Story summary:
When an old temple is found, its origins are believed to be from the Magical world. But when its prisoners escape and run free, their jailors make their appearance. How will Ala Alba survive a war between two unknown species? Negima x AVP crossover. I would've said so in the summary, but I ran out of space. If you're prone to react negatively to character deaths, M-rated violence or simply dislike the idea, don't read any further. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. First chapter Rated T, the rest probably M. Set after the Festival Arc of the manga. Again, thanks to Traingham and Dragemenian Jew for helping me with my Negima! research and motivating me to get this up. You guys are Awesome. Period.
NOTE: I take most material, like relationship statuses, honorific use and Pactio contracts from the Chapters between the end of the Mahora Festival and the Beginning of the Magical World arc. Please don't nail me to the wall for not being up to date with the manga in this fic…
CHAPTER 2
Jailbreak
"You're sure these are the last few shipments?" Satomi Hakase asked the scientist in front of her. "Sooner or later people are going to get suspicious of why a large chopper keeps landing here."
"I'm sure, Hakase-san." The scientist nodded solemnly. "The chopper heading here now is carrying the last shipment of specimens extracted from the temple. After this, we can finally pay them for that job, and we'll have more people guarding the top floors here."
"Good…" Satomi nodded as she turned her sights back to the creature in the room she was observing. It quickly turned its head at her, making its dreadlocks sway from side to side. "I understand it was quite a job to get it muzzled?"
"Very." The scientist replied. "We lost two scientists and about four mercenaries in the process." He glanced at the creature as well. "Exactly what is that thing, Hakase-san?"
"We're still trying to pinpoint that." She stated. "From what we can gather, it shares a few traits with a snake, similar to the others, but this one is different. It's not like the others…" She studied the creature silently for a few moments. "The others are very skeletal beings." She continued. "Their skulls grow backwards in a cylindrical manner, but this one's is much shorter. We also need to find a rational theory as to why it has those dreadlocks. But the four mandibles around its mouth and the small crest at the back of its head intrigue me most…" A slight shifting sound came from behind them, and another scientist entered.
"I'm sorry to intrude, Hakase-san," he apologised quickly, "but I have a report of what happened with Project X2's wrist bracer." Satomi quickly nodded, urging him on. "From the scientists' reports, it started functioning again as one of them was working on it. Apparently, certain glyphs started appearing on the small screens, and the device started beeping. After a few seconds, it stopped, and it seems as if nothing dire happened." Satomi nodded again.
"Move the bracer and X2's remains two levels higher, and ensure only the top ranking scientists and experts get near it. We can't have some of the less experienced ones messing this up." She ordered. The scientist quickly nodded, and left.
"Any luck removing X2's mask?" The other scientist asked.
"None." Satomi huffed, turning back to the dreadlocked creature. "Unlike X here, X2 wasn't caught in the permafrost chamber. Its body aged just as any other person's would, hence the fragile bones and lack of flesh and blood for us to test. We did, however, get a rough estimate of how old X2 is." She said with a smirk.
"It's age?" The scientist asked.
"Thirteen thousand two-hundred and forty-five years old." Satomi grinned. "These beings have existed since the first records of civilization. Maybe even before that…"
With a groan, Mei Sakura slowly opened her eyes, quickly trying to adjust the low lighting of the environment she found herself. With difficulty, she raised herself into a sitting position and slowly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She quickly glanced around, but her vision was still slightly blurry.
"It's about time you woke up." A voice came from in front of her. "You had us all very worried." She looked up as her vision started to become clear, and saw Takane Goodman's outline standing in front of her.
"Huh… Onee-sama?" She quickly rubbed her eyes again, and her vision became clear. She saw Takane standing there with a smile on her face. "Onee-sama!"She cried out happily. "You won't believe what ha-" Her voice died out in her throat and her eyes widened when she saw where she was as she quickly glanced around her. Around her, dark walls and corridors stretched endlessly, with unknown glyphs, runes and images covering them. Mei choked slightly.
She was back at the temple. The temple where the creatures attacked her. She gasped loudly, as she quickly turned back to face Takane. Her face lost all colour when she saw a large pool of blood where Takane was standing. Without thinking, she scrambled up onto her legs and quickly started running down the corridor as fast as her legs would carry her. She squealed softly when she heard several hisses come from behind her, and she ran faster, glancing back to see how far behind her the creatures were. She started slowing down slightly, and looked in front of her again.
At that moment, something black shot forwards out of the shadows, knocking her onto her back. Two strong, skeletal hands pinned her down to her ground, and the claws at the tips of its feet tore at her thighs. With a loud scream, she opened her eyes to see it was one of the creatures that was pinning her down, Several others were closing in at a rapid pace, and Mei screamed again just as the beast's inner jaw shot forwards.
"Mei…"
"Mei!!!"
Takane's cries, and the sudden illumination of her surroundings, caused her to shoot into a sitting position, crying loudly and panting heavily. Her eyes fell on Takane, still clad in her PJs, and with a singular motion, she shot forwards and grabbed her around her waist, muttering inaudible words through her tears. Takane slumped down onto the small bed while comforting her underling, a shocked expression plastered on her features as Gandolfini and Harrington entered.
"What happened?" Harrington asked as he looked from Mei to Takane, and back again.
"What does it look like?" Takane snapped angrily. "She had a nightmare." Harrington looked at her sternly.
"There's no need for hostility, Miss Goodman. I simply asked a question."
"And I gave you a fair enough answer!" Takane said sharply. "This is all because you sent her to that damned temple!"
"I told you, there was no way we could have-"
"Enough! Please…" Gandolfini raised both hands promptly silenced the argument. "You two aren't helping her calm down…" Takane suddenly realised that Mei's grip had tightened around her, and she felt her back start to ache. She shot a poisonous glance at Harrington, and with a few soft words, ushered Mei back into her small bed. Mei still shook violently, and her whole body was covered in sweat. She quickly took a seat at the end of the bed, as Gandolfini and Harrington each dragged chairs closer to the bed.
"Miss Natsume is still unconscious, so you're probably the only witness for now." Harrington said softly, ignoring Takane's angry glances. "I think, Miss Sakura, that it's time you told us exactly what happened in that temple."
