stand up and he jabbed her with something that made a zapping sound; the sack shook for a bit, then all her struggles ceased. The first threw her over their shoulder and they began to run off.
The event the two girls witnessed, which took place over the span of 5-10 seconds, were still frozen with shock, but it was Corona who recovered first. "We should go tell one of the adults, so they can handle this! I think Arisa-sensei and Nove are still in telepathic range..." She paused as she concentrated, then made a face. "Strange, I can't reach them..."
x~~*~~x
"I wanna be a ballerina... " Nove groaned on her back, wondering where all the pretty birdies came from, and why there was a buzzing sound in her ears.
"It takes three licks, Mr. Owl..." Arisa disagreed from nearby, also on her back, smiling in glee at the grand ball of happy dancing bears taking place in on the ceiling.
x~~*~~x
"We should go find an adult," Corona repeated, tugging on Vivio's sleeve.
"Because I'm a boy, and boys are better at being a hero!"Vivio was about to agree, but a single sentence flashed through her mind, and her mind was instantly made up as she grabbed Corona's arm. "No, we can handle this; they might not get here in time. Let's go!"
"Whaaa-!?" was all Corona could say as Vivio took off running across the courtyard the way the two men had gone. "We'll never catch up to them!"
"Yes we will, if they are headed towards the parking lot!" Vivio told her gleefully. "We just need a shortcut!"
"Vivio, waaaaiitttt!" the other girl protested.
Vivio concentrated her magic and jumped, landing on top of a second story building and running across the roof, barely registering the girl flapping in the wind that she was pulling behind her. Her blood was pumping and the chase was on; she'd show Karel a thing or two about being a hero!
With practiced ease, she leapt towards the next building, catching sight of the two men farther ahead running down the stairs towards the parking lot. Depending on which car was theirs, Vivio thought that it would be close, so she increased her mana flow and put on more speed, aiming for the black van as the two suspects tossed the sack in the back and climbed in. With a final burst of magic, she leapt from the last building and covered the twenty meters to the vehicle, landing on the roof a second after it started moving.
Corona just barely managed to get a hold of the rack on top as it took off, finally managing to ask the main question on her mind. "Vivio, what are you doing!?"
"We're gonna save her!" the other girl shouted back cheerfully, working her way up slowly. "Help me get these guys!"
Corona took one look at the rapidly moving pavement below and froze up, suddenly wondering if she had perhaps made the wrong kind of friend, and if they had Strike Arts in the afterlife.
"It's okay, Corona!" Vivio shouted at her and flashing her a thumbs up. "You'll be fine, just remember our training and magic courses! I'll deal with the guys, while you try to break open the back of the van and rescue the girl!"
Somehow, the confident smile she was being given infected her, and Corona steeled her wits, trying not to look at the ground quickly passing below. She focused magic in her limbs, increasing her strength enough to easily hold on as she worked her way backwards; both Vivio and the girl were counting on her, and she wouldn't let them down!
x~~*~~x
"Did you hear something land on the roof?" Jerry asked from the passenger seat.
"Huh?" Ralph replied as he concentrated on driving. "I don't think so, must have been your imagination."
Jerry scratched his head. "I thought for sure... I'm gonna check; we can't afford to mess this job up."
He rolled down his window and peaked out, twisting his body to get a look above, blinked once at the grinning girl, then very mechanically moved back in.
"Well?" Ralph inquired. "See anything?"
Jerry's mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally said, "I'm not sure. I think there's a 9-year-old-girl up there."
"You really need to stop drinking before a job, Jerry," Ralph told him, changing lanes as they moved up onto the freeway.
Vivio's upper-half suddenly swung into the car from the passenger side, hanging upside as she punched Jerry's face and grabbed his neck. "Alright you two, pull over before I'm forced to get tough with you!"
"Ack!" Jerry commented, trying to pull the iron grips off that were choking the life from him; since when were little girls so strong!?
Ralph stared in shock as he realized [There really was a girl!] then shook his head as he recovered from the surprise. "Not on your life, missy! The Apple Dumpling Gang doesn't give up that easy!"
