But enough Touhou talk. This place is about Nanoha fanfiction.
Righto then.
Spoiler for An Unbeatable Weapon:
"It's rather curious, really." Jail Scaglietti said, glancing sideways at the man in the tan suit walking beside him, Uno and Cinque slightly behind them both. "For all that your planet has almost no magical tradition, being a rather glorious example of a technological society, your 'Earth' has a strange habit of producing powerful mages and magical artifacts with odd regularity."
"Yes." the other man replied, still looking forward. "For many centuries we have buried what magical past we had, focusing ourselves on a future that was more... easily controllable. However, one cannot completely discard a form of strength. Even if we do not use it ourselves, we Terrans do develop... countermeasures."
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "So your planet focuses on finding ways to fight magical societies... while outwardly seeming oblivious to their existence?"
"A masquerade we have long held." the man confirmed.
"I see. So why contact me now?"
The man in the suit turned slightly toward him. "The Time-Space Administration Bureau is getting out of hand. Their actions on Earth have been noted and largely ignored as we let them believe we are unaware of their presence, but their agents are becoming too brazen. And too many Terrans are finding themselves swayed to the magical society built by Midchilda - is it not true that two of the so-called 'Three Aces' originally hail from Earth?"
"Why yes, that is true." Jail grinned. "And the third spent several years on your planet as well."
"Yes, in Japan. How fitting, then, that the weapon we give you to destroy these interlopers with hails from that place as well."
"A technological device?" Jail asked, honestly curious now, "Or a magical artifact?"
"A... mix of both." They reached the loading dock, where the man rapidly input a sequence of codes. The door slid open, and the four entered the massive chamber where several large, bright green spheres, with small orange protrusions jutting out from them, sat silent.
"And these would be them, hmm?" Jail approached the orbs, peering at them. "Are they drones?"
"Not quite." The man grinned broadly now as he stepped up to Jail's side, gesturing grandly at the object before them. "This, my friend... is a Katamari."
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Presenting rough draft of MGLN Crisis Chapter 17. I was going to wait another day or so to post this, to give me time to work on chapter 18. But I realize there doesn't seem to be much of a plot line currently (unless you've been following the hints). So this should get things going again.
Spoiler for MGLN Crisis Chapter 17: Nightmares from the Past:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 17: Nightmares from the Past
The new Arf, now in woman form, looked on in curiosity from where she sat on the checkup bed, as Shamal completed her scans. The doctor noticed this, and smiled in return as she closed out the floating screens.
"Well, it appears you are quite healthy," Shamal stated, which earned sighs of relief from the three other people looking on. "I'd also say her physical strength is a bit higher than normal, but I couldn't say by how much. The interesting thing is, she's no longer drawing magic from you, Fate."
"I figured that might happen," Yuuno admitted. "Being a Guardian Beast is a bit different than being a familiar." He chuckled. "It's not as simple as a mere palette swap!"
Arf laughed, looking down at her hands, clenching and un-clenching them in fascination.
Nanoha looked back and forth between Fate and Arf. "Are you okay, Fate?"
The golden-haired girl nodded, walking up to Arf and taking her hand. "How do you feel? Do you remember anything else?" She didn't want to admit that she was finding differences, mainly in some actions and personality. Was this the real Arf or not? This one seemed a bit more child-like and playful.
"Well, let's see..." the newly-born Guardian Beast said, brow furrowing in concentration. "I think I kinda remember Yuuno... but wasn't he a small animal?"
Yuuno chuckled, dropping into ferret form and jumping up onto Arf's lap. "Well, this is how you first knew me."
Her face lit up. "Oh yeah, Nanoha's familiar!"
The pony-tailed girl blushed and sighed, while Yuuno sweat-dropped.
"Well, that's all for now," Shamal said. "She's free to go. Walking around and meeting people might help trigger some memories." She turned toward Nanoha. "Also, the results of your other tests I've been running should be completed later today, so I'll contact you later this afternoon or evening."
Nanoha nodded as Yuuno hopped down, returning to human size while Fate took Arf's hand and helped her off the bed.
"I have a few things to take care of today, so if you'd come with me, Arf," Fate said, heading for the door with Arf in hand.
"Oh, I'll come with you!" Nanoha stated.
Fate paused and turned around, a certain evil look on her face. "Oh no, these are things I need to do." She walked up and shoved a couple small pieces of paper into Nanoha's and Yuuno's hands. "You two should relax and have some fun." She fixed Nanoha with a meaningful gaze.
"These are tickets for Marine Garden?" Yuuno questioned. "I haven't been to that amusement park in a long time."
"Well, I'll see you guys later!" Fate informed them, smiling as she led Arf out.
Nanoha's cheeks reddened a bit, partially thankful her back was currently to Yuuno so he couldn't see the look on her face. She took a breath and turned towards him, smiling. "I suppose we can't let them go to waste! Shall we, Yuuno-kun?" She offered her hand.
Yuuno nodded, his cheeks also reddening a bit. "Um, sure!"
"You're always here so early!" Suzuka noticed, yawning as she entered the lab. "And is that another new project?"
Shari looked up from the table, where a semi-human figure lay. "Yep. It was just brought in this morning. Jail outdid himself on this."
Suzuka studied the human-looking form, which could have passed for one, except it was in two parts, split across the lower torso. "A robot?" Although it almost reminded her of her old naked Barbie dolls, only without hair.
"Apparently Jail referred to them as series-14 androids," Shari explained. "This was the only one mostly intact. The rest were fairly well destroyed, all though that gives us a decent amount of spare parts."
The junior technician's eyes came up. "You aren't going to try and repair it, are you!?"
Shari grinned evilly. "You should know me by now!" Her attitude shifted. "How is the inventory check coming?"
"I think Arisa and I are about 80% complete," Suzuka replied. "We should be able to confirm everything later today. Is there any extra word on who broke in?"
The senior technician shook her head. "No, only that they left a big hole in the wall, so we still have no idea what they were after. But for now, give me a hand with this, okay? You can get back to inventory checking after lunch."
Suzuka nodded, and summoned Whiskers, beginning to analyze Shari's data.
"So when are you going to take the test?" Subaru wanted to know as the two walked through town, taking advantage of their time off.
"What are you talking about?" Teana asked, pretending not to know.
Subaru playfully hit Tea's shoulder. "You know, the A rank test? Do you still need to work on flight some more?"
"It's not a pressing concern at the moment," the gun mage replied, shrugging. "I'm happy to stay where I am as Fate's partner for now."
The cyborg girl walked ahead and turned to block Tea's path, hands on hips while giving her a dirty look. "We both know you're lying. I know how much you've been wanting to become stronger. I know you want to climb in ranks. You could probably even make AA rank, it's just that flying is keeping you from A rank."
Tea sighed, turning to a drink vending machine, pretending to study it. "I can wait until you're ready to take it, too."
Subaru blinked, then slowly grinned. "Oho! I see!" She sniffled.
Tea turned on her angrily. "What!?" She found herself the victim of a cyborg hug.
"Nothing," Subaru sniffled. "I'm just touched that you would want to wait for me!"
"Let me go!" the gun mage demanded angrily, lifting up a foot to brace against the other girl's stomach, pushing her away. She huffed, panting, her face red. "Don't ever do that to me in public again!"
Subaru laughed, then calmed down. "But you don't have to worry about me. With Wing Road I can participate in aerial combat, so I could probably qualify. I was actually waiting for you."
Tea stared at her, then turned and got a drink from the machine; she then walked past Subaru. "Do what you want, I don't care. You better hope your Wing Road qualifies, because I may take the test soon and I won't wait for you."
Subaru laughed and ran to catch up, walking beside her close friend.
"You again," the perturbed redhead noted. "What do you want?"
"I've come to apologize to you, Nove," Fate offered, bowing her head. "I made accusations to you last time that were inexcusable, and treated you with disrespect."
The cyborg girl clearly looked uncomfortable, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. "Eh, forget about it. Wasn't a big deal."
"Don't mind her," Wendi said, grinning. "She's actually quite touched and would like me to relay her deepest thanks and admiration for your actions."
"Shut up, Wendi!" Nove shouted.
Fate turned to the others. "And I apologize to you as well, for disturbing the peace of your house."
Ginga smiled, walking up to place a hand on the humble girl's shoulder. "We understand, Fate. We've all been through a rough time."
"Then what's this for?" Dieci asked, indicating the box on the table, sniffing. "It smells good...."
Fate smiled, opening it, causing the girls to "ooh" and "aah." "I know you guys couldn't be there for my party, due to working on disarming those relic bombs, so I wanted to bring you cake as a peace offering. I had the chef who made the one for my party, make a duplicate just for your family."
Cinque produced a dagger and quickly sliced it up, pausing for a moment after to lick the frosting off it, he face emotionless the entire time. The other girls paused and stared at her.
The eye-patch girl produced a plate next. "I like cake, too," she said simply.
Dieci and Wendi went to get more plates and forks, while Ginga turned to Arf. "And how are you feeling?"
The orange-haired woman smiled, her large ears perking up. "Great! It's been real nice getting to know all of Fate's friends!"
Ginga paused, stealing a glance at Fate, who nodded slowly. "That's... great! So you don't know me at all?"
"Your name is Ginga Nakajima," Arf replied. "Fate showed me pictures and names on the way over." She looked up and down. "Don't you have roller skates?"
"Um, yes, I do," she replied, then smiled. "And so does Nove. Perhaps we should go skating sometime!"
Arf smiled. "Sounds like fun!"
"Who said I'd do that?" Nove asked, then quickly turned backed. "Hey, Wendi, that's the piece I wanted!"
The girls descended into a fit of giggles.
There was something different, he decided. Not just in her words and actions, but just in her general attitude towards him.
"You're deep in thought about something again, Yuuno-kun," Nanoha admonished, wagging her finger at him. "We're supposed to be having fun right now!"
He blushed, placing a hand behind his neck. "Sorry, Nanoha. So where did you want to go next?"
"Hmm, you decide!" She told him, smiling, hands behind her back.
"Well, we had lunch not too long ago," Yuuno said, leading her over to a stand. "How about some cotton candy?"
She thought about it. "Hmm, no thanks, but you get one for yourself, okay?"
He raised an eyebrow, but got one anyway, thanking the vendor before they began walking away. "Hey, I thought you didn't want anyway?"
Nanoha smiled, as she pulled her mouth away from the confection, swallowing. "I changed my mind."
[Okay, she is definitely different today,] he confirmed as they walked through the amusement park. [This wasn't like the last time we came here, many years ago.] She continued to sneak bites of his cotton candy.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked him, keeping her gaze straight ahead.
