Sorry for the wait, I've been juggling several tasks at once so I was only able to work on the story at a rate of, like, 2-3 paragraphs per day at some points…
THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY
Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen
Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread
Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'
Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga
Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm
Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries
StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment
Naruto (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto
Mahō Sensei Negima (characters, spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu
Kingdom Hearts (characters, weapons, enemies, concepts) – Square-Enix
Neon Genesis Evangelion (characters, concepts, tech) – Studio Gainax
Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms
Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Hasbro, Lauren Faust
Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay
Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment
Yu-Gi-Oh! – Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media
Sonic the Hedgehog – SEGA
Gears of War – Epic Games
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – Columbia Tristar (I think)
Mass Effect – Bioware
Metroid – Nintendo
Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT
The Legend of Zelda – Nintendo
Tōhō – ZUN
RWBY – Rooster Teeth
Pretty Cure / PreCure – Toei Animation
Kill La Kill – Trigger
Cross Ange – Sunrise
Cardcaptor Sakura – Clamp
Sailor Moon – Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha
Sailor Nothing – used with express permission of Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne; please visit his website for SN and his other original works
Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya – TYPE-MOON
Pokémon – Nintendo, GameFreak
Goblin Slayer – Kumo Kagyu, White Fox
My Hero Academia – Kouhei Horikoshi
Rising of the Shield Hero – Aneko Yusagi, Media Factory
PLEASE READ & REVIEW
PLEASE CAMPAIGN FOR THE TROPE PAGE'S DELETION
-BOOK 41 START-
Realm RSH-12
Naofumi Iwatani sighed as he looked down at his right shoulder, his dull-green cape stained with his blood. He'd gotten careless and took a needle from a huge porcupine-monster thing. His powers as the Shield Hero protected him from major injury, but it still hurt like hell. He chanced a look at where Raphtalia was taking out a few low-level monsters in the tall grass, the raccoon-girl hacking and swinging her short-sword. Finally, she caught her quarry, and she & Naofumi both gained a bit of EXP from her kill.
"We should probably head for town in the next couple of days" he told her as she hurried over to his side. "I have no idea when the next Wave of Catastrophe will strike, so we should be ready at any time."
The duo were about to head out when they suddenly felt the air become saturated with magic. They went on guard, looking around, and then several meters away appeared a magic rune-circle about six feet across, glowing electric-blue with runes and magical formulae unfamiliar to this world. With a flash of spiraling light, a figure appeared and then slowly stood tall. He was an older man, in his 50s or early 60s perhaps, his grey hair tied back in a small topknot, dressed in dull-green pants, brown boots, his upper torso clad in light armor of silver metal over a black underlayer, with shoulder plates and armored fingerless gloves. Strapped to his back was some kind of short holster with the end of a cylindrical device of some sort sticking out slightly, behind & above his shoulder. The man's presence, for lack of a better word, felt powerful and commanding. Naofumi triggered his "Hero Stat Vision", but all of the man's stats were a series of question marks. The old man turned to look at the two of them as he noticed their presence, and he showed a little smile.
"Looks like the cross-Realm teleport was on point" he said. "Brought me right where I needed to go."
"Who are you?" Naofumi readied his shield. "Cross-Realm teleport… Were you brought here from another world, like me and those three idiots?"
"Yes, but from the fact you say 'brought here', I'm guessing that you were warped to this planet without your consent, am I right?" At the young man's nod, he continued. "I came here willingly, courtesy of an ally's teleportation spell. My name is Rahm Kota. I represent the Dimensional Defense Force, or DDF for short – a collection of sovereign powers, both magical and technological, who've gained access to inter-Realm travel and have formed a big politico-military alliance for cultural exchange, trade, and military collaboration. There are plenty of serious threats out there in the cosmos, so we all help each other manage them. Funny thing is, some of the Realms of the DDF have fictional counterparts in others; I was kinda surprised to find out my universe was one of the most 'famous' in a lot of the others!"
Rahm cleared his throat, collecting himself.