Konoka Konoe mumbled something inaudible as she woke up, quickly rubbing her eyes and sitting upright after hearing the a soft from where the door to the room was. Asuna stood there with a goofy smile, seemingly back from her paper dilveries.
"Sorry there, Konoka…" She smiled. "I was a bit too eager to get back…"
"It's okay Asuna…" Konoka yawned. "I was going to wake up anyway… Where's Negi-kun?"
"Still sleeping…" Asuna frowned as she pointed up to her bunk, where Negi lay fast asleep. "He invited himself up there again during the night…" She grumbled, making Konoka chuckle. A sudden loud thump from above them drew their attention. Two more thumps followed, and they heard soft footsteps on the dorm's roof. Then there was silence.
"What was that?" Konoka asked, not averting her gaze from the ceiling.
"Probably just one of Sakurako-san's cats." Asuna shrugged. "Heaven knows what she feeds them these days…"
"Oh well." Konoka smiled as she stood up. "I'll get started on breakfast."
Outside their room, three vague silhouettes silently moved across the rooftops of the dorm building. Every now and then, one could just barely be seen glancing down the sides of the building, observing the students who were awake already.
"Heaven knows what she feeds them these days…" A voice came from below them, making one of the two other silhouettes growl softly. The leader silhouette uttered a louder growl at its comrades, and started darting across the rooftops, followed by the others, quickly heading towards the Mahora Science building.
"Hey, Konoka?" Asuna called as she sat at the table. "What was that thing about the old temple in the news? It's plastered all over the papers today."
"Uh, from what I heard," Konoka called from the small kitchen, "They say satellites found an old temple off the coast of Japan. But before they could do anything, something destroyed it."
"Huh?" Asuna glanced at the kitchen.
"Some people say it was some kind of meteor shower. Others say it was a bomb of sorts. But the fact still remains that most of the island it was on is gone now. There's only a few rocks left where it was…"
"Weird…" Asuna looked away. A slight mumble behind her drew her attention, and she saw Negi sitting up in her bunk. "About time." She frowned as Konoka entered. With a groan, Negi started rubbing his eyes.
"Morning Asuna-san…Konoka-san…" He muttered as he stumbled out of bed. Konoka giggled.
"He must have rested well seeing as you didn't beat him awake again…" Asuna frowned.
"I didn't have the time." She huffed. "I overslept… say, Negi?" She turned to face the boy. "Konoka tells me about a temple satellites found on an island near Japan. Know anything about it?"
Negi stopped eating for a moment. "From what I can gather, a satellite did pick up heat signatures from a temple near here, but links to it was lost shortly after." He said before taking another bite of his breakfast.
"So it was lost in space?" Asuna asked with a bored expression. Negi nodded in affirmation, before swallowing his food.
"The news reports say it blew up."
"In the middle of space?"
"It's not impossible…"
"Great." Asuna said, resting her chin on her hand. "So the mages weren't responsible…"
"Why are we talking about this all of a sudden?" Negi asked.
"I have no idea…" Asuna answered. "Just the usual morning chatter, I suppose…"
"Dammit, hide the gun!"
"Fuckin' make me!"
The usual morning calm over the Mahora Forest quickly dissipated as three loud voices thundered over the noise of a large helicopter quickly whirring over it. It was flying at a low altitude, and was causing the trees to sway in the wind the rotors were kicking up. "It's seven in the morning during the damn winter break." A man in the door of the helicopter called at the two pilots. "Who the hell would be here, in a forest, at that time, and during the school break!?"
"It's still a risk!" The pilot yelled. "Hakase will have us skinned if we're compromised!"
"We won't be…" The pilot called arrogantly, but he still disappeared from the doorway. He whistled as he strode to the back of the helicopter, where a large steel container was held in place by thick, black chains. "We're gonna get one helluva bonus for securing the last few specimens for that nerd…"
"How many eggs were there?" The one pilot called.
"There were eight, but one was empty so there's seven eggs in here now, all nicely preserved in some kind of ice for us." He grinned. "Though we are in for one helluva ass-kicking when we get back…"
"What? Why?"
"The empty egg supposedly held a very unique implanter, some kind of leader organism that gets created by it." The man's face fell.
"And let me guess: Hakase wanted that more than anything?" The pilot raised an eyebrow. "Trust you to let that happen… I swear you're gonna get us all fi – What the fuck!?" The pilot quickly jerked back on the controls of the helicopter, tilting it backwards just in time as a smouldering blue projectile shot from the forest. "What the hell was that!?"
"Shut up and fly!" The man yelled at he stood at the doorway and fired into the forest with his rifle. "Eat this you piece of –" A sharp, steel projectile hit the man square between the eyes, causing blood to stream down his face as he toppled out of the chopper.
"Oh shit…" The one pilot screamed. "Evasive manoeuvres!" He called to the other. "Get ready to bank in any direction, and keep your eyes – SHIT!" He tugged at the controls again, but he was too late. Another blue projectile came searing at them, and the whole helicopter shook as it blew the rear rotor clean off, leaving a large hole in the back of the helicopter's roof. "We're going down! Mayday! Mayday!" The pilot called into the radio. "We're going…" His voice died out in mid sentence and his eyes grew wide as he and his co-pilot saw a third blue projectile – heading straight at the cockpit. "Oh, SHI-" In a blaze of blue and orange, the cockpit exploded and the helicopter careened out of control, smashing into a large tree before plummeting into the forest in a cloud of black.
"Hakase-san! Hakase-san!" A scientist squeezed through the blast doors as soon as they would allow him to. "The last chopper was just shot down over the forest!" Satomi quickly whipped her head in his direction.
"What!? When?"
"A few minutes ago!" He cried. "That chopper was carrying seven embryo specimens, Hakase-san! Who knows what our enemy could… could…" Satomi quickly raised a hand to silence him.
"Send a team of the mercenaries to investigate and retrieve the specimens. Whoever is trying to get their hands on them must not succeed."
