Disclaimer : I do not own any of Lucky Star Characters, nor any of the DC Universe Characters that may or may not appear in this comic or yadda yadda yadda.
IoOoI
It was an uneventful night for Takamura Hiro, just as every single night had been for the last months. Already on his forties, and one of Wayne Enterprises senior guards, it was exactly what he had hoped for his last assignment. Bland, and without overpowered kids and crazed old men trying to break through the gates of the Experimental Lab just to steal something that would lead them to another embarrassing defeat in the hands of the Justice League.
Twenty years into his job, and still he could not understand what passed through the villain's heads to try their chances at one of the most protected corporations in the whole word.
Not that he gave it much thought, though.
But twenty years working for the corporation earned him some insight as to how they work, and tonight something seemed off. The increase in security had doubled in the past few days, as if someone had been expecting an attack or theft. He prayed to every single god he knew that was not the case. Just a few more weeks, and I can retire. Just a few more weeks, he kept thinking, draining the power he needed to live through the job from the plans he had for the future. His wife had been wanting to visit Hawaii, and he would finally be free - and rich enough - to realize her wishes. They would be happy again, and his children would stop hating him from being an absent father. Everything would be alright, he thought. In his mind, he could already see that huge smile on his wife's face as she showered him with kisses and told him how much she loved him, and then his children would all hug him, his family would be completed.
Just a few more weeks, rang again his mantra.
IoOoI
"Oh, karma, why do you hate me so?" asked a lone, shadowy figure on top of a building's roof, said building being, coincidentally, the third experimental lab owned by Wayne Enterprises. Looking around, the figure tried to find some shelter for the rain that poured hard on the city, failing miserably to locate it.
Sighing, it reached into the right pocket of what seemed to be a traditional beige trench coat, and pulled a single round piece of painted black metal, flipping it open easily. The screen quickly came to life, showing the familiar face of a brunette, looking positively distracted by something. Probably one of her gigantic piles of paper work, snickered the shadowy being, a blue ocean of dripping wet hair covering most of the front of its trench coat, giving its identity away quite easily for those who knew it.
"Fox here, ready to roll." she said, grinning at the screen as the girl panicked and almost fell, her papers flying everywhere. "Good morning, Kira." mocked the
After a few moments of tidying the desk - and her clothes -, the brown haired girl came into view once again, frowning.
"Damn, girl! I told you not to scare me like this again, you know I don't like it," said Kira, looking around to see if no one was nearby to hear her talking. Satisfied once she realized there was no one else in the room, she looked at her monitor again, the grin printed in her friend's face never wearing off. Intoxicating as it is, she couldn't help but smile slightly, too.
"Rain pestering you much? Thank god I have this warm, comfy office all for me, don't you think? Air-conditioner, a nice, soft chair, and a..." she trailed on, bringing her face closer to the monitor so the only part of her face showing in Konata's comm unit were her glossy lips. "Com-pu-ter" she finished, slowly, giggling when she saw the reaction she got. The girl's face was contorted in between a frown and a pout, and to finish it off, she blew the brunette a raspberry and sticked her tongue out.
"Just wait until we have a field assignment together again, just you wait!" whined the mercenary with a childish voice, pouting cutely.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry"
"...And?"
"And? And...uh...I will buy you ice cream tomorrow, that sounds good?"
"From the usual place?" she asked, eyes shining in hope.
The girl seemed to think really hard about it, then just sighed and smiled again.
"Yeah, and you can get as much as you like, too."
"Yeah!" screamed Konata as she jumped in joy, landing in a victory pose from one of her games, the ice cold rain now long forgotten.
"You sure do recover fast, huh?" mused Kira, feeling like she was tricked once again by the girl. Well, it's not like I can help it, she looks so adorable. Maybe I should adopt her, she thought, chuckling. And it was right then that she remembered they had work to do, and so her expression fell into a more suitable, business-like one. "Are you in position?"
"Yes, waiting for your report." answered Fox, face now emotionless, a shell created to help her cope with her work. It is always easier to shoot someone when you don't feel anything, she remembered.
"Good. They have about...twenty guards inside, and two turrets guarding the prize. Nothing special about them, though. Any requests?"
"Hm." she said, thinking. The guards were no problem, she could hand them easily, but her most trusted skills were almost useless against the turrets' sensors. And she really, really didn't want another gun shot wound. One was already enough, even though it was now completely healed. "Can I get an EMP strike right above the lab, say, 500 meters? Won't risk the integrity of the mission with those turrets. They might be more lethal than we know. It is the technological branch, after all."
