Sorry for the delay everybody. Got lots on my plate right now but I'll spare you the boring details. This Australian heat ain't helping me none, either. Here's another bit from this thing I like to write! Hope you like!

Replies for my awesome readers and reviewers, first. You guys make it all worth it :)

DuwangChew: Thank you, I appreciate you seeing it that way. I wanted to strike a good balance between being a silly harem and having grounded emotions of love. And yes, Donkey Kong was the bees knees when I was little. Only played the first one, Country, but me and my sis smashed that game so many times we probably wore the cartridge out. Love that underwater music…

The Swordslinger: Heya, thanks for reviewing! Hmm, that's actually a good idea. It would make sense in the context of things. Yuri is for one and all.

Your Intellegence: Hello again! I'm always happy to read your feedback. It always compels me to read back on my drafts to see if there's anything that could be expanded, or worded better, or kept more in-character. As a writer, I can always do better, so thanks for reminding me of that. With the games you suggested, I can only try Zodiac Age. I know it'll be good, loved the original, but I don't have the time to grind away materials like I used to. Still, I'll make time.

Felix: Allright, cheers! I'll do my best to write that one alongside this one. I'm thinking of structuring it from Chariots POV, and going for a sort of "Forbidden Love" approach. The timid, kind teacher swelling from a love she can't admit, and must never act upon, until…well one step at a time. Hopefully won't be too long before I can hash it out.

Jules12345: I'll do my best to finish this! Thanks for the continued encouragement. Wouldn't be able to do it without! I'll get to work on the Akko X Chariot piece soon. Hope you're enjoying this Aussie heat as much as I am, mate.

Haxenacht: Thanks friend. Yes, we do need more of that. I'll do me best.

Reviewer 7: Cool, thanks for that. I tried to picture what the fight scene would look like in the style of the show, and figured it wouldn't be too out there in making it wacky and over the top. And I'll definitely write that Akko X Chariot fic soon. An angle so unexplored should be a lot of fun to write about.

Guest: Wow, that's awesome to hear. I like to spice my stories with a bit of humour when I can. Doesn't always work out but hey, it's good to know this got a few laughs from you. Thanks!

Patrician: Thank you for that feedback. Let me tell ya, it's been a doozy trying to give each member of this harem a chance to shine. Would've been a lot easier to stick with one girl like you said, but I wanted to write something a little different, a little trickier. It's a miracle if I made it any way cohesive, so yay!

Oscar: Ah yes. There's always that void after finishing a great show. Writing is like pouring hot soup into it. May not do much but it sure is fun. For sure I'll do that Akko X Chariot fic. I owe it to you guys. Thanks for sticking with me!

TDawn: Yes~ That's the key word with a fic starring those two. Forbidden. Should be an interesting write-up. Thanks for reading this story, though. Hope you're having fun.

Psykoakuma: Haha! Of course. Unicorns are always so fancy, so I thought it'd be funny to take it down a peg courtesy of a Chariot showtime kick. I've been meaning to look into Girl's Last Tour, definitely looks like something a little different. Hope it doesn't end on a depressing note…or not end at all. Thanks for riding along!

(Another) Guest: Hey, cheers friend. I'm happy you and your friend are enjoying this thing! I'll have that Akko X Chariot fic down the pipe hopefully soon.

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Ok then, please enjoy! This wobbly war-train of a fic from an author who always bites off more than she can chew!

Little Harem Academia

Pierce the Heavens!

"Move it or lose it, sister!" Amanda roared out into the congested crowds. Several Witches turned away from the spectacle of the fight to glance at her in either annoyance and or curiosity, but both expressions morphed to wide-eyed surprise when they craned their heads upwards at Super Jasminka stomping towards them with sunrise smiles for all. Amanda O'Neil kept shouting over the din in her most demanding tone, though the jeering grin she wore told everyone she was having a bit too much fun doing so. "We're looking for any teachers around here! So move! The show's over!"

A multitude of puzzled faces looked to shouting redhead then to their classmates beside them. It seemed they didn't know where the faculty was hanging around at all, which didn't really come as much a surprise to anyone. The Luna Nova staff were notorious for being conveniently late any time some school-wide crisis was afoot, if they showed up at all. Even so, as Lotte trailed behind Jasminka with Sucy in step, she did what she could to disperse the crowds and keep an eye out for any teachers. Although any time she peeped her mouth open to speak to the Witches gathered, she'd always wince into silence when either Amanda's booming voice or an explosion from the barrier kept interrupting her.

