Havelock Vetinari. I am honored to have caught the attention of a "veteran reader." I will try not to disappoint, which means I will exert quite a bit of effort into the climax for this one. This arc has several points I want to cover, and I've a very few amount of chapters to do so...no, I don't have a planned amount of chapters for this story people, but I did originally want to finish the Chao arc on my thirtieth chapter. (Not by the site's count, my chapter count.) Oh, did you know that on the second of this month, you all broke the four hundred hit mark?!? The first you shattered the three hundred, the second annihilated the four hundred with over half way to five hundred...holy...I have never had such a spike in popularity for anything.

Soo...how do you plan on doing that? The Chao thing...? Easy. By working my tail off. "Ohhhhh." Let's go.

I don't own Negima silly. I doubt I ever will. Akamatsu is making too much money off it...speaking of which, do you know what has been plaguing me? I mean, really been plaguing me? I have told you already how long this story has been around...well, in that time, I already know the end of this story, but the middle, this stories written part, is still a cloud I pull back little by little, and yet, the story in my head is so progressed, I can see far into the future of it...I think there will be a...sequel to this. Yes, I said it. Don't take me on my word for it though. Pray I lose the battle to hold this story in my head if you want a sequel, or at least, pray that when this one comes to its conclusion, that I can't hold the second part in my head...

Oh, by the way…My "Challenge MFT" story is not dead, I just have no time to do my challenges! It's hard to find a two hour block to just sit down and complete a challenge. Fear not, when I do get one, I will devote it to that…unless this story grabs it. Right now, it's burning, on fire. It pleads for my attention! Galerians...yours is on it's way, once I put together all the pieces I have for it. That's the one I have to finish first...Lengthy is indeed a word...and like I said, I must have been taught the word "to" incorrectly. Negi, get over here and proofread this rag!

"Do it yourself you lazy bum."

Battles scenes have always been a weak point. I feel they are stronger now, but still, not strong enough. I'm planning after the conclusion of this story to launch something else in my head, and that requires a lot of battle scene power...why? Because the fan fiction will be an Advance Wars one...it's only a plan though...

Magus chants in bold, like Swallowthorn, K?

+----+

Chapter Twenty Eight: Hiccupping Rivers.

Negi teleported right into Kago's face, in midair, punching him dead in the nose with a magically enhanced fist. The man skidded back but a single space, he himself teleporting to Negi's side and grabbing him out of the air like a Frisbee and kneeing him in the gut before teleporting away. He rose his Cassiopeia threateningly, but before he got a chance to activate it, Negi landed on the ground and teleported right next to the man, slamming a fist hard into his chest with his left and knocking the Cassiopeia away with his right with a slap.

Coutlouce, Ego ingenero vos, cavo profundus in mihi.

The Cassiopeia glowed slightly as it flew, and when Negi landed on the ground again, he could see the magus was standing, holding the thing in his hand again, as if it had never left. Negi's eyebrows rose until they hovered just below his hairline.

Vigoratus , Curo , restituo mihi universus.

"The hell?!"

The man smiled here. He held the device high and it activated. He rushed a still Negi and brought out his knife. Screw the rules, no one could see him use it anyway. Something stopped him from striking at the heart however. Instead, he sliced at the arms and stabbed it twice into his gut. He slipped the thing away just as the magic from his first strike faded.

"Gah...shit."

Negi stumbled away blindly, or so he made it appear. Grinning to the stage as blood fell from him, he teleported silently to Kago's back, and unleashed his unincanted spell as he rose his own Cassiopeia high.

Ego scisco vestrum is, restituo!

He had been practicing. All in the preparations for his fight for Takahata, all in the fixing of the ring afterwards. during the magus's match and afterwards in the rest period. Even before, with his mother. No one said his healing magic was on par with the rest of his abilities...

...But it did not come haltingly like it had always come before either. This powerful healing spell exploded around him as the time slowed to a near stop. Negi clenched his left fist, the one that had the Cassiopeia in it. He was right next to the magus's one, and his was sparking dangerously.

If he couldn't use it, he would make sure the other could not either. His fist closed and began to glow with his pent of magic, and his chi, the concentration almost becoming solid with the intensity. He sent that fist forward, crushing his own Cassiopeia in the process, sending a blast of magical protest to add to the power of his blow.

He sends the magus flying with that blow, all the way to the other side of the ring and over, and a crash like breaking china was heard. The man managed to stop himself, an inch from the water, floating there as if he were standing on water. He held the broken Cassiopeia in his hands, grinning.

"It seems I have underestimated you, Negi Springfield."

The magus tossed off the remains of the crushed artifact in the same motion as Negi, who slipped his crumpled Cassiopeia in his pocket and out of the way. The magus teleported quickly behind Negi, but the boy had, in the same moment, tried to teleport behind the magus's back, so the two ended up facing each other on opposite sides of the ring again.

"Hah. Perhaps I should have never showed you how to teleport, boy."

The man teleported again, only this time, Negi stayed still and kicked up behind himself, eyes closed. His foot connected with the other's gut solidly, making him grunt. Negi teleported forwards before the other could grab him, and again, the staring match ensued.

"You didn't teach me anything. I learned by observation alone."