"Yes, Hakase-san." The scientist bowed quickly and left. Satomi turned her attention back to the tinted window in front of her, and with the flip of a switch, the blackness evaporated and let her see into the room. Before her, the specimen she had titled Project X was still struggling against its captors despite the sleeping gas. Where do you get all your strength? She thought as she intently studied the beast. We've had this room gassed for twenty minutes… How do you hold out!? The beast suddenly stopped squirming and looked towards one of the walls. What now? She thought as she leaned forward on the table in front of her. What do you see!?
Several loud crackles of electricity came from the wreckage of the helicopter as flames and smoke tinted the sky above Mahora forest odd shades of orange and gray. Several pieces of debris, including pieces of steel and glass with an odd blue tinge to it, surrounded the deep skid to where the chopper lay in a twisted mess of wires, steel and fire. Several of the flame licked at the foliage around the wreck, causing even more fires to dot the area.
A few feet from the wreck, a large steel container was perched on a small rock protruding from the ground, making it stand at an angle. Several broken chains surrounded it, while more traced back to where the helicopter crashed. The lid on the container was open, and inside lay six eggs, each wet with small pieces of frost still stuck to them. One egg had half of it burned away, allowing a dark green liquid to eat away at the floor. The other six were all open, with four triangular pointing in each direction.
Farther away, an odd spider-like creature with long tail quickly skittered into the forest, followed closely by five more. Each one was heading towards the Mahora campus.
"Now who could be knocking here at this time?" Konoka wondered aloud as several loud, impatient knocks sounded at their door.
"We just got dressed…" Asuna fumed. "Can't these people at least wait till we leave?"
"I'll go check." Negi said as rushed to the door.
"Negi-sensei!" Two young girls chorused at him as the door opened. Great… Asuna thought with a grimace. The Narutaki Twins… What could they want at this –
"Something crashed in the forest!" Fuka Narutaki, the elder of the twins, quickly cried. "Something big! It's causing tons of smoke!"
"A group of students already went in…" Fumika, the younger twin, said. "They refused to wait up for the teachers. That's why we came here!" Each of them grabbed one of Negi's and started dragging him out of the door. "That's why you have to come! Hurry!"
"All right, all right, I'm on my way…"
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Satomi was quickly losing her cool as she observed the screen before her. Several students already bordered around the edge of the forest, gasping, clasping hands over their mouths and pointing fingers at the centre of the forest. "How did it get to this!?" She turned to the armed man behind her. "I thought your men were the best!"
"They are." The man said, stepping out of the shadows. He had messy, dark brown hair and a large goatee, as well as a black tattoo running down the side of his face. "But the pilot wasn't one of my men. It was one of your weak researchers." He folded his arms, making the plates of steel on his upper arms and chest glint in the light.
"I don't pay you to throw accusations around." Satomi hissed. "When are your men going to get there?" The man looked at the screen.
"Right now." He said as he pointed at it. Fifteen men carrying large cases and donning leather coats were quickly heading towards one of the groups of people around the forest. "How many were in the container?"
"Seven." Satomi sighed. "Those imbeciles lost the queen carrier at the temple…"
"Well, don't fret, Hakase-san." The man said stoically as he left the room. "My men will get the rest back – or kill them trying. No one will find out about this…"
I hope you're right, Corban-san… She thought as she uttered a sigh and turned back to the screen. There's a lot more than a simple paycheque on the line here…
A rather grisly sight met Negi's eyes as he and the Narutaki twins, followed closely by Asuna and Konoka, approached the edge of the forest. Fifteen men in trench coats were interrogating a group of students. He managed to overhear a part of their conversation as he neared them.
"How many went in?"
"A-About five or six…"
"Do you have any names?"
"Y-Yes…" The boy stammered. "I know the one pair. Eiko and Naoya. They led the others in… Something about helping any survivors… A-are we done?"
"Excuse me." Negi quickly interrupted. "Might I know what you're doing here?"
"Bug off, kid." The man said sternly. "This isn't your business."
"I'm employed here, so it is my business." Negi said defensively, causing some of the other men to laugh loudly. The leader sat on his haunches to meet him eye-to-eye.
"Well, I'm not. At least, not permanently." He said as he reached inside his coat. "I was employed by the headmaster here. There seems to be a disturbance in the forest." He handed Negi the slip of paper.
Negi's eyes widened a bit when he saw that the paper indeed held Dean Konoe's permission for the men to enter the campus and go into the forest, as well as gather information from students who see anything suspicious. It even had the Konoe Seal and his signature on it…
"This doesn't make sense…" He muttered as he handed the letter to Konoka.
"Why would grandpa allow this?" She asked herself.
"I really don't care." The man replied. "All I know is, we need to find out what happened there," he said as he pointed to the pillar of smoke at the centre of the forest, "and currently, you kiddies are in our way." He frowned. "So lay off and let us do our job." He said as he turned and headed towards the forest, motioning for the others to follow. "Just stay outta the forest, kid. We don't want you and your… students getting hurt…"
"Hey, hold on!" Negi called after the leader. "What's your name?"
"That's confidential. Now leave me the fuck alone, little boy. Before I lose my cool…" He said as he and his men disappeared into the forest.
"This just doesn't make sense!" Negi said. "Why would the headmaster employ so many guards when he has Tatsumiya-san and Setsuna-san? Why?"
"I think we should go ask him…" Konoka said. "This does seem weird…" Negi looked down to the piece of paper in his hand, inspecting the Konoe seal.
"Let's go, then. We need to find out what's going on…"
"Are you okay, sempai?" Naoya asked as he helped Eiko over a fallen tree. "You seem pretty shaken after that fall."
"It's nothing…" She muttered as she quickly brushed her knee with her hand. "Just a stumble."
"Will you two lovebirds hurry up?" A boy from the group ahead of them called. "Jeez, you gathered us to go help any survivors, now you're holding us back. What the hell-" A sudden rustle from a large bush near him cut him off. "Looks like we found someone already! What luck." He smiled. "Hello? Anyone the-" A pale figure suddenly shot out from the bush and clamped around his face, making Eiko and the other two girls shriek and run in different directions.
