Negima FanFiction Discussion

[OverMaster]

Originally Posted by Finalage

I was actually originally planning that, for them to be alone together, but then I thought more practically for the need to have another there...after all, Satomi is famous for having a "lack of common sense." Something you seriously need in Negi's case, or he'll run circles around you.

Of course, while this might be funny to portray, I think the need to keep Negi in optimal form prevails here. I did briefly think about Chisame, but not much more than a secondary force. My more prevalent thought was Chao being another dorm-mate, perhaps providing some internal tension during the Chao arc right then and there, possibly even drastically changing the whole line of the story...he he....

Well, the trick is finding someone who wouldn't dominate the scene too much with a too strong personality (like Asuna) or wouldn't just be the exact opposite, being as dragged along by Negi as Hakase (like Satsuki or Nodoka). Chao could work, since you already established her as a presence in Hakase's room. And she isn't overtly forceful personality-wise, but she also can work as quite the strong yet subtle guiding force for others.

It'd be funny if, after the revelation of her being Negi's descendants, all the other girls just think she's been the Matchmaker for Negi and Hakase the whole time.

In my planned story, Chisame fits the role of the third person around because, while usually quiet and unnoticed, when forced by circumstances to take a stand, she's very vocal and loud in her 'no-nonsense' demanding. For both of the others.

[Finalage]

That was why I thought of her briefly, but then Chao came to mind and blew her up. Literally, blame her robots. Chao fits a lot of roles that point to what I want, but I'm still thinking about whom might top her.

Still, imagining the descendant getting a chance at racking up some credit in caring for the ancestor in the one of the oddest ways possible is a nice touch, one reason Chao blew Chisame up...poor computer's by the way, I smell burnt plastic.

Pah, I'll see what comes to what.

[OverMaster]

Here's the first draft for the Prologue to my story. Your work has inspired me to pick it up starting now, but rest assured I'll try to go into a fully different direction!

Spoiler for Prologue:

One Year Ago.




"You can go in without any fear, Hasegawa-san. There's nothing wrong in there".

A bigger lie had never been told before.

But trusting the busty woman's voice, since it was as sweet as honey and as trust-inspiring as an angel's, the young Chisame had nodded and walked in first. Only to stop immediately and yelp in horror at the sight of the scene waiting for her instead.

There was a naked mannequin of sorts over the room's main table, laying on its back with its vacant green eyes fixed on the roof above. The weird thing was the mannequin blinked at random intervals, and its chest rose up and then came down in a blasphemous imitation of human breathing, and its hands wiggled their long thin fingers as the girl looming over the doll's body worked on its mechanical entrails, her face covered by a wielding mask that barely allowed to see her black pigtails poking out of the back of her head.

"Sh-Shizuna-sensei!!" Chisame screeched, rushing back to clash against the tall blonde's stomach. "What's that girl doing there??!!".

"Oh my!" the woman looked in, contemplating the delirious situation for a moment before calling out, "Hakase-san!".

"What?" a muffled question came from inside the mask. The masked girl's thin frame, hunchbacked over her awfully messy work, covered all over by large and smelly spots of grease, oil, and some substance eerily similar to thick, crimson blood, didn't move away from her labor at all.

"Hakase-san!" Minamoto Shizuna insisted. "Stop that immediately, or else you'll be reported to the Dean! I thought we had agreed you wouldn't bring your experiments here! You already have your own laboratory for that!".

Finally, that had made her to turn her welder off and lift the mask off her cute, bespectacled, dirty face. She gave the mature female a somewhat wounded look.

"B-But I'm almost reaching my deadline! If I want to finish before—".

"No excuses" Shizuna said, gentle but firm. "It's just rude to use the dorms for that, especially now you have a roommate".

"I'm not going to be her roommate!" Chisame had quickly protested.

"Now, now" the blonde had calmly pushed her forward, towards the other girl and the robot thing. "Like I said before, there's no need to fear, Hasegawa-san. She is a girl your own age, and not too unlike yourself. Hakase-san, this is Hasegawa Chisame, the student I mentioned to you earlier. Hasegawa-san, this is Hakase Satomi, your fellow student and roommate for the rest of the year, and hopefully beyond".

Chisame cringed while looking at the freak's face. And the freak looked back, with large and curious black eyes, full with an eccentric spark not too unlike that of a drunk monkey. Eyes that were pretty much the only clean thing in that face splattered all over with ill smelling chemical leftovers.

The freak was the one to break the awkward silence with an unfazed, "When did you mention a roommate?".

"Last week" Shizuna fought the vein threatening to pop up into her forehead back down.

"I don't remember that" the Hakase girl replied.

"I even left you a reminder note over your fridge" the sensei stated.

"You did?" the strange girl craned her neck back towards a door and into her kitchen. "Oh, it's true! Yes, I think I do remember now".

Chisame gave another imploring desperate stare up at the tall and attractive female. Sadly, she seemed unmoved by her plight, despite her soft smile and her patting on the poor girl's shoulders.

"She needs someone close around at all times to remind her about such things" Shizuna whispered. "She is a good girl. You'll get along well".

The mannequin chose that moment to creepily rotate her eyes towards Chisame, scaring her even more.

"Eeek!".

Shizuna barely could hold her down by the shoulders enough to prevent her from running away. "Oh dear, I forgot to introduce her! I'm terribly sorry. Hasegawa-san, that is Karakuri Chachamaru, another one of your future classmates at 1-A".

"What?! She's the anatomic display for the class, you mean!" the brown haired girl quickly corrected her.

"Pleased to meet you, Hasegawa-san" the thing spoke with a soft, polite, but perfectly inhuman and sterile voice. "I will be glad to help you with anything I can".

Then it reached up with a hand, grabbing one of Chisame's to give it a gentle and feminine shake.

"Kyaaaa!!!!" Chisame screeched, scared out of her wits. It was so cold! Like a corpse's!

She let the heavy handbags she was carrying to fall down and still attempted to escape, only to immediately stumble into the conveniently placed and firmly planted shapely body of Minamoto-sensei. "Please, you can't do this! You have to reassign me!" she begged.

"I'm afraid all other rooms are full by now" Shizuna commented, now almost sounding sympathetic, passing a hand through Chisame's hair. "Don't worry. Karakuri-san won't be spending most of her time here. She sleeps at the workshop".

"Actually, I haven't programmed her to follow sleep patterns yet" the dirty weirdo piped in. "I don't think I will, actually. Too bothersome, and there are more efficient ways to recharge energy. Oh, sorry. My manners".

She walked briskly to Chisame and quickly took her hands into a much firmer, almost tomboyish, rather clumsy handshake. "Excuse my forgetting you! I have been in an absorbing nonstop finishing procedure for Chachamaru for the last few weeks, and I'm afraid I haven't had the time for much else, I'm afraid. Want to watch?" she offered.

"Hakase-san, I think I have just told you to stop doing that here" Shizuna repeated herself.

"Oh, yes. That..." Hakase sighed, disappointed.

Chisame made a face, looking down at the prone object they seemed to be trying to pass as some sort of human being. "What... what is this... Why are you...".

"I am an artificial intelligence developed under commission of the Mahora Robotics Club" the mannequin informed flatly. "I am going to enlist in this year's first grade class A as a test of my capacities regarding interaction with Japanese modern society. As such, I eagerly look forward my continuing intermingling with your gracious person, Hasegawa-san".

"S-Stop that!" Chisame gasped. "The fact you're being so polite just makes you scarier!".

"Um, maybe I should readjust her speech patterns. Less flowery, more concise and to the point, okay? Okay. I got it" the Dr. Frankenstein wannabe absently stated while wiping her hands clean with a towel that had been laying over a nearby chair. She then handed it over to Chisame, who only then noticed her own hands were just as dirty after the mad scientist's handshake. With a disgusted grimace, she was fast to wipe them as clean as she could.

The whole living room was an absolute mess, as a matter of fact, and she was sure the rest of the dorm would be even worse. Would she have to clean all of that up? She couldn't set a webcamera and allow her just started community of fans to watch... THAT!... around herself. Her wonderful web project would die on its crib!

But of course, the girl with the messy pigtails who was looking at her face couldn't care any less about any of that, could she? She was just there, smiling as a dumb frat boy who had just farted.

Finally, Chisame dared to make the question she had been dreading for the last few minutes.

"Umm... where is the bathroom, please?".

"Well, heh heh" Hakase Satomi scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "I don't think you should walk in there just yet. You'll see, I was testing Chachamaru's water endurance there a few hours ago, and—".

Chisame bit her lower lip, whimpering under her breath.

That would be a hideously long school year.

[Finalage]

Ha ha, it's better that what I consider mine to be. You can't help but feel sorry for the be-speckled hacker here. Of course, Satomi forgetting about Chisame moving in is typical, Chachamaru still being here is a bit off historically, but whoever cares in the realm of suspension of belief, hardly anyone remembers Chacha's age anywho.


"... and hopefully beyond." Did we forget an extra three letter word somewhere in there Shizuna?

It doesn't matter to me if you go along a different or completely different storyline to me, feel free to express your writing however you wish, and go where-ever it takes you, don't let me stand in your way there.

[OverMaster]

It still goes on!

Spoiler for Chapter One:

One Year Later:




"HAKASE!!" The girl with the long brown hair yelled for the third time that morning. "Hakase, wake up!".

