Well, as I warned, I have made an intermission introducing the second part of Magical Girl Convergence.

Behold, the start of Part 2.

Tracks Used:

1. Keisei furu – BUDDY COMPLEX OST

2. Keihou ga naru - BUDDY COMPLEX OST

3. Time Leap - BUDDY COMPLEX OST


...

2014 AD

...


The sun rose high above the city of Uminari City. The bustling streets had cars lined up and waves of people coming for lunch. The time meant a particular store was about to get many customers.

A few customers were known to the place. But they were totally unexpected since a couple of them were people that the owners haven't seen in years, one of them being their young daughter.

"I'm back, Mama!"

A woman with long brown hair tied to a ponytail. She was accompanied by several other people who wore similar casual attire on Earth. The youngest guests were two young kids with red and pink hair respectively. Two older accomplices were one with short purple hair and another with long brown hair tied into twin tails. The next oldest guests were one with pink hair in a similar ponytail and a short one with red hair, which one could mistake as a kid. The last was had longer blonde hair and mahogany eyes, a woman who was often close to the daughter of this store.

"Oh, welcome back," the girl's father greeted his child.

"N-Nanoha-san!" the mother called their daughter's name from behind the counter. "I'm so glad to see you again. Is there something wrong?"

"Just the usual work," Nanoha Takamachi responded. "Is Lindy Harlaown here?"

"Of course, she just took a seat right over there," Momoko pointed over to a woman with long cyan hair and markings on her forehead, who sat by several empty tables. "She requested those seats to be reserved. We weren't sure if it was specifically for you and the others."

After nodding, Nanoha turned to her subordinates.

"Erio, Caro, Subaru, Teana, please head over to the table next to Lindy-san." Nanoha directed them.

"Signum, Vita, Fate, and I will be meeting Former Admiral Harlaown about the assignment."

"Admiral Harlaown?" the young girl named Caro turned to the same woman. "Is she…"

"Yes," Fate T. Harlaown, the woman next to Nanoha, answered before Erio could respond. "She's my mother, who took care of me in the past ten years. Furthermore, her son, Chrono, has become an Admiral himself."

"Unfortunately, this will be a meeting between us adults," Nanoha informed her pupils. "So please, have a seat while I get all of your something to eat."

The younger members complied as they went to the table next to Lindy's. As the older members went over to the former Admiral, it was only and her Mother together at the counter.

"You do well to take care of everyone," Momoko complimented. "I'm surprised that we would all meet together like this. Not just Lindy, but all of your other partners from your job."

"Lindy-san was the one who requested us specifically," Nanoha explained. "There were no other Mages available in the area, and we had assigned cases at the moment."

"Well, I shouldn't find that surprising," Momoko chuckled at her foolishness. She did not know everything about what her daughter did, but she was one of the few on Earth who had more details and anyone else on the planet. That's because Nanoha's work wasn't on Earth, just like nearly all of her other accomplices. Not even Lindy was from this world. "If you want, I can start taking your orders."

"Thank you, mama."

As Nanoha and her mother talked, the four younger cadets watched from the side.

"I knew that Captain Takamachi was not from another world, but I never knew she came from a place like this," Teana commented. "This is the second time we've been here, but it still seems no different from the administrated worlds of the TSAB."

"This is Captain Takamachi's home planet," Subaru said from the side. "Anyone would feel comfortable after returning home."

"That's not the only thing," Teana gazed at her superior officer, who was trying one of her mother's cakes. They witnessed her having a delighted look while also blushing over her mother's words, which were drowned out in the background. "At first, I always thought of her and Fate as grownups. But here…"

"She is totally like a child."

"Momoko-san is such a great mother," Caro complimented.

"So beautiful," Erio said before he caught his words and started blushing.

"To think that she's would come from such a great a family," Teana lamented. "If you look at it that way, it's almost like she's spoiled like we're the only mature ones over here."

"Is that so?" Subaru smugly said as she wrapped around her partner.

"H-Hey, what are you doing, you idiot!"

The other young members chuckled as Subaru fondled Teana. It took a while until they managed to calm down when Momoko already brought cakes over.

By that time, the others already took their seats at a reserved table in the back. Shiro and the others continued to clean up the café as the older guests got to talking.

"It has been a long time, Miss Harlaown," the pink-haired woman named Signum Yagami joined in on the conversation. At first, it was only between Fate and Lindy Harlaown, who was having a similar discussion as Nanoha with Momoko.

