Negima Remix!


Chapter 29: Showdown at CinemaVillage; Homunculus are Here!
Far From the Temple

It was quite a busy afternoon near the down town of Arashi Mountains. The stores were open, allowing customers and tourists to enter to get anything that would be of any use for their day. Cars were either parked in parking areas, or either going or leaving the town. The citizens were walking around, going to and from their daily lives, unaware of any strange activities afoot.

However, for a small group of teens, this was not going to be a normal day for anyone.

Setsuna was in a calm, yet distraught, state as she was running with Konoka in hand. Following them were Haruna and Yue; apparently the two Librarian Explorers had saw them leave and decided to follow the two. Konoka turned to her childhood friend, but gasping for air from all the running, and asked, "S-Se-chan! Where are we going? We're running pretty fast."

Not wanting to reveal anything, Setsuna merely replied curtly, "Oh, I'm sorry, Konoka Ojou-sama."

However, the only two who didn't have a clue, aside from Konoka, were running like mad to catch up to them. Yue took a rather obtuse observation that Setsuna seemed to be going faster than any of them. Yue huffed as she tried to get more air into her lungs, "Why…all of a sudden…are we running…a marathon?" Haruna, who was wheezing, had the wrong idea about it, "J-Just a minute, Sakurazaki, is something wrong? Do you owe someone money? Is an old flame stalking you?"

Yue just looked at her friend like she had gone insane or something. However, no one noticed two figures, clad in black, running across the rooftops, silently following them. The girl Tsukuyomi, with her brown hair and dark Gothic Lolita look, was running after Setsuna and the others, along with her 'boyfriend' right next to her.

The lad looked right at Setsuna and snickered a wicked smile at her as he brought up his right sleeve, "So…you like strong women, eh, Sloth?" Tsukuyomi, or Sloth as the boy stated, merely giggled as she blushed at the boy, "Of course I do.", she seductively smirked at him, "Why? Are you jealous, Malice?"

The by merely smirked as he stopped, "No, but I'm curious as to see how strong she is." And then suddenly, in a swift motion, he threw five objects towards Yue, who had finally caught up to the two Kyoto girls.

Setsuna was still keeping in pace, even as Yue was catching up to her. But then, suddenly…her warrior instincts picked up something. Her hand moved with lightning fast reflexes as she caught six darting objects at her. Setsuna sneered at this as she threw them away, leaving Yue slightly confused at what just happened, 'In the middle of the city, and in broad daylight…!' she grimaced at this outcome; at the Academy, she had protected Ojou-sama easily…but now…

"Hey, wait! Stop!", Haruna said, finally getting everyone to stop as she pointed, "It's Cinema Village!"

The four girls looked in front of them and saw that they had ended up at the front gate of the famous amusement park in Japan. Cinema Village, or Movie Village as it was called, was actually one of Kyoto's greatest places to visit when you're on Spring Break or on vacation. It was actually a vast reproduction of Edo-Japan, featuring reproductions of samurai movie sets. Now they also moved in a little for western cowboys to add something to it. And as an added bonus, actors would dress up and recreate the era for tourists.

Having enough of this running around, Yue asked, "Just what's going on around here, Setsuna? Why didn't you just tell us you wanted to come here?" Before she answered that, Setsuna suddenly had an idea strike her, 'That's it! In there, we wouldn't be spotted!' But she knew right then and there that she couldn't involve Yue or Haruna.

She nervously grinned at them both as she explained, "Oh, well…I, uh…Ayase-san, Saotome-san, I'm sorry! I…I want to be alone with Ojou-sama! Just the two of us!"

The two girls looked at her like she had list her mind, before anyone could ask her. She ran over to Konoka and stated, "We're going, Ojou-sama!", and in a fast motion, she swept Konoka off her feet, and leapt into the air and over the wall like it was nothing. The two remaining girls just looked awestruck by this as Yue asked, a little confused by this, "What's going on?"

It was then that Haruna, with an excited grin, stared at this as she thought out loud, "Two girls…alone…it couldn't be…!"

On two power pole tops, stood Tsukuyomi (Sloth) and the boy Malice, watching the scene in front of them. Tsukuyomi just blushed and giggled as she brought a hand to her cheek, "Oh, Sempai…I was hoping to run into them this way." Malice merely crossed his arms in his sleeves as he half smirked at this scene, "Just in case we might have opposition, I'm bringing in Lust and Vicious on this."


CinemaVillage

The alleyway and street set were filled with people dressed up as characters from a Japanese movie. The set looked like a street way of the Edo era in Tokyo, Japan. The place was very finely detailed, almost as if it had come out of the history book, or as if time had rewound.