"Everyone… please-!" A crackling thunderclap of piercing white lit up the barrier with an accompanying shock of ear-popping noise. A great deal of the crowd cheered and applauded right after, stamping out Lotte's voice completely.

"Oh spirits…this place is too loud…how are we going to get their attention? They barely notice me at all…" The quiet girl murmured to her friend sauntering along next to her. Only Lotte found herself talking to no one at all. Sucy had completely vanished at some point, lost in that sea of pointed hats converging at her every side. "Huh? Sucy? Where did you…? Oh no…"

Lotte wasn't good at dealing with such congested crowds unless it was a Nightfall convention. All those unfamiliar faces swimming about stoked another nervous flush from the mousy girl that Lotte failed to notice she'd clamped onto Jasminka's hip, holding the pink-haired half-giant close.

"I'm sorry…!" Lotte breathed out a hasty apology, but felt compelled to hang on regardless. Jasminka looked down at her as they continued to walk, fishing out a small wrapped candy from her pocket and handing it into Lotte's palm who could only laugh nervously to herself before accepting the gift with an appreciative nod.

"Hey! Found em!" Amanda abruptly shouted and shot ahead into the parting crowds. Lotte peeked out from Jasminka's side and sure enough, there was Professor Finneran and Headmistress Holbrooke standing about calmly with a great view of the fight. They both turned to ogle Amanda in surprise when they spotted the redhead bounding rapidly towards them.

"Finny! Boss Lady! We've got to get everyone away from here! Akko's about to do something real brave and stupid to put a stop to the fight! I don't think any of us wants to be around when that happens!"

Amanda's no-nonsense roaring declaration only received a tiny raise of Holbrooke's brow in response, with Finneran choosing to do nothing to her stone-faced scowl.

"Oh my. Perhaps we should do something to disperse this little gathering. Everyone's getting so excited, and Ursula is sure to win this contest in spectacular fashion any moment now…" Holbrooke said disenchanted, peering back to the barrier as if forgetting Amanda was even there.

The girl was about to shout something else, probably flustered at how rudely she was being ignored, but Finneran easily beat her to the punch.

"How can you say that, Headmistress?!" Finneran shot back, crossing her arms as she too turned back to the fight. "It is clear Diana has the upper-hand. Ursula is only adept at Illusion magic, and my star pupil's clairvoyance with such things is unmatched. You cannot hide anything from Miss Cavendish."

Amanda stood fuming and shaking uncontrollably on the spot as Holbrooke and Finneran totally ignored her as they bantered back and forth.

"That may be true, Anne. But Ursula hides much of her potential from most of us. Her timidity is her strength, not a weakness."

"I'll give you that, Headmistress. Perhaps in the end it'll come down to who has the deeper, more powerful connection with Miss Kagari. Now there's a year end exam worth putting together."

"Oooh, yes! Love! What an unpredictable, wonderful thing!"

Amanda stamped her foot down, screaming at the top of her lungs at the two of them.

"DON'T IGNORE ME! We've got to get everyone away!"

Only Finneran cared to look her way that time, still ever-scowling.

"Watch your tone, O'Neill! Do not test my authority!"

Finneran turned away without even bothering to let Amanda respond, which was to the girls favour as the redhead threw up an obscene gesture at the woman and whirled back to face her friends, her expression glowing red with flustered fury.

"Useless! As always!" She snapped angrily, hands gripped tight to her hips. Amanda looked over to Jasminka then Lotte in turn, she too seeming to notice one of their doomed party was missing. 'Huh? Where'd Sucy run off to?"

Lotte just shrugged sheepishly. "I'm sorry. She was just with me a moment ago. Then again, any time she does disappear…"

Amanda cocked her head at Lotte's trailed sentence.

"What? What happens?"

Lotte offered another shy smile before answering back, an odd relief calming her nerves. She knew Sucy better than most.

"Helpful Mischief."

=][=

"Hey you, what's your name?" The Mushroom Witch asked the red-haired girl quite bluntly. She looked at Sucy, slightly perturbed at the sudden question, but still replied nervously. An earth-shaking blast had rocked the courtyard moments before, cloaking the inside of the barrier in a thick rolling smoke, and allowing a moment of terse quiet to follow, which Sucy was currently using to her favour

"Umm, it's Sarah. Did you…need something?"