"Oh, heh, not much," he replied, thinking quickly. "Just that I thought Fate's actions were a bit strange. It was almost like she was setting us up on a date or something. Isn't that funny?" He chuckled.
She ate the last of his confection, tossing the stick into a nearby trash bin, then glanced coyly at him. "Hmm, maybe it is?" She winked, making him speechless. "Oh, let's do this ride next!"
Stunned, Yuuno let himself be pulled along.
"Arf, you go ahead inside, ok?" Fate told her as they arrived back at the house. "I need to take care of something outside."
"Okay!" Arf agreed gladly, taking off her shoes in the entryway and heading in.
Fate paused a moment, then spoke out. "You can come out now. I know you've been following us all day. But I must admit, I can't figure out why."
Zafira hoped down from a tree in adult male form, and coughed. "I didn't think I was that obvious."
"Are you still worried about me or Arf?" Fate asked him. "Did Hayate ask you to keep an eye on us?"
"No, that's not it," he told her, shaking his head. "Hayate doesn't know I am here."
She tilted her head to the side a bit. "Then what?"
He seemed to fumble for words. "Is, uh, Arf back to her normal self?"
"Not totally," Fate replied, trying to make sense of him. "Her personality is a bit different; she tends to act and speak as she was in her younger days. But there are times when she says or does something that is just what the old Arf would have said or done. Or she recalls a memory that only the old Arf would know."
"Ah, I see," Zafira noted, lowering his head a bit. "So I shouldn't impose just yet. Thank you for your time, Fate." He turned to go. "I apologize for my stalking actions. I won't trouble you further in this way."
Fate scratched her head. [What was that about?]
"You like the view that much?" Yuuno asked casually from his side of the Ferris Wheel car.
Nanoha nodded, her face up against the window.. "The view of the city, and the ocean from this height... It's almost like flying. We'll have to come back later when it's darker so we can see the lights."
Yuuno smiled, remembering how much she loved flying. Even back when he was training her, when she found out Yuuno could fly, she desperately wanted him to teach her, too. In some cultures, flying while in a dream represented freedom. Though he never felt quite the same way, he could see that Nanoha cherished the freedom she gained while in the sky.
"Sure," he replied, as the Ferris Wheel paused, their car 75% of the way up the wheel. It was in the process of changing out riders. "I'd like that."
She sat back down in her seat, opposite of him, her hands in her lap. "Thank you for coming with me today, Yuuno-kun. I'm having a great time." She smiled at him.
"Well, Fate kinda forced us, but I would have come anyway," he told her, chuckling a bit, then noticed a strange look in her eyes. What was there? "Nanoha?"
She shook her head as the wheel moved again, moving them almost to the top. "Nothing. I was just thinking about how long we've known each other, what we've been through, and how glad I am the current crisis situation is over."
Was she leaning towards him a bit? "Me too..." He replied, leaning a bit towards her as well. He could feel his heart beating strongly in his chest, loud enough that Nanoha should have been hearing it, too.
Her face seemed to loom closer and closer as their car moved to the top position. Was she actually going to...
She paused, inches apart, her eyes widening. "Yuuno, look!"
"Huh?" he replied intelligently, looking where she was pointing. "Is that... Jail!?"
A large holographic image of the doctor was looming over Clanagan, and as he spread his hands, he began to speak, his voice seemingly coming from every conceivable speaker in the city and the park.
"Citizens of Mid-Childa, I bring you greetings!" he intoned, smiling. "If you are seeing this, then my final plans have failed, but my dream won't die with me. Those that labored with me, and those that are repressed under this system of magic, shall be set free. Magic empowers a single individual, but science empowers us all. I give the gift now, to those that seek a life free from the oppression of those would use magic to control and enslave you. This is my final gift, my final triumph!"
"What is he talking about it?" Yuuno wondered aloud as the holographic image faded. "I thought he-"
His words were interrupted by a powerful force that swept across him. It was like a wave, but it wasn't physical. It still gave him the chills, sending shivers all along his body.
"Nanoha, did you feel that?" he asked, turning back. "Nanoha!?"
Her eyes were wide, terrified, as she clutched her chest. "Y-Yuuno..." She could barely speak, as if she was having a heart attack. She looked up at him, helpless, trying to reach out to him.
Then she collapsed to the floor.
"Nanoha!"
Vivio had just stood in class, about to read a section of her book as instructed by her teacher, when Jail's public announcement came. Like everyone else, she was confused about what was going on.
And then the wave hit.
Like her mother, Vivio collapsed to the ground holding her chest, whimpering against the painful burning sensation. Her teacher and classmates gathered around her, calling for medical attention.
In the far reaches of outer space, seemingly empty of any matter, something else happened. If there were an observer, they would have talked about how space itself rippled, distorting. Energy lances shot out from a certain point, a hole. The energy didn't fully escape, but began to spiral around it, revealing that the hole was growing larger and larger.
And something began to emerge
Our hypothetical observer would be amazed at the sight. They would ascribe to it such monikers as "huge" and "beautiful." They would be shocked at how more and more kept emerging, until the object was fully in our space-time. Asked to describe it as simply as possible, they would say it was essentially a golden city set upon the fragment of an asteroid that was roughly the same size as the city itself.
But there was no observer here, and thus no one to know what had just happened... yet.
"Nanoha!" Yuuno called, rolling her over to her back. He was partially relieved that she was still conscious, but the sheer look of terror in her eyes tore his heart in two. "Hold on, I'll heal you!"
He spread his hands over he chest and tried to summon up his healing magic...
...and found he couldn't. "What the...?" His gaze returned to her face, just in time to see her eyes roll back into her head as she passed out. "NANOHA!"
He leapt to his feet, realizing he needed to get her to a doctor as soon as possible. But as he swung the ferris wheel car door open, initially planning to fly her down, but a sudden dread struck him. He experimented by trying to float, but found he couldn't. He despaired as he realized he wouldn't be flying her down. And there was no way he could climb down while carrying her.
However, he did realize some people below had noticed him opening the door. "HEY! UP HERE! MEDICAL EMERGENCY! WE NEED TO GET DOWN!"
Some of those people seemed to understand and pointed it out to the operator, who started up the wheel again. In moments, they were back down on the ground, and the park's medical staff had been summoned.
Yuuno could only stand by helplessly as they tried to revive her.
"He can't be serious!" Subaru exclaimed.
Tea concentrated for a moment, and then growled in frustration. "It's true, I can't gather any magic at all!"
"What's going on!?" a female passerby asked in fear.
"There's no more magic!" a male shouted. "The Bureau has failed us!"
"What will we do without magic!?" another female cried. Most of the population had some magic, even if it never went above D rank in power.
"Hey, I recognize those two," a second man called, pointing at Subaru and Tea. "They work for the Bureau! Let's get answers out of them!"
The two girls backed up as the crowd formed on them, murmuring and shouting, and demanding answers.
"We don't know anything!" Subaru protested. "This is as big a surprise to us as it is to you!"
An object was thrown at them, and working on instinct, Subaru shielded Tea, the knife cutting into her left arm. She winced, pulling the knife out.
"Hey, she's one of them them cyborgs!" a male voice from the crowd shouted, drawing attention to the exposed circuitry in Subaru's arm. "Maybe she's in on it!" A few more objects were thrown, but this time just stuff like cans and rocks.
Tea stepped out in front of her friend, arms spread wide, her face angry. "Subaru is my friend, and a member of the Rescue division. She's helped to save more lives than any of you! There's no way she would be behind something like this!"
"It probably was all a trick, just to get in good with the Bureau and make us think she had no ulterior motives!" yet another voiced accused. That was met by a loud murmuring of agreement, and the crowd surged forward a bit more.
"I can still go cyborg mode and bust us out of here," Subaru whispered.
Tea shook her head slightly. "If you display any aggressive moves, or cause any damage, it will just confirm their fears."
A wall informed Subaru she couldn't back up anymore. "Well, I'm open to suggestions...."
"Stop it!" yelled a young blond-haired girl, accompanied by an even younger blond-haired boy, as they slipped out from the mob and stood in front of Tea, arms wide. "Subaru is a nice person! She saved me and my brother! How could a bad person save us?"
Subaru glanced over Tea's shoulder, getting the strangest feeling she had seen them before. "You're..."
The boy, appearing about 6 years old, looked up at her and smiled. "I'm Byron! You saved my sister, Katrina, and me on a sinking boat. I wanna be a rescue mage just like you!"
The rescue cyborg remembered. "That was shortly after I joined the Disaster Planning and Humanitarian Aid Division. I remember you two being so brave in the face of danger. You did well!"
The crowd paused. It may have been willing to assault two girls, partly because one of them wasn't human. But it wasn't quite willing to attack two children. There were shouted threats warnings to fix the situation fast, as the mob slowly broke up.
Katrina, who appeared to be about 9, finally turned around and smiled. "I've also been working on my magic. I'd show you, but it doesn't work now."
Subaru knelt down and half-smiled while patting her and her brother on the head. "I know. Mine doesn't work either. But me and my friend here, Tea, are going to go fix everything, I promise!"
"I believe you!" Byron declared.
Tea also knelt down. "But for now, you two should go find your parents and get to a safe place at home until everything is back to normal, okay?"
The two kids nodded, then took off towards an older couple not far away, who waved and smiled. Subaru and Tea waved back, then took off running towards headquarters.
"Fried!" Caro shouted, as the little dragon dropped to the ground.
He had just flown into the room ahead of Erio when the announcement, and the wave hit. The two were temporarily staying at Nanoha and Fate's house. They both knelt beside him as Caro picked him up.
"How is he?" Erio asked.
"Dragons use a bit of magic to fly," Caro told him. "He's confused and feeling a bit weak without it. But I'm not sure how long he can last like this."
Erio looked up as Fate and Arf came into the room. "What's going on?"
"I have an idea, but I'll need to confirm it," Fate told them. "You two stay here with Arf for now, and take care of Fried. I'll head in to headquarters and find out what's going on. Communications are down or clogged, so I can't get through. Try not to leave the house if you can; it will be dangerous without magic."
The two nodded. Fate smiled and hugged them, then they watched as she ran out the door to her car. But it didn't take them long to find out, via normal broadcasts, about the scope of what was happening.
All around the planet, magic was dead.