Vivio blinked as she tried to process that, not letting up on her death grip. "The Apple Dumpling Gang? You guys need a better name. Anyway, pull over or I'll do even worse things to your friend here!" She shook him rapidly for emphasis.
"Never!" Ralph shot back, as there came a heavy bang on the rear door. "It doesn't matter what you do to us!; we've never failed a job, and we won't start now!"
He risked a look back to see a huge dent in it, just in time to see a second dent join it nearby, wondering what the hell was going on back there. He twisted the wheel to the side, changing lanes roughly, trying to throw off the girl, but she held tight. In the side, mirror, however, he caught sight of someone else hanging off the back, realizing it must be her partner!
Jerry's face began to turn an interesting shade of blue as he gasped for breath. "I really think... we should... listen to her... Ralph...ack..."
"Don't worry, Jerry, I got this!" Ralph replied confidently, as two more bangs sounded on the rear door. [Just what kind of monster can put dents in steel doors!?] He shook his head. "I know how to shake 'em!"
He cranked the steering wheel to the right, then jerked it back hard to the left, trying to shake the two people from the van by moving into the far left lane, and then into the shoulder. He alternated on the two paths a couple more times, the back door dent receiving only one more hit that finally burst a small hole through. But he wove back and forth more rapidly, and then cranked hard left and then right, grinning as his results finally bore fruit.
"Haha, I got her off!" he cheered.
"Corona!" Vivio cried in alarm, releasing her death grip and letting go as she disappeared back up to the roof.
"Did you see that?" Ralph said happily. "Told ya, I'd do it!"
"Thanks..." Jerry wheezed, gasping for breath.
x~~*~~x
It took just a split second for Vivio to note that her friend had just been dislodged, and was falling off the freeway bridge to the city below, when the young Takamachi girl returned to the roof. Wasting no time, she sprinted off the roof of the van and leapt with all her might, keeping her body straight as she dove through the air like a knife.
Neither one of them could fly yet, but Vivio had memories of being able to when she had been in her adult form; she no longer had her relic now, and her adult form was limited, but she still switched to it to add more mass. Her clothes shifted as well, thanks to a simple transformation magic spell Arf taught her; it allowed her to magically grow her current clothes to fit her new body, and thus enable her to use her adult form in emergencies like this.
Vivio finally managed to snag Corona's outstretched hand as they dove into an ally, then tugged hard, pulling her friend behind her and twisting her body to put her legs first and to the side, trying to kill her momentum and regain control as she ran sideways along a wall. Gravity eventually caught up, though, and both girls arced down, out of control, to land in a large square bin.
The teenage-looking blonde wiped the coffee grounds off her face. "Corona, are you okay?"
The other girl sniffled as she pulled a banana peel off her head. "I-I think I swallowed my gum..."
Vivio sighed and smiled, realizing she had spit hers out awhile back, then offered her a hand as they pulled themselves out of the garbage bin. "I'm sorry, Corona, but we almost had them..." She looked up at the overhead freeway and sighed again.
"Can we PLEASE go home now?" Corona begged. "There's no way we can catch up to them now!"
"Maybe..." Vivio said absently, then saw something out of the other side of the alley, and grinned. "Then again, maybe not! I got an idea!"
Corona whimpered as her arm was grabbed again.
x~~*~~x
The kidnappers, who had begun to feel relieved now that their attackers were gone, found their annoyance level rising again. They were growing more and more... distressed at their victim's behavior and attitude, tied up in the sack in the back of the van, who had recovered from the earlier treatment.
"When I get out of here, your grandkids will be singin' soprano!" she threatened. "And if you touch me, I'll tell everyone what sick loli perverts you are!"
"Um, we don't have any intentions about molesting you," Ralph said from up front, still behind the wheel.
She paused, then seemingly grew more irate. "You don't? What, my body not sexy enough for you? Is that it? Just wait til I get older!"
"Huh?" Ralph replied intelligently. "No, I have a wife I am very happy with, and-"
"Just drive, Ralph," Jerry told him, unbuckling his seat belt and standing up.
"Then exactly what kind of lame kidnappers are you?" she went on. "You grab a girl and tie her up, and there's no kinky sexual torture? I-Aaaaaaah!"