The next instant, the Magus rushed him, and Negi shot off to the side, only to run into Magus again. He was booted right in the forehead, and he dropped to the floor, where he had to spin up to avoid a stomp aimed for his middle.

"Oh really...?"

When the boy stood up fully, he was surrounded by Magus's. There were eight of them in total, ringing him. He held up his fists and assumed a ready martial arts stance, eyeing them all. One spoke, and then another, all in turn.

"You see, now I have decided to get a little serious. I honor you, be happy."

One of them smirked while another shrugged his shoulders roughly.

"You don't know my real name do you?"

Negi stared into one of those faded eyes and he shook his head.

"Oh, I know perfectly well who you are."

Magus expressed disbelief, but then he smiled. Ahh, he must mean the name he used here, perhaps the boy had not heard him correctly...

"You are me."

The magus's eyebrows rose...all sixteen of them.

Negi pooled magic in his hands and let it loose, charging it around him in a soft blue ring and letting it shoot outwards into all those around him. It passed by them harmlessly, but in the next instant, Negi shot forwards between two of the ring of men in front of him, and he spun, kicking one hard in the kidney.

"Ras tel, ma, scir, Magister.."

All the others disappeared as this one spun with the force of the blow, nursing his side slightly before standing erect. He held out his hand harshly and called out a sharp Latin word.

"Confuto!"

Negi halted in midstride, his feet suddenly cemented to the ground. His mouth was still working however, and he grinned and called out, even though his head would not obey his orders to move.

"Ha! It all makes sense now, foolish old man...or should I be saying senile? I would never become as stupid as you willingly! The talk of the future, the Cassiopeia, the talk of me ruining the friggin universe... the spell release...you...you are a stupid old man who doesn't want to take responsibility for what he has done...sooo..."

Negi sent a powerful mental spear flying at the man, more powerful than any one he had ever sent previously. It slammed into the natural shield the Magus had erected and then wreaked havoc on his mind, but the effect was not as great as any of his other attacks on the mind...he was after all, fighting a mind as powerful, if not more, than his.

"...Sooo you come after me, trying to rid yourself from the time line. Oh no, I won't take responsibility, I'll just murder the infinite number of other me's out there! Who will care, huh?"

This attack was different from all of his previously conducted one for one more reason besides power. It had a string attached to it, in which Negi, now free from his constraints due to loss of concentration on his opponent's part, pulled on with all his might, trying to unseat the mind from its platform, yank it and take control of the body it used. Yet Negi found himself pulled forward, and he had to disengage. The gravity of the mind was far too large. The age behind it...his attack had lent him a small portion of the man's memories, and he looked upon them while trying to sort out his own head.

"Tria Fila Nigra Promissiva..."

One recovering from the recoil of his own attack, and one recovering from the attack itself. The magus recovered first however, and teleported right to Negi, punching him up into the air with a magically enhanced fist.

"Vos Limitationem per Unus Dies!"

Negi's eyes widened and he poured his magic into creating a platform in the air, solidifying the very particles to have something to kick off of and teleport away. Negi had yet to master this kind of thing to well enough teleport in midair, and he had not time for that at the moment... He smacked down on the ground as the ribbons of darkness flew up in the air at nothing.

Sagitta Magica, Centum et Trignita....

That spell was normally used for self binding, but the Magus has switched it up, making it apply to Negi with "Vos" instead of "Mihi." A dangerous and intelligent tactic, one Negi almost got caught in.

Spiritus Lucis!!

Yet the boy had no rest, in the next second the magus shot off arrows of light at Negi, one hundred and thirty of them, in which Negi had to call up several unincanted Deflexios for. Yet, as he was distracted with this, the other teleported behind him and charged up a powerful punch. When Negi finally realized his opponent was no longer in front of him, he spun around and teleported away...

Or he would have, but the other followed him in step and punched him straight up with the powerful blow, knocking the wind from his lungs, yet, now Negi was tired of playing around...he took a breath as he went up in the air.

Sagitta Magica Centum et Nonaginta Novem...

Sagitta Magica Centum et Nonaginta Novem...

In the air, Negi cupped his hands together, gathering the power for the spell. On the ground, the Magus had once hand extended out, glowing brighter with the magic's condensing. One used two hands, the other, one...

Spiritus Lucis!

Spiritus Ingus!

Spear like arrows rained down from Negi, as larger shafts came from the magus below, raining up, meeting in the middle, fire and light, the magic met in an incredible explosion of light and sound. Negi managed to teleport back to the ground again, where he gathered his magic while calling aloud.

"Veniant Spiritus Glaciales Obscurantes! Cum Obscuratione Flet Tempestas Nivalis! Nivis Tempestas Obscurans!"

Sagitta Magica, Centum et Nonaginta Novem, Fulgoris Ingus!

The magus recognized the scene before, only he had fought a very different opponent when this kind spell was uttered. He decided to complete the cycle...going for the one he originally chose...

"Veniant Spiritus Aeriales Fulgurientes! Cum Fulguratione Flet Tempestas Austrina! Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!"

Kago, the Magus, shot his spell forth. I was far larger than Negi's...it barreled down towards the boy, but he shot off both his arrows and his spell, and that compensated well enough for the difference in power. The stage under their feet was blasted apart in the middle, sending a hail of splintered wood everywhere.

