Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I wish I could draw as good as Ken Akamatsu, but I can only draw stick figures. Nor do I own the Haruhi Suzumiya series. Those belong to Nagaru Tanigawa. The only things that are mine are any original characters. Resemblance of these characters to anyone or anything else, living or dead, is either a coincidence or meant as a respectful shout out.

Another door opens in a limitless multiverse...

Chapter 3: Pieces of the Puzzle

"Kyon-kun! We're going to be late! Jeez, is this what your sister has to deal with every morning? Wake the hell up!"

Kyon opened a single eye.

"I've been shaking you for the last five minutes! You've got to start getting up earlier." Mamoru shook his head. "We'll be late for sure if we don't hurry."

Kyon rubbed his eyes sleepily. He rolled out of bed. "Be just a second." He yawned and slipped into the bathroom.

Finally. Do you have to be so robotic in the morning? Mamoru smacked his forehead. Robot! The girl with Eva-chan earlier was a robot. Why hadn't he noticed earlier? A memory floated out of his subconscious. Evangeline was walking down a dirt path with a puppet on her shoulder. Chachazero. That was the puppet's name. Mamoru shivered.

None of that was helping. Mamoru ran a hand through his hair. Okay, plan. I need a plan to get Kyon-kun back home.

What he needed was to contact someone in the SOS Brigade back home. He may not be able to bring Kyon with him, but Mamoru could take a quick trip back home by himself. They might have some idea what to do. Truthfully, every single one of them was probably better suited to handle this than him. Koizumi could call his superiors in his organization with all their connections and power, Mikuru, while most likely to panic, had had time travel and access to people with knowledge and technology from the future, and Yuki...well, he still wasn't sure how far her data manipulation skills could defy the laws of physics. Certainly someone could help get Kyon back!

Of course, he'd have to convince them that he was speaking the truth, but the fact that Kyon was missing would probably help. Haruhi was probably freaking out while denying that it had anything to do with the missing brigade member. Everyone else would be in a great hurry to get him back.

Mamoru took a deep breath. Time to Slide. But he'd do it right this time, not in a blind panic like yesterday. He extended his senses out in a circle around him, growing slowly as he felt the vibrations of nearby realities. This world had a different feel to it. To find his way home, he'd have to Slide far further away than he'd ever done before. The difference between stepping sideways and making a flying leap, figuratively speaking.

He felt a twinge. That was it! He took a sidestep, Sliding through the rift. Everything was black. Lights flashed in the distance. Portals lay before him, thousands, millions.

So, this is eternity. He couldn't recall the last time he'd been given the big lightshow. Of course, this was usually a much shorter trip.

Images flashed before his face, worlds strange and unfamiliar. Dinosaurs, inhuman people. Magic, futuristic societies, battlefields. Hundreds, thousands of worlds he'd never been to. A single static image replaced them. Mamoru, surrounded by destruction, his clothing dirty and ripped. A teenage boy with brown hair lay dead at his feet.

No! Not this all over again! Mamoru tried to scream, but no sound would come out of his throat.

A slow, mocking clap came from beyond the image. A boy Mamoru's age walked through it. His hair was a deep blue and held in a long ponytail. His outfit was a dull gray, and the sort of loose, shortsleeved garment martial artists favored. He smirked.

"You don't belong," the boy said, cool and calm. Everything about his stance radiated a complete lack of worry or interest. He gestured at the image, which started playing like a movie. The image of Mamoru was in the process of flipping the dead boy over. He frantically tried over and over again to revive the boy. A piece of rubble fell from a ruined building, narrowly missing the slider as he gave up. Explosions blew more craters in the ground, growing closer as the image of Mamoru just sat there with a blank expression on his face.

All of that, entirely my fault. Entirely my fault...

Mamoru found himself unable to move, his attention forced on the memory he didn't want to relive. He couldn't even feel the vibrations of other realities, just a fuzzy buzz on the edge of his consciousness.

The blue-haired boy watched the scene with a small amount of interest. His eyes flicked back to the real Mamoru, and for a second he looked conflicted. He waved a hand and began turning transparent.

"We'll be waiting for you." The image froze as several pairs of feet entered the corner. The boy vanished completely, and everything turned black again. Mamoru screamed silently as he fell through the darkness.

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He fell onto the floor of his new dorm room with a loud thud. He just sat there, gasping for breath, until Kyon came out of the bathoom.

"I can't Slide. There's interference coming in from somewhere," Mamoru said. "There was this other boy, I don't remember what happened, but he's another slider or something. I got thrown out."

What did he mean by 'we'll be waiting for you'? He'd lied of course. He couldn't forget what he'd seen in the spaces between the worlds even if he tried. What in the world did the other boy want?

Kyon frowned. He waved a hand in the air as if he didn't care. "Oh well. Figure it out later. At least for now I get a break from the craziness back home. So far there haven't been any aliens, time travelers, or espers." He gestured at Mamoru. "One slider, but beggars can't be choosers."

Mamoru had major suspicions that this world wasn't as mundane as it looked, but why ruin Kyon's fun? He got off the floor. Time to run.

