Fairy Tail is the creation and intellectual property of Mashima Hiro and Kodansha.

Mahou Sensei Negima! is the creation and intellectual property of Akamatsu Ken and Kodansha.


Irremediably Collateral and Supplemental.


Plot Happens.


The city was truly gigantic, much bigger than any of the Mundus Magicus towns Nodoka had been at, and probbaly as big or even larger than Neo Tokyo. Nodoka was truly impressed, and even though Illya wanted to hide it, it was clear that she, raised in a woodland castle for over a decade, felt the same way.

"It's all so beautiful..." Nodoka said, her eyes sparkling under the thick bangs of hair as she looked into all directions. "This makes our Festival look downright paltry...!"

"It's all so noisy," Illyasviel gave a delicate snort, flanked by their bodyguards. Indeed, the festive air was filled with chatting and laughs in dozens of different languages. Everywhere, crowds huddled together and bustled busily through streets and boulevards that were too narrow to fit them all properly, leaving little room to circulate. "The sooner we leave this rat trap, the better! Oh, if only Berserker were here!"

"Master Nodoka's distracted again," said one of the mercenaries whom they had hired to escort them into Ostia, a short figure wrapped fully in a dark cloak, who barely was taller than Illya herself.

"What, again?!" Illya yelped, looking towards where Nodoka was standing by a stand selling old books, almost drooling while a bearded, tanned gentleman selling the merchandise exposited to her. The albino made her way over to her and yanked her back by an ear. "Listen, once we've found my brother, then I'll buy you all the stupid books you want, okay?! In the meanwhile, stick to the plan, Nodoka!"

"Uwaaa! I'm sorry!" Nodoka flinched, following Illya again while Kero sighed from within her backpack. "I couldn't help it! Once a librarian..."

"My God!" Illya stopped suddenly, staring up at two gigantic humanoids standing guard over the city. They were long and lanky, disturbingly similar to the robots Chao had deployed during Mahorafest. They were painted solid white except for the mouths in their elongated and eyeless faces, which were painted scarlet instead. They towered even over buildings several stories high, bearing just as long spears in their hands. "What, what are those things?!"

"Hmmm?" another of the mercenaries, a caped tall woman in a skimpy black leather bikini and tall boots and gloves, looked up lazily, still chewing on her large meat-filled bread. Her physique was extremely voluptuous and busty, and she had long raven black hair combining nicely with her blue eyes. A huge sheathed sword hung from one of her wide hips. "Ohh, ho ho ho ho! Young Master, you are so unexperienced! Those are divine soldiers! Everyone knows about them!"

"Where we come from, white skin and red lips are a combination to be avoided," Nodoka gulped lightly.

"That's nothing, just look at that!" another hired hand, a tiny girl with blonde hair in Ojou ringlets and wearing white and pink armor, said while pointing upwards in another direction. She wielded a gigantic axe easily bigger than herself, slung over a shoulder with no effort. "It's the guardian beast of the Targaryen Empire, the Blue-Eyes Wide Dragon!"

"I saw that thing in a videogame!" Illya shouted, staring in bewilderment at the titanic winged beast covered on white scales, much larger than Tohru's dragon form, hovering above the Southern districts. "If those monsters start fighting each other, all of us will die!"

"Nobody will attack unless their commanders give the order, and nobody wants that in these times of peace," the final member of the merc team said, her small child riding her wide shoulders. This woman was even bigger than Naga in every sense. Even much bigger breasts and hips in a muscular, rotund frame that still managed to be attractive, contrasting with her delicate and mature face framed by glasses. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a pink bow, and from her back hung a sword as big as Ymir's axe. "The countries only want to boast their forces, to make sure nobody will think of attacking them again."

"And there it is. The Colisseum," said the short figure in the hood, pointing ahead with a gloved hand. Other than Cattleya-san's son Rana, this was the only male in the group, as evidenced by his raspy voice. "See, Master Illya? Just like I promised..."

Illya humphed, fists on her hips. "Let's just hope those tickets you got us are good, Jillas! Or else!"

"Ma'am!" he gasped. "I bought them from the best shady black market salesman in the underground market!"

"No part about that sentence has inspired me any trust!" his contractor said, and then frowned at Miyazaki. "Nodoka? You can contact your boy from this distance, can't you?"

