Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[itanshi1]

[QUOTE=DezoPenguin;2592555]Man, I have to keep posting one of these per day or they get totally lost in the backlog! *pauses to wave hi to Seraph!*

Spoiler for Blood & Spirit--Chapter 10:

snip

Yeah, I'm quite enjoying this story ^^. The intrigue, the conflict, the dialogue, the humor. It wouldn't do the story any justice to nitpick it. I mean worse comes to worse, add Whoopie. :P

[darkalpha]

Sometimes I wonder how all you guys manage to churn a fic after another. Granted, not all of them might interest me but I still admire your efforts nonethless.

For me, I love to come up with fic *ideas* but I can never seem to turn them into story. Procransciation aside, I've had only one fic idea turn into a story (which I'm writing slowly on and off), and that was after last 2-3 years of obession of trying to turn it into a story (went thru at least 4 plot rewrites actually). All other ideas just stay ideas because I can't seem to turn them into stories.

How do you guys do it? I admit, I used to be better at this, but after being in hiatus for most of the decade, I seem to have lost my touch.

I do plan to post the ch1 of the fic I've been working on here one day, just as soon as I've got some progress on the 2nd chapter.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

Man, I have to keep posting one of these per day or they get totally lost in the backlog! *pauses to wave hi to Seraph!*

Spoiler for Blood & Spirit--Chapter 10:

Elantra glared from the holographic communications screen.

"We aren't funding this project for our health, Morris," she declared flatly. "Your initial proposal was intriguing, but as yet we haven't seen any results."

Professor Morris fumed inwardly but managed to keep his cool on the outside. He hated it, hated dealing with these ingrates who couldn't appreciate what he was trying to do! It was all the same with those corporate types! Whether it was Elantra and her masters, or Mizuki and the natives of this world, they were all the same! Money! Bureaucracy! Up to the minute details like these weekly status report calls she insisted on! Couldn't they understand that science, that genius could not be rushed?

"I've made breakthroughs, as well as a certain tentative hypothesis concerning the methods by which the combination of excessive mana and no Linker Core development have provided for alternative magical manifestations on this world."

"Tentative? That isn't a word my employer will want to hear."

Morris choked down the sudden flare of anger once again. He wanted to reach through the screen and choke her, but he couldn't, couldn't, couldn't give way no matter how justified he was. Her support was vital, unless he somehow could use this world's technology to--ah, but those modifications would take months if they were possible at all. Odds were he's already taken local technology as far as it could go.

"I only need a live sample for verification experiments. I've already located a suitable one and have begun the acquisition process. I have every expectation that within a week, two at the most, I will have positive proof of my hypothesis. I will transmit my data and conclusions now, so that you can see the value of my work!"

His fingers flew over the keyboard, uploading the package he had prepared for Elantra's attention.

"Very well," she said. "We'll take this under review. If your theories are all that you say, then I'm sure that my employer will have no difficulty approving your conditional funding."

She disconnected unceremoniously, leaving Morris to fume. It was so irksome having to deal with these people! Still, he'd successfully navigated the gauntlet once again. Funding, support, corporate backing were assured! He hated, hated to give up his precious hypothesis and supporting data to them before it was complete, but there had been no choice. And once experimentation had provided proof of concept and refined hypothesis into theory--ah! It would revolutionize biomagical science! His name would be lauded with the greats! But only...only! Only if that fool Tengu could bring him Suzuka Tsukimura!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Noel K. Ehrlichkeit pulled the car to a stop, then glanced to her left where Arisa sat in the passenger seat.

"The file suggests that Shimizu lives alone," she stated. "However, this is still a block of apartments, in an upscale neighborhood. Other residents will be very likely to summon the police or private security if there is a loud disturbance."

Arisa nodded.

"Hey, we just want to talk to the guy, not fry his ass, right? Well, depending on what he has to say. How do you want to do this?"

"I suggest that we knock on his door. If he opens it to talk, I can quickly subdue him without letting him make a sound. If he doesn't answer, then you can let me in."

"All right."

They got out of the car and walked past the apartment building's small parking lot towards the door.

"What if he's not home?"

"He is," Noel said. She gestured towards the parking lot. "The car that you and Miss Suzuka described is in the parking spot which matches with Shimizu's apartment."

"Hey, sharp eyes, Noel," Arisa said. "I'm glad you thought of that." She paused, then asked, "Noel, why are you so good at this sort of thing, anyway? Police contacts, covering up deaths, that's not exactly maid stuff."

"Mistress Sakura realized that Miss Shinobu and Miss Suzuka would be very vulnerable without someone to protect them. This meant not only physically but also in terms of financial management and in the kinds of pressure that could be brought by various covert groups hostile to the Tsukimuras. She therefore worked with Shiro Takamachi to help build my artificial intelligence with the kind of knowledge that would be necessary." Falin possessed a modified set of the same functions, although this was leavened by a more emotional personality suited to her 'younger sister' role.

Arisa whistled.

"I always thought you guys were impressive, but..." Arisa grinned and chuckled. "I bet Nanoha will be proud to learn that your bodyguard/special ops functions are based on her dad."

Noel supposed that was a compliment--if her being modeled on Shiro was something that made the Takamachis proud, then she herself must be worth being proud of. It still seemed strange; she was what she was and that wasn't going to change either way.

They arrived at the apartment building door. It required either a key or a buzz from inside to admit someone. A security camera was openly visible, probably more as a deterrent measure than anything else.

"I've got this one," Arisa said with a grin. "Here, take my bag, then go up and pretend like you're using a key on the door."

"How will this help?"

"I'm going to walk through the door and open it for you from the inside. I don't cast a reflection in mirrors, and the infrared beam for opening automatic doors doesn't pick me up, so I'm guessing that I don't appear on camera, either."

"My eyes are cameras, functionally," Noel pointed out, "and I see you."

"I think that's because you're a person, not just a machine." She grinned at Noel. "If not, it'll really blow some guard's mind!"

As far as getting in, it worked fine. As they approached the door, Arisa's form took on the luminescent shine that apparently indicated that she was becoming intangible. She stepped right through the glass door as Noel fished out a ring of keys from her purse and pretended to slip one into the lock. As Noel turned her hand, Arisa pushed the door-release button inside, and the door opened smoothly.

"There, easy as pie."

They crossed the lobby to the elevator, which thankfully did not require a key to activate. They rode to the ninth floor, then walked down the quiet, gray-carpeted hallway to 903. Arisa stood to the side, out of sight from the doorway, while Noel knocked. She heard the shuffling of feet inside, then the shaft of light from the peephole that told her someone was looking out. The bolt turned with a sharp click and the door opened.

"Masashi Shimizu?"

"Yes. What do you want?"

He looked like his personnel file suggested: nearly six feet tall, with a square build and square jaw. He'd been an athlete in college and still had the build, although at thirty-eight it was now running to a softer kind of bulk. He'd removed his jacket and tie but still wore his sweat-stained white work shirt and dark blue trousers.

"Suzuka Tsukimura," Noel said.

It was there--the flash of recognition, the involuntary reaction. He wasn't a man used to having to lie expertly, not to someone like Noel to whom the slightest movements stood out as much as the most obvious.

"There's no one by that name here," he said, but she was already moving forward, a push of her hand shoving him back into the apartment. Arisa was right behind her, closing and locking the door.

