The Three Houses of Hyperdimension

A Fire Emblem: Three Houses & Hyperdimension Neptunia Crossover Fan Fiction

by Derald Snyder

Episode 23: Assassination Attempt

*That night, in Adrestia...*

Duke Gerth looked about furtively as he walked through the weapons storehouse... (Why in the world would Count Bergliez and Duke Aegir want to meet here in the dead of night...?) He hadn't interacted much with the former lately, which was why the letter from him was all the more surprising. (I wonder if it has something to do with how odd Arundel has been acting lately-)

His train of thought was interrupted as a rope went taut around his foot and pulled him into the air upside down! "What the-?!" He then saw a masked figure approaching with a sword in hand...

"I see you got my letter," the Flame Emperor taunted. "Duke Gerth, for what you did to my father, you shall die." He raised his sword to strike-

Only for someone to grab him from behind! "Oh no you don't, assassin!" growled the new arrival, a short but muscular man with long sky-blue hair and several battle scars, lifting and throwing the Flame Emperor a fair distance away! That done, he slipped on a pair of clawed gauntlets, using them to cut the rope suspending Gerth.

"Count Bergliez...?" Duke Gerth grunted as he slowly picked himself up. "What's going on?"

"Just get outta here, Gerth! And call the police!" Leopold von Bergliez ordered, before turning and running at the Flame Emperor as he got up, tackling him and causing them both to roll into an open area. The two then separated, Leopold getting into a fighting stance. "Now, just who the hell are you?"

"Hmph... for the last minutes of your life, you may call me the Flame Emperor," said the masked man as he sheathed his sword, before summoning a large two-handed axe via magic. "You shall suffer for your interference, Count Bergliez."

"Hah! You don't scare me!" Leopold shot back. "You aren't the first assassin I've dealt with, and you won't be the last!" With that, he went on the attack, his one gauntlet parried by the Flame Emperor's axe, then swinging the other toward his unprotected flank, but it was blocked by the other man's free arm. "Got some armor under those robes, huh?" They broke off and spun away, before slowly circling each other... This time, the Flame Emperor struck first, going for a low swing with his axe, only for Leopold to easily backflip over it. Count Bergliez then charged in with gauntlets raised, but his foe deflected one with his weapon and spun out of the other's path.

"You may have been a great warrior in your prime," the Flame Emperor taunted, "but you aren't as young as you used to be."

"These old bones can still handle you!" Leopold shot back. The Flame Emperor went for a high slice, but Bergliez caught it with his gauntlets, throwing it aside and knocking his foe off balance, then slashing at his face-

- the claws of his gauntlet catching the edge of the Flame Emperor's mask and pulling it off! "My mask!" cried a female voice, light purple eyes set into a fair-skinned face with a small nose and thin lips, framed by white hair, said appearance causing Leopold to stop short in shock!

"What the- Edelgard?!" the old warrior gasped. "What is the meaning of this?! Is this some kinda twisted joke?"

"Oh, I assure you, this is no laughing matter," 'Edelgard' said, taking her battle stance once more. "This is for what you and Duke Gerth did to my father!" She went on the attack, Leopold ducking her swing and backflipping to get some distance between them.

"Your father? But that was years ago!" Count Bergliez protested. "Why seek revenge for that now?!"

"I was but a child back then!" 'Edelgard' shot back. "And then I was subjected to torture without end! Me and my siblings! And I was the only survivor! How could I not seek vengeance for their deaths?!" She swung again, Leopold deflecting the axe with his gauntlets.

"I had nothing to do with that!" Leopold cried. "You should take that up with Duke Aegir, not me!"

"Oh rest assured, once I kill you, he's next!" the Flame Emperor growled, throwing something to the ground which exploded with a blinding flash, forcing her enemy to recoil and shut his eyes!

But Leopold von Bergliez hadn't become one of Adrestia's best warriors by relying solely on his eyesight... Concentrating, he heard footsteps from the right, turning and raising his gauntlets defensively, blocking the incoming axe swing! 'Edelgard' swung again and again, Leopold shifting his weight as he blocked strikes from the left and right, the claws of his gauntlets becoming mangled and beginning to break off... (She can't keep this up forever...!) Sure enough, the swings began to slow as 'Edelgard' became fatigued, Leopold taking the initiative and charging in, his eyesight mostly clear by now, kicking his foe in the gut and ripping the axe out of her hands, then breaking the handle over his knee!

