A Certain One-Eye Mage
By: Bubbajack
Editors/Co-Authors: IcySnowSage, First Hassan/Darklord133
Special Consultant: Heliosion
Special thanks go out to my Super Donors: Alexander Murry, Apostle_of_Darkness, Ben wanless, Bobby Glass, CrazymanDK, GAMER HERZ, and Jareth Norris. And to all my other patrons as well.
Ch.4: Blood in the Water.
Hinako ran down the street to her school to find her friend Yuu Momokino. She knew Yuu worked multiple jobs to support her family. The main problem is finding out what job she worked today. Hinako paused in minor confusion when she got an idea. She pulled out her phone and dialed Yuu's number. She waited a few seconds before she heard her friend pick up the phone.
"Moshi Moshi this is Yuu Momkino. I apologize for the inconvenience but I will have to make this short. My break ends in a few minutes."
"Yuu-chan! It's Hinako and I need your help! It involves a boy."
Momokino's tone changed from friendly and warm to cold instantly, "Is someone harassing you at your job Hinako? Where is your dad? I told him those frilly outfits he gets you to wear would attract the wrong crowd."
Hinako's face turned tomato red. While the outfits were cute, it was her suggestion to wear them to attract more customers. She didn't realize it might have given off the wrong signals. She almost fainted thinking about how Xander saw her in such an outfit earlier. Before she fainted, Hinako gathered her courage and decided to bite the bullet as some American tourist said, "Not that kind of boy problem Yuu. There is this guy I met, and he really helped me and dad out. He gave us a lot of money, and I don't know how to repay him?"
"Is this guy a loan shark? Listen Hinako I get your dad and you need money but you don't need to accept money from strangers. Who knows what kind of odd or downright disgusting things he may ask you to do for that money?" chastised Yuu.
Hinako started to blush again at what things Xander could have asked her, "Ne Master would you like dinner, a backrub, or maybe me?" The imagination of Hinako was anything but innocent when it came to men. A small nosebleed came from Hinako's nose as she shook her head.
"It is nothing like that, Yuu. When do you get off? I need your help and am curious about what I should do?"
"I get off in a few minutes. If you want to catch me before my next job I am in town at the local maid cafe. It's called Kobayashi's Maid cafe. The owner is really nice, if a little eccentric when she has her beer."
"Thanks Yuu-chan! I will be right over," Hinako ran down the street to downtownTokyo. She ran across many different people and places. She even thought she saw a group of people down a dark alley but when she looked again, they were gone.
She finally arrived in the bright and shiny downtown commerce district. All the many different stores and shops always amazed Hinako in what her city could have. She was sometimes jealous that her dads shop didn't attract more customers like Xander or even her crush Arashi. Then she thought better knowing her friend Yuu had to work multiple jobs to just provide for her many brothers. She did feel bad that Yuu had to provide so hard for her brothers. She never did mention what happened or even where her parents were most of the year.
In fact she was looking forward to the Idol Premiere on NeoTv at the Broadcast Station. Hinako couldn't wait to hear her favorite idol Oriha on the channel. Sadly she had to work that night but at least her dad would let her show it on the store tv so bonus for her! If Yuu wasn't working that night as well Hinako might have invited her for a watch party of sorts.
Hinako stopped outside of the maid cafe her friend was working at and was slightly amazed at the aesthetic. The owner was supposedly an eccentric former office worker who was 'inspired' to start a maid cafe with her lover/wife. Though why dragon maids of all things Hinako could never figure out. Although she was slightly jealous that all the 'maids' at the cafe had bigger boobs than her. Even Yuu-chan, manning the front counter for seating looked nice in her maid get-up accentuating all of her curves with a nice white headband holding back her blue hair.
"Oi, are you enjoying the sight of my girls? I can tell a true connoisseur of maid culture is in front of me. Are you perhaps also a maid?"
Hinako turned towards the feminine voice and had to turn her head slightly down.
The nice redhead in waiter clothes must be the owner herself Mrs. Kobayashi.
"Good Afternoon, Mrs. Kobayashi. I actually dress as a maid at my family diner to attract customers. By any chance is Yuu-chan almost done with her shift? I was coming to meet her."
The owner smiled kindly at Hinako, "You must be that Hinako girl Yuu talks about. She has nothing but compliments about you."
Hinako blushed at the praise her friend had about her. She honestly didn't think she was anything special. She still didn't fully understand why Xander was so kind to her and her father. Speaking of Xander she wondered what he was up to after leaving their little store?
"Thank you again Mrs. Kobayashi."
The owner just waved off Hinako's thanks, "Hey if anything you are an inspiration for local food joints just like me. We have to spread the greatness of maids. If I didn't have that amazing dream a while back I would have still been an office worker working my days away with nothing to enjoy but my sweet wife and a cold pint of beer."
"Speaking of your wife. Is she one of these many ahem ... gifted maids?" questioned Hinako.
"Oh Tohru should be around here somewhere. If she isn't serving a customer, she usually cleans, cooks the cafe special, or takes care of our adopted daughter Kanna. Who is our cafe mascot when she isn't in school. I am no slave driver after all. Education is important!"
"You are just flattering me to the guest because you don't wanna clean up when it's closing time. RIght honey?" spoke a female voice behind Hinako and Kobayashi. Hinako turned and saw a buxom if not a little short maid wearing a headband with dragon horns. She had beautiful amber eyes and long flowing blonde hair in two pigtails. She was of course dressed as a maid.
"Ah you must be Tohru. A pleasure to meet you. I am Yuu's friend Hinako."
"Oh I heard about you. Sweet girl. So you still got the hots for that Arashi kid huh?" smirked Tohru like the cat who got the cream.
"Uhm… No but yes. I mean I like him, sure but I honestly don't know right now." stammered out Hinako.
"Boss, Tohru, please quit teasing Hinako. I can't drag her home if she faints!" yelled Yuu, now in her street clothes after clocking out for the night.
"Ara ara ara Yuu-chan. Don't worry. We just wanted to see how this pure maiden was doing about her love life. I think she has other love issues if my love detector is telling me anything. It is pretty accurate. It lead me to my wife Kobayashi after all," swooned Tohru as she hugged Mrs. Kobayashi in a tight hug embarrassing the woman only slightly.
"Tohru not in public. Save that for the bedroom. Anyways. We need to get back to work. See you later Yuu, and Hinako spread the glory of maids alright!"
"No problem Kobayashi-san."
Kobayashi and Tohru entered the cafe as Yuu walked out with Hinako.
Yuu turned to Hinako and just decided to break the ice, "So if it isn't Arashi. Who's this guy you have a crush on. What's his name?"
Hinako steeled her nerves and nodded as the two friends walked home, "Well his name is Xander. He is an American here on business. He seems to be pretty wealthy as he left me this enormous tip. Anyways. We were talking, and I just don't know how I feel about him. He is handsome but I don't know if that is all that attracts me to him?"