She promptly went quiet and still, as Jerry removed the stun stick from the sack's side, and sat down again.
"Thank you," Ralph said, as blissful quiet descended. "We really should get extra pay for this job."
The sack twitched.
x~~*~~x
"What!?" Nanoha said in alarm to the viewscreen.
"I'm sorry, but I said there was a kidnapping at the Saint Church Academy," Sister Schach told her apologetically. "We currently have two students unaccounted for, Vivio Takamachi; the other being her friend, Corona Timil. We had some reports of a couple of men who grabbed someone on campus, but no good descriptions."
"So they only took one girl?" Nanoha asked for clarification.
"According to our initial inquiries, yes," Schach answered. "We're still going through reports and tracking the vehicles that left since then. I'm truly sorry, we're not even sure how such a thing like this could happen; I personally make the security arrangements..."
Nanoha allowed the woman's voice to trail off, as tried to make sense of her confused thoughts. [If they only grabbed one, and both Vivio and Corona are missing, then where is the other one?]
x~~*~~x
"Okay, we're here," Vice said as he pulled up on his motorcycle and his passenger dismounted. "But I don't see why you wanted me to bring you."
"There are some... items, I need to procure," Signum informed him, smiling slyly as she took off her helmet and set it on the back of the bike. "I won't be that long."
Vice dismounted as well, setting his own helmet down, but leaving the motor running as he looked up at the drug store. "And I can't come in with you, huh? Just what are you getting?"
Her small smile remained as she headed for the door. "You'll find out at a later time."
Vice sighed as he leaned against a post and muttered. "Crazy woman, sometimes I don't know why I bother. And why did she want me to drive her? Why not take Fate's car? Hmmm..." He sniffed a few times. "And what is that smell?"
"Thanks Mr. Vice, you're a genius!" came a female voice from behind him.
"You really need to tell Alto that, because I-" he started to say, then stopped and blinked, quickly turning around. "Vivio!?"
"I promise I'll return it lateeeerrrr!" she said as she sped away.
"Sorry about thiiiiis!" Corona added looking back at him, tightly hugging Vivio's adult-form waist.
"Hey, come back with that!" Vice called, starting to chase, then gave up and walked back to the store. "What in the world was that about?" He paused and paled. "Oh gods, that was Vivio; Nanoha is gonna kill me!"
x~~*~~x
Vivio was really glad she had taken those motorcycle driving lessons from Teana, as they were certainly coming in handy... sort of.
"Watch out for that car!" Corona cried, grabbing tighter, as the motorcycle wobbled across lanes.
The adult-form driver managed to send it wobbling back the other way, barely dodging the oncoming vehicle, but she was beginning to get the hang of it and so increased speed. She could only maintain her adult form for about about 15 minutes without the relic, and she wouldn't be able to control this in her normal form; they needed to catch up to the Van, quick.
If her passenger didn't kill her with the death grip. "Watch out for that stand!"
Vivio glanced up and tried to steer it back to the left, but she wasn't quite in time, as the vegetable stall vendor dove out the way a split second before the bike caught the front edge of the rickety frame and smashed it to pieces. Miraculously, she managed to keep control while shouting back an apology, but wasn't sure if he heard, as he was shouting "My cabbages!" in despair.
"Watch out for that lady!" Corona shouted in alarm, seriously wondering whether she should just close her eyes.
This time, Vivio did manage to dodge the obstacle, just barely missing the woman crossing the street, breathing a sigh of relief. "Haha, Vivio of the cycle! Hero to you and me!"
Corona peaked her eyes open and wailed. "Watch out for that tree!"
Luckily, she only went through the bushes surrounding the tree on the sidewalk, before getting back on the road and climbing up the ramp to enter the freeway while picking up speed. Breathing another sigh of relief, she wondered for the first time if this was really such a good idea; perhaps Karel was rubbing off on her too much. Then she saw his laughing face in her mind, telling her girls couldn't be heroes, and she growled, revving up the engine more and beginning to pass car after car.
