Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Eleven: The Touch

Kain once again gathered his doom bolt in his hand, and then absorbed the power, transforming himself into his Chaos-Fire form. Aiden clucked and shook his head. "I told you, Kid, that's a nice technique…but it does no good to use it on someone who can exploit its weaknesses…."

He appeared behind Kain, his gun raised to fire, and the younger man simply seemed to glance at Aiden over his shoulder, making no other motion. Aiden fired, and ice engulfed Kain.

After a few moments, however, the ice shattered. A sword tip burst from the fog, connected with Aiden, and sent him flying. A moment later the cloud of ice crystals finally cleared, revealing the red-black-wrapped Kain holding a sword in his hands…a very familiar sword.

Hinagiku started this time. "T-that's my…Shirozakura!"

Aiden recovered and stared at Kain. "So…another artifact from your girls, huh? That's…a powerful anti-magic sword. So…."

Suddenly Kain was standing in front of him. The black-red began to race up his new blade, and he struck. Aiden just moved to avoid the attack, and then Kain, taking the sword in both hands, continued his assault. Aiden dodged and weaved, then stepped behind Kain, but even as he raised his gun to fire, Kain was behind him again. He failed to dodge this time and retreated, a smarting blow stinging his shoulder, and even as he tried to retreat, Kain was already engaged with him again.

('Impossible…he's already adjusted to my speed and reactions…how is he doing it? Did he already come up with a spell on his own…?')

Aiden fired at Kain, who immediately dodged. Aiden didn't slow down, firing seemingly at random, each shot also detonating at random into a small explosion. Each one forced Kain away from Aiden, giving him more and more room. Finally Aiden tossed his empty pistol away and pulled out…a card. "Adeat," he intoned.

The bubble of sub-space rose up around him. The rows of guns, in a way as magnificent as Byakuya's sea of swords, came into existence at his side and behind him, and Aiden began to open fire, taking up each weapon one or two at a time and firing seemingly without care at his foe.

Each bullet was, like his usual gunfire, more than a simple shot—each exploded in power, taking on various properties such as bursting into a scatter shot of smaller missiles, homing on Kain, exploding, or taking on elemental properties. Kain dodged and weaved the bullets, blocked many of them with this sword, and fired missiles of his own at Aiden, but they vanished against that translucent wall without any apparent effect. As Aiden's ammunition closed in on Kain despite his talents, he suddenly switched gears, calling up lightning in his hand and then taking it into himself just as he had done with the doom bolt. Aiden noted the transformation with approval and surprise—obviously the doom bolt was his favorite, but Kain seemed able to change his elemental properties at will. By assuming the form of lightning his speed reached an unparalleled level, allowing him to easily dodge Aiden's shots, but it was no foolproof solution to this problem—it did nothing to help him strike back against his foe.

Kain was not going through this ordeal without pain, despite his talents and tricks. ('I can't keep this up…even if his ammunition isn't unlimited, he's still at a huge advantage. Time to turn this up a notch….')

He slipped Shirozakura into his cloak, and it vanished from sight. Aiden noted this action but was unaware of Kain's intentions, and so he kept firing. Finally he threw aside his empty assault rifle and grabbed the minigun. As he swung it up to bear on Kain, a sword suddenly came slashing down, cutting right through the barrel of the weapon. Aiden stared at the broken weapon in shock—Shirozakura stood there in the air, wielded by no mortal hand, but now within his sealed subspace. Then it swung around his direction. He jumped back, but the blade cleaved through his private world, bringing an end to his attack and returning his artifact to card form.

As Kain gestured to have the sword continue its assault, Aiden drew another pistol and shot the blade point blank, sending it spinning back through the air. It burst into light and returned to the wallet when Kain caught it. Kain then stepped behind Aiden again, but this time the man was waiting. A small ball almost like a snow globe flew from his hand, enlarged en route, and then, after surrounding Kain, suddenly shrunk to a marble's size, leaving no trace of the boy.