Her roommate only replied with a vague snore and a wave of a hand, turning her back on her and rolling aside so she was facing the wall now.

The standing girl fumed angrily. Fed up with it, she roughly grabbed the prone teenager and lifted her slim body up easily, forcing her to sit up.

"You shouldn't do that..." Hakase Satomi yawned loudly, keeping her eyes still closed. "Serious studies have proved that abrupt interruptions of the sleep periods can cause harmful effects on—".

"Forget those studies! Our studies are what matters now!" Chisame barked at her, perching her hands on her own hips in a challenging manner. "Today's the first day of the new term, remember?".

Hakase mumbled with a nod of her head. Her eyes still remained closed.

"Then stand up already, dammit!" Piping mad, the taller girl grabbed the mad genius and dragged her out of the lower bunk of their bed, making her to moan in incoherent displeasure. "Or I swear to God I'll leave you behind!".

Satomi whined sleepily as Hasegawa Chisame made her to raise her arms up to pull her pajamas' shirt off, then tugged her pants down. By now, the black haired girl had gained some more self awareness, though, and she was able to finish stripping while her roommate began unbuttoning her own pajamas.

"Do I really need to go?" Hakase asked lazily. "First days are nothing but useless introductions. I'm sure it won't make any difference if I stay here finishing—".

By then, Chisame already was fully naked, grabbing her by a hand, and interrupting her by dragging her out of the room and into the small shower cubicle.

The sudden hot waterfall on her body shook Satomi further out of her stupor, but Hasegawa wouldn't take any chances. She started to rub the shampoo on her hated roommate's scalp herself, washing her hair down like a pro.

"You don't need to do that, either..." Hakase yawned again, then coughed as water poured into her mouth.

"Oh, yes, I do!" Chisame insisted. "Because if I don't, you'll walk out of here with shampoo still on your hair, wearing your skirt backwards, and without your tie on! I won't march all the way to the classroom with a walking disaster area!".

The taller female idly wondered what had she done to deserve that as she soaped the shorter girl's back down. She hoped she'd never have to bear a child, but if she ever did, she was sure she'd get tons of prior experience by living with Hakase. That nerd was as hopeless with everyday life as she was bright with academics.

There were a few good things about rooming with her, of course. She was a great help with homework and study sessions; Chisame's grades had gone up from somewhat below the average to quite above it since she had moved with her. She also was always quick to fix her computers in any case she needed it (even when some malcontent troll or ill-loser competitor sent her a virus even she couldn't detect or neutralize in time), something Chisame was certainly, all in all, thankful for (and part of the reasons why she was tolerating having to wash her back off now).

But mostly, Hakase kept the peepers away. Not intentionally, of course; but Hasegawa had quickly learned it paid off to allow her to use the living room for anything she wanted. The mere sight of that horror, that maelstrom of half finished mechanical abominations and discarded clothes, eternally with the stench of oil and rust floating all over it, was enough to prevent anyone from stepping further inside.

So Chiu had her privacy.

In turn, Satomi had learned to leave the rest of the dorm for Chisame to handle. She was no domestic expert herself, but compared to Hakase, she was Martha Stewart. If Martha Stewart were a cosplaying hacker.

That was another good thing about Satomi; she simply had no interest on Chiu's affairs. She didn't mock them, but she didn't fawn over them either. The first time she had put her eyes on the webpage, she only gave it a brief disapproving glare before turning away without saying a word. And that was it. She had as much interest on criticizing or praising Chisame's cosplay habits as Chisame had on analyzing or disassembling her stupid gizmos.

And they both liked it that way. It was a happily unspoken topic between them.

Now they were fully clothed and eating breakfast. Chisame had cooked, of course; again, she was no master cook, but necessity had taught her. Her roommate was unable to cook anything that didn't smell like a broken radiator and looked even worse.

She was slow as hell to eat, too. Except when she was in a hurry to finish some darn machine. She still had a piece of bacon in her mouth by the time Chisame had enough and pulled her out with herself.

"Come on! We're going to be late!".

"Wait, wait... Eating too fast, not to mention running so shortly afterwards, is unhealthy, didn't you know? Specialists from Toudai University have determined that—".

Again she was dragged along, a huffing Chisame keeping her firmly grabbed by a hand. Hakase had to run after her to keep her pace. Barely.

Even so, they still were the last two to make it to the classroom, although luckily for them, the teacher had not arrived yet, either. Obviously, Hakase didn't mind one way or another; like always, the first thing she did was to rush over to Chachamaru, to start the routine questioning on her latest developments and incidents, quickly taking notes, all under the blond Evangeline's indolent glare.

Chisame, like every other day, sat down next to the ever quiet Ayase Yue, both girls merely exchanging a brief 'Good morning'.

The hacker actually almost liked Yue. At the very least, she was respectful and mindful of her privacy. True, there had to be something deeply wrong with someone who kept such low grades despite reading so much (and always displaying a stunning intellect when asked about anything), not to mention her despicable tastes in juice flavors, but that still was small potatoes compared to the issues of the rest of the class.

Yue's pal Saotome Haruna sat next to a window, frantically doodling obscene sketches on a notebook, biting her lower lip.

Hakase's friend Chao Lingshen and her portly partner in crime Yotsuba Satsuki were selling hot meat buns along the desks.

The redheaded Kagurazaka Asuna fumed madly in her seat, with a large group of girls gathered around her listening avidly. Although too steamed up to explain herself clearly, she seemed to be saying something about someone replacing Takahata-sensei for that year. So Takahata was leaving the class, Chisame thought. A pity. He actually was one of the most normal teachers around. She truly hoped they wouldn't get Itoshiki-sensei instead.

Shiina Sakurako and Akashi Yuuna were distracting the Class Rep while the tomboyish Kasuga Misora and the tiny Narutaki twins set a standard foolish trap at the door. Chisame sneered. It was to be expected from the childlike twins, but Kasuga definitely should have known better by now, after her latest few stays at detention.

Her errant thoughts were interrupted by Konoe Konoka's perky and happy voice.

"Hey, hey, Chisame-chan!".

She gave the Konoe heiress a neutral look. The black haired girl could be annoying at times, but looking at those huge and cheerful dark eyes, it was nearly impossible to feel angry at her.

"What do you want?".

"I'm reading everyone's future! You want to know what's waiting for you in this new period, don't you?" Konoka giggled, then grabbed Chisame's right hand without really waiting for a confirmation. Yet her attitude was never pushy or rude, but simply too eager and fast to avoid. Hasegawa couldn't do anything but wait as Konoka kept looking at her palm, carefully, long and hard, making slight humming sounds every so few seconds. Until she finally let the hand go and merrily exclaimed. "You're in luck today! This is the day you're going to meet your fated love!".

Chisame couldn't help but violently jerk back with a full facial blush, even as she heard some other girls laughing at her reaction. "D-Don't say such stupid things!".

"It's okay! She's just joking" Kakizaki Misa waved a hand around. "That's the very same thing she just told me".

"Me too" the short haired Izumi Ako added, with a gentler, softer short laugh. "Konoka-san is truly a kidder!".

Konoka made the most adorable pouting face. "I'm not kidding! My predictions don't ever fail!". Instantly, she perked up again, looking at one of the seats at the back rows. "Ne, ne, Setchan! Don't you want to know your destiny in love, too?".

The thin and pale girl she was addressing looked aside with an indifferent expression.

"Not interested" she icily said.

Konoka's face fell down for a moment, but then she, along with most of the others, was startled by the sounds of nervous chattering right outside their door.

"It's them!" Misora grinned, with an evil spark in her eyes. Rushing back to her chair, she kept her vision fully focused on the door, like a hawk eyeing a mouse.

The door started being pushed open from the outside.

[OverMaster]

Chapter One, Part Two:

Spoiler for It's still on!:

A small head peeked in carefully, looking inside with large chocolate eyes not too unlike those of a deer. It looked like, of all things, a boy. A child. Tiny bifocal glasses were on the bridge of his diminutive nose, and his dark brown hair seemed to have been combed as well as possible, only to fail at avoiding conveying its own unruliness.

He stared at them, and all of them stared back, suddenly gripped by an uneasy silence.

Then the eraser set on top of the door fell down towards his head.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, but Chisame still could notice it.

The boy had tensed up in alarm, and then, for some reason, the eraser stopped in midair for half a second. Only to reassume its fall just another split second later, and only after the kid stared up at it with a face of... guilt, actually. As if he had just done something he shouldn't have.

It wasn't until then that the eraser hit his head down, showering him with chalk dust.

But that wasn't the end of it, oh no. Misora was a craftswoman, a master of her technique. A simple eraser would never suffice. So, as the boy coughed, stumbling inside, his right foot clashed against a tightly tensedwire. Naturally, he fell down on his face, just as a bucket full of water fell onto his head, and several arrows with suction cup points were shot from the walls and all over his body.

Wile E. Coyote would have clapped.

But 2-A, even Misora herself, had gulped in horror as a single woman. All of them but Evangeline and Zazie Rainyday, always silent, always stonefaced.

The boy just laid there, pitifully, as soft sobs could be heard from inside the bucket. Behind him, right at the doorway, Minamoto Shizuna stared, wide eyed, until she focused her view narrowly into her usual main suspect.

