Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 9: Confrontations (part 1)
Xx~~*~~xX
"Ooh, it really IS a mecha!" Arisa positively squealed as she entered the cavernous garage.
It stood nearly three times her height, sleek, stylish, and mostly white and gleaming silver. A few patches of blue were present here and there, but overall Arisa decided it could use a paint job. A gun half it's arm length was attached to its right side.
Suzuka shook her head, giggling, seeing the hearts in her friend's eyes. "They call it a Golem, remember. And I figured you'd be pleased; you've only been bugging me to see it every day, ever since I told you about it."
"You KNOW how much I love those Gundam arcade games!" Arisa shot back, not taking her eyes off it.
The purple-haired girl sighed; she did. Arisa had spent much money in those arcades, beating the pants off the boys who tried to play against her. As far as Suzuka could tell, this was more exciting to her friend than discovering magic.
Arisa finished off her admiration from below, and climbed the ladder up the gantry for a better view. "Have you flown in it yet?"
"We're not sure if it does fly yet," the junior technician replied, following her up the ladder. "Shari and I haven't finished our examination of it. Lately, we keep getting pulled from project to project; it's been tough to keep up. And Shari's also been busy teaching me."
"Where is Shari, by the way?" Arisa asked, running her fingers along the Golem's right arm. Suzuka almost felt like an awkward third party watching two lovers.
"She's picking up some lunch, and should be back in 30 minutes or so," Suzuka said, typing into the small control panel which caused the back of the golem to fold open, revealing the cockpit in the upper torso. "You can look, but don't touch the controls. You're only allowed in here under my responsibility. And it's only because we're friends with Nanoha and Hayate, that you're even allowed to see this."
As Arisa bent down to take a look, alarms began to sound, flashing red in the garage lab where they were located. "What's going on?"
Suzuka opened a screen and typed into it. "It looks like the city is under attack from the ocean. Some strange unit. I can't get details with my security clearance, but they want people to evacuate and are calling in all able military units." She looked up. "Aren't you going to go?"
"Technically, I'm still a non-combatant until I finish my mage training courses," Arisa replied glumly.
"Then I suppose we sit tight until it's over, so we don't get in the way," Suzuka concluded, leaning back on the railing, then noticed her friend's facial expression changing. "What?"
In one smooth motion, Arisa brought out her staff, activated her barrier jacket, and ran at Suzuka. "LOOK OUT!"
x~~*~~x
"You wanted to tell me something?" Hayate asked the person in the view screen.
Shamal nodded. "I've finished my examination of the girl you brought in, though it wasn't easy. Her DNA is in flux."
Hayate leaned back in her chair. "In flux?"
"It's almost as if there is two different sets of DNA mixed in her cells, each struggling against the other," Shamal told her. "What's more, her linker core is abnormally large. It's almost unnatural. If I had to guess, whoever was cloning her, was trying to increase her power by increasing the size of her linker core."
"Have you ascertained what her magical abilities are?" Hayate questioned.
Shamal sat back and sighed, shaking her head. "Not quite. She barely responds to people talking to her. I think her perception isn't the same as ours; like someone looking through a telescope where people are a small fraction of the total view. And when we exposed her to images of a moon, she nearly went berserk. It looks like she has some mental programming that's triggered at the sight of it. But before we can remove that, we half to adjust her perception to our level, so she can interact with us."
"So we'll be able to question her, then," Hayate concluded. "How long until she's sufficiently treated?"
"I'd guess at least a week," Shamal replied. "It's a delicate series of operations."
Before Hayate could respond, alarms began to sound, forestalling further conversation as she opened up a second view screen. "It looks like the city is under attack. I'll have to get back to you."
"Understood," the doctor told her, signing off.
Almost immediately, another screen opened up. "Lt. Colonel Yagami, you should see this."
Hayate's eyes narrowed as window opened up. "What is that, Colonel Nakajima? It looks like a bunch of gadget drones melded together into some sort of robot."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Genya replied. "I'm organizing the counter-offensive, but we have a problem. The AMF on this is incredibly strong; none of our previous techniques are effective, and we are lacking strong enough mages to drive it back."