"Sarah, of course. I don't need anything. But I have a little thing for you." Sucy muttered and held something small out in her hand, to which perhaps in ignorance or reflex, Sarah allowed the other Witch to drop the item onto her outstretched palms.

It was a tiny, blue-shaded mushroom with sickly purple spots. Sarah scrunched her face in mild disgust at the fungi. Before she could retort in receiving such a "gift", the mushroom quickly started to inflate in size, already spilling out from the width of the girls hands.

"Huh? What's this thing?" Sarah blurted shakily, still holding the mushroom at arms length which had ballooned to the size of a small cauldron and was still growing.

The growth halted suddenly, but that was when the mushroom started to tremble and wiggle disgustingly in Sarah's hands which proved to be her final straw as she let go of the squirming fungi from her grip with a startled shriek.

The mushroom squelched onto the dirt, its slimy surface poking all over with strange spasms that grew in tenacity every passing moment. Sarah, and a few other girls close by watched the mushroom in tense anticipation, which was all the more unnerving with the battle in the barrier having stalled into an eerie quiet in that hiding smoke.

Sarah took a single, cautious step towards the mushroom, which then immediately halted its odd movements.

"Eh?"

A pause. A gentle wind blew. Then all at once every single purple spot on the mushroom burst outwards, splattering everyone around it in thick gobs of the awful-smelling substance. Sarah took the brunt of it, managing to block most of it using her face. Unfortunately, the disgusting goo proved a precursor to the absolutely stupendous swarm of glowing neon-green spiders that poured from the gaping spots in the mushroom and immediately fanned out in every direction in a raging sea of chittering legs and fangs.

The result was instantaneous. Sarah and every other girl standing nearby shrieked in raving terror as the spiders crossed the distance from the shroom to their bare legs in a second-flat. Their wild screaming caught the attention of the other Witches at their backs, who turned one after another to see what all the commotion was about. When they saw their classmates frantically running towards them covered in glowing spiders and with a torrential mound of the critters closing in like a tidal wave behind them, they responded with panicked shrieks of their own. A chain reaction borne of spiders, screaming and general pandemonium flowed outwards to the rest of the crowd, eventually revealing the form of one Sucy Manbavaran standing still amongst the chaos, completely covered in the crawling insects except for the sharp, amused grin wickedly glinting through.

"Heh. Needs way more power."

Her loud devilish cackling mingled cruelly with the random tearful shouting and the ominous chattering from the torrent of innumerable summoned bugs. Though Sucy was in the midst of experiencing a tremendous moment of euphoric joy, she took a moment to relish the fact that her nature to cause trouble had actually been useful. Her loyal critters had cleared most of the immediate area around the barrier, achieving her little Witch groups' goal all by herself. She didn't have to be a mushroom scientist to figure that her friends' efforts to get the faculty to actually do something would amount to diddly flipping squat.

The panicky shrieking from the fleeing Witches finally lowered in its intensity, and Sucy hummed a hefty sigh of relief at watching them go; her glowing spiderlings pausing their chase at a certain distance, their task done as they seemed to jitter and squeal in delighted victory.

Most of the bugs that had crawled about Sucy leapt off her body to join the celebrations with their kin below, save for one of their tinier crawlers that remained perched on Sucy's cheek; its small neon-green light drawing a glowing circle on the girl. Though the bug was acutely small, it had a fairly expressive set of beady black eyes that curiously followed its summoners gaze to something glinting up in the sky off to the distance.

"Oh, Akko." Sucy drawled as she lazily watched the distant light draw closer by the second, the little spider on her cheek choosing to run excitedly in tight tiny circles. "It's tough to get noticed nowadays, huh? Maybe next time the school is in danger of being completely destroyed, you'll come and save me?"

Her sharp smirk melted. A near-quivering, soft smile replaced it as Sucy watched Akko come to her, ripping through the very heavens in the process. She knew Akko wasn't actually coming for her though, that truth was a little saddening. The day when that idiot would pilot a giant robot for her was yet to come. All the same, it didn't change the one thing Sucy loved about that girl the most.

"...To come and save me...what the hell is that? You already did."

