Chapter 13 – The Lizard and the Black Knight

Pre-Chapter Author's Note: This chapter's got a bit more romance and something no one would expect Rachel to do: Setting up a double date. It makes me want to laugh when I think about it, but the gag reels in Blazblue did crazier shit than this, so why not.

Violet woke up first and fell out of the bed when she found Jacky sleeping in the same bed next to her. The sound of her body hitting the floor is what woke Jacky up next. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before seeing Violet's red face and steaming mad expression. Jacky climbed out of the bed and ran out of the room with Violet chasing after him. "Get back here!" she screamed.
"This isn't my fault, I swear!" Jacky screamed back. The screaming of the two woke everyone up, drawing them out of their rooms. "What's going out here?" Ragna moaned. He watched as Jacky ran from the mage like his life depended on it. "Shouldn't we help him?" Bullet asked as she followed Noel out of their room.
"It's not my fault, dammit," Jacky screamed again. "You're lying," Violet shouted in reply. "We probably should help him out," Noel groaned. Bang appeared and separated Jacky and Violet from each other before things could get out of hand. "I must apologize for barging in on what is strictly your concern, but I must ask that you fight outside of my home," He said, ever so loudly.
"Just let me explain myself, Violet," Jacky demanded. After a moment of considering whether to hear him out or to slug him, she finally agreed to give him a chance. After explaining to her what had happened last night, and with Ragna and Noel serving as witnesses, Violet finally calmed down. Her face was red. Clearly she was embarrassed.
"Sorry, I chased you down and tried to bust your face, Jacky," she muttered. "It's alright Violet, it's not exactly your fault either." Jacky pat her shoulder before heading off to talk with Noel and Ragna, not noticing the look on Violet's face. "I really overreacted back there. I'm kind of relieved to hear the truth," she thought to herself, "I guess I didn't want him to be a perverted scumbag."

It's a good thing he isn't, because I might have struck him if he were.

Rachel appeared in front of Violet from nowhere. With a yelp of surprise, Violet fell over backwards onto her butt. "I apologize for giving you a jump, it was not my intention to surprise you," Rachel said. Violet got back on her feet. "It's all right, I suppose." Rachel observed Violet's expression and noticed her lack of focus on the event and guessed that she was thinking about something important.
"What is wrong, Violet, you look as if your mind is in the clouds?" With a shy smiled, Violet told her what had happened that morning and the night before. Rachel saw her blush and realized that she had feelings for a certain Lizard Beastkin. Seeing this as an opportunity to help the boy, Rachel spoke up.
"You seem to care a great deal about Jacky, and in more ways than one at that. I suspect that you might even fancy him." Violet began to stutter and fumble with her words before Rachel held up her hand to silence her. "Am I wrong? Because if I am wrong, you may feel free to correct me," she stated.
"N-no, you're not wrong, Miss Rachel, I just don't want anyone to know yet."
"But I was so certain that a date would be a nice change of pace for you," Rachel replied. She was being a little manipulative with Violet, but that was really nothing new. Even when she's meant to be nothing but an Observer, she still meddles in affairs that don't concern her.
"You can get me a date?" Violet asked, a little doubtful. "I shall inform you once the task is complete." Rachel teleported away, leaving Violet alone in the room.

Rachel appeared before Ragna, Noel, and Jacky. "Hello, Rachel, how are you today?" Jacky asked. She smiled. "I am well, thank you for asking. I must speak with you three, so come with me." Next thing they all knew they were back in the familiar rose garden of Rachel's castle. "Don't just teleport us without warning, Rabbit!" Ragna yelled.
"Calm down, Ragna, don't start a fight," Noel whispered. "Indeed, Noel, now's not the time for fighting, Ragna."
"Just what are you up to, Rabbit?"
"Nothing very hefty, I just decided to offer Jacky my help."
"What is it you're helping me with, Rachel?" Jacky pondered. She gave him a small but unmistakable smile that almost seemed…mischievous. "Jacky, I want you to go on a date with Violet Trove!" she declared. "WHAT?!" Jacky was absolutely shocked by this and nearly fell over in shock.
"Did I hear that right, Miss Rachel?" Noel asked. She nodded her head and sat down. "You said you were helping me? If this is about that, then I won't do it. I'm not going to toy with a girl's heart just to help myself!" Jacky stated.
Rachel still had a smile on her face. "That's exactly why you should take her on a date. That Violet is very easy to read. She plays the role of a tough mage in training, but the actress behind the character is actually quite sensitive and fragile. Jacky, you've known me long enough to know that I wouldn't be doing this if you were a selfish lowlife. It's because you refuse to use her that I want you to date her. It's because I know you won't do anything despicable and besides, she clearly fancies you."
Noel smiled and blushed, muttering 'I knew it' to herself in a singsong voice. "This is definitely not something I'd expect the Rabbit to do," Ragna thought to himself. Rachel looked over at Ragna indifferently and thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "If you still feel uncomfortable with it, then I shall have Ragna and Noel join you. What is it you call it? A double date, correct? That should be enough to make you feel more comfortable."
Ragna groaned in frustration and headed outside with Noel trailing behind. "What about Jacky, Ragna? Noel asked. "Just get ready, Noel. This is going to be one hell of an awkward night."

