A/N: Hi again to: Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid, LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno, blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote, werehawk, Cobalt Greywalker, M Fnord, CattyNebulart, Morganni and the restof the Drunkard's Walk Forum crew!
Hi also to: Khaos, Narf the Mouse, biigoh, Winchester, MrEmperor, mkire, firefossil.
Just to remind everyone, this is set after the magical world arc. Don't forget to check out FATE/Holy Grail war of 2814, happening concurrently. Sngr/Mreb Pnfgre vf Shgher Unlngr!
Just a rundown of the series in this crossover: MGL Nanoha A's, the DCAU, Negima, Card Captor Sakura, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, Fate/Stay Night, Iono the Fanatics, Sailor Moon, and Gate Keepers 21, just to name a few. Did I miss anything?
TvTropes, dattebayo!
...
Takamachi Nanoha of 2814
by Shadow Crystal Mage
Chapter 16: The Linker Cores War, Part 10: Fire From The Sky or "Even With A Cold, Evangeline Can Still KICK ASS!"
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!
...
It was a beautiful, average day in Mahora. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, several buildings had been attacked by knockout gas, and several groups of make-them-yourself magical minion drones and hi-tech robots were going around causing trouble but not, for some reason, actually hurting anyone.
If this was the school festival, this would actually be an average day. As it was, it was just a normal day gone slightly bad. And it had been so promising too…
...
Earlier that day…
It was a beautiful, average day in Mahora. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Yukihiro Ayaka was up early answering some internet correspondence. Her friend Argent Ephemeral Vincent, head of security for Queen Iono Mito Archeline of Ibayamia, had asked her if they could meet up on her next day off, which was coming soon. She'd met the younger girl on a trip to the small European country, and they'd managed to bond over tea.
Tomoyo had sent her pictures of her finished helicopter. Technically, it was her newest helicopter. She also had a few jet fighters, a Red Eyes Black Dragon jet, and a genuine Gotham PD blimp. Just like everything else Tomoyo became interested in– making clothes, her friend Sakura, singing, her friend Sakura, self-defense, her friend Sakura, sex, her friend Sakura, Lex Corp and her friend Sakura– it was over the top, done with all her heart and highly disturbing. Seriously, who builds a working, fully armed replica of an attack helicopter for fun? The REBD jet made sense, but really!
Putting the finishing touches on a letter to Suzuka sympathizing about her friend Hayate, Ayaka sent it off and reluctantly turned off her browser. Then she booted it up again to see if that troll who was flaming Green Lantern in her forum was still around. Finally turning it off, she headed for the shower, sparing an annoyed glare for Kotaro. Honestly, she understood that Natsumi was the only one he could go to, but did he have to crowd her in bed like that? He'd have to be weaned off that eventually. It wasn't done, sleeping with his head cuddled against her chest, such as it was, like that.
As Ayaka had her shower the two Murakami 'siblings' stirred. Kotaro nuzzled. Natsumi groggily bobbed the top of his head. "Not where people can see, Kotaro…" she said sleepily. "We'll make out later…"
Negi was practicing his forms in the dorm's lawn as the dawn came. He remembered when he'd enjoyed this time of day, back before Evangeline had taken to training him in her resort. It was so cool and quiet, with seemingly only Asuna-san going on her paper route and Makie-chan or some of the other sports girls awake.
There was a sound behind him and he paused, turning. A slightly sleepy-looking Cassandra blinked at him, wearing sweat pants and a light shirt. A towel hung around her shoulders. "Oh, good morning, Cassandra-san. What brings you out at this time?"
In response, Cassandra set her feet apart, raising her arms in a familiar gesture. It was, in fact, the form Negi had started from. She made an inviting come hither gesture with her forward hand, her smile a childish invitation to play. Hesitantly, Negi struck, and she gently parried him, then counter attacked, slightly faster ad stronger than he had. He replied, and the two slowly began to ramp it up…
Yotsuba Satsuki cheerfully pushed along the cart with its load of slightly dusty boxes. She'd gotten a timed email from Chao, asking her to move these boxes from the basement of the university's storage rooms. Not being stupid, she'd looked inside one, where she'd found another note from Chao chiding her for not trusting her classmate, while admitting that, yes, it was perfectly reasonable given what had happened last time. The box contained several gynoids, but instead of looking like Chachamaru, they'd been… redesigned. A further note promised that while they'd be capable of a lot of violence, they were programmed not to hurt anybody. Well, that was that, then. Chao never lied about not hurting anybody, though her standards for 'hurt' tended to be a bit flexible.
So Satsuki cheerfully moved the boxes to where Chao had indicated they should go, the way she'd been doing for a week now, and then went to class.
Several boxes of loli-type gynoids wearing red dresses counted down patiently, waiting for the moment they were to activate…
Evangeline sneezed. "I. Hate. Colds!" she growled.
"Master, you cannot afford to be absent today," Chachamaru chided.
"Why not?" Evangeline snapped.
"Negi-sensei is still wearing his new suit, which is tight around the region of his gluteus maximus."
"Break out the cold medicine! Education is important!"
"As you say, mistress…"
...
Now…
"Confusion. Chaos. Many innocents possibly caught in between," Haruna said. "Is the school festival early and no one remembered to tell me?"
She and the other Library Club girls– Yue, Nodoka, and Konoka– ran down Sakura Lane, which was where they'd been walking when all the chaos had happened. Fortunately, the place hadn't been attack by… whatever. Their phones had all gone dead, and Pactio Telepathy was similarly gone. They currently had no way to contact everyone else, or even see if they were okay.
They were planning to change that.
They slipped out of the path, moving between the cherry tries to a clearing Kaede had found and told them about. They knew of many such private areas in the school, though this was the first time they'd needed to use them for actual super-heroicy things.
Reaching the clearing, they all drew their Pactio Cards. "Adeat!"
...
"Headmaster!" Valles cried, rushing into the central monitor womb of Mahora. Fortunately, systems and power were online, but many of their outside input was crippled. "We just received word over the message tubes!"
"Those old things?" the Headmaster, who had been conducting an inspection downstairs and had been lucky enough to miss the explosion that had gassed his office. "What is it?"
Valles pulled out a cell phone. "Someone send this down, with several pictures marked."
The Headmaster took it and stared at the first picture. "Haruna-san has been at her sketch pad again, I see," Konoemon said, staring at the picture of a giant white wing floating above the campus. "Not very subtle, though. The Masquerade Department is going to go nuts over this." He put down the cell phone. "What else?"