"Anyhow, our people detected a Forced Translocation spell pulling four people from four other worlds to this one; I'm assuming you're one of them?"
The youth nodded. "I'm Naofumi – Iwatani Naofumi. This is Raphtalia."
"Hmm… Why don't you tell me what sort of mess you've been dragged into? I can sense… bitterness and betrayal in you."
Naofumi's eyes widened slightly; this old man was an empath? "…I've been accused of and framed for something I didn't do."
Sensing the boy was telling the truth, Rahm nodded. "And lemme guess: the general public fell for it?"
"Hook, line, and sinker…" Naofumi sighed.
"Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia looked at him. "Is that why you're always reluctant to go into towns, and why people keep giving you those dirty looks?"
"That's part of it, yes."
Reluctantly, Naofumi ended up explaining to Rahm what he'd learned, seen, and been through since being brought to this world… and to Raphtalia.
"That bitch!-!" Raphtalia shouted, fire in her eyes. "How dare she?! Anyone who spent five minutes with Naofumi-sama would know he would never do anything like that!"
"Yes," Rahm replied, "but with so many people, including the King, believing her lie, exonerating Naofumi will be very difficult. In the meantime, we should prepare for these 'Waves of Catastrophe' you mentioned. I've gotta get to work training and educating you two."
"What do you mean by that?" Raphtalia asked.
"Well… The two of you are both For-"
He suddenly stopped as he sensed something, getting to his feet and turning to stare out at the apparently-empty tall grass of the field. Naofumi and Raphtalia, realizing the old man was probably suddenly on guard for a good reason, followed his lead. Everything was still and quiet for several seconds. Then, a figure wearing a hooded robe, colored & mottled to blend in with the tall grass, leapt out at Naofumi, dagger in hand. While the assassin was mid-lunge, however, he was hit by a Force Push from Master Kota that sent him careening off-course and tumbling through the grass.
'Telekinesis?' Naofumi thought. 'Who is this old guy? And that looked… familiar.'
"Come out, the rest of you" Master Kota said in a loud, firm voice. "I know you're there."
A few more people emerged from their hiding places, all wearing robes or light armor with the same camo pattern as the first assassin. They all glared hatefully at the trio.
"Why are you people here to attack my new friends?" the old warrior asked.
"We're devotees," one of the men sneered, "here to kill the Shield Demon and the unclean demihuman beast! And if you try to stop us, you'll share their fate!"
Two of them rushed in, one at Master Kota and one at Naofumi & Raphtalia. Kota grabbed his would-be assailant with the Force and then chucked him to the side, while Naofumi brought his shield up to block the other attacker's blade, leaving the attacker wide open for a right cross from Raphtalia that put him down for the count in one hit.
The leader of the band of outlaws/assassins/"devotees" pulled out a summoning charm and threw it forward, and with a flash of light a captive "Lesser Hellhound", captured during the previous Wave, was unleashed and immediately charged at Master Kota, the greyhound-sized demonic canid rushing in with crimson fangs bared. Naofumi made ready to rush forward and defend the old man, but saw as he slowly raised a hand toward the weapon hilt sticking out of the holster on his back. Right as the lesser hellhound got close and made a lunging strike, in one smooth motion Master Kota stepped to the side and drew, ignited, and swung his lightsaber, the emerald plasma blade cleaving through vital parts as the beast sailed past him. The monster tumbled to a stop, already dead.
"A… A Jedi…" Naofumi murmured in disbelieving awe. "He's a Jedi…"
Stunned at seeing the dangerous old man wielding a sword of light (Why would an ally of the Shield Demon be wielding a holy-looking weapon?!), the enemy leader and his two conscious flunkies started firing magic bolts, only for Master Kota to effortlessly deflect them all with his lightsaber, redirecting some of them to hit the underlings and put them down. He then Force-dashed at the stunned enemy leader, quickly using a Force mind-probe to search out exactly why the Shield Hero was being shown so much hate (it wasn't hard to find, the thoughts right at the surface and clear as day), and then knocked the man out with a headbutt that made the bandit crumple to the ground.
