The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-drei: Extra Elf
Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Ich bin Erika
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Her head kept on spinning, no matter how much she willed it to stop, because she just couldn't believe it. Even after seeing it with her own eyes, she still refused to believe it.
But no matter what her mind convinced her of, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann was still holding eye contact with Manfred Nishizumi, in front of his apartment aboard the Zuikaku, in the dead of night. Never in a thousand years would she have expected to encounter him again, let alone after only several weeks. She thought that kiss she shared with him would be the last shred of memory of him she would have, as well as his, considering she had pinched a nerve in his neck while they were still lip-locked. That made him collapse unconscious, and after she uttered a soft and brief "vergib mir," that was the last she had ever seen of him.
But here he was again as fate caught up to her, it seemed. And yet, the most puzzling thing to Erika was that he wasn't upset in the slightest about that. It was highly ironic that Manfred had honored that last request to forgive her for that nerve pinch. Rather, he was more concerned with her, which she could not understand.
Manfred could understand, however, because the Erika he saw now looked like she had hit rock bottom and was just barely clinging to any shred of life within her. It showed physically, as well: the blonde appeared ridden with sickness with how she often had to cough and with how pale she was. She also had a lot less pride in the way she held herself. With all that, he could tell she was on the verge of just giving up on life.
"Are you here to drag me back there?" Erika quietly asked, sounding a lot weaker than usual thanks to both a lack of will and her present cold. "Because you'll be disappointed…" She chuckled ruefully, giving a similarly half-hearted smile. "Then again, I'm no stranger to disappointing people, am I?" The debacle with Pravda sprang forth in both their minds, as well as the disastrous fallout following.
Manfred said nothing for a really long time, just scanning over his very best friend and crush. The thing he knew about Erika, perhaps better than anybody, was that she was much like an overgrown child. While often that meant she brought great energy to whatever environment she was in, it also meant that she needed someone to lean on, or she was completely lost. She could not take care of herself, meaning she would end up as she was now: burdened by illness because she just didn't know how to look after herself.
It would've been something that most people would've scoffed at before telling her to grow up, but it was the honest truth. It was just something she had never thought about before, figuring she had plenty of time to do so with being an adolescent, but being committed to a life alone so abruptly was effectively the hay that broke the camel's back for her, after everything with Pravda and Schwarzwaldspitze.
Suddenly, everything began spinning again for Erika, and she couldn't stand any longer. Manfred rushed over and caught her, preventing her from collapsing. "Niemals…" she answered her own question from earlier, vowing to never go back, lifting her inflexible gaze to meet his own concerned one. "I have resolved not to be held back by Isabel's lack of love for me, but never will I forgive or forget it." She lightly pushed herself away from him as the spinning stopped. "I will never allow myself the chance to be ripped apart from within like that again, nor will I allow myself to depend on someone else's approval ever again. I stand for me and only me."
Manfred could tell there was a double meaning to her words, as a warning to him that she would never let him in close, either. "Then don't," he softly said. Though he was concerned with the kind of person she was setting herself up to be, he had already committed himself to stand beside her when he left Schwarzwaldspitze to search for her. There was no going back now.
And so they were back, the two of them. They were now back at each other's side, and back into the Arts of Warfare. Interestingly, that was how they both reunited for the first time. Both had been called to President Kadotani's office, with Erika being called first. She had no qualms about getting back into the air, although it was a bit surprising to find out that Ooarai even had an Arts of Warfare program in the first place. Though, after finding out it was literally just reinstated, she understood.
But that nearly all came crashing down when Manfred was called in. Erika had actually drawn the knife she was gifted by him against him, ready to throw it by the blade. She was just utterly terrified that he was here. And it wasn't really a logical reason as to why. At first, she had thought he was there to forcibly bring her back to Schwarzwaldspitze, as was ordered of a handful of Sicherheitsoffiziere when she had fled. Of course, she was able to escape after being cornered by them, and in the back of her mind she just knew he would never do that to her, but the fear of her former school's ruthless Sicherheit that had been sent after her still remained strong.
The Student Council members and a few others present had all gone wide-eyed and gasped at the brandishing, but Manfred never even flinched despite having the weapon he gifted her now being wielded against him. Even though he no longer knew her as well as he did before, he still chose to blindly trust Erika, putting faith in her to do the right thing. Eventually, after a long, silent conversation passed between them with their facial expressions, Erika finally lowered her gifted knife in acquiescence. But it wasn't over yet.
The next day in the hangars where everyone in the newly established Arts of Warfare program was, the blonde caught sight of a Messer within, disassembled partially but still sturdy and full of potential. As she walked towards it, she had unconsciously been growing a more confident posture, easing back into familiarity. When she reached it and inspected it, she then turned around, and by that point she had a very powerful posture, looking like she just belonged there.
Even the friends she had made in the short time she'd been aboard the Zuikaku could now see that this was Erika. Both of them just uncovered another interesting tidbit about the strange girl they had on a whim decided to have lunch with. Antonella Silva, with her flowing blonde hair and blue eyes, was wide-eyed and mouthing, 'Holy shit!' in amazement to Helma von Benz beside her. Really, the power that Erika was exuding right now was easily felt, such that the blonde American teenager was stunned in awe by it.