"Yes, I believe it's been more than ten years by now," Lindy confirmed. "Though I hear that you came here recently for another case."

"I assume that was Arisa and Suzuka's doing?" Fate asked.

"They did, and I thank you for handling the case very well."

"We're sorry if we did not have enough time to see you," Nanoha said with some shame. "We wanted to give the new team a tour around our home while we had the chance."

"Riot Force 6," Lindy recalled the name, or rather the abbreviation of the unit. "Admiral Chrono told me about your unit's progress regarding the Relics. I am surprised that there are so many dangerous Lost Logia being smuggled throughout Midchilda."

"So are we," Fate replied. "Unfortunately, we have yet to confirm who is responsible. The only suspect we have is a man named Dr. Jail Scaglietti."

"Dr. Jail," Lindy recalled the name. "An S-Ranked Interdimensional Criminal who is also a talented scientist."

"Sounds like you know more about this guy," Vita questioned the woman.

"Although we do not know his origins, I know the basics about him. He's experienced in multiple fields, several of which are illegal by TSAB regulations. For this very reason, Jail has gone underground, and we received no information about him ever since."

"We've encountered many his Gadget Drones on Midchilda in the past few months," Fate reported. "Not only did they have the man's name on them, but they also had Jewel Seeds to power up their Anti-Magilink Fields."

"Jewel Seeds?" Lindy was surprised to hear the words.

"Yes, the same ones we retrieved from Earth all those years ago. Even we were surprised by this turn of events."

"The last time we were concerned about the Jewel Seeds, we were…"

"I know. It was the time when my mother, my first mother, tried going to Al-hazard. As for the rest of the Jewel Seeds, they should have been locked away, never to be used again."

"Dr. Jail was renowned before he went rogue. There would be no doubt he had many connections to the TSAB."

"Yeah, but who would be willing to sponsor a guy like him?" Vita pointed out, although no one had the answer.

The conversation paused as a loud sound came from the television. It was the melody for a news station that broadcasted every afternoon.

"Today is the third day since the great excavation project here in Central Asia. Several nations, including minor neighboring states and major powers, continue to pour vast amounts of money into supplies and equipment for the inhabitants to mine the area. World interest has increased ever since an unknown substance was discovered, which is claimed to a highly valuable with extraordinary properties. However, the leading nation in these operations remains the one whose borders envelop the mining area of such resource, the Republic of Zogilia."

The screen switched to a digging site with trucks carrying glowing-green crystals.

"Once a minor nation that held little influence in world politics, Zogilia's economic wealth increased drastically since the discovery of this unknown resource. Mining companies in the area have locked hands with the central government, and several undeveloped countries seek to participate in the mining operations to increase their own economic wealth. If claims from key officials are true, it won't be long before Zogilia's influence eclipses the region and stands out a leading economic power among the world's nations…"

"Republic of Zogilia…"

Nanoha trailed on the name. It wasn't that she failed geography, but there were many nations of which she did not know.

"I expected that you haven't heard the news," Shiro came near his daughter's side. "There's a lot of things going on in that country in the past few days. Too bad you weren't back early enough to see it."

"What happened?"

"I don't know the details, but contacts as a bodyguard filled me in on the situation. Countries all over are going crazy over a new substance like the one being found in Zogilia. Their best guess, it's going to be a revolutionary energy source that's going to turn this planet's economy upside-down. Everyone's scrambling over to find more of it just to keep ahead."

"A revolutionary energy source, huh?" Vita drank some cocoa, uninterested the topic.

"Is this what you wanted to discuss, mama?" Fate asked Lindy, who immediately shook her head.

"It is something of interest, but that's not the reason I called you here," the former Admiral went on. "This has more to do with what's going in this region."

"W-What do you mean?" Those words made Nanoha stutter for the moment.

"Shortly after you left for your assignment, my son stopped by to pay me a visit. During that period, his flagship reported an unusual anomaly occurring in Japan."

"An anomaly?" Signum was also intrigued. "Exactly what kind of anomaly would this be?"

"We don't know. As a former commander, I recommended that they had some give close observation to this region. However, all other Mages are so busy that we could only rely on you to handle this case. However, some speculated it to be a spacetime distortion as if it were a wormhole entrance."

A spacetime distortion, Fate wondered. Shortly after talking about Jewel Seeds, she recalled the time she was collecting them until she found Nanoha. Her original purpose of finding those Jewel Seeds gave a realization. Could it be…no way, mother?