Setsuna stood there, waiting for Konoka, who had left for the restroom a while ago. She looked around, hoping not to see any signs of the Kansai Association. But she also knew that with this place as crowded as it was, they wouldn't try anything in the public, 'But still…what is this strange feeling of distress I'm getting?'

She tried to make mental contact with Mini-Setsuna once more, in the hopes to see if Negi-sensei and Seiji-sama as well as the others were alright, but no such luck in getting back to her mini-double. She had seen that Nodoka had found out about their secret of Magic and Alchemy. And much to Seiji-sama's relief, she seemed okay about it. She also saw an almost intimate moment between the two librarians, and Setsuna couldn't help but smirk at this, "Seiji-sama…you truly are blessed to have someone like her in your life."

"Who's blessed, Se-chan?"

Setsuna spun around, a little startled, but turned to see it was Konoka. but now she looked quite different; she was now dressed in a Japanese Princess outfit, with sandals, kimono, pop up umbrella, and her hair tied back and all. Setsuna was deeply stunned by this as she asked, "Ojou-sama? What's with the outfit?"

Konoka, being completely oblivious as always, just smiled and answered, "Oh, you don't know? They lent me a kimono at the Dressing Area over there?" She then twirled around and playfully asked, "So how do I look?"

Setsuna was blushing uncontrollably, unable to comprehend an answer, until she finally bowed her head and blurted out, "Uh, you're very beautiful…"

Konoka just squealed out with joy, "EEEK! Really, Se-chan? Thank you!"

As Konoka looked oblivious as ever to the current predicament, Setsuna couldn't help but blush at the sight of her. She puzzlingly just shied from Konoka as she thought, 'Ojou-sama has grown up to become very beautiful.' Then suddenly, Konoka ran up to her with a smile and got behind her, "Come on, Se-chan.", and pushed her towards the costume department as well, "You do it too."

Setsuna merely babbled, "Uh, no wait! I…ARGH!"


A Few Minutes Later

Setsuna was standing in the street, almost five feet away from Konoka. However, like Konoka, Setsuna was dressed up in a costume as well…a male costume. Setsuna was now dressed as an Edo Samurai, which clearly was designed to be a boy's costume. Setsuna sweat dropped as she had an uneasy smile on her face, "Uh…why am I dressed as a male Samurai, Ojou-sama?"

Konoka merely giggled as she smiled at her, "Because it suits you, Se-chan."

Setsuna took an exasperated sigh, "It fits me like a hole in my head."

Sighing in defeat, Setsuna went with Konoka to look around the studio. After a while, they had stopped at a sweet cake stand; and Konoka had a fun time, while Setsuna was starting to have fun as well. That is, until she was pounced on by two Geishas, who shouted, "HEY, SETSUNA!"

A now dizzy Setsuna was sitting flat on her butt, rubbing her head in agony. She tried to figure out as to what had knocked her down, until she looked up to see who it was. She nearly had her eyes bulge out as she shouted, "Narutaki-sans?"

The two Narutaki twins stood up, giggling as immaturely as ever, despite the fact that they were fifteen. But the way they looked now, it was hard to tell if they were as playful and immature as some thought of them as. They actually looked pretty stunning, even though they still retained each other's hairstyle.

Konoka, being the care free type, ran up to them and looked at them with starry eyes, "Fuka? Fumika? You both look so beautiful!" Fuka just chuckled, "Yeah, well it wasn't our idea to dress like this. Our group Cheerleaders had us dress in these." She then devilishly smiled at her twin sister, "Though it's been doing wonders for Fumika's chance to get Laz's attention."

Fumika blushed wildly as she waved for her sister to stop, "Fuka! Stop! You're gonna embarrass me!" Konoka couldn't help but giggle at that as well, "Oh, my. I didn't know you had a crush on Laz-kun." It was then that her face lit up as she asked the twins, "Wait a minute, is Laz-kun with you now?"

Fumika turned her face away, blushing, "Yeah. We kind of lost track of the other members of our group, but he stayed with us the whole time." Fuka just chuckled some more, "Fumika's been a shy wreck; even Laz can't look her in the eye."

It was then that Setsuna, who had just gotten over her embarrassment on her being in a boy's outfit, asked, "So…where is Laz-kun anyway?"

"Hey, wait up you two! We're supposed to stay together in a group!"

The four girls turned around to see someone run around the corner. It was Laz Crevantes himself, still in his casual/battle attire and not in any of the Cinema Village outfits at all. It seemed that to him today was gonna be an easy day to look after one of the groups. However, what had happened was that the cheerleaders had run off to commence the ultimate Karaoke showdown back in town, while he had been left off with the Narutaki twins.