Corona just decided to keep her eyes closed; it was easier to see the many scenes of her life flash through her mind that way. She wondered what would be said at her funeral, and whether the flowers would be pretty.
"There they are!" Vivio declared triumphantly as the black van with the hole in the back appeared up ahead after several minutes. "I'll pull up along side them, and you do what you can to stop them!"
The passenger swallowed nervously and stared holes into her friend's back, wondering if Vivio had finally lost it. Or maybe she had lost it. Either way, there was entirely too much in the way of losing happening, and not enough safe-and-warm-at-home going on.
Vivio gunned the engine again as she weaved past the final car, feeling a strange sense of exhilaration. This is it! They'd finally do it now! The van was in the far right lane, so she pulled over to the shoulder and began moving up the right side of the vehicle, indicating for Corona to jump to the rear bumper again and resume her attack on the back.
Corona took one look at the van, did the complex calculations regarding their current velocities, and buried her face into Vivio's back. "I CAN'T!"
Vivio sighed and focused magic into her left fist, then put on speed to reach the passenger's side door, taking a second to pound it hard, putting a large dent in it and knocking the van over a meter. It corrected, though, and she dropped back as it tried to slap her into the right railing. Vivo revved the engine and quickly came up on the right, punching the side several times with her right hand, sending the van skidding along the rail guard. It recovered quicker this time, forcing Vivio into the next lane over as it came back with a vengeance.
Then it headed for an off-ramp, and Vivio leaned over to make the ramp as well; she wouldn't lose them this time, no matter what!
The cat-and-mouse continued through the narrower streets, as she managed a few more dents and a hole, but then their luck finally ran out as they turned a corner into an oncoming truck. Vivio's eyes grew wide as the grill of the semi approached seemingly in slow motion, and she instantly knew there was no way she was going to dodge that.
Reacting quickly, she grabbed Corona and leapt high into the sky, seeing the motorcycle slide under the large semi with trailer and get crushed, suppressing an involuntary shudder realizing that could have been them. She landed on the truck's trailer, took a few more running steps, then leapt again and landed on the flat roof of a nearby building, both girls tumbling across it to a stop as Vivio canceled her adult form and returned to normal size.
"I can't do this anymore!" Corona wailed as she pulled herself into a sitting position and hugged her knees. "I get dragged across roofs, carried on top of a van, nearly fall to my death, we nearly ran several people over, nearly wiped out several times, nearly squashed by that van again, and almost crushed by a huge semi truck!"
She broke down into sobs as Vivio felt a surge of guilt and hugged her. "I'm sorry, perhaps I shouldn't have dragged you along into this. I just thought that maybe getting you into the action would show you what I know you can do. Throughout all that, you did great!"
Corona leaned back and dried her eyes. "I-I did?"
Vivio nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, we almost died several times, but we didn't, because we're both stronger than we know. I only made it this far because you were here, too. They threw everything they had at us, and they couldn't finish us!" She glanced over Corona's shoulder, eyes widening in surprise as she saw the van pull into the lot of an old, brick, three-story building with several boarded up windows. "And we're still not out of it yet!"
She stood up, pulling Corona up with her, pointing out the target as the van pulled around to the side of the building and stopped. The two girls turned to each other in surprise.
"What do you say we finish this, and rescue ourselves a kidnapped victim!" Vivio told her confidently, holding up her right hand.
Corona took it hesitantly, then nodded. "O-okay, we can do this!"
"Then it's time to kick butt and chew bubblegum!" Vivio told her, grinning.
Corona blinked. "But we're all out of gum..."
"Exactly!"
Vivio paused, definitely realizing she had spent too much time around Karel on Earth.
x~~*~~x
"What the hell happened to the van?" the guard named Fenten asked from the doorway, staring in disbelief at the various large holes and dents, as well as grey scrape marks along the side.
Jerry exited the passenger side and walked past him into the building, pale-faced. "Girls... Monster girls..."
Fenten blinked, then looked at Ralph for an explanation as he took the sack from the back of the van and carried it in, but there didn't appear to be one forthcoming from him, either.