Author's notes:
That's right, we're goin' into overtime. This chapter was actually fairly fun to write, as it's one I've had a very clear vision for in my head for a long time. Well, I had actually planned to segue directly from Jail's death into this, but after the idea for "Birthday" hit me(partially for Fate fans^^), I decided to give the rest of the cast a bit more of a breather and write in several nice character moments. By this point, I can say this fic is at least 2/3rds done. Maybe 3/4ths. I wanna say 5-6 more chapters, but my estimates have been consistently off for awhile now, heh.
And for those fellow Tropers at home: It Got Worse. And it's going to get even worse as well, as we test our characters real strengths.
Presenting rough draft of MGLN Crisis Chapter 17. I was going to wait another day or so to post this, to give me time to work on chapter 18. But I realize there doesn't seem to be much of a plot line currently (unless you've been following the hints). So this should get things going again.
Spoiler for MGLN Crisis Chapter 17: Nightmares from the Past:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 17: Nightmares from the Past
The new Arf, now in woman form, looked on in curiosity from where she sat on the checkup bed, as Shamal completed her scans. The doctor noticed this, and smiled in return as she closed out the floating screens.
"Well, it appears you are quite healthy," Shamal stated, which earned sighs of relief from the three other people looking on. "I'd also say her physical strength is a bit higher than normal, but I couldn't say by how much. The interesting thing is, she's no longer drawing magic from you, Fate."
"I figured that might happen," Yuuno admitted. "Being a Guardian Beast is a bit different than being a familiar." He chuckled. "It's not as simple as a mere palette swap!"
Arf laughed, looking down at her hands, clenching and un-clenching them in fascination.
Nanoha looked back and forth between Fate and Arf. "Are you okay, Fate?"
The golden-haired girl nodded, walking up to Arf and taking her hand. "How do you feel? Do you remember anything else?" She didn't want to admit that she was finding differences, mainly in some actions and personality. Was this the real Arf or not? This one seemed a bit more child-like and playful.
"Well, let's see..." the newly-born Guardian Beast said, brow furrowing in concentration. "I think I kinda remember Yuuno... but wasn't he a small animal?"
Yuuno chuckled, dropping into ferret form and jumping up onto Arf's lap. "Well, this is how you first knew me."
Her face lit up. "Oh yeah, Nanoha's familiar!"
The pony-tailed girl blushed and sighed, while Yuuno sweat-dropped.
"Well, that's all for now," Shamal said. "She's free to go. Walking around and meeting people might help trigger some memories." She turned toward Nanoha. "Also, the results of your other tests I've been running should be completed later today, so I'll contact you later this afternoon or evening."
Nanoha nodded as Yuuno hopped down, returning to human size while Fate took Arf's hand and helped her off the bed.
"I have a few things to take care of today, so if you'd come with me, Arf," Fate said, heading for the door with Arf in hand.
"Oh, I'll come with you!" Nanoha stated.
Fate paused and turned around, a certain evil look on her face. "Oh no, these are things I need to do." She walked up and shoved a couple small pieces of paper into Nanoha's and Yuuno's hands. "You two should relax and have some fun." She fixed Nanoha with a meaningful gaze.
"These are tickets for Marine Garden?" Yuuno questioned. "I haven't been to that amusement park in a long time."
"Well, I'll see you guys later!" Fate informed them, smiling as she led Arf out.
Nanoha's cheeks reddened a bit, partially thankful her back was currently to Yuuno so he couldn't see the look on her face. She took a breath and turned towards him, smiling. "I suppose we can't let them go to waste! Shall we, Yuuno-kun?" She offered her hand.
Yuuno nodded, his cheeks also reddening a bit. "Um, sure!"
"You're always here so early!" Suzuka noticed, yawning as she entered the lab. "And is that another new project?"
Shari looked up from the table, where a semi-human figure lay. "Yep. It was just brought in this morning. Jail outdid himself on this."
Suzuka studied the human-looking form, which could have passed for one, except it was in two parts, split across the lower torso. "A robot?" Although it almost reminded her of her old naked Barbie dolls, only without hair.
"Apparently Jail referred to them as series-14 androids," Shari explained. "This was the only one mostly intact. The rest were fairly well destroyed, all though that gives us a decent amount of spare parts."
The junior technician's eyes came up. "You aren't going to try and repair it, are you!?"
Shari grinned evilly. "You should know me by now!" Her attitude shifted. "How is the inventory check coming?"
"I think Arisa and I are about 80% complete," Suzuka replied. "We should be able to confirm everything later today. Is there any extra word on who broke in?"
The senior technician shook her head. "No, only that they left a big hole in the wall, so we still have no idea what they were after. But for now, give me a hand with this, okay? You can get back to inventory checking after lunch."
Suzuka nodded, and summoned Whiskers, beginning to analyze Shari's data.
"So when are you going to take the test?" Subaru wanted to know as the two walked through town, taking advantage of their time off.
"What are you talking about?" Teana asked, pretending not to know.
Subaru playfully hit Tea's shoulder. "You know, the A rank test? Do you still need to work on flight some more?"
"It's not a pressing concern at the moment," the gun mage replied, shrugging. "I'm happy to stay where I am as Fate's partner for now."
The cyborg girl walked ahead and turned to block Tea's path, hands on hips while giving her a dirty look. "We both know you're lying. I know how much you've been wanting to become stronger. I know you want to climb in ranks. You could probably even make AA rank, it's just that flying is keeping you from A rank."
Tea sighed, turning to a drink vending machine, pretending to study it. "I can wait until you're ready to take it, too."
Subaru blinked, then slowly grinned. "Oho! I see!" She sniffled.
Tea turned on her angrily. "What!?" She found herself the victim of a cyborg hug.
"Nothing," Subaru sniffled. "I'm just touched that you would want to wait for me!"
"Let me go!" the gun mage demanded angrily, lifting up a foot to brace against the other girl's stomach, pushing her away. She huffed, panting, her face red. "Don't ever do that to me in public again!"
Subaru laughed, then calmed down. "But you don't have to worry about me. With Wing Road I can participate in aerial combat, so I could probably qualify. I was actually waiting for you."
Tea stared at her, then turned and got a drink from the machine; she then walked past Subaru. "Do what you want, I don't care. You better hope your Wing Road qualifies, because I may take the test soon and I won't wait for you."
Subaru laughed and ran to catch up, walking beside her close friend.
"You again," the perturbed redhead noted. "What do you want?"
"I've come to apologize to you, Nove," Fate offered, bowing her head. "I made accusations to you last time that were inexcusable, and treated you with disrespect."
The cyborg girl clearly looked uncomfortable, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. "Eh, forget about it. Wasn't a big deal."
"Don't mind her," Wendi said, grinning. "She's actually quite touched and would like me to relay her deepest thanks and admiration for your actions."
"Shut up, Wendi!" Nove shouted.
Fate turned to the others. "And I apologize to you as well, for disturbing the peace of your house."
Ginga smiled, walking up to place a hand on the humble girl's shoulder. "We understand, Fate. We've all been through a rough time."
"Then what's this for?" Dieci asked, indicating the box on the table, sniffing. "It smells good...."
Fate smiled, opening it, causing the girls to "ooh" and "aah." "I know you guys couldn't be there for my party, due to working on disarming those relic bombs, so I wanted to bring you cake as a peace offering. I had the chef who made the one for my party, make a duplicate just for your family."
Cinque produced a dagger and quickly sliced it up, pausing for a moment after to lick the frosting off it, he face emotionless the entire time. The other girls paused and stared at her.
The eye-patch girl produced a plate next. "I like cake, too," she said simply.
Dieci and Wendi went to get more plates and forks, while Ginga turned to Arf. "And how are you feeling?"
The orange-haired woman smiled, her large ears perking up. "Great! It's been real nice getting to know all of Fate's friends!"
Ginga paused, stealing a glance at Fate, who nodded slowly. "That's... great! So you don't know me at all?"
"Your name is Ginga Nakajima," Arf replied. "Fate showed me pictures and names on the way over." She looked up and down. "Don't you have roller skates?"
"Um, yes, I do," she replied, then smiled. "And so does Nove. Perhaps we should go skating sometime!"
Arf smiled. "Sounds like fun!"
"Who said I'd do that?" Nove asked, then quickly turned backed. "Hey, Wendi, that's the piece I wanted!"
The girls descended into a fit of giggles.
There was something different, he decided. Not just in her words and actions, but just in her general attitude towards him.
"You're deep in thought about something again, Yuuno-kun," Nanoha admonished, wagging her finger at him. "We're supposed to be having fun right now!"
He blushed, placing a hand behind his neck. "Sorry, Nanoha. So where did you want to go next?"
"Hmm, you decide!" She told him, smiling, hands behind her back.
"Well, we had lunch not too long ago," Yuuno said, leading her over to a stand. "How about some cotton candy?"
She thought about it. "Hmm, no thanks, but you get one for yourself, okay?"
He raised an eyebrow, but got one anyway, thanking the vendor before they began walking away. "Hey, I thought you didn't want anyway?"
Nanoha smiled, as she pulled her mouth away from the confection, swallowing. "I changed my mind."
[Okay, she is definitely different today,] he confirmed as they walked through the amusement park. [This wasn't like the last time we came here, many years ago.] She continued to sneak bites of his cotton candy.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked him, keeping her gaze straight ahead.
"Oh, heh, not much," he replied, thinking quickly. "Just that I thought Fate's actions were a bit strange. It was almost like she was setting us up on a date or something. Isn't that funny?" He chuckled.
She ate the last of his confection, tossing the stick into a nearby trash bin, then glanced coyly at him. "Hmm, maybe it is?" She winked, making him speechless. "Oh, let's do this ride next!"
Stunned, Yuuno let himself be pulled along.
"Arf, you go ahead inside, ok?" Fate told her as they arrived back at the house. "I need to take care of something outside."
"Okay!" Arf agreed gladly, taking off her shoes in the entryway and heading in.
Fate paused a moment, then spoke out. "You can come out now. I know you've been following us all day. But I must admit, I can't figure out why."
Zafira hoped down from a tree in adult male form, and coughed. "I didn't think I was that obvious."
"Are you still worried about me or Arf?" Fate asked him. "Did Hayate ask you to keep an eye on us?"
"No, that's not it," he told her, shaking his head. "Hayate doesn't know I am here."
She tilted her head to the side a bit. "Then what?"
He seemed to fumble for words. "Is, uh, Arf back to her normal self?"
"Not totally," Fate replied, trying to make sense of him. "Her personality is a bit different; she tends to act and speak as she was in her younger days. But there are times when she says or does something that is just what the old Arf would have said or done. Or she recalls a memory that only the old Arf would know."
"Ah, I see," Zafira noted, lowering his head a bit. "So I shouldn't impose just yet. Thank you for your time, Fate." He turned to go. "I apologize for my stalking actions. I won't trouble you further in this way."