"Sure thing, Fox. Anything else?"
"Nah, I can handle the rest. Thanks, Kira. What's the ETA?" asked the bluenette, already doing some stretches to be better prepared for the job.
"About five minutes, Fox. Kira out." The screen went dead, and for a moment she could swear Kira looked concerned. Well, gonna ask her later about it. Maybe tomorrow, yeah. With lots of ice cream...wait. Maybe...Maybe I can ask Kagamin, see if she wants to come with us. That would solidify her vision of Kira as a gamer...Nah, who am I kidding, I just want to eat Ice cream with her too, she thought, although that quickly escalated towards her eating ice cream off Kagami's body.
Reluctantly driving those thoughts away, the blue-haired otaku began her usual routine, after all, more important things mattered now, like getting whatever hell she needed to get here and run away in time to see the anime marathon of the week. Her eyes flaring with determination, her body stuck in an anime victory pose, Legendary Mercenary A sprung into action.
First she tucked the comm inside the left outside pocket, and then she took out a pair of black gloves from the insides of the trench coat, examining them for a quick moment, just to check. The thick and rigid exoskeleton gloves were still marked in several places with slashes, counting up to 25. Sighing in relief, she put her gloves on, flexing her fingers to test her gloves' strength. Satisfied, she looked to the sky, expecting to see at the very least some vague form of airship approaching by now.
Oh, and she was not disappointed.
As the ship approached more and more, she started to meditate with her eyes closed, burying her emotions and thoughts deep inside her mind, just like she trained so hard to do. As her eyes opened, Konata was fast asleep, and Fox was now in command. And she would complete her mission, no matter what.
IoOoI
Impatiently looking at his digital watch - a nice expensive looking Hugo Boss watch his wife had bought him when they were living in the United States - Hiro just wanted to go home. He was tired, bored, and above all, he was afraid. Of course his fears were irrational, they had to be, right? It was a foreign feeling to him, to feel such a gut-wrenching need to get the hell away from the lab and curl in his bed, hugging his wife with one hand and holding a revolver in the other, you know, just for safety.
The watch, however, was not aware of his wishes and needs, and just like the last time he looked, the shiny 21:35 was still glued to the screen. Of course, 30 seconds had passed, but just this once, couldn't time move faster? Since he and his family moved from Gotham to Tokyo, Hiro couldn't help but feel that his days were weeks, and his weeks were full years. Time moved so god damn slowly in this country that he felt he would never die of old age.
No one could, he thought, they couldn't bear their existences for such a long time. Security for boredom, it seemed a good trade back then. Hell, even his children liked the idea. "Japan? Yes, pappa! We'll eat sushi everyday and watch anime all day long, yeah!"
He snickered at the memories, and even though he cherished the safety of his family above everything else, he just missed the fast pace of the dark city. Meeting with the Super-heroes was another thing, too. He was, after all, a huge fan of Batman's.
And that was the first word he screamed when a huge explosion sounded just above the laboratory, breaking every single source of light in the whole building. His heart trumped inside his chest, and his eyes were darting in the complete darkness, trying desperatly to find a source of light, anything to set on besides pitch black. Every single guard in the building felt the same way, for loud screams and chatting soon filled the former still and quiet atmosfere.
They were trying in vain to find out what happened, but he knew what happened. Oh, he knew so very well, and that was what frightened him. Only an EMP could do such damage so fast, he thought, looking at his broken watch, or, well, where he thought it would be.
There was no such thing as a EMP accident, so only one option remained: The enemy, whoever were they, were going to attack soon. And by the looks of it, they were well prepared, too.
"Everyone!" he screamed, trying to get the attention of his comrades. "This is not a Drill! Stay focused, and expect an attack soon!"
The screams stopped, and everything was silent again. Good, he had their attention. Now the only thing left to do was wait, and hope they could best whatever was going to try to hit them.
He was starting to think that coming to work to day had been a bad, bad idea, and the painful heartbeats in his chest agreed entirely with him.
Fuck, I'm growing too old for this kind of crap, he thought, just before the shooting and the screaming started. Not controlled shooting, in single bursts like he knew every single one inside this building was trained to do, but a maddening chain of never ending shots, quickly filling the air with the smell of gunpowder and the thick, iron-like smell of blood. From instinct alone, he grabbed his own firearm, a Smith & Wesson's SW1911 semi-automatic pistol, and prepared for the worst. He knew something was coming in his direction, the agonizing screams and flashes of light were approaching fast, very fast.