"Huh well tell me more," Yuu asked, and as her friend described Xander she got a squeamish feeling in the pit of her stomach, as it made her think of something she'd always wondered about Hinako but never bothered to bring up. Once was happenstance, but twice? Twice and they were leaning into possible fetish territory, and she felt she should bring it up to her friend just in case. If not her then who?
Giving her friend a sideways glance as they walked down the street, Yuu said, "Ne Hinako-chan, I've got a question for you and I don't want you to get angry with me, OK?"
The waitress looked at her friend in confusion before she replied, "All right, what is it?"
Yuu took a breath, knowing this would be difficult, "You… wouldn't happen to have a fetish for disabled guys, would you?"
Hinako let out a loud "EEH?!" causing people to give them strange glances as they walked down the street, "What are you talking about? Where did this come from all of a sudden?!"
"Well, it's just that Arashi is covered in scars like he's been through a crap ton of surgery, and now you say this Xander guy is missing an eye. So I was starting to wonder if you're just into that," She quickly backpedaled, saying. "Not that I'm kink shaming or anything, but I thought I'd ask."
Hinako looked at her friend as if she'd grown a second head, "I don't have a disability fetish! What's wrong with you, Yuu-chan?!"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Yuu profusely apologized, "It's just all the evidence was kind of pointing that way."
Pouting at her angrily, Hinako said, "So you see Arashi-kun as someone disabled? Someone to be pitied?"
"No, no, I know that guy can pull his weight. It's just, this is Japan. You know how this works, right?"
Hinako let out a heated sigh, because she knew where her friend was coming from, even though she didn't like it. She knew her people generally looked down on the disabled as they were considered people who, should a natural disaster strike, would require more attention and take up precious resources that were already scarce during an emergency. Thus, they were unofficially looked down on more than others. That, combined with the Japanese people's own natural xenophobia meant Xander would probably not be treated all that great.
'People need to learn to look past what they see and look underneath that though,' Hinako thought to herself. Fixing her longtime friend with a glare, she said. "He's a good person and people need to treat him based on how he acts. Not because he has a slightly hard time seeing and is from America."
"I don't disagree with you," Yuu said, holding her hands up in surrender. "But you know how people will act around him, right? And how exactly are you going to make this relationship work, provided you even want one with this guy?"
"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. What I do know is that he's a good person and right now that's all that really matters. Look," She pulled out the huge wad of cash he'd given her, "He gave me this for no good reason, and told me to just go have some fun and that's why I called you in the first place."
"Holy crap! There's got to be, like ¥300,000 here!" Yuu swore under her breath. "Figures you catch the eye of the rich American guy."
"Oh, but he's disabled and not your type," Hinako snarked back as she glared at her friend.
"I deserve that," Yuu replied, "Have you decided what you're going to do with this?"
"I don't know. I was kind of hoping you had some ideas," The other girl replied.
"Well, I just so happen to know a guy who's scalping tickets to the latest broadcasting show Involving Oriha Nashida tonight. But they were so expensive I didn't bother to bring them up."
Eyes brimming with excitement at the mention of Oriha Nashida's name, her favorite idol, Hinako asked hurriedly. "Do you think we can afford to buy the tickets with this money?"
Yuu just laughed, "Last I checked, he was selling them for ¥50,000 a pop. So yeah, I think we can get them."
"Then let's go! Before he sells them!" She said hurriedly rushing down the street.
Yuu just laughed. She always got like this when it came to Oriha Nashida. "Hinako-chan, his place is the other way!" She called, trying to get her friends' attention and get her back on track.
With that the world changed and fates rippled from Xander's actions.
(...)
Xander was currently going on a walk about town. Looking for any information he could scrounge up about the local supernatural scene. You needed to figure out where the Tzimisce were, who the local vamps were besides them, and who else in the Sabbat were around. He already knew the Camarilla had a presence in the city due to Running into the Gangrel clan the previous night. But he was wondering who else ruled the streets of Tokyo. What better time to find out than near dusk, when all the creepy crawlies came out to play?
He suddenly found himself being approached by a man in a nice suit. "Alexander Lavelle Harris?" He asked, his tone droning and eyes slightly out of focus.
"Yes?" Xander said, slightly on edge. He could tell immediately this man was under some strong form of hypnosis.
"My… employer… would very much like to speak with you, if you have a moment."
Leveling a stare at the enthralled man Xander replied with, "Well that depends, who is your employer and whose side are they on?"
In response, the man showed a tattoo of a sword on the back of his wrist, the symbol of the Sabbat. "My Lady Esther Blanchett, the Sabbat Cardinal of Japan, would like to speak with you."
He nodded. "Alright, lead the way,"
In response, the man made a motion with his hand, and a Rolls Royce with smoked out windows rolled up the street before coming to a stop before them. Holding the door open, the man said, "If you would step inside Mr. Harris?"
"If this is a trap," Xander said warningly, "You won't survive springing it on me."
"I swear by the Cardinal this is no trap sir," the man said, placing his tattooed hand over his heart. "Your arrival in this city has made some waves and her ladyship merely wishes to greet you properly and see what she can do to assist you during your time here."
'In other words, she wants me gone as soon as possible, because my mere existence is causing a stir,' The Mage thought to himself. "Alright then, Mattia, stand down," Xander called to the open air, only for his bodyguard to drop down from the top of a street lamp a cool glare fixed on the ghoul in front of her.
"You do know you don't have to respond to this Cardinal's summons, correct Master?" Mattia replied as she kept her eyes on the ghoul.
"Yeah but it's rude to make a lady wait," He said as he got into the car.
"Tell that to Konomi-san who you keep clam jamming," Mattia replied blithely as she followed in after him.
The Awakened Mage laughed awkwardly, "Well if she wants it, she can ask like a big girl."
"I do hope you won't be doing anything untoward to my ladyship once you meet her," The ghoul replied as he got in the back and closed the door behind them.
Holding his hand up Xander swore, "I promise not to do anything she wouldn't like,"
The ghoul sighed, "Why do I not find that reassuring Mr. Harris?"
Mattia chose then to chime in, "To be fair, thus far, he's had no complaints."
"Joy," The ghoul deadpanned as the car began to roll down the street.
(...)
The car came to a stop in front of a rundown church of all places. Xander looked at the church, then the ghoul then back at the church before asking, "You're kidding right? A church? And she's not spontaneously bursting into flames?"
"This makes sense," Mattia said from beside him, "Considering the Sabbat have a command structure based off the Catholic Church."
"Indeed, and what better place to hide than in plain sight?" the ghoul replied, "Now, if you'll please follow me, I'll lead you to her Ladyship, and do remember to be on your best behavior."
"I'll practically be a saint," Xander promised. "Unless of course, she wants me to be bad," He said under his breath, causing Mattia to chuckle as he got out of the car and followed the ghoul through the church's double doors.
The floors were in dire need of waxing, and all the pews looked like they could use a new coat of paint if not outright replaced, but at the front of the would-be congregation, kneeling in front of an image of Christ on the cross, was a nun in a blue habit.