Yes… Everyone that had signed on to the Arts of Warfare programs' aviation branch – and even those from other branches, as well – could see that this girl was someone to fear. This was her element. This was Erika.
"Get ready, you heartless monster…" she quietly said to herself as she took in the Bf 109E sitting before her, aiming the message at a very particular black-haired teenager that looked startlingly similar to her. "Because I'm coming for you."
All embrace me
It's my chance to come around
"So," Erika began, taking a moment to memorize all the faces within Ooarai's newly-created Jagdstaffel. In total, there were only five aircraft to its name, but even then she could tell that there would be some strain on them. There were enough people to pilot them all, but some of the ground crews would be understaffed. "Let me begin with saying this: I've been doing this sort of thing for ten years now, so I highly suggest you listen to me if you actually have any passion for this. Otherwise…" She pointed off to the side. "You can show yourself out."
Bringing her arm back down and clasping her hands behind her, she continued, "I will not tolerate petty jealousies and internal rivalries. If that becomes a problem, then you will be dismissed." Eventually after she outlined her ground rules, everyone was fully willing to concede to her demands. They were logical demands, but most of them just didn't want to see what would happen if they got on her bad side. They all had the feeling it would be utter hell if they did.
Fifteen years have I been waiting!
To be tip of the crown
Erika's issues with Isabel had, over the time she was away, begun to foster themselves into a deeply-rooted vendetta and desire to prove herself superior to her.
Manfred knew that over the past year, Isabel had kind of let victory go to her head and therefore hadn't been the best sister to Erika, but this was becoming very concerning seeing just how much Erika held it against her now. When the two were younger, there was no known force that could tear them apart, but as they grew older, Isabel grew more and more competitive and focused on achieving victory until eventually other things came second to that. Last year it came to a peak when they lost to Pravda.
But this was just madness. Erika was literally finding everything she could possibly dig up in her fifteen years of memories to hold against Isabel. And Manfred knew from experience that once Erika set her sights on something, that nothing would stop her from achieving it. Nothing.
Seeing that fire come up in her eyes again, he knew that she wouldn't see reason to stop until she proved herself the superior sister. Seeing her confidence return held that same connotation to it, but he was able to find a bright side: the old Erika also had the same confidence levels. Maybe this would be a blessing in disguise.
No allegiance
I will swear no oath!
"Fine," Erika answered Anna Novat's request for her to lead the new Jagdstaffel. She lifted a finger to interject. "But… On one condition…" Lowering the finger she continued, looking the Austro-Bavarian straight in the eye as she did. "This Jagdstaffel will be mine. I will not accept you interfering and going over my head and commanding my own troops around. If I am to do this for you, then I want total control and a promise that you will not usurp me. Habe ich mich klar gemacht?"
Anna silently cursed Erika's ability to see through her. Originally, she had wanted to share command with her to keep her in line, but now she was being forced to choose between getting Erika's talents and having no way to rein her in, or not having her at all. "Sie haben sich klar genug ausgedrückt," she eventually, and somewhat reluctantly, answered that Erika had expressed herself clearly enough, ergo handing complete control of the new Jagdstaffel to her. She needed the Swabian. Otherwise, it was as Akio Kadotani had alluded to: they would not be here much longer if they did not get Erika and Manfred to join up.
Only me, not any others!
Now kneel and kiss my toes
"God…" Antonella swooned one day as she stared at Manfred. "Would I love to tap that… He's hot…" This was shortly after she and Helma had met Erika, but it told enough about her wolf-like demeanor towards the more masculine sex. The black-haired German simply rolled her eyes, already calling it that the American would fail to seduce the vibrant brunette German.
"If you want to die…" they both heard Erika's voice. Both turned to see Erika fixing Antonella with a hard glower, and the American quickly got the idea to back off. But it did make them both curious: clearly the two of them shared history, but they and the rest of her friends hadn't been clued into it yet. Well, Antonella figured that should be her next mission: to get that information out of them in some way. Although, because of how Erika reacted just now, she was taking seduction off the list of possible methods. The fact that the blonde German had just shown such a strong possessiveness of Manfred spoke volumes about how Erika truly saw him, and Antonella couldn't wait for the day where it actually became reality.
And yet, despite that display of possessiveness, Erika more often than not deliberately tried avoiding the vibrant brunette she had known for literally all her life. She was very, very, very reluctant to accept Manfred's offer to live with him, because she still wanted to erase anything from before getting to Ooarai from her mind, including him.
But, in the end, she had to accept because her sense of survival overpowered her preferences. If she didn't accept, she would have fell into an even worse condition than her illness at the time was, possibly eventually ending in her perishing. She may have been stubborn, but her sense of survival kicked back in when it was most needed and saved her from that. Plus, she still felt some fondness for him in spite of what the majority of her mind was screaming at her.
I hate that I still want her gentle hand
But I'll make sure she understands
Dead to me!
