Magical Girl: The Other Side
DISCLAIMER: The following is a non-profit fanfic written jointly by LSSJ2 Gohan and The King of Soda. We make no claim to ownership over the respective franchises of Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball GT, all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Akira Toriyama, and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, A's, StrikerS, Force, and Vivid, all owned by Seven Arcs, Geneon Entertainment, and Masaki Tzusuki.
(Edited: 12/05/14)
CHAPTER 4: Bonds of Friendship
Nanoha stood in the center of the wrecked street, her clothes now changed, holding a jeweled staff in her hand.
"Na... no... ha..." Gohan grunted.
He could now sense an incredible power from Nanoha. It felt... somehow different from his usual senses, as if her power was escaping into the air somehow, but it hardly mattered; he could sense that she was more than a match for this strange monster.
"What's going on?" Nanoha asked. "What just happened to me?" She looked down at the staff. "Where did this come from?"
Nanoha turned to face the monster, which was now growling demonically in front of her, with Gohan off to the side, wounded and struggling weakly to rise to his feet. Sensing the boy beside it, the monster turned toward him again. Poor Gohan-kun was absolutely no match for this thing, whatever it was! She had to do something, or else her friend would die!
"Hey, over here, ugly!" she cried.
As if it was aware of the insult, the beast turned to face her. With a low growl, it jumped up in the air.
"Hey, look out!" Yuuno shouted.
The beast began falling towards the ground, diving straight for Nanoha!
"No, Nanoha!" Gohan screamed. "Get out of the way!"
Nanoha stood facing the creature, determined. If the nine-year-old had to die here to protect Gohan, then as much as the thought scared her, she would do it, without hesitation! She had to save her friends' lives! Yuuno-kun and Gohan-kun were counting on her and she wasn't going to let them down when the both of them needed her the most!
"This is for you!" she said, holding the staff out in front of her in a feeble attempt to defend herself.
Suddenly, the jewel in the center glowed brightly.
「Protection,」 it intoned mechanically.
A bright pink energy barrier in the shape of a bubble appeared in front of the frightened girl. The monster came down hard on it.
"Nanoha!" Gohan yelled. "What's happening? What is that energy?"
The monster began ramming into the barrier with savage force, but Nanoha held it in her shaking hands as steadily as possible, with eyes shut, wondering if she was going to die now and why she hadn't yet.
"What's going on?" Gohan demanded. He turned to the small ferret beside him. "Yuuno!"
"Her device is calling on her magic in order to protect her," Yuuno remarked. "She's very skilled, though. Few mages could muster that level of power after only just now receiving their magical powers."
Gohan turned back to face the struggle. It ended with the beast breaking into thousands and thousands of tiny goo droplets and flying away, spattering like so much wet raindrops against the ground and walls and cars and streetlamps. The force from the impact sent one of the telephone poles falling down, and it collided with the wall Gohan was standing close to with impressive speed. Electrical sparks danced around the area it had hit.
"Huh?" Nanoha said. "What? Was that... magic?"
Out of nowhere, Gohan fell to the ground again in a heap, rapidly losing consciousness as the half-Saiyan struggled and fought fiercely against the loss of his cognitive functions, but his body's weakness was simply not to be denied, and with a seeming sigh of defeat, the weakened, injured boy passed out right there on the ruined street.
Hearing the resounding thud, Nanoha turned to the side, gasping in horror as she saw the unconscious boy.
"Oh no, Gohan-kun!"
"Don't worry, he's still alive!" Yuuno replied, having checked his vital signs. "You have to focus, Nanoha, that creature isn't done yet!"
And it was true; right in front of her shocked eyes, blue tendrils of what looked like sticky goo moved to connect to all the pieces that had flown off, bridging the distance between the pieces and reconnecting them all.
"But... but what do I do?" Nanoha wailed.
"The creature is a thought entity created by some horrible power," Yuuno explained. "You can stop it by casting a sealing spell with your staff, and then it'll turn back into what it was before it took this form."