"What do you think you're doing, you stupid bitch?" he growled and swung on her, open-handed. She caught his wrist even though it was thick enough that her fingers couldn't encircle it, twisting his arm painfully while her right hand covered his mouth. Noel forced him back into the apartment and steered him into a chair.

"When I take my hand away," she told him matter-of-factly, "you are not going to scream. If you do, your neighbors may hear you and may do something about it, but I will kill you. Blink twice if you understand me."

Shimizu blinked, then after a moment's hesitation did it again. Noel removed her hand from his mouth but kept up her tight grip on his wrist.

"I'm glad to see that you're being sensible. Perhaps we can do this in a manner suitable to reasonable professionals."

He looked over at where his wrist was trapped in her grip.

"You...you're one of the professor's freaks, aren't you?"

"I'm kind of new at this," Arisa said, "but I'm thinking that can't be the way you're supposed to beg for your life. I mean, really, calling us freaks?"

"Who is this professor?"

Shimizu flinched, recognizing that he'd made a mistake, that they weren't from whomever he thought.

"Do you mean Dr. Mizuki?"

There was scorn there in his eyes, just for an instant, but it was there. Not Mizuki, then.

"Shimizu, perhaps you don't understand your position. You were involved in the attempted kidnapping of Suzuka Tsukimura. The Tsukimuras are a wealthy and important family. Do you think it's a coincidence that we're here? That you were identified so quickly?"

"I don't believe it. This is some kind of trick!"

Interesting, Noel thought. If he didn't believe that she was who she said, then whom did he believe her to be? Some minion of the "professor"? If so, why? More appeared to be going on than she'd suspected.

"Geez, does it matter?" Arisa said. "The point is, we're here now and N--and she's going to do nasty things to you if you don't talk."

Noel nodded, both to agree with Arisa's summation and her restraint in holding back Noel's name.

"Perhaps Shimizu is a fanatical member of a political or religious group, prepared to give his life for his cause?" There was nothing in his file to suggest that; she'd mentioned it only to push him mentally towards the reaction she hoped for.

"Hey, wait, I'm not some crazy!"

"Then why are you staying quiet?"

She increased the pressure on his wrist, not enough to break bone but enough to be painful. He yelped.

"Damn it! Ah, lady, I didn't have anything to do with any kidnapping!"

"You were there. You had no family or professional reason to be at the school. You watched the kidnapping happen and you did nothing. Try again." She added a twist to her grip.

"Ow! Look, you've got it all wrong! Yeah, okay, I was there, but I didn't do anything. I wasn't part of it! I was just there to watch!"

"As a lookout? To make sure the kidnappers did what your employers wanted them to do?"

"No, that's not--ahhh! Lady, you're breaking my wrist! Dr. Mizuki had hoped that this was going to happen, so he sent me to see if it really did!"

"But not to stop it? You knew a kidnapping was happening and didn't call the police?"

"We didn't want to get the company in trouble!" he yelped.

"The company?" flared Arisa. "What about Suzuka, you bastard?"

Noel wondered if revealing Arisa's identity might be valuable. If Shimizu genuinely believed that he was working on the Sato Institute's behalf and in its interest, this might carry weight. Sato was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura-Bannings, and Arisa's father had in fact transferred five percent of Nomura-Bannings's outstanding shares into Arisa's name on her eighteenth birthday while retaining fifty-five percent for himself. That was a powerful weapon. In her experience, however, this would just make Shimizu more likely to panic. Its best application would likely be in the area of "what's in it for me?"--when it came time to offer the carrot.

Where it concerned people who would attempt to hurt Suzuka, Noel preferred to use the stick.

Arisa, she suspected, was in full agreement.

"This isn't what we wanted!" Shimizu protested. "It's the professor! He's always doing more, trying to push the envelope! He's brilliant, but you never know what he's going to do next!"

"If that's the case, then get to the point. I want to know everything that you know about this professor, why he or she would want to kidnap an innocent girl, and your relationship with him. Everything."

He quivered, then sagged.

"All right, damn it. You...who the hell are you?"

"Just take it that you messed with the wrong girl," Arisa said. "You don't want to know the rest."

"All right, all right. Look, here's how it is. I work for the Special Projects Group. That's kind of a catchall for stuff that's kind of out there, pushing the scientific envelope, right? About six months ago, Dr. Mizuki brings in this foreigner he calls Professor Morris. It's all very hush-hush, because it's apparently all human augmentation work. Biotech, way over my head, but from what I can tell, the breakthroughs are pretty amazing. So Mizuki basically started giving him whatever he asked for. Funding, equipment, staff...you get the picture."

Noel nodded.

"The thing is, over the last couple of months, Professor Morris has gotten more and more independent. He and his people have been working on something, but their formal reports back have come less and less often. Only, his people have been pushing the line in terms of research. He's purchased human test subjects through the underworld--prostitutes, runaways, destitute foreigners, the usual markets--but now, with this kidnapping, and of a specific person..."

"If he's working independently, how did your Dr. Mizuki find out about it?"

"The research assistants are Sato Institute people. A couple of them were Mizuki's plants, to report back to him."

"Were?"

"One died three weeks ago in a car accident. I figured that it might be coincidence and might be that someone found her out. Mizuki, he's scared shitless that his pet genius is going to end up putting the company at the heart of the biggest scientific ethics scandal since the Second World War! He put me in to see if it's really happening, the kidnapping."

"You didn't follow the kidnappers?"

Shimizu's eyes went wide.

"Are you crazy? Follow a van full of crooks like I'm some TV P.I.? I don't want to end up like Kugimiya! I'm a research scientist, not some security guy! Besides, it's not like we don't know where they'd take her, anyway."

"Where?"

"Mizuki hooked Morris up with an off-the-books facility. It's basically warehouse space rented under a phony name so it wouldn't be traceable. We were going to provide him with equipment, but he said he'd arrange for his own. Whatever it was, Kugimiya reported that it was ridiculously advanced; she'd never seen anything like it. It's pretty damn obvious that Morris is getting funding from someone else and he's setting us up as the scapegoat."

"I want the location."

He gave it to her.

"I hope that you're telling me the truth, Mr. Shimizu. If so, you may have just saved your life. If not...I would suggest that you start running at once."

"Lady, do you think I'd--"

Connection request: Falin.

Accept.

Link Active.

Although Noel recorded in her audio memory the remainder of Shimizu's babbling protests, she didn't really "hear" him. Falin's message had immediately captured her processing capacity.

"Noel, they're here! They're at the house!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Arisa & Friends Omake Roadshow!

"What is this, some kind of conspiracy of silence?"

Murasaki's gaze raked his photographers with the force of a sword sweep. The tabloid editor was a big, beefy man, who drove himself hard and his staff harder in pursuit of the newest, juiciest scandals.

"I have got rumors flying in from all over the place! Tips from movie theater ushers, from waiters at fancy restaurants, from people who've seen them together at nightclubs or other hangouts, even from a desk clerk at a love hotel, all saying that Arisa Bannings, heiress to the Nomura-Bannings Industrial Technologies financial group, has been openly engaging in a lesbian love affair. We put that on page one and we'll sell out the whole print run!"

He hammered his fist on the desk.

"But you...you can't get me one single picture of them! Not kissing, not holding hands, nothing! As far as I can tell, you incompetents couldn't get one shot that even has Bannings in the frame!"

Spoiler for Notes:

I originally wrote this chapter's two scenes in reverse order. It would be more effective to introduce Morris's name first in Shimizu's information, but I thought the "finisher" for the interrogation scene made for a more effective cliffhanger.