His grip was hard, but his will was weak. He didn't want to risk losing his life, not now, in the very least. His head was filled with thoughts of survival and fear, and the mixture of smells invading his nostrils were both nauseating and distracting. He wanted to throw up and run away, to hell with the job, he thought. His life was more important. His family was more important. Everything was more important.
And so, with fear clouding his eyes, the thunderous beats of his heart filling his ears, and a numbness never before felt in his every limb, Takamura Hiro ran. With everything he got, he ran, ignoring his comrades' screams, or the gunshots flying in every direction. He could feel his legs were going to give up soon, but he ignored that, in the same way he ignored the mind-breaking pain going through his body.
Only survival mattered, and god forbid him, he would live through this.
Sadly, it was not the luckiest of days for Takamura Hiro, and he realized that when something strong and hard hit him in the head, throwing him directly into one of the walls of the facility. With his mind giving up to his fears and the immense pain he felt, he slowly drifted into unconsciousness, hoping for but a moment that whatever hit him spared his life in a last act of mercy.
The last thing he could see before fainting was a pair bright, green orbs looking directly into his eyes, that unforgiving stare he recognized in the face of every person who was used to killing, used to the pain and despair of having to end another life, and the words that came from the orb, so faint, nothing but a whisper, but it was the only thing he heard at the moment. That whisper that overwhelmed the shooting and the cries for help and pain, he would not forget it anytime soon.
"I'm sorry." was all he could hear before his world became black, and he felt the pain no longer.
IoOoI
Inside the corridors of the Experimental Laboratory, everything was silent. The shooting had stopped long ago, with the last guard falling to the ground, dead with a shot to his head. Everything was silent, except for a single, shadowy figure walking alone in the corridor. The hard steps of her black combat boots accentuated by the never ending pool of blood that filled the whole corridor, courtesy from the guards, she thought, grimly.
Even though she was still on the mission, Konata allowed herself to surface from her sleep once she knocked one of the guards down with a fast, well placed punch in the head. She could very well see in the dark, and his face was marked in the bluenette's brain, his fear and will to survive eminent in his bloody face. She could see the reflection of her cold eyes from his own, and that was enough for her to want Fox gone. But she had a mission, and she would have to complete it. That's what she kept thinking, as she walked across the hall, jumping the occasional dead body that rested on her way, and, hell, there were lots of bodies.
She counted, and counted, and the only conclusion she could reach was also the one conclusion she didn't want to accept. There were 20 bodies, including the one she herself knocked out, and there was little hope for their survival. It sickened to the core how practical and effective her skills could be, sometimes. She didn't even need to fight to create such chaos, such...destruction. All she had to do was invoke a single, powerful illusion, and the guards started to kill themselves, thinking their comrades were enemies. Sometimes her abilities scared her, but everything has two sides, that much she learned herself.
As well as it enabled her to play with other people's minds, destroy them slowly from inside with their greatest fears, it also enabled her to set watch on her most precious friends, to protect them without being seen.
In the last two years, she made several trips to Tsukasa's and Miyuki's apartment, to check on their well-being and to renovate the magical wards she herself placed, to keep them from harm. Several times she just stayed there, watching their friends live their happy lives, going to college, growing, hoping, dreaming.
Watching them making out was not bad, either.
She never once thought Tsukasa would be the Seme in their relationship, but seeing that she was talking about Miyuki, it only seemed...right. Of course, the pink haired girl had dominated her lover several times, but, she thought, there were far more times when the purple-haired girl was in control. Even in the situation she was in, Konata couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of them knowing she had watched their heated love-making sessions all those times.
But the chuckle died out when she saw the state of the last guard's body. Fighting her urge to vomit right there, she jumped over the disfigured corpse and walked her way towards one particular double door made of glass. She could read the words "Armory Experiments", and she knew she was on the right place. Okay, just walk in, get the stuff, and run like hell. Yeah, that will be easy, she assured herself as she walked inside, leaving the corridor of death behind.
Once inside the Armory, she quickly found out that the place was stuffed to the brim with way too many things, from weapons to hard drives, even something that resembled an umbrella. Sighing, she took the communicatro from her pocket, and flipped it open, happily noting that it remained intact even after the EMP strike. The screen quickly showed Kira's face, this time looking directly into the monitor, as if expecting her.
