Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Takamachi Nanoha is the chosen Green Lantern of Sector 2814. She's beaten Precia, but now a new enemy is targeting not just her, but every mage and magical girl on Earth. The Battle Lines are drawn. The Linker Cores War has come to an end. X-over

20. All Together Now

A/N: This interweaves a LOT with Chapter 14 of Fate/Holy Grail War of 2814. Some things that are only touched on here are expounded more fully there. Yes, I acknowledge it's a shameless plugging device.

You know, this fic really needs a character sheet…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 20: The Battle For Fuyuki, Part 1: All Together Now

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

In Juuban, a monster had attacked the high school.

Again.

Lightning, ice, ambiguous heart-shaped attacks, and lots of confusion had, of course, ensued.

There wasn't any property damage, though school was cancelled yet again. Normally, this wouldn't be the case, since the schools in the Juuban area tended to be a bit blasé about monster attacks– and with good reason. After all, there'd been like about a million of them so far– but recently the Ministry of Education had been cracking down on the area to enforce the Emergency Forces Of Evil Attack Laws, and the schools had grudgingly let the students go. It wouldn't last, maybe another week or two, but for the moment, students were celebrating their good fortune.

The Sailor Senshi in civilian garb, meanwhile, tried to figure out what the monster that had looked suspiciously like a robot made from a train-car-cum-food-cart had been about and where had it suspiciously gone when it had caused enough damage to conveniently get the students out of school. As Ami, Minako, Usagi, Makoto, Michiru, Haruka, a melancholy Setsuna and a watchful (against alcohol) Hotaru sat around in booth at the ice-cream store, Rei walked in– well, stomped, really–and slammed herself down on one of the empty benches as the others stared.

"Rei?" Ami said in surprise. "What are you doing here? Don't you still have class?"

"It was cancelled," Rei said, grumbling. "You wouldn't believe what happened!"

"Is it any worse than a restaurant train-turned Bayformer attacking the school?" Makoto asked, smiling slightly.

Rei blinked. "How the heck did you know that's what happened?"

The door opened and a tired-looking Mamoru walked in. The girls hastily moved a little to make room for him in the crowded booth, but he just took a seat in the next booth over next to Usagi. "Hey, Usa-ko," he said tiredly.

The others, chagrined settled back down, some moving to sit with him.

"Rough day at the office?" Haruka asked good-naturedly.

"Weird Bayformer Meat-bun youma," he muttered, sighing. "I don't want to talk about it…"

The Senshi blinked. "Whoa, there's a lot of that going around, isn't there?" Makoto said.

Mamoru frowned. "What do you mean?"

She held up her cell phone. "A friend of mine from the tournament circuits just texted me that a lot of schools in the city have been closed down because of a spate of attacks. They all sound like they're by the same thing."

The others grew concerned. "Shouldn't we do something?" Usagi said.

At that moment, the Mercury Computer beeped…

...

With the school evacuated and with no structural damage being inflicted except maybe to some eardrums and windows, there really wasn't much for Green Lantern to do. Sure, she could look around for evidence and such, but this was really a case better suited for the bomb squad, and she really didn't want to step on anyone's toes. People were, of course, already saying this was the work of terrorists, though Green Lantern kind of doubted that. For one thing, terrorists seldom left around giant banners proclaiming, "Nah Nah, Fooled You!"

The students weren't so concerned about the explosion though. For one thing, no one got hurt, so what was so interesting about it? And for another, school for the rest of the day had been called off, which had more than one student, inappropriately as some adults thought, glad for what had happened.

"Honestly!" Alisa cried. "The things people will do! Someone could have been seriously hurt by that thing!"

"Magical Girl Black Reaper-chan didn't show up!" Suzuka said sadly, causing Fate to strongly quash the urge to look around and whistle innocently. "Eh, I really wanted to get her autograph!" More whistle-quashing commenced.

"I'm back!" Nanoha called, panting as she ran up to them from the direction of the toilets. "Sorry it took so long, but there was a long line! What did I miss?"

Alisa sighed at Nanoha's lack of delicacy as Suzuka raved about how Green Lantern had shown up and had been all 'cool' and 'awesome'.

"EH!" Nanoha cried, looking absolutely downcast. Fate thought she was overdoing it. "I missed the opportunity to see Green Lantern-chan again? Why is it that my luck is such that I'm always somewhere else when she shows up?-!"

Okay, now you're just being a large ham, Fate shot at Nanoha telepathically. Thank goodness saving the world doesn't rely on your acting skills.

Eh, Fate-chan? Nanoha sent, and although her face didn't change Fate could imagine the pout the other girl wanted to send her. That's mean!

Fate's new phone rang before she could respond, and she hastily pulled it up, no longer fumbling with the controls as she first had. "Hello?"

"Fate-chan!" Amy's voice said from the other end as the three with Fate quieted down to let her listen. "Thank goodness you're all right! We just saw the news on TV! Was anyone hurt? "

"We're all fine, Amy-chan," Fate said. "It looks like it might have been a prank for some reason, but they cancelled school anyway."

"Eh?" Amy said. "Well, that's awfully convenient for you."

Fate frowned. "What do you mean?"

"That communication's program that the Sailor Senshi gave you is ringing," Amy said. "It looks like there's some kind of emergency."

...

Ala Alba had regrouped at the empty field near the world tree after the blast. With school cancelled for the day while people investigated– and more importantly for some, before any homework could be issued– they had time to kill, even Negi, who really wasn't much good at this investigating thing, so to speak. They really didn't feel like hanging out at Evangeline's Resort just yet, more inclined to just laze around and let time fly by. This being Ala Alba, lazing around meant Asuna and Setsuna doing some light fencing, Ku reiterating how she was properly Negi's Martial Arts instructor, Maki doing some stretched and stuff, and Kotaro and Kaede had a light spar, which to some people looked like an intense duel, but for them was barely more strenuous than playing Rock-Paper-Scissors. The Library Crew were nearby, Konoka included, chatting about their latest books while Haruna lazily drew on her Artifact, idly thinking of what making World Tree Maple Syrup might be like and summoning small, cute, minor golems such as thumb-sized versions of their classmates purely for the heck of it, like a strangely belligerent Natsumi wielding a leak, or a Nodoka cosplaying as Vincent Valentine. Ako, Akira, and Yuuna were sitting by Chisame and Chachamaru, the three chatting while Chachamaru prepared a small picnic and Chisame evilly used her as an internet hook-up for her computer as she did unknowable, arcane things with the help of her sprites. Sayo and even Asakura were getting in on the idyllic-ity, the latter taking unobtrusive pictures of the lazy day, between some rather good close up shots of some butterflies and a napping Chamo, who actually looked pretty cute when he wasn't conscious and lecherous. You could practically hear the sigh of contentment.

"AGH, I'M SO BORED!" Haruna cried. "Everything's so normal! If there are any aliens, time-travelers, sliders, or espers here, COME OUT SO THINGS CAN GET INTERESTING!"

"Saotome, your name is Haruna, not Haruhi," Chisame said, annoyed as she reclined back. "Not every day has to be a life and death adventure that's filled with epic battles against the forces of evil that in a Manga would take 40-plus chapters to conclude. Normal days are good."

"Blasphemy!" Haruna declared. "And you're one to talk!"

Chisame frowned. "And what is that supposed to mean? I'm the sanest, most normal person here."

"Says the girl with six robot maids fawning over her!" Haruna declared.

Chisame shrugged, leaning back against the blonde gynoid she'd positioned behind her. "Spoils of war," she said, though a trifle smugly. "It's not like there weren't a ton of them lying around. And they don't mind, right girls?"

"That is so, Calculator-sama," the one Chisame was leaning against, one of the blonde units she'd renamed 'Chitose', said.

Haruna sighed loudly, and went back to doodling on her Artifact.

Chisame's computer beeped a notice. Lazily, she opened it, and swore. "Oh, not today! Come on!"

"Ooh, ooh, what is it?" Haruna said, instantly on Chisame like a rash. "Aliens? Time-travelers? Sliders, espers? A raunchy email with nude pictures of Superman? Come on Chisame, spill!"

Chisame growled and shoved the mangaka away. "It's the Magical Girl group thing," she said, turning it on.

"Hey!" Haruna declared. "Don't you go calling my beautiful creation 'the Magical Girl group thing'! It's the United Magical Girl Association! Got it memorized?"

"Oh, shut up and sketch me some kind of speaker things!" Chisame snapped.

...

They'd had to end the visit to Hayate. They hadn't wanted to, and Vita had nearly raised a big stink when the nurse had made them leave, but there'd been a bomb at a local school, apparently, and the hospital had gone on alert, just in case.

Still, it was enjoyable. Vita had nearly lost control when she saw Hayate, nearly glomping the girl before Signum reigned her back and admonished her for nearly hurting Hayate. Hayate had respond by glomping Vita in turn, rubbing her cheek against the other girl's and exclaiming how glad she was to see them. Time seemed to run past like a monkey on crack as they spent time together, until reality cruelly stuck its nose in and announced the Hospital was ending visiting hours early because of an emergency. Still, they'd enjoyed their time together, knowing that one way or another it would all end soon…

...