=][=

Never in all her years of cunning procrastination and abstinence from trifling distractions had Diana ever thought to find herself in the insane situation she'd thrust herself into. A Duel. With the very woman who had inspired her when she'd still been a starry-eyed child, the one and only Shiny Chariot Du Nord. Her body moved on some base, primal instinct as she swung her wand in wide arcs, willing every spark of magic energy still surging in her spirit to whip out from the tip of her instrument of destruction, all with the intent of knocking the crimson-haired older woman onto her behind, to stop the humiliating dancing she ceaselessly paraded before her. At one point Diana paused her onslaught of projectile spells to catch a ragged breath, only for Chariot to twirl about and fire off a piercing lightning bolt with a deft flick of her wand from far ahead.

"Tch!" Diana repelled the wicked snaps of electricity that snaked across the ground to her in a second using a rudimentary barrier spell, splitting the attack into several arcs that punched into the patches of grass about her, igniting them into crackling spot fires.

Diana couldn't let down her guard for a moment. Though Chariot was prancing about like an uncouth jester the woman hadn't relented in the slightest her desire to win that battle. She was just trying to rattle her, to distract Diana by making her face the source of her childhood inspiration. It also wasn't making it any easier that a misbehaving corner of her psyche couldn't hold back Diana's marvel of just how wonderfully wrong Chariot's costume looked on her, along with the cheery confidence the woman flaunted with her admittedly impressive dancing whilst wearing it. It reminded Diana of the mortifying fact that she herself had a replica of that very costume tucked away in a box piled beneath everything she owned in Luna Nova. She'd worn that racy thing only once, and the still picture of her reflection in that thing still haunted her to that day, threatening to bring about the kind of hidden desires Diana simply would not allow herself to entertain lest her reputation be sullied into an oblivion of embarrassment.

"Hmm…" Diana sighed with an agitated frown that prompted her to knead her temple gingerly, her other hand still holding her wand at the ready; it's sparking edge still aimed squarely at Chariot's head. The woman had paused her aggravating dance and was sauntering towards her, circling in at a angle as her own wand hung loose at her thigh. Chariot motioned to the crowd as she walked, whipping out another enthused wave with an accompanying disarming smile, but when the crimson-haired Witch refocused her attention on Diana, that bright charisma took a darkened, sharp edge. The subtle shade from Chariots hat masked her features in an unnatural dark, save for the twin gleams of shining red piercing out from it, itching an an anxious shudder from Diana's aching shoulders.

Diana gripped her wand tight in both hands now as Chariot continued her unnerving approach, her summoned illusions of childish fairy-tale creatures still dancing and flitting about her form. Diana would not distracted by them, her sharp glare tracing every single small step the woman made with full concentration.

Frustratingly, Chariot did not open fire as she glided closer with easy, almost mocking steps. Diana hesitated only for a scarce second, then decided she wasn't going to buy into any such feint, lashing out a chilling snap-freeze contrail of magic with a weighty upswing of her wand. Her emphasis on the attack seemed to stun Chariot with its speed as the woman's eyes went wide just as the icy rush blanketed her face as it slammed home.

"Got you!" Diana breathed out, straining unsuccessfully to hide the relief in her voice. She was winded and sore, a painful and unrefined pain in her behind particularly irking her. And though the air was thick in the heavy mists of magic, Diana herself was already reaching a point where her nerves and composure were frayed from its overuse. Her hands grasping her wand shook of their own accord, and a worrying aroma of burnt toast wafted about, annoying the heiress even further.

The impact from her spell had cast a choking icy mist where Chariot had been, leaving only her frosted hat flipping end over end above it before the accessory fell back to earth quickly and broke into several chunks after crashing to the dirt.

Diana's ragged relief spun unto chilling dread at the sight. Her icy spell had been far too powerful, enough to snap-freeze an article of clothing with a winging shot…a direct hit to a person would've…

"Chariot…!" She tried to yell out, but her exhaustion barely made it a whisper. The crowds gathered were still beset in their shameful excitement, continuously yelling and cheering through the barrier that did little to mitigate the rushing noise. Diana resented them for the first time, taking such pleasure in a barbaric scene like that. But…who was she to feel that way, when it was all her fault to begin with? That resentment shifted, weighing down on her own weary shoulders.

The Witches surrounding the barrier suddenly broke out in a brief amused chant of laughter. Puzzled and tense, Diana looked to their faces and noted how their bedazzled eyes were focused right on her, or rather…directly behind her.

"Ara, that was a good try, Diana." Came the sing-song voice a mere pace at her back, seizing Diana's nerves rigid in a surprised jolt. Her reflexes kicked in much slower than she would've liked as she twirled clumsily to face Chariot, emitting an unladylike grunt as she did so.