"Many of the teachers appear to have been neutralized," Valles said. "Takamichi-sensei, Kuzunoha-sensei, Gandolfini-sensei, Seruhiko-sensei, all haven't reported in yet. Those that have are either trying to control the students or have engaged the enemy. The system that's limiting Dark Evangel's power is still up, though, and seems to have been reinforced. We can't bring it down."
"What about the active students themselves?" Konoemon asked.
"As you can see, at least one part of Ala Alba is trying to rally," Valles said, a touch of awe at the name. "SEES is apparently mobilizing, and we already have some reports of students fighting against the enemy, though some seem to think this is a repeat of the School Festival Final Event."
Konoemon sighed. "Bless our students."
"Sir!" Talia cried from where she was trying to restore visual monitoring. "We just barely managed to pick up a telepathic message! Green Lantern-san has arrived on the scene!"
...
"Oh, poot," Nanoha said, looking down on the scene. Even from their height, they could make out several groups of those drones the Wolkenritter had used in Juuban. The Wolkenritter were hard to spot, since there seemed to be several of the youma dressed exactly like them.
"They've changed tactics again," Arf noted grimly. "And now more innocent people are involved."
Fate shook her head slowly, looking at the clouds of smoke, which we slowly dissipating. "No. Signum wouldn't do this. She's not like that. And where would they get access to the these explosives?"
"Scans indicate that the smoke is in fact a chemical," Ring-chan supplied. "There may be allergic reactions and other adverse side effects."
Nanoha gasped. "Oh no…"
Fate put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. Get the victims to medical aid. Arf and I will try to contact Ala Alba and deal with the Knights."
"We could start looking over by that giant white wing," Arf pointed out. "Cause, you know, where would we start?"
They all stared at the giant white wing floating over a part of the campus.
"Haruna-san is going to have a lot of explaining to do…" Nanoha noted.
"Don't you make stuff like that all the time?" Arf asked.
"Yes, but I'm a Magical Girl who's known for it," Nanoha said. "Haruna-san's not supposed to be doing that."
"Ahem," Ring-chan interrupted.
"Oh, right," Nanoha said, embarrassed. "Do you think you can find the Wolkenritter by yourself, Fate-chan?"
"I'll manage," Fate reassured her, straightening her mask.
Nanoha nodded. "And don't forget to introduce yourselves properly, you two! If you don't have a proper introduction prepared, you might accidentally let your real name slip, and that would be bad."
Fate blushed. "Is it really necessary?"
"Of course!" Nanoha declared. "Magical Girls always introduce themselves properly. Otherwise, it's just rude!"
Arf giggled at the look on her master's face.
"Your mask is a bit crooked, Arf-san," Nanoha said said.
Arf pouted. "Familiars weren't meant to where masks!" she complained. "I spend most of my time as a wolf anyway!"
"You'll get used to it," Green Lantern reassured. "Ring-chan, lead me to the closest group of gas victims. Maintain a passive scan for Wolkenritter, drones or Alba. Inform when we are approached."
"Yes ma'am," the Ring said.
"Raging Heart, you do the same."
"Acknowledged, my Master."
Fate and Nanoha exchanged one last nod, and the Green Lantern flew off.
Fate raised Bardiche. "Bardiche, Area Scan!"
"Yes, sir."
...
"Where is she, Eimi-chan?" Ryuus said, tapping at the crackling earpiece he was wearing. Eimi had been barely able to get them rudimentary communications as it was, never mind scanning for their enemy. "I can't see her!"
"She should be right there," was the nearly unintelligible reply. "Have you looked up?"
Ryuus looked up. Nope, no target. "Nothing!" he growled. "SEES, what about you guys?"
The other members of the Special Extracurricular Emergency Squad responded, their voices garbled. "Nothing back here," Emmet said, "Just– Ah–!"
"Emmet!" Ryuus cried. "Everyone, who's closest to Emmet-kun?"
"I am!" Yukari said. "He was by the fruit stand. Everyone, converge! We've got her no– AH!"
"Yukari!" Ryuus said. "Eimi, where is she? And where's Minako and Mitsuru?"
"They're down, they're not moving. She's moving too fast, Ryu, I can't get a– no wait, she's there, she's right above you! Look out!"
Ryuus snapped up his wand, incanting even as he jumped back, knowing how this went in movies. "Take Off Their Pants!" he cried out his Key, beginning the incantation. "Sagitta Magica, Spiritus Ignis…"
Three things happened.
One, Ryuus realized there was no one above him.
Two, the ground beneath his feet exploded, and a wash of sewer stench rose up as a hole to the sewers was bashed apart, revealing he disgusted face of their quarry, hammer raised to strike.
Frantically, he tried to finish the spell, and that was when the third thing happened.
He sneezed.
The spell collapsed, in time for him to catch a rising knee to the forehead, knocking his head back at he same time that a mallet struck his gut, knocking the wind out of him. The last thing he saw as consciousness was taken from him was a close-up view of a pair of pedobear panties…
Vita took the time to reset her Armor to get rid of the sewer smell, what little had latched on. Otherwise she'd never be able to do any sneaking. She pulled out he Book of Darkness, held it out over her latest target. "Download," she commanded.
The student writhed beneath her, and she made a frustrated sound. This group of students had barely given her 14 pages, all in all. She'd need more.
She turned and flew off, flying low and darting between obstacles to conceal her presence as much as possible.
Cassandra Doe removed herself from where she'd been hidden and knelt down to check the fallen boy's life-signs, the way she'd been taught to make sure someone was dead. He was not. She ignored the old, old instinct to correct that, and frowned in the direction where the hurting-inside girl had flown off. She'd tried to get the unconscious ones she'd found out of harms way, even cute-face-marks girl, who seemed a little off.
Frowning, she continued following the flying girl. She couldn't let her keep doing this. She was hurting people…
...
World Tree Plaza. Signum was quite annoyed to learn that she'd been immediately pin-pointed as a leader-figure, though not for any sane reason she had ever considered until that day.
"See, she's flying, and she looks badass," one student was telling his friend, pointing his camera phone at Signum. "That means she's the leader. It's obvious, really."
Signum, fighting off a pair of teenagers who thought they were in a King of Fighters game, threw the one in a gi at the commentator to shut him up. It felt strangely cathartic.