Previously (Two In A Row!! *happy dance*):

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

Ahhhhh, but I do love a good suspense building.

Morris comes across as quite the mad scientist; in a way he reminds me of Precia and Jail, which is always a good thing. I'm still curious as to what it is he's trying to do, exactly, and what role Suzuka plays in it, but I suppose that will all be revealed in time, won't it?

The interrogation of Shizimu was very well written, though I suggest Noel be careful of how many times she uses the stick instead of the carrot. I understand her feelings on the matter, but one day she could really blow something if she goes in so hardcore.

And of course, you had to end it with that cliffhanger. You evil author, you. Well, at least I know you're updating daily.

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by darkalpha

Sometimes I wonder how all you guys manage to churn a fic after another. Granted, not all of them might interest me but I still admire your efforts nonethless.

For me, I love to come up with fic *ideas* but I can never seem to turn them into story. Procransciation aside, I've had only one fic idea turn into a story (which I'm writing slowly on and off), and that was after last 2-3 years of obession of trying to turn it into a story (went thru at least 4 plot rewrites actually). All other ideas just stay ideas because I can't seem to turn them into stories.

How do you guys do it? I admit, I used to be better at this, but after being in hiatus for most of the decade, I seem to have lost my touch.

I do plan to post the ch1 of the fic I've been working on here one day, just as soon as I've got some progress on the 2nd chapter.

Well, to be honest, you can go to my FF.Net page and see for yourself some of my fics... (check my sig)

It took me over SIX YEARS to finish my longest story on there. (Just because I wanted to see it end, I honestly did.)

For me though, I just have a lot of imagination that can build up and I practice a lot.

When my muse doesn't wanna work for something, I either switch to something else or wait till my muse comes back for writing more.

I just keep trying, that's all.

Can't say for the rest though.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by darkalpha

Sometimes I wonder how all you guys manage to churn a fic after another. Granted, not all of them might interest me but I still admire your efforts nonethless.

For me, I love to come up with fic *ideas* but I can never seem to turn them into story. Procransciation aside, I've had only one fic idea turn into a story (which I'm writing slowly on and off), and that was after last 2-3 years of obession of trying to turn it into a story (went thru at least 4 plot rewrites actually). All other ideas just stay ideas because I can't seem to turn them into stories.

How do you guys do it? I admit, I used to be better at this, but after being in hiatus for most of the decade, I seem to have lost my touch.

I do plan to post the ch1 of the fic I've been working on here one day, just as soon as I've got some progress on the 2nd chapter.

For me, a matter of a lot of time and a lot of patience.

I have an idea, I develop it, and I carry it until the end. Even if I lose interest in it for awhile and leave it alone (Bless the Broken Road currently, though I'm starting to feel the bunnies stir), my interest for it always comes back and I just pick it up again.

It's basically just keep trying until you reach the point of no return. And in my case, sometimes I just have way too many ideas and not enough time to write them all down.

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

(Bless the Broken Road currently,

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

though I'm starting to feel the bunnies stir)

@darkalpha: Planning, persistence and sheer stubbornness. Also, doing small things when I can't do my ongoing stuff can knock the dust off. I mean to do another short here at some point....today...? *hides*

[TheShinySword]

Originally Posted by darkalpha

Sometimes I wonder how all you guys manage to churn a fic after another. Granted, not all of them might interest me but I still admire your efforts nonethless.

For me, I love to come up with fic *ideas* but I can never seem to turn them into story. Procransciation aside, I've had only one fic idea turn into a story (which I'm writing slowly on and off), and that was after last 2-3 years of obession of trying to turn it into a story (went thru at least 4 plot rewrites actually). All other ideas just stay ideas because I can't seem to turn them into stories.

How do you guys do it? I admit, I used to be better at this, but after being in hiatus for most of the decade, I seem to have lost my touch.

I do plan to post the ch1 of the fic I've been working on here one day, just as soon as I've got some progress on the 2nd chapter.

Ku ku ku ku. I- actually I'm completely the wrong person to talk about this. I'm incapable of actually finishing anything I start.

[DezoPenguin]

Did I hear mention of BtBR plotbunnies raising their fuzzy heads?

Anyway, might as well get the daily update for today out of the way now, for lunch. I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Six Badass Longcoated assassins fighting a Schoolgirl Lesbian Vampire and a Ninja Robot Maid. It's like a Choose Your Own Fetish chapter!

...

Actually, I've noticed that a lot of this fic seems to be turning out that way. I think I'm channeling my inner Hayate.

Spoiler for Blood & Spirit -- Chapter 11:

The Tsukimura estate was quiet and still.

"Too large," stated one of the Red Phoenix. "Too vulnerable."

The fence, they knew, was wired to set off alarms if contact was made over a certain threshold of pressure. The weight of a man would be enough to trigger it. The alarm wouldn't contact the police, though, or a private security firm. The Tsukimuras preferred to keep their secrets, Tengu understood.

These men, though, were not run-of-the-mill burglars. One by one, they ascended a tree, then jumped from a limb, covering a good twenty yards in the air despite the lack of a running start. Tengu followed as they crossed the lawn like shadows, slipping silently, noiselessly through the darkness. The six of them divided, pairs going in different directions to approach the house from different angles.

The Red Phoenix were past masters at breaching security. Alarm wires were found, then severed or rewired. In one place, a windowpane was seamlessly cut out of its frame with a blade that seemed, perhaps, sharper than mere steel should have. They entered without any signal being given, any trap tripped.

They thought.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Is there anything I can get for you, Miss Suzuka?" Falin asked. "A cup of tea, something to eat?"

Suzuka frowned, then shook her head.

"No, thank you, Falin." She set down her pen. "I'm just restless, that's all. How can I concentrate on studying when I know that Arisa and Noel are off following up a lead?"

"They'll be all right, Miss Suzuka. Noel is very skilled at this sort of thing, and I don't think that Miss Arisa can be hurt now."

Suzuka smiled slightly at that.

"I suppose not. But it's hard to think about something as mundane as schoolwork when everyone is dealing with things like kidnapping and corporate intrigue. It almost doesn't seem real, somehow, if you understand what I mean, Falin? Especially with me apparently being at the center of it."

Falin nodded.

"It isn't part of ordinary life," she agreed. "It must be very difficult. But you should try to relax. Miss Arisa wouldn't want you to be worrying about her this way."

"No, I suppose not. She'd say that I was just being the cliche of the girl who sits home and frets while her man is off at the war--which is especially silly because I don't have a man at all."

"Wouldn't the principle apply regardless of gender?" Falin asked.

Suzuka's smile widened.

"Maybe, but it doesn't feel the same, somehow. Like...because we're the same sex, there aren't so many social expectations, so we can find the right balance between ourselves based on personality without having to fight so many ideas of what we should be to each other?"

Falin tipped her head to one side.

"That sounds awfully well thought-out for a relationship that only started yesterday, Miss Suzuka."

Suzuka blushed.

"That's because, well, I've thought about those kind of things for quite some time now, since I've known how I felt about Arisa for so long," she confided shyly. "I've dreamed about what it would be her girlfriend for years; I feel like pinching myself to see that I'm not still asleep."

"I'm glad that you're happy, Miss Suzuka," Falin said, smiling.

"Thank you, Falin." Suzuka sighed happily. "This all began so horribly, but maybe...maybe there really will be something good that comes from it at last."

"I hope so too, although--" She broke off suddenly.

"What is it?"