"Sempai!" Naoya cried as he ran to the fallen boy. "Hold up!" He quickly pushed all the foliage out of his way in a bid to find the source of the muffled screams, and quickly found the boy squirming on the ground, pinned down by…
Some kind of insect!? He thought as he recoiled at the sight of the thing. It was like some kind of spider, with two pouches behind its legs and a long tail that was currently wrapped around the boy's throat. Several shrieks around him drew his attention.
"Sempai? Eiko! Are you okay!?" He glanced around him as several other shrieks drifted across the shrubbery. The other boy quickly stepped closer to him. "
"Those were the other two…" He panted. "What the hell is going on!?"
"Does it look like I know!?" Naoya yelled. "This can't be happening… This can't be-"
"LOOK OUT!" The other boy cried with wide eyes as he pointed behind Naoya and ducked out of the way. Just as he spun around he saw another one of the spider leaping straight at him, and just barely raised his hands to stop it, but it was in vain. The insect's tail shot forward and wrapped around his throat and tightened, strangling him and causing him to topple backwards onto the ground.
"Naoya-san! Hold on!" The other boys desperately cried as he started tugging at the spider. Naoya felt his strength leave him as his consciousness started slipping. The other boy's cries started to become softer and softer, and just as he saw another spider seize the boy's face, his strength left and he felt four legs clamp around his head. Then there was nothing.
"How many disturbances did you say there was?" Konoemon Konoe asked as he turned around. Evangeline McDowell and Mana Tatsumiya stood before him with serious looks on their faces.
"Ten." Evangeline replied. "Ten disturbances in the barrier. And all of them came from the sky." She frowned. "They can't be mages, because I can't sense them anymore." The dean started stroking his beard again.
"Do you have something relevant to report too, Tatsumiya-san?"
"A large chopper has been coming and going here for a few days now. Each time it lands on a different area, but the chests it delivered were all moved to the science building. Recently, there's also been a lot of activity on the top floors of the building. I've also seen them load bodybags into a car and drive off in the middle of the night."
"This can't all be coincidence." Evangeline said with a bored expression. "Those people are up to something." Just then Shizuna entered the room.
"I'm sorry to intrude, Headmaster, but Negi-sensei and your granddaughter would like a word with you on an important matter." The dean slowly nodded.
"Send them in."
"Should we leave?" Mana asked.
"No." The dean replied. "If this is such an important matter, it must tie with what you've told me." At that moment the door opened and Negi stepped in, followed closely by Asuna and Konoka. His eyes slightly widened when he saw Evangeline.
"What's wrong, boya? Scared all of a sudden?" She smirked. Negi gulped.
"I'm sorry for the intrusion, headmaster." He said. "But I found a group of foreigners interrogating students at the edge of the forest. Something crashed there this morning, and they were questioning students about what happened." Mana immediately shifted her gaze to Negi.
"Something crashed?"
"Yes, it's causing a large cloud of smoke above the forest." Negi said. "And I was hoping that you could clarify this." He said as he placed the slip of paper on the dean's desk. "The people said you gave them permission." Eva and Mana both raised an eyebrow at this. The dean quickly scanned the slip of paper and frowned. Then he turned to Mana.
"Tatsumiya-san, find Sakurazaki-san and go into the forest after these men. You'll be paid double your normal rate. Negi-kun," he turned to face the boy with a stern gaze. "You need to go to the Science Building and see whether Hakase-san knows anything."
"W-What's going on?" Konoka stammered. Konoemon frowned again. "I gave no such orders or permissions." He said as he tossed the page back onto his desk. "That note is a forgery.
"Hook, line and fuckin' sinker!" The leader of the fifteen-man group of mercenaries called as he drew his rifle from his case and ordered the others to do the same as they approached the source of the smoke pillar. "Kids these days are so easy to fool!"
"Just be glad Hakase knows such good forgers, man…" Someone spoke out of the group. "We'd have been roasted by that little teacher without that note…"
"You really think that tyke's a teacher? Get real." The leader smirked.
"Guys…" One of the scouts called. "I think we should get alert too…" He said as he motioned for them to come closer. Before them, the smouldering wreck of the helicopter was spread out across the clearing.
"Take aim!" The leader yelled. "Fire at will. We need to secure the contents of that container… Move out!" Each mercenary quickly filled into the clearing, surrounding the remains of the chopper while aiming at their surroundings. The leader quickly approached what was left of the container, and examined its contents. "Shit!" He cried loudly. Two of his mercenaries turned their attention to him. "Contact Corban and tell him we need backup! Six facehuggers have escaped and are loose in the forest! Tell him to send as many men as possible!" The two men nodded and quickly ran off. "The rest of you, on me! Stay alert!" He yelled as he headed into the forest again.
Unbeknownst to them, an area far above them, between the branches, was slightly disoriented. The sharp light penetrating through the branches revealed a silhouette tracing them across the treetops.
"Fan out!" The leader cried. "Five meter spread, shoot to kill!" He turned his attention to his front. "Those fucking xenos aren't getting outta here alive…" He muttered as he pressed the stock of his rifle to his shoulder.
"I may have a trail!" One of the soldiers called. "Some gooey stuff here, looks like a facehugger's ecto-whatchacallit." The leader quickly huffed and looked at the soldier, and his eyes widened under his goggles.
Three red dots had appeared on the mercenary's back. "Garth, GET DOWN!" He yelled.
"Wha?" The mercenary haphazardly turned around just as a harsh, soft bang came from above them. Just as he looked up, a glowing, blue bolt hit him straight in the chest. An a flash of blue and red, blood coated the foliage and ground around him as his upper body was blown to bits, pieces of flesh flying everywhere.
"SHIT! TAKE COVER!" The leader yelled as he dove behind a tree. What the fuck was that!? Another mercenary uttered a loud scream, but was promptly silenced as his head detached from his body and fell to the ground as an arc of blood squirted upward from his neck. The fuck!? The leader quickly tugged his gun in the fallen mercenary's direction and let loose with a rain of lead, chipping the trees and cutting up the shrubbery. But nothing else fell. Nothing else died.