It seemed easy at first, considering all three of them were teens; despite the fact that Laz had the Automail body of an eighteen year old, while the twins had the bodies of twelve year olds. And seeing as how the three stuck together, Laz had a pretty difficult time keeping up with them. Fuka was a menace as she continued to tease both him and her sister about their little 'lip action' last night, while Fumika blushed denying everything about it. Laz however, was just speechless.

It had been his first kiss; ever with a girl in his very existence.

…and right now, he didn't even know how to handle it. He just didn't really know how to respond to it; if Seiji was with him right now, he'd be able to ask about it, and know how to deal with it. And as soon as he found the twins, he knew things had gotten worse, as he spotted Setsuna and Konoka, who asked, "Sooo, Fumika gave you a kiss, eh, Laz-kun?"

Laz just lowered his head in exasperation and with a purple aura background, noting his exasperated and stress-filled moment.

Setsuna just smiled at this scene among them all. She just looked at Fuka teasing the embarrassed and shy Fumika, while Konoka was mistaking the situation and teasing the awkward Lazarus all around. She thought to herself as this went on, 'I must admit…I am having fun. Now that I think about it, I wanted to have fun like this with Ojou-sama and other for as long as I can remember.'

Meanwhile, unnoticed by the group were Yue and Haruna. They were hiding behind a corner of one of the set buildings, watching the romance/drama unfold amongst the group couples. Yue, however, knew of the obvious as she just stated to Haruna, "They seem more than just friends."

Haruna, on the other hand, had her hand to her chin in devious ponder as she looked at the scene, "Well, that much you can see…", but then she pointed to Laz/Fumika, and Konoka/Setsuna with a scheming smirk, "…but those four…there's no mistake about it."

"Mmm-Hmm."

The two librarians looked puzzled as to who had spoken up near them. They turned to their right, seeing as how that was where the voice came from. It was none other than the sly reporter, Asakura Kazumi, dressed as a betting Samurai. Asakura grinned as she saw the scene play into view, "There's definitely something suspicious going on with those guys."

Haruna, the only one surprised while Yue remained unfazed, shouted, "OOAH! Asakura!" It was also then that she took notice and saw Ayaka dressed as a Geisha, along with her entire group, all equally dressed in different outfits.

Just then, an old European carriage came running in, nearly running over Konoka and Fumika if not for both Laz and Setsuna pulling both the respective two out of the way. The carriage stopped in the middle of the road, the driver was completely cloaked to everyone. Even so, Fuka being extremely fumed about the driver nearly running over her twin sister, shouted, "HEY, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING BUDDY!"

While both Laz and Fumika were trying to council the fuming Fuka, the carriage door opened and out stepped from the carriage, a long silver-haired boy dressed in a European business suit, with a top hat, cane, and cape cloak. With him was someone Setsuna and Laz were all too familiar with as their faces went in shock… Tsukuyomi. She was now dressed in a white Victorian Gothic gown with her hair tied up, and waving a fan in a lady like style.

The boy to Setsuna and Laz's perspective, he seemed like a nice guy, despite the fact he had his right eye hidden by his hair. Setsuna, on the other hand, sensed a very powerful fighting spirit emanating from this boy. But at the same time, she sensed that the boy was…not human.

The gentleman bowed in front of all five of them as he took off his top hat, showing him to be a boy around the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Tsukuyomi then said in a cheerful tone, with not an ounce of threat in her voice, "Good afternoon, Stranger and Samurai. As I promised, I've come to collect the fee that I loaned you." she then pointed to Konoka with her fan and stated, "And as payment, we shall take the princess to settle the debt."

Meanwhile the three girls were looking at this in confusion at the scene. But then Yue decided to explain, "You know, usually at Cinema Village, acts that involve the crowd star out of the blue." Haruna raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Really? That's interesting."

It was then that Setsuna figured it out, 'I see…by making it out as a play scene out in the open, these two can avoid any conflicts and take Ojou-sama without even making it look suspicious.' It was then she stepped in and got in front of Konoka, shouting to the two, "If you wish to take Ojou-sama, villains, then I, Setsuna Sakurazaki of the Shinmei School shall protect Konoka Ojou-sama, till the end."

It was after, that Laz looked at Setsuna amazed at this as he started clapping, "Wow, Setsuna! That was pretty good!" Konoka just squealed as she hugged a surprised Setsuna, "EEK! Se-chan, you're so cool!" Fuka shook her head, "I've got to agree to that. I didn't know she was an actor." The boy, secretly known as Malice, bowed his head slightly as he asked in certainty, "Is that so", he then turned his attention to Laz, "You too, young man?" Laz nodded as Tsukuyomi threw her glove at Setsuna's face, which Laz had caught before it made contact. Tsukuyomi then spoke out, "Very well then, as the young lady as the prize, warriors, thirty minutes from now. We'll duel at the place called the Japanese Bridge next to the Main Gate."

