Negima and the Curse of the Dreadnoids
Chapter 25: The Final Battle - Part 2
Back in the Dreadnoid's dimension, Negi and Asuna chased feverishly after Gragon's giant dragon aboard their golden carpet. While at Mahora Academy, everyone watched Negi and Asuna's battle.
"What...What is that thing? It's huge!" Chisame said.
"Gragon. The fool! He must have merged his own soul with his deadly monstrosity to fight Negi again. He won't stop until he's breached the barrier and comes here!" Nagi said.
"He...He what?! And our Professor Springfield and Asuna are battling that monster?! No! I won't allow it! Get us back there! Take us back!" Ayaka shouted. Nagi shook his head with a firm face.
"What? But why? Our friends are gonna be dragon food!" Fuka said.
"Listen girls. I know you're worried about Negi and Asuna. But you must cheer them on. If we went back now, we would only be interfering. Besides, this is THEIR fight now." Nagi said.
"He's right. Our part in this battle is done. Now...we must believe for Negi and Asuna." Konoe said. Nekane couldn't help but crying for Negi and Anya was the same way. Meanwhile, Negi and Asuna were closing in on the dragon.
"Negi! What is this thing?! It's hideous!" Asuna said.
"Judging from the appearance, it's some kind of dragon chimera!" Negi said.
"A...A chimera? Aren't those supposed to be some kind of creature that's made of different other creatures?" Asuna said. Negi nodded and the dragon turned it's head to them.
"Foolish children! You thought I could be defeated so easily?! Never in a million years!" the dragon said. The dragon's voice sounded exactly like Gragon.
"Wait! That's Gragon's voice!" Asuna said. Negi groaned.
"It couldn't be. We defeated his body...but his soul didn't want to go down and he merged himself with the dragon!" Negi said. Asuna looked at the dragon and gasped.
"You mean...this whole THING is Gragon?!" Asuna said. The dragon roared and fired lasers from it's wings and they came down like lightning fast hail blasts.
"Watch out!" Asuna shouted. Negi quickly maneuvered through the barrage of laser blasts and the dragon snarled.
"You pesky children don't know when to stop interfering with other people's buisness!" Gragon said. Negi and Asuna flew towards the back of the giant dragon and saw the tail wasn't fully attached to it's body.
"Hey Negi! Look! That tail looks ready to fall off!" Asuna said. Negi saw it and figured the dragon chimera wasn't fully completed when Gragon merged with it.
"Hmm. I wonder something. What is this thing a chimera of? It's just a dragon." Negi said. Just then, something came rocketing out and nearly punched Negi and Asuna! It was one of Yuna's giant hands!
"A dragon that has Yuna's powers!" Asuna said. Just then, it's tail pointed at them and fired needle shaped bullets. The tail was a giant version of Mana's sniper guns.
"And there's Mana's guns! Duck!" Asuna shouted. Negi ducked down as Asuna put her blade up in defense against the bullets. She managed to deflect some back at the tail and it exploded. The dragon roared loudly in pain.
"Yes! There goes THAT tail of yours!" Asuna said. The dragon looked back at them and growled.
"Rotten brats!" Gragon thought. It roared and suddenly, red lasers started flashing around striking Negi and Asuna directly. The lasers damaged Negi and Asuna slightly. Following that were multiple copies of Setsuna's blade but they all missed them.
"Where...where did those come from?" Asuna said.
"They just came from nowhere. Be careful Asuna. I fear our new golden pactio powers might not be enough for Gragon now." Negi said. Asuna gasped and looked at the dragon. They flew towards the dragon again from behind but it did a full roll over them and was behind Negi and Asuna!
"Look out!" Asuna shouted.
"Now I think it's time you two "vanished" from this world." Gragon said. The dragon's mouth opened up and a giant orb of red energy begun to build up. Negi looked back and saw the dragon was going to fire a giant beam at them.
"Asuna! Hold onto me!" Negi shouted. Asuna hugged Negi tightly as he flipped the carpet over the dragon just as it fired. The beam missed completely and they were hovering over the dragon. The girls cheered for Negi and Asuna as they flew around the dragon to confuse it.
"Go for it Negi! Make him so dizzy that he falls from the sky!" Fuka shouted.
"That thing must have all of our powers together into one being." Satomi said. Asuna looked down at the dragon.