Three hours later…..

"I can't believe she talked me into this," Jacky groaned. "Just bear with it until we go home, Jacky," Ragna replied. Rachel threatened to strike them both with lightning over and over again if they didn't.
"Now I'm starting to understand why you dislike Rachel so much, Ragna."
"Yeah, she's a real pain in the ass."
"You do know she means well though, right, Ragna?" He remained silent. He was well-aware of that, but that didn't make Rachel any less irritating to him. Noel and Violet came out of the house and the four of them headed out, everyone but Violet absolutely embarrassed out of their minds.
Rachel watched from a distance, enjoying every moment. "This shall certainly be enjoyable."
"Ooh, I can't wait to see what happens," Nago said with a laugh. They watched and laughed, but what they didn't know was that someone else was watching them from the shadows. Someone who…didn't give two shits about Jacky and Ragna.
After arriving at a famous Chinese restaurant, the four seated themselves. The moment they ordered their meals and the waitress left to go deliver them, Jacky saw someone familiar walk into the restaurant. "What the hell is the Black Knight doing here? Violet, did you happen to learn some form of cloaking magic from Kokonoe?"
"I only learned how to change a person's hair color and hair style."
"Anything will do, just do it!"
Violet got to work immediately and soon, Ragna's hair turned brown and became shorter and extremely less spiky. She managed to do all this in time before Kagura noticed them. "Hey, what's going on, Jacky-boy?" Kagura greeted.
"Hey Kagura, fancy meeting you here. Why are you in Kagutsuchi? Aren't you supposed to be at the NOL branch in Ibukido?"
"Hey, a guy needs a break every once in a while, right? Besides, I've got Hibiki taking care of my work, so there's no trouble," he replied coolly. "I feel really bad for Hibiki right now. You're such an irresponsible slob, Kagura, you know that?"
"You don't have to be mean, Jacky, I just want to kick back and relax every once and a while. Is that so wrong?"
"For higher-ups like you, yes that is very wrong. As a higher-up in the NOL you have more responsibilities and jobs than anyone at my rank could ever have and you're expected to take care of them no questions asked."
"Well, whatever, alright? So what are you up to, kiddo? On a date or something?" He just couldn't mind his own business, could he?
"One, I'm around the same age as you, so don't call me 'kiddo', and two, that's right, I'm on a double date with Violet here. The other couple is Noel and…Kanda." Ragna glared at him, obviously not digging the name he was given.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kanda."
"The pleasure's all mine," Ragna replied, trying to make himself sound at least halfway decent.
"I gotta say Kanda, you and Jacky here have some really smashing babes with you," Kagura commented. Violet narrowed her eyes at him and growled, "Back off, womanizer, I ain't some 'babe' that you can just flirt with." Kagura backed away a few feet, feeling the utter disgust that Violet was projecting.
"It's not every day I meet a woman who hates me," Kagura said with a shudder. Apparently, he's frightened of her. She must have stared down his very soul. "Please just go, Kagura. We're trying to enjoy ourselves, but with you around it's awkward," Jacky demanded. Kagura raised his hands in mock surrender and backed away from the table.
"All right, all right, I'll go, but I'd really love to get a kiss goodbye. Any takers?" He asked.
"No!" Everyone shouted in unison.
"That's it, I'm kicking you out of here, whether you like it or not, Kagura! Besides, I don't want someone like you hitting on Violet!" He summoned Drakos as he said this, almost surprised by those words himself. "Alright, Lizard Boy, I'm glad to hear those words coming out of your mouth. You're going to protect your woman from another man. That's a good thing. Though I can't say that I'm going to back down from this, Jacky. It's been a long time since we sparred, hasn't it?"
"It's been around five years since we last fought, yeah." Jacky charged in and swung his sword down, hearing a melodic metal ring when Kagura blocked his strike with his enormous weapon. "Not bad at all, Lizard boy!" The two began to exchange blow for blow until they heard a woman call out to them. "No, you no fight in here. You destroy restaurant!" A Chinese waiter marched towards them and kicked them out of the restaurant, both figuratively and literally.
Noel and Ragna continued eating as if nothing happened while Violet chased after the two. The moment Kagura and Jacky were kicked out, they immediately got back on their feet (As they had both faceplanted upon landing) and pointed their weapons at each other. "I guess we were kind of wrecking the place a little," Jacky admitted. Kagura laughed and swung his sword at his left, but was blocked effortlessly. "Don't attack me when I'm not ready, jackass!"
"You could have fooled me. You looked plenty ready." Jacky shot a fireball at him, but he bat it away…weird. Jacky flanked to the ride and swung his weapon at him and stood his ground as Kagura blocked it. It took both arms to hold his place. Jacky opened his mouth, as if he were about to say something, but instead of words, fire came out. Kagura barely managed to jump back and avoid it.
"That was a dirty trick!"
"There's no such thing as a dirty trick in a fight!"
Before the conflict could continue, Violet shouted out, "Go, Jacky, kick his ass!"
With a laugh, Kagura returned his weapon to its holster. "I think that's enough fight for today." Jacky remained cautious and called out, "Why did you only use your sword during our fight? You have more than some huge Zweihander in your arsenal."
"I wasn't really intending to fight you, but seeing you with a woman made me want to make sure you could take care of her," he explained. Yep, that's Kagura alright. He doesn't give half a crap about other men, but when it comes to women, he's on the job.
As soon as Kagura left, Violet was steaming. "That guy doesn't think I can take care of myself? I can't stand that guy!" Jacky couldn't help but laugh. "This coming from the girl who couldn't put out a fire with magic," he replied.
She playfully shoved him in the side as Noel and Ragna came out of the restaurant with To-go boxes and cups. "How did things go with the Black Knight?" Ragna asked. "It turns out he just wanted to test me to see if I can protect Violet," he replied.
"But wait, aren't you able to use magic, Violet?"
"Yeah, but Kagura doesn't know that, obviously, and even if he did, he'd probably still see me as just a woman."
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me, Violet," Ragna began.
"What is it Ragna?"
"Can you please change me back to what I'm supposed to look like?" Jacky and Violet laughed at him. "Wow, 'Kanda', I didn't know you felt so strongly about how you looked," Jacky managed. "Y-yeah, what, do you not like the makeover. Come on, be honest now, 'Kanda', you love it," Violet added. The two couldn't stop laughing at him, even as he grew angry.

