Still Waters Another Turn, Chapter 4

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If You Do Not Want To See Me Again

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The night before…

Misa was up on stage, playing with her friends in their band, Dekopin Rocket. They were playing great tonight, better than ever before. She looked out over the crowd as she sang…there were thousands, all cheering and screaming for her, for her band. She closed her eyes and finished the song, waiting for the crowd's approval.

Only empty silence met her ears.

She opened her eyes. The crowd was there, but they were still. No cheering, no reaction at all.

Then a man in the front line booed. The sound was taken up by others, and soon the cheering from before was replaced by a wave of insults and flying pieces of garbage.

Shouts of "Get off the stage" and "You suck!" flooded the stadium as more trash was thrown at them. A rock bounced off of Ako's head and she fell, blood spraying.

"Stop it!" Misa screamed, but her voice was drowned out. People were throwing all sorts of things now. Misa narrowly dodged a chunk of concrete as big as her head, and saw the crowd pulling on one of the enormous structures that held the lights. A shoe hit her in the head and she fell to the stage; her guitar strap broke and the guitar went skittering away, where it bounced off an amp and fell off the side of the stage. She looked up just in time to see the beam holding the spotlights falling, falling. Straight for her. She whipped her arms up to protect herself and…

Woke up with a scream. She looked around wildly, hands still covering her head. She wasn't in the stadium, she was in her bed in her dorm room. Then Sakurako was there, patting her back and calming her down and tears were pouring out and she couldn't stop crying.

"It was only a dream, Misa. Don't worry, it's not real, it was only a dream…"

Misa did her best to calm down, but she couldn't stop her heart from racing. It had been so real.

Madoka still lay sleeping in her bunk.

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"Hello Negi, Chachamaru."

"Hello, Max-san," Negi said while Chachamaru bowed politely.

"How is Iincho today?" Max asked.

Negi looked thoughtful for a moment. "She seemed preoccupied today, and she was late for homeroom. Why do you ask?"

"She was attacked by another robot this morning. Don't worry," he hastily added when he saw the look on Negi's face. "Me and Takahata took care of it." He glanced around for a moment, then knelt down to Negi's level. "I think she's this close to finding out about magic," Max whispered conspiratorially, holding two fingers an inch apart for emphasis.

"I don't want to drag Iincho-san into our dangerous world," Negi said regretfully.

"Don't worry about it, Negi. None of us want our students to get involved in this." Max straightened up again. "But if they throw themselves into it in spite of our best efforts, it's our responsibility to make sure they know enough to survive." He grinned after a moment. "Huh, look at me, sounding like a real teacher." He ruffled Negi's hair and grinned again when the child teacher pouted at the action. "You think too much. C'mon, let's go see what the robotics team's found out about our 'visitors'."

"We were on our way to Master's house," Negi said.

Max seemed to deflate. "That Eva girl? I guess you could do worse for a magic teacher," he said after a moment. "You too, Chachamaru?"

"Yes, Max-sensei."

"Well, good luck, Negi. Give my regards to the vampire," he said, not really meaning it. It was dangerous to get involved with any vampire, much less one as powerful as Evangeline A.K. McDowell. Max was just glad he had yet to incur her wrath. Well, he had yet to incur any more of her wrath, anyway. She made no secret of the fact that she would enjoy 'sparring' with him.

He continued on to the university.

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"Hey, Hakase. Find out anything about these guys?" Max asked as he entered the room where the three robots were being disassembled.

"Nothing new, Max-sensei. They are basically upgraded versions of the first one, with improved system layout. Nothing so foolish as major balance systems located in the head or a power source based in the arm. They have primitive armor based almost entirely on thick outer plates, increasing the weight to a ridiculous degree, thus rendering them slow…" Hakase trailed off; this was all familiar territory.

"Any idea who built them?"

The girl frowned. "No, there are no company logos or identifying markings, not even a model number. Whoever created them was very careful, there aren't even any tags in the programming, no helpful programmer comments or anything," she said.

"Are there any places that are particularly vulnerable?" Max asked.

"Vulnerable?"

"In case someone normal wanted to destroy one," he explained.