"Don't ask," Ralph told him wearing a haunted look and not meeting his gaze.
x~~*~~x
"What's going on?" the girl demanded from her chair, yanking on her chains that locked her hands behind the seat back; but none of the half a dozen men answered her, as she sent them each killing looks.
"I'll tell you what's going on," said another man who just entered, a bit shorter and a little more portly than the others. He slowly walked over to her, flicking his cigar. "I'm Lucious Denst, boss of this organization. It's quite simple; your family is loaded, and it was a mistake of them to think their daughter would be safe at the Saint Church; we had an inside man who could arrange to sneak our agents in!" He arrived in front of her and leaned down, holding her chin and staring into her defiant eyes, examining her as if she were a necklace about to be sold. "The Wesley family will pay a great deal to have their only daughter returned!"
The girl scowled in anger, leaning her head back a bit, then sending it forward to smack his nose with her forehead. "Touch me again and I'll do worse than that, baldy!"
He stumbled back holding his nose, but was caught by his men, taking out a cloth to wipe the blood off his face. "Why you little...!"
His men held him back as he tried to hit her back, while one of them said, "Don't boss, we can't mess her up because we need her for ransom!"
Lucious growled, then relented and stormed out, while the girl just grinned defiantly.
x~~*~~x
Fenten sniffed the air, wondering what that smell was, before two small dark shapes sprinted around from either side of the van in the darkening evening sky. Before he could register what they were, multiple strikes to his body and head laid him out. One of the figures nodded at the other, then they peeked into the doorway.
"Ready?" Vivio asked, their brief rest having allowed her to get more of her magic back.
Corona still appeared a bit hesitant, but there was more confidence present now, and she nodded. The pair entered the darkened room, heading for the doorway on the other side, but another man walked out of it before they got there.
"Hey Fenten, what's with the-" he started to say, then saw the two girls.
Corona hesitated as the bat he was carrying came up, but Vivio put on a burst of speed and slid around the weapon striking him several times, then jumping and doing a spin kick to knock him towards Corona. Her training took over as she did a roundhouse that sent him face first into a wall, where he slid to the floor.
Adrenaline pumping again, the pair dashed into the room, interrupting four more members enjoying a card game. While in prison, the four would recount this day with horror, as a pair of small but powerful devils laid into them with a vengeance; they'd also be the laughing stock of the prison, once they were forced to admit that their assailants were 9-year-old-girls. Counseling sessions would last long after the prison sentence.
x~~*~~x
"What's all that racket down below?" Lucious demanded to know from his desk, hearing a guy cry out and something break. When none of the three lackies in his office moved, he yelled out angrily, "Well, get down there and find out, morons!"
They scrambled out of the small office, leaving him alone with his hostage and one other, a bigger man partially hidden by shadow.
"You want me to go, too?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"No, you can stay," Lucious replied, leaning back in his chair. "There's no one who can get past my entire gang. I hand-picked some of the toughest hoodlums in the slums; they were brought up in a cut-throat environment, so only those with superior killer instincts survived and-"
The door slammed open to admit a lone male who limped into the room, holding his left arm. "B-boss, it's terrible!"
"Vinny?" Lucious questioned, standing and moving around his large desk. "What is it? What's happening out there?"
"It's horrible!" Vinny answered, his voice quivering in fear. "A pair of inhuman devils are killing everyone in their path! And the worst part is you don't see them coming! You just... smell it... oh god, the horrible, terrible smell... as if they came from hell itself...."
The boss shook his underling as the latter began to babble, but that only caused his eyes to roll up into his head go unconscious. Lucious dropped him in disgust and turned around to address the other male occupant in the room.
"Well, it looks like you'll have someone to test your skills against after all," Lucious told him, to which the man bowed and strode out of the room. Then he happened to notice the way his hostage was grinning at him. "What?"
"Now you're gonna geeet iiiittt!" she sing-songed.
Lucious snapped a pencil in half and debated the ransom reward vs. killing her now.
x~~*~~x
Vivio and Corona paused to catch their breath as they arrived at the third floor, having left a trail of unconscious bodies in their wake, but each felt more alive then they had in ages... well, in Corona's case, this would be the first time ever as she flashed Vivio an eager smile. After a few moments to recover, the pair nodded at each other stepped out of the stairwell, crossing the large upper floor while looking around, but it was mostly bare except for the building's support columns.