Nanoha called her parents to reassure them as she and the others rushed to the Harlaown apartment, flicking her phone shut by the time they reached the balcony. They all rushed in, where Amy was looking up at a large holographic display which basically consisted of a sign-in page. Quickly, Nanoha stepped forward and typed in the passwords, impatient as the relatively slow protocols connected. Finally, the screen displayed resolved into three icons, a stylized solar system icon, a white wing, and an abstract of swirls and curves that vaguely resembled a cup.

"-o need to yell," Illya's scratchy voice said over the now open connection.

"Green Lantern, Ferret Lantern, Black Reaper, Tempus and, um, Familiar Girl here!" Nanoha said as the others gathered around her. "What's the problem, Kaleido Ruby-chan?"

"Familiar Girl?" Arf said. "That's the best you can come up with? Come on, throw me a bone here! At least call something cool like, I don't know, Sexy Crimson Fang!"

"Hey!" Chrono protested. "Don't you lump me in there with you crazy Earth people! I'm not a member of your little club!"

Nanoha turned to look at him, pouting. "Eh, Tempus-kun?" she said. "Don't you like hanging out with us?"

"Hey, no fair!" Yuuno protested . "How come she gets a cool name and I'm still stuck with 'Ferret Lantern'?"

"Tempus," Amy cried out, grinning and wagging an admonishing finger. "Be nice!"

"Amy!"

...

Ami sighed as the others all crowded in around her, mere concepts such as 'personal space' and 'elbow room' apparently irrelevant as they tried to get a view of the Mercury Computer's screen. "Guys, really I'm getting kind of claustrophobic," she said as she signed in.

The others shifted as Green Lantern's group made their presence known. This shifting did absolutely nothing but redistribute the elbows to tender-spots ratio as Mercury sighed again, wondering how hard it would be to reroute all this through their communicators. Come to think of it, when was he last time they'd used those things? It would have been so convenient to remember the last umpity billion times. And whatever happened to the disguise pens…?

Haruka chuckled as the byplay drifted over the computer's small speakers. "Ah, such a familiar tune," she said, casually wrapping an arm around Michiru, who giggled. Encouraged, Haruka reached a bit lower and…

"Haruka-papa, please stop pinching my butt," Hotaru said, causing Haruka to redden and hastily withdraw her hand from the press.

Ami sighed. "I'll have to develop a voice identification program of some sort, to distinguish people on mass-conference calls," she said, already thinking of the coding that could take as Michiru wagged an admonishing finger at Haruka and Hotaru muttered something about needing an ice-pack.

...

Chisame sniffed as the others crowded around her, and her robot maids barely managed to keep Chisame's personal space and elbow room intact. Chachamaru had calmly unfolded a satellite dish to provide better reception. It sprouted from her head like some kind of disproportionate blossom. "It's because of all these amateurs thinking this is all some kind of Star Trek thing," she voice said. "Honestly, they make everything so much more difficult."

"Eh," Makie said. "Don't be like that Chi–"

"THAT'S CALCULATOR!" Chisame declared, glaring. "Not… the other thing, CALCULATOR!"

"You're calling yourself a pocket electronic device?" Asuna said dryly.

"Quiet, Red," Calculator's voice said, aggravated. "Well, we're here. What's the problem?"

"We have an emergency!" Kaleido Ruby's voice cried. "At about noon today, the forces of evil are going to attack our town!"

...

There was the crackling static of relative silence. In the interim, Nanoha sighed, already composing the paperwork in her head. Let's see, there would be the copy for the municipal government… and then duplicate… and then the copy for the National Office for the Deputization of Freelance Law-Enforcers, Magical Girls Division…

"Really?" Fate said, blinking in surprise as Nanoha began drawing out the forms from memory. "Wow. It sure is convenient our school got hit by a bogus bomb threat that cancelled class."

Yuuno stared at Nanoha, out of range of the microphone. "Can you not do that? I'm getting writer's cramp just looking at you."

Nanoha frowned. "Honestly, why do people make such a fuss about paperwork? It's only a little writing," she said as she began to arrange the 50-plus sheets, not counting duplicates and triplicates.

Chrono and Amy, watching her, shuddered.

...

"You too?" Konoka said. "Someone at our school set off a lot of smoke bombs! Classes are cancelled until they can get things cleaned up." Makie and Yuuna did a happy dance at these words, still not over getting a free afternoon.

"Huh, that's so weird," Sailor Venus's voice said. "Our school got attacked by these weird looking robot youma that looked like a Bayformer and called itself 'Meat-bun Supreme'."

There was silence. Chisame grew still as her maids and electron sprites eyed her warily. As the began to twitch and shudder, the leaned away slightly.

"'Meat-Bun Supreme'?" Chisame said, one eyebrow twitching. "Are you sure about that?"

"Pretty sure," Sailor Jupiter's voice said. "It kept yelling about how it was going to destroy us all, then would segway into commercials about how nice Ibayamia was this time of year and advertise some restaurant called Chao Bao Zhi."

Everyone's eyes widened as Asuna and Chisame's gazes met. Rapid-fire understanding was exchanged, and flames seemed to appear in Asuna's eyes as she understood the full import of what was said.

"THAT TIME-TRAVELING BITCH!" Asuna yelled as Setsuna hastily slapped her hands over Negi's ears.

...

"Hey!" Setsuna snapped, glaring at the general direction of Ami's computer, her usual depression and slight withdrawal disappearing at this seeming affront to her office. "I take offense at that!"

"I don't think she was talking about you, Pluto," Michiru said gently.

Hotaru sighed. "Michiru-mama, can you switch places with me? Haruka-papa's hand's getting lost again, and my butt really hurts."

Haruka's face flushed and she quickly pulled back her arm, holding it behind her head as everyone looked at her. She laughed nervously. "Um, I'll behave now…"

...

"Stupid Chao Lingshen!" Asuna continued to rage. "This is all her fault again somehow, I just know it! First there were all those robots during the Wolkenritter attack on Mahora, and now THIS? What the hell is that girl up to?-! ARGH!-!-!"

"Excuse me!" Kaleido Ruby's voice interrupted loudly. "Imminent attack of the forces of evil here!"

There was an embarrassed silence.

"Sorry, go on," Asuna said meekly.

...

"This morning, we got a DVD from a teammate of ours who died recently," Kaleido Ruby said, murmuring rising from the other connections. "Just this morning, in fact, only a few hours before we got the DVD."

Nanoha's eyes went wide "Archer-san?" she said, surprised.

"Yes," Kaleido Ruby said. "We don't know how but he somehow knew that everything would turn out like this! He, uh, mentions that the Wolkenritter didn't kill him, Green Lantern-chan. He mentions it specifically on his message. It's dated several days ago, but all the stuff he mentioned in it happened. And he says that around noon today, someone is going to try to activate every Invader in Fuyuki."

Nanoha had barely begun to sigh in relief that this was not, technically a murder investigation, when her breath caught in her throat.

"WHAT?-!" she cried, and she wasn't the only one.

...

"Shimatta!" Setsuna swore under her breath, very carefully making sure Negi's ears were still covered.

"Um," a voice from Fuyuki said. "I know I should probably know this, but what's an Invader?"

Another voice agreed. "Not a stupid question. I don't know what that is either. Archer called them pure evil, but that's not very helpful…"

"Evil is essentially what they are," Setsuna said grimly. "They are basically anthropomorphic personifications of human evil. Our greed, malice, pettiness and cruelty given form. Some reproduce by dividing, while others… others can turn people into beings like themselves, by physically reaching into a person and pulling out the evil inside them, making it fester and grow like a cancer, until it consumes the person and becomes it's own being…"

There was silence. Everyone stared at Setsuna, and she felt her face start to flush bright red as she realized what she'd just said. She looked around beseechingly, but no one was any help. Kaede, damn her, was wearing a kind of smug, "My, aren't we talented," smile. Then…

"Kyaaaa, AngelGARd-chan!" Konoka squealed, pouncing on her. "That was so poetic!"

"O-ojou-sama…!" Setsuna stuttered.

Chisame sighed. "Way to ruin the mood, girl…"

You could hear the blink over the connection. "AngelGARd?" Kaleido Ruby asked. "As in, 'In Celebration of–'"

"AHH! PLEASE DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Setsuna cried.

"I wonder what you'll call a more powerful technique?" Haruna said, grinning amidst laughter and other teasing. "Perhaps, 'In Celebration Of the First Time I Fu–'!"

Asuna slapped a hand over her mouth. "Don't you DARE finish that sentence."

"Evil?" Kaleido Ruby reminded them.

"You know, in manga and stuff, when someone is rallying the cavalry, they never get sidetracked like this," a voice they recognized as Kuro said. "I mean, if this was some kind of shounen fighting manga, we'd have the entire situation already explained, with no interruptions, and a counterattack planned out, all too great illustrations that fit the mood."

There was silence over the line as everyone looked at Haruna.

"What? I'm not running this briefing," she said.

