MAGICAL GIRL LYRICAL CINDERELLA
CHARTER 08
The hall was bustling in excitement. With songs like "Makes Me Wonder" and "Staying Alive" continually shuffled in the playlist, the party was becoming something from the 70's disco party, as people danced and shook their body to the energetic rhythm. Even production crews danced behind the stage, and the happiest person had to be Ginga.
"You know what," Ginga uttered as she made a hula-hoop, "I think I'm beginning to like this."
"Just don't overdo yourself," Teana spoke, "or you might invite crazy fan boys upstage." She could not have been more correct, because five seconds was all they needed as fan boys stormed backstage and roared in approval at dancing Ginga.
"SHAKE THAT BOOTY, GINGA!!!" they screamed. Ginga's only reaction was to send them out of backstage with her Revolver Knuckle. "WE LOVE YOU, GINGA-NEE!!!"
"See, I've told you," Teana said.
"Urusai…" the blushing Ginga retorted.
In the mean time, the Sanzenin Households were having their great time as well. Whilst Tama the white tiger danced the most perfect "Saturday Night Fever" dance ever, Nagi and Hayate were dancing rather modestly -- this was their first experience dancing in a gathering together as a couple, and they never knew it would be this exhilarating.
"So, what do you plan after this, Ojousama?" Hayate asked and took Nagi's hands.
"I say we're going to have a dancing party of our own," Nagi said and took his hand.
"That's a great idea, Ojousama," Hayate replied.
"By the way, where's Maria?" Nagi asked.
"Your Maria is currently off-duty, Milady," Ten No Koe answered on Hayate's behalf. "She has… some unsettled business with Yagami Hayate."
(Backstage, Maria was having illegal business on cosplay project with Hayate. What were they planning of? Let us hope it won't involve disastrous dress designs.)
Of course, the highlight was Yuuno and Chrono, as they stole everyone's attention by being the best-looking dancing couple. Their talent enamoured them, their choreography amazed them, and their flawless astounded them.
Simply put, they were perfect.
"That was fun," Yuuno uttered after he and Chrono ended their turn (at the same time, Staying Alive stopped and was replaced by melodic version of Dancing Fairy.) "Dancing surely is the best way to keep our body fit, isn't it?"
Chrono shyly nodded. "Um."
"Though truth to be told," Yuuno spoke and took off his Spartan helmet, "why are we having disco in the first place? We could have waltz or tango. Spartan tribal music is fine, too."
"Blame the Audio Department," one of the audiences spoke and pointed to Shari (the spectacled woman protested and turned away in disgust). "Though we don't really mind if it's disco. When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city…"
"Let's take a seat, Cinderella," Yuuno said and gestured to a makeshift fountain on the stage. Not obliging to the request would be a heresy, so Chrono shyly nodded and followed the Mid-Childan prince's lead. He felt extremely disturbed, both mentally and physically, and he swore to himself that once the stage play ended, he was going to return the dreads to everybody thrice as much.
"Cinderella?"
Chrono was startled. "Yes, Your Highness?"
Yuuno was already seated. "Please have a seat," he said, dusting off a spot next to him. Chrono shook his head, saying that he preferred standing up. "What are you talking about, Cinderella? You must be tired from all the dances, aren't you?" (Audiences agreed with him, and booed Chrono for "not taking the advantage".)
"It's… not something like that, Your Highness," bashfully Chrono tried reasoning, and he got jeered by the audience again. "Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!" he scolded.
"There goes our tsundere Catherine-chan," an audience commented.
"Yup, she surely looks cute when she scolds at us like that," his friend agreed.
"Urusai, baaka!" Chrono cried out.
"It's kind of sad to think about it." Chrono stopped scolding the people and looked at Yuuno.
"Your Highness?"
"When I first came here, I was alone," the blonde spoke. "People treated me as if I was a foreigner, an alien in their homeland. They looked at me with one eye closed. They never cared of me. For them, as long as they got their job done, they didn't even matter whether I didn't exist."
"That… that's awful," Chrono murmured and took seat next to him. "I'm sorry. I really wish I could be of help."
"No; it's alright with me. I'm used to it anyway," Yuuno answered.
"The only thing I prize so much until today is this," he continued and showed Chrono a miniature drill that was made into a locket. "Aniki gave this to me on that faithful day. He told me that with this, I could pierce through the heavens and made a dynamite exit."
"What… happened to your brother?" Chrono asked.
Yuuno lifted his head. A drop of tear fell down his battle-scarred cheek as he closed his eyes and murmured: "it was a cold and snowy night…"
At the cue call, the infamous widescreen, ultra-high resolution plasma television was brought down from the ceiling and suspended 30 feet above the audience.