"My Lady," The ghoul said bowing at the waist, "I have returned with Mr. Harris as requested."
The voice that rang out in the air was young and soft. "Thank you John, that will be all. I'll take care of our guests from here,"
"As you say My Lady." The now named John said before he disappeared deeper into the confines of the church.
As he left, the Sister rose to her feet and turned around, revealing pale skin, red hair and blue eyes. She smiled at them serenely as she said, "Hello, thank you for coming to meet me, I'm Esther Blanchett the Cardinal of the Sabbat here in Japan."
"I'm Xander, but you already know that. This is Mattia, my bodyguard. I'm going to assume that you also know that too. So, since you know who I am, how about we skip the pleasantries and get to the part where you tell me what you want and make me an offer I can't refuse?"
Placing a hand over her mouth, Esther said, "My goodness you have a low view of dealing with other people, don't you?"
"If you keep your expectations of others low, you won't be disappointed when they inevitably disappoint you," Xander quoted bitterly as if from experience.
Hearing this, Esther tutted, "Now that won't do at all Mr. Harris, while I would like to talk to you about some matters, I'd like to get to know you better first. How about some tea?"
"I'm not a fan," He replied, "Got soda or anything stronger? Also, call me Xander, Mr. Harris was my father and we never exactly got along."
Esther nodded in understanding, "Very well then, come along Alexander and I'm sure I can find a soda for you to drink."
The duo followed her behind the candle strewn altar where a door was set in the wall that led to her personal quarters. An elaborate coffin was set in the corner, a writing desk on the left wall upon which an inkwell and quill of all things sat as well as several letters some of which looked half written. In a far corner was a fridge, which Esther went to before pulling it open, revealing it was filled with packets of blood and cans of soda. Pulling out a rootbeer for Xander she called behind her, "Is this alright?"
"It's fine thanks," Xander called back.
"And you Mattia? Would you like a packet of blood?"
"No, thank you. I like my vitae fresh, and in a… different form," The szlachta replied.
Esther covered her mouth in surprise, "Oh my! I see… Very well then." shutting the door she turned and took a seat near her desk, handing Xander his drink, before tearing the top off the blood packet and pouring its contents into an already crimson stained wine glass. Taking a sip, she sighed in contentment, "Ahh, while it's not as potent as fresh vitae, it gets the job done. Now, Alexander, I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better," she replied as she dainty dabbed at her blood stained lips with a handkerchief.
"Okay," Xander said as he popped the tab on his soda. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, let's start with what I think I know and you can confirm or deny alright?" Esther began "You found out about the so-called 'Masquerade' at seventeen when those filthy blood demons in your town attacked you, instead of running away screaming or going into denial you fought back. Quite viciously too. Up until recently, you assisted the Slayer Elizabeth Ann Summers in averting several apocalyptic events, in several cases personally saving the world yourself, including but not limited to, resurrecting said Slayer from drowning, figuring out a way to defeat the Judge, saving the world again by talking your own friend who is a powerful unAwoken witch from destroying the world, blowing up your mayor and school, assisting in a spell to destroy a monstrous infernal cyborg, and most notable turning the Patron Saint of Scorned Women good."
"The sex was just that good I guess? Oww, Mattia, stop it!" He said when his bodyguard elbowed him in the shoulder.
"Love redeems as they say," Esther replied. "And then the Hellmouth implodes after you fight an incarnation of evil itself and his primordial blood demon horde."
"Didn't really do much there," Xander admitted, "In fact, I failed at the one job I had at the time, getting Buffy's little sister, Dawn out of town."
"No good deed goes unpunished, I suppose, regardless you fought, just as you always do, even against an Infernal like the one you knew as the First Evil and even Glorificus."
Xander just shrugged, "Well, I wasn't just going to roll over and die."
Esther shook her head, "No of course not, and now after going missing for quite awhile you reappear as the envoy of Vlad Dracul himself?"
"I was in Africa I got high off some shit, a vision quest happened. I have no idea how I got there," He sighed, because he knew in his bones it wouldn't be the last time he'd have to explain this.
Esther covered her mouth, clearly bemused, "My goodness, and you somehow went from Africa to Romania while on some kind of drugs?"
Xander took a drink to cover up his embarrassment, "Your guess on how I pulled that off is as good as mine. So now that you're all caught up on Xanderology one-oh-one, should we cover current events?"
Putting her wine glass to the side and folding her hands in her lap, Esther nodded, "Lets, tell me, what brings you to my demense Alexander?"
"Dracula's Childe has some business to take care of in town. I'm here to make sure it goes off without a hitch,"
"Dracula has sired a Childe?" This caught Esther by surprise. "We never assumed that Dracul would do such a thing. We always thought he would…"
"Hoard power for himself forever?" Xander finished for her, "He's not that kind of a guy. He gives off the impression yeah but…" the man shrugged, "No man, not even an immortal one, is an island."
"I see, so even the Impaler has some humanity left in him after all? That is a relief in all honesty." Esther said, sighing.
Xander laughed and said, "Of course he does, that said, don't think that makes him weak. Mess with him, and he'll tear you apart."
"I said I was relieved, not a fool Alexander," Esther said in clipped tones. "So what business does Dracul's Childe have here?"
Looking at Mattia he said, "Do you think we should tell her? I mean, it's kinda personal."
"Suzue isn't here with us, but you can always call and ask her." Mattia opined.
Xander in response whipped out his cellphone and, looking at Esther, said, "Do you mind?"
She waved him off, "Go right ahead."
As Xander left the room, Esther turned towards Mattia and asked, I know about him, but I don't know about him, if you know what I mean. So I'd like to ask about him from someone who knows him. Tell me, Mattia, what is Alexander really like?"
"He's strong, confident, and a very giving lover. A man who, once he's made-up his mind, cannot be dissuaded from the path he's chosen to take. Xander is a man who I would hate to have as my enemy, but I'm very glad and happy to have as my friend and master. Someone who, if you're smart, you won't seek to anger."
Esther nodded, heeding the hidden warning in her words, "I see. Thank you."
The man they were just speaking of came back into the room, pocketing his cell phone as he did. "Suzue said, she's fine with it. So anyway, the reason we're here is because we're trying to track down the people who almost killed Suzue before she was turned by Dracula."
"So it's a mission of revenge?" Esther questioned, seeming disappointed that they were here for such a banal reason.
"I mean, would you get revenge if a bunch of guys almost killed you?"
"I've lived so long and I've seen so many people die. I'm just… I guess I've just started to question the why of it. No matter how many centuries passed, whether we be kith or kine, we just keep killing each other," Esther finished, sadly.
"Maybe it's in our nature to destroy ourselves," Xander pondered aloud, not really knowing the answer.
"I suppose that could be one reason, Though it's the bleakest of the lot I've heard," Esther agreed. "Part of me hopes you're wrong, Mr. Harris. But another part of me doesn't think you are. However, I truly hope there's a better reason than we're just built like that," Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Esther spoke, "Enough of this melancholic philosophizing, You came here searching for killers, didn't you? I could at least help you track them down with my resources."