"Fox. Are you inside the Armory?" she asked, checking some papers as she spoke.
"Yeah. What am I supposed to get here?" confusion was evident in the bluenette's face. She just hoped it was one, or at least a few things. No way in hell she would run away from the place carrying all that stuff.
"Every single data disks and hard drives you can find, yes?"
"What about the weapons?" she asked, holding something that vaguely resembled a pistol in front of her communicator.
"Nah, you can leave them there. Or get them, if you want, we just need the data. They are not ready for use, after all. Experiments and everything, you know?"
"Yeah. Okay, Fox out." she said, closing the communicator and slipping it inside her pocket once again, throwing the pistol-thing away.
"Okay," she began, cracking her fingers through the gloves. "Let's find those disks."
IoOoI
Thirty minutes had passed, and Konata was absolutely positive she had found every single piece of data inside the room. After safely securing them inside a huge, brown sack she had hidden inside her trench coat, she decided to stroll around for a few moments, to see if there was anything she wanted in here. First there were only a few broken weapons, some random gadgets, and a few computers here and there.
But then her eyes found something , a green button almost hidden in the bland metal walls that covered the whole room. She knew that button could end her life, but her curiosity just wouldn't let it go. That, and she was fairly sure the scientists that worked here wouldn't just leave something dangerous so visible, and even more, in a button. Everyone knows people love to press buttons. Especially blue haired mercenaries with a less-than-healthy curiosity. And so she tip-toed her way to the button, and pressed it just as soon as her tiny fingers could touch it. At first, she was disappointed at the lack of a spectacular something happening, but after a few seconds, a rumbling sound echoed throughout the room, and a metalic hatch opened just a few meters away from her.
"That's awesome! Just like in the movies!" she exclaimed, suddenly happy and very, very interested in what could be hidden down there. She quickly jumped inside whatever was that was waiting for her under the hatch, and was delighted to find another room, illuminated, even, just a few meters under it. Her fall was no less than spectacular, too, with lots of somersaults and complicated jumps involved, even though there was no one but herself to watch her amazing skills.
There was only one thing in the whole room, a huge, metallic case in the left wall, easily besting her size, with nothing written on it. She didn't pause even for a second to ponder about the lights working, or about the lack of things inside the room. She paused for nothing. Already walking, she opened the case and stared in awe, her mouth hanging open. Already in her mind was playing the Open Chest song from The Legend of Zelda.
"I hope they don't miss this beauty here" she said to herself, grinning, as she extended her arms to get that incredible something.
IoOoI
It was way past midnight when an exhausted Konata finally collapsed on her bed, eyes closed and limbs sprawled, too tired even for the anime marathon she wanted to watch so much.
"Oh, damn, my head..." she whined, wincing as another imaginary knife buried itself deep into her brain. Even after throwing up quite a lot, that place's smell was still bad enough to cause a mean headache. Carrying that guard all the way to the hospital didn't help, either. She probably broke several rules by making sure that one guard would live, and it was totally worth it.
The look on his face when he opened one of his eyes, aware of his surroundings, and was told he was going to live by the medics, could only be described as pure joy and relief. That had made her day. Well, that and..., she trailed on, looking to her right. There, right next to her high-end computer, inside a special glass case she bought in case she ever got something like this, was the nanosuit she found in the secret room of the Experimental Laboratory.
She was thrilled, not in her wildest dreams she thought she'd have the pleasure, the honor of owning a nanosuit. Even better was the fact that it was not bulky, relying heavily on the protection of the exoskeleton, it was lithe, somewhat light, made specially for flexibility and speed, which fitted the girl perfectly. Oh, the plans were already building up inside her little head. She would spend the next day finding everything she could about how it worked, and how to make it better, it would be awesome.
There was just one, little problem.
Well, two, to be honest.
Problem one, she was not that good with nanotechnology to just crank it up and learn everything in one day. She cursed her laziness towards studying now, though the extra hours she spent watching anime, gaming and honing her magical abilities were certainly useful. And fun. Oh, the things one can do with illusions.
Problem two, she doubted the existence of said suit would remain unknown for much longer, after all, her company has the bad habit of controlling its employees' lives, she would have to be extra careful. Although her other things, both useful and not, were hidden from her company inside her apartment, carefully warded against detection, she couldn't simply waltz around the town with a nanosuit and leave it there. Could she? No, she couldn't. Damn.