"Y-Yes, I think so," Nodoka gulped, gesturing at them to pull back with her, under the relative safety of an old abandoned house by a corner. The doors were locked with chains, but they still could stay apart from the crowd under the shade of the gates. She took her Pactio card out and put it against her forehead. "K-Kotaro-kun? It's me! Illya-chan and me made it safe into the capital...!"


"This... This ain't ogre yet!" roared the hulking, rotund green behemoth, pulling himself back to his feet and charging again. "It ain't ogre 'til I say it's ogre!"

Negi, in his adult form, charged back, hit the ogre with his shoulder, and followed this move with a rapid fire sequence of elbows to his large and bloated stomach, every one booming across the arena like a bombshell. Finally, Negi punted his adversary in the chest and sent him flying into a wall, making the whole stadium tremble.

The crowd watching the fight cheered wildly, and all the while Kotaro, covered in scratches and bleeding marks, grinned as he faced a much smaller opponent. This furry creature had proved himself shockingly fast and strong for his size, moving like a cheetah around him and Negi and slashing at them with his fencing sword while his partner pummeled the boys with his massive fists.

"Looks like your pal is down for the count, Kitty!" the dog boy said. "Why don't you give up now?"

"You're funny, boy. Really," the accented feline in fine boots said, and then jumped on him again, swinging his blade. But Kotaro was wise to his tricks by now, and after ducking, he rose with a dragon punch straight into the cat's belly, sending him down. The cat coughed a few hairballs out, taking a hand to his stomach. "Oooo! Good one, chico..."

Kotaro advanced towards him. "And now what? Ready to throw the towel?"

The cat used his trump card. He took his hat off, held it in his paws, and then looked up at Kotaro with a deep, pleading look in his adorable eyes.

Kotaro froze at the sight of those large, sad orbs. "N-Nani...?!"

The cat kept looking up at him, and even the audience and the announcer appeared enthralled by his suplicating puppy eyes. "This, this power... it's so strong!" Kotaro shuddered, unable to take his eyes off him. "How, how can that be possible...?!"

"AAAAWWWWWW!" the audience cried, moved and leaning forward, and Kotaro's knees trembled, about to give up...

Then Negi stepped up and stomped on the cat a few times, slamming him down.

"ANIMAL ABUSEEEEEE!" the cat meowed in pain.

Kotaro blinked back to his senses. "N-Negi! How did you...?!"

"I just remembered, that's right the look Makie-san used to give me when she wanted to pass a test she'd failed," his partner explained. "When you are a teacher, you grow numb to those things eventually..."

The half-naked fairy announcer also blinked back to awareness. "Ah! Just look at this!" she shouted through her mike. "Contestants Kojiro and Nagi have just defeated Shrek and Puss and make it to the next round of the tournament...!"

The crowd began clapping and cheering loudly while a donkey rushed to the slowly recovering ogre, vomiting a rapid stream of nonsensical questions brayed in a grating, annoying voice. The ogre just grunted and slapped him aside.

Nagi and Kojiro returned to their lockers smiling at each other and bopping fists together. There, Loli Chisame ran up to them, accompanied by Loli Yue. Yukino, in her usual form since she wasn't wanted by the law, followed them carrying Loli Haruka in her arms, and looking fairly pleased about that.

"Hey, Kojiro," Chisame said, holding up the card he'd left with them. "This was buzzing all through your fight, so I guess that Miyazaki finally made it here..."

"She did?!" Kotaro said excitedly, taking the card and putting it on his forehead. "Neechan! It's me! Sorry I couldn't answer, I was busy kicking some ass!"

"Don't worry, Kojiro-kun," Nodoka said gently as ever. "I supposed that'd be the case... Then I went into the colisseum and confirmed my suspicions..."

"You mean you're here right now?!"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"H-Hold a sec, please! I'll transport you here right now!"

"That won't be necessary, Kojiro-kun..." Nodoka said, from where she stood a few steps behind him, with Loli Yue looking adoringly at her, and Yukino and Loli Haruka sweatdropping. "You'll see, when I said 'Here' I meant 'Exactly right here'..."

Kotaro spun back and gasped. "Ah! You were here!"