Several more screams rose around the leader, some accompanied by loud growls and clicks. Several more bangs sounded in the distance, and each time the leader could see blood flying in all directions. Shit shit shit! He grunted as several loud clicks came from his gun. He was sown to at least a squad of three or four, judging by the screams and cries of terror he heard. "Form up! FORM UP!" He yelled as he heard his last soldiers run at him through the foliage. He immediately caught sight of one, struggling with the machinegun he was lugging around.
"What the fuck is going on!? What is this thing!?" Before the leader could answer, he felt his throat dry up as the soldier's arm and head went flying, allowing more blood to fly freely. Some landed on him. More landed on something solid – in mid-air – and remained there. Only then did the leader see the silhouette.
With a loud cry, the leader drew his handgun and fired at it. "DIE, YOU MOTHERFUCKER, DIE!" He yelled as he shot round after round. The first two impacted with steel as they ricocheted off the figure, but the rest cut through wood and plants. Two more screams made the leader realise he was shooting at nothing, and now his entire team was dead. Oh shit… He thought as he quickly reloaded his handgun. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit… He glanced around him again. "Show yourself! You pussy!" He cried at the trees. A loud growl somewhere behind him cause him to spin around and fire twice, chipping a tree in two places.
Shit! He thought as he started shaking. This ain't no fucking xeno! A small area next him distorted, and with a loud snikt, both his arms came off right under his elbows before he even realised it. With a defeated cry, he fell to the ground in pain. He had nothing left. No team, no weapons, no arms… He felt something's foot turn him onto his back, and once in the light pouring into the forest, he clearly saw the figure again.
It growled loudly as it kneeled next to him, and several blue spots appeared. They grew in size, revealing dull, gray steel and pale flesh covered by some kind of mesh. In a second, his attacker was fully visible and his voice died out in his throat. Two lens-covered eyes stared at his, connected by a small bridge above an upright rectangle and sunken cheeks. A strong brow arched into a wide forehead, extending all the way to the back of its head as black dreadlocks decorated with silver and gold cascaded down its back and shoulders, one of which held a small gun-like gadget. With a loud click, the creature tilted its head and observed him.
"X2…" His voice finally returned. "No… You're dead… You can't be here, you're dead!" He cried as the creature reached out and grabbed his jaw with a pale hand dotted with brown spots. "The fuck are you doing!? Let me go!" The creature growled loudly and raised its other arm, and with a flick of its wrist, two long serrated blades slid from its gauntlet. It growled again and brought its arm down with speed, aiming the tips of the blades at his face, and the leaders world went dark.
"I dunno about this…" Asuna muttered as she followed Negi to the science building. "This all seems too weird. I mean, first something crashes in the forest, then those men appear out of nowhere, Tatsumiya-san sees a helicopter coming and going, and now the dean's been framed!"
"I know, Asuna-san…" Negi muttered. "I can't figure it out either."
"Satomi-chan should know something." Konoka said. "I mean, everything that helicopter carried was taken to the science building. She must have seen something."
"Let's hope you're right, Konoka-san." Negi muttered. "If they'd go as far as forging the dean's signature, this must be quite serious…"
Blood mixed with grass and the steel form of a weapon as bodies surrounded the Mahora science building, each hidden from sight, very hard to notice in the early morning light. A few feet from them, a grate had been scratched open, and several loud hisses came from the inside just as a black, ridged tail with a spike on its tips disappeared down the shaft.
"Ah, there it is." Negi said as they started down a long road to the science building. It towered over the rest of the buildings, and its name was lit by several lights. Several of the windows were already illuminated with light, but the top five floors were still dark.
"I wonder whether Eva-chan's right…" Asuna said.
"About what?" Konoka asked.
"The whole thing about this 'not being a coincidence'."
"There's only one way to be sure, and that's to investigate and find out." Negi said.
"I hope Set-chan is alright with her mission…" Konoka muttered as she glanced at the forest. 'I don't like those men…"
With grunt, Setsuna quickly cleaved at the shrubs and large bushes in front of her wither sword, while Mana closely followed with her rifle at her shoulder. "I don't see why these men would be interested in a simple helicopter crash." Setsuna growled as a stray fern softly slapped her in the face. "And I don't see why they had to choose this particular route!" She snapped as she quickly lopped off two more ferns before they could touch her. Mana smirked as she used her rifle to comb through the foliage.
"You don't seem to like this part of the forest much…" She said.
"Yes, well, you're bound to become frustrated when leaves keep smacking you in the face." She said as she pulled a pine needle out of her hair and flicked it aside.
"I think I know the real reason…" Mana smirked as she took the lead, allowing Setsuna to pull several more needles from her uniform. "You're just frustrated because you're not at your precious Ojou-sama's side…" Setsuna's face flared up.
"T-Tatsumiya-san! That's – That's not it at all!" She quickly stuttered. "It's just… just…"
"Relax, Setsuna." Mana smirked. "It's really not that bad that you're head over heels with her…"
"Tatsumiya-san!" Setsuna whined as her blush increased.
"You just need to worry what will happen if the headmaster finds out." Setsuna gulped audibly at hearing this.
"B-But he'll… he'll-"
BANG!!!
A loud explosion sounded ahead of them, and a bright, blue flash quickly pierced through the bushes, causing them to raise a hand to shield their eyes. In a minute, it died out and fresh smoke quickly rose through the foliage. Mana narrowed her eyes and quickly darted forwards, and Setsuna followed suit, holding her sword at the ready.
"What was that?" Setsuna quickly asked as they sped to the area of the explosion.
"I don't know…" Mana said as she quickly readied her rifle. "Just stay alert."
They quickly entered the small clearing, and quickly glanced around. "This is odd… These look like helicopter parts…" Setsuna said softly. "But where's the helicopter?" She glanced around her and saw only small bits of steel, as well as small, sharp shards. "Isn't this where the smoke came from?"
"That helicopter was here, all right." Mana said as she kneeled next to a large crater n the clearing. "I think it was right here…" She said as she scanned the crater. "But it's not here anymore… Strange…"
"Think that explosion had anything to do with it?" Setsuna asked as she edged closer to the crater.
"Looks like it." Mana said as she touched some of the scorched ground around the crater with a piece of steel. A loud scorching sound came from the area. "Whatever did this did one hell of a job…"
"Magic?" Setsuna asked.