The various Jadeite Servants around her caused chaos, an activity assisted in by the fact some students had suddenly wrapped various pieces of cloth around their face, or put on sunglass or goggles, and started attacking them with spells. She was beginning to agree with Vita. The TSAB were obviously on some sort of hallucinogenic substances when they'd declared that this world had few mages. If this world had no mages, than she had so few hairs she was bald!
Do you find it disturbing some people are taking pictures and setting up concession stands? Zafira asked her.
Concession stands? Signum said, blinking and dodging two masked students trying to hit her with some kind of wind spell. One of the idiots kept saying Expelliarmus, like that would actually do anything. She tripped him, and knocked the side of his head to knock him unconscious.
"Thanks," his friend told her.
She nodded solemnly in agreement, then kicked him in the groin. The butt of Laevatein applied to his head sent him off to join his friend. They're set up CONCESSION STANDS?
Someone named Boxcutter My Own Larynx Diburel is selling hotdogs, Zafira confirmed.
What was the name of that city Vita liked the sound of again? Gotham? Not in Japan, right?
"Kyokudai Raimeiken!"
Signum barely avoid the blast of electricity that streaked down from the skies at her. She rolled, coming up with her sword ready. "Testarossa?"
A dark-haired girl in an honest-to-Hayate maid uniform she vaguely remembered from so many days ago floated above her, white wings spread wide and flapping, a long blade of differing designs in each hand. She wore a pair of glasses, which glinted in the light. Spectators squealed and there was a sudden taking of pictures.
The girl ignored it all. "Wolkenritter!" she cried, her words a challenge. "I am AngelGARd of Ala Alba! By the authority extended to me by the Time-Space Administration Bureau by way of Green Lantern, the National Office for the Deputization of Freelance Law-Enforcers, Magical Girls Division, and the Mahora Academy Security Office, you are under arrest! Surrender!"
Signum resisted the urge to boggle at the credentials. "Never," she said.
The two stared at each other. Then there was a flicker and the sounds of metal striking metal echoed through the World Tree Plaza.
At the edge of it, Signum faintly heard someone crying out, "Hotdogs in a bun! Get your hotdogs in a bun…!"
...
Chisame turned the corner, skidded to a halt, turned around, and ran right back, flattening herself against the wall of the building and trying to be as quiet as possible. "Chao, wherever you are, I hope shrieking eels are eating your toes off, you rotten bitch," she swore.
She waited, but heard no pursuit. She looked up, knowing how this sort of thing went. No, no flying robots around her. None to either side as well. Slowly, she looked around her corner.
About six gynoids stood around the Chao Bao Zi cart, wearing different clothes and sporting different hairstyles, but all with those distinctive ear antenna things. Two were loli-sized, dressed in red with rather nice hats. The rest were regular sized, two in green dresses with their own hats, two in pink armor. They weren't doing anything overtly threatening, just stood there. The place was clear of people, though, except for Satsuki, who was apparently cleaning up and closing down early.
"Six…" Chisame muttered. "Just barely have enough sprites. Well, here's to see if this idea works…"
Chisame had had a lot of time to consider applications of her Artifact. Never had its limits been more obvious to her than the time she'd been stuck in the middle of a jungle. She had in fact taken to carrying a pocket dynamo for her cellphone so she'd always have access to her sprites. You'd think an obviously Magical Girl wand would at least have a blast function but no!
For what it could do, however, it was hell on wheels. And she was in her element. "Adeat," she muttered, feeling her clothes shift to her preferred Biblion Roulan Rouge outfit with nekomimi elements. She slipped on a pair of disguises glasses. They'd bought a whole bunch of those lately.
"Chiu-sa–" her sprites began.
"SHH!" she hissed. "None of that! Be quiet. You will all sit down and shut up, and if you bust me I swear I'm reformatting all of you. Clear?"
They all nodded, shaking in terror.
Chisame coughed, embarrassed. "Right. This is what you're going to do…"
A few minutes later, Chisame rounded the corner and walked boldly towards the cart, her Artifact twirling negligently in her hands, her pocket PC in hand. The gynoids soon saw her.
"Halt!" one of the green-clad blonde ones said. "Leave this area, or be assaulted."
"I'm just here to buy some meat buns," Chisame said, smiling widely for all she was worth. "I'll just be quick."
"Unfortunately, Chao Bao Zi is closed for the duration of this emergency," one of the red ones said. "Thank you, however, for choosing Chao Bao Zi for your meat bun needs. When all this is over, please come again. Try our new Braised Beef with Mushrooms."
Chisame nodded, still smiling inanely. How the heck could Sasaki smile like this all day? "Have you heard of Tony Stark?" she asked.
The gynoids all tiled their heads questioningly, and she wondered whether that kind of body language was something Chachamaru had been programmed with as part of her firmware. They didn't attack her however, so she continued. "There was this time in the comic books when he got these implants, or maybe it was nanotech, I don't know, I'm not really a Marvel person. Anyway, there was this time when Tony Stark became able to control his armor with his mind, so they ended up with stories with asspull endings along the lines of 'while we've been talking here, and you thought I was incapacitated, I've been hacking your system and now I control you doohickey'. You know, stuff like that."
Chisame's mouth relaxed, the smile on her face becoming a touch more genuine.
"Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up is…" she sighed. "While we've been talking here, my electron sprites have been infiltrating your systems, disabling your legs. And now, I'm going to hack you. Ego Electrium Regno!"
There was a moment of disorientation as the effect took place, and suddenly she was in cyberspace. Six shining targets floated before her and she attacked mercilessly…
She opened her eyes, finding herself being supported by one of the red-clad gynoids. "Which one are you?" she said fuzzily.
"Kincha, Chiu-sama!" it chirped happily.
"Not Chiu-sama," Chisame said. She sighed, and felt her growing a little less normal. It felt frighteningly easy. "Calculator-sama. Which of you doesn't have a body?"
"Me, Calculator-sama!" the one remaining electron spirit said. "Shirataki!"
Chisame nodded. "I'll have a job for you. The rest of you, prepare failsafe programs. If you lose control of those bodies, they're to shut down, understand?"
"Yes, Calculator-sama!" the gynoids chorused.
I can't believe you pulled off a Tony Stark asspull 'standing here hacking you' like that, Chisame, Satsuki said, smiling at her as she swept nearby.
"Yeah, it really hurt inside, pulling off such a stupid move," Chisame said as she got to her feet, watching her classmate warily. "You wouldn't have anything to do with our little problem right now, would you?"
I might, Satsuki said apologetically. But Chao-san said no one was going to get hurt.
Chao. She knew it. "She said that last time too," Chisame pointed out.