"Yes, always," Nodoka nodded. "I guess you couldn't smell me since this whole place smells of sweat and- and-" She trailed off, as her eyes met Loli Yue's.

The world seemed to slow down and sweet romantic music began drifting through the room. Only Negi seemed to notice this music, and he looked in all directions for its source, blinking in confusion.

Nodoka and Yue threw themselves into each other's arms.

"Nodoka...!" Yue sobbed loudly.

"Yue-Yue...!" Nodoka cried.

"... is it me, or this is more romantic than her reencounter with him?" Haruka mused quietly.

Yukino smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that..."

"Of course you would say that..." Chisame closed her eyes and shook her head.

Nodoka picked Yue up and began spinning with her, joyously. "You're sooooo cute like this...! Ah! Just wait until Paru sees you...!"

"Okay, now I'm worried for Ayase," Chisame admitted. "I hadn't thought about it, but Saotome will eat her alive."

"And Chisame is cute too, naturally!" Nodoka stopped to put a hand on her head. "And... Sensei..." she said, looking at her first love, who smiled at her somewhat awkwardly.

After a few moments and a brief rasping from Kotaro, Nodoka realized that she was blushing and turned towards Yukino. "Kikukawa-senpai! S-So good to see you again, too! Suzushiro-senpai never stopped having faith she'd find you..."

"Not so loud, these walls have ears," Chibi Haruka said. "Here, I'm Haruka Ermitage."

"Armitage, Haruka-chan," Yukino corrected her with a pleased smile.

"I'm alive too, thanks for asking!" Kerberos said, popping his head out of Nodoka's backpack.

Negi stared at him. "... I'm sorry. I don't think I have been told anything about you, Sir?"

"Eh?!" Nodoka gasped. "Eh, Sensei, you don't recognize Kero-san?!"

"It's a long story," Chisame said with a sigh. "Why don't you just take us with Illya already, so we can explain it off panel and save time?"


They sat on the rooftop of Negi's rented house now, with a secrecy spell cast around them so the people transiting through the streets wouldn't overhear their conversation.

Chisame eyed Illya and Nodoka's hired hands suspiciously. "I'm going to be frank," she said. "How do we know we can we trust these people?"

The big chested woman with the black cape sneered, pointing at Juvia and Gray. "How do we know we can trust these people? I mean! They are members of Fairy Tail!"

"She asked first though..." Juvia said irritably.

"Canis Niger have previous experience protecting wanted criminals, as long as the pay is good they'll do anything," Illya said. "And I have paid them more than well enough," she added, pulling a wad of bills out. Naga leaned towards her, and Illya smacked her in the face with the bills a few times, without deigning looking back at her. Then she handed the bills to Naga, who began counting them greedily.

"And how do we know they just won't go for the payment the government is offering for Ala Alba?" countered Gray. "Fairy Tail has honor and sticks to the given word, but-!"

"So do we," said the woman named Cattleya, whom Louise was looking at with a mixture of emotions since she had both the same name as her dear late sister and the biggest chest she'd ever seen. "And besides, Jillas himself is wanted by the law. We prefer not involving ourselves too much with the authorities."

"Oh, so that's why he's disguised like that?" Rito asked, sporting several bandages on his face since he'd accidentlly groped Ymir, Cattleya and Naga seven times already. Kotaro had resorted to just sitting on his back while Rito lied on his stomach on the rooftop. "I think we'd feel safer if we could see his face, then..."

Jillas sighed and pulled his hood back, revealing the furry face of a red fox with a black eyepatch on his missing left eye. "What a bother... But if this will ease the paranoia down..."

"Okay, this is somewhat of a letdown," Tsukuyomi said. "I was expecting for a lizardman, at least. Lizardmen are evil!"

"Well, I'm not! I'm a victim of circumstances and prejudice!"

"Like I said! Disappointing!"

"We already had one mutt here, another one feels redundant," Louise mumbled.

"There is still another member of our team, by the way," Ymir, the small girl with the large axe, said. "The boss, Paio. Paio is securing our living quarters for our stay at Ostia, since we never suspected you'd have such a big house here."

"Aaaaand there is," Tsukuyomi said. "He's the one sneaking away to sell us out, right?"