"I see. Well, I suppose the entire torso is filled with important systems. In particular along the center line, also here and here." She paused. "Or you could damage one of the legs. None of the specimens is particularly well balanced, so a damaging attack to one of the legs should render it immobile."

"I see. Thanks Hakase, I'll let Touko know, and she'll tell the others," Max said as he approached the door.

"Ah! Max sensei, wait!"

"Hmm?"

"Next time, please try not to melt the robot, ok?"

Max smiled at the girl; it was ugly in spite of his intentions. "Ok, I'll keep it in mind, Hakase. Goodbye."

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Misa had been following Madoka for some time, and the other girl was still unaware as far as she could tell.

The short haired cheerleader had been unusually quiet for a long time now, months even. And for once, it was something the girl wouldn't talk to her friends about. Sure, the three of them talked all the time, but it was shallow, meaningless talk, and the sense that Madoka was avoiding speaking about something weighed heavily over every conversation.

She followed Madoka all the way to the far side of the world tree, where the other girl sat down with her back against the tree and dropped her head into her hands while Misa crouched down behind a bunch of bushes.

When the other cheerleader moved, there was the unquestionable glint of tears on her cheeks.

'Madoka…?' Misa almost said, but kept quiet. She had the uncanny feeling that this was something she should stay away from, something that could change everything, and not necessarily for the better. But Madoka was her friend, one of her best friends. But still…she seemed to want nothing more than to run screaming to the hills. Something major was going on here. She had a feeling…

Life changing events of this caliber happen but rarely, and Misa wasn't so sure she was ready to risk whatever it was she had, especially after that dream she had had this morning. An angry little voice told her to get out there and comfort the other girl, and she felt her face turn red in shame. Madoka had been her friend for a long time, even longer than Sakurako. Was she willing to let her suffer this way?

She tensed herself to move forward or to run away, she didn't know which, not even as she rose to her feet.

Unfortunately, the choice was made for her as Asuna strolled up and spoke to Madoka.

To Misa, it felt as though something important broke when Madoka lunged up and clung to Asuna like a child to its parent. The red head stumbled back a few steps, but rubbed the other girl's back and patted her head like a mother as she mumbled soothing words.

It was as if some incredibly important connection had been rent, and a wall built in its place. Misa reached out, grasping for something she couldn't see and almost staggered under the weight of it as she stumbled backward.

And so, the decision made for her, she ran, not even noticing the hot tears flowing down her face as she went.

Somehow…somehow she knew things would never be the same after this. After everything the three of them had been through together…

Never.

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"Director Wheeler, your services are no longer needed here. Get your things and get out of my building."

Wheeler just stared at the other man. He had been checking some calculations when he had been called to the meeting room. He had assumed that they were going to talk about budget cuts or something of the sort, but this…

"T-there must be some mistake…"

"There is no mistake," Donner said, cutting the other man off. "You have been found lacking, so you have been terminated."

"You can't do this! What about my projects?" the scientist asked, grasping at straws.

"We have located someone suitable for your replacement. Our projects will be fine," Donner said, looking at the other man with disdain. "Now gather your things and go. Your replacement will be here in two hours. You have one."

Wheeler seemed shellshocked, so he continued.

"Oh, and by our projects, I mean, other than the usual things, the robots and the programming. All of the programming." He looked at the scientist meaningfully.

Wheeler took a hesitant step back. "But…but…!"

"You heard me."

Wheeler dropped to his hands and knees. "Please, don't take her from me, don't take Rally away from me!"

Donner just smirked condescendingly at him while Wheeler kowtowed, begging pitifully.

Donner's smirk became an outright smile, almost worthy of Kubrick. He kicked the man carelessly in the head. "Rally was designed on company time, on company equipment. Rally belongs to us. Now, get the hell out of my building." He didn't yell, he hardly raised his voice. But the effect was…indescribably disturbing. He exited the room, leaving ex-director Wheeler lying in the middle of the floor.

"…no…no! Rally! Oh God, Rally!"

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On Sunday, Madoka moved out of the dorm room she had shared so long with Misa and Sakurako.