The SS rank mage smiled. "And the 108th battalion would like my assistance?"
"If you would, please!" the Colonel replied. "I'm trying to mobilize other forces, but we could use an experienced commander on the front."
"Rein and I are on our way," Hayate told him, grabbing her coat. "Oh, and congratulations on the promotion, Colonel! I hear you're fully in charge of the defense of the city now."
Genya was dismissive of the praise. "Bah, to think something like this would happen soon after that. I had hoped that things would be quiet under my watch. Anyway, thank you, I owe you another one."
"Who's keeping track?" she told him wryly, then signed off. "Rein, let's go!" The smaller girl was apparently still asleep in Hayate's bag, and she had to shake it a bit to wake her up.
Rein yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Hmm, Hayate? What is it?"
"We got work to do, sleepy head!" her master informed her. "Let's move!"
The unison device snapped fully awake. "Ready!"
x~~*~~x
Suzuka instinctively ducked as Arisa's bo staff swung over her head. She heard it connect with a body to the sound of an "oof!" She quickly got out of the way, then it was her turn to save her friend.
"Whiskers!" she called, and a black shape shot out of the darkness, attacking the black-clad figure behind Arisa with a flurry of claw swipes to his helmeted visor. As he fell back through the door, Whiskers retreated to Suzuka's shoulder, mouth opening to shoot a magic beam at a third target.
"You know these guys?" Arisa asked, taking up a fighting stance to cover Suzuka's back as more men entered from both sides of the gantry bridge connected two doorways. "They remind me of SWAT troops."
"No idea who they are, but I can guess they are using the attack to try and steal the golem," Suzuka reasoned. [I wouldn't be able to face Shari if I lost it now!] "Whiskers, set up!"
Purple light enveloped her, as her black cat formed her white barrier jacket, then wrapped itself over her head and torso. The front legs extended down her arms, paws enlarging to rest on the back of her hands, while it's head split apart fitted itself around her own. Combined with her barrier jacket, it gave her a white jacket top similar to Hayate's, with black stripes down her arm from Whisker's arms. Black, loose-fitting shorts and knee-high white socks completed the ensemble.
In contrast, Arisa's barrier jacket consisted of a tighter-fitting white jacket top with red trim, and black tube top underneath that stopped just above her belly button. Black bicycle shorts and red knee-high socks completed it.
"We need to stop these guys before we're overrun!" Arisa told her, then leapt to the attack. "Hiyah!"
The swat troops were armed with standard mage staves and two were beginning to fire at them. Arisa knew that if they brought more of that firepower to bear, they'd lose. So she decided to get up close and personal, leaping into their midst, and dropping low to sweep out with both legs, dropping them to the ground. Before they could react, she planted her hands on the ground and vaulted upwards, sending both fleet flying into the chin of another target. The force of the double kick lifted his entire body and tossed him away.
Suzuka, meanwhile, was taking cover next to the golem's left shoulder pad, returning fire from her right hand. While she didn't have any shooting magic of her own, she had incorporated a compact magical powered staff blaster into her right paw. Not too powerful, but it could stun through a barrier jacket.
She also noted they seemed to be very hesitant about firing on her, so she surmised they didn't want to damage the golem, which gave her some relief. But that wouldn't last if they were swarmed. There were about eight of them in the garage now, with more coming in through a window up above in the high-ceiling garage lab.
Arisa was coming to a similar conclusion. While their attackers seemed to be surprised at someone attacking through pure martial arts at close range, the advantage of surprise was wearing off. One grabbed her from behind, but she flipped him to the ground, then thrust back with her staff, catching another in the gut. She dropped to the ground, doing a quick hand stand and twirled with her legs, taking two more attackers in the head.
She completed the spin, planting her feet and bringing her upper body up, continuing to spin as she whipped out with the staff, knocking the staff weapons out of the hands of two more. Several punches and kicks later, they folded over. Lastly, she planted the staff on one end and pole-vaulted out of the group, back closer to her partner. Her actions had laid out a number of men in the doorway at the west end of the gantry bridge, clogging up that entrance and slowing them down. But it wouldn't last long.