8-8-8

'The true definition of a pocket dimension,' announced Aiden for the benefit of the audience, Koto, and, it turned out, Kain as well, as he heard the man's voice wafting through the air. 'You are now confined in a separate universe bound by rigid rules. The rules of this world say that you can leave it only after you've defeated the guardian. It's perhaps a bit cowardly, but you've pushed me pretty hard. I could use a break. Have fun with the pet…and hope your little trinket has an artifact that can get you out of this one….'

Kain stared up at the massive dinosaur-like creature above him. It stared down at him and roared. Then it opened its mouth wide, and heat and light began to burn down its throat, rising for the surface. "Actually, I think I do," he said, and pulled another card from his wallet. "Launch," he commanded, holding Rei's card in his hand.

The purple frame of the Evangelion materialized around him in its breathtaking fashion, and Kain went to work on the giant kaiju.

8-8-8

Aiden stared at Kain as he emerged from the marble without much delay, and sighed deeply. "What, just like that? Give me a break…."

Kain materialized Shirozakura once again. "What, getting cold feet now? You're the one who started this…you better be ready to finish it."

Aiden shook his head and smirked. "Damn…you're really learning to talk big, kid. You never stop showing off, do you? Despite your reservations, you keep coming up with more tricks and counters all the time. You not only mastered that doom bolt transformation…you can do it with any attack spell. Your incredible artifact aside, you seem quite adept with all the different weapons at your disposal. You use that cloak like you were born with it…punching through my artifact and cutting it off, something that's never been done before. You even found a counterspell or something to counteract my Accelerando. You're even a step ahead of me there…."

"Well, I've long been aware of the potential of an enhanced sense of time," Kain responded. "I've been thinking up theories for a while now, just never had the opportunity or need for it. Now…after seeing your artifact at work, I found the last piece. In case you're wondering, I've been supplementing it with some light Time magic…a bit of additional acceleration in spurts."

Aiden shook his head. "Okay, I get it…I've seen that cloak in action plenty, but still…to see a kid basically reinventing a Lost Magic just from his contact with it…you really are pretty amazing, Kiddo…."

"He's attempting to be a warrior, but that's not really his calling. The fact is, he's an absolute genius at magical development," Jade murmured. "Any military would give an arm and a leg for a young prodigy like that…seeing him right now, I can truly sympathize with him. Yes…his brilliance compares even to her…."

Kain chuckled. "Really…here you are praising me…after doing your best to smash me into the ground. You're mesmerized by what I can do, but even so…you're a bigger mystery to me. Why are you even doing this?"

Aiden adjusted his hat. "…What are you talking about?"

"This fight…it's far more intense than even my fight against Byakuya. Me…well, it needn't be said what I'm fighting for. The reasons are too numerous to count, and too important to waste time talking about. But what about you? This seems to be going a bit far for any kind of tournament, or even some major 'test of manhood' or whatever you want to call it. What on earth are you really fighting me for? Are you just that embarrassed about being one-upped by the younger generation, or what?"

"Reasons," Aiden chuckled. "Yeah, that's the question…."

8-8-8

[Aiden watched the youths heading out of Urahara Shoten, chatting excitedly about the 'movie' they just watched, with Soul Reapers shadowing them for protection. Kamo was sitting on his shoulder, also watching them. "Well, Kamo," Aiden murmured. "It's time you gave me the whole story…I'm sure you know more than you've told the kid. What, exactly, are we dealing with here?"

Kamo sighed. "Well…it's true I haven't shared everything. Mostly I've just held back…the usual information. It's not much…but I'll tell you what Jynx finally told me, after the tournament.

"See, we first met Eminus in Kyoto…I recognized what he was in part, even though he was different, but he was really holding back…I figured he really was a leftover of the Obsidian Star, a symbol of how broken they were…the only Eminus left, a kid in form and power. But still…well, here's what I finally learned….

"Jynx stayed a little while with Kalan and Aeli after Kain was born. Mira, of course, was helping to look after the baby, and the boys spent some of their time cleaning up some last few problems from the war…then Jynx, probably feeling out of place with the newly-blessed newlyweds, was going to head back to Arcanus Myrror and go to Avalon. But…on that day…something attacked their home at Halie. Mira managed to hide with the baby, but Aeli…was taken. Kalan and Jynx tracked the perpetrator into Arcanus Myrror, to a lost site of the no-man's land on the southern continent not far from that 'Tower of Heaven'. A guardian confronted them…Pakrov Eminus."