Chariot already had her wand raised at Diana's chest, its point flaring as a stocked spell snapped angrily within it, barely held back from firing off. The wielder herself stood atop a flat chunk of ice punched into ground, putting the woman a good three feet above Diana as she glanced nonchalantly downwards at her with an unnervingly cold expression. How aggravating it felt to Diana that her Professor had managed to sneak up on her so easily, and not only that she could tell by Chariots stance and the gleaming diffusions of magic from her wand that she already had a charged spell waiting to fire, putting an intensely agitated Diana dead to rights.

"You broke my Shiny Hat, Diana." Chariot said with a faux innocence, tilting her head slightly with a coy pout. "But hey, I've got an idea…!"

Diana just stood there, body coiled in preparation for the slightest chance to dash to a better position, but as Chariot taunted her, that charged spell in her wand never aimed anywhere but directly on target. She simply had to relent against the childish badgering and wait for that moment to strike.

"...why don't you let me borrow yours?"

That moment could clearly not wait. In a stunned instance of movement, Diana raised her wand just high enough to point at her target and loosed an aqua-blue beam of a spell with dazzling speed. She hadn't shouted the incantation, there'd been no time for that, instead forcing the spell to fire with a practised but costly flair of her magical prowess.

Chariot barely had time to even gape as the spell shot towards her, catching the woman completely by surprise. But her inhuman reflexes took hold and urged her stance to shift in an instant to a defensive one, ready to meet the attack.

Diana yelled out a piercing shout as she snapped her wand downwards, abruptly spurring her spell to pitch downwards mid-way and crash into the glassy podium Chariot was standing on. The woman yelped in a shrill gasp of shock as all of a sudden her feet had nothing but a pulverised mist of ice beneath them, causing her body to instantly shunt into a clumsy and flailing fall. It all happened so fast that the spell she'd been holding in place blasted out from her wand as she fell and shot skywards into a twisting crimson beam that ricocheted off the barrier ceiling before slamming into the grass at the far opposite end, erupting into a howling explosion that left a hideous gaping scar in the earth.

The blast itself most definitely worked in Diana's favour, as she saw Chariot fall to the ground in a heap the woman also winced her gaze at the blinding light from the explosion gleaming at Diana's back. It was then or never, the heiress thought in a frenzied daze as she struggled the final threads of her strength to will her limbs to throw herself at her opponent before she could recover from the fall. Before Chariot could even settle her momentum after landing, Diana was already there, spearing down at her with a shout, her wand reared back by her chin ready for one last flourish before the end, all the while the rolling explosion engulfing half the barrier framed her taut body in a grim silhouette.

The explosion from Chariot's missed spell run its course, now nothing but a gaping ragged tear belching smoke as flaming debris rained down around its centre. The crowds predictably cheered after the fact, but quickly descended into hushed murmurs when that very smoke from the amusing explosion blanketed the inside of the barrier in a thick mist of grey and black, obscuring the combatants within.

Diana couldn't see for a few tense seconds as her vision was clouded as well, but her breathing was thankfully clear as she gasped in several shaking breaths. As the smoke gradually cleared, Diana knew she had Chariot. She'd thrown herself atop her, sitting heavy on her chest with her wand touching the fine skin of the woman's neck, creasing it inwards slightly from the contact. Chariot stared up at her with wide, incredulous eyes of genuine shock, her glimmering pools of crimson close enough for Diana to see her ragged and exhausted reflection within them. As she continued to grimly catch what little clear breaths she could manage in that trembling exhaustion, Diana noted with gnawing puzzlement the way Chariot's expression gradually morphed the more she unblinkingly gazed down at her.

Shock and surprise slowly relented to give way to a shaking sadness; the arcs of her unrealistically perfect brows curving into a teary-eyed scowl as Chariot lightly bit her teeth down, glossy lips quivering ever slightly. Diana did the best she could to ignore the look her Professor was giving her. The woman was just trying to unnerve her looking like that. She had to stay focused! If she didn't win the duel then all was for naught!