"Do you know where this anomaly is?" Signum asked in Fate's place.

"I can send you the details once you're done with this little trip, but you'll have to wait for the time being," Lindy paused to take a sip of cocoa. "By the way, I hear that you and Nanoha just had a daughter."

Shiro and Momoko froze for the moment, wondering if they heard that right.

"A daughter?" Shiro narrowed his eyes, changing his face from being shocked to overly cautious.

Nanoha and Fate? Momoko started from the background.

"When did you-"

"She's was only adopted recently," Fate explained the news, putting Nanoha's parents at ease and causing Shiro to back away. "Right now, Nanoha and I have been taking care of her ever since we brought her home from the Belkan Church."

"Does she have a name?"

"Well…"

Before they could continue, she and the other members of Riot Force 6 received a telepathic message.

"This is the Arthra. Do you hear me, Lightning? Stars?"

"H-Hayate-san?" Nanoha's blurted out the name of the caller.

"Hayate-sama?" Signum said to herself, speaking formally.

"This is Lightning 1," Fate connected Hayate first. "We read you, Arthra."

"We apologize for the interruption, but we need you and the others back up here…"

"What's the situation?"

"It is an emergency. I will explain it to you later, but we need you back on board fast."

"U-Understood, Lightning out."

Shortly after Fate ceased communications with Hayate, she turned to her close friends. Everyone nodded in response as they also received the message.

"Sorry, but we need to cut our meeting short," Fate apologized to Lindy as they stood up. "Yagami-san just called us in for an emergency. We don't know the details, but we'll figure it out once we regroup."

"I understand," Lindy sighed in resignation. "It cannot be helped."

"Please, let's continue our conversation later," Nanoha promised. "We will be back before long."

As Lindy nodded, the members of Riot Force 6 immediately got out of their seats and rushed out the door. Even though it was short, she felt pleased that they would see each other again. Like Nanoha said, she only hoped they would do so again before long.

Hopefully, not too long.


Orbiting the planet was a significantly sized warship, composed of a round base with two sharp prongs sticking out. It was the original design for cruisers of the TSAB.

This one, dubbed the Arthra, was more known than others. It was famously used during the magical incidents that occurred on Earth throughout the recent decade. The sole purpose of the ship was to monitor Earth, which was considered undeveloped by the eyes of the TSAB. Now, it was commanded by said undeveloped citizens. Or, to put it more accurately, it was operated by those who had magical ability, and they all kept their existence a secret.

Not much time passed since Riot Force 6 arrived back on the ship. The higher-ranking officers entered the bridge, where they met the commanding officer.

"What's the situation?" Fate asked a brown-haired woman who went by the name Hayate Yagami. From her face, she could tell that something terrible happened.

"It just came out of nowhere," Hayate displayed screens by her seat. "Everything turned out clean on the planet, but the next thing we knew, a large entity appeared in our sensors."

"A large entity?" The words made Vita raise an eyebrow, prompting Hayate to be more specific.

"It all started here on Hachijo Island," Hayate pinpointed the location on the map. "At first, everything turned out clean on our sensors. Then all of a sudden, a huge anomaly opened up."

"Mother was talking about something about that earlier," Fate got the commander's attention. "She says that although small, it's been going on ever since Chrono-nii-san visited Earth. Some speculated that it was a spacetime distortion, but she wanted to doubt it."

Hayate sighed before bearing the bad news.

"Unfortunately, from the looks of it, the readings show that she was right."

"Do you know who was responsible," Signum questioned her superior. "Could it be a Lost Logia?"

"No. However, shortly after the distortion ended, we zoomed in on the area to collect images of the affected area. Our last images managed to collect this."

The next images that Hayate projected ultimately took the other agents by surprise. The displayed what looked like an enormous humanoid machine from a show back on their world. The machine had sinister dark purple colors, red eyes, and gold plating on its head and shoulders. It was also heavily armed with large cannons on each of its arms, a rifle in its right hand, and a lance stored on the back.

"What in the Sankt Kaiser's name?" Vita's eyes widened, remembering when she saw at least toys of such machines.

"Is that…a robot?" Nanoha asked, although the answer was already apparent for her.

"Even I was stumped when we discovered this machine. No one on the Arthra has seen this kind of weapon before, and the TSAB's database doesn't contain anything close to it."

Before Hayate could continue, she noticed Fate staring at the images, advancing closer to the screens.

"What is it, Fate-chan?"