Kamo gestured, and an image appeared in the air…a man dressed in a navy-blue school uniform, looking rather like the boy-like automaton they had seen earlier that day, but older, with brown, blond, silver, and red-streaked hair, with eyes that seemed to shift constantly between spectrums. "An Eminus totally unlike the ones we encountered before. He was powerful, wielding all four elements and all the combinations in between. He even took out Jynx before Kalan was able to beat him. Then he had to send Jynx back to the little 'respawn lair' he'd been working on…so Jynx doesn't know any further than that. But now we have a few more pieces. All the versions of Eminus we've met before had their own names, but this kid shares the same one as the ultimate Eminus they fought fifteen years ago. And he has a true name of 'The Remnant'…furthermore, what Kain saw earlier, what spooked him so in that last stone page he was barely able to read, was a statement from Eminus that he and the Grand Archmage had 'defeated each other' fifteen years ago. And now all trace of Kalan and Aeli has vanished. But the Obsidian Star has come back."

"And now they're preparing their plot once again," Aiden continued softly. "To unite seven magical worlds into one, to make a perfect, perhaps eternal home for themselves. Mai had been taken beyond their reach, so they made do with the next-best thing…Aeli Kanna, who was also a descendant of the royal bloodline of Kanev and Takiva, even if she hadn't been so painstakingly 'constructed'. And furthermore…those artifacts…."

"Right…what Kagome and Nodoka talked about, the Shapesphere, Always One, and the Marble. I've consulted Kisuke, Mashiro, even Etrigan, and they seem to figure that those items, combined with the power of the Kanev bloodline, could be the skeleton for a personal world. But…."

"The point is, they're back…and if they aren't worse than ever, they're just as tough." Aiden shook his head. "Thanks, Kamo…that's what I needed to hear….."]

8-8-8

[The morning of November 22nd, Aiden's personal suite at the arena grounds.

Iria watched her husband prepare. He laid out a rather mind-boggling variety of guns, ammunition, kanji-equipped prayer strips, round objects varying in overall shape between 'grenade' and snow globe, and even stranger trinkets. After considering them carefully, he began to pour his magic into them and then loaded all of them into that coat of his which, while not an artifact like Kalan's cloak, was still equipped with far deeper pockets than ordinary reality would suggest.

"All those to have a fight with one little boy," Iria murmured, watching. "I haven't seen you decked out like this since the Necro-Pharaoh Aul-Guldar-Haron attacked Bartea ten years ago. Are you really that afraid of the son of your old best friend? It seems like overkill for a simple tournament…or even as grand a tournament as this…."

Aiden chuckled as he loaded and prepped another pistol. "This is far more than a tournament…until now, I had no idea just how bad things could be. But the truth is…it could be bad."

He sighted down the weapon as he confessed his fears to his wife. "Twenty years ago we defeated the Obsidian Star…but that's hardly the truth. Kalan was the only one who could face their prince, and he defeated him…or so it seemed. But now, after all this time, it seems they've come back as strong as ever. And we don't have the manpower left…Gato's dead. Kalan and Aeli are gone. Jynx and Eishun are trapped back on Earth. That leaves me, Saber, and Byakuya…all that's left of the original Red Wings. We've gotten older…except maybe for Byakuya, it's hard to say if we're really stronger, at least strong enough to face this enemy. We need the younger generation…and, more than that, we need Kain. He's the only one who has the potential to face them. I have to make sure he's really ready. I'm the only one who really can.

"Some twenty-odd years ago, Kalan was attacked by Kôtarô Hanatabi, the same sword demon we saw in the tournament, only stronger. He just wanted to challenge Kalan, but after seeing him in action, he decided that Kalan had a 'wyrd', a destiny, and pushed him to see him strong enough to fulfill it."

"And you think Kain has this same 'wyrd'?" Iria said half-teasingly. "You're the Kôtarô to his Kalan? The one who will help him realize his destiny?"