"Yield your wand, if you would." Diana commanded with a light tweak of her wand-point into Chariot's neck. Her throat was so dry her voice had come out quite worn, almost to the point Diana could hardly recognise her own words. Chariot didn't give any mirth of attention to the wand poised at her neck as she continued to stare up at the blonde without any words forming on her curled biting lips, her face still awash in a sudden emotion that flared the blood in Diana's form unto an uncomfortably and yet gallingly familiar rippling of a sensation. It was…no, what was she thinking? Chariot was her enemy. Her opponent. The one who stood between herself and Atsuko Kagari. Diana's greatest threat. Diana's…first…her first…

"I'm sorry it turned out like this, Diana." Chariot finally spoke, her tone strained from the weight of the girl straddling her. The sadness in her visage held, but there was an added tinge of regret now forming on the woman's unabashed grin. "I don't think…I don't think I'm going about this the right way, am I? I really haven't changed. Even after all this time. I see something that I want, something I dream of, and I go after it, not stopping until I've hurt everyone around me to get it…"

Diana let her speak, taking the continued opportunity to catch a much-needed breath. Even so, listening to her somehow proved more taxing than everything that had come before. The wand fused in her tightly wound fist felt weighed down, threatening to slip from her sweating palm. All she had to do was let it go and the nightmarish ordeal would be over…but her aggravating pride screamed at Diana that Chariot would do it first. For Akko's love. For herself. Because she…because…what was happening? Her thoughts blurred into a congealed mess, giving way to a lucid moment of clarity. All she could ask herself then was…why?

"It's not proper for me to feel the way I do. I know that." Chariot continued, her voice drooping to a lower, murmuring octave, but she did not look away from Diana's vexing stare. "I'm supposed to guide her on the path. To be her kind shield from the dangers of this world she still has so much to learn about. It's not right to want her for myself. Just because I missed that chance at her age…"

Diana heard a slight click, a cold chill shooting up her spine when she realised a slight pressure was pressing into her chest, directly on her sternum. How had she not noticed it before? It was such an amateur mistake!

The two Witches remained in that tense, compromising position completely unmoving, like a macabre, unrelenting sculpture; Diana straddling Chariot, her Wand held tight in her right hand whilst her other hung loose and dejected at her side, the blonde's reserved and prim features dirtied with mud and grass stains to an ignoble portrait of reckless ruin. Chariot simply lay still and flat with her own wand spiked upwards from her waist into Diana's chest, still staring up at Diana as her flowing hair haloed beautifully on the earth around her pained expression.

"It's not right for me to want her, Diana. I'm a Professor too. But…I just can't control myself. And neither can you. Otherwise we wouldn't be in this position."

Chariot cracked a remorseful grin, leaning her head back a little as she drew in a series of slowing breaths, her chest rising and falling beneath Diana's pinning thighs. Diana herself immediately felt her agitation at the ludicrous situation grow ever more perturbing at the increasingly dizzying sight of the woman beneath her. For a scarce second she nearly forgot Chariot's wand was point-blank at her chest, her mounting embarrassment and humiliation piling on her shaken nerve.

"Diana…you're blushing…" Chariot eked out in a hushed whisper, her expression paling. Her sharp crimson eyes grew wide, glittering slightly as her lips stayed parted a fraction with her quickening breaths. Diana was overcome with even more self-conscious doubt when she felt the woman's breathing tickle the point of her nose, seizing her own respiration to a momentary standstill.

Chariot was too close. It seemed as if the blurring destruction surrounding and masking them from curious eyes was closing in around them, converging into the cyclonic madness of emotions erupting from Diana's tattered soul. Or perhaps…she had physically moved herself closer to her…what in the world was she doing?

"C-Chariot…!" Diana sputtered, unsure of what she even wanted to say. Her voice was broken and weak, her mind a terrible maelstrom. There was nothing else she could think to do except speak, as remaining idle was easily threatening her ability to stay conscious. "I…I…want…I need…ah…ahhhh…"

Chariot's expression changed again. Her gaze of puzzled wonder softening to a restrained and inviting glow of a smile with a deep and slow exhale of breath to go with it. There was also a tense flutter of movement that rushed through her body, turning Diana's blood cold as that same anxious ripple seemed to flow from the woman's frame and coursed through her own.

"Diana, I'm feeling a little weird." Chariot managed with a little coy giggle. Diana's mind sang in wonder at the sound, much to her annoyance. "One of us has to do something."

"Perhaps you can forfeit?" She countered hopefully. "We've both sullied our names with this farce long enough. And…and yes…this is making me feel strange as well."

Another soft giggle piped from Chariot, another wave of anxious prickling down Diana's back.

"Yes, I suppose we've really made a mess of things. At least the smoke is hiding us for the time being. But right now, I'm only worried about what Akko will think of us."