"There's something very eerily familiar about that machine," Fate answered before snapping back into the real world. "Have you conducted a scan on it?"

"We have, but nothing matches within our databanks."

"Could it be a new Gadget Drone weapon?" Signum asked before Vita answered beside her.

"That stands up to at least 10 meters! It's too big to be a drone!"

"That's not all," Hayate agreed as she continued. She changed the images to display heat sources coming from the machine. "Scans also show that someone is piloting it."

"A real mecha…" Nanoha pondered.

"Now's the not the time to gawk," Vita snapped everyone back into the world. "We need to stop that thing before it causes trouble. With all of those weapons, it doesn't look like any friendly."

"That's right, Vita. That's exactly why we called you back," Hayate went on with the mission briefing. "I wanted Nanoha, Fate, Signum, and Vita to ahead first to control the situation. Try to establish cast a Temporal Barrier around the machine the first moment you get without getting attention from the locals. Once we disable the machine, we'll need to subdue the pilot and capture him for-"

"Captain Yagami, we just received a new report!" a man named Griffith spoke from the opposite side of Hayate. "The unknown machine has just been spotted again!"

"Can you give us a location?" Hayate turned her attention to her communications staff.

"Right here," one of the officers named Alto reported to the Captain. "Location identifies it as Seiou High School in Narashino!"

"Narashino?" Nanoha shook.

"Isn't that close to Uminari City?" Fate also asked.

"If you get there by train," Hayate confirmed. "But for it to be this close…"

"New report!" Alto reported again. "Captain, that machine is attacking the planet's inhabitants!"

"What!?"


(1)

The once peaceful streets of Narashino were thrown into chaos in the past few minutes. Before anyone knew what was going on, a giant robot appeared out of nowhere and started bombarding the city. At first, it was the nearby high school, but then it created a trail of destruction, actively pursuing something.

Throughout the streets was the machine's target, a young boy riding on a bicycle. When the robot attacked his school, he got on a nearby bike and ran like hell. Even with the robot closing behind him, it's a miracle that he's still alive.

Why? Why did it have to come to this!?

Aoba Watase ran as fast as he could on his bike. The purple robot appeared behind him from the corner again, firing several more rounds at him. Although the impacts rocked his bike, he remained firm and regained control to keep himself from hitting the pavement.

He took another left into a narrow alleyway. With the high building and narrow roads, he hoped that would keep the machine from shooting any more rounds at him. He only had to worry about colliding with pedestrians and other objects. However, the pilot of the robot seemed to know that well.

"Trying to avoid getting shot? Don't screw with me!"

The purple mecha put away its rifle and took out an arrow-shaped lance from its back. After locating Aoba once again, he flew above to his position and swooped down.

"Ahh crap!" Aoba cursed as the machine dug through the pavement, throwing chunks of brick and asphalt into the air. The impact also flung his bike forward, tossing him headfirst into the sidewalk of the main street.

By the time he regained consciousness, he had noticed the machine's large shadow casting over him. He turned around to find the lance aiming straight for him. It looked like it was now the end of him.

"You're finished!" The pilot shouted just before several shots impacted the torso of the mecha. "What!?"

As the purple robot got knocked back, Aoba jerked his head to find his sudden savior. He stood up to get a better view and eventually came across another humanoid machine. This one carried a rifle like the other machine and shared the same aesthetics, except it was pink rather than purple.

Another robot? Here?

One mecha was more than shocking for Aoba, but now there were two right in front of him, with this one saving his life. Regardless, this felt like the perfect time to escape.

"Wait, Aoba!" A familiar voice came from the robot's speakers. It was that of a young girl who was the same age as Aoba. The robot came closer to the boy before kneeling down. Then, the cockpit opened, showing a young schoolgirl with long black hair. "Come with me if you want to live."

"Y-Yumihara-san!?" Aoba immediately recognized the pilot. She was Hina Yumihara, who went to the same school as him and had an unusual affection for him. He caught a glimpse of her running away from the robot as well, but the two separated from each other at the school. It was unimaginable that they would meet again like this. "What are you doing here!?"

"Quickly!" Yumihara demanded, not in the position waste time.

Clicking his tongue, Aoba hurried over to the robot's hands, which Hina used to carry him into the cockpit. At that moment, the purple robot recovered from Hina's attack and caught the two together shortly before the cockpit closed. The sight made the pilot somehow snap.

"Why would you do this, Hina!" the pilot shouted her name. "WHY!?"