"Heh. In a sense. Rather, I think Kain is Luke to Kalan's Anakin. Anakin was the 'chosen one', but it turned out that Luke had to be the final hero. Anakin was the great prodigy, the one who was to be greater than any Jedi that came before…by comparison, Luke was late to the party. Kain, at first glance, doesn't seem as amazing as his father, although that's a pretty unfair comparison. But he's got plenty of potential, plenty of strength and talent…and, yes, he has his own 'wyrd'." Aiden finished putting away the last of his supplies. "What I'm doing, how far I'm willing to go to force him up…it might be unfair, but I even gave him the chance to back out. He chose the path of the 'hero', and now he has to pay the price for it. Even if neither of us yet knows what that price will be."]

8-8-8

"My reasons…well, we'll see," Aiden said. "I have 'em, but there's no more need for talking here. If you're going to defeat me, it's time to stop talking."

"Right." Kain smiled slightly. He couldn't read Aiden's mind, but he could see the look in his eyes…the same eyes Sakura had shown him many months ago….

["This silly plan…you're right, I never really wanted to see it through," Sakura said. "Although magic can indeed help people, although it's normal for me to grow up in a world with powers and see the help it can bring, it just seems…nice, this little niche that science and a lack of magic have created. But I needed to make you stronger, Kain-sensei…I had to make you grow, so that you'll be strong enough to face the trials that are coming. So that you can save this world."]

Kain shook the thought away and powered up again. "Here I come."

Kain moved in close, and Aiden fired…Kain dodged the shot, or thought he did, but his power was sapped by the bullet, the same as it had been at the end of his duel against Byakuya…both his elemental transformation and his kanka were suddenly gone, and the sudden absence stopped him cold. Aiden hit him hard.

Kain fell back, rolling with the blow, recovered, and powered up again. Aiden was behind him, and while he retaliated quickly, Aiden was able to fire another shot that once again sapped all of Kain's power away. Again he landed a good hit and Kain was repulsed.

"You're obviously wondering 'how many of those can he have'?" Aiden smirked. "The answer is: as many as I want. You didn't think my gun magic was all in my weapons, did you? I work my gun magic by enchanting the bullets while they're loaded and then firing my desired effect. True, the guns and bullets are inherently magical, designed to take the spells specifically. So…now what?"

Kain powered up a third time for this exchange and again assaulted Aiden. A third time Aiden managed to deflect his attacks and sap his power. This time, however, Kain was ready, and caught Aiden's follow-up attack. A brief struggle of counters and reversals ensued as each man tried to get a lock on his opponent. Finally Kain broke off from the exchange, slipped behind Aiden, and palmed another card to his hand. "Appear," he instructed it, and it transformed into a six-foot pole topped with a curved blade.

"Eh?" Hinagiku said, confused. "I've never seen that one before…."

"T-that's mine," Erika admitted. "I haven't had a chance to do much with it myself yet…it's Beniarashi [Scarlet Storm]."

Kain began to turn this weapon on Aiden, and then, in the middle of his assault, he flared up with his True Kanka power once again. Aiden blocked and retreated, but as he tried to center his gun on Kain, a blade of lightning suddenly flashed out from his new weapon and blasted it from Aiden's hand. He tried to draw another one, but again that lightning flashed and he lost it immediately.

Kain pressed his advantage, until, in the midst of his whirling dance, his cloak suddenly fell underneath his foot and he slipped on it. Aiden seized full advantage of this momentary slip and hit Kain with a hard straight punch, sending him flying. Kain recovered quickly, using his new weapon to slow his momentum, and stared at the distant Aiden.

Aiden sighed. "Man, I messed up…I was trying not to do that…."

Kain dusted himself off. "That was your Entropy, wasn't it? I was wondering where that was…."

"I was trying not to use it," Aiden reiterated, shrugging.

"What? Why?"

"Entropy is for 'winning at any cost', as you put it. It's not for a duel like this…not for pushing you to your limits. It's not made for training or making someone stronger. But you went and pushed me far enough that I used it reflexively, defensively, instinctively. You are good, Kain."

"Ah…that's too bad, really. I was all prepared with countermeasures for when you started fighting with it. Oh well." Kain dismissed his newest artifact. "Anyway, it's as I expected…like Sakura, you're not fighting to win, but to try me with a refiner's fire, although you'll take the win if I don't fight as hard as I can. Well, I think I'm tired of the game. Time to end this…check out my 3rd trump card."