"No. This was something else." Mana replied. "Something very strong…" She quickly glanced around. "We should look around for anything suspicious." She said, moving to the side of the clearing. "If those men were here, there's bound to be trace of them somewhere…"
Satomi smirked as she entered the small, makeshift cell. The creature she had named Project X lazily raised its head and glared at her through the steel muzzle resting on the front half of its face. Its skeletal hands immediately clenched into fists at the sight of her.
"Ooh, a bit hostile, aren't we, boy?" She cooed as she stood in front of the colossal creature. It immediately started squirming and writhing in a desperate attempt to claw at her. "Drop it, X. Those locks are electronically stabilised at every joint. As long as we have power, you're not getting out." She said as three other scientists entered.
"We managed to remove X2's mask, Hakase-san." One of them informed her. "By doing so, we have pinpointed exactly where X got those dreadlocks and mandibles." He said as he handed a small PDA to her. She quickly flicked through the images.
"This can't be…" She said softly.
"It is." He nodded. "We have confirmed that X, unlike the other xenomorphs, was born from a creature similar to X2. The damage to X2's lower anatomy was inflicted by X's tail, meaning that X and X2 fought prior to X's entrapment in the permafrost chamber."
"So that means X could be even older than X2…" Satomi nodded. "This is brilliant. Have you deduced why X's blood doesn't affect X2's armour and weaponry?"
"No, Hakase-san. But we have finally learned how X2's shoulder cannon works."
"Go on…"
"From what we can gather, there's a small reactor inside the works up some kind of plasma projectile. It's strong enough to knock through cars and walls, and can fly very, very far. It's only drawback is that the plasma blot travels quite slowly."
"What else?"
"There's a laser targeting device mounted on the side of the mask that directs where the gun aims. The mask has access to different vision modes that-" A loud bang and a few electric sounds cut the scientist off.
The lights suddenly shut down, leaving the small cell in relative darkness.
Somewhere outside the building, a long, ridged tail was retracting back into the darkness caused by the building's shadow, leaving a sparking power terminal in its wake. With a loud his, a black, clawed hand cut open the one ventilation shaft, and a bony, black creature quickly shot into it.
The bodies of three scientists littered the ground floor of the science building, allowing blood to pool around the various pieces of machinery and furniture. Several areas sent ripples across the pools as footprint appeared on them, as a barely visible figure was moving towards one of the staircases. With a loud bang, the lights suddenly died out. The figure uttered a few loud clicks and growls, and appeared, revealing a tall humanoid creature with long dreadlocks, pale skin covered by armour in various places, and a gilled mask covering its face and the top of its head. It quickly glanced around, and the lens over its eyes shone twice. Then it turned back to the stairs and started moving up them.
Satomi's breathing immediately increased as she turned around and looked at X, just in time to hear a loud clang and see its one hand break loose from the shackle. The creature glared at her, before using its free hand to tear away the muzzle on its mouth.
"Hakase, RUN!" The scientists yelled as he dove for X's free hand, only to be slashed across the throat. Satomi watched in horror as the scientist's blood coloured the ceiling and walls as his body fell to the floor. A strong hand around her arm tugged her away from the scene as she whipped around.
"Corban! What's hap-"
"The fifteen men I sent into the forest were all slaughtered by something they couldn't see." He said as he quickly lead her out of the block. Several loud hisses came from the rooms around them, and long, black, cylindrical heads collided with the glass in the windows, cracking them considerably. "There are more, more like X2." Corban panted as he led Satomi by the arm. "More of them who can turn invisible, and more of them with those guns! All of them are coming here, so we need to get you out!" He said as he ran into a group of armed men. "Cover us! We need to get Hakase-san out of here!" A loud crash followed by several loud screams echoed through the hall behind them, making Satomi whip her head around in fright. She froze when she saw what was at the other end of the hallway.
The group of men were all dead, fresh coats of red decorating the walls and floor. And the creature called X stood at the centre of it all, baring its teeth and glaring right at her.
"I found footprints." Setsuna called to Mana. "Heading this way, into the forest." Mana quickly walked over to her and observed the prints.
"They're from combat boots." She said. "The men were heading this way."
"Then we're heading this way too." Setsuna said as she quickly combed more ferns aside with her sword. "Do you know if they were armed?"
"They probably are." Mana said. "They're not here for a stroll…"
"But what would normal mercenaries want on Mahora?"
"I have no idea." Mana frowned. "This is very unusual. Normally it's demons we deal with, not normal mer…" She became quiet when she felt something wet drip onto her shoulder. She slowly turned her head, and saw a growing red spot on her jacket. Then she looked up, and her eyes widened slightly.
"Setsuna…" She called.
"Hmmm?" Setsuna stopped fighting through the bushes and turned to face Mana.
"We need to get out of here." She said, still looking up. "Something's very wrong in this forest…" She pointed upwards, and Setsuna looked up.
"Oh, my…" Setsuna's voice died out in her throat.
Above them, thirteen corpses dangled in the trees, all skinned as streams and droplets of blood fell from the gaping holes where their necks should be. In the centre of the display, several human skulls were displayed on one of the branches, all covered by blood and loose pieces of flesh and skin, some with their spines still attached. Setsuna slowly looked down and met Mana's eyes as she spoke.
"Run."
"Hey!" Asuna called as all the lights in the science building went off. "You guys see that?"
"Yes…" Negi said. "How odd… There's always a room that's illuminated in that building…"
"Think the power tripped?" Konoka asked.
"Could be… We should hurry."
X slowly started walking towards Satomi, its tail swaying behind it in a hypnotic manner. She couldn't find the strength to move her legs, and Corban was still struggling to pry the doors open. The creature hissed and growled, clicking its mandibles in a way that made it seem angry.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Corban yelled as he kicked the door. "It won't budge!" He quickly turned to face X again, drawing his knife as he did so.
"Are you insane!?" Satomi shrieked. "You can't fight it!"
"Well, we can't fucking run from it either!" He yelled. "How the-"
CRASH!!!