"But... I don't know how!" Nanoha protested. "What should I do?"
"You're a magical girl," Yuuno said. "You have the power deep within you. Imbedded within the jewel of your intelligence device are magical equations that are called programs. The jewel needs to tap into your energy to give you your power. You can perform basic movements like attacking and defending just by wishing for it, but if you want to use more powerful magic, you need to cast a spell."
"Okay, tell me how," Nanoha said, raising her staff in determination as the monster took on its former dimensions.
"All you have to do is open your heart," Yuuno said. "Listen to what your heart is telling you and a spell should come to mind."
Nanoha closed her eyes, focusing her thoughts within. As she did, Nanoha felt her thoughts turning in a specific direction, all of their own volition. Meanwhile, the monster had taken on a solid form again and jumped high, lashing out with its blue tendrils. Before they could strike her, however, Nanoha whipped the staff forward, and it glowed pink again.
「Protection,」 it intoned.
Once again, an energy bubble surrounded Nanoha, which held the monster's tentacles at bay.
"The thing you need to seal with your spell is called the Jewel Seed!" Yuuno instructed.
"Sealing the Jewel Seed, please!" Nanoha cried.
「Sealing mode, set up,」 the device stated.
Brightly-colored pink ribbons of energy spiraled in toward Raising Heart. The ribbons lashed out into tendrils of pure magic that coiled tightly around the Jewel Seed beast, and out of nowhere a Roman numeral appeared on its head.
「Standby, ready.」
Nanoha twirled around in a pirouette.
"Lyrical Magical! Jewel Seed, Serial 21!" Nanoha chanted. "Seal!"
「Sealing,」 Raising Heart informed its master.
The glowing pink ropes wrapped around the Jewel Seed monster coalesced and burned brightly, squirming around its captive prey like thousands of snakes. The glow spread outwards to encompass the entire beast, and once it was shining from its tip to toe with the pink energy, it exploded in a fiery burst of light.
And for a moment, Nanoha just stood there on the street, until she caught sight of a small blue jewel winking at her from the spot that the Jewel Seed monster had stood only seconds earlier and she gasped in surprise.
"What... is that thing?" Nanoha wondered.
"That's a Jewel Seed," Yuuno informed her matter-of-factly. "Touch it with the Raising Heart."
Nanoha did as she was told. As soon as the center jewel of Raising Heart made contact with the glowing speck, it clung tightly to it, like a piece of paper to something sticky, and as Nanoha raised her device, the Jewel Seed glowed with an inner light and disappeared into the red jewel, leaving ripples over the surface of it that faded after a moment.
「Receipt number 21,」 Raising Heart intoned.
A pink light suddenly enveloped Nanoha, covering every inch of her clothes, and with a bright flash, her barrier jacket morphed back to her normal clothing, a yellow jacket, an orange skirt, and black stockings above her sneakers. The device, the one which Yuuno had identified as the Raising Heart, transformed into the tiny jewel from before, and then it settled into the palm of her hand.
"So that's it?" Nanoha asked the empty, battered street. "It's all over now?"
"Yes, thanks to you, it's over," Yuuno said. "Thank you."
For a moment, Nanoha just grinned happily at Yuuno's praise, and then a soft groan brought her attention back to the only other person on the street with them, the one who she had forgotten in the battle with the beast.
"Gohan-kun!" Nanoha cried.
Yuuno and Nanoha both ran over to the fallen boy. Nanoha checked his forehead, but he was completely out cold.
"He's unconscious," Yuuno stated. "We must carry him away before we attract unwanted attention."
"Um... I'm not sure if I can carry him all the way..." Nanoha replied.
"Here, allow me to help," Yuuno offered.
Out of nowhere, the tiny ferret materialized yellow glowing coils of light. Directing them with his mind, Yuuno brought the binds down on Gohan and gently lifted them up, but apparently his power was a lot weaker than he let on, because he winced a bit the higher he brought the tailed child up. It was obvious the effort was taxing his reserves.