He didn't even have enough time to wait for the dust to clear. The boy was already in his face having jumped up from the ground he had shot to. He elbowed Magus's chin up with a magically enhanced elbow and sent a chi infused fist into his chest, blowing him back, he was near the edge of the ring, but Negi had sent him sideways, so he landed in the opposite corner of the ring from where he was. He was still only on the edge.

Negi lunged at him there and began trying to pummel him ring out with fists of pure fury wherever he could reach, becoming a near blur of movement, constantly jumping up in the air to reach higher, but the magus just stood his ground and blocked them, or stood tall. He finally got an opening in which he blasted Negi away from him with a well placed punch to the face, however, when the boy jumped up yet again for another strike.

The mage rolled away from the corner as the boy came at him after rolling with the punch, and teleported to the other side of the ring. Negi came after him, but he fired off a continuous stream of a few arrows at a time, keeping the boy at a distance for a precious few seconds until he had enough energy gathered.

Sagitta Magica, Novem, Spiritus...

The boy lunged him, and aimed at his gut with a kick, which the other blocked and spun away from. Negi continued coming at him with assaults, spinning his kicks as high as his height allowed and jumping away from counter attacks. The magus teleported behind him and sent him flying forwards, jumping after him to trip him up and coming down with a hard elbow, knocking him into the ring, making boards vibrate.

Obscurans!

The arrows came up, giving the magus a face full of darkness. He sprawled backwards, for the arrows clung to this skin at such a close distance and he had to scrabble at them, clawing to free his eyes. Negi spun back up and spun to kick the man in his temple, but he managed to clear his eyes enough to teleport to his back and knee him forwards.

Negi spun around and kicked the man away brutally, making him go near the edge of the ring. The magus's eyes shone.

He shot forward to the middle of the ring, his eyes burning a fierce desire to now put this boy to bed. He began an incantation Negi had only read in books, and he knew its power, so he surprised Magus be beginning to chant another spell of its level, making the mage pale, but at this time, he could not stop...

"Το σθμβολαιον διακονετο μοι, βασιλισκ οθρανιονον. Επιγενεντηετο, απολεια κεραθνε ηοσ τιμεισ πτειρει. Ηεκατονκατισ και κηιλιακισ αστραπσατο.

(To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon. Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei. Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.)

"Τὸ συμβόλαιον διακονῆτω μοί, ἡ κρυστάλλινη βασίλεια! Ἐπιγενηθήτω, ταἰώνιον ἔρεβος, αἱώνιε κρύσταλλε! Πάσαις ζωαῖς τὸν ἴσον θάνατον, ὃς ἀταραξία!

(To Sumbolaion Diakonētō Moi, hē Krustallinē Basileia! Epigenēthētō, Taiōnion Erebos, Haiōnie Krustalle! Pasais Zōais ton Ison Thanaton, hos Ataraxia!)

The chants were long and the magic gathered in swirls between the two mages. It was obvious that this stage was not big enough for the both of them. The magus called the spell up easily, Negi's hands glowed and his channels rose, but he was still able to call up the spell, even if he struggled to gather the power necessary for the blow...

"Κηιλιαρκοθ Αστραπε!"

(Khiliarkhou Astrape!)

"Κοσμικὴ Καταστροφή!"

(Kosmikē Katastrophē!)

Ice shot forward, turning the entire ring into a freezing zone as lightning rained down upon it from the heavens. The ice was sent flying into the pool from the harsh bolts, the same electricity sending that pool afire with a charge.

It was only extreme luck that Magus centered his spell unto the ring, and shot down Negi's spell, making it cover a controlled distance, or even the shielding around the ring would not have stopped their clash. One thing was certain..the stage was wrecked, completely and utterly.

The dust cleared and Negi was on an island of wood on one edge of the ring while Magus was on the other. The magus was smiling, but Negi was panting, on his knees. That spell...it wouldn't kill him anymore, but it sure as heck drained him utterly. The magus called out to him, just as the display switched from random information to a five minute count down.

"Hah, boy, I really have underestimated you, haven't I?!"

Negi pushed himself up off the ground as the magus charged his fist for another round. He could still cast the thousand bolts...after all, he had once controlled two simultaneous instances of it at once in his prime easily, without thinking. This Negi was drained utterly with one end of the world level spell.

Yet, even as he watched, the boy extended his arms, and they began to shine...no, not shine...

It looked as if sparkles in the air were being drawn towards him, condensing into a steady stream which became a shine upon touching him with the intensity it held. He felt the boy's magic, completely drained before, slowly raise, regaining stature...his eyes widened. What manner of a trick was this?!

"Poor old man, never tried this, did you? In the beginning of magic training, they teach us to reach for the magic of the world, draw it through our wand to cast spells...yet what is stopping us, once our channels are open, from treating our own bodies like a wand?"

"...Drawing magic into it to speed up the natural refueling process, or to simply draw magic into ourselves to supplement what we don't have, using the world's magic directly to cast a spell instead of waiting for the body to draw that magic into us...It doesn't matter how powerful you are. In the end, it's all about durability, versatility, innovation, strategy."