"You really want us gone, don't you, Esther Blanchett?" Xander couldn't help but note.
"It's not you specifically, Mr. Harris. In fact, I think you're delightful. It's what you represent that's troublesome."
"Dracula?" Xander questioned.
"The very same. If the Sabbot were a family, then Dracula would be the black sheep. Diablerizing a fifth generation Tzimisce. Claiming dominion over Romania, and staking anyone who dared come against him. He is as powerful as he is unruly. So you can understand why you being his envoy is making waves in an already tenuous situation in this city. Where we already have the Sabbot, some of the blood demons that you regularly fight, the Kuei-jin, wretched souls who have dragged their corpses back from hell, and vampire hunters. Who do not try to understand the difference between US and other elements in this city and hunt us all down indiscriminately. You being thrown into the mix is just adding a cherry on top of a very, very messy sundae."
"I get it. You kind of want me gone, but I'm not going anywhere until I finish what I came here to do. And no one, not even a Cardinal as cute as you are, is going to make me go anywhere until I'm ready," Xander finished with a bit of force.
"Do you think I'm cute?" Esther said, putting her hands to her cheeks. "You're too kind, Alexander and too forward by far! I don't even know how to respond to this, I mean. I'm just so old and you're so young and… and human and… Oh goodness!"
"Oops, that just kind of slipped out," Xander muttered under his breath.
"I think it's working regardless. Keep going," Mattia urged him.
Xander decided to press his luck, "I mean, yes, I think you're very pretty. That should be obvious to anyone with eyes."
"I've never been complimented on my looks before being turned when I was a nun. I've always considered myself married to God."
"Despite being turned into a vampire?" Xander questioned.
Esther nodded, "The Embrace was forced upon me. And though I considered walking to my Final Death in the light of day, I realized that by accepting this dark gift, I could lead others to the Lord for centuries, and have done so."
"That, that takes guts, lady respect." Xander said after a moment of silence.
"Thank you, Though I was not raised by one of the Sabbat, I quickly fell into their ranks as their religious overtones matched my own, and I quickly rose amongst their organization, to the rank of cardinal."
"What is the end goal of the Sabbat?" Zander queried. "I know the Camarillo want to keep this masquerade what does the Sabbat want?"
Esther quoted as if from a prepared script, "The Sabbot seeks nothing less than to tear down the masquerade and reveal to humanity that vampires are their true masters and seeks to rule over them openly."
"Yeah, that's not going to fly with me," Zander said flatly.
"I know that, Which makes it all the more curiouser would choose you as his envoy. For a vampire Lord like him to choose a vampire hunter such as you to be his personal messenger is most strange. "
"OK. Yeah," Xander nodded his head in agreement. " I'm starting to see where the strangeness is coming in," clearing his throat for a second before continuing, "I'm still not going to let you guys take over the world though, I've stopped way too many apocalypses to just sit back and let this one happen."
"Completely understandable," Esther agreed. "In fact, I do not completely agree with the Sabbat's motive of tearing down the Masquerade and revealing the supernatural to the general populace, but I do believe a time will come when we must come out of the shadows and work hand in hand with humanity or be utterly destroyed."
Xander didn't know what to think about Esther Blanchett. On one hand, she was with the Sabbat, who apparently wanted to dominate humanity and use them as cattle. On the other hand, she was sensible, and adorable on top of that. "Well, at least you have a good head on your shoulders."
"I'd like to think being alive for up to three centuries would do that to me, yes," She replied with a slight nod of her head.
Suddenly, the ghoul John appeared in the doorway, "My Lady, Pardon the interruption, but something has appeared on the news that I believe requires your attention."
Frowning, Esther said, "What is it, John? Bring the television set and let's see what all the fuss is about?"
The Ghoul quickly disappeared only to reappear with a small hand sized television, which he placed on the desk. It was currently showing a live news report. "This is Trisha Takanawa here at the Neo TV station where the idols and the audience have been taken hostage. The leader of this group, a masked man known as Wild Hunt, is giving us a list of demands. We're tuning in now,"
The scene switched to that of a person in a wolf mask holding a machine gun and wearing a brown jacket and a bulletproof vest. He spoke in a guttural tone. "Our name is the Wild Hunt and we are demanding $1,000,000 American. And a helicopter on the roof. If our demands are not met within the hour, we're going to kill all these hostages, starting with the idols. Every ten minutes, after the deadline that our demands are not met, we shall kill a hostage."
As the camera panned out over the idols and the audience, Xander felt his blood boil. In the audience itself, he saw the terrified face of Hinako Kinamoto. Clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles popped, Xander spoke in a controlled fury, "Sorry Esther, but something just came up. I need to go take care of something."
Seeing the look of tranquil fury on the Kine's face, the Cardinal of the Sabbat nodded. "Very well. I'll do what I can to coordinate things from here, as well as look up what information I can for you."
"I appreciate that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some heads to go bust in," Xander said before turning on his heel and walking out of the paris with Mattia following silently in his wake, giving the Cardinal a silent bow before she followed her Master.
Once they were outside, Mattia said, "What are you going to do, Xander?"
"I think it's time to baptize Uno in the fires of war," Xander replied before he made a call to Rani.
(...)
Oriha Nashida, was many things, Idol, actress, and secretly the third member of Ampoule One of the vigilante group Black Label. For all of her brains and skills, even She didn't know what to make of what was going on at the moment. One moment she was performing a three-way duet with her Idol rivals, the Mikazuki sisters, and in the next, the station had been taken over by terrorists, of all things. She was trying to piece together a plan of what the terrorists might be after, and yet in the midst of that, the Mikazuki sisters had shown up in her dressing room. And now they were being attacked by someone wearing a mascot costume and wielding a machete.
'She's not going to make it,' Oriha thought as Haron Mizuki Lashed out in a panic with a spin kick aimed at their opponent's head. Only she was going to come up short, which would probably lead to her getting killed by her calculations. Oriha was about to intervene, by pulling on their assailant's scarf and pulling them in the range of Haron's kick. When suddenly a shot rang out. But it wasn't the Sound barrier breaking crack of a gun. No, rather, it was more like a sound effect one would expect from a cheesy sci-fi movie. Only seconds later, A beam of light passed clean through their assailants head, the smell of burnt pork and fabric scented the air, And the would-be killer of three up and coming idols dropped to the ground, dead.
"Sister, did you do that?" The younger and more well endowed of the two sisters, Sumire asked.
"Kicks don't put bullets through people's heads, Sumire!" Let it be said that the younger sister was handling the situation much better than the older one.
Taking her sister's panic in stride, Sumire pointed out, "Then doesn't that mean somebody just saved us?"
"That's right, somebody did just save us. I wonder who it was," Oriha said, trying to keep her act together while also being genuinely curious about who their mysterious hero was.
Haron replied timidly, "If you want to poke your head out there and risk getting shot, by all means, be my guest. I'm not that brave."