Fate scratched her head. [What was that about?]
"You like the view that much?" Yuuno asked casually from his side of the Ferris Wheel car.
Nanoha nodded, her face up against the window.. "The view of the city, and the ocean from this height... It's almost like flying. We'll have to come back later when it's darker so we can see the lights."
Yuuno smiled, remembering how much she loved flying. Even back when he was training her, when she found out Yuuno could fly, she desperately wanted him to teach her, too. In some cultures, flying while in a dream represented freedom. Though he never felt quite the same way, he could see that Nanoha cherished the freedom she gained while in the sky.
"Sure," he replied, as the Ferris Wheel paused, their car 75% of the way up the wheel. It was in the process of changing out riders. "I'd like that."
She sat back down in her seat, opposite of him, her hands in her lap. "Thank you for coming with me today, Yuuno-kun. I'm having a great time." She smiled at him.
"Well, Fate kinda forced us, but I would have come anyway," he told her, chuckling a bit, then noticed a strange look in her eyes. What was there? "Nanoha?"
She shook her head as the wheel moved again, moving them almost to the top. "Nothing. I was just thinking about how long we've known each other, what we've been through, and how glad I am the current crisis situation is over."
Was she leaning towards him a bit? "Me too..." He replied, leaning a bit towards her as well. He could feel his heart beating strongly in his chest, loud enough that Nanoha should have been hearing it, too.
Her face seemed to loom closer and closer as their car moved to the top position. Was she actually going to...
She paused, inches apart, her eyes widening. "Yuuno, look!"
"Huh?" he replied intelligently, looking where she was pointing. "Is that... Jail!?"
A large holographic image of the doctor was looming over Clanagan, and as he spread his hands, he began to speak, his voice seemingly coming from every conceivable speaker in the city and the park.
"Citizens of Mid-Childa, I bring you greetings!" he intoned, smiling. "If you are seeing this, then my final plans have failed, but my dream won't die with me. Those that labored with me, and those that are repressed under this system of magic, shall be set free. Magic empowers a single individual, but science empowers us all. I give the gift now, to those that seek a life free from the oppression of those would use magic to control and enslave you. This is my final gift, my final triumph!"
"What is he talking about it?" Yuuno wondered aloud as the holographic image faded. "I thought he-"
His words were interrupted by a powerful force that swept across him. It was like a wave, but it wasn't physical. It still gave him the chills, sending shivers all along his body.
"Nanoha, did you feel that?" he asked, turning back. "Nanoha!?"
Her eyes were wide, terrified, as she clutched her chest. "Y-Yuuno..." She could barely speak, as if she was having a heart attack. She looked up at him, helpless, trying to reach out to him.
Then she collapsed to the floor.
"Nanoha!"
Vivio had just stood in class, about to read a section of her book as instructed by her teacher, when Jail's public announcement came. Like everyone else, she was confused about what was going on.
And then the wave hit.
Like her mother, Vivio collapsed to the ground holding her chest, whimpering against the painful burning sensation. Her teacher and classmates gathered around her, calling for medical attention.
In the far reaches of outer space, seemingly empty of any matter, something else happened. If there were an observer, they would have talked about how space itself rippled, distorting. Energy lances shot out from a certain point, a hole. The energy didn't fully escape, but began to spiral around it, revealing that the hole was growing larger and larger.
And something began to emerge
Our hypothetical observer would be amazed at the sight. They would ascribe to it such monikers as "huge" and "beautiful." They would be shocked at how more and more kept emerging, until the object was fully in our space-time. Asked to describe it as simply as possible, they would say it was essentially a golden city set upon the fragment of an asteroid that was roughly the same size as the city itself.
But there was no observer here, and thus no one to know what had just happened... yet.
"Nanoha!" Yuuno called, rolling her over to her back. He was partially relieved that she was still conscious, but the sheer look of terror in her eyes tore his heart in two. "Hold on, I'll heal you!"
He spread his hands over he chest and tried to summon up his healing magic...
...and found he couldn't. "What the...?" His gaze returned to her face, just in time to see her eyes roll back into her head as she passed out. "NANOHA!"
He leapt to his feet, realizing he needed to get her to a doctor as soon as possible. But as he swung the ferris wheel car door open, initially planning to fly her down, but a sudden dread struck him. He experimented by trying to float, but found he couldn't. He despaired as he realized he wouldn't be flying her down. And there was no way he could climb down while carrying her.
However, he did realize some people below had noticed him opening the door. "HEY! UP HERE! MEDICAL EMERGENCY! WE NEED TO GET DOWN!"
Some of those people seemed to understand and pointed it out to the operator, who started up the wheel again. In moments, they were back down on the ground, and the park's medical staff had been summoned.
Yuuno could only stand by helplessly as they tried to revive her.
"He can't be serious!" Subaru exclaimed.
Tea concentrated for a moment, and then growled in frustration. "It's true, I can't gather any magic at all!"
"What's going on!?" a female passerby asked in fear.
"There's no more magic!" a male shouted. "The Bureau has failed us!"
"What will we do without magic!?" another female cried. Most of the population had some magic, even if it never went above D rank in power.
"Hey, I recognize those two," a second man called, pointing at Subaru and Tea. "They work for the Bureau! Let's get answers out of them!"
The two girls backed up as the crowd formed on them, murmuring and shouting, and demanding answers.
"We don't know anything!" Subaru protested. "This is as big a surprise to us as it is to you!"
An object was thrown at them, and working on instinct, Subaru shielded Tea, the knife cutting into her left arm. She winced, pulling the knife out.
"Hey, she's one of them them cyborgs!" a male voice from the crowd shouted, drawing attention to the exposed circuitry in Subaru's arm. "Maybe she's in on it!" A few more objects were thrown, but this time just stuff like cans and rocks.
Tea stepped out in front of her friend, arms spread wide, her face angry. "Subaru is my friend, and a member of the Rescue division. She's helped to save more lives than any of you! There's no way she would be behind something like this!"
"It probably was all a trick, just to get in good with the Bureau and make us think she had no ulterior motives!" yet another voiced accused. That was met by a loud murmuring of agreement, and the crowd surged forward a bit more.
"I can still go cyborg mode and bust us out of here," Subaru whispered.
Tea shook her head slightly. "If you display any aggressive moves, or cause any damage, it will just confirm their fears."
A wall informed Subaru she couldn't back up anymore. "Well, I'm open to suggestions...."
"Stop it!" yelled a young blond-haired girl, accompanied by an even younger blond-haired boy, as they slipped out from the mob and stood in front of Tea, arms wide. "Subaru is a nice person! She saved me and my brother! How could a bad person save us?"
Subaru glanced over Tea's shoulder, getting the strangest feeling she had seen them before. "You're..."
The boy, appearing about 6 years old, looked up at her and smiled. "I'm Byron! You saved my sister, Katrina, and me on a sinking boat. I wanna be a rescue mage just like you!"
The rescue cyborg remembered. "That was shortly after I joined the Disaster Planning and Humanitarian Aid Division. I remember you two being so brave in the face of danger. You did well!"
The crowd paused. It may have been willing to assault two girls, partly because one of them wasn't human. But it wasn't quite willing to attack two children. There were shouted threats warnings to fix the situation fast, as the mob slowly broke up.
Katrina, who appeared to be about 9, finally turned around and smiled. "I've also been working on my magic. I'd show you, but it doesn't work now."
Subaru knelt down and half-smiled while patting her and her brother on the head. "I know. Mine doesn't work either. But me and my friend here, Tea, are going to go fix everything, I promise!"
"I believe you!" Byron declared.
Tea also knelt down. "But for now, you two should go find your parents and get to a safe place at home until everything is back to normal, okay?"
The two kids nodded, then took off towards an older couple not far away, who waved and smiled. Subaru and Tea waved back, then took off running towards headquarters.
"Fried!" Caro shouted, as the little dragon dropped to the ground.
He had just flown into the room ahead of Erio when the announcement, and the wave hit. The two were temporarily staying at Nanoha and Fate's house. They both knelt beside him as Caro picked him up.
"How is he?" Erio asked.
"Dragons use a bit of magic to fly," Caro told him. "He's confused and feeling a bit weak without it. But I'm not sure how long he can last like this."
Erio looked up as Fate and Arf came into the room. "What's going on?"
"I have an idea, but I'll need to confirm it," Fate told them. "You two stay here with Arf for now, and take care of Fried. I'll head in to headquarters and find out what's going on. Communications are down or clogged, so I can't get through. Try not to leave the house if you can; it will be dangerous without magic."
The two nodded. Fate smiled and hugged them, then they watched as she ran out the door to her car. But it didn't take them long to find out, via normal broadcasts, about the scope of what was happening.
All around the planet, magic was dead.
Author's notes:
That's right, we're goin' into overtime. This chapter was actually fairly fun to write, as it's one I've had a very clear vision for in my head for a long time. Well, I had actually planned to segue directly from Jail's death into this, but after the idea for "Birthday" hit me(partially for Fate fans^^), I decided to give the rest of the cast a bit more of a breather and write in several nice character moments. By this point, I can say this fic is at least 2/3rds done. Maybe 3/4ths. I wanna say 5-6 more chapters, but my estimates have been consistently off for awhile now, heh.
And for those fellow Tropers at home: It Got Worse. And it's going to get even worse as well, as we test our characters real strengths.
Do I spy hints of Zarf? *shot*
Somehow I get the feeling it's going to get worse, what with the magic being gone and all. Thanks for the warning, though.
Presenting rough draft of MGLN Crisis Chapter 17. I was going to wait another day or so to post this, to give me time to work on chapter 18. But I realize there doesn't seem to be much of a plot line currently (unless you've been following the hints). So this should get things going again.
Spoiler for MGLN Crisis Chapter 17: Nightmares from the Past:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 17: Nightmares from the Past
The new Arf, now in woman form, looked on in curiosity from where she sat on the checkup bed, as Shamal completed her scans. The doctor noticed this, and smiled in return as she closed out the floating screens.
"Well, it appears you are quite healthy," Shamal stated, which earned sighs of relief from the three other people looking on. "I'd also say her physical strength is a bit higher than normal, but I couldn't say by how much. The interesting thing is, she's no longer drawing magic from you, Fate."
"I figured that might happen," Yuuno admitted. "Being a Guardian Beast is a bit different than being a familiar." He chuckled. "It's not as simple as a mere palette swap!"
Arf laughed, looking down at her hands, clenching and un-clenching them in fascination.