"No! Absolutely not! The boss has a ton of flaws, but that's not one of them!" Ymir protested.

"I heard about Canis Niger while working with Phantom Lord, but I thought your members included a bald man, a large reptile man, and a living skeleton?" Juvia asked.

"Yes, well, they died," Naga shrugged. "This is a dangerous line of work after all!"

"Damn, that's callous from the author," Chisame commented. "They didn't even get a chance to appear..."

"We are back to having too many characters anyway, at this point I suspect another purge is coming," Asuna dreaded.

"Seriously, even I sometimes forget I'm still here," said Lena.

While Negi rasped loudly to stop them from further hurting the Fourth Wall, Ymir tensed up and reached into her dress, pulling a Pactio card out. "Yes, Boss?" she asked, placing it on her forehead. "Oh..." she said after a moment. "Oh!" she gasped, making a face. "I see, that is... bad."

Negi and the others sprang into alarm. "What's happening?" he asked.

Ymir looked at Nodoka. "That person you warned us about, Paio's seen her asking questions around the hotels." She then looked at Gray and Juvia. "Where are your friends staying now?"

"The Fawlty," Gray answered.

Ymir sighed. "That's even worse. Surely that person is on her way here right now, then."

"Who?!" Chisame demanded, even though she had already figured it out.

"Who else?" Negi's face tightened as he looked across the street.

There she stood, on a sidewalk, under a lamppost, and staring back at him in quiet thoughtfulness. Her hands in the pockets of her dark blue pants, and as icily beautiful as ever.

Sextum Averruncus.


"We still can get out through the back door!" Chisame yelled, rushing down the stairs after Negi.

"No, we can't," he said, not looking back.

"We should at least lure her inside!" Juvia said, following them down along the others, except for Skuld, who had quietly sneaked back into her workshop and locked herself there. "Surely, here we have some ground advantage!"

"It wouldn't make any difference, and it's clear she isn't coming here. She wants me to go to her," Negi said grimly, reaching the ground level.

"And you're playing right into her hand!" Rito argued, gripping the Keyblade tightly. "Can't you realize that?!"

"We can take her on," Gray said, already shirtless. "Plus, if she's been around the hotel, Natsu and Erza must be on their way..."

Chisame had moved in between Negi and the front door. "You aren't going to face her again, you hear me?!"

"It's inevitable," he said, picking her child form up and setting her aside. "She's found us and there's no use on running away."

Naga sneered. "Why are you so terrified? Let me face her! I'm the powerful White Serpent, why should I be afraid of some child with a skin problem?"

"No, no, you stand back!" Ymir said. "I'm the boss' lieutenant and you'll listen to me! Do you even know what is that? That is an Averruncus!"

"So?" Naga asked, raising an eyebrow in a dismissive way while Negi pulled the front door open.

Sextum stood on the doorstep, staring directly into his eyes and sending shivers up his spine.

"Announcing yourself in public was a mistake," Sextum said.

Negi growled. Being an adult at the time, he was much taller than her now, but she still had a clear dominant presence over his regardless. "What do you want?"

"What do you want?" she asked back. "Fighting me again? I studied the footage of your recent battles. You have improved, that is undeniable. But not enough."

"You bitch..." Asuna hissed, shaking angrily. "You don't know half of it yet..."

"Oh. You are here," Sextum looked in at her. "That is good. I come to negotiate, Negi Springfield."

"See? I knew it!" came Naga's obnoxious voice from the living room. "She's scared once she got a glimpse of my-"

"Shut the fuck up, Naga!" Ymir growled at her.

"The last time you faced me with a full team, I defeated all of you. This time would be no different," Sextum told Negi, back to ignoring everyone else. "Those Fairy Tail members at the Fawlty went after me, I could tell, but my allies are deployed across these city blocks, and they will engage them and those present here should they try to interfere."

"What are you planning?" Negi asked her.

"We have an offer for you," Sextum said. "The only reason why we attacked you at the Gateport was because you had something that belonged to us. Since your arrival to this world, you have secured another item we are interested on. If you were to cooperate and hand both of them over to us, we would gladly return you to Earth, safely. We even would help you find and collect the rest of your comrades so you are fee to go with them."