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They weren't the only ones running. Negi-sensei happened to be running alongside Asuna and Konoka.

"Morning, Sensei!" Mamoru shouted. The teacher waved back as he entered the school.

They'd made it just in time, then. If the teacher was running late as well, there was no problem.

"Okay, new theory, Kyon-kun," Mamoru said as they opened the door. "Think of this like an oldschool RPG. The kind of quest where you find your party trapped in a new area for some reason. To get out, you need to learn a new skill or find an artifact that does that for you."

"And you're going to just stumble across lost technology that just happens to be just what we need, are you?"

"Of course not, Sem-" Mamoru stopped himself. "No. But the skill, maybe? If I work out my Sliding issues, I can break the interference and bring us home. Although there's something I can't quite remember about this world. Come on, what is it? I swear it's helpful..."

Mamoru trailed off uselessly. Magic, his subconscious whispered again.

The two walked toward the classroom without saying anything after that.

Evangeline was standing around in the hallway again. And she was smiling? No, not smiling, just pulling her lips back enough to reveal the fangs that had grown in.

"Meet me on the roof after class." She turned and left.

He still couldn't get more than a word or two out of her. This wasn't just rudeness, though he got the impression she wasn't the most polite classmate he had. She was angry at him for something. We don't know each other anymore, she'd said. His memories were coming slowly, piece by fragmented piece, but nothing helpful.

"All rise," the two heard as they slipped to the back of class. "Stand up straight! Bow!"

The class bowed as one. "Good morning, Sensei!" they said.

"G-good morning, everyone," the boy teacher replied. He pulled out his textbook. "Let's begin our first lesson."

Negi-sensei read out a passage in English, something about a flower named Jason and his flower friends. Mamoru laughed to himself. How ridiculous!

He was pleased to note that he could still understand English perfectly. His classmates, however, were making an effort to avoid the teacher's eye when he asked for a translation of what he'd just read. Kyon looked like he was falling asleep. As always, he never applied himself properly to his lessons, despite his brilliance.

"Well, then. Asuna-san."

The girl stopped spinning her pencil. She slammed her hands down on the desk. "Why me!" she shouted.

Negi-sensei looked nervous.

"Shouldn't you call by seat number or name?"

"Well, you're under 'A', Asuna-san," Negi said, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his head.

"That's by first name!" she argued.

The class rep laughed. "Does that mean you don't know the answer, Asuna-san?"

"Huh?" Asuna turned slightly red. For a second, Mamoru expected another fight between the two, but Asuna picked up the textbook instead. "Okay, okay. I'll do it!"

She let out a deep breath.

"Jason...fell on the flowers," she read out slowly in Japanese. That wasn't even close! "Jason and the flowers...um...eat breakfast on the tree. There's hundreds...of bones?"

"Asuna-san, it seems like you're really bad at English," Negi-sensei said with a smile.

Snickers came from some of the students. "It's not just English, she's also bad at math," one offered.

"And literature..." added another.

"And science and social studies."

"In other words, she's a dummy," the class rep said knowledgeably.

The snickering was picking up about as fast as Asuna's face was turning bright red. Which was pretty fast.

She dashed forward and grabbed the child teacher by the front of his shirt. "You punk! I told you not to go against me this morning!"

There was the sound of an explosive sneeze, and a huge blast of wind blew through the classroom.

"What was that gust of wind right now?" was the question half the class was asking each other.

"Wait a minute! Why did you strip all of a sudden, Asuna-san?" the class rep shouted.

Somehow or other the poor girl had wound up in her underwear. Her expression was furious. "You're dead!" she yelled at the teacher. He ran away, his hands waving in a panic.

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Mamoru was really starting to like this world. Things were eventful, if nothing else. It seemed class couldn't help but be interrupted by fight, parties, and the like.

He rubbed his cheek. He'd unfortunately just realized the one downside to being surrounded by so many girls.

After Asuna had tired of chasing the teacher in circle around the classroom, she'd realized that there were guys in the room. Shouts of "Don't look!" and painful smacks to his face had ensued. Kyon had averted his eyes quickly after the antics had started, and gotten away scot-free. Lucky bastard.

He was trying to find the stairway to the roof. The one classmate he'd tried to ask for directions had just given him a knowing smirk and gestured down this hallway. Her black hair-antennae jiggled as she ran off, giggling to herself.

It was only then that Mamoru realized that mentioning he had to meet a girl up there might have given the wrong impression. And that he'd just said that to the class gossip. Aw, crap. Face, meet palm.

"Wait for me here, would you?" he asked Kyon after finding the door. "I'm going to try to get some answers out of Eva-chan."

"Be my guest." Kyon lounged against the wall.

Mamoru nodded, opened the door and walked up the stairway. He shielded his eyes as he came through the door to the roof. Jeez, the sun was bright!

"Master, he has arrived."

"Get over here, Utsuro Mamoru." Evangeline was sitting in the shade. She yawned.

"What's this about, Eva-chan?"

Evangeline glared. "Don't call me that. You lost that right when you left."

When I left? Once again, things he felt he should remember. Almost like he was returning to a childhood home he'd forgotten...

A sudden blur of motion came from the lounging girl.