Nanoha looked back and forth between Fate and Arf. "Are you okay, Fate?"
The golden-haired girl nodded, walking up to Arf and taking her hand. "How do you feel? Do you remember anything else?" She didn't want to admit that she was finding differences, mainly in some actions and personality. Was this the real Arf or not? This one seemed a bit more child-like and playful.
"Well, let's see..." the newly-born Guardian Beast said, brow furrowing in concentration. "I think I kinda remember Yuuno... but wasn't he a small animal?"
Yuuno chuckled, dropping into ferret form and jumping up onto Arf's lap. "Well, this is how you first knew me."
Her face lit up. "Oh yeah, Nanoha's familiar!"
The pony-tailed girl blushed and sighed, while Yuuno sweat-dropped.
"Well, that's all for now," Shamal said. "She's free to go. Walking around and meeting people might help trigger some memories." She turned toward Nanoha. "Also, the results of your other tests I've been running should be completed later today, so I'll contact you later this afternoon or evening."
Nanoha nodded as Yuuno hopped down, returning to human size while Fate took Arf's hand and helped her off the bed.
"I have a few things to take care of today, so if you'd come with me, Arf," Fate said, heading for the door with Arf in hand.
"Oh, I'll come with you!" Nanoha stated.
Fate paused and turned around, a certain evil look on her face. "Oh no, these are things I need to do." She walked up and shoved a couple small pieces of paper into Nanoha's and Yuuno's hands. "You two should relax and have some fun." She fixed Nanoha with a meaningful gaze.
"These are tickets for Marine Garden?" Yuuno questioned. "I haven't been to that amusement park in a long time."
"Well, I'll see you guys later!" Fate informed them, smiling as she led Arf out.
Nanoha's cheeks reddened a bit, partially thankful her back was currently to Yuuno so he couldn't see the look on her face. She took a breath and turned towards him, smiling. "I suppose we can't let them go to waste! Shall we, Yuuno-kun?" She offered her hand.
Yuuno nodded, his cheeks also reddening a bit. "Um, sure!"
"You're always here so early!" Suzuka noticed, yawning as she entered the lab. "And is that another new project?"
Shari looked up from the table, where a semi-human figure lay. "Yep. It was just brought in this morning. Jail outdid himself on this."
Suzuka studied the human-looking form, which could have passed for one, except it was in two parts, split across the lower torso. "A robot?" Although it almost reminded her of her old naked Barbie dolls, only without hair.
"Apparently Jail referred to them as series-14 androids," Shari explained. "This was the only one mostly intact. The rest were fairly well destroyed, all though that gives us a decent amount of spare parts."
The junior technician's eyes came up. "You aren't going to try and repair it, are you!?"
Shari grinned evilly. "You should know me by now!" Her attitude shifted. "How is the inventory check coming?"
"I think Arisa and I are about 80% complete," Suzuka replied. "We should be able to confirm everything later today. Is there any extra word on who broke in?"
The senior technician shook her head. "No, only that they left a big hole in the wall, so we still have no idea what they were after. But for now, give me a hand with this, okay? You can get back to inventory checking after lunch."
Suzuka nodded, and summoned Whiskers, beginning to analyze Shari's data.
"So when are you going to take the test?" Subaru wanted to know as the two walked through town, taking advantage of their time off.
"What are you talking about?" Teana asked, pretending not to know.
Subaru playfully hit Tea's shoulder. "You know, the A rank test? Do you still need to work on flight some more?"
"It's not a pressing concern at the moment," the gun mage replied, shrugging. "I'm happy to stay where I am as Fate's partner for now."
The cyborg girl walked ahead and turned to block Tea's path, hands on hips while giving her a dirty look. "We both know you're lying. I know how much you've been wanting to become stronger. I know you want to climb in ranks. You could probably even make AA rank, it's just that flying is keeping you from A rank."
Tea sighed, turning to a drink vending machine, pretending to study it. "I can wait until you're ready to take it, too."
Subaru blinked, then slowly grinned. "Oho! I see!" She sniffled.
Tea turned on her angrily. "What!?" She found herself the victim of a cyborg hug.
"Nothing," Subaru sniffled. "I'm just touched that you would want to wait for me!"
"Let me go!" the gun mage demanded angrily, lifting up a foot to brace against the other girl's stomach, pushing her away. She huffed, panting, her face red. "Don't ever do that to me in public again!"
Subaru laughed, then calmed down. "But you don't have to worry about me. With Wing Road I can participate in aerial combat, so I could probably qualify. I was actually waiting for you."
Tea stared at her, then turned and got a drink from the machine; she then walked past Subaru. "Do what you want, I don't care. You better hope your Wing Road qualifies, because I may take the test soon and I won't wait for you."
Subaru laughed and ran to catch up, walking beside her close friend.
"You again," the perturbed redhead noted. "What do you want?"
"I've come to apologize to you, Nove," Fate offered, bowing her head. "I made accusations to you last time that were inexcusable, and treated you with disrespect."
The cyborg girl clearly looked uncomfortable, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. "Eh, forget about it. Wasn't a big deal."
"Don't mind her," Wendi said, grinning. "She's actually quite touched and would like me to relay her deepest thanks and admiration for your actions."
"Shut up, Wendi!" Nove shouted.
Fate turned to the others. "And I apologize to you as well, for disturbing the peace of your house."
Ginga smiled, walking up to place a hand on the humble girl's shoulder. "We understand, Fate. We've all been through a rough time."
"Then what's this for?" Dieci asked, indicating the box on the table, sniffing. "It smells good...."
Fate smiled, opening it, causing the girls to "ooh" and "aah." "I know you guys couldn't be there for my party, due to working on disarming those relic bombs, so I wanted to bring you cake as a peace offering. I had the chef who made the one for my party, make a duplicate just for your family."
Cinque produced a dagger and quickly sliced it up, pausing for a moment after to lick the frosting off it, he face emotionless the entire time. The other girls paused and stared at her.
The eye-patch girl produced a plate next. "I like cake, too," she said simply.
Dieci and Wendi went to get more plates and forks, while Ginga turned to Arf. "And how are you feeling?"
The orange-haired woman smiled, her large ears perking up. "Great! It's been real nice getting to know all of Fate's friends!"
Ginga paused, stealing a glance at Fate, who nodded slowly. "That's... great! So you don't know me at all?"
"Your name is Ginga Nakajima," Arf replied. "Fate showed me pictures and names on the way over." She looked up and down. "Don't you have roller skates?"
"Um, yes, I do," she replied, then smiled. "And so does Nove. Perhaps we should go skating sometime!"
Arf smiled. "Sounds like fun!"
"Who said I'd do that?" Nove asked, then quickly turned backed. "Hey, Wendi, that's the piece I wanted!"
The girls descended into a fit of giggles.
There was something different, he decided. Not just in her words and actions, but just in her general attitude towards him.
"You're deep in thought about something again, Yuuno-kun," Nanoha admonished, wagging her finger at him. "We're supposed to be having fun right now!"
He blushed, placing a hand behind his neck. "Sorry, Nanoha. So where did you want to go next?"
"Hmm, you decide!" She told him, smiling, hands behind her back.
"Well, we had lunch not too long ago," Yuuno said, leading her over to a stand. "How about some cotton candy?"
She thought about it. "Hmm, no thanks, but you get one for yourself, okay?"
He raised an eyebrow, but got one anyway, thanking the vendor before they began walking away. "Hey, I thought you didn't want anyway?"
Nanoha smiled, as she pulled her mouth away from the confection, swallowing. "I changed my mind."
[Okay, she is definitely different today,] he confirmed as they walked through the amusement park. [This wasn't like the last time we came here, many years ago.] She continued to sneak bites of his cotton candy.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked him, keeping her gaze straight ahead.
"Oh, heh, not much," he replied, thinking quickly. "Just that I thought Fate's actions were a bit strange. It was almost like she was setting us up on a date or something. Isn't that funny?" He chuckled.
She ate the last of his confection, tossing the stick into a nearby trash bin, then glanced coyly at him. "Hmm, maybe it is?" She winked, making him speechless. "Oh, let's do this ride next!"
Stunned, Yuuno let himself be pulled along.
"Arf, you go ahead inside, ok?" Fate told her as they arrived back at the house. "I need to take care of something outside."
"Okay!" Arf agreed gladly, taking off her shoes in the entryway and heading in.
Fate paused a moment, then spoke out. "You can come out now. I know you've been following us all day. But I must admit, I can't figure out why."
Zafira hoped down from a tree in adult male form, and coughed. "I didn't think I was that obvious."
"Are you still worried about me or Arf?" Fate asked him. "Did Hayate ask you to keep an eye on us?"
"No, that's not it," he told her, shaking his head. "Hayate doesn't know I am here."
She tilted her head to the side a bit. "Then what?"
He seemed to fumble for words. "Is, uh, Arf back to her normal self?"
"Not totally," Fate replied, trying to make sense of him. "Her personality is a bit different; she tends to act and speak as she was in her younger days. But there are times when she says or does something that is just what the old Arf would have said or done. Or she recalls a memory that only the old Arf would know."
"Ah, I see," Zafira noted, lowering his head a bit. "So I shouldn't impose just yet. Thank you for your time, Fate." He turned to go. "I apologize for my stalking actions. I won't trouble you further in this way."
Fate scratched her head. [What was that about?]
"You like the view that much?" Yuuno asked casually from his side of the Ferris Wheel car.
Nanoha nodded, her face up against the window.. "The view of the city, and the ocean from this height... It's almost like flying. We'll have to come back later when it's darker so we can see the lights."
Yuuno smiled, remembering how much she loved flying. Even back when he was training her, when she found out Yuuno could fly, she desperately wanted him to teach her, too. In some cultures, flying while in a dream represented freedom. Though he never felt quite the same way, he could see that Nanoha cherished the freedom she gained while in the sky.
"Sure," he replied, as the Ferris Wheel paused, their car 75% of the way up the wheel. It was in the process of changing out riders. "I'd like that."
She sat back down in her seat, opposite of him, her hands in her lap. "Thank you for coming with me today, Yuuno-kun. I'm having a great time." She smiled at him.
"Well, Fate kinda forced us, but I would have come anyway," he told her, chuckling a bit, then noticed a strange look in her eyes. What was there? "Nanoha?"
She shook her head as the wheel moved again, moving them almost to the top. "Nothing. I was just thinking about how long we've known each other, what we've been through, and how glad I am the current crisis situation is over."
Was she leaning towards him a bit? "Me too..." He replied, leaning a bit towards her as well. He could feel his heart beating strongly in his chest, loud enough that Nanoha should have been hearing it, too.