"Kasuga-san..." the adult woman said.

Misora looked aside nervously. "I didn't do it, no one saw me doing it, you can't prove anything!".

The Class Rep already was crouched down at the boy's side, carefully removing the bucket from his head, lovingly drying his tears with her soft and skilled fingers. "Oh dear! I'm so very sorry! It's my fault! I should have checked!".

"Sorry, sorry!" Narutaki Fumika hyperventilated. "We thought you'd be our new teacher!".

"It's only a child..." Sakaki Makie once again showed her talent for the obvious.

"No way! He must be a circus midget!" Narutaki Fuuka gasped.

Well, you should know a few things on the matter, Chisame thought cynically.

"Actually, he indeed is your new teacher" Shizuna replied, helping him to stand up. "Negi-sensei, please introduce yourself".

"Y-Yes!" wiping his face as clean and dry as he could with a fine tissue the Class Rep had offered him, the child faced his dazzled audience and cleared his throat. "G-Good morning, everyone! Pleased to meet you! My name is Negi Springfield, and starting today, I'll teach you mag— I mean, English, as your homeroom teacher! Please, let's all do our best here!".

For a moment, you could have heard a needle falling at the classroom. All the girls seemed to have turned into salt statues.

That was until Haruna sprang up with a high pitched squeal.

"HE'S SO CUTE!!".

That was the go sign for more than half of the class to charge forward and pounce onto him, tackling him against the teacher's desk and burying him into a cascade of hugging bodies. Even the normally reserved and stoic Ookuchi Akira had joined them, with a blush running over her cheeks.

Still firmly planted at her chair, Chisame took a look at the few others left behind. Yue shrugged her shoulders indifferently, then pulled one of her infernal juice boxes out and took a first sip from it.

Hakase just stared vacantly at the front of the room, as if her brain was in a rebooting. Her face betrayed no emotion at all, and for once, Hasegawa found her absolutely impossible to read.

Evangeline seemed to scowl a little, but then again, that was her overall attitude towards everything.

Chachamaru took readings of the scene through her now slightly glowing green eyes, and you almost could hear the little beepings and boopings going on inside of her head.

Setsuna was simply looking out a window.

Zazie had pulled a few balls out of her handbag and was now juggling them, oblivious to everything around herself. For the first time in her life, Chisame envied her.

The hacker made her way to the vaguely amused Shizuna. "Sensei" she humorlessly told her. "This is a joke, right?".

"I'm afraid not" Shizuna said. Chisame hated that tone in her voice. It was the very same one she had used when she had stuck her with Hakase little more than twelve months ago.

"How old are you?!" the scarlet-haired Asakura Kazumi had swiftly reentered her class reporter mode, fishing a microphone out of her backpack and pushing it against the kid's mouth.

"Ehhh!!??" he blinked. "Oh, well, I'm ten!".

"Where are you from?" Murakami Natsumi asked. "You sound like a foreigner".

"I... I come from the mountains of Wales..." he blabbered nervously.

"That's near Spain, right?" Makie wanted to know.

"Where do you live now?" Kugimiya Madoka spoke next.

"I... It hasn't been decided yet...".

Right then, however, a taller, stronger girl pushed Madoka aside and grabbed the boy his shirt, pulling him face to face with herself. He was looking at a mismatched set of a blue eye and a green one now. Asuna.

"You, brat!" she barked. "What was that thing you just did with the eraser?!".

"... What?" he yelped.

"Don't play the fool!" she shot back. "We all saw it, didn't we? No matter how you look at it, it's simply impossible!".

Chisame found herself nodding at it. For once, Asuna was right. She had noticed it too. Hadn't the others...? They couldn't not notice it, right? But looking at Satomi's clueless face, it was painfully clear that yes, some of them had missed the detail.

"It must have been a freak breeze" Misa piped in.

"INSIDE OF A BUILDING?!" Asuna noted.

"It'd get in through a window" Naba Chizuru opined.

"NOT MOVING ANYTHING BUT AN ERASER?!" Asuna claimed.

"Asuna-san, please!" the blonde Class Rep raised her voice, slamming a hand down on the desk a few times. "Let our teacher go right now!".

The redhead growled at her. "I'd be very happy to let him go for good, yes!".

The elegant, refinated class president huffed at her. "As expected from a violent maniacal ape like you. You show no respect neither for authority, nor for the defenseless".

A vein popped into Asuna's forehead. "Maniacal... ape...??".

"You have not evolved beyond that" the Iincho was unfazed. "Clearly, the young gentleman you are manhandling is a prodigy of his field. We all shoul feel honored to have him here. Perhaps he could achieve the miracle of teaching you anything other than the alphabet".

Asuna let the child go to face her natural nemesis. "What's with you now, being so sure about this twerp?".

"Hm... It's painfully obvious for anyone with a few working brain cells" the blonde casually brushed a lock of golden hair off her own forehead. "Mahora Academy only employs the best of the best, and for some foreign youngster to be working here, he must be nothing but the pinnacle of precocious experience".

Asuna chuckled knowingly. "Yeah, right, I'd bet you want to have some precocious experience with him".

The Class Rep narrowed her eyes, as if she had felt something biting her. "What do you mean with that?".

Asuna said only one word. "Shotacon".

That had done it.

"WHAT?!?" the refinated girl stopped being so refinated as she jumped straight for Asuna. "Take that back, you... you... gravedigger! It's not my fault you can't realize your dreams of hitting on every elder man that walks your way!".

They started struggling with each other, as the girls around them cheered on wildly, and Shizuna and the child made their best to keep them apart from tearing themselves into pieces.

"AT LEAST I LIKE THEM OF LEGAL AGE!!".

"YES, IT'D WORK FINE IF YOU WERE OF LEGAL AGE TOO! SHAMELESS LOLITA!!".

"I'LL GET OLDER, BUT YOU'LL NEVER GET AS YOUNG AS THE BABIES YOU HARASS!".

Chisame buried her face into her hands. Even Itoshiki-sensei would have been better than that.

[Finalage]

Seen through the eyes of Chisame, the humor is natural. I only saw one blunder, but I wasn't looking, and honestly, one shouldn't be.

"We all shoul feel honored to have him here."

It's in it's own kind of brilliance. Still, isn't hyperventilating going a bit far? No, it's not, that's all part of the hilarity. A nice play on cannon, now if only my own brain would get up off it's arse and formulate what I need it too! I know what I want to write, but the words escape me.

Ahh, yet, as soon as I say that, it never fails to surprise me, does it?

So far, I have this little tidbit, but I have yet to get to the main course here...

Spoiler for Part One, Chapter Two:

In the bustling cities of Mahora, one voice called out warning to the citizens fair, of diamonds and gold, of hopes torn, despair. Boldy, that voice spoke of pain, of the sky to fall down upon all eyes, sundering pillars, crumbling stone... The world was to end, and cacophony to reign, today, today, the blood shall spill!

Who ever listened to Chicken little anyway?

Satomi ran with the wind, or, at least, as fast as her limbs allowed. Her lab coat flew around her as she leapt to cover the distance four more seconds would have her walk. She landed hard on her feet, for her arms were laden with books, and her glasses threatened to fly off her visage, they wouldn't hold up in this wind tunnel.

Swerving as best she could on the pivot of her hip, she almost caused a bicyclist to crash into a fruit cart, and as he glanced back, he crashed anyway at the sight he met from a flailing coat. She ran haphazardly, heading for the robotics department...she had to get there as quickly as possible, before anyone dared enter her premises...her work, her work!

She bolted up the steps nearing the fountain, and taking another turn as a speeding car might, she swerved, nearly colliding head on with another pedestrian, and clearly upsetting another's balance. Into the fountain they went, throwing up a spray that Satomi dutifully avoided, protests falling upon deaf ears.

Looking back… back to...do what again? Oh, forget it, it was too late anywho. Turning back however, she was faced with another problem, one of monumental importance. The ground had disappeared. In a fatal error, she had performed an act of negligence, and run until her angle projected her clean off the steps down!

Oh my...in this case, one might very well say I would fall...about now...what's the word again? Oh yes...defecation...

A short tidbit that tells nothing...but I think we all know what's going to happen...

[Sin Ansem]

For those who care, I recently updated GHQ.

I'm actually kinda struggling with the resulting fight that's going to happen, because well, I need Konoka to form a pactio so I can turn the tide of the battle. But everyone's personalities and their logic is so contrary to what I need them to do, it's kinda frustrating. Konoka would essentially have to abandon Flonne (which she won't do), and Tamaki would EI them anyway, which are the two major roadblocks I'm having trouble with getting around. I thought about Flonne doing a noble sacrifice, but that would require Flonne knowing about EI beforehand. See how much little details can screw you?

Alternate/better ideas would help immensely.

[Finalage]

I'd like to help, but do you care to give us a little synopsis? Your story is quite progessed, and I'm sorry if I haven't been following it...(I've had little time to follow anything, I barely got to read the two latest chapters of Negima yesterday. Barely.)

What's the stats?

By the way! Resistance Hertz is up with it's Second Chapter; Open Circuit.

Ohh great. I just realized I don't have a spoon. I can't eat my lunch again. Darn.

[OverMaster]

Unequally Rational and Emotional, Chapter 1, Act 3.