"Unfortunately, I do not have enough magic to hold him properly," Yuuno said, strained. "You'll have to help me carry him."
"Sure!" Nanoha agreed.
Her put her arms under Gohan and lifted him up over her back, piggyback style, with Yuuno jumping onto her shoulder.
"We should get away as soon as possible," Yuuno advised.
"R-Right!" Nanoha said, and then she suddenly caught sight of all the devastation their battle had wrought. "Um... I... s-sorry for the mess!" was all she could say as she ran away carrying Gohan, with Yuuno's magical chains helping to support his weight.
Leaving the scene of battle far behind them, Nanoha and Yuuno managed to drag Gohan into a small park. It was empty and deserted — not surprising considering the time it was — and the two brought the unconscious teen over to a bench close by, where they gently laid him down. Nanoha turned to look at the magical ferret next to her.
"Is this okay, Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha asked him.
"This is fine, Nanoha," Yuuno said, and then he fell over, the magical binds releasing Gohan to the ground.
"Yuuno-kun!" Nanoha cried, concerned for her friend.
"Oh, I'm all right," he told her. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all. I expended a lot of mana bringing Gohan here."
"Oh," Nanoha said. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Yuuno insisted.
"If you say so," Nanoha shrugged, sitting herself down on the park bench.
The young Magical Girl pulled Gohan to a sitting position beside her and laid his head in her lap. Smiling, Nanoha swept his bangs from his eyes. He sure was brave and strong for being such a young boy. Like her, she supposed.
"His injuries look fairly bad," Yuuno remarked. "I don't think I have enough mana to properly heal him."
Especially since I have to recover myself, he added silently.
"Poor Gohan-kun..." Nanoha muttered, stroking his forehead with her hand. "He was so injured yet he still went to fight."
"He's one of the bravest boys I've ever met," Yuuno reassured her. "I'm sure once he recovers he'll be a force to be reckoned with."
"I know," Nanoha said with a beautiful grin.
Suddenly Gohan groaned as one of his hands shot up to press against his temple.
"Huh... wha...?" he wondered, blinking a few times to try to get his bearings back. He suddenly noticed where he was and he blushed very deeply. What was he doing with his head in Nanoha's lap? It was... it was so inappropriate! "Ah!"
He leapt away, wincing as a sudden surge of pain flared through his body. "Ah... owww..."
"Gohan-kun, it's all right!" Nanoha cooed as she drew him into a close hug. "We got rid of the monster!"
"H-Huh?" Gohan said, hesitantly returning the embrace. "W-Wait... I remember I tremendous surge of power!"
He stared at the girl in front of him with growing respect. He had no idea Nanoha was so powerful!
"That... was that you, Nanoha-san?" he asked.
"That's right," Yuuno said, and Gohan turned to stare at the magical being. "I gave Nanoha the Raising Heart, and she was able to unleash an incredible amount of magical powers, unlike anything I've seen."
"Raising Heart?" Gohan said, blinking.
"This little gem right here!" Nanoha chirped, holding up the jewel that was the Raising Heart.
"A jewel?" Gohan said, his confusion deepening.
"No, it's what the jewel represents," Yuuno explained. "The Raising Heart is a magical device that forms a contract with whoever it comes in contact with, which allows them to transform into a Magical Girl."
"Incredible..." Gohan breathed. Her power level was easily over one million! That's about the same as Frieza in his second form, or Piccolo-san's power back on Namek! he thought, then frowned. "But, wait... Nanoha, what DID happen to that creature we were fighting? You said you were both able to beat it? How on Earth did you accomplish it?"
"That was a monster spawned from a corrupted Jewel Seed," the archeologist said patiently." Thanks to the Raising Heart, Nanoha was able to defeat it and return the Jewel Seed back to its original state, sealing it away for good."
"Wow..." Gohan said, sounding awed by the girl's feats. "You're amazing, Nanoha-san!"
Nanoha giggled with a small blush resting atop her cheeks. Truth be told, she liked Gohan's praise.