He held out both hands now and they glowed a brilliant red.

"Sagiita Magica....Quattor Centum...Spiritus..."

The other's eyes couldn't get any wider, but he sent both hands forward, calling his magical arrows to him as quickly as possible.

"Sagitta Magica, Centum et Nonagitta Novem, Spiritus Fulgoris!"

"Obscurans!"

Negi surrounded himself with hundreds of arrows as he kicked off his island of the stage, causing it too to crash into the water below. He shot at the Magus, teleporting at the last strip of land while incanting a spell.

Incendia...Laqueus!

His arrows shot forward, one hundred and ninety nine to meet four hundred neatly canceling them all with brute power, but Negi landed next to him, his open hand pressing down upon the Magus's stomach, sending him backwards with the force of the blow and making the bars of his magical cage materialize. Negi closed his fist making them contract quickly until they burned the skin, yet the Magus made no sound.

Negi saw him smile and gritted his teeth.

"Stop smiling like a friggin teddy bear you old fool!"

Yet, this only made the Magus laugh, and Negi allowed his spell to grip the man tighter, cutting into his robes and skin. Yet, Negi's eyes opened a trifle wider when he saw the man's fists turn black...

In a single shake of his body, he broke the threads by swinging his arm, dissipating the magic as if it were nothing. Symbols began to show on the man's hands, but he forced them away with a grimace, and sighed, seemingly exhausted.

"Ha...been a long time since I needed to access that. Decades in fact, you are quite remarkable, Negi Springfield. Yet..."

Negi launched himself at the man, and they began to fight with just fists and feet. Negi constantly tried to leg sweep the other, trying to bring him down to size, making the magus flip like a crazy jumping bean. He smiled in one particular exchange of fists whose shockwave nearly made Negi loose his balance and fall into the water below.

"Idiot, shut up and fight."

When Negi finally managed to bring the man to his knees with a successful leg sweep, he aimed for his face, but the magus, his fist glowing threateningly, slammed his own into Negi's oncoming one, causing yet another shockwave. By now, both of the heads of hair in the ring were in quite a mess. Negi, skidding to the edge of the little island they had at the corner of the stage, shook his head violently, making splinters of wood flying from his hair. The magus spoke again.

"I will speak whenever I like little boy. Including now. I'm done playing this game..."

His hands glowed bright as the clock entered the region below three minutes.

"You are not good enough yet to defeat me."

Negi dodged off to the side to avoid the punch and ducked low under the resulting kick. He wasn't shy to kick right upwards between the man's legs, making him elicit a muted yelp...yet in the next second, he had Negi by the throat.

"Been kicked there a few too many times to have it hurt that way my boy."

Negi may have been held by the neck, but he still managed to smile. His foot came up, magically enhanced and shot him hard right there. The man dropped him like a hot potato.

"Hell, you see what you made me do? I just neutered myself you damn old codger...by the way..what kind of friggin statement is that?! Been kicked there to many times..you some kind of pervert? Only way you would get kicked there so often!'

Negi ducked when Magus lunged at him for that comment, yet he did not expect him to spin around and shoot off a few magica arrows he had been saving in reserve. Negi had to dodge those...

It was then that the panels under them shook yet again. Negi's eyes fixed on them, and then, in a quick move, he shot under the magus and behind him, kicked him in the shins, and when the man turned around, he tripped him up. The magus fell, but he managed to stay just above the water with that odd floating techniques of his. He looked up to see Negi...

and saw a fist coming right down into his nose, causing an explosion of power. Yet, in the end of it, the Magus was still standing, and Negi was nowhere to be seen...the man smiled...but then, something alerted him to look up once more...

There Negi was, coming down, magic circling all around him, he yelled out to the other, just as Magus came up higher with his levitation technique.

The boy had used him as a solid ground to teleport off of! It was the only way he could be up there! Remarkable!

"Locos Umbrae Regnans Scáthach! In Manum Meum Dedo Iaculum Daemonium Cum Spinis Centum! Iaculatio Fulgoris!"

Veniant Spiritus Aeriales Fulgurientes! Cum Fulguratione Flet Tempestas Austrina! Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!

For one last time, he extended his hands upwards, thinking this would end it. He called out the same spell, a challenge.

"Locos Umbrae Regnans Scáthach! In Manum Meum Dedo Iaculum Daemonium Cum Spinis Triginta! Iaculatio Fulgoris!"

The clash slung the magus down into the water, all the way to the bottom of the pool, while Negi landed lightly on the last bits of the stage. He glanced up just to hear the buzzer. Now they would count, and if he could not get out of there by the count of ten...

They got to eight before the water began to bubble...but nothing happened... By the time they counted ten and Asakura opened her mouth to announce Negi was the winner however...

She only got as far as: "Contestant Negi Springfield is-"

A blast sounded throughout the arena as the water rose in an incredible torrent, a huge geyser. Atop this monstrosity, sat the magus Negi, surrounded by several dozens of arrows held in reserve. The water fell back down almost un-naturally into the pool, making huge outwards ripples but not touching the stage.

Magus shot out of the water, and landed, soaking wet, on the platform, kicking right at Negi, who dodged off to the side and tripped the wet Magus up, slamming him down on what little there was of the stage, and making it shake again, and toss off a few more boards... He looked disgusted. His open hand condensed quickly with chi.