Spoiler for Yeah, it's still on:

The fact Chisame had learned how to cook due to the circumstances of her life with Hakase still didn't mean she liked to do it. So, whenever they had enough money, they would go have dinner at the Chao Bao Zi. The small restaurant's owner, their class' own Chao Lingshen, was Satomi's closest research colleague, so they always got a special discount. And there was no point on denying the food was delicious.

So, that evening, they had ended up there as well. Chisame wasn't in the mood to cook at all. They sat together eating their bowls of ramen at the counter bar, while Chachamaru and Yotsuba served the tables and Chao herself counted the night's income at the register box.

"So, what do you think about the new teacher, neh?" the fair skinned Chinese girl finally asked them.

"I think it's a mistake" Chisame spoke coldly. "What can a freaking child teach us?".

"Oh, I don't know. His first class today was rather good and to the point-yo..." Chao mused quietly. "As soon as he finally could separate Asuna and the Iincho...".

"It's all the same for me" Hakase answered with a very short shrugging of her narrow shoulders. "In any case, I've never met any teacher who knew more than me, child or adult".

From the mouth of anyone else, it'd have sounded as a hideous, megalomaniacal boast, but somehow, Hakase made it to sound simply like a matter of fact devoid of any emotion. Mainly because it was completely true.

Chao hummed to herself as she closed the register. Something was wrong with her, Chisame suspected. She seemed unusually introspective and calmed after joking with the others about Negi, and since the day's class had finished. Not like Chisame cared, of course.

Of course.

Later, as she and Satomi walked back to their dorm, she, for once, felt tempted to ask the scientist a personal question.

"Hakase?".

"Yes?".

"Didn't you notice anything strange with Lingshen today?".

"What? Huh, no. I don't think so. Why do you ask?".

"It's nothing. Forget it".

"Oh, sure".

She had sounded almost too happy to say that. And it was true. If there was something Hakase could be trusted on, that was on her forgetting anything not related to science.

However, Chisame's temporal peace of mind was soon shattered once more while approaching their dorm. There was someone inside, since there was light coming out of one of their windows. But how...? Chisame ran fearfully to the door, dreading the end of her golden Internet empire. If anyone had learned her secret, she would never live it down. She'd lose the perfect balance she had fought so hard to achieve!

She was mildly relieved to see it was Shizuna-sensei inside, and not any of her classmates. Then her spirits sunk back down when she saw him with the woman, both of them sitting at the couch, watching TV.

The brat.

"My, my, you two sure took a long time to arrive!" Shizuna greeted the girls. "Sorry for intruding, but we waited outside for too long, so I decided to use the master key".

"Good evening" Negi bowed respectfully.

Chisame hoped she wasn't as pale with shock as she felt. If only she could look as unaffected as Hakase was... "Wh-Why did you two 'need' to get in here?!".

"Well, you will see, Dean Konoe gave a special instruction for Negi-sensei to move here until we can find a permanent place for him" Shizuna informed.

"I'm sorry to be a bother" the boy apologized.

"What?!" Chisame snapped. "He's supposed to be a teacher, isn't he?! Why can't he stay with any other teacher?".

"Most of us either live too far, or have children of their own, or simply have far too small living quarters" the beautiful blone explained patiently. "He can't live alone, and your other classmates are too... enthusiastic or too... complex for a child to be trusted to them".

Chisame made a face. How desperate they had to be for the two of them to be their best hope? In any instance, it was logical to guess the old man wouldn't dump that load on his beloved grandaughter. Damn favoritisms.

Satomi didn't look too shaken by the news, but still seemed wary in her own way. "I don't think I could carry my experiments with full freedom if I have him running around" she informed dutifully.

"You shouldn't be carrying experiments here in the first place" the adult reminded her.

Hakase sighed. "It always has to be that loophole, doesn't it?".

Negi lowered his gaze to the big travel bag laying at his feet, looking humble and saddened.

"In any case, it's a direct command from the Headmaster himself" Shizuna insisted. "There's no use on trying to refuse it".

"But, if there's no place for me—" Negi started.

"There it is" Minamoto stated conclusively.

Chisame grumbled. At the very least, all her Chiu wardrobe and related items were safely stocked into her special closet, away from indiscret eyes for the moment. "How long will that take?" she wanted to know.

"As long as a better arrangement can be found" the woman said.

In Mahora Academy burocratic terms, that meant, 'It's intended to be permanent, so you'd better shut up and take it', as Chisame knew from experience. It was the same reply she got back when she first attempted to file a petition to be transfered to a solo room all those months ago.

Both girls looked at each other's eyes, and found no clear answer, but still, Chisame decided not to delay the unavoidable anymore. "Okay" she gave a sigh. "He can stay. For now".

The child beamed up a huge, cheerful smile, as bright as the Sun, hated bane of any reclusive hacker. "Thank you very much!" he chirped joyfully.

Good Lord, he was so sickeningly sweet. Was he for real? Chisame already had her strong doubts.

But mostly, she was terrified about what new roommate would they give her the NEXT year.

[Finalage]

Ahh, poor Chisame, she's the one taking all of the brunt, isn't she? You were more serious this time, which is a good way to mellow things out. Try to much humor and people will comment on you trying too hard...I see you have a name picked out...so are you going to post it up soon, or are you waiting until you have more content as a backlog?

[OverMaster]

I was waiting to have the Prologue and the first chapter finished before posting them at FF.Net. Now that I have them both done, I probably will submit them tomorrow.

Spoiler for Chapter One, Conclusion:

The bedroom Chao Lingshen shared with Yotsuba Satsuki was completely silent save for the plump girl's soft dreamy breathing on the bed's lower bunk. Chao couldn't help but smiling as she looked down at that innocent and full face, so unsuspecting, so blissful.

The Chinese girl sat by her desk near the bed, breathing deeply before taking her gaze apart from her roommate and opening her secret journal. Sometimes, such a primitive, normally laughable medium was the best option for filing information. It couldn't be hacked into. It was completely private, and fully unexpected from someone with her preferences.

And it was fully written in code. Her own code. Only she knew about it, or about the journal's very existence; she had memorized the whole code and left no decoders anywhere. No Rosetta stones to unearth, ever. No one would even know about their existence. Not Satsuki. Not Chachamaru. Not Satomi. Certainly not Ku Fei, who wouldn't have been able to even begin to understand her writings if left with a full manual to decipher her clues, that poor wonderful soul.

It was her own, exclusive and most valued secret. The whole, full weight of it all was her own cross to carry. No one else's.






Entry: Day One-Stage One-Attempt Number (CLASSIFIED).


The main subject, Negi Springfield, arrived today as expected. No major departures from prior iterations were observed in Class 2-A's reactions to his appointment. The subject also seems to follow the same behavioral and ethical patterns experienced in prior repeats of the procedure. (FURTHER RESEARCH REQUIRED).

However, my family tree has changed again.

The 'branches' are still basically the same, but their order has shifted once more. As long as I keep the same core DNA makeup and upbringing background, I should be okay. But I cannot keep doing this for much longer. Soon, I will age enough to make for an unconvincing student for this class.

I might have to start looking into developing a permanent extract derived from the Age Deceiving Pills. However, such a change is difficult to hope to achieve even with my current resources. Not even Mc Dowell has managed to perfect any sort of magic that can grant her a permanent physical age different from that she had upon reaching her current status. As a human, I am unlikely to achieve what she couldn't in that regard.


She looked at her face in the desk's mirror. The secondary effects of constant time travelling had been kind to her. She still looked the same as always, didn't she? Yes, she did, Chao decided. At least she hoped so; betting on the memories from prior loops once their events had been overwritten was always a risky gamble. She still could pass as a fourteen years old for a few iterations more, although she truly wished it wouldn't be needed. It was getting harder and harder to keep the facade... not the physical one, but the emotional one... with each passing try.

She went back to her writing.



My sources have informed me the subject will be designated to cohabit with Hasegawa Chisame and Hakase Satomi for this occasion. This could be useful; proximity through Satomi could allow me to keep a closer watch on him than before. By now, I am convinced that might be the key to my success.

Then again, proximity to him could also be my undoing.

I write these lines as a future reminder to myself, to not get emotionally involved beyond the limits that have been proved being hazardous to the mission in the past. Emotional links are always a need in the context of the situation at hand, both for the sake of my own mental health and my interactions with the subjects, but I cannot allow myself more mistakes born out of my subjective feelings. Time and time again I have failed, both when I try to get too involved, and when I try to get too distant. Why? Where, do I wonder, is the perfect point to access the desired result? Is there such a thing in the first place?.

Am I afraid of leaving again? Do I want to belong so much? Am I so afraid of going through the heartache one more time? Of fighting him yet again? And of seeing my efforts ultimately failing once more no matter if I defeat him or not?.

Exactly what do I need to do that I haven't done before? That is the question I need to answer to solve this riddle.

I am so tired of trying, and yet I cannot quit it. Is the future impossible to change? No. I cannot allow myself such expressions of selfdoubt and despair. Not when I might be so close to a breakthrough.

That is why I keep writing this.

I trust we will find a way. With any luck, it will happen in this very same loop.

There ARE a few things I have not tried yet. Perhaps, it is a matter of attempting another approach. A different angle.

Hopefully, the new factors added to the situation in this repeat of the overall situational frame will grant me the chance to actually make a difference now.