And that was the least of her troubles within her mind. Or, at least, it paled in comparison to everything else swirling through her head. At present, she was an extremely conflicted person, having believed herself to have lost all previous identity of her after the whole Pravda and Schwarzwaldspitze debacle. Chief among those thoughts troubling her mind concerned her sister, Isabel. At times, she just really missed her and everything she had come to know about her over the years. She missed that big sister that always looked after her without hesitation.
But the next moment she would be cursing her name as if it was truly the name of a demoness, ironic considering her popular nickname was the Black Demoness. That was when she held nothing but pure hatred for her, having bore witness to the monstrous side of Isabel and vowing to never forget it now. This was the side of Erika that felt no pity or remorse for Isabel, nothing but contempt. For all intents and purposes, Isabel was dead to Erika.
My time has come
Over the skies I am queen!
The most common outlet for Erika's sheer frustration and anger was in the air. But that was not to say she didn't fight solely to relieve stress. In fact, that wasn't even a background reason of why she fought. No, the reason she was fighting so ferociously was out of spite. She wanted to make it known that she was the best in the world.
And that was exactly what she did in each practice fight she took part in before the new season started, having been pitted against the entirety of her own team first, then moving on to take her team against the veterans of St Gloriana, and also indulging the French school Lycée Maginot in a mock battle. All three, she came out the victor, leading the team to victory for the latter two.
Isabel, on your knees!
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
Erika only wanted one thing to come out of her battles for Ooarai. All she wanted was to be considered superior to Isabel, by everyone.
Curiously enough, that was what she got from both her foes after facing them. Group Captain Lynnette of St Gloriana had given due credit when Erika had made her the first casualty of their fight, acknowledging that the blonde German girl knew how eliminating her first would leave St Gloriana's Fighter Group leaderless and unable to retaliate. Furthermore, she had taken great advantage of the British's predominant perceptions of Ooarai as being a nobody, which had led them to not even consider the possibility of going up against an experienced foe like her. And they paid for it. Dearly.
And then there was Commandant de L'escadre Pierrette, who led Maginot's Escadre de Chasse. This blonde, aristocratic French girl had always wanted to take on either of the two Hartmann sisters, desiring the fame of bringing down one of Germany's best to put another tally mark in the French side of the centuries-long French-German rivalry. But considering how Maginot was trying a load of new things during their fight against Ooarai, Pierrette had clearly set her sights too high and overestimated her own forces. So, she was defeated also. It stung, but she took it and commended Erika for her fighting prowess.
Neither team was prepared to see the black-tulip-adorned Bf 109E diving for them with such a savage intent.
Claiming all for Enchantress!
Despite how ruthless she had demonstrated she could be to her foes, Erika did not extend that behavior towards the Jagdstaffel. Despite however selfish her reasons for wanting to obliterate the competition could be, not once was she like this with her comrades. While she may have been strict and insistent, she also had a knack for inspiring them to do their very best, which quickly got them all to stand by her without hesitation. If one of them did not perform up to standards, she was perfectly willing to personally help them improve.
That was the case with Alena Klose, a ninth-year brunette footballer who was one of the worse pilots Ooarai had from a skills standpoint. Having demonstrated a lack of trigger discipline in the mock battles, Erika dedicated time to drill it into her the importance of waiting until the enemy was within effective range before opening fire. Such people skills eventually got her the nickname 'Enchantress,' because there was just no way to actually dislike her, it seemed. She just had that sort of personality that made her easily approachable and able to make friends easily.
Take down Black Demoness!
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
Up next was the drawing for the next season's first round battles, which was where the two Hartmanns finally saw each other again after a couple months. When the Black Demoness had strutted her way to the stage, it made Erika shrink a little bit. No matter how much she hated her now, she still felt the amount of power Isabel still had in her, and that instinct as the younger sibling to cower in fear of the elder prevailed in her. Neither actually locked gazes with each other during the whole time, so no confrontation between them took place.
And then there was the encounter in the café, which consisted of her, Manfred, and several friends of theirs running into two of Schwarzwaldspitze's top officers: Erik Ignatz and Michael Nishizumi. Mainly, the interaction consisted of Erika and Erik quarrelling yet again, quite animatedly as they switched from English to German and back to English, but Michael had remained silent, giving a long look to his brother.
"Considering all your showboating, it would be terribly embarrassing if you lost to a 'bunch of amateur nobodies,'" Makoto Reizei – the driver of Manfred's Panzer IV, with shoulder-length black hair with bangs, a pair of hazel eyes, and short height – nonchalantly inserted at one point in response to something Erik said, using his exact words at the end. It made the German glare in contempt at him, but it did silence him. At the end, the two Schwarzwaldspitze tankers both left, but not before Antonella got the last word and called Erik a "winter-headed dickwad," which made Manfred cough as he tried to cover up a laugh, seeing as that was just another English version of Erika's long-standing nickname for the Stuttgarter: Schneeballkopf.
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
When it came time to take on the American powerhouse Saunders High School, Ooarai went into the battle with great confidence despite being outnumbered two-to-one both in the air and on the ground. It mattered not to the multinational school, they were all in high morale anyway thanks to their belief in Erika being a capable leader.
The battle started out as just trying to avoid being encircled for Ooarai down on the ground because, as they eventually discovered, Saunders was not as honest as they appeared to be. There was a radio balloon deployed by them that allowed them to tap into Ooarai's radio channels and listen to their transmissions, allowing them to predict their actions with startling accuracy.