"Congratulations on getting this far," a deep voice praised them, and their eyes traced the source to a large tanned man wearing a white training gi with black belt, similar to the one Arisa wore, but this one had the sleeves torn off revealing large muscled arms. "But this is as far as you... children!? There must be some mistake."
"No mistake!" Vivio told him, sliding into a stance which Corona mirrored next to her. "We're here to take you down and rescue the hostage!"
"So get out now if you don't want to get hurt!" Corona added, really feeling into this.
"Amusing, you think you can fight?" he questioned, clearly confused, but then shrugged. "Come then. The first move is yours. If you get past me, you'll find the one you seek."
The two girls charged in as one, Corona going low with a sweep while Vivio leapt up to deliver a spin kick to the man's face. But surprisingly, he leapt over Corona's leg and blocked Vivio with one arm, grabbing her leg with his other hand and tossing her forcefully away while kicking Corona. She put up a small barrier to block, but the impact still sent her flying across the room. Vivio managed to land on still upright, but Corona skidded a bit before flipping and doing a handstand to return unsteadily to her feet.
Both looked at each other in surprise; that wasn't supposed to happen. But they shook it off and, by twin nods, they ran in again, this time at different angles, however the results were similar. The man was forced to be more active this time, but both girls ended up punched or kicked away, sent tumbling along the hardwood floor.
"Ha, your styles aren't too bad; I can tell you have been practicing," he told them, laughing. "And magic-enhanced, which explains why you've been able to take out the rest of the gang, but I can enhance my Strike Arts with magic, too!" He waved a hand in front of his nose. "I can also see what they meant by stench, haha. I am called Zanza; I would know your names, little ones."
"Vivio Takamachi," the blonde said, getting back up.
"I-I'm Corona Timil," the other mirrored, using a column as a support to return to her feet.
Vivio glanced in worry at Corona; their trek up had used up quite a bit of magic, she had taken the worst in both attacks, and she didn't have quite as much magic as Vivio did. She couldn't let her friend suffer against this guy, as he was in a different league than the others, thus there was only one option remaining.
"Corona, you go for the hostage, while I take care of him," Vivio stated evenly, which caused Zanza to break out laughing. Corona opened her mouth to reply, but Vivio shouted, "GO!"
"Amusing, but neither one will pass, I-" his words died on his lips as Vivio shifted into adult form as she charged.
While it lacked the Saint's Armor and the ability to fly, she could process more magic in this form as well as get more reach out of her limbs, along with more physical strength. Given the magic she had used so far and her time spent in this form earlier, though, she estimated she had no more than five minutes left; she'd have to finish this fast. And thus she yelled as she came in, trying to get his full attention. It seemed to work, and her greater abilities were more of a match for the man, forcing him on the defensive to avoid her strikes, while she was able to deflect his own.
Corona's gaze shifted back and forth between the door at the other end, which a portly man was standing in who was obviously no fighter, and then back to Vivio fighting Zanza. She started walking that way, around the room, but stopped; she couldn't just abandon Vivio like this. Her friend had shown no fear during this entire thing while Corona herself had been scared to death during most of it. Even now, Vivio was doing all the work, trying to go it alone against the skilled fighter, but they were still too evenly matched. Corona realized that, though she might save the hostage, her best friend could end up in bad shape if she abandoned Vivio now; she couldn't let that happen, though she could be the edge that tipped things in their favor.
Mind set, she took a deep breath, then charged in as her adult-form friend was knocked away.
Vivio flipped in mid-air to land in a crouch, surprised to note what her comrade was doing. "Corona!"
Zanza already knew she was coming, though, and met her attack; a simple straight punch that was blocked by his leg, and then began a counterattack on her. Vivio began sprinting towards him, but she realized she wouldn't make it in time before he broke Corona's defense; in her mind, she saw images of her friend, laughing, smiling, and sparring, and then laying on the ground, life fading. She couldn't let it be ended like this!