The mention of that name paused everything in Diana's world. Things finally slowed enough to where she could focus her rational mind on the situation at hand. With a sickening dread, she realised what Chariot was saying. The two of them had been so caught up in their fight they hadn't stopped to think of what would happen to the subject of their conflict. Diana felt like slapping herself when the obvious became clear; the winner wasn't going to win Akko at all. That girl, that sweet, innocent, annoying conduit of joy and energy…was going to be severely displeased with them both.

"Diana, we've made a mistake." Chariot said sternly, suddenly letting her wand arm droop to the floor, her only weapon clattering away from her palm right after. "I don't know what I was thinking. I felt…I felt drunk with something…I couldn't stop thinking about her, Diana…"

"Stop!" Diana yelled out, scrambling to her feet and taking a few shaking steps away from the crimson-haired Witch. She kept her wand aimed and at the ready, but her desire to harm Chariot sifted away like fine sand from a broken glass. "Just stop! You're trying to confuse me! Yes, I may have loved you once! But things don't stay the same! There is…now is I-I don't…!"

Chariot shot to her feet with an athletic ground leap and fixed Diana with a bewildered ogling expression. Diana scrambled for an answer as to why the Professor was staring at her like that for, until she took note of what had come bumbling out her mouth a few seconds prior. Ancestors release me, she prayed grimly.

"Diana, did you just say…" The woman began, taking a tentative step towards Diana and ignoring her fallen wand off to the side. Though Chariot was unarmed, Diana still raised her wand at her, halting her from making any more advances.

"Quiet! Not another word!"

"Oh…" Chariot cast her eyes downward ashamedly, looking genuinely hurt and vulnerable. Her flaring red bangs caught the light of a nearby towering flame, gleaming it into a gorgeous flowing mane. "…well, whatever your feelings now, Diana…I just want to say I'm happy to hear that. And…I'm so sorry…"

Diana took another wobbling step backwards and caught her heel on something, yelping out indignantly as she fell hard onto her already sore backside. She shook off the hurting stubbornly and simply sat upright from the fall, wand still pointed at Chariot but now visibly trembling off-target. Bitter tears from the pain and confusion blurred her vision for a moment, prompting Diana to roughly wipe her eyes with the hem of her sleeve.

Once her view was cleared however, her vision returned to the sight of Chariot hardly a pace in front her, kneeling down to Diana's eye level, and still with that demurely kind smile robbing the girl of her hatred in huge swathes at a time.

"The Duel's over, Diana. I forfeit. This isn't me. This isn't you. Come on…"

Diana was hardly thinking of the duel any more. She found herself having a frantic reminisce of a gilded golden memory of her childhood; her first and only Shiny Chariot show. Those pure feelings of astonishment, later admiration, growing into something far more powerful.

That first Love. Locked away just like that card. As if it were a passing fancy.

But the relentless hammering of Diana's heart, the dizzying, spiralling vertigo of ungoverned emotion…

Just like that, Diana remembered it all. Those feelings had never left, they'd simply waited behind a weathered door in her thoughts; waited for the most inopportune moment to come bursting out.

She finally lowered her wand and let it slip from her fingers. Chariot's welcoming smile shone a little brighter, her red eyes glistening with a great relief as she shuffled even closer on her knees, carelessly muddying her boots and stockings in the process.

They were almost face-to-face then, and the furiously-blushing Diana was lost in a tingling euphoria as she watched wide-eyed and wordless as Chariot leaned towards her gingerly.

Diana swam in the red sparkling seas of those eyes, unwilling and or unable to move any further. A cool, tickling sensation washed over her when Chariot unbuckled her cape and gently wrapped it around Diana's shoulders.

She shivered at that, noticing the biting cold for the first time. Her liberal use of water-based spells had drenched the already-soft earth into a chilly mulch, not too mention the unfortunate soaking that Diana suffered through when her Unicorn had exploded back into its own realm. She absently reminded herself to apologise to the great beast for such a mishap.

In the time Diana took sitting there shivering, Chariot had moved herself to pick up her wand from the ground, then shifted slowly over to Diana before gingerly picking up hers as well.

The woman kneeled down right in front of her, holding the two wands gingerly in her palms at her chest. Diana didn't know what she was getting at, until Chariot carefully took one of Diana's hands and twined her fingers over the two items, effectively relinquishing them to her. Chariot's soft hands traced over her own, causing another stir in the rushing seas of Diana's emotions. Looking up from the warm contact of their hands, Diana found herself again lost in the wondrous, gentle and glittering gaze of Chariot's crimson eyes.