"We're being overrun!" Suzuka shouted, worried. "They're getting braver about shooting at us near the golem. Any ideas?"
[They want this thing, eh?] Arisa thought to herself. "Can you close the cockpit hatch when we're inside?"
"Y-yes, I can, but-" Suzuka started to say, than cried out "Eeep!" as Arisa grabbed her and jumped into the cockpit.
"Close it now!" Arisa told her.
Suzuka didn't need any encouragement, as she repeated the earlier code on an inside panel and shut the cockpit, noting it was now a bit cramped. "What now? That won't hold them for long. Shari and I changed the codes on it, but they can cut through the hatch."
"Not if we pilot this thing out of here!" Arisa shot back gleefully. "Now where's the on switch? And could you move your leg, Suzuka-chan?"
"Ack, sorry!" the other girl apologized, then bumped her head as she was trying to adjust herself in the seat behind Arisa.. "Ow!"
Arisa turned around to look at her. "You okay?" She suddenly had to stop herself from snickering, but couldn't entirely succeed.
"Yes," she replied, perturbed, then noticed the look her friend was giving her. "What!?"
"You ever notice how much of a cute cat-girl you look in that getup?"
Suzuka's "paw" was rubbing her head between the two cat ears. She even had Whisker's cat nose overlaid onto her own.
The cat-eared girl blushed. "I like cats."
Arisa shook her head and turned back, finding the button and hitting it. Screens turned on and controls were illuminated as the golem came to life. "Now we're talking!"
Suzuka flinched as a heavy pounding sounded behind her. "Hurry, Arisa-chan!"
"Gimme a sec, here," the golden-haired girl shot back, working the controls. "This looks like it, I think... Whoa!"
The golem surged forward, breaking it's restraining harness and taking a step off the gantry. It started to tip forward as it did, but then took a second step to balance, continuing it's headlong plunge.
"Hold ooooon!" Arisa cried as the golem burst through the garage door, and out into the light.
x~~*~~x
Nanoha took the skies the moment she got clearance for flight. A a part of her was uncomfortable leaving Vivio behind, alone, at the house, but she realized it needed to be done. Life would be like this as long as she wanted to fly; she'd have to trust Vivio would be alright.
From what she understood, there was an attack at the docks. Hayate hadn't told her much else, but she planned to rendezvous with her there. With most of the Wolkenritter off-world, and Fate on the other side of the planet, Hayate could use all the help she could get.
The communication piece in her ear sparkled to life. "...attack at the medical facility, need help, is anyone there?"
[That's Shamal's voice!] Nanoha realized. "Shamal, are you okay? What's going on?"
"Nanoha?" came the frantic voice of the Wolkenritter doctor. "I'm not sure, but there are explosions outside, and reports of an intruder. There's been no response from the guards sent to investigate!"
"Nanoha, detour to the medical facility and assist Shamal," Hayate's voice popped up. "I think I can handle the docks."
The TSAB Ace altered her course, switched her barrier jacket to Sacred mode, and increased speed. "Roger, I'm on my way."
x~~*~~x
Hayate wished she was as confident as she sounded to Nanoha a short moment ago. But as she got a look at the situation from the sky, she began to wonder. Dozens of mages were firing at the five-story tall drone giant as it lumbered onto land, but it had no effect. And she couldn't use most of her spells, due to people being in the blast radius. She needed to get it back out into the water.
[Well, that just leaves some of these newer spells I've been working on,] Hayate thought to herself. "[Rein, are you ready?]"
"[Yes!]" came the confident call from inside her body.
Hayate flipped open her tome and began to chant. "Breath of thunder, infinite bolts, split the heavens and grant your power to this unworthy vessel!"
Clouds darkened and crackled overhead as Hayate held her staff aloft. Multiple arcs of lightning arced from the sky to the tip of her staff, building up power, pure electrical energy swirling in a giant sphere above her head. When she felt she had enough, she reformed it into a giant energy hammer.