But rather than destroy it, Manfred had come up with a way to have the balloon play to his own advantage and got everyone to generate false radio traffic, confusing Saunders' ground campaign greatly and allowing them to reduce their numbers.
In the air, it was not quite the same way. Erika had knowledge from prior recon that Saunders' Fighter Wing had fielded a P-38M equipped with an airborne radar. It wasn't as bad as it was on the ground because radar detection abilities were limited by distance, which could be easily built in the air. The German's battle plan was to get her side to evade air-to-air combat wherever they were disadvantaged and remain at low altitude, knowing that radars of this era did not have look-down, shoot-down capabilities.
Further along in the fight, Saunders had begun improvising upon discovering their underhanded tactics were being used against them. This, Manfred and Erika both were prepared for, and even embraced because this meant skill became the determining factor. While not without loss to themselves, Ooarai managed to work together and beat down Saunders until it was them who had the numerical advantage over the Americans.
Proved in battle
Led my folks to victories
The front page of the Ooarai daily school newsletter greatly illustrated the Ooarai victory over Saunders by displaying an image of Charlotte's P-38E as it burned in the air after it was shot down by Erika. 'OOARAI FORCES ACHIEVE SCORCHING VICTORY IN AMERICA!' was the headline.
If it wasn't made clear before, then now, Erika had definitely proved herself a suitable Staffelkapitän for Ooarai. Morale yet again increased, this time all around Ooarai, as the school's populace generally did not think their forces would even make it past the first round after discovering they were going up against a real powerhouse with Saunders. And yet Ooarai came away victorious. It gave a nice morale boost to everyone as pride in the Arts of Warfare program increased.
No one alive or dead commands me!
I will always run free
Also with Ooarai's victory, Erika grew even more concentrated on her original goal of achieving victory just to spite Isabel. Now, after seeing it was indeed possible to achieve that reality, she became completely committed to making sure it came to pass.
This was bad news for Manfred, as he now knew that there was no way Anna nor Akio, nor even himself, could reel her back in. Erika, he knew, had always been a free spirit, never letting anyone tell her what she could or couldn't do. She never let anyone order her around if she didn't want it.
Yet, despite that looming threat of darkness over her, Manfred did notice that Erika was also much livelier than she was when he first reunited with her. Now, it was relatively common to see her smiling and having fun with her friends. So the vibrant brunette Panzerkommandeur allowed himself to live this fantasy out, despite knowing that it would never be true.
Alternatively, he could see that Yuudai Akiyama – his tank loader who was a walking encyclopedia on tanks and had very unruly brown hair with matching brown eyes – had directed some curious glances at Erika. The boy had made it no secret that he was a fan of Manfred himself, having watched previous matches involving him, so, by association, the vibrant brunette just knew that Yuudai suspected something foreboding going on with Erika.
Hear my orders
None have questioned me!
"You all have done tremendously well for your first true fight out there," Erika said to the entirety of Ooarai's Arts of Warfare program with no small amount of pride. "The amount of pride I feel for the group standing before me could not possibly be greater. You have all proven yourselves as a group to be feared by the best in the business. Let this be a stepping stone to something greater, something that everyone will recognize us for, and let us uphold this newly-acquired reputation as an elite band of warriors!"
"YEAH!" "HURRA!" were the two most dominant responses from the multinational group, one in English and the other spoken by the sizable amount of Germans that made up a good portion of the Jagdstaffel and other branches. All of them simultaneously raised their fists in enthusiastic agreement, symbolizing their unity under their commanders.
They have full faith in my actions!
My greatest dream to be
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING CREATING SUCH A MESS!?" Minoru Kawashima raged in the bowels of the Zuikaku. He was the guy who dealt with public relations among the Student Council, but he was perhaps more well known for his strictness and his fiery temper when things didn't go his way. Physically, he was marked for having black hair, an extremely dark brown, almost black, for eye color, and, most oddly, a single eyeglass over his right eye.
"Squadron Leader's orders!" Trace Yeager, leader of the Aeronautics Club, gladly responded watching the Me 163B that had been languishing in storage below decks as it was hoisted up to the top of the ship into daylight. She was within a shaft within the ship itself as she worked to help get a VK 45.01 (P), also from storage, up to the surface, as well. The process was going a lot more roughly for the tank, as evidenced by how some chunks of wall had been taken out of the ship due to the tank's undesired swinging within the shaft.
Trace Yeager was on the tank itself along with the Automotive Club leader Kazuki Nakajima – who, despite sharing the same name, was not related to the Toyota sports car racer and Le Mans winner of the same name – as they both helped to stabilize the tank during its ascent. "All things considered, things are progressing better than I thought they would!" Kazuki felt the need to tell the observing Student Council. It didn't make Minoru any happier, though.
Trace Yeager was an American with quite a passion for aircraft and testing and modifying them. Often, it was she who was the fearless test pilot during these undertakings, which was an obvious conclusion due to how she showed no fear of flying an Me 163 when the plane was first discovered, even though it was a known death trap. She had light brown hair falling past her shoulders and blue eyes. Kazuki Nakajima was Japanese and also a hardcore motorhead, being highly skilled with a wrench as well as behind the wheel. Physically, he had short hair, dark brown in color, as well as similarly colored eyes.