And besides Chao herself, no one really got hurt, Satsuki said.
Chisame just sniffed. "Are the cart's system operational? Can it still fly?"
Satsuki nodded.
"I'll need to borrow it, then," Chisame said. "I need to reestablish communications, send for help from…" She paused, considering what to say. "I need to send for help," she finished lamely. After all, how safe was it to tell Satsuki anything?
Satsuki sighed. I thought you might. Well, I suppose after helping Chao, helping you too is the least I can do.
"Damn straight," Chisame said. She turned to the pair of carts that made up Chao Bao Zi. "Do they both fly?"
No, just the one, Satsuki said. The other one is in case of emergency. Chao and Hakase built it after watching this movie, but we've never really had to use it. I suppose now is as good a time as any.
Chisame frowned at her. "What does it do?"
Satsuki coughed, and pulled a keyring from her pocked. The ring had a box black plastic hanging from it, like one of those electronic car controls. She pushed a button on it. Chao-Bao-Zi-con, Transform and Rise Up! Satsuki commanded in a loud, clear voice.
There was a rather distinct sound, like someone blowing through clenched teeth, seven distinct notes, clear as day over the sound of metal components shifting, turning, and rearranging. Chisame stared upwards as the ground shook, a giant beginning to loom over her.
"I am Meat Bun Supreme!" the former serving cart said.
"Chao, you crazy bitch," Chisame said breathlessly.
She might have been a crazy bitch, Satsuki said noncommittally, but she had style.
"No opportunity to use it, huh?" Chisame said sarcastically.
Satsuki smiled. It wouldn't have been sporting during the School Festival.
...
Cassandra pulled Asuna out of sight just as the hurting-inside girl rounded the corner of the convenience store. There was no gas here, but there seemed to be what looked like electric burn marks on Asuna's back, and she'd been unconscious when Cassandra had found her. There'd been things that moved like Chachamaru. Cassandra had avoided them. Unlike Chachamaru, they didn't smile.
Making Asuna as comfortable as possible, she continued following the girl, who was becoming frustrated now, and wanted to eat ice-cream, and was getting annoyed at not fighting people the way she wanted to. Cassandra couldn't fathom that. If you were going to fight people, why not do it the way you wanted? Otherwise, you were just handing them an advantage. Losing even one advantage was not to be tolerated!
Shaking off the shadows of her childhood, Cassandra trailed behind. They were moving father away from the city center now, out towards the woods. She'd explored it a little in her free time, and there was only one thing out here of any significance. Should she race on ahead, try and intercept the hurting-inside girl? No, she might be wrong. Getting ahead of herself and assuming was a good way to blow the mission…
Shaking away those thoughts again, she followed the red-clad hurting-inside girl, sneaking behind her and running slightly when the girl began to fly. She knew these woods, however, a little. She managed to keep moving quietly, she managed to keep up with the girl, just barely keeping her in sight.
Evangeline's cabin was just ahead, a circle of newly dug and re-turfed patch on the front lawn. Cassandra arrived in view in time to see the girl bash the front door open.
Cassandra ran faster…
...
Nanoha bought the last batch of gas victims to the Mahora University Hospital. The place was good. She knew that. She'd personally inspected the place for shady experiments and programs and checked for weird doctors who might be going off the deep end when she'd first checked Mahora due to those anomalous ion readings. The Headmaster had assured her they did the same thing, and now that she was more familiar with the administration, she was more willing to believe it.
Currently, the lawn and parking lot was filled with stretchers and temporary cots full of those who'd been affected. While not a lot of people had been affected, relative to the overall student population, there were enough that it was more efficient for doctors and nurses to come outside than to bring them all in.
"That's the last of them, Cox-sensei," she told the man who seemed to be in charge. "Will you be able to handle all of them, or will I have to send some of them to other hospitals?"
"No need to worry your pretty little head off, glow-bulb," Cox said, as he bent over and checked the vitals of the nearest victim, jotted it down on a blank piece of paper, tucked it under the victim's head for whoever would be tending him and moved to the next. "We're handling it just fine. Had a few allergies, but no one seriously hurt, thank goodness. Hey, House! Get your ass over here! Why don't you be a good girl and kick the ass of whoever did this, okay?"
Nanoha nodded grimly. "Hai, sensei," she said, and he smirked, giving her a thumbs up.
There was a popping sound behind her, and she turned, Raging Heart in one hand, her ring blazing in the other.
"Ah! Please don't hurt me!" the boy behind her cried.
"Huh," Cox said. "Where did you come from?"
"Th-the Headmaster sent me," the boy said. "My name is Sora, class 3-A. I have a message for Green Lantern-sama."
"A message?" Nanoha said.
Sora nodded. "We have the confirmed location of one of the possible terrorist leaders. They're in the World Tree Plaza, fighting…" he hesitated. "A winged-girl in a meido outfit with two big swords."
Nanoha frowned. "Any other sightings?"
The boy shook his head. "Sorry, Green Lantern-sama."
"Well, thank you," Nanoha said.
The boy nodded jerkily, hand thrusting into his pocket. A few balls fell out and there was an explosion of more smoke. He staggered off, coughing and muttering to himself about Sasuke making it look easy.
Cox sniffed. "Ninja," he said derisively. "Get going, super hero. Kick ass."
Nanoha nodded and lifted off. "Ring-chan, Raging Heart, Area Scan! Find me…" Vita? No. As much as she would like to continue her fight with the red-clad knight and knock sense into her, she needed to have her priorities. As dangerous as letting the Wolkenritter run around filling the pages of the Book of Darkness was in the long term, right now people were more immediate danger from their drones. Their safety needed to be her priority. Setsuna-san was fighting Signum, so that took care of that, and Fate-chan would find them soon and support the older girl. The other members knew what the rest of the Wolkenritter looked like, and so would know to take care of them too.
For a moment, she wondered where Negi was. He should have been healed up enough to fight. Where was he?
She shook these speculations away. "Find the highest concentration of enemy troops," she said. "Let's try out our new teamwork."
"Yes, my Master."
"Yes Ma'am."
...
"Keep moving!" Negi told the students, herding them away from area of fighting near the gym, where Kaede was fighting the blue-clad Wolkenritter. "Move in an orderly fashion but keep moving! We don't know how dangerous these people are."
