Over a year! Welp, time to return to this *Upside-down smiley face*
To AmethystPone: Yeah, the first chapters were from my naive young age :3. Have fixed that since.
If there is a list of what not to do as a 'bad' guy in Magical World, the very first thing is to not get worse. Otherwise their heads might roll even before they know it.
Stealing, fighting, shady business and more. As long as it doesn't get people's lives in mortal danger, all are accepted in Magical World. The government knows it, and they try to neutralize it, but 'Shadow will always follow after light'. What they can do is to protect the innocent people out of it. Bounties are also set on the heads of the dangerous criminals around the world, and thus giving jobs and money for people who need something to do to live.
There is one bounty, however, that the people haven't been able to claim, and it keeps rising to the point THE ONE BEING WANTED puts more money on the front desk and dares anyone to try to put her down. The only reason that people keep trying to do so is because they know that they won't be killed after any failed attempts... if they fight head-on and without dirty tricks.
This target never had a name, and the government call her Queen of Annihilation after numerous events, big and small, she has involved herself in. However, the folks-in-town give her another name, Angelica, due to what she has done for the people during her 'break time'.
To this day, even hearing either of the name gives everyone shivers on their backs, but the ones on the right side will always know that they have nothing to fear against the person. Even if the person is sitting right next to them with a knife in her hand while giving them a terrifying smile.
"Hey Chief, I believe you have guests!"
"Yeah? Define 'guests'." The bear-lady maid, which is called Chief by her subordinates, is preparing some drinks on the back when the bartender calls for her.
"A bunch of kids who know the trio you are looking after!"
That causes her to pause for a second to register the information, then she quickly places the drinks on the tray and gives it to one of the waitress. "Bring this to the table of four near the window. And tell the kids to wait for a moment."
After it's done, Chief quickly makes her way towards where she last saw the girls working to pay for the medicine that saved one of them. Though, when she reaches the area, she sees the leading member of the Grancius Fortes, Tosaka, harassing the girls while carrying a torture device in his hand. Given the expression of one of the girls...
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU DAMN GOOD-FOR-NOTHING!?" The Chief instantly throws a punch right at his face, dropping him to the floor. She then picks up the device and shouts again: "This again!? How many times do I have to tell you to NOT mess with this!?"
"But Mama, they..."
"NO EXCUSES!" The bear-lady starts beating the guy down while his comrades watch while sighing at their leader's misfortune. "Their health is more important than your damn thug life! How do you intend to compensate for the pain you caused them!?"
She then notices a group of young people starting to run to her crowd from one of the stairs, and hears shouts of worried from behind her. She turns back and sees the sick girl collapse, possibly because of the stress and whatever the dumb below her has caused. One of the girls quickly holds the girl up and assesses the poor girl's conditions, while the other asks the bear-lady to take leave. She motions her to do so, and the new group quickly joins the trio as well and they take the sick girl to sickbay quickly.
When they're out of view, Chief grabs Tosaka's collar and picks her up to eye level and speaks in a threatening voice: "Like I said, those ones' health is more important than you. And unless you want to be on Angelica's watch-list, you better watch yourself." That causes him and his comrades to widen their eyes in shock and fear. "She asked me HERSELF to ensure their safety before her attack. This is the last warning..."
"OF COURSE MAMA!" It doesn't take a genius to tell how terrified he is as he replies instantly even before Chief finishes her words. His comrades have also stood straight up and dared not to move.
"Good!" With that, the bear-lady drops him and starts heading to see if those kids need help.
"It seems that her body is still adjusting." Marvy sighs in relief as she checks on Ako's pulse. "It's only been a few days after she took the medicine, right?"
"That's right, miss Marvy." Akira replies, her worry about her friend's condition slightly lessens when she knows that Ako's okay, for now. "Is she going to be fine soon?"
"Given the nature of her sickness and the medicine... I would say yes." Tekken answers. "However, I'm more concerned about how to pay the debts."
"Couldn't we just ask Kuro-sensei or..."
Do you think he could do so if he had to ask a local to look after the girls, Asakura? Any involvements from him at this point can direct dangers to the girls. And no, I don't have the money, he does.
"Then... do we have to stay forever..."