"I don't get it. What is this thing made of?" Asuna said. The dragon looked at them.
"I've created this magnificent beast from the shattered remains of the dark parasites that I infected you with. It's made of their lost ashes. Isn't it marvelous?" Gragon said. They headed for the dragon's head and saw a cavern open inside.
"Hey. What's that thing?" Asuna said. Inside, beneath the red jewel cover, they could see Gragon in his throne!
"There's Gragon!" Negi shouted. Negi fired a blast at the dragon's head but it didn't do anything.
"It's too strong Negi. Maybe this thing needs to have a few more body parts clipped from it." Asuna said. They flew back and saw the wings looked loose.
"Then let's take care of it's wings!" Negi said "That should clip it for good." The dragon saw them and roared. From the spikes on it's back, Satomi's lightning fired at them and it zapped them. They were zapped so much that their carpet fell from the sky and they fell into the darkness.
"No!" Asuna shouted. Asuna saw Negi falling down into the darkness alone and she grabbed him. She held him in his arms and tears leaked out.
"Negi. Come on. Wake up kid...wake up." Asuna thought. The others saw them descending and gasped.
"No! They're going down!" Akira said.
"But...that can't be! They were winning!" Ako said.
"They better hurry. That monster could be here any minute!" Nagi said. The others called out to Negi and Asuna as Evangeline watched quietly with Chachamaru.
"Master? Why don't you say anything?" Chachamaru said. Evangeline looked at her.
"Because Chachamaru, Gragon hasn't won yet. Look there." Evangeline said. Chachamaru looked back and saw Negi and Asuna rising back up on Negi's staff.
"Hey! They came back!" Jennifer said. Kotaro cheered loudly.
"All right! That's my Negi! Go for it dude!" Kotaro shouted. Chamo cheered loudly from Kotaro's shoulder. The dragon saw them rising up and gasped.
"What?! But how?! I sent you plummeting into the darkness!" Gragon shouted. Negi and Asuna were riding on Nagi's staff while Negi held his sceptre staff in his hand.
"Thank you...Negi." Asuna said. Negi smiled and they flew back towards the wings. The dragon roared and fired more lasers. Asuna used her sword and with a single swing, she deflected them back and blew off the dragon's left wing completely.
"That's for shooting us down earlier!" Asuna shouted. Negi took his staff and fired at the other wing. It blew off it's body and the dragon began to lose control.
"That's for everything you've done to my class!" Negi shouted. The dragon couldn't control it's flight anymore and begun to descend into the dark depths.
"No! Not again!" Gragon roared. As his yell echoed in the darkness, Negi and Asuna were sure that was the end of Gragon's giant dragon.
"There. That ought to put an end to that guy's plans...for good this time." Asuna said. Negi watched the dragon closely and saw something was wrong. It begun roaring and shaking frantically. Suddenly, a giant dark vortex swirled around them and they were trapped within it. They couldn't see through it and were afraid of what was happening.
"What...What's going on here?!" Asuna shouted. The others couldn't see anything either as the vortex blocked their view. When it cleared, the dragon's top half was merged in the ground below and the jewel on top was shattered. Strange white marks began glowing around it's waist.
"Huh? What is it doing now?" Chizuru said. Nagi gasped.
"Negi needs to hurry! That monster is using the darkness around it to restore itself!" Nagi shouted. The others gasped as Negi and Asuna approached the dragon's head. The impact had shattered the jewel on top of it's head and they leaped inside. Negi's other staff vanished.
"Good idea making that copy of your staff Negi. But now...we've got HIM to deal with!" Asuna said. Negi and Asuna drew their golden weapons and faced Gragon. He was now reduced to a hideous zombie like monster with his lower half merged into the dragon itself. The crash had also severely damaged him and he was trying to heal himself along with the dragon. He looked at them moaning. The girls back at the academy looked grossed and sick looking at Gragon.
"Ew! That thing...is Gragon?! Oh! I'm gonna puke!" Sakurako said.
"You must not interfere. Darkness will consume all. Darkness is your true master." Gragon said. Negi and Asuna weren't buying it at all. They charged for him but his right hand sprouted out the giant sword he held earlier.
"Die!" Gragon moaned. He swung and when it struck them, they were zapped by Evangeline's electricity. From the ground, snake like ribbon shot out and wrapped themselves around Asuna.