It was then that the girls were wondering what was really going on. Even Asakura had her doubts about this acting, "I'm starting to wonder if it's not an act." Yue then asked as if she had all the answers, "Well then, what is it?" It was then that Haruna came up with the craziest accusation ever, "Maybe the boy and girl are both old flames of Konoka and Fumika, and that they're challenging both Setsuna and Laz for their love for each other. Or maybe, they're caught in some kind of love triangle, rectangle, or hexagon….thing."

The boy turned to go back to the carriage following Tsukuyomi, but turned around and looked at both Setsuna and Lazarus, "I know this is inconvenience to you both. But I truly wish to see if you both have what it takes to face against something like what we are."

As Tsukuyomi sat down in wait for him, the boy then brushed his hair away from his right eye before anyone in the crowd could see, the four teens: Konoka, Setsuna, Lazarus, and even Fumika were the only ones to see it glow dark with a red pupil. The boy then smiled in a demonic way, slowly showing his teeth becoming yellow and sharp, jagged points; more like shark's teeth, "Don't try to run…and don't even try to call for help."

The look that he gave them startled both Konoka as she hid behind Setsuna, and especially Fumika to near death as he entered the carriage and left. Both Setsuna and Laz looked to each other with Laz stating, "We really don't have a choice, this time. Do we?" Setsuna shook her head in order to answer Laz's question. But both giving each other a look of question. Could they actually beat these two without Negi, Seiji, or even Asuna's help? Did they even have a chance to win at all?

But before the two fighters could think of anything, Haruna ran up to the two. And with only one hand on each of their collars, she shook them furiously and shouted, "THAT WAS UNBELIEVEABLY WICKED OF YOU GUYS!" And then a few seconds later, Ayaka and her group ran over there asking questions, especially most of them coming from Haruna.

"Hey, why didn't you tell us something this important?"

"How long have you guys been datin' for?"

"Who were those two? Are they you friends?"

Laz just paled at this as he waved his arms in defense at this, "Whoa! Whoa! I don't know what you're all talking about." Setsuna was blushing up a storm as she asked, "Wait! Wait, just a second! What are you all talking about?"

Even Ayaka shouted out, completely lost in the whole situation, "What are you all talking about? I don't even know what's going on here. Everyone's left me out!"

Haruna shook her head at the Class Rep's clueless awareness of the entire situation, "Rep…sometimes you're just a little slow at this thing."

However, everyone just stated that it was so cute of Setsuna and Laz to do that for Konoka. Asakura stated with a sly chin stroke, "No matter you guys. You seem to be in some kind of trouble here.", she then winked at Laz and Setsuna, stating that she knew what trouble they were in, "So we'll stand behind you all the way on this."

However, unknown to any of them, the white haired boy named Vicious watched them carefully on the rooftops. He let a small crinkle smirk open on his face as he watched the Automail Golem and the Samurai girl try and find a way out of the mess they were forced in. He turned around and headed to where his comrades were, but not before he chuckled, "Looks like its' going to be fun…bloody fun."


Meanwhile

In the sky near the Cinema Village, hovered a little familiar ermine on top of a little mini-Negi. After they had found out that Setsuna was in danger, Negi used the same paper double that was used for Mini-Setsuna, and used it for a Mini-Negi. And with that, Chamo and Mini-Negi were following the trail of Magic energy that Mini-Setsuna left behind.

Chamo impatiently was being the back seat driver as he stated, "C'mon, Big Bro! Get the lead out!"

Mini-Negi grunted, "I'm trying Chamo…but this magic's all new to me!"

It was then that Chamo finally spotted it and shouted, "Big Bro! There it is!", he pointed downward and the two saw that it was indeed Cinema Village. It was then that Chamo spotted a certain group heading towards the Bridge Set. "Hey, Big Bro!", Chamo said as he pointed downward, "Look who's makin' their way towards the Bridge."

The whole gang, including Yue who was now dressed as a priestess, and Haruna, who was now dressed as a female one-eyed samurai bandit, were making their way towards the Bridge set. All except Fumika and Fuka, who Laz asked to run and hide somewhere where they would be safe. Laz remembered what he had said back then.


Laz stood in front of Fumika and Fuka as he looked down to them with stern faces, "Listen, I need you guys to hide from this fight after it blows over."

Fuka pouted, "Aw, come on, Laz. We may look like kindergartners, but we're around your age you know." She then smirked mischievously, "Is there something you're not telling us, Laz?"