// FLASHBACK GOES HERE HUH //
The injury was great. He was barely able to stand up, and yet he fought hard to overcome his pain. The great leader of the Heavenly Red Brigade, owner of the Drill Knuckle Daizamber, the one and only…
"Damn it…" he grumbled and steadied his shaky stance. He glared up at the enormous super robot that was aiming its proton cannon at him. "I cannot lose here yet… I've got to prove to him I'm a worthy big brother…!"
"Surrender, Belkan Knight," the super robot's pilot spoke through loudspeaker. "You know you can't defeat me in your poor condition. Submit to my power, and I shall spare your life."
He chuckled. "Submit? Surrender? I think my ears have earwax," he chided.
"Bastard! You don't know who you're dealing with!" the pilot roared.
"Why, yes I do," he replied. "You're nothing but the example of how an epic fail looks like." He laughed. He was laughing. He pointed to the super robot's face as he was laughing. "Go home. Cry in your mother's arms. Drink some milk. You aren't manly enough to face this great Heavenly Drill Warrior."
"Kisama! You dare insult me!" So saying the super robot began charging up its plasma cannon. "I will make sure your corpse disappears into thin air and never to be recovered! PROTON PHASER!!"
The cannon fired. It unleashed a gigantic beam of death from its barrel and pierced through the sky at the battered man twice the speed of sound. The young Yuuno was watching from the safety of the bunker in horror, and he shouted the man's name in despair.
The man laughed. "IKUZO, DAIZAMBER!!!!"
--"JA, MEISTER!"--
The man cried a thunderous battle cry. The drill knuckle was fed with hundreds of cartridges via belt link-feed, converted all magical energies into super-compressed energy that made the Armed Device grew the size of the super robot. The man jumped forward, aimed the gigantic drill at the particle beam and pierced all the way through.
"Ba… baaka na!"
"Burning Heaven…"
The rocket-augmented charge, coupled with the ultra-high rotation speed of the drill, smashed through everything that protected the super robot. The pilot was appalled, but by now it was already too late to retreat.
"GUREN RAGAN!!!!!!!!"
The drill penetrated the super robot's external skeleton. It bored through the super-structure, ripping apart everything it touched and shredded all matters into dusts. The momentum of the collision brought the stunned super robot high into the sky, and was left suspended thousands of feet above the snowy plain as the man descended.
He landed. Thousands of cartridges were ejected from the Drill Knuckle, and he made a post-battle pose as the super robot slowly disintegrated into pieces.
"I had sent you to the heavens high above, hadn't I?"
Then it exploded. Multiple-coloured lights beamed across the night sky, illuminating the cold land of northern Mid-Childa. The rest of the super robots fled the battlefield, their morale dissipated by the loss of their commander. They had witnessed the wrath of the Heavenly Drill Warrior, and they did not want to gamble their life.
"I… I did it…"
He fell to his knees. He was tired. He was running out of breath. He was at the end of his time. And yet he was satisfied. He had destroyed the dreaded Devil Gundam with his drill knuckle. He had defeated the invincible Holy Supreme General with his endless determination.
He had won the war with power of the true heart.
The drill knuckle reverted to its original size, slowly coming to a halt, and then stopped completely. "Sorry, Daizamber, for forcing you through this…" he whispered and put his hand over the now-decommissioned drill knuckle. "I'm sorry…"
He closed his eyes.
He grinned.
"Farewell… Yuuno…"
Yuuno walked out of cover. Slowly he approached him, struggling to wade through the two-foot thick snow. "Aniki?" He shook the man's body, but it was unmoving. "Aniki? Are you sleeping? Aniki?"
He was not answering.
Snow fell upon the plateau. Yuuno was speechless; the man he had adored as his brother, his leader, his idol. The man he had referred to as Aniki throughout his life. The man he loved with all his heart was no more.
He was gone.
"Aniki…" The young boy fell onto his knees. He punched the freezing ground hard, screaming from the top of his broken heart. "ANIKIIIIII!!!!!!!!"
// FLASHBACK ENDS HERE HUH //
The hall was filled with manly tears. Chrono looked forward and saw male audiences of all genders and social classes crying tears of hot-blooded manliness. "Yuuno, we understand your pain…" they murmured and clenched their fists. "We feel the pain you have to bring inside your heart…"
"Oi, oi," Chrono uttered.
"Don't worry, Yuuno!" they roared and threw their fists upward. "PIECE THROUGH THE HEAVENS ABOVE WITH YOUR RISING HEART! YOU KNOW NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! ALL HAIL YUUNO! ALL HAIL THE GREAT LIBRARIAN!"
Backstage, the three Aces could not help suppressing their emotion. "Since when Yuuno-kun became someone's apprentice?" Nanoha asked and laughed out loud.
