Some people sometimes wondered why it was that Cinque hadn't been the one to go after Vivio. After all, she could have slipped in and out before anyone realized she had been there. And if anyone had realized she was there, she could have blown them up with ease.
The reason was incredibly simple and silly at the same time.
Cinque loved anything that was cute and cuddly. Jail knew this. He also knew that if Cinque had taken one look at the little girl, she would squee like an excitable teenager, glomp the little thing and practically smother the girl in hugs and kindness.
No, it was far better to send Otto, Deed and Lutecia after Vivio rather than Cinque. She might have betrayed him if she saw Vivio and then she'd get Sein, Wendi and Nove to follow her easily.
Not that it really mattered much in the end anyway.
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
Some people sometimes wondered why it was that Cinque hadn't been the one to go after Vivio. After all, she could have slipped in and out before anyone realized she had been there. And if anyone had realized she was there, she could have blown them up with ease.
The reason was incredibly simple and silly at the same time.
Cinque loved anything that was cute and cuddly. Jail knew this. He also knew that if Cinque had taken one look at the little girl, she would squee like an excitable teenager, glomp the little thing and practically smother the girl in hugs and kindness.
No, it was far better to send Otto, Deed and Lutecia after Vivio rather than Cinque. She might have betrayed him if she saw Vivio and then she'd get Sein, Wendi and Nove to follow her easily.
Not that it really mattered much in the end anyway.
Location: Pennsylvania. It's sort of like a real state.
Age: 39
I'm so sorry...
Before you ask... yes. It's the clown one. I just... I just couldn't help myself.
Spoiler for Center Ring, Part 1:
The arena was dark. There was light in the stands, mostly from cameras and cellphones slightly illuminating individual members of the audience, but the center was pitch black… until the spotlight shone onto a man in a glittering red suit, tall black boots, and violet hair.
The ringmaster smiled brilliantly, if somewhat unstably, and flipped a top hat onto his head with a flourish. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! My name is Doc Scaglietti, and it is my honor to be both your ringmaster and your greeter for the evening, as you join us here under the Big Top at the world-famous Scaglietti Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus! Welcome, one and all, to the Greatest Show on Earth!"
Blinding light flooded the arena, forcing the audience to briefly snap their eyes shut, and when they opened them again… they were in another world.
The highwire. The trapeze. Off to the side, awaiting their moments to shine, the cannon and door to the animal cages. And, of course, the all-important three rings.
The circus!
Vivio Takamachi smiled, but it lacked the wonder of the others in the crowd. To her, this was all old news; her smile was that of someone encountering something familiar and comforting. Aunt Hayate had always informed her that Doc Scaglietti was an unlikeable prat in person, but Vivio had to admit he put on a good show.
The acts began, and all were suitably dazzling... Cinque, the amazingly skilled knife thrower, sliced in half a sheet of paper laid flat on a volunteer's head without so much as parting their hair.
Wendi and Sein, the daredevil trapeze artists, flying through the air in dazzling acrobatic display.
Nove, the animal tamer, who showed absolutely no fear, nor even really respect, for a cage full of lions and tigers. She demonstrated why when one of them attempted to bite her rather than leap through a ring, and she responded by beating it into unconsciousness.
Quattro, the bitch...and yes, that was her official position. Doc Scaglietti prided himself on being a visionary pioneer on the very fore-front of Circusing, and had concieved of this entirely new act: Quattro would go out onto the floor, and pick someone at random from the audience. She would then follow that person home and ruin their life. She would unplug their alarm clocks, replace their shampoo with glue, cut the brakes in their car, kick their pets, and infect their spouses with swine flu. Nine times out of ten, this situation escalated until ending with the volunteer engaged in a life-or-death duel with their own children. It was a surprisingly popular act, for everyone but the poor sap who Quattro happened to select that night.
Vivio smiled, but this really wasn't what she was here for. The acts were good, but she had something of a bias against them; no matter how good they were, she would always feel that she'd seen better.
But then, as an extremely sad-looking man exited the left ring followed by a grinning Quattro, it happened. The roadies emerged to set up the cannon for Tre the Amazing Human Cannonball, and so they sent in something to hold the audience's attention.
They sent in the clowns. And Vivio saw her angel.
Her long, straight hair was brilliant violet; no wig, that, but the most perfect natural Clowning hair that Vivio had ever known. Her pale makeup only accentuated her beauty, her squeaky nose gleamed like a ruby in the brilliant lighting of the ring. The arc formed by her floppy shoes reminded Vivio of songbirds in flight.
Vivio blushed brilliantly. She knew she had an incredibly goofy smile on her face, and she couldn't have cared less. She's... so perfect...! The enamored youth thought.
But it didn't end there; no, simple perfection of appearance would not have been enough to hold Vivio's attention. But the magnificent young clown gracing the ring, Lutecia Alpine, was far more than beautiful. There were other clowns with her, a large man and some small red-haired... thing... but they faded into the background as the act began.
The skill with which she slipped on a banana peel.
The perfect accuracy of her hurled pies.
The brutal efficiency with which she wielded her squeaky plastic mallet.
Each and every act was accomplished with grace, charm, and perfect comedic timing. Vivio felt as though she were gazing not merely upon a simple performance of excellent clowning, but upon a priceless piece of art, the work of a true and unmatched master. Lutecia was not a clown, she was a goddess among clowns. She was a goddess, and Vivio was in Heaven.
Yet all good things must come to an end, and this included Vivio's stay in paradise. As Lutecia piled back into her tiny car with the other clowns and drove away, Vivio stood and left the big top. There was no need to see the rest of the acts, she'd witnessed what she came for and needed to get home before Mamas or Aunt Hayate noticed she was gone. She had rehearsal in a few hours, after all.
As she walked home, the depression set in. She didn't know why she kept coming back here... getting a glimpse of what she couldn't have only made her feel worse about herself. She couldn't help herself; Lutecia's brilliant Clowning was like a drug to her. The older girl was everything Vivio wanted and everything she wanted to be, all rolled up into one. And yet, coming here and seeing that perfection for herself... only served to remind her that she could never, ever have it.
Even if our families would allow it, and they never would... Vivio thought glumly, looking into her bag and seeing her wig and squeaky red rubber nose, ... An amazing girl like her would never be interested in a simple, ordinary clown like me.
And Vivio Takamachi, clown-in-training of Scaglietti Bros. greatest rival, Circus Force Six, made her way home in a cloud of sadness.
Spoiler for Author's Note:
When I suggested this story, I thought I was joking. And yet this epic tale of love, lies, betrayal, passion, and floppy shoes demanded to be told. To anyone offended by clowns or clowning please feel free to leave the room. We're going to be piercing directly to the black heart of professional clownery in this subtle introspective look into the hearts and minds of two clowns, bound by love but separated by a cruel fate that places them on opposite sides in the cutthroat competition of the circus industry.
Also, I have writer's block and some nice harmless crack might clear that up.
Last edited by Moczo; 2010-04-04 at 18:32.
Reason: Spelling Corrections
Before you ask... yes. It's the clown one. I just... I just couldn't help myself.
Spoiler for Center Ring, Part 1:
The arena was dark. There was light in the stands, mostly from cameras and cellphones slightly illuminating individual members of the audience, but the center was pitch black… until the spotlight shone onto a man in a glittering red suit, tall black boots, and violet hair.
The ringmaster smiled brilliantly, if somewhat unstably, and flipped a top hat onto his head with a flourish. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! My name is Doc Scaglietti, and it is my honor to be both your ringmaster and your greeter for the evening, as you join us here under the Big Top at the world-famous Scaglietti Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus! Welcome, one and all, to the Greatest Show on Earth!"
Blinding light flooded the arena, forcing the audience to briefly snap their eyes shut, and when they opened them again… they were in another world.
The highwire. The trapeeze. Off to the side, awaiting their moments to shine, the cannon and door to the animal cages. And, of course, the all-important three rings.
The circus!
Vivio Takamachi smiled, but it lacked the wonder of the others in the crowd. To her, this was all old news; her smile was that of someone encountering something familiar and comforting. Aunt Hayate had always informed her that Doc Scaglietti was an unlikeable prat in person, but Vivio had to admit he put on a good show.
The acts began, and all were suitably dazzling... Cinque, the amazingly skilled knife thrower, sliced in half a sheet of paper laid flat on a volunteer's head without so much as parting their hair.
Wendi and Sein, the daredevil trapeeze artists, flying through the air in dazzling acrobatic display.
Nove, the animal tamer, who showed absolutely no fear, nor even really respect, for a cage full of lions and tigers. She demonstrated why when one of them attempted to bite her rather than leap through a ring, and she responded by beating it into unconsciousness.
Quattro, the bitch...and yes, that was her official position. Doc Scaglietti prided himself on being a visionary pioneer on the very fore-front of Circusing, and had concieved of this entirely new act: Quattro would go out onto the floor, and pick someone at random from the audience. She would then follow that person home and ruin their life. She would unplug their alarm clocks, replace their shampoo with glue, cut the brakes in their car, kick their pets, and infect their spouses with swine flu. Nine times out of ten, this situation escalated until ending with the volunteer engaged in a life-or-death duel with their own children. It was a surprisingly popular act, for everyone but the poor sap who Quattro happened to select that night.