"Hold on!" she ordered Aoba as she operated the controls.

(2)

The pink robot accelerated into the air, forcing Aoba to hold onto the cockpit seat. The purple robot followed them into the sky, slowly gaining on her the pink one. As the purple machine charged with his lance, Hina responded by drawing a sword. The two robots clashed and locked their weapons in place.

"How could you do this to me, Hina!?" The enemy pilot shouted before knocking his opponent back.

"Alright, it should be able to work just this once."

Before she could do anything, however, more warning signs flashed on the screen. Before she knew it, the two machines were enveloped in a distorted sphere, effectively cutting them off from the outside world.

"What the hell!?" the purple pilot exclaimed.

"A Temporal Field?" Hina, on the other hand, had an idea of what was going on.

"Temporal…what?" Aoba did not get the last part.

As the two machines were trapped inside the field, Nanoha, Fate, Vita, Signum were outside completing the spell for the Temporal Field. Each of the girls had armor on their thighs and arms and wielded different weapons. Nanoha's uniform was white with a red jewel, and she carried a white staff with golden prongs and a red orb at the end. Fate's outfit was black with a white cape, and her weapon was a scythe with a yellow jewel. Signum had standard knight armor on her legs and thighs, complete with a sword. Vita wore a red gothic Lolita uniform with a hat and carried a hammer.

Right after Vita and Signum cast a barrier to shield their activities from the outside world, Nanoha and Fate entered to confront their opponents.

"Arthra, this is Lightning 1," Fate contacted Hayate. "Lightning 2 and Stars 2 have just cast a Temporal Field around the two unknown machines. Stars 1 and I are moving in to contain the situation."

"Understood, Lightning 1. Just make sure you do not harm the pilots. We need them taken alive for questioning."

The pilot of the purple machine was confused for the first few seconds, but eventually, he came to realize what was going on.

"That magical girl barrier. Could it be…?"

He caught the sight of two girls with pink and yellow streaks. After zooming in on the new arrivals, he recognized each of their faces. He also cracked into the planet's Internet servers like did to find Aoba and pulled up two entries that showed Nanoha and Fate's school records at Uminari City. The man then descended into maniacal laughter that made the two girls freeze.

"So, you're all here as well. Captain Nanoha Takamachi! Enforcer Fate Testarossa!"

"W-What!?" Nanoha jumped, never expecting one of the machines to know her name, let alone her affiliation with the TSAB.

Testarossa, The Enforcer was equally shocked. He called me by my maiden name…

"Foolish women, you have no idea what you girls have gotten yourselves into," the pilot gloated as he aimed his lance. "You think this is a nightmare, but this all real, and I'm going to kill you right here!"

As the robot charged after the two girls, the duo separated from each other. Thanks to their powers, both of them had more than enough speed to outrun most foes. However, the robot wasn't something to laugh at either since it was also apparently fast despite its condition.

"A.C.S. Driver…Charge!"

Nanoha's staff took the form a lance with pink energy emitted from the tip. She then charging head-on towards her opponent, aiming for the shoulders to avoid hitting the cockpit.

"Don't screw with me!"

The pilot responded by countering with his robot's lance. To her shock, the machine's weapon did not break but instead matched and even countered out her A.C.S. Driver attack. The impact eventually knocked her back, forcing her to play cat-and-mouse with the machine.

"Divine Shooter!"

As the machine went after Nanoha Takamachi, she fired off her spells to weaken to damage the enemy vehicle. But her surprise, all of her shots did less damage than she expected. In retaliation, the purple robot switched its lance for a rifle, firing several rounds at her. Nanoha put up a circular barrier to protect herself from the shots, but even these rounds were far more powerful than she anticipated. They knocked her back and forced to her lose the robot's tail. Although she would usually take the enemy head-on, her instinct from the first failed attack told her beforehand that doing that again was a terrible idea. For once, she had to be on the defensive.

On the other side, Hina tried to escape the pursuit of Fate Testarossa, who was far faster than her machine. However, the young girl had no intention to fight, only to avoid capture and damage from the enemy. Instead, she tried tracking the girl, hoping to get a clear image of her.

"What are you doing, Hina?" Aoba asked. Two robots appearing in the city, with her classmate piloting one of them, was weird enough. But seeing two girls flying with what he could call magic was another kind of weirdness.

"Takamachi, Testarossa," Hina continued her work on the operating system. "There's only one thing that could mean."