"Aw, come on child teacher!" a high school student whined. "The fight's getting good! I mean, it's a ninja versus an evil overlord and his army! Plus he's using chains and you know what happens to ninja girls when they're fighting someone who uses rope-like things…"
Negi blinked in confusion as the student and some nearby boys– and some girls as well– snickered lecherously. He decided to ignore it and power on through. "No, it's too dangerous! I think these are the same people who attacked the Sailor Senshi a few days ago. You've seen the news! If they use that big energy blast again, we could all die!"
Ku bopped the student on the head. "You do what Negi-sensei say, aru!" she said. "This bad place to be! Just watch La Blue Girl like everyone else, okay, aru?"
"Aw, Chairman Ku!" the student whined, but moved on, he and his friends grumbling to themselves about not being able to see the results of a ninja… fight.
Negi smiled thankfully at his student, who nodded back to him, and they continued getting people out of the scene. He wasn't an idiot. Many of his sparring partners and indeed at least one of the people who taught him how to fight considered this a horrible weakness on his part. He agreed, to a degree, if only with the part of himself that regretted he couldn't be more like his father. His father would have run blindly into the fray, magic blazing, ready to kick ass, take names, look absolutely cool doing it, and come out smelling like a rose.
Negi was coming to know he wasn't his father. More than once, people, himself among him have noted his personality made him more like his mother's son. While Nagi Springfield was never unmindful of his responsibilities, he tended not to 'sweat the small stuff', a fact that Evangeline wanted to have words– and spells– with him about. Arika, however, had not only sweated the small stuff, she'd bled, been cast down from her throne, been disgraced, been imprisoned, had suffered for years, and eventually jumped down into her own doom with the grace of a swan and the poise of a true queen for them. The only difference between her and her son was that Negi had not yet had the opportunity to do so.
He knew what his father would have done. And he knew what his mother would have done. If he went there to fight this out… The Wolkenritter were good. They'd proven that. He'd need to bring large amounts of power to bear. Whenever that happened, the landscape tended to suffer. His fight with Kagetaro had proven that. The lack of damage during his fight with Fate over tea and coffee had been mostly due to assistance from Asuna and Fate's control of the situation. Right now, his responsibilities as a teacher was to get students out of here and to a safe distance. Ku was there because, as much good as she would do in a fight, right now he needed her authority as Chairman of the Martial Arts Clubs to be taken just a bit more seriously.
And when he'd gotten all the students out of this area– dark swirls began to flicker on the backs of his hands– there would be hell to pay…
...
Evangeline was having a really bad day. Her cold had gotten worse in class, prompting Negi to send her to the infirmary, which had sent her home. She was currently simultaneously feeling very hot and very cold, her nose was running harder than a really corrupt politician, her headache pounded like crazy, her libido was going rabid at that morning's sight of Negi in his new, very sexy suit, Chachazero and Chamo were in the resort either making out, drinking or planning something, and Chachamaru was off to buy her some medicines, so she didn't even have anyone to boss around. To top it off, she'd lost power right in the middle of playing To Heart, and she hadn't saved in a while, which meant all that effort was lost.
She was, point in fact, having a really bad day.
She was just shuffling out of the kitchen clutching a mug of the tea Chachamaru had left and muttering about the moon when some idiot broke down her door. "Ohh, vat nowv?" she said through her stuffed nose.
A girl in a red dress, with a rather nice hat that Eva wouldn't mind having (but in some other color, mind you, she still had working eyeballs) and carrying a croquet mallet strode through the remains of the doorframe. Evangeline told herself she was too old to think of it as 'a whole lot of sharp, pointy stakes'.
Vita stared at the girl with almost floor-length blonde hair in front of her. About Vita's size, she was wearing a sweaty nightgown, pinky fuzzy bunny slippers that Vita herself wouldn't have minded owning, with sunken, bloodshot eyes, shaking hands carrying a mug of something that steamed, and wrapped in big, fluffy robe. What appeared to be a bag of ice was tied to her head. "Damn, you look almost too pathetic to hurt. You're the most powerful mage in this place? Give me a break. Looks like Zaffy was right, that email was full of it after all."
Evangeline's eyes narrowed. "Dyou oww me a nyew door, girl," she said, voice dangerously placid, if a little nasal. Damned cold! "Ghet owt of my houwz before I kick dyour azz."
Vita rolled her eyes, pulling out the Book of Darkness, plainly not listening or giving a damn. "Well, might as well give you a try." She hefted her hammer. "This might hurt a lit–"
Evangeline's hands blurred, and scalding hot tea slammed into Vita's face inside a mug that was doing moving at an appreciable velocity. It shattered on impact, the shards cutting her face as she howled in pain, fury and surprise. Something yanked out Graf Eisen out of her hands, before a fist traveling at a decent fraction of the speed of sound slammed square into her gut, doubling her over, eyes wide and bulging comically.
"Ahai haff had a bery bad day," Evangeline said, one foot sweeping the girl's feet out from under her and dropping her to her to the floor. Eva's elbow, accelerating at 9.81 meters per second squared, almost simultaneously slammed into Vita's back with all the blonde vampire loli's weight behind it. "Dank dyou for bolunteering to help me reliebe shtresh."
Eva made a gesture with her hands, and the wires that had snared Graf Eisen dropped the Armed Device into her hands. She'd barely touched it, however, before there was an explosion of air that knocked the vampire off Vita and across the room, making her lose her slippers and ice pack as she slammed against the wall.
"Anti-theft device," Vita growled through bloody nose and scalded face. It was already turning red. She picked up Graf Eisen and held it securely in both hands. "And I was wrong. This is going to hurt a LOT!"
She charged the girl, who growled and made gestures with her hands. The sofa, coffee table and a lamp suddenly flew from where they'd been resting, slamming into Vita. She swung wildly, breaking the lamp, and turning the table to kindling, but the sofa was able to absorb her blows to a degree, it's mass knocking her back. Eva managed to get back to her feet, grabbing the coat rack. Why did she even have a coat rack, anyway? It wasn't like she'd had a lot of visitors before the boya had begun butting into her life.
Vita barely recovered in time to guard against Evangeline's attack, the coat rack swinging like a quarterstaff. They exchanged blows, and Vita managed to shatter the multi-pronged tip, only for Evangeline to start jabbing with it like a spear. Woodchips flew.
"Dyou are getting the bill for all dis," Evangeline swore. "Or mabe ahai'll jusht kill dyou. I hafen't done dat in a while…"
"What is it with this planet an insanely powerful lolis!" Vita cried in exasperation.