"Stay down you imbecile. You lost."

The other's arrows, held in reserve, faded from view as the magus on the ground breathed lightly. Negi, for the first time, witnessed his student Asakura speechless before she snapped back to reality to continue her announcements...

"C-contestant Negi Springfield is victorious, as his opponent could not answer the t-ten count! He advances to the final round against Ku Nel Sanders! N-now...this might be the time to say we have a stage in need of repair..but I think the appropriate thing to say is that we have a stage that needs...rebuilding..."

((Half the story is taken up by this....wow. Hope I didn't revert back to the too much detail thing...or was the battle just that epic...no...your battle scenes have yet to grace the term 'epic" MFT...))

+--1--+

"I'm just like Takahata in the end, aren't I Chao..?"

The aged magus sat in a chair next to a computer, his hands resting lightly on the keyboard. His head was resting on the back of the chair, pointed skywards, so his eyes zoomed along the ceiling. From off to the side of him, Chao shook her head.

"You weakened him greatly grandfather. But your battle was to intense, none of my team could take a shot without risking getting you. Even Mana had trouble aiming in. There were a few times when she almost pulled the trigger, but then Negi-san moved..."

The other shook his head a bit demurely. He still had his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"I weakened him none. If anything, I strengthened him. I know myself Chao, I have failed to perform my part of the bargain. He will emerge all the stronger for this, which means even with the exhaustion from my fight and Alberio's, the boy will still be strong enough to put up a fight. I will have to take a more frontal role in your plans my girl."

Chao got up from her chair and paced the room a bit. The magus simply listened to her footsteps without bothering to look where she was.

"I suppose you are going to send your own forces out then?"

He closed his eyes at that comment. It was obvious, but Chao was not stupid. She was asking the obvious question because she wanted details. He sighed deeply before he spoke.

"Of course. In all the holes that yours cannot cover. I will, with my forces, create false strong points and fake "back doors" with traps and more protection than the false strong points, forcing the enemy to take the path they think is easy, only to find out too late they took the difficult one, is a key to wearing them down..."

The magus began to glow slightly, as he focused his magic lightly upon what little damage he had received from the fight. Believe it or not, all the real damage had been caused by the magus to Negi...Young Negi had hardly scratched him...except for the foot to the jewels...that did hurt for a spell longer than it should have...

He finally opened his eyes to look at Chao, who was looking out the window to the arena below her perch up here, in this "second base." People where hauling boards unto the stage as she watched from high above. Chatter and calls for whatever kind of refreshments were being sold could be heard, but not through the glass Chao was looking through, no, the only thing she could hear was the hum of computer towers.

Magus sent a flick of revitalizing magic her way, making her spin around and lock eyes with him. His face fell a bit at that reaction.

"I would have hoped you wouldn't have let this world harden you so much...that you would save a little softness there for me. I suppose that life is the way it is then, huh...?"

She blinked. At first, she made a motion to turn back around to the window, but thought better of it and turned to walk away from it to stare at the door from the middle of the room. She didn't speak originally, and the silence stretched.

"I...It's really....harsh here...magi. Harsh. It's hard to keep a small bit of softness in your heart if the world aims a million daggers at it every day."

The other looked down o the floor before putting his hands on his knees to help him get up. He walked towards Chao, but just before he could touch her shoulder, she walked forwards and faced him from about a yard away. He blinked and sighed again.

"I know that much my girl...I lived through this era, if you don't remember. You've spent two years in it, and it's been a shock. This was my life...I strived to make it as best I could for the next generation, but in the end, I boxed myself into a corner in which society wanted to please everyone, and not one which would do what was right, only popular. We already see the signs of that today, but I pushed it to the edge with my merits for peace..."

He spun to walk to the window himself, and watched as the stage, nearing re-completion, was being worked upon. He continued his train of thought after a pause.

"...That is one of the main reasons I need to be rooted out and destroyed here. I know how to curb a society into a proper mold now, but I can't fix one I've already taken so far. I need to delete the original influence and take what remaining years I have in the future of this timeline to fix what the world will become so it can be...proper."

He looked back at her for a short few seconds before his face became a poker face.

"I will outline to you my suggestions. We need to re-think before we launch this plan forward. Changes will need to be made, pieces of this chess game moved around before we set forth with our game. Small and large, all must be considered. This is crunch time, execution is in pending. My forces are yours to command, and I hope yours are mine to operate. Now, lay it all down on the table...."

He walked to one of the tables and looked up at her. She took the message and came to him, pulling up an intricate diagram and several text documents, plus other drawings of movements, simulations, probability rates....the magus's eyes zoomed over it all, his right hand clenched into a hard fist. His eyes narrowed as he pointed out what he thought was a weakness. Instantly, Chao edited it and implemented a change in the simulations. The aged eyes continued to zoom as she did so.

"...We have a reality to save..."

She nodded to this statement, even as he was certain that she had not fully heard what he had mumbled, or, if she had, comprehended any of it. Satomi walked into the room just as Magus pointed out where he would deploy his own safe guards...life moved on as a blaring mike sent it's ring into the air. The stage was complete, and Asakura was about to announce the preparations for the final match...