Master Kota sighed as he deactivated his lightsaber while turning to face Naofumi and Raphtalia, recognizing the look of awe on the former's face that told him the boy was from yet another world where Star Wars was a thing.
"He wasn't exactly hiding his thoughts about their reasons for attacking the two of you," Master Kota told them, "and the rape frame-up actually wasn't the main guiding motive. I hate to tell you this, boy, but you were doomed to be hated the moment you were given that shield. The dominant religious sect of this country venerates the Sword, Spear, and Bow Heroes but sees the Shield Hero as an agent of the devil. Apparently, the hateful racism against demihumans in this kingdom is so powerful and deeply entrenched that when a previous Shield Hero stood up to it and tried to protect and speak up for equal treatment of demihumans, the people not only killed him, danger of the Waves be damned, but the Melromarc branch of the original Four Heroes faith split off and formed the Three Heroes church, preaching continued oppression and disgust toward demihumans and vilifying the Shield Hero as the 'Shield Demon'. They'd rather literally commit heresy than tone down or reevaluate their systemic racist beliefs!"
This gave Naofumi another big shock, one much less pleasant than the last. 'The… The dominant religion of this kingdom hated me before I was even here?! The hatred toward Raphtalia's people is that bad?! I was set up for being hated and treated like a pariah right from the start, even without that bitch's frame-up?!'
"It's a big ol' mess" Master Kota continued. "But I'm here now to help you two handle the situation, and to train you. I can feel it; you two are both Force-sensitive."
Naofumi almost fell over from shock, but Raphtalia just looked confused.
"Of course, first the two of you need to be brought up to speed on the DDF…"
-Break-
Brought into a specially-prepared temporally-isolated pocket realm, Naofumi & Raphtalia were shown the whole "scryed footage" package, informing them of everything they'd just gotten involved in [AN: minus the meeting of the Foretellers and any scenes at Salem's castle involving her subordinates or allies; in both cases, high-grade privacy magic prevent/prevented any unauthorized magitech scrying/recording]. Afterwards, they and Master Kota were just beginning to discuss how his training them could go when Kota perked up upon sensing a nearby presence, but then relaxed and smiled as he recognized it. A few seconds later, his graduated student emerged from the nearby treeline, quickly recognized by the two locals.
"Sorry I'm a few hours late, General" Jedi Knight Galen Marek said.
"You're actually right on time, boy" Kota replied fondly. "These two are Force-sensitive. Let me fill you in on what I've learned about this world's goings-on so far, and then we can put together a training regimen for them."
-Break-
After Galen was filled in on everything, he & Rahm guided Naofumi & Raphtalia in meditating to forge an active conscious connection with the Force. Raphtalia succeeded first, the Force flowing through her, warm and comforting, but Naofumi's still-present bitterness and anger over the mass betrayal and mistreatment he'd been subjected to meant it took longer for him to forge a connection without dipping into the Dark Side. Still, with Master Kota's help, he managed it.
To Master Kota's surprise, the two new initiates, on their first day, already managed to levitate objects with the Force, albeit small objects like rocks and small tree branches; they wouldn't be hoisting multi-ton war vehicles into the air like Galen could for a while yet. Next, the two veterans taught them how to apply Force telekinesis as a directed shockwave-pulse of kinetic energy – the Force Push. After a couple hours' practice, Raphtalia managed to produce a decent Force Push for a beginner/Padawan…
However, when Naofumi tried it, the Force Push he generated was pathetically weak, no matter how much power he poured into it.
"Strange…" Master Kota remarked. "We'll have to commune with the Force to figure out what's wrong. In the meantime…" He walked over to Raphtalia, pulling his inactive lightsaber out and holding it out to her. "This, as you've seen, is the weapon of a Jedi – a lightsaber. We'll get around to helping you two construct your own ones soon enough. …Wanna hold it?"