"Oh?" Tsukuyomi said. "That's very generous, Sexy-han. Do you mean that you'd be willing to let me go, too?"

"I hold no personal feelings of enmity against you for what you did," Sextum said plainly. "That would be pointless. And besides, the arm healed quickly."

"You're full of it," Asuna said. "How could you even take us back?"

"We have our own means of transportation between worlds," Sextum said. "Negi Springfield, you stand no chance of defeating us, and even if you did, you'd reveal yourself to the world." She gestured behind herself, at the people in the street. "Another battle between us would cause a large amount of collateral damage. Too much for the government of New Ostia to ignore."

"These two things you want," Negi growled. "What are they?"

Sextum pointed at Rito. "We want the Master Keyblade."

Rito blinked. "Ah? This old thing?! Sure thing, why not! I mean, it's not even mine, it belongs to this King Mickey Gadget-san talked about, but I don't even really want it, so-!"

"Perfect," Sextum interrupted. "And we have a need of her, as well," she added, pointing at another of the people huddled behind Negi.

"M-Me?!" Yukino blinked. "Oh, oh dear! So Zagato sent you after all?!"

"No, not you. Her," Sextum corrected her, making a point of pointing harder so it was clear that she was actually pointing at Asuna.

Asuna blinked a few times. "Well... Crap!"


"Please don't hate me over this," Sextum said, picking a first pastry from her plate.

"Um, no, we bought those to be consumed, after all," Juvia said a bit absently.

"She doesn't mean that…!" Gray hissed.

Only Sextum, Negi, Louise and Naga sat at the large table, the last three facing the first. Skuld was still barricaded within her taller, and everyone else stood in a wide circle around the table, every weapon at the ready. Only Naga appeared to be fully relaxed, stuffing her mouth indolently while looking at the Averruncus with an air of fair amusement.

"Asuna isn't an object to be traded," Negi began. "That isn't open to discussion!"

"You don't even know what we want her for," Sextum said. "I told you that she was an object that belonged to us from the beginning."

"She is not an object!" Negi growled, slamming a hand on the table. Naga snorted at him as some snacks spilled from her plate.

"I am a mere tool of my creator's will, as well. In the end, are we not but simple objects created by beings far above us?" Sextum philosophized. "And should they see it fit, are they not entitled to make with us as they please?"

"Oh, come on…!" Louise said.

Sextum looked blandly at Lena. "Are you not like me in that regard? Or have you rebelled against Magica DeSpell's rightful claim on your existence?"

Lena gaped. "How did you know…?"

Sextum looked next at Illya. "Einzbern. You, better than anyone, should know better of the fine border between the human and the doll, the puppet that only exists to do its master's will. Your mother fulfilled her fate gladly. Why won't you do the same and honor her legacy?"

Illya seethed. "Don't you dare talking about my mother…!"

"You're talking nonsense," Asuna gasped dry, refusing to acknowledge the tiny gnawing feeling at the back of her mind. "Why should I be like you at all…?"

"We are sisters, Princess Asuna," Sextum said with a somber air of subdued finality. "You must submit to what our creator intended for us. For everyone's—"

"YOUR SISTER?! YOU MEAN THAT YOU'RE MY SISTER?!" Asuna bolted up, eyes widening like saucers.

Rana looked back and forth at them from his mother's shoulders. "You don't look alike at all…"

"Out of all the transparent ways to manipulate someone…!" Naga mused aloud.

"I won't be lectured on anything, much less on family relations, by Lina Inverse's sidekick," Sextum said.

Naga's face flared red. "How do you dare…!"

Sextum aimed a level glare at her. "Do I need to bring up the topic of how you have approached your relationship with your sister? Or rather, how have you not?"

Surprisingly, this seemed to blow the wind out of Naga's sails for a moment. She pulled back onto her chair, slightly pale, and then said in a low, grudging voice, "You think you know so much…"

"You must be joking!" Asuna said. "First you say that we are sisters, but then you say that you are just a creation of someone else! I'm the daughter of your creator? That's what you mean?!"

Sextum drew a short breath in. "Princess Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia. We are not the same kind of creature, of course, but we were created by the same remarkable person. Ialda Baoth, the Mage of the Beginning. She engineered you genetically from her own biomatrix to stabilize this world, which she also had created previously. That is why we need you now. You are the key to Mundus Magicus' salvation."