Panicking from fear of them finding out about his double-life, Laz waved his arms comically in response, "N-No, of course not!"

Fumika then looked serious as she asked, "Laz…be truthful, please…", she demanded with a pleafully look in her eyes, "What's really happening?"

He sighed as he stated, "I'm sorry, Fumika…I can't tell you that." But before she could ask why not, he knelt down to be at her eye level, and sternly stated with a kind face, "All I can tell you is that something dangerous is gonna happen." He then placed his hands on her shoulders; her tiny shoulders were completely shielded by his hands, giving both a memory of how different in size they were. He then stated, "And the last thing I want is both you and your sister in danger. So please, I need you both to hide until it's over."

After a few seconds, Fumika nodded her head in defeat and gave Laz a sad smile, "Okay, Laz. We'll stay out of the way."


On the Bridge set

Laz worried much about the two twins; even after he told them to hide form the battle, he wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. He then wondered to Setsuna, "Setsuna…"

She turned to them as they walked with the others, oblivious to their conversation, "Yes, Laz-kun, what is it?"

He gulped as he knew she would obviously say 'No' to it, "Do you think it's alright just to leave Fumika in the dark about her card? I mean, what if she could help?"

Setsuna shook her head, stating, "No, Laz-kun. It's better that they not know of this life we live in."

"That may or may not be true."

The two turned where no one else was looking and saw Mini-Negi, floating there with Chamo on top of him. Laz looked at this as if someone had grown a second head and second and third pair of arms, "Negi? Is that you?" Mini-Negi nodded in response, "Yeah, pretty much. I used Mini-Setsuna's paper double as a means of getting here and finding you guys."

Setsuna bowed as she stated, "We're glad you're here…even if it's a paper double, Sensei." The then asked, "How is Seiji-sama?" Chamo sweatdropped at that as he explained, "Well, let me give you the small version: Seiji was nearly killed by an Ishbalan assassin psycho, his Automail arm's pretty messed up in some parts, and to top it all off, Nodoka's his new partner…considering she knows about our double-life."

The two seemed to take it pretty calmly, until they let that info sink in and they both shouted, "NODOKA KNOWS OUR SECRET!?!"

"Well, I'd had hoped we would have gotten here earlier but it seems that we arrived a little later than expected."

Their attention was brought up to by the two enemies, who were still wearing their costumes. Negi hid behind Setsuna's right shoulder, while Chamo stayed on Negi. On Malice's sides of his belt he had two peculiar looking guns with their barrels shaped like small sword blades. Tsukuyomi held in her hands her traditional long and short swords, eager to duel her Sempai. However, Laz wasn't really intimidated, "You've got to be kidding? Those little things against Setsuna's sword?"

"I assure you, whatever shape the sword is, Laz-kun, it can still sever flesh.", Setsuna answered.

The two deadly enemies strutted forward; Tsukuyomi held her sword up with a grin on her friendly face. To the girls it seemed kind of unusual, but to Konoka, who gripped on to Setsuna's sleeve, thought it to be unnerving.

'Those two…scare me…Se-chan.' she whispered to Setsuna as if she wanted to go as fast as they could. Laz had also heard that but then spoke out to her, as if answering for Setsuna, "Don't worry, Ojou-sama…", she then turned to her and for the first time that Konoka and Laz had been with her on the field trip, she gave her a smile, "No matter what happens, Laz-kun and I swear to protect you." She smiled at that, being reassured of their safety.

Suddenly, a huge clapping applause was heard from behind them all as a huge crowd. Laz just sweat dropped at the whole thing, "This is gonna complicate things."

Chizuru, a long haired brunette beauty rated #1 for the biggest breasts in class, who was dressed in a female European tuxedo dress, blushed as she giggled in delight, "Oh my, Sakurazaki-san is so cool!" Natsumi, Chizuru's best friend with short red hair, freckles, and a small figure dressed in a pretty kimono, nodded in agreement, "You know, I wonder if she like to join the Drama Club? She'd make a great male character."

The two turned to Ayaka and then saw the emotional look on her face. She was smiling at both Setsuna and Laz, with tears of joy coming down her cheeks, "Yes!" She then ran up to Laz and Setsuna, and clasped her hands to theirs, still teary eyed, "I'm touched by the love you both share with Konoka and little Fumika. I'll do all that I can!"

Both Setsuna and Laz just drooped their heads down in exhaustion as they both said in unison, "You've got it all wrong, Class Rep." however, Ayaka ignored that and turned to both Tsukuyomi and Malice as she struck one of her flower background poses and defiantly stood up for the two, "alright then, you two fiends! You'll have to stand up to all of us; both classmates of Sakurazaki-san, and friends to Lazarus!"