When Fate was directly behind her, Hina stopped the machine and faced her. She put away her robot's sword, leaving herself completely unarmed. As expected, Fate reacted by stopping, though still cautious with her scythe glowing yellow energy and sparks. But that was enough time for Hina to recognize her.

"If she's here, then that means," Hina input more commands onto the operating systems. The screen zoomed to show what looked like a large ship in space. "That's it!"

Above the Earth's orbit, the Arthra continued monitoring the battle inside the barrier. It wasn't long before Alto received an incoming call from the pink machine.

"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from one of the unknown units."

A "sound only" screen projected on the monitors as Hina's voice came in.

"Captain Yagami, are you there? Captain Yagami, please come in!"

The sudden message startled the crew. Even Hayate was unsure how one of these machines knew the existence of the Arthra or how the young girl managed to contact it. And that already discounted the fact that the purple machine knew about Nanoha and Fate as well.

"Who is this?" Hayate demanded. "How do you know about this ship?"

"I cannot explain that right now," Hina grunted as she deflected an attack from Fate. "Is this the TSAB Cruiser Arthra?"

"Arthra? Who is this, Hina?" Aoba spoke within the communication system that the officers overheard.

"State your name and purpose here," Hayate ordered her.

"My name is Yumihara Hina. I'm looking for Riot Force 6 Commander Yagami Hayate. If you can, bring me Captain Takamachi and Enforcer Testarossa as well."

"Testarossa? You mean Enforcer Harlaown?"

"Just let me reach them now!"

"Captain," Griffith spoke from the side. "What should we do?"

The usual response would be to continue attempting to restrain the pink mecha in case it ever fought back and backstabbed them. However, the desperation in the pilot's voice, let alone its confrontation against Fate unarmed, showed she wasn't willing to fight.

"Get Enforcer Harlaown and Captain Takamachi on," Hayate issued her communications staff.

"But Captain, are you sure that we can trust her?" Griffith asked her.

"She doesn't sound like she wants to fight us, rather the opposite. If there's any way we can figure what's going on, it would be through her. Open the channel to her."

By that point, Fate already damaged the pink robot's left arms. However, the screens on Hina's machine showed that she could now contact Nanoha and Fate, though it was a "sound only" connection.

"Captain Takamachi, please come in!" Hina contacted the two agents. "Enforcer Harlaown, do you also hear me?"

"A young girl?" Fate stopped in the middle of her assault. She recognized the voice to be much younger than she was.

"Who is this?" Nanoha asked upon hearing Hina's voice.

"Nanoha, please listen carefully. I'm inside the pink robot that you see. The purple machine is your real enemy."

"My enemy?"

Nanoha failed to see the purple robot come after her with its lance, forcing her to block with her own staff. She could already feel her weapon starting to break from the immense power of the machine.

"It's only luck that I found you, too!" the pilot of the enemy machine exclaimed. "You'll die right here along with the ones you love, Nanoha Takamachi!"

In response, Hina quickly took out her rifle and fired on the purple machine. Several rounds impacted its right shoulder and thrusters, sending it spinning for the moment.

"Damnit!"

As Nanoha regained control of her flight, she turned to Hina's robot that was her savior.

"That robot…"

"Nanoha, Fate, please listen to me," Hina told them both. "I'm not your enemy. That machine was sent to kill both of you. You need to take him down before that happens."

"What makes you so sure?" Fate inquired.

"If you help me stop him, I'll turn myself in along with my machine. I'll explain everything to you from there. But for now, I just need you to cooperate for the time being."

The purple robot regained control of its flight and started cruising towards Hina again.

"How could you do this to me," the pilot ranted. "Why, Hina!?"

Hina reacted by drawing out her sword again to block the lance.

"Now!" Hina shouted. "While he's focused on me!"

The two flying TSAB agents nodded to each other as they cast their spells on the target.

"Restrict Lock!"

By collecting the used mana in the air, circular rings manifested around the purple robot's limbs. The pilot struggled helplessly as Fate cast her own ability.

"Thunder Rage!"

New yellow binds enchanted by electricity restrained the enemy robot. Shortly after, massive yellow sparks erupted from a large yellow circle that encircled the purple machine. The yellow lightning zapped the robot as the pilot screamed out in pain.

Once the electrocution stopped, Hina went forward with her rifle in tow.

"So long."

Several rounds from Hina's rifle busted the torso of the robot. The enemy machine fell helplessly as if the pilot had been killed.

"Crystal Cage!"