"Third?" Aiden asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kain raised a hand above his head and began to chant. "Darkness beyond blackest pitch, the gold that shines in the dark eye of Chaos. Darkness that is the creator and destroyer of all things. Gather to me, and obey my command…serve this Master of Magic! Big Bang!"

A giant globe of black-gold chaos energy gathered in the air above Kain's hand. Lina started in her seat. "That's…energy from the Lord of Nightmares, the progenitor of all Infernals and Celestials! It's the same in theory as my Ragna Blade…but much more powerful! Did he just come up with that himself!?"

"Oh, is that…dangerous…?" Gourry asked.

"It makes my Dragonslave look a firecracker, you nimrod!"

"Gaaah! Head for the hills…!"

"Oh, shut up and sit down….."

Aiden was also admiring the force of the forming spell. "Well…a simple attack spell? Of course, that's about an anti-fortress level magic, so it's a stretch to call it 'simple'…. In any case, if you're so proud of it, I guess I should test it out fully." He suddenly pulled his Caster and loaded it. "Again, to fight Chaos…let's get the biggest flash of Order I can pull off." He pulled his trigger, beginning the pre-firing charging process, and poured his magic into the shell at the same time. Finally a great flash of silver-white energy roared from the archaic weapon towards Kain.

Then the spell stopped suddenly right in front of Kain as a magic circle flashed into existence underneath him. The entire arena, audience, Koto, and Aiden too, stared in silent shock at Kain. Kain's small smile deepened. "Oh, and my trump card #4."

"You were expecting it…baiting me to retaliate!?"

Kain reached out with his other hand and grasped the magic. It flowed into his grip and raced up his arm, exploding into an aura of power. Then Kain let his own spell fall into his grip, and it flashed down his other arm. He let his power focus, and the energies he had absorbed melded with his kanka, giving him an aura that was white-silver mixed with black-gold. His blazing wings also came out fully-formed, one that same white-silver and one black-gold.

"I see," Jade murmured. "With a body now mostly mana, he developed a way to absorb his own magic and alter his flesh still further…but he could only do that with his own magic. Others' magic was, of course, too…foreign. But that spell he cast allowed him to exert dominion over Aiden's attack. To think that he was able to weave that spell right under Aiden's nose while battling him…what a frightening child…."

"And now, more than anything…to be absorbing and wielding two opposing elements at their peak power, at the same time…" Aiden muttered.

Kain readied himself. "Here I come, Aiden…the final attack."

Kain flashed in. A double-fisted punch of Chaos and Order power erupted….

Koto was thrown through the air by the explosion of power. She grabbed onto a tree that had been planted in the field around the arena floor and held on as the vortex continued to blast her. "W-what an attack!" Koto screamed. "I've never seen anything like it! Is…is there going to be anything left of Aiden after that…!?"

Even as Koto spoke, the shield that surrounded the arena and protected the audience became visible, cracked, and shattered…and at the same time, the last aftereffects of the spell and explosion ended, dropping Koto to the ground roughly. "O-ow…w-well…w-what do we have here…!?"

Kain was revealed first, completely void of power. Aiden appeared second, standing as well and apparently completely unharmed. Kain stared in surprise, then shook his head. "Really…incredible…after all that…you're completely unharmed…?"

"Unharmed?" Aiden let loose a mad, almost barking laugh. "Hell, I'm lucky to be alive…real lucky. You know what your dad did to block my ultimate shot, right? I did about the same thing here…calling on all my Entropy, I diverted the attack by having the shield around us absorb it for me, going into 'failsafe mode' to protect the audience from that nuclear strike. That took all my power…I have nothing left. The last of my trinkets and artifacts are all used up, too. From the look of things, you're in the same boat." He shook his head. "Unbelievable…you may think we're 'incredible', but now you're one of those 'incredible' people yourself. You stepped up there onto your own stage and became the main attraction yourself. Any one of those 'trump cards' of yours was magnificent. All together…there's got to be no one in the world like you, Kid. That was splendid. You exceeded my expectations; not once, not twice, but three times and more. You wanted it…now, you've fully proven yourself a man, if that's what you wanted. Aiden Rylack of the Red Wings gives you his seal of approval." He smiled and raised a fist. "Well…" he murmured. "Neither of us have anything left, but we're still standing…it'd be a shame to end it like this. Shall we just settle this, in celebration, like 'real men', and just let our fists finish talking for us?"