But she was in for a surprise; Corona didn't go totally on the defensive in the face of Zanza's assault, but after flipping back from a downward thrusting punch, she sprang forward, putting all her magic in a shield to block his side kick which still hit her hard, but she held onto his ankle and swung under and over it, sending her feet up into his face. He was forced to block with a barrier on his hand, but now he was off-balance.
And it was at that moment that Vivio finally reached him, slamming a punch into his lower back with all her might. He buckled over backwards, while Corona spun in mid-air as she dropped down, then sprang back up from the groun with a jumping high-kick to his groin, and from there it was all over. His rhythm and stance were broken, and the two girls pounded on him from all sides until he collapsed backwards, unconscious.
"I-I don't believe it..." Lucious stammered from the doorway, edging backwards. "They really are two devils!" He slammed the door closed in fear.
Vivio reverted to normal form, with most of her magic spent smiling at Corona and raising her hand. "You did it!"
"I-I did!" Corona said, nearly not believing it herself, reaching up to high-five her friend.
x~~*~~x
"I can't believe two little girls have defeated my entire gang; it's impossible! and the police are here!" Lucious wailed, quickly grabbing folders and items from his desk drawers. "I have to get out of here at least!"
The nearby hostage girl scowled, then hopped her chair over several paces and kicked him in the shin with as much power as she could muster given her limited rang, grinning as he dropped everything he was holding and hopped around on one leg.
"Why you little-!" Lucious seethed, whirling on her and reaching for her neck, but suddenly froze as the door burst open revealing two girls standing there; he promptly dropped to his knees to plead. "I give up! I surrender! Please don't hurt me!"
"Corona, would you do the honors?" Vivio asked, gesturing with her head towards the chained-up girl with the short purple hair, who blinked as Corona did a chop that cut through her bonds.
"Wow, impressive!" she noted with awe. "Who are you guys?"
"I'm Corona Timil, and that's Vivio Takamachi," the pale brown-haired girl told her. "Who are you, and why did they want you?"
She smiled. "I'm Rio Wesley, nice to meet you two! Was that Strike Arts? I know a thing or two myself, but my parents won't let me practice it much for fear I'll get hurt...."
Vivio grinned at her and Corona. "Well, if you like, we have a couple of teachers who could show you things. But for now, I think we should get out of here with this guy."
"Allow me!" Rio said, cracking her knuckles as she walked over to the quivering ex-boss and smacked him. "Get moving, porky!"
The trio, plus their captive, made their way down to the sirens below, which contained a very-worried Nanoha-mama who was overjoyed to see her daughter unharmed, while Rio and Corona were whisked off to their own parents. Vivio silently wondered if they'd ever see that new girl again...
Which it turned out they did, a couple of months later.
"Class, I'd like to introduce a new student," their female teacher announced one morning, then turned to the closed door. "You can come in now!"
Vivio and Corona sat up in their chairs as the new person entered: a familiar girl with short purple hair who introduced herself as Rio Wesley, who would be in this class for the rest of the school year. As for a seat, there was just one: to the left of Vivio Takamachi. Corona leaned over from where she sat to the right of Vivio, and the three girls smiled at each other.
Somehow, each knew that they'd end up being the best of friends.
Xx~~*~~xX
Author's notes:
I have to admit, this one was fun to write. I didn't actually have even an idea about this, until after I had completed several chapters already. It wasn't even going to be a chapter, but I got a brainstorm that wrote itself out, and RB told me to do it, so of course that meant I had to.
Fun facts: According to the Vivid manga, Corona was friends with Vivio for awhile prior to the start of the Vivid. We don't know how long, so I took some liberties there. However, Rio was apparently someone new that Vivio and Corona had met near the end of their previous school year, so here you have it. I'm not taking Vivid canon into this, even bending it a little, since Rio thought Vivio and Corona were more bookworm types, and not into Strike Arts. But, this is my Crisis AU now, so I'm rolling with this. I might borrow other elements from Force and Vivid, but obviously won't use their storylines (at least for now!).
Tune in next time for Erio, Caro, Zafira, Agito, Lutecia, and Megane in: Dragon Quest!