"Negative, Natsumi." Chachamaru disagrees. "We have found a way to get the money, but it would take some times."
"I guess that's one way." Chiu understands what the robot girl is talking about. "But the ones who can do so..."
...
"Is the girl okay?"
"She is." Negi nods as the bear-lady asks. "Thank you for your interference. I hope the girls didn't cause you any problems."
"Nah, they didn't... say, you kids know Angelica personally or what?"
"Never heard of the name." Kotarou replies, shaking his head.
"...Strange... Oh wait, what about the Queen of Annihilation?" Now that earns Chief nods of confirmation. "No wonder."
"Is there a different way for us to revert this contract?" Negi asks, hoping that they could save the girls easily.
"Unfortunately not. A million Drachma is not cheap." The bear-lady then turns her heels and walks away. "When that girl is okay, tell them to return back to work for me."
"...So that's on the table then." Waiting for the bear-lady to be completely out of sight, Kotarou speaks to his partner.
"We don't really know how powerful the fighters are, but we have to try."
"Hey, we were taught by two most dangerous beings in this world. How hard could it be?" Kotarou slaps Negi on the back with a cheeky attitude. His tone turns serious and he continues in a lower voice: "We also need to make sure Fate and his buddies aren't around."
"I don't believe he would move for now. Our encounter with Kuro definitely gave Fate a warning that his moves are being watched."
"Does he even know Kuro and QoA are the same person?"
"I doubt it. Though he could suspect that since Kuro appeared to interfere with his plans."
Their conversation is interrupted as the girls go out to let Ako rest... and push Negi in to wait for her to wake up. Meanwhile, Asakura asks Kotarou: "So do you two..."
"Yeah, we are joining that." He then turns and asks: "Natsumi-nee, have you heard of someone named Angelica?"
"Um... a couple of times. Is she someone important?" The girl's very clueless of the current situation.
"...Should we tell Ako that Negi-sensei is Nagi-san?" Akira changes the conversation. "She is..."
"That's something she and Negi have to work together on." Asakura shrugs. "I doubt it makes any differences though."
"It does, Asakura." A voice speaks out from behind Akira, causing the girl to jump forward in surprise and turn back to see who just appeared behind her. "Love is not something to be taken lightly off."
"Oh hey K..." Something instantly hits Kotarou on the back on his head, hard, causing him to stop his words midway. He coughs once before continuing: "Is that necessary?"
"Until I reveal myself to this world, please refer me as Angelica or QoA." The woman chilly replies.
Upon hearing the name, Natsumi and Akira quickly bow down to them as the former says: "The Chief told us that you told her to take care of us. Thank you for..."
"Don't thank me yet, my students." The woman's line causes the duo to be slightly stunned. She then turns to Marvy and Tekken and says: "I won't ask you to join the Tournament. It's your free choice to do so if you want to increase the chance to save them."
"You know us well enough to know the answer for that." Marvy shakes her head in amusement. "So, are you used being a woman yet?"
"...That's an uncomfortable yes." That causes the Ninja and the Boxer to try their best to hold their laughs, while the talking one tries to hide her blush in embarrassment. "Please don't tell them."
Oh I will.
"...Curse you." T.O's response and the whisper can only be heard by the Gamindustrians, as the two laugh out loud.
"Now that's a rare sight to see!" The bear-lady returns back and sees the scene before her. "So you are going to take them away, or what?"
"...Unfortunately, not at the moment. I would have to ask you to continue keeping the trio safe. The others, however, can be treated as normal customers."
"Given that they seem to be extremely close to you, I would have to think twice about it. You want something or not?"
"...Not today." The blush fades, and QoA gives the group the last words: "I will see you again in near future." With that, a wind suddenly blows up and surrounds her, causing everyone else to cover their eyes with their arms. Then, when the wind disappears, so does the woman.
"Just in and out everywhere she wants." Chief shakes her head in defeat. She turns to see Tekken and Marvy still giggling. "I know Angelica doesn't really care, but you two are daredevils to laugh at her like that."
"Oh, you just have to push the right buttons." Marvy stops first as she straightens herself. "By the way, do you have something to say with us?"
"Two things, actually. First is to tell the girls to return back to work when they are done." The two girls nod twice. "Second is about the Tournament. Remember the punk I beat up earlier? Go talk to him if you want to join. Heard from the others that you planned to join the fight."