"Mjollnir Strike!"
Hayate swung the hammer, slamming it into the colossus. It was stopped a few feet from actual impact due to the strong AMF field, but the kinetic energy forced it back several steps. Hayate wound up once more.
"Again, Mjollnir Strike!" she cried, swinging again.
As it connected a second time, she released the energy, letting the force of the explosion continue to push it back. In response, the giant fired back, blue beams seeking to knock her out of the sigh, forcing Hayate to dodge by flying higher.
She took note of the distance she'd have to push it, to get it back in the water. "This... could take awhile."
x~~*~~x
"Look ooouuuttt!" Suzuka cried, covering her eyes.
"I got this!" Arisa shouted back, yanking the control sticks to the side, barely dodging oncoming civilian traffic. "See? No problem!"
Somehow, Arisa had found a function which activated the golem's powered roller skates, and now they were making their way over roads towards TSAB headquarters. Surprisingly, they hadn't killed anyone yet. Suzuka was waiting on the 'yet' part.
"I'm so losing my job for this," the junior technician wailed.
"I told you I got this!" Arisa shot back. "Now if I could just find the flight controls...."
"Avionic capabilities require full AI registration," a robotic female voice informed them. "Do you wish to proceed?"
Suzuka uncovered her eyes. "Oh, that's Terra! The Golem's AI."
The rapidly-learning pilot beamed. "Hi, Terra, I'm Arisa Bannings! And I'd love to proceed!"
"User Arisa Bannings registered," came the response. "Flight control has been enabled."
Outside, the back sprouted several mechanical spines that might have been wings, except they were missing the webbing between them. That was shortly remedied as yellow magical energy connected the spines, forming a pair of full golden fluorescent wings.
"Look out!" Suzuka cried again, pointing out the large statue in the park they had just entered.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I got this!?" Arisa grumbled loudly, pushing the throttle up and pulling back on the stick. The golem left the ground, soaring up into the clouds, but not before it's leg struck the statue and demolished it.
Suzuka crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at the back of her friend's head. "That is so coming out of YOUR paycheck."
Arisa sweated.
x~~*~~x
Nanoha had descended and entered the medical facility. Further attempts to contact Shamal had proven fruitless, so she focused on flying through the damaged and smoking halls. Alarm klaxons continued to sound, along with the flashing red warning lights. She had already passed several guards who were heavily wounded and unconscious, but she couldn't stop to do much for them, if she wanted to save the patients. All she could do was contact medical personnel as to their location so they could be retrieved and treated.
She suspected that Shamal would be with their special guest, which is probably what the intruder was after; in the deepest and most secure part of the facility. No doubt, any other patients were evacuated there, if they couldn't be evacuated out of the facility altogether due to medical reasons. And it should be just up ahead, she thought, as she turned a corner.
And froze.
It was him, the ninja. Two more guards lay face down at his feet, and he was attempting to cut through the huge security door just ahead. Several slash marks from his twin kodachi already marred it's face, and it looked like it wouldn't hold up much longer.
He whirled, sensing her presence, and Nanoha was forced to abandon the bind spell as he charged her with a yell. She just barely got up a Protection Powered barrier to block his strike, but she could tell it wouldn't last long.
"Barrier burst," Raging Heart intoned. The remaining energy in the shield exploded, sending both attackers away from each other.
Nanoha wasted no time, pointing her staff and shouting out, "Axel Shooter!" She sent several glowing shots into the smoke as she flew backwards, causing secondary explosions.
The ninja burst from the smoke, mostly unharmed except for a tear along his side. His eyes widened in his mask as Nanoha sent the remaining two orbs at him that she was holding back, while guiding two more from behind. In an incredible display of agility, her opponent vaulted, flipped, and sliced his way through all four, still coming at her.
Nanoha grit her teeth; this wasn't going to be easy.
x~~*~~x
Signum blocked Tre's attack with Levantine once more, but was struggling to keep up. If she had full control of her magic, she could probably match the cyborg, but it was all she could do to stay on the defensive. Also, she was stuck on the ground to conserve what magic she had; she couldn't waste it flying. The trees also gave her some cover from Tre's quick Wide Impulse attacks.