"Moouu, it wasn't really that impressive..." she insisted modestly. "Besides, I only did what Yuuno-kun told me to do."
"Yes, but your skill and talent at mastering the technique after only hearing instructions once is impressive," Yuuno said, and though it was physically impossible for a ferret to grin, Yuuno somehow managed it. "You'll make a great mage with proper training."
"Mooouuu, stop it you two, you're making me blush!" Nanoha giggled.
Both Gohan and Yuuno smiled. Then Nanoha sat up straighter. "Oh, I forgot!"
"What did you forget, Nanoha-san?" Gohan asked.
Then, without warning, the girl moved closer and began examining various parts of his body, running her hands down his torso, across his chest and over his hips and waist, and then, oh no, please, not there!
"Nanoha... ack... oh... what are you... ooh... doing?" Gohan asked, trying to squirm out of her grasp.
Nanoha was determined, however, thoroughly checking every part of him.
"I want to check to see if you have serious injuries," Nanoha said softly. "You were in a lot of pain a few minutes ago."
"Well, gah... I'm fine! Really! Y-You don't need to check me! Really!" Gohan said, moving her hands away from him.
Nanoha understood and offered him a sly grin. "Yeah, I guess any more of that and we'd be getting embarrassing, huh?"
"Uheheheh... yeah," Gohan said, blushing deeply.
"Uh-huh," Nanoha said knowingly. "You're coming with me, Gohan-kun, we'll treat your wounds at my house. Um, can you walk?"
"Well, I think I can," Gohan said. He figured he might as well try it, and he got up. However, after a few seconds of wobbling dangerously on his feet he plopped back down to the bench, groaning at the pain and holding his tender ankle in his hands. "Ouch... I-I think I sprained my ankle or something. It's so sore and it's a fairly sharp pain too."
"Well, that's no good at all," Nanoha pouted.
Nanoha rose up to her feet and with the gentleness that was the stock-in-trade for someone as nice as she was kindly helped Gohan up from his sitting position on the bench into an upright posture. "Here, I'll help you walk just like last time. You hop in too, Yuuno-kun."
"Right," Yuuno said, jumping onto Nanoha's back and letting her and Gohan walk him back to her house.
As they continued down the streets, Yuuno began feeling guilty.
They barely know me, yet they are risking life and limb to help me, Yuuno thought in amazement that someone could be so kind. I hope I can repay them somehow. Gohan's injuries seem pretty bad, he may even have internal damage. I will need my full mana reserves back to properly heal him, meanwhile I'll have to focus on my own injuries... I'm sorry, Gohan, please hang in there for a little more.
Meanwhile, back at the Takamachi household, Nanoha's siblings, Kyouya and Miyuki, were waiting for their little sister and her friend to return. Kyouya was constantly glancing at his stopwatch, and Miyuki was pacing back and forth in the living room. Finally, unable to take it anymore, Miyuki turned to face her brother with a very worried look.
"Still not returning?" she asked, uncrossing her arms.
Kyouya checked his watch. "No. It's been two hours and she's yet to return home. Gohan too."
"Should we go out and look for them?" Miyuki suggested. "I know Mom and Dad went to the police station, but maybe we can find them."
"If they aren't here in ten minutes, we'll search for them, Miyuki," Kyouya said. "For now, we need to trust Mom and Dad."
Suddenly, the door creaked as somebody entered the front door, clearly trying to enter surreptitiously and avoid a lot of noise. Reacting instantly to the sudden sound as though it was a firecracker, Kyouya and Miyuki took off and came to the front hallway, where Nanoha was busy taking off her shoes. Gohan was slumped across her shoulder, looking quite beaten.
"Ah!" Nanoha gasped. "O-Onii-chan! M-Miyuki-nee-ch-chan!"
"Nanoha!" Kyouya exclaimed.
"Oh Kami, what happened?!" Miyuki said, noticing Gohan's wounds.
They approached the girl, still helping Gohan over the barrier.