Undeterred, the Flame Emperor drew her sword from earlier, teeth gritted. "You won't stop me...!"

"Just give it up already, will you?!" Bergliez's plea fell on deaf ears as 'Edelgard' went for a diagonal cut, Leopold blocking it with his gauntlets before turning and going for a left straight, his foe spinning aside. "If you won't listen to reason, I'll just have to lay you out!"

"I invite you to try!" 'Edelgard' taunted as she danced around her opponent, swinging her sword with a grace that belied her ferocious axe swings earlier... but Leopold managed to keep pace and deflect most of her strikes, only getting a few minor cuts.

"You ain't doing anything I haven't seen before!" Count Bergliez taunted as he went for a roundhouse kick that was rolled away from.

"Then how about this?!" 'Edelgard' said as she backflipped away, before pulling out something resembling a grappling gun... but when she pulled the trigger, it shot something that attached to Count Bergliez's chest, then shot another line that attached to an ammo crate nearby, before reeling him over! Leopold barely managed to keep his feet as he all but face-planted into the crate, hearing his adversary approach, just managing to turn away from the overhead slash!

"My turn!" Leopold yelled as he grabbed the ammo crate and lifted it up, before hurling it at the Flame Emperor and forcing her to roll away, dropping another flash-bomb to blind her foe! "That trick again...?!" he grunted with squinted eyes, realizing she was getting desperate.

"DIE!" 'Edelgard' cried as she went on the attack with several swift sword strikes... but to no avail, as Leopold managed to use his gauntlets to guard and avert serious injury. He then feinted a kick, before slamming the woman with a headbutt instead, knocking her off-balance! Bergliez proceeded to lay into her with several swift jabs and hooks to the face, ending with an uppercut that sent her tumbling away!

Seeing the Flame Emperor's grapple gun lying on the floor nearby, Leopold quickly grabbed it before exclaiming, "Let's see how YOU like it!" He pulled the trigger, causing another reel to shoot out and attach to 'Edelgard's' chest as she righted her self, which shot a line that attached to a support pillar and reeled her over to it! Before she could regain her balance, Leopold ran up and body-slammed her into the pillar, then followed up with a roundhouse that slammed her head against the pillar once more! The Flame Emperor collapsed bonelessly to the floor, all but unconscious.

Panting heavily, Count Bergliez leaned one hand against the pillar for support, turning his head and spitting. "You picked the wrong target... to assassinate...!" Just then, he heard several more footfalls turning to look...

"Police!" cried an officer as he and several others entered the room with guns drawn, looking every which way, a few members of Adrestia's militia accompanying them.

"About time... you showed up...!" Leopold grunted. He grinned as a young man with pale green hair separated from the group and ran up to him. "Randolph! On the night shift, eh?"

"Are you all right, brother?" inquired Randolph von Bergliez.

"Just a bit winded, a few cuts. Nothing major," Leopold responded as he doffed his wrecked gauntlets. "You should see the other guy...!"

And Randolph did, looking down at the fallen Flame Emperor, doing a double-take. "Is that who I think it is...?!"

"Sure looks like her," Leopold nodded. "But my gut's tellin' me otherwise..."

"You mean, an impostor?!" Randolph gasped. "But why try to frame the governor's niece?"

"Beats me," Count Bergliez shrugged. "She called herself the 'Flame Emperor'..."

"Well, we'll get her taken into custody and take hair and blood samples for DNA analysis," spoke one of the police officers, kneeling down to affix the handcuffs.

"I'm staying with Leopold," Randolph asserted. "I'll help with gathering evidence, too..."

"Fine by us," another officer said as he helped his co-worker lift 'Edelgard' to her feet. "You're under arrest for assault and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be use against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney..."

*A bit later, on the road...*

The Flame Emperor was silent with her head bowed as she sat in the back of the police car, only vaguely aware of the two officer's conversation in the front seats... but then the car hit its brakes, causing her to jerk forward. Looking up, she saw a scythe pierce through the front windshield, going through the driver's head!

"What the hell-" the other officer grunted as he unbuckled and tried to get out- only to get a scythe through his chest once the door opened! The rear door then opened, revealing the Death Knight's familiar helmet.

"You're late," 'Edelgard' deadpanned as she unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out, the Death Knight promptly cutting her shackles loose.

"Did everything go according to plan?" Jeritza queried.

"Couldn't have been better," the Flame Emperor smirked sinisterly. "Now let us depart, before more officers show up..." In a flash of light, the two villains were gone.

*Episode 23- End*