Pain filled his gut, making him double over. Evangeline drew her fist back for another swing. "Go on, explain yourself. Tell me why you did it!"

Mamoru grabbed her fist, only to get a palm to his face. He lost his balance and collapsed backward.

Years of martial arts training, and he'd been effortlessly defeated twice in two days. How many girls were there in this class that could kick his ass, anyway?

"Look at me! I'm not your enemy. Evangeline-san, this is crazy."

He stood up and was promptly knocked down again. He cried out in pain.

"Yes, that's it! I want to hear you scream." The girl smiled, but there was no pleasure in the expression. She was furious at him. He'd really set her off somehow.

"I'm sorry if I offended you, Evangeline-san, but I have no clue what happened." He sat up and tapped the side of his head. "No memories at all. Just your name and a feeling that I know you."

The girl looked slightly less furious. "Amnesia? That's the excuse you come up with?" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. A shock went through his whole body.

Mamoru grabbed his head. His vision went white.

He saw Evangeline standing before the school gates, dressed in the school uniform, her expression dour.

"I'll stay by your side, Eva-chan," his voice said. "You'll be out of this school before you know it. I promise."

The hint of a smile wormed its way onto the girl's face.

"Was that...a memory?" He rubbed his head. "I said I'd stay with you. You were entering school or something."

"master, what's wrong?" the robot girl asked.

Evangeline looked thoughtful. "He gives off the energy of a powerful memory-altering spell. He's telling the truth."

Mamoru breathed a sigh of relief. Evangeline rounded on him angrily. "That doesn't excuse you from leaving me here to rot for the last fifteen years! You'll find yourself wishing you'd never pissed off an evil mage!"

And the beatdown I just got hasn't made me regret it enough yet?

Guilty feelings seeped in. He knew deep inside that there was something he was supposed to have done differently years ago. Everything she'd accused him of was true.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I can't remember anything, but I'm sure it's entirely my fault, whatever happened."

Evangeline actually laughed at that. "You haven't changed at all. You were always saying 'it's entirely my fault' whenever anything happened. Well, I don't entirely hate that part of you."

"So...will you help me with these memories. Please? I really need answers."

Evangeline's expression was unreadable. "Fine. But you'll have to pay me for the favor first. Extra, since that's why I called you here in the first place. You never get anything for free from an evil mage."

"I don't think I have any yen on me right n-" He was interrupted when she laughed and grinned evilly. He'd forgotten about the fangs for a second. "...you mean blood."

Her hands gripped his head and pulled him down to her level. She was powerful for such a small girl. He felt a small prick on his neck, and a strange, numb, but not unpleasant feeling spread out from the point she'd bit.

She pulled back, wiping her mouth, leaving him feeling a little faint from the blood loss.

"I'd forgotten how delicious your blood was. You know, it would've served you right if I'd drained you until you blacked out." She stretched her arms and sighed. "That wasn't near enough to restore the power that was sealed away in that Infernus Scholasticus curse, though."

Mamoru itched his neck. He wondered if he had an incredibly visible mark now.

"Take a seat. You too, Chachamaru. I can tell you're curious about who he is, too. Now, as for who Mamoru Utsuro is..."

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Mamoru walked down the stairs, deep in thought over what Evangeline had said. The girl had taken an almost sadistic pleasure in leaving him in the dark as much as she could, saying his answers would have to come later. So, all he'd really gotten was information about the hidden magical side of this world and the confirmation of his suspicion that they were old friends, but it was a start.

"Welcome back, you're just in time for another commotion," Kyon said wearily when Mamoru came through the door. "Is it too much to ask for a little peace every once in a while?"

Down the hall, the sound of shattering glass came as the child teacher was being manhandled by Asuna again.

"The idiot's gone and drunk a love potion," Evangeline sighed. She stepped out from the stairs with her robot partner close behind.

A handful of girls practically materialized out of nowhere. With blushes all around, they offered him homemade gifts and flowers.

Mamoru briefly wondered how they'd gotten ahold of the gifts so quickly.

The girls glomped onto the boy. He wrestled free and ran for his life.

"Somebody help meeeeeee!" he cried. The girls quickly followed, with a cursing Asuna shoving the others aside, shouting at Negi to wait for her.

Shouts of "I love you!" and "Stop moving, brat, or I can't help you!" came faintly down the hallway.

"Pathetic," Evangeline said.

"What, you're not going to chase after him too?" Mamoru asked.

"Please. As if such a weak spell could ever dull my senses. I'm not one of those weak-willed fools. You'll find all the stronger girls are unaffected as well. " She turned away. "I'm skipping class today. Chachamaru will keep in touch."

With that, the girls left. She seemed to have forgiven him at last. Or at the very least, no longer wanted to yell at or injure him.

"Negi-seeenseeeei~!" Another handful of girls was sprinting down the hallway. Right toward them.

"Brace for impact!" Mamoru shouted. He ran at the girls, yelling a battle cry. "I'll stop them!"

Kyon sighed to himself. "Have I died and gone to Hell?"

Next time: Gang activity! Backstory! And school clubs.

...be sure to close the door when you leave.