Vivio smiled, but this really wasn't what she was here for. The acts were good, but she had something of a bias against them; no matter how good they were, she would always feel that she'd seen better.
But then, as an extremely sad-looking man exited the left ring followed by a grinning Quattro, it happened. The roadies emerged to set up the cannon for Tre the Amazing Human Cannonball, and so they sent in something to hold the audience's attention.
They sent in the clowns. And Vivio saw her angel.
Her long, straight hair was brilliant violet; no wig, that, but the most perfect natural Clowning hair that Vivio had ever known. Her pale makeup only accentuated her beauty, her squeaky nose gleamed like a ruby in the brilliant lighting of the ring. The arc formed by her floppy shoes reminded Vivio of songbirds in flight.
Vivio blushed brilliantly. She knew she had an incredibly goofy smile on her face, and she couldn't have cared less. She's... so perfect...! The enamored youth thought.
But it didn't end there; no, simple perfection of appearance would not have been enough to hold Vivio's attention. But the magnificent young clown gracing the ring, Lutecia Alpine, was far more than beautiful. There were other clowns with her, a large man and some small red-haired... thing... but they faded into the background as the act began.
The skill with which she slipped on a bannana peel.
The perfect accuracy of her hurled pies.
The brutal efficiency with which she wielded her squeaky plastic mallet.
Each and every act was accomplished with grace, charm, and perfect comedic timing. Vivio felt as though she were gazing not merely upon a simple performance of excellent clowning, but upon a priceless piece of art, the work of a true and unmatched master. Lutecia was not a clown, she was a goddess among clowns. She was a goddess, and Vivio was in Heaven.
Yet all good things must come to an end, and this included Vivio's stay in paradise. As Lutecia piled back into her tiny car with the other clowns and drove away, Vivio stood and left the big top. There was no need to see the rest of the acts, she'd witnessed what she came for and needed to get home before Mamas or Aunt Hayate noticed she was gone. She had rehearsal in a few hours, after all.
As she walked home, the depression set in. She didn't know why she kept coming back here... getting a glimpse of what she couldn't have only made her feel worse about herself. She couldn't help herself; Lutecia's brilliant Clowning was like a drug to her. The older girl was everything Vivio wanted and everything she wanted to be, all rolled up into one. And yet, coming here and seeing that perfection for herself... only served to remind her that she could never, ever have it.
Even if our families would allow it, and they never would... Vivio thought glumly, looking into her bag and seeing her wig and squeaky red rubber nose, ... An amazing girl like her would never be interested in a simple, ordinary clown like me.
And Vivio Takamachi, clown-in-training of Scaglietti Bros. greatest rival, Circus Force Six, made her way home in a cloud of sadness.
Spoiler for Author's Note:
When I suggested this story, I thought I was joking. And yet this epic tale of love, lies, betrayal, passion, and floppy shoes demanded to be told. To anyone offended by clowns or clowning please feel free to leave the room. We're going to be piercing directly to the black heart of professional clownery in this subtle introspective look into the hearts and minds of two clowns, bound by love but separated by a cruel fate that places them on opposite sides in the cutthroat competition of the circus industry.
Also, I have writer's block and some nice harmless crack might clear that up.
Okay... What do I say? *takes a few deep breaths*
You actually turned a crack premise into a angsty and serious piece of work. Nothing much to say but to bow down. Great piece.
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by sniperk
Okay, if it's ViCia on Shadowverse that people want, then it's ViCia on Shadowverse that people get. Or maybe not. Take a peek.
Spoiler for Their Problems:
The purple haired Belkan Summoner was walking down a corridor of the Ground Forces HQ after handing the reports of her recent operation to General Yagami. She was thinking about the recent mission, massaging the back of her hand where Aesclepius was. The twisted wrist was the least of her worries in the moment, though. There was much more pressing matters to handle.
"Cia..." Like pampering a whiny girlfriend who wasn't happy with the latest developments.
"Vi? What are you doing here."
"Like Burning Glory won't tell me when your device changes from battle mode to stand-by." The girl pouted.
"Oh, right."
"Why didn't you called me when you got back?"
"Erm, Vi? I got back..." She looked at the clock on one of the walls. "...around fifteen minutes ago."
"You would wait until when to call me then?"
"Until I got at least out of Head Quarters?" Lutecia tried. She could be annoyed by this conversation, but at the moment, she was glad that her girlfriend had yet to bring up...
"Tell me that it isn't true."
The issue. Lutecia finished her thought. "Nothing we can do about that." How does Vivio manage to change the subject so fast was beyond her.
"But it's not fair." Sixteen years old Takamachi Vivio complained. "We know each other far longer than they have."
"As I said, nothing we can do about that." Lutecia Alpine answered with an air blasé.
"But I can't... I'm not... I won't!" Vivio gave up finishing her sentence, pouting.
"It's not our decision to make. It's theirs." Lutecia tried to soothe her girlfriend.
"But, but, but..."
"No buts." The purple haired finally said, trying to put an end to the discussion.
Vivio hung her head, defeated. "Even them are getting ahead of us..."
"Are we competing with other couples now?" Lutecia sprung the question in a way that made the blonde cut back at her.
"What does it have to do with this?"
"Everything."
"But how are they even going to..."
"It's not our place to ask them such a intimate question, is it?"
"I know, I know. But I really can't see it even happening."
Lutecia claimed the blonde's hand, while turning to walk in the direction of the exit. "We just have to accept it." Vivio was about to say something more when a finger tapped on her lips. "Accept it. And let them handle their relationship."
"Okay, but how is Burning Glory going put a ring on her finger? I mean, she's already a ring. And I didn't even know that Aesclepius was a intelligent device."
"As I said, let them handle their problems." Lutecia didn't want to even think about the problem. Some things are better unsaid.
Spoiler for Author Notes:
Blame this totally on DezoPenguim. Yesterday I went and read all of his "Vivio's Happy Family Magical Theater" shorts, and it stuck A LOT of plot bunnies in my head.
Edit: Erm... Sorry for the double post.
......Interesting . I guess they can double-date often?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanya01
Okay, I just had to write this...
Spoiler for Short Omake Scene:
Some people sometimes wondered why it was that Cinque hadn't been the one to go after Vivio. After all, she could have slipped in and out before anyone realized she had been there. And if anyone had realized she was there, she could have blown them up with ease.
The reason was incredibly simple and silly at the same time.
Cinque loved anything that was cute and cuddly. Jail knew this. He also knew that if Cinque had taken one look at the little girl, she would squee like an excitable teenager, glomp the little thing and practically smother the girl in hugs and kindness.
No, it was far better to send Otto, Deed and Lutecia after Vivio rather than Cinque. She might have betrayed him if she saw Vivio and then she'd get Sein, Wendi and Nove to follow her easily.
Not that it really mattered much in the end anyway.
Ah, is Cinque a Badass-Softy? (Like Signum? ) And hahaha, Cinque has her own little harem, eh?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moczo
Before you ask... yes. It's the clown one. I just... I just couldn't help myself.
Spoiler for Center Ring, Part 1:
The arena was dark. There was light in the stands, mostly from cameras and cellphones slightly illuminating individual members of the audience, but the center was pitch black… until the spotlight shone onto a man in a glittering red suit, tall black boots, and violet hair.
The ringmaster smiled brilliantly, if somewhat unstably, and flipped a top hat onto his head with a flourish. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! My name is Doc Scaglietti, and it is my honor to be both your ringmaster and your greeter for the evening, as you join us here under the Big Top at the world-famous Scaglietti Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus! Welcome, one and all, to the Greatest Show on Earth!"
Blinding light flooded the arena, forcing the audience to briefly snap their eyes shut, and when they opened them again… they were in another world.
The highwire. The trapeeze. Off to the side, awaiting their moments to shine, the cannon and door to the animal cages. And, of course, the all-important three rings.
The circus!
Vivio Takamachi smiled, but it lacked the wonder of the others in the crowd. To her, this was all old news; her smile was that of someone encountering something familiar and comforting. Aunt Hayate had always informed her that Doc Scaglietti was an unlikeable prat in person, but Vivio had to admit he put on a good show.
The acts began, and all were suitably dazzling... Cinque, the amazingly skilled knife thrower, sliced in half a sheet of paper laid flat on a volunteer's head without so much as parting their hair.
Wendi and Sein, the daredevil trapeeze artists, flying through the air in dazzling acrobatic display.
Nove, the animal tamer, who showed absolutely no fear, nor even really respect, for a cage full of lions and tigers. She demonstrated why when one of them attempted to bite her rather than leap through a ring, and she responded by beating it into unconsciousness.