But before anything could happen, Setsuna then turned to the two teen enemies and turned to Tsukuyomi, "Before we begin, I must ask you to…" "Not involve the innocent in this duel?", Tsukuyomi asked. The two heroes nodded but pulled out her swords as she suddenly leapt at Setsuna as they locked blades with each other.

Malice gracefully bowed, "Of course, but that doesn't mean we won't let out a distraction or two." Just then, he seemed to pull off his right glove, and bit his palm, causing it to bleed. He then swished some blood on the ground, causing it to spread in different directions in front of him. Then suddenly, out of the blackened puddles, arose a number of goofy little goblin like creatures, shaped like kappas, possessed items, Chibi elves, and other goofy monster creatures. They all ran around the crowd, causing chaos, especially near the classmates as they began to play with their skirts in perverted ways, with Haruna shouting, "WHY IS THIS TOWN SO PERVERTED?"

As Setsuna pushed Tsukuyomi away, she turned to Negi and stated, "Negi-sensei, I need you to guard Ojou-sama and get her out of here!" But before Negi could ask how he could do it, Setsuna did a sign and chanted, "RETURN NEGI-SENSEI IN HIS TRUE APPEARANCE SIZE ONLY!"

And in a puff of smoke, a full human sized Negi was there, in a white ninja outfit. He smirked as he stated, "Cool, I get to play the role of a ninja." With that said, Negi knew what he had to do, he ran for Konoka, "Konoka! We've got to get out if here!" Konoka was surprised to see her best friend and teacher came out of nowhere right now, "Negi, you surprised me popping up like that."

Negi grabbed her hand, "Never mind that now! We've got to get out of here!" And with that they were off, although Konoka was worried about both Setsuna and Laz fighting those two strange teens. As they nearly left the area, she saw that Se-chan was in a fierce fight against the girl named Tsukuyomi, but for some odd reason, she swore she saw whips made of water sprout out her back in order to defeat Se-chan as she was dueling in a crazy speed to keep up with two swords and four flailing water whips. But she knew that was just impossible…wasn't it?

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Laz and the Malice character were dueling like crazy. Malice had his guns out but he didn't even fire a round out, mostly trying to parry with Laz's steel arms. Both were blocking and attacking like crazy. However, Laz's clothing was getting a lot of cuts and tears from the gun-swords. After what seemed like a couple of minutes, they both stepped back to take a breather with Malice crouched on the bridge's rail with his weapons still at the ready.

Malice chuckled, "Well, this is the first in a long time that I've fought against an artificial humanoid this good in fighting…much like myself." That had Laz trying to figure out what his opponent just said; what he had just said didn't make any sense to him at all. Until he finally asked, "What do you mean by artificial?"

Malice simply stood up on the rail as if he was standing on flat ground, "Haven't you noticed anything peculiar about me? Every punch or upper cut I got, and I don't have a mark to show for it. how I'm faster, stronger, more agile…"

Setsuna nearly swiped Tsukuyomi's head off, but then Tsukuyomi countered it with a shot of water from under the bridge. The two were locking blades like crazy; most of the people saw it as nothing but special effects at its finest. Especially when Setsuna found an opening and sliced off Tsukuyomi's right arm at the shoulder. However, for Setsuna, it wasn't intentional as she gasped, 'NO! I was too careless!'

But then something happened; the severed limb suddenly liquefied into water and slowly creeped into Tsukuyomi's foot. Then the same liquid water grew out of the stump that where her arm was supposed to be, and took form as her arm. Then with a hissing swish sound the arm reverted into its default form. Tsukuyomi moved her new right arm and flexed the fingers, and giggled, "Eheehee. It's been quite a while since my creation…that I had to use my born powers like this."

Setsuna was both shocked and nearly terrified, even while the crowd were duking it out with the goofy demons summons. Setsuna pointed her sword at Tsukuyomi and shouted, "Who are you? What are you? Reveal yourself, demon!"

Tsukuyomi just giggled as she threw her blades down, "Well, to answer your questions...Tsukuyomi was the name of my former human life…", she then reached up with her left hand, and pulled at her dress collar, exposing her left shoulder. She revealed that she had a Sapphire Pink tattoo on her left shoulder, shaped like a serpent eating its tail, in the shape of a circle. Tsukuyomi giggled, "…my real name is Sloth, a Homunculus with the gift of changing my molecules into a water liquid like state, making me quite malleable and hard to defeat."

Setsuna's eyes nearly went wide as she digested this information, "Ho…Homunculi?", she wavered this as she gave her a stern look, "It cant be! The Homunculi are merely a myth! A creation that was made to scare Alchemists to keep them from doing Human Transmutations!"