Elsewhere…

"Are you certain that she is able to use magic, Terumi?" The Imperator asked him. "I know what I felt. That was the Gravity Seed. It was magic. One way or another, that girl's going to get in the way."
"Very well, I shall send Relius after her. I am certain that he shall find it interesting."
"Might I make a request, Imperator?"
"What is it, Terumi?"
"This Violet girl, she has a sister and-"
"Very well, I shall send her as well."

6th City of Yabiko – Trove Residence

"Are you sure about this, Scarlet?"
"Yes I'm sure. Why? Are you worried about Violet, mother?"
"I want to be, but the NOL has deemed her a rebel and if they think I'm supporting her, they'll kill me and you. Your father might have known a way out of this if he were still alive."
"We'll get out of this one way or another, mom, but for now, we can't afford to make risks. I just got orders from the Imperator herself that I have to hunt her down and kill her. If I go against this, we'll be executed. You said so yourself." Scarlet exited the house and headed out to find her sister.

Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN!
So yeah, Scarlet is Violet's sister. And she's hunting her. Not very original, I know. Anyways, we're going to be getting serious from here on out.
As for Kagura Mutuski, I just HAD to put him in. Of all the characters that were exclusive to Chronophantasma, he's my favorite. Since Violet was trained and taught by Kokonoe, she knows who she DOESN'T want to get it on with and that person is Kagura. And Terumi, of course, but since he doesn't show his face often, Kagura more of a pressing concern.
Anyways, thanks for reading, as always.

Reploid7,

Signing off!