Kaleido Ruby sighed. "Tick tock? This is the situation…The Invaders plan to use Wayne Enterprises Tower as a transmitter to activate all the Invaders in the city during rush hour. They're then going to try and kill as many people as possible to increase the spiritual energy of the area while at the same time trying to gain control of certain key points. One is an address in the residential area, another is an empty field, and a third is a church. They will also try to take over the Temple in Mount Enzou. Our counterattack is simple. We protect Wayne Tower to lessen the number of invaders they can activate, keep them from gaining control of those four other locations, and prevent them from killing people!"

...

In the Harlaown apartment, the children all stared at the monitor grimly.

"Th-that's… that's monstrous!" Sailor Mars said.

"Are you serious?-!" Calculator cried.

"Ah. A code 77348," Nanoha said levelly, though her voice was no less appalled. "'Activation of sleeper agents leading to seizure of control of key tactical locations in order to facilitate wide-spread mass-slaughter'. It's practically a textbook case."

Everyone in the room blinked, staring at her.

"It actually says that in the codebook?" Yuuno asked, frowning as he fired up his ring to check.

"Eh? Of course it does! Haven't you been reading the code book?"

"I had to stop somewhere around code 16887," Yuuno said, shuddering.

Nanoha frowned. "'Illegal disposal of a disposable pre-packaged beverage vessel by attempted forced ingestion into an endangered species of carnivorous luminescent crystal fungus'? That means you've barely started!"

They stared at her again, Amy and Chrono edging slightly away. "You scare me, Green Lantern," he said.

...

As this was going on, the background of the Mercury Computer shifted, and a map window suddenly appeared, along with a small window of icons. "Show us where," Calculator said.

"EH?" Kaleido Ruby cried. "How did you do that? I thought messaging was the only thing that was on here?-!"

"I wrote an update while you were all talking," Calculator said dismissively.

Ami's eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly. "Impressive," she said, sounding somewhat cool. The others eyed her nervously.

"I'm the greatest hacker on the planet. It was easy. The locations, Kaleido Ruby?"

Ami's eyebrows snapped upward, her mouth opening and closing silently as the map display changed, becoming marked.

"Ami-chan," Makoto said soothingly. "Calm down…"

"Looks like we'll have to split up," Green Lantern said. "My friends and I will take charge of roaming the city preventing civilian casualties. We have flight capability, not to mention more precise scanning magic. We don't have much time. If what you say is right, they'll start soon."

Shakily, Ami swallowed, regaining her composure. "We can teleport ourselves there to the city proper, though we'll need help getting into position," she said.

Usagi blinked. "We can?" she said.

"Sure, we have the Teleport, remember? You know, the one where we all hold hands? We once used it to get to an asteroid full of evil life-sucking flowers about to fall on the earth and end all life as we know it?" Rei prompted. "You know, from that time Tuxedo Kamen's ex-boyfriend showed up?"

"FIORE WAS JUST A FRIEND! JUST A FRIEND, DARN IT!" Mamoru said, aggrieved.

"Shh, keep it down!" Haruka hissed as people began to cast curiously looks their way.

"Damn, when was the last time we used that?" Makoto wondered.

"Well, there was that time we broke into Saturn's house…" Minako said, trailing off. "Wow, we stopped using that a long time ago, didn't we?"

"Was that the time I beat the youma in a Dark Game of Old Maid?" Hotaru asked.

Mamoru sighed, shaking his head and resting his eyes on his fingertips. "Our lives are so screwed up," he said.

...

"We'll pick Ala Alba up and get everyone into position," Green Lantern said. "Green Lantern out."

The connection cut off. Ala Alba all looked at each other grimly, when they weren't grinning at each other in excitement. Chisame's head drooped. After all this time, she was still technically right: all her classmates were idiots. And what was that sound? It was a kind of whistling that was getting louder…

"We'll be there too, I suppose," Chisame said, sighing. "Ala Alba ou–OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW HOLY SHIT!"

Everyone cried out as a ten-foot tall– at least– robot landed in their midst. Its body seemed primarily composed of pylons, pistons and other long pieces of metal that came together to make an articulated body. It loomed like a gorilla, its legs short and stumpy compared to its arms, it upper body slim at the waist and wide at the shoulders. It even stood like one, though as they watched it straitened, knuckles lifting off the ground as it stood up straight. Then, with a sound like someone blowing in and out through their teeth, it began to reconfigure as they scattered back from it, metal, wood-finished metal and other things folding, tucking away, elongating, integrating and reintegrating, until it had turned back into a recognizable train car, one side open in a counter, some stools even then sliding back under some outer side panels.

"What?-!" Kaleido Ruby asked, on top of the chatter from the Senshi.

A few moments later, a panting and annoyed Chisame said, "We've found Meat-Bun Supreme," and hung up.

Even as they watched, magical sigils suddenly appeared, on counter tops, inside recessed shelves, and similar storage spaces, and a moment later, napkin holders, utensils, plates, bottles and other sundries appeared out of where ever they'd been stored, completing the look.

"I guess someone better tell Satsuki we've found her train car," Negi said, blinking.

Chisame began to growl as she stomped forward, snatching off an envelope that had been taped conspicuously to the front windshield. It had the words, "Open me," written in front. Chisame angrily tore it open.

"Well?" Haruna asked eagerly as Chisame stared at the contents. "What is it? Winning lotto numbers from the future? All the sports stats for the next fifty years? Another copy of Chao's family tree? A DVD containing a video message that knows what we're about to say?"

"It's a pamphlet," Chisame said flatly, drawing out a brightly colored sheet of thin paper.

"With winning lotto numbers?" Haruna pressed.

"Why are you assuming this is from Chao?" Chisame said, not looking away from the pamphlet she was scanning. "There could be an explanation as to why this thing– " she jerked her head sideways at the now dormant-looking train car "– when nuts on schools in Tokyo that just happened to be where the Senshi seemed to be attending just in time to get classes canceled so they could help stop the forces of evil that doesn't involve Chao."

The wind blew mournfully through the sudden silence.

"Ye-ah, no one here believes that, Chisame-chan." Kazumi said.

Chisame sighed. "Yes, it would have been nice," she said, handing them the pamphlet. It was kinda worn, wrinkled slightly as if it had been handled carelessly. Bright, almost luminescent pink ink had been used to encircle a small portion that would otherwise have been ignored. It was the printing and other technical information, with the date of printing three years from now. Trouble was, it was three years in the wrong direction.

"This safety leaflet bought to you in cooperation with the Mahora Academy Safety Committee, the Yukihiro Conglomerate, the Banning Group, Tsukimura Industries, the Daidouji Toy Company, the Piffle Princess Corporation, AEGIS Security, the Wayne Foundation, the Ibayamian Embassy, the United Nations Security Council and the Justice League. Let's all do our part to fight the forces of evil," Asuna read out loud.

Next to it, in the same pink ink were the words "Still single, ancestor?", a smiley face with hair buns, and a drawing of a pocket watch. The watch had a crack on it.

"Chao," Asuna growled.

"Check the rest," Chisame said quietly.

Asuna looked up and blinked. "What the hell?" she demanded, staring at the picture with small identifying labels next to all the participants. Everyone else stopped looking at the pink in and reacted similarly.

"That's us!" Makie said.

And it was. Some of the names and outfit was different– the girl that was recognizable as Asuna because of her sword was labeled 'Twilight Red' and was wearing armor similar to what she'd worn during the school festival, for example– but it was definitely them. The picture, torn in places along the edge, was of a chaotic battle scene with Asuna, Setsuna and Kaede charging forward to attack a huge black inky creature whose helpful label said it was "Brushogun: example of the forces of evil" while Negi prepared a spell, crouched low on the ground, his claws tearing at the cement while his tail wrapped protectively around his legs. The others were in similar attack poses. Ako stared at a picture of herself holding one of Yue's Souken and apparently charging in as recklessly as the rest.

"Hey, who's that?" Yuuna asked, pointing to a figure in the background who was apparently fighting by Kotaro's side, wearing a dark hooded cloak and body suit with pouches and such hanging off it. "'Spoiler'? Do we know anyone by that name?"

"Maybe it's Ayaka," Asuna grumbled. "She'd spoil anything."

"I believe we need to continue this another time," Kaede said, staring at the sky. "Green Lantern-chan is here."

...

"Fuyuki City," Setsuna said grimly as she stood, arms crossed, staring at the distant but incoming speck. "It's been a long time…"

Everyone blinked at her, surprised by the unusually grim, practically belligerent tone of her voice. "Set-chan?" Konoka said, adjusting her mask as the slightly green-tinted scenery flew by, Green Lantern trying to get them there quickly while not leaving a sonic boom. "Have you been here before?"

Setsuna jerked her head abruptly, a movement that bought all sorts of pre-Kyoto Setsuna flashbacks to Konoka she was almost depressed. "Once. I'd rather not talk about it."

Everyone one exchanged glances, and gave shrug of consensus, except for Ferret Lantern, who was seated at a construct school desk and was currently going through the Green Lantern Code Book, under Green Lantern's watchful gaze and to Tempus' amusement. "Well, if that's how you feel, AngelGARd-san…" Black Reaper-chan said as she checked her speed-loaders and wiped Bardiche's head with her cape.