"I hear something."

Security Mode: Active.

"A window at the other end of the hall sliding open." The windows in the old house tended to creak even when opened carefully. Noel had decided to leave them that way on purpose: a skilled burglar might disarm or bypass an alarm system but with the sisters' hearing the act of opening became a viable backup, with a constantly running subroutine scanning her audio input for the sound.

"What do we do, Falin?" Suzuka asked, keeping her voice down. "Should we try to get out, or to the secure room?" There was only a slight quaver to betray her nervousness.


Connect: Noel.

"I'm contacting Noel."

Link active.

"Noel, they're here! They're at the house!"

"Stay calm. How many are there?"

"I don't know. I just heard the window open."

"All right. Try to keep hidden until you have better information, then get to safety using whatever route is open. Tell me more when you can, and keep Miss Suzuka safe."

"I will!"

"Stay quiet," Falin told Suzuka. "Noel and Miss Arisa know that someone is here. We need to figure out what's happening, then get you away safely."

"I understand."

Falin turned out the light so that it wouldn't show under the door and pinpoint their location. A smart attacker would have seen which lights were on from outside, of course, but matching those observations to the mansion's internal layout wasn't always easy.

She didn't hear footsteps. Was the window a false alarm? An ordinary burglar, maybe, who'd been scared off by the noise?

Or were the intruders just that silent? And therefore, that dangerous?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Suzuka's in trouble?" Arisa exclaimed.

"We don't know that yet," Noel said, her heels clicking as she ran down the stairs. Arisa trailed along, glad that her legs wouldn't get tired or her "wind" run out. The maid's voice was infuriatingly calm and controlled from Arisa's point of view. Usually she appreciated that--a sensible voice of reason--but under the circumstances, it could be annoying.

"Well, what do you know?"

"Falin just said that she believes someone is trying to break in. She'll tell me more when she knows more."


"That's it?"

"For now."

"I guess we can hope for a false alarm, but..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence to know that Noel agreed with her. That would be far too much of a coincidence to believe, a false alarm right when they were expecting the kidnappers to try something. It had to be that Professor Morris.

They could only hope that Falin did a better job of protecting Suzuka than the living Arisa had managed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Slowly, Falin peered out around the corner, wishing as she did that the mansion had internal surveillance cameras. They'd moved cautiously out of Suzuka's room, first into the hall, then down the corridor towards the landing that led to the atrium with its grand sweep of staircase.

Suzuka was with her; she couldn't move quite as quietly as Falin could, but close enough, and they considered it more likely that she'd be safer with Falin entering a potential hazard area than without Falin in a location the other side would be aware of.

They were wrong, but not for any of the reasons they'd anticipated.

Peering into the darkened atrium (light could only help the enemy since Falin had both low-light and thermographic vision), Falin saw the two men ascending the staircase. They were dressed in black, with long coats and wearing white full-face masks that shone eerily in her sight. Their movements were quiet and stealthy; they glided through the darkness like living shadows.

Until the lead one suddenly reeled back, off-balance as a yowl went up. He'd collided with Ein, the striped gray cat that liked the fourth step from the top as his perch and who'd been nearly invisible in the dark to normal eyes. One could consider Suzuka's cats (currently numbering eight) as an informal part of the security system.

The intruder deftly caught his balance, and then in the next instant a Japanese sword was in his hand, quick-drawn from somewhere, and slicing down towards the cat out of rage or a practical desire to prevent further noise or both. Falin watched in horror, knowing how much Suzuka loved the cats.

Suzuka herself didn't just watch.

"No!" she screamed as she bolted from cover, charging the men. Even Falin's reflexes weren't fast enough to grab her, so all she could do was follow. The masked man, though, reacted at once, somehow stopping in mid-swing and whirling to face Suzuka.

Configure-RtArm: Sword.

Falin's hand folded as the blade extensions slid down her arm and locked in place, putting a two-foot, double-edged blade at the end of her wrist. If they wanted to play with blades, she could match them.

The man who'd stepped on the cat slashed out at the charging vampire, but again managed to restrain himself mid-swing, probably because he'd recognized their target. The second intruder drew not a sword but a machine pistol with a barrel extension of some kind and ripped off a three-round burst, silenced. His aim was remarkable, despite the darkness and the silencer and the effect of rapid fire on his arm he put all three shots right where he wanted at a target moving at Falin's speed at an angle across his line of vision.

Not that it did him any good; the bullets penetrated her maid's uniform and her pseudoskin sheath and were stopped cold by her subdermal armor.

The lead man reversed his grip and brought the heel of his sword in towards Suzuka. She grabbed his arm before he could make contact and wrenched it down and around. Ein bolted as Suzuka nearly stepped on his tail as she shifted her footing, bringing her free hand up for a punch to the sternum. Falin could almost see the intruder read Suzuka's body language and begin a countersequence, but while he was undoubtedly better than the girl she--aware of the situation and intentionally drawing on her inhuman abilities--was simply faster than he could cope with.

Transmit Stream: Full-Sense/Realtime.

She didn't have time to explain in language; Noel could decipher it for herself through Falin's own sensory input. Another burst of gunfire sprayed up at her, scoring twice as her left hand grabbed the balustrade and she launched herself in a spinning loop through the air that made the gunman dodge aside. Falin landed, deftly found her footing on the staircase, and swept a thrust with her sword-hand at him. He slipped the attack while drawing his own sword and she chopped the gun out of his hand, breaking his wrist.

A door at the opposite end of the landing from which Falin and Suzuka had entered was flung open and spat out two more masked men, who rushed towards the fray. A moment later, as Falin blocked the gunman's sword with her own, two more of them entered from a door near the middle of the landing.

That settled it, then; down and then out was the way to go. Suzuka seemed to have figured that as well, bodily hurling the man she was fighting at the nearer two arrivals. They dodged, and the man hit the wall hard, jarring loose a heavy, framed portrait in oils of a Tsukimura ancestor. The two lunged all but simultaneously at Suzuka, stun-guns in their hands. Knowing that those would have an effect on her--moreso if they'd upped the power level to deal with Suzuka's nature--Falin broke away from her opponent to intercept. She took a slash across the back of her left shoulder which did no more than his bullets had done, sprang past Suzuka to take one man off his feet with an extended forearm, but had the stungun blast its charge into her.

"The maid's armored!" the gunman shouted, and indeed the stungun had no effect on her as she was insulated against electricity that wasn't on the order of a lightning strike. She tried to execute an attack, but the man she'd clotheslined whipped his legs against hers from his prone position and jarred her off-balance. In that instant the intruder who'd stungunned her slapped his free hand against her side and vaulted away so that her sword-slash only tore open the front of his armored duster.

Suzuka leapt at the man on the stairs. He came up with his own stun-gun, but she was again simply too fast in a one-on-one situation, knocking his arm wide with enough force that the stun-gun went flying and then hitting him in the chest hard enough to knock him off his feet and send him tumbling down the stairs.

The man on the floor rolled away from Falin, trying to get to his feet. She turned his way rather than the other because the other two men were on that side and her priority was to keep as many of them as possible away from Suzuka.

"Falin, get that thing off your side now!" Noel's communication came through. She had to reach back across her body with her standard left hand for it, which slowed her reaction. One of the intruders at the far end of the landing delayed her even more by shooting her--and he'd taken the warning to heart, switching to a clip of armor-piercing bullets that although not penetrating did begin the process of compromising her armor.

Then the mine went off.