Sloth merely chuckled at this as her arms became liquid and stretched to become whips, "Oh, Sempai…", she then leapt in the air and lashed at Setsuna with her whips, "…There is nothing in this world that can't be done!"

Meanwhile, the student groups were having either fun or difficulty with the 'special effect creatures'. They were fighting quite valiantly and ridiculously in their own ways. However, Ayaka had caught a quick glance at Negi, and as usual she was too much in her dream gaze state to even notice a huge cat like creature, falling down on her with the gold coin saying 'Happiness'.

Ayaka's legs were the only thing that stuck out as the cat landed/sat on her. they were wiggling out, trying to get her out, until comically they stopped. Haruna, who saw the whole thing, lost it as she shouted with a comical passion, "THE CLASS REP IS DOWN, EVERYONE…AVENGE THE CLASS REP!"

Everyone fought even harder, even as Chisame, who no one noticed, was watching around the crowd. She just sighed heavily as she was exhausted by all this, "Sheesh, these guys have got a lot of energy. It's exhausting just watching this."


Meanwhile

Negi and Konoka had made fast tracks to get inside and closed the door behind him. It was then that Negi noticed a row of stairs that led up to the top floor, "Konoka, this way." Without hesitating, she followed him straight towards the stairway as they both made it up. The place was quiet, with a few creaks from the floor as they slowly made their way around. Negi sighed in relief as no one was there, "I think we'll be safe here, Konoka."

Konoka was a little confused by all this as she asked, "Negi-kun, what's going on…."

…then suddenly, an eighteen year old raven haired beauty popped up right next to Negi, and amazingly, shot out five long and sharp finger nail claws. They nearly sliced his throat open if she hadn't stopped in a mili-second. The gorgeous beauty seductively smiled, "Not as safe as you thought, did you…Negi Springfield."

"My, my, Ojou-sama…you're body guards aren't as dependable as my minions."

And then, out of the shadows, Vicious and Monkey Girl, along with what appeared to be monkey and bear demons, walked and stood ten feet away from Negi and Konoka. Monkey Girl merely smirked at this, "it looks like Malice and Sloth did a good job at leading you here. Didn't they, Grande?"

Negi didn't see him, but then he came out of the shadows; a man, with a similar build and look like Armstrong, except his mustache was black, and skin color brown, and a face with a sinister intention to it. he was wearing the State Alchemist uniform as any senior officer, but he also had an iron fingerless glove on both his hands. The man spoke in a voice both gruff and mean, "Greetings, Thousand Master son…I know it's a little early in the game for introductions, but I'm Brigadier General Basque Grand, the Iron-Blood Alchemist. And the Master Mind behind the Kansai Magic Association."


Back Outside

The bridge was being destroyed by bullets and water tentacles as Laz and Setsuna were doing their best to defeat their opponents. However, the fact remained that they were dealing with Homunculi; artificial human beings that were said to be myth in both the Magic and Alchemy world. And both protectors and enemies were equally powerful in their own way. However, someone shouted, "Look! Up on the roof! The White Ninja and the Princess are in danger!"

Both Laz and Setsuna saw this and were about to high tail it out to them, but Sloth created a fissure wall of water in front of them. She giggled as she skidded to a halt, "You can't take the eye off the ball yet!"

Unknown to them, a kimono colored blur ran past the crowd in order to get to where Negi and Konoka were.


Back on the Roof

Negi had Konoka behind him, shielding her from not only the two teens in black, but also the Monkey Girl and Grand. Along with them was also a huge winged demon with a talisman on its face, and a pretty huge bow and arrow…pointed directly at the two teens. The two adult villains smirked at their achievement; now they finally had the one achievement of power in their grasp. All they had to do was eliminate the one in their way of getting it…Negi Springfield.

It was then that the Monkey Girl noticed the Automail Golem and Sakurazaki trying to get to them. She snickered and shouted, "Sakurazaki! Automail Golem! If you're hearing me, then hear this!" She pointed to the demon archer and shouted, "This creature's arrow is aimed right at Ojou-sama! If you value her live, then don't interfere! HOHOHOHOHO!"

Negi sweatdropped at the hopeless situation; there was absolutely now way out of this. As a paper double, all he could do was walk, run, grab, and talk. He couldn't even summon enough magic to stop them at all. It…was…impossible. Konoka, who was mighty worried about what was going on, looked to Negi. She spoke up, startling Negi as she asked, "Negi-kun? This isn't CGI, is it?"

Negi just gritted his teeth in frustration at the situation, "I'm sorry, Konoka." He cursed himself mentally. He had failed in protecting Konoka, and he let Setsuna down for it as well. Plus, even Laz was in danger, and he couldn't do anything about it as well.