The glass in the walls of the rooms shattered in all directions as eleven more creatures like X, albeit skinnier and lacking the dreadlocks and mandibles landed on the floor, hissing loudly. X quickly glanced at them as a swarm of tailed spiders also filled from the opening.
"Shit!" Corban cried, clasping a hand over his mouth. "Facehuggers!"
"That's… that's almost all of them!" Satomi cried as she watched the large swarm of facehuggers escape into the vents. "All seventy-five specimens!"
"Shit…" Corban hissed as X came closer. It was now hardly ten feet from them. It quickly looked back and growled loudly, and the other creatures followed the facehuggers down the vents, leaving it alone with Corban and Satomi. It slowly edged closer, and a few knocks sounded on the door.
"Boss! You there?" A voice called.
"About fucking time you got here!" Corban yelled as X growled angrily. It started walking faster, coming closer. Satomi and Corban instinctively back up against the door.
"Hold on boss, we're gonna cut through!" The voice yelled.
"It's three feet away and closing…" Satomi muttered. "We're not going make it…"
"Just shut up…" Corban growled. "I don't need your whining making my death any worse. I already lo-"
BANG!!!
The ground beneath X exploded upwards as it was flung backwards by the force. Small rocks and pieces of debris rained onto Satomi and Corban, and the dust made them choke. With effort, Satomi looked up, and gasped.
"X2? B-But how!?"
'What the fuck are you…" Corban's voice died out as he too looked ahead of them. Before them, a seemingly human figure stood with long dreadlocks, armour on its pale skin, and a gilled mask. It quickly glanced at Satomi, growled, and turned its attention back to X, who was hissing angrily as it stood up. With a loud growl, the masked creature flicked its wrists, and two jagged blades shot forth from each of its gauntlets.
"Come on, this way!" Corban yelled as he pulled Satomi to the gaping hole in the floor, just as they heard the masked creature roar as it and X leapt at each other, ready for a fight. They both landed on the floor below with a loud thud, and Corban quickly got to dragging Satomi through the hallways again.
"But what about my research?" She cried. "These creatures can't be beat without further study! If they ge-"
"Your research can go to Hell, woman!" Corban spat. "No amount of papers and Word Documents are worth my life, and seeing as you're the one paying me and my boys, it's not worth yours either!" He quickly tugged her around a corner. "I'm getting you out of here whether you like it or not!"
With a loud rustle, Mana and Setsuna burst from the forest onto one of the walkways. "We need to report this to the headmaster!" Mana said as she started darting along the road. "As soon as possible!"
"What was that back there!?" Setsuna asked with wide eyes as she ran alongside Mana. "Why would demons do that?"
"I told you that was no demon!" Mana said as she shouldered her rifle. "Demons don't make such displays of humans!"
"Then what does!?"
"How should I know!?" Mana spat. "I've never fought anything that does that!"
"Wait…" Setsuna said as she slowed to a stop. "If those men were around the science building… And Ojou-sama is heading there now… Doesn't that mean…" Her eyes widened considerably when realisation struck her. "Go on to the dean!" She called as she turned around and started running. "I need to get to the science building!" Mana nodded and quickly turned around. Setsuna broke into a sprint the minute it was possible. She quickly glanced around, and when she saw nobody was around, she spread her wings and took to the skies.
Please Kono-chan… Please be alright…
"Duck!" Corban yelled as he pulled Satomi down, allowing a blue bolt of plasma to pass over their heads and collide with one the creatures Satomi called Xenomorphs, blowing it apart. Its blood fell everywhere around it and immediately started eating at the walls, floor and machinery as more Xenomorphs came crawling at them on the walls and ceiling. "Shit, how many are there?"
"We had thirty-five specimens here." Satomi cried as they continued to run down the halls, dodging more plasma bolts. "Include the seventy-five facehuggers, that may or may not already have spawned more of them…"
"Enough with the stats!" Corban cried. "It was a rhetorical question – Shit!" He quickly skidded to halt, stopping Satomi abruptly, as two more masked creatures similar to the one that saved them from X, landed in front of them. One's mask lacked the gills, instead sporting sunken cheeks, and the other had a skull-like design to its mask. Both quickly unsheathed their blades from their gauntlets, one with two in each, the other with one longer blade on each arm, and sprinted past the two.
"So that's how it works…" Satomi mused as the lasers shot from the side of the one masked creature's lens, and a small, gun-like mechanism appeared on its shoulder, firing blue bolts at the Xenomorphs.
"Are you fucking insane!?" Corban yelled. "We're in the middle of a fucking fight and you wanna drool over some weapon!?" He grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up. "Get a fucking – whoa!" He cried as a plasma bolt barely missed his head and blew a hole in the far wall, allowing daylight to filter into the passage. "What floor are we on?" He asked Satomi.
"Uh… B-by now… I think the third…"
"Then that's our way out."
"What!? You want to jump!? That's madness!!!" She cried as several hisses ame from behind them, and three more Xenomorphs came from the direction of the stairs.
"It's that or death!" Corban yelled as more plasma bolt flew round them. "And seeing as this is my choice, I say we jump!" He yelled as he pulled Satomi by the arm.
"B-But wait!" Satomi stuttered as she squirmed in his grip. "W-We could d-die!"
"FUCK IT!" He yelled, and with a shriek from Satomi, they both jumped from the hole, plummeting to the ground below.
"Whoa!" Asuna cried. "Look at that!" She pointed to the Science building, where a large, blue explosion blew a hole in the wall. "Did you guys see that!?"
"We did!" Negi said, breaking into a run. "Something's wrong there! Whoa!" Another larger explosion blew away a part of the middle area of the building, sending debris falling towards the earth. "It's like there's a war zone in there!"
"We need to go and help!" Konoka cried. "People could be-"
"Kono-Chan!" All three of them whipped their heads around to see Setsuna flying towards them. "Wait!"
"Set-chan, your wings!" Konoka cried as Setsuna landed, stumbling a bit. "What if people see…" She fell silent when she saw Setsuna up close. She was in a cold sweat, shaking uncontrollably and panting heavily.
"You… can't go there…" Setsuna heaved. "The men… We found them… They're all dead!" All of them visibly paled at hearing this.
"All of them?" Negi asked. "How could all of them be –"
BOOM!!!