There was only so much explosive that could be packed into a palm-sized explosive device, particularly one that would adhere to a target and included a remote detonator. The shaped charge did a great deal of damage, though, breaching Falin's armor and blasting a fist-sized chunk out of her side where her lower ribs would have been, and also taking three fingers off her left hand where she was reaching for it. Damage assessments spilled through her mind as alternate pathways were found for destroyed circuitry.

Configure--LfArm: Sword.

Configure--RtArm: Hand.

More bursts of gunfire hit her chest and face, staggering her, the combination of damage sources making her unable to properly react as the gunman's partner leapt into the air, descending towards her with a powerful diagonal cut of his sword, a shockingly inefficient maneuver from a member of an otherwise highly efficient team, which made Falin deprioritize it as a threat.

Then his katana came alight with a dull red light, an aura crackling around the blade like lightning, and the edge sheared through her neck from just below her right ear into her left collarbone, which it glanced off, its unnatural power spent. Falin's head went spinning away, bounced off the balustrade, and fell towards the atrium floor below.

"Falin!" Suzuka screamed.

Visual receptors: Disabled.

Primary audio receptors: Disabled.

Primary olfactory receptors: Disabled.

Gustatory receptors: Disabled.

Primary communications array: Disabled.

Link inactive.

The man who'd decapitated Falin got the surprise of his life when her right hand fisted in his coat, holding him in place. It didn't last long, though, as she drove her sword-hand through his chest. Noel and Falin's creator had not been foolish enough to place their core functions in their heads just because that was where the human brain was located.

Connection request: Noel.

Accept.

Link active.

Resume transmission.

Using the impaled corpse for cover--she felt more than one shot hit it, she fished through his jacket and found his gun, recognized the model, flipped the fire selection switch to full-auto, and swept the weapon in an arc to cover the landing. She heard the impact of a bullet on an armored duster and centered the gun on the spot, emptying the remainder of the clip in another trigger-pull. She felt the movement of air, heard the footfalls on the carpet of the remaining man on that side, and spun into a wheel-kick that any blindfighting sensei would have applauded. Falin felt her foot contact his face, felt the mask shatter under the force of a blow that could punch through a concrete wall.

In the next second, though, the last intruder standing proved that the shock of seeing a headless maid tear through his comrades did not long paralyze a disciplined mind. Armor-piercing ammunition slammed into her back as the masked man emptied a clip into her. Her armor, already compromised by the blast, gave way more than once as shots tore into her torso, more than one actually ricocheting off the inside of her chest armor to do even more damage. Her consciousness became a stream of damage reports and error messages; she wasn't even aware that he'd stepped up behind her and ripped his sword into the cavity blown by the mine to tear her body in half.

Emergency shutd--

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Screaming in terror, Suzuka sprinted towards the mansion's front door. First Arisa and now Falin! How many lives were going to be sacrificed for her sake? How many of those she cared about? She wanted to turn back, rush up the stairs and tear any of the masked men who still lived limb from limb, but the knowledge that Falin had given her life solely so Suzuka could escape from them kept her running.

As she reached for the front door, the heavy wooden panel was flung open, knocking her sprawling. A tall, dark-skinned man stood there, towering over her.

"I should have done this the first time," he said, raising his hand. Yellow-green energy crackled in his palm while around his feet a runic circle like those Suzuka had seen Nanoha and Fate conjure shone the same hue. "From the sky comes your destruction! Midnight Striker!"

The light exploded from his palm, and Suzuka knew no more.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Arisa & Friends Omake Roadshow!

Arisa brought the Yamaha to a stop. Suzuka got down off the back of the bike, then watched her girlfriend swing a leg over the machine, admiring the way the white and red leathers hugged her body.

The restaurant they'd stopped at wasn't quite as pleasant a view. It was clearly a biker hangout: motorcycles were lined up in the parking lot, ranging from Japanese and European racing models to big American touring bikes to tricked-out "choppers" from a biker-gang movie. Inside, the place was jammed full.

"Maybe we should go someplace else?" Suzuka nervously suggested. She wasn't that hungry, after all...

"Nah, we're good. Besides, it's a good three hours until we get to anywhere else that offers real food." She flashed Suzuka a grin. "Three hours with a starving vampire pressed against my back."

Suzuka giggled, then watched as Arisa walked over to a table for two that had four leatherboys jammed up at it.

"Hey, guys, mind if we sit down?"

They turned their heads sullenly, then paled and jumped to their feet.

"Hey, no problem, Bannings; we were just leaving."

Arisa held the chair for Suzuka.

"Do you know these guys?"

"Not really, but I've got kind of a rep."

"You do?"

"Well, a lot of these guys use reckless stunts to show how brave and badass they are. Since I'm absurdly rich, if I total my ride I can be sitting on a brand new one the next day. And since I'm already dead, no matter how badly I wipe out, it won't actually hurt me." She grinned. "By now, it doesn't even count as losing face to refuse to play 'chicken' with me."

Spoiler for Notes:

1. Damn cat. This is why I'm a dog person.

2. For those scoring at home, four Hand members are dead: the one Falin impaled, the one she shot, the one whose skull she kicked into a jellylike smear, and the one Suzuka threw down the stairs. The one who planted the mine on Falin and eventually put her down is fine, and the one Suzuka threw into the wall was just stunned.

3. Yes, "Primary olfactory receptors: disabled" means that Falin can apparently smell with sensors other than her nose...Honestly, Sakura probably should have installed some extra eyes somewhere as well, but...

4. Recognition of the fact that the head is a lousy place to install an android's "brain" dates to several extended conversations with Joel Fagin concerning Phantasy Star fics from around nine years ago. Credit where credit is due and all that.

Previous chapters:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

Did I hear mention of BtBR plotbunnies raising their fuzzy heads?

Anyway, might as well get the daily update for today out of the way now, for lunch. I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Six Badass Longcoated assassins fighting a Schoolgirl Lesbian Vampire and a Ninja Robot Maid. It's like a Choose Your Own Fetish chapter!

...

Actually, I've noticed that a lot of this fic seems to be turning out that way. I think I'm channeling my inner Hayate.

Spoiler for Blood & Spirit -- Chapter 11:

The Tsukimura estate was quiet and still.

"Too large," stated one of the Red Phoenix. "Too vulnerable."

The fence, they knew, was wired to set off alarms if contact was made over a certain threshold of pressure. The weight of a man would be enough to trigger it. The alarm wouldn't contact the police, though, or a private security firm. The Tsukimuras preferred to keep their secrets, Tengu understood.

These men, though, were not run-of-the-mill burglars. One by one, they ascended a tree, then jumped from a limb, covering a good twenty yards in the air despite the lack of a running start. Tengu followed as they crossed the lawn like shadows, slipping silently, noiselessly through the darkness. The six of them divided, pairs going in different directions to approach the house from different angles.

The Red Phoenix were past masters at breaching security. Alarm wires were found, then severed or rewired. In one place, a windowpane was seamlessly cut out of its frame with a blade that seemed, perhaps, sharper than mere steel should have. They entered without any signal being given, any trap tripped.

They thought.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Is there anything I can get for you, Miss Suzuka?" Falin asked. "A cup of tea, something to eat?"

Suzuka frowned, then shook her head.

"No, thank you, Falin." She set down her pen. "I'm just restless, that's all. How can I concentrate on studying when I know that Arisa and Noel are off following up a lead?"