(Speeding forwards, is there any stopping the team who's ally is time?)

+--2--+

"Oh come on...It's my treat, and it's just a drink. Why so uptight?"

Negi's leg swung out and the boy in front of him fell down swiftly. Negi's fist connected solidly with the bridge of his nose, and blood spurted freely. It always amazed him how much blood could spurt from the nose.

Negi's knee came out and shot the boy a quick on in the gut, knocking him into an adjacent wall with a very audible blow. He looked up at the victim, having been one Nodoka Miyazaki, curiously away from her normal protective group. He sighed and waved away her sputters. His ears perked up to the sound of a microphone's feedback. If Asakura was picking that thing up, it must be nearly time for his last match.

He winced a bit when a sharp stab shot up his spine. He would need a long rest after this one, and some proper healing magic. No matter his practice, he still didn't know how to control the stuff well enough to do much. He walked past Nodoka, raising a hand when he heard something akin to a stuttered good luck, or thank you, whatever it was.

He couldn't pay much attention to things like that right now. He had work to do, or a match to fight. He gritted his teeth. He had gone easy on himself, as weird as that sounded. He knew for a fact that the old magus had been injured by Negi himself...

Hardly at all, he realized. The magus had drawn blood, his spells were far more powerful then Negi's...if they had been fighting on the street, with no time limit, and the only way to win was death, then Negi was certain he would have died a painful death. Yet...it made him so angry, that this man had such power, and yet still could not save his own timeline from destruction the old fashioned way. He had to go back into time to mess with his, Negi's, life.

Still, it only made sense that this was not the man's timeline. Otherwise, he would have capped Negi easily. He instead expressed surprise at several points, saying he had underestimated the boy. Meaning that here, at this point in his life, Negi was more powerful than the magus had been, for whatever reason that may be...

Yet that did not matter, as the boy reached the stage and stepped calmly unto it. He could see a few people standing by. Workers, ones who had just finished rebuilding the stage. He felt sorry for them in a way. They come and build it, and he comes along and wrecks all their hard work.

He faced forward to his robed opponent. He himself, being back in his own robe, for his martial arts outfit and suit where still out of commission with blood or tears in need of mending, took a ready stance, his tattoo stood out lividly on his bare arm. He had taken the time to repaint it during the break, figuring he wanted it at top frame for this opponent whom he knew just grazing nothing about.

All he knew was that they had defeated all the others this contest had tossed at them, and they were still standing tall. Negi had taken the time, finally, to clean out his hair and get rid of most of the residual bodily fluid on him, so he stood clean and sharp opposite to the other. Robe to robe.

"In the final match, we have our very own Contestant Negi Springfield! A proven skilled master of his martial arts, he had shown us his incredible power! But will it be enough to take down the mysterious and equally impressive Ku Nel Sanders? Or will Contestant Negi rip off his hood like he did Kago Masato's?!"

In the crowd, finally, Arika managed to find the contestant's viewing area. It was empty by now, not because the contestants were no more, they had taken to the side of the ring. She had become tired of her seat and needed to stand and take some air, this place was the best one to get both that and a view of the match...

"...Ku Nel Sanders had displayed both incredible physical prowess and a mysterious ability to make an opponent defeat themselves by crashing into the ground! Many suspect he can control the very gravity around an opponent and make them collapse! Makes you really wonder about the truth of that bathroom scale, doesn't it?!"

When Negi had come out bloody and disheveled, it was needless to say she had been worried...and he was still going to go fight Takahata in that condition! Yet, he had surprised her, pulling out a trick she had never seen him do before, one not even any member of Ala Ruba had been able to master.

"This match is different than the rest folks. The fifteen minute time limit is final. No extra count outs or instant messaging decisions, so you can put those phones away. The contestant standing at the end wins this one, no exceptions. Also, if any of you might have notice, I have less room to walk around here...the stage has been expanded in its rebuilding. It's not much, but it's a sixteen by sixteen meter area now, and I'm such the contestants will use every inch of it!"

The teleportation technique. Ala Ruba had stuck to the shundo, it was easier to implement and required less thought and deliberation, and, if there was an object where you had to go, you slammed into it, not ended up inside it. Teleportation had its flaws, as did Shundo, but teleportation was considered more along the lines of perfection. It had less flaws in a battle and a simple one extra in circumstantial.

"The final match is about to begin folks! Betting is closing now, so take your final picks! Contestants, on your marks!"

The use of that technique at this age in his life means that Negi has accelerated so fast and so far, it made her think. It made her think of an old ledged, long taught to her and cherished in the royal line. Yet now it terrified her. The voice of her teacher told her it through his own words, for she had never understood the rhyme...

"Then let the final match of the Mahora Martial Art's Tournament..."

A child born into chaos. A child who's light burned so bright it was all consuming. This child would take all the darkness of the life around him, absorb it all into themselves. Removing pain, suffering, woe and fear, and leaving those around them whole...

"BEGIN!"

Yet, with every soul healed, with every darkness taken in and seen through those eyes, the bright soul would become darker, and darker still, until the darkness would form a cloak around the bright light, blocking it, strangling it. The darkness would continue to mass, for the heart inside would still be noble, even as the continence of the being would fall as it took on more of the darkness aorund it....