Everyone around the table reacted with different degrees of surprise and shock, but none moreso than Asuna herself, who had paled like a sheet of paper.

Sextum, ever patient, waited for them to shake that shared silence of confusion off.

Just like Sextum had expected her to, Tsukuyomi was the first to speak. "... huh! I'll admit I didn't see that coming..."

Chisame took a small hand to Asuna's arm. "Kagurazaka, even if that's true, it doesn't mean anything..."

"Oh!" Asuna seemed to snap back to reality, and reacted in anger. "Of course it wouldn't mean anything to you!"

"That, that's not what I mean!" Chisame said. "You're still just as human as Chachamaru or Tatsumiya!"

"Asuna, there's no shame on being born in a different way," Webby said. "Just look at Lena! And, let's say that, if I turned out to be a clone of Mr. McDuck or something, I'd be thrilled!"

"I suppose it should be indeed exciting for you to learn of a blood relation with one of the wealthiest individuals in this world," Sextum opined.

"I don't mean it like thaaaaat!" Webby said.

Asuna put her hands on her own face. "This is too much to take, and too fast! I'd been looking for these answers for years, and to be given them just like this?! I, I still don't believe you! You framed us and almost killed us all, so why should I believe you!"

"If you were just a random individual with no relation to our organization, why should I have any interest whatsoever in you?" the Averruncus reasoned.

"... point," Twilight admitted.

Sextum extended a hand towards Asuna. "Don't reject your destiny. Now that I know who are you, I'll never stop pursuing you until you come with us. And none of these people can stop me."

"Awfully sure of yourself, aren't you...?" Gray muttered between clenched teeth.

"If Asuna doesn't want to go with you, that still means that you don't have a right to take her away," Negi said. "If anything, you should be more respectful of her wishes if you truly are related!"

"Her wishes and mine mean nothing compared to those of the Master," Sextum said. "And she wants to-"

"Take over the world," Naga said, polishing her plate with the last snack and then eating it.

Sextum looked at her, annoyed.

"Now I remember a story Lina told me once," Naga dusted her hands off. "Back when she was even more of a shrimp than she is now, she and her sister aided Queen Arika and Ala Rubra in their fight against a band of would be world conquerors. Using subterfuge and treachery, these holier-than-thou miscreants, Cosmo Entelecheia, turned the governments against each other and caused several wars that took thousands of lives. They were defeated afterwards, of course, but it looks like a few cockroaches slipped through the cracks and have returned now..."

The black haired sorceress smiled at the scowling Sextum. "Things that one learns when one is 'Lina Inverse's sidekick'," she taunted her.

Sextum quietly set her plate aside. "It would seem that I have lost my appetite. May I ask for some coffee before anything else?"

"We don't serve coffee here," Negi said tensely.

"Liquor, then?" Naga asked casually. "I feel like having a strong drink now..."

"We... We are all minors here," Spike confessed from Twilight's back.

"So?" Naga arched an eyebrow.

"I believe that I speak for Asuna when I say that she won't be going with you," Negi said, standing up.

"I feared as much. But it might be actually better this way," Sextum pondered.

With a single fast motion, she stretched her hand open, and shot several daggers of sharp ice, which hit Negi and sent him flying through the wall behind him.

Chaos ensued.


"We were too late..." Murakami Natsumi lamented as they left the stadium. "Sensei won't fight again for two days! How are we supposed to find him in the meanwhile?"

"We will do some detective work," suggested her travel companion, raising a finger and wagging it. "Finding a young man with a large circle of fans can't be too difficult, can it? And the way you described your friends, they can't be keeping that low a profile!"

"That's what worries me," Natsumi sighed. "They have a lot of enemies, and even the whole team was beaten down back there. Separated, they're in even greater danger..."

Drake Mallard unfolded a map of the city and examined it as they walked. "Let's see... For a duo of fighters wanting to keep privacy and keeping several female partners around them, a hotel would be too risky. If they're thinking straight, they would want to rent a house instead. According to this handy guide, the neighborhood ahead of us offers several large residences for rent, and it's a popular destination for tourists on a reasonable budget."