Her face seemed to loom closer and closer as their car moved to the top position. Was she actually going to...
She paused, inches apart, her eyes widening. "Yuuno, look!"
"Huh?" he replied intelligently, looking where she was pointing. "Is that... Jail!?"
A large holographic image of the doctor was looming over Clanagan, and as he spread his hands, he began to speak, his voice seemingly coming from every conceivable speaker in the city and the park.
"Citizens of Mid-Childa, I bring you greetings!" he intoned, smiling. "If you are seeing this, then my final plans have failed, but my dream won't die with me. Those that labored with me, and those that are repressed under this system of magic, shall be set free. Magic empowers a single individual, but science empowers us all. I give the gift now, to those that seek a life free from the oppression of those would use magic to control and enslave you. This is my final gift, my final triumph!"
"What is he talking about it?" Yuuno wondered aloud as the holographic image faded. "I thought he-"
His words were interrupted by a powerful force that swept across him. It was like a wave, but it wasn't physical. It still gave him the chills, sending shivers all along his body.
"Nanoha, did you feel that?" he asked, turning back. "Nanoha!?"
Her eyes were wide, terrified, as she clutched her chest. "Y-Yuuno..." She could barely speak, as if she was having a heart attack. She looked up at him, helpless, trying to reach out to him.
Then she collapsed to the floor.
"Nanoha!"
Vivio had just stood in class, about to read a section of her book as instructed by her teacher, when Jail's public announcement came. Like everyone else, she was confused about what was going on.
And then the wave hit.
Like her mother, Vivio collapsed to the ground holding her chest, whimpering against the painful burning sensation. Her teacher and classmates gathered around her, calling for medical attention.
In the far reaches of outer space, seemingly empty of any matter, something else happened. If there were an observer, they would have talked about how space itself rippled, distorting. Energy lances shot out from a certain point, a hole. The energy didn't fully escape, but began to spiral around it, revealing that the hole was growing larger and larger.
And something began to emerge
Our hypothetical observer would be amazed at the sight. They would ascribe to it such monikers as "huge" and "beautiful." They would be shocked at how more and more kept emerging, until the object was fully in our space-time. Asked to describe it as simply as possible, they would say it was essentially a golden city set upon the fragment of an asteroid that was roughly the same size as the city itself.
But there was no observer here, and thus no one to know what had just happened... yet.
"Nanoha!" Yuuno called, rolling her over to her back. He was partially relieved that she was still conscious, but the sheer look of terror in her eyes tore his heart in two. "Hold on, I'll heal you!"
He spread his hands over he chest and tried to summon up his healing magic...
...and found he couldn't. "What the...?" His gaze returned to her face, just in time to see her eyes roll back into her head as she passed out. "NANOHA!"
He leapt to his feet, realizing he needed to get her to a doctor as soon as possible. But as he swung the ferris wheel car door open, initially planning to fly her down, but a sudden dread struck him. He experimented by trying to float, but found he couldn't. He despaired as he realized he wouldn't be flying her down. And there was no way he could climb down while carrying her.
However, he did realize some people below had noticed him opening the door. "HEY! UP HERE! MEDICAL EMERGENCY! WE NEED TO GET DOWN!"
Some of those people seemed to understand and pointed it out to the operator, who started up the wheel again. In moments, they were back down on the ground, and the park's medical staff had been summoned.
Yuuno could only stand by helplessly as they tried to revive her.
"He can't be serious!" Subaru exclaimed.
Tea concentrated for a moment, and then growled in frustration. "It's true, I can't gather any magic at all!"
"What's going on!?" a female passerby asked in fear.
"There's no more magic!" a male shouted. "The Bureau has failed us!"
"What will we do without magic!?" another female cried. Most of the population had some magic, even if it never went above D rank in power.
"Hey, I recognize those two," a second man called, pointing at Subaru and Tea. "They work for the Bureau! Let's get answers out of them!"
The two girls backed up as the crowd formed on them, murmuring and shouting, and demanding answers.
"We don't know anything!" Subaru protested. "This is as big a surprise to us as it is to you!"
An object was thrown at them, and working on instinct, Subaru shielded Tea, the knife cutting into her left arm. She winced, pulling the knife out.
"Hey, she's one of them them cyborgs!" a male voice from the crowd shouted, drawing attention to the exposed circuitry in Subaru's arm. "Maybe she's in on it!" A few more objects were thrown, but this time just stuff like cans and rocks.
Tea stepped out in front of her friend, arms spread wide, her face angry. "Subaru is my friend, and a member of the Rescue division. She's helped to save more lives than any of you! There's no way she would be behind something like this!"
"It probably was all a trick, just to get in good with the Bureau and make us think she had no ulterior motives!" yet another voiced accused. That was met by a loud murmuring of agreement, and the crowd surged forward a bit more.
"I can still go cyborg mode and bust us out of here," Subaru whispered.
Tea shook her head slightly. "If you display any aggressive moves, or cause any damage, it will just confirm their fears."
A wall informed Subaru she couldn't back up anymore. "Well, I'm open to suggestions...."
"Stop it!" yelled a young blond-haired girl, accompanied by an even younger blond-haired boy, as they slipped out from the mob and stood in front of Tea, arms wide. "Subaru is a nice person! She saved me and my brother! How could a bad person save us?"
Subaru glanced over Tea's shoulder, getting the strangest feeling she had seen them before. "You're..."
The boy, appearing about 6 years old, looked up at her and smiled. "I'm Byron! You saved my sister, Katrina, and me on a sinking boat. I wanna be a rescue mage just like you!"
The rescue cyborg remembered. "That was shortly after I joined the Disaster Planning and Humanitarian Aid Division. I remember you two being so brave in the face of danger. You did well!"
The crowd paused. It may have been willing to assault two girls, partly because one of them wasn't human. But it wasn't quite willing to attack two children. There were shouted threats warnings to fix the situation fast, as the mob slowly broke up.
Katrina, who appeared to be about 9, finally turned around and smiled. "I've also been working on my magic. I'd show you, but it doesn't work now."
Subaru knelt down and half-smiled while patting her and her brother on the head. "I know. Mine doesn't work either. But me and my friend here, Tea, are going to go fix everything, I promise!"
"I believe you!" Byron declared.
Tea also knelt down. "But for now, you two should go find your parents and get to a safe place at home until everything is back to normal, okay?"
The two kids nodded, then took off towards an older couple not far away, who waved and smiled. Subaru and Tea waved back, then took off running towards headquarters.
"Fried!" Caro shouted, as the little dragon dropped to the ground.
He had just flown into the room ahead of Erio when the announcement, and the wave hit. The two were temporarily staying at Nanoha and Fate's house. They both knelt beside him as Caro picked him up.
"How is he?" Erio asked.
"Dragons use a bit of magic to fly," Caro told him. "He's confused and feeling a bit weak without it. But I'm not sure how long he can last like this."
Erio looked up as Fate and Arf came into the room. "What's going on?"
"I have an idea, but I'll need to confirm it," Fate told them. "You two stay here with Arf for now, and take care of Fried. I'll head in to headquarters and find out what's going on. Communications are down or clogged, so I can't get through. Try not to leave the house if you can; it will be dangerous without magic."
The two nodded. Fate smiled and hugged them, then they watched as she ran out the door to her car. But it didn't take them long to find out, via normal broadcasts, about the scope of what was happening.
All around the planet, magic was dead.
Author's notes:
That's right, we're goin' into overtime. This chapter was actually fairly fun to write, as it's one I've had a very clear vision for in my head for a long time. Well, I had actually planned to segue directly from Jail's death into this, but after the idea for "Birthday" hit me(partially for Fate fans^^), I decided to give the rest of the cast a bit more of a breather and write in several nice character moments. By this point, I can say this fic is at least 2/3rds done. Maybe 3/4ths. I wanna say 5-6 more chapters, but my estimates have been consistently off for awhile now, heh.
And for those fellow Tropers at home: It Got Worse. And it's going to get even worse as well, as we test our characters real strengths.
How exactly was it any more intense than earlier chapters? Sure, it had a plot twist at the end, but most of it was ferris wheels, a stalker, and a bunch of uppity civvies that need to be shot for assaulting officers of the law.
How exactly was it any more intense than earlier chapters? Sure, it had a plot twist at the end, but most of it was ferris wheels, a stalker, and a bunch of uppity civvies that need to be shot for assaulting officers of the law.
I found it intense and that's all I got to say on that matter since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read it. Sometimes, it only takes one small thing to make a big difference, Gafgar.
I found it intense and that's all I got to say on that matter since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read it. Sometimes, it only takes one small thing to make a big difference, Gafgar.
One of the more awkward moments of having a daughter who loves you very much.
Spoiler for XDD:
"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~" The small sound came from Vivio as she stared long and hard at her mother sitting across the table from her. Nanoha was already nervous from the look but still waited patiently for her young daughter to ask what was on her mind. "Ne, Mama?" The words were finally asked, giving Nanoha an opportunity to help her.
"Yes, dear?"
"You kiss to show you like someone, right?"
Nanoha blinked. Vivio was way too young to be asking that question."Uhm... Yes, Vivio?"
"You kiss Fate-mama because you love her, right?"
"...Yes?"
"And you kiss me because you love me, right?"
"...Yes?"
"So," Vivio rationalized. "You love us both, don't you?"
Nanoha nodded slowly. "Of course I do."
Vivio looked hesitant. "Do you... love Fate-mama more than me?"
The question made the girl almost fall over. "Wha...what makes you ask that, Vivio?"
"Because..." Vivio pushed her two index finger together. "You and Fate-mama kiss differently... Like you love each other more."
"Er!" Nanoha started to sweat. 'Oh my god she did see us...' Laughing nervously, Nanoha waved her hands. "That's... different."
"...Because you love her more?" vivio looked down.
"No! No, I love you both equally!"
"Then why... don't you kiss me like that?" Vivio moved from the table and stood next to Nanoha. "I want to kiss mama like Nanoha-mama kisses Fate-mama."
"Giku!" Nanoha repressed the shocked sound and tried to think fast. "You see...that's..."
"I'm home!" Fate called out as she entered the house.
"Fate-chan!" Nanoha scooped up Vivio. "Perfect timing, I have to go to the store!" Handing off Vivio to a shocked Fate, the girl grabbed her shoes and ran out the door. "Sorry Fate-chan! Vivio wants to ask you something!"
Fate looked at vivio's curious eyes. "Hello."