Carefully, almost reverently, Raphtalia took the inactive weapon. Gripping it with both hands, she stepped back and activated it, the emerald plasma blade humming softly. She turned it back off after a few seconds, carefully handing it back to Master Kota. Next to them, Galen let Naofumi hold one of his lightsabers, but a few seconds after the youth activated the blue energy blade, the Hero's Shield sparked and flared, and Naofumi cried out as an electric surge of pain filled his hand and arm until he dropped the weapon.
"The shield?" Galen realized. "The shield is actively preventing him from even holding any weapons other than itself?"
"In that case, it might be what's throttling his offensive ability, too" Master Kota added.
Galen placed his hand on Naofumi's legendary shield, extending his Force senses, and his eyes widened. "The shield has an intelligence in it – a 'Shield Spirit' that's actively stopping him from holding, much less using, any non-shield weaponry, and also preventing him from having any offensive power. …Let's see if the Force can convince the shield-spirit to relent…"
Galen opened himself to the Force and directed it at the shield and its residing spirit. Sure enough, it was the will of the Force that Naofumi be properly trained as an initiate of the burgeoning New Jedi Order, and it stressed and pressed this will upon the shield-spirit. However, the shield-spirit refused to budge willingly, not even for the omnipresent cosmic force of the universe. But the Force was far older and vaster than this one little weapon-spirit, and its will would not be exhausted so easily. Naofumi, indignant and desperate for something to go his way on this world, joined Galen and the Force in trying to impress his will upon the stubborn shield-spirit.
Master Kota and Raphtalia came close and joined in, and finally the shield-spirit's will and influence was forcibly overcome. Succumbing to the power of the Force, the ambiguously-sentient entity was suppressed, its influence over Naofumi's abilities almost totally sealed away, the shield-spirit bound near-powerless within its vessel not just by the Jedi pressing their wills upon it, but mainly by the Force itself.
Catching his breath as he felt the change, Naofumi checked his Stats. His LV had gone down, and his Class had changed from "Shield Hero" to "Jedi Initiate w/ Shield". His ATK stat was significantly higher, enough to do real damage; however, his DEF stat had majorly dropped, albeit still above average for someone of his 'Level'. Also, almost all of the numerous shields he had unlocked through experimentation, grinding, and materials were now sealed away; only a tiny handful, such as the Erst Shield and Rope Shield, remained accessible.
"Is it throwing a fit over the Force telling it what to do?" Galen remarked, not entirely joking.
"Hey, guys!" a new voice called out. "Sorry we're late!"
The gang turned to look as Ahsoka Tano came onto the scene, accompanied by a younger teen girl with orange hair and purple eyes, wearing a typical brown Jedi robe, with a nervous and morose expression on her face. Naofumi & Raphtalia recognized Chantez Alpinion from the most recent "installment" of the scryed "footage", remembered the announcement made after the tournament's first round. And now, after throwing away her life with the Saint Church in shame over her humiliating defeat when trying to represent them in the tournament, she had been given a second chance with a different Order. Ahsoka looked over the two locals, sensing their new connection with the Force.
"So we've got three new initiates now" she observed.
"Right…" Galen Marek replied. "So far, the New Jedi Order has these two, your student there, and Kagurazaka as Padawans; you, me, and Luke as Knights, and General Kota here as the sole current Master."
"There have to be a couple survivors of the Purge still in hiding…" Master Kota mused. "We just have to find them."
"I'm… not too surprised, actually, that Luke Skywalker's experiences gave him enough power, skill, and emotional maturity to qualify for Knighthood already…" Naofumi remarked. "…Is he gonna show up, too?"
"Probably not" Ahsoka replied. "He's got a busy schedule…"
Raphtalia came up beside Naofumi, taking his hand in hers. As he looked at her, she saw the pain and closed-off-ness still in his eyes, and she wished there was some way for him to know that she was truly loyal to him, cared about him, would never willingly abandon or deceive him… And the Force answered her wish. Their eyes widened as their spirits were linked to enable Naofumi to feel Raphtalia's pure, powerful loyalty, devotion, and love. Naofumi was overwhelmed as the light of Raphtalia's heart made the shadows on his heart recede partially. She was truly loyal and devoted to him, even without the slave-crest's influence…
'When did she… get so big and so pretty? …Have I really been perceiving her as the child she was when I first met her all this time?'