Quattro, the bitch...and yes, that was her official position. Doc Scaglietti prided himself on being a visionary pioneer on the very fore-front of Circusing, and had concieved of this entirely new act: Quattro would go out onto the floor, and pick someone at random from the audience. She would then follow that person home and ruin their life. She would unplug their alarm clocks, replace their shampoo with glue, cut the brakes in their car, kick their pets, and infect their spouses with swine flu. Nine times out of ten, this situation escalated until ending with the volunteer engaged in a life-or-death duel with their own children. It was a surprisingly popular act, for everyone but the poor sap who Quattro happened to select that night.
Vivio smiled, but this really wasn't what she was here for. The acts were good, but she had something of a bias against them; no matter how good they were, she would always feel that she'd seen better.
But then, as an extremely sad-looking man exited the left ring followed by a grinning Quattro, it happened. The roadies emerged to set up the cannon for Tre the Amazing Human Cannonball, and so they sent in something to hold the audience's attention.
They sent in the clowns. And Vivio saw her angel.
Her long, straight hair was brilliant violet; no wig, that, but the most perfect natural Clowning hair that Vivio had ever known. Her pale makeup only accentuated her beauty, her squeaky nose gleamed like a ruby in the brilliant lighting of the ring. The arc formed by her floppy shoes reminded Vivio of songbirds in flight.
Vivio blushed brilliantly. She knew she had an incredibly goofy smile on her face, and she couldn't have cared less. She's... so perfect...! The enamored youth thought.
But it didn't end there; no, simple perfection of appearance would not have been enough to hold Vivio's attention. But the magnificent young clown gracing the ring, Lutecia Alpine, was far more than beautiful. There were other clowns with her, a large man and some small red-haired... thing... but they faded into the background as the act began.
The skill with which she slipped on a bannana peel.
The perfect accuracy of her hurled pies.
The brutal efficiency with which she wielded her squeaky plastic mallet.
Each and every act was accomplished with grace, charm, and perfect comedic timing. Vivio felt as though she were gazing not merely upon a simple performance of excellent clowning, but upon a priceless piece of art, the work of a true and unmatched master. Lutecia was not a clown, she was a goddess among clowns. She was a goddess, and Vivio was in Heaven.
Yet all good things must come to an end, and this included Vivio's stay in paradise. As Lutecia piled back into her tiny car with the other clowns and drove away, Vivio stood and left the big top. There was no need to see the rest of the acts, she'd witnessed what she came for and needed to get home before Mamas or Aunt Hayate noticed she was gone. She had rehearsal in a few hours, after all.
As she walked home, the depression set in. She didn't know why she kept coming back here... getting a glimpse of what she couldn't have only made her feel worse about herself. She couldn't help herself; Lutecia's brilliant Clowning was like a drug to her. The older girl was everything Vivio wanted and everything she wanted to be, all rolled up into one. And yet, coming here and seeing that perfection for herself... only served to remind her that she could never, ever have it.
Even if our families would allow it, and they never would... Vivio thought glumly, looking into her bag and seeing her wig and squeaky red rubber nose, ... An amazing girl like her would never be interested in a simple, ordinary clown like me.
And Vivio Takamachi, clown-in-training of Scaglietti Bros. greatest rival, Circus Force Six, made her way home in a cloud of sadness.
Spoiler for Author's Note:
When I suggested this story, I thought I was joking. And yet this epic tale of love, lies, betrayal, passion, and floppy shoes demanded to be told. To anyone offended by clowns or clowning please feel free to leave the room. We're going to be piercing directly to the black heart of professional clownery in this subtle introspective look into the hearts and minds of two clowns, bound by love but separated by a cruel fate that places them on opposite sides in the cutthroat competition of the circus industry.
Also, I have writer's block and some nice harmless crack might clear that up.
This was...epic in its absolute weirdness . I find the line "cloud of sadness" really great, normally you expect that phrase to end with happiness so having that be subverted was really effective as the last line .
The whole part about Vivio describing Lutecia's act was....unbelievably hilarious . The juxtaposition of such elegant descriptions with what she's actually doing had me laughing the whole time .
........Still can't believe that you actually did it . Well, I'm definitely hooked !
Some people sometimes wondered why it was that Cinque hadn't been the one to go after Vivio. After all, she could have slipped in and out before anyone realized she had been there. And if anyone had realized she was there, she could have blown them up with ease.
The reason was incredibly simple and silly at the same time.
Cinque loved anything that was cute and cuddly. Jail knew this. He also knew that if Cinque had taken one look at the little girl, she would squee like an excitable teenager, glomp the little thing and practically smother the girl in hugs and kindness.
No, it was far better to send Otto, Deed and Lutecia after Vivio rather than Cinque. She might have betrayed him if she saw Vivio and then she'd get Sein, Wendi and Nove to follow her easily.
Not that it really mattered much in the end anyway.
Okay, if it's ViCia on Shadowverse that people want, then it's ViCia on Shadowverse that people get. Or maybe not. Take a peek.
Spoiler for Their Problems:
*snip*
Spoiler for Author Notes:
Blame this totally on DezoPenguim. Yesterday I went and read all of his "Vivio's Happy Family Magical Theater" shorts, and it stuck A LOT of plot bunnies in my head.
Edit: Erm... Sorry for the double post.
And I know which one inspired that particular idea.
I did and I reviewed it! (C'mon, Shiny, we need more chapters of this!!!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanya01
Okay, I just had to write this...
Spoiler for Short Omake Scene:
Some people sometimes wondered why it was that Cinque hadn't been the one to go after Vivio. After all, she could have slipped in and out before anyone realized she had been there. And if anyone had realized she was there, she could have blown them up with ease.
The reason was incredibly simple and silly at the same time.
Cinque loved anything that was cute and cuddly. Jail knew this. He also knew that if Cinque had taken one look at the little girl, she would squee like an excitable teenager, glomp the little thing and practically smother the girl in hugs and kindness.
No, it was far better to send Otto, Deed and Lutecia after Vivio rather than Cinque. She might have betrayed him if she saw Vivio and then she'd get Sein, Wendi and Nove to follow her easily.
Not that it really mattered much in the end anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthetic
I wonder if Cinque's last name is "Ryuugu?"
Ha! I had the same thought!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moczo
Before you ask... yes. It's the clown one. I just... I just couldn't help myself.
Spoiler for Center Ring, Part 1:
*snip*
Spoiler for Author's Note:
When I suggested this story, I thought I was joking. And yet this epic tale of love, lies, betrayal, passion, and floppy shoes demanded to be told. To anyone offended by clowns or clowning please feel free to leave the room. We're going to be piercing directly to the black heart of professional clownery in this subtle introspective look into the hearts and minds of two clowns, bound by love but separated by a cruel fate that places them on opposite sides in the cutthroat competition of the circus industry.
Also, I have writer's block and some nice harmless crack might clear that up.
God, this was exquisite! (Well, okay, "banana" was misspelled, but darn it, a circus fic needs a few pratfalls, right?) I love the juxtaposition of elaborate description and utterly goofy reality. More!!
She walked outside the room where she knew the briefing was being held. The girl paced from one side of the door to the other, as the options of what to do danced in her mind. Several times she reached for the panel to wave her entrance, but decided against it moments later. This was going on already for several minutes when finally she gave up and opened the door, hoping that the first person she should see was her redeyed friend. She took a peek inside and thankfully the one to notice her was the Captain of the ship. Chrono waved his hand indicating Fate that there was someone for her at the door.
Immediately after seeing the girl, the Enforcer leaped out of her seat and rushed to the door. "What is it, Nanoha?"
"Fate-chan, bind me." Was the first thing the woman blurted out.
Fate took a moment to let the request process in her mind. "What!?"
"I don't want to attack Hayate-chan out of the blue again, but I want to do something. I don't want to be here without doing anything when everything that's happening is because of me, some way or the other."
The blonde understood what her friend meant but even then. "You know that my binds won't hold you for too long. If for some reason you want to escape them, you will. You know that."
"Then ask Shamal, or Yuuno-kun, or Arf. There's got to be a way to at least let me participate in this." The brunette continued.
"Okay..." Fate thought a moment, then turned to the others inside the room. "Chrono. Is there another room where Nanoha can stay and participate the meeting through a comn link?"
Several minutes later, Nanoha was sitting in Chrono's office, watching on the display the several people that were in the briefing room. Chrono, Fate, Arf, Shamal and Zafira. Yuuno had teleported back to the Infinity Library the night before. Hayate was in the meeting too, she knew, but she was purposely in a blind spot from the angle the Ace was watching. The Commander came up with a way for her to voice her opinions and ideas during the meeting. She would telepatically tell Shamal, and the Lady of Lakes would voice the thoughts. All to keep the possibility of an outburst from her to a minimun.
During the time they were discussing what to do, a call from Yuuno flashed in front of them. "I hope you have some good news, Ferret."
"We'll see." Another screen popped beside the one where Yuuno was appearing, but not in the office where Nanoha was. "These are the sequences that was shown to Nanoha when she was in the island. If you watch closely, the first few lines are identical. Then they change in the two messages. I couldn't make out several of the symbols because of the quality of the video, but I think it's safe to assume that the first lines are the trigger, and the rest is the command." He looked at a notepad, then turned again to the screen. "Shamal-san, Arf, can I ask a favour from you two?"