"They'll be all right, Miss Suzuka. Noel is very skilled at this sort of thing, and I don't think that Miss Arisa can be hurt now."

Suzuka smiled slightly at that.

"I suppose not. But it's hard to think about something as mundane as schoolwork when everyone is dealing with things like kidnapping and corporate intrigue. It almost doesn't seem real, somehow, if you understand what I mean, Falin? Especially with me apparently being at the center of it."

Falin nodded.

"It isn't part of ordinary life," she agreed. "It must be very difficult. But you should try to relax. Miss Arisa wouldn't want you to be worrying about her this way."

"No, I suppose not. She'd say that I was just being the cliche of the girl who sits home and frets while her man is off at the war--which is especially silly because I don't have a man at all."

"Wouldn't the principle apply regardless of gender?" Falin asked.

Suzuka's smile widened.

"Maybe, but it doesn't feel the same, somehow. Like...because we're the same sex, there aren't so many social expectations, so we can find the right balance between ourselves based on personality without having to fight so many ideas of what we should be to each other?"

Falin tipped her head to one side.

"That sounds awfully well thought-out for a relationship that only started yesterday, Miss Suzuka."

Suzuka blushed.

"That's because, well, I've thought about those kind of things for quite some time now, since I've known how I felt about Arisa for so long," she confided shyly. "I've dreamed about what it would be her girlfriend for years; I feel like pinching myself to see that I'm not still asleep."

"I'm glad that you're happy, Miss Suzuka," Falin said, smiling.

"Thank you, Falin." Suzuka sighed happily. "This all began so horribly, but maybe...maybe there really will be something good that comes from it at last."

"I hope so too, although--" She broke off suddenly.

"What is it?"

"I hear something."

Security Mode: Active.

"A window at the other end of the hall sliding open." The windows in the old house tended to creak even when opened carefully. Noel had decided to leave them that way on purpose: a skilled burglar might disarm or bypass an alarm system but with the sisters' hearing the act of opening became a viable backup, with a constantly running subroutine scanning her audio input for the sound.

"What do we do, Falin?" Suzuka asked, keeping her voice down. "Should we try to get out, or to the secure room?" There was only a slight quaver to betray her nervousness.


Connect: Noel.

"I'm contacting Noel."

Link active.

"Noel, they're here! They're at the house!"

"Stay calm. How many are there?"

"I don't know. I just heard the window open."

"All right. Try to keep hidden until you have better information, then get to safety using whatever route is open. Tell me more when you can, and keep Miss Suzuka safe."

"I will!"

"Stay quiet," Falin told Suzuka. "Noel and Miss Arisa know that someone is here. We need to figure out what's happening, then get you away safely."

"I understand."

Falin turned out the light so that it wouldn't show under the door and pinpoint their location. A smart attacker would have seen which lights were on from outside, of course, but matching those observations to the mansion's internal layout wasn't always easy.

She didn't hear footsteps. Was the window a false alarm? An ordinary burglar, maybe, who'd been scared off by the noise?

Or were the intruders just that silent? And therefore, that dangerous?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Suzuka's in trouble?" Arisa exclaimed.

"We don't know that yet," Noel said, her heels clicking as she ran down the stairs. Arisa trailed along, glad that her legs wouldn't get tired or her "wind" run out. The maid's voice was infuriatingly calm and controlled from Arisa's point of view. Usually she appreciated that--a sensible voice of reason--but under the circumstances, it could be annoying.

"Well, what do you know?"

"Falin just said that she believes someone is trying to break in. She'll tell me more when she knows more."


"That's it?"

"For now."

"I guess we can hope for a false alarm, but..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence to know that Noel agreed with her. That would be far too much of a coincidence to believe, a false alarm right when they were expecting the kidnappers to try something. It had to be that Professor Morris.

They could only hope that Falin did a better job of protecting Suzuka than the living Arisa had managed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Slowly, Falin peered out around the corner, wishing as she did that the mansion had internal surveillance cameras. They'd moved cautiously out of Suzuka's room, first into the hall, then down the corridor towards the landing that led to the atrium with its grand sweep of staircase.

Suzuka was with her; she couldn't move quite as quietly as Falin could, but close enough, and they considered it more likely that she'd be safer with Falin entering a potential hazard area than without Falin in a location the other side would be aware of.

They were wrong, but not for any of the reasons they'd anticipated.

Peering into the darkened atrium (light could only help the enemy since Falin had both low-light and thermographic vision), Falin saw the two men ascending the staircase. They were dressed in black, with long coats and wearing white full-face masks that shone eerily in her sight. Their movements were quiet and stealthy; they glided through the darkness like living shadows.

Until the lead one suddenly reeled back, off-balance as a yowl went up. He'd collided with Ein, the striped gray cat that liked the fourth step from the top as his perch and who'd been nearly invisible in the dark to normal eyes. One could consider Suzuka's cats (currently numbering eight) as an informal part of the security system.

The intruder deftly caught his balance, and then in the next instant a Japanese sword was in his hand, quick-drawn from somewhere, and slicing down towards the cat out of rage or a practical desire to prevent further noise or both. Falin watched in horror, knowing how much Suzuka loved the cats.

Suzuka herself didn't just watch.

"No!" she screamed as she bolted from cover, charging the men. Even Falin's reflexes weren't fast enough to grab her, so all she could do was follow. The masked man, though, reacted at once, somehow stopping in mid-swing and whirling to face Suzuka.

Configure-RtArm: Sword.

Falin's hand folded as the blade extensions slid down her arm and locked in place, putting a two-foot, double-edged blade at the end of her wrist. If they wanted to play with blades, she could match them.

The man who'd stepped on the cat slashed out at the charging vampire, but again managed to restrain himself mid-swing, probably because he'd recognized their target. The second intruder drew not a sword but a machine pistol with a barrel extension of some kind and ripped off a three-round burst, silenced. His aim was remarkable, despite the darkness and the silencer and the effect of rapid fire on his arm he put all three shots right where he wanted at a target moving at Falin's speed at an angle across his line of vision.

Not that it did him any good; the bullets penetrated her maid's uniform and her pseudoskin sheath and were stopped cold by her subdermal armor.

The lead man reversed his grip and brought the heel of his sword in towards Suzuka. She grabbed his arm before he could make contact and wrenched it down and around. Ein bolted as Suzuka nearly stepped on his tail as she shifted her footing, bringing her free hand up for a punch to the sternum. Falin could almost see the intruder read Suzuka's body language and begin a countersequence, but while he was undoubtedly better than the girl she--aware of the situation and intentionally drawing on her inhuman abilities--was simply faster than he could cope with.

Transmit Stream: Full-Sense/Realtime.

She didn't have time to explain in language; Noel could decipher it for herself through Falin's own sensory input. Another burst of gunfire sprayed up at her, scoring twice as her left hand grabbed the balustrade and she launched herself in a spinning loop through the air that made the gunman dodge aside. Falin landed, deftly found her footing on the staircase, and swept a thrust with her sword-hand at him. He slipped the attack while drawing his own sword and she chopped the gun out of his hand, breaking his wrist.

A door at the opposite end of the landing from which Falin and Suzuka had entered was flung open and spat out two more masked men, who rushed towards the fray. A moment later, as Falin blocked the gunman's sword with her own, two more of them entered from a door near the middle of the landing.