~*Later that night*~
Nanoha peeked into her bedroom, seeing Fate sitting on the bed. "Fate-chan...?" The blonde didn't answer. Instead, her red eyes were hidden by her hair, casting a shadow over them. "Um.. did Vivio talk to you? Did you manage to explain it to her?" Vertical purple doom lines appeared over Fate's head as the area around her got darker. "Nya...ha...ha..."
One of the more awkward moments of having a daughter who loves you very much.
Spoiler for XDD:
-KATTO-
Haha, kids are so precious.
So I've been working on a sequel to my Vivio/Yuuno fic for awhile now. I'm not done it yet, but I wanted to post what I have to see how you guys think it's going so far.
Spoiler for One Step at a Time -Unfinished-:
“I can’t believe it!” Wendi took an angry sip from her straw. “We’re gone away on a mission for a few months, and we miss all the good stuff!”
“Calm down, Wendi, you’re causing a scene.” Vivio tried to subdue her cyborg friend while a few of the restaurant’s other patrons cast glances.
“So you finally confessed to him, eh?” Nove lifted her glass. “Way to go, Vivio.”
“Thanks, Nove.”
“So, start talking!” Wendi grinned. “It’s been three months now, right? How’s it working out?”
“It’s going well, I think.”
“You think?”
“It’s not like I’ve gone out with anyone before this.” Vivio said with a shrug. “So I don’t really have anything to compare it to. But we’re getting along well like we always have, and we’ve never gotten into a fight or anything.”
“I’d feel sorry for him if something bad happened between you two.” Nove put in. “He’d have you, your moms, me, Wendi, the rest of our sisters and others kicking the crap out of him.”
“… That’s what everyone says.” Vivio sighed. “Well, I’m not really worried for his safety. Yuuno-san’s barriers are amazing! It’s impossible to even dent them, and I should know. I’ve tried and failed.”
“Oh really?” Nove stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Maybe I should test that out for myself.”
“Wait, so you two go training together?” Wendi inquired.
“Yeah, he’s come with me to the training center a few times.”
“Oh boy.” Wendi chuckled. “That couldn’t have gone over well.”
“What do you mean by that?” Nove blinked.
“Well… something did happen…” Vivio admitted.
---
Yuuno waited outside of the Strike Arts practise area while Vivio had gone to shower and change. He hadn’t participated in any of the training this time, he had only watched as Vivio sparred with other martial artists. He was highly impressed by her grace and intensity as she tossed her opponents left and right. Though it really wasn’t that surprising she was so strong and skilful considering she had been at it for years.
“Hey, you!”
Yuuno blinked out of his thoughts and found himself surrounded by four males who each had three times more muscle mass than he did.
“Can I help you?”
“Yeah! You can tell us who the hell you are!” Male A demanded.
“You’ve got some nerve acting all friendly with Takamachi like that!” Male B followed up.
“Especially since you’re such a scrawny wimp!” Male C added.
“Just what is your relationship with her?” Male D finished.
“Our relationship?” Yuuno had gotten used to explaining it to his close friends, so he had no reason to be hesitant around strangers. “I’m her boyfriend.”
The other males wore expressions that made it seem like they’d taken a football to the groin.
“There’s no way that’s true!” Male A roared.
“Don’t kid yourself!” Male B insisted.
“How could she pick some one like you over me?!” Male C lamented.
“We’ll put you in your place!” Male D advanced.
When Vivio exited moments later, she was surprised to see four guys on the ground wrapped up in binds.
“What happened here?” She turned to Yuuno who let out a sigh.
“I was just showing these gentlemen how to use binds effectively.” He said. “Isn’t that right?” The guys just grumbled.
Vivio decided to just leave it at that. “Let’s head back, Yuuno-san.”
Yuuno nodded and undid the binds. The couple made to go, but one of the males got up and charged.
“Don’t get cocky you bastard!” He yelled, throwing a punch at Yuuno. Before it could connect, Vivio stepped between them and caught his fist with ease. “What the?!”
“If you ever raise your fist to my boyfriend again,” Vivio’s tone was flat and her eyes narrow. “I won’t forgive you.”
The rowdy guys stood dumbfounded a moment before they all ran away.
---
“I figured as much.” Wendi smiled mirthlessly. “Half the regulars all have their eyes on you. If a bunch of muscle heads like those get jealous, well, that happens.”
“You put them in their place.” Nove added. “They’ll think twice before messing with you again.”
“Let this be a cautionary tale for you, Nove.” Wendi grinned. “The other half has their eyes on you.”
“They do?” Nove blinked. “What the hell for?”
“Gee, I wonder.” Wendi rolled her eyes. “Anyways, Vivio, so he watches you train sometimes. What else do you do together?”
“Yuuno-san’s work keeps him busy most of the time,” Vivio answered. “So after school I usually go to the Infinity Library and help him out.”
“… That’s all?”
“Um… I do research, and sometimes write reports too. That’s about it.”
“Where’s the romance in that?” Wendi huffed. “Don’t tell me you two have never gone on a proper date yet!”
“We have!” Vivio quickly asserted. “Well… It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, though…”
“How so?”
“Well…”
---
It was the day Vivio had been long awaiting. Yuuno had booked the day off weeks in advanced and they were finally going on their first official date. It was a traditional schedule consisting of a trip to the amusement park, some window shopping, a movie, and finally dinner.
It was just how Vivio imagined it would be. Well… except for one thing.
“Fate-chan, they have ribs here!”
“Hm, the soup of the day looks really good too, Nanoha.”
---
Wendi attracted the looks of the other customers again with her boisterous laugh. “Your first date was a double date with your moms? That’s priceless!”
“It’s not that funny…” Vivio sulked into her drink. “I know my mamas are just looking out for me, but… I couldn’t even enjoy the movie because they had their eyes on us the whole time! I didn’t even get to hold his hand…”
“I guess parents are all like that.” Nove shrugged. “You should see the look in dad’s eyes when one of our sisters brings a guy over.”
“How many guys has papa-rin sent home crying…?” Wendi pondered. “I think it’s up to six now.”
“Seven.” Nove corrected.
“Right. Anyways, back on topic, you must have done other stuff with him, right Vivio.”
“Of course.” She nodded. “Our school had a dance, so he escorted me there.” Vivio took a long sip from her drink. “Or at least he was supposed to…”
---
Yuuno made sure to straighten his suit’s tie as he reached the entrance to the gym. Vivio knew that he had some work to finish up and they had agreed to meet at the school when he was done. He felt a tad awkward being an almost-30-year-old attending a high school dance, but he tried to shake it out of his system. For once he was going to act like a proper boyfriend without the ever watchful eye of a pair of mamas dangling over his head. He knew full well now how Damocles felt.
He took a deep breath and pushed open the doors. Soft music floated out and he was greeted by the sight of young couples on the dance floor. The large gym was full of people, making distinguishing one dress clad teenager from the other slightly difficult. Luckily Yuuno had plenty of experience at crowded parties he was often invited to attend. Plus, it couldn’t be that hard to find the prettiest girl there.
“Finally!”
Yuuno turned to the call, expected to see his date, but instead saw a rather well built woman.
“It’s about time more chaperones got here!” The woman said, grabbing Yuuno’s arm. “Come on, we’re supposed to do our rounds in pairs.”
“Huh? What? Wait a minute, I’m not…” Yuuno tried to protest, but the woman just dragged him along.
“It’s our duty to make sure these kids behave.”
“Hold on, I’m telling you I’m not…” His objections fell on deaf ears. They patrolled the gym in a clockwise direction.
On the other side of the gym, Vivio glanced at Chris’s time display.
“Yuuno-san should have been here by now…” She glanced around her area but didn’t see any sign of the man. “Maybe work is keeping him longer than he thought?” She pondered aloud. “No, if it was he would have contacted me if he was going to be late… Maybe he’s here but he’s just lost?” That sounded reasonable, as pretty much the entire school had shown up for this dance. She would just have to go and find him.
She made her way into the sea of people, rounding the gym in a clockwise direction.
---
“I ended up searching for hours!” Vivio explained. “It got to the point where I was afraid that something bad had happened to him. I was so relieved when I finally found him.” In fact she had hugged him tightly with tears streaming down her face. “Ms Mori, our gym teacher, apologised for the misunderstanding, but at that time the crowd had thinned out and the DJ was starting to pack up.”
“Ouch, that had to suck.” Nove winced.
“What? You didn’t even get one dance?” Wendi huffed again. Vivio shook her head in response.
“No, we made it just in time for the last song.” She sighed happily. “He’s a really good dancer.”
“Good to hear.” Nove took a drink.
“It was great.” Vivio took a drink.
Wendi chose that precise moment to strike.
“So, what’s he like in bed?”
The two other girls spat their drinks back down the straws.
“Wendi!” They both cried.
“What?” Wendi whistled innocently. “It’s a legitimate question. So Vivio, how’s the sex?”
Vivio turned red at the cyborg’s frankness. “We… We don’t do stuff like that!”
“Oh there’s no need to be shy, is there?” Wendi smirked. “Or is it so hot and heavy that Nove’s virgin ears couldn’t handle it?”
“Hey!” Nove took a light swing at her sister, but the younger Number scooted away.
“I’m serious.” Vivio coughed. “We haven’t gone that far…”
“What?” Wendi blinked. “Why the heck not?”
“Well…” Vivio averted her gaze. “Aren’t you supposed to save sex until after you’re married?”
Wendi let her face fault. “… What era are you fro…” She stopped herself. “Oh right.”
“It’s just not a topic that’s ever come up.” Vivio continued. “Besides, I think it’s way too soon to go that far…” ‘We haven’t even kissed yet.’ She added mentally.
“But you still imagine what it would be like, don’t you?”
Vivio didn’t answer and instead shrunk into her seat.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Wendi leaned back. “But that’s healthy. I’m just surprised he hasn’t made a move on you. He was your tutor wasn’t he? So shouldn’t it have gone like ‘Vivio, this time I’ll teach you all about what it means to be a man and woman…’” She had said that last part in a deeper voice.
“Where the hell did you get an idea like that?” Nove asked.
“I saw it in a video I found on the internet.” She replied innocently.
“You’re wrong about Yuuno-san!” Vivio protested. “He’s always such a gentleman. He would never do something like that.”
“You sure?” Wendi inquired. “All men are beasts aren’t they? That’s what papa-rin says, anyways. How could he hold himself back around some one with your assets?” Wendi stared pointedly at Vivio’s chest and then a light bulb went off over her head. “It couldn’t be… ED, at his age?”
Vivio jolted slightly, and Nove blinked.
“ED? What’s that?” She asked. Wendi leaned over and whispered in her ear, causing the red head to have a matching red face.