She closed the journal with a sigh, locked it down at its secret place, and kissed the sleeping Satsuki's forehead lightly. She climbed up into her bunk with an athlete's agility, slipped the blankets over herself, and tried to sleep.

[Kurush]

Nice. Very nice. Eh? Oi, I better get something up here myself, lest I fall behind.

This is going on in chapter 39, which I'm writing. No focus on the main characters here, sorry. You can make speculations about anything here.

Spoiler for Where's Nodoka?:

“Come on... just a bit further...” Symon told himself as he crawled along the field filled with bodies to get to his other leg. “Come on, come on...” He managed to get hold of it. “YES!” Wasting no time, he reattached the leg onto himself and it kicked in, making sure that the leg stuck there. “Phew.” He collapsed on the field, covered in cuts and slashes across his leather armor, and his cloak was all torn from scratches and blade swings. “Oww... that really hurt.” He tried to get up to get a look over the battlefield. “Well, this isn't looking good. Not good at all.”

A lone figure stumbled, with its grotesque features and sharpened fangs for teeth, and ragged armor, through the field and spotted him. A single roar escaped his lips as it charged toward the sitting ranger fellow. “Ah, blast!” Symon said, trying to draw one of his swords, only to see his assailant get shot down by a single bolt in the throat. “What?”

“Don't thank me.” Jashol told him as he came from behind. “I like it that way. Bloody things come out of nowhere now and then here to try and get a bite of you.”

“Jashol?” Symon asked. “Huh, didn't expect you to be the one coming to my rescue.” He tried to get up, only to be pulled up by the older of the two.

“You might as well get used to it, sooner or later.” Jashol told him. “Normally I wouldn't have to put up with this crap, but the incentive is too strong for me this time.”

“Oh, so you're just in it for the money?”

“Money? Money doesn't fit into this equation. I just want to be cured.” He told Symon, but had to explain it somehow to him. “....I have a... unique sickness. High King Rufus said he would get rid of it if I signed up for this quest of yours.”

“Right...” Symon bought that story, but realized there was more to it. He decided not to pursue the matter, as they had more pressing ones at hand. “Have you seen the others?”

“No, you're the first I've found since this mess.” Jashol replied. “Apart from a few straggling survivors from Glathk, you're the only one I've met.”

“...Oh, crap.” Symon said, realizing what this could mean. “We need to find the others. We gotta make sure they're alive.”

Jashol paled as he realized that if Nodoka was dead, then they were all in big trouble. Most troubling for him, he would be vivisected by the magi. “Come on!”

“Nodoka!” Symon cried out, running in the direction he believed she could be in. Since they were seemingly in the middle of the carcass filled field, they headed for the upper hill where Captain Ishin Saura had kept their mage from the main battle... until someone sounded an emergencey alarm when the apparent dragons came flying down on them. “Nodoka!”

“Lady!” Jashol joined him. “Lady~!”

“Miss Hinagiku!” Symon tried now. “Boris! Rev'keth! Bax!?” Then he crashed into someone. “Oof!”

“Watch it, would you?” The tall Githyanki told him. This one was dressed in a great robe, very much like the one Nodoka herself had been wearing. But it was like he had popped out of nowhere whilst they were running for the hills. “...You would seem, familiar to me. Somehow.”

“Familiar?” Symon repeated the word, taking a full look at him. He could see the white hair under the hood. “Do I know you?”

“Hold on...” The tall Gith said, before waving a green glowing hand in front of the young man's face with his eyes closed. “Ah. The Merchant Prince. It was an interesting... encounter you had last year, Symon, son of Gaelan.”

“Wha?” Symon exclaimed suddenly, reeling back. “How did you know about that!?”

“Argh, it's a mage!” Jashol reacted violently, and got that blackwooden spear from somewhere and pointed it at the newcomer. “Stay away from us. I don't know about Symon, but you certainly aren't gonna vivisect either of us in my opinion.”

“I only came here to investigate the sudden amount of magic energy that had exploded in this area.” The mage excused himself, taking a firm hold of the spear. “And you'd better put this away before I lock you up in a little sphere, Jashol, son of Jashal.”

“What the-? How come you know our names to begin with?” Jashol asked the tall mage.

“In case you must know, since time is running, I'm of the Underground Githyanki. We keep a detailed record of those on the surface, who has had an intriguing experience with magic and gained a semi-permanent effect from it. Symon on one hand has had a mild encounter and wasn't really worth gathering in, since the effect he gained was although permanent, it was already replicable by our own powers.”

“So that's why you magi wise guys have been hunting me, because you can't replicate my abilities?” Jashol inquired of him.

“Something to that effect, but we can't dwell on this discussion right now. You were searching for someone, weren't you?”

“Oh, crap!” Symon reacted first. “Nodoka! We gotta find her!”

“Come on, we need to find out what happened here in order to find out where she is now.” The mage said before introducing himself. “I'm Ashracai, Archmage of the Githyanki, and Nodoka's father.”

“Pleased to meet y-AAAAargh! Nodoka's father?!” The ranger exclaimed, reeling back in shock.

“Adoption.” Ashracai explained for short term whilst looking for something that stood out. “Look for something belonging to any of your friends. That takes priority first.”

The three of them set to work immediately. Apart from saving the life of the occasional wounded soldier, or granting another one the peace of eternal sleep, it took over an hour before they discovered something that belonged to a companion. “Found it!” Jashol cried out, waving the other two over.

“That's Lady Hina's helmet.” Symon recognized the seemingly intact helmet made of black metal and the distinguishable inverted omega in apparent brass or gold was still whole, save for its right horn that was broken. Fortunately, if one wanted to repair, the bit that had broken off lay just by the side. “She wore her armor in this battle, but we got separated from each other in the heat of it.”

“Let me take a look.” Ashracai grasped the helmet from Jashol's hands and his own started to glow. Upon sensing their reaction, he soothed them. “I am using Psychometry, meaning I can sense on this helmet what happened here.”

“Yeah, a great battle took place here.” Jashol replied sarcastically. “In case the bodies strewn out here wasn't evidence enough.” But the mage ignored him and peered into what happened....

She did not make any kills at the time, but Hina bashed away many of the horrid humanoid beasts that ravaged the town and had now marched on them instead once they were done. The spawn that assaulted them did not seem interested in taking prisoners, so they were all in major danger. The pink-haired girl in black armor just slammed away with Masamune and still they were coming. “These guys just keep coming!” She cried out as she was making a solid stance along with a few of their soldiers, Bax alongside them. “Come on, guys! This may sound personal to you, but we cannot let these things reach the Lady Witch! She's our only hope of ensuring a greater freedom for all of us!”

“Count on us, Ma'am!” A fellow soldier cried out, striking down a few of the fiends. “We ain't gonna let them pass!”

But his words were cut short as an opponent cut him down shortly after he said them. Hina bashed away the opposition, but the man was already dead. “Damnit!” She exclaimed, taking safety again among the other men. “Don't take the enemy alone! Find someone to pair up with against them!” But as soon as she saw an ominous figure, dressed in ragged black torn robes and wielding a staff that seemed spawned out of some abyss, she nearly froze in terror. Shaken out of it by her hobgoblin fellow, she snapped back into sense as she saw the figure raise the staff, pointing it at something. Calibrating its line of fire, she saw that Boris was the end of it, him being the obvious target. “Bax, with me!” She cried and the Hobgoblin followed her from the other soldiers.

Boris fought unarmed, but his armor protected him better than expected. Either that, or the enemy was lousy as Hell at fighting. Was this the best they could do? Well, he was the one faring the best so far, as although the Githyanki troops outdid him in speed and teamwork, numbers overran them in the long run. He wondered how long he could keep up his fighting. “Boris!” Hina's voice cut in from the left, the pink-haired girl and Bax rushing to his side through the enemy ranks. It was then that he heard a sound and looking to in front of him, a dreadful missile was going to hit him.

Had Hina decided to not take the blast for him instead...

“No!” The armored fighter cried out as his charge fell to the ground, her shoulder burning slightly and smoking. He crouched down to check on her. She was still alive, but she didn't get up or open her eyes. A trumpet could be heard in the distance.

“Come on!” Bax called to his senses, snapping him out of it. “We got to get out of here! They're signaling the retreat! Grab her and let's go!” The hobgoblin made him do so, but they dropped the helmet in the process. There was no time to pick it up, they just ran like hell away from there...

Ashracai took a deep breath through his nostrils, having seen all that. “They got away.” He told the others. “Hinagiku took a hit to the shoulder, but she'll live. Boris and a hobgoblin named Bax got away with her.”

Symon and Jashol let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding. “That's a relief...” Jashol said.

“I got a good look around when I scanned the helmet.” The archmage told them, pointing to the hilltops. “That's where Nodoka was stationed for this battle, isn't it?”

“Oh yeah.” Symon recalled. “Come on, she could be alive and still up there.”

“Me, I doubt it, but what the hell, it's worth having a look at least.” The elder human said as they started to run up there.

“Think positive thoughts on this, Jashol.” Symon tried to encourage him. “Positive thoughts on this.”

“Yeah, best result I can think of is she's alive but gravely injured.” He replied to the ranger.