"Don't worry, Negi-kun…everything's going to be alright.", Konoka said. Negi and Chamo both were a little surprised by that as he turned to face Konoka. And surprisingly, she smiled at him, "Se-chan said she'd protect me, no matter what. As did Laz-kun; they will surely help us." After hearing those words of faith, Negi smiled…knowing full well that she was right.

However, Basque Grand was growing impatient as he shouted, "Stop Stalling, Wizard! Hand over the girl now! Accept those orders!" However, something stopped him from trying anything to force Negi, as a certain pink haired girl with a twin bun hair style jumped out, shouting, "NINJA ARTS OF THE NARUTAKI! FUMIKA STYLE! THE CLASPING BUNNY MONKEY!" And with that said, Fumika jumped on Grand's head, blocking his sight.

He shouted, "GET! OFF! OF! MEEEE!" He couldn't see anything; nearly bumping into the Monkey Girl. But instead of her, he bumped into the demon. This caused a chain reaction that caused him to fire his arrow. The monkey girl shouted in annoyance, "WHY'D YOU DO THAT? I DIDN'T SAY FIRE?" Vicious then calmly stated, "True…but we were gonna shoot he boy anyway."

Negi saw the arrow head straight for Konoka, and he couldn't let her get hurt. Chamo shouted, "Negi, stop it!" Negi ran up to it as fast as it was coming, and thrusted out his right arm. However, he didn't count it going through him as it hit the hand, the arrow destroyed his arm and it continued down it's path. Negi turned and saw Konoka as stunned as ever, "KONOKAAAAAA!"

At the same time, Grand had finally gotten Fumika off of him, and held her by the collar of the kimono she was wearing. She struggled to break free but to no avail. Then Grand pulled her back, "Now pay for interfering with my business, Child!", and threw her off the roof.

Negi gasped at both of these dramatic and urgent emergencies…

GA-JUNK

Everyone including the crowd, minus the bad guys, gasped at what had just happened. Setsuna had made it just in time. However, she took the arrow, straight through her right shoulder. A killer blow as it caused her to stumble off the roof, and plunge to her death. Negi shouted with a look of terror on his face, "SETSUNA!" Everyone gasped at this scene of drama unfolded.

Konoka was the only one to stare at this, in disbelief and fear. She then did the only thing she could…. "SE-CHAN!", she shouted as she jumped after her. Everyone, even the villains, gasped at this; the two girls were falling down to the ground…to their deaths…it was over…

…then it happened.

A brilliant flash of light came out of nowhere to where the girls fell. Everyone shielded their eyes, all except for Negi, the Monkey Girl, and the two Homunculus, who saw what was happening. As the light ended, it had shown that Konoka and Setsuna, were safely on the ground, and the arrow had disappeared, along with Setsuna's fatal wound. Konoka smiled, knowing that Setsuna was safe, "It's alright, Se-chan. Everything's alright."

Setsuna got back up on her feet, stunned by this, asked, "Ojou-sama…was that…your power?"

A little confused by that, she shrugged, "That was me? I didn't know I could do that."


Back on the ground, Fumika opened her eyes, and felt that she was being held. She looked around, seeing she was safe…and held in Laz's arms; which this caused her to blush embarrassingly. However, he asked with a look of worry on his face, "Fumika…why didn't you stay hidden, like I asked?"

Smiling and still blushing, she looked up to Laz and simply answered, "Because…because I couldn't just let you get hurt because you and Sakurazaki were fighting alone." She then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, "I wanted to help you, Lazarus." Hearing that, all Laz could do was have a look of surprise and embarrassment on his face as his artificial skin burned fourteen different shades of blush.


Back on the ground, Setsuna knew that they now had enemies all around them. Negi, back in Mini-Negi form, flew down with Chamo on top of him, and out of sight of Konoka, quietly shouted, "Setsuna! We've got to get out of here!" Realizing that they had nowhere else to run, she made up her mind. She scooped up a surprised Konoka in her arms and smiled at her, "Ojou-sama. As of now, we're headed for your parents' house. We'll meet up with Kagurazaka-san and the others there."


Back on the Roof

The Homunculus Lust scratched her chin in delight, "It seems that the young Konoe girl didn't disappoint us at all."

Vicious nodded as Sloth and Malice, both a little worn out, but quickly healing any fatal wounds, rejoined them. Sloth sighed, "I'm just glad that Se-Sempai and Ojou-sama are okay."

Vicious then allowed a crinkled smirk as he glared at the teens, "Well now that we now they have nowhere else to hide…taking our main ingredient is only a matter of time."


Next Chapter: Welcome; Stone Silence at the Head Temple