Nanoha used one last spell to trap the enemy machine. Even though the original was much smaller, there was more than enough mana to envelop the entire machine. The robot crashed onto the floor of the pyramidal structure, trapped within the magical cage.

Hina read the sign of her enemy. There was no more energy coming from the purple robot.

"Incredible," Aoba was left amazed by the performance.

"That should finally stop him for good," Hina contacted the TSAB agents. "Thank you very much."

"The pleasure is all ours, Yumihara-san," Hayate welcomed her ally. "Now, if you may…"

"Right," Hina complied. "I will land to the nearest venue and explain everything from there."

"Thank you."

The communication line with Hayate and the others ceased. At this point, it's a matter of time when they'll contact her again. But with the enemy machine destroyed and captured, she sighed in relief, knowing that her classmate was safe.

That said, she noticed the boy gazing at her by the side.

"W-What are you look at me for!?"

"Hina, I want to ask you…"

"About what?"

"Everything."

Hina took another deep breath as if she expected that this would happen. It may be bizarre, but now that everything came to this, she had no other choice.

"You may not believe me, but I am actually from the future."

"You mean…"

"Yes, we're time travelers," Hina faced the Mages, including the incoming Signum and Vita, who approached the disabled robot. "Me and the person in that other robot."

"Then what about those flying girls? Are they from the future, too?"

Hina shook her head.

"Those are members of the Time-Space Administration Bureau."

"T-Time…Bureau?"

"In this timeline, members of the TSAB were sent to the same future as we were," Hina zoomed in one the brown-haired girl in the white uniform. "The most important one was Nanoha Takamachi."

"Takamachi-san?"

"Originally, she was from the same planet as we were. It's because of her and her friends that I was able to come to the past and protect you…and themselves from that man."

"So, this robot is…"

"Yes, this is also from the future, although it has rusted over the years."

"Over the years?"

"Yes. All this time, I've been watching over you, Watase Aoba."

Aoba remained speechless as Hina chuckled for the moment.

"To be honest, it came as a complete surprise that we had seats next to each other in the same class. What were the odds? Of course, I knew that someday he would appear in this timeline to kill you, so I made sure to never separate from you. Once he did arrive, I would try to find the Bureau before he killed Takamachi-san as well."

"How you do you all of this?"

"Well," Hina stopped before taking time to answer. "It's because I heard it all from you."

"Huh?"

Before Aoba could ask any more, another "sound only" line opened up on the robot's operating system.

"Yumihara-san, please come in," Hayate's voice reached the pink robot again.

"I read you," Hina responded to Hayate's words.

"We found a safe spot for you to land," Hayate showed a location on the island in the middle of the ocean. "Please head to these marked coordinates and we shall take you in for questioning."

"Understood."

Hina ceased communications before turning to Aoba again.

"Aoba, I'll land somewhere so you can get out."

"Hina?"

"My work here is already finished. Now that the person sent to kill you is locked up, you can return to your life as it was up to today. Just forget about this whole incident, and you'll be fine."

"But what about you?"

"I'm going to turn myself into the Bureau and explain everything to them. Only they can understand my actions."

Hina continued to observe the Mages, which were in the process of apprehending the enemy robot and its pilot. Vita inspected the machine himself, nearly amused by the sight.

"Who thought a mecha would appear into this world?"

But then the engines of the machine came back to life. Although the cage was made to restrain the mecha, there was more than space for it to walk around. The pilot was now in an even bigger fit of rage.

"Vita, Signum, watch out!" Nanoha shouted as it tried to break through the barrier.

"He still has some power left!?" Hina caught of the enemy robot, which was shown to be still operational.

"Don't mess with me, you damn Mages!"

Before they realized it, electric interference emitted from the machine. Not only did it affect the pink robot transmissions, but it also caused the Crystal Cage to collapse. The Temporal field also fell apart, exposing them to the outside again. The enemy robot was free once more.

"Anti-Magilink Field!?" Fate jumped over the phenomenon, never expecting their enemy to have this kind of technology.

"No," Hina corrected her through the weak transmissions. "Stand Alone Mode."

"S-Stand Alone?"

The robot used the time to knock away the distracted Enforcer, sending her into the sea.

"Fate-san!" Nanoha cried out as she went after her friend.

"Bastard!" Vita attempted to charge in, only to be met with the robot's arm-mounted bazookas.

The weapons on the purple robot's arm exploded upon blasting Vita out of the sky, forcing Signum to catch her wounded ally. The robot then charged towards Hina, crushing the torso and wrapping around her with both arms.