Both of them nodded. "What is it?" Shamal asked.
"Nanoha, do you mind if I turn you into my guinea pig for this?"
"Why? What do you want to do?"
"Here's the deal. Both Shamal and Arf will bind you with their strongest spells. After this, I'll present you the codes again, and see if there's a reaction. Is that okay?"
"Hey, isn't that dangerous?" Chrono asked, almost shouting, with a tinge of anger and concern in his eyes. "What if she goes berserk like last time?"
"To be honest, I don't know what'll happen." Yuuno replyed sincerely. "But there's no other way for us to test this right now, and our time is running out." He sighed. "And if my assumptions are correct then we have a way to dodge the problem for the time being."
"Let's do this then." Nanoha agreed. "Where is the best place for us to do this?"
Chrono sighed in defeat. "In my office. It's the sturdiest place in the whole ship."
A few minutes later, the Ace was bound to a chair in the office, accompanied in the room by Shamal and Arf. Fate, Hayate and Chrono stayed back on the briefing room, watching the whole thing by the communication link. "Are you ready?" Yuuno asked, and the girl nodded. "Let's start then." The same sequence of characters appeared in the screen and Nanoha felt the familiar feeling of being enticed by the display.
All of sudden, she snapped back. "What?"
The librarian nodded. "That's it. The initial sequence is really only a keycode to make your mind more susceptible to the suggestion that comes with the rest of the message." He continues. "Okay, let's try this again. Just that this time, I'll cite the sequence. Let's see if there's a reaction." Nanoha patiently heard the librarian continue to cite the seemingly endless sequence. "Did you felt something?" The girl waved negativelly. "Perfect."
"What?"
"Your rehab was done by visual stimulation, then so was the programming. The process is similar to how the memories are implanted in clones from the Project F." He started, seemingly ignoring the question. "The code sequence isn't a brainwash. They conditioned your brain to recognize those symbols and sequences, and through them, implant a strong suggestion in your mind, one that you couldn't refute easily as false." He smiled inwardly at his discovery. "Shamal-san, Arf. Can you undo the binds?" Both complied.
Chrono leaned forward. "So you know the sequence, right?" The librarian waved his head.
"No, I don't know the whole sequence. Just the trigger. If I knew more, I would come up with a sequence to undo the first one, but I have too little information to decode the whole thing."
"So? What good did this whole thing do then?" Chrono asked.
"Okay. Let me explain everything. First, watching the video we can see that you refuted the first command, but obeyed the second. Both sequences have the same length, only differ on the content after the first lines." He scribbled in his notepad again. "My guess is that in the first command, they wanted you to go against all of the people in Riot Six, which is denied by the lines you shout at the General after the sequence is over. Now imagine that the second sequence talks only about one person, only about Hayate. The length is the same, so the load of information against only her is obviously much heavier. That's why your mind couldn't go against it and snapped under the suggestion."
They let the information sink in during several moments, then Hayate voiced, forgetting that Nanoha could hear her. "You said that there's a way to solve this..."
Strangely, even for herself, Nanoha didn't reacted to Hayate's voice as much as she thought she would. She looked at the screen were Yuuno was and he nodded pleased. "I didn't say that we have a way to solve this. I said that there's a way to dodge it. But it'll require much of your willpower, Nanoha."
"What can I do?"
"Close your eyes." The others exchanged confused looks before he continued. "You react to the visual stimulus, not to the sound stimulus. And that's where your willpower will play it's part. People when hearing another person's voice, but don't see them, automatically imagine their faces in their minds. It's a normal reaction, but that's where your mind is playing against you. You can't do that. You'll need to picture anything else you want, besides Hayate, do you understand?"
The Ace nodded. That wasn't something easy to do. Even during Yuuno's explanation, Nanoha had automatically pictured Ace of the Ground, feeling the tinge of anger.
"I'll continue to search for a way to completely remove this programming from you, but for now, that's the best we can do." He said, apologetically.
"Thanks, Yuuno-kun."
"Then I'll be going-" Yuuno started, but was cut off.
"Wait." Chrono said. "There's something still bothering me. Why did you take your sweet time citing that whole sequence to her?"
"Well, if you must know..." Yuuno sat back. "I did that to confirm that the sequence is a visual stimulus, not phonal."
"Then that means that even if Nanoha hears the code she'll not fall under their control?" Fate tryied to piece it together.
"Yes." The librarian replied instantly. "Then I'll be going now... Anything else?" He added, just in case. When no one made mention to say anything, he cut the call.
They all stayed silent after the call, absorbing all of the librarian's findings. Nanoha rolled the information in her mind for a few minutes, then suddenly shot from her seat and out of the door, before the others could ask anything.
----
"Now, I was wondering..." The little Belkan knight was inside one of the ship's practice rooms with the four forwards. She was walking back and forth in front of the group, tapping Graf Eisen on her shoulder lightly, while talking. "...How the hell did you three got so beat up fighting against gadgets types two and three? Specially since you guys already said that there wasn't so many of them down there. Care to explain to me?"
Teana felt helpless with the situation. She wasn't even in this mission, then why was she there with the others being reprimanded? Subaru looked at the other two, trying to figure out what to say, but nothing good seemed to come to her mind. Erio and Caro weren't faring much better at figuring out the question and just stared at their instructor with half-blank looks. Signum stayed on the corner watching the whole display.
"Okay." Vita intented to simply tap her device on the floor, but used a little too much force and effectivelly batted it near her feet. "Let's start from the beggining then. You'll figure it out on your own. Subaru."
"Yes." The girl yelped and stiffened almost instantly.
"What is the basic formation to use in combat when there are three people in the team?"
The girl seemed to think a little. "Triangular, Ma'am."
"Very good." Despite the compliment, the instructor didn't seemed pleased at all. "Erio, Caro, do you agree?" Both ten year olds nodded at her. "Then, Erio. Tell me, what are the positions that the three should stay in."
"Erm... A Front Attacker, a Defender and a Supporter?" He tried.
"Very good. You guys seem to have done your homework." Vita stopped and put the tip of her device in the floor, turning herself to them. Both hands on the end of the handle of the device. "Caro." She gasped when her name was called. "Between the three of you, who took which position?"
"Subaru-san was the Front Attacker, Erio-kun the Supporter and I was the Defender." She said firmly, despite her worries.
"Okay, now, tell me, who said you were the Defender?"
The girl seemed uneasy. "No one did. I assumed that I was because of my positioning, and since I'm a full back when there's a full team."
"Same to you two?" She asked the others.
"Yes. I'm the Front Attacker, regardless of the team formation," Subaru seemed uneasy at her own response. "Right?" She asked turning to Erio.
"I agree too." The boy said, without thinking.
"Okay, so you all assumed your positions, right?" Vita continued.
"Yes, Ma'am." The three answered in unison.
The gunslinger was about to ask again why was she there too, when her instructor called her. "Teana."
"Y-Yes, Ma'am?"
"Do you agree with them?"
The girl thought about the issue for a full second before answering. "Yes."
"Okay, then. Moving on. Subaru, how did you get that cut on your eyebrow?"
"I..." She cleared her throat forcefully, trying to gain a few seconds to think. "...I was attacking one of the first gadgets that appeared, then a second one appeared at my back and when I saw it, it was too late to raise a shield so I parried it's tentacles with my Revolver Knuckle, then Erio came from behind it and destroyed it, but the tentacle slapped me as it flew away."
Vita stood in front of them, with both her hands on top of her devices handle. The tip of Graf Eisen was on the floor. She nodded in understanding. "Erio."
"Yes."
"Why did you take so long to attack the gadget that was closing on another person of your team?"
"I didn't take that long, maybe a second or two, to attack it." The redhaired boy tried to defend his actions.
"I'm not even going to ask what you were doing, Caro, because I probably know the answer. You were scanning for enemys, and the casting of your protection spells were delayed, right?"
The pinkhaired summoner nodded.
"Very well, you unborns." The Belkan Knight shouted, angry. The three flinched. They had just been demoted from newborns in their Vice-Captain's view. "I'll tell you why you three got so beat up." She entered her instructor mode. "First. No one stated who was in wich position. No one assumed command of the mission. You three just entered there with the mission in your heads, but didn't think about the means to achieve the goal. Even if none of you took the responsability of being in charge, you should at least voice to the others which position you were, even if in the end you all assumed your positions correctly in the formation."
Signum aproached the group and continued the lecture. "You three are more accostumed to fight with a four men team or in doubles. When fighting in a team, in a formation less practiced, it is good to let everyone else know what position you are. It reassures the others that you know what you're doing. When no one says anything, you keep unconsciously second guessing if the others are doing what they're supposed to do, and that slows the team overall."
Vita nodded and continued. "And, because of that, you three ended up unconciously acting as if you were in a four man team. That second gadget was to be destroyed by the cover fire coming from the Center. That's why Erio and Caro took too long to cover you." She said looking at the blue haired girl. "Now, since that one is out of comission," She said pointing to the blinded girl. "We'll train in triangular formation."