"Dyour vun to talk," Evangeline retorted, using aikido techniques to keep the hammer from destroying her weapon further. Vita growled, and maneuvered the fight so her back was to the door. If she could just get room to use her balls…
Evangeline suddenly darted back, and Vita saw her chance, summoning one of the metal balls she used in her attack. "Schwalbe Flieg-"
Evangeline gestured, and the sofa struck Vita from directly overhead, slamming at her vertically to bring it's full weight to bear. The impact slammed the knightot the ground, and again something ripped Graf Eisen from her hands. A bare foot kicked her face hard, and she cried out as her scalded skin erupted more pain. She felt a weight settle on her back and something tightened around her neck. She began to choke as the thing tightened, and she felt her neck being pulled back, her spine arcing to follow.
"Dyou invaded by hobe," Evangeline growled, sitting on the knight's back, hands outstretched to either side as she pulled on her wires. As slowly as she tugged, she wondered which would come first, strangulation or decapitation? "Die for your insolence."
She pulled harder, the wires cutting into Vita's neck as she futilely tried to claw at them. The knight's eyes began to bulge, and she felt darkness coming for her. "Hayate…" she choked out in a near-whisper.
Evangeline leaned closer, not letting up on her wires. "What was that?" she whispered into Vita's ear. "What did dyou– ah… ah… ACHOOOO!"
Evangeline sneezed violently, a full-body reaction that made her spasm. Instinctively, she covered her mouth.
Vita drew a breath and swung both fists un and over her head. It connected with Evangeline's face, knocking the loli off her back and giving her room to roll, kicking all the while. She grabbed Graf Eisen, and readied a full brace of balls this time. "Schwalbe Fliegen!" Four balls appeared and she slammed them with a fraction of her normal force into Evangeline, knocking the breath out of her and leaving her outlined in a crater on the cabin wall, as opposed to sending her through it, as was the usual running gag.
"Stay down!" Vita cried, drawing the Book–
Someone punched her in the back of the head, interrupting her. She spun wildly, but her attacker had already darted back, then lunged forward, using her head as a springboard.
Evangeline blinked as she saw who had landed between of her and the red-clad girl with the hammer. "Doe?-! Geht owt of here, brat! Hyou'll get killed! Call Chachabaru!"
Cassandra Doe merely smiled that more-infuriating-that-Zazie's smile, and waved a hand in a somehow both negligent and reassuring manner. She turned to the attacker and made a gesture that usually accompanied the words, "Come on if you think you've got the balls, B17(#!"
Vita growled and charged, Graf Eisen whirling.
Five minutes later, she was thrown out the front door, bounced twice on the stairs on the way out, and landed on her head next to the mailbox, eyes all googly and whirling. Seconds later, her hat followed, landing on her upturned ass.
The other girl looked at Cassandra, who mimed making a gun and blowing the smoke off it before sticking it into a holster. Evangline frowned. "I could have taken her."
Cassandra nodded in a way that said yes, she could have. "Might have sneezed again," she said.
Evangeline blinked. "Empty Night! You can talk?"
Cassandra gave her a rather communicative look. Then she seemed to think better of it and said, "Duh."
...
While Setsuna had been ashamed of her wings, and still sometimes was when she was suffering from Konoka deficiency, flight itself was always something the treasured. It had always given her unparalleled mobility with most opponents, allowing her speed and freedom of movement, very nice +4s on her terrain bonuses, an expanded list of maneuvers to chose from, and that very nice 'death from above' silhouette.
There was, however, one essential drawback to having wing-based flight. Namely, it was wing-based. It had physical limits, such as a minimum required amount of room for her wingspan, it required a massive amount of strength (it is a little realized but ridiculously obvious fact that getting hit by her wings hurt more than getting hit by her fist) only partly offset by her chi, she had to do business with such things as fluid mechanics, Bernoulli's principle and Newton's laws, and the fact she constantly needed to flap or else she'd drop like a stone.
Signum, with her magic-based flight, had no such limitations. She probably had others, but right now, Setsuna didn't know them, and thus couldn't make use of them. The hanyou was having trouble now, being forced to fight defensively. Signum had begun targeting her wings, forcing Setsuna to keep facing the knight as much as possible and defend. Signum used this to keep her hemmed in, confining her to a small area and forcing her to hover more, tiring Setsuna out faster as she was forced to use main strength to keep her aloft rather than exploiting a loophole in the laws of air pressure. Setsuna had tried drawing her opponent higher into the sky, but the knight had then ignored her, attacking the ones below, and forcing Setsuna to attack her head on again. She needed backup of some sort, badly!
"Arc Saber!"
It was the cry more than the attack that made the pink knight dart back as a yellow curve of energy passed between the two fighters, giving Setsuna much-needed breathing room and allowing her to get some proper altitude. She spread her wings, catching the wind and turning her feathers to it to give her lift. She flew at an angle, not going in the direction of her rescuer but off to one side of Signum. Landing on top of a building, she rested her wings, her swords ready.
Fate caught the golden arc of her scythe, reattaching and reabsorbing it back into her weapon. "Are you all right?" she asked Setsuna.
Setsuna nodded. "Where's Green Lantern-chan?"
"Taking care of other matters," Fate said. "I hope I'm acceptable."
"Welcome to aboard, then," Setsuna said.
"Testa–" Signum began.
Fate's eyes opened wide in panic behind her mask, conscious of all the people still taking cell phone videos. "Minion of the Book of Darkness!" she cried loudly, interrupting the knight, gesturing dramatically with Bardiche. She could feel her face burning in embarrassment, but she pushed on. "This has gone on long enough! School is a place of learning and safety! It is where you expand your horizons and gain knowledge for the future, where you strengthen your bonds with your friends and learn prepare for life! I will not countenance you turning this noble and worthy facility into a battlefield! I am Magical Girl Black Reaper-chan, and by my power, I shall defeat you!"
Below, the students broke into applause, except for the ones going "I can see up her skirt!". Fate blushed redder.
For a moment, Signum just stared at her. Then she began to cough. Really, it was just a cough.
"You're laughing at me!" Fate hissed.
"No, I'm just coughing, really," Signum said between exclamations. "It's all these feathers, very bad for my lungs."
"Feathers make you sneeze," Setsuna said, mildly put out. "And I'll have you know my feathers are hypoallergenic. I wash them regularly!"
"Of course," Signum apologized, still 'coughing'. "My mistake."
Setsuna nodded, then glanced sideways at Fate, mouth curving slyly. "Been reviewing Sailor Moon's old material, have we?"
"Eh? You too S–… e, what did you say your name was again?"