I know I was destined to be my own
Can't help longing for sister's sure tone
Dead to me!
Before Erika knew it, the fifth of November had rolled around. Truly, she should not have felt that this day was any different from yesterday, or the day before. That is, she should have, if she had one-hundred percent conviction in her hatred for Isabel. But some traitorous portion of her mind had made her remember exactly what today was.
The reason why November fifth was such a special day was because it was Isabel's birthday. Last year, Erika had led the celebrations, having wanted to relieve the stress Isabel encountered daily as Geschwaderkommodore. In that way, she was successful, having given Isabel a party that she was truly thankful for. It was one of the happy memories that one section of Erika's mind loved to torture her with.
But Erika had to retain her resolve. She refused to let herself get caught up in those times and forget the monster that needed to be defeated. 'Tot für mich,' she reinforced the notion that Isabel was dead to her.
My time is now
Over the skies I am queen!
This was her time to shine, and she would have it, one way or the other. Such was her mindset when it came time for Ooarai to battle Anzio in the mountainous terrain of southern Italy. Having had the opportunity to carry out a spy mission again, like she had previously with Saunders and, in a way, last year with Pravda, Erika was able to study Anzio's forces in detail.
Overall, the Italian school was not well-equipped generally, and they weren't all that skilled, but they were able to overcome this by their sheer spirit. And Erika did not forget how they still had enough inventory to outnumber Ooarai two-to-one. Not to mention they did have a few pieces of equipment that were quite effective. So Ooarai could not completely write them off.
Isabel, on your knees!
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
"Come on, would you just hold still!?" Francesca growled in frustration as she tried lining up Anna's Fw 190 with her G.55. Such a task was made incredibly difficult by how the Würger was performing the rolling scissors maneuver, which followed an overshoot on the Italian's part that the Austro-Bavarian immediately took advantage of by pulling up, further aggravating the overshoot, while simultaneously Francesca rolled her Centauro to try and recover from her overshoot. This caused the two to continuously try and turn so they could line up their opponents, creating a flight pattern that resembled something like a double helix. Anna was able to exploit the Fw 190's fantastic roll rate in this maneuver, leaving Francesca continually frustrated as she could not do the same at speed.
"Jederzeit heute, bitte!" Erika heard Anna's near-plea over the radio for her to take care of Francesca 'any time today, please.' The blonde ultra-ace did not fail to deliver, diving down to engage the Italian ace. During one of the upward portions of the rolling scissors, Francesca spotted Erika and briefly panicked, having just realized she had fallen for a trap, which played into Anna's and Erika's hands. The Austro-Bavarian was on the downward portion of the rolling scissors at the time, and she simply went into a dive to escape, while the Swabian continued on and lined up the Italian. After a brief burst that landed right on target, Anzio's Capo del Gruppo was down and out for the count.
As she flew back into a zoom climb, Erika commented, "Irgendwelche anderen Wünsche?" At her retort to Anna, asking if she had any other wishes, the Austro-Bavarian simply laughed.
Claiming all for Enchantress!
Anna Novat, despite how easy-going she seemed, still held reservations about allowing Erika full control over the Jagdstaffel, for reasons relating to what might happen were the blonde to misuse that power. She didn't like her lack of mental stability, and she actually knew of how different Erika was from before to know something was wrong with her now. In fact, she was aware of who Erika was the moment she saw her file for the first time. It was the name of her previous school that immediately made Anna snatch her file and read through it thoroughly. Knowing she came from Schwarzwaldspitze set something off within the Austro-Bavarian.
What was written down described Erika as being very bright and smart, and generally being well liked by the student body. It was also mentioned how she was an extremely skilled fighter pilot, which was one reason Anna was intrigued with her. But the other reason, and what really made her stop for a second, had to do with how she was apparently somewhat favored by Schwarzwaldspitze's Schulratspräsident, Bruno Novat. Her fraternal twin brother. Knowing this, it made her realize why Erika was able to see through her coercion all the time: her eyes, which were the only thing she held in common with her brother.
Take down Black Demoness!
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
"Sie wollen beweisen, dass sie aus Fleisch und Blut ist!?" Scharzwaldspitze's Schulratspräsident furiously ranted, waving his finger around for the first half of the sentence and then bringing it down twice during the latter half. "Dann bringen Sie sie mir!" He slammed his fist on the table before him with each syllable, with his smooth and groomed black hair falling in front of his brown eyes in the process.
Bruno Novat was Anna Novat's fraternal twin brother, but most who knew him did not know of this connection thanks to him effectively cutting off his sister from his life. To put it simply, it was over family issues. Rather, he was most well known as Schwarzwaldspitze's ranting yet relentless leader, with a rather short height compared to other boys. The whole deal with his rant this time was with how he had now heard of the no-name school Ooarai reaching the semifinals after being led by someone known as the Enchantress, which pissed him off as he always considered Erika to be the only person worthy of the name 'Zauberin.' He believed this person, whoever it was, to be nothing more than an impostor, and to prove it to everyone, then this 'Zauberin' should be brought to him.