"It was two years ago," Setsuna continued, not seeming to have heard. "I was just a girl then, so simple, so naïve. As a part of my training, Eishun-sama had given me permission to join that year's Underground Kendo Tournament. Fresh from the Shinmeiryu's own in-house tournament that year, I would represent the Shinmeiryu against several other schools and individual styles. The Strawberry Ghost School, Anything Goes Sword Arts, the Zanbatou Enthusiasts Society… I would face them all, carrying the honor of the Shinmeiryu…"

Chisame stared, blinking. "Is she monologing?" she said, sounding almost aghast.

"Sounds like it," Yue said, drinking from a tall bottle of TANTRUM!. "It's no Shakespeare, though."

"I was nervous, unsure that I would be able to live up to the honor of upholding the name of the Shinmeiryu," Setsuna went on, oblivious. "The Tournament was being held in Mount Enzou, where the wind is fresh, civilians are far, and the monks are discreet and have exclusive video distribution rights–"

"Video distribution rights?" Asuna said, confused.

"– to the tournament. The crowds were filled by those who knew of these things: some officials from Public Safety Division 4, members of the rich and bored, the infamous Heiress of the Daidouji Corporation, members of Black Ops divisions. Rumor even said that representatives from the League of Assassins were in the crowd, there to scout for new blood or traitors. All had come to watch the power of the sword. The day before the tournament began I was nervous, and Tsuruko-sama suggested that I see the city to distract myself and relax. Yet I hadn't even gotten to the stairs leading down from the mountain when I met… her."

Later, Haruna would swear that she saw Konoka's ears twitch at this. "'Her'? 'Her' who?" Konoka asked.

"When I saw her, I knew instantly she was trouble," Setsuna jabbered on, lost in her own little world. "She was tall, with breasts the size of cantaloupes–" several people began choking simultaneously, not sure if they'd heard Setsuna actually say this "– long, dark hair, and eyes the color of grape Kool-Aid. She was from Noihara, technically representing the Amakawa clan of Demon Slayers. I will never forget her… Noihara Himari…"

There was a growling sound and it took everyone a moment to realize it was actually coming from Setsuna.

"ROT IN HELL, YOU CHEATING CAT!" she exploded, shaking Yunagi and her fist in the air as everyone jerked back and fell over in surprise. "CHOKE ON YOUR OWN HAIRBALLS, YOU LARGE-BREASTED BOOB MONSTER! I HOPE YOU COME DOWN WITH EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA AND YOUR NIPPLES FALL OFF!"

"Is it just me, or does Setsuna seem oddly obsessed with this girl's breasts?" Haruna commented, grinning.

Green Lantern blinked, looking down at her chest. "Can your nipples really fall off?"

"Ask your mother," Ferret Lantern said, practically by rote.

Green Lantern sighed.

...

Chamo woke up and blinked. "Hey! Where did everybody go?"

...

It had been quite some time since the Senshi had used the teleport. It showed. For example, they'd forgotten that they'd always had a bit of trouble when it came to aiming for their destination. Actually getting there had never been a problem… but vertical orientation had usually been. They'd also forgotten that fact that sometimes their teleport didn't act so much like an instantaneous transport from point to point without traversing the space between physically as a kind of flight where they all needed to hold hands and steer.

And that's how they all ended upside-down in the branches of a tree, holding hands.

"You know, it occurs to me we might be a little out of practice with this…" Sailor Mercury said.

"YA THINK?-!" Sailor Mars, Jupiter and Venus cried.

"Hold still, Usa-ko," Tuxedo Kamen said, managing to get right side-up and drawing out his sword-cane. "Wait a moment…"

*snicker-snackt snikt!*

Branches fell away from Eternal Sailor Moon, who sighed in relief… only to scream as she realized this was a bad idea according to the laws of gravity. Smoothly, Tuxedo Kamen kicked off, catching her well before she hit the ground and landing lightly with her in his arms.

"Ahh, Mamoru-kun!" Eternal Sailor Moon gushed as she was set on her feet with a courtly bow.

The others twitched in annoyance.

"How come clumsy always gets saved in the nick of time?" Sailor Mars grumped.

"Why only her? We should get some hot guy to carry us around and save us in the nick of time too," Sailor Venus agreed.

"Yeah! We should get our own total hunks!" Sailor Jupiter said, pulling her leg free. "Someone like…"

"Magus Erebus?" Sailor Saturn suggested as she helped Sailor Pluto get her hair free.

They all sighed.

"Such erudition and intelligence," Sailor Mercury said.

"He's way hotter than my old sempai," Sailor Jupiter said.

"Truly a gift from the gods," Sailor Mars agreed.

"He's hot," Sailor Venus said plainly.

"He's my age!" Sailor Saturn said, not so much an objection as her personal silver-lining.

"He has a stable, well-paying, respectable job," Sailor Pluto mused.

"Soft, feminine features…" Sailor Uranus sighed.

"A cute, pinchable butt," Sailor Neptune agreed.

The Inners blinked, staring at them.

"Hey, I thought you two were…!" Sailor Venus cried, then paused to consider her options.

"Lesbians!" Sailor Jupiter cried.

"In a relationship!" Sailor Mars put in.

"Perhaps we've been bi all this time?" Sailor Neptune suggested.

"We're adults, we can set up our own affairs," Sailor Uranus retorted.

"Crap!" Sailor Venus cried. "More competition!"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Tuxedo Kamen asked politely, leaning against the trunk of the tree and tapping his foot. He held out his cane-sword. "Should I come back some other time while you argue about a ten year-old boy?"

"Get us down from here," Sailor Mercury said. "Please?"

"I call dibs!" Sailor Saturn said. "I'm not letting you guys get the only half-way decent guy my age for yourselves!"

A train car landing on the ground some distance from the tree punctuated her statement.

...

Nanoha watched as the constructs she'd made to ferry the others to their destinations flew off, and waited for Magus Erebus and to have some last words with the girls who would wait at this field for the person Illya's friends were sending to help them defend it. He came back with what looked like four flying manta rays in tow.

"Compliments of Paru," he said to the so-called Outer Senshi.

"KIRA DEATH NOTE PARU-SAMA!" the girl cried.

"Kira Death Note Paru-sama," he corrected smoothly. "It's for transport. Here, let me show you how to use it…"

From what she could here, the directions seemed simple enough, but apparently the Senshi were having trouble. Sailor Saturn seemed to have a problem just standing on the platform, and Erebus needed to stand behind her and hold her upright until she got the hang of it.

Finally Nanoha, exasperated, just put everyone on top of a giant green platform and floated them all up.

"All right," she said. "I suggest we split up into teams of two. I know that' will limit our deployment, but we'll need someone to watch our backs."

"Agreed," Sailor Uranus said. She'd finally seemed to have gotten control of her flying manta, standing on it and strapping a wrist-mounted control thing on. "These things can easily overwhelm you if you're not careful, and when they combine it's best to be able to attack the combiner from different points."

"Ah! Magus Erebus-kun, could you please stay with me?" Sailor Saturn said. "I'm not sure if I can stay on this manta ray. You'll catch me, right?"

"Oh, sure," Magus Erebus said, and Nanoha frowned as a peculiar grinding noise rose. "It's always been kind of hard to drive, these things. I don't understand why H– er, Kira Death Note Paru-sama didn't make a safer design."

Nanoha looked around. "Does anyone else here a grinding noise?" she asked Sailor Pluto.

"No," the older woman said, as the noise faded away.

Nanoha frowned. "I guess it was just my imagination…"

"Excuse me?" a new voice suddenly said, and everyone on the platform turned to see a purple-haired maigal girl wearing dark armor and mask, with a pairs of black wings at her back, apparently keeping her aloft. "I'm sorry I kept you all waiting. Nice to see you again, Green Lantern-chan."

"Oh, hello Reinforced-san," Nanoha said, waving. "We were just discussing how we were going to divide our forces in pairs."

"Well, we'll need to hurry," Reinforced said. She was frowning beneath her domino mask. "My cellphone's going nuts. I think they've already released the signal."

Nanoha checked her on cell phone, and frowned as the sky darkened slightly. "It's starting!"

Arf sniffed, growled and lunged at Sailor Saturn and Magus Erebus. "GET DOWN!" she cried, barreling into them, just as a vaguely humanoid, bat-winged creature flew through the space they'd been occupying.

Everyone snapped their gaze upward barely in time to see a swarm of creatures nearly on top of them in a full dive.

"Poot," was the last thing Nanoha was able to say before chaos erupted.

Magus Erebus rolled himself and Sailor Saturn off the platform, pulling a manta by the tail off with them as another creature dived at the spot, only to meet with Arf's claws. Fate, Yuuno, and Chrono had darted back, taking to the air, the other Green Lantern making laed magical and construct barriers to cover them along one side while Reinforced wove shadows to protect their other flank.

"Dead Scream…" Sailor Pluto whispered, casting her ball of energy into the sky as her companions followed suit, trying to get on their flying mantas and shoot at the same time. The flying things dodged, but the triple balls of energy still managed to clip some, though not to any significant damage.

"They're trying to occupy us!" Nanoha cried, cranking her energy aura to maximum as she dodged, sending Emerald Smashers at the things, each unsophisticated blast of emerald energy reducing an Invader to black dust and a falling blue crystal. "Keeping us contained so others can act!"