"Nanoha, what happened to you both?" Kyouya asked insistently. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Onii-chan, but Gohan-kun is very injured and needs help quickly!" Nanoha said urgently.
"But why is he so injured?" Miyuki wondered. "What happened?!"
"We'll tell you everything, but please, we have to tend Gohan-kun's injuries first!" Nanoha said firmly.
Kyouya and Miyuki looked at one another, and then nodded. Kyouya helped Nanoha move Gohan over to the sofa while Miyuki went to get some first-aid supplies. Together, Nanoha and Kyouya were able to ease Gohan into a sitting position.
"Easy there," Kyouya said.
The hybrid looked up at the eldest Takamachi sibling with a reassuring look.
"I'm okay, really," he insisted. "It's honestly worse than it looks..."
After examining Gohan closely and assuring himself that he was more or less going to live, Kyouya turned to his younger sister.
"What about you, Nanoha-chan?" he asked her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Onii-chan," Nanoha replied. "Just a few scratches."
Kyouya was bursting to know what happened, if someone had attacked them, and he was just about ask them just that when at that minute Miyuki she returned with bandages, alcohol, and gauze pads.
"I've got the first-aid kit," she said, hurrying over and settling herself down next to Gohan.
Miyuki began disinfecting his wounds, making him wince as the alcohol pads rubbed against his sore wounds; and bandaging them up, changing the other bandages and just generally making sure he would be all right. By the time she was done, he was covered completely in bandages and wrappings, wearing a white dressing across his forehead headband style. Finally content that he was going to be fine, Miyuki frowned.
"Well, you were very fortunate," she said. "You don't have that many serious injuries."
"I've had much worse," Gohan said.
Both teenagers eyed Gohan strangely. They sensed he was telling them the truth, but that just opened up new questions. What on Earth could have happened in this boy's past for him to be so familiar with such pain and hardship? But before they could ask him, there was the click of a lock turning, and the door opening and shutting. Footsteps padded into the hall, and the elder Takamachis walked into the room, looking serious and worried, but when they caught sight of Nanoha and Gohan on the couch, however, their eyes lit up.
"Nanoha!" Shirou cried.
"Oh, baby you're all right!" Momoko exclaimed, rushing over and engulfing her youngest in a hug before she could even speak.
Shirou stepped into the room, looking stern and upset.
"What's going on here?" Shirou asked. "Why weren't you here for dinner, young lady?"
"Mom, Dad, I can explain!" Nanoha chimed in hurriedly.
"Then please do so," Shirou said, inviting Nanoha to elaborate.
Nanoha hated lying, even when it was completely justified, but this time, she knew she'd have no choice in the matter... which is why she had already thought of a convincing enough story on the way back.
"Because a cat jumped into my window and chased Yuuno outside! Gohan-kun and I went after him, but after we managed to chase away the cat and rescue Yuuno-kun, a dozen creepy blonde guys suddenly attacked us and wanted to do some strange things with us! Gohan-kun fought them, but was beaten really badly, and we were able to chase them off too!" she explained rapidly, remaining serious the whole time. Nothing in her posture, gaze, or voice could betray the fact that she was lying right through her teeth.
"Oh my... you were ambushed by the Yakuza?!" Momoko nearly cried out in shock.
The other three older Takamachis frowned.
The Yakuza?! What could they want with us? Miyuki wondered in shock. Don't tell me we have someone else hunting after our family's heads?! Last time they left Dad crippled for years! Please not again!
Could it be... is the Clover Leaf Army attacking again through the Yakuza? Impossible! We beat them four years ago! Kyouya pondered. If they really are after Nanoha, we'll have to fight them again... he realized coldly.
"You're lucky to even be alive," Shirou said seriously, turning to his youngest daughter and checking for wounds on her.
"Still, being able to fight off a bunch of Yakuza..." the Takamachi firstborn mused. "That's pretty impressive, little man."
"Yes, you must be very strong. And we owe our Nanoha's life to you, as well," Shirou said, gratitude evident in his voice.