Hanna Jochen and Erik Ignatz were forced to sit through this rant alone, as Isabel and Michael were away at the moment. They were both aware of the Präsident's fondness of Erika in the past, and yet neither said anything about this 'Zauberin' actually being Erika. They both knew this from how Schwarzwaldspitze's newsletter had run an article after Ooarai's victory in Italy titled 'Wer ist die Zauberin Ooarais?' which went into speculation as to who this Zauberin from Ooarai was. Neither told how this Zauberin was in truth Erika, Erik because he had never liked her all that well, and Hanna because she knew there would be massive fallout – again – from mentioning it, and she preferred to avoid that if possible.
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
"Vorwärts Kameraden! Der Feind ist da!" Erwin motivated the Ooarai Panzerzug upon spotting Pravda's T-34s in the snow up ahead. It was extremely cold in the middle of the Siberian tundra during winter, but that frigid of a temperature did almost nothing to quench the fighting spirit in Ooarai's forces.
Almost immediately after, the StuG III F commanded by Erwin and the Panzer IV F2 commanded by Manfred both came to a stop, aimed, and fired their almost identical cannons. Each one destroyed a T-34 as a result, with ease.
Up high in the skies, a massive air battle was underway between Pravda's Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Divizia and Ooarai's Jagdstaffel. Overall, Ooarai had the advantage thanks to immediately deciding to gain the altitude advantage.
"Zerschmettern wir sie! Fegt sie hinaus durch die Pforten der Hölle!" Wolf said to invigorate morale among everyone, just before she lined up a Yak-9UT with a number 77 on its side – Natasha's personal plane – and blew it to smithereens with a single shot from the 50 mm BK 5 on her Me 410.
All that's thine shall be mine!
There's no stopping me
Erika needed no such encouragement, however, already having plenty of it. This was a fight for revenge in her eyes, so she was absolutely merciless. She had let her allies engage first to break up the Russian fighter force before she swept in and eliminated Sasha with a brief burst of fire.
This battle gave her the chance to finally strip Isabel of her status as the number one fighter pilot in the Arts of Warfare. And she would not be stopped, as much as any opposition may have tried to. All that was Isabel's would belong to Erika when all was said and done.
All over the globe
I will have praise but you'll have none
Chiefly among those things of Isabel's that Erika desired to completely strip from her was the amount of applause and praise she got. She wanted that to be hers. She wanted it all to be hers. She wanted everyone to worship her as they had Isabel, and to leave the elder girl with none.
Diving back into the fray, Erika swept back through and locked herself onto one of many Yak-1s belonging to Pravda. She closed with the Soviet fighter, waiting until it completely filled her windscreen before opening fire with a brief burst. That was enough to shred the Yakovlev and eliminate it from the fight.
All your feats will be neat
Stomped under my feet!
Flying away and back up into a zoom climb, Erika took advantage of her Bf 109 G-2's more powerful DB 605A engine to quickly get her back up to a higher altitude where she couldn't be reached. She took stock of the situation as it was, seeing how none of her allies had been downed yet and how Pravda's own forces now had roughly equal numbers as them. She waited atop for some time until exploiting an opening the Russians had unintentionally left, diving down quickly and shredding an La-5 with the centerline armament that she had access to with the Bf 109G.
She was making an incredible impression on those spectating her, exercising the patience and skill necessary to lead her six-strong Jagdstaffel against Pravda's might and coming out on top, with no losses at that. She personally shot down at least half of the Russians. The performance had come about due to Erika's desire to spite Isabel and crush her identity by making her achievements pale in comparison to the blonde's.
My will be done
Having seen all of Pravda's aviation eliminated, Erika had gotten a sitrep from down on the ground. After hearing it, she quirked her lips at the sour news at first, because it was bad, but then she tilted her chin up after thinking some more. If it fell to her to save the day, then why not? She was certainly capable of it with how she still had her entire Jagdstaffel ready to follow her will. Plus she could count this as another thing she held over Isabel.
So it was with Erika's helping hand that Ooarai was able to turn the tables and take down the Russians one by one, until they were totally defeated. And, of course, the blonde German ultra-ace delivered a huge punch straight to the face of Kolenka, as she felt he rightfully deserved.
Upon coming back aboard the Zuikaku, the battle's events had already circulated among the student body thanks to Ooarai's fast-reporting press. This time, the newsletter headline was 'NOT EVEN GENERAL WINTER CAN STOP OOARAI!' and the photo was of Erika serving her unique kind of justice to Kolenka as snow lightly fell around them. The blonde German ultra-ace had no idea that moment had been photographed, but she wasn't complaining. In fact, it felt kind of good to know that that Russian bear would be humiliated from its circulation.
Overall, the entire student body was now standing behind the Arts of Warfare program, and they all cheered on Erika without hesitation, dubbing her the queen of the skies. And it wasn't just the student body. Really, just about everyone aboard the Zuikaku, and even many in the ship's home port of Ooarai, were a part of her fanbase. And it didn't end there, as there had been parties from other schools around the world spectating Ooarai's battles, rooting for their side. She was being treated as though she were a goddess. Everybody loved her.