When they arrived on the hilltop, they found even more corpses. Thankfully, none of which showed any of their comrades (ergo the main party) so there was the great chance that they had escaped when the signal was sounded. However, there was still an alarming amount of human bodies here along with the Githyanki ones, revealing that this was where the human army was assigned, most of it anyway. Several of the survivors they had found (All Githyanki) were about, checking bodies and doing the occasional looting of something.

“Spread out.” Ashracai told them as they jogged out to look. “She could be anywhere.”

“My lord.” A Githyanki soldier called out as the survivors gathered around the body of a fallen desecrated (a properly describing word) dragon, trying to lift it up. “We're getting empathic readings from underneath that beast. We could use some help.”

“Change of plans, let's get there first.” The archmage told them and all of them hurried to the dragon corpse. “I'm gonna enhance your strength on some of you guys so you can lift up this carcass. The rest of you guys pull out whomsoever is underneath. Careful though, they're most likely with crushed bones and limbs.” He said that whilst directing his magic at those he designated as lifters, including Jashol. Symon was elected through a quick vote as the one to pull out the one under the carcass. “On the count of three, one, two, three.”

The one they pulled out of there was Captain Ishin Saura, all bruised up and battered. Her arming sword, forged out of tempered steel and balanced perfectly, was covered in blood of the great beast. “Gnh...” She groaned heavily as they surrounded her, worried for her health of course. “...Some variant of... darkspawn...” She said weakly, held up by a few soldiers. “That... was worse than the Deep Roads on Thedas...”

“It's okay, captain. The enemy is vanquished this time.” Ashracai comforted her. “What happened here?”

“We got flanked. Sons of whores and catamites came out of nowhere to attacked.” Ishin reported, getting a groan as one was checking her leg. “OW! Watch it, will you?!”

“And what of the Witch?” The archmage asked of her now. “Do you know what happened to her?”

“It's quite vital.” Jashol added.

“We got separated. I got jumped by that dragon thing, me and a few others. I did manage to spot her and that human priest being confronted by something that shook my bones to their core. Next thing I know whilst fighting the dragon was this great flash of light and then that fraggin' corpse collapsed right on top of me.” Ishin reported severely pissed, not caring about protocol. “Sir.” She added at last, remembering who she was talking to.

“It's okay, captain. I'd be pissed myself if I got squashed for several hours.” Ashracai remarked. “Was there anything specific to this, light?”

“I couldn't see much, I was under a carcass since then, in case you forgot, Sir.” Ishin noted.

“Ah. So much for that.” The archmage noted bluntly. “Alright, everyone, look for a small human girl with purple hair. She also has various ornaments, two rings, a listening device and a card.” To help with the identification, he enlarged images of those items he mentioned, each giving a different turn. “See if you recognize any of these, then search immediately.”

“Hey, you.” A surviving soldier addressed another one some meters away, in an apparent clearing of the battlefield. “What are you doing, sneaking off like that?” To their response, the lone soldier started running off, only to be cut off by Ashracai who teleported right in front of him.

“Mind telling us why you ran off like that?” The archmage demanded to know in an authoritative tone. “What do you have there?” He did notice that the man was holding something in his hands.

“Eh, this? A-heh heh heh, It's nothing important. It's just something I bought back in Glathk for my mate.” The soldier replied.

“Your tone and the sweatdrops on your head tell a different story.” Ashracai cut him off immediately, having an angry tone now. “Come on, give me that and you might get off easily.” He stretched out his own hand for the soldier, now getting more nervous, to comprehend. He eventually complied and extended his own hands to the powerful sorcerer.

“I swear, I found it like that.” The soldier told him as Ashracai inspected what it was. A small, feminine, human hand. It had been blown clean off, but the hand didn't have the most pleasant way of getting lopped off. What was worst, was the ring on it. It was the Comptina Daemonia, Nodoka's ring. This used to be her right hand. “I swear to Hannahanna, I found it like that! I didn't mean anything ill, I just needed the funds to maintain a steady household.” The soldier confessed a complete nerve wreck, flailing his hands around. The archmage's face grew more distasteful and twitches occurred on his eyebrows as he stared onto the small hand of his daughter. A flick of fingers and the soldier's neck snapped 180 degrees, killing him instantly.

“...Your soul will be guided to a new body shortly...” Ashracai said quietly, making the body glow faintly white, as to aid the soul find its way back to the Material Plane. “This does not look good at all...”

Symon and Jashol rushed up to the archmage's side and they were almost mortified at seeing the little hand. “Oh, shit.” Jashol exclaimed, seeing it. “Now, what? We can't tell if she's dead or alive on this planet, and we don't know where she is!”

“Look, just, just calm down...” Symon tried to maintain his coolheadedness.

“Calm down!?” Jashol cut off. “How can you calm down when the one we're supposed to look after is lost and severely hurt!?”

“Shut up.” Ashracai told him, but the human didn't listen.

“We're already wasting time when we should be out there looking for her! Else it be too late already and she's already fucking-!” He didn't finish that because of the stone fist he received to his face, making him lose control over his legs and falling down on the ground, hard.

“Don't you even dare finish that, young man.” Ashracai had snapped under the pressure and had promptly punched him with his right fist, now turned to moving stone. “I have a good mind to vivisect you right here, right now for that.” His hand changed back into the normal flesh and he turned his attention back to the hand. “Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see what happened here...” He was going to use Psychometry, but a small, chuckling voice cut him off and spooked the others.

“There's no need to use that...” This voice said, coming from the ground. The one who spoke, wore a large black robe, hiding his identity, along with the hood. Blood red markings was spotted all over the robe, along with a pair of black gauntlets that were sharp on the end. Such design allowed for dangerously good slicing of an opponent. Finally, his face was covered by even more black, in this case, a mask. It was faceless, save for three red marks, and only his eyes could be seen through the mask. He chuckled some more before speaking again. “I know what happened here.”

The archmage advanced immediately and took a good hold of where the figure's throat would be and lifted him up. “Well, then you better tell me now if you know what's good for you.”

“I came.” The figure answered immediately to him. “I'm the leader of the enemy army. Master of these... darkspawn as the good captain said.” Ashracai had a good mind now to obliterate him now. “Now, now, I would not try that if I were you.” The figure told him upon sensing his thoughts. “I am already battered, unable to move and my bones are crushed. I need no more damage bestowed on me.”

“Well, you better have a good reason to stay my power.” Ashracai said.

“You need information of what happened.” The dark person said before giving a short laugh. “The hammer knows, the hammer knows.” He said twice. Ashracai looked down to see a large warhammer, the symbol of the Platinum Dragon, Bahamut on it. He dropped the figure to the ground and picked it up next to a burnt corpse in heavy half-plate armor. The insignia on the armor marked the body out as that of a cleric in service to the human dragon god. Ashracai pierced into what the hammer had seen.

“Foul spawn of Evil!” The old priest cried out as he cradled an injured Nodoka in front of the dark mage, as the battle raged around them. “Your unholy aura shall not be allowed to roam this world no more!”

“Foolish old man.” The dark figure said, raising up a pair of powerful archons of Ice next to him. “I outpower you. But I shall be fair this one time. Hand over the little girl, and your soul shall be allowed to reach your god's side, so that he will know what's coming for him next.”

Nodoka didn't speak out of fear, she simply shivered in terror as the figure's eyes watched her own. The old priest, in his armor, put her down for her to stand on her own feet and raised his hammer to the sky. “I fear not your powers. The mighty Dragon Father watches over me and through me will he smite you down.”

“Come then, fool. I shall send you to the well of Oblivion for your insubordination.” The dark mage said as his Archons charged at him.

“Mighty Bahamut! I call on your strength!” The priest cried out in Draconic, a language the watching Archmage knew very well and rushed at the Archons first, crushing them with ease before rushing at the mage. He roared in anger and joy as he reached his mark despite the dark energies lashing out at him and raised his hammer high and then slamming it down on the mage, the hammer itself glowing violently.

The old priest had given his life in order to severely injure the mage and stop the darkspawn army in its tracks. His actions had destroyed the army in a literal flash, yet he hadn't destroyed the mage and it had cost him his life in the process. What's worst to come, it didn't reveal what happened to Nodoka after that. She was very much alive, he could tell that, but she was already injured in that flashback. Looking down on the little hand in his own, he decided to use the ring she was using. Well, she wasn't using it at the moment, so he was going to take it for himself this once. “...I can tell from my telepathic powers that you claim you have no name, abyssal mage.” He turned on the battered sorcerer. “Well, this can change that easily...”

The sorcerer began to laugh, realizing that he was going to be questioned.

“So what is your true name?” Ashracai asked, wearing the ring on his index finger. Slowly, the ring acted on its own, scribbling in light what the figure's name was, slowly and in English letters, which he had learned whilst down on Earth. Drinde... He repeated in his own mind. “Alright then. Drinde.” He addressed the being, advancing on him and hauling him up violently. “You're all bruised up and unable to move and use your powers for a while, so I'll let you live this once if you'll answer but one simple question.” He said before a loud growl escaped his mouth first as his skin turned into the scales of a dragon. “Where's. My. Daughter?”

“Oh, you would like to know that, don't you?” Drinde replied first, but seeing the fire in the Githyanki's eyes made him comply, after the gloating. “Know first that I can only be harmed by the power of the gods. That's why I was still on this cursed field to begin with.”

“You did not answer my question.” Ashracai countered immediately and Drinde complied this time.