That settled it, then; down and then out was the way to go. Suzuka seemed to have figured that as well, bodily hurling the man she was fighting at the nearer two arrivals. They dodged, and the man hit the wall hard, jarring loose a heavy, framed portrait in oils of a Tsukimura ancestor. The two lunged all but simultaneously at Suzuka, stun-guns in their hands. Knowing that those would have an effect on her--moreso if they'd upped the power level to deal with Suzuka's nature--Falin broke away from her opponent to intercept. She took a slash across the back of her left shoulder which did no more than his bullets had done, sprang past Suzuka to take one man off his feet with an extended forearm, but had the stungun blast its charge into her.

"The maid's armored!" the gunman shouted, and indeed the stungun had no effect on her as she was insulated against electricity that wasn't on the order of a lightning strike. She tried to execute an attack, but the man she'd clotheslined whipped his legs against hers from his prone position and jarred her off-balance. In that instant the intruder who'd stungunned her slapped his free hand against her side and vaulted away so that her sword-slash only tore open the front of his armored duster.

Suzuka leapt at the man on the stairs. He came up with his own stun-gun, but she was again simply too fast in a one-on-one situation, knocking his arm wide with enough force that the stun-gun went flying and then hitting him in the chest hard enough to knock him off his feet and send him tumbling down the stairs.

The man on the floor rolled away from Falin, trying to get to his feet. She turned his way rather than the other because the other two men were on that side and her priority was to keep as many of them as possible away from Suzuka.

"Falin, get that thing off your side now!" Noel's communication came through. She had to reach back across her body with her standard left hand for it, which slowed her reaction. One of the intruders at the far end of the landing delayed her even more by shooting her--and he'd taken the warning to heart, switching to a clip of armor-piercing bullets that although not penetrating did begin the process of compromising her armor.

Then the mine went off.

There was only so much explosive that could be packed into a palm-sized explosive device, particularly one that would adhere to a target and included a remote detonator. The shaped charge did a great deal of damage, though, breaching Falin's armor and blasting a fist-sized chunk out of her side where her lower ribs would have been, and also taking three fingers off her left hand where she was reaching for it. Damage assessments spilled through her mind as alternate pathways were found for destroyed circuitry.

Configure--LfArm: Sword.

Configure--RtArm: Hand.

More bursts of gunfire hit her chest and face, staggering her, the combination of damage sources making her unable to properly react as the gunman's partner leapt into the air, descending towards her with a powerful diagonal cut of his sword, a shockingly inefficient maneuver from a member of an otherwise highly efficient team, which made Falin deprioritize it as a threat.

Then his katana came alight with a dull red light, an aura crackling around the blade like lightning, and the edge sheared through her neck from just below her right ear into her left collarbone, which it glanced off, its unnatural power spent. Falin's head went spinning away, bounced off the balustrade, and fell towards the atrium floor below.

"Falin!" Suzuka screamed.

Visual receptors: Disabled.

Primary audio receptors: Disabled.

Primary olfactory receptors: Disabled.

Gustatory receptors: Disabled.

Primary communications array: Disabled.

Link inactive.

The man who'd decapitated Falin got the surprise of his life when her right hand fisted in his coat, holding him in place. It didn't last long, though, as she drove her sword-hand through his chest. Noel and Falin's creator had not been foolish enough to place their core functions in their heads just because that was where the human brain was located.

Connection request: Noel.

Accept.

Link active.

Resume transmission.

Using the impaled corpse for cover--she felt more than one shot hit it, she fished through his jacket and found his gun, recognized the model, flipped the fire selection switch to full-auto, and swept the weapon in an arc to cover the landing. She heard the impact of a bullet on an armored duster and centered the gun on the spot, emptying the remainder of the clip in another trigger-pull. She felt the movement of air, heard the footfalls on the carpet of the remaining man on that side, and spun into a wheel-kick that any blindfighting sensei would have applauded. Falin felt her foot contact his face, felt the mask shatter under the force of a blow that could punch through a concrete wall.

In the next second, though, the last intruder standing proved that the shock of seeing a headless maid tear through his comrades did not long paralyze a disciplined mind. Armor-piercing ammunition slammed into her back as the masked man emptied a clip into her. Her armor, already compromised by the blast, gave way more than once as shots tore into her torso, more than one actually ricocheting off the inside of her chest armor to do even more damage. Her consciousness became a stream of damage reports and error messages; she wasn't even aware that he'd stepped up behind her and ripped his sword into the cavity blown by the mine to tear her body in half.

Emergency shutd--

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Screaming in terror, Suzuka sprinted towards the mansion's front door. First Arisa and now Falin! How many lives were going to be sacrificed for her sake? How many of those she cared about? She wanted to turn back, rush up the stairs and tear any of the masked men who still lived limb from limb, but the knowledge that Falin had given her life solely so Suzuka could escape from them kept her running.

As she reached for the front door, the heavy wooden panel was flung open, knocking her sprawling. A tall, dark-skinned man stood there, towering over her.

"I should have done this the first time," he said, raising his hand. Yellow-green energy crackled in his palm while around his feet a runic circle like those Suzuka had seen Nanoha and Fate conjure shone the same hue. "From the sky comes your destruction! Midnight Striker!"

The light exploded from his palm, and Suzuka knew no more.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Arisa & Friends Omake Roadshow!

Arisa brought the Yamaha to a stop. Suzuka got down off the back of the bike, then watched her girlfriend swing a leg over the machine, admiring the way the white and red leathers hugged her body.

The restaurant they'd stopped at wasn't quite as pleasant a view. It was clearly a biker hangout: motorcycles were lined up in the parking lot, ranging from Japanese and European racing models to big American touring bikes to tricked-out "choppers" from a biker-gang movie. Inside, the place was jammed full.

"Maybe we should go someplace else?" Suzuka nervously suggested. She wasn't that hungry, after all...

"Nah, we're good. Besides, it's a good three hours until we get to anywhere else that offers real food." She flashed Suzuka a grin. "Three hours with a starving vampire pressed against my back."

Suzuka giggled, then watched as Arisa walked over to a table for two that had four leatherboys jammed up at it.

"Hey, guys, mind if we sit down?"

They turned their heads sullenly, then paled and jumped to their feet.

"Hey, no problem, Bannings; we were just leaving."

Arisa held the chair for Suzuka.

"Do you know these guys?"

"Not really, but I've got kind of a rep."

"You do?"

"Well, a lot of these guys use reckless stunts to show how brave and badass they are. Since I'm absurdly rich, if I total my ride I can be sitting on a brand new one the next day. And since I'm already dead, no matter how badly I wipe out, it won't actually hurt me." She grinned. "By now, it doesn't even count as losing face to refuse to play 'chicken' with me."

Spoiler for Notes:

1. Damn cat. This is why I'm a dog person.

2. For those scoring at home, four Hand members are dead: the one Falin impaled, the one she shot, the one whose skull she kicked into a jellylike smear, and the one Suzuka threw down the stairs. The one who planted the mine on Falin and eventually put her down is fine, and the one Suzuka threw into the wall was just stunned.

3. Yes, "Primary olfactory receptors: disabled" means that Falin can apparently smell with sensors other than her nose...Honestly, Sakura probably should have installed some extra eyes somewhere as well, but...

4. Recognition of the fact that the head is a lousy place to install an android's "brain" dates to several extended conversations with Joel Fagin concerning Phantasy Star fics from around nine years ago. Credit where credit is due and all that.

Previous chapters:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

O__O

...

That was...

Gruesome...