Giving an awkward chuckle and rubbing the back of her head. Oriha replied. "Well, he's going to come down this hallway eventually, so even if we do nothing, whoever that person is is going to find us."
"Do you think we should barricade the door?" Sumari asked, Being clear headed and offering good suggestions.
"It's a little late for that, ladies," A robotic monotone replied.
Standing in the doorway above the corpse of their would-be killer was a robot. No, not a robot Oriha noticed after a moment. It was a man, in honest to goodness power armor. The armor was primarily black with Hunter Green accents on the arm guards and leg guards. The helmet was in the shape of a Mandalorian T-visor. A blue white light shining from within the confines of the visor obscured the face of the man who wore it. While a voice distorter completely hid his voice. Or you also noted that the pauldrons he wore on his shoulders were thicker than they should be, meaning they probably hid weapons of some kind.
"Thank you for saving us, Mr.?"
"I am the ever-so mystical, magical, ferrous, and ferociously fierce. Iron Mage," The man introduced himself with pomp and splendor
"Isn't that name copyrighted overseas?" Haron pointed out.
The figure in the masks shook his head. "No, my dear lady. You're thinking of Iron Man and Doctor Doom or perhaps Strange. I am someone completely original and different. I am in no way affiliated with either one of those three people, and my look is completely original."
"Right." Haron said, her tone of disbelief evident.
"Regardless, thanks for saving us, Mr. Iron Mage, Sir." Oriha said, refusing to bring up the fact that he was blatantly wearing the symbol of Clan Tzimisce on his chest. That of a snake eating its own tail. It was in some kind of golden metal emblazoned brazenly on the chest of the armor, encircling what looked to be an arc reactor, of all things.
"Not a problem, you girls should probably get out of here. I'm going to… handle things," Iron Mage told them.
"You mean kill everyone?" Haron rebutted.
"Everyone who is wielding a gun anyway," Iron Mage confirmed.
Haron could feel the deadpan glare the man in the suit was giving her, "Would you prefer I leave your friends to the tender mercies of the terrorists? You see, young lady, if I do not act, your friends will be doomed. Possibly to death or worse fates."
"Worse fates than death, Mr. Iron Mage?" Sumire asked.
"Sometimes, having to live with the aftermath is by far worse than death." Iron Mage said in a solemn tones. He then pointed down the hallway, saying, "Over yonder, you'll find a path cleared that will safely lead you to the police outside. Once you get out there, tell them that the situation is in hand,"
Grabbing her sister by the wrist, Aaron tried to drag her sister towards the exit, "You heard the crazy superhero wannabe Sumire, we're getting out of here,"
"But sister, what about Mr. Mage and Oriha?" Sumire asked concernedly.
"Oriha's coming with… Wait, where'd she go?! Don't tell me she ran after that crazy nut job?!"
(...)
Xander let out a sigh as he walked down the halls of the Neo TV Station. "Young Lady, why do you insist on following me? You should escape with your friends while you still can."
"Sorry Mister Mage, but I can't just leave the other idols behind… Besides they killed Aya-chan, I'm gonna pay them back for that," The girl whom Uno identified via facial recognition as Oriha Nashida, told him, her eyes filled with determination.
"Can I not convince you to let me avenge your friend in your stead?" Seeing the girl vehemently shake her head from side to side, he sighed again. "Very well. Uno, dislodge the modular parts on the left forearm."
"[Yes pater]" Uno spoke through the suit's external speakers.
"Woah, you have an actual A.I. in your suit?! How long did it take to code him?" Oriha gushed, only to be struck with awe again as the left forearm opened up, revealing a miniaturized chain-linked machinegun that proceeded to detach itself from its mountings. Picking it up with his opposing arm Iron Mage handed her the weapon saying, "Do you know how to use this?"
"I've played airsoft before," Oriha replied as she hefted the gun.
[Signifiers in vocal tone, spike in body temperature, and micro-tells indicate subject Oriha Nashida is being dishonest Pater] This came through the internal mic in the suit, for Xander's ears alone.
"I see," Xander replied, seemingly to Oriha, "Well this is a fully automatic twinbolter the ammo is explosive and more or less rocket propelled. So aim carefully."
"How did you even get this thing into the country?!" Oriha asked, 'This thing is even cooler than my Idol Buster!'
"I didn't, I built it here," He replied as he continued to walk down the hall.
Falling into step behind him Oriha said, "I have so many questions, Mister Mage."
"They will have to wait, my dear squire, for we are on a quest of epic proportions! Thankfully our princesses' are not in another castle," Xander said, genuinely enjoying the fact he got to be a bit hammy while in the mask.
'He can't seem to decide if he's a mage or a knight, funny guy though,' Oriha decided. "Right! What's the plan Iron Mage?"
"I shall distract our enemies. You shall sneak around and rescue your fellow idols. Agreed?"
"But there on the stage above us, how am I supposed to get past them? I mean unless their boss is a complete idiot he along with a couple of goons, are going to be guarding the hostages."
"Uno, scan," Iron Mage demanded, "And get me a pair of goggles for the squire here."
"[Yes Pater]" clicks and whirs could be heard within the suit moments before a ding like from a timer went off and a small space popped up revealing a pair of red sports glasses only the arms seemed to bend up and over the ear ending in a pair of earbuds.
"Built in audio? Good idea Uno," Turing to her he said, "Put this on,"
"Wow, so cool!" Oriha put the device on and it immediately showed her a HUD displaying the ammo count for her gun and other things, like heat sources around her.
"[Greetings Oriha Nashida, Codename Squire. I am Uno. Machine Spirit 01 and I shall be assisting you on today's Operation.]"
"Hi Uno-san, what's the play?" Oriha asked.
"[Look up,]" the Machine Spirit said. Upon doing so her glasses activated both a zoom and x-ray feature showing the current location of the gunmen and the hostages. "[As you can see Squire, the enemy numbers but three and are equipped with shotguns and fully automatic weapons. With Pater's permission I shall equip you with a Rosarius, a personal force field generator, and with a bit of magic on his part we can teleport you into the room and have you take out those three in a surprise attack while he and I handle the bulk of their forces."
"A risky play Uno," Iron Mage noted, "Are you sure she can handle it?"
"[Naturally, I would expect no less from Black Label's explosives expert,]" the A.I. replied with confidence.
"She is?! You are?!"
"Eh… don't be ridiculous Uno-san, I'm an idol not part of some vigilante group. Hahahaha."
As she said that, surveillance footage of her blowing up both a helicopter and Suzue's car both appeared on both of their screens. "[Facial recognition software only fails to work if you wear your mask. Height, build, and hair color are a ninety-five percent match for you Squire.]"
In response, Xander raised a hand, palm outstretched, his repulsor glowing ominously as he asked, "I'm only going to ask this once. Did Black Label kill Konome Suzue?"
Oriha shook her head, "No, we've been trying to track her killers but so far, no luck."
"Uno?" Xander asked.
"[Oriha Nashida is telling the truth,]" The Machine Spirit confirmed.