“The Squidmen came. Came and took her away from her.” He could see the fire fade away from the sorcerer's eyes.

“Squid...men?” Ashracai repeated.

“Squidmen and humans dominated by Squidmen.” Drinde told him. “They carried her away from her once the fighting was over. A couple of hours ago. Would I lie to you?”

“If you had a will to die painfully, no.” Ashracai's scales turned back into skin, only now it was getting crimson dark and the great cloak that the Archmage turned into bellowing smoke surrounding him. “Well, Drinde...” His voice now sounded dark and demonic this time, bringing Drinde's mask closer and then taking it off once, revealing his face only to him. “You'd better hope that only the gods can harm you, because if something has happened to my daughter, then I shall personally cut you up into piny pieces, place them into coffins, bury them in a great lake and boil it for eternity. Nothing will come to your aid and you will not escape from there.” He slowly turned back into his normal self, letting go of the undead sorcerer and putting the mask back on. “Rot here until your body fixes itself, if it can.” He told him in his normal tone before walking away, followed by the two humans, heading up to the injured captain.

“Mylord?” Ishin Saura asked gently, seeing the look on his face.

“Gather what forces you have left and return to Glathk.” Ashracai told her. “Every major power in Samasal needs to know what has transpired here. You could do well with some rest yourself.”

“Yessir...” Ishin replied first and then nodding to the soldiers. “You sir? Where are you going?”

“The Illithids have revealed themselves.” Ashracai replied, turning away along with the two clueless human men at the moment. “I'm going to hunt them down.” The last three words of his sentence echoed, not across the valley, but across the whole of Tu'narath, into the mind of every adult Githyanki ready and willing to take up arms. When the image of Illithids came to their minds, many gave a howl of anger and grabbed the best available weapon they could find and start the hunt for their most hated enemy.

The Illithids have been careless. Now they will pay for their crimes.

No notes this time.

[Finalage]

Left behind? Ah ha! No. no , no...writers work best, I find, while in collaboration with each other, neh? Feed off each other they do, just like inventors once did, like they still do.

On to your bit there.

Maybe I'm tired, but the decriptions seem to fly over me, yet I do get the overall scene, and the story does interest me...I'm just tired today I suppose...oh, wait. Nodoka's pops? He's pissed. Obviously. Raising hell, that's what has just happened.

*Gah!*

My finger...ehh, this will slow me down a bit...no, I won't elaborate for you.

[Sin Ansem]

Originally Posted by Finalage

I'd like to help, but do you care to give us a little synopsis? Your story is quite progessed, and I'm sorry if I haven't been following it...(I've had little time to follow anything, I barely got to read the two latest chapters of Negima yesterday. Barely.)

What's the stats?

Alright, let's give the lowdown.

This is a Negima/Disgaea project. Right about the time Negi's negotiations break down with Godel, he gets tipped off early that Asuna's been replaced, and the time limit for getting home is shrinking a bit faster. He launches a blitzkrieg against Fate's operations. When Setsuna and Tsukuyomi face off, Tsukuyomi gains an edge (read: strip and perv). Konoka gets angry, but Tsukuyomi stabs her and she falls off Old Ostia. Setsuna gives chase, and neither is seen again. However, real Asuna flips out and gives the edge to Ala Alba.

Fast forward three years. Konoka wakes up as a full demon, and she is pronounced Queen of Gehenna, a new netherworld! Naturally this spreads like wildfire to other netherworlds, including Laharl and Mao's. Flonne and Beryl, hearing about Konoka's personality, volunteer to greet the new neighbor, and of course they get along smashingly, but it's not all rosy. In the days since Konoka fell to Gehenna via mysterious means, that Netherworld has been in turmoil, and her powers have multiplied in her sleep. Gehenna's overlord history has been less than favorable, and nobody who doesn't already know Konoka is convinced she'll change.

As of now, she's trying to expand the numbers of the Dark Assembly for her netherworld, known as Ars Goetia. Assassins, however, have not made it easy. Her latest attackers are Dynamis, Koyomi, and Tamaki from CE, with them convinced that Konoka's powers will screw over the human world. Flonne has been with Konoka during the recruitment process, while Beryl has taken Satsuki (who Konoka rescued much earlier) to go research stuff so she can stand toe to toe with all the other demons.

I want Satsuki to go pactio with Konoka and turn the fight against Dynamis around, but uhhh... the situation is tricky.

That's what I have so far. Link to the story is in my sig.

[Finalage]

With the bit of information you gave me, I'd say, if you really need that pactio, force the two into a situation in which a pactio would be brought into a favorable light. Is Konoka with her at the moment? No, wait, stupid question, she has to be. Cut the two off from the rest somehow. Or if you don't favor the "side battle" route, try having a real thought out battle plan in which the deficiency is raised.

Other than that, I need to kick the insane brain engine into gear again. Speaking of which, I'm still rapid fire in updates mode...

Alternate Blossoms: Chapter Two.

Though, I think this one is a bit "boring like".

[OverMaster]

Unequally Rational and Emotional, Chapter Two, Act One:

Spoiler for Chapter 2, Act1:

It was, without a shadow of doubt, Hasegawa Chisame's fondest dream.

She sat at the head of Class 2-A, on a golden, richly decorated throne, wearing a gorgeous pink dress, like a fairy tale princess. Hakase and the brat were on their hands and knees before her, both of them serving as stools for each one of her feet. The rest of the class paid tribute knelt down across the classroom.

"I'm sorry for being such a stuck-up Shotacon!" Ayaka said.

"I'm sorry for being so stupid!" Makie said.

"I'm sorry for being so arrogant despite being nothing but a midget with awful grades!" Evangeline sobbed pitifully.

"I'm sorry for being so nosy!" Kazumi said.

"I'm sorry for being a robot!" Chachamaru said.

"I'm sorry for being so freakishly tall and old-looking!" the deeply tanned Tatsumiya Mana added.

"WE'RE ALL SORRY FOR BEING SO STRANGE!!" they all chorused, hailing her. "WE'LL BECOME A NORMAL CLASS FOR YOU, CHIU-SAMA!!".

The Queen of The Internet laughed and laughed. Relaxing back on her throne, she felt a soft warm breeze caressing her face lovingly.

Chisame stirred on her bed as Negi's soft breath blew into her face at short intervals, the boy making the shortest, cutest tiny snores you could ever imagine. His lips seemed to look for something, pouting up for a kiss.

"Sis..." he whispered longingly.

Chisame's eyes opened themselves very slowly. Which one of the peasant freaks had just dared to name her as her sister? She would teach her, she would...

She would quickly panic at seeing a pouting small mouth hovering scarce inches away from her own! Aiming for a full-on kiss on the lips!

Her scream of terror shook the whole room down to its foundations.



At the dorm room next door, Miyazaki Nodoka woke up with a start. Then she was afraid since everything was pitch black despite her eyes being open now. Then she remembered to brush the thick long bangs of dark hair from her face, and she sighed with relief as she found herself staring at the ceiling.

"I wonder what was that?" Yue's quiet voice came from the lower bunk.

"It... It sounded like Hasegawa-san..." Nodoka's beautiful, shy voice cracked nervously. "Maybe we should—".

She could hear Yue rolling on her side below her, huffing sleepily. "For Chisame? No thanks".

Nodoka sighed.



Back at the next room, Satomi yawned as she finally could wake up enough to see Chisame, red faced, standing next to the bed, with an ashamed Negi withstanding the weight of her verbal onslaught.

"What the hell were you trying to do?!" she screamed.

"I... I'm sorry..." he whimpered. "I'm used to sleep with my sister, and I sleepwalk sometimes...".

"What kind of sleepwalker goes up a bunk when he can stay below?!" she demanded to know. "Why didn't you sneak into Hakase's bed?!".

Numbly, Hakase's rational brain wondered if that statement should offend her in some form. Her reptilian brain, however, just told it to shut up and go back to sleep. The rational brain stomped its primitive counterpart down, all the while rationalizing Hasegawa's question did have some logical sense and it shouldn't be taken as any sort of offense. Hakase herself was just too tired to pay attention to either brain for once.

"You... You smelled more like my sister..." he was defending himself.

"Mmm?" Satomi casually sniffed the air. "Sensei, since you bring on the topic of smell, and hoping you don't perceive my words on this matter as any kind of personal insult regarding your personal presentation... Might I inquire if you are, as I suspect, the source of this sudden peculiar nefarious fragance?".

Chisame scowled, then sniffed at him, closely, making him to sweat bullets. "She's right! You stink like a corpse! Since when haven't you showered?!".

"Th-That's... that's quite a rude question to ask from anyone, Hasegawa-san!" the boy protested. "As your teacher, I must object on such manners!".

"Spoken by the perverted brat who sneaks into girls' beds!" Chisame retorted. "Answer my question, will you?".

He shrank down, unable to speak.

Hakase sighed, then sat upright on her bed's edge and motioned for him to get closer. "Come here. You can confess the truth to me. I will not, under any circumstances, lose my emotional control" she promised.

He trusted her enough to obey her, whispering something into her right ear.

"Ah. I see" she nodded calmly. "That's actually quite unhygienic. You could adquire several skin diseases, and even parasitary infections, that way. No, I don't quite believe the use of colognes will solve the problem. No, not even Old Spice. Chisame" she called over. "He claims suffering from an acute fear of baths. Do you think it could be labeled as hydrophobia?".