Caught again, eh? I take it Noel will be rightly pissed off at this point; not only is Suzuka gone, but I get the sneaking feeling that Falin is either dead or as close to dead as a cyborg maid can be, and that's going to really annoy the one programmed to be her "big sister". Not to mention Arisa, now that she no longer has a physical body, is quite capable of putting down the pain when she wants to...

Going to be interesting!

Nice play on Arisa's possible future rep.

I look forward to the next daily update.

[Rising Dragon]

I'm just waiting for ghost!Arisa to finally light someone on fire.

[Satashi]

Got a message from Junkedcat. He said life has been hectic. Along with school and work, he's had no time to do anything. Landscaper!Fate was taken down because he felt he didn't want to keep a half-finished "dead" fic up with teasers for new chapters. BUT he did say he still thought about it, so here's hoping, ne?

Well, In JC's honor, here's a Richgirl!Nanoha short. (For those of you who don't know, Richgirl!Nanoha is a spin-off of Landscaper!Fate made with JC's permission and support ^_^ All character personalities and plot and stuff were made by JunkedCat). First person POV, by Nanoha

Spoiler for Richgirl!Nanoha:

I let out a small sigh, chin resting on the silk pillow under me. The rain outside dissapointed me, robbing me of seeing my friend today since she was schedualed to do our lawn. I had hoped it would have let up by now, but the constant pour had lasted all day, only slacking a bit now that it was nighttime.

Rolling over, I laid on my back, staring at the ceiling. My feet grabbed a teddybear that I had recently bought from a catalog and with a small flip of my ankles, made the stuffed animal fly to my waist so I could pick it up with my hands. Holding it above my head, I stared at the fake animal. It's black fur was fluffy and a pink ribbon was tied around it's neck in a cute oversized bow.

A sudden knocking came on my window and I gasped, quickly running over to it and opening it up. "Fate-chan?"

"Hey Princess." She smirked at me. "I came for a late-night booty call?"

I blinked. "But my phone never rang?" She got that look in her eyes again and I blushed, knowing I had just said something weird. "Come in, you are going to get sick."

"Can't, my mates are waiting for me."

To my horror, she moved out of the way so I could see the rest of her landscaping crew hanging out at my front gate. "Fate-chan, I could get caught!"

"Nah, we're allowed on your property today anyway, so there's no reason to be worried." She looked at me, the rain dripping all over her, blonde hair looking a dull brown from being soaked clean through. "I just wanted to say hi."

"...Hey." I felt really touched, and I smiled at her. However, she leaned forward and planted her lips against mine in a brief touch that made me actually stumble back and fall on my butt. My hand went to my lips and I looked at her with wide eyes. "wha...wha...?"

"Thanks," she licked her lips. "Taste good." With that, she winked, waved lightly with one hand, then literally jumped back to land a story down below, sinking in the wet ground before running off to join her friends.

I sat on the floor, unable to speak, staring at the open window with wide eyes. Bringing my teddy bear to my lap, I held onto it as I tried to figure out what just happened. "What... was that?" I finally asked aloud ina whisper, moving my bear to look at. "I don't understand her... Etaf."

The bear RETURNS!

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by Satashi

Got a message from Junkedcat. He said life has been hectic. Along with school and work, he's had no time to do anything. Landscaper!Fate was taken down because he felt he didn't want to keep a half-finished "dead" fic up with teasers for new chapters. BUT he did say he still thought about it, so here's hoping, ne?

Well, In JC's honor, here's a Richgirl!Nanoha short. (For those of you who don't know, Richgirl!Nanoha is a spin-off of Landscaper!Fate made with JC's permission and support ^_^ All character personalities and plot and stuff were made by JunkedCat). First person POV, by Nanoha

Spoiler for Richgirl!Nanoha:

I let out a small sigh, chin resting on the silk pillow under me. The rain outside dissapointed me, robbing me of seeing my friend today since she was schedualed to do our lawn. I had hoped it would have let up by now, but the constant pour had lasted all day, only slacking a bit now that it was nighttime.

Rolling over, I laid on my back, staring at the ceiling. My feet grabbed a teddybear that I had recently bought from a catalog and with a small flip of my ankles, made the stuffed animal fly to my waist so I could pick it up with my hands. Holding it above my head, I stared at the fake animal. It's black fur was fluffy and a pink ribbon was tied around it's neck in a cute oversized bow.

A sudden knocking came on my window and I gasped, quickly running over to it and opening it up. "Fate-chan?"

"Hey Princess." She smirked at me. "I came for a late-night booty call?"

I blinked. "But my phone never rang?" She got that look in her eyes again and I blushed, knowing I had just said something weird. "Come in, you are going to get sick."

"Can't, my mates are waiting for me."

To my horror, she moved out of the way so I could see the rest of her landscaping crew hanging out at my front gate. "Fate-chan, I could get caught!"

"Nah, we're allowed on your property today anyway, so there's no reason to be worried." She looked at me, the rain dripping all over her, blonde hair looking a dull brown from being soaked clean through. "I just wanted to say hi."

"...Hey." I felt really touched, and I smiled at her. However, she leaned forward and planted her lips against mine in a brief touch that made me actually stumble back and fall on my butt. My hand went to my lips and I looked at her with wide eyes. "wha...wha...?"

"Thanks," she licked her lips. "Taste good." With that, she winked, waved lightly with one hand, then literally jumped back to land a story down below, sinking in the wet ground before running off to join her friends.

I sat on the floor, unable to speak, staring at the open window with wide eyes. Bringing my teddy bear to my lap, I held onto it as I tried to figure out what just happened. "What... was that?" I finally asked aloud ina whisper, moving my bear to look at. "I don't understand her... Etaf."

The bear RETURNS!

XD I remember that bear! Then again, I *WAS* reading the fic in question just the other day, so...

[Rising Dragon]

Which fic? After all, Etaf's appeared in a few of Satashi's works.

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

Which fic? After all, Etaf's appeared in a few of Satashi's works.

This one.

10charlimit

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

This one.

10charlimit

XD Good ol shoujo-ai. I put all my pretty cure fics there before I had the category made at FF.N for it. They emailed me requesting to host my Nanoha ones as well a while later :3

As for Etaf.... I dunno how many fics it's in :3 I just love that bear for some reason @_@ I thought it'd be a good dedication to Junkedcat's L!F * I miss that fic... the only Favourite I had on FF.N*

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by Satashi

XD Good ol shoujo-ai. I put all my pretty cure fics there before I had the category made at FF.N for it. They emailed me requesting to host my Nanoha ones as well a while later :3

As for Etaf.... I dunno how many fics it's in :3 I just love that bear for some reason @_@

That bear is good. :3

[itanshi1]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

snip

Hahaha, that was a fun chapter. x_x Now I get to wait for more, so take the time you need. No real discrepancies tho i did wonder about the rest of Suzuka's family or even the ninja baker's. Wonder how they will factor in later. Nanoha not withstanding. Well, waiting is the fun part, too . I also agree with the sentiment of catching someone on fire, hehe.

[RadiantBeam]

Okay, so, I need a title for my Miyuki/Nanoha fic that's coming up. I can't think of anything. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for it?

[Keroko]

Sisters. Simple, tickles the curiosity, and yet explains the fic while leaving its true nature hidden.

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

Okay, so, I need a title for my Miyuki/Nanoha fic that's coming up. I can't think of anything. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for it?

Originally Posted by Keroko

Sisters. Simple, tickles the curiosity, and yet explains the fic while leaving its true nature hidden.

I agree with Keroko-chan on this one