"Great thanks, and next time, tell me before I hand a multi-shot RPG to a vigilante, please and thank you."
"[Apologies Pater, but I did not see the harm as we can effectively nullify the weapon if need be.]"
"True, true." He sighed, "Right, sounds like we have a plan… but Oriha-chan, we will be having a chat after this?"
She gave a nod just as resolute as before. "Okay."
"Then as I'm sure someone in your group might say, let's begin the operation… also, don't touch me, I'm sterile."
"You're such a ham," The idol and part time vigilante deadpanned. "But wait, what was that bit earlier about magic and teleportation? You can't actually do that, right?"
'Seeing is believing,' Xander decided as he shifted the gears in the floor and connected them to the floor above "Try not to scream, you'll lose the element of surprise." He advised her moments before a portal opened beneath her feet, and she fell into it and went up a floor. "Now, let's raise a little hell."
"[Micro Missiles?]" Uno asked.
"You're reading my mind buddy," Xander replied as his shoulder pad opened up, revealing a dozen missile pods, the first of which he fired at the end of the hallway, blasting a hole into the outside world. "That should get the cops attention."
"[I should hope so, you based those anti-tank missiles on Krak Grenades Pater.]" The Machine Spirit blithely replied.
"Oh right… oops. Ah well, we definitely got their attention."
"[Pater, Mater Rani is on the line… should I send her to voicemail?]"
Xander sighed, "No that's just delaying the inevitable and will make it worse buddy, put her through.
The moment the line connected Xander heard Rani scream, "JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?! Alexander you just blew a hole in the building!"'
"You can't prove it was me who did that Rani," Xander pointed out.
"Oh, are you telling me these terrorists somehow smuggled Rocket Propelled Grenades into the television station, hmm?"
Xander raised a finger and pointed out, "Well, they smuggled guns? So yeah it's actually entirely possible."
"Alexander, did you blow a hole in the wall?" Rani asked point blank.
"I didn't not blow a hole in the wall…" He replied after a moment's hesitation.
"Firstly, that's a double negative, secondly, that means you did!" Rani accused, "Hmm, you want to. Ok." Seconds later Suzue's voice came through the coms. "Xander what the hell?! Destruction of public property is a bit much don't you think?"
"Well, to be fair Suze, I'm trying… strike that, I have gotten the terrorists attention," He replied as bullets pinged uselessly off his armor. Raising a palm he fired a repulsor blast that cut through both the wall, and the two men taking cover behind it. Turning around the corner he came face to back with another trio of goons who were shooting at something else. Something that wasn't him, and sure as hell shouldn't be Oriha either.
'What the fuck did the cops finally breach the station?' Xander asked himself moments before one of the goons was impaled with what looked like a silver dagger through the eye, before another was leapt upon by a monster that was a hybrid of a wolf and a lizard. The wolf's maw clenched around the man's throat as the lizard's claws tore into his armor and flesh like tissue paper.
"What the fuck, the Tzimicse getting uppity or what?" He asked himself more than anyone else.
"Why, Alexander, what's going on?" Rani asked over the coms.
"Some sort of Tzimisce hound is attacking the station. Maybe Esther decided to handle things directly? Looks like a cross between a lizard and a wolf. Another guy got done in with a silver dagger."
"Silver dagger?! Xander Listen to me! That is not a Szlachta, it's a Chimeric Hound! Fae, actual Faeries are in the building! Be careful."
"Rani," Xander said as a tall, wiry, thin, and pale elf covered in elaborate silver armor stained in blood came around the corner, "I'm going to have to call you back."
(...)
Siren aka the masked terrorist known as Wild Hunt to the general public at the moment, was currently in the middle of a firefight. She didn't know how but one of those missing idols appeared in the middle of the room without any of her henchmen noticing and not only was the gun she was using a full auto chaingun, but the damn bullets exploded! 'Who the hell gave this kid a fully automatic RPG!' Wild Hunt thought to herself as a micro missile whizzed past her head and blew a hole in the wall.
"Oh Doggie-chan, come out and play!" The idol taunted. "Hmm, I wonder if he'll let me keep this thing? It's so cool!"
Seeing her distraction, Siren popped her head up preparing to shoot, only to get shot in the chest by multiple bullets. Her bulletproof armor was as useful as wearing paper. Her breath got knocked out of her for a moment…
Then she exploded in a shower of blood and gore.
"Oh wow, it's like something you'd expect from a cheezy B movie or something," Oriha said to herself as she took aim at the two remaining terrorists who rushed her, intent on avenging their boss. Their bullets pinged uselessly off the forcefield she'd been given, and she returned fire, hosing them down in a spray of bullets. Which then exploded. "Wow this thing sure does make a mess… I should feel bad, but they were armed terrorists so… it's okay, right?" She asked, smiling at her fellow idols.
"Wha…where the hell did you get that thing?"
"Well this guy, he might be with the cops but I doubt it, gave it to me before I came up here. I wanted to help and make sure no one else got hurt."
"I mean, well, wow, that's great Nashida!" The Director said "Where'd you learn how to shoot anyway?"
"Oh, I've got a college degree in chemistry! I got it in America when I was eleven. They really, really like their guns over there so… I guess you could say I picked up a few things in my time over there, heheh." She said rubbing the back of her head while smiling and sticking her tongue out cutely. She then asked, "Nobody got hurt, I mean hit by a stray round right? I'd never forgive myself if that happened."
"We're fine," The Director sighed in relief, "I don't think anyone got hurt."
"That's great," Oriha's arm's flopped down to her sides like limp noodles. "Cause I can't feel my arms anymore! The recoil on this thing is insane!" She whined piteously like a child denied a cookie before dinner.
Suddenly explosions rocked the building, causing everyone to cry out in terror.
"What's going on?!" the Director cried out.
"That guy must've run across something pretty bad if he's trying to blow things up." Oriha said to herself.
"Who? The one who gave you that gun? Also put that down before it goes off by accident!" Her Manager, whose eyes were always occluded by his sunglasses demanded. "We could get sued and then your career would be over!"
"Mr. Manager," Oriha said, ignoring his ramblings, "Several seats in the audience are vacant, who do they belong to?"
"I… huh? Is now the time to be worrying about this Oriha?!" the man demanded "Your whole career could be on the line with the stunt you just pulled! You just killed three people with a gun!"
"A clear cut case of self defense, even in a draconian court system like Japan's, and it matters Mr. Manager, because if they aren't up here with us… that means they're likely down there… where all the explosions and gunfire are coming from."
"That's not all, several stagehands are missing too." The Director realized after doing a headcount.
"What is going on here?" The Black Label member muttered to herself.
(...)
For the past five minutes Xander had been killing Faeries. Not the Tinkerbell kind either, the Brother's Grimm steal children rape women and eat babies, kind of Faerie. Bedecked in silver armor, with blades that looked like they were ethereal and made of spun glass, they fell by the score to his storm bolters, and the ion guns located in the skirt of his armor. But it was the strangest thing. He wasn't even aiming to kill just to wound, hoping to interrogate the survivors only to watch as, everytime one of them was wounded. They broke out into hives, their porcelain skin turning blotchy and red before blood filled boils broke out across their bodies and each and every one of them went into what he could best describe as anaphylactic shock.