A vein bulged up on Chisame's forehead. "I understand...".

Silently, without exploding or lashing out again, she gently pushed Negi out of the bedroom, then closed the door behind him. The boy breathed easier, believing the worst had passed by. The poor fool.

One moment later, Chisame opened the door again, now clad in nothing but a navy blue school swimsuit. And carrying a large basket full with bath products and utensils in a hand.

"Oh, no!" he gasped aloud.

"Oh, yes!" she grabbed him and pulled him back inside. "Okay, take those pants off! The shirt, too! Didn't you want to sleep with your Big Sis, perverted brat? And kiss her? Well, consider yourself lucky! Your Big Sis is going to give you a bath!".

"Oh, no, no...!" he cried. "Mercy...!!!".

Satomi gave them a still sleepy look. "Our shower is far too small for someone who struggles around that much. Could I suggest taking him to the public bath instead?".

"And giving him that much open space to run away? I don't think so!" Chisame was applying her best attempt at a wrestling supplex on him while stripping him of his underwear. "And besides, only an idiot would take him to a place where there are bound to be several naked girls!".

"I... I... I'm your teacher! You can't do this to me!!".

Ignoring his desperate pleas, the brown haired teen tossed him into the shower cubicle, followed him in, and closed the door from the inside.

"HAKASE-SAAAAANNN!!!! PLEASE HELP MEEEE!!!" he bawled, right before the sounds of running water suffocated his voice.

Satomi looked around for her glasses, only to realize she had slept with them on. She yawned, got up, and went to use the toilet.

"NOOOOO!!! THE SHAMPOO GETS ON MY EYES...!!" he screamed. "IT BURNSSSS USSSS! IT BURNSSSS USSSSS!!!!".

"IT WOULDN'T GET INTO YOUR EYES IF YOU STOPPED MOVING SO MUCH!!" Chisame's voice howled.

Humming the Futurama theme, Satomi washed her hands off and waddled her not so graceful way to the kitchen.

"DON'T TOUCH ME DOWN THERE!!" he was begging now. "NO! NO! NOOOO!!".

"I DON'T LIKE IT ANY MORE THAN YOU DO!" Hasegawa assured him.



At the next apartment, Nodoka sweated profusely as she served Yue her breakfast. Her eyes were larger than ever behind her concealing bangs of hair.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they have trusted them with Negi-sensei's care" Ayase commented, pouring herself a big glass of raspberry juice.

Nodoka just nodded uneasily.




Hakase finished eating her suspicious looking just made sandwiches, making sure to leave a few for her roommates before heading for the dresser. She was sure they'd like the chocolate and mustard combination as much as she did. For now, however, she had more important things to think about than Sensei's insistent bangings on the door, begging for a rescue.

Things like... SCIENCE!! The Cyberdine Labs exposition would come today at the Robotics Club, and she wouldn't miss it for anything! So enthusiast she was about it she forgot where she had put her tie last night as she quickly fixed her shirt, but even then, those were minor details. Just like her socks. Eh, she always lost one of each pair, but she was reasonably sure no one would notice if she wore mismatched ones today.

"I'll go on ahead!" Hakase announced as she hopped out of the dresser still tying her shoes, failing to notice her skirt was backwards. "Hurry up in there or you'll get tardy!".

"DON'T GRAB ME THERE!!" Chisame's voice had just shrieked.

"S-S-SORRY!! THE SHAMPOO HAS LEFT ME BLIND!!!".

With a contented smile for the possibilities of the newborn day, Hakase ran out towards the school.

[Kurush]

I've just set up chapter 39 now. This is much shorter than the other chapters, but they are as long as the plot demands them to be.

[Finalage]

Indeed, the shampoo has made him blind. I worked through the accident with my hand today, and with or without the harmed digit, I typed half of Alternate Blossoms's new chapter. As for Resistance Hertz, I got into a few paragraphs there too. I also worked on a bit of other work, but nothing substantial.

Just seems like I'm getting faster now typing, but my ideas come slower. *Sigh*

[OverMaster]

I posted the Prologue and Chapter 1 at FF.Net today. It's at the 'M' section because of some future content. Not involving Negi for the time being, since he's still going to be a kid for a while, but... some steamier Yuri action might be at some point of the future... nothing too close at this point, at least not until it's time for the Kyoto arc.

Anyway, here's part 2 of Chapter 2.

Spoiler for Chapter 2, Act 2:

Ayaka had chewed Satomi down when she put foot on the classroom, scolding her for her unforgivable transgressions to the dress code. The genius had nodded and muttered the token absent excuses while adjusting Chachamaru's left elbow, which needed maintenance that morning for some reason Evangeline had refused to explain.

Then Iincho had also chewed Chisame out when she finally arrived with Negi in tow, blaming her for not taking care of Hakase's appearance. Hasegawa's protests about herself not being the babysitter for anyone of her own age fell into deaf ears until the teacher had asked for silence for the class to start. Now that had silenced the classy blonde in the spot. For which, truth be told, Chisame had felt mildly grateful.

The day's lesson had gone rather well compared to that of the day before, at least until poor Asuna had been called to read some lines of a short English text. After struggling to only blurt out a savage butchering of the original paragraph, Iincho had mocked her lack of talents in a not-subtle-enough way to quickly offend the redhead, and then the fight was on again, despite Negi's loudest protests for them to stop.

Chisame shook her head at the random lunacy surrounding her. Would every day be like that from there on? Maybe she should ask for a transfer... that Tomobiki place Kazumi had rumored about wasn't sounding that bad now...

Mercifully, the ending bell had sounded then, saving Sensei from being knocked out between both students. Negi had quickly blurted a few homework items for the next session, struggling to be heard over the happy chattering of the students leaving and the still heated retorts between Asuna and her hated rival; only his roommates, Chao, and the four girls he had listed on his class roster as the Library Exploration Club seemed to be taking notes at that point.

Out of those four, the one named Konoka, the Dean's grandaughter herself, had finally managed to placate Asuna enough to carry her out and away. That had left Ayaka behind, snapping back to reality and noticing she had just given quite another bad show in front of her admired Sensei. She melted into apologizes to him, and Chisame almost would have allowed it to go and go just for the novelty of seeing Iincho groveling to anyone, which somehow gave her a strange sense of satisfaction. But alas, she had to leave; Chiu's time was almost there, and tempting as it was to leave the brat behind, Hakase was already leaving for her stupid Club, and babysitting duty fell heavily upon her.

"Come on, Sensei. I'm leaving".

"Y-Yes! It's all okay, Iincho-san. See you tomorrow!" he happily waved to the blonde as he ran after the pock-marked girl. Ayaka simply stood there, blinking in sudden disbelief. What had she just saw? Why did that geeky simpleton seem to have such a sweet and gentle prince under her thumb like that?

As if guessing her unspoken question, Yue spoke in a casual monotone. "I think Negi-sensei is staying with them".

"What?!" the heiress turned her blue, fearful eyes eyes to her. "That can't be true!".

"We heard his voice coming out of their room this morning" Yue explained, as evenly as a human being can act. Behind her, Nodoka blushed again and nodded.

Ayaka made a scowl of disgust. "That is insane! What kind of future can wait for Negi-sensei, left with those two antisocial outcasts? They will stun his emotional growth! It'll be a tragedy if such a brilliant mind is damaged in his formative stages!".

From further behind Nodoka and Yue, a low, throaty and sinister chuckle made both of them to waver in sudden fear. A tall, looming figure stood up, nearly towering over them, fixing the evil glare of her shiny eyes behind even shinier glasses on Ayaka. A sly perverse grin curved itself upon the busty bespectacled girl's lips.

"Hoo hoo hoo!" she cackled flamboyantly. "We are very jealous, aren't we, Iincho?".

Ayaka huffed with just the slightest blush. "Don't mistake my intentions with your twisted appetites, Saotome-san! My interest on Negi-sensei's wellbeing is purely selfless!".

"Really?" Saotome Haruna pushed her glasses up her nose. "Well, that's a relief to know. Less competition, I guess...".

"Haruna" Yue warned in a low voice.

"Because let's face it, Chisame-chan and the Professor aren't a competition for all this" Haruna proudly patted herself on the broad hips, giggling as she ondulated them, making poor Nodoka to blush once more.

"Haruna!" Yue's voice went up a bit. "That's gross even for you!".

After a brief moment of hesitation, Nodoka nodded her agreement.

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha!" Haruna laughed. "You girls are just too easy to tease!".

Ayaka growled a very unladylike, although thankfully incoherent, reply, grabbed her backpack and stomped her way out.

"You are too much" Yue told her tall friend.

Haruna shrugged. "Iincho needs to grow up. She may act mature, but at the end she's just as bad as Asuna, in her own way".

"And you are worse than them both" Yue replied.

"If you say so" Haruna smiled placidly, lowering her face to look straight at hers. "Now, what's that I hear about Sensei living next to you? What did you hear? Something juicy?".

Yue's poker face remained. "Nothing important".

"Really?" Haruna noted. "Because Nodoka's face just went even redder".

For a second, Yue inwardly cursed her best friend's inability to keep her emotions down. Honestly, it was as if you could read her thoughts like a book.