Another loud explosion came from the ground floor as another bright blue explosion blew the walls out, several pieces of debris landing a few feet away from the group as more explosions rocked the top floors.
"Listen…" Setsuna heaved. "Those men… They were all s-skinned… and decapitated… There's something more than demons here, sensei! You can't go in there!"
"Guys!" Asuna called, covering her head with her arms as more debris landed close to them. "We should decide quickly, or we'll all be crushed soon!"
"Please sensei…" Setsuna panted. "Turn back! Something doesn't feel right about this!" Negi quickly glanced back at the building, now riddled with holes, start to burn before his eyes in shades of orange and blue. Exhaling with a shaky breath, he decided. "Fine… We'll turn back…"
"Thank you, sensei…" Setsuna sighed with relief. "Come on, we need to go." Just as they turned, a very odd sound met their ears.
In between all the explosions, a loud, animalistic screech, accompanied by an even louder roar, came from the science building.
At the very top of the building, another blue explosion blew a hole in the ceiling and another masked warrior dropped through. The low lighting cast a deep shadow over its skull-like mask as it strode towards the operating table in the centre of the room. On it, the remains of another warrior lay decaying in the darkness. Its mask, with its sunken cheeks, steep forehead, red lens-covered eyes, and two tusks starting at the tip of its chin, was placed neatly on a pedestal, with a kind of wrist bracer right under it.
With a growl, the warrior pulled two plugs from its mask, and with a vacuum-like sound, pulled it off as it turned away from the light, hiding its face in darkness. It reached out with its two pale hands, took the mask from the pedestal, and placed it on its own face, then inserted the plugs again. It quickly pulled its own wrist bracer from its gauntlet and set it down on the pedestal. With a slow movement, it placed its fallen comrade's bracer into the slot, and its lenses illuminated as various symbols and runes flickered over them.
On the other side of the room, the creature saw its comrade's gun, attached to several small cables. With an angry growl, it ripped the cables away, and picked it up. After examining it for a short while, it pulled one of its own two guns from its shoulder, and started shifting the parts.
After a while, it raised its one hand, holding a small, handheld gun fashioned from the two weapons, and aimed at the wall. With a loud beep, the gun discharged a large blue bolt of plasma and blew another hole in the wall. The warrior growled and quickly holstered weapon as it strode to the platform and picked up its old bracer. It stalked to the remains of its comrade and placed the bracer between the skeletal remains, and ran a hand over the skull with a low growl. Then, it quickly flipped open the bracer and typed into the console. After a few seconds, the device started beeping as a blue hue surrounded it.
The warrior quickly opened its own bracer and typed into it furiously. Then it turned around and, with a loud roar, leapt through the hole in the wall.
Negi desperately glanced back at the science building as the flames quickly spread and more explosions tore it apart. Setsuna placed a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. "I'm sorry, sensei." She said solemnly. "But something just doesn't –"
BOOM!!!
The entire group gasped as a huge blue explosion blew the top of the science building clean off, sending large vertical and diagonal cracks down the wall and causing the entire building to fall. "No!" Negi cried as he watched the building crumble to bits as clouds of smoke escaped into the sky.
"What the hell!?" Asuna cried as she watched as the entire area around the building was littered by debris and pieces of machinery. Negi was breathing heavily as his heart sank, just as the building did.
"I thought something was wrong…" Setsuna said softly. "But I never imagined that could happen…" Negi gulped.
"What about Hakase-san? The other scientists? Any students who were…"
"I'm sorry, sensei." Setsuna said sorrowfully. "If there was anyone in that building… They're dead now…"
Impossible… Dean Konoe thought as he observed the incident through his large window. Even though he wasn't looking behind him, he could tell Evangeline was just as shocked at the occurrence. What mage could possibly have done that!?
"Do you think that was a mage's doing?" Evangeline asked him. "Because I can't sense anyone other than the usual mages on campus. And none of them are strong enough to do that…"
"I don't know what to think…" The dean said. "Who would do such a thing to a bunch of students and innocent bystanders!?"
"I don't know… Evangeline said as she looked at the cloud of black smoke. "One thing's for certain though: That was definitely not a mage…
Around the fallen science building, several students were gathered as appalled cries and gasps filled the air at the sight of the mangled corpses between the rubble. Onlookers as far as a few streets away were stunned, all standing with hands across their mouths.
On the roof of one of the buildings, the warrior with the tusked mask sat on its haunches as three of its comrades stood behind it. One of them, donning a gilled mask, had deep cuts on its arms and thighs, and scratch marks decorated its armour and mask as the other two tried to tend to it.
With a few loud clicks, the lead warrior glanced at the other side of the area as X, followed closely by its kin and the creatures called facehuggers, fled deeper into the campus. X quickly stopped and turned around, and stared the lead warrior directly in its eyes. It started breathing heavily, then pulled its head back, arched its back, and roared, sending spittle and blood flying in all directions as its mandible pulled aside.
With a loud growl, the lead warrior stood up and faced X, clenching its hands into fist s as its prey turned tail and fled. It quickly glanced down at the rubble and all the people surrounding it, and growled at its comrades. Then it flipped open its bracers, and after typing on it a few times it, and its comrades, disappeared.
A/N: Wow… Second chapter finished. This one was quite hard, so sorry if it took a while to update. Personally I think something's wrong with this chapter, but I simply can't put my finger on what it is… Please, leave a review and inform me of what it is. I need to rectify it if I did anything wrong.
BTW: The lead Predator, whose mask has two tusks, will now be referred to as Tusk. It's simply easier for me as to calling it 'The Lead Hunter' or 'The tusk-masked warrior' all the time.
So… We have ten Preds, a PredAlien, 40+ Aliens and God knows how many Facehuggers loose on Mahora, and little Negi and his coup are caught smack-bang in the middle. Intersting? Boring? Bit of both? Let me know what you guys thought with a review (it's real food for thought) and please help me become a better writer with your Awesome tips and advice. Flamers… Ah, what the hell. You guys are welcome too. I'll just see it as constructive criticism.
Thanks a ton for reading! :D
Cheers!
--Slipkn0T--