'Are these guys… allergic to technology?' Xander wondered to himself. 'If so, they chose to fuck with the wrong guy.'
"Get away from us you creepy elf!"
Xander knew that voice! He saw red as his blood ran cold. That was Hinako just now. "I'm done playing with you guys. Uno, activate the Overdrive System."
"[Pater, activation of the overdrive system will put undue strain on both you and the suit, once it ends, functionality will be reduced by half for a period of three hundred seconds. Are you sure you wish to proceed?]"
"Yes," Xander replied, his voice cold, his resolve firm.
"[Password?]"
"Imperium," Xander recited.
"[Activating Overdrive System, releasing safety measures on Suit hyper coils, Synth Muscle Fiber restraints unlocked, Overclocking Arc Reactor, all weapons, overcharged.]"
'This is gonna be so cool, but it's also going to leave me hurting like hell tomorrow,' Xander thought to himself.
Overdrive was inspired by one of Ironman's suits. Specifically the Model 29's Accelerationwear. It allowed him to, when activated, allowed the suit to move at a hundred-fifty times normal speed for about three minutes.
He took off in a burst of speed, his body a blur of motion as he blitzed through the Wild Hunt, leaving only corpses in his wake. "Uno, triangulate where that scream came from!"
"[Yes Pater! Judging by the echo and reverberation, the source most likely came from the left down the hall at the fork, possibly in the ladies restroom according to the building blueprints.]"
"Right, got it thanks." Xander replied as he tapped into his magic, shifting the gears that made up his suit and himself so both were incorporeal and could phase through the wall instead of having to follow the layout of the building. In a matter of seconds he phased through to a tile covered room where two girls were trying to fight off a ghostly apparition of a man with stag horns on his head, his body built and muscular and covered in ghostly green flame.
Xander didn't think, he didn't need to; he lunged forwards and grabbed this entity before throwing him bodily off the two struggling girls. "Run now!" He said not taking his eyes off this unknown entity that seemingly oozed mystical power.
"Yes, t-thank you!"
"Be safe Hinako," He said subconsciously as he stared down another monster, this one possibly equal to Glorificus in power.
"Xander-san?" Hinako whispered to herself only to be dragged away by Yuu.
"Don't just stand there Hinako! We need to get out of here, c'mon!" Yuu said through her tears, her chest burned where that… that thing had licked her. Its tongue was long, prehensile, and on fire, burning everything it touched, her clothes, and her flesh. Yuu Momokino shuddered in revulsion just thinking what would've happened had that guy not shown up when he did. So taking her best friend by the hand she ran. Ran like the demons of yomi themselves were chasing her.
Back in the bathroom. Xander and the thing he really wanted to call a Balrog were staring each other down. Finally he said, "You hurt a friend of mine. You're gonna pay for that big ugly."
"You think to make I? The Erlking, the Greatest Hunter, the hunted! Surely you jest mortal!"
"I don't intend to make you laugh," Xander said as he raised his hands, palms out and aglow as the ion blasters on his hips primed, and his remaining missile pods on his shoulders opened up, "I wanna hear you scream!"
He fired everything. His missiles, repulsors, chainguns, he shot everything at this scumbag… and it looked like it at best gave him a stomachache. He looked more shocked that it could affect him at all more than anything.
"How could this be! That a mere mortal could damage the Actor of I, the Greatest Hunter! The mouse does not attack the cat, it cowers in fear! Hoping it does not get pounced upon!"
"Don't you know anything asshole?" Xander said as he reached behind his back and pulled from a maglock a Devil's Claw, a Catachan knife that was hollow and filled with mercury, the blade's edge was supernaturally razor keen, as he threw himself at the spector shouting, "Even a rat will bite when cornered!"
The ghost, demon, phantom, Hell deity? Whatever the hell it was tried to impale him on a wickedly curved and barbed crimson spear, yet the barrage of firepower had slowed him, weakened him just enough that and he was moving just quick enough in his Overdrive state that he batted the spear haft aside and stabbed his blade into the shoulder of the thing. It let out a howl of pain and rage before it picked him up and threw him bodily out of the bathroom, through the wall no less. He hardly felt the blow, debris and dust blasted outwards in seeming slow motion around him as he fired his remaining storm bolter before rolling to his feet.
"How much longer will the overdrive last?" Xander asked.
"[One-hundred-nine seconds.]" Uno replied.
The cyclops swore under his breath, "Fuck," He knew once it wore off he'd be a sitting duck to this guy. Whatever the fuck 'he' was. He was on a timer, he had a small window to attain victory that was getting smaller every second. From out of the dust, he came again, spear raised in both hands prepared to come down and impale him through the chest.
But it was then that Xander remembered, his Arc Reactor wasn't just a power source. It was also a functional weapon all its own. Without a second thought, he powered and fired the Unibeam right into the ugly fuckers face. It sent him flying up and through the ceiling.
"Time?" Xander asked, getting to his feet.
"[Fifty seconds. Use of the Unibeam shortens the use of Overdrive significantly it seems.]"
"Time to finish this then," Xander said as he jumped up through the hole he created. His enemy was lying there wounded on the floor, yellow ichor leaking from where his left arm should be, his cloak in tatters, one of his antlers was completely gone, the other had its tines broken and shorn off. The Erlking hefted himself to his feat leaning heavily on his spear, more yellow ichor dripping from his now missing left eye. His remaining eye looked at Xander with a mix of confusion, respect and above all…
Fear.
"What are you mortal? To wound my Actor so like nothing, not even other Sidhe have before you have. It has been aeons since I have felt such exquisite pain."
"I'm the Iron Mage, and I protect humanity from those who lurk in the dark, things like you." Xander replied as he routed all power to the repulsor in his right hand as the King of the Hunt prepared to charge him with his spear.
"Is that so? Well remember, heavy is the crown good hunter," The King of the Hunt said as he threw his spear at Xander who turned his body to the side, avoiding the spear before he fired an overpowered repulsor blast into the King of the Hunt's chest and up into his head, finally ending him.
It was just then that he felt his armor become unusually heavy, when before it felt light as a feather. "Uno?" he asked.
"[Apologies Pater, but the time limit for the Overdrive has been reached. The suit is working at a mere thirty-percent capacity, and the synth-muscles are inoperable for the next ten minutes.]"
Xander noticed all the angry looking studio folk gathering around his now statuesque form. 'Well, shit,' He thought to himself.
"Is this guy another one of those terrorists?" An idol asked.
To which a Neo TV worker replied, "Maybe, I mean he's wearing a gundam costume and he's even carrying a knife."
"Who was the big guy in armor that he was fighting though?" the Director asked, before turning to a cameraman and all but pleading, "Please tell me you caught that?! A fight like that?! We have to use it somehow."
"Got it right here boss," The cameraman replied, giving him a thumbs up.