Teana felt unnerved by the remark. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't on that mission. If someone was at fault it was her Vice-Captain. She almost voiced that, but decided not to. After calming herself, she thought that it was better that she had to stay back on base. Otherwise, Vivio and Aina would be dead. She heard the sounds of the others getting up and starting to stretch, and followed suit.
"Oi, what do you think you're doing, Teana?"
"Getting up?" She answered immediately.
"Don't even think that you'll be training. Signum here will-"
Vita was cut off when Nanoha stormed in the training room. "Vita-chan. Take care of them for me, please."
Vita nodded surprised. "Hm-n... I was about to-"
"You come with me." She cut the little Belkan knight again, and procceded to drag the gunslinger by the wrist out of the room.
"What the?" She looked at Signum.
"Don't ask me." The pinkhaired knight shrugged.
----
The blonde Belkan Mage was inside her office in the Saint Church on the self governed Belkan zone situated on the norhtern part of Midchilda accompanied by the head nun and her personal friend. In front of them, several windows displayed numerous TV channels, as they studied the news that were blowing out of proportion the situation that her protegeé was in. Several lies and other distorted facts were being relayed to the public as if it were known facts. They were busying themselves, joting down the information they would need to clarify, or at least deny them in the press conference she had called for later that day, when Verossa entered the room.
"Here it is." The green haired man hastily walked inside. "Everything I could gather on them that seemed slightly suspicious is here."
Carim took the folder in hands and opened. "Do you think there's something here that we can use right away?"
"Maybe. I dug up so many things there that I don't even know if anything can be used at all." Verossa grimaced. "But we can at least create a ruckus in the media with it."
"Then let's get down to it." Schach ushered them, as they started to read the contents of the package.
A couple of hours later, Carim was standing in front of the Saint Church, with several microphones on a podium in front of her. Behind her, both Sister Schach and Verossa were standing, waiting for it to start. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm glad to see that you took your time to come here, and I'm terrible sorry about the long delay for me to make this declaration." She smiled at the several cameras that were positioned behind the journalists. She took a deep breath and closed her face. "Let me start saying that I'm deeply disappointed with the way the media is handling this whole situation. I don't know where the information came from, and to be honest, we do not care. I spoke with several of the other directors from the Board of the TSAB and none of them were aware of these facts that are being reported in the news as being leaked from the TSAB itself. We're not so ignorant to believe that there's no corruption inside the government or the Board of Directors itself, as in any other layers of the Bureau, but until this moment, every fact that was presented to us had been already proven wrong or half-true. To this moment, I haven't received, nor have any of the Directors, any clear cut facts that could in the least point that Lieutenant Colonel Yagami Hayate, or Enforcer Fate Testarossa Harlaown, or any of the accused, of being terrorists. It struck me as strange that from the three Aces of the Bureau, two of them were terrorists, and were manipulating the third Ace, so..." She pointed to Verossa behind her. "I had Inspector Acous here personally investigate every order sent to the military and every fact that was relayed to the public through the press and none of them hold themselves. It would be too much right now to list through them all, so I'll refrain from doing so, but I'll answer any question that you might have." She stopped and took a half step back, prompting the reporters to fire their questions.
Several of them shot their arms up almost instantly. Carim backtracked her step, and pointed one of them. "Robert Myrth, from Channel 8 News. It was reported that the Commander of Riot Force Six, Yagami Hayate used underhand methods to recruit the Ace of Aces, Takamachi Nanoha to train her recruits. Is that true?"
"No. As I believe that most of the public know by now, because they never intented to hide, the three Aces are childhood friends. Captain Takamachi was offered a position as squad leader and instructor several years before even Commander Yagami had finished her training to be a unit Commander, and was still a Special Investigator for the Ground Forces. From what we know, she received the offer one day after the fire incident that took out more than half of the Eight Coastal Airport, on North of Midchilda, four years ago."
Again the reporters shot their arms up, and Carim picked another. "Good afternoon. Celia Rose, from YGB NewsFlash. It was informed by a heliocopter pilot that both Fate T. Harlaown and Yagami Hayate were overseeing Subaru and Teana's B-Rank exam. It was informed too that they pulled strings so they could take a make-up exam after they failed the first one."
"They were indeed overseeing the exam, because they were possible recruits scouted personally by their future Squad Leader, Captain Takamachi, and both of them wanted to know the abilities of their new recruits for the unit that was forming. It's a normal procedure within the military. The fact that both failed the exam proves it too, since one of the proctors of that exam was Captain Takamachi, and she was the one who reproved both of them, and recommend both of them for the make up exam, as proven on these reports." She took a sheet of paper and showed to her audience. Then she handed the reports to the nun. "After this, Sister Schach will provide you with copies of these reports."
"Carl Martinez, The Nation. It was said that Yagami Hayate still possesses the Book of The Night Sky, more commonly known as The Book of Darkness, and that's why her knights, the Wolkenritter, are still alive. Is that true?"
"Not in the least. First, this was a supposition raised by Doctor Hans Klautzberg, but he didn't presented any evidence that it was true, only his conjectures." She selected another set of papers from the stand. "Here are a few reports that we can release for the public, since this case's details are still mostly classified, even if it's well known. Even so, these files are more than enough to prove that the Book of Darkness was destroyed at the end of the incident."
"Joana Clio. Clanagan Daily News. It was stated that Enforcer Fate Testarossa Harlaown was working along side with Jail Scaglietti and the only reason why the JS Incident occured was because of a disagreement between them."
"Again, no evidence was shown. Here I have a transcript and an audio file from Enforcer Fate's device that was recorded during the final showdown between Scaglietti himself and the Enforcer. Again, after this each of you can have a copy of this, but as you'll see from the exchanged words between them, they hadn't even met until that fateful day."
Verossa grimaced. Carim was pushing it now, he knew. Several of those files were and continued to be confidential, but she was presenting them anyway. He was well aware that the fact that his blonde stepsister was risking her position in the Board of Directors disclosing those files, but at the moment it was the only way for them to come clean with the public.
----
The four forwards were uneasy. The plan to strike the HQ was at the very least, too basic. One team would charge in through the front of the building, and they would strike through the back as soon as the others created the diversion. But they trusted their commanders, and squad capitains, yet they were being pressured in that moment. Their part in the attack plan was one of the more important, if not the most important.
"Remember what I told you, guys." Teana sent mentally to the other three. "Maintain your barriers up at all times." There was two main reasons for this, they knew. One was the obvious extra protection they would have with their defenses up, but the second was the most important for the gunslinger. It was the only way she could read the positioning of her partners, by feeling the magic waves. The three hour crash course that Nanoha gave her was all she had to go at the moment, but her presence there was essential to the plan.
"This is the diversion team. We're on position." The Lady of the Lakes informed through the telepatical link. The diversion team consisted of her, Vita, Signum and Zafira. They were hiden along the grove in front of the main entrance of the Ground Forces HQ.
"This is the strike team." Subaru answered, "Hearing loud and clear." She was, along with Teana, Erio and Caro, at the back of the building, waiting for the others to create the ruckus so they could invade the place. "On your signal."
"We're going in, then." Shamal warned again telepathically. Few moments later, they all could sense the battle taken place on the other side. The three of them waited for Shamal to wave them in. After a short minute that seemed like an eternity to them the answer came. "Go." The simple word was like fire that lit the fuse of the group as they scrambled to the building, knocking out several mages in the process.
Once they got to the main hall of the building, they could see the others battling on the other side through the glass walls. "We'll take the staircases." Teana commanded mentally, following the steps of the little boy, reading the movements of his barrier and imitating them. "Subaru, get down." She shouted as soon as she reached the end of the first set of stairs. She felt her friend stopping in her tracks while she maneuvered her energy shots to pass by her, make a hard turn at the end of the next set of stairs and nail two men that were coming from the corridor in the next floor. "Okay. All clear. Go." She said, and started to concentrate again on the barrier Erio was projecting when a shrill voice came from her back.
"No, stop!" Caro warned. "There's a electrified barrier there." She said, consulting her map. The HQ had been reconstructed after the events of the JS Incident, but, thankfully for them, the internal defenses were still the same. In her map, Caro knew which was the best route to get to their destination.
Three floors later, after a total of three missteps by the gunslinger, six internal guards knocked unconscious and two defensive barriers deactivated, they got to their destination. One of the observatory rooms on the fourth floor. The door from where they came from was directly opposite to four elevators in the other wall that would lead directly to the top floors. They rushed to them, dancing around the furniture that was left seemingly disregarded everywhere. Teana was already feeling the magical readings behind her, when the loud, commanding voice came. "You are surrounded. Disengage your weaponry and come quietly."
Despite the forewarning they took the remaining steps to the elevators and each went into one of them. After pressing a button, the elevators' doors closed. "The elevators are useless. We already took care of them. They are unfunctional until this attack is taken care of." The man said as the doors opened again. "Disengage your weaponry and come quietly." The man repeated. The four forwards stepped out of their respectives elevators with their hands up. The man snickered. "Did you guys really think that I wouldn't read a simple attack plan like this from miles away?" He took a few steps in their direction, while the other mages in the room were all pointing their staffs at the quartet, charging their attacks.