"Since when Yuuno-kun planned that flashback scene?" Fate added and laughed louder.
"Since when Yuuno-kun started watching Gurren Lagann?" Hayate cackled and laughed the loudest.
They were silent. Then in the most deafening voice they could, they shouted: "SINCE WHEN YUUNO-KUN HAD A BROTHER NAMED KAMINA??????"
(At Heaven's Cabaret Club, Kamina was drinking mango juice with the nekomimi waitresses sitting around him when he suddenly sneezed and choked the beverage. "Kamina-sama, is there something wrong?" one of the waitresses asked.
"Betsuni," Kamina replied and rubbed his nose. "It must be my little boy again.")
"Don't worry, girls," Ten no Koe assured. "It's not that we can't have a tribute to the manliest, most GAR man to have lived upon this Earth. Besides, that TV show simply rocks hard."
"Now, now, Ten no Koe-san."
Chrono shivered. Yuuno had inexplicably put his hand over his shoulder, and he didn't even realize the 'Cinderella' he was dating with was his very own Admiral! All the audience hooted at Yuuno's gesture and clapped their hands, as if they approved of Yuuno's action.
"You know what, Cinderella?" Yuuno spoke. "I felt strangely light-hearted after talking with you. You must be a good listener, right?"
"Well, I…" Chrono was unsure of what he should talk of. And he could already hear the audience chanting: "Go for it!" while glaring at him with devious gazes of encouragement. Even the Aces silently rooted for him, flailing banners and flags with Cinderella's and Yuuno's names painted on them.
"What must she do in this situation?" Ten no Koe asked. "Should she remain silent and keep on listening? Or should she at least speak a word or two to express her thought? Cinderella Haraoun, the power is in your hand."
"Cinderella, your Prince Charming is awaiting your answer. Don't make him wait longer."
"Urusai!"
"Aw, look at you. Being tsun-tsun at us while acting dere-dere to your Prince Charming."
"Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!"
His mind was processing hard to choose the best possible alternatives, which proved to be fruitless as ever. And with people kept pushing him for more, he was left with no choices.
He had to.
Finally he made everyone cheer when he put his hand over Yuuno's palm. "Your Highness…"
"Yes, Cinderella?"
"I… I don't know whether I said the right thing," Chrono spoke, shivering at the thought of holding hand with a manly man, "but your brother didn't die in vain. He died for your sake. He sacrificed his life for your greater good."
Yuuno turned to 'Cinderella Haraoun'. "Cinderella…"
"That's why…" Chrono answered and returned the gaze. "You mustn't forget everything he had done for your sake. You must always remember everything he had done to keep your smile intact. What your brother wanted… was to see you living in happiness."
"Happiness?"
"Yes," Chrono said. "After all, you're apple in everyone's eyes? You mustn't let us see you in sadness. Your happiness is our happiness." Here, without even knowing what he was doing, he smiled. "So, Your Highness, please keep smiling. There's nothing better than to see your beloved princes smiling from the bottom of his heart."
"Cinderella…"
"Your Highness…"
And the unthinkable had happened.
Prince Yuuno bent forward, slowly edging himself toward Chrono and closing their distance. The horror-stricken Cinderella Haraoun was stunned but could not run away, as Yuuno was already an inch from his face. "Your Highness, what are you doing?" he asked, his face burning greatly to the point steams came out of his ears.
"Cinderella, your eyes… they are so beautiful…" Yuuno murmured. "And your lips… they're so vibrant… I want to admire them… a bit closer…"
"Your Highness, stop it…! People are watching us," Chrono begged.
Male audience gasped. Female spectators covered their mouths. The Aces were shocked. Shamal was speechless. Shamisen meowed. Production crews' jaws dropped. They were startled, not because they knew the couple would kiss each other as the scripts stated, but because Yuuno did not have any freaking idea that Cinderella Haraoun was actually Chrono Haraoun!
Yuuno closed his eyes. His lips parted, his hands crawled up and cupped Chrono's cheeks, his face closing in. Chrono blushed furiously: his heart pounded madly, his ribbons spun around like no tomorrow, his eyes widened in shock, and he was in the worst situation ever.
And Yuuno was going to claim his prize…
"IYAH! DAME!"
Chrono pushed Yuuno away. The Mid-Childan prince fell into the fountain, and the panicked Chrono seized the opportunity to run for safety. He fought through the myriads of audiences that tried preventing him from escaping and got through, but in the confusion he left the most important accessories that would begin the mark of Prince Yuuno's search for his princess.
"Looks like Cinderella's just asking Prince Yuuno to begin his search."