"That guy? Doesn't look like a fighter." Kotarou has his doubts.
"That's the only way he can make money. Anyway, meet you later." With that, the bear-lady goes for good.
"I think I'm good now." Tekken stops laughing but still smiles. "So we're all set..."
"Who is she? I don't remember her teaching us in Mahora." Akira interrupts.
"That's... Negi-sensei's assistant." Chachamaru replies, not wanting to reveal the truth too directly.
"...EH?"
Back to Earth. Mahora Academy. Albireo's current residence
"Ah, Kitty. What an unexpected time to see you here." The man's enjoying the annoying expression the vampire's sending, though he's a bit disappointed that she doesn't do anything more. Once the girl sits in the sofa and takes her own teacup, he asks: "So what pleasure do I have to..."
"How can I separate Mage of the Beginning out of Nagi?"
The book in his hand falls to the ground, as he turns to see the girl with a rare surprised expression. "...Where did you get that information?"
"We both know who has that type of knowledge." Taking a sip from her cup, Eva continues. "As a book lover, you can take a guess."
"...So our future has been written. And she knew all along." He picks up the book and puts it on the table. "No wonder she sometimes refused to join our operations."
"One of the futures, to be precise. However, that doesn't mean we can't do anything to rewrite it."
"...I would have to reply with another question: There is a way to save him?"
"Not by myself, but there's a way. And I want to find another."
"Too risky?"
"Yes. And there is a chance to fail that."
"...Why helping them?"
"I just hate that bastard, and want him dead for good."
A minute passes as the only sound that can be heard is the nearby waterfall.
"...Both of them are unkillable."
"At least in mortal realm. Sometimes, fantasy can help... and that's why I'm here."
"...I see. Though, do we have anything that can support the idea?"
"...I happened to meet a Rift-opener. Two to be precise. Not sure one will join, but the other..."
Back to Mars
"Two against one, a little bit unfair you know." Tekken feels a little bad as she and Marvy watch Negi and Kotarou wrecking the first 'requirement' to earn a place in the tournament. "One of them would be enough to beat the poor guy up."
"That's where we come in, don't we?" Marvy says as the duo jumps into the arena. When Tosaka notices the girls joining the fray, the ninja asks: "Hey, do you have another slots for us?"
After snapping out of shock, the 'errand boy' grunts: "As long as you can fight, you are allowed to join the Tournament."
"I hope we don't have to fight each other..." Negi, now known as Nagi, sweatdrops. "If you practice with Kuro-sensei on a daily basis..."
"None of us are on his levels, not even Neptune and her friends could beat him up even when they gang up on him." Marvy giggles. "Though you can think of us somewhere around their levels."
"How about that boy, Chaos or something? He's pretty strong too."
"Don't even try, Kojirou. If anything, he and his sister are the only ones able to hold a candle to him." Tekken then re-thinks. "...Maybe Clem too, but she's an exception."
Seeing how the first duo tenses while thinking of fighting the second duo, Tosaka snorts and says: "If you girls want to join, there how about having a spar with these boys and I will determine if you can hold up or not."
"Sounds fine to me." Marvy shrugs while Tekken nods with anticipation.
'Not to us!' Negi screams in his head once before he and Kotarou head to one size of the arena while the girls head to the other. "Please go easy on us..."
"Really? You're scared now?"
"Isn't that obvious!?"
After checking both sides are ready, Tosaka starts the fight. Kojirou goes straight up to Tekken and aims a punch to her face, who responses by slightly turning her body to the right and blocks the attack with her left arm. She then unleashes her Fujin Fist that hits her opponent's chest, sending him fly to the sky. Though that leaves her in a vulnerable state, so Nagi takes that chance and prepares for a palm strike. However, Marvy sees it coming and attacks first with her blades, causing the young teacher to release the attack to the ninja and palm meets blades. She then ignites them with fire that causes Nagi to quickly back away, and she starts slashing with both her blades, and he has to quickly encase his arms with Protection spells and trade blows with her.