"Well," Subaru smiled, despite her predicament. "We've done what we could." And nodded to the summoner.
Seconds later, a explosion took out one of the elevators in a pink blast of energy, almost at the same time that a fireball blasted the windows of the place and Caro raised a pink shield to envelop all of them. During the time the men lost to protect themselves, the four forwards managed to jump out of the building and on the back of Friedrich, that immediately took flight away from the HQ. The gunslinger used that moment to create seven more illusionary copies of the group that flew in different directions. If the guards weren't so set in following the intruders, maybe they would have noticed the three figures that flew directly upwards through the now open elevator pit.
----
Chrono was restless. He couldn't delay his ship from departing to Alzus for too long, but he was still stationed in MidChilda's orbit. He tried several times to contact the ones that descended to the planet, but their communication links were disabled. Part of him understood that they would not be reachable before the mission was over, but the other part of him continued to try and contact them, thinking that if he managed to talk to them, then the mission was over and it was a success.
Amidst all of this, he saw on one of the TV channels that he had tuned on a side screen of his office's desk the image of the blonde Belkan Knight, giving a press conference. They had already talked about it, and if she was going to do what she said to him, she would get into deeper troubles. Chrono thought that would be better to leak information gradually to the press, manipulating from the shadows so the truth could be revealed, but this method would take too much time and time was something that they didn't have. He increased the volume to hear her statements.
"...until that fateful day."
"Urabus Ratsnal. Channel 32. It was stated that Subaru Nakajima was a combat cyborg offered to Fate T. Harlaown by Jail Scaglietti as a gift, for her to use however they pleased."
"Subaru Nakajima was born a human being that was tranformed into a combat cyborg. I won't deny that. But the problem with that statement lies in that she's a cyborg, not a robot. Subaru Nakajima is a human being, not a computer. She can't be reprogramed, as was stated before. Speaking in technical terms, she doesn't have an AI controlling her actions that can be reprogrammed. She has a human brain controlling her actions and only parts of her body are mechanical. You can ask any scientist, or even a sci-fi fan, and they'll point you the difference between a Cyborg and a Robot. Subaru Nakajima was raised as a human being and will continue to live her life as one."
Chrono couldn't help but smile at the way her friend was shooting down every single piece of information that was thrown at her. He still frowned when she used a few of the confidential reports to prove her point, but by then, she was already way past the point of no return.
"Caroline Trend. ZH Radio News. We received information stating that the order to execute the siege on Riot Six was issued by the Three Admirals themselves. It is possible that they received pieces of information that were not relayed to other parts of the Bureau."
The Admiral sat on the edge of his chair, waiting for the Blonde Knight's response. Her next answer would probably open a hell hole on TSAB politics and in the military. He watched as the blonde took a deep breath, but when she was about to talk, an emergency call flashed in front of the monitor, claiming his attention.
"Can't this wait a little?" Was the first remark he made as soon as he answered the call made by the librarian.
"No. It's an emergency. Are Hayate or Nanoha still on the ship?" Yuuno shouted from the other side, getting the attention from the Admiral instantly. The blonde man wasn't someone to raise his voice without a good reason.
"No. They are already carrying on the mission."
"Do you have any way to contact them?"
"They disabled all communication links, as to not be tracked. There's no way to talk to them now."
"Oh, god. Where are they?"
"If everything is going according to the plan, they should be at the Ground Forces HQ right now."
"I'm going there. Chrono, where are you stationed?"
"On Mid's orbit. What is it, Ferret? Tell me what's happening already."
"I'll tell you after I finish the leap. Just promise that whatever you do, leave the Claudia there." He finished the call, leaving the Admiral dumbstruck.
----
The three Aces found their way to the top of the building with almost no problems, aside from the people they left binded in the basement. They entered through the Rotary Hall, and from there waited for the signal to clear their path to the top floor. They decided that, if there was need for combat, Nanoha would be the Front Attacker, that way there was less chance that the Ace of Aces would loose control and attack the Belkan mage. Fate would stay in between them, and Hayate would be the Defender, even if she didn't have a good range of skills to pull it off, her Unison with Reinforce gave her at least a few options so she could act as one. The information that they gathered through Chrono and Carim stated that their Three targets were on the top floor of that building.
Nanoha being in front of the trio, got first to the top floor and proceeded to blow away the elevator door from inside the pit. The three Aces entered the observatory room that occupied the entire floor, and immediately saw that it was completely devoid of any guards or any other type of security system. On the far left side, three people were looking at a monitor where images of the cases the three Aces had participated in were being presented. It had images of almost every case they worked through the years, from the Jewel Seed Incident until the recent JS Incident outbreak. The Aces knew that the people would know that they would come to them, one way or another. What bothered them was that they didn't have any extra security with them.
Nanoha was getting uneasy, because the Three didn't seem to take notice of the invasion, even if she had just exploded the elevator door from where they entered. She was about to call to them when one of the elderly men rose from his seat and turned to them. "Good afternoon, Takamachi-san, Yagami-san, Harlaown-san." He bowed. "I take it that you three didn't come here to have a pleasant conversation over a cup of tea, judging by the means you used to enter the room and the way you are cladded."
Nanoha gripped her Device's handle harder. "You know-"
"My, my, my." The only woman in the oposing trio cut the Ace's sentence, getting up from her seat and turning to them. "Why would the three of you enter this place in such a disgraceful way? Couldn't you be civilized enought to mark an audience like any normal person?" Mizetto turned again to the screens. "You used to be so delicate and cooperative in the past."
"What do you-" Fate was the one cut off this time.
"I don't know who taught you manners, but it seems that at least a refresher session is in order." The third older man, the one that was wearing glasses, said, without getting up from his seat.
"Why the need to act like you weren't expecting us, when you clearly were?" Hayate took a the two steps that was separating her from the other two and aligned herself alongside Fate, leaving Nanoha on the other side of their blonde friend, her expression hard. "We came here only to talk, but thanks to some kind of misunderstanding, we are now publicly known as terrorists." She said sarcastically, altought she didn't move a single muscle on her face to change her expression.
"I see." The older woman voiced. "We all have some things in our pasts that we want to hide from the others, right?"
"But these things come back to haunt us one day or the other." Nanoha completed her sentence. "At the time I thought that was just your knowlodge speaking, and never took it at face value." She gritted her teeth. "Why did you do that to me?" She shouted angrily.
"Mantaining the peace and the way of life of those who are protected by the Bureau is always the first and foremost thing in every action we take." Fils adjusted his glasses. "If you can't see the bigger picture, you can't be a good leader." He completed calmly.
"So, you... used me. Used us." Nanoha said.
"Yes." Ralgo didn't bothered to deny that statement. "Every tool needs to be used the right way."
"Every tool has a purpose, some more obscure than the others, but they all have at least one." Mizetto continued. "That's why tools have to be handled with good care, so they can be used when the time where they are needed comes."
"When a tool has reached it's usefulness, and it can't be fixed anymore, then it's discarded." Disdainfully, Fils finished.
"Then to you, peoples lives are simple 'tools'?" Fate asked, dumbfounded. She wasn't expecting the what the three of them were saying. From a corner of her mind, she could relate what they were talking to the way her own mother treated her, and how that ultimately led her mother to meet her demise.
"Yes." Again Ralgo was the one to answer. "You aren't the first ones to be like this and I doubt it will be last."
"Though you didn't reach your uselfulness yet, you are already broken, poisoned by the truths that shouldn't ever be revealed." The bespectacled man continued. Raising Heart's tip started to glow in a faint pink light. "Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Remember this?" The elderly woman said, as she waved her hand and a panel appeared in front of her. "We don't want to loose all three Aces in a single shot. That would be too much for the morale of the military. If we could at least save you." She typed a few keys in the panel and a screen appeared in front of the three Aces. Hayate saw with horror as the sequence of characters continued to flow in the screen, and immediately looked at the twintailed brunette.
"Nanoha!" Fate yelled as she tried to shield her friend from the screen with her own body. The screen disappeared a second later, and Fate was sent sliding back, her back against the Admirals.
Nanoha turned to Hayate and the short haired girl changed her view from Fate to her other childhood friend, as Raising Heart declared. "Blaster Second."
"You know, Hayate-chan," Nanoha started, with her head down, eyes hiden with her bangs. "there was once a girl who was in a wheelchair. She didn't have a family, and was slowly dieing from a unknown kind of paralysis. The Doctors didn't know what to do anymore. All they could do was ease her pain. She was all alone. Her world consisted of only her house, her books and the hospital. But she never despaired."
Fate shifted from her fighting stance to stay erect, even as Bardiche loaded a cartridge, and a magical sigil sprung to life at her feet.