"It's working!" Sailor Uranus said. "We can barely steer these things!"

"I'll handle this!" Reinforced said, several spinning disks of energy appearing around her as a triangular sigil suddenly glowed beneath her feet. "Let me handle controlling the airspace! You make sure they don't hurt anyone!"

"You sure you can do that?" Magus Erebus cried as she helped Sailor Saturn stay on her manta ray, too busy helping her stay on to fight back herself.

"Trust me!" Reinforced said. She snapped out a hand sideways as dozens, scores, of spinning disks of brilliant white energy resolved themselves. "Night Sky Tiara Action; Eternal Shift!"

The innumerable spinning Frisbees of death shot out in all directions, cleaving through demonic flying Invaders even as they tried to dodge, and were unpleasantly surprised to realized the spinning disks could curve back to attack in repeating arcs.

"Go, go, go!" Reinforced cried.

"Ferret Lantern, go with Sailor Pluto!" Nanoha directed. "Tempus, Familiar Girl, go with Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus! Reaper-chan, with me!"

The platform faded away at they split up, streaking off in pairs as they left lines of light behind…

Sakura reinforced her eyes, scanning the city as she simultaneously ran an area scanning spell. "BRING IT ON, CREEPY PERVERT PRIEST!" she cried.

...

Bruce Wayne was having one of those days.

A lesser man would have spent some time at his desk, massaging his forehead and muttering about the unfairness of the world. Not he!

No, he did it while blowing up Invaders.

"So, this is what you were doing all last night while I was stuck here doing homework like some kind of chump?" Robin said, thwacking the evil-executive-looking zombie-like being with his brand new extending bo-staff before Batman decapitated it with one of his enormous curved blades. "Fighting evil zombie office workers?"

Lesser men would also be cannon fodder after having spent most of the night awake fighting a giant robot and having only gotten two hours sleep that morning. Batman, unlike these lesser men, was just cranky. "Just get to work," he snapped.

The building was fortunately evacuated, it coincidentally being fire-drill day. The coincidence was so contrived Batman was sure someone was pulling the strings in the background. Unfortunately, now was not the time to investigate.

The dynamic duo fought in the empty hallways of the lower floors. They were steadily being pushed upwards by the dark-clad throng, who never seemed to get fewer. Morse seemed to ooze out from every corner, steadily pushing them upwards.

It was around that time that the ceiling was blasted in, reigning debris on the Invaders and taking out the lights. This wasn't really a problem for the two, who instantly switched to night-vision lenses. Thus, they had a good view of the hulking monstrosity that came in through the hole in the ceiling and proceeded to tear apart the Invader's with its bare hands. Literally.

Robin stared in horror as the scene was temporarily veiled by dark dust, leaving only glowing blue crystals littering the ground. He felt his heart start to hammer in fear as he stared up at the dark, shapeless, nearly invisible creature hunkered down before them.

Batman made a disapproving sound. "You're late."

There was a snort that nearly gave Robin a heart attack. "They're after the transmitter on the roof. "

"We can hold them off," Batman said, voice level. It wasn't confident, but that was because confidence was for lesser beings. It was certain.

"There is a giant gorilla outside your building."

"You handle that," Batman said as more Invaders began to appear again.

"I miss Gotham," Robin said wistfully.

...

"Something tells me that someone is an Evangelion fan," Sailor Pluto noted as she knelt on her flying manta ray.

"Now all we have to do is tell if we're in the original series, the movies, the Rebuild or Super Robot wars," Yuuno said.

"Doesn't matter," Sailor Pluto said dismissively. "Everyone still dies and Shinji is still a weenie without his giant robot security blanket."

The two nodded sagely before dodging out of the way as the thirty-foot black Evangelion-clone, one of about a dozen, swung it's sword at them. They dodged out of the way, Yuuno using spells and constructs to keep them from destroying buildings as Sailor Pluto provided covering fire.

"Why didn't they have swords?" Yuuno mused. "I mean, given how useless the guns and stuff were, you'd think they realized it would be more efficient to just extend a prog knife into a sword."

"They were trying to buck the trend, I guess," Sailor Pluto said, looking longingly at a liquor store beneath them.

They attacked once more. The combined Invaders were ignoring them for the most part, instead attacking helpless citizens, though every so often one of the civilians would stiffen and spontaneously turn into an Invader. The two had to attack to maintain their attention, and it was all Yuuno could do to keep them confined to the area. He couldn't set up a barrier field because that would also trap them inside it, and they needed to be mobile to react to other threats. Attacks spells had never been his strong suit, and though he was getting better at it, he still had a way to go. That said, the nightmare that was 'training' with Nanoha on the moon hadn't been for nothing.

Green chains erupted as he tried to bind the Invaders in place. About half were caught, but the others, moving with the sickeningly organic fluidity of their source material, had managed to avoid his trap. Sailor Pluto shot out her attack, but the powerful blasts of energy couldn't exactly be spammed effectively. She managed to tag two, damaging them enough to slow them down before she had to concentrate on evading them. "Hurry!" she cried.

Yuuno grunted as she set his chains whirling, reinforcing them with constructs. The things cried as he dismembered them with the impromptu chainsaws, tearing them apart. He cleaved their torsos open while they were down, revealing their red cores. A thought and an effort of will, and needles of green light stabbed through them, causing the Invaders to convulse and dissolve. He didn't bother to watch, dashing to get to Sailor Pluto and raising protective barriers around them. the swords burned with heat, and he quickly adjust the shields to protect against that as well, a part of him marveling slightly. He'd have had difficulty doing that with magic, but with the ring, it was so simple…

"We need a better plan!" Yuuno cried. "You can't drive that thing and shoot at the same time and I'm the only one with any shields! If we take too long, people are going to get hurt!"

Sailor Pluto cursed, sending a Dead Scream that missed but managed to tear up the road, causing the Invader next to the one she was aiming at to momentarily stumble. Yuuno didn't have time to bind, instead slamming a giant spear through it. It seemed to miss the core, but the enormous construct pinned it to the ground, allowing Sailor Pluto to finish it off. "How much weight can you carry?"

"Huh?"

"HOW MUCH WEIGHT CAN YOU CARRY?-!"

"Theoretically, as much as I want, but what does that have to do with– GAH!"

Sailor Pluto leapt from her flying manta ray and with Magical Girl precision managed to grab a surprised Yuuno's shoulders, wrapping one arm around his waist to steady herself and holding on hard as her legs dangled freely in the air. A panicked Yuuno instinctively set all his shields on full, wrapping them in thousands of nano-meter-thick shields to protect them from several simultaneous stabs as he flailed about in the air.

Sailor Pluto pulled herself up, managing to raise her face to Yuuno's shoulder as he turned his head, allowing them to look at each other face to face. "W-what?" he managed.

"This way, I can shoot and have shields," she said levelly.

"A little warning next time," he said. Stirrups wove themselves into being, slipping into her feet and connecting to a harness that wrapped around Yuuno for added stability. There was no added weight, since it was connected directly to the energy aura around him that proved flight, but it felt like there should be. "Try not to cover my eyes and hold on!"

They moved.

"You smell nice," Sailor Pluto commented. She pointed as Yuuno maneuvered, disk-like shields covering them from all directions. "Dead Scream…"

...

Sailor Neptune let out a steady stream of extremely unladylike curses as she awkwardly maneuvered the flying manta ray. "WHAT BLIND IDIOT ON A SUGAR HIGH MADE THE CONTROLS OF THIS DAMNED THING?-!" she demanded as she tried to manipulate the controls on her wrist without falling off.

Somewhere, Saotome Haruna sneezed.

"Just try to keep flying straight!" Chrono cried, chancing a look behind them and instinctively pulling his knees to his chest. One of the gigantic, one-eyed dogs chasing them snapped at his legs from well over twenty feet away, but Lindy Harlaown hadn't raised any dummies. "Move!"

He dropped a binding as they flew away. It wasn't much, barely catching the lead wolf pursuing them, and even then, it only caught for a moment before breaking, but it was enough. It stumbled as it's left paw refused to move for several crucial moments before sheer mass and kinetic energy overwhelmed the spell, and the ones directly behind it plowed into it, at least four of them getting tangled together and falling in a heap while over either bounded over them or darted sideways, slamming and scrapping against he buildings on either side.

Chrono pointed S2U at the packed mass. "Stinger Blade!" he cried, a mass of energy swords appearing around him. "Execution Shift!"

They streaked forward, slamming into paws, elbows, knees, shoulders, jaws, necks and other important joints before detonating, crippling those in the forefront and allowing the last wave of the spell to slam into motionless eyes. The wolves howled as their central cores were pierced and they began to dissolve away.

Through the mist of the dissolving Invaders, more wolves charged, and it was all Chrono could do to raise his shields, barely managing to stop at least three enormous jaws from swallowing him whole. "NOW!" he cried.

Up above, Sailor Neptune peered into her mirror carefully, one finger pointed below. "Submarine Reflection!" she cried, the beam from the mirror sniping at eyes as as Chrono darted quickly between wolves, sniping at joints, binding heads and generally doing everything he could to get them to stand still long enough to get hit.