"Alright, then!" Master Kota said, accidentally startling the local duo a bit. "If you three new recruits are gonna become Jedi, there's one very important thing you still need. Galen, could you call the Rogue Shadow? We're going on a little hyperlane trip…"
-Break-
Realm SWL-5
The Rogue Shadow emerged from slipspace in view of an icy planet with several DDF vessels already in orbit, being given clearance to descend past where some salvage drones were still herding together the wreckage that was once a small Imperial fleet. Fortunately, the skies were clear over the old cave complex today, so the Shadow was able to set down on the packed snow without any troubles, parked right outside the entrance to an old, ice-encrusted temple that extended into the mountain. The hatch opened up, and Master Kota led the rest of the gang out; Raphtalia immediately started hugging herself in an attempt to stay warm, even as she looked around at the beautiful snowscape.
"Welcome to Ilum!" Master Kota said. "A sacred site to the Old Jedi Order. Why, you three initiates may ask? Because the crystal caverns of this world are the primary source for the Force-imbued crystals that serve as the cores of… lightsabers. Naofumi, Raphtalia, Chantez, once you three enter the caves, clear your mind of worries and allow the Force to guide you; it will lead you to the crystals that are meant for you. Now, go inside, trust the Force… and watch your step!"
Galen and Ahsoka gave the trio cases containing numerous miscellaneous lightsaber parts, minus the core crystals. The three new Padawans entered the old temple, and right away they could feel the strength of the Force in this place. Opening themselves to the Force, they allowed it to guide them deeper inside, soon splitting up as they were 'called' in different directions. Going deeper into the caves, they followed the call…
Chantez crawled through a waist-high passage, coming into a chamber of the cave that glittered with crystals of numerous colors. She felt drawn into a corner of the chamber, her eyes fixated on a pair of identical orange crystals sprouting right next to each other, resonating with the Force. When she reached out and carefully plucked them free, she felt the energies tune with her soul, and she knew she'd found what she came here for. Sitting down, she opened the case of lightsaber parts and got to work…
A few minutes later, the young Jedi-mage looked down at the identical lightsabers in her hands. Holding them up, she switched them on, and blades of orange magnetically-contained plasma sprang forth with a snap-hiss sound, humming/buzzing softly as the orange light lit up the cave chamber. She tried out a few stances, and soon realized that the stance of her new 'Master' – a dual reverse-grip style – felt the most natural to her (understandable, considering her former teacher, Sister Schach, also fought with a reverse-grip style).
In another cave, Raphtalia gazed in wonder at the yellow energy blade of her new lightsaber. Close by in a different cavern, Naofumi bathed in the blue light of his newly-constructed saber. As he did, the sealed/restraint spirit of his Shield watched impotently, unsure of how to feel. The shield-spirit then felt another presence drawing near, a departed soul walking the realm of the living, focusing on it.
"Hello there, weapon-spirit" the ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn said. "I think I should speak with you on a few matters…"
-Break-
When the three new Padawans emerged from the icy temple caves, they showed off their new lightsabers to the Master & two Knights, who nodded approvingly.
"Well done, you three" Ahsoka told them. "Now, let's get back to you two's world so we can train before the next Catastrophe Wave hits."
"Um…" Raphtalia spoke up. "I was under the impression that we don't really have very much time before that…"
The Togrutan teen grinned. "You saw the scryed footage, right? Did you forget about the portable version of the temporally-displaced, one-day-per-outside-hour chamber~?"
Everyone got back aboard the Rogue Shadow, which lifted off and made to return to Realm RSH-12. And inside the Hero's Shield, the spirit ruminated on the things that the dearly departed Jedi Master had told it…
-CHAPTER END-
Because I'm balancing various tasks, chapters will likely come out once every few weeks, maybe even once a month if I really get bogged down. Sorry…