"That girl," Nanoha continued, anger rising on her tone. "Didn't know about mages or magic. She didn't know anything about it until the world of magic crashed down at her." The Admirals exchanged confused looks. "She sudenly had the opportunity of receiving a great power. She had the opportunity of being transformed into a omnipotent being." Nanoha lifted her head a little, but Hayate still couldn't see her eyes.
"Nanoha-chan..." Hayate tried weakly, and instantly saw the Ace shiver.
Nanoha's body continued to face the Ace of the Ground. "But she didn't want it. She didn't want that power if it would create problems for other people. The only thing she wanted was a family." Nanoha finished uprighting her head. She had her eyes closed. "I considered that little girl to be one of my best friends. I believed in that kind and selfless girl. I believed her every single word." She gripped harder on the handle of her device. "And I still do." She lifted her head, opening her eyes to her friend.
The elderly woman looked at her panel again and sighed. "And it was a heavier charge, too." She mused. "Oh, well. Now we'll need to look for a new Ace of Aces too." She mused to herself, though everyone in the room heard.
"Restrict Lock." Nanoha's device called as the Blaster bits flew across the room and tied the three old people with pink strings of energy, though the owner of said device continued to look at her friend.
"Nice trick." Fils noted, not bothering to fight the binds.
"Why do young people nowadays always resort to violence?" Mizetto waved her head negativelly.
"It's strange, isn't it?" The remaining one finished. "Though it's a shame." Ralgo said, as the three of them started to glow a faint purple light. "There's hardly anything you can do to us." The binds around them started to dissolve and then broke.
Not bothering with the little exchange behind her, Fate was still with her eyes glued on Nanoha. Even if she said all that, she still didn't tear her gaze away from the Belkan Mage and that worried the blonde. Nanoha took a tentative step in the direction of Hayate when her device cried. "Master."
"Hayate-chan!" Reinforce II warned too, albeit too late as the three women where locked inside a cubicle, similar to Nanoha's Cristal Cage.
Fate eyed the Three Admirals, before turning again to her two friends. The Ace of Aces was still looking at Hayate. She took the few steps that she was away from them and stood directly in between the two. At this Nanoha snapped and looked at her red eyes. "Fate-chan?" She asked, confused.
Understanding the situation, Fate talked mentally. "They already know that you can overpower the command. I doubt that they'll try again." As if to go against the blonde's words, several windows appeared all around them inside the cubicle, all of them displaying the sequence of characters.
Nanoha saw what was coming and wanted to close her eyes, but couldn't. Her body wasn't answering to her will, as she looked at one of the screens in front of her. Then suddenly her vision went dark. Fate had placed her hand over the Ace's eyes. Nanoha snapped again at the touch. "I'm alright, Fate-chan. I know what I have to do. Concentrate in destroying this barrier." She said, holding the blonde's hand on top with her own, and slowly moving it from the place it was.
"Rein," Hayate called her device. "We need to get out of here. Any ideas?" She wanted to get over that situation as soon as possible. Receiving the troubled gaze her friend was directing her until moments before was toring her from the inside.
"Hayate-chan..." Rein called weakly. "I'm feeling strange..."
"Rein?! Hey, Rein, what's wrong?"
The little unison device shook her head from her place inside Hayate. "No. It's okay, I can handle this for now." The Belkan mage wasn't sure if she should trust her companion or cancel the Unison.
Hayate was still debating with herself, when she heard Nanoha's voice. "Let's get this over with." She was in front of the trio, magical energy charging on the tip of her device. "Raising Heart." She called.
"Axel Shooter." The device answered.
"Let me handle the barrier." Fate called and stepped up front. "Bardiche."
"Zanbar Form." The device called as it's shape changed and a sword of energy formed. She swung her sword from side to side in front of her, electric magical energy seemingly forming arcs between the blade and the floor. "Sprite..." She shifted the sword, and positioned on her shoulders gripping with both hands. "...Zanbar!" She swung her sword down and a crack was created in the cubicle of purple energy, that collapsed moments later.
"Shoot!" Almost instantly Nanoha called her attack, and several balls of pink energy flew from her device.
"You know, we three may be old." Ralgo said. "But it doesn't mean that we are completely out of shape." He said as a barrier formed around the three, stopping the attacks.
"My, my. If there's no other way, then let us finish this quickly." Mizetto said, as she stepped to the side of the General.
"Maybe you can recognize this." Fils walked up front two steps, leaving the other two side by side.
"Rein," Hayate called, as a Belkan sigil appeared at her feet. "Think we can can create a lesser version of Das Gefängnis der Magie?"
"I don't know, but I'll try." The little girl answered. Seconds later, Hayate chanted the spell and the whole room was engulfed by a dark force field.
At the same time, Fate was lunging forward, calling for her device as it loaded two cartridges, striking it against Fils's staff handle. "From where did..." She didn't have time to finish her question, because two beams of energy, one purple and the other green hit her from both sides and sent her back.
"Excellion..." Nanoha called as Raising Heart's tip locked on the their front attacker. "...Buster!" She cried as the sizzling energy flew and collided against Fils's shield. The Ace was concentrating on her spell, but she felt that something wasn't right, and called it off at the same time her device called.
"Flash move." Nanoha moved back instantly, and two energy beams, purple and green, collided against each other again.
Hayate felt a strong beat on her heart, cutting her concentration for a split-second, but then she regained her composure. Watching the battle in front of her, she asked to the other two. "What kind of triangle formation is that?" The ones attacking were on the back and not the one in front.
"Don't recognize your own sigil?" Ralgo said. Hayate looked at her feet and saw the triangular Belkan magic sigil, then looked at the three. The three MidChildan sigils on their feet connected with each other, creating a pattern likened to a Belkan sigil. "It's inspired by the Belkan magic."
"Did you know about it, Nanoha?" Fate asked, looking at the Ace. It was only at that moment that she saw that the Ace had untied her hair and tied the ribbons around her head, to maintain her eyes closed.
"Yes." Nanoha grimmaced, while switching her footing and feeling the magical waves. "It's an old type of formation. But it isn't practiced anymore because it's too dangerous. The components need complete trust on the teammates to be able to pull it off." The Aces knew that the Three Admirals weren't anywhere near unexperiencied, and they trusted each other. Truth be told, everyone knew the Three Great Admirals magical ranks, Mizetto being a AA+, Ralgo AAA, and Fils AA. In sheer power, they wouldn't stand a chance against any of the Aces. "If you fight against an opponent stronger than yourself..." She muttered.
"...you can't be weaker than that opponent." Fate finished. "If you want to beat someone stronger than you, you have to bring the fight to your specialty and beat him in it."
Mizetto clapped. "I see that you really understood your lessons."
"They are hoping to beat us with their teamwork?" Hayate asked.
"We can't think of this as three on three fight." Nanoha advised. "It's a three on one."
"Your potential to assess battles never ceased to amaze me, Nanoha-chan." Mizetto said sweetly.
"But I'm affraid your thinking is a little warped." Fils finished again.
"Hayate-chan!" Rein cried exasperately, but her master could not react on time. A bind was formed around her, immobilizing the Belkan mage.
Before Nanoha or Fate could turn around to help the binded mage, they were targeted by a shower of beams, green, purple and red, that rendered them unable to do anything else besides defend themselves for the time being.
Hayate struggled against the binds a little but when one of the beams was targetted at her, she had to dodge to the side, falling over. She managed to turn herself up, but when she looked to the battle in front of her again, another beam was nearing her. She didn't know what to do, and just closed her eyes. The explosion sent her flying in the air, managing to knock her unconcious.
Or so her two friends thought. When both of them got near her, Nanoha immediately jumped back, pulling Fate with her, just in time to hear Hayate calling. "Reactor Purge!" Her Knight's Garb exploded in a black burst of energy, taking the binds that were holding her. When the magical dust disappeared, the two of them could see the girl again.
Her hair had grown and turned silver colored.
Spoiler for Author Notes:
I know some people will cringe at the way the Three Admirals act in this chapter, but one as far as I know, aside from Mizetto, the other two barely had a line or two in canon, and in that, they barely had a personality set to begin with. Their magical ranks was something I made up (again, aside from Mizetto), so if it's wrong, please do correct me.
Das Gefängnis der Magie: Magical Prison.
Again, 00-Raiser proofreaded this. Even if he's so assailed with his own projects, he's still making time to help me with this. Thanks, man.
Sometimes it's necessary to cut your significant other off at the pass when they're being all stupidly self-depreciating. Kissing usually works, but I figure that this required some actual, y'know, dialogue.
I'm sure Lutecia wouldn't have complained if Vivio had kissed her, though.
Quote:
That's the second time in two days you've mentioned killing her off in the end. Are you attempting to gauge the size of the potential mob?
Trying to gauge how fast I'd have to run and how far I'd have to go if I did end the series by killing her off. Or at least leaving her with some kind of permanent, crippling injury.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sniperk
Okay, if it's ViCia on Shadowverse that people want, then it's ViCia on Shadowverse that people get. Or maybe not. Take a peek.