She had gotten a strong and loyal following. And she willingly gave back to that following. For instance, she agreed some time ago before the tournament to do an internet series with Manfred, Yuudai Akiyama, and Natalie McBraun – a Canadian girl with style-less brown hair and blue eyes, with an extreme knowledge of aviation and a huge loyalty to Erika and Manfred both – talking about the stuff that went on with Ooarai's Arts of Warfare program, as well as talking about tanks and fighters, and getting into the history and tactics of them both.
But there were a couple of people aboard the ship that knew there was another person underneath the blonde German girl. These people knew Erika better than her entire fanbase, and knew that she was not necessarily the smiling, humble, and honorable face everyone else saw. The differences on the surface were subtle, but they were still there, and they hinted at how there were massive differences underneath.
Most obvious in that line of thinking was Manfred Nishizumi. Having known Erika for literally his entire life, he knew that this was not the real Erika. In fact, upon being welcomed back aboard by an absolutely massive crowd after their victory against Pravda, Erika had, amidst her smiles and humble waves to the crowd, locked gazes with him as she took in all the people cheering for her. Though it was hard to tell, she had sharpened her gaze upon him, which made her look positively villainous with her smile. It was as if she was saying, 'See what I can do? See how much better I am than that monster I'm forced to refer to as my sister?'
Manfred couldn't believe that Erika had turned into this… this… well, there was hardly any word better for it than 'monster.' Though it appeared quite the opposite to the general public, Manfred was able to tell this Erika was absolutely heartless with how she was doing all this for nothing more than to make her sister suffer. Oh, if only she knew just how much suffering she had already caused, unknowingly. But he could not possibly tell that to her, unless he saw no other choice. And now, it was looking like he may have to use that last card up his sleeve.
He was not the only one aware of this. Among them all were also Anna Novat, who knew of Erika's past thanks to the blonde being someone Bruno Novat had admired and approved of, and the rest of his friends, which comprised his tank crew and Erika's ground crew. But back to the Austro-Bavarian, she was positive that her brother had not been captivated by this Erika. Ergo, it made her want to see the Erika that he did admire.
Manfred had eventually caved in and told his other friends about Erika and their intertwined past, but there were two in that group that had first-hand experience to help them realize that this Erika was a volatile, raging, vengeful monster.
Antonella Silva and her best friend and fellow ground crew member Daisie Faul – a girl with little more to her name than her brother and her intellect, with black hair, very dark brown, nearly black, eyes, and a stature just a tinge shorter than Erika's – had both gotten an airlift across half the Pacific after the first round to see Daisie's brother in the hospital in Ooarai. The ones who had provided the airlift were none other than Schwarzwaldspitze's own Michael Nishizumi, Erik Ignatz, and the pilot herself: Isabel-Justina Hartmann.
The two were caught off-guard greatly by how she was present at that fight all along, yet never once made to actually see Erika. At first, Isabel had tolerated the constant prodding and questioning from the two invaders of her cockpit, but eventually Isabel snapped at the two's accusation that she was heartless, slamming her still-broken left fist into part of the dash and screaming, "SHUT UP! YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT ALREADY!?"
For a long time, neither party spoke. Antonella and Daisie just watched as Isabel tried holding in her emotions, but failed as she sniffled through her breaths. After calming down, the black-haired ultra-ace finally caved in and, sullenly, spoke about everything that had happened to make her as she was today. The two Americans had been opened into the other side of the two Hartmann sisters' history, and, however much they saw her as their friend, it made them aware that Erika's side was not the right side.
I hate that I still want her gentle hand
But I'll make sure she understands
Dead to me!
If Erika had to be honest, she wished she could run back into Isabel's arms and just apologize for everything she had wanted to do to her. She just wanted her back. Or, at least, that was one insolent part of her mind wanted to do.
The other parts tried to rationalize that this was just unneeded fear on her part, brought about by how now that they had defeated Pravda, Ooarai was next scheduled to face Schwarzwaldspitze for the final. Those parts of her mind just chalked up that fear as being fear of encountering Isabel again and having no way to avoid it. Those parts convinced her that she must bring her down, to treat her as just another foe to exterminate.
KNIE VOR MIR!
Erika looked over the inventory Ooarai had in the hangars one night. In preparation for the fight against Schwarzwaldspitze, there had been additions to the Arts of Warfare program's inventory, primarily the two new tide turners added in: the VK 45.01 (P) and the Me 163 B-1a. New personnel were recruited to operate the new equipment. There were also modifications made to improve existing Ooarai equipment, which again included Erika's Bf 109. This time, it was further modified with a new engine and armament to create a Bf 109 K-4, the final and most potent form of the legendary Messer.
It was silent in the hangar, yet Erika still managed to sense someone else approaching, even though they were soundless. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Manfred approaching, but stopping a ways away from her upon being spotted. Tensions between the two had escalated significantly recently, ever since they began to prepare for taking on Schwarzwaldspitze in a few months, and as Erika turned to fully face him and fixed him with an icy stare devoid of attachment, it looked like things would come to a head right now. "Ich sage es noch ein letztes Mal," she began her final warning. "Du bist entweder bei mir… oder gegen mich."