"[How are you doing?]" Vita's telepathic question came.
"[Could be better,]" Signum sent back glumly. "[I've already radioed for backup, but I'm not sure what good it will do with this magic-disruption field in effect. How about you?]"
"[I could trounce Sette if I had my full powers,]" Vita growled. "[We might have to call Subaru back.]"
The Belkan Knight ducked and rolled into bushes as Tre zoomed by, slicing a tree in half. A half-second earlier would have resulted in her head being removed. But she was learning; despite the handicap, she was seeing through Tre's pattern. Movement that fast was actually fairly inflexible due to inertia. Without magic, Tre couldn't change directions too fast.
She popped a cartridge and activated snake form, twirling the long whip around and snagging Tre by the ankle, flinging the other girl away.
Signum took advantage of the brief respite and tapped her earpiece. "Subaru, change of plans. You are going to have to hurry up; we're under attack out here. Find whatever is generating this field and destroy it!"
She hoped it would happen soon. She was running out of magic and cartridges.
x~~*~~x
"Signum!" Subaru called into her communicator, stopping her trek farther in. "Vita! Are you guys alright? I barely got your message! I'll come back to help!"
"NO!" came Vita's shouted order, loud and clear, but then the static returned. "You... destroy... magic-field... hurry..."
The mage cyborg debated internally. [They want me to destroy this field? How? I know they are weaker out there, so I should go help, but Vita's order was fairly clear.] She shook her head. She knew she wouldn't stand a great chance against two of the best cyborgs, and Signum and Vita were counting on her. She wouldn't let them down.
"Mach Calibur, let's go, max speed!"
"Engaging Afterburners!" her device chirped. Flame erupted from the exhaust ports of her skates, propelling her at high speeds down the tunnel.
Subaru dropped her torso to lower her center of gravity for better control in the swifter pace. It was dangerous, as she had to react faster to obstacles in the way, such as the large hole she quickly jumped over. More obstacles began appearing in her path, forcing her to duck and weave.
And then she hit a dead-end. Or more appropriately, worked quickly to cut her speed to avoid slamming into it. But in the process, she tripped and went tumbling along the tunnel floor.
"Ow ow ow ow!" Subaru seethed as she pulled herself upright, then noticed she was no longer at the dead-end to a tunnel, but in a huge cavern, surrounded by holes. "What the...?"
"I'm afraid that's as far as you'll be going," a taunting female voice echoed. "Just sit tight and wait until we deal with your friends above."
"Like hell!" Subaru shouted back recognizing the voice and getting back on her feet. "Your damn illusions aren't going to stop me, Quattro!"
"Oh my my my," the #4 cyborg fretted teasingly. "But how will you proceed? What is real and what isn't? Is that a real hole? Or is that solid ground a hole with many pointy stalagmites waiting at the bottom?"
Subaru growled, realizing the situation she was in. Even the previous tunnel and dead-end could have been an illusion. She didn't know which direction to go, and her friends were counting on her.
But what could she do?
x~~*~~x
"Please stop this!" Nanoha pleaded, using a Flash Move to dodge another sword strike. "We can help if you just tell us what you're after!"
"You're lying!" he accused her, pointing his palm at her, a gray Mid-childa magic symbol flaring underneath him. "Tornado Flash!"
Nanoha cried out as she was sent flying down the hallway backwards by the horizontal whirlwind. She hit the ground tumbling, taking advantage of the momentum to roll around a corner and get back to her feet. Overall, her plan was working; she was drawing him farther and farther away from the patients secured in the inner chamber. Now she just needed to figure out a way to stop him.
Wincing, she grabbed her left shoulder, feeling the cut there from where one of his swords had penetrated her barrier and grazed her. It wasn't deep, but it had gone through her barrier jacket almost like a knife through butter. Just what were his swords made out of? What magic was he using?
