Arisa Bannings: Mech Warrior

When young people grow up, they often get a certain talk from their parents. Some hear about the birds and the bees, others get a much franker talk. Arisa Bannings, on the other hand, found out from her parents that she was a mechanical entity, not a human being. She... didn't take it well.

Arisa's orange-blonde fell around her face as she snarled in anger, her bare fist shattering another boulder in one powerful blow. Her normally neat clothes were torn and stained, her cheek smudged by dirt. She staggered to a stop in the rubble on her parent's property, her simulated breath coming a bit harder than normal.

The soft whine of one of her many dogs drew Arisa's attention from her troubles, and she looked over to where it watched her worriedly. She relaxed a little as she walked over, flopping down as she carefully stroked the puppy.

"Sorry I worried you," Arisa sighed, looking out over the property. The puppy gently rubbed against her leg, trying to comfort her even though it didn't understand what was wrong.

According to her parents the 'real' Arisa had been born with crippling defects that would have killed her. After her brain had developed sufficiently it was transplanted to this artificial body, kept alive in a nutrient solution as it grew and she got 'older.' Now she also understood the medical visits every few months, the scientists must have been gradually modifying her body so that she'd appear to age along with her friends.

'Do I keep it a secret from Suzuka, Nanoha and the others?' Arisa wondered as she carefully teased the pup's fur with her fingers. On one hand she knew the doctors could continue the illusion that she was human forever, but on the other hand she felt uncomfortable with lying to them. 'Not that I knew until now,' she mused.

Getting up with the puppy Arisa walked back to the house, nodding to a surprised servant as she went in. "Ah," he said mildly, "would madam like a change of clothes?"

"Yes, please," Arisa nodded, "send up my usual walking clothes."

Not long afterward she was walking along the street, her long hair cleaned up once more and dressed in a fresh set of clothes. She tried to imagine her friends' reactions to her change, but her imagination wouldn't go that far. She kept being hung up on the moment of telling, imagining the fear and horror on their faces....

'No,' Arisa told herself firmly, 'they won't react like that.' Still, she felt a pang of fear imagining Suzuka's terror filled glance....

Arisa was so caught up in her thoughts she was unaware of her being followed. The old sedan paced her as she left the safety of her parents compound, the passengers waiting for just the right time to strike and seize their prey.

"So that's the Bannings kid?" the driver hissed. "Looks just like the photo we got," he noted, his short black hair swept back from his face.

"Yup, we grab her we're on easy street for life," his passenger agreed, his own brown hair messy and falling into his eyes. He was a big, bulky man, chosen to be the muscle of the team rather than it's brain. Still he was smart enough to ask, "Where's her security?"

"Dunno," the driver leaned onto the steering wheel as he thought, "Maybe she sent 'em away?"

"That'd be pretty dumb," the other man offered.

"Bein' rich don't stop ya from doing dumb stuff," the driver offered. He looked at the other man, "You ready for this?"

"Let's do it," the big man said confidently, 'before someone else shows up."

The engine revved up and the sedan lurched forward, racing up the street towards where Arisa walked. Arisa yelped as the car swung in front of her, the passenger side door popped open and the big man grabbed at her.

"Hey!" Arisa yelled as she was hauled into the care, the tires squealing as they raced off down the street.

"Hey, she's heavy," the passenger grunted as Arisa struggled in his grip.

"Don't struggle!" the driver ordered harshly as they sped away, "Or we'll have to cut you!"

Arisa hesitated, then relaxed as something occurred to her. 'I don't have to be afraid of them,' she realized. Short of their bashing her brains out there wasn't much permanent harm that could be done to her body, now.

"Hey, she calmed down," the bruiser noted cheerfully.

Deciding that was her cue Arisa sat up in the man's lap and head butted him, hard. Grinning savagely she then kicked out at the driver, hearing a satisfying crack as she slammed a foot into his arm and in the process sending the car spinning out of control.

"Shit!" the driver howled as he scrambled to grab the wheel one handed. "Get her under control!" he yelled.

"I'm trying!" his partner yelped, blood running down his face as Arisa fought like a wildcat.

'This is fun!' Arisa thought, still grinning as she socked him in the face. Deciding to make things even tougher on the driver she slammed her heel against the front window, sending cracks across the glass and making it even harder to navigate.

With a screech of tires the car fishtailed then after struggling with the wheel a moment they ran up the sidewalk nd slowed before ramming into a tree. "Oh crap," the driver groaned, the old airbag having deployed and covered his face.

Delivering another punch Arisa forced the passenger door open and got out, still feeling a buzz of excitement. She swiftly dialed her cellphone even as she kept an eye on the dazed men. Calling home she smiled, "Yes, it's me. There's been an attempted abduction, could you send someone to pick me up?"

"WHAT?!" the maid yelped.

Arisa fought back a laugh, "I'm fine, but we should detain these gentlemen and find out what their motive was."

Struggling out of the car the driver shook his head dazedly. "Damn it," he cursed as he ran at Arisa, "I'm not done yet!"

"You really don't want to do this," Arisa warned.

Not heeding her he grabbed at her arm. "Got you!" he crowed.

Without thinking about it Arisa shifted her stance, twisted her hips and calmly threw him over her shoulder then down to the dirt with a bone rattling impact. As he gasped breathlessly she pulled her arm free, moved over him and pinned him down with a knee to his chest.

"Glick!" he gasped incoherently.

"Stay still like a good little kidnapper," Arisa ordered calmly even as she heard more vehicles coming, "and I won't have to hurt you."

"Yes, ma'am," he muttered weakly, deciding that whatever this girl was, he did NOT want to mess with her again.

Not long after the Bannings security people arrived, and later they sent for the police after determining the kidnappers really were just hoods looking to make a big score. The security team were themselves highly apologetic: apparently one shift was going off as Arisa left home, and the next was a few minutes slow coming on. Arisa forgave them, of course, but suspected they'd be extra vigilant for awhile anyway.

"Miss," Helen, one of the ladies on her security team and a attractive redhead, asked respectfully, "We'd prefer if you'd allow us to handle any more kidnappers."

"I'll try," Arisa smiled as she admitted, "but now that I know how much fun it can be, it'll be hard to hold back."

Helen smiled shyly, "Please try to, Miss Arisa. We'd we worrying about you otherwise."

Arisa looked up at Helen, surprised to see the older woman blushing slightly. "I'll try," she promised thoughtfully.

"Thank you," Helen bowed and hurried off to her duties, unaware of Arisa studying her as she walked away.

To be continued....

Notes: I had originally planned a 'Triangle Heart' like version of Arisa, but I've seen several Arisa as a ghost fics. It occurred to me a cyborg Arisa might be interesting to do, especially if I eventually cross over into 'regular' Nanoha fanfiction.