As the last of the wolves dissolved, Chrono darted to Sailor Neptune, who handled the manta awkwardly. "Next target?" he asked, as Sailor Neptune tried to use her mirror and keep from grazing a building.

She peered intently at it and pointed, tucking the mirror under one arm as she tried to make the manta turn. "That way," she said.

Chrono merely nodded, professionally assessing the encounter as he waited for her to turn the thing before they zoomed off towards the next concentration of enemies, sniping at any stray invaders they found below them.

"We make a good team," Sailor Neptune noted as they approached the next encounter point, where several giant black centipedes– or was it millipedes?– where wrapping themselves around buildings.

Chrono went through his limited stock of knowledge regarding Earth's under-aged male/older female interactions and came to the most logical conclusion. Unfortunately, the male in question was Negi Springfield. "I already have a girlfriend," he said, and zoomed off, leaving Sailor Neptune blinking in confusion.

...

Sailor Uranus was in love. Again.

A part of her found this highly disturbing, because it calculated it was the second time she'd fallen in love that week, and was afraid she was turning into Makoto. Or even worse, Minako. Still, that was all irrelevant at the moment. The wind in her hair, the feeling of speed coursing through her body, the inherent probability of a wrong turn or mistimed maneuver turning her into a bloody smear… ah, bliss.

What looked like several house-sized bowling balls rolled recklessly after her, crushing cars and anything else that happened to be in their path as they shot other bowling balls at her at military artillery velocities and rates that would do low-end machine-guns proud. She could have cared less.

She knelt on her manta, each movement and adjustment coming easily to her as she blazed through the sky, while behind her that flying woman with the Inumimi tried to keep up and shield herself from the projectiles Sailor Uranus dodged so easily.

"Slow down, will you!" Arf cried as she barely deflected one of the black balls being thrown her way. "We need to–!"

Sailor Uranus breezed past, almost kissing the ground before managing to pull up, the Space Sword held out to the side. "SPACE SWORD BLASTER!" she cried gleefully, the wave of energy, tearing through the mass-deprived black spheres and ripping their outer shells open, revealing the red orbs at their center. A second cry tore through the orbs, making the Invaders dissolve.

"…!" Arf said, barely articulate.

Sailor Uranus skidded to a stop, smiling in satisfaction before looking at Arf and winking. "I usually prefer a motorcycle when taking those things on," she said simply, twirling her sword on her finger. "But this does too. Well? Are you just going to float there?"

Whistling, she flew off at high speed, and Arf blinked before dashing after her. "Fight those things a lot?"

"Practically spring cleaning," Sailor Uranus said.

Arf sighed, and wondered if maybe Chrono had a point about 'crazy Earth people'…

...

Hotaru was a good girl. She never looked at Haruka-papa's dirty magazines even she knew where all of them were, she never asked Michiru-mama about all those plastic vibrating things, and she always hid all the alcohol from Setsuna-mama but never tried it out herself. She was, by definition, a good girl.

As such, she felt that, after all those times Haruka-papa's hand got lost when trying to do adult things to Michiru mama when she wasn't supposed to because other people were sitting nearby, all those times she'd had to put up with Minako and Makoto and occasionally even Ami and Rei moaning about the distinct lack of boys, and being overshadowed by several older women, all of whom had way bigger breasts than her, she deserved a break.

Now, said break had come, and she was going to milk it for all it was worth, damn it!

"Ah, Erebus-kun, don't let me fall!" she said in her best 'little girl' as she allowed herself to slide slightly on the flying manta ray, causing Magus Erebus to tighten his hold around her wais and on the manta.

"Hold on, Sailor Saturn!" he said, lying on top of her and using his weight to keep her pinned down as she drove. He glanced behind them, one hand snapping up to provide a wind barrier as several Invader hover-tanks chased after them, barrels alternately shooting solid projectiles and blasts of kinetic energy. "We're almost in position! Can you keep driving?"

"I-I think s-so," she said, dredging up every underhanded boy-catching trick she'd ever heard Minako natter on about.

Magus Erebus smiled encouragingly at her. "You're being very brave, Sailor Saturn," he said, and Hotaru fought to keep the wide smile off her face. "In fact, you remind me of one of my students…"

Not allowing her face to change, Sailor Saturn wondered if this student would need to be… dealt with…

...

Nodoka, once more wearing the not-that-embarrassing-garb-but-definitely-embarrassing-name-of-Magical-Girl-Psycho-Purple, sneezed.

"Purple, out of the way!" Yue cried, using one of her Souken to block several kinetic energy blasts an Invader had sent her way. "I told you to stay behind me!"

"S-sorry, Valkyrie-chi," Nodoka said, as Yue whirled to set up another defensive barrier. She returned to her duties. "Striker Yellow! Gilgamesh-san! Invaders in the treeline of the eastern sector!"

"Got it,-aru!" Ku said, dodging a blast and aiming her artifact. "LAUNCH-ARU!"

The staff expanded, going from three inches thick to the size of a bus as it elongated with a speed to make cruise missiles proud. Ku was lifted ten feet of the ground as she hung on to the pole that was now slightly angled downward, its metal-encased end buried amidst crushed trees and ruined landscaping. She immediately withdrew the staff, shrinking it when the end was halfway towards them. They'd learned their lesson about doing it the other way around when several invaders had hitched a ride, and Yue had barely been able to blast them off with a disarming spell that had made them let go of the weapon.

They'd obviously learned their lesson too, however, because blasts continued to erupt from that area. Nodoka moved deeper behind the protective shadow of one of Haruna's Shield Maiden golems, trying to keep track of everyone's thoughts. The Invaders had no names or sense of personal identity, meaning she couldn't read their minds, since they technically had no minds to read, so Nodoka had needed to get creative. She was scanning of everyone's thoughts, keeping track of what they were seeing so they could coordinate the defense. She already knew the others names, and that Gilgemesh fellow had given his readily enough, but she'd been surprised when Eternal Sailor Moon-sama had identified herself as 'Serenity'. That had been enough for her Diary to work with, though she'd been careful not to read the first few lines right away, knowing it would contain something along the lines of "Whew, good thing she doesn't know my real name is XXXXXXX".

Yue's mind was as she expected it to be, smooth, coordinated, and calculating, going through her spells with an eye towards energy efficiency and defense. She knew what her role was, and wasn't that bothered by the fact she wasn't attacking much. There were worried tangents about Negi-sensei and the other members of Ala Alba, and Nodoka blushed slightly at some erotic thoughts along the lines of "If I was injured, I wonder if anything would happen between Negi-sensei and me in the infirmary…?".

Ku was focused, although in a different way. She regarded this as… not a game, since she was perfectly aware of how serious a situation they were in, but her enthusiasm was certainly like that. There was no thought of defeat in her, merely a focused, calculating intellect bent on victory, completely at odds with the dopey exterior Nodoka knew in school but perfectly in keeping with the relentless, adaptable warrior she knew in battle.

Eternal Sailor Moon's mind was panicky, going off in random directions and screaming "I don't want to die, I don't want to be here, Tuxedo Kamen, please save me!" often in tandem with actually saying that out loud, but underneath that, Nodoka found strangely honed, focused mind, that was slightly bored, as if it had been in this kind of situation before, and knew it would be again, and thought it all a repetitive routine. Nodoka had to read the between the lines, but as an experienced reader she saw it, the underlying experience and strength that made her the leader of Japan's premier and most respected group of Magical Girls.

Gilgamesh's mind was a confused mess. For one thing, some words occasionally popped up that were written in some strange language, though footnotes identified it as Ancient Sumerian. And there were even stranger words that looked like no language Nodoka knew or recognized from her readings, that the footnotes identified as 'The extinct and forgotten Language of the Golden Federation of Earth, Galard'. What Nodoka could understand went into tangents about childhood, kings, how much he HATED Invaders, and how devoted he was to Eternal Sailor Moon. It was quite confusing.

And Haruna… well, let's just say Nodoka had long since learned finding out what was in Haruna's mind was a bad idea and leave it at that.

They stood in the center of the field they were protecting, surrounded by weapons sticking point-first into the ground, many of Haruna's golems, and glowing crystals of fallen Invaders. Gilgamesh was doing most of the work, with the others pitching in as they could. Haruna was handling most of defense. As Nodoka directed their defense, marveling at the sheer amount of weapons Gilgamesh produced and actually seeing Eternal Sailor Moon at work ("Hey! I thought I'd lost this! MOON TIARA ACTION!"), she wondered how the others were doing…

...

Chisame had never been bullied. One would think an introverted girl like her would have an angst-rich back story about how she was once a smiling, optimistic grade-schooler with an aptitude for sewing who liked to wear outrageous but beautiful clothes who'd been mercilessly bullied until she'd been reduced to a cynical, distrusting, introverted wreck with her own specific views of what the world should be like and becoming an internet idol because it was the only place she was accepted, but surprisingly, no. Chisame was just a perfectly ordinary girl with a hobby who didn't get along well with people. The most she'd been bullied was when Chachamaru had forced her along to barbeques and things.