"Asuna!" Negi shouted. Gragon laughed and prepared to swing his sword at Asuna. He was going to slice her right down the middle this time! Negi tried to rush over but he was attacked by fiendish dopplegangers of Kaede, Fei Ku and Chao. They pounded him endlessly before he managed to force them back.
"You monster! Stay away from Asuna!" Negi shouted. He rushed over towards Asuna but was ambushed again by the giant snake heads that were on Yotsuba. One of them went to swallow Negi whole but he used his staff to smack the snake's head into the other. It bit the other and they yelled in pain. Negi rushed over just as Gragon was going to swing the blade.
"Now...vanish from existance!!" Gragon shouted. He swung his blade and it connected with something. Little did Asuna and Gragon realize was that Negi was the one to take the hit! He fell on his front side and his glasses fell off his face. Asuna gasped with tears in her eyes.
"Negi! No!" Asuna shouted. The girls back at the academy gasped with fear. Some begun to cry and Konoka hugged Setsuna. Chamo was crying so much that he clutched onto Kotaro's face.
"Professor Springfield..." Ayaka muttered. Nodoka was overwhelmed with pain that Yue and Haruna stood by her side. Asuna, full of anger now, looked at Gragon who was laughing at Negi's "pitiful attempt" to save Asuna. Asuna started growling and tried to rip herself free from the ribbon.
"You...You...You heartless monster! How could you do that to Negi?! He's just a kid! A kid!" Asuna shouted. Gragon chuckled.
"I won't rest until ALL who oppose me share the same fate as this pathetic whelp of a mage." Gragon said.
"What?! So...you won't stop until everyone in this world is dead?!" Asuna said.
"That is right. But why would you, a mere girl, cast your tears for this pathetic boy? If he never met you, you probably wouldn't be in this situation right now." Gragon said. He started laughing again as Asuna's anger begun to rise more.
"Shut up! Don't you say anything like that about my teacher! I wanted to be his partner and I made it happen! I'm not ashamed about ANYTHING! What I am angry about is that a horrible monster like YOU ever exists at all!" Asuna screamed. She broke free and kneeled down to Negi. She started crying and held Negi in her arms.
"Asuna. Are you certain you would risk your life for this boy?" Gragon said. Asuna nodded with eyes shut tightly. When she opened her eyes to see Gragon, he was about to swing his blade again to slice Asuna in two.
"In that case, I cannot spare your life. What a shame. I was planning to...but...if you want to risk your own existance for his, then you are a stupid fool and you shall DIE with him!" Gragon shouted. He roared and swung his sword at Asuna. She hugged Negi tightly in her arms to shield him. In her head, all of the memories she had with Negi since he came to Mahora Academy flooded her mind.
"Negi and I...have come so far. We've done...so much. I can't...let this happen now...not while we're so close!" Asuna thought. The others cried out for Asuna and Negi knowing their words couldn't really reach them.
"Asuna! Look out!" Ayaka shouted. Konoe and Nagi watched with frightened faces. Suddenly, when the sword connected, it had frozen in place right above Asuna's head!
"What the?! How did that happen?!" Gragon shouted. Asuna and Gragon looked at Negi and gasped. With one hand, he caught the sword and held it back!
"You monster. You would really do this...to a girl like Asuna? I think it's YOU who are the fool!" Negi said. He suddenly started glowing a bright aura and he attacked Gragon with a series of punches and kicks.
"What the? Negi?!" Asuna thought. Everyone couldn't believe their eyes. Nagi could tell Negi was under the same influence from when he and Nagi battled the possessed Evangeline.
"No! This power! It's the same from before! But...it's much stronger now! What is going on here?!" Gragon thought. Negi's staff suddenly started to morph through the different pactio weapons and they all hit Gragon dead center.
"Professor...Springfield?" Zazie said. Nekane couldn't believe what Negi was doing right then and there. Even Anya was totally speechless. Nagi had a feeling that this power should have been twice as strong since Negi cared about Asuna greater than anyone else he's met before.
"I won't let you...harm one hair...on my student's head!" Negi shouted. With Asuna's sword in his hand, he stabbed Gragon right in his chest and he started yelling in pain.
"No! Not again! I can't fall into the darkness now! No!!" Gragon shouted. With one loud ear piercing scream, a giant light enveloped the entire area.
TO BE CONTINUED...
END OF CHAPTER