"AngelGARd."
"Thank you… Eh? You too, AngelGARd-san?" Fate cried.
Setsuna covered her mouth with one hand. "No, absolutely not. I wouldn't do that…Reaper-chan."
Signum began to cough harder.
Fate's eyebrow twitched. "Minion-san, prepare to defend yourself! Have at thee! Photon Lancer, Phalanx Shift!"
"Adeat!" Setsuna cried. "Sica Shishikushiro! Rain of knives!"
"Panzer Schild!" Signum responded, arm coming up to raise the triangular barrier. The knives slammed against the shield, either deflecting or shattering. Signum wasn't too impressed with their construction. She was more worried about Fate's large-volume blast, though unlike the spell she'd used last time this seemed mono-directional. She caught the upward blast on her shield, darting sideway immediately as soon as it was clear, barely deflecting Setsuna's gravity assisted diving slash with her sheath.
A whistling behind her was al the warning she had before several impacts struck her back, some bouncing off and shattering. She felt several sharp pricks, but they didn't penetrate fully, slowed by her barrier jacket and the fading remains of her shield. Flying fragments confirmed her guess. More of those short swords.
Not bothering to look, she loaded a cartridge, shifting Laevatein to Schlagenform and sending the edged weapon whirling in a wall behind her, in time to tangle on Fate's scythe. She pulled the girl towards her, foot lashing out and catching Fate on the thigh, even as her sheath swung for the girl's head.
Fate managed to duck her it by leaning her head back as far as it would go, and Signum felt it just barely clip the girl's nose. She twirled the sheath, trapping Fate's head between it and her forearm and twisted to turn the girl towards Setsuna. There was a blast of wind as the swordswoman aborted her charge, one sword disappearing as she held Yuunagi in both hands in preparation for a technique. "Zankusen Ni-no-Tachi!" Setsuna cried, slashing.
"Reactor Purge," Fate said quietly.
Fate's Barrier Jacket exploded in Signum's face as Setsuna's attack struck into Fate…
...
The highest concentration of enemy troops, it turned out, was located on the main street that lead from the train station to the schools. Nanoha, after some analysis, had to wonder exactly where the robots had come from. The technology in them was just a bit too high to be available on Earth, though not inconceivably so. Still, these things had the look of mass-produced units, despite their outward appearance. It was something to bear thinking about…
There were some student's fighting these things too. None of the Wolkenritter scanned as present, making the drones less organized, but they were still a credible threat, and the students who had donned masks and were apparently throwing around magic were slowly being overwhelmed.
"Raging Heart, Shooting Mode," Nanoha said, even as she made a giant megaphone with her ring. "Attention, all civilians! Clear the area! Fire in the hole!"
"Shooting Mode has been renamed Buster Mode," Raging Heart said. "Shift to Buster Mode?"
Nanoha's eyebrows twitched. "You're gone for a few days and they change all your settings," she grumbled. "Fine, Buster Mode."
Raging's Heart's head changed, pink wings flaring as it reconfigured. Nanoha gripped the handle near the end. It was a design addition she approved of. She'd heard somewhere you shouldn't hold the magazine of a weapon to steady it. She aimed downwards as green light flowed from her ring and into the circular array at the base of the handle grip. "Begin synchronization!" she said.
"Synchronizing," Ring-chan and Raging Heart chorused. Green traceries began to glow along Raging Heart's structure, outlining the basic shooting head and shaft.
"Reinforcing structure," Ring-chan said. "Target acquisition systems, augmented."
"Emergency energy storage, charging," Raging Heart said.
Nanoha nodded in satisfaction. "Forget the intermix chamber for now. Raging Heart, do you remember that spell we were working on?"
There was no change in Raging Heart's tone, but Nanoha could almost feel like the Device was grinning. "Initiating optimization calculations."
"Spell?" Ring-chan asked.
Nanoha told it.
"Beginning targeting to minimize possibility of civilian damage or friendly fire," Ring-chan said hurriedly. "One Lyrical Grade Genocide, coming up!"
Nanoha chuckled. "Have you no faith in me, Ring-chan?"
"I was not programmed for faith, ma'am."
"Calculations complete," Raging Heart said. "Ready to initiate. Recommend we do not initiate cartridge system at this time… yet."
Nanoha nodded and formed the image in her mind, felt Raging Heart connecting to her and through her the image. Math was had, complex calculations turned into art, circles and symbols.
Nanoha opened her eyes as her power began to gather before at Raging Heart's central crystal projector. The spell had come to her while playing a videogame, and she'd worked it out the same way she'd made Starlight Breaker: by taking her Divine Shooter, breaking it down into parts and rebuilding from the ground up. Technically, this had less power than Shooter… but the additional changes meant that wouldn't matter.
"Clear the field! Fire in the hole!" Nanoha cried, just to make sure that the student mages knew they were still supposed to leave. "Lyrical! Magical! Divine…!"
Power gathered. Pink light shone. They began to coalesce into many, many points of light. Thank goodness for Fate and her Phalanx Shift, or else Nanoha might never have gotten the calculations down. Well, she could have asked Chrono, but he was too busy and besides, they still had their Enforcer/Green Lantern rivalry-thing going.
"DANMAKU!" she finished casting. The sky turned pink, with interesting and aesthetically pleasing designs and patterns.
On that day, the mages of Mahora learned first-hand the true meaning of 'bullet hell'…
...
Vita had just finished putting her hat back on when the dark-haired girl stepped out of the cabin, walking leisurely in her school uniform. She'd taken off her tie and had apparently tied it around one fist.
Right, that was it. Screw stealth. Vita was going to kick someone's ass properly today if it was the last thing she did!
The girl, already wearing an annoying smile, smiled wider, as if she could tell what Vita was thinking.
Vita grabbed Graf Eisen, howled and charged.
Five seconds later, she was now on the mailbox, wondering how the hell she'd gotten there.
Instinctively, she kicked her flight in gear, kicked herself for forgetting she had flight, and hurled herself to the sky, turning to come down in an arc straight to where the girl…
…somehow ended up slamming her face-first into the wooden deck.
"Haey!" was the cry from the cabin. "Shtop bessing ub by house!"
"Gah!" Vita cried. "Hayate damn it!"
She kicked herself back in the air, turning to face the girl angrily from treetop level as she drew out four balls again. "Work this time! Schwalbe Fliegen!"