"Good, good, that means at least something good came out of this mess."
"Umm everyone?" Orhiha said getting their attention, "If you could leave him alone that'd be great. He's the one who gave me this thing after all."'
"Yeah he saved our lives too," From stage left the Minazuki Sisters had reappeared.
"I thought I told you to leave?" Xander said, sighing in exasperation.
"Well, we were going to, but it felt wrong leaving here without Oriha so we came back. Good thing we did too, since it looks like you were about to get jumped Mr. Tough Guy," Harron said as she crossed her arms under her small bosom.
"What sister is trying to say is that we would've felt bad if something happened to Oriha or you Mr. Mage," her sister Sumire translated for her.
Xander leaned his head back, letting himself stare at the ceiling as he sighed, "Well, warm fuzzies all around I guess. Nobody died?"
"We… They killed Sugihara Aya to prove a point," The Director said with rage seeping into his tone. "She was a damn good up and comer, and lead vocalist of Cell."
"Shit, sorry to hear that. Unfortunately I don't know anything about Idols, but the loss of human life is tragic," Xander replied. With his suit under performing like this he felt like he was walking in quicksand or doing water aerobics. He had a lot of resistance on his body at the moment and it was difficult for him just to move. 'Well I did intend for this to be an oh shit button kinda thing.' He thought ruefully to himself.
"Thank you, Iron Mage? You saved a lot of lives today." The Director offered him a hand, which Xander took.
"No problem, happy to help… I really feel like I should work on the name though,"
"If you're not an idol fan and I doubt you're part of the police force, then why were you here?" Harron asked.
"I was just… passing through is all? Isn't that what heroes do anyway?" He replied only half jokingly.
That got a couple of chuckles. "What are you, a sennin protagonist or something?" Oriha asked, propping her borrowed gun up against his leg.
"You turned the safety on right… right?!" He asked worriedly as he stared down the business end of his own gun.
"Umm, I think so yeah," Oriha replied in her ditzy manner.
"Please check before my head gets blown off," He said nervously. Turning off the outward speakers he said, "Uno activate onboard rosarius please!"
"[Unfortunately Pater, the rosarius cannot be powered at the moment. It will be another minute and forty seconds before full power is restored to the suit. Standby]"
"Remind me to make adjustments to the suit when we get back to base."
"[Yes Pater,]"
Turning the external speakers back on he said, "Well it's been fun folks but I really should be going, you all have to make statements to the police, I was never here by the way, you know, all that good stuff."
"Umm h-hold on a second!" Sumire said before she stuck a sticky note on his arm. It had a line id, the japanese equivalent of a cell phone number on it.
"Umm, is this what I think it is?" He asked.
"Sumire, did you just?" Harron asked.
Clasping her hands behind her back and swaying from side to side Sumire replied hesitantly, "Well, he did save us sister so… why not?"
Putting her hands on her hips Harron huffed, "Well, when you put it like that, she promptly grabbed a sticky note and wrote down her own line id before sticking it next to her sisters.
Not to be outdone Oriha added her own name and number next to the idol twins. "You have the personal line id's of the top three up and coming idols. I can think of a lot of people who would love to be in your position right now."
"Who says it has to stop at you three?" Nanoju the tv hostess replied as she added her own name and number onto his arm. That started a cascade effect of all the idol girls copying her and before he knew it, his arms were covered in sticky notes.
'This feels like the botched love spell all over again… thanks world, I hate it,' Xander thought to himself. Speaking directly to Uno he said, "Add all names and number to contacts,"
"[Done Pater,]" the machine spirit replied, pausing for a moment before adding, "[Also you should be able to move right about… now.]"
Feeling his suit lighten as the synth-muscles came back to life, Xander gave a sigh of relief as he stretched. He then said, "I really do need to be going now ladies and gentlemen."
"Umm what should we do about that?" a stagehand asked.
The 'that' in question was the spear the Erlking had thrown in a last desperate attempt to kill him. It was impaled a foot deep into the solid concrete wall behind them.
Looking at it through his sight gave Xander a headache. Gears and cogs spun on their axis instead of in clockwise or counter clockwise motions. Bellows breathed in the spear, and spindly wires moved throughout its body. In fact, the more he looked at it, the less it looked like a spear and the more it looked like a person in the shape of a spear.
"That thing is coming with me," Iron Mage spoke with authority. "To the victor go the spoils."
He moved over and, reaching out, pulled the spear out of the wall. It had weight to it, but was not as heavy as he assumed it would be for its size. Frowning he thought back to the words of the Erlking. 'Heavy is the crown. I wonder what he meant by that?'
He decided not to dwell on it, he had more important things to do at the moment, like flee before the JSDF showed up. "It's been a slice folks but I don't want to arrested so… bye." He said before launching himself out a window and taking off into the night.
"Now that's how you make an exit," Harron said as she rushed to the shattered window and watched the hero disappear from view.
Meanwhile all Xander could think was, 'I wonder how much trouble I'm going to be in with Ranni and Mattia when I get home?' As if time had taught him anything, as a man, even if it wasn't his fault, he was still at fault. Somehow, always. So it was best to just apologize as soon as he could and then hope it blew over soon. Xander had never won an argument with a woman yet and he didn't expect that to start anytime soon.
Pain and time are great teachers, but they leave few disciples.
(...)
Word Count: 11,275 Number of Pages: 25 Date Completed: 10/23/2023
(...)
AN: Welcome everyone to another chapter of A Certain One-Eyed Mage. Hope you all enjoyed this more action filled chapter. Not my best fight scene probably but I'm feeling a tad rusty in that area truth be told. So until I feel more confident, this is as good as I can do. That said, I hope it wasn't God awful. But that aside, I'm glad to be back to this, I have been meaning to write this for a while now. Hopefully, it was worth the weight. Thanks for reading now here is Snowy and Hassan to finish things up.
Snowy: Well this was a wild ride. Magic, Terrorist, Fairies, and Iron Suits of DOOM hopefully this chapter was a wild ride for all. I apologize for the long wait. Holidays you know? I had to recuperate an rest from my mentally tiring job. Thanks for everyone for their reviews and love they give towards. I hope everyone admires Xander for what he did this chapter and the waves he will start to cause.
Hassan: YO! YO! YO! We're back! With a long awaited chapter for all the beloved readers and consumers they have been waiting for! I hope the wait has been worth it and the patience has finally paid off!...Hey guys! First Hassan here and today we are bringing you another chapter of the A Certain One-Eyed Mage, brought to you by the Inkblot Bros Production! Xander might be in a tough spot considering his situation but thats what and who Xander is, who can you stop the Xander man when he goes through vampires, ghouls, man eating mantis and other things he does on a daily basis with Buffy! Thank you guys for reading our story, if you want more or want to be a chapter ahead, head to Bubba' account where it hasn't been edited by yours truly. I'll see you guys later! (Turning around while blue flames surrounds Hassan before disappearing)
Thanks for reading, and till next time, this has been an Inkblot Bros Production! Peace!