Negi rushed at his opponent, but the man jumped back and began to speak, making Negi skid to a stop, for his words burned deep into a hole Negi had in his soul.

"You really do love your father don't you...?"

That child would mass power about themselves, for they would find that, in order for them to heal others, they needed more and more of it. Yet, as their personality grew darker, so too, did the power they gathered to themselves...

"The hell?! What the heck makes you say that, or think that? What do you know of my father...Don't tell me you're another one, a fool about to spill another piece of my past for me to see!?"

Soon however, they would take on a power so dark, that it would corrupt the very soul. The good would fight and battle with all its might, but in the end, all the accumulated darkness would overcome it. This child would become, with their power, a sacrificial missile, which could be aimed and shot off, a suicide force to do one last good for the world before vanishing from sight. They would use up all their soul, darkness and light, in this fight, and die alone to save their world.

Negi stood at alert why the other pulled out a card Negi recognized as a pactio. His hands came out in fists as he locked sights with it. He rushed forwards again, and the other shundoed away, and Negi stuck out his foot....but he phased right through it!

Still, this child, if their power is great enough, they will live forevermore in hearts, and maybe even in life. For the legend says that if they take upon themselves the act of releasing a changed darkness back into the world, they will be gifted with a undying life...never to suffer that fate... It is said that this child will only come about in the right circumstances...but it will be tied to Ostian Royalty, that is one thing we do hold dear.

"The hell are you? A ghost?! For the love of-... great, just great, I got to fight a fricken ghost. Call the flippin ghost busters, why doesn't somebody?!"

The other smiled as he held his pactio high, and power surrounded him.

"Not a ghost, no. Just...elsewhere...but that is about to change..I've been hoping you would make it to me, Negi Springfield...have a promise to keep with your father..and it starts like this..."

"How...?"

"Born of two powerful forces, one considered light, and one considered dark my dear. One royal, and one sublime..."

"Sublime...?"

"Not necessarily royal but extraordinary...or perhaps of a royal line named Sublime...the sublime IS capitalized in the ledged after all...but I get off topic. This child will be born with both sublime and Ostian Royalty in their veins...hmm, now that I think of it, it does make it seem like Sublime is the name of the other line...never heard of any Sublime royal line however...ahh, I get off topic again...."

The magic surrounded the man, and when it subsided, Negi was staring at Anya, holding the book tight in hands a bit too small for it.

"The hell?!"

Of course, when she spoke, Negi got the point instantly. Anya never spoke with such...a depth of purpose. Only an adult sounded the way she did now, even as her voice was coming out.

"This is my artifact, Negi. The Fyuron Biographicon."

Negi's head instantly translated the phrase, and his eyes narrowed. His opponent did not neglect this fact. They transformed into a familiar face, one Negi had only seen clearly in his dreams. His fist clenched tightly as he looked upon Nekane, his foster sister.

"Don't you dare mock her dead memory…"

"Every person I have knowledge of has a book here, of which I can use to become that person for a while. Their memories, their personality, it is all perfectly copied...but..."

Once more, the robed man stood before him, reaching out to catch a book he could not grasp with Nekane's height. He brought it down to him, and Negi could see the cover quite clearly. It proclaimed boldly:"Nagi Springfield."

"If the person I am trying to emulate is more powerful than I am, or dead, I can only become them for a total of fifteen minutes. After that, the power is drained from that particular book, and it becomes simply a biography. Meaning it's kind of useless in a way. After all, why would I want to become someone weaker than myself?"

He smiled as he held the book high. The power he had called up came to him again, cloaking him in mist. Negi narrowed his eyes, guessing at what was coming next, and his eyes only burned all the brighter.

His breath quickened and his fists began to shake. Desire...burning desire, was overtaking him. Until this very moment, he never had realized just how much he both hated his father and how much of the man was a mystery to him.

"Today though Negi, I have a promise to fulfill. I told Nagi years ago that, in the event of his disappearance, dead or otherwise, I would give him his fifteen minutes with his son to talk to him. I've saved this book, and have never used it...until now...as a testament to one of my best friends...here we go."

A blast overtook the arena, of light and sound both, and Negi threw up his arms instinctively. Yet, when he took them down, he saw nothing but a bunch of feathers covering a man, and he couldn't help but have his mind play a dark little joke on him.

You see, your father really is a chicken...

The man in front shook the birds off, and he spat out what appeared to be some small down feathers from his mouth. He spoke aloud to the air, berating the man whom he was...oddly.

"Dammit Al. What's with all the feathers?! Always with the weird entrances. Where the hell am I anyway...hmm?"

The famed idiot took a gander around, and then his eyes set upon Negi. They widened just a tad and then he smiled.

"Ahh, Mahora Festival! The martial arts tournament! Huh Al, you sure worked hard to get a big stage for me to talk to him. A closet would have sufficed you know...ehh?"

Nagi spun around when Negi disappeared from in front of him, and he saw Negi off to the side at his back, facing away. Originally, Negi had planned on getting to his back and kicking him straight in the arse, but instead he shot past him and stood there at the edge, breathing. Just breathing. Nagi looked at his back and the shoulders, which showed just how hard he was pushing out those breaths.