Kain stared back, then smiled, a very mixed expression on his face. "That's far from my preference…but I guess we have no choice, right?"

Laughing, the two men charged together and began to lay into each other with their fists. The expression was crude, but in a way accurate; although both had long since become skilled fist-fighters, the two were so drained even their usual tactics in combat were impossible. They couldn't do much more but trade off slugging each other in the face.

('This kid, Kalan…can you see him? Can you see what he's done? Yes, I can see it…no matter what happens, I know this kid will finish this for you, for all of us. You have nothing to worry about. Your legacy and this world are both in good hands….')

"I-incredible…they're both so unbelievable…" Mei murmured.

"How far he's come…I'm used to being awed by our captains," Momo noted, "but seeing humans like that…makes me feel so insignificant…."

"W-what a fight!" Koto said. "After all those amazing attacks, unbelievable artifacts, incomprehensible spells…our fighters are completely drained, but neither one will give up! It's fallen into the most unsophisticated barbaric brawl! How long can they go on, when everything else is exhausted!?"

"It seems they've lost all interest in the outcome of the battle," Saber sighed. "Oh, well…that's men for you, I suppose…."

('Ah…this takes me back…he's almost your complete opposite, but…even though it's nothing like it…it somehow still reminds me of when we fought…when we battled together, side-by-side…Kalan….')

There was one final exchange of punches, somehow each man connecting with his foe's jaw simultaneously. And then, the next moment, they both fell to the ground.

F I N

Author's Note: The Final Tournament

Well, here we are! On a mini-cliffhanger, since it never said who won….

Anyway, the drama was heightened by Izumi finding out about Kain's secret, and us finding out about that idiot/jerk/heartless bastard Tôkasa. That section was again almost entirely taken out of the original. Ako had the same reveal and issues with it…Miki's side comments and such are somewhat different than Akira gave in the same situation, and that's about it. It's a very surprising turn around for Tôkasa, who was never shown to have any redeeming qualities…it's not enough for me to start liking him, but it's an interesting subplot, so I decided to include it. The guy deserves at least that much.

I finally decided to have Kain bolster himself with an ability very similar to Negi's true Magia Erebia, taking in his magic to transform his body. I do like the tactic—it's similar to what Hiei used in YuYu Hakushô's Dark Tournament, absorbing his Black Dragon Wave or whatever. It also makes sense as a possible ability for Kain, whose body has already been evolved. I didn't exactly intend it originally, but as I was planning it out, I figured that this power was a good one for him. In his case, it doesn't have to be a black magic, and it isn't going to destroy his invincible body. It simply gives him weaknesses appropriate as counters to his enhanced strength.

Similarly, his artifact was stolen directly from Negi. It's just too cool and appropriate for a person with that many contracts…the ability to use all those powers he's given to other people. Sometimes, I just can't help completely absconding with the coolest stuff….

Aiden went a little all-out here, as Kain noted (and his inspiration/creator also repeatedly noted). Jack Rakan was the invincible superhero, totally broken joke character, unable-to-hold-back out-there go-to-extreme madman, and so the battle had to go this far. Aiden normally wouldn't. But these are very unusual circumstances…like Jynx imitating Colonel Sanders in the previous tournament, I had to emulate the original a little more than usual in this case, but I think Aiden does have enough reasons. Aiden's had enough proof that, somehow or other, this group took care of the invincible Kalan. Kalan's son, if he's going to avenge/rescue him, whichever the case might be, he needs to be as strong as possible. Kain needs to be refined, especially mentally. So he goes through everything he can, except, as he explained, his Entropy magic, because it breaks people in ways that really don't allow them to overcome and get stronger.

Kain's taken his last step. Now, we have to get ready for the final confrontation with the Obsidian Star…after we clean up the aftermath of this tournament….