"Thank you, Gohan, dear, from the bottom of our hearts," Momoko added.
"Oh..." the boy blushed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, a trait common among all the male members of his family. "Well, I didn't do much. Nanoha-san was the one who managed to scare them off. I was pretty much just a punching bag when it..."
— Gohan, stop talking! — a voice suddenly popped in his head. — I think you're only making things worse! —
Recognizing it to belong to Yuuno, Gohan gasped when he finally realized that yes, he had slipped up very badly, as now all four of the Takamachis were eyeing Nanoha oddly, doubt clear in their gazes.
"How in the world could a nine-year-old girl scare away the Yakuza?" Shirou said pointedly.
Nanoha sweatdropped nervously. "Gohan-kun is just being modest. He did all of the work. Right, Gohan?"
"Yeah, sorry... I guess I was just exaggerating... I-I hate taking the credit for anything," Gohan mumbled.
"Why?" Kyouya pressed. "There's nothing wrong with that! You saved Nanoha's life!"
"Because... well, you were embarrassing me..." Gohan said, and he was quite lucky to be blushing just then to back up his claims.
"I see," Shirou said, and then he straightened up. "Well, because everybody's okay, and it wasn't really your fault, we're gonna overlook you two sneaking away just this once as long as you promise never to repeat it, okay?"
"Sure! We promise!" Nanoha chirped. "Right, Gohan-kun?"
"Uh, yeah," Gohan said contritely. "We're sorry that we worried you."
"We're just glad you're okay," Shirou said. "That's all that matters."
"So, you two haven't eaten yet, have you?" Miyuki said shrewdly.
As if in response to that statement, a huge growl erupted from Gohan's stomach that shocked everyone there.
"Oops," Gohan said, blushing deeply. "Heheheh, I'm sorry."
"Well, it is pretty late, but as thanks for saving our little girl, we'll fix you dinner," Momoko said, smiling happily at the young boy.
"Thank you, Momoko-san," Gohan said politely.
"Well, come on, Gohan-kun, Miyuki-nee-chan, Onii-chan!" Nanoha declared. "Let's go eat!"
And pumping her fist in the air, Nanoha grabbed Gohan by his wrist and dragged him in the kitchen, Gohan protesting the entire time as the enthusiastic girl helped his limping form walk with her, with the rest of the Takamachis watching on in amusement as she did so.
"Ah, the boundless energy of youth, that's truly the Takamachi spirit!" Shirou said wistfully.
"To have their lives threatened, and then to cheerfully move on as if nothing had happened," Momoko said. "Yeah, they'll be okay."
Shirou, Momoko, and Miyuki followed the children into the kitchen, laughing kindly as they did so. Kyouya, however, hung back, tapping his chin with his finger. He had a deeply thoughtful look on his face.
I wonder how strong Gohan is, he thought. They never said exactly how many Yakuza he had to fight. But something's wrong, I can sense it. Nanoha wouldn't lie to us, but something about their story doesn't add up.
He shrugged and gave a small smile. "Hmm, guess I'll take Gohan to the gym and gauge his strength once he's recovered enough."
His mind made up, Kyouya headed off too to be with the rest of his family.
Hello there, faithful readers! LSSJ2 Gohan here and glad to present you a new chapter of this wonderful project of ours!
Before you ask, yes, we are aware our power level charts have some flaws. But fear not, we are working to correct them (though it should be noted that Nanoha and Fate's power levels have been stated as canonical in the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha show, namely the first season. We are just matching them with DBZ's power levels). Granted, I am not sure if you will all be satisfied with the final result, but alas, you can't please everyone.
As a last note, co-writer King of Soda has finished work on his chart to gauge mage ranks and matching them with DBZ power levels. We will have it by next chapter, so if you're interested you can check it out.
Well, that's enough, I bid thee all farewell!
Best regards to all of you!
LSSJ2 Gohan and The King of Soda, working together as The Eternal Hawk!