Yuuno barely had time to recover when Chrono reached the entrance door. "Wait! Cinderella!" Yuuno's cries were too late as Chrono had left the hall and the building altogether. "Aw, shucks. Just when I thought I could ask her to lend me those glasses…" he murmured.
"So that's why you did that. We thought for sure you were going to… kiss…"
Yuuno laughed silly. "Gomen, gomen. I just wanted to test the glasses. It's been a while since I broke mine," he spoke.
"Then what you've been wearing until now?" Nagi asked.
Yuuno took out something from his eyes, and showed it to the audience. "Contact lens?" Hayate uttered.
Yuuno nodded. "Though frankly speaking I'd rather wear glasses," he spoke. "God, my eyes are allergic to lens."
One of the Spartan cosplayers gave him the eyeglasses Chrono dropped. "Prince Yuuno, Cinderella has left this behind. What must we do?" he asked.
Yuuno examined the spectacles. "Amazing… these glasses are made from high-quality product…" he murmured. "And their construction is perfect, too. Alright."
Yuuno threw his fists into the air. "I shall find the owner of these eyeglasses and propose her into marriage! This is my decision, and nobody can deny it!"
Hayate showed Yuuno Cinderella's left slipper. "Anou… you forgot this, too."
"And I shall also find whoever feet can fit into this slipper!" Yuuno added.
"ALL HAIL PRINCE YUUNO!" male audience roared.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"Then it's decided. Prince Yuuno will begin his quest to find the owner of the eyeglasses and the missing left slipper. That, if we all agree to accept its ending."
"What are you talking about, Shamal? Of course everybody knows it already, nah?"
"But that's not the reason."
"On the next episode: Prince Yuuno and his quest for the true Cinderella. I wonder what everybody will say."
"Now you even become the narrator, Ojousama."
MAGICAL GIRL LYRICAL CINDERELLA
A Lost Property Riot Force 6 presentation and it's mean to be a parody. Don't blame us; we just do whatever we're told.
-x-x-x-x-x-
// omake //
"How dare you look at Sister Cinque with those eyes, you red shortie!"
"Erio-KUN…"
"Nove…"
"It wasn't per- I mean! I did not!"
"Erio-kun! Mitte! Mitte!"
Erio Mondial was having a tough day. Not only he had to take care of Lindy's Underling Battalions, he also had to be concerned of the Numbers' supposed Relic-retrieving mission, which never came to be realized in the first place. He was alright with the rest of the cybernetic warriors (as he had no problems accepting them in battle) but the eye-patched girl named Cinque, along with her self-acclaimed sister Nove, were giving him serious headache.
No; that was not what he was worried off.
It was her.
Truly a class of her own, Imotou was frighteningly cute and powerful in every aspect. Erio was puzzled of how did the young girl was involved in Nanoha Universe with such upsetting promises she could offer. Adding insult to the injury was the fact that Imotou was shamelessly promoting her full prowess to everyone, as if the profession of a mage was something she could play with.
"HEI!"
As soon as he turned around, he received a beating when Nove landed a punch onto his face. "What… what the hell was that for?!" he demanded.
"You aren't even listening to me, red shortie," Nove uttered and pointed to his face. "Tell me right now! What do you want from Sister Cinque, pervert?!"
"I- I'm not a pervert, you bigmouth!" Erio answered.
"Silence! You did let Sister Cinque approach you on purpose!" Nove replied. "And you even stared at her chest! What do you think it was for?"
"Nove, please…" the blushing Cinque murmured.
"ARGH! You and your perverted eye are nothing but nuisance!" Nove shouted and opened battle stance. "Come on, red shortie! I challenge you!"
Erio palmed his face. "God, what is really going on?" He felt Lutecia patting his shoulder, and he turned around to see her nodding. "Lutecia?"
"Erio…" She, too, was blushing, although she was braver than Cinque. "Good luck."
Annabelle gave Erio a kiss on his cheek. "You better win this for me, Erio," she murmured.
By now, both Caro and Nove were fuming in utter jealousy and anger. Not taking care of their partners, they withdrew their arsenals and glowered at the red-haired boy. "Erio-kun…"
"Uh, girls… can we talk?"
"ERIO-KUN BAAKA!!!!"
"And so our Erio Mondial is having his hard days dealing with his girl friends," Ten no Koe murmured. "Mah, too bad I can't help you with that matter."
"You aren't even helping!" Erio screamed as he dodged the angry girls' projectiles and fists.
"I wonder if Erio-kun really likes his friends," Imotou uttered and approached Cinque. "Ne, Oneechan?"
"Err… yes?" she asked.
"Would you like to play with me?" Imotou asked. "Erio-kun looks busy, and I don't want to bother him. So…"
Cinque nodded. With a bashful smile, she took Imotou's hand. "Certainly."