There was no more time for thought as he came around the corner again, bloodlust in his eyes, swords swinging to send vacuum blades streaming down the hall. Nanoha threw herself to the ground to avoid them and thrust out her right hand, pointing her index finger out at him, having prepared her next spell.
"Crossfire SHOOT!" Brilliant pink energy exploded from her finger in beam form. Mimicking her earlier move, the ninja dropped to the ground to avoid it, just as she planned. Raising her arm higher, she sent the second blast into the ceiling above him, causing it to cave in on him.
Breathing heavily, Nanoha pulled herself to her feet, switching Raging Heart to Excelion mode, and her Barrier jacket to Exceed mode. She realized there would be no negotiating with him; she'd have to knock him out and subdue him. She wasn't sure whether that last move had worked, though, and she was finding it extremely difficult to hit him at all. He was fast; as fast as Fate in sonic form, if not faster. Fortunately, Nanoha had received much combat experience and training against her friend, so she had ways of dealing with speed.
[His magic seems to be wind-based,] she reasoned. [He must be lowering the air resistance against his body to be able to move so quickly. And his swords must have a magical wind edge to them, making them sharper than swords should be capable of, allowing them to cut deeper.] She carefully approached the rubble as the dust cleared. [Did he dodge it?]
She got her answer when he exploded out of the pile of debris, sword first, apparently having used a wind barrier at the last second to protect himself. Nanoha barely got a barrier up in time, but he sliced right through it. Still, it slowed him enough for her to jerk her head to the left, feeling the cool sensation on the right side of her neck.
[It has to be a wind-edge!] she realized. The sword hadn't actually touched her, but she had been grazed nonetheless. [The edge of the blade is preceded by a narrow band of rapidly moving wind, functioning almost like the blades on a chainsaw!]
Nanoha continued to twist her body to the left, thrusting with her staff in spear mode. "Strike Flame!"
She could see his eyes widen in surprise, his forward momentum not enough to avoid the extra reach from the magical pink blade that sprung out from the tip of her spear, grazing his backside. The seemingly slow-motion moment ended, and the two sprang away from each other.
For a moment, they paused, panting and studying each other. Again, Nanoha was overcome by the feeling of familiarity. There was something about him, but why couldn't she narrow it down?
Then there was no more time for thought, as both adversaries sprang at each other. Nanoha activated Axle Shooter, bringing up eight orbs, firing them off one at a time as the two closed the distance. As expected, he slashed at them, destroying them one by one. As they were about to meet, he jumped at her.
Moving quickly, Nanoha fired off the last two, sending up one to destroy the ceiling and blasting a hole in the floor below. In the two seconds that the dust obscured their view of each other, the TSAB Ace activated Flash Move, shifted against the left wall, and sped through the dust cloud to appear behind him.
Acting hopefully before he realized what was going on, Nanoha aimed her staff down the hall. "Divine... Buster!" The resulting beam covered most of the hall, cutting through the dust and debris. She let it go for a full six seconds, before cutting it off.
[That had to get him,] she hoped, panting, then gasped. The ninja had his back stuck flat against the ceiling, but immediately sprang down at her as their eyes met. [Too fast...!]
She threw everything she had into her barrier, slowing his double sword thrusts. But it wasn't going to hold, as the blades edged closer and closer, penetrating her jacket just below her rib cage. As she felt the sword edges prick her skin, she only had one recourse open to her, and it was going to hurt.
"Reactor..." she whispered. "Purge." Her barrier jacket detonated, tossing both combatants away from each other.
Neither body moved.
Xx~~*~~xX
Author's Notes:
Will Arisa and Suzuka manage to avoid further property damage? Will Hayate be able to handle the drone giant? And who will get up first; Nanoha or her mysterious opponent?
This was originally going to be one chapter, but I wanted to do some decent action scenes, so I broke it up into two chapters. Think of it as a sweet reward if you like action, and thought there was too much exposition earlier. :P
Rewrite of this chapter is done. Not much changed, except a bit more clarification on Nanoha's scenes. C&C is always welcome!