“That… can’t be it…” Vivio whispered.
“What else could it be?” Wendi asked. “It can’t be that he’s not attracted to you, right?”
That wasn’t a question Vivio was able to answer. She decided she had to talk it over with the man himself.
---
“So Yuuno, how’s the sex?”
Yuuno slowly set his tea cup down and glared at the three men he shared the table with.
“You guys invite me out to lunch and that is the first thing out of your mouths?”
“What else were you expecting?” Vice leaned back on his chair.
“Well, this is the first time you’ve been in a serious relationship.” Chrono noted.
“You can’t blame us for being curious,” Verossa added. “Especially considering your choice of partner.”
“I have nothing to tell you.” Yuuno said flatly.
“Oh come on, Yuuno.” Vice scoffed. “You don’t honestly expect us to buy that, do you? No one at this table is going to deny that Vivio’s grown up to be quite the hottie.”
“I have no intention of denying that.” Yuuno shook his head. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to take our relationship that far immediately.”
“How very saintly of you.” Chrono quipped dryly. “Or is it that? You got ED already?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Chrono!” Yuuno shot back, remembering to check the volume of his voice. “It’s just that I enjoy the time we spend together so much that the thought of acting on my desires rarely ever crosses my mind.”
“No wonder you’re still a virgin.” Chrono shook his head. The other two men looked at the librarian in shock.
“Is there a problem with that?” Yuuno defiantly took a drink. “You know my past relationships have never lasted that long. We never formed a bond strong enough where I felt comfortable taking that next step. And I’m not going to sleep with a woman just for the sake of sleeping with her.”
“So then would you consider your bond with Vivio strong enough where you would be comfortable taking that next step?” Verossa asked.
“Well…” Yuuno looked down into his cup. “You could say that…”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“It’s still too soon.” He said. “Until we’re both ready for it, I’m not going to do anything.”
Others stared at him for a moment before laughing slightly.
“All kidding aside, I think that’s the right way to go about it.” Vice admitted. “Oh sure I made references and such to get her embarrassed, but I didn’t do anything until Teana came and told me she was ready.” He grinned at the memory. “She was so adorable, the way she was blushing and fidgeting. She may be tough when it comes to work, but in the bedroom she’s incredibly shy.” He paused a moment. “Uh, don’t tell her I told you that. I’m afraid where she might stick Cross Mirage…”
“In my case,” Chrono spoke up. “Not long after I had finally hit my spurt, Amy and I were having one of our usual exchanges of snide comments and then it kind of just happened.” He shrugged. “Neither of us planned it, that’s just how it turned out. She started it, though. As for what she’s like, well, she’s playful in everything she does.”
“I have to admit I had to be a tad bit more proactive in my approach.” Rossa held up his hands helplessly. “She never did take me very seriously, so I had to show her just how serious I was. She got into it after the initial shock, though. I’m afraid I turned out to be far clumsier than I thought I would be, but even in the bedroom, Schach will forever be my teacher.”
Yuuno listened as his friends told their stories, mildly wondering just how his first time might go. What different side would Vivio show him in that situation? A blush crept up on his face and he moved to hide it by taking a drink, but to his dismay his cup was empty.
“I see we’ve put some ideas into his head.” Vice chuckled.
“Just know that when you do cross that line.” Chrono looked dead in Yuuno’s eyes. “We are not going to protect you from Nanoha and Fate.”
“Gee, what great friends I have.” Yuuno rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but smile slightly despite himself.
“Well, on that note I’m afraid I’m going to have to take our conversation into more unpleasant territory.” Verossa said in an unusually flat manner. “Yuuno, have you heard the rumours floating around?”
“Rumours? What rumours?” Yuuno didn’t like where this was going.
“A summary of what’s been going around is basically this.” Rossa cleared his throat. “You failed to get the mother, so now you’re using the daughter as a replacement.”
“What nonsense is that?!” Yuuno roared, forgetting his surroundings. “That’s garbage!”
“Yes, I’m aware of that.” Verossa kept his cool while the other two just blinked at the outburst. “Please, sit down.”
Yuuno complied, but a scowl remained on his face.
“Remind me never to piss him off.” Vice muttered.
“You said it.” Chrono muttered back. He enjoyed pushing his friend’s buttons, but he had never seen a reaction like that before.
“How could they think such a thing?” Yuuno seethed. “I would never use Vivio like that!”
“I think your incensed state speaks for itself.” Rossa smiled. “Don’t worry, there’s not a single person close to you that would believe that tripe. I just thought I’d let you know about it.”
“Thanks for that Rossa.” Yuuno took a deep breath to calm down. He trusted Vivio not to believe such a rumour, but all the same he wanted to talk to her as soon as possible. He had to make things clear.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Knight Gafgar
How exactly was it any more intense than earlier chapters? Sure, it had a plot twist at the end, but most of it was ferris wheels, a stalker, and a bunch of uppity civvies that need to be shot for assaulting officers of the law.
To be honest, I can kinda see where you're comin' from. There are different parts of my fic that I feel were intense for various reasons, such as the end of "Encounter with Fate." This chapter was more setup for the final leg of the fic.
But while I agree with you in feeling that civvies should be shot(that's the kind of guy I am!), that's kinda a bad thing for a government to do to it's people. Usually makes things worse. Mobs are irrational and driven by emotion by nature. I wanted to show how the people are starting to react to what is essentially a planet-wide disaster.
But I think what Alavon and the others are referring to, is what's going on with Nanoha and Vivio, the plot twist near the end, and the small section that takes place in space (which I think everyone can guess what's going on there).
I admit, I was aiming for the feeling of: "lalala, we're all having fun..." and then "*bleep* just got turned up to 11." Which is gonna be fun, because next chapter is going to ratchet things up to 12... hopefully. =)
One thing that always struck me, is that Jail was collecting all these relics throughout Strikers, and yet we don't really see him do much with them. At one point he's shown in front of a box that contains at least 42 of them (I paused it and counted). A lot of this fic came from the point of "What could he do with them?"
So I'm having fun finding all sorts of uses for them.^^
Quote:
Originally Posted by Satashi
One of the more awkward moments of having a daughter who loves you very much.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 00-Raiser
So I've been working on a sequel to my Vivio/Yuuno fic for awhile now. I'm not done it yet, but I wanted to post what I have to see how you guys think it's going so far.
Spoiler for One Step at a Time -Unfinished-:
-Snip-
I don't really see Yuuno/Vivio as a serious thing, only in a comedic fashion. So that kinda colors my viewpoint. Overall, I found the comedic portions amusing. Good setups playing on the age difference, and the female teasing was plausible.
One thing you might add, which could be amusing, is where Wendi is explaining ED. After whispering in Nove's ear, or during, having her make a fist, then trying and failing to raise her finger a few times.
Something about the male teasing seemed a bit off, but I can't put my finger on it. Probably because I haven't read the prequel
It seems to get serious after that, and I admit I haven't read the prequel to this, so I'll stop there, and just contain my comments to the humor.
Oh, I did want to mention that you might go over your fic again, because you have a few punctuation instances such as this:
“How very saintly of you.” Chrono quipped dryly.
Which should be:
“How very saintly of you,” Chrono quipped dryly.
Maybe it's my high school English teacher shouting at me, but conversation is never usually ended in a period if you're coloring the conversation with how the speaker is using it. Use a comma instead.
One of the more awkward moments of having a daughter who loves you very much.
Spoiler for XDD:
"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~" The small sound came from Vivio as she stared long and hard at her mother sitting across the table from her. Nanoha was already nervous from the look but still waited patiently for her young daughter to ask what was on her mind. "Ne, Mama?" The words were finally asked, giving Nanoha an opportunity to help her.
"Yes, dear?"
"You kiss to show you like someone, right?"
Nanoha blinked. Vivio was way too young to be asking that question."Uhm... Yes, Vivio?"
"You kiss Fate-mama because you love her, right?"
"...Yes?"
"And you kiss me because you love me, right?"
"...Yes?"
"So," Vivio rationalized. "You love us both, don't you?"
Nanoha nodded slowly. "Of course I do."
Vivio looked hesitant. "Do you... love Fate-mama more than me?"
The question made the girl almost fall over. "Wha...what makes you ask that, Vivio?"
"Because..." Vivio pushed her two index finger together. "You and Fate-mama kiss differently... Like you love each other more."
"Er!" Nanoha started to sweat. 'Oh my god she did see us...' Laughing nervously, Nanoha waved her hands. "That's... different."
"...Because you love her more?" vivio looked down.
"No! No, I love you both equally!"
"Then why... don't you kiss me like that?" Vivio moved from the table and stood next to Nanoha. "I want to kiss mama like Nanoha-mama kisses Fate-mama."
"Giku!" Nanoha repressed the shocked sound and tried to think fast. "You see...that's..."
"I'm home!" Fate called out as she entered the house.
"Fate-chan!" Nanoha scooped up Vivio. "Perfect timing, I have to go to the store!" Handing off Vivio to a shocked Fate, the girl grabbed her shoes and ran out the door. "Sorry Fate-chan! Vivio wants to ask you something!"
Fate looked at vivio's curious eyes. "Hello."
~*Later that night*~
Nanoha peeked into her bedroom, seeing Fate sitting on the bed. "Fate-chan...?" The blonde didn't answer. Instead, her red eyes were hidden by her hair, casting a shadow over them. "Um.. did Vivio talk to you? Did you manage to explain it to her?" Vertical purple doom lines appeared over Fate's head as the area around her got darker. "Nya...ha...ha..."
ROFLMAO!!!! Oh that was Hilarious. The "Jiiiiiii~" reminded me of Mizore from Rosario+Vampire.
But I think what Alavon and the others are referring to, is what's going on with Nanoha and Vivio, the plot twist near the end, and the small section that takes place in space (which I think everyone can guess what's going on there).
I admit, I was aiming for the feeling of: "lalala, we're all having fun..." and then "*bleep* just got turned up to 11." Which is gonna be fun, because next chapter is going to ratchet things up to 12... hopefully. =)
Yes, that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaijo
One thing that always struck me, is that Jail was collecting all these relics throughout Strikers, and yet we don't really see him do much with them. At one point he's shown in front of a box that contains at least 42 of them (I paused it and counted). A lot of this fic came from the point of "What could he do with them?"
So I'm having fun finding all sorts of uses for them.^^
That made me wonder and did you really count them?
@Satashi: Cute! ^^
2009-11-18, 08:00
IT Support
Though if I really have to choose I'd go with CCs. Helps me better understand the setting if I know the characters. 