"Meaning?" Natsumi asked.

"The houses are big but also terribly dilapidated so they're cheap enough," the talking duck said.

"Makes sense." She nodded.

"Yep, yep. And since it's close to the colisseum, we should start looking th-"

A massive explosion resounded then, several city blocks ahead of them.

Drake smiled. "Bingo!"

And the freckled girl sweatdropped. "That does sound like them, all right. I don't know if I should feel glad or terrified now..."


From a nearby rooftop, orders were issued in a clear, yet hushed tone.

"She's initiated hostilities. You know what to do."

Chisame was screaming Negi's name and moving quickly towards the blur that was Sextum. The albino was rocketing through the hole in the wall to engage Negi in combat on the sidewalk outside.

Webby all but stumbled after Chisame while Lena, in turn, tried to reach for Webby and pull her back. Before the taller duck girl could do so, however, she was forcibly yanked back by someone or something else, making her quack loudly in further surprise.

Several explosions boomed through the living room, scattering Negi's comrades and assorted mercenaries in all directions. The windows shattered from the outside, and people jumped in through them.

Asuna, who had dropped onto Rito's face crotchfirst and knocking him out, was the first to get a clear look at one of the intruders, recognizing her as the beautiful girl with long long pigtails who had followed Sextum through Kyoto. She was wearing a long white cloak and thick soled boots, and was staring coldly at her.

"You come with us," Homura said, and moved a hand around, sending a burst of flames towards Asuna. The redhead grabbed Rito and jumped back with him, causing him to yelp and wake up abruptly.

Chisame, still in her child form, had rolled across some shattered glass, getting minor cuts, before being helped to stop by Webby, right before she could fall in the way of one of the sonic booms that had devastated the house. Now they were on the sidewalk, not too far from where Negi was powering up in his Magia Erebea form to face Sextum.

A gorgeous young lady with long light brown hair stood over them, wearing a long white coat and boots. In her hands she held a violin, and she had two long, blunt ended horns sprouting from her scalp.

"Greetings, I am Shirabe," she introduced herself with a polite bowing. "I will be your opponent today, it seems."

Yue had been hugged by Collet as the dog girl threw herself aside and out of the way of another explosion, going the opposite direction from the others. They bumped against a wall, and then Collet was punted in the butt and away from Yue. Yue looked up to see a tanned girl with a long reptilian tail sticking out the lower back of her long, concealing white overcoat. She had an expressionless face much like Yue herself's, and two long twisted horns, each on a side of her head.

"I am Tamaki," this stranger hissed coldly. "Prepare to surrender, or face the consequences."

Naga picked Illya in her arms and shielded her with her body, all but forming a ball around her to protect her from the brunt of the explosions. Illya whined as she felt the woman's large breasts smashing down on her head and almost suffocating her, but soon, she had to forget about it.

A more pressing concern had appeared in the form of a girl also wearing white, with short black hair and two cute black cat ears sticking out of it. She also had a long black tail, much like that of a feline.

Naga clenched a sharp wide grin. "Ohh, ho ho ho! I certainly hope you have nine lives, because I'm taking seven of them today! Who are you, you little interloper?"

"Call me Koyomi, please," the girl said, flexing her hands and popping large claws out each finger. "Lina Inverse's sidekick. This will earn us some fame…"

"WHY PEOPLE INSIST ON CALLING ME THAT?!"

Kotaro coughed and popped back up to his feet, with Jillas and Yukino falling by his side. He tried to locate the others, but the first thing he saw, instead, was what he thought was Sextum. A better look through the rising dust and a sniff of the air told him otherwise. This was a young man, although strikingly similar to Sextum. A bit shorter, maybe. With even colder, more piercing eyes.

"Aw, damn…" Kotaro muttered, finally remembering him from the Gateport.

"Inugami Kotaro," Tertium Averruncus said, spreading his arms slowly. "We didn't get to fight each other back there. Let us see if Quintum was—"

Then Gray jumped out from a side and kicked him in the face.

Chaos ensued again.


Negi let out all of the air in his lungs, cleared his mind, and rapidly began filling it with nothing but dark thoughts, which was scarily easy at the moment.