"There, now it's official. I would've given you my wand sooner, but I wasn't myself. I don't think anyone has been acting how they should…"

"Except for Akko." Diana managed a curt, smiling reply through her shivering. Chariot laughed a little at that, bowing her head a fraction.

"Haha! Yes, she's the only constant in all this. I just wish either of us had been strong enough to protect her like we promised. Instead we took the…selfish, jealous path. Oh my…what a mess this has turned to…"

Diana acknowledged that with a deep sigh, settling into the graciously dry fabric of Chariot's cape as she nuzzled it into her soaked nose.

"But don't worry, Diana!" Chariot perked up. "As long as we show Akko that what we did was wrong, I know she'll forgive us. If that fails I'll buy her all the cake my pay check allows!"

The blonde heiress giggled audibly at that; the genuine, spontaneous emotion somehow warming her more than Chariot's cape could. The picture of Ursula carting in piles of sugary treats to a ravenous and overjoyed Akko kept an unbroken smile on Diana's weary face.

"Now then, everything is going to be fine." The crimson-haired Witch announced confidently as she rose to her feet and struck a very Chariot-esque pose. "Once everyone calms down, we can all go back to how things wh-"

The two Witches jumped at the sudden piercing sound of screaming and shrieking that started from one end of the barrier until it seemed to be coming from every direction at once. Diana scrambled to her feet to frantically look about, but the smoke was still far too thick to see outside. Wondering what in the world was happening, Diana turned to Chariot to ask if she could see what was amiss, but the woman was already gaping at something far above them both, her wide-eyed and open-mawed stare at a total loss.

"-What is THAT!?"

Diana was already following her panicked gaze, craning her head back as far as she could. And there it was, a glinting meteor shooting down and piercing the sky; framed by the only spot clear of smoke inside the barrier. As Diana blinked up at it incredulously, the falling calamity showed no curve or angle as it grew suddenly in size…meaning it was rocketing down right towards them.

"Another missile!?" Chariot blurted breathlessly as she and Diana stood side-by-side, staring upwards and slack-jawed at it helpless.

The object's size burst larger and larger, sparking a sudden clarity in Diana's thoughts when her sharp vision saw what was really hurtling towards them.

"No! It's…!"

The falling ufo caught the bright glare of the sun against the giant spinning drill protruding from it right before it hit its mark, slamming into the very top point of the barrier from above. The drill caught in its spin for a moment, leaving no mark on the barrier at all, until with a sudden rending crash it ripped straight through. The shield crumbled and crashed outwards from the point of impact, shattering like brittle crystal as twinkling diffusions spat out bright streams of rainbow-coloured magic that had held it together. Along with that blinding light-show, the smoke and fire from the battle that had taken place in the centre were extinguished when the gleaming form of a giant robot sent out a ripping shock wave when it landed into a stylish crouch.

As the resounding roar from the onrushing cacophony of noise finally began to die down, the smoke and spinning coils of loose magic did so with it. Then mercifully, silence.

Diana and Chariot hadn't moved from their frozen positions of standing by one-another, but the unexpected entry had kicked up a generous wall of mud and loose grass all over them.

A light creak sounded when a tiny hatch popped open atop the robots head, revealing none other than Atsuko Kagari. She scanned the annihilated landscape from on high with a hand shielding her eyes from sunlight, until she quickly spotted the stunned, unmoving forms of Diana and Chariot staring up at her.

"There you two are! Prepare to face my wrath!" Akko yelled as she punched her shaking fists into the air. No sooner had she stopped shouting when one of her feet slipped out spectacularly from under her. She shrieked in disbelief as Akko tumbled forward and fell howling off the robots head, spinning three times in mid-air before landing spread-eagled into a huge pool of churning mud, face-first of course. Constanze peeked out from that same hatch on the robot and after spotting her sputtering mud-covered co-pilot far down below, simply face-palmed and shook her head dejectedly.

"Well..." Chariot spoke up as Akko struggled to collect herself, slipping clumsily once more into the muddied brine. "I sure wasn't expecting that."

=][=

Yikes, that was a tough one to write. I think I could've done a lot better, but hey, live and learn. Thank you SO much for all the continued support, guys. I feel compelled to see this through with your wonderful feedback. I may take a bit longer to update (Christmas Season, whoop), but I'll do my best to do so. Bye for now! Have some Love!

-Queen