That said, she'd recently spent several traumatizing weeks in Mundus Magicus. Exposure to both Dynamis and Jack Rakan had left their mark, and unlike the more martial-minded of Ala Alba, she had yet to vent the frustration.

"CRUSH THEM!" she cried from on top of Meat-Bun Supreme, directing her forces with her scepter. "PULVERIZE THEM! SHOW THEM THE POWER OF AN ELECTRON-SPRITE ACCELERATED GYNOID COMBAT PROCESSOR! KNOW THE POWER OF THE CALCULATOR!"

"She's really gotten into this, hasn't she?" Kaede said.

"Very enthusiastic," Sailor Mercury agreed.

"HEL-LO!" Sella cried as she reloaded her shotgun, while Rider darted from Invader to Invader, tearing through them like they were so much tissue. "A LITTLE MORE HELP HERE?"

...

A few nights ago, Fate had watched something called Star Wars with Alisa, Suzuka and Nanoha, during some of Nanoha's non-superheroic free time. The setting had been merely a flimsy premise to support the plot, and it showed. Three movies of individual debatable quality (Alisa had complained quite often, if not too loudly, at the absurdity of the dialogue delivery) that somehow wove into a well-wrought emotional narrative.

It would later haunt Fate's nightmares.

As they headed back home, this exchange had occurred.

"That Death Star…" Fate said. "It was pretty bad…"

Nanoha nodded. "I can think of a dozen laws its construction alone would violate, not all of them building codes."

Fate had laughed, amused at her friend's dedication to her work. To Nanoha's credit, she was aware of it. "Still, at least something like that is only a fictional weapon…"

And Nanoha had fallen silent.

"Nanoha?" Fate had prompted.

"Well…" Nanoha had said slowly, finger tracing shapes in the air, as if drawing some blueprint in her mind's eye. "I think I can see how I can get that sort of power output…"

Fate's sleep that night had been delayed by visions of green moon-sized battle-stations and a countdown in Raging Heart's voice about how there was ten seconds before they were ready to fire on Alderaan.

What made it slightly worse was that she couldn't muster up the nerve to ask Nanoha how serious she'd been about that statement.

Here and now, watching Nanoha floating within a perfect green sphere and shooting Axel Shooters through a single opening with occasional pure green beams of force, Fate shuddered.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha said, breaking through her reverie.

Fate snapped back to reality as she realized Nanoha had just blocked several blasts coming at her from behind without her knowing, simultaneously embarrassed and chilled with horror at realizing her fatal error. "Sorry, Green Lantern-chan!" she cried, wheeling about to track the Invaders attacking them. Some were shaped like demonic cars, their fronts rows of nightmare teeth, while others where shaped like robots made from cars, their baleful crimson eyes staring hatefully. She fired several Photon Lancers, knocking two off buildings they'd climbed or jumped on top of and managing to remove several limbs. Nanoha finished them off.

They streaked through the streets, Nanoha slightly ahead and protecting Fate with her shields, green and yellow blasts lashing out quickly to destroy targets, leaving glowing jewels, and running civilians in its wake.

"Fate-chan…" Nanoha said, and Fate whirled, Bardiche in shooting mode (when had she used that? Darn, it had been a long time), wondering what had caused the worried shift in Nanoha's voice. "I'm worried about Hayate-chan."

Fate blinked, sending Photon Lancers at targets and negotiating a particularly sharp turn right behind Nanoha as she tried to process this sudden shift in topics. "Who?"

"Hayate-chan," Nanoha clarified, raising one hand and sending several streams of light that solidified into manipulating pincers that grasped their targets and proceeded to use an attach buzzsaw to tear them open to reveal their core before having that part cut in half itself. "Suzuka-chan's friend in the hospital."

Fate blinked. "Is this really the time to be talking about this?" she said, slightly bemused.

Nanoha sighed as several of the Invader car robots leapt at her protective sphere, and she absently pointed Raging Heart at them with a rather bored and muted cry of "DIVINE DANMAKU!" wiping them out in a rather colorful, geometrically complex, and visually stimulating blast of destructive energy. Fate found herself quite glad Nanoha had not yet invented that when they were still fighting. It looked like it hurt. "Well, it's not like this is N-dimensional Nextian Geometry," Nanoha said. "I scanned Hayate-chan that time we visited her and… and…"

"And?" Fate prompted as she dodged several Kinetic blasts, catching a few on her Defenser before striking with some Plasma Lancers. She was getting better at making those without having to use cartridges.

"Ring-chan said the scan was inconclusive!" Nanoha wailed.

"Well, Ring-chan probably just didn't know–" Fate tried to comfort her.

"But that's just it, Fate-chan!" Nanoha said, as she absently sent several flying sharks with chainsaw teeth and head mounted machine guns at a group of cars who were trying to combine, possibly into a Hummer. "Ring-chan should know! It has every known disease that has ever appeared in the universe for the last 15 billion years! If it was anything from Tria Gland Infection to Despotellis, Ring-chan should be able to identify it! But Ring-chan can't tell what's paralyzing Hayate-chan's whole nervous system! It could be some new disease entirely! And people who get new diseases generally don't survive to get the cure! We could be looking at a massive outbreak of some new strain of disease! There could be an epidemic!"

Fate felt fear start to grip her at these words, but she forced it down ruthlessly. Giving into fear served no purpose. "Nanoha," she said. "That's neither here nor now. Focus. Maybe we can talk to Ala Alba, see if this is some kind of magical ailment somehow. You told me once the Green Lantern Corps doesn't have a lot on magic. Or we could ask Yuuno. He might know."

Nanoha nodded, her face firming as she pulled back from medical concerns and focused on the relatively simple task of wiping out an army of the forces of evil. "You're right, Fate-chan," she said as she picked up an Invader car and used it as a blunt instrument on several others. "You're right, of course."

Nanoha went back to business, and Fate sighed as she watched her friend's back– and it was definitely her BACK, and NOT her ass! The small fear she had over her friend's wellbeing settled back in it's usual place in her chest. It was a new fear to her, but one that had made itself comfortable, and Fate wouldn't have it any other way. As long as she was afraid for Nanoha… well, that meant she'd never let anything happen to her.

After all, wasn't that was friends were for?

...

Kazumi used one of her spy drones to look over the edge of Wayne Tower. "There is a large gorilla climbing the building."

Indeed they could the feel the shudders, hear the crash of breaking glass as the thing climbed, not with the slow ponderousness of, say, a giant sailor made of marshmallow, or a CGI beast from a Jack Black movie, but of a creature dark magic and the forces of evil had optimized for climbing buildings quickly and efficiently.

Salor Venus hooked a length of her Love Me chain to the antenna and held on to it as she looked over the edge herself. "WOW, that thing is big and ugly! Getting really close too…"

Chachmaru hovered beyond the edge, staring down at the rapidly moving creature, a gun shaped like a kitten with one eye open in her hand. "Al-Iskadariya preparing to fire. Narrowest beam, lowest setting," she said, pointing the kitty. "Targeting…"

A targeting laser shot from the kitten's eye, 'painting' the target.

Sailor Venus sweatdropped. "You're kidding me, right?"

"You use something called 'Love And Beauty Shock'," Kazumi pointed out, adjusting her mask. "A satellite-mounted laser weapon shaped like a kitten is perfectly in keeping with traditional Magical Girl tropes."

"Still…" Sailor Venus said. "It's kinda… out there."

"Oh, no argument here," Kazumi said.

"Targeting lock, established," Chachamaru pronounced calmly. She paused. "Target is too close to building. Structural integrity of edifice under threat. Unable to fire safely."

Kotaro scowled, leaning over the edge and cracking his knuckles It was barely thirty floors below them, and rising fast. "We need to get it off the building first, is that what you're saying?"

"Yes," Chachamaru pronounced. "Otherwise, structural collapse is likely."

And that was when a dark form suddenly crashed out of one of the few remaining windows, slamming into the gorilla-thing and latching on. The Invader roared as the dark form leapt off it, evading the clumsy arm that tried to squash it flat. The dark form became a blur, a dark blot against the sky as it moved with inhuman speed and fluidity. It leapt about, jumping back towards the building, lightly touching only long enough to leap off again, sometime only inches away from getting squashed by enormous hands. The Invader had slowed considerably, but was still making upward progress.

"Who!" cried Sailor Venus. "What's he trying to do? I can't see a thing! He's too fast!"

Fortunately, Ala Alba was used to inhuman speed and fluidity, and were able to make out what was happening just fine.

"He's putting something on the building!" Kotaro said, peering intently downward. "I can't make out what–"

Everything on the face of the building within five feet of the Invader exploded outward.

"Never mind," Kotaro said flatly.

"Target removed from edifice," Chachamaru intoned, pointing her kitten. "Target lock established. Firing."

A beam of light shot down from the heaven's, coming not from directly above but at a considerable angle, striking the giant Invader gorilla straight on. The shockwave rippled outward, passing through the building despite the Invader no longer being on it, and Venus and Kazumi stumbled, the Senshi loosing her grip on her chain…

"Relax, I've got you," Kotaro said, grabbing the blonde as shadows whirled in rings by his feet, levitating him. He settled the girl back on the building as more rose up from the point of impact, along with the distant tinkling of a lot of falling glass.