Spoiler for Their Problems:
The purple haired Belkan Summoner was walking down a corridor of the Ground Forces HQ after handing the reports of her recent operation to General Yagami. She was thinking about the recent mission, massaging the back of her hand where Aesclepius was. The twisted wrist was the least of her worries in the moment, though. There was much more pressing matters to handle.
"Cia..." Like pampering a whiny girlfriend who wasn't happy with the latest developments.
"Vi? What are you doing here."
"Like Burning Glory won't tell me when your device changes from battle mode to stand-by." The girl pouted.
"Oh, right."
"Why didn't you called me when you got back?"
"Erm, Vi? I got back..." She looked at the clock on one of the walls. "...around fifteen minutes ago."
"You would wait until when to call me then?"
"Until I got at least out of Head Quarters?" Lutecia tried. She could be annoyed by this conversation, but at the moment, she was glad that her girlfriend had yet to bring up...
"Tell me that it isn't true."
The issue. Lutecia finished her thought. "Nothing we can do about that." How does Vivio manage to change the subject so fast was beyond her.
"But it's not fair." Sixteen years old Takamachi Vivio complained. "We know each other far longer than they have."
"As I said, nothing we can do about that." Lutecia Alpine answered with an air blasé.
"But I can't... I'm not... I won't!" Vivio gave up finishing her sentence, pouting.
"It's not our decision to make. It's theirs." Lutecia tried to soothe her girlfriend.
"But, but, but..."
"No buts." The purple haired finally said, trying to put an end to the discussion.
Vivio hung her head, defeated. "Even them are getting ahead of us..."
"Are we competing with other couples now?" Lutecia sprung the question in a way that made the blonde cut back at her.
"What does it have to do with this?"
"Everything."
"But how are they even going to..."
"It's not our place to ask them such a intimate question, is it?"
"I know, I know. But I really can't see it even happening."
Lutecia claimed the blonde's hand, while turning to walk in the direction of the exit. "We just have to accept it." Vivio was about to say something more when a finger tapped on her lips. "Accept it. And let them handle their relationship."
"Okay, but how is Burning Glory going put a ring on her finger? I mean, she's already a ring. And I didn't even know that Aesclepius was a intelligent device."
"As I said, let them handle their problems." Lutecia didn't want to even think about the problem. Some things are better unsaid.
Spoiler for Author Notes:
Blame this totally on DezoPenguim. Yesterday I went and read all of his "Vivio's Happy Family Magical Theater" shorts, and it stuck A LOT of plot bunnies in my head.
Edit: Erm... Sorry for the double post.
Actually, that would make Burning Glory and Asclepius gay. It hasn't come up in my fanon yet, but in Syn's fic it's pretty much confirmed that Asclepius is male, as a farther contrast to Caro's Device. Still funny as heck, though. I love how calmly Lutecia takes all of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moczo
Before you ask... yes. It's the clown one. I just... I just couldn't help myself.
Spoiler for Center Ring, Part 1:
The arena was dark. There was light in the stands, mostly from cameras and cellphones slightly illuminating individual members of the audience, but the center was pitch black… until the spotlight shone onto a man in a glittering red suit, tall black boots, and violet hair.
The ringmaster smiled brilliantly, if somewhat unstably, and flipped a top hat onto his head with a flourish. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! My name is Doc Scaglietti, and it is my honor to be both your ringmaster and your greeter for the evening, as you join us here under the Big Top at the world-famous Scaglietti Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus! Welcome, one and all, to the Greatest Show on Earth!"
Blinding light flooded the arena, forcing the audience to briefly snap their eyes shut, and when they opened them again… they were in another world.
The highwire. The trapeze. Off to the side, awaiting their moments to shine, the cannon and door to the animal cages. And, of course, the all-important three rings.
The circus!
Vivio Takamachi smiled, but it lacked the wonder of the others in the crowd. To her, this was all old news; her smile was that of someone encountering something familiar and comforting. Aunt Hayate had always informed her that Doc Scaglietti was an unlikeable prat in person, but Vivio had to admit he put on a good show.
The acts began, and all were suitably dazzling... Cinque, the amazingly skilled knife thrower, sliced in half a sheet of paper laid flat on a volunteer's head without so much as parting their hair.
Wendi and Sein, the daredevil trapeze artists, flying through the air in dazzling acrobatic display.
Nove, the animal tamer, who showed absolutely no fear, nor even really respect, for a cage full of lions and tigers. She demonstrated why when one of them attempted to bite her rather than leap through a ring, and she responded by beating it into unconsciousness.
Quattro, the bitch...and yes, that was her official position. Doc Scaglietti prided himself on being a visionary pioneer on the very fore-front of Circusing, and had concieved of this entirely new act: Quattro would go out onto the floor, and pick someone at random from the audience. She would then follow that person home and ruin their life. She would unplug their alarm clocks, replace their shampoo with glue, cut the brakes in their car, kick their pets, and infect their spouses with swine flu. Nine times out of ten, this situation escalated until ending with the volunteer engaged in a life-or-death duel with their own children. It was a surprisingly popular act, for everyone but the poor sap who Quattro happened to select that night.
Vivio smiled, but this really wasn't what she was here for. The acts were good, but she had something of a bias against them; no matter how good they were, she would always feel that she'd seen better.
But then, as an extremely sad-looking man exited the left ring followed by a grinning Quattro, it happened. The roadies emerged to set up the cannon for Tre the Amazing Human Cannonball, and so they sent in something to hold the audience's attention.
They sent in the clowns. And Vivio saw her angel.
Her long, straight hair was brilliant violet; no wig, that, but the most perfect natural Clowning hair that Vivio had ever known. Her pale makeup only accentuated her beauty, her squeaky nose gleamed like a ruby in the brilliant lighting of the ring. The arc formed by her floppy shoes reminded Vivio of songbirds in flight.
Vivio blushed brilliantly. She knew she had an incredibly goofy smile on her face, and she couldn't have cared less. She's... so perfect...! The enamored youth thought.
But it didn't end there; no, simple perfection of appearance would not have been enough to hold Vivio's attention. But the magnificent young clown gracing the ring, Lutecia Alpine, was far more than beautiful. There were other clowns with her, a large man and some small red-haired... thing... but they faded into the background as the act began.
The skill with which she slipped on a banana peel.
The perfect accuracy of her hurled pies.
The brutal efficiency with which she wielded her squeaky plastic mallet.
Each and every act was accomplished with grace, charm, and perfect comedic timing. Vivio felt as though she were gazing not merely upon a simple performance of excellent clowning, but upon a priceless piece of art, the work of a true and unmatched master. Lutecia was not a clown, she was a goddess among clowns. She was a goddess, and Vivio was in Heaven.
Yet all good things must come to an end, and this included Vivio's stay in paradise. As Lutecia piled back into her tiny car with the other clowns and drove away, Vivio stood and left the big top. There was no need to see the rest of the acts, she'd witnessed what she came for and needed to get home before Mamas or Aunt Hayate noticed she was gone. She had rehearsal in a few hours, after all.
As she walked home, the depression set in. She didn't know why she kept coming back here... getting a glimpse of what she couldn't have only made her feel worse about herself. She couldn't help herself; Lutecia's brilliant Clowning was like a drug to her. The older girl was everything Vivio wanted and everything she wanted to be, all rolled up into one. And yet, coming here and seeing that perfection for herself... only served to remind her that she could never, ever have it.
Even if our families would allow it, and they never would... Vivio thought glumly, looking into her bag and seeing her wig and squeaky red rubber nose, ... An amazing girl like her would never be interested in a simple, ordinary clown like me.
And Vivio Takamachi, clown-in-training of Scaglietti Bros. greatest rival, Circus Force Six, made her way home in a cloud of sadness.
Spoiler for Author's Note:
When I suggested this story, I thought I was joking. And yet this epic tale of love, lies, betrayal, passion, and floppy shoes demanded to be told. To anyone offended by clowns or clowning please feel free to leave the room. We're going to be piercing directly to the black heart of professional clownery in this subtle introspective look into the hearts and minds of two clowns, bound by love but separated by a cruel fate that places them on opposite sides in the cutthroat competition of the circus industry.
Also, I have writer's block and some nice harmless crack might clear that up.
...
Damn. That ending was actually.... very sad. And now I'm hooked, completely. You made the idea work, and I'd like more, please.
Actually, that would make Burning Glory and Asclepius gay. It hasn't come up in my fanon yet, but in Syn's fic it's pretty much confirmed that Asclepius is male, as a farther contrast to Caro's Device. Still funny as heck, though. I love how calmly Lutecia takes all of it.
And here I was thinking that Burning Glory was female (I always assumed that). @_@ Asclepius I knew to be male. Heck, it created another quirk to the fic. I'll correct Vivio's speech then.
Burning Glory: [Omigod do you think Asclepius will ask me! I really hope he asks me, I mean we've been going steady for a while now and I think he's really serious about me s-]
Falling Soul: [Dude. From one OC device knocked out of the realm of possibility by an animate plush bunny to another, He's just not that into you. ]
2010-04-04, 01:07
Author
. I guess they can double-date often? 
.