It came over to him far faster and more intensely than the first few times, during Rakan's training. It paralyzed his heart for a moment and made his eyes widen, filling them with oily darkness. His hair stood spikier and crackled with electricity. His hands clawed around, as he stood on the sidewalk, surrounded by shrieking tourists fleeing the scene.

"Ah. Magia Erebea," Sextum said, pausing before him. "Who taught it to you? McDowell?"

Negi roared, and he didn't recognize his own voice. It sounded like Berserker's, somewhat, but exploding out of his own chest and throat, which would have made it scarier if only his mind wasn't clouded so much by hatred and anger at the time.

He fixed his killer eyes on the girl before him and launched himself at her, slashing and punching.

"Interesting," she said, managing to block his first blow with an arm, but then flinching subtly, with an expression he hadn't seen in her before. "I never had the chance to fight an user myself. Only read the reports on them..."

She had, naturally, seen McDowell's display in Kyoto, but hadn't dared tackling her, for she knew that would be suicide. This boy, however, clearly hadn't reached the same level yet. How could he? Obviously, he hadn't learned the technique by the time Ala Alba was ambushed, so it had to be an extremely recent development.

So bestial at this point, and yet, as she kept blocking and dodging more of his attacks to qualify them properly, she realized that not only he was giving no signs of growing tired, not only he seemed more energized by the moment of anything, but he was gaining more control over himself, striking with more precision. Each punch and kick was more restrained and refined than the prior, and he was making evident his mastery of the Chinese martial arts, the same ones he had learned after Kyoto and shown her at the Gateport.

"Yes, this is much better," she said softly. "I am satisfied by your progress..."

His face trembled and clenched, and then, in a paradoxically slow motion over the vertiginous blur of his movements, twisted itself backwards into a smile of sorts. She smelled nice, not like his sister, but antiseptic and calming in a way, helping him cope through his fury. The calm in her face as he hit her also helped, as this was different from fighting while Rakan taunted him.

Without knowing why, without noticing it, she smiled back. She began pressing back on the attack, bashing his fists with hers, and creating small explosions with each impact. She advanced on him, and for a moment he was pushed back, but then he stood his ground and the irresistible force met the unmovable object. They reached a stalemate in the same spot, each countering and blocking each hit from the other as their bodies exerted themselves, and the ground gave up and began cracking and exploding into shards of pavement under them.

Tsukuyomi watched them, dusting herself off while walking out of the house with her blade well in hand. For a moment she doubted on which one to attack, as if that mattered, and then, by watching them to answer this question ringing in her head, she saw the signals and smirked.

"Oooo, Negi-han," she cooed to herself, with a small coquettish giggle. "I knew it! You do have it in you after all..."


Meanwhile, in Chaldea. Don't ask:

"Your friends? Yes, yes, I think I can do that," Caster Cu Chulainn said pensively. He pulled a few runes out of a sleeve, threw them around on the floor he was sitting onto, and spun them around a few times, muttering to himself. Then he took a good look at them and hummed.

"What is it? Can you see something?" Shirou asked eagerly.

"The one you call the 'Tiger', whoever that is, is fine," Caster said. "Rin, your sister is about to take a dangerous trip, and there's an old man with a head like a cucumber who will be having to cash on a lot of property insurance in the near future. That is all I can tell."

"Oh," Rin said, quietly disappointed. "So you can't see anything about Negi-sensei..."

Scathach leaned closer, making Cu stiffen in place and backpedal on his butt. "Let me make an attempt of my own with this," she said, revolving the runes herself for a few moments. Then she frowned. "I see..."

"Can you see something else?" Artoria asked.

"This might or not be building up towards a massive confrontation against an ancient eldritch cosmic creature and an ensuing erotica miniseries acting as an epilogue, inspired by the works of the Dark Lord Davies," Scathach said. "Or it might be just irrelevant false foreshadowing," she shrugged. "It is difficult to see when the future is still shifting through the veils of realms..."

Jaguarman approached with Abby in tow. "Seriously? I thought that was our job!" She looked at Shirou. "Who are you? You look familiar..."

He sighed. "They haven't said how we got here yet..."

"See?" Scathach said. "Buildup without payoff and payoff without buildup. It happens all the time..."


To be Continued.