"Ahh shit...you're Negi..right? Was that just the teleportation technique? Sweet. I never liked that one though...preferred the shundo, you know?"

Negi didn't turn around his body, only his head turned half way to look sidelong at the man behind him. He was just as he was in the pictures, and truly an older, more bodily matured copy of himself. He sighed.

"You...have a lot to answer for... I hope you know that."

He turned around, and Nagi saw that the boy's whole body was shaking, not to mention the boy's aura sprang up until it hit a point he assumed was his peak, Nagi looked the boy up and down. He was like a mini-me. Yet, that much power...how old was he?

Negi didn't give the man time to think much. He rushed him, yelling out as he did so.

'You'd better not disappoint me you b$+rd! You who saved the world, but neglected to save his own family!"

He rushed him, and Nagi easily deflected Negi's punch when the boy jumped up in the air, but Negi used that block for leverage, and ended up going up and over the man, kicking him right in the neck and sending him stumbling forwards. Negi began a chant, his magic coming forwards as Nagi spun around, surprised.

"Rastel Mascir Magister, Sagitta Magica, Quattor Spiritus Lucis!"

Sagitta Magica, Centum et Undecim Spiritus Obscurans!

Nagi jumped off to the side, calling out his own spell release, and not giving Negi a chance to release his arrows, yet, even as he called out his famous "Man Man Terro Terro," the boy rushed right into his face, and let loose both set of magical arrows point blank. Nagi only just managed to slam up a strong deflexio, yet still, the force of the impact of magic with shield send him sailing upward, where Nagi, holding unto his staff, took flight. Negi grimaced. and jumped up in the air, stomping on the ground quickly as he came down to teleport up into the air near the man.

Locos Umbrae Regnans Scáthach..In Manum Meum Dedo Iaculum Daemonium....

Needless to say, Nagi was impressed as Negi pooled wind magic about his legs and solidified the air just underneath his two feet, providing a platform to stand on. Negi collected more magic in his hands, preparing an unincanted spell, meanwhile, Nagi spoke, but he two had an unincanted spell being thrown together and at the ready.

"Huh...you're not much of a talker are you, Negi..? Not only that, when you do open your mouth, you curse! That's a bit more man that I'd like you to be though...at least right now…how old are you anyway?"

Negi's hands gathered more magic, sparking now. Nagi himself prepared himself, for he knew when lightning magic was about to strike, but once more, the boy surprised him.
Cum Spinis Centum, Iaculatio Grandinis!

"Shut your mouth. I'm six years old, and in those years, I have done nothing but pick up the mess you have left behind!"

The lances of ice ripped forward, and Nagi called up a quick Deflexio to stave them off. His shield may have been a simple one, but his power far exceeded that of Negi's after all.

"Whoa! That's impressive, especially for your age...huh?"

Of obscurum quod flamma ...

Nagi realized when he set down his shield that the boy have vanished from his sight, and he looked down. The boy had landed on the stage about ten feet below, and his hands were glowing again, this time, quite violently.

adveho quod vultus mihi a telum et...

"You don't know the meaning of impressive."

Haurus...Abyssus mucro!

Negi's hand extended outward, straight, as magical power, of darkness and fire, came to it, wrapping around his apendage.

"Oh come on kiddo. I'm a famous mage, the thousand master, I know what's impressive for your age. Heh, you're reminding me of myself in a way..."

Negi jumped up again as Nagi was coming down, swinging his arm, which had been extended by three feet with a deep red and black magical blade, which Nagi had to stop with a quick and powerful gust of wind and force.

"Holy crap!"

It reminded him so much of Eva's executioner's blade, it made him wonder. The boy swung the thing around with abandon, quickly rushing him to a corner. Nagi jumped over the low swing of the blade, but Negi changed its direction, curving it upwards when he jumped.

"Nice...almost got me there...but not quite...watch this."

Shit. I forgot about that. These things had no real weight to them, so it's real easy to shift their directions, as easy as it is with your own arm.

Nevertheless, the mage sent a power charge of lightning running through his hand, and forced it downwards, blocking the attempt to slice him in half neatly and landing behind Negi, where he kicked outwards, but the boy spun and blocked the kick with the magical blade, rushing in once more.

'Shut up and just fight... and I'll show you what I'm made of, you pompous fool!"

Nagi was forced to push lightning magic into his own arm, reinforcing it and meeting his blade head on. The two locked for a few seconds, one staring up and the other down, into the opposite's red eyes.

At the side of the ring, Arika didn't know where to look, or who, indeed, at the moment, she should be cheering for. She knew it was only Al down there, but right now, for the moment, it was Nagi...and the opposite was her son. Tough choice huh?

+--E--+

Cut! Goddamnit, I said cut! Stop rolling the film on this camera...I don't care if you want this shot, the other camera's got it! Cut!

There. How was that? Was there enough of a balance between dialogue and action? Was there to much detail in the fights again, or was it just fine? Did the fights fire you up, or did the missiles fail to deploy? Tell me my friends...I need to know! I'm trying to become a better literary chef here...was this overcooked? I fear it might have been.