She would have to use it, though, very, very soon. Chimera was straying from its path, she could see clearly. It was one a respectable mercenary company, accepting only what many, including herself, considered to be good jobs. But over the years, it started taking more thievery related jobs, and assassination assignments started popping up everywhere. She could clearly remember one or two assignments where she had to help Super Villains, and that was too much. Chimera is now a fallen Mercenary post in the eyes of the heroes, and with reason. She herself had to kill many times. 25, to be exact. And every single life she had to take was enough to break her soul a little. But she didn't stop, she couldn't. The best she could do was remember her victims, and make sure their death was not in vain.
She saw no other alternative, she could see the future of her company, and it was not pretty. She would have to stop it, and soon. But now, she really needed to sleep. Eyes now closed, she could only wait, already anxious about Kira's promise. She really loved their usual ice cream place, Donatello's, and their exotic, although expensive, ice creams. Although the classic ones were her favorites, one can wonder how a tomato ice cream tastes like. Surprisingly good, as they found out the last time they went there.
The buzzing from her communicator took her away from her ice cream fantasies, much to her dismay. Picking it up tiredly, she flipped it open with some trouble, truly expecting to see Kira's face on it. However, no face showed up. The screen was in audio mode, she realized.
"Hello, Konata? Are you there?" came a familiar voice through the gadget, causing alarm in the small girl. Fully awake, with her mind racing, she answered in the most casual tone she could muster at the time.
"Hey, Kagamin. How did you get this number?" Smooth, Konata, real smooth.
"What do you mean? Isn't this your cellphone?" asked a somewhat confused Kagami, wondering why had her friend asked that in the first place.
"Uh...yeah, forget about it," said the girl quickly, trying to make up for her earlier smoothness. Crap, I forgot I programmed the comm to take every call from my cellphone...Ugh, gotta remember the small things. "So, what's up, Kagamin? Missed me?" teased the girl, beginning to feel renewed just from talking to her friend. Maybe she is magical, after all, chuckled the blue-haired girl.
"...Maybe. Anyway, do you have plans for tomorrow?" asked the purple-haired girl, hiding the small smile that appeared on her face from her poor, unaware phone.
"Nothing, wanna hang out?" answered Konata happily, her date with Kira now but forgotten in the bottom of her mind.
"Yeah, have some Ice cream with Tsukasa and Miyuki at Donatello's, 1600, don't be late, kay?"
"Oh, I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world." and she meant it. "Hey, wear something nice, I want my Kagamin to be cute for our date!" cheered the girl, already imagining the blush that would crept her friend's face.
"Cute, huh...We'll see about that. See you there, Konata." and with that she hung the phone, leaving a somewhat confused Konata behind. Maybe she did change a little, thought her. She couldn't know, since she avoided visiting Kagami in the same way she did with her other friends. It didn't feel right to spy on the younger girl like that, and she didn't even understand why.
Closing her eyes again, the exhaustion from the day returning to hit her in the face, she felt like she could sleep for days easily. But tomorrow would be promising, so she would have to make sure she would be awake. Tapping some buttons quickly even with her eyes closed, she managed to program it to wake her up around 1200. Yeah, about right, she thought.
That would leave her with 2 hours to get ready, and about two hours to meet them, which she would need, going to Tokyo and everything.
Right about then she remembered of her appointment with Kira. In the same place.
Ah hell, I will work something out tomorrow. Sleep is more important now, she thought, and with some concentration - and a little bit of meditation to get rid of the unwanted thoughts - the girl slowly drifted into the blissful realm of sleep.
IoOoI
Had Writer's block again, and when inspiration finally hit me square in the face like it did in the good ol' times, I just had to write this. From 0000 'til 0644, but I finally finished it. Hell yeah, feels good.
Now, some heavy emotional backlashes in this chapter, with all the killing she had to do, but don't worry, she's still the Konata we all love. With powers. And deadly aim, and now a frickin' sweet nanosuit.
Now, I'd appreciate if you reviewed the story, makes me all happy to know someone actually read it, and it's always nice to hear other people's comments on one's story, no?
Also, sorry for any mistakes in the story, I truly hate them. But they keep appearing! Just like mosquitoes.
EDIT: I decided to take this story out of the Crossover section. The reason, you may ask? Simply because it evolved and mutated from being placed in the middle of DC universe to its own universe, own laws and characters. There may be some references to DC organization or special characters, but they are minor appearances in the story, therefore my making it into a conventional story.
Well, see you in the next chapter!.