The balls formed, and she struck them like they'd done her a personal affront, flying to strike the girl much harder than they'd flown for Evangeline. The girl dodged like some kind of monkey on crack, moving as if knowing where the balls would be. Yet she hadn't accounted for their explosive force, and each subsequent shockwave passed through her, throwing her off. She barely dodged the fourth one, though it was still a clean miss. Grinning, Vita readiead another ball.
"Excuse me, Wolkenritter-san!" a voice from the path leading to the house cried. Vita whirled.
A scared but determined-looking girl with purple hair, cat-ears and a tail, glasses, some kind of earpiece, a breastplate and strange white clothes pointed a finger at her, the finger clad in some kind of strange jewelry. "What is your name!"
Vita just stared at the girl and her companions. One was dressed like an anime-fetish's idea of a nurse from the more expensive kind of image club, her glasses glinting in the light as she stood at the back, a backpack slung over her shoulder. Another was wearing an apron and hat over her school uniform, a book in one hand, a feather quill in the other, and the most absurd, overdone mask on her face. It had crests and CLAMP wings and jeweled shapes and should probably weigh two pounds, except it stayed on her like it was glued there. Like the first girl, they both had cat ears and tails.
Vita's eyes were drawn to the last girl though. She wore black-painted metal armor with what looked like decorative wings on the back, a helmet sturdy-looking enough to host its own siege, and a long metal weapon that looked like the long-child of a sword and a lance that was significantly longer than the girl was tall. For that matter, she wasn't that much taller than Vita. A black masked face stared at her from under the raised visor, glaring at her grimly. "Who the hell are you?-!-?"
It was the aproned one who spoke, taking a pose. "Protectors of the books of Mahora! Explorers by day, lovers by night, Magical Girls by our own courage! We are Magical Girls Biblion, the Elite Library Island Explorers Club Division, Ala Alba!" She took another pose. "Fearless artist and future ruler of the Worlds! Mangaka without peer or equal, and Organizer of the United Magical Girls' Association of Japan, I am Kira Deathnote Paru-sama!"
There was a pause. Then she jabbed an elbow at the purple haired girl, who'd been staring at her like she'd gone crazy. The purple-haired girl blushed, and took on a much less flamboyant, childishly moe-moe pose. "Tomb Raider, Treasure Hunter, and proud member of Ala Alba! Psycho Purple!" She turned to 'Paru-sama'. "Um, Paru, can't I get another name? I mean, 'Psycho'…?"
"It's a reference to Psycho Mantis, just roll with it," Haruna hissed. "Next!"
"Healer of light, speaker of Fortunes, I stand here on my path to be a Magistra Magi!" Konokacired, raising her wand and twirling. "Magus Alba, stage up!"
"Yeah, good one!" Haruna congratulated her.
The black-armored girl stepped forward. She pointed her sword up at Vita. "I am the daughter of philosophers. The world of wisdom and knowledge is mine. I am a student of Ariadne. We are the Maidens of War. I am a Magical Girl. We are they who fight for Truth, Love, and Justice. I am Ala Alba. We have saved the world. I am a Ministra Magi of the son of the Thousand Master, son of Arika Anarchia Entheofushia, the Last Prince of Ostia and Vespertatia, his Highness, the savior of Mundus Magicus! We are the reason why!"
"Wow, that's pretty good," Haruna commented quietly.
"Hello," Yue said. "My name is Valkyrie Black. You attacked my teacher. Prepare to die. We fight!"
There was a dramatic pause.
Vita pointed her finger at Yue. "To the death then. No, to the pain!"
Haruna slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh kami, another Princess Bride fan."
"This will be a long fight," Konoka agreed. "Would you like a sandwich?"
"Thank you."
"Warthog-faced buffoon," Yue said.
"That may be the first time in my life a schoolgirl has insulted me," Vita said gravely.
"It won't be the last," Yue retorted. "We are women of action. Lies do not become us."
"The first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles," Vita answered back. "Then your hands at the wrists. Then your nose."
"Then my tongue, I suppose," Yue snapped. "I wish I'd killed you last time. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate today."
Nodoka sighed. "They'll be at this a while."
Cassandra just quietly ate her sandwich.
"I wasn't finished," Vita was saying. "The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right."
"And then my ears, I understand, let's get on with it." Yue prodded.
"WRONG!" Vita exclaimed. "Your ears you keep, and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every baby that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, 'Dear God! What is that thing?' will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever."
"You're bluffing, pig," Yue declared.
"It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only standing here because I lack the strength to fight. But, then again... perhaps I have the strength after all." Vita leveled Graf Eisen at the Valkyrie-armored girl. "DROP... YOUR... SWORD!"
"Hello," Yue answered. "My name is Valkyrie Black. You attacked my teacher. Prepare to die."
"Stop saying that."
"HELLO! MY NAME IS VALKYRIE BLACK! YOU ATTACKED MY TEACHER! PREPARE TO DIE!"
"There will be blood tonight!" Vita cried right back.
"As! You! Wish!" Yue responded.
"GET ON WITH IT!-!-!-!" Nodoka, Haruna and Konoka cried.
Yue and Vita faced each other, a reluctant smile on their faces.
"Please understand I hold you in the highest respect," Vita said.
Yue nodded. "I would sooner destroy a stained glass window than an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you continuing your activities..."
They tensed, hands tightening on their weapons. Yue's visor slid down. Then they charged.
"Finally!" Haruna cried.
Hell broke loose on Evangeline's lawn. This did not improve her mood.
...
- To be continued...
...
A/N: Arika, in my humble opinion, is a bigger badass than Nagi. Years of torture, of people despising her, and she never broke. And when her execution came, she was able to face it with dignity. Her swan dive was her way of saying "fuck you, I'm dying because I choose to, not because you do". And she did this not because she couldn't fight back, but because she decided it was for the best interest of her people and the world! How many other characters have the resolve to go through with that? Plus, she also gave birth to Negi, which is badass all by itself. To be able to contain all the pre-natal badass, she must have had equal, if not greater amounts of said badass.
Satsuki and Tomoyo are not related… I hope.
Nanoha keeps holding Raging Heart's cartridge magazine when she shoots! Why doesn't anyone tell her that's a bad idea!
Yue was allowed to keep her Valkyrie armor and Souken (that's apparently the name of those lance-swords they use) after she left Ariadne to go back to Mahora and had it repainted black. Because damn it, it's one of the coolest sets of clothes in the series, in my opinion!
I have watched The Princess Bride (obviously). Prepare for yet another source of references!
Please review, C&C welcome.
Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.