Kazumi struggled to her feet as Sayo helped her up. She checked her Artifacts and her eyes went wide. "Incoming!"

"Don't tell me that didn't kill it?-!" Sailor Venus cried, just as they heard something enormous hitting the ground.

"No, that got it," Kazumi said, even as she ran as far from the edge as she could. "It's the bunch of small ones climbing up that's the problem!"

"Enemy count at 47 units and rising," Chachamaru said as she put away the targeting laser. Her arms reconfigured into buns as a pair of metal filaments protruded from her back, complementing her 'tail'. "Beginning counter-attack."

Methodically, she began raining death on the Invaders trying to climb. Many were generally monkey-shaped, and as quick and agile as the form implied, leaping side to side and finding handholds on the increasing abused sides of the building. However, they were no match for Chachamaru's targeting system. Each blast from her weapon struck a target, and in some cases the beam passed though several, resulting in a literal path of destruction. Sailor Venus, Kotaro and Sayo quickly joined in as Kazumi sent her drones to circle the building to make sure they weren't taken by surprise.

They sniped, their superior position granting them the advantage, despite the fact some Invaders would try to blast them. The black blur that had blasted the Invader off the building returned, moving up the building as adeptly as the Invaders themselves, and infinitely quicker. It fell on them like a shadow, and the next moment all that was left was a falling crystal. It was so indistinct that the defenders on the roof would sometimes shoot it by accident, even Chachamaru, but it moved so quickly they didn't even manage a glancing blow.

So focused, they were mostly unprepared when the door leading into the building next to the helipad burst open, and two figures in tights and one in armor rolled out past a surprised Kazumi, all throwing curved metal projectiles into the doorway, which then promptly exploded.

Robin stood up and blinked. "Why are there so many people on the roof?"

"Uh, hi," Kazumi said, waving a hand lamely as she replied in English. "We're, uh, here to stop these things."

"Oh," Robin said. "Um, that's nice of you. Isn't it, Bats?"

Batman turned and glared.

Kazumi yelped, her hands rising to form a small cross with her fingers. "VAMPIRE! Back, creature of the night! The power compels you!"

There was a pause, the only sounds screams, broken glass and shooting.

"It's daylight, Intrepid Reporter-san," Chachamaru chided gently as she shot heads off nonstop. "And if a vampire were strong enough to resist that, such as the Master, you would most certainly already be doomed."

Robin stifled a laugh. "Huh. That hasn't happened in a while…"

...

When the Invaders arrived, it was quite obvious they were not there to just take control of Kotomine Church.

They were there to destroy it.

"Someone doesn't like this place," Lancer commented as he danced among black forms, spear flicking out like a tongue, each touch bringing forth dissolution. Invaders, both the tame-looking ones and the more wild-looking, disturbing, formerly human ones all fell before his spear, every strike finding its mark.

Tuxedo Kamen dodged the grasping attacks of the invaders, his cape a confusing whirl around him as his sword-cane flickered, a darting point of light as he tried to equal Lancer's kill-rate and doing very well for himself. "I don't see why. The architecture's not bad…"

"Foul villains! You dare attack a place a worship?-!" Sailor Mars cried.

"Why are you so worked up about this?" Sailor Jupiter felt compelled to ask.

"It's professional courtesy!" Sailor Mars cried. She leapt into the midst of the Invaders, arms whirling. "MARS FIRESTORM FLASH!"

A huge storm of flames whirled around her, incinerating the Invaders surrounding her.

Asuna sweatdropped. "Wow…"

"Yeah…" Leysritt said.

"That stain's going to need a lot of scrubbing to get out," Asuna said.

"It's going to be a bitch," the maid agreed.

...

Chao Lingshen sat at a rather nice tea house in Takamiya City, enjoying a well brewed cup of tea that the busty Tea Cup spirit had poured her, and wondered whether she'd have time to sneak into Uminari to buy a cake. Over at the next table, a girl, a witch, a cat demon, and a Mizuchi were fighting over a poor boy who wore an expression of suffering commonly found in the male leads of harem-comedy romances. Damned lucky bastard.

Her laptop lay open before her, a seemingly innocuous machine that was, of course, several generations, if not whole evolutionary ladders, above and beyond current machines, and that INCLUDED the crap Batman had brewing. Kryptonian Sunstone memory cores, Martian adaptive calculation units, TSAB Black Ops Central Processors, among other things, all made by her, by hand. Chisame-chan would have been proud, after she finished trying to strangle her.

She moved quickly between various screens, her surveillance units in Fuyuki so far undetected. So far so good. Everything was proceeding as had been laid out. Or at least, as it had been laid out last she checked. Chao had long learned that time-travel was not an occupation for the overly-philosophically minded. It wasn't set in stone, no matter what anyone wanted to say. And it wasn't fluid and changeable, either. It was, as that old show said, a big timey-wimey ball of stuff. Unfortunately, that stuff seemed to include a lot of boogers. So Chao had long since stopped wondering whether her present, from her perspective, had already been changed, or hadn't changed, or whatever. The possibility of alternate times– past, present and future– had long been established well before now, and her current working partner had only driven that point home even harder.

Speaking of whom…

She pulled out a handheld unit that looked like a cellphone, but of course was obviously not. Thank goodness Apple never changed a look that worked. Tapping the option to connect to the local telecom networks, she dialed a number– literally, on a literal rotary array on the touch-screen, since she'd always thought those were fun– and waited for her partner in crime to answer.

"Moshi-moshi," a slightly full mouth answered.

"Hello, Nurse," Chao said, leaning back slightly and grinning. "Watcha wearin'?"

There was a cough, a hasty swallow, and a retort in the imperative form.

"Now, now," Chao chided. "That language is completely unsuitable for a princess. Speaking as one myself, I'd know."

"Oh, shut up," Tsukino Usagi 'Small Lady' Serenity growled. "Why are you bothering me during my lunch hour?"

"I thought it was considered unprofessional for nurses to take personal calls while on duty?" Chao chided.

"I'm hanging up…" came the threat.

"You're no fun," Chao said, pouting. "Fine, fine, business. Things are proceeding as scheduled on my end. Your mother, Negi-kun, and associated harems, high priestesses, lunatics and workaholics of Justice are in Fuyuki as we speak. The Heaven's Feel phase of the set up is on track."

"Are you sure?" Chibi-Usa said. "I've heard you don't have a good track record of success when it comes to rituals."

"I was technically an Evil Overlord during the Festival," Chao said. "You of all people should know how often those succeed. Now it's different. Now I'm a secret agent of Justice, protecting the Earth from the scum of the universe as the greatest hero no one's ever heard of."

"Hunter-san will be pissed at you for stealing his father's catchphrase," Chibi-Usa sniffed.

"Tough," Chao said. "How are things at your end? Did Archer accomplish his objective?"

"He did," Chibi-Usa said, sounding both relieved and apprehensive. "Three of four knights have been cleansed of Avenger."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Well," Chao said, trying to dispel the mood. "That's it then. Now all that's left is destruction and Starlight Breakers to the face."

"This is wrong…" Chibi-Usa said. "So many people will be hurt…"

"That's life," Chao said, a certain fatalism in her voice.

"We could tell them… warn them…"

"Forewarned is forearmed?" Chao said. "You know how they feel about predestination."

"Isn't that what we're doing?"

Chao allowed herself a grim smile. "Have you ever heard of the Legion of Superheroes? The Great Darkness War? Of Mars trying to conquer the Earth? Of the Death of Gaia?"

"…No…"

"Then this isn't predestination," Chao said. "I don't think it ever was."

More silence.

"So…" Chao said, grinning again. "What kind of socks are you wearing?"

There was a growl, and the line went dead.

Chuckling, Chao put down the phone, and looked up to find the Tea Cup Spirit blinking down at her. She gave her best smile. "Another refill please."

As the busty waitress stepped away, Chao went back to watching her surveillance feeds, ignoring the ache of the sigils written into her body…

...

In the darkness of the besieged Wayne Tower, in the midst of a goodly amount of destroyed building material and dust, sat a strange device. It looked vaguely like a record player, from those bygone days when the Beatles were together, people had to walk to school through three feet of snow, uphill, during hurricanes, and dinosaurs walked the Earth. Except the 'record' on it had a face.

The record spun, a needle-sharp stylus on it's surface, as it played. Dark wires flowed out from the side of the boxy device, into holes torn open in the building's structure, to the metal beneath the concrete…

The disc turned…

And all through Fuyuki, the signal rose.

Awake…

...

- To be continued...

...

A/N: I feel like I've done wrong by Sailor Saturn and Nodoka somehow…

Fate was shown the original, trilogy with the non-bandboy Anakin-ghost ending. AS IT SHOULD BE!

The latest Chapter of Vivid, 19.5, implies that Reinforce 1 was the original Master of the Tome of the Night Sky. Fascinating thought…

Though I have to wonder how they made something like Laevatein in the apparently-middle ages setting of the original Sankt Kaiser, much les something like the Saint's Craddle…

Please leave LOTS of reviews, as this was a long time in the making...

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.