Tekken plans to jump up and hit the wolf boy mid-air, but she notices a presence behind him, so she turns back to see the real Kojirou with his right palm opening and his energy gathering in it. She crosses her arms and embraces the full strike as he attacks, though she's not moved. Two more clones of Kojirou appear around her, and the airborne one has already recovered, and the four blast Kuuga strikes on the girl, hitting her all over the places. Most of the clones disappear, leaving the real one in front of her, and Kojirou delivers a straight punch towards her torso, expecting her to fly away... Instead, he hears a small moan of satisfaction before his face's met with Tekken's right hook and he's knocked back a few meters.
Seeing that the Protection spells won't hold for long, Nagi swats Marvy's blades away and switch the spells into Sword of Conviction which he learnt from Eva, and re-exchanges slashes. But when he manages to get a hit, the Marvy before him turns into a wood log and the real one appears from his left and kicks his side. He turns his sword to her direction and stabs down, but it's another clone. Luckily this time he sees her on the last second and blocks her blade strikes.
"Alright, that's enough!" Tosaka calls out, causing both sides to drop their fighting stances. "You two can join. Hell, you girls might head even further than the two boys here."
"Well they clearly have more experiences than us." Kojirou scratches his head as he walks closer to Tekken and asks: "How are you holding on? You took all the hits..."
"It... feels good..." That creeps the wolf boy out when he sees the girl's blissful face. "It's been a while anyone can punch me that hard..."
"Uh..." The boy quickly backs away while watching the girl having her time 'adjusting' the damage, before bumping into a stunned Nagi and a chuckling Marvy. "Might explain what happened to her?"
"Any pain that doesn't exceed her defenses is converted into pleasure." Marvy has to cover her mouth to not let out a full laugh when she sees Kojirou hanging his mouth in shock. The ninja girl then reaches her friend and starts pulling her out of the arena while talking: "See you boys later. And Tekken, time to turn you off before you creep them out even more."
"But he hits so good! Can I fight with him more?"
"...Now I'm glad she didn't enter the previous tournament." After the girls are completely out of the arena, the wolf boy slams his hand on Nagi's back to give him a shock out of the stunned. "How are all of his friends weird in one way or another?"
"...He is 'weird' on his own ways. After seeing how Clem works, I'm not surprised the rest of their friends being 'unique'. My class would come close, though."
Transportation Portal
"Ah, thank goodness. You two managed to get through the gate before it closes." Monet McGuiness sighs in relief as she greets the two comers from Earth, Takamichi and Mana. "The situation is worse than we thought."
"I can tell." Mana looks at the reconstruction around her. "Has the Government made any moves?"
"They only announced bounties on the heads of people involved. Which includes Negi's friends and students." Monet shows the two the recent news in Magical World. "The only thing that may divert attentions from them is Queen of Annihilation's interferences. As far as people's concern, QoA's return means something bad's about to happen."
"I see." Takamichi acknowledges as he puts away his cigarette. "Our priority now is to deal with the real threat that caused QoA to act first. We need not worry about Negi yet, he needs to push through the dangers to find his father after all."
"And I'm sure QoA is already taking an eye on them. Am I right?" Mana then looks at someone behind Monet, and the mage turns back and yelp in surprise as the woman in hood appears from nowhere. "Here to greet us? I don't remember that being your, well, QoA's style."
"Isn't her style also lurking around in darkness then pwn people in broad daylight?" The woman removes the hood to reveal her face. "And you're correct. Otherwise the others will murder me for sure."
Monet is slightly taken aback at how both sides talk so casually with each other. She then asks: "Takahata-sensei... you know the Queen, personally?"
"I'm sure you have seen 'her'..." Takamichi makes a quote symbol with his left hand, which causes both Mana and QoA to giggle much to Monet's surprise. "With Negi's group already." He then turns serious as he asks: "Do you have any additional information, regarding to..."
"No." The air quickly shifts as QoA pulls up her hood again. "With that 'boy' still persisting in hiding the truth, anything else will have to wait. However, one thing can be certain: Time to clear her name is near." A burst of wind kicks up, and everyone covers their eyes with their arm. Once it's over, they look to see that the woman has disappeared.
"Still the same old teacher we know, Takahata-sensei?"
"You expect anything else?" The two then get pass Monet to head into the city, though the teacher whispers into Monet's ears: "That's Kuro-sensei, by the way."
"...EH?"