Over the skies I am queen!
Erika had thus given her ultimatum for one last time to Manfred: he was either with her, or against her. The two stared at each other for a long time, various thoughts flowing through both of them about what was about to unfold. "Ich bin immer bei Erika…" he finally said, breaking the silence with his insistence that he was always with Erika. "… aber du bist nicht sie." He immediately countered though, with the claim that she was not Erika, that this monster in front of him was not Erika.
As quickly as his response ended he had swiftly drawn and thrown a crowbar he had picked up earlier at Erika. The blonde reacted immediately, drawing her knife - the one he had gifted her almost a year ago - and preparing to throw it at him, which was a terrifying thing to think about considering she had never missed with it whenever she practiced throwing it at targets. However, Manfred had foreseen her response, and had deliberately aimed his throw at where her right arm would be. Ergo, when the crowbar struck its target, Erika cried out and dropped the knife due to the pain that shot up her arm.
Isabel, on your knees!
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
Manfred had immediately charged toward her after his throw, but Erika side-stepped to the left and evaded, coming back to try and chop his neck with her left hand, her good arm. However, Manfred carried his momentum to take him forward out of her reach. He turned to face her before quickly evading to his left to avoid a punch thrown by Erika's bad arm. He counterattacked and tried to sweep her feet out from under her with a sweeping kick of his left foot. But Erika avoided by jumping over the attacking limb.
Seeing an opening, Erika rushed behind Manfred and tried to get him into a hold. The vibrant brunette countered, however, by ducking and allowing the blonde's momentum to carry her over him. He assisted the momentum as he pulled her over and toward the ground before him, on her back and looking up at him with the eyes of someone who was mad. Erika aimed a jab at his family jewels, a true low blow, which he only just barely avoided by stepping back, but it gave enough time for the blonde to hastily jump back to her feet. This put them on equal standing again.
But Manfred did not allow Erika to gain the advantage as he pressed an attack, throwing a quick right-left that she blocked with her arms, the first right-hander with her left, and the second left-hander with her right. He threw another right-hand jab, but this time, Erika caught it with her left hand.
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
(Claiming all for Enchantress!)
Erika bashed her forehead against his, knocking Manfred back as he briefly grunted in surprise while he reeled from the sudden blow. He brought up his left hand to rub his aching head, but quickly brought it back to ready as she pressed her advantage and swiftly charged for him, aiming for an uppercut with her left hand that he only slightly evaded by jumping back. Following up her first attempt, she immediately tried to deliver a heavy punch straight to his face using her right arm.
Manfred registered that as a vulnerability on her end because that was her bad arm after she had been disarmed with his crowbar hitting her there. So he blocked the punch with his left arm, being sure to push it to the side with a lot of force. That had a noticeable effect, as she briefly cried out in pain at her earlier injury being aggravated.
(Take down Black Demoness!)
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
Manfred took advantage of the brief time Erika was stunned and brought up his right foot, striking just under her breasts with the bottom of his boot and knocking the wind out of her, sending her careening back, where she ended up on her back again on the floor. Erika looked back up just in time to see Manfred approach her with that incredibly chilly gaze he typically wore in battle, where he was only focused on one thing and one thing only: eliminating the enemy. Only, in this case, the enemy was her.
When he came close enough, she sprung up faster than he could react and grabbed him by his shirt. She turned the tables on him by rolling them and pinning him on the ground, reversing their original positions. She immediately brought her left fist down to punch him across his cheek. His head snapped to his left from the blow as he felt the sting. She then brought down her right fist, but he countered by jerking his head away at the last second, making her punch the hard concrete instead.
Again, that was her bad arm, and she cried out again as she further aggravated it. That gave him the opening to try to shove her off. But Erika had gripped him by the collar with one hand, pulling him up with her. Her other hand she brought to his throat and began squeezing it tightly, attempting to choke him. She had a very strong grip, one that he could not break out of. Soon after, Erika threw Manfred several meters away, throwing him with her right arm that had its hand around his throat, where he landed on his back, out of breath and in pain just about everywhere.
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!
See Erika rise!
Looking up, Manfred saw Erika slowly walking towards him, eyes wild, breathing heavily, and looking appropriately disheveled as a result of their fight. He knew he looked the same way. Both of them had a number of bruises and were bleeding from some of their more severe wounds, like on both of their foreheads and Manfred's right cheek that was split, as well as on Erika's right arm where the crowbar had hit her.
Finally, Erika reached him, and Manfred could do nothing about it, having been beaten. He had failed. He had failed to save Erika from her own darkness. Now, all he could do was wait for her to finish him. He knew that she was mad enough to do it without a second thought right now, but even now, on the verge of being finished off, he still held hope that the light within her would come back. He still believed in her to do the right thing, even now, not for any logical reason, but because he just had that unshakable faith in her still.
Erika stared down at him, disheveled and all, ready to eliminate the final remaining obstacle in her ultimate plan for vengeance and therefore ensure its guaranteed success. Nothing could stop her now.
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Part of Projekt Erika.
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The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. The music belongs to Sabaton. Any references made belong to their respective owners.
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