"The cockpit is jammed!" Hina read the damage done to her machine. "It won't open!"

Just then, another screen appeared, showing the face of the enemy pilot.

"To think that you'd come, Hina…"

Hina merely smirked at her enemy.

"Of course, I knew you'd come."

"Is that so? Then you know what's in store for us, right?"

Hina's eyes widened what he was planning to do. On the right side of his machine, he opened up a cover for a large red button.

"No way, he's going to self-destruct!"

"Hina, even if I receive a blow or I die, I can still do this!" the enemy pilot displayed a counter on Hina's screen. "You're all going to die with me right here!"

As both machines gained speed, another monitor showed the robots leaving the atmosphere. From the current trajectory, they were aiming towards the TSAB vessel in space.

"He's aiming for the Arthra," Hina realized. "He plans to take us down along with the Riot Force 6 team!"

"What?" Aoba jerked to the same screen. "What do we do now?"

"We…"

In the middle of her panic, another screen showed another warning approaching. This one reported something all too familiar to her, a spacetime anomaly appearing in space.

"I see, so that's how it is," Hina resigned to her fate. "I never understood why it was that you'd appear in front of me, nor could I understand why I could never forget about you. Fate is cruel, isn't it?"

"Yumihara?"

"Please…call me, Hina," the young classmate asked him politely before turning serious once more. "Aoba, have faith in me."

After a few seconds trying to understand what she meant, Aoba nodded in confidence.

"You got it!"

Hina clicked her tongue in agitation as she focused on piloting her machine.

"It's always like you easily have faith in people…"

Meanwhile, as the two interlocked mecha accelerated into the air, Hayate and her staff detected the incoming danger.

"Both unknown units are escaping the atmosphere," a woman named Shario reported. "Captain, they're on a collision course with that Arthra!"

"Contact that pink machine immediately."

"Negative, Captain. It appears the enemy machine has damaged its communications equipment."

"Takamachi-san, Harlaown-san, Signum-san, Vita-san, quickly stop that purple machine. Do what you can to rescue Yumihara and her associate. Hurry, before they destroy themselves trying to escape the atmosphere!"

Just when Hayate finished her orders, Shario gave her a new shocking report.

"Captain, a new spacetime distortion just appeared on our sensors! It's…"

Before Shario could complete her sentence, a massive anomaly appeared in the center of the battle zone. It took the form of a giant yellow tunnel with a bright light at the end. The anomaly produced immense forces where no one in the area was able to escape.

As the Arthra and its crew became dragged into the wormhole, Hina steered her machine straight into it.

"There it is," she said to herself upon discovering the anomaly. "Just a little more and…"

The young pilot was interrupted by the robot's engines giving out. However, Aoba laid his hands over the controls, causing the girl to blush.

As the two machines flew in, the rest of the TSAB team got dragged in as they tried to pursue the two mecha.

"NANOHA-SAMA!" Vita cried out as she was the first to get pulled in. Not even her hammer, converted into a rocket-propelled form, as enough to escape its pull.

"Hayate-sama!" Signum also cried, heading towards the Arthra that got consumed.

"NANOHA-CHAN!" Fate's last thoughts were grabbing Nanoha's hand as they were sucked in together.

It wasn't long before everyone in the vicinity got pulled into the anomaly. A while later, the yellow wormhole closed itself as if what transpired never happened.


(3)

Aoba remained in the cockpit of Hina's mecha. The two continued towards the light through the yellow tunnel. The forces ripped the purple robot apart, exploded harmlessly within the void behind them. The two kids were alone now, just him and Hina.

However, his classmate turned to him as if she had more to say.

"Aoba, this is where we part," Hina told him. "You're going into the future now."

"The future? But what about you?"

Hina shook her as she replied with comfort.

"Dio will be waiting for you."

"Dio? Who's that?"

Before he could question her more, the pilot started collapsing on its own. Eventually, the cockpit seat itself began to break apart.

"What's happening? What's going on, Hina?"

However, the Hina before him was no longer there. Instead, she faded from the cockpit seat, bidding her final goodbye to him.

"Dio is waiting for you, Aoba…"

"Hina, wait! HINA!"

As the image of Hina disappeared completely, the remains of the machine reached the end of the tunnel. Aoba's eyes flashed white, rendering him ultimately consciousness. What happened to him next was for fate to decide.


There will be